The Father Of The String Quartet And Symphony Analysis

Why was Haydn the father of the string quartet and symphonies

Haydn from Austria was born in 1732 and was an organist and is known as one of the greatest composers of the eighteenth century. He was employed to write church music, operas and was especially remembered for the string quartets and symphonies which he had written. He is thought to have written approximately 68 string quartets and 104 symphonies. This essay will look at why Haydn is called ‘The Father of the String Quartet and Symphony’ by looking at the contributions he made to it and how he developed it ‘into its current form.’

One thing which made Haydn stand out from other composers at that time was that his ‘instrumentation was remarkable’. In his Op.20 quartets he developed

the voicing of the string quartets giving all instruments ‘individuality and equality’. He gave each part a more individual role which was would have been very unusual at this time, as beforehand there was a greater focus on melody and accompaniment and the first violin would have been the solo instrument with the 2nd violin, viola and cello seen as the accompaniment. A clear example of this can be seen in his Op.20 no.2 as the opening melody is played by the cello which would have been the least expected choice of instrument to start the melody with then. In Op.76 no.3, the second movement of which is better know as the …. National anthem, Haydn allows the different instruments to take it in turns for each variation to play the melody. In the first variation the second plays the melody, variation two is played by the cello, variation three by the viola and finally the first violin then plays the melody in the fourth variation.
Haydn was seen as a great composer of string quartets and symphonies and played ‘an overwhelming role’ in developing them using new ideas.

This was important to keep his works as interesting and different as he was writing such a large number of them. He was also seen as an influence to other composers at that time and they were able to use some of his ideas in their own compositions. In the final movements of four of Haydn's string quartets there is an increase in ‘contrapunctual writing’ ,three of them being in the Op.20 set, which ‘caught the seventeen year old Mozart's eye’ . In the last movement of Op.20 No.6 in A major we can see an example of this. The first violin begins with the first subject in Bar 1 with the second violin entering on the last beat of bar 1 with the second subject. The first subject is then passed onto the second violin in bar 5, with the cello then entering with the second subject on the last beat of bar 5. While the second violin and cello are playing subjects one and two the first violin enters with the third subject in bar 6 and this process continues where the different subjects are passed between the different parts with the cello finally entering with the first subject at bar 13.

Mozart then went on in 1773 to use this idea of Haydn's in some of his own works; K.168 in the key of F major, which was the same key as the finale of Haydn’s Op. 20 no.5 and he also used this idea in his K.173 string quartet. The last fugal finale which Haydn wrote

was in his Op.50, no.4 string quartet.

The string quartets where usually in four movements with the first movement normally in sonata form. Another contribution which Haydn added to the string quartets was the way in which he experimented with sonata form and used monothematicism. This would have been seen as out of the ordinary from the basic sonata form used in the eighteenth century, and occurs in the first movements of the op.50 quartets. In the first movement of Op.50 No.1 in B-flat major the cello starts playing repeated B flat crotchets for two bars before the two violins and viola enters at bars .… We then see this again after the transition into the dominant key of F major in bar…, where opening repeated crotchets feature again only this time they start in the second violin with the second theme now starting in the cello in bar… before moving to the viola in bar…

Not only was Haydn a great and influential composer of string quartets, he was also a highly regarded composer of symphonies and was know as ‘father of the symphonies’ also.
Haydn was said to have a good sense of humour and this can be seen through some of his works and shows he was the ‘greatest master in his genre’, as other composers were have said to follow in his footsteps to try and include humour more in their works as he is said to have ‘set a pattern’ in both his string quartet and symphony writing. I think this is something quick remarkable as his works are very impressive in the detail which he puts into them, yet he manages to add some humour and wit also.This would have been seen as something different, but nevertheless something the audience would have enjoyed.
One of the symphonies which we can see this humour which he includes so well is in his Symphony No.94 belonging to his set of London symphonies said to be ‘his crowning achievements’. This symphony is better know as the ‘Surprise symphony’ as the audience would have got a surprise listening to it for the first time….
In this particular symphony Haydn is said to have added this small twist described as ‘novel and startling’ as he wanted people to start talking about his concerts.

Haydn was someone who liked to experiment with his music a lot and as in the string quartets, he liked to develop the instrumentation in his symphonies.

From when Haydn first started composing symphonies the size of the orchestra are gradually expanding by the time he gets to the London symphonies. Again like in the string quartets Haydn gave some of the accompanying instruments more freedom which was quite unusual at this time; for example trumpets would have usually double with the horns, cellos with the double basses but Haydn started to give them separate parts. In the symphony the strings would have been the main instruments which were given the melody but when he was writing his London symphonies,he gave the woodwind a more independent role and also introduced the clarinet to the woodwind section of the orchestra in all of the London Symphonies except one. This new arrangement of instruments in his London Symphonies ‘achieves a new spaciousness and brilliance.’ Symphony No.100 gives us an insight into his development of instrumentation and how he liked to experiment. In the second movement of this symphony, he created something which was quite out of the ordinary from the ‘Classical tradition’ by introducing percussion instruments which wouldn't have been used at this time such as the triangle, cymbals and bass drum. These ‘turkish instruments’ make there first entrance in bar 57 of the B section, with a contrasting forte chord compared to the lyrical A section which

features developments of the main theme in the woodwind and string section.

Conversation between instruments.

In conclusion from looking at Haydn’s large number of works and the detail which he includes in them, although Haydn did not create the string quartet and symphony he was the composer of that genre who made the most contributions to them. Through Haydn’s many innovations he has developed them and for this he is known as ‘Father of the string quartets and symphony’, by setting the standard for other composers.