1754-55
Hob 02:9 Divertimento a nove Stromenti in G for Strings & Winds
Hob 02:20 Divertimento a nove Stromenti in F for Strings & Winds
Hob 02:G1 Divertimento in G for Strings & Winds
‘Nove stromenti’ (Nine Instruments) = 2 Oboes, 2 Horns, 2 Violins, 2 Violas & Basso
Believed to be a set of three (Robbins-Landon)
Hob 16:5 Sonata #8 in A for Keyboard
During this period, Haydn was working along on music which would eventually help him in composing symphonies. Although these are clearly serenades, in a typical formal movement layout of fast – minuet – slow – minuet – very fast, the instrumentation and use of tone colors was a clear precursor to the symphony. The use of two violas is a giveaway these were serenades. Haydn’s early symphonies use one viola part, there are no divided violas for a long time to come. But this was a longstanding Austrian tradition for cassations. Two other notes on instrumentation: one set of manuscripts from Berlin offers a choice between oboes and German (transverse) flutes. Since most other manuscripts say ‘oboe’, this is the choice nearly always made. It would be interesting to hear them with flutes though! Second, the basso. It will certainly be a violone for the reasons already given concerning walking around with a cello. But the addition of a bassoon to the basso is so automatically assumed by Haydn, he doesn’t even specifically name it when he requires it in an obbligato section in the trio of the minuet! He just writes fagotto over the line and knows it will be there. So despite that Haydn himself called two of these works ‘Divertimenti a nove stromenti’ when he entered them in the Entwurf Katalog, we find more evidence that ‘basso’ doesn’t always mean one instrument! Recordings of these three works are relatively thin on the ground at this point in time. The two in G major especially are noteworthy for only having one recording each. The upside is it is an excellent recording, one that I have been prodding you about since the first. That would be Manfred Huss and the Haydn Sinfonietta Wien. This one also includes the F major divertimento. But if you would like to hear a different approach to this work, there are also two other recordings available, one by the Linde Consort and the second by soloists from La Petite Bande under Sigiswald Kuijken. Either or both of those disks are very entertaining and well played.
The final work of 1755 is the Sonata in A for Keyboard. Like previous keyboard solo works, this was most likely intended for use by one of Haydn’s students, perhaps Countess Thun herself. It is rather substantial for a sonata of the period, timing out at 12.5 minutes. These works bear up under expert analysis, but they won’t get it from me! My interest, being conveyed here, lies in when it was composed, what circumstances led to its composition and what instrument(s) it was likely composed for. In this case, there are several good recordings, and you can follow your preference between harpsichord and fortepiano. I personally like Robert Hill in this one, although it should be noted that he doesn’t play the repeats, thus his total timing is slightly under 7 minutes, while Christine Schornsheim checks in at nearly 13 minutes. If that doesn’t bother you, Hill’s superb sounding instrument seems to ring like a bell in the higher registers. If you prefer a fortepiano, Ronald Brautigam, Ursula Dütschler (in the Brilliant “Oort’ box) and Christine Faron all do a nice job. Like most of Haydn’s early keyboard works, this one is vastly underrated and virtually unknown. Compare to other sonatas of the time and you can see the Haydn of the future!
Next time, we will look at the extant music from 1755-56. I hope these little monographs will whet your appetite for Haydn's early works; they make for some fine entertaining listening.
Thanks for reading!