Haydn's sixty-eight string quartets span essentially his whole compositional life, from the “Opus 0” and “Opus 1” works of the late 1750s and early 1760s to the unfinished “Opus 103” of 1803. (The traditional opus numbers are retained here for convenience.) They naturally reflect the changes both in Haydn's own compositional habits and in the status and meaning of the string quartet during that near-half-century. The works do become increasingly grand over time, but the extent to which many of the traits of the later quartets are discernible – albeit in nucis – in the early ones is quite remarkable. Haydn's compositional modes in these works range from galant to learned and passionate, from intensely original and inward looking to approachably public, and from folklike to sublime. Although this oeuvre mirrors many of the stylistic concerns of the period and of Haydn's music overall, the features that most distinguish the quartets are their use of “conversational” textures and devices, their persistent elevation and seriousness, which is intensified rather than undercut by their pervasive wit, and their strikingly tactile and performative use of the medium.