The Op. 33 represent the 'new and special way' in quartet writing that Haydn famously advertised to his publishers. Written 9 years after the op. 20, these quartets differ in a significant number of ways. Baroque counterpoint is almost entirely absent, replaced by what Rosen calls 'Classical counterpoint', which is a clever working of motivic material in the melodies and accompaniments so that the two intermingle and swap. This involves a different kind of melody, which in these are usually made up of very short motifs. On the larger scale, whereas the op. 20 were (as a general characterisation) dark and expansive, these may be said to be light-hearted yet concentrated, generally shorter than their predecessors.
I'm planning on skipping straight to the op. 50, and doing a thread at the end to cover the op. 42 and Seven Last Words along with the very late ones.
For these I like the Angeles as well as any. There is, however, a runaway favorite among the HIP fanciers in my 'crowd' - the set by the Apponyi Quartet.
Had to vote for 'How do you do?', although it was hard to decide between it and No. 1 in B minor. I love the opening phrase with its classic Haydn humour, but the whole quartet is great.
I haven't joined in the polls about Haydn quartets launched by Ramako, but I thank him. There are many "string quartets" out there (including luminaries such as Glass, Ferneyhough et al ...) but as a string player I have to say there are few things that bring greater joy than a Haydn quartet. I place on an equal footing Mozart, Beethoven and Bartok. I could add Borodin, Debussy and continue the list, but at a pinch it is Joseph and Ludwig. At a further, final pinch, it has to be Joseph. No, Ludwig. OK, Joe and Louis. Final word.
I like 'em all, and have been quite happy with the Kodaly Quartet - I'm sure there are better recordings out there, but I find the Kodaly Quartet very satisfying.
I love the scherzo in that quartet, contrasts very well with the lively first movement and with the more lyrical adagio. We get a lot of variety in that one .
I have the Casals recording for this lot and find it by and large excellent: I haven't felt the need to look for additional performances yet. I have the buchberger as well already, but find it cumbersome in comparison.
I actually find the Buchberger to be very good for this set - in my opinion, the Buchberger quartet excels at the conversational aspect of quartet playing, which fits Op. 33 - but I'd have to listen to the Casals to compare the two .
This shows you how good Haydn gets when he publishes. No quartet opus is better - the b minor, the Joke, the Bird, all really good. I voted for the Joke because all of its movements are of high standards, but I could have voted for any one of those three.
Any opinions on the Quatuor Mosaics Opus 33? I have and love their Opus 77 and Opus 20. I have a lot of other versions, but am interested in checking out Mosaiques, but it's so expensive.
Recently I got the Parkanyi disc with 1, 6, and 4 from opus 33 and 42. Really great sound and performance. Berkshire Record Outlet has a number of excellent Haydn sets at discount prices, including the aforementioned.
I voted b minor.
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