Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 54 "Tost Quartets I"

Featuring

István Párkányi
Heinz Oberdorfer
Ferdinand Erblich
Michael Müller
Párkányi Quartet
Joseph Haydn

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Composer Biography

Haydn, who invented the rules of the string quartet, only focused intensely on the genre during brief periods throughout his career.

Composer's Artistic Vision

David Wyn Jones suggests that the publication of Haydn's Opp. 54 and 55 in two sets, rather than one, reflects the incomparable variety of conception within these six quartets.

Performer Biography

The Párkányi Quartet was formed in 1976 as the Orlando String Quartet and won First Prize at the Carlo Jachino International String Quartet Competition in Rome that same year.

Composition History

Haydn's Op. 33 Quartets, published in 1782, were so innovative that they earned the admiration of Mozart, who responded with his own set of six quartets dedicated to Haydn.

Composer Biography

Johann Tost, for whom Haydn's Op. 54 and 55 Quartets were likely written, later became a wealthy draper, relegating violin playing to a leisure activity.

Compositional Technique

The slow movement of the String Quartet in G major, Op. 54 No. 1, features 'sentimental' dissonances and rising note series that prefigure Beethoven's technique.