CCLXXIV. HAYDN, Franz Joseph: String Quartet #50 in B-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3

CCLXXIV. HAYDN, Franz Joseph (1732-1809)

String Quartet #50 in B-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3 (1790)
1. Vivace assai (5:46)
2. Adagio (6:23)
3. Menuetto: Allegretto (4:43)
4. Finale: Allegro con spirito (5:21)
Attacca Quartet

This is the third of the six quartets that make up Opus 64. They are dedicated to one Johann Tost. Some digging turned this up:

The quartets of Opus 54 and 55 only number three, instead of the usual set of six (Beethoven's Opus 18, for example). Why?

It seems a scoundrel is involved and his name was Johann Tost.

It is known that Tost was a fine violinist in the Esterházy orchestra from 1783 to 1789. In '89, Haydn entrusted him with the manuscripts of two symphonies (88 and 89) and the six quartets of Opus 54 and 55, for the purposes of placing them in the hands of a publisher.

Tost apparently also took along a symphony by Adalbert Gyrowetz that he passed off as written by Haydn. He seems to have been unscrupulous in his financial settling-up with Haydn, and upon returning to Vienna, he married the Esterházy housekeeper -- a woman of some considerable means.

The next year, one Johann Tost is known to be a wealthy cloth dealer.

And yet, all of these twelve quartets are dedicated to him. Did the dedications come after he paid Haydn his money?

Shrouded in ancient mystery -- yet the quartets are all solid:

First Movement

Second Movement

Third Movement

Fourth Movement