String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, no. 4
(III. Allegretto alla zingarese)
Listening Guide
Listen on YouTube to the third movment
Badke Quartet: Lana Trotovsek, Emma Parker - violins, Jon Thorne - viola, Jonny Byers - cello
Composer: Haydn
Composition: String Quartet in D major, op. 20, no. 4 (III. Allegretto alla zingarese)
Date: 1772
Genre: string quartet
Form: III. Allegretto alla zingarese uses the form of a minuet and trio, that is, Minuet (A) Trio (B) Minuet (A).
Performing Forces: String quartet, i.e., two violins, one viola, one cello
What we want you to remember about this composition:
- It is in triple time and a moderate tempo, like most minuets
- The music for the repeat of the minuet is not written out; instead, Haydn writes "da capo" at the end of the Trio
- Instead of sounding like a stately minuet, it sounds more like a lively Hungarian dance
Other things to listen for
- It hardly sounds like triple meter, because Haydn writes accents on beats two and three instead of mainly on beat one
Timing
Performing Forces, Melody, and Texture
Form:
Lots of unexpected accents on beats two and three of the triple time meter; homophonic texture: the first violin gets the solo and the other voices accompany; in D major
MINUET: A
Accents back on the first beat of each measure (that is, of each measure of the triple meter); homophonic texture: the cello gets the solo and the other voices accompany; still in D major
TRIO: Cc
Similar to c; note the drone pitches in the 2nd violin and viola accompaniment at the beginning of the phrase
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