String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)
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string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
s Op. 20 by
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet". The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next 200 years.
Ron Drummond Ronald N. Drummond (born 1959 in Seattle, Washington) is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. Writer Ron Drummond is the author of "The Sonic Rituals of Pauline Oliveros"; "The Frequency of Liberation", a critical fiction about the novels ...

"An Essay Inspired by the Quartet for Strings in F Minor, Opus 20, No. 5"
ClassicalNet (1999)
Tovey, in Cobbett (1929), p. 533Pohl, in ''Grove's'' (1946), p. 583.Solomon (1980), p. 116. The quartets were composed in 1772 at a time of tensions in Haydn's life, and also when Haydn was influenced by new philosophical and political ideas sweeping Europe. Some analysts see the impact of these emotions and ideas on the quartets.


The quartets

The set of quartets, along with their
incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...
s are shown below in order of Haydn's own catalog


No. 1 in E major


No. 2 in C major


No. 3 in G minor


No. 4 in D major


No. 5 in F minor


No. 6 in A major


Composition

Haydn was 40 years old when he composed the opus 20 quartets and was already well-established as one of the leading composers of Europe. He was
Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
to the Prince
Nikolaus Esterházy Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...
, a great lover of music. Haydn presided over the busy musical life of the court, producing
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
s,
oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
s, and symphonic and chamber concerts, and writing a steady stream of new music for the prince's amusement. Nikolaus had eight years prior to this date built the
Eszterháza Eszterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice. It served as the home to Joseph Haydn and his orchestra from 1760 to 1790. In ...
palace southeast of Vienna (in Hungary), where the court resided for most of the year. While the palace itself was one of the most splendid in Austria, and was dubbed the "Hungarian Versailles", it was built over a large swamp; it was humid throughout the year, with a "vexatious, penetrating north wind" from which Haydn and the other musicians in the court suffered. Moreover, it was far from Vienna, and the musicians (Haydn, as Kapellmeister, excepted) had to leave their wives and families behind for many months. Consequently, there was much discontent among the musicians, and Haydn, like the others, suffered from bouts of depression and illness. This atmosphere found its expression in the opus 20 quartets. "The designation ''
affettuoso A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
'' found twice in the directions for the tempo of slow movements can be applied to the whole opus", writes Geiringer.Geiringer (1982), p. 257. Haydn chooses minor keys for two of the quartets, unusual in a time where the minor was rarely used for this ensemble. In particular, the fifth quartet is in the unusual key of F minor, "a key that predisposes even Haydn to sombre thoughts", writes
Cobbett Cobbett is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hilary Dulcie Cobbett (1885–1976), British artist * William Cobbett (1763–1835), British radical agriculturist and prolific journalist. * Walter Willson Cobbett Walter Willson ...
. But the sodden air of Eszterháza was not the only influence on the emotional character of the quartets. It was a time of ferment: new ideas that were to spur the Romantic movement in another 30 years were taking root. Philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
expounded a philosophy of human freedom and a return to nature. Poets
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
and
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
espoused the new ''
Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...
'' movement, that "exalted nature, feeling, and human individualism and sought to overthrow the Enlightenment cult of Rationalism". For Haydn, this meant the rejection of the
galante Galante is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Galante (pedigree), a family of Jewish scholars which flourished in the Middle Ages ** Abraham ben Mordecai Galante (died 1560), kabalist and author ** Mordecai Galante (died 1781), r ...
style, the courtly, simplified, somewhat slender musical style prevalent at the time. Analysts trace specific musical choices in the Opus 20 quartets to these new ideas. For example, the minuet movement of the D major quartet (number 4) is replaced by a frenetic gypsy air titled "alla zingarese", full of offbeat rhythms. "
Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
's 'back to nature' movement resulted in a general reawakening of interest in national folk music. Haydn showed himself in complete sympathy with this tendency", writes Geiringer. Three of the six quartets have
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
s as finales.
Counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
, the densely complex style of the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
, had fallen out of favor with the galante composers. "To emphasize his rejection of rococo lightness, Haydn reverted to Baroque features", writes Geiringer. The opus 20 quartets were the third set of quartets Haydn wrote at Eszterháza. His dedication to the string quartet form is something of a mystery; there is no record of a string quartet concert performed at the palace during this period. The set became known as the "Sun" quartets, because of the picture of a rising sun that graced the cover of an early edition The first known publication of the quartets was in 1774 by Louis-Balthazar de La Chevardière in Paris and later (undated, probably in the 1780s or 1790s) by
Artaria Artaria & Co. () was one of the most important music publishing firms of the late 18th and 19th century. Founded in the 18th century in Vienna, the company is associated with many leading names of the classical era. History Artaria & Co. was foun ...
in Vienna. The most commonly used
Urtext edition An urtext edition of a work of classical music is a printed version intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. Other kinds of editions distinct from urtext are facs ...
is by Eulenburg, published in the 1880s.


