Haydn Quartets (Mozart) - Form and Content

Form and Content

The Classical string quartet form was created by Joseph Haydn in the late 1750s. He is described as the "father" of the string quartet because in his total of sixty-eight quartets he developed this genre into its first maturity. The string quartet features four parts for two violins, viola and cello. Its function was designed for private or semi-private performances in the aristocratic salon or middle-class parlor.

The form of the "Haydn" Quartets follows the standard set by Haydn in the 1770s. At this time, the quartet began to consistently have four movements, like the symphony form. The basic form of the six "Haydn" Quartets is as follows, with the second and third movements interchangeable in different works:

• First movement: Allegro in sonata form
• Second movement: Adagio or Andante in sonata form
• Third movement: Minuetto and Trio
• Fourth movement: Allegro in sonata, rondo, or variation form

The slow movement of these works, found in either the second or third movements, are highlighted as the "emotional center" of each quartet. They feature rich cantabile melodic writing with thematic multiplicity and embellishment that displays a departure from the Haydnesque mode.

The quartets also feature a wide range of emotional content from the Sturm und Drang of No. 15 in D minor, to the tonal mysteriousness of the openings of No. 16 in E-flat major, and No. 19 in C major, the "Dissonance", and then to the opera buffa styled light-heartedness in the finale of No. 17 in B-flat major, the "Hunt".