Franz Joseph Haydn

There was litttle inducement for composers of Haydn's time to create new forms. They used what was available and remade what they had already done or, in Haydn's case, dressed out old forms with new ideas. The variety of his ideas is evident in this late work from his youthful period.

The first movement opens mildly and continues to unfold rather than to explore. There are many pauses from which the music launches itself with fresh intensity but the close is quiet. The second movement begins simply with soft bass accompaniment. Like the first movement, this movement pivots on pauses, unfolds itsef unobtrusively and has a quiet close built on closely voiced harmonies. It is inward with subtle adjustment of elements, an exercise in the complex working out of simplicity. The very short third movement is an explosion of climbing themes and staccato notes. The end is almost flippantly abrupt.