Strands of continuity are apparent in the way Haydn took pains to preserve ele-ments of his previous quartets’ cyclic designs, even as he exercised new alterna-tives (see table 10.1). The reaffirmation of an existing formula is most fully ex-pressed in the Equartet, Op. 20/1, whose overall profile seems not unlike that of Op. 9/1, for example, with its similar sequence of tempos and movement types.
Op. 20/6 in A may be cited for its intimate connections to both Opp. 9/6 and 17/6, at least in its opening and slow movements. All three cycles in ques-tion are in sharp keys (D or A), and the fast 68time with which they all begin stands in contrast to their pensive slow-movement soliloquies (situated in sec-ond place rather than third in Op. 20/6). The first movement of Op. 20/6 speci-fically recalls that of Op. 17/6 in highlighting the shift from major to minor in the course of both exposition and recapitulation; and impressions of a special bond between the two A major works, Opp. 9/6 and 20/6, are reinforced by a the-matic correspondence in the outer sections of their first movements: in both cases, comparably situated full cadences (mm. 41 and 123 in Op. 9/6/i, mm. 55 and 154 in Op. 20/6/i) serve to usher in a tuneful phrase whose relative simplicity helps ground the preceding action as the close of the section draws near (see ex.
10.1a and b).
In a particularly intriguing case of interopus correspondence, Haydn revisits the metrical uncertainty of a passage from the development section of Op. 17/5/i by building a more complex span of metrical disorientation into the outer sec-tions of Op. 20/3/i. Late in the exposition, a repetitive three-beat figure in the first violin suggests a momentary change from duple to triple meter (mm. 71–75), to be followed by a four-beat variant (mm. 75–77). But the accompanying chords in measures 73, 75, and 77 confuse the issue by reinforcing the pattern’s third (or fourth) beat instead of the perceived downbeat (ex. 10.2a). A corresponding, more extended passage in the recapitulation begins much like the first, adding to
180
Op.No. Hob.No. Movement
i ii iii iv
20/1 III:31 E Allegro moderato E /A 34Un poco allegretto A38Affettuoso e sostenuto E 24Presto
SF 106 M/T 44/22 SF 96 SF 160
20/2 III:32 C Moderato Cm Adagio C/Cm34Allegretto C68Allegro
SF 106 Nonstandard [Capriccio] 63 M/T 56/30 Fugue [Fuga a 4trosoggetti] 162
20/3 III:33 Gm24Allegro con spirto Gm/E 34Allegretto G34Poco adagio Gm Allegro di molto
SF 270 M/T 52/36 SF (irreg.) 113 SF 104
20/4 III:34 D34Allegro di molto Dm24Un poco adagio e affettuoso D34Allegretto D Presto e scherzando
SF 298 Strophic var. 122 M/T [Menuet alla zingarese] 20/16 SF 126
20/5 III:35 Fm Moderato Fm/F34 F68Adagio Fm
SF 159 M/T 53/46 SF 85 Fugue [Fuga a due soggetti] 184
20/6 III:36 A68Allegro di molto e scherzando E Adagio A34 A Allegro
SF 164 Large binary 79(r) M/T 20/22 Fugue [Fuga con 3 soggetti] 95
55
(b) Op. 20/6/i, mm. 55-59
42
e x a m p l e 1 0 . 1 (violin 1 only) (a) Op. 9/6/i, mm. 42–45
a superimposed triple meter the same unsettling discrepancy in accentuation be-tween melodic pattern and accompanying chords (mm. 218–25; the chords are marked by asterisks in fig. 10.1). Matters then become more complicated, and in fact almost Stravinsky-like, as the first violin deviates from the established figure—
shortening it by a beat (mm. 225–26), then extending the scalar descent by two beats (mm. 226–28). And yet at the same time (beginning in m. 226) a degree of metrical clarity emerges as the chordal accents coincide with the melodic line’s apparent downbeat (see ex. 10.2b). As shown in the example, the passage ends by trimming the figure to an initial upbeat plus upward leap (mm. 232–33), aug-menting the leap’s note values (m. 233) and reducing the distance between per-ceived downbeats. Reinstatement of the notated meter thus coincides with the liquidation of the recurrent metrically dissonant idea.
Other instances in which Haydn builds on the preceding quartets’ novelties involve tonal derailment and digression, as in the chromatic maze of the Op. 20/5 first-movement coda, whose sheer audacity recalls that of the adventurous Op.
17/3 Adagio. Here, in one of Haydn’s most inscrutable harmonic passages of all, the tonal detour transpires quietly, engulfed in a deceptive state of rhythmic and melodic calm (mm. 136–45). But its impact is unmistakable: by threatening to undermine tonal stability at the last moment, the precarious move to a far-fetched key (Bminor) lends rhetorical emphasis to the full-volume retrieval of tonic (m. 148) and to the summarizing thematic gestures with which the movement ends.
Equally important precedents for Op. 20 are found in the dance-movement trios of Opp. 9/1, 17/2, and 17/5, in which Haydn circumvents the standard prac-tice of a full close at the end of the second reprise. He now recalls the integrated-trio scheme on three occasions (Nos. 1, 2, and 3), although only that of No. 2 involves a straightforward dominant lead-in to the recurrence of the minuet. In the Op. 20/1 trio, integrative intentions are signaled by an anticipation of the minuet (mm. 62–66) that prevents the trio’s second reprise from coming to a full
(b) Op. 20/6/i, mm. 55–59
229 224
Vn2, Va, Vc
Vc Va 8va
74 Vn1, Vn2
Vc Va 70
Vn2 Vn1
(b) mm. 224-33
3 3
3 4
3 2 5
3 3
sopra una corda
sopra una corda
e x a m p l e 1 0 . 2 Op. 20/3/i (a) mm. 70–77
close. The foreshadowing gesture turns neither on the home-key dominant nor on V of vi, however, but on V65of ii (i.e., F minor, the relative minor of the trio):
a false connection at the point where a seamless junction was to have been ex-pected. The trio of Op. 20/3 is comparably peculiar, with an abbreviated second reprise that comes to rest on V of iv with respect to the home key (i.e., C minor, the relative minor of the trio, just as in Op. 20/1). One other dance movement
(b) mm. 224–33
merits mention in this context, that of Op. 20/5, in which minuet and trio are joined at the other end: a second ending at the close of the minuet proper elides with the start of the trio, so that the two connect without a break.