Opus 20 and the development of the string quartet


Assessment by music historians

When Haydn published his opus 33 quartets, ten years after the opus 20, he wrote that they were composed in "an entirely new and particular manner". But, if the opus 33 was the culmination of a process, opus 20 was the proving ground. In this set of quartets, Haydn defined the nature of the string quartet – the special interplay of instruments that Goethe called "four rational people conversing". Many of the compositional techniques used by composers of string quartets to the present day were tried out and perfected in these works. "This cannot be overstated", writes
Ron Drummond Ronald N. Drummond (born 1959 in Seattle, Washington) is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. Writer Ron Drummond is the author of "The Sonic Rituals of Pauline Oliveros"; "The Frequency of Liberation", a critical fiction about the novels ...
; "the six string quartets of Opus 20 are as important in the history of music, and had as radically a transforming effect on the very field of musical possibility itself, as
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's Third Symphony would 33 years later". And Sir
Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...
writes of the quartets, "Every page of the six quartets of Op. 20 is of historic and aesthetic importance... there is perhaps no single or sextuple opus in the history of instrumental music which has achieved so much". The musicologist Roger Hickman has demurred from this consensus view. He notes a change in string quartet writing towards the end of the 1760s, featuring chatacteristics which are to day thought of as essential to the genre - scoring for two violins, viola and cello, solo passages, and absence of actual or potential
basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
accompaniment. Noting that at this time other composers were writing works conforming to these 'modern' criteria, and that Haydn's earlier quartets did not meet them, he suggests that "one casualty f such a perspectiveis the notion that Haydn "invented" the string quartet...Although he may still be considered the "father" of the "Classical" string quartet, he is not the creator of the string quartet genre itself...This old and otiose myth not only misrepresents the achievements of other excellent composers, but also distorts the character and qualities of Haydn's opp. 1, 2 and 9". The musicologist
Cliff Eisen Cliff Eisen (born 21 January 1952 in Toronto) is a Canadian musicologist and a Mozart expert. He was based in the Department of Music at King's College London. He studied at the University of Toronto and at Cornell University, and has taught at the ...
contextualizes the op. 20 quartets as follows: "Haydn's quartets of the late 1760s and early 1770s pp. 9, 17 and 20are high points in the early history of the quartet. Characterized by a wide range of textures, frequent assymetries and theatrical gestures...these quartets established the genre's four-movement form, its larger dimensions, and ...its greater aesthetic pretensions and expressive range." Some of the innovations of Haydn's op. 20 quartets, as stated by Tovey and others, are as follows:


Equality of voices

Prior to opus 20, the first violin, or, sometimes, the two violins, dominated the quartet. The melody was carried by the leader, with the lower voices (viola and cello) accompanying. In opus 20, Haydn gives each instrument, and particularly the cello, its own voice. An outstanding example of this is the second quartet in C major. The quartet opens with a cello solo, accompanied by the viola and second violin. This was virtually unheard of in Haydn's time. Another example is in the slow movement of the fourth quartet, in D major. This movement is a set of
variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...
, written in D minor; the first variation is a duet between viola and second violin, and the third variation is a solo for cello.


