Razor Quartet

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The Razor Quartet ( Hob. III: 61) is a string quartet in F minor by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809). It bears the opus number 55 No. 2. It got its nickname after an episode about razors when the English music manager John Bland (around 1750 - around 1840) visited Haydn.

classification

The quartet is the fifth of Haydn's six string quartets under opus numbers 54 and 55 (Hob. III: 57–62), which were composed in 1788. He wrote it for the second concertmaster of his Esterházy court orchestra, the later Viennese merchant Johann Tost (1759–1831). The six quartets are therefore also referred to as Tost quartets . Tost sold the quartets to publishers in both Vienna and Paris .

The music

The sentence names are

  1. Andante o piú tosto allegretto
    \ relative c '' {\ key f \ minor \ time 2/4 c4 (\ f f8 as) | g8. ([f16) e8-. f-.] \ p | c8-. c-. c-. f16 (b,) b4 (c8) b | bes! 4 \ ((\ f g8) des' -. \) | c8. ([bes16) as8-. bes-.] \ p es, 8-. it-. it-. f16. (g32) | g4 (as8) r \ bar ": |." }
  2. Allegro
    \ relative f '' {\ key f \ minor \ time 2/2 f1 \ p | c'2. \ appoggiatura {des32 cb} c4 des4 (b) r \ appoggiatura {c32 ba} b4 c4 (g) r \ appoggiatura {as! 32 gf} g4 bes! 2 ~ \ <bes8. as16 (g8.) f16 (e8.) \ f des16 (c8.) bes16 (as8.) g16 (f8.) e16 (f4-.) des-. c-. b-. | c4-. c'-. r2}
  3. Menuetto: Allegretto
    \ relative c '{\ key f \ major \ time 3/4 \ clef "alto" \ partial 4 c4-. \ p ^ "Vla." | a4 (f) e8 (f) | bes4 (a) e8 (f) d'4. e8 (fg) | c, 4. d8 (ef) | bes, 2 b4 | c2}
  4. Finale: Presto
    \ relative g sharp '{\ key f \ major \ time 6/8 \ partial 8 g sharp8 (\ p | a8-.) a-. b-. c-. c-. cis (d8-.) d16 (cis d bes!) g! 8 [r fis] (g8-.) g-. a (bes-.) bes-. b (c! 8-.) c16 (bca) f! 8 r}

Instead of the usual Allegro , an andante or rather Allegretto is provided for the first movement . The main theme in F minor is contrasted with a second theme in F major and processed in the form of double variations. The Allegro looks serious and dark. Here, as in the entire quartet, the juxtaposition of major and minor is continued.

Musical references to the epithet of the work are of course not included, as the composition time was before the name was found and there were purely everyday reasons for the name (see the following).

The anecdote

The former musician's house in Esterháza, in which Haydn also lived

In November 1789, when Joseph Haydn was still staying at the summer residence of Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy in Esterháza after a long season with his court orchestra, the English music publisher and concert organizer John Bland visited him unexpectedly. Haydn, who was busy shaving, complained about the quality of his razor and said he gave a lot for a good English one. Bland then fetched his own straight razors from his quarters in the inn across the street, for which he received the notes of a string quartet (possibly without publishing rights) from Haydn, for which the name razor quartet (English The Razor ) later became established.

This incident was in 1838 by William Gardiner (1770 to 1853) in his book Music and Friends or Pleasant Recollections of A Dilettante described and the business successor, John Bland, Charles Henry Purday (1799-1885), in the August issue 1880 of the English magazine The Leisure Hour accordance confirmed Bland's statement.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinmar Emans, Ulrich Krämer (Hrsg.): Music editions in the course of history . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2015, ISBN 978-3-11-043435-4 , p. 318 (online)
  2. ↑ a b Joseph Haydn String Quartet in F minor, op. 55,2. In : kammermusikfuehrer.de. Retrieved December 18, 2017 .
  3. ^ Places H and I in the historical plan of Esterháza
  4. ^ Georg Feder: Haydn's string quartets: a musical work guide. CHBeck; 2nd edition, 2010, ISBN 978-3406606717 , p. 81 (online)
  5. ^ The anecdote on the title "Razor Quartet". In: castigo.de. Retrieved December 18, 2017 .
Haydn's string quartets
Op. 1

Quartet in B flat major, op. 1, No. 1, Hob. III: 1  | Quartet in E flat major, op. 1, No. 2, Hob. III: 2  | Quartet in D major, op. 1, No. 3, Hob. III: 3  | Quartet in G major, op. 1, No. 4, Hob. III: 4  | Quartet in C major, Op. 1, No. 6, Hob.III: 6

