String Quartet no 15 in E flat major, op. 9, no. 2 – Haydn
by richibi
“Minuet“ (1756)
_______________
by 1769, Haydn had settled into a form
for his string quartet that would become
definitive, four contrasting movements
in a particular key, to give the work
cohesion
his Opus 9, no 2 retains a movement
devoted to dance, the second, the
“Menuetto”, but the essential
conditions of the Classical string
quartet are met
earlier, Haydn had referred to his
compositions as “divertimenti a
quattro”, divertimenti for four,
players, of course, now he
acknowledged, indeed installed,
the concept of the string quartet,
its earliest incarnation, as such
though the outer movements are
competent – the first using its
initial off-beat musical motif a
bit too often for my taste, and
its repeat portions too similar,
like someone repeating the same
information you’ve been given
and unnecessarily extending the
conversation with too few
intriguing elaborations, too few
arresting developments, the
second, polite, and, thankfully,
distinctive – the third, the
“adagio – cantabile”, will knock,
however, your socks off, a line
of music is explored in all its
tortured beauty to utterly
transcendental effect
there is a spot in music, often an
adagio for me, where one thinks,
I have been there, this is me, and
one throughout space, time,
responds to the language of
another, one melts, and finds
one’s connection with humanity
therefore music, therefore, indeed,
all art, thanks to all those who
chose to share with us their,
however ever eccentric,
inspiration, thanks to their, our,
ingrained, ineffable, desire,
indeed capacity, to communicate,
even across the ages, to, indeed,
transcend
but I’ve digressed
R ! chard
Richibi's Weblog 