Haydnspirations

"Haydnspirations" (Haydn inspirations) was commissioned by the well-known chamber music pedagogue Annie Fullard. It was written to be paired with Haydn's string quartet Opus 20 no.2 in C major, which was performed right before it on the program for its premiere. It thus draws specific motifs and gestures from Haydn's quartet, setting his music in a new light and inspiring new musical output. This "new inspired by old" theme was taken from Caroline Shaw's piece “Blueprint”, which was inspired by Beethoven's Opus 18 no.6. I tried to imagine what Haydn might have done had he written this string quartet today, as our use of dissonance and consonance, for example, can be a lot more drastic than the late 17th century. It was a joy to weave in and out of Hadyn’s music, which is an endless flow of inspiration.