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The
works
on this record
are two of the
best known of
all string
quartets,
although the
reasons for
their
popularity are
quite
different.
Haydn's
String Quartet
in C, Op. 76,
No. 3. known
as the
"Kaiser-Quartett"
(or in English
"Emperor"
Quartet) was
one of the
last quartets
to be written
by the then
65-year-old
composer. The
six quartets
of Op. 76 were
commissioned
by the
Hungarian
count and
Maecenas of
music - Joseph
Erdödy,
who paid Haydn
an honorarium
of 100 ducats;
but stipulated
that the works
were to be
exclusively
for his own
use for a
certain time.
They were not
published
therefore
until 1799.
The quartet
received this
nickname,
because for
the slow
movement Haydn
wrote a set of
variations
based on his
"Kaiserrhymne"
("Emperor's
Hymn"), which
was first
performed in
1797, with the
words: "Gott
erhalte Franz
den Kaiser"
("God preserve
the Emperor
Franz").
Because of
this, the
quartet has
unintentionally
acquired
political
associations,
which is most
unusual for an
intimate
chamber-music
form. The
motive for the
"Kaiserhymne,"
and the reason
for its
swiftly
spreading
acclaim was
the ominous
political
situation in
Austria.
Napoleon had
occupied part
of the
country, and
was advancing
towards Vienna
from Styria.
In the
capital, the so-called
"Wiener
Aufgebot"
("Viennese
Force") was
recruited, and
for a symbol
of the
national
resistence,
Haydn composed
the
"Kaiserhymne"
to a text by
the poet
Lorenz L.
Haschka. Since
the middle of
the nineteenth
century, this
melody with
Hoffmann von
Fallersleben's
text has also
served as
Germany's
national
anthem.
That
it meant more
to Haydn than
merely a piece
compose as a
patriotic duty
is shown by
its use within
the string
quartet. The
variation
movement
stands apart
from the other
three for
several
reasons: Haydn
treats the
song melody as
a cantus
firmus,
leaves it
substantially
intact and
only
decorates, or
writes round
it, as though
it has grown
sway from its
creator to
become a
symbolic
national
possession
which may not
be touched.
The first
movement,
which in
construction
and
particularly
in rhythmic
differentiation
is one of the
most complex
of Haydn's
later sonata
movements; the
lightly
pastoral Menuetto
with its
sighing
figures and
idyllic,
serene trio
and the
magnificent,
structurally
finely
balanced
finale,
whose dark C
minor only
clears to C
major at the
very end
- all of these
are part of
the
development of
Haydn's
independent
and
unmistakable
quartet style.
The variation
movement seems
to be almost
demonstratively
set apart,
like an
erratic
boulder, and
so, even
within the
quartet medium,
reatins its
function of a
political call
to action.
The
background
contemporary
history helped
Haydn's
quartet
towards its
fame and also
its nicjname.
Mozart's B
flat major
Quartet, K.
458, which
soon became
known as the
"Jagd-Quartett"
("The Hunt"
Quartet), is
more of a
light and
amiable work,
with some
pastoral
features.
Leopold
Mozart's
opinion that
it was "a
little on the
light side,
but splendidly
composed," is
accurate on
both counts.
The "hunt"
character,
which comes
from the key
and the 6/8
time, scarcely
predominantes.
If one listens
carefully,
there are even
moments, as
for instance
the
astoundingly
fast tempo,
certain abrupt
accents, and a
greatly
extended,
highly complex
coda, which
give the
mainly happy
character some
menacing
undertones.
Besides, the
two inner
movements, the
sad and
serious minuet
and the
intensely
pathetic Adagio,
with its
concertante
dialogue, in
which the
first violin
and cello are
almost
soloists, do
not fit into
the untroubled
atmosphere
suggested by
the nickname.
The "light"
character of
the quartet is
only
reaffirmed in
the finale,
which has many
technical
surprises to
offer, and sp
pften in the
six "Haydn"
Quartets, pays
secret homage
to the older
master.
As
to the fame of
the nicknames
- in
both quartets,
this has come
from one
particular,
and to a large
extent
superficial
point of the
technical
structure.
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