The integral engagement of ensemble members is assisted by the timbral simi-larity of the instruments and their capacity for dynamic shadings. But with these virtues come limitations. The quartet is obviously less well suited than an or-chestra for gaining momentum through sheer mass of sound, for generating sus-pense by a gradual increase in volume and density, or for marking a point of con-trast with a vivid change in sonority. Within the quartet’s more limited range of volume and color, it must enlist other means to achieve rhetorical force and ex-pressive accent: the dispersion of surface activity among rhythmically as well as
melodically independent parts contributes a vital source of intensity, especially in transition passages and development sections; and the device of withholding smaller note values for an extended span, only to unleash their energy full force at a crucial moment, serves to focus attention on progress toward major struc-tural landmarks. The complementary effect of a well-timed shift from short to long note values may brake a seemingly unstoppable surface momentum; and the disruptive silence of a general pause can provide a powerful source of emphasis.
Perhaps most impressive of all the quartet ensemble’s special resources is the ca-pacity for motivic development in which all four members participate.
As a virtually new genre in Haydn’s time, the quartet was in a position to borrow and absorb from the surrounding musical environment. Its combination of textural plasticity and timbral neutrality—not to mention its emerging role as a medium for connoisseurs, whose appetite for musical wit and intrigue must be satisfied—enhanced its suitability for stylistic allusion and imitation. The sym-phony, for example, whose public façade would appear to be the antithesis of a quartet’s drawing-room intimacy, served nonetheless as a model, sometimes with ironic intent. In addition to such obvious connections as the string-ensemble core, customary four-movement format, and affinity for the dialectic of sonata form, symphonic influence may be recognized in the occasional recourse to bold, texturally simple phrases in singing-allegro style,8the use of full-volume unisons, either for pronouncements or for consolidation and closure, and (specifically in Opp. 71/74 and 76/1) the device of an initial call to attention before the first movement’s exposition proper gets under way.
More pervasive are the quartets’ allusions to solo concerto and operatic aria, whose signature qualities of lyrical intensity, embellishment, and figural display Haydn had begun to explore in slow movements from the earliest quartets. From Op. 9 on, such elements flourish in first movements and to some degree in finales as well, most notably in connection with ritornello-like patterns of alternation between thematic statement and elaborate passagework.
Strict or ecclesiastical style, a recognized trait in chamber music by com-posers who catered to the conservative tastes of the imperial court, is less preva-lent in Haydn, although by no means absent altogether. Such elements as canon, invertible counterpoint, imitative entries, suspension chains, cantus firmus–like melodies in long note values, fugal episodes, and full-scale fugues contribute as emblems of learned discourse, technical stringency, and lofty sentiment.
Balancing the quartets’ absorption of elements from the realms of symphony, concerto, serious opera, and strict composition are their allusions to popular style, impressions of guileless spontaneity, and images of countryside music-making.
This opposing facet comes to the fore in the unembellished, singsong melodies found among secondary-key areas of first movements, in principal as well as sec-ondary or episodic material in rondo or rondo-like finales, or in dance move-ments, especially the trios. Often giving at least the impression of folk-music
deri-vation, such melodies may invite us to hear reflections of the composer’s own cultural background and his early musical experiences.9
Other relationships between Haydn’s quartets and the traditions on which they draw may be sought in the realm of tonal usage and key association. As rep-resented in table 2.1, Haydn’s repertory of home keys embraces a total of four-teen possibilities, with key signatures that range from four sharps (E) to four flats (F minor). Within this spectrum, he gravitates toward a familiar core of major tonalities with few accidentals (well more than half the quartets are in major keys with no more than two sharps or flats) while demonstrating a certain bias toward the flat side. Notable in this regard is the absence of the sharp-laden keys A and E from all but one of the post–Op. 20 sets.
