I 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, Haydn’s early string quartets have five moments. These were composed when he was 31 – 33 years of age.

As I have in previous posts, I can’t forget to introduce the members of the Buchberger Quartet (their site is in German):

Hubert Buchberger violin
Julia Greve violin
Joachim Etzel viola
Helmut Sohler cello

The other players in the quartet do not have their own web sites, apparently. So, no link to them. Sorry.

Here’s what I listened to today:

Haydn String Quartet Op 2 No 2 in E

Haydn String Quartet Op 2 No 4 in F

Haydn String Quartet Op 2 No 6 in B Flat