Franz Joseph Haydn The Man; His String Quartets - macleanmusic

Franz Joseph Haydn
The Man; His String Quartets; His Form.
Haydn: The man
Dates: 1732-1809
Nationality:
Education:
Humour:
Austrian, born in Rohrau
Studied in VIENNA at St. Stephen’s cathedral as a chorister and violin student.
Haydn was well-known for his sense of humour. Once, while studying at St.
Stephen’s, he cut the pigtail off the chorister in front of him and was expelled!
Career/Life Highlights:
Influence and contributions:
Haydn’s main patron was Hungarian Esterházy family. He worked for this family
loyally for 30 years! He conducted, trained musicians, composed, taught music to the
family and co-ordinated the musical life of the palace. He stayed so long because this
family allowed him to experiment with music. Haydn eventually retired to Vienna
and died there during the French invasion of the city at the age of 77.
• Haydn’s positive attitude and sense of humour made him a favourite among
musicians. Mozart looked up to Haydn as a mentor and called him “Papa Haydn”.
• Haydn’s most illustrious pupil, Beethoven, was the direct beneficiary of the elder
master’s musical imagination, though the two often had a stormy relationship.
• Haydn expanded the orchestra to emphasize the brass, clarinet, and percussion
sections. He wrote 108 (!!) symphonies between 1759-1795.
• His 40 keyboard sonatas contained creative melodies, humour, lightness, and
challenging rhythms.
• Perhaps his greatest sacred work was his oratorio The Creation. He combined
melodies of folk songs with deep, optimistic religious conviction.
• Haydn is truly the father of the modern string quartet. The balance he achieved
between instruments, each taking turns in playing the melody and supporting each
other, was not yet achieved by anyone else and laid the ground work for Mozart and
Beethoven.

The String Quartet
The string quartet is an intimate form of music. In Haydn’s time string quartets weren’t written to be
played in large concert halls, but in small household settings. Often families would play string
quartets together in the evenings.
The typical string quartet has 2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 cello.
The structure is similar to the classical symphony. It has 4 movements: the first and last movements
are typically fast and in sonata-allegro form, the 2 nd movement is a slower movement, 3 rd movement
is typically a minuet and trio.
Let’s look at mv’t 1 and 2 of Haydn’s String Quartet in C major op. 76 no. 3 “The Emperor.
1 st movement
Sonata-allegro form. Allegro tempo. C major. Common time.
Sonata-Allegro Form
Sonata-allegro form is used in first and often last movements of many classical symphonies, quartets,
and keyboard sonatas.
It looks like this: AABA
• Exposition (A): The main melody in the tonic key. A bridge that take us to a secondary key
and a second, often contrasting, theme. The exposition is repeated.
• Development (B): Where material from the exposition is changed or experimented with.
This is where the composer’s creativity can come to life.
• Recapitulation (A): Return of the two themes from the exposition, both in the tonic key this
time. The movement ends with a coda (Italian meaning “tail”).
Let’s listen to the first movement of The Emperor using our house diagram to follow the form.

2 nd movement
Theme and variations. 2/2 time. Poco adagio. G major.
The theme is based on the hymn “God Preserve the Emperor Francis”. Hence the nickname for the
quartet “The Emperor”!
The theme is below. In your listening logs, describe the 4 variations. Indicate which instrument has
the theme and how the theme has been altered.