Structural innovations

With the opus 20 quartets, Haydn moved forward the development of the
sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
. A movement written in sonata form has an
exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...
, where the themes and motifs of the movement are presented; a
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...
section, where these themes are transformed; and a recapitulation, where the themes are restated. Traditionally, the restatement closely matched the original exposition. But Haydn, in opus 20, uses the restatement to further develop the material of the movement. For example, in the F minor quartet, Haydn embellishes the original theme, and rearranges the original material, adding to the musical tension as the movement moves to the
coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
. In the G minor quartet, the recapitulation is hardly a recapitulation at all; while all the original materials are included, they are rearranged and transformed. There are other structural innovations in opus 20. Haydn develops the idea of "false reprise". In the fourth quartet, in D major, for example, Haydn sneaks into the recapitulation of the first movement, treating it dramatically as though it is a continuation of the development. Haydn also experiments with cyclical structure: the reuse of thematic and rhythmic materials in different movements, to give an overall unity to the piece.


Depth of expression

Haydn experiments with expressive techniques in the quartets. An example of this is the G minor quartet, where Haydn defies the standard practice of ending each movement with a
cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999) ...
played ''
forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" *Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set *Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs *Forte (vocal gro ...
''. Instead, Haydn ends each movement ''piano'' or ''pianissimo''. Another example is the F minor quartet; this quartet, writes Tovey, "is the most nearly tragic work Haydn ever wrote; its first movement being of astonishing depth of thought".Tovey, in Cobbett (1929), p. 537.


Length and symmetry of phrases

Haydn experiments with asymmetrical
phrases In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
and
syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
s. The common practice of the time was to write melodies that divided neatly into four- and eight-measure chunks. But the opening phrase of the third quartet, in G minor, is seven measures long, and the
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
of the same quartet has a melody that is divided into two phrases of five measures each. Indeed, in opus 20, most of the minuet movements are minuets in name only. The minuet was a court dance, through-choreographed, built of four groups of four measures in time. The minuets of opus 20, with the exception of numbers 1 and 6, would be impossible to dance to, as they do not have this formal structure. The minuet of the second quartet in C major is built of tied
suspensions In chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous mixture of a fluid that contains solid particles sufficiently large for sedimentation. The particles may be visible to the naked eye, usually must be larger than one micrometer, and will eventually ...
in the first violin, viola and cello, so that the listener loses all sense of downbeat. The fourth quartet has the off-beat ''alla zingarese'' movement. The minuet of the fifth quartet has a first section of 18 measures, divided asymmetrically. So far did Haydn stray from the formal minuet dance structure, that in his next set of quartets, opus 33, he did not call them minuets at all, but rather
scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often ref ...
s.