Op. 2

Quartet in D major, op. 2, No. 1, Hob. III: 7  | Quartet in E major, Op. 2, No. 2, Hob. III: 8  | Quartet No. 9 in F major, op. 2, No. 4, Hob. III: 10  | Quartet No. 10 in B flat major, op.2, No. 6, Hob.III: 12

Op. 9

Quartet in D minor, Op. 9, No. 4, Hob. III: 22  | Quartet in C major, op. 9, No. 1, Hob. III: 19  | Quartet in G major, op. 9, No. 3, Hob. III: 21  | Quartet in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2, Hob. III: 20  | Quartet in B flat major, Op. 9, No. 5, Hob. III: 23  | Quartet in A major, op.9, no.6, Hob.III: 24

Op. 17th

Quartet in F major, op. 17, No. 2, Hob. III: 26  | Quartet in E major, Op. 17, No. 1, Hob. III: 25  | Quartet in C minor, Op. 17, No. 4, Hob. III: 28  | Quartet in D major, Op. 17, No. 6, Hob. III: 30  | Quartet in E flat major, op. 17, No. 3, Hob. III: 27  | Quartet in G major, op.17, no.5, Hob.III: 29

Op. 20,
"Sun
Quartet"

Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5, Hob. III: 35  | Quartet in A major, op.20, no.6, Hob. III: 36  | Quartet in C major, op.20, no.2, Hob. III: 32  | Quartet in G minor, op.20, no.3, Hob. III: 33  | Quartet in D major, op.20, no.4, Hob. III: 34  | Quartet in E flat major, op.20, no.1, Hob.III: 31

Op. 33
"Russian
Quartets"

Quartet in B minor, op.33, no.1, Hob.III: 37  | Quartet in E flat major, op. 33, No. 2 (“The Joke”), Hob. III: 38  | Quartet in C major, op. 33, No. 3 (“Vogelquartett”), Hob. III: 39  | Quartet in B flat major, op.33, no.4, Hob.III: 40  | Quartet in G major, op. 33, No. 5 (“How are you?”), Hob. III: 41  | Quartet in D major, op.33, no.6, Hob.III: 42

op. 42

Quartet in D minor, op.42, Hob.III: 43

Op. 50
"Prussian
Quartets"

Quartet in B flat major, Op. 50, No. 1, Hob. III: 44  | Quartet in C major, op. 50, No. 2, Hob. III: 45  | Quartet in E flat major, op. 50, No. 3, Hob. III: 46  | Quartet in F sharp minor, op.50, no.4, Hob. III: 47  | Quartet in F major, Op. 50, No. 5, Hob. III: 48  | Quartet in D major, op. 50, No. 6 (“Frog Quartet”), Hob. III: 49

Op. 51

The seven last words of our Savior on the cross

Op. 54/55

Quartet in C major, op. 54, No. 2, Hob. III: 57  | Quartet in G major, op. 54, No. 1, Hob. III: 58  | Quartet in E major, op.54, no.3, Hob. III: 59  | Quartet in A major, op. 55, No. 1, Hob. III: 60  | Quartet in F minor, op. 55, No. 2 (“Razor Quartet”), Hob. III: 61  | Quartet in B flat major, op.55, no.3, Hob.III: 62

Op. 64

Quartet in C major, op.64, no.1, Hob.III: 65  | Quartet in B minor, op.64, no.2, Hob.III: 68  | Quartet in B flat major, op.64, no.3, Hob.III: 67  | Quartet in G major, op.64, no.4, Hob.III: 66  | Quartet in D major, op. 64, No. 5 (“Lark Quartet”), Hob. III: 63  | Quartet in E flat major, op.64, no.6, Hob.III: 64

Op. 71/74
"Apponyi
Quartets"

Quartet in B flat major, op.71, no.1, Hob.III: 69  | Quartet in D major, op.71, no.2, Hob.III: 70  | Quartet in E flat major, op. 71, No. 3, Hob. III: 71  | Quartet in C major, op.74, no.1, Hob. III: 72  | Quartet in F major, op. 74, No. 2, Hob. III: 73  | Quartet in G minor, op. 74, No. 3 ("Reiterquartett"), Hob. III: 74

Op. 76
"Erdődy
Quartets"

Quartet in G major, op. 76, No. 1, Hob. III: 75  | Quartet in D minor, op. 76, No. 2 (“Quintenquartett”), Hob. III: 76  | Quartet in C major op. 76, No. 3 ("Kaiserquartett"), Hob. III: 77  | Quartet in B flat major, op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”), Hob. III: 78  | Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5, Hob. III: 79  | Quartet in E flat major, op.76, no.6, Hob.III: 80

Op. 77
"Lobkowitz
Quartets"

Quartet in G major, op. 77, No. 1 (“Complimenting Quartet”), Hob. III: 81  | Quartet in F major, op.77, no.2, Hob.III: 82

Op. 103

Quartet in D minor, op.103, Hob.III: 83 (incomplete)