The bumpy relationship between Beethoven and Haydn
In ‘Stubborn Student’, about the similarities between Haydn and Beethoven, we focus on the most striking connection between the two: the string quartet. We play a late quartet by Haydn, in which he incorporated an impression from London. The beginning sounds exactly like Big Ben. Furthermore, it is a grim quartet with a very peculiar ‘witches’ minuet. After that, we hear Beethoven’s 2nd ‘Razumovsky’ quartet, including a super peaceful adagio that transcends earthly affairs, and in the third movement, the obligatory traditional Russian ‘Slava’ theme is heard, which was later used in Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov.
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D minor Op. 76 No. 2 ‘Fifths’
Carmina Quartett
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor Op. 59 No. 2
Quatuor Ebène
