1750-1799 String Quartet

Question 0

Name 10 string quartets ca.1750-1799.

Answer 0

• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D, Op. 20 “Sun”, No. 4, Hob.III:34 (1772)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat, Op.33 “Russian” quartets, No.2 “Joke”, Hob.III: 38 (1781)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D, Op.33 “Russian” quartets, No.6, Hob.III: 42 (1781)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No.19 in C “Dissonance”, K.465 from “Haydn” quartets (1785)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No.20 in D “Hoffmeister”, K.499 (1786)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No.21 in D, “Prussian” quartets, K575 (1789)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet No.1 in C, Op.74, Hob.III:72, “Apponyi” quartets (1793)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in d, Op.76 “Erdödy” quartets, No.2 “Fifths”, Hob.III:76, (1796–1797)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in B♭, Op.76 “Erdödy” quartets, No.4 “Sunrise”, Hob.III:78 (1796–1797)
• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G, Op.77 “Lobkowitz” quartets, No.1, Hob.III:81, (1799)

Question 1

Name the Mozart Haydn quartets.

Answer 1

The “Haydn” Quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are a set of six string quartets published in 1785 in Vienna, dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn.

• String Quartet No. 14 in G major, (“Spring”), K. 387 (1782)
• String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421 (1783)
• String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat major, K. 428 (1783)
• String Quartet No. 17 in B flat major (“Hunt”), K. 458 (1784)
• String Quartet No. 18 in A major, K. 464 (1785)
• String Quartet No. 19 in C major (“Dissonance”), K. 465 (1785)

Question 2

Name the opus numbers and opus nicknames for all the Haydn string quartets (Hint: there are 18 opuses).

Answer 2

Op.1
Op.2
Op.3
Op.9
Op.17
Op.20 "Sun"
Op.33 "Russian"
Op.42
Op.50 "Prussian"
Op.51
Op.54 "Tost"
Op.55 "Tost"
Op.64 "Tost"
Op.71 "Apponyi"
Op.74 "Apponyi"
Op.76 "Erdödy"
Op.77 "Lobkowitz"
Op.103

Question 3

How many string quartets did Boccherini write?

Answer 3

Boccherini wrote 91 string quartets.
- Much of Boccherini’s chamber music follows models established by Joseph Haydn; however, Boccherini is often credited with improving Haydn’s model of the string quartet by bringing the cello to prominence, whereas Haydn had frequently relegated it to an accompaniment role.

Question 4

Describe the movement structure of a Haydn quartet.

Answer 4

4 Movements

• 1. Allegro sonata form, sometimes preceded by a slow introduction.
• 2 or 3. Interchangeable slow movement and minuet and trio movement. Slow movement in sonata or ternary form, though occasionally substituted with variations. Minuet and trio in ternary form, though later moved toward a scherzo-like character.
• 4. Allegro movement, either in sonata form, rondo form, double variation form, or a fugue.

Question 5

What is notable about Haydn’s Op.50 string quartets?

Answer 5

• Haydn’s so called ‘Prussian’ string quartets were written for King Frederick William II of Prussia (the same patron who commissioned Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ string quartets and Beethoven’s first two cello sonatas and first two sets of variations for cello and piano).
• The King was an amateur cellist who was taught by Jean-Pierre Duport (elder brother of Jean-Louis Duport). Due to the King’s training and supposed facility, the Op.50 quartets contain a number of striking passages for the cello.
  
  • the opening of the first movement of No. 1: pedal pulsing quarter notes
  • the slow movement of No.2: a difficult passage of 16th notes quickly changing registers
  • the slow movement of No.3: a consistently prominent role throughout the movement with much primary melodic material

