Guide to Chamber Music (Dover Books on Music) by Melvin Berger

Author:Melvin Berger [Berger, Melvin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2013-06-17T03:00:00+00:00

String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3, “Kaiser” (“Emperor”)

I. Allegro. II. Poco adagio cantabile. III. Menuetto: Allegro. IV. Finale: Presto.

Most interest in this quartet focuses on its second movement, the expressive center of the work. The theme comes from a hymn Haydn wrote to honor Emperor Franz II, “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (“God Protect Emperor Franz”). In addition to its use in the quartet, the universally appealing melody became the national anthems of both Austria and Germany, a religious hymn, and a Masonic anthem.

Bearing the notable second movement in mind, Haydn probably decided to start with a less weighty opening section. The Allegro is essentially monothematic; the melody heard at the very beginning dominates throughout. The theme, though, undergoes several especially interesting transformations—from a bright, sunny first statement, to a murky, low-pitched appearance later in the exposition, to a rough peasant dance in the middle of the development section. The writing for all four instruments, especially the first violin, is uniformly brilliant and virtuosic.

Haydn subjects the simple and dignified, though highly emotional, theme of the second movement to four variations. In a departure from his usual variation technique, he keeps the melody essentially the same throughout, giving it to different instruments and varying the setting and accompaniment against which it is heard. After the first violin statement, the melody passes to the second violin, while the first violin embroiders around it a delicate lacery of sprightly runs and leaps. In the second variation, the cello has the melody and the other instruments pursue richly textured contrapuntal lines in the background. The viola is entrusted with the lead in Variation III, while the violins and cello contribute their rather spare countermelodies. The final variation is the apotheosis; the entire quartet plays the theme in a hauntingly beautiful and evocative setting.

To avoid competing with the preceding movement, Haydn created a simple, undemanding Menuetto. The first section is a heavy-shoed peasant dance, played loudly throughout. The contrasting trio is much smoother, quieter, and more songlike. It is followed by a shortened repeat of the Menuetto.

The grave Finale is the counterweight to the serious second movement. The opening measures contain three musical gestures that pervade the entire movement: three powerful chords, a smooth answering phrase that is rhythmically reminiscent of the first movement, and running triplet passages. While Haydn imaginatively transforms and develops these motifs with great vigor, the total effect is perhaps more anxious than cheerful. At the end he moves into major, presumably a happier key, but the concluding mood is still not entirely joyful.

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