String Quartet in E flat major, Op.64, No.6 (Hob.III.64) [1790]

Like the Op.54 and Op.55 sets, the six string quartets Op.64 were written for the Viennese wholesaler Johann Tost, at one time a violinist in Haydn’s orchestra at Esterháza. If he avoided indulging Tost’s virtuosity in the highly integrated textures of the first movement of the Quartet in E flat, he made up for it in the positively operatic role played by the first violin in the middle section of the Andante. Tost was awarded a starring role in the third movement too but not in the Presto finale, which is remarkable above all for the four-part equality of its brilliantly sustained counterpoint. for the four-part equality of its brilliantly sustained counterpoint.

Haydn’s six String Quartets Op.64 are dedicated, not very glamorously for a set of such masterpieces, “to wholesaler Tost.” Before he became a businessman, however, Johann Tost was a principal violinist in the orchestra at Esterháza and – as is no less clear from Op.64 than from the Op.54 and Op.55 Quartets that were also written for him – Haydn had great respect for him as a musician. If he was less inclined to indulge Tost as a virtuoso violinist in 1790 than he had been a few years earlier, it was not because he had lost faith in him but because he was even more concerned than ever with the thorough integration of all four instruments.

In the first movement of Op.64, No.6, while the first violin is by no means deprived of opportunities to shine, the more characteristic textures are the close-knit part-writing associated with the first subject in the opening bars and the elaborate counterpoint based on that same theme at the beginning of the development. Haydn’s faith in Tost as an imaginative musician as well as an accomplished instrumentalist is most dramatically illustrated by the B flat minor middle section of the slow movement. All the more striking for the lyrical and fully integrated B flat major sections on either side of it, the central episode is positively operatic in its harmonic and dynamic colouring and in the demonstratively passionate, wide-ranging role played by the first violin.

The first violin also has a starring role in the third movement but not, it seems, without some satirical comment from the composer on Tost’s predilection for displaying his brilliance in high positions. A more fruitful kind of virtuosity is the creative resourcefulness represented by the brilliantly sustained counterpoint in the Presto Finale. Constructed as a sonata rondo, it might favour the first violin in the presentation of the main theme but the episodes preceding the three reappearances of that busy little tune are as remarkable for their four-part equality as for their extraordinary textural ingenuity.

Haydn’s six String Quartets Op.64 are dedicated, not very glamorously for a set of such masterpieces, “to wholesaler Tost.” Before he became a businessman, however, Johann Tost was a principal violinist in the orchestra at Esterháza and - as is no less clear from Op.64 than from the Op.54 and Op.55 Quartets that were also written for him - Haydn had great respect for him as a musician. If he was less inclined to indulge Tost as a virtuoso violinist in 1790 than he had been a few years earlier, it was not because he had lost faith in him but because he was even more concerned than ever with the thorough integration of all four instruments.

In the first movement of Op.64, No.6, the first violin is by no means deprived of opportunities to shine: he is awarded a passage of busy triplet figuration at as early a stage as the transition between the two main themes in the exposition. But the more characteristic textures are the close-knit part-writing associated with the first subject in the opening bars and the elaborate counterpoint based on that same theme at the beginning of the development. Or there is the remarkable episode that follows, where the second violin patiently projects a line of staccato quavers while first violin, cello and viola pass a four-note phrase from one to the other above and below it.

Haydn’s faith in Tost as an imaginative musician as well as an accomplished instrumentalist is most dramatically illustrated by the B flat minor middle section of the slow movement. All the more striking for the lyrical and fully integrated B flat major sections on either side of it, the central episode is positively operatic in its harmonic and dynamic colouring and in the demonstratively passionate, wide-ranging role played by the first violin.

The first violin also has a starring role in the third movement but not, it seems, without some satirical comment from the composer: at the end of the central Trio section, having at last handed over the melodic interest to the second violin, he quite shamelessly upstages his more modest colleague by adding a decorative commentary at such a high pitch that his left hand almost falls off the end of the fingerboard (which was actually a little shorter at Tost’s time than it is now) .

The most fruitful kind of virtuosity in Op.64 No.4 is the creative resourcefulness represented by the brilliantly sustained counterpoint in the Presto Finale. Constructed as a sonata rondo, it might favour the first violin in the presentation of the main theme but the episodes preceding the three reappearances of that busy little tune are as remarkable for their four-part equality as for their extraordinary textural ingenuity. And when it comes to the apparent halving of the tempo just before the end, not just the first violin but all four instruments are in on the joke.