1788 – The Music part 2 – Opus 54 & 55; Carlo’s Revenge?

Hob. 3#	Genre	Key	New Grove Number*	Opus N°. (Sieber of Paris 1789 edition)	Notes
57	Quartet	C	42	54 #2	Composed for Johann Tost to sell in Paris
58	Quartet	G	43	54 #1	A set of 6, composed for 2 Violins, Viola & Cello
59	Quartet	E	44	54 #3
60	Quartet	A	45	55 #1
61	Quartet	f	46	55 #2
62	Quartet	Bb	47	55 #3
	*New Grove number gives the probable order of composition

The Ascent of Lunardi's Balloon at St. George's Field - J.C. Ibbetson

Letter #1 [To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 10^th August 1788.

Well born, Most highly respected Sir !

My manifold affairs have prevented me from writing my long overdue answer to your last letter. I repeat that it will always be a pleasure to supply you with my works. Since I am now in a position where I need a little money, I propose to write for you, by the end of December, either 3 new Quartets or 3 new pianoforte Sonatas with accompaniment of a violin and violoncello. I would ask you, for your part, to send me an a conto (NB - an advance 'on account') of 25 gold ducats next Wednesday by our outgoing Hussars. You can leave the letter and the money with our porter Wednesday morning. Meanwhile the present letter should serve as your security. You shall have the receipt on the coming Monday. Of course it is understood that I shall then complete the other 3 Quartets, or pianoforte Sonatas, so that the edition will comprise half-a-dozen, as usual. NB. For 6 Quartets the previous sum of one hundred ducats [= 450 florins], [or] for 6 pianoforte Sonatas 300 fl. In the hope of a favorable answer, I am Sir, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Josephus Haydn.

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Letter #2 [To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 22^nd September 1788.

Monsieur et mon tres cher Amy!

A few days ago I was told that you, my dear Sir, were supposed to have purchased from Herr Tost* my very newest 6 Quartets and 2 new Symphonies. Since I would like to know, for various reasons, if this is true or not, I would ask you to let me know on the next post-day. I remain, Sir, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn.

 *Johann Tost - violinist in the Esterházy band, who went on a journey to Paris about this time, taking with him the 6 Quartets Op. 54 and 55, and two new Symphonies, Nos. 88 and 89.

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Title page of Longman & Broderip Op 57 (54) (1789)
(Courtesy James Boyd Editions)

Talk about a mysterious origin! While we have seen both of these letters before, it was in an entirely different context. When we first read Letter #1, it was in relation to Haydn looking to extend his business relationship with Artaria and make some money. Little did we know Haydn had already completed these offered quartets, and in fact, had already sent them off to Paris with Johan Tost! I'm sure he would have been delighted if Artaria had offered to buy quartets instead, and he could have supplied them by return mail! I hate when someone does something out of character, it creates an air of mystery which begs to be solved, but then, it gives us too few clues to do so.

Given that Haydn himself is now unlikely to fill in any blanks for us at this point, what we are left with is a history of publication, which poses some interesting mysteries all on its own. All known original publications, and there were several of them, date to mid-1789, and range from London to Paris to Vienna. And even though these quartets were, without doubt, composed as a set of six, in all cases the publishers elected to maximize their own profits by splitting them into two sets of three, and so they are known, most irksomely, to this day.

There are very few times in this chronology when I have been forced by circumstance to mix the events of different years together, but this once we must make an exception, since unless we do, these works will disappear into history without comment, and that would never do!

As we saw while Haydn was investigating the movements of Tost, in April of 1789, he wanted to be sure the quartets as well as symphonies 88 & 89 had arrived safely:

Letter #3 [To JEAN-GEORGES SIEBER, PARIS, in German]

Estoras, 5^th April 1789

Monsieur!

I am very surprised not to have received a letter from you, because (as Herr Tost wrote to me a long time ago) you are supposed to have purchased 4 Symphonies and 6 pianoforte Sonatas for one hundred Louis d'or: as far as I am concerned, I regret being bound to Herr Tost for the 4 Symphonies, because he still owes me 300f [Gulden] for the 4 pieces. If you will take over this debt of 300f, I guarantee to compose these four Symphonies for you; but Herr Tost has no rights at all to the six pianoforte Sonatas (trios?), and has thus swindled you; you can claim your damages in Vienna. Now I would ask you to tell me candidly just how, and in what fashion, Herr Tost behaved in Paris. Did he have an Amour there? And did he also sell you the 6 Quartets, and for what sum? Please let me know all this as soon as possible. Meanwhile I remain, most respectfully,

Your wholly obedient servant,

Josephus Haydn

We don't know Sieber's reply, but we still learn from this; Tost was authorized to sell the music to Sieber, Tost didn't give Haydn the money for the symphonies (that would have been the 300 gulden), and somehow Tost ended up with six keyboard trios he wasn't supposed to have, and Haydn wanted them back. Also, what has become of the quartets?

