String Quartet in F Major, Op. 33, No. 3
by Johann Baptist Vanhal
String Quartet - Sheet Music

String quartet

SKU: A2.GMP008

Composed by Johann Baptist Vanhal. Edited by David C. Birchler. Score and parts. A-R Editions #GMP008. Published by A-R Editions (A2.GMP008).

ISBN 979-0-58039-007-3. 8.5x11 inches.

Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739–1813) was one of the most prolific composers of the string quartet during the last third of the eighteenth century, with David Wyn Jones authenticating over fifty of the quartets that appeared under Vanhal's name. The six quartets of opus 33, published in 1785, were among his late works in the genre.

String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, in four movements, opens with a sonata-form movement, Allegro moderato. The binary dance movement that follows presents a minuet and trio that are titled "Arietta I" and "Arietta II," respectively, with the trio being the only case in opus 33 where Vanhal utilizes the relative minor key (as opposed to the subdominant heard in the other works). The third movement, Adagio, falls within Jones's category of "the concerto-style slow movement," with emphasis placed on the first violin and triplet figurations shared among all the parts. The Allegro con fuoco that closes the work is in sonata form, opening with broad falling octaves in the first violin, octaves that recur throughout and are playfully invoked to close the exposition and the movement as a whole.

The present edition includes a short preface, statement of editorial methods, and critical notes and offers the quartet in a study score along with performance parts. It is based on the copy of the original Artaria parts held by The British Library, London.