Quartet in C Major (study score) - EH/VLN/CEL/KB

Quartet in C Major
for English horn, violin, cello, and double bass
by Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806) - Austrian composer, younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn

Edited by Werner Rainer. This work bears the catalog designation Perger 115. This title is one study score. To order the set of parts, please click HERE.

The primary source for this present edition of Michael Haydn's Quartet was a set of parts -probably not autograph- preserved in the Hungarian National Library. In contrast to the date on the cover and at the end of each part, the catalogs by Rettensteiner and Lang give August 3, 1795 as the date of composition. A sketch of the first movement has been found at Michaeleuren Abbey; this is of some interest, for Haydn's autograph scores are otherwise present only in carefully written fair copies. A comparison with the manuscripts parts gave rise to no alterations. On the page, Haydn sketched the whole thematic extent of the movement, using one stave only (leaving out the bass part); when the movement was worked out, the contents of the single stave were divided between the three concertante instruments. The sketch page thus gives a clear picture of the composer's method of working; Haydn's procedure is fully in keeping with the 'durchbrochene Verarbeitung' of the thematic material, which method came to the fore in the chamber music of the High Classical era. The use of a double bass in chamber music is typical of Michael Haydn, who apparently had a certain fondness in later years for the wide gap between melody and bass that was a characteristic adopted from popular music making. The carefully made copy left to the editor only a few additions regarding dynamic and articulation markings. The performers may of course replace the short cadenzas suggested by the editor with cadenzas of their own. The composer's wishes "al suo piacere" should in any event be fulfilled.