Analysis of Haydn’s String Quartet: Op. 76, No. 4, in B-flat Major “Sunrise”
Haydn composed his Op. 74 quartets in the later years of his life between 1796 and 1797 and it was the last of his completed string quartets. The set of quartets were dedicated to the Hungarian Count Joseph Erdödy and were published in 1799. It was said that this selection of quartets was one of his “most ambitious chamber works” with his attempt of “emphasizing thematic continuity, seamlessly and continually passing motifs from one instrument to another” 1. The fourth of these quartets is nicknamed “Sunrise”. This is due to the exquisite rising theme heard in the first violin part at the beginning of the first movement from bar one to bar four as seen in Figure…show more content… Bar ninety-one displays the reintroduction of the four quaver motif that first appeared in bar sixty. It also appears in bar 100, which can be observed in Figure 5. Figure 5 also shows us another motif that has appeared which first appears in bar ninety-eight in the second violin and viola parts. This motif is formed up of five quavers followed by a quavers rest and another quaver. This motif is first heard in bar sixty and sixty-two, but it is not until bar ninety-eight where it stands out and further develops. The first variation of this motif can be seen in Figure 5 in bar ninety-nine in the first violin part. The first of the five quavers has been removed and the last of the five quavers has been delayed by a quaver rest in front of it, which in itself delays the next quaver. This means the last two quavers of the motif is on off beats. The next variation of the motif is in bar 104 in both the second violin part and the viola part. Similar to the first violin variation the first of the five quavers has been removed but the rest of the motif is without any change. This is the last motif before returning back to the recapitulation. As expected the recapitulation has the reinstatement of the sunrise theme, which therefore includes the reintroduction of motif ‘x’, ‘y’ and ‘z’. There does not seem to be any new motifs that appear in this section as expected due to the fact this section is very close to a repetition of the exposition. The movement finishes with the
