[Desert Island] Haydn's Op. 33 vs. Mozart's 'Haydn' Quartets

[Ken B]

Wolfgang for me. 
There's just more to the Mozart for me than the Haydn set, although perhaps it's only because I'm more familiar with the Mozart than the Haydn.

If I was forced to pick three sets of string quartets to save for posterity--or to give to a person just beginning their exploration of the genre-- they would be this set from Mozart,  Beethoven's late Quartets, and Shostakovich's cycle.

Interesting. Toss in Schubert's Maiden and those are the first quartet sets I bought way back when, and wore out. And I still love them and quartets in general, so I think Jeffrey is speaking pearls here.

I won't vote till I listen to them all again, as 33 is a set I don't know as well as some others,  but going by memory I'd be for Mozart. Less certain with the op 76 though.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Less certain with the op 76 though.

The Op.76 is the apex for me (along with one or two from Op.64), giving anybody who's put pen to paper a run for their money in the string quartet realm. But in this poll, Mozart by quite a few lengths.

[SonicMan46]

Harder question than it would seem at first blush.


OK, I just said that for the hell of it.  Haydn. 0:)

OK - I'll pick Wolfie - and maybe Papa Haydn would have too?  His comments to Leopold about his son come to mind - Dave

Joseph Haydn himself stated that he considered Mozart to be the greatest composer known to him by person or name, and that Mozart had the most profound knowledge of composition.

[DavidW]

Haydn, but I did hesitate for a few seconds.  If we're going to discuss string quintets, operas, piano concertos etc it would be different.