During the 1780s Haydn’s
fame spread across Europe, though he
maintained his employment and residence
in the service of the Esterházy
family. The commission for symphonies
from Paris was followed by that for
The Seven Last Words of Christ on the
Cross for the Cathedral of Cádiz,
while in Vienna the publishing house
of Artaria asked in 1784 for another
set of six to follow upon the success
of the Op. 33 set. Haydn duly obliged,
though not immediately, and the first
quartets of Op. 50 were delivered in
1787, by which time he had received
the dedication of the six wonderful
quartets composed in his honour by Mozart.
Some commentators have
suggested therefore that Haydn’s Op.
50 represents his response to the Mozart
quartets. And in terms of timing, they
are. Listen for example, to the weighty
and somewhat serious tone of the minuet
movements, and compare them with the
first of Mozart’s ‘Haydn Quartets’,
K387. The case is certainly a strong
one.
That said, Haydn’s
manner is not generally Mozart’s, and
these pieces show little of the melodic
prodigality of that master, but rather
the intellectual imagination and subtle
development techniques, not to mention
the special wit, that inform Haydn’s
own special personality. The most telling
case is, of course, Haydn’s Quartet
in F sharp minor, Op. 50 No. 4.
The Lindsays are experts
in the Haydn repertory, and unlike many
ensembles they seek to maximise the
music’s toughness, its unusual and compelling
individuality. The rhythms are sometimes
dogged, with tempi that allow every
phrase to tell. Individual players contribute
details to the general effect that make
a strong impression. For example, in
that same F sharp minor Quartet the
cellist, Bernard Gregor-Smith, makes
a powerful impression with his darkly
dramatic entry. Haydn said of his life
at Esterháza: ‘I was cut off
from the world and therefore forced
to become original.’ This movement is
surely exactly what he meant.
The same might also
be said of the finale of this, the most
remarkable of the works featured in
this collection. It is a fugal movement
and the Lindsays deliver it with a special
intensity that says everything about
their qualities as an ensemble, and
about their affinity with this particular
composer.
If this Quartet makes
a strong impression, both as music and
performance, the remaining five are
splendid too. In these pieces the tone
is more towards those other Haydn characteristics:
vitality and wit. The celebrated Frog
Quartet, with its extraordinary croaking
sounds, is the most potent example,
of course, but the playing is exemplary
in every one of these pieces. The attention
to details of dynamics brings out the
character of Haydn to the full, and
nowhere more than in the slow movements.
For example, the Adagio of No. 2 in
C major gains from the intensity of
feelings the Lindsays create.
These performances
can be recommended as the best available
in this repertoire. Op. 50 is not so
often recorded and the Lindsays will
surely be the benchmark for years to
come. The recorded sound is clean and
true, and each of these marvellous works
exudes its own personality in every
bar.
Terry Barfoot
Lindsay String Quartet