Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartets Book 4 Op. 20 Parts

String Quartets, Vol. IV, Op. 20 (Sun Quartets) (Set of Parts (Edition without fingering)). By Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Edited by Georg Feder. String Quartets. Henle Music Folios. Pages: Vl I Part = 39 * Vl II Part = 35 * Va Part = 35 * Vc Part = 31. Softcover. 144 pages. G. Henle Verlag #HN208. Published by G. Henle Verlag (HL.51480208). Urtext Edition, paperbound.

This study edition complements the parts of the String Quartets op. 20 that have already been published in Henle Urtext (HN 208); a new preface by Christin Heitmann provides illuminating background information. Haydn did not assign the nickname “Sun Quartets”: it alludes to an edition of the time, in which the title page was decorated with a rising sun. The Quartets op. 20 are the last series in a group of earlier string quartets, but are clearly ahead of their time. The demanding fugues which close three of the six quartets are a particular structural feature.