Question 6

Piece: String Quartet by Haydn, 33/2

Answer 6

• Composer: Joseph Haydn
• Title: String Quartet in E-flat, Op.33 “Russian” quartets, No.2, “Joke” Hob.III: 38
• Date: 1781
• the “father” of the string quartet because, in his total of 68 string quartets, he developed this genre into its first maturity
• dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia
• In 1779, an important change in Haydn’s contract permitted him to publish his compositions without prior authorization from his employer. This may have encouraged Haydn to rekindle his career as a composer of “pure” music. The change made itself felt most dramatically in 1781, when Haydn published the six string quartets of Opus 33, announcing (in a letter to potential purchasers) that they were written in “a new and completely special way”.
• he was able to give all four instruments an equal share of the musical discourse, in any movement where he chose to do so. Moreover, the so-called ‘working out’ is not confined to the development section. He takes any portion of the theme, any scrap of melody, any rhythmical phrase and extracts every ounce of meaning so that the whole structure is both tautened and expanded.
• One can perhaps put one’s finger upon the years immediately following the appearance of the Op.33 quartets as the point at which the string quartet, as such, became finally and universally recognized as a medium and genre of composition; for, while the 18 quartets preceding (Op.9, 17, and 20) had brought it into being, and had been working like a ferment among discerning musical minds in the intervening years, the Op.33 quartets appearing with all the force of Haydn’s behind them, attracted far more attention.
• The fourth movement implemented a lighter character, originating from Haydn’s first shift from the minuet to the scherzo. Its binary opening theme has a playful, unfinished character. It also portrayed some new features in Haydn’s compositions, for example, the Rondo form, which satisfied audiences since the form was becoming enormously popular at this time. The rondo form of the final movement remains true to its definition as a quartet of “a new and entirely special kind” by always returning to the tonic in the refrain. Much of the material of the movement is derived from the idea introduced in the first two measures, an indication of Haydn’s sense of economy and novelty
• At the end of the Rondo, starting at measure 148, Haydn implements a joke in this piece. It begins with a grand pause that makes the audience wonder if the piece is over. This is followed by a sudden forte sixteenth note in the beginning of the adagio that shocks the audience. After this, the first violin plays the A theme of the opening phrase with rests interrupting the music every two bars. The rests get progressively longer, giving the impression that the piece is over many times in a row, making for an amusing ending.
• During this time period, it has been said that audiences would erupt in laughter at this humorous coda. Haydn used this coda not only to make fun of audiences confused as to where to applaud, but also amateur musicians who were too “beat-driven,” and what he deemed a redundant rondo form.
• Haydn’s wit is especially endearing to players and connoisseurs, but also appeals to inexperienced listeners.
• The galant style: Eighteenth-century musical style that featured songlike MELODIES, short PHRASES, frequent CADENCES, and light accompaniment.
• The expressiveness of the empfindsam (sensitive) style: a style of musical composition developed in 18th century Germany, intended to express “true and natural” feelings, and featuring sudden contrasts of mood.

Question 7

Piece: String Quartet by Haydn, 33/6

Answer 7

• Composer: Joseph Haydn
• Title: String Quartet in D, Op.33 “Russian” quartets, No.6, Hob.III: 42
• Date: 1781
• dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia
• the “father” of the string quartet because, in his total of 68 string quartets, he developed this genre into its first maturity
• dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia
• In 1779, an important change in Haydn’s contract permitted him to publish his compositions without prior authorization from his employer. This may have encouraged Haydn to rekindle his career as a composer of “pure” music. The change made itself felt most dramatically in 1781, when Haydn published the six string quartets of Opus 33, announcing (in a letter to potential purchasers) that they were written in “a new and completely special way”.
• he was able to give all four instruments an equal share of the musical discourse, in any movement where he chose to do so. Moreover, the so-called ‘working out’ is not confined to the development section. He takes any portion of the theme, any scrap of melody, any rhythmical phrase and extracts every ounce of meaning so that the whole structure is both tautened and expanded.
• One can perhaps put one’s finger upon the years immediately following the appearance of the Op.33 quartets as the point at which the string quartet, as such, became finally and universally recognized as a medium and genre of composition; for, while the 18 quartets preceding (Op.9, 17, and 20) had brought it into being, and had been working like a ferment among discerning musical minds in the intervening years, the Op.33 quartets appearing with all the force of Haydn’s behind them, attracted far more attention.
• the first example in Haydn’s quartets of that double variation pattern, alternating major and minor, which he himself devised
• The finale is in double variation form (ABA1B1A2) with themes in D major and D minor.
• The double variation (also known as alternating variations) is a type of theme and variations that employs two themes. In a double variation set, a first theme (to be called A here) is followed by a second theme (B), followed by a variation on A, then a variation on B, and so on with alternating A and B variations.
• Both themes have the same tonic, but in opposite modes.
• The total number of variations is small, just one or two for each theme.
• The number of variations is arranged to place the major theme last.

