String Quartet in G major Op.64 No.4, Hob.III.66 (1790)

It is clear from the 12 quartets Haydn wrote for Johann Tost, businessman and violinist, that he had great respect for him both as a musician and as a virtuoso. The unusual occurrence of a quite new theme at the end of the exposition of first movement of the present work, where it is to be played on the G-string of the first violin, is just one demonstration of that. Another is the serenade-like Trio section of the Menuetto, as is the display of facility in the higher positions of the E-string just before the end of the Finale.virtuoso.

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 by 1790 he was inclined to indulge Tost’s musicianship rather than his virtuosity, he made an exception in this particular work, where the starring role of the first violin requires extensive resources in both those respects.

As well as introducing the first subject of the Allegro con brio, the first violin busily leads the way in presenting a close variant of it as the second subject, joins the second violin in an unsettling episode of rhythmic syncopations in D minor and, after another busy passage of semiquavers, closes the exposition with a new theme to be played “sopra una corda” – which in this case means on the G-string. Although the development begins as a canon on the closing theme, the first violin clearly has no time for such democratic activity and hastens to detach itself from its admiring colleagues. Its enterprise in diverting the recapitulation into G minor gives it another opportunity for bravura display as it readjusts the tonality to accommodate one last appearance of the main theme in G major.

The Menutto offers little pretence of equality, least of all in the serenade-like Trio section where a tuneful first-violin part is supported by respectful pizzicato accompaniment on the other three instruments. The role of the first violin in the C majorAdagio is different. It is no less prominent and, indeed, it is no more generous in sharing the melodic interest with the rest of the ensemble. This time, however, it is a matter not so much of agility as of taste in phrasing, sensitivity in colouring and fluency in melodic decoration – qualities which Haydn could always rely on Johann Tost to produce in a slow movement and which are all the more important in this particular example, where just one melody is repeated and progressively embellished in the outer sections and minimally reshaped in the C minor middle section.

The consolation for second violin, viola and cello is in the entertainingly contrapuntal development section of the Presto Finale. The first violin, although it is occasionally joined in parallel thirds by the second violin, is clearly the dominant personality in setting the pace and introducing the carefree melodic material in the exposition. Saving the best till last, just before the end of the movement Haydn briefly but wittily acknowledges Tost’s facility in the higher positions on the E-string – as he does at some point in most of these works – by chasing his left hand to the very top of the fingerboard.

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 by 1790 he was inclined to indulge Tost’s musicianship rather than his virtuosity, he made an exception in this particular work, where the starring role of the first violin requires extensive resources in both those respects.

As well as introducing the first subject of the Allegro con brio, the first violin busily leads the way in presenting a close variant of it as the second subject, joins the second violin in an unsettling episode of rhythmic syncopations in D minor and, after another busy passage of semiquavers, closes the exposition with a new theme to be played “sopra una corda” – which in this case means on the G-string. Although the development begins as a canon on the closing theme, the first violin clearly has no time for such democratic activity and hastens to detach itself from its admiring colleagues. Its enterprise in diverting the recapitulation into G minor gives it another opportunity for bravura display as it readjusts the tonality to accommodate one last appearance of the main theme in G major.

The Menutto offers little pretence of equality, least of all in the serenade-like Trio section where a tuneful first-violin part is supported by respectful pizzicato accompaniment on the other three instruments. The role of the first violin in the C majorAdagio is different. It is no less prominent and, indeed, it is no more generous in sharing the melodic interest with the rest of the ensemble. This time, however, it is a matter not so much of agility as of taste in phrasing, sensitivity in colouring and fluency in melodic decoration – qualities which Haydn could always rely on Johann Tost to produce in a slow movement and which are all the more important in this particular example, where just one melody is repeated and progressively embellished in the outer sections and minimally reshaped in the C minor middle section.

The consolation for second violin, viola and cello is in the entertainingly contrapuntal development section of the Presto Finale. The first violin, although it is occasionally joined in parallel thirds by the second violin, is clearly the dominant personality in setting the pace and introducing the carefree melodic material in the exposition. Saving the best till last, just before the end of the movement Haydn briefly but wittily acknowledges Tost’s facility in the higher positions on the E-string – as he does at some point in most of these works – by chasing his left hand to the very top of the fingerboard.