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: : Have just listened for the first time to Haydn's string quartet in G Major, Op 17 No5. (Recording by the Kodaly Qtt on Naxos) : : The third movement has a short theme, rather like a declamatory stement, which seems to me to be so like a page in : : the last movement of Beethoven's Choral Symphony. The Beethoven theme comes just at the start of the first male voice entry : : (before the chorus get going) and is echoed by the orchestra. : : Is this a well recognised reference? I'm not a musicologist (evident from my poor description of the theme locations!) and : : would be happy to hear that it is a well known relationship. : : I'm not sure about dates either - which would have come first? Or perhaps there is a third source which they are both qoting. : : Any comments? : : TIA : Beethoven knew Haydn's quartets very well, as is indicated by entire works from his Opus 20 (written just one year after Opus 17) preserved in copies written out in Beethoven's own hand. It would be surprising if Beethoven didn't know the work to which you're referring. Your question has caused me to listen to it again and the sections are indeed very similar. I've not read about the comparison before your note...you've got good ears! It's certainly not as obvious as Beethoven's Funeral March from the "Eroica" and Haydn's slow movement from his "Drum Roll". : By the way, the Haydn was written quite a few years before the Beethoven. The Haydn was written in 1771 and the Beethoven was written in the 1820s. : Thanks for keeping your ears well-tuned!

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