Humor in Music
The joke by Haydn refers to the ending on the E-flat major quartet Op. 33 No. 2 in its last movement. In the whole action, Haydn depicts the traits of being a trickster. The opening movement sees Haydn setting a relatively balanced and jovial theme (Palmer, 23, 2017). The joke is the last movement is a rondo, a form where principle ideas alternate with different tunes that are often in another song. The joyful and fleet idea in this movement is evident. The idea gets filled with hesitant pauses that either depict the performers’ or Haydn’s uncertainty when they are about to reach the end.
The pause at the last parts grows anxiously and is finished off with a whisper and is often related to a parody of “storm and stress” drama in Haydn’s Op. 22 quartets. The joke in Haydn’s eyes came across as a new way of theme elaboration while immediately exploding them into smaller fragments that are easily manipulated and recombined in numerous ways. The beauty in the solemn Largo sostenuto slow movement share features of the Op. 22 in Haydn’s pieces, especially in the counterpoint instrumental pairs. Here there is humor too in the quirky nature at the center section that is full of syncopation and graded careful dynamics that have the unsettling effect of placing weights on silences and soft, making their echo sounds.
Some other forms of humor in music come from artists like Vivaldi in his “Four Seasons,” where he depicts dancing of peasants in Autumn, drinking a lot of wine, and falling asleep (from 0.00 to 1.08). Beethoven, who got considered as one of the most severe composers, also incorporated humor in his music, specifically his 6th symphony, where he uses birdcalls in his second movement and describes a massive storm in the 4th movement. In the 3rd movement, Beethoven makes fun gently of a village band( at 0.55s)
Some other forms of humor in music come from artists like Vivaldi in his “Four Seasons,” where he depicts dancing of peasants in Autumn, drinking a lot of wine, and falling asleep (from 0.00 to 1.08). Beethoven, who got considered as one of the most severe composers, also incorporated humor in his music, specifically his 6th symphony, where he uses birdcalls in his second movement and describes a massive storm in the 4th movement. In the 3rd movement, Beethoven makes fun gently of a village band( at 0.55s)v