Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer: Quatuor Hanson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Aparté
Catalogue: AP213
Release: 2019
Size: 2.09 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Quartet No. 6 in D Major, Op. 50 “The Frog”
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Poco adagio
03. III. Menuetto. Allegretto
04. IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito
String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 76 “Fifths”
05. I. Allegro
06. II. Andante o più tosto allegretto
07. III. Menuet. Allegro ma non troppo
08. IV. Finale. Vivace assai
String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 54
09. I. Vivace
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Menuetto. Allegretto
12. IV. Finale. Adagio. Presto. Adagio
String Quartet No. 5 in G Major, Op. 33 “How do you do ?”
13. I. Vivace assai
14. II. Largo e cantabile
15. III. Scherzo. Allegro
16. IV. Finale. Allegretto.
String Quartet No. 5 in F Minor, Op. 20
17. I. Moderato
18. II. Menuet
19. III. Adagio
20. IV. Finale. Fuga e due soggetti
String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 77
21. I. Allegro moderato
22. II. Menuet. Presto
23. III. Andante
24. IV. Finale. Vivace assai
“All shall not die” echoes the quotation engraved on Joseph Haydn’s stele, in Vienna: Non omnis moriar. This latine epitaph claims the immortality of the artist through his work, which remains eternal.
Recording these quartets is surely a way to pay tribute to the great figure of the classic era Haydn was but it also ensures the musical legacy of the man who not only built the foundations of the genre but also explored the variety of its ways.
Through the birth of the genre to the beginnings of the romanticism, the six pieces chosen by the Hanson Quartet unearth the rich inventiveness of his work, both lyrical, baroque, playful and dramatic. Whereas the young musicians enjoy playing with their listeners’ expectations, as Haydn did himself, shaping the musical form to their desires, their musical phrasing owes much to the historic recordings.
With this first recording, the four musicians show how much they resemble Haydn: audacious, rebellious and inspired.
Six quartets: six works that are key to understanding what Joseph Haydn brought to western music. This effort by the Quatuor Hanson is particularly successful because they are past masters in constructing and expressing the soul of this subtle art. And what’s more, they bring it off with a fascinating level of instrumental skill. Listening to this piece, we have to bow down once again before the genius of a composer who, along with Boccherini, invented a new genre and immediately studded it with masterpieces of staggering quality.
Judiciously picked out from among Haydn’s vast corpus, these six quartets are touching both in their expressiveness and in the perfection of their writing. Not a single note out of place, a perfect balance of four voices and inspired right from the first moment up to the incomplete closing Opus 77, which was a contemporary of Beethoven’s first Quartets, Op. 18 – works that betray the lessons their writer learned from his master.
More than two hundred years after his death, Haydn has only just found recognition as one of the greats, although he had been accorded that status during his life. But his works for keyboards, the symphonies, the oratorios, and to a lesser extent, the operas, speak in his favour. More than a forerunner, Haydn is a founder, a genius whose influence was felt by those who came after him, foremost amongst whom Beethoven and Schubert. This splendid album puts him (back) in his rightful place.