Haydn J. - String Quartets Volume Iv, Op. 20 [sun Quartets]

String Quartets Book III op. 17-The autograph score of the Quartets op. 17 was in the possession of the imperial police chief Johann Nepomuk Neuwirth whose widow gave it to the Wiener Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1875. It is said thatHaydn ?used to play the viola in quartet rehearsals? at the Neuwirth?s house. Whether the Quartets op. 17 were composed for these gatherings can no longer be ascertained. However even today they stillhave a fixed place amongst the music of all chamber music friends and in particular nos. 4 5 and 6 which are very different to the divertimento style of the early quartets are played again and again.

String Quartets Book II op. 9-Six works belong to opus 9 the first group of Haydn’s String quartets of which we know. The composer also went new ways as far as form was concerned: whereas he had still adhered to the five movement divertimento inthe previous quartets opus 1 and 2 in this case he favoured four movements something he continued in the future. Apart from this he also expanded the register and experimented with metric surprises (for instance in the trio ofthe minuet from the G major quartet).

?Masterly and full of new ideas?: thus the Swedish ambassadorial secretary Silverstolpe when he first heard these pieces in 1797. Haydn?s friend the music historian Charles Burney reported in 1799 that he had ?nevertaken greater pleasure in instrumental music.? Our new edition of these six works including the famous ?Emperor Quartet ? follows the text of the complete edition prepared by the Haydn Institute in Cologne. Boththe study edition (HN 9214) and the set of parts (HN 214) have highly informative notes on the source materials and alternative readings. Fold-out pages in the parts allow for optimum page turns.