Joseph Haydn wrote sixty-eight string quartets. (The number was previously thought to be eighty-three, but this includes some arrangements and spurious works.) They are usually referred to by their opus numbers, not Anthony van Hoboken's catalogue numbers or their publication order in the First Haydn Edition (FHE).
This set of quartets is now commonly attributed to Romanus Hoffstetter, though there is no universal agreement on this. According to the scholar Allan Badley, "The works were omitted from the Entwurf-Katalog, the running catalogue of his works he (Haydn) kept from 1765 until after the London visits, but found their way into the Haydn-Verzeichnis prepared in 1805 under the composer’s direct supervision by his faithful factotum Joseph Elssler. Haydn also accepted the six works as genuine in the edition of his complete string quartets published by Ignaz Pleyel. Unfortunately, both strands of evidence are not beyond questioning." Badley goes on to say "The meagre bibliographical evidence has been painstakingly sifted and the works themselves subjected to every kind of analytical technique known to musicology. Haydn’s authorship still remains doubtful but so too does that of Pater Romanus Hoffstetter the most commonly favoured alternative."[3]
In the 1980s, Scott Fruehwald claimed to show that the quartets were not by Haydn, based on stylistic analysis..[4][5] He also concluded that only the first two quartets were by Hoffstetter.
Quartet in E major, Op. 3, No. 1, FHE No. 64 (spurious), Hoboken No. III:13
Quartet in C major, Op. 3, No. 2, FHE No. 65 (spurious), Hoboken No. III:14
Quartet in G major, Op. 3, No. 3, FHE No. 66 (spurious), Hoboken No. III:15
Quartet No. 66 in G major, Op. 77, No. 1, FHE No. 13, Hoboken No. III:81
Allegro moderato
Adagio
Menuetto: Presto
Finale: Presto
Quartet No. 67 in F major, Op. 77, No. 2, FHE No. 14, Hoboken No. III:82
Allegro moderato
Menuet: Presto
Andante
Finale: Vivace assai
Opus 103 (1803)
Quartet No. 68 in D minor, Op. 103, Hoboken No. III:83 (incomplete); in 2013, Haydn specialist William Drabkin composed a completion of Haydn's unfinished final quartet.[7]
Multiple recordings of Haydn's complete string quartets have been made over the years. The first complete set was made by the Tátrai Quartet for Hungaroton from 1964 to 1984 and issued as a boxed set in 2000.[8] During the 1970s, the Aeolian Quartet recorded a complete cycle for Decca, which was then reissued in 2009. From 1994 to 1999, the Angeles Quartet recorded a cycle for Philips Records, which received critical reviews. During the 1990s, the Tátrai Quartet completed a cycle for Hungaroton. From 1989 to 2003, the Kodály Quartet recorded a cycle for Naxos Records. More recently, from 2002 to 2008, the Buchberger Quartet recorded a cycle for Brilliant Classics on period instruments. The Auryn Quartet completed their cycle on modern instruments for Tacet in 2014.
References
^Webster, James & Feder, Georg. "Haydn, Joseph". Oxford Music Online. Oxford. Retrieved 1 Apr 2024.
^Webster, James & Feder, Georg. "Haydn, Joseph". Oxford Music Online. Oxford. Retrieved 1 Apr 2024.
^Badley, Allan. "About this Recording". Naxos online catalog for CD catalog listing 8.555704. Retrieved 9 Jun 2015.
^Fruehwald, Scott (1988). Authenticity Problems in Joseph Haydn's Early Instrumental Works: A Stylistic Analysis. New York: Pendragon Press. ISBN9780918728678.
^Chew, Geoffrey (June 1994). "Review: Authenticity Problems in Joseph Haydn's Early Instrumental Works: A Stylistic Investigation by Scott Fruehwald". Notes. 50 (4): 1394–1395. doi:10.2307/898314. JSTOR898314.
^Berger, Melvin. Guide to Chamber Music. p. 202. New York: Dover, 1985. ISBN9780709027287