Classical Music Forum banner

Discussions Showcase Albums Media Media Comments Tags

1-20 of 80 Results
  1. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio III. Affetuoso e sostenuto IV. Finale. Presto I'm sure by now that if you've read my other Haydn op.20 blogs you'll know all about the genesis and composition of the Op.20 quartets so I'll get straight into the music. The...
  2. Blog
    I. Presto II. Menuetto - Trio III. Adagio IV. Menuetto - Trio V. Finale. Presto Aged 18, Haydn was mainly self-taught in music theory after learning the violin, reading and learning from choirmaster Fux's textbook 'Gradus ad Parnassum' and he had been a chorister in Vienna's St...
  3. Blog
    1. Allegretto - Allegro 2. Fantasia. Adagio 3. Menuetto. Presto 4. Finale. Allegro spirituoso The last quartet of Op. 76 is at once a strange but intriguing creation. The opening allegretto is a set of variations on a fairly simple (and not particularly interesting) theme. As with op.76/3...
  4. Blog
    I. Allegretto – Allegro II. Largo: Cantabile e mesto III Menuetto: Allegro IV Finale: Presto Dedicated to the Hungarian nobleman Count Joseph Georg von Erdődy, the fifth quartet in D Major has the nickname “Largo” after it's slow movement. The opening movement, Allegretto - allegro...
  5. Blog
    I. Allegro II. Poco Adagio, cantabile III. Menuetto - allegretto IV. Finale Presto Haydn's String Quartet In C Major, Op.76/3 derives it's name from the 2nd movement, a set of variations on the tune of the Austrian National Anthem 'God Save Emperor Franz' that Haydn wrote in 1797. The...
  6. Blog
    I. Vivace Assai II. Adagio III. Menuet. Allegro & Trio IV. Finale. Allegro Con Spirito By the time Haydn came to write his op.64 set of quartets he was in his late 50s and was famous and popular across Europe and especially loved in England. His op.64 set saw his music begin to...
  7. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Poco adagio III. Tempo di Menuet. Allegretto - Trio IV. Finale. Vivace Composed by in 1787, the op.50 set of six quartets was dedicated to King Frederick William II of Prussian. Before the bounding energy of the Frog quartet comes the lightest quartet...
  8. Blog
    I. Allegro con spirito II. Adagio sostenuto III. Menuet. Presto IV. Finale. Allegro ma non troppo It is nicknamed Jack-in-the-box after the humorously surprising coda of its finale. It consists of four movements. The first of tholese starts with with three bold, sharp, tutti...
  9. Blog
    I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Menuetto: Allegretto IV. Vivace Haydn's Op.71 quartets were composed in 1793, upon Haydn's return to Vienna, after his success in London. The first of these quartets begins with five thick fortissimo chords. Those initial chords return again but altered in...
  10. Classical Music Discussion
    Context: I am, one might say, a classicist? A classical era fanatic? I have spent the previous decade of my life delving deep into the vast and wonderful repertoire of the classical era. So many wonderful composers. From Cimarosa and Cherubini to Stamitz and Salieri. JC Bach: However no one’s...
  11. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Andantino grazioso III. Menuetto. Allegretto IV. Finale. Vivace Invited to London by the violinist Johann Salomon (the guy who had presented Haydn’s Op. 64 String Quartets at a public concert in 1791) Haydn began writing more music for a concert series...
  12. Blog
    I. Allegro spiritoso II. Andante grazioso III. Menuetto. Allegretto IV. Finale. Presto Composed in 1793 and published 3 years later, Haydn's Op.74 quartets were specifically composed for the spacious Hanover Square Rooms in London. Although larger in some respects (bold...
  13. Blog
    I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Menuetto : allegretto IV. Adagio - Presto - Adagio Building on his success in Paris, Haydn wrote a set of 6 string quartets in 1788, dedicating them to Johann Tost, violinist in his Esterhazy orchestra (there's a bigger story but I won't go into it). These were...
  14. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Menuetto - Trio III. Adagio cantabile IV. Finale. Presto Written around 1769, Haydn's Op 9 quartets came 10 years after his previous batch of quartets and are regarded by some (not me) as his first "mature" quartets as they began to demonstrate...
  15. Blog
    I. Moderato II. Menuet. Allegretto - Trio III. Adagio IV. Finale. Presto Returning to string quartets after a lay-off, Haydn remarkably issued three sets of quartets in 3 years (Opus. 9, 17, and 20). Still classed as 'divertimenti a quattro' the op.9 and 17 quartets were...
  16. Blog
    1. Andante più tosto allegretto 2. Allegro 3. Menuetto: Allegretto 4. Presto In 1789, the London publisher John Bland was in Vienna in search of new works. During a visit to see Haydn he allegedly found the composer attempting to have a shave. "I would give my best quartet for a good razor!"...
  17. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Menuetto. Presto ma non troppo III. Andante IV. Finale. Vivace assai Haydn started writing his op.77 set of quartets in 1799, for Prince Lobkowitz, and by July 1799 he had finished two of the quartets, hoping to complete the projected 6 quartets over...
  18. Blog
    I. Allegro II. Poco adagio III. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito Haydn wrote his set of 6 op.50 quartets sometime around 1787 and dedicated the set belatedly to the King of Prussia, William Frederick II (a cello player). These "Prussian" quartets are lovely...
  19. Blog
    I. Andante ed innocentemente II. Menuetto: allegro-trio III. Adagio e cantabile IV. Finale: Presto Check out this incendiary live performance from the Quartetto Nous. Wish this was available on disc! Haydn wrote to the Viennese publishers, Antaria, in 1784 stating that he was working on 3...
  20. Blog
    I. Allegro moderato II. Adagio cantabile III. Menuetto. Allegretto IV. Finale. Vivace The six string quartets, Op. 64, were the last Haydn wrote in his time as an employee of the Esterhazy Court. Now in his late 50s, Haydn was receiving a pension at this time and was...
1-20 of 80 Results
Top