Can correlations be drawn between a quartet’s key and its prevailing char-acter or topical associations? This proves to be an elusive factor, in part because of such obvious variables as tempo, surface activity, and thematic contrast; but certain provisional observations may be made if, for example, we limit our scope to aspects of temperament or imagery in a first movement’s opening thematic material.10Haydn’s quartets in C major often display qualities of textural light-ness and melodic simplicity at the outset (e.g., Opp. 33/3, 50/2, and 64/1) in ways that resonate with eighteenth-century associations of this key with purity and affective neutrality. Theorists’ identification of G major with liveliness, cheer, and lyricism resound in several quartets in that key, notably Opp. 9/3, 33/5, 54/1, and 64/4. The pompous, militaristic connotations of D major would seem to make this key less appropriate for string quartets than for symphonies, among which it does indeed appear more often. But several theorists connect D major with gai-ety instead of, or in addition to, martial qualities, and in so doing they suggest a resemblance between the key and its sharp-side neighbor, A, the latter key also linked to amorous passions. Here we can draw at least an oblique connection to Haydn’s way with both keys in his quartets. Opening gestures of those in D as well as A are variously characterized by flashy or high-strung brilliance (as in Opp.
55/1 in A or 71/2 in D, following the slow introduction), open-air hunting- or gigue-style topics in 68time (Opp. 9/6 and 20/6 in A, Op. 17/6 in D), or else a more lyrical, pastoral quality (Opp. 64/5 and 76/5, for example, both in D).
Broad distinctions may be drawn between Haydn’s approach to the keys just considered and the character of opening themes in his favored home keys on the flat side, Eand B. Here his usage tends to confirm theorists’ descriptions of the latter tonality (e.g., tender, self-effacing) by providing the tonal setting for rela-tively intimate, reflective, or informal modes of expression. Opp. 55/3 (B) and 64/6 (E) both convey an impression of serenity at the start, and the opening of Op. 33/2 (E) is marked by tuneful innocence. The primary theme of Op. 76/4/i (the “Sunrise,” in B) portrays a uniquely placid musical landscape; and Op.
50/1, also in B, has the most subdued beginning of all, leading off with two mea-sures of quietly throbbing quarter notes in the cello.
29
Key Opus: 0 1 2 9 17 20 33 42 50 54/55 64 71/74 76 77 103
E [10] • • • • • • • • • •
B [9] • • • • • • • • •
C [9] • • • • • • • • •
G [8] • • • • • • • •
D [8] • • • • • • • •
F [5] • • • • •
A [4] • • • •
E [3] • • •
Dm [4] • • • •
Gm [2] • •
Fm [2] • •
Bm [2] • •
Cm [1] •
F m [1] •
The key of E, encountered in Opp. 2/2, 17/1, and 54/3, represents Haydn’s outer limit on the sharp side; and to at least some degree, we can detect a ner-vous intensity in the opening movements of these quartets that accords with contemporary descriptions of the key as “sharp,” “fiery,” “noisy,” and “wild.” The relatively small number of works in F (five, widely scattered through the reper-tory) cannot be easily explained, given the location of this key within the sys-tem’s inner circle. Perhaps its neglect has to do with its apparent status as an in-between key, less suitable than D, say, for brilliant expression and also less closely linked with chamber style than Bor E.11
Haydn’s home keys in minor, denizens of a sometimes severe, dark, or un-stable realm, expand the available expressive range in several directions. Three minor keys on the flat side—D minor, C minor, and F minor—furnish the basis for opening themes that embody the gravity and melancholy traditionally asso-ciated with those keys. Haydn’s G minor (Opp. 20/3 and 74/3) proves to be less serious and more highly energized at the outset (contemporary descriptions make note of this key’s qualities of discontent, uneasiness, and agitation), whereas the openings of the two quartets in B minor (Opp. 33/1 and 64/2) both emphasize whimsy and ambivalence, the theorists’ allusions to this key’s gloom and artless-ness notwithstanding. Finally, the lone quartet in Fminor, Op. 50/4, resists any easy characterization: certainly serious, with its forbidding unison in the open-ing measures, but also marked by a rhythmic life and motivic zeal that flies in the face of the melancholy attributed to this key by eighteenth-century writers.12 (On the topic of minor tonality, additional mention might be made of Haydn’s aversion to the key of A minor: he has no quartets, symphonies, keyboard sonatas, or keyboard trios in this key, which Ribock describes in Cramer’s Magazin der Musik, 1783, as “the worst key of all, so sleepy, phlegmatic, that it should be per-haps the least used as a tonic.”)