Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was the key contributor to the development of the string quartet. Personally, I feel that music by Mozart and Beethoven would have developed quite differently had Haydn not pioneered this form of composition.
On this CD, we get to listen to:
Haydn: String Quartets Opp 54 and 55
As performed from the 1789 London edition published by Longman and Broderip.
Haydn:
String Quartet, Op. 54 No. 1 in G major
String Quartet, Op. 54 No. 2 in C major
String Quartet, Op. 54 No. 3 in E major
String Quartet, Op. 55 No. 1 in A major
String Quartet, Op. 55 No. 2 in F minor ‘The Razor’
String Quartet, Op. 55 No. 3 in B major
As performed by The London Haydn Quartet
The six great quartets published in 1788 as Opp 54 and 55 are really amazing.
The Observer wrote recently:
“These period instrument players, whose very name declares their affinity for Haydn, excel in the latest in their Hyperion series. Ever spry in fast movements, faultless in dexterity and intonation, they find a special warmth of feeling in the slower moments…too many pleasures to enumerate. Try for yourself.”
Here are some extracts from this lovely recording:
