As a student the difficult Beethoven has come and gone, no doubt to the relief of both. Haydn goes from one incredible accomplishment to another and none perhaps greater than this quartet.

It is well named. The violin emerges from the ensemble exactly as the sun rises. This figure alternates with another more bustling theme. Each time the one participates more in the qualities of the other. The adagio unfolds with a dependence on the cello that shapes and directs. There is even a short canonic passage for violin and cello. The minuet is almost a country-dance and its trio suggests a bagpipe. The finale encompasses great variety within a very short time. The melody is sedately gay set off with contrasing passages in which the violin ventures into a near-harmonic range. The music becomes more strongly inflected, there is a brief fugue and a bravura finish at breakneck speed.



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