Analysis of Haydn’s String Quartet: Op. 76, No. 4, in B-flat Major “Sunrise”
Haydn composed his Op. 74 quartets in the later years of his life between 1796 and 1797 and it was the last of his completed string quartets. The set of quartets were dedicated to the Hungarian Count Joseph Erdödy and were published in 1799. It was said that this selection of quartets was one of his “most ambitious chamber works” with his attempt of “emphasizing thematic continuity, seamlessly and continually passing motifs from one instrument to another” 1. The fourth of these quartets is nicknamed “Sunrise”. This is due to the exquisite rising theme heard in the first violin part at the beginning of the first movement from bar one to bar four as seen in Figure
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Instead of the dotted crotchet followed by a quaver phrase, it has now been modified to become a quaver then a crotchet followed by a quaver as seen in Figure 4. Haydn most likely did this to emphasise the
forzando he wrote on the first quaver of the bar. Bar sixty shows the introduction of one last new motif in the exposition. It is first heard in all the parts halfway through bar sixty and is made up of four quavers with a quaver rest between each of the notes. Sometimes this motif starts on the beat or off the beat and in some occasions during this movement both the on the beat and off the beat motifs are played together creating the sense that continuous quavers are being played, this first occurs at bar sixty, another example of when this occurs can be seen later in the development. This concludes all of the motifs that appear in the exposition. The development starts very similarly to the exposition with the first violin part once again playing the sunrise theme with the only differences being the distribution of the motifs ‘x’ and ‘y’ (The opening sunrise theme of the exposition was in the order of motif ‘y-x-x’ then ‘x-x-y’ compared to the opening
sunrise theme of the development which is ‘y-y-x’ then ‘x-x-x-x’) and the fact the second melodic phrase of the sunrise theme is one bar longer. The development then continues again similarly to
Broadly speaking, the first movement can be divided in to three pieces, each beginning with a version of what I have denoted A_0, the introduction to the piece inwhich motifs float around in a constant void, gaining energy, and morphing into musicalthemes. If we were to impose the sonata structure onto the piece, we would say that the three pieces are the exposition, development, and recapitulation. The exposition introduces two large thematic blocks separated by a transition that
Section two marks the beginning of a different theme which is shown by the transition from a
The piece has a time signature of 4/4 (C=common time) and is primarily in Db Major, modulating to C# Minor (the enharmonic equivalent). The accompaniment (left hand) through section A is based around the tonic and dominant chords- Dᵇ and Aᵇ- with the repeated quavers being Aᵇ - the dominant. In the B section, the repeated quavers played both as singular notes and octaves are on the dominant G#, which is the enharmonic equivalent to Aᵇ and therefore is the repeated quaver as in section A.
Haydn has a special preference for writing music in a bundle of six. Each of the six pieces has its individuality while sharing many common features at the same time. Haydn’s solo keyboard sonatas show striking diversity in type and style. They often could be categorized by their style periods and each of them reflects a corresponding social background.
The symphony is in four very powerful and entertaining movements. The first movement begins in the pianissimo tone with the strings section, but quickly enters the fortissimo tone with the introduction of the woodwind, brass and percussion sections. The dynamics of the musical melody varies throughout the movement moving from crescendo to decrescendo modes. The first movement reminds you of a raging storm from soft blowing winds to thunder and lighting. The audience is mesmerized by this first movement of the sonata.
The I chord confuses the tonal direction becasuse the listener expects the ii to be followed by V and then I. This is even more confusing because the scale that accompanies the I chord implies V (the chord the listener wants to hear). The next bar rounds off this cadential prolongation (ii-V-I) but the exposition does not yet end. The arrival to I does not occur until beat three of the bar. The first two beats create even more prolongation as they nearly modulate. And even after this, the exposition is not done. There is a two bar codetta (a one bar figure played twice, the second time with variation) before the strong V7-I cadence with a C pedal tone. This is the first very strong cadence since the start of the closing material. Since the cadence at the end of the exposition is to C without any hint of F as a tonic, the Developement begins in C. In fact, it is clearly in C as its pick-ups are a C arpeggio and the first bar looks and sounds like I and shows no indication of a ‘Bb’ or any other scale alteration. The opening of the developement is also a textural change but seems to resemble old material in its melody. Both the first theme and the second theme have similar figures to the new material. The developement starts with tonal movement in each of the first two measures, I in the first measure and ii6 in the second. In the third bar the harmonic rythym increases with a I64 for the first two beats and a V7 in
The last effect of this unusual stanza is to create a turning point within the poem. The turning point starts in the final rhyming couplet of the fifth stanza where the pace is reduced by the use of alliteration and the trimetric line.
The sonata begins softly but with unmistakable energy. The trill like sixteenth notes on the third beat of this motif surge the piece forward into the next bar. The two bar motif appears again, and is then varied and
and another lyrical theme, (denoted hereafter by b). It is clear when one looks at the outline of the themes with respect to their placement, theme "a" is transformed into 8 different versions throughout the composition's first movement, and an additional type, that we will call (a) which utilizes C-G-C-G-C timpani-like motive. This one, namely (a) and a derivative called a6 will play primary roles in identifying and linking structurally important keys and harmonic motions related to changes into different subsections (eg. Timpani theme appears from 288-295 into T3/S3 on minor v,
The intro of the piece ‘Festival Overture on Australian Themes’ is uncertain in tonality, starting with a flourish of notes for six bars, using woodwinds and strings, over bass tritones that go lower, coming to a rest on B, the dominant of E.
Then a gradual increase of animation forced the theme all the way up to the vigorous cadence. The recapitulation of themes followed an agitation and restlessness which led to a new and stormy climax which in turn gave way to blander harmonies and quiet rhythms. The first movement ends to the first theme in quiet feeling.
Each variation gradually gets louder and more complex rhythms appear, until the fifth variation where there seems to be a musical climax. At this point the music, the music returns to the softer more subtle beginning with less rhythmic ornamentation.
The 1st movement is in sonata form. The slow introduction to this symphony is unusual in that it begins in the subdominant key - E minor, solemnly introduced by the bassoons. It modulates into B minor and the tempo increases for the principal subject. This theme is elaborated and developed, and a march-like motif forms a bridge passage leading to a climax. The strings then introduce an amorous, song-like second subject in D major. The development section enters with a bang. This section brings no startling thematic growth or transformation, but is
This is the last concerto of Haydn's career; it also is one of the few instrumental works composed during the final years of his life, when he had given up writing symphonies and piano sonatas for good, and had begun to concentrate on vocal music. It was prompted, sometime in 1795 or early in 1796, by a request for a concerto from Anton Weidinger, a trumpet player in the Vienna Court Orchestra. Weidinger had spent his career perfecting an "organized trumpet" designed to fill in the gaps between the notes of the natural series; five or six holes drilled in the instrument and covered by padded keys provided the missing chromatic notes. In Weidinger's hands, the natural trumpet became a melodic instrument, like the oboe or the flute. Weidinger
The “String Quartet in C Major op 76, no. 3, second movement” by Joseph Haydn is a string quartet, which is organized in formal section. The formal section is constant of themes and four variations. In the beginning of the quartet the theme had a homophonic texture and a timbre themed in the first viola. Listening to the music, I could hear the violin that sounded light with a cello and violin in the background. The first variation had a homophonic texture and the second violin was timbre. During the first variation, I also could hear the cello and viola, which was very distinct. After the first variations the second beginning. The second variation uses polyphonic. I could hear the viola and cello again along with the violin. Then the third