Joseph Haydn, a highly esteemed composer in Europe at 52, praised the 29-year-old Mozart, stating, 'your son is the greatest composer known to me... he has taste and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition.'
Recording & Production
The Auryn Quartet has an extensive discography, working exclusively with the TACET label since 2000, and has recorded complete cycles of Beethoven, Brahms, and Haydn string quartets.
Performer Biography
The Auryn Quartet, formed in 1981, maintains its original members and has been mentored by the legendary Amadeus and Guarneri Quartets.
Instruments
The Auryn Quartet performs on valuable Italian instruments, including a 1722 Stradivari violin (ex-Joachim), a Petrus Guarneri violin, a 1616 Brothers Amati viola, and a Niccolo Amati cello.
Compositional Technique
The 'Dissonance Quartet' (KV 465) earned its nickname from its slow, harmonically indeterminate 22-bar Adagio introduction, which shocked Mozart's contemporaries with its 'false relation' between violin and viola.
Composer Biography
Mozart dedicated these six string quartets to his 'dear friend Haydn' and admitted that their composition was 'hard and painstaking work,' as evidenced by numerous corrections in the autograph scores.
Composition History
Mozart's 'Haydn Quartets' were inspired by Joseph Haydn's Op. 33 string quartets, which Haydn described as 'written in a very new and special way.'
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Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 14 "Spring" & 15
Haydn: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 5
Mozart: String Quartets
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 77, Nos. 1- 2
Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 15, K. 421 & 21, K. 421
Haydn: String Quartets, Vol. 13
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartets
Mozart: String Quartets, Vol. 2
Erdödy, Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76
Mozart: Streichquartette No. 11-13
Haydn: String Quartet in D Major "The Lark" & String Quartet in D Minor "Fifths"
