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| "If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy." |
Haydn and Mozart had a complicated relationship. When Mozart, 24 years younger than the old master, appeared on the scene, Papa Joe understood that he was witnessing something unique. The two met, and Mozart was delighted to encounter the first adult who did not try to use him.
One day, Mozart, who was an exceptional keyboard musician, bet Haydn that he could write something that the old master, another fine keyboard player, couldn’t play. Mozart then wrote down a short piece that ended with both the harpsichord player’s hands at opposite ends of the keyboard while requiring him to hit a middle C. Haydn objected that even Mozart couldn’t play the piece. Wolfgang sat down at the harpsichord, and when it came time to hit that middle C, he bent down and hit it with his nose. Haydn paid up.
The two men formed a string quartet, named by the late Victor Borge as the Million Dollar Quartet: Haydn on first violin, kid brother Michael Haydn on second violin, Mozart on viola and Karl von Dittersdorf on cello, no doubt taking copious notes. These four men tried out their quartets on each other, and it had an effect on Haydn.
As Mozart tried out a new genre of music, Haydn had always retreated and switched to another genre. But when Mozart dared to write string quartets, Haydn pushed back and wrote his very best material, breaking the earlier mold he had set up.
This is the first movement of the “Sunrise Quartet,” which is a textbook example of how to write a sonata movement and the relationship of the keys. “Allegro con spirito” means “quickly, with spirit,” not “quick with the drinks!”
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| "If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy." |