JOSEPH HAYDN  String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 76, No. 2, “Fifths”

Haydn was at the peak of his compositional powers when he wrote the six Op. 76 quartets in the mid-1790s. Like his late masterpiece The Creation, the Op. 76 quartets are notably adventurous in their thematic material, harmony, texture, and timbre. The D-Minor Quartet takes its nickname, and much of its outgoing character, from the boldly striding open fifths played by the first violin at the beginning of the work.

CARL VINE  String Quartet No. 6, “Child’s Play”

The latest string quartet by Australian composer Carl Vine echoes the playful exuberance that characterizes much of Haydn’s music. Each of the work’s five movements evokes a different activity associated with childhood, a stage of life that Vine sees as imbued with “a sense of fun and limitless potential.”

FELIX MENDELSSOHN  String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87

The second of Mendelssohn’s two string quintets dates from 1845, two years before the composer’s untimely death. Posthumously published in 1851, the Quintet in B-flat Major blends youthful exuberance and mature passion. Only the comparatively short-winded finale—which Mendelssohn intended to revise but never did—leaves the listener hungry for more.