String Quartets Book IV op. 20-The preface by Christin Heitmann provides illuminating background information. Haydn did not assign the nickname Sun Quartets : it alludes to an edition of the time in which the title page wasdecorated with a rising sun. The Quartets op. 20 are the last series in a group of earlier string quartets but are clearly ahead of their time. The demanding fugues which close three of the six quartets are aparticular structural feature.The study edition HN 9208 complements the parts of the String Quartets op. 20.
