Pioneers of the String Quartet. From top left to bottom right:
Luigi Boccherini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Joseph Haydn, Franz Xaver Richter.
Haydn’s string quartets are immensely more vigorous. Three sets of six were published in Paris between 1764 and 1769.[63] These first eighteen of his numerous works in this form had been written some ten years earlier, while Haydn was at the house of Joseph von Fürnberg in Weinzirl, near Melk, not far from Vienna. The young nobleman was an enthusiastic amateur of music and was accustomed to invite friends to his house to practise and play with him all sorts of chamber music. He suggested to Haydn, who had in some way become known to him, possibly by some early trios, that he write a string quartet. This Haydn did, and his music made such a favorable impression that the fame of it spread rapidly abroad. There followed seventeen more quartets, all written for the group of musicians whom Fürnberg had gathered round him. In this group were men who played the horn, the oboe, and the flute; and some of these first eighteen quartets were originally composed for strings and wind. The wind players were, however, unskillful, and Haydn contented himself for the most part in writing for only the four strings.
It is interesting to note that Haydn wrote these quartets as Cassations, Divertimenti, and Notturni;[64] a fact which goes far to show how loose was the terminology of instrumental music even as late as 1755. Cassation, divertimento, serenade, notturno, all meant about the same thing: a piece of music in several movements of light character, usually arranged for a band of both wind and string instruments. They differed from the sonata and from the growing symphony in number of movements. There were usually at least five. These early quartets of Haydn’s were printed in Paris as symphonies, symphony still being applicable to any piece of music written for more than three instruments.
It would seem, then, that Haydn wrote his quartets just to suit the requirements of a happy circumstance; that he had no idea of creating a new art form; that he applied to music for four instruments the principles of form with which he was already familiar through the works of Emanuel Bach, and which, moreover, were becoming more and more familiar to the world by reason of the popular fame of the Mannheim symphonies. But by this happy circumstance he came upon the special branch of music which to the end remained wholly fitting to his genius.
As to the special form of these first quartets there is little to say. The first twelve, with one exception, have five movements apiece. Of these, two are usually minuets. The first is usually in the sonata-form. The fifth quartet has three movements. It was undoubtedly not only originally conceived as a symphony, but was actually so played, and may, therefore, be called Haydn’s first symphony. Of the last six quartets four have four movements; the fourteenth has three and the sixteenth is the only one of Haydn’s quartets with but two movements. In this very first series, written for the pleasure of a music-loving young nobleman, Haydn found himself. They show each after the other a steady progress in the treatment of instruments, in the management of form; and, finally, seem to show a decision, henceforth maintained almost without exception, to limit the number of movements to four.
All are full of that spirit of joy and healthiness which has ever been associated with Haydn’s music in general. They introduced a new spirit into the art of music—the spirit of humor, sunny and naïve. On account of this they were welcomed in all the countries of Europe, and spread such general delight that before the middle of the ‘sixties Haydn was among the best known of all musicians. A Parisian publisher named Vénier included the first six of Haydn’s quartets in a series of works di varii autori which were published in Paris about 1764 with the motto: Les noms inconnus bons à connaître. In this series there were forty-six numbers, of which Haydn’s quartets formed the sixth. Other composers represented were Jomelli, Stamitz, Christian Bach and Boccherini.[65] By 1765 editions had appeared in Amsterdam and in London as well.
II
During the years Haydn lived at Esterhazy he composed between forty and fifty string quartets. These were published usually in groups of six, after 1781 by Artaria; and the appearance of a fresh set of Haydn’s quartets was announced in the papers of Vienna and Berlin, and was occasion for enthusiasm among the amateurs of most of the great capitals of Europe. It was the age of the string quartet, a time when amateurs and dilettanti, men of wealth and influence, often of culture, met at least once a week to play together. Musicians were everywhere in demand.
Haydn wrote six quartets (opus 9, Nos. 1-6) in the year 1769, numbers 21-26, inclusive, in Pohl’s index, and six more before 1771, numbers 27-32. In both these series the treatment of the first violin is conspicuous, and it is noteworthy that during these years he wrote most of his concertos for the violin. The first and last movements of the quartet in C major, No. 21 (opus 9, No. 1), seem to be almost solo music for the first violin, which not only introduces all the principal themes, but which in many pages adds brilliant ornament. In the first movement of No. 24 (opus 9, No. 4), in D minor, again one is reminded of a violin concerto. Likewise in the first movement of No. 22 (opus 9, No. 2), in E-flat major; and before the end of the slow movement in this quartet, which here, as in most of these two series, is the third movement, following the minuet, an elaborate cadenza is written out for the first violin. In the quartets Nos. 27-32 (opus 17, Nos. 1-6), such a brilliant treatment of the first violin is even more conspicuous. The other instruments play for the most part the rôle of accompaniment. The quartets are all in four movements and in the majority, as has been said, the minuet is the second movement and the slow movement is the third.