The Consort
David J Golby
Summer 2021
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in E flat major
arranged from Symphony no. 84 (‘Paris’)
ed. David Wyn Jones, Simone Laghi
Edition HH, @HAYDN series, HH 482, Launton, 2020
(pbk, £29.50)
ISMN 979 0 708146 93 3
www.editionhh.co.uk
Over the years, Edition HH has produced intriguing new versions of often familiar repertoire, such as those featured here. This edition of the String Quartet in E flat by Haydn (1732-1809) is one of three of his works originally published by Artaria in September 1787 (between the publication of op. 50 and op. 54/55), including string quartet arrangements of three of the six ‘Paris’ symphonies, nos. 84, 85 and 86. Although it is unclear whether the arrangements were made by Haydn himself, the editors put forward a convincing case for their importance, based on the significance of the title-page and the sheer quality of the arrangements themselves, and it seems reasonable to attribute them to Haydn, at least as a working hypothesis.
In the quartet arrangement of Symphony no. 84 in E flat, the prominence of the woodwind within the original requires changes of tessitura, and other alterations compensate for their absence when transcribed for quartet. For example, the typical use of woodwind and horns to add emphasis to the texture in homo-rhythmic forte moments here requires additional double stops and chords, primarily in the violin parts. At other points the desired change of timbre is represented by subtle, ingenious changes of instrumentation, such as the transference of the oboe and bassoon lines to the second violin and viola for the monothematic second-subject of the first movement.
With so much of the original string writing retained virtually note-for-note, the outcome works perfectly. If a little wind and brass emphasis is missing from the Allegro first movement, the Andante second movement sounds as if it had been written for a string quartet (although some may lament the necessary change from wind to strings in the written-out cadenza at the end of the movement). There is also a lovely transference of a bassoon countermelody to the viola in the second half of the Minuet. If the absence of woodwind and brass is felt anywhere it must surely be in the final Vivace, which is one of Haydn’s most joyous and exuberant creations. Even then, the result still works admirably as a string quartet.We are grateful to theThe Consort for permission to reproduce this review.
Full score and parts