No one knows the exact composition date of this recently found quartet by Franz Haydn. It could have been composed as late as 1761 or 1762, during Haydn's tenure as vice-Kapellmeister to Count Esterházy. The opening presto has a lively alfresco mood, one that engenders festive visual images, but with a trace of puckishness. The adagio contains a lovely first violin melody, which must have pleased hearers with its cantabile, style reminiscent (in retrospect) of Mozart arias (Mozart was a mere toddler at the time). Could Mozart have heard this quartet? Haydn had not yet achieved wide fame in the middle 1760s, but his works were consistently circulated.The pizzicato accompaniment is subtle but effective, like a shadow behind a Dutch master painting. By the time the trio of the second minuet occurs, something remarkable happens: a viola takes the lead—unheard of in the middle eighteenth century. The coloristic effects for the viola are both striking and beguiling. This minuet also features splendid two-part writing. The finale engages in a lively call and answer between the violin and the ensemble, ending not in a series of tutti chords but in a run of agitated presto figuration.

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