{{short description|1797 string quartet by Joseph Haydn}} {{Italic title}} {{refimprove|date=April 2026}} The '''''Kaiserquartett''''' (Hob. III:77, Op. 76, No. 3, English: '''''Emperor Quartet'''''), is a string quartet in C major by Joseph Haydn.
The ''Kaiserquartett'' is the third of the six String Quartets, Op. 76, which Haydn composed in 1797 at the age of 65 after his return from London and dedicated to Count Erdődy. They were published in 1799. It was nicknamed the ''Kaiserquartett'' because its second movement contains four cantus firmus variations on the theme of the "Volkslied" previously composed by Haydn (according to the first edition of 1797) "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", written for Francis II.
Some 40 years later, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote his "Deutschlandlied" ({{lang|de|Das Lied der Deutschen}}) on the then British island Heligoland to Haydn's, an Austrian, famous and popular melody, the third verse of which today is the text of the national anthem of Germany.
== Movements == The string quartet has four movements:{{Ordered list | type = upper-roman|Allegro (C major, sonata form)<br /> <score> \relative g'' { \key c \major \time 4/4 \partial 8 g8 \f e4( f8-.) d-. c4-. r8 g-. \p e8-. a-. g-. fis-. g4 r8 d' e8 g4 f! e16 \trill d e8-. c'-. \f d,,8-. r <g g,>-. r <e c>4 r } </score>{{pb}}The musicologist László Somfai suggested in 1986 that the opening notes have an extra-musical origin: they represent the initial letters of "<u>G</u>ott <u>e</u>rhalte <u>F</u>ranz <u>d</u>en <u>C</u>aesar", assuming the license of using the original Latin spelling for "Kaiser" ("K" does not designate a musical note).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Somfai|first=László|author-link=László Somfai|title='Learned Style' in Two Late String Quartet Movements of Haydn|journal=Studia Musicologica|volume=28|issue=1–4|date=1986|pages=325–349|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó|jstor=902431|doi=10.2307/902431}}</ref>{{pb}} |Poco Adagio. Cantabile – Variations I–IV (G major, strophic variations)<br /> <score> \relative g' { \key g \major \time 2/2 \partial 2 g4.( _\markup{ \musicglyph #"p" \italic "dolce" } a8 b4 a c b) a8( fis g4) e'( d c4 b) a( -\tweak X-offset #2.8 \turn b8 g) d'2 } </score>|Menuetto. Allegro (C major, A minor)<br /> <score> \relative c'' { \key c \major \time 3/4 \partial 4 c4 \f b4( c) e g,2( c4) d,2( a'4) g,4. }</score>|Finale. Presto (C minor, E{{music|flat}} major, C major, sonata form)<br /> <score> \relative g'' { \key c \minor \time 2/2 <g c, es,>4-. \f r <as b, d,>-. r <g c, es,>4 r r c \p b2( c4) d es2( d4-.) r } </score> }}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMSLP|work=String Quartet in C major, Hob.III:77 (Haydn, Joseph)|cname=String Quartet in C major, Hob.III:77}} * {{AllMusic|class=composition|id=mc0002363296|title=String Quartet No. 62 in C major ("Emperor"), Op. 76/3, H. 3/77|author=James Reel}} * {{YouTube|qoWdtGUe5fc|Animated score}}, Alban Berg Quartett
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Category:String quartets by Joseph Haydn Category:1797 compositions Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty Category:Compositions in C major Category:Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
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