It seems to me that one of the most important figures in the development of Western music is Prince Paul Anton who was the head of the Esterházy family in 1761 when he offered Joseph Haydn the position of Vice-Kapellmeister in his immense household. When the old Kapellmeister died a few years later, Haydn was promoted to that position, although in truth he had already been performing most of its duties.

In his position Haydn was composing primarily for an audience of one, his employer, and happily, Prince Esterházy was an extremely musically sophisticated man, as well as having a keen sense of humor.

Haydn quickly honed his compositional skills and he had always had a sly sense of humor himself, so he found he could put that to good use while composing for the Prince.

Listen carefully to almost any Haydn piece that he composed after going to work for Prince Esterházy and you’ll notice small musical jokes in nearly every measure. He’ll begin a piece with a figure that sounds like it should be ending a work and he constantly fiddled with the listener’s expectations.

Then there’s his String Quartet Opus 33 No 2, which is sometimes referred to as the “Joke” Quartet. It evokes high spirits from its first notes, but it’s the final movement that gives it the nickname. I’ve queued it up to start playing at that movement, but of course there’s no reason that you can’t rewind it and listen to the whole work.