Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Kodaly Quartet :: Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 55

Playful Genius

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 06/19/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The "Tost" quartets of Joseph Haydn - Op. 54, Op. 55, & Op. 64 - were all dedicated to Johann Tost, the principal second violinist in Haydn's orchestra at Esterhaza from 1783 to 1788. There are twelve quartets in the three sets, but the only one well known and often performed is Op. 64, Number 5, nicknamed in English "The Lark". Opus 64 was probably composed when Johann Tost paid a return visit to the Esterhazy establishment, perhaps in Vienna. Tost had some role in publishing Haydn's music in Paris, perhaps without authorization from Prince Esterhazy. It's worth noting that Mozart also dedicated his last two quartets to Tost, who had become by then a wealthy merchant.



The three quartets of Opus 55 are wonderfully eccentric and inventive. Even the adagio movements seem joyous and playful. In terms of modulations and development, they must have been compositions of discovery for Haydn, experiments in replacing the galante virtuosity of his earlier quartets with more compact and complex structures. A couple of movements feature fugal passages worthy of Haydn's predecessor Bach or of his succcessor, the Beethoven of the Grosse Fuge. I can only imagine what the first players of and listeners to these 'outlandish' quartets thought of them, whether they were astounded, outraged, disgusted, or delighted. I can still hear astonishment in them amid plenty of delight.



This 1990 recording is worth having solitaire, but it's included in the 25-CD edition from Naxos of "The Complete Haydn Quartets", selling for a price one can hardly refuse. I've been listening to assorted choices from that big set. Frankly I haven't been excited by the Kodaly Quartet's rendition of some of the later compositions, the "Lobkowitz" quartets for instance. But what to my wondering ears, they play Op. 54 & 55 with dash and daring, and with excellent ensemble technique. The only other recording of Op. 55 on modern fiddles that I know is by the Amadeus Quartet, and it's not nearly as delightful as the Kodaly version. There is also a recording on 'period' instruments with gut strings, by the Salomon Quartet - a sweeter, more sonorous, less sprightly performance - but it's out of print and available only second hand. To my surprise, I think I prefer the Kodaly springy sound sound, on these pieces, to the soothing mellowness of the Salomons."