String Quartet in A major Op.20 No.6, Hob.III.36 (1772)

Once celebrated as the “Sun” Quartets – primarily because of the illustration on the frontispiece of the edition published by Hummel in Berlin in 1779 – Haydn’s Op.20 is now seriously overshadowed by later sets from Op.33 and, particularly, Op.54 onwards. It is not, however, eclipsed by them. Although a new day for chamber music dawned in 1770 with Haydn’s Op.9 set which, as he acknowledged, established the basics of modern string-quartet form and texture, consistently brilliant light is shed on them by Op.20

Once celebrated as the “Sun” Quartets – primarily because of the illustration on the frontispiece of the edition published by Hummel in Berlin in 1779 – Haydn’s Op.20 is now seriously overshadowed by later sets from Op.33 and, particularly, Op.54 onwards. It is not, however, eclipsed by them. Although a new day for chamber music dawned in 1770 with Haydn’s Op.9 set which, as he acknowledged, established the basics of modern string-quartet form and texture, consistently brilliant light is shed on them by Op.20.

In the A major Quartet the composer is apparently so confident of the validity of his textural and structural developments that he sets out to challenge them. It is true that in the four-part democracy Haydn had established as essential to the string-quartet texture the first violin had always been “more equal” than the others. But in the first movement of this work the others have little more to do than admire not only the enterprise of the first violin in animating the Allegro di molto impulse but also its wit in sustaining the scherzando aspect of the piece.    Similarly, in the slow movement only the first violin, which has the melodic interest almost exclusively to itself, is given the chance to supply the cantabile element prescribed in the tempo heading. The same imbalance prevails, tunefully enough, in the minuet and trio.

Equality is restored in the fugal finale. The first violin leads the way by introducing the main theme but, with two more themes to work into an intricately interwoven and resourcefully developed contrapuntal texture, all four instruments inevitably occupy prominent roles. It is the first violin, however, that has the bright idea of reintroducing the first theme in inversion just before the end.