|
NC |
HRL |
HOB |
KEY |
Instruments |
||
|
26 |
27 |
12 |
E |
2 Oboes, 2 Horns & Strings |
||
|
27 |
29 |
40 |
F |
2 Oboes, 2 Horns & Strings |
||
|
28 |
7 |
16 |
Bb |
2 Oboes, 2 Horns & Strings |
||
|
29 |
39 |
34 |
d |
2 Oboes, 2 Horns & Strings |
||
|
30 |
30 |
72 |
D |
Flute, 2 Oboes, Bassoon, 4 Horns, (opt Timpani) & Strings |
||
|
31 |
28 |
13 |
D |
Flute, 2 Oboes, 4 Horns, (opt Timpani) & Strings |
||
Despite what Haydn, himself, thought of his talents, and despite the fact most Haydn fans tend to favor whichever genre he wrote in which they already love the most, the fact is it is his contributions to the development of the symphony which have immortalized him. We have seen his evolution from interesting journeyman to the point he occupies in 1763; unique master of a genre which is finally coming into its own. Serious musicians (including Haydn) up to now had always held every form of instrumental music, no matter how interestingly compiled, to be a lesser species than even the meanest vocal music. However, a major change of attitude was heading to be the cultural norm which would bowl it right over. Haydn was in the right place at the right time to be the beneficiary of this, perhaps even to help propel it along.
The first two works, which premiered in February at a concert in Vienna, are Hob 12 & 40. Number 12, in the less-than-common key of E major and with just three movements, appears to stem from the opera Acide, as mentioned earlier. The work opens with a very piano Allegro passage which has great warmth in the strings due to the key, which has a
distinctive tonal color on violins. The overall feeling throughout is one of chamber-like intimacy. The inner movement, in a somber e minor, nonetheless is in a 'siciliano' rhythm which invites the listener in. It reminds one of an Italian opera aria, perhaps a nod to its roots as an entr'acte. The finale, which would not have been related to Acide, is a high energy Presto which is indicative of the finale style which Haydn would use for the next few years. I have to admit, this is one of my favorite symphonies of the period.
Symphony #40 is a different animal altogether. Despite their synchronicity and identical scoring, these works each stands on its own. The opening Allegro appears to constantly gain momentum because Haydn decreases the note values as it moves ahead (called rhythmic diminution), which produces a palpable effect of propulsion. The slow movement is again based on the divertimento movement (Hob II:11) Man and Wife (Mann und Weib) which in this case is spun out in a scherzo-like way that has an element of dreaminess that is unique for the period, even for Haydn! As a final point of interest before we leave this work, the finale is a great Fuxian fugue in stile antico, the last time Haydn would use a fugue to end a symphony.
Our next symphony, #16, seems to have gotten the best of Robbins-Landon. He calls it #7, and dates it to 1758. But it is so good that he freely admits that it could be an early Esterházy symphony. And since then it has apparently been determined to be, in fact, exactly that. And it is good! Arguably the finest of Haydn's three movement symphonies. The first movement opens in double counterpoint an octave apart, and the two lines mirror each other throughout. In the Andante second movement, he turns off the winds and gives the melody to the violins. The interest lies in the fact that the cello doubles the violins at an octave lower. The only dynamic mark used is a piano at the beginning, which is unchanged right through to the end. This produces a great deal of tension in the listener which is unresolved right up to the final cadence. The finale is another Presto, one which contains perhaps the first indication of humor in a Haydn symphony. This is produced by the violins at the final section breaking the theme up between them and presenting it in the opposite manner of what the listener expects; just a bare bones duet in piano rather than a full forte finale. Music will never be the same!
Next time we will look at the final three symphonies of the year, which show us what Haydn could do when given a choir of horns to work with!
Thanks for reading!