There have often been writings published since the mid-19^th century which seem to imply Haydn dedicated these works to Tost and in fact, he contoured the violin parts to suit Tost's style. However, in the scanty documentation available, there is not the slightest indication that either of these things is true. He gave the works to Tost to sell in Paris because Tost was going there anyway. Now, Tost may very well have told people, in a self-inflating sort of way, that they were written for and dedicated to him, but this is not substantiated by any other source. Tost was a second violin in the Esterházy band. The virtuoso quality of the first violin part is far more indicative of having been suited to Haydn's known quartet companion, Luigi Tomasini than for Tost.

In addition to the dealings with Sieber, Haydn apparently also sold a set of parts to London's 'Professional Concerts', most likely as a part of the deal he had nearly completed which was supposed to bring him to London by the end of 1787. This group, led by Mannheimer Wilhelm Cramer and opera impresario John Gallini, offered great sums of money for Haydn to be there and write music for them. In February, 1789, they are reported to have 'played from manuscripts' brand new Haydn quartets at their 1^st and 3^rd concerts of the series, thus on February 2 and 16. Longman and Broderip subsequently published the entire work, in two sets of three, as early as July 7, 1789. They called the two sets Opus 57 & 61.

In Paris, Sieber also published the opus as two sets of three, the first being issued on June 13, 1789. He called them Opus 54 and 55.

Then there is Vienna. We will take a look at Vienna after we look at the music.

Opus 54/55

Work	1st mvmt Tempo / Key / Meter	2nd mvmt Tempo / Key / Meter	3rd mvmt Tempo / Key / Meter	4th mvmt Tempo / Key / Meter
Op 54 #1	Allegro con brio in G 4/4	Allegretto in C 6/8	Minuet in G 3/4	Finale: Presto in G 2/4
Op 54 #2	Vivace in C 2/2	Adagio in c 3/4	Menuetto: Allegretto & Trio in C/c 3/4	Finale: Adagio – Presto – Adagio in C 2/4
Op 54 #3	Allegro in E 2/2	Largo in A 3/4	Menuetto: Allegretto in E 3/4	Finale: Presto in E 2/4
Op 55 #1	Allegro in A 2/2	Adagio cantabile in D 2/4	Menuetto in A 3/4	Finale: Vivace in A 2/2
Op 55 #2	Andante o più tosto allegretto in f & F 2/4	Allegro in f & F 2/2	Menuetto: Allegretto & Trio in F / f 3/4	Finale: Presto in F 6/8
Op 55 #3	Vivace assai in Bb 3/4	Adagio ma non troppo in Eb 2/4	Menuetto in Bb 3/4	Finale: Presto in Bb 6/8

One of the first adjectives which comes to mind upon hearing these quartets, especially in relation to the earlier ones, is extroverted. Up till now, my own reaction to any set of Haydn's quartets is that it was composed for a drawing room as opposed to a public recital. This has drawn me into somewhat heated discussions (can you imagine?) over this specific topic with other music lovers over the performance style of various ensembles over the years. But several factors are coming together here and now to make me think Haydn has turned a corner with his string quartets, and we aren't talking about the salon or drawing room or back-porch-Saturday-night any longer.

The first of those things we have already touched upon; the first London performances by the Professional Concert were just that. Professional players on a concert stage playing for the public. At that time, and for several years thereafter, London was the only place you could have seen such a spectacle. Most certainly you wouldn't have seen it in Vienna. And lists of concert programmes from Paris don't include string quartets on the agenda either. But in London, it was routine and had been for some time. We will see it ourselves when we travel there in a very few years.

Paris had its own tradition and tastes in quartets. The New Grove article about the string quartet describes Parisian tastes in the 1780's like this;

In 1782 Viotti arrived in Paris, where he introduced the quatuor brillant, which largely supplanted the quatuor concertant; essentially an accompanied solo, the quatuor brillant style, already evident in some works by Sammartini, was characterized by passages of a purely mechanical brilliance and opportunities for concerto-like cadenzas. The influence of the quatuor brillant was widespread; even in Vienna during the 1780s and 90s this style was cultivated at times by Paul Wranitzky, Gyrowetz and Krommer.

