What's in a Name? The "Scherzo" in Haydn's Opus 33 Quartets

Jason Britton, University of Oregon

This study considers whether or not Haydn's novel use of the title "Scherzo" for the dance movements of his Op. 33 string quartets symbolizes a "new way" of writing. Over the years, several prominent scholars have insisted that the six scherzos of Op. 33 do not differ stylistically from Haydn's previous minuets in the genre, and are therefore simply "minuets renamed." But compared with the minuets from Haydn's preceding group of string quartets, Op. 20 (written ten years earlier), the Op. 33 scherzos express a markedly different phrase and rhythmic style. The localized spontaneous irregularities that characterize the Op. 20 minuets seem to give way to a more rational technique of disruption in Op. 33 that operates deliberately against a background of balanced phrases and duple hypermetrical patterns.

In this paper, I apply Schenkerian analytic techniques in conjunction with rhythmic and metrical approaches developed by Carl Schachter and William Rothstein to reveal significant differences in the way Haydn produces irregular phrases in his Op. 33 scherzos and his minuets of Op. 20. These findings suggest that the composer's use of the term "Scherzo" does indeed signify a new way of writing in his Op. 33 dance movements.