Use of counterpoint

The fugal finales of three of the six quartets are Haydn's statement of rejection of the
galante Galante is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Galante (pedigree), a family of Jewish scholars which flourished in the Middle Ages ** Abraham ben Mordecai Galante (died 1560), kabalist and author ** Mordecai Galante (died 1781), r ...
. Not only has Haydn rejected the freedom of the rococo style, he has emphasized that rejection by adhering to strict formality and writing comments into the score explaining the fugal structure. "Al rovescio" he writes at one point in the last movement of quartet number two, where the fugal melody is played in
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. "In canone" he writes in the finale of number 5. The finale of number six is a "Fuga a 3 Soggetti" (a fugue with three fugal subjects). The fugal finales are not mere formalism, however; Haydn clothes them in a dramatic structure suitable for the ''Sturm und Drang''. All three movements start out '' sotto voce''; as the fugue develops formally, the tension mounts, but Haydn does not increase the volume, until a sudden, startling burst of ''forte''. "Haydn has, in the quartets of opus 20, a hint of the emotional and dramatic impulse which became so volcanic in Beethoven's fugues", writes
Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...
. Haydn's fugal finales are not the only use of
counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
in these quartets. Haydn revives Baroque compositional techniques in other movements as well. The opening of the second quartet is essentially contrapuntal, with the viola and the second violins playing
countersubject In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme. Characteristics A subject may be perceivable as a complete mus ...
s to the cello's principal melodic line. Haydn also uses more obscure techniques; in the adagio movement of the fifth quartet, for example, he writes at one point "per figuram retardationis", meaning that the melodic line in the first violin lags behind the harmonic changes in the accompaniment. "Enormous importance lies in these fugues", writes Tovey. "Besides achieving in themselves the violent reconquest of the ancient kingdom of
polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
for the string quartet, they effectively establish fugue texture from henceforth as a normal resource of sonata style".


Structure of the quartets


No. 1 in E major

While the first movement is in straightforward
sonata-allegro Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
form, Haydn nonetheless breaks with the standard quartet model of the period. The second
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
of the
exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...
is presented by the cello, rather than the violin, playing in a high register above the viola accompaniment. Haydn also disguises the return to the recapitulation after the
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...
section of the movement: after only three bars of development, Haydn returns to the theme in the tonic, suggesting the beginning of the recapitulation; but instead, deviates into a series of transpositions, finally sneaking back to the main theme when least expected. Haydn uses this trick of a pretended recapitulation in other opus 20 quartets. The second movement is a
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
, one of two from the set that follow all the rules of the traditional dance (the other is the minuet of number 6). The third movement is marked "Affettuoso e sostenuto", written in A major as an
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
, with the first violin carrying the melody throughout. The finale, marked ''presto'', is built on a six-measure phrase, with extensive use of
syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
s in the first violin. In the middle of the movement there is an extended passage where the first violin plays syncopations and the other instruments are playing on the second beat of the bar; no one plays on the downbeat, and toward the end of the passage the listener loses track of the meter, until the main theme returns.


No. 2 in C major

In this quartet, Haydn develops the equal interplay between the instruments, the quartet conversation. The first movement opens with a cello solo, playing above the accompanying instruments. In the course of the movement every instrument gets to play the solo – even the viola, who, "besides having a vote in the parliament of four... for once s heard by Haydnas he hears the
cantabile In music, ''cantabile'' , an Italian word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous wi ...
of the 'cello", writes Tovey. The movement is markedly
chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...
; the development ranges from C major, to A major, dipping into D major, A minor, F major, and even A major. The second movement opens with a bold ''unisono'', then the cello states the theme. It is an emotionally charged movement, with dramatic shifts from ''pianissimo'' to ''forte'', mixed with ''cantabile'' passages with a sextuplet accompaniment in the viola. The minuet, like others in the set, defies choreography. In the opening section, all the instruments are tied across the barline, so the sense of downbeat dissipates. The effect recalls the sound of a
musette de cour The musette de cour or baroque musette is a musical instrument of the bagpipe family. Visually, the musette is characterised by the short, cylindrical shuttle-drone and the two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a cylindrical bo ...
, or other type of bagpipe. This movement, too, is very chromatic, with the melody of the second section built on a descending chromatic scale in the first violin. The finale is a
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
with four subjects. Haydn marks the opening ''sempre sotto voce''. The fugue ripples along in an undertone, through various learned fugal maneuvers – a stretto, ''al rovescio''. The texture gradually thins so that only two voices are playing at once, when suddenly the fugue bursts into ''forte'' and cascades of sixteenth notes lead to the close of the quartet. In the autograph edition, Haydn wrote over this passage, "Laus. Omnip. Deo. Sic fugit amicus amicum" (Praise the Lord. Thus one friend flees another friend).


