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JOSEPH HAYDN Quartet in G major, Op. 76, No. 1 Vera Quartet Performed on Thursday, January 23, 2019 Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia Joseph Haydn earned the label “the father of the string quartet” thanks to his masterful development of this musical form over his entirety of his career, writing more than sixty quartets. Haydn spent most of his life working for the nobility, and initially experimented with this ensemble to provide background music for parties. Gradually he elevated the form, texture, and substance of the string quartet so that it could emerge from the background to center stage, commanding the attention of the audience with its symphonic scope. The Opus 76 quartets were written toward the end of Haydn’s life, after he had achieved great success and fame, and are hailed as some of his greatest quartet masterworks. The first quartet of the set claims the listener’s attention from its very opening, with three declamatory chords in the Allegro con spirito. Haydn keeps the surprises coming: the cello and viola are in the forefront with solos, building to duos, until finally all four instruments join together. The Adagio sostenuto is an ode to Haydn’s vocal compositions of the same period, as the melody sings in a hymn-like texture, eventually leading to the energetic Menuet: Presto. He saves one final surprise for the Finale: Allegro ma non troppo by beginning the movement in G minor and building tension, only to return to the original key and end as he began: with the same three triumphant chords that opened the quartet. —Hannah Horine Learn more about this work: #CurtisIsHere
