Composed 1793; 17 minutes

On January 19, 1794, Haydn left Esterháza on his second journey to England, with new music in hand—several symphonies and six string quartets that became Opp. 71 and 74. He was returning to London at the urging of the violinist-impresario Johann Peter Salomon, a Bonn-born virtuoso who had made London his base. Salomon introduced Haydn to a public concert culture—not courtly or salon music-making—with expert players and audiences eager to pay for novelty. Although dedicated to Haydn’s patron Count von Apponyi, the quartets reflect Salomon’s influence throughout. His virtuoso violin technique shapes the music so clearly that the works are often spoken of as the ‘Salomon’ quartets in English-speaking countries and the ‘Apponyi’ quartets in German-speaking ones.

The D-major Quartet, Op. 71 No. 2 is the most brilliant of the set. Broad in scale and extrovert in tone, it opens with two emphatic forte chords—a blunt signal to London audiences to stop chattering and listen! The Allegro is built from octave leaps, combining good humor with technical flair. The slow movement unfolds as a lyrical violin aria. “Salomon plays quartets with more feeling and imagination, more taste, expression and variety than we ever heard them played,” wrote a London newspaper. An octave-driven Minuet and an elegant finale bring this superbly crafted quartet to a confident close.