String Quartet in D major

At a glance

• What it isthe third movement, minuet and trio, of the "Lark" string quartet.
• Who, when, whya movement from No. 5 of the six quartets of Op. 64, written by Haydn in 1790.
• What to listen forthe minuet's lively three-beat step, the minor-key shadow of the trio, and the minuet's return.

Listen for

• The minuetall four instruments dance in three together. Feel the slight weight on the first beat.
• The triothe middle section turns minor, and the first violin runs on in a restless line, as if the dancers paused for breath.
• The minuet againthe opening dance returns unchanged to close the movement.

When it was written

String quartets in Haydn's time usually had four movements, one of them a minuet. The minuet-trio-minuet pattern was a familiar frame that kept listeners from getting lost. Within it, Haydn played games, twisting rhythms and inserting unexpected rests.

In 1790, when he wrote this quartet, Haydn was about to leave the court he had served for nearly thirty years. This minuet, mixing courtly dance with country high spirits, is also music from a time when he stood between an aristocratic court and the wide world beyond.