Quartet in B-flat major

Appony Quartets-Joseph Haydn composed the string quartets known as Op.71/74 also called the 'Apponyi' Quartets in 1793. The composer dated the autograph scores accordingly although the year that appears on those of the B flat major and D majorquartets shows signs of having been corrected. These two works might already have been finished in 1792. However it is certain that Op.71/74 were composed in Vienna during the period between Haydn's two journeys to England andintended as a series of six quartets.The decision to divide the quartets into two sets of three was taken by the publishers. The three Quartets Op.71 were first published in 1795 by Corri Dussek & Co. then in a slightlyrevised reprint by the Viennese publishing house of Artaria & Co.

Volume One
Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op.18, No. 1
Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op.18, No. 2
Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op.18, No. 3
Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op.18, No. 4
Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op.18, No. 5
Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op.18, No. 6
Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1
Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2
Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3
Volume Two
Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74
Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95
Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Op. 127
Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130
Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131
Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132
Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op. 133

Like Dvorák's third and fourth quartets (in D major and E minor respectively), String Quartet #2 in B-flat major was probably composed between 1868 and 1870, when the young and still inexperienced composer was openly responding to stimuli from his musical surroundings and excitedly adopting new compositional techniques. All three quartets were long considered lost - it was even said that Dvorák destroyed them. But copies of the parts resurfaced in the archive of the Prague Conservatory and have served as the principal source for this new publication.This edition presents the musical text from the 'Antonín Dvorák Complete Edition?, together with a new foreword by Hartmut Schick.- Musical text based on the 'Antonín Dvorák Complete Edition?, volume IV/5- New foreword by Hartmut Schick (Ger/Cz/Eng) / Quatuor A Cordes