Steven Schwartz writes:

>Does anyone know why Baroque concerti, sonatas, and suites were often
>published in multiples of 6 per collection ...?

I too have been puzzled by this, along with the apparent convention of
publishing string quartets in groups of six.  Melvin Berger, in his Guide
to Chamber Music, states that one mystery surrounding the Haydn "Tost
Quartets", Op.  54, "is why he wrote only three quartets in this opus
instead of the usual six." (Haydn followed up with three more Tost quartets
in Op.  55 and also dedicated the six Op.  64 quartets to Tost).

Then we have the six Mozart quartets dedicated to Haydn and the six
Beethoven quartets of Op.18.  Were Mozart and Beethoven simply tipping
their hats to Papa Haydn? And if not, why six?

"Jim Cannon" <[log in to unmask]>