Question 8

Piece: String Quartet by Mozart, “Haydn”

Answer 8

• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Title: String Quartet No.19 in C, “Dissonance”, K.465 from “Haydn” quartets
• Date: 1785
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed 23 string quartets.
• dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn
• The Classical string quartet form was created by Joseph Haydn in the late 1750s. He is described as the “father” of the string quartet because in his total of 68 quartets he developed this genre into its first maturity.
• Haydn had recently completed his influential “Opus 33” set of quartets in 1781, the year that Mozart arrived in Vienna. Mozart studied Haydn’s string quartets and began composing this set of six, which were published in 1785. During this time, Haydn and Mozart had become friends, and sometimes played quartets together in Mozart’s apartment, with Mozart playing the viola, and Haydn playing violin.
• the unusual tonal mysteriousness of the opening slow introduction
• Giuseppe Sarti later published an attack against the “Dissonance” quartet, describing sections as “barbarous”, “execrable”, and “miserable” in its use of whole-tone clusters and chromatic extremes.
• this quartet serves as the climax of the group of 6 “Haydn” quartets
• a similar chromatic opening can be found in his earlier String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat major, K. 428 (1783)
• When the C major quartet was published, it became the centre of a prolonged critical furore - not, of course the whole work, but only the 22 bars of adagio introduction to the first movement. It was their harmonic audacities and false relations which disturbed the conventional ear. Some people believed Mozart had allowed the parts to be printed with many errors. But reference to the autograph shows that he wrote these bars with exceptional care and very few corrections, and that the parts of the first edition (of which he supervised the production) correspond exactly.

Question 9

Piece: String Quartet by Mozart, “Prussian”

Answer 9

• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Title: String Quartet No.21 in D, K575 from “Prussian” quartets
• Date: 1789
• The last three of his total of 23 string quartets.
• King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist who was a pupil of Jean-Pierre Duport (the older brother and teacher of Jean-Louis Duport). This king also hired Boccherini to compose for him, and also commissioned Beethoven to write his first two cello sonatas.
• not considered on par with the earlier, more famous ‘Haydn Quartets’
• exceptional prominence and cantabile nature of the cello part (the instrument played by the king himself).
• Due to the prominence of the cello part these quartets came to be known as ‘Concertante Quartets’.
• in a more relaxed style than the six quartets dedicated to Haydn
• the most rewarding and challenging music for the cello
• The andante movement features such prominence, adding to the concertante effect, when the cello moves up into the alto register, sometimes even into the treble, while the other strings assume an accompanying role.

Question 10

Piece: String Quartet by Haydn, 76/2.

Answer 10

• Composer: Joseph Haydn
• Title: String Quartet in d, Op.76 “Erdödy” quartets, No.2 “Fifths”, Hob.III:76
• Date: 1796–1797
• Dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdödy.
• They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed.
• The Op. 76 quartets are among Haydn’s most ambitious chamber works, deviating more than their predecessors from standard sonata form and each emphasizing their thematic continuity through the seamless and near-continual exchange of motifs between instruments.
• In a reference to the falling perfect fifths at its start, it is known as the Fifths (or, in German, the Quinten) quartet.
• exemplar of monothematicism “the most superb treatment of concentrated thought
• The falling fifths motif dominates the exposition and is featured heavily in the development using inversion, stretto and other devices.
• “Witches’ Minuet” (“Hexenminuett”) for its rather grim tone and intentional lack of grace. Tovey called it “clowns dancing with flat feet”. Its most extraordinary feature is the sheer discipline of its rigid structure – a strict canon between both violins in parallel octaves followed one bar behind by the viola and cello who are also playing in parallel octaves. As Barrett-Ayers notes, an extraordinary result of Haydn’s lifelong preoccupation with counterpoint, and yet a throwback to his habit of octave doubling in his earliest two-part work.

