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| Link to "Quinten" Quartet with score accompaniment |
In the first movement of
“Quinten”, composer Joseph Haydn uses descending fifths as a basis for the main
theme of the piece. This use of fifths
is a recurring theme throughout the movement and is used in many ways
melodically and harmonically, maintaining a similar tone and atmosphere that is
unique within the use of a sonata form.
Through the uses of several tonal regions, exchanges between voices, and
melodic fragmentation in the development and recapitulation, Haydn creates
thematic continuity throughout the entire “Allegro” movement.
Before going into an in-depth analysis of the piece, it
is important to understand the background and history of the composition. Haydn’s six String Quartets (Op.76) were
written sometime between 1796 and 1797 and were dedicated to the Count of
Hungary, Joseph Georg von Erdödy. (Ayres
297). This was the last group of string
quartets written by Haydn during his life, and is representative of Haydn’s
yearning for experimentation with form and melodies that during the latter part
of his career. At the time this was
written Haydn was still working for Prince Esterhazy, and was also in the midst
of working on one of his most famous pieces, The Creation. (Ayres 300).
The second string quartet in Op. 76, known as “Quinten”,
is representative of Haydn’s most ambitious chamber works. The quartet colloquially received the name
“Fifths” or the German “Quinten” due to the descending fifth intervals that are
present throughout the main theme of the piece.
The first movement of the quartet, marked “Allegro” is a brisk and dark
sonata, containing all of the conventional forms of a first-movement classical
string quartet. This movement, however,
is unique in that the main falling fifths theme is present throughout almost
the entire piece, with only slight variations on the main theme. The falling fifths motif is presented in
almost all sections of the form, and is quoted in all voices. By doing this, Haydn creates a constant
thematic continuity that drives the composition forward until the end of the
movement.
The use of fifths is used in every section of the
movement. The piece starts off with the
main theme being presented in the first violin, in the home key of D minor. The falling fifths theme is then heard again
in the main melody in the first violin at measure twenty, but this time in the
relative major key of F Major. The theme
is then not heard again until a few measures into the development section, in
which the first violin is heard playing the falling fifths in G minor. The development section travels through
several tonal regions, with the theme being heard in almost every tonal
region. The development briefly goes
back to the home key of D minor at measure sixty-seven, with the original
falling fifths theme being heard in the first violin in its original key. After traveling back to D minor, the
development then modulates between C major and its relative A minor, with
fifths being heavily used and repeated in order to build tension that leads to
the end of the development. In the
recapitulation, the descending fifths theme is heard and repeated similarly to
the exposition, with the theme being heard in the home key of D minor and
subordinate key of F major.
The fifths motif is not only used in every section of the
piece in the main melody of the first violin, but is also used in every other
part. From the first violin to the
cello, every instrument quotes the falling fifths theme throughout the entire
movement. In measure thirteen, for
example, when the subordinate key of F major is introduced, descending fifths
are played in the viola part for the next two measures. The falling fifths theme is then passed to
the second violin in measure fifteen for two measures, and then to the cello
part in measure seventeen. The motif is
then played again by the second violin in measure thirty-six, and then again by
the cello in measure fourty-seven.
Falling fifths are then not played by another voice until several
measures into the development section at measure sixty-four. At this point, the fifth are passed between
voices every measure, starting with the second violin, then cello, then viola,
and then back to the cello at measure sixty-seven. At measure seventy-two, all four voices play
descending fifths in half-notes, with the second violin playing a beat off from
the rest of the quartet, creating a sort of canon or fugue-like section. The descending fifths motif is then not
repeated in the other voices until measure 128, when it is quoted in the second
violin, and then in the cello from measures 132 to 135.
In order to create melodic and harmonic interest
throughout the movement, the use of falling fifths is sometimes obscured or
inverted by Haydn in some way. Haydn
does this by fragmenting the main melody heard in the first violin at the
beginning of the piece and using it in all sorts of ways, either by placing it
in other voices or in different keys.
Except for the repeat at measure fifty-six, the main theme in the
beginning is not repeated in its entirety until the recapitulation at measure
ninety-nine. There are times were the
descending melody is heard, but is in different intervals, such as fourths, thirds
or sixths. In measure thirty-seven for
example, the second violin continues descending intervals in half notes, but
plays a descending minor sixth, from E-flat to G. This change of intervals usually occurs in
order to fit the harmonic structure and avoid using non-chord tones. Going back to measure thirty-seven, an E-flat
dominant seventh chord occurs harmonically between the viola, second violin,
and first violin. This means that in
order to function as a dominant seventh chord, the second violin has to go to G
instead of A-flat. There are also
instances in which the fifths are ascending instead of descending. In measure fifty-seven, the cello plays
ascending fifths instead of descending fifths in order to provide an ascending
melodic direction that leads to the first violin’s entrance with the melody at
measure fifty-nine.
