Music
Haydn String Quartet Op 76 No 3
No 3 of the superb Op 76 string quartets by Joseph Haydn, the composer who virtually invented the genre, played by the Chilingirian Quartet
Performers
The Chilingirian Quartet
It's an exaggeration, though a pardonable one, to say that Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) "invented" the string quartet. After all, the idea of writing a piece for four similar string instruments was not new: Henry Purcell was composing his Fantazias for viols a century before, which often sound like embryonic quartets.
But it was Haydn, without doubt, who did more than anyone else to develop the quartet in the form we know today - an intimate, often reflective piece, in which each of the four instruments plays an equally significant role and there is clear interplay and exchange of ideas between the two violins, viola, cello and bass.
(In theory, at least: in Haydn's time it was often the case that a quartet was a vehicle to show off the first violin, in the same way that many modern rock groups are there to display the talents of the lead guitarist.)
Haydn - a magnificently prolific composer - wrote over 80 quartets, spanning 50 years. Many of his quartets were given nicknames (the Razor, the Lark, the Rider and so on), partly because their lively and vivid nature suggested them, partly because the publisher realised that they were a great sales gimmick.
If you had to choose just one set of his quartets, it would be the Op 76 set. Written in 1797 and published in 1799, they are a wonderful showcase of what the string quartet can do: tuneful, balanced, exploratory, always fresh and approachable.
This series features all six Op 76 quartets. The slow movement of No 3 in C major is more familiar than it might seem from first glance: it is the Austrian national anthem, hence the quartet's nickname 'the Emperor'.
The Chilingirian Quartet
It's an exaggeration, though a pardonable one, to say that Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) "invented" the string quartet. After all, the idea of writing a piece for four similar string instruments was not new: Henry Purcell was composing his Fantazias for viols a century before, which often sound like embryonic quartets.
But it was Haydn, without doubt, who did more than anyone else to develop the quartet in the form we know today - an intimate, often reflective piece, in which each of the four instruments plays an equally significant role and there is clear interplay and exchange of ideas between the two violins, viola, cello and bass.
(In theory, at least: in Haydn's time it was often the case that a quartet was a vehicle to show off the first violin, in the same way that many modern rock groups are there to display the talents of the lead guitarist.)
Haydn - a magnificently prolific composer - wrote over 80 quartets, spanning 50 years. Many of his quartets were given nicknames (the Razor, the Lark, the Rider and so on), partly because their lively and vivid nature suggested them, partly because the publisher realised that they were a great sales gimmick.
If you had to choose just one set of his quartets, it would be the Op 76 set. Written in 1797 and published in 1799, they are a wonderful showcase of what the string quartet can do: tuneful, balanced, exploratory, always fresh and approachable.
This series features all six Op 76 quartets. The slow movement of No 3 in C major is more familiar than it might seem from first glance: it is the Austrian national anthem, hence the quartet's nickname 'the Emperor'.
