Haydn: String Quartets Op. 33, Nos. 3 The Bird, 4 & 6
Haydn claimed that his Op. 33 string quartets were composed in a "new and special way," and ever since musical scholars have been arguing about what he meant. Was it mere advertising, or is something different really going on? One this is certain: in place of the usual minuet movement, Haydn invented something called a "Scherzo," which means "joke" in Italian--an innovation that was immediately taken up by Beethoven and just about every composer since. These were also the string quartets that inspired Mozart to compose his great Six Quartets Dedicated to Haydn, making them one of the most influential set of pieces in the history of music. Witty, sophisticated, and tuneful, the music itself is its own best advertisement.--David Hurwitz