The Great Haydn Quartets: Their Interpretation

The Great Haydn Quartets: Their Interpretation

Discusses the unifying themes and structures of the major string quartets composed by Joseph HaydnFrom Library JournalThis book offers analyses of 45 of Haydn's 60-odd string quartets with the aim of providing interpretive clues for performers. The author, an Austrian-born music critic who lived in England from 1938 until his death last year, had a life-long involvement with the string quartet as both player and teacher. Although Keller's scholarly credentials are not in question, many of his opinions and analytical remarks are both patronizing and debatable, as in the remark "it is impossible for a composer, however great, to write an intrinsic string quartet if he is not himself a quartet player." There are some worthwhile remarks on tempo, texture, articulation, and the like, but they tend to be overwhelmed by Keller's convoluted, discursive prose style. Further, much of the interpretive "advice"e.g., injunctions to play in tuneis insultingly elementary. Susan Kagan, Music Dept., Hunter Coll., CUNYCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.