String Quartets, Op. 76 (Haydn)
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[edit] Background
Joseph Haydn's Opus 76 string quartets, composed between the years of 1786 and 1787, were commissioned by and dedicated to Count Joseph Erdody. The Opus, which consists of six quartets, marks the last complete set of quartets that Haydn composed. At this time of the commission, Haydn was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II, where he was working on his yearly mass (music) for Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy as well as his monumental oratorio, The Creation.
Although the quartets were completed by 1797, proven by documented accounts of visitors hearing Haydn perform these quartets in early 1797, they were not published until 1799. Letter correspondences between Haydn and his publishers reveal that there was confusion regarding the release of his quartets; the composer promised a London publication, Messrs. Longman Clementi & Co., first publishing rights, but a lack of communication with the firm led Haydn to worry that a Vienna publication might accidentally release the complete set of quartets first, causing him to lose money from London.
[edit] Compositional Aspects
Haydn's Opus 76 quartets are generally regarded as his most ambitious chamber works. Notably, Haydn places an emphasis on thematic continuity, seamlessly and continually passing motives from one instrument to another (Grave 312). Also unique in this opus of quartets is Haydn's deviance from the standard sonata form, as seen in the first movements of Quartets No. 64 and 65.
[edit] List of Opus 76 quartets
- Quartet No. 60 in G Major, Op. 76, No. 1, FHE No. 40, Hoboken No. III:75
- Quartet No. 61 in D Minor ("Quinten", "Fifths", "The Donkey"), Op. 76, No. 2, FHE No. 41, Hoboken No. III:76
- Quartet No. 62 in C Major ("Emperor"), Op. 76, No. 3, FHE No. 42, Hoboken No. III:77
- Quartet No. 63 in B♭ Major ("Sunrise"), Op. 76, No. 4, FHE No. 49, Hoboken No. III:78
- Quartet No. 64 in D Major ("Largo"), Op. 76, No. 5, FHE No. 50, Hoboken No. III:79
- Quartet No. 65 in E♭ Major, Op. 76, No. 6, FHE No. 51, Hoboken No. III:80
[edit] Opus 76 No. 1
The Quartet No. 60 in G major, also known as Op. 76, no. 1, consists of four movements:
In this quartet, Haydn deals primarily with a home tonality rather than a home key. Although its title indicates that the work is in G major, much of flows in and out of G minor--the key signature for the last movement is even set for G minor (Keller 208).
The first movement, set in G Major, cut time, is written in sonata form. After a short introduction, the exposition begins in measure 3, ending in the dominant key of D major in measure 88. The development section lasts from measure 89-139, with the recapitulation beginning in G major in measure 140.
The second movement, in 2/4 time, is in the key of C major and is written in sonata form.
The third movement, written in G major and 3/4 time, is in standard Minuet and Trio form.
The fourth movement, in G minor and cut time, is written in sonata form.
[edit] Opus 76 No. 2
The Quartet No. 61 in D minor, also known as Op. 76, no. 2, is commonly known as Quinten (or Fifths) due to the falling fifth intervals that start the quartet. The quartet consists of four movements:
- I. Allegro
- II. Andante o piú tosto allegretto
- III. Menuetto. Allegro ma non troppo
- IV. Vivace assai
Like his Quartet No. 60, Haydn explores more of a home tonality than a home key.
The forms, keys, and time signatures of the movements are as follows:
The first movement is in D minor, common time and sonata form.
The second movement is a ternary variation movement in D major and 6/8 time.
The minuet and trio are in D minor and D major respectively. Both are in 3/4 time. The minuet consists of two voices, the two violins as one voice and the viola/cello as the other with both pairs playing in octaves. The lower instruments echo the violins one measure later creating a canon. This effect, coupled with the minor key, as earned this movement the subtitle Witches' Minuet.
The finale is in D minor/D major, 2/4 time and in sonata rondo form.
[edit] Opus 76 No. 3
The Quartet No. 62 in C major, also known as Op. 76, no. 3, boasts the nickname Emperor, because in the second movement, Haydn quotes the melody from Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser ("God Save Emperor Francis"), an anthem he wrote for Emperor Francis II. The quartet consists of four movements:
The first movement of the quartet is in the home key of C major, in common time, and is written in sonata form. The second movement, in G major cut time, is in strophic variation form, with the "Emperor's Hymn" as the theme. The third movement, in C major and A minor, is a standard minuet and trio. The fourth movement, in C minor and C Major, is in sonata form.
[edit] Opus 76 No. 4
The Quartet No. 63 in B flat major, also known as Opus 76, no. 4, is nicknamed Sunrise due to the rising theme over sustained chords that begins the quartet. It consists of four movements:
[edit] Analysis of the first movement
[edit] Exposition
The opening of the movement begins in a way that seemingly contradicts the allegro con spirito marking. Violin II, viola, and cello sustain a tonic chord while the first violin plays the melody (the "sunrise" motif) on top. In measure 7, the same instruments sustain a dominant 7th chord while the first violin again plays a rising solo on top. In measure 22, all instruments reach forte, and allegro con spirito character is apparent through the 16th-note movement and lively staccato eighth-notes trading off between the parts. In measure 37, the opening sunrise theme returns, this time with the solo in the cello and the sustained chords in the violins and viola. The lively 16th-note section returns in measure 50, beginning with 16th-notes in the cello which move to the viola, and finally, the violins. In measure 60, all instruments drop to piano for a six-measure staccato eighth-note section before jumping to an all 16th-note ff in measure 66 to finish off the exposition.
