Franz Joseph Haydn

String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)

The six string quartets Op. 20 by Joseph Haydn 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

The quartets#

The set of quartets, along with their incipits are shown below in order of Haydn’s own catalog .

No. 1 in E major#

Minuetto: Allegretto \tempo 4 = 120 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative es’ \key es \major \time 3/4 \partial 4 es8.( \f g16) bes4-. bes( es) d4( bes) bes8.( d16) es4-. es( g) as2 as,,4 \p g4( as bes) c4( d es) f2 d8.( bes16) es4 r \bar “: .” Affettuoso e sostenuto \tempo 8 = 100 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative as’ \key as \major \time 3/8 as4.~ _\markup \italic “mezza voce” as4 des8 c8( des f) es8( des c) \appoggiatura c16 bes8( as g) as4.~ as4 des,8 \appoggiatura c16 as'4.~ as4 des8 c8( des f) es8( des c) bes8( f’ as,) g8( es’ d) Finale: Presto \tempo 4 = 144 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative bes’ \key es \major \time 2/4 \partial 8 bes8-. \p c8( bes as g) f4. as8-. g8( es’) bes-. bes-. c8( bes as g) f4.( as16 f) es4 r

No. 2 in C major#

\layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8) Adagio \tempo 4 = 54 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative c’ \key c \minor \time 4/4 c4 \f es b8-. g’-. r b c8. bes!16 as8.( \trill g32 as) bes8-. bes,-. r bes’-. g8.( \trill f32 g) as8 as,16. as'32 f8.( \trill es32 f) g8 g,16. f'32 es16. d32 c16. bes32 as8.( \trill g32 as) g8-. g’-. r4 \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8) Minuetto: Allegretto \tempo 4 = 144 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative e \key c \major \time 3/4 r r » \oneVoice \acciaccatura g'8 f16( \f e f g) a4( g f) \acciaccatura g8 f4( e dis) dis2.-> Fuga a quattro soggetti \tempo 4. = 96 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative g’ \key c \major \time 6/8 r8 _\markup \italic “sempre sotto voce” g g g’( fis f) e8 c b a4 d8 g,4 c8 f, f’ f f8 g16( f e d) e8 e,16( f e d) c4 r8

No. 3 in G minor#

Minuetto: Allegretto \tempo 4 = 120 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative d’ \key g \minor \time 3/4 \partial 4 d4 \f bes'4( a) g-. g4 g g c4-. c( d) es2 es4 \trill d4 r d, bes'4( a) g-. g4-. g( a) bes4( d) d-. f2 e4 \trill d4 r \bar “: .” Poco adagio \tempo 4 = 66 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative g’ \key g \major \time 3/4 g4 _\markup \italic “mezza voce” b( d) d8( c a c) b4 e4( fis) g8.( b,16) d8( c) \trill b4 r a4 c( e) d4( c) b8( g’) fis16( e d c) b4 d16( c b a) a4( b8) r r4 \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8) Finale: Allegro di molto \tempo 4 = 132 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \key g \minor \time 4/4 \partial 8 > \oneVoice \relative d d8( c!) a’ g,-. fis-. g-. a-. bes-. d8( c) c'4

No. 4 in D major#

Un poco adagio e affettuoso \tempo 4 = 48 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative a’ \key d \minor \time 2/4 \partial 8 a8 _\markup \musicglyph #“p” \italic “dolce” d4 e8( f) cis8( d) bes4 a8( d16. d,32) e8.( f32 g) g32( f e d) d8 r a’ d4 e8(( f16.) a,32) bes4. g'16.( bes,32) a8(( bes16.) g32-.) f8( e16. g64 e) f4 r8 \bar “: .” \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8) Allegretto alla zingarese \tempo 4 = 132 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative a’ \key d \major \time 3/4 \partial 4 a4 \f d4 e2 \fz fis4 g e~ \fz e4 cis2 \fz a2 \fz gis8 e a4 a2 \fz gis8 e a4 gis8 e a4 b8( d b gis) a4 r \bar “: .” Presto scherzando \tempo 4 = 132 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative a \key d \major \time 4/4 \partial 8 a8 _\markup \italic “mezza voce” fis16( g a fis) g8-. e-. d16( cis b a) b8-. cis-. d4( \ e-.) ! r8 fis g16( a b g) e8-. g-. g16( fis e d) cis8-. d-. e4( > gis, a-.) ! r8

