String Quartet in D major

At a glance

• What it isthe first movement of Haydn's String Quartet in D major, Op. 64 No. 5, known as "The Lark."
• Who, when, whyone of a set of six Haydn wrote in 1790, near the end of his time at the Esterházy court.
• What to listen forthe first violin's soaring melody above the three crisply stepping instruments.

Listen for

• The openingsecond violin, viola and cello play light, detached notes while the first violin soars and sings at length.
• Conversationsoon all four move quickly together, trading lines. Follow how they pass the melody among them.
• The returning songlater in the movement, the lark's melody takes flight again.

When it was written

Haydn refined the string quartet so thoroughly that he is called its father. In his hands the form settled into a conversation among equals: two violins, viola and cello.

Op. 64 was dedicated to Johann Tost, a violinist and businessman. In autumn 1790 Haydn's employer, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, died, and the next year Haydn left for London to begin a new chapter. These quartets were written just before that turning point.