[edit] Development
The development in measure 69 begins with the same texture as does the opening of the movement--with the 2nd violin, viola, and cello sustaining a chord while the 1st violin plays a solo on top. The first chord, sustained from bars 69-72, is a C flat dominant 7th, the V/V of the tonic B flat. The second chord, sustained from bars 75-79, is an F sharp diminished seventh chord, resolving to G minor in measure 80, which signifies the return of trading moving 16th-notes. The following 5 measures revolve around G minor, only to modulate to E flat major in measure 86. The major tonality lasts but two measures, as it shifts to F minor in measure 88, F sharp diminished in 89, and G minor in measure 90. In measure 96, the violins play staccato eighth-notes followed by eighth note rests, while the viola and cello fill in the violins' eighth note rests with their own eighth notes. This sets up a pattern for the rest of the development section, in which one instrument, mainly the 1st violin (in measures 98-102), fills in an eighth-rest with a lone eighth-note, thus giving each measure a steady eighth-note pulse. Throughout this section, the dynamic gradually drops from forte to pianissimo by means of a poco a poco decrescendo. When the pianissimo is finally reached in measure 105, the retransition to the recapitulation begins, ending on the dominant seventh chord (F) of the original key, B flat Major.
[edit] Recapitulation
In measure 108, the beginning of the recapitulation begins just as the beginning of the exposition does--the 2nd violin, viola, and cello sustaining a tonic chord while the 1st violin plays the sunrise motif above it. In measure 135, the allegro con spirito 16th-note section returns in the 1st violin, punctuated by staccato eighth-notes in the other instruments. The 16th-notes trade off to the 2nd violin, culminating in an all-instrument unison in measure 140. After this, the opening theme returns again, with the solo line beginning with the cello and moving up through the viola to the 2nd violin. In measure 151, all strings crescendo to the returning 16th-note theme in measure 152. In measure 162, the staccato eighth-note trade-off section returns, in the tonic key and piano dynamic. A fortissimo appears in measure 172, beginning the lead into the I7 chord fermata. Beginning in the following measure, the viola, and two violins pass each other the opening sunrise motif for a measure at a time, while the remaining instruments sustain chords. The tonic returns in measure 181, with a brief teaser of the staccato eighth-note theme, to be replaced by the 16th-notes played by all instruments in the fortissimo dynamic. In the final three bars, all four instruments play a succession of tonic B flat major chords.
[edit] Opus 76 No. 5
The Quartet No. 64 in D major, also known as Op. 76, No. 5, is sometimes nicknamed Largo because the second movement with that tempo distinction dominates the quartet both in length and in character. The work consists of four movements:
The first movement (in D Major, 6/8 time) is not in sonata form, but in a combination of ternary and variation form (Heller 224). The second movement, written in F sharp major in cut time, is in sonata form. The third movement, in D major and D minor, is a standard minuet and trio, while the fourth movement's D Major, cut time Presto is in an irregular sonata form (Grave 305).
[edit] Opus 76 No. 6
The Quartet No. 65 in E flat major, also known as Op. 76, no. 6, consists of four movements:
The first movement, written in 2/4 time, is in the strophic variation form.
The second movement is a 3/4 time Fantasia written in the key of B minor. According to Keller, author of The Great Haydn Quartets, the composer quotes in a different key his own second movement from Op. 76, no. 4 "Sunrise" Quartet. Indeed, the two basic motifs are identical aside from the difference in key signature: the first violin begins on the note of the key in each, goes down a half step, and returns to the original note in both movements, all under a slur in 3/4 time. Additionally, in both pieces, the viola and cello play in slurred succession the notes in the 3rd, 4th, 3rd and 1st, 2nd, 1st scale degrees, respectively. All of this occurs while the 2nd violin holds the 5th scale degree for the duration of the measure.
The third movement is written in an old minuet form in which an Alternativo section replaces the more common trio. The alternativo section is built upon a series of ascending and descending iambic scales.
The finale, in 3/4 time, is in sonata form.
[edit] References
- Barrett-Ayres, Reginald. Joseph Haydn and the String Quartet. New York: Schirmer Books, 1974. 297-312.
- Berger, Melvin. Guide to Chamber Music. New York: Dover, 1985. 217-224.
- Grave, Floyd, and Margaret Grave. The String Quartets of Joseph Haydn. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. 301-322.
- Keller, Hans. The Great Haydn Quartets: Their Interpretation. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1986. 208-234.
- Webster, James: 'Haydn, (Franz) Joseph', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [20 March 2007]), [1]
