Day 95: “Are You On Facebook?”

HaydnCD95This morning, again back at Panera Bread, I’m surrounded by white-haired people, most of whom are talking and gesturing wildly.

A trio (two women, one guy) at the table to my left appear to be in their late 70s, give or take.

One member of the trio, a sprightly, animated, lady just asked the other, “Are you on Facebook?”

The recipient of the question burst into laughter and proclaimed that she was, indeed, on the popular social-media site. “I’ll send you a friend request,” the first lady announced with glee.

The aforementioned animated lady then pointed to the guy and asked him the same question. This elicited even more laughter from the second lady, who pointed to the hapless chap and said, “Him? Are you kidding?” which, I’m sure, did wonders for the guy’s self esteem.

That’s about when Op. 17 No. 2 in F kicked in.

And I lost interest in eavesdropping.

Whereas Haydn’s first two Opuses (Opi?) sounded clever and lively (but somewhat rudimentary), Op. 17 sounds completely different to me. It sounds richer and fuller. I hesitate to use the word “mature” because Haydn was only 8-9 years older when he composed Op. 17 (39 compared to 30 or 31).

Hadyn’s Op. 17 string quartets were written in 1771. They were not written in Haydn’s earlier five-movement form. These were written in the more typical four-movement form.

It’s hard to put my finger on what’s different. But the sound is fuller. That’s about the best I can do to explain it. Fuller. That must mean Continue reading