IV. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
While this movement does not reach the heights of lyric beauty attained by Mozart in the Andante which we shall analyze in a moment, it is, nevertheless, a thoroughly interesting and really beautiful piece of music. Our attention is constantly enlisted by fresh glimpses of the theme, or by new harmonies; the ornamentation all grows naturally out of the structure and is not laid on for its own sake, and the melody itself is expressive and tender. Furthermore, the themes and their treatment are characterized by a perfect adaptability to the string quartet, for even in the pianoforte version, we can observe how interesting is the part given to each instrument. Here, just as in a perfect story or a perfect poem, there is nothing redundant, nothing that has not some part in the main purpose of the work. And this combination of placid beauty with perfection of form makes what is called the "Classic" in music. Especially do we find here an entire absence of those perfunctory passages that occur in the movement of the "Surprise" Symphony discussed in the last chapter.
Taken as a whole, this piece is immeasurably finer than any movement of its kind produced up to that time, save alone those of Mozart; and the advance is not only in method but in the essence of the idea itself. There is a geniality and warmth about this music that marks a new era. Bach was more profound, but more isolated; here we have simple human sentiment and a kind of na?e charm that distinguished Haydn's music from that of all other composers.