A musical joke

Haydn ́s humor by a machine

Authors

  • Cecilia Beatriz Argüello Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v18iespecial.151093

Keywords:

Haydn, humor, String quartet, analysis

Abstract

In 1789-90 Joseph Haydn received a London envoy, the editor John Bland, in the Esterházy palace room,  while he was shaving. At this moment he offered his best string quartet in exchange for good English razors. The tradition recalls the quartet op 55 nº 2 with the name "The Razor Quartet". In the present work I will try to demonstrate, through the analysis, some of the characteristics of the composer’s style that justify why this suggestive title has been conserved until our days. To do this, I start from the concept of rhetoric and ingenuity, in order to analyze the degree of complicity between the sender and the receiver, so that humor can be understood.

 

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Published

2018-10-21

How to Cite

A musical joke: Haydn ́s humor by a machine. (2018). Revista Música, 18(especial), 215-228. https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v18iespecial.151093