The London Haydn Quartet reach the landmark Op 33 in their survey of Haydn’s string quartets played from editions of the composer’s own time. In this case the 1782 printing by Schmitt of Amsterdam (which actually appeared shortly after the more commonly used one by Artaria in Vienna) has been selected for its ‘rare visual fluency that seems to suit this colourful music’. Perhaps the most obvious difference to the general listener is the ordering not only of the works themselves but also of the movements within them: the set opens not with the B minor as has become customary but with the Joke Quartet in E flat (No 2); in every case here the scherzo is placed second, whereas we’re used to it being a more moveable feast these days. So if you know Op 33, certain things are bound to disconcert you (but not in a bad way) right from the beginning.

The Schmitt edition also differs in the more nitty-gritty details of dynamics, articulation and so on – those things that excite musicologists but are less likely to bother all but the most obsessive among us.

All of which would be of absolutely no import whatsoever, of course, if the playing wasn’t any good. Well, as it happens, it is indeed good, the lovely plangency of gut strings combining with that characteristic ‘ticking’ that’s so much a feature of ancient instruments. And these players have the good sense not to tell Haydn’s ‘jokes’ too heavy-handedly. Take the Joke itself: the ‘joke’ itself (as it were) is told with a straight face, the corners of the mouth perhaps just beginning to crinkle into a subtle smirk. The many examples of Haydn’s wit that precede it (and follow it in the ensuing five quartets) are laid out with an audible twinkle in the eye. These musicians know how to have gentle fun together – and they seem happy to welcome interested listeners in to share it with them.