No. 3 in G minor

"This quartet is among the more enigmatic pieces in the repertory", writes William Drabkin.Drabkin (2000), p. 105. "Indeed, the work is in so many respects unusual that it seems in places to defy interpretation". The enigma begins with the opening theme of the first movement: built of two phrases of seven measures each, it defies the ''galante'' practice of carefully balanced four- and eight-measure phrases. It is almost as if Haydn was wagging his tongue at his contemporaries, violating accepted shibboleths of composition. "Haydn's compositional freedom seems often defiantly at odds with what textbooks have to say", writes Drabkin. For example, Haydn inserts brief ''unisono'' passages in the major key, as a kind of exclamation mark; but, where such passages would normally be played ''forte'', he has marked them ''piano'' for a surprisingly different effect. Haydn continues the odd phrase structure in the minuet, which is built of five-measure units. Aside from its undanceable meter, the minuet is a sombre work, emphatically minor in character. The trio section of the minuet offers a brief respite with a first strain in E major; but the second strain returns to the minor, modulating down through several minor keys. The trio ends with a
plagal cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999 ...
to G major, for a Baroque-like
Picardy third A Picardy third, (; french: tierce picarde) also known as a Picardy cadence or Tierce de Picardie, is a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key. This is achieved by raising the third of the ...
conclusion; but then the minuet recapitulates in G minor. The move from G major back to G minor is so jolting that Drabkin speculates that the trio might possibly have been borrowed from another piece. The third movement, marked ''Poco Adagio'', is a long ''
cantabile In music, ''cantabile'' , an Italian word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous wi ...
''
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
in G major, dominated by the first violin and the cello. After the first violin states the theme, the cello takes over with a long rippling line of sixteenth notes. The movement includes a haunting viola solo, unusual in Haydn's quartets, and in quartet writing from that period in general. The finale is marked ''Allegro molto''. Here, too, Haydn continues to defy accepted practice. Here Haydn makes dramatic use of silence; the opening four-bar theme breaks off suddenly for a half-measure pause. Such pauses recur throughout the movement, giving the movement "a mildly disruptive effect", according to Drabkin. In this movement, Haydn also makes a number of surprising harmonic progressions. He ends the piece in G major, surprisingly, with a descent from ''piano'' to ''pianissimo''.


No. 4 in D major

If the third quartet of the set is the most obscure and difficult to understand, the fourth is the most popular. "... The D major quartet, opus 20 number 4, has met with more public recognition than the other five", writes Tovey. The quartet opens with a quiet, almost hymn-like statement of the theme. Suddenly there is a burst of
arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
in the first violin, lapsing immediately back to the quiet of the first
motive Motive(s) or The Motive(s) may refer to: * Motive (law) Film and television * ''Motives'' (film), a 2004 thriller * ''The Motive'' (film), 2017 * ''Motive'' (TV series), a 2013 Canadian TV series * ''The Motive'' (TV series), a 2020 Israeli T ...
. The juxtaposition of calm and vigor continues through the exposition, to the statement of the second theme, and a short codetta leading to the development. In the development section, Haydn repeatedly offers false reprises: After a section of development, he presents a dominant arpeggio leading back to the first theme. But this is not the reprise, the development goes on. Haydn does this again, and yet again, then sneaks back into the real reprise in a way that the listener does not notice. The movement ends, like several others of the opus 20, in ''pianissimo''. The second movement, a set of
variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...
in D minor, is one of Haydn's most profound, a rejection of the shallowness of the ''
galante Galante is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Galante (pedigree), a family of Jewish scholars which flourished in the Middle Ages ** Abraham ben Mordecai Galante (died 1560), kabalist and author ** Mordecai Galante (died 1781), r ...
''. "The poignant second movement ''Adagio'' moves the string quartet even farther from the concept of courtly entertainment", writes Miller.Miller (2006), p. 147. "In this wonderful movement, we have something of three centuries: the seventeenth century Baroque, the eighteenth century Classical, and the nineteenth century Romantic. Haydn's genius encompasses it all". The movement is distinguished by the concertante writing for each of the instruments: the second violin and viola in the first variation, the cello in the second variation, and the first violin in the third variation. In the third movement, the ''Allegretto alla zingarese'', the upper and lower voices play complex, interlocking cross-rhythms, confusing all sense of downbeat. Although the meter is in , the pulse is in two, with the strong beats of the upper voices alternating with the strong beats of the lower voices. The trio section of the movement is a cello solo, marching in perfectly regular time, "the perfect foil to the Menuet alla zingarese". The fourth movement continues the gypsy style of the third movement. Chromatic melodies, octave leaps, use of the
gypsy scale The term ''Gypsy scale'' refers to one of several musical scales named after their support of and association with Romani or "Gypsy" music: * Double harmonic scale (major), the fifth mode of Hungarian minor, or Double Harmonic minor, scale, also kn ...
(a minor scale with raised fourth and raised seventh), and flashy virtuoso embellishments in the first violin make this movement "sheer fun for the listener and likewise for the players", writes Miller. The movement ends in pianissimo, "an ending that simply evaporates".


