Franz Joseph Haydn (Austrian; 1732-1809)—String Quartet No. 53 in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5  "The Lark" (1790) 

1. Allegro moderato  
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Menuet. Allegretto  
4. Finale. Vivace  

By 1790, Haydn was Europe’s most famous composer. As Kapellmeister at the Esterházy family estate, he had a consistent salary, an orchestra at his hands, and the mandate to compose—a lot. Among his massive portfolio, in total, he composed more than one hundred symphonies and nearly seventy string quartets, single-handedly establishing their respective genre norms.  

The estate is little more than an hour’s drive from Vienna, which in Haydn’s day, was practically a sentence of isolation. This is perhaps hyperbolic, but Haydn had been in residence at the estate for three decades, and nearing sixty, yearned for the urban socializing he only occasionally enjoyed. His primary benefactor, Prince Nikolaus, died in 1790, leaving the estate to his heir, Anton, who summarily axed artistic expenses. Haydn was finally free to travel while retaining a modest pension and profiting from receipts from publishers. The longtime principal violinist for the estate’s orchestra, Johann Tost, had a side business that helped Haydn get his scores to publishers. Thankful for Tost’s support, Haydn dedicated the Opus 64 set of six string quartets to him. 

The first movement features a soaring melody over nibbling rhythms, earning the quartet its avian nickname. The Adagio is a warmly intimate nocturne, but an undercurrent sense of forlorn cannot be ignored. The infectiously danceable menuetto has no shortage of Haydn’s characteristic wit, with silly melodies and eyebrow-raising key changes. The quippy finale hums along with incessant, perpetual motion. 

Johan Halvorsen (Norwegian; 1864-1935)—Passacaglia, after Handel (1893) 

An accomplished violinist, Norwegian musician Johan Halvorsen held positions in a number of European orchestras before returning home to conduct orchestras in Bergen and Oslo. His later career as a composer focused on incidental music for the theater, but a lasting work from 1893 demonstrated his technical know-how of string instruments. 

Drawing from the final movement of Handel’s G minor Harpsichord Suite, Halvorsen’s Passacaglia is a show-stopping duet for violin and viola (or cello) that outlines a repeated harmonic structure through 12 variations. The opening statement is faithful to Handel, with the violin presenting a regal theme over the first hearing of the theme presented by the viola. What follows breaks away from Handel’s variations, utilizing the instruments’ extensive technical capabilities to modernize and dramatize the variations’ moods and colors. The work is a dazzling spectacle that concludes with a fiery Allegro, and a brief, poignant chorale. 

Jessie Montgomery (American; b. 1981)—Duo for violin and cello (2015) 

1. Meandering  
2. Dirge  
3. Presto 

This piece was written for my friend and cellist Adrienne Taylor. The piece is meant as an ode to friendship with movements characterizing laughter, compassion, adventure, and sometimes silliness. 

-Jessie Montgomery 

Ludwig van Beethoven (German; 1770-1827)—String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18 (1800) 

1. Allegro ma non tanto 
2. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto  
3. Menuetto: Allegretto  
4. Allegro – Prestissimo 

Beethoven’s contribution to the string quartet genre was transformative: his late quartets were nearly avant-garde, while those of his middle period heroically broke norms. The six quartets of Opus 18 (1788-1800), his first venture in the genre, owe a great deal to his mentor Joseph Haydn, who himself was deemed the Father of the String Quartet for his earlier innovations to the genre, all while Beethoven put his own proto-Romantic stamp on the idiom. Opus 18 was commissioned by and dedicated to his patron Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz. 

The anxiety-laden C minor opening couples a swelling melody with an unceasing rhythm. The second theme borrows rhythmic qualities of the first but is youthfully playful. The melody is an adaptation from an earlier work, Duet mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern (the “eyeglasses duet” for viola and cello), but only four years later is now remarkably more mature. 

The unambiguous C minor of the opening movement is followed not by the expected slow movement, but by a fugal scherzo in a bright C major with refreshingly light staccato melodies. The omission of a slow movement may have been a choice to balance the menuett, uncharacteristically heavy for such a movement. The movement returns to an unsettled C minor, with weaving chromatics and upbeat accents driving a feeling of uncertainty. 

The finale balances a spitfire C minor theme with a lyrical theme in A-flat major. The development section reaches for a C major resolution that remains unrealized in the climactic prestissimo.  

-Chaz Stuart 2025