Category Archives: Haydn at 30 – 33

Day 94: A Great Start…a Slow Finish

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HaydnCD94I liked this from the first 10 seconds.

Haydn String Quartet Op. 2 No. 2 in E Movement I (“Allegro molto”) is everything I dig in Classical music. It’s lively, bright, clever, and entertaining. Even the slower Movement II (“Menuet”) is engrossing. Where No. 2 bogs down for me is Movement III (“Adagio”). Movement III is a little too slow for my tastes.

Movement IV (“Menuet”) of No. 2 is a return to sprightly and fun. Movement V (“Finale: Presto”) seals the deal. It’s extremely lively, with lots of clever violin parts. Overall, thought, I’d have to name Op. 2 No. 2 a FAVORITE.

No. 4 in F is okay. But it doesn’t grab me from the opening notes. The movement I liked most from No. 4 is Movement V (“Finale: Allegro”).

No. 6 in B Flat starts slowly and doesn’t get much better after that, although movement III (“Scherzo: Presto”) is quite lively and fun. That caught my attention immediately. Even the penultimate movement (Movement V – “Presto”) was no match for Movement III.

As noted in a previous post, Continue reading →

Day 93: Happy New Year!

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HaydnCD93After an evening (granted, New Year’s Eve) of eating too many fried oysters, bowls of oyster stew, cheese, crackers, slices of beef summer sausage, shrimps and cocktail sauce, and glasses of Chardonnay wine, I awoke the next day (today, New Year’s Day) feeling awful.

“Of course you did,” I can hear you say. “For someone with acid reflux, that’s a prescription for trouble.”

Aye. And it was.

But it was New Year’s Eve. And oysters are a once-a-year tradition that stretches back decades.

“At least tell us you didn’t just sit at a table and shovel food into your mouth,” you retort.

Of course I didn’t. What kind of fool do you think I am?

Don’t answer that.

There was no “shoveling.” The evening began around 6pm and included Continue reading →