Two in each work, variously assigned to first, middle, or last position, the quar-tets’ fast movements abound in beat-marking rhythmic patterns and melodic materials that derive mostly from triadic, scalar, repeated-note, or neighbor-note gestures. Simple meters prevail (24and83), although Haydn does choose the greater metrical complexity of 68for three first movements (Op. 1/1 and 6; Op. 2/4).
The full-fledged sonata forms with which most of the quartets begin and end include polished models of structural cohesion as well as thematic contrast and diversity. The first violin naturally bears chief melodic responsibility, and yet the other instruments participate thematically in dialogues and partnerships that re-inforce the logic of an unfolding design. The first movement of Op. 1/4 illustrates both the thematic resourcefulness of these forms and the liveliness of their tex-tures. As shown in example 8.1, the primary theme alone displays a wealth of inter-actions. The initial resonance of double stops in the first violin, supported by chord roots in the cello, echoes in the inner parts’ slurred afterbeats (mm. 1–4).
A competitive exchange of triple-stopped chords between the violins intensifies
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the designated forms, “r” denotes the presence of one or more written-out repeats.)
Op.No. Hob.No. Movement
i ii iii iv v
0 II:6 E24Presto E/Cm34 B Adagio E34 E24Presto
SF 92 M/T 28/32 SF 76 M/T 32/30 SF 74
1/1 III:1 B68Presto B/E34 E Adagio B34 B24Presto
SF 62 M/T* 34/28 Binary 42 M/T 26/16 SF 68
1/2 III:2 E38Allegro molto E/B34 B Adagio E/Cm34 E24Presto
SF (irreg.) 128 M/T 28/30 Rounded binary 26 M/T 26/30 SF 78
1/3 III:3 D34Adagio D/G34 D/Dm24Presto D/Dm34 D/Bm38Presto
SF 88 M/T 20/24 ABA Da capo [Scherzo] 24/31 M/T 28/24 ABA Da capo 50/48
1/4 III:4 G38Presto G/Gm34 CAdagio ma non tanto G/Gm34 G/Em24Presto
SF 158 M/T 30/28 SF 42 M/T 26/32 ABA Da capo 71/28
1/6 III:6 C68Presto assai C/F34 G24Adagio C/Cm34 C24Allegro
SF 64 M/T 36/20 SF (irreg.) 62 M/T 32/40 SF 76
2/1 III:7 A24Allegro A/Am34 D24Adagio A34 A24Allegro molto
SF 110 M/T 24/28 SF 72 M/T 26/16 SF 79
2/2 III:8 E24Allegro molto E/Em34 AAdagio E/Em34 E24Presto
SF 124 M/T 24/30 SF 42 M/T 32/30 SF 123
2/4 III:10 F68Presto F/B34 Fm 34Adagio F/B34Allegretto F24Allegro
SF (irreg.) 86 M/T 36/28 SF 92 M/T 20/22 SF 76
2/6 III:12 B24Adagio B/E34 E/A24Presto B/Bm34 B38Presto
Strophic var. 120(r) M/T 35/24 ABA Da capo [Scherzo] 42/16 M/T 28/16 SF 75
*The designation for trio is “Minuet secondo.”
7 11 Vn1
Vc Va Presto
Vn2
5
e x a m p l e 8 . 1 Op. 1/4/i, mm. 1–12
the discourse (mm. 5–8); the lower parts then withdraw in order to spotlight a rhythmically accelerated solo flourish (mm. 9–10), and finally all parts join to form a cadence (mm. 11–12).
A different kind of ensemble play animates the open-ended counterstate-ment that follows: after a replica of the opening four measures (13–16), the in-struments gather on the downbeat of measure 17 for a loud tonic chord, intensi-fied by triple stops in the inner parts, and this surge of energy and volume signals the start of a new phase of action. Spirited into the orbit of the dominant, the first violin and viola take off in dialogue (mm. 18–25), exchanging an arpeggiated sixteenth-note figure, which they pass to the second violin (mm. 26–32) for yet another timbral contrast before the first violin jumps back into the fray, sound-ing high above the others prior to the descent to a full cadence in the new key at measure 40. At this juncture, the complexion changes again as the ensemble pulls back to pianissimo. The lower parts mimic the violins’ impertinent, paired eighth-note asides (mm. 42–44), and the air of conspiracy then deepens as an in-flected sixth scale degree hints at a turn to the minor. After a moment of breath-less suspense, crowned by a fermata in measure 48, a new sonority breaks the spell: a rising four-part unison (m. 49, repeated in m. 53), an emblem of consol-idation as the exposition nears its conclusion.
