Haydn's string quartet Op. 33 No. 2, The Joke, is one of the funniest things he ever wrote, and that's saying a lot because Haydn was the funniest composer in history. In fact, you might say that Haydn really invented the language of musical humor as part of his development of what we now call the classical style. These quartets were a crucial milestone, then, in musical history, and it's rare that such important artistic events are such a breezy good time too. In the finale of the The Joke Quartet, Haydn invents a principal theme that breaks up into four equal pieces. By making the pauses between each phrase longer and longer, it becomes impossible to tell when the music actually ends. Check it out for yourself and see if you get it right. --David Hurwitz
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