String Quartet in C Major

The slow movement of Haydn’s String Quartet No. 62 (Op.76/3) is the best-known movement in all of his quartets. Based on a patriotic anthem Haydn had written for the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, the movement (“Poco adagio”) is a set of increasingly poignant variations that gives the quartet as a whole its nickname “Emperor”. Haydn’s noble melody was later used as a hymn tune and the German national anthem. Elsewhere in Quartet No. 62, composed in 1797 as part of a set of six for the Hungarian count Joseph Erdődy, there is rich evidence of Haydn’s mature mastery of the quartet medium. The opening movement is buoyantly good-humoured, the third-movement “Menuetto” spry and balletic. In the fleet finale, ideas zing with restless energy from one instrument to another in a brilliant demonstration of Haydn’s ability to meaningfully involve all four players in the musical conversation.