No. 5 in F minor

This is the most emotionally intense of the opus 20 quartets. In the opening phrase, the violin sets the tone with a haunting melody. "Haydn, we might imagine, set out to test the limits of what the minor mode could express in this newly serious instrumental combination", writes
Roger Parker Roger Parker (born London United Kingdom, 2 August 1951) is an English musicologist and, since January 2007, has been Thurston Dart Professor of Music at King's College London. His work has centred on opera. Between 2006 and 2010, while Profess ...
."Haydn – Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No 5"
lecture by
Roger Parker Roger Parker (born London United Kingdom, 2 August 1951) is an English musicologist and, since January 2007, has been Thurston Dart Professor of Music at King's College London. His work has centred on opera. Between 2006 and 2010, while Profess ...
,
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
, April 8, 2008
The music rolls out almost without interruption; instead of ending each phrase with a
cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999) ...
before beginning a new phrase, Haydn runs the phrases together, the end of one being the beginning of the next. Throughout the first movement – and, indeed, for almost the entire quartet – the first violin leads with the concertante part. Even so, the texture is not galante, for the other parts play important and independent roles throughout. Haydn in the recapitulation continues developing the melody with new embellishments, and the
coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
wanders through strange modulations – D major, G minor – before returning to the plaintive F minor conclusion. The
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
continues the sombre mood in F minor. The character of the minuet is as far from that of a courtly dance as can be imagined. Again, the structure of the minuet is irregular and undanceable. The trio section, in F major, offers a brief respite from the relentless minor, but even this section is subdued in tone. The slow movement is a
Siciliana The siciliana or siciliano (also known as the sicilienne or the ciciliano) is a musical style or genre often included as a movement within larger pieces of music starting in the Baroque period. It is in a slow or time with lilting rhythms, ...
, in F major. The theme cycles throughout the movement, constantly transforming itself, while the first violin plays a concertante descant, floating over the theme, sometimes capturing it, then leaving it again. The finale is a
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
with two subjects. The main subject is a standard fugal motif, used frequently in the Baroque (it appears, among other places, in
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
's ''Messiah''). While constructing a fugue in the strict, learned style, Haydn imbues the movement with an intense dramatic structure; like other fugues in the set, the entire first two thirds of the fugue is '' sotto voce''. Out of this quiet the first violin suddenly erupts to a ''forte'', only to fall back into another ''piano'' section. The texture thins and the tension descends, until a second burst of ''fortissimo'', with first violin and cello playing the fugal subject in
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
, leading to the dramatic finale.


