Page 126 - (DK) The Classical Music Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained
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124 DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRING QUARTET
oseph Haydn invented the Rugeri, and the Guarneri family.
IN CONTEXT string quartet. Why he More responsive violins, violas,
J settled on the combination and cellos were exciting both to
FOCUS of two violins, viola, and cello is not composers and players. Haydn was
Development of the certain, but it may be that their also interested in the advances in
string quartet
individual pitch registers closely bow-making. Earlier bows had to
BEFORE reflect the voices in a choir. The stay close to the string, releasing
1198 Pérotin’s motet instruments, and the musicians to sounds in a sustained manner; by
Viderunt omnes establishes play them, would also have been “bouncing” the new bow off the
the practice of composing readily available at the Hungarian string, a quick, almost percussive
for four voices—the basis court of the Esterházy family, where sound could be produced, as Haydn
of the string quartet. Haydn was composer-in-residence. shows in the finale of his Op. 33, C
The standard chamber music major quartet (1781).
16th–17th centuries Early grouping before Haydn was the The sound-carrying qualities
pieces for string quartets trio sonata, in which a keyboard of these new instruments and
include Gregorio Allegri’s instrument was joined by two high- techniques eventually spurred the
four-part Sinfonia and melody instruments (violin or flute), composition of chamber music that
Alessandro Scarlatti’s Sonate a with a continuo instrument, such could be performed in large concert
quattro, but the standard form as a cello, doubling the bass line of halls and not just in private salons.
of chamber music was the trio the keyboard. Haydn’s inspired use
sonata, usually for two violins of four instruments of the string Original, emotive works
and basso continuo. family effectively modernized an The emotional expressiveness of
older tradition that Henry Purcell Haydn’s mature work links it to the
AFTER had developed a century earlier German Sturm und Drang (Storm
1890s Inspired by Haydn, with his String Fantasias for up to and Stress) artistic movement.
London concert promoter six voices, performed on viols. For Haydn, the string quartet was
Johann Peter Salomon brought the perfect vehicle for extreme
string quartets out of private Enhanced sound emotional contrasts designed to
drawing rooms and into public Haydn benefited from the great shock the audience. His early
concert halls. strides that had been made in accomplished quartets include
instrument-making, epitomized Op. 9, which he later declared
in Italy by the Amati family, was the true starting point of
Antonio Stradivari, Francesco his quartet compositions, and
Joseph Haydn Spanning the Baroque and capitals, most notably to London
Classical periods, Joseph where his compositions were in
Haydn was a key figure in great demand. After the London
the development of the Classical Symphonies (93–104), Haydn
style. Born in Lower Austria in wrote only six Masses and two
1732 to parents of modest means, oratorios. In his last public
he was a musically gifted child appearance, he conducted The
and attended a cathedral choir Seven Last Words in December
school in Vienna from the age of 1803. He died quietly at home
eight. His early music, including in Vienna in 1809.
some string quartets, was first
published in Paris in 1764. Other key works
Haydn’s employment from
1761 to 1790 at Esterházy 1768 Symphony No. 49
Palace, in Hungary, cemented 1795 Piano trio No. 24 in D major
his reputation as a composer. He 1797–1798 The Creation
later traveled to many musical 1798 Nelson Mass
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