Wow, what a difference! We have been groping in the dark up until now because documentation has all been of the ‘he said :: he said’ variety. Suddenly we are buried in it. The Esterházy’s apparently had fleets of scribes following them around and noting their every movement and pronouncement. And every scrap of paper was archived and most still exist to this day (WW II was hard on archives though). With a minimal amount of research, I could now tell you the exact makeup of the orchestra at a given time, and how much each person was paid. Who was fighting with whom, and what was done about it. What color of uniforms the band wore in a given season, or the special ones they received when exalted visitors came for a wedding or state visit, and how much they cost. Whoa! So, telling you about Haydn’s life on a day to day basis, what was good or bad, all that stuff that makes a story interesting to tell, that should be easy, right? WRONG!!! Well, I shouldn’t be too hard on it since the data leave us plenty of space for inference and at least a sound basis to work from, which is a great advance over where we were before.
With the uncertainty mentioned above concerning when Haydn might have actually begun working for the Prince (Prince Paul in this case), one can nail down a few things simply by the eventual contractual obligations and by (*shudder*) word of mouth anecdotal inferences. As an example, the contract puts Haydn in charge of all the hiring and firing of the musicians on musical grounds. Some first rate musicians were already being signed on by April 1, and all indications point to them being Haydn’s choices. If he was indeed ‘on board’ by March 19, it would only take the attending of a few of the many Vienna concerts at the Esterházy Palace to let him know who to save and who to replace. The list of new musicians is one of the ‘readily available’ lot of things documented; how they got there is only a part of the void.
Being well aware of the standard to which the band was being held, Haydn knew that he would need to get the most out of each player. Part of his strategy for doing that involved composing music which acted as a showcase for the abilities of the individual players. Both of the Princes had the habit of offering additional monetary reward to players who presented an extraordinary performance, so these opportunities to show off earned some extra cash for them, courtesy of the new Kapellmeister. Dies tells us that the Prince suggested to Haydn a series of characteristic symphonies based on a theme of the times
of the day. Although he is the only source for this aspect, it is indeed the case that the first Esterházy symphonies, Hob. 6, 7 & 8, are the ‘Morning ‘ Noon’ & ‘Night’ symphonies. It has been commented for 2 centuries that these works are based on a throwback sort of model like the Italian Concerto grosso. And while some critics belabor the primitiveness of this structure, in fact it provides the perfect platform for the execution of the strategy I mentioned above. They are brimful of lovely obbligato solos for the new musicians, and I believe the reliance on older styles is greatly exaggerated. He wasn't Beethoven after all, Italian Concertos grosso were still being written every day! In any case, Haydn’s musical ideas are of such quality that he manages to easily make them seem modern despite the presence of the archaic structures. In my opinion (which encompasses a surprisingly catholic taste) these three works are the best symphonic efforts in existence in mid-1761.
So, we are off to Eisenstadt. We’ve packed up the new wife and the clavichord and headed southeast, a less than one hour drive today that took the best part of a day back then. There are no apparent qualms, although the non-musical aspect of court life was having to be learned from scratch. That is, how to be a courtier. Taking the long view, musicians in that time were essentially used up and thrown away. Rather like we do with a broken CD player today. The only way to avoid that fate was to be a successful courtier or an entrepreneur. With no experience at it, nor any in running a large and vigorous musical establishment, there was a lot more to do here than ingratiate himself with the Ober Kapellmeister and the musicians and to write music. Next essay we will look at his contract. I wonder how many reading today would even consider signing it! But these non-musical things that I am talking about will show up as a casual phrase here or there. Meanwhile, we’ll let the Haydn’s get settled in…
Thanks for reading!
Here are a few other versions of the "Times of Day" symphonies, one of which might appeal to you too;
| A hard series to dislike. Goodman does use a harpsichord continuo which is placed rather forward in the sound mix, one can either like that or not. I do like it, but I also like a lot of variety in the performances I listen to regularly and this one is at one end of a spectrum. | |
| The Apollo Ensemble are superb musicians and this is as fine a recording as you can get. It is a bit on the subdued side, but that doesn't detract a bit. | |
| The Petite Bande / Kuijken are one of the finest ensembles to have survived from the early days of period instrument performance. This is a relatively new recording and represents where they are today. It is very fine! | |
| A recording that has become a standard, not least because Harmonia Mundi repackaged it as part of the 2009 Haydn 200 celebration. It is peppy, almost rowdy at times and very finely played. |
Any of these recordings is a great choice if you are looking for these works. Enjoy!
