Document

  1994
    November 1994
        Chamber
                Haydn Six String Quartets, Op. 9.

Haydn Six String [Quartet] Quartets, Op. 9. Kodaly Quartet (Attila Falvay, Tamas Szabo, vns; Gabor Fias, va; Janos Devich, vc).

Naxos (Super budget price) (CD) 8 550786/7 (two discs, oas: 52 and 58 minutes: DDD).

8 550786—No. 1 in C; No. 3 in G; No. 4 in D minor. 8 550787—No. 2 in E flat; No. 5 in B flat; No. 6 in A.

Overshadowed by four dozen later masterpieces, Haydn's Op. 9 has usually received short shrift from both players and commentators. Least neglected of the set is the D minor, No. 4, described by Hans Keller (in The Great Haydn Quartets; Dent: 1986) as "the first great string quartet in the history of music". The minor mode at this period (1769-70) invariably drew something special from Haydn, and this work stands apart from the others for its intensity of expression, its mastery of texture and development and the sheer character of its ideas. The opening Allegro moderato could well have been at the back of Mozart's mind when he came to write his own great D minor Quartet, K421. "Boring" was Keller's unceremonious dismissal of the remaining five works of Op. 9. It is true that there are longueurs, nowhere more so than in the stiff, gawky opening movements of Nos. 1-3, with their neutral thematic material and over-abundance of fussy violin figuration. The routine set of variations that opens No. 5 is also the kind of piece that has my fingers itching for the fast-forward button. But there are compensations elsewhere: in the terse, resourceful and (especially in No. 3) witty finales; in the varied minuets, ranging from the high-stepping No. 5, with its alfresco octave doublings, to the suave, chromatically subtle No. 2; and in several of the slow movements, notably the tender siciliano in No. 1, the sorrowful, rather Gluckian C minor aria in No. 2 and the sensuous, rich-textured Largo cantabile in No. 5.

The Kodaly Quartet, in their ongoing complete cycle for Naxos, have the recorded field to themselves in these works. As ever they are sympathetic Haydn exponents, impressing with their slightly old-fashioned warmth of sonority, the natural musicality of their phrasing and their care for blend, balance and intonation. There's plenty of character in their playing, too—listen, for instance, to the mordant, sharp-edged finale of No. 4, their canny judgement of the pace and mood of the six minuets, or their eloquent, intense reading of No. 5's Largo cantabile. And with incisive, committed playing they do everything they can for the unalluring opening movements of Nos. 2 and 3. The Kodaly's penchant for spacious tempos and legato phrasing brings dangers in some of the finales—Nos. 2 and 3, in particular, struck me as too cautious, wanting in lightness and point of articulation. Here and there in slow movements, too, I found myself wishing for more subtlety and variety of colour and dynamics—vibrato tends to be applied too unyieldingly, while really soft playing is at a premium throughout, though the rather boomy church acoustic hardly helps. But no one who fancies investigating these uneven, sometimes awkward but often fascinating works from that exploratory period around 1770 should hold back—and in case you hadn't noticed, buying both discs should still leave you change from a tenner.

RW



		Overshadowed by four dozen later masterpieces, Haydn's Op. 9 has usually received short shrift from both players and commentators. Least neglected of the set is the D minor, No. 4, described by Hans Keller (in The Great Haydn Quartets; Dent: 1986) as "the first great string quartet in the history of music". The minor mode at this period (1769-70) invariably drew something special from Haydn, and this work stands apart from the others for its intensity of expression, its mastery of texture and development and the sheer character of its ideas. The opening Allegro moderato could well have been at the back of Mozart's mind when he came to write his own great D minor Quartet, K421. "Boring" was Keller's unceremonious dismissal of the remaining five works of Op. 9. It is true that there are longueurs, nowhere more so than in the stiff, gawky opening movements of Nos. 1-3, with their neutral thematic material and over-abundance of fussy violin figuration. The routine set of variations that opens No. 5 is also the kind of piece that has my fingers itching for the fast-forward button. But there are compensations elsewhere: in the terse, resourceful and (especially in No. 3) witty finales; in the varied minuets, ranging from the high-stepping No. 5, with its alfresco octave doublings, to the suave, chromatically subtle No. 2; and in several of the slow movements, notably the tender siciliano in No. 1, the sorrowful, rather Gluckian C minor aria in No. 2 and the sensuous, rich-textured Largo cantabile in No. 5.



		The Kodaly Quartet, in their ongoing complete cycle for Naxos, have the recorded field to themselves in these works. As ever they are sympathetic Haydn exponents, impressing with their slightly old-fashioned warmth of sonority, the natural musicality of their phrasing and their care for blend, balance and intonation. There's plenty of character in their playing, too—listen, for instance, to the mordant, sharp-edged finale of No. 4, their canny judgement of the pace and mood of the six minuets, or their eloquent, intense reading of No. 5's Largo cantabile. And with incisive, committed playing they do everything they can for the unalluring opening movements of Nos. 2 and 3. The Kodaly's penchant for spacious tempos and legato phrasing brings dangers in some of the finales—Nos. 2 and 3, in particular, struck me as too cautious, wanting in lightness and point of articulation. Here and there in slow movements, too, I found myself wishing for more subtlety and variety of colour and dynamics—vibrato tends to be applied too unyieldingly, while really soft playing is at a premium throughout, though the rather boomy church acoustic hardly helps. But no one who fancies investigating these uneven, sometimes awkward but often fascinating works from that exploratory period around 1770 should hold back—and in case you hadn't noticed, buying both discs should still leave you change from a tenner.