Haydn String Quartets Op.33

Composed in the summer and autumn of 1781, Haydn's Op. 33 Quartets were dedicated to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and premiered on Christmas Day that year in

the apartment of the Duke's wife, the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Nicknamed 'the Russian quartets', Op. 33 were some of Mozart's favourites among Haydn's works, and inspired Mozart to write his own set of six quartets, of 1785, dedicated to Haydn. Generally light in nature, the Op. 33 are extremely tuneful works, all set in major keys (apart from No. 1, in B minor), and all written in four movements.