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The String Quartet in F major, Opus 17, No.2, opens with a first subject entrusted to the first violin, which provides much of the thematic material to the obvious dismay of German critics of the time, who deplored the lack of counterpoint in works of this sort. In the repeated exposition there is thematic variety, with a passage of relaxation before the codetta. The material is duly developed in the central section, making much use of the opening figure of the principal subject and allowing initial dialogue between the viola and cello. In the String Quartet in E major, Opus 17, No.1, the first violin again handles most of the melodic material (at first), ascending to the heights as the repeated exposition nears it's end. The cello starts the central development, with a reminiscence of the opening figure of the principal subject, and rapid first violin triplets, first heard in the exposition, before the return of the principal theme starts a false recapitulation, extended by the cello in sequential writing, before the recapitulation proper. The Menuetto allows the instruments to enter in ascending order, with a suggestion of canonic imitation in it's second half. The Trio in E minor provides brief contrast, before the return of the framing Menuetto. The same key of E minor is used in the following Adagio, in 6/8, opening as an aria for the first violin and providing, as it continues, resolving dissonances in it's accompanying parts. The melody moves into G major, with a second violin arpeggio accompaniment, providing the additional substances from which the rest of the movement is constructed, and offering music of delicate beauty. The mood changes, as it should, in the final Presto. There are moments of dramatic excitement in the closely related second subject of the repeated exposition, and in the ascending melodic line of the first violin in the development, with a