No. 6 in A major

This, the last quartet as published, but the second of the series as Haydn conceived them, is the most conservative of the set. The quartet has the bright, optimistic character often associated with Haydn's music. The key is A major, a key that highlights the highest and brightest tones of the lead violin. Haydn has marked the first movement ''Allegro di molto e Scherzando''. Yet, here, too, Haydn is trying out new ideas. Traditionally, the exposition proceeds from a first
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
in the tonic key to a second theme in the dominant. In the first movement, Haydn indeed proceeds to the dominant key of E major, but then shifts to E minor for the second theme. But he stays in that key only half a measure, modulating to C major, then to D major, and on, shifting keys relentlessly until he comes back to the dominant E major. The second movement, marked ''Adagio'', is a variation on
sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
, modeled after a form developed by Haydn's contemporary,
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
. The violins dominate, with the first violin playing the melody over rippling sixteenth notes in the second, or the second carrying the melody, with the first playing embellishments. The minuet is in strict danceable form. The theme of the minuet is a variation of the first theme of the first movement – one of the most explicit examples of
cyclic form Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and e ...
in Haydn's work. The last movement is a fugue with three subjects. Like the other fugal finales in the set, this proceeds ''sempre sotto voce'' until nearly the end, when it breaks into ''forte''. Unlike the other fugues, however, this has none of the ''
Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...
'' drama about it, but is predominantly major and upbeat in character.


Impact of the quartets

The Op. 20 quartets changed forever the way composers would write string quartets. "When we consider the poor condition" of string quartet writing prior to Haydn, writes C. Ferdinand Pohl, "... it is impossible to overrate his creative powers". However, it is also disputed how much impact Joseph Haydn alone had on
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
in string ensemble works. Euna Na points out by examining works composed by
Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 173710 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. ...
in 1773 (MH 187, MH 188, MH 189), that in string ensemble works, Mozart shares far more linguistic elements such as chromatic harmony and theatrical gestures with Michael Haydn; "Wolfgang seems to have been influenced earlier and more directly by Michael than by Joseph". Striking examples of linguistic similarity are found in the slow movements of Michael's MH 367 and Mozart's K. 465, for example. Professor David Wyn Jones at the Cardiff University School of Music states that "in Salzburg, if not throughout his life, Mozart was writing in a lingua franca and many of the features of that language are to be found in Michael Haydn too". Many great composers acknowledged their debt to Haydn and to these quartets.
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
also recognized the importance of Haydn's work. Before embarking on his own first set of string quartets, Op. 18, Beethoven studied the scores of the Haydn Op. 20 quartets, copying them out and scoring the first for string orchestra. Throughout his life, Beethoven had a love-hate relationship with Haydn: Haydn was one of Beethoven's teachers, and Haydn's criticisms of his early compositions rankled the young composer to the day of the elder composer's death. Yet, in spite of the antagonism, Beethoven spoke of Haydn with reverence. "Do not rob Handel, Haydn and Mozart of their laurel wreaths", he wrote in a letter in 1812, three years after Haydn's death. "They are entitled to theirs, I am not yet entitled to mine".Solomon (1980), p. 120.
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
was also a devotee of the Op. 20 quartets. Brahms owned the autograph manuscript of the quartets, studied them carefully and annotated them. He bequeathed the manuscript to the
Society of Friends of Music The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (), also known as the Wiener Musikverein (German for 'Viennese Music Association'), is an Austrian music organization that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theat ...
in Vienna, where it is preserved today.


See also

*
List of string quartets by Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn wrote sixty-eight string quartets. (The number was previously thought to be eighty-three, but this includes some arrangements and spurious works.) They are usually referred to by their opus numbers, not Anthony van Hoboken's cata ...


Footnotes


Bibliography

* (References are to the 2nd edition, published in 1963, with a new volume 3). * Tovey, Sir Donald, "Haydn", in ''Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music'' (1929; 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1963); see vol. 1, pp. 515–545. * * * * Pohl, C. Ferdinand, "Haydn", in ''
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the History of music, ...
'' (1946) * * *


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

*
String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
online full score {{Authority control 20 1772 compositions