Haydn also creates consistent melodic and harmonic
interest by bending the rules of conventional forms and structures that were
popular during the classical era.
Although the movement is clearly structured as a sonata form, with an
apparent exposition, development, and recapitulation, the structures of the
sections themselves are unorthodox and travel to unusual melodic phrasings and
tonal regions. In the exposition, for
example, the piece not only travels to the subordinate key of F Major, but then
also modulates directly into the parallel F Minor in measure thirty-two. This is used to not only return to a minor
key that is similar in sound to the opening theme, but is also used to maintain
harmonic drive and melodic interest. The
reason for this is because the entire movement, as well as the entire string
quartet, revolves around the simple interval of a descending perfect
fifth. The interval itself is one of the
most basic in all of Western music, so in order to prevent the piece from
becoming drab and repetitive, Haydn creates a variety of modulations and
irregular phrases in order maintain an interest to the listener.
According to music theorist William Caplan, the main
theme of this first movement can be interpreted as a “nonconventional theme
type”. (Caplan 288). A Nonconventional
theme is one that “deviates from the norm” and does not fit the prototypical
characteristics of a sentence, period, or other form of small phrase. Kaplan even states that this is common among
first-movement forms of a piece, which fits the characteristic of the first
movement of the “Quinten”. The first
phrase heard in the movement is irregular itself, composed of ten measures. It
can be argued that measures eleven and twelve are also a part of the first
phrase, but the strong half-cadence at measure ten and rhythmic unity between
all four instruments suggest the end of the phrase, with a two-measure
sub-phrase that cadences to the home key of D minor. Other than the repeat of
the exposition and very beginning of the recapitulation, the first phrase is
never repeated in its entirety. The only
thing that does repeat is the fifths, which is the main focus of the
piece. There are hints throughout the
movement that the original theme from the beginning will return, either in the
home key or a subordinate key, but Haydn teases the listener by avoiding the
return of the first melody by using the fifths motif as a basis and then uses
the fifths to create other melodic content.
The recapitulation of this movement is interesting in
that it tends to use the fifths motif far less than the rest of the piece. Other than the repeat of the original theme
in the home key of D minor at the beginning of the recapitulation at measure
ninety-nine, the fifths motif is rarely used and is replaced by sixteenth-note
patterns in the first violin, with more rhythmic complexity in the other
instruments. This was probably done by
Haydn in order to signal that the end of the movement is approaching, pushing
the composition to its end by creating more rhythmic drive in all four
parts. There is a small quote of the
fifths motif at the very end in the closing material by the first violin, and
then the first movement reaches its final cadence in its home key of D minor.
Many scholars and theorists have argued that the
“Quinten” is composed of one theme, that theme being the descending
fifths. Theorist Roger Parker, for
example, calls the composition as “Haydn at his most austere and monothematic”.
(Parker). It can be argued, however,
that the first movement is multi-thematic, with the fifths being used as a
basis to present other themes throughout the piece. Although these themes presented may contain
the fifths motif, the themes themselves are different enough harmonically and
melodically to be considered a different theme altogether. In the developmental section at measure
fifty-seven, for example, the fifths motif is constantly repeated and
reintroduced throughout the section and in almost every instrument, but the
constant modulations of key changes and inversions of the fifths motif create
several transitional melodies that are unique within themselves, as well as
melodies that are used as a point of direction for the eventual cadence that
leads to the recapitulation at measure ninety-nine.
Overall, the first movement of Haydn’s “Quinten” string
quartet is one of the most unique and complex of his chamber works. Although on the surface the piece may seem
fairly simple with the main theme composed of descending fifth intervals, the
movement travels to some fairly interesting tonal regions and phrases
throughout, and is one of the more fascinating pieces by Joseph Haydn.
Bibliography
Ayres,
Reginald. "The Harvest: Opus 76." In Joseph Haydn and The String Quartet, 297-301. New York, NY:
Schirmer Books, 1974.
Caplin, William E. "Exposition (I): Main
Theme." In Analyzing Classical Form, 288. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Keller,
Hans. "Op. 76, No. 2, in D Minor." In The Great Haydn Quartets: Their Interpretation, 212-215. New York,
NY: G. Braziller, 1986.
Parker,
Roger. "Haydn: Quartet Op. 76 No. 2." Lecture, Badke Quartet Lecture,
Museum of London, London, UK, October 2, 2010.
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