String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)

Haydn Op. 20 violin I title page published 1774 by Chevardière in Paris (first edition)

The six string quartets Op. 20 by Joseph Haydn are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet".[1] The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next 200 years.[2][3][4][5]

The quartets were composed in 1772 at a time of tensions in Haydn's life, and also when Haydn was influenced by new philosophical and political ideas sweeping Europe. Some analysts see the impact of these emotions and ideas on the quartets.[6]

  1. ^ Adolfo Betti, "Quartet: its origins and development", in Cobbett 1929. The first use of this expression is earlier than this, but its origin is unknown.
  2. ^ Ron Drummond, "An Essay Inspired by the Quartet for Strings in F Minor, Opus 20, No. 5", ClassicalNet (1999)
  3. ^ Tovey, in Cobbett (1929), p. 533
  4. ^ Pohl, in Grove's (1946), p. 583.
  5. ^ Solomon (1980), p. 116.
  6. ^ See, for example, Geiringer (1982), Tovey (1929).