|
Hob. # |
Genre / Title |
Key |
Instruments / Notes |
|
24a:06 |
Cantata Applausus Jubilæum Virtutis Palatium |
C |
S-A-T-B, 2 Oboes, Bassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Harpsichord & Strings |
Well, if you can honestly say you love to listen to a long Austro-Italian style cantata, you have indeed reached a high plateau, and I'm proud to know you. I need to get that out of the way up front, because the entire genre of 'Applausus cantatas' has a very interesting history which is well worth looking at. There are two of the finest bass arias of Haydn's career hiding in here, for example, which should never be lost sight of. So there is something here for everyone!
In late 1767, the Cistercian brothers at the monastery in Zwettl, Lower Austria, decided to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the taking of vows by their abbot, Raynor Kollman. The gifts they presented were magnificent, both of the main ones still existing today. This picture and text from the MAK (Austrian Museum of Art & Industry) shows the display plus their legend, which is interesting:
And here is a new find, a closeup of some of the figures (click to enlarge):
Historically, the Applausus as a genre came along in the first quarter of the 18th century, and had virtually disappeared by 1775. Haydn student David Wyn Jones, editor of the book Music in Eighteenth Century Austria, presents an essay there by Robert Freeman which recounts the known history of the Applausus genre. The genre itself is variable, sometimes it has dramatic acting in it like an accompanied play, other times it is simply a concert piece. We don't know definitively which Haydn's is, but in lieu of any stage directions, we will assume the singers and orchestra were fairly stationary.
The book of the piece, not a libretto really, but more of a long poem, was most likely written by one of the brothers. As we see above, the characters are allegorical, based on mythological characters. They are Temperance, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Wisdom (originally Theology; why the change?). Each has his/her turn singing the praises of the honoree, with extended accompanied recitatives in between, Neapolitan cantata style. Which is probably going to be the rub for many people. If you are a total fan of opera seria, or cantatas in general (though thousands aren't), you will be able to encounter the entire production with ease. It doesn't approach an opera seria in length, after all. If extended recitatives aren't your thing, don't despair, do what I sometimes do; don't listen to them! *insert shock from purists here* The arias and ensemble pieces are well worth the effort of isolating.
With all this said, do we have any ideas what Haydn thought of this 'occasional piece'? After all, an Applausus was a gift which wouldn't travel beyond the monastery walls, not, it would seem, an artwork for posterity. One can simply toss it off and move on to the opera waiting in the wings. Yes? Well, no, not for an artist. Haydn not only exerted his creative powers to the fullest, but he thought enough of the work to save and reuse the arias later on as sacred works with slightly different words (called contrafacta). Since he would not be able to attend the celebration to lead the musicians, he also penned one of the most influential bits of documentation on performance style to the head of the monastic orchestra. By now you are all inveterate readers of the Haydn literature and so you know what I am going to tell you: there are thousands of references to this 'famous' letter, all of them extolling its virtues as an informant towards performance practice, but none of them reprinting the text so you can read it for yourself! So I will apparently be breaking new ground here when I present the entire, carefully typed out from Robbins-Landon's book, The Collected Correspondence and London Notebooks of Joseph Haydn.
[Letter to Zwettl Monastery accompanying the score of the Applausus cantata (1768) (original in German)]
Since I cannot present myself with this Applausus, I have found it necessary to provide one or two explanations concerning its execution, viz.:
Firstly: I would ask you to observe strictly the tempi of all the arias and recitatives, and since the whole text applauds, I would rather have the Allegros taken a bit more quickly than usual, especially in the very first ritornello, and in one or two of the recitatives; but no less in the two bass arias.
Secondly: for the overture all you need to play is an allegro and an andante, for the opening ritornello takes the place of the final allegro. If I knew the day of the performance, I might perhaps send you a new overture by that time.
Thirdly: in the accompanied recitatives, you must observe that the accompaniment should not enter until the singer has quite finished his text, even though the score often shows the contrary. For instance, at the beginning where the word "metamorphosis" is repeated, and the orchestra comes in at "-phosis", you must nevertheless wait until the last syllable is finished and then enter quickly; for it would be ridiculous if you would fiddle away the word from the singer's mouth, and understand only the words "quae metamo…". But I leave this to the harpsichord player and all the others must follow him. N.B.: our scholars in Eisenstadt – and there are very few – disputed a good deal over the word "metamorphosis"; one wanted the penultimate syllable short, the other long; and despite the fact that in Italian one says "metamōrfosi", I have always heard it pronounced "metamorphōsis" in Latin; should I have made a mistake, the error can be easily corrected.
Fourthly: that the fortes and pianos are written correctly throughout and should be observed exactly; for there is a very great difference between piano and pianissimo, forte and fortiss[imo], between crescendo and forzando, and so forth. It should be noted, too, when in the score the one or the other forte or piano is not marked throughout all the parts, that the copyist should rectify this when preparing the performance material.
Fifthly: I have been annoyed at certain violinists in various concerts, who absolutely ruined the so-called 'ties'- which are among the most beautiful things in music – in that they bounced the bows off the tied note, which should have been joined to the preceding note. And so I would point out to the first violinist that it would be silly to play the following (as found in bar 47):
-in which the first two notes are to be taken on one bow – in such a disagreeable and mistaken way as
-all staccato and as if no ties were present.
Sixthly: I would ask you to use two players on the viola part throughout, for the inner parts sometimes need to be heard more than the upper parts, and you will find in all of my compositions that the viola rarely doubles the bass.
Seventhly: If you have to copy two sets of violin parts, the copyist should see that they do not turn their pages at the same time, because this takes away a great deal of strength from an orchestra with only a few musicians. The copyist should also see that the da capo signs ss are written in one of the violin parts as in the score, but in the other he can put the da capo a couple of bars after the sign ss, and then write the sign in its proper place.
Eighthly: I suggest that the two boys [soloists] in particular have a clear pronunciation, singing slowly in recitatives so that one can understand every syllable; and likewise they should follow the method of singing the recitation whereby, for example;
must be sung
and not
The penultimate note 'g' drops out entirely, and this applies to all similar cases. I rely on the skill of the tenor, who will explain such things to the boys.
Ninthly: I hope for at least three or four rehearsals for the entire work.
Tenthly: in the soprano aria the bassoon can be omitted if absolutely necessary, but I would rather have it present, at least when the bass is obbligato throughout. And I prefer a band with three bass instruments – cello, bassoon and violone (double bass) – to one with even six double basses and three cellos, because certain passages stand out better that way.
Finally, I ask everyone, and especially the musicians, for the sake of my reputation as well as their own, to be as diligent as possible: if I have perhaps not guessed the taste of these gentlemen, I am not to be blamed for it, for I know neither the persons nor the place, and the fact that they were concealed from me really made my work very difficult. For the rest, I hope that this Applausus will please the poet, the worthy musicians, and the honorable reverend Auditorio, all of whom I greet with profound respect, and for whom I remain
Your most obedient servant,
Giuseppe Haydn
Maestro di Capella: di Sua Alt:
Sere: