Joseph Haydn's six string quartets, Op. 76, were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian Count Joseph Georg von Erdődy (1754–1824). Quartet No. 62 in C major, Op. 76, No. 3, Hob. III:77, is nicknamed "Emperor" (or "Kaiser") because the second movement contains variations on "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser," a hymn Haydn wrote for Emperor Franz II, which later became the national anthem of Austria-Hungary. This melody is familiar to modern listeners through its later use in the German national anthem, "Deutschlandlied."
The quartet consists of four movements. The first movement is in the key of C major, in common time, and is written in sonata form. Musicologist Laszlo Somfai suggested that the opening notes might have an extramusical origin: they represent the initial letters of "God Save Francis Caesar," using the original Latin spelling for "Emperor."
The second movement, in G major, is in strophic variation form with the "Emperor's Hymn" as its theme. The third movement, in C major and A minor, is a standard minuet with trio. The fourth movement, in C minor and C major, is in sonata form.
Samuel Adler highlighted the second movement of this work as an outstanding example of how to compose for string instruments. He remarked on the movement's final variation, noting that it is a wonderful lesson in orchestration, since too often the extremes of the tonal range are used up too early in a work, resulting in an anticlimactic final structure. The other formal factor is that the entire structure represents a collection of elements that, over the course of the variations, have gradually entered the harmonic and contrapuntal scheme and become a natural part of the statement.