Claude Debussy released his String Quartet in 1894 with the designation Op. 10 and the words “1er Quatuor” (first quartet) on the cover. Both labels are misleading, since he hadn’t actually published nine previous compositions and never wrote a second quartet.
The sunrise is in the first measures—the first violin peaks up from a gentle dissonance. And so the day begins: mostly sunny, with a chance of clouds in the slow movement.
In 1772 Charles Burney visited Vienna and reported hearing “exquisite quartets by Haydn,” probably from Op. 20. The D-major quartet is richly colored, frequently inflecting into minor.
Haydn’s “The Bird” quartet sheds much of the drama and gloom of his middle period. Grace notes suggest the chirping birds of the nickname.