Question 11

Piece: String Quartet by Haydn, 77

Answer 11

• Composer: Joseph Haydn
• Title: String Quartet in G, Op.77 “Lobkowitz” quartets, No.1, Hob.III:81
• Date: 1799
• These quartets were commissioned by Prince Franz Joseph Lobkowitz, who commissioned six quartets from both Haydn and Beethoven at the same time (his Op.18’s). Once finished, they were to be performed paired in concert with Beethoven’s Op.18 quartets at the Lobkowitz court by the Schuppanzigh quartet. Some of Beethoven’s earliest Op.18 quartets were finished early, and were already being performed during the time Haydn was composing the Op.77 quartets. For his part, Haydn was quite aware that comparisons would be made between him and his pupil. It is unknown whether or not Haydn witnessed any of these premieres, however it is often thought that, in the daunting face of the young Beethoven’s mastery of the quartet form, he backed away from from finishing the project, only finishing two quartets. This was not out of character, as he also composed no more piano concertos after 1782 and no more complete operas after 1784, after Mozart’s supreme achievements in those genres. Apart from two movements in the unfinished Op.130 quartet, Haydn wrote no more quartets thereafter. This act also was not due to old age or incapacity, as he was still able to write a full-scale orchestral mass as late as 1802.
• The Scherzo finds Haydn ever toying with his fascination for the transformed minuet here with the verve and pace of a true “Beethovenian” scherzo though it is clear that Haydn got there first. A leaping, syncopated line may have found its inspiration in Hungarian folk music and its soaring energy propels the violin into the stratospheric range of the instrument. A trio intensifies the rhythmic bustle with husky tremolos, abrupt dynamics and a more frantic kind of folk dance in a rather surprising key of E-flat major.

Question 12

Describe Haydn’s influence on the early string quartet.

Answer 12

• the “father” of the string quartet because, in his total of 68 string quartets, he developed this genre into its first maturity
• In 1779, an important change in Haydn’s contract permitted him to publish his compositions without prior authorization from his employer. This may have encouraged Haydn to rekindle his career as a composer of “pure” music. The change made itself felt most dramatically in 1781, when Haydn published the six string quartets of Opus 33, announcing (in a letter to potential purchasers) that they were written in “a new and completely special way”.
• he was able to give all four instruments an equal share of the musical discourse, in any movement where he chose to do so. Moreover, the so-called ‘working out’ is not confined to the development section. He takes any portion of the theme, any scrap of melody, any rhythmical phrase and extracts every ounce of meaning so that the whole structure is both tautened and expanded.
• One can perhaps put one’s finger upon the years immediately following the appearance of the Op.33 quartets as the point at which the string quartet, as such, became finally and universally recognized as a medium and genre of composition; for, while the 18 quartets preceding (Op.9, 17, and 20) had brought it into being, and had been working like a ferment among discerning musical minds in the intervening years, the Op.33 quartets appearing with all the force of Haydn’s behind them, attracted far more attention.

Question 13

How many string quartets did Mozart write and how can they be grouped?

Answer 13

• 23 string quartets

Groups
1. String Quartet No. 1 in G major, “Lodi”, K. 80/73f (1770)
2-7. Milanese Quartets
- String Quartet No. 2 in D major, K. 155/134a (1772)
- String Quartet No. 3 in G major, K. 156/134b (1772)
- String Quartet No. 4 in C major, K. 157 (1772–73)
- String Quartet No. 5 in F major, K. 158 (1772–73)
- String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, K. 159 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 7 in E-flat major, K. 160/159a (1773)
8-13. Viennese Quartets
- String Quartet No. 8 in F major, K. 168 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 9 in A major, K. 169 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 10 in C major, K. 170 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 11 in E-flat major, K. 171 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 12 in B-flat major, K. 172 (1773)
- String Quartet No. 13 in D minor, K. 173 (1773)
14-19. Haydn Quartets
- String Quartet No. 14 in G major, “Spring”, K. 387 (1782)
- String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421/417b (1783)
- String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat major, K. 428/421b (1783)
- String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major, “Hunt”, K. 458 (1784)
- String Quartet No. 18 in A major, K. 464 (1785)
- String Quartet No. 19 in C major, “Dissonance”, K. 465 (1785)
20. String Quartet No. 20 in D major, “Hoffmeister”, K. 499 (1786)
21-23. Prussian Quartets
- String Quartet No. 21 in D major, K. 575 (1789)
- String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat major, K. 589 (1790)
- String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590 (1790)

Question 14

Piece: string quartet by Mozart, 20.

