HAYDN String Quartet in G major, 'Erdody,' op. 76, no. 1, HobIII:75

String Quartets Book VIII op. 64-The quartets were dedicated to the violinist Johann Tost who was the second principal violinist at the Esterházy court during the 1780s. His business sense led him to sell twelve quartets - opus 64 was probably amongst them - toa Parisian publisher. Whether Haydn approved of this is open to question - the dedication was however no longer present in the second imprint or the following ones. Our edition follows the Haydn Complete Edition and for thefirst time juxtaposes the quartet in E flat major and the two original trios.

This collection of ten compositions for string quartet by Mozart includes six pieces dedicated to Joseph Haydn and three pieces composed for the king of Prussia. The King of Prussia for whom Mozart composed some of these quartets for was by all accounts a Cellist of no mean ability; especially if one may judge by these works whose Cello parts are elaborate and demanding often soaring into the upper ranges leaving the viola to take up its momentarily abandoned role as bass instrument! Works include String Quartet No. 14 in G major K387 'Spring' String Quartet No. 15 in D minor K421 String Quartet No. 16 in E flat K428 String Quartet No. 17 inB flat major K458 'The Hunt' String Quartet No. 18 in A Major K464 'Drum' String Quartet No. 19 in C major K465 'Dissonance' String Quartet No. 20 in D major K499 'Hoffmeister' String Quartet No. 21 in D major K575 'Prussian No. 1' String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major K589 'Prussian No. 2' and String Quartet No. 23 in F Major K590 'Prussian No. 3'