String Quartets of Franz Josef Haydn
String quartets consist of 1st and 2nd Violins, Viola and Violoncello (Cello). Haydn is often credited with being the father of the string quartet. This may not be true as far as the instrumentation, but he is one of the first to explore it as more than
a solo violin with a trio accompaniment. There are 68 or so of which we know. Here are there Opus numbers and Hoboken numbers along with their nicknames.
The Quartets
- Op.0 (1757) not counted since it was found after the opus numbers were assigned.
- Op.1 (1757-1758)
- no."0", Hob.II:6, in E-flat
- no.1, Hob.III:1, in B-flat
- no.2, Hob.III:2, in E-flat
- no.3, Hob.III:3, in D
- no.4, Hob.III:4, in G
- no.5, Hob.III:5, in B-flat, spurious
- no.6, Hob.III:6, in C
- Op.2 (1759-1761)
- no.1, Hob.III:7, in D
- no.2, Hob.III:8, in G, also in a form for String Trio an d Lute in D major.
- no.3, Hob.III:9, in E-flat, spurious
- no.4, Hob.III:10, in F
- no.5, Hob.III:11, in D, spurious
- no.6, Hob.III:12, in B-flat
- Op.3 no.1-6, are now believed to be the work of P.R. Hoffstetter.
- no.1, Hob.III:13, in E
- no.2, Hob.III:14, in C
- no.3, Hob.III:15, in G
- no.4, Hob.III:16, in B-flat
- no.5, Hob.III:17, in F, "Serenade"
- no.6, Hob.III:18, in A
- Op.9, (1769)
- no.1, Hob.III:19, in C
- no.2, Hob.III:20, in E-flat
- no.3, Hob.III:21, in G
- no.4, Hob.III:22, in d minor
- no.5, Hob.III:23, in B-flat
- no.6, Hob.III:24, in A
- Op.17, (1771)
- no.1, Hob.III:25, in E
- no.2, Hob.III:26, in F
- no.3, Hob.III:27, in E-flat
- no.4, Hob.III:28, in c minor
- no.5, Hob.III:29, in G, "Recitative"
- no.6 ,Hob.III:30, in D
- Op.20, (1772), "Sonnenquartette"
- no.1, Hob.III:31, in E-flat
- no.2, Hob.III:32, in C
- no.3, Hob.III:33, in g minor
- no.4, Hob.III:34, in D
- no.5, Hob.III:35, in f minor
- no.6, Hob.III:36, in A
- Op.33, (1781) "The Russian Quartets", "Jungfernquartette", dedicated to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, also distinguished by the fact that all the minuet movements are scherzi instead, leading to the other name for this opus "Gli Scherzi."
- no.1, Hob.III:37, in b minor
- no.2, Hob.III:38, in E-flat, "The Joke"
- no.3, Hob.III:39, in C, "The Bird", "Vogel"
- no.4, Hob.III:40, in B
- no.5, Hob.III:41, in G, "How do you do?"
- no.6, Hob.III:42, in D
- Op.42, (1785) in d minor, Hob.III:43. Possibly the one remaining of an originally set of three.
- Op.50, (1787), "The Prussian Quartets", dedicated to the King of Prussia
- no.1, Hob.III:44, in B-Flat
- no.2, Hob.III:45, in C
- no.3, Hob.III:46, in E-flat
- no.4, Hob.III:47, in f-sharp minor
- no.5, Hob.III:48, in F, "The Dream", "Ein Traum"
- no.6, Hob.III:49, in D, "The Frog"
- Op.51, Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erloesers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Christ), (1786-1787). Sting quartet version. The work is broken into seven sonatas, each a mediation on one of the last utterances. There are also 2 interlud
es, that come at the beginning and end of the work.
- no.1, Hob.III:50, Introduction, "Pater, dimitte illis, non enim sciunt, quid faciunt."
- no.2, Hob.III:51, "Amen dico tibi: hodie mecum eris in paradiso."
- no.3, Hob.III:52, "Mulier, ecce filius tuus, et tu, ecce mater tua!"
- no.4, Hob.III:53, "Eli, Eli, lama asabthani?"
- no.5, Hob.III:54, "Sitio"
- no.6, Hob.III:55, "Consummatum est!"
- no.7, Hob.III:56, "Pater! In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum," The Earthquake
- Op.54, (1788), "The Tost Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:57, in C
- no.2, Hob.III:58, in G
- no.3, Hob.III:59, in E
- Op.55, (1788), "The Tost Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:60, in A
- no.2, Hob.III:61, in f minor, "The Razor"
- no.3, Hob.III:62, in B-flat
- Op.64, (1790), "The Tost Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:63, in C
- no.2, Hob.III:64, in b minor
- no.3, Hob.III:65, in B-flat
- no.4, Hob.III:66, in G
- no.5, Hob.III:67, in D, "The Lark"
- no.6, Hob.III:68, in E-flat
- Op.71, (1793), "The Apponyi Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:69, in B-flat
- no.2, Hob.III:70, in D
- no.3, Hob.III:71, in E-flat
- Op.74, (1793), "The Apponyi Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:72, in C
- no.2, Hob.III:73, in F, "The Military"
- no.3, Hob.III:74, in g minor, "The Rider" or "The Horseman", "Reiterquartett"
- Op.76, (1797), "The Erdody Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:75, in G
- no.2, Hob.III:76, in d minor,, "Fifths"
- no.3, Hob.III:77, in C, "The Emperor", "Kaiserquartett", "Empereur"
- no.4, Hob.III:78, in B-flat, "Sunrise", "Sonnenaufgang"
- no.5, Hob.III:79, in D, with the "Graveyard Largo"
- no.6, Hob.III:80, in E-flat, with the "Fantasia"
- Op.77, (1799), "The Lubkowitz Quartets"
- no.1, Hob.III:81, in G, "The Compliment Quartet"
- no.2, Hob.III:82, in F
- Op.103, (1803), Hob.III:83, in d minor, is a fragment, central movements only.
Still under construction.
Any comments or corrections welcome. Please send me a message: smorita@umich.edu
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