Opus 1 No.4 - patterns

and, in sketch form

Picasso's Guernica, in its "First State" as photographed by Dora Maar



(Additional photos online at http://www.martinries.com/article2007AG.htm)

When I first heard Haydn's opus 1 No.4, I though of patterns. The first movement, a presto, but is has an almost waltz feel to it. The back-and-forth suggested in this first movement stretch across all five movements. The balance is satisfying, almost mathematical. Although at times a melody might runs lose for a few bars, "order" is the order of the day.

Here is another work of art, a quilt from 1885 on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that carries the sames rhythm, in particular the second movement, menuetto I.