As I have mentioned several times, precisely dating many/most of these early works is something on the order of finding water with a divining rod. Myself and all interested parties are (or should be) grateful for the efforts expended by generations of scholars who have narrowed the field of choice down from ‘before 1766’ to ‘between 1757 & 1761’.
Still, this is a pretty broad range when one is speaking of groups of a few works each, and trying to determine how the music evolved over a period of time. Even this span, a mere five years, seems small when looked at over the course of 250 years, but it wasn’t small in the life of Haydn. It was the time (just in broad strokes for now) from when he bid his first love adieu and played his music at her farewell mass, when he discovered a particular facility with ‘divertimentos a quattro’ at Fürnberg’s summer chateau, found employment with the Morzin family and began writing symphonies, keyboard trios, music for wind band, got married and finally ended his employment with Morzin and was instantly taken up by Prince Paul Esterházy! So really, it wasn’t a mere five years to Haydn. At the time, it was nearly 20% of his life to date!
I hesitate to make this about myself, but realistically any sort of work like this is about its author as much as its subject. I got interested in the chronological aspect of Haydn’s life and work because I was looking for a methodical and accurate way to catalog and organize my sprawling collection of Haydn’s music. Of course it takes more than a little basic knowledge to accomplish this in an acceptable way, so I determined to spend a few weeks learning everything there was to know about the subject. Seven years later I truly believe I have the bull by the tail and a good idea about which end can hurt me (again!). And I am also pretty sure Symphony # 104 was composed in 1795, but I’m willing to accept amendments as the latest information surfaces. Of course, the underlying motive to this process was to entertain myself with the greatest music and do it in a way I find pleasing; with quality performances, variety of genres, the obscure works along with the famous ones. So for example, if an evening’s entertainment will consist in the works composed in 1757, then as you can see from the list in the previous essay, I will have symphonies, divertimenti, some string trios and quattros, some keyboard trios, quattros and solo works; in short, just what I was looking for.
So I should complain now? Well, of course. There are always a thousand things to complain about, but tonight’s complaint has to do with the divertimentos a quattro. There are ten surviving, and they are presumed to spread out over the entire five year period mentioned above. The solution I came up with for my listening pleasure was to simply place two of them in each year of the period. Beginning with Op 1 #1 & 2 in 1757 and continuing through to the end. Now, do I think this is the correct ordering and tempo of composition? No, I certainly do not. What works very well for my entertainment (and for yours too, by the way, which is why I am telling you this) is hardly a scientific criterion for ordering an accurate list. So you should never, ever make a bet at your local Classical Music Bar on the dating of Op 2 #1 based on Gurn’s dating system! One wager I am willing to make with you though; in my lifetime, the dating of the 10 extant divertimentos a quattro will still be ‘between 1756 and 1760’. Or somewhere thereabouts...
Thanks for reading!