There is no question whether Haydn was familiar with these trends, they were no secret and even if they were, he knew who to ask and would have done. Matching music to audience was a Haydn specialty, and a mainstay of his success. Which is an important part of this discussion. I believe it is safe to say that Haydn never had the primary intention of writing these works for the Viennese audience which had earlier been his main one. He was especially composing them for London and Paris, and thus matching their preferences to his own, well developed style. He didn't, after all, give up being Haydn; these works are clearly part of the lineage which is represented most recently by Opus 50 of just a year or two before.

What sets this opus apart then, making it sound more tonally brilliant? Haydn leans heavily on the major keys, especially the ones on the sharp side of C. This is the first time he has used the keys of E major (4 sharps) or A major (3 sharps) since using A major in Opus 20. These were identified in the tonal system with brilliant sound. In addition, minor keys are definitely played down; there is just one work (Opus 55 #2) in f minor, and there he uses F major for the minuet (f minor for the trio) and also the finale. Adding to the use of sharp, major keys, we find a preference for spirited tempos, like Allegro, Vivace and Presto. Four of the opening movements also use a meter which Haydn began adopting for first movements, alla breve or 'cut time', which uses 2 beats in a measure, thus zipping right along.

Three of the slow movements are variations, but all different types. Of the remainder, one is in sonata form with a great opportunity for the first violin to play a testing high melody above the accompaniment of the others. The minuets are chockfull of tonal color, rhythmic oddities and harmonic variety. If you are a fan of Haydn minuets (aren't we all?) these, as a group, are as nice an addition as you could ask.

Of the finales, we have a pair of rondos, three sonatas and to round it out, something (Opus 54 #2) which I discovered from Floyd Grave is 'unclassifiable'.

The primary method of making quartets sound 'brilliant' is to give special emphasis to the first violin. That is where the treble lives, after all. But to me, Haydn's achievement in this opus was to accomplish this but to not go backwards towards his roots, as exemplified in Op 1, 2 & 9. And he has totally managed to do it, too. Haydn had learned some valuable lessons since those works landed on the page so many years ago.

The Empire Strikes Back!?
We have seen the publications in London and Paris, all occurring around mid-year, 1789. Could it be there were no sales to Vienna? Surely not!

At the same time as the foreign publications were happening, that is, around July 1^st, 1789, an edition was advertised in the Wiener Zeitung with no name in the publisher's usual position! Like the others, it was broken into two opera of three works each, and called Haydn's "Opus 59 & 60". Although there was officially no publisher, the scores were advertised as being available from Artaria & Company!

Some curious things surround this little bit of knowledge. The first is the letter above from September of 1788 which I have labeled 'Letter 2'. Here, Haydn asks Artaria outright whether he has gotten a copy of the 'newest quartets' from Tost. We don't know the answer which Artaria gave, any further discussion on the matter centers totally on the two symphonies (88 & 89). Nine months later, an anonymous publisher has arranged publication of these same works. They are advertised in the local newspaper as being available with Artaria as the distributor. In addition, in the same paper is an announcement from Artaria that two new Haydn symphonies are now available for sale, the frequently aforementioned 88 & 89.

Carlo Artaria - Man to be reckoned with?

Yet five days after this newspaper article, which Haydn will certainly have seen or at least heard about, here is the letter which Haydn wrote to Artaria (the only one he wrote in this time frame):

 

[To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 5^th July 1789

Well born, Most highly respected Sir !

Thank you very much for the 3 Sonatas and the Fantasia… [snip]

Now I would like to know the truth about something: that is, from whom you procured the 2 new symphonies which you recently announced, whether you purchased them from Herr Tost or whether you got them already engraved from Herr Sieber in Paris. If you purchased them from Herr Tost, I beg you to furnish me at once with an a parte written assurance of the fact, because I am told that Herr Tost pretends I sold these 2 Symphonies to you and thereby caused him a great loss.

Hoping for a speedy reply I am, Sir, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Josephus Haydn.

Not a word about quartets! I am sure it is clear by now where I am going with this thought; I firmly believe Artaria got copies of the quartets from Tost and published them in this 'in your face' manner for the specific purpose of paying Haydn back for doing him wrong on Opus 50. I also believe Haydn figured out what happened and decided to let it pass, figuring fair is fair and knowing full well he had gotten more than one over on Artaria, and would probably do so again, and he was better off to not make an issue of it. All of this is speculation based on circumstantial evidence, true, but we know beyond doubt that Haydn and Artaria met face-to-face often, and since these aren't the sorts of things you put down on paper when it can be avoided, a simple 'now, don't do that again, Giuseppe' delivered at the right moment would have gone a long way, I think.

Next time we will be back in 1788 for sure, and looking at some excellent accompanied keyboard sonatas. Until then listen to some superb quatuors brillant and once again,

Thanks for reading!