This is the third of a cycle of six early string quartets written in Italy in 1772/3. The six works of the cycle are composed in the keys of the cycle of fifths (D – G – C – F – B flat – E flat). Although ostensibly in major keys, only two of the series (the first and last) are completely in major keys, and this quartet has in common with the others of the middle four quartets a central movement in the minor key. It is in these middle movements that Mozart’s genius truly shines, providing some of the more emotionally intense moments of his early work.