No. 5 in F minor#

Minuetto \tempo 4 = 150 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative c \key f \minor \time 3/4 c2.~ \f c4( bes) g f4( f’) f f2 e4 c2 \p \acciaccatura es!8 des8( c) c4-.( c-. c-.) c2 \acciaccatura es8 des8( c) f4( bes,) as~ as4 g( f) es2( \f d4) es4( d es) Adagio \tempo 8 = 112 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative c \key f \major \time 6/8 c8.( _\markup \italic “mezza voce” d16 c8) c8( d a) bes8.( c16) bes8) bes4 r8 bes8.( c16 bes8) bes8( d g,) a8.( bes16 a8) a4 r8 f'8.( g16 f8) g( a bes) e,8.( f16 e8) f4 r8 d8.( cis16 d8) d( c bes) a8.( bes16 g8) f4 r8 \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 2/8) Finale: Fuga a due soggetti \tempo 2 = 120 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative c \key f \minor \time 2/2 c1 ^“Vl. 2” _\markup \italic “sempre sotto voce” f,2 des’ e,1 f2. g8( as bes4) c des2~ des4 c8 bes as4 g as2 r

No. 6 in A major#

Adagio, cantabile \tempo 4 = 60 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative b’ \key e \major \time 2/2 b2.( _\markup \italic “mezza voce” dis4) e8( b) b2( dis4) e16( dis fis e gis fis e dis cis b a gis fis e dis e ) cis'4-. b-. r2 a2~ a8 a( \turn cis fis,) gis2~ gis8 gis( \turn e’ gis,) fis4.( gis16 a) cis,4( dis) dis8( e) r4 r2 \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/4) Minuetto: Allegretto \tempo 4 = 132 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative a’ \key a \major \time 3/4 a2. \f gis8( a b a cis cis,) e2( d4 \trill ) cis4 r fis'16( e d e fis4) d-. cis-. cis8( b a gis) a4 gis8( e’ b'4-.) b-. b4-. r r \bar “: .” Fuga a tre soggetti. Allegro \tempo 4 = 132 \set Score.tempoHideNote=##t \set Staff.midiInstrument = “violin” \relative e \key a \major \time 4/4 > \layout \context \Score \override SpacingSpanner.common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8)

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 to the Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, a great lover of music. Haydn presided over the busy musical life of the court, producing operas, oratorios, 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 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 found twice in the directions for the tempo of slow movements can be applied to the whole opus”, writes Geiringer. Haydn chooses minor keys for two of the quartets, unusual in a time when 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. 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 expounded a philosophy of human freedom and a return to nature. Poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller espoused the new Sturm und Drang 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 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’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. 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 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 in Vienna. The most commonly used Urtext edition is by Eulenburg, published in the 1880s.

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; “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’s Third Symphony would 33 years later”. The musicologist Cliff Eisen contextualizes the op. 20 quartets as follows: “Haydn’s quartets of the late 1760s and early 1770s opp. 9, 17 and 20 are high points in the early history of the quartet. Characterized by a wide range of textures, frequent asymmetries 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:

Use of counterpoint#

The fugal finales of three of the six quartets are Haydn’s statement of rejection of the galante. 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 inversion. “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. Haydn’s fugal finales are not the only use of counterpoint 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 countersubjects 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 for the string quartet, they effectively establish fugue texture from henceforth as a normal resource of sonata style”.

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. Another example is in the slow movement of the fourth quartet, in D major. This movement is a set of variations, written in D minor; the first variation is a duet between viola and second violin, and the third variation is a solo for cello. According to Tovey, much of this equality of voices is achieved through the use of counterpoint. Fugue texture “is a most important resource as a type of instrumentation. Obviously it solves the problem of equality in quartet-writing by a drastic return to Nature, and puts the four instruments where the voices were when all harmony was counterpoint.” However, some scholars argue by pointing to earlier works such as the Opus 5 string quartets (1756) of Franz Xaver Richter, Haydn was not the first to achieve such “equality of voices” in string quartets.

Structural innovations#

With the opus 20 quartets, Haydn moved forward the development of the sonata form. A movement written in sonata form has an exposition, where the themes and motifs of the movement are presented; a development 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. 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 played forte. 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”.

Length and symmetry of phrases#

Haydn experiments with asymmetrical phrases and syncopations. 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 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 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 scherzos.

No. 1 in E major#

While the first movement is in straightforward sonata-allegro form, Haydn nonetheless breaks with the standard quartet model of the period. The second theme of the exposition 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 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, 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, with the first violin carrying the melody throughout. The finale, marked presto, is built on a six-measure phrase, with extensive use of syncopations 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 is heard by Haydn as he hears the cantabile of the ‘cello”, writes Tovey. The movement is markedly chromatic; 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, 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 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. “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. 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.

Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn