Especially tailored for Haydn's appreciative, large, and somewhat uncouth fan base in London, this quartet operates on a larger emotive and dynamic scale than many of the composer's earlier quartets. The first movement, marked simply Allegro in the first London edition but Allegro moderato in the subsequent Viennese printing, begins with a "noise-killer" effect, a small but dramatic crescendo on two stern chords meant to silence the chattering audience. After this miniature introduction, the movement proceeds monothematically, deriving everything from a chromatic melody with a throbbing accompaniment. The material is subjected to extremes of dynamics and intensity, meant to achieve a grand, theatrical effect in the comparatively large halls where Londoners would crowd to hear Haydn's latest music. Despite its single thematic source, the movement proceeds according to the standard sonata-allegro plan, with the development section a particularly ripe opportunity for effects designed to manipulate the audience, not least the virtuosic writing for first violin.

Surprisingly, the second movement, Andantino (the adjective "grazioso" appended in Vienna), appears to be a slow minuet—the sort of movement the audience would have expected to come third. It's a lilting piece in G major and 3/8 time. Instead of writing the central trio section that would anticipate in a minuet, though, Haydn merely repeats the material, approaching it each time from a slightly different perspective.

The minuet proper (Allegro) initially seems to be a conventional example of the dance form, a bright C major piece taken at a faster clip than the previous movement. But Haydn disrupts his little dance with sudden outbursts and odd phrase lengths, and then into the middle of all this Haydn inserts a charming, sentimental trio worthy of Schubert. The brilliant finale (Vivace) pushes forward with high energy contrasting with its sometimes low dynamics. In the course of this essentially sonata-form movement, phrases are tossed about the ensemble, vague hints of counterpoint emerge and then disappear, at times a droning bass evokes a hurdy-gurdy, and there's even a hint of Haydn's beloved gypsy music. To the very end, this quartet is carefully crafted to please a large crowd.

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Haydn's supposedly equestrian quartet takes its nickname from the tendency of its first movement to trot, and from the sheer galloping in the finale. The first movement, Allegro, begins with a cantering introduction, but moves into strange, hesitant, thin-textured material with the instruments entering, one by one, in imitation. This gives way to a more easy and graceful second theme. The development section is more dramatic and extroverted than one might expect from the early material. Everything is then wrapped up in an affirmative, final G major page.

At the core of this work lies the E major Largo assai, a glowing chorale with an E minor middle section that creates a greater sense of motion through its repeated-note accompaniment. The agitation introduced in this episode seems to affect the repeat of the first section, which now includes greater ornamentation.

The last half of this quartet features greater contrasts in texture and dynamics. The Minuet and Trio (Allegretto) alternates duet passages with bars of fully accompanied melody, and, in turn, imitative segments that border on canonic writing. The trio section is comparatively straightforward in texture, but holds surprises in its melodic shapes and irregular phrases.

The finale, Allegro con brio, comes out of the starting gate at a steady, minor-mode gallop. The second theme in this sonata-form movement switches to the major, and leads to a dramatic development section that requires some virtuosity of the players. The recapitulation proceeds without incident to a brilliant G major conclusion.

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The three quartets of Op. 74 were separated from the three of Op. 71 only through an early publishing quirk; all really belong in the same company, destined to showcase Haydn's inventiveness during his second trip to London.

The Allegro spiritoso begins with an effect Haydn needed in London but not back on his quieter home turf: a unison forte announcement that grabs the noisy audience's attention and hints at the primary subject to come. That subject is one of Haydn's most delightful tunes, a happy melody that gently lifts from the F at the bottom of the first violin's staff into the stratosphere and then floats down again, while the second violin and viola help propel it with bouncy eighth-note figures. Haydn does not provide a substantial second subject, but more a trailing tail to the first that eventually wags trills everywhere; this is one of the "special effects" with which Haydn wowed the Londoners. The development section is essentially a polyphonic treatment of all this material.

The Andante grazioso introduces a simple, genteel theme typical of Haydn's slow movements during this period. The first variation inverts the melody; the second gives the first violin an ornate turn. Later variations include a minor- mode solo for second violin, and straightforward treatments of the melody with increasingly busy accompaniments.

The Minuet, led by the first violin, includes loopy little figurations that are mocked by the other instruments. The movement's trio section arrives in the unexpected key of D flat; if given the right rustic feel on nasal period instruments, this segment can sound like a barrel organ, but the effect is usually lost on more elegant modern instruments.

The Presto finale is launched by a darting, twirling theme in the first violin. The movement shifts into material with a less distinctive profile, closely linked to the opening theme. That first subject returns, as if to indicate the onset of a rondo, but it turns out that Haydn is really generating something more like a sonata- form movement, complete with short, melodramatic excursions that hint at the minor mode even though Haydn never officially leaves F major. That scampering initial theme conquers all, of course, and the quartet ends with an impressive series of strongly marked, rising chords, culminating in thick triple stops.

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English violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon brought Haydn to England twice, in 1790 and 1794. The first time, he came with a selection of his most recent symphonies and string quartets. The second time, he came with symphonies and string quartets newly composed for English tastes in general and for Salomon's style in particular. Commissioned by Hungarian nobleman Count Antal Apponyi, the six string quartets Haydn composed for England were published privately in London in 1795 and publicly in London, Paris, and Vienna in 1796. When they were published as part of a complete edition of the quartets in Haydn's lifetime, the six quartets were divided into two groups of three printed as Op. 71 and Op. 74. The three quartets of Op. 74 were probably composed after the Op. 71, but in substance they are aesthetically equal. Both sets are Haydn at his mature best: rhythmically muscular, thematically cogent, structurally compelling, brilliantly witty, and sometimes incredibly soulful. The String Quartet in C major, Op. 74/1, starts with a vivacious Allegro moderato with a virtuoso first violin part, moves through an endlessly charming Andantino grazioso and a Minuet that is less a dance than an outburst of bad temper, and ends with a Vivace Finale that is all dance set in sonata form. The String Quartet in F major, Op. 74/2, starts with a powerfully argued and openly joyful Allegro spiritoso, moves through a deeply affecting Andantino grazioso and a Minuet with a barrel organ trio, and ends with a delightfully droll and contrapuntally concentrated Presto Finale. The String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74/3, is the best known of the Op. 74 set of quartets, no doubt because of its nickname, "The Rider." The triple-time opening Allegro moderato is tightly built and intensely rhythmic. The Largo assai is leanly lyrical and surprisingly modern for 1793. The Minuet is in the tonic major, while its Trio is in the tonic minor. The closing Allegro con brio starts in the tonic minor but, earning its nickname, rides to victory in the glorious tonic major on the last page.

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