The Classical Music Book

124

J

oseph Haydn invented the

string quartet. Why he

settled on the combination

of two violins, viola, and cello is not

certain, but it may be that their

individual pitch registers closely

reflect the voices in a choir. The

instruments, and the musicians to

play them, would also have been

readily available at the Hungarian

court of the Esterházy family, where

Haydn was composer-in-residence.

The standard chamber music

grouping before Haydn was the

trio sonata, in which a keyboard

instrument was joined by two high-

melody instruments (violin or flute),

with a continuo instrument, such

as a cello, doubling the bass line of

the keyboard. Haydn’s inspired use

of four instruments of the string

family effectively modernized an

older tradition that Henry Purcell

had developed a century earlier

with his String Fantasias for up to

six voices, performed on viols.

Enhanced sound

Haydn benefited from the great

strides that had been made in

instrument-making, epitomized

in Italy by the Amati family,

Antonio Stradivari, Francesco

Rugeri, and the Guarneri family.

More responsive violins, violas,

and cellos were exciting both to

composers and players. Haydn was

also interested in the advances in

bow-making. Earlier bows had to

stay close to the string, releasing

sounds in a sustained manner; by

“bouncing” the new bow off the

string, a quick, almost percussive

sound could be produced, as Haydn

shows in the finale of his Op. 33, C

major quartet (1781).

The sound-carrying qualities

of these new instruments and

techniques eventually spurred the

composition of chamber music that

could be performed in large concert

halls and not just in private salons.

Original, emotive works

The emotional expressiveness of

Haydn’s mature work links it to the

German Sturm und Drang (Storm

and Stress) artistic movement.

For Haydn, the string quartet was

the perfect vehicle for extreme

emotional contrasts designed to

shock the audience. His early

accomplished quartets include

Op. 9, which he later declared

was the true starting point of

his quartet compositions, and

Joseph Haydn Spanning the Baroque and

Classical periods, Joseph

Haydn was a key figure in

the development of the Classical

style. Born in Lower Austria in

1732 to parents of modest means,

he was a musically gifted child

and attended a cathedral choir

school in Vienna from the age of

eight. His early music, including

some string quartets, was first

published in Paris in 1764.

Haydn’s employment from

1761 to 1790 at Esterházy

Palace, in Hungary, cemented

his reputation as a composer. He

later traveled to many musical

capitals, most notably to London

where his compositions were in

great demand. After the London

Symphonies (93–104), Haydn

wrote only six Masses and two

oratorios. In his last public

appearance, he conducted The

Seven Last Words in December

1803. He died quietly at home
      in Vienna in 1809.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRING QUARTET

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Development of the

string quartet

BEFORE

1198 Pérotin’s motet

Viderunt omnes establishes

the practice of composing

for four voices—the basis

of the string quartet.

16th–17th centuries Early

pieces for string quartets

include Gregorio Allegri’s

fou r-pa r t Sinfonia and

Alessandro Scarlatti’s Sonate a

quattro, but the standard form

of chamber music was the trio

sonata, usually for two violins

and basso continuo.

AFTER

1890s Inspired by Haydn,

London concert promoter

Johann Peter Salomon brought

string quartets out of private

drawing rooms and into public

concert halls.

Other key works

1768 Symphony No. 49

1795 Piano trio No. 24 in D major

1797–1798 The Creation

1798 Nelson Mass

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