The development section pursues the theme of rapidly changing ensemble relationship by interspersing recollections of previous dialogues and points of contrast with strident unison interjections (mm. 59–100). And the recapitula-tion, having begun with an almost literal recurrence of the movement’s opening
phrases, confronts us with a major sonority-related surprise at measure 117: a loud subdominant chord, so fully scored that it engages no fewer than ten of the upper instruments’ twelve strings. This is a stroke of rhetorical exaggeration, as well as a fitting culmination to the pattern of ever more dense, multistring chords:
double stops at the outset; alternating triple stops in the second phrase; fuller-voiced sonority at measure 17 with triple stops in the two inner parts; then fi-nally this magnified equivalent of that earlier chord, comparably positioned as a springboard for the transition theme’s dialoguing figuration.
Can distinctions be drawn between the fast opening movements and the character of their corresponding finales? The latter tend to focus on a narrower range of thematic contrast, and their accent on surface momentum readily sug-gests a headlong rush to the finish. Key differences in quality and function are inscribed to some extent in the outer movements’ opening ideas, generally more expansive in first movements, more compact in finales. Op. 0, exemplifying this trait, begins with an unaccompanied announcement by the first violin: a signal that the quartet’s narrative is about to begin. The second violin joins two mea-sures later, to be followed by the two lower instruments in turn, each taking the same introductory bow. It is not until the middle of measure 10 that all parts sound together, and not until measure 15 that we have a sense of the ensemble’s full engagement in a rhythmically and melodically continuous discourse. The fi-nale, by contrast, brings all four parts into play at the outset, presents a scurrying thematic idea in sixteenth notes as early as measure 2 (pointedly different from the first movement’s initial quarter- and eighth-note pace), and launches into a steady stream of sixteenths as early as measure 10.
Whether fashioned to begin the cycle or draw it to a close, the sonata form movements mostly resemble one another with respect to overall structure, with expositions separated from the remainder of the movement by standard binary repeats, generally sizable development sections, and recapitulations whose order of events proves usually at least roughly comparable, and in some cases nearly identical, to that of the opening section. Several of the first movements do sur-prise, however, by digressing from the normal procedure and substituting an al-ternative logic.
This is clearly the case in Op. 2/4/i (F major), whose exposition is followed by an initial stretch of development, fourteen measures long, that ends with a jolt (m. 48). A half cadence in the supertonic at this point, emphasized by a round of chordal impacts, is dramatized by a general pause in measure 49—an early ex-ample of Haydn’s using this device to accentuate a moment of suspense or struc-tural punctuation (see fig. 8.1). Could what follows be the start of the recapitu-lation? The preceding span of development seems brief relative to the length of the exposition (thirty-four measures), and the V of ii chord on which motion has come to a stop tells us that expectations of a return to tonic are premature. The pause is too emphatic to be heard as a mere breathing space, however; in fact, the course of events that follows sends mixed signals, recalling the opening of the
14 23 29 35 45 50 57 65 75 81 86
exposition while at the same time pointedly evading tonic: first by shifting to the subdominant, B(securing a bifocal connection to the preceding half cadence—
V of G minor to B), then passing through several other keys before settling on a half cadence in F (m. 64). At this point, we can hear allusions to primary theme material, tethered to a dominant pedal, but not until the return of the second-ary theme at measure 75 is the home key reaffirmed. Basic sonata form elements are accounted for, but the dynamic intersection of key and theme is such that reentry into the orbit of tonic is postponed to the last twenty-three measures—
not much more than a quarter of the movement’s total length.8
How can we best interpret such formal idiosyncrasies, which seem poten-tially baffling when viewed next to the more predictable opening movements?
Although the design just examined may be a stylistic aberration when measured against the norms of late-eighteenth-century sonata form, it might not neces-sarily have seemed so to Haydn’s mid-century contemporaries; and the composer himself, far from attempting to perplex or astonish, may instead have been ex-ploring ways to individualize the logic of a first-movement form by complicating (and perhaps thereby validating) an inherently straightforward principle of close correspondence between outer sections.