The most incredible quartet in history

Thumbing through his usual Internet resources to check a few facts, Darcy stumbled upon a gem which he would like to share. In the Reminiscences published by the Irish tenor Michael Kelly, one encounters the following comment about a little musical get-together. The scene is Vienna, probably in 1785. The setting, the salon of Stephen Storace, an English musical émigré.

"Storace gave a quartet party to his friends. The players were tolerable; not one of them excelled on the instrument he played, but there was a little science among them, which I dare say will be acknowledged when I name them:

.....The First Violin:.............................Haydn.
..... " Second Violin:............Baron Dittersdorf.
..... " Violoncello:...............................Vanhal.
..... " Viola:.........................................Mozart.

...I was there, and a greater treat, or a more remarkable one, cannot be imagined."

Haydn and Mozart require no introduction. August Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was a musician in the employ of the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, whom the said P-B had ennobled and enriched so that he would not drift to pastures greener. He was vastly popular in his prime, coëval with Mozart and Haydn. Greatly esteemed, he was offered the position of K&K Kapellmeister by Joseph II - and declined. This was a position for which Mozart would gladly have given his eye-teeth. However, an unwillingness to move to Vienna permanently also meant that he is now practically forgotten. Jan Vanhal, who was unknown to Darcy until he read of this musical encounter, was apparently another successful composer and violinist.

This little musical event was also probably the time when Joseph Haydn told Leopold Mozart: “I swear before God, and as an honest man, that your son is the greatest composer known to me, either in person or by name.” To both Mozarts' gratification no doubt, though for vastly different reasons.

Darcy's mind is not often boggled, but it is now.