Rasiermesserquartett

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Rasiermesserquartett (Razor Quartet). Nickname of Haydn's str. qt. in F minor, Op.55, No.2 (Hob. III:61). The story is that Haydn exclaimed in 1787 when shaving ‘I'd give my best quartet for a new razor’, and was taken at his word by a visitor, the London mus.-publisher Bland. This qt. was Haydn's side of the bargain.

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