J. Haydn: "The Lark" String Quartet in D-major, Op.64, No.5

 

J. Haydn

(1732~1809)

 

"The Lark" String Quartet in D-major, Op.64, No.5

 

Una Stanic violin
Vesna Stankovic-Moffatt violin
Hartmut Pascher viola
Marianne Bruckner cello

                

01. Allegro moderato
02. Adagio (cantabile)
03. Menuetto (Allegretto)
04. Finale (Vivace)

This is one of the most popular of a dozen quartets composed in 1788 and 1790, especially for Joseph Tost, the principal second violinist in Haydn's Esterhazá orchestra. It pays tribute to Tost's creativity and virtuosity, noted especially in his high register, right at the beginning. Over a rather square accompaniment, the first violin presents the high-flying, birdlike, melismatic melody from which this quartet takes its nickname.

 

This soaring theme vies for prominence in the opening Allegro moderato with several other ideas, including a highly syncopated tune and a more nervous melody with scalar motion, all put through a tense development in remote keys. The "lark" gets the last word, though, appearing almost as an afterthought at the very end of the movement.

The Adagio consists of singing in introspective major-key sections framing a central episode in a minor key, a structure typical of Haydn's slow movements. The ensuing Minuet (Allegretto) has all the rhythmic impulse the Adagio intentionally lacks, and calls to mind a playful German folk dance. Again, the central trio veers into the minor mode, slipping from D major to D minor. The finale (Vivace) is a whirling perpetual-motion piece, a tour de force for Tost and his fellow players. Haydn manages to insert a central fugato section amid all the rapid figures and flurries that emphasize the ensemble's sheer panache.

 

 

John Michael Fox, violin
Katie Wolfe, violin
Melinda Daetsch, viola
Peter Kempter, cello

Recorded at Sala San Paolo, Assisi, Italy.

Assisi Performing Arts - Annual music festival bringing together musicians from around the world in the medieval town of Assisi, Italy.=============================================

Joseph Haydn's string quartets, Op. 64 is a set of six string quartets composed in 1790. Along with six earlier quartets published under the opus numbers 54 and 55, they are known as the Tost quartets, after the Hungarian violinist and later merchant Johann Tost who helped Haydn find a publisher for the works. Unlike the earlier quartets, Haydn actually dedicated the Op. 64 set to Tost in gratitude for his efforts.

 

List of Opus 64 quartets

• Quartet No. 48 in C major, Op. 64, No. 1, FHE No. 31, Hoboken No. III:65
• Quartet No. 49 in B minor, Op. 64, No. 2, FHE No. 32, Hoboken No. III:68
• Quartet No. 50 in B♭ major, Op. 64, No. 3, FHE No. 33, Hoboken No. III:67
• Quartet No. 51 in G major, Op. 64, No. 4, FHE No. 34, Hoboken No. III:66
• Quartet No. 52 in E♭ major, Op. 64, No. 6, FHE No. 36, Hoboken No. III:64
• Quartet No. 53 in D major ("The Lark"), Op. 64, No. 5, FHE No. 35, Hoboken No. III:63