The opening movement of Haydn's String Quartet, Op. 1, No. 6, is a standard one, offering little to cause an eighteenth century nobleman to look up from the refreshment tray. However, its heavily accented figures, bustling repeats, and charmingly varied imitations mix elegance with festivity. The first minuet, a minuetto gallante, is stately and perhaps a bit over-refined. The adagio is most remarkable for its pizzicato accompaniment to the violin solo. It is ever-present in this movement, sometimes as a gentle plucking, other times as spectral scalar figures. The melody itself may be con sordino (muted), but the emotional landscape it covers in about three minutes cries of nostalgia, of carefree youth draining into careworn early manhood. The second minuet is brisker and more earthy than the first, with subtle effects, such as a frequent dropping of the imitation dynamics and subtle modulations. By the time the presto occurs, with its standard virtuoso effects, much of the piece's invention has been exhausted.

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