*Deep voice-over* “In a world where the facts are lost in the misty shroud of time, one man searches for the truth amid the wreckage of history”…
... Haydn in Lukavec. Haydn in Prague, or maybe it was Vienna… Who knows? The Morzin family undoubtedly partook in the annual peregrinations of their class; summer in the country, obligatory time spent at their seat of nobility, then time in the regional capitol, time in the Seat of the Empire. This was standard fare, and chances are very high in favor of our lad having spent the summer of 1758 in Lukavec (Dolní Lukavice, now in the Czech Republic), surely a far cry from Vienna in many ways, but the place to be in summer. This, after all, is where the music was made, the band lived, the friends and family came for holiday. Ultimately, it is where most of the early symphonies were composed too.
Here again, a diary or journal would be worth its weight in jewels. Haydn seems to have pretty much forgotten all about the place by the time, dozens of years later, when he told Griesinger and Dies about it. The only anecdote he could bring to mind was from when he was playing the cembalo for the lovely young Countess and her blouse fell open as she leaned over the instrument! The lusty young 26 year old composer was suitably impressed, as who would not have been? However, other than the amusing picture this paints of Haydn (and the provocative one of the Lady), it doesn’t tell us a whole lot about life at Lukavec. It isn’t even certain that the Morzin retinue put in at Prague in those 2 or so years. Nothing exists to tell us the story. Nor do we know what the traveling company consisted of. Did all the musicians go along? Or did they go to their respective homes for the winter. Morzin didn’t need to bring his coals to Newcastle… ahem, his band to Vienna in any case. Although he was certain to have brought Haydn, not least to show him off but also to give him a chance to learn more by socializing with other musicians in the eastern crossroads of the musical world.
In addition to the symphonies already discussed, it is nearly certain (gosh, I hate that phrase. Sorry, it’s the best I can do!) that Haydn wrote a total of fifteen symphonies for Morzin. We will look at them in future, but it should be noted here that one of the ‘amenities’ that Morzin provided and Haydn serviced was a wind band. These were military bands, and their divertimentos had the name Feldparthie. Morzin’s had 2 Oboes, 2 Horns & 2 Bassoons. Unfortunately, much of the music that Haydn wrote for them is lost. There are, however, four remaining, two from 1758 and two from 1760. This delightful music is the predecessor of the later Harmoniemusik, which became a national cult by the turn of the 19th century. We will also have several keyboard sonatas to look at, and this will be an opportunity to look at how they stack up chronologically.
So next time, we will look at the music of 1758. I promise to stay on track this time. Other than the chronology of the keyboard sonatas, I will stay on track. Well, and maybe a look at the history of wind bands, but I promise, that’s it. You know, they started out as double-reed bands sort of like a fife corps….
Thanks for reading!