Pieces › Joseph Haydn

String Quartet in D major, Hob. III:34, Op. 20 No. 4 “Sun”

4 movements

Joseph Haydn · 1772 · D major · 607 bars · 535 chords analysed

Called the “Sun” quartets after the sunrise on an early edition's cover. Three of them end with fugues, and the cello becomes a real partner for the first time.

Haydn wrote nearly 70 string quartets and more or less invented the form: four equal voices in conversation. From the early divertimento-like Op. 1 and Op. 2 to the Op. 76 set of 1797, you can hear the genre grow up.

Keys visited: D major, B minor, A minor, A major, E minor, F♯ minor, G major, D minor, G minor.