Pieces › Joseph Haydn

String Quartet in E-flat major, Hob. III:31, Op. 20 No. 1 “Sun”

4 movements

Joseph Haydn · 1772 · E♭ major · 436 bars · 327 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: E♭ major, B♭ major, C minor, A♭ major, F minor.