Answer 14

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No.20 in D, “Hoffmeister”, K.499 (1786)

• It was published by – if not indeed written for – his friend Franz Anton Hoffmeister.
• The Quartet in D major, K. 499, was completed in the year of the opera The Marriage of Figaro, and is sandwiched between the six quartets he dedicated to Joseph Haydn (1782–5) and the following three Prussian Quartets (1789–90).
• 1. The first movement, in the customary tripartite classical sonata-form, opens with a principal theme that uses a descending figure based on the triad. The A major second subject makes intricate use of thematic and rhythmic motifs, developed in the central section.
• 2. The Minuet frames a D minor Trio with triplet figuration. It is often polyphonic in a way uncharacteristic of the earlier part of the classical music era. The menuetto and its trio give good examples of this in brief, with the brief irregular near-canon between first violin and viola in the second half of the main portion of the minuet, and the double imitations (between the violins, and between the viola and cello) going on in the trio.
• 3. The following G major Adagio opens with the violins in close partnership, before the first violin diverges into more elaborate rhythmic and melodic patterns in a movement in which the material is developed and the upper register of the first violin explored.
• 4. The quartet ends with an Allegro that starts in triplet rhythm, the opening figure raised in pitch after false starts that are contrary to expectation. The first theme is contrasted in rhythm with subsidiary thematic material.

Question 15

In which opus of Haydn’s string quartets does the cello part get more involved? How so?

Answer 15

• The cello part in the Op.20 quartets by Haydn feature a more involved cello part due to higher-register writing which often is the main melodic material. It is also more active rhythmically with very fast writing, on par with the speed of the upper strings.

String Quartet in D, Op. 20 “Sun”, No. 4, Hob.III:34 (1772)

• each movement contains at least one virtuosic or melodic passage for the cello
• variations movement: There is an entire cello variation which contains passagework covering a wide range and variety of melodic content.

Question 16

Piece: string quartet by Haydn, 72/1.

Answer 16

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet No.1 in C, Op.74, Hob.III:72, “Apponyi” quartets (1793)

• The Apponyi Quartets were Intended for public concert performance, and. are, therefore, markedly different in character from other quartets by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven.
• 1. The fourth Apponyi Quartet, Opus 74 No.1 in C major, begins with a short slow introduction, only two sustained chords, which is followed by the virtuosic chromatic principal theme which forms the basis of a monothematic movement. The cello part contains a few instances of fast material in a low register, which makes it difficult to play with a clear tone.
• 2. The G major slow movement has a gentle lilt which contains several pairings of instruments.
• 3. The Minuet and Trio recall thematic outlines from the first movement; an aspect which is a tribute to Haydn’s economical use of material. The minuet is boisterous with occasional sforzando hemiolas (every two beats for two measures). The A Major trio is marked mezzo voce with a sweet more lyrical character.
• 4. The brilliant final sonata form movement has a subtle admixture of counterpoint and a clear debt to earlier themes. It contains a tip-toeing tutti 8th note passage toward the opening of the movement marked staccato assai. There are a few moments of imitative entrances. There are very fast 16th runs in the cello part.

Question 18

Piece: string quartet by Haydn, 76/4.

Answer 18

• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in B♭, Op.76 “Erdödy” quartets, No.4 “Sunrise”, Hob.III:78 (1796–1797)
• Dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdödy.
• They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed.
• The Op. 76 quartets are among Haydn’s most ambitious chamber works, deviating more than their predecessors from standard sonata form and each emphasizing their thematic continuity through the seamless and near-continual exchange of motifs between instruments.
• 1. The fourth quartet of Opus 76, the Quartet in B Flat major, is generally known as The Sunrise, for no better reason than the suggestion of dawn as the first violin emerges from the sustained harmony of the other instruments in the first bars of the work, a process later to be inverted, as the cello ascends assumes the former role of the first violin while harmony is provided by the higher instruments of the quartet. For the cellist, it contains several passages of fast material in a low register, often with many string crossings, which is challenging for the performer to play with a clear tone.
• 2. The majestic E-flat major slow movement carries an intensity in which the first violin maintains an element of drama throughout.
• 3. The third movement returns to the tonic key, and is a rapid Minuet with a repeated 2-note 8th note theme. The first part of the Trio section contains A quasi-pastoral melody over a drone pitch with sudden dark changes of character in the minor mode.
• 4. The final rondo has varied episodes between iterations of the primary theme, including a passionately agitated variation of the primary theme in the minor mode. It is evidence of the imaginative humour that is so often a feature of Haydn’s music. From the beginning the melody contains much ornamentation, with grace notes and turns in several parts of the first phrase. It ends with an exhilarating coda, marked both initially Più allegro and later Più presto, which features hocket-like passages that pass potions of a single melody between different instruments.