Track listings

String Quartet in D Op.20 no.4

1. Allegro di molto
2. Un poco adagio e affettuoso
3. Menuet alla Zingarese - Allegretto
4. Presto e scherzando

String Quartet in D Op.50 no.6 'Frog'

5. Allegro
6. Poco adagio
7. Menuetto – Allegretto
8. Finale – Allegro con spirito

String Quartet in D minor Op.76 no.2 'Fifths'

9. Allegro
10. Andante o piu tosto allegretto
11. Menuet - Allegro
12. Finale – Vivace assai

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Matthew Denton – violin
Michelle Fleming – violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin – viola
Emma Denton – cello

CD notes

Over a period of 40 years Haydn wrote some 83 string quartets, just as remarkable in quality as in quantity. Early biographers of Haydn suggest that his first string quartets were written in place of the usual string trio, when an extra viola player was present at Baron von Furnberg’s country estate. Op 20 no.4 is part of a set of six quartets completed in 1772 known as the ‘Sun’ quartets due to the emblem of a rising sun that appeared on early editions. The set are of pivotal importance in the history of the Viennese classical style. As Donald Tovey said: “With Op 20 the historical development of Haydn’s quartets reaches its goal; and further progress is not progress in any historical sense, but simply the difference between one masterpiece and the next”. The music is also divided more equally between the four instruments with the viola and cello in particular given more independence. The second movement is a set of four variations on a theme in D minor and is the first slow movement Haydn writes in variation form. The minuet, in a vigorous gypsy style, leads into a 'smiling' trio with cello solo. The elements of gypsy music are carried through to the last movement with its rhythmic unpredictability and high spirits.

Under the employment of the Esterhazy family, Haydn lived at their palace in Austro-Hungary away from the cultural centre of Vienna. "I was cut off from the world. There was no one near to torment me or make me doubt myself, and so I had to become original." Op.50 no.6 (1787) the 'Frog' gets its name from the croaking effect achieved by a technique called bariolage; a high speed repetition of the same note on adjacent strings. Haydn uses this in the last movement and this unique sound has also inspired other nick names including 'The row in Vienna' and 'House on fire!'. The first movement starts with a typical 'Haydnesque' joke, taking a standard closing phrase and turning it into an unsettled opening. Immediately in evidence are the increased technical demands placed on the first violin and the complex counterpoint between all four instruments. A sombre slow movement in the style of a sicilienne is followed by a jumping minuet full of dotted rhythms and Scotch snaps. The original manuscripts for the last four quartets in the Op.50 set (on which this recording is based), were found in 1982 after a concert in Melbourne, Australia. Conductor Christopher Hogwood was approached by a lady carrying them in a shopping bag!

Haydn began writing the six Op.76 quartets in 1796 at the same time he was writing The Creation. Op.76 no.2 takes its nickname from the opening theme of repeated falling fifths, a motif that is passed around all the instruments. The opening stormy Allegro in the key of D minor, is followed by a charming Andante in D major. The opening theme in the first violin is accompanied by pizzicato strumming and provides the basis for a series of ornate variations. The third movement is an extraordinary canon for two voices, with the violins pitted against the viola and cello and is also known as the 'witches' minuet .The last movement opens in the minor with the spirit of a Hungarian folk dance and concludes joyously in the major.

Recorded at St.Swithun’s Church, Leonard Stanley 2006 Recorded by Thomas Hewitt Jones

Label : Carducci Classics