Franz Joseph Haydn: The Erdödy String Quartets

Reading Daniel Boorstin's fascinating The Creators has just included a chapter of the innovators of 18th century classical music, including the great Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809), whose phenomenal portfolio includes over a hundred symphonies, more than eighty string quartets, an immense number of piano works, and much else.  As Boorstin observed and echoed in the liner notes to the Naxos recording of the composer's string quartets, published in 1799, and dedicated to the Hungarian Count Josef Georg von Erdödy, Haydn was long-blessed with an enthusiastic and generous patron, Prince Nicolaus Esterházy, and he was able to generate the massive quantity and superlative quality of work over nearly thirty years.  When the prince died in 1790, his successor and brother was not musically inclined at all, so Haydn left and enjoyed two fruitful periods in London.  He then returned to work for the new prince of Esterházy, both at the family palace at Eisenstadt, as well as at Vienna, where Haydn lived until his death.

In 1797, he completed a half-dozen string quartets, dedicated to Count Erdödy, and the first three of the set comprise this disc, recorded in 1989.  They are performed beautifully by the Kodály Quartet, formed in Budapest, Hungary in the mid-1960s, and which has recorded the complete string quartets of Haydn, as well as those of Beethoven and Schubert.  The last of the trio of pieces, known as the Emperor Quartet, is the most widely known because of its quiet, stately and gorgeous second movement melody, written from the composer's "Emperor's Hymn" for the Emperor Franz of Austria and inspired by Haydn's hearing of "God Save the Queen" when in England. Also impressive is the first quartet with its sprightly first movement, its gorgeous and understated second movement, and its uplifting finale.

Kronos Quartet: Caravan

Just about the time that I got into the amazing Kronos Quartet in 1990, the group was beginning to branch out into collborations with composers and performers from around the world and expanding their horizons beyond the so-called Classical world.  Similarly, at that period, I was moving beyond a concentration on alternative rock to listening to more jazz, classical and world music.  So, the circumstances worked well for my hearing where Kronos was going as I was heading that general direction, too!

The first of these endeavors was 1991's Pieces of Africa and subsequent recordings like 1994's Night Prayers. 2002's Nuevo and 2009's Floodplain continued to show their furthered interest and deep engagement with music from around the world.  In fact, these four albums and today's highlighted disc, Caravan, released in 2000, were packaged by Nonesuch Records under the title of Kronos Explorer Series, a nod to the label's Nonesuch Explorer catalog of amazing world music recordings.

Caravan is an excellent musical travelogue across the planet, with commissions from composers from the former Yugoslavia, Portugal, India, Lebanon, Iran, Mexico and elsewhere with a very diverse program of pieces.  They also demonstrate a tremendous range of approaches to how a string quartet works in environments outside "serious music."

This includes working with those who write or play music that isn't Western classical music, such as the fantastic Ali Jihad Racy, who demonstrated his expertise on the ney on his phenomenal "Ecstasy," the Bollywood piece "Aaj Ki Raat," which benefits tremendously from the unparalleled tabla player Zakir Hussain, the fascinating Misirou Twist from Nicholas Roubanis but which was best known from a version from surf guitar legend Dick Dale (who is Lebanese from his father and Polish and Belorussian through his mother) and which has drums by Martyn Jones, and the really cool,Turceasca, with Gypsy musicians.

Caravan is one of those great examples of how fusing Western music, in this case string quartet, with other musics from around the world can do justice to both and provide an exciting hybrid that plays on the strengths of each.

Ludwig von Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1 (Op. 18, Nos. 1 and 2)

Reading John Cage's remarkable book Silence currently, it becomes very obvious that the famed experimental composer had a particular dislike for Ludwig von Beethoven.

Much of this may have been particularly musical, but a good deal seems also to have been because of the arch conservatism in the classical world that kept the fires burning for the standard composers from Bach to Mozart to Beethoven to Brahms to Wagner and so forth.

It is understandable that innovative modern composers, such as Cage and Harry Partch, were concerned that there was not enough opportunity given to those looking to move beyond traditional composing methods.  This listener is fascinated with the music of both of these amazing figures, along with other modernists whose work has been highlighted here.

At the same time, there is admiration for the stunning work of the earlier masters, as well, and there is no reason that Beethoven and other giants of the pre-modern world cannot be enjoyed just as much as later-day experimenters.

Anyway, this Naxos recording from the early 1990s presents the first two of Beethoven's string quartets.  Composed between 1798 and 1800, while Beethoven in his late twenties, as he was straining to move beyond the teachings and influence of his tutor, the great Franz Josef Haydn, these works show a composer who was already creating rich, complex and beautiful music that showed the way beyond Haydn and Mozart as a new century dawned.

The theme in the first movement of the first quartet, in F major, is a well-known one and it takes the listener into a very lively, dramatic and bright environment.  The second movement is subdued, slower and achingly beautiful and was said by the composer to have the famed burial vault scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as inspiration.  The short third movement has another famed theme and has a notable rhythmic component to it, as well as a series of memorable melodic statements.  The concluding allegro movement is an amazing technical exercise that bursts with all kinds of remarkable interplay among the instruments and is a stunning finale to a remarkable first quartet by the master.

The second quartet, in G major, sounds simpler and was named "Complimentary Quartet" after its resemblance to the late works of Haydn because of its light and graceful touch.  This blogger is a great admirer of Haydn, so it is easy to enjoy this work, which abounds in gorgeous melodic statements and sprightly rhythms.  The economical presentation of this piece, at about 23 minutes, compared to the roughly half-hour length of the first quartet, is also worth noting, as it moves along with effortless pacing between the faster and slower movements and the fine formalistic interplay among the instruments.  The beauty of slower second movement is also something to behold--more gorgeous melodic work and harmony here.

To this untutored ear, the Kodaly Quartet from Hungary perform this music with great sensitivity, passion and telepathnic interplay and the recording quality is very good.  This is another stellar release from Naxos, though a  recent purchase of Beethoven's complete string quartets, spanning eight discs from the British Nimbus label, is being listened to now and it also presents this amazing music beautifully.

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 64, #s4-6

From the late 1980s on the German budget label, Pilz, comes this fine recording of three of Haydn's best-known string quartets, filled with gorgeous melody, rich harmony and excellent playing by the Caspa da Salo Quartet.

Composed in 1790 and often called the Tost quartets after Johann Tost, a Hungarian violinist who assisted the composer in finding a publisher for much of his work and who is given a dedication by Haydn for the Op. 64 works, this trio includes the fifth, called the "Lark Quartet", and which is one of the most famous of his pieces.

All six of the set are remarkable works.  The quality of these pieces reflect Haydn's full development, by his sixties, of both the string quartet and the symphony genres.

They were also written just as the maestro was ending a decades-long employment at the Esterhazy court and soon to be sent to London, where he reached new levels of fame with some of his late symphonies.

When it comes to bargain-basement budget classical labels, Pilz is probably the most notable of all.  This blogger has hundreds and hundreds of classical recordings, many on high-end labels, and quite a few on Naxos, Pilz and other budget ones, and does not have any pretension as to knowledge or deep understanding of the technical underpinnings of the music.  But, this recording and the few dozen others from Pilz are enjoyable.

Click here an interesting take on what the Pilz series has to offer for the "frugal" classical music consumer--this was definitely relatable!

Ludwig von Beethoven: String Quartets (Complete) Vol. 1

This excellent 1995 Naxos release features the Kodaly Quartet, a Hungarian ensemble, performing two quartets, one in F major and the other in G major, of the sixteen written by the master and Opus 18, consisting of the two works here, were the first to be developed, coming between 1798 and 1800, when Beethoven was in his late twenties.

The F major has a beautiful first movement full of feeling, melody and drama--in fact, it is said the composer envisioned the classic vault scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as he wrote the piece.  To some observers, this quartet and the others of its time were hallmarks of Beethoven's emergence into full maturity as a composer.

Moreover, he was in a class all by himself as he introduced notions in his complex musical structures that took him beyond Haydn and Mozart, his most famed precursors.  The second movement has a particularly restrained but very pretty melodic statement and makes use of space and harmony that are very appealing.

Whereas a typical Beethoven scherzo to date was full of power and aggression, the short scherzo in this quartet is quieter and yet also playful and joyful.  The fourth movement has a strong rhythmic component that is lively and energetic, but not overly fast, and the figures move smoothly and easily.

The G major is often called the "Compliments" quartet and its light, buoyant sound is reminiscent of what Haydn produced in his remarkable quartets decades earlier.  In fact, it is said that Beethoven was directly playing off Haydn's work in this piece, while providing the level of complexity, harmonic richness and dramatic use of counterpoint that made his composing so distinctive.

His use of changes in tempo, key and harmony set him apart from his predecessors, to the point that an alleged Haydn lament that someone was needed to write minuets in a new way was probably countermanded by the amazing work Beethoven did in these and other string quartets in those years from the late 1790s until his death thirty years later.

The Kodaly Quartet plays remarkably and its quarter century together by the time this recording was made reflects the synchronicity and unifying sense of purpose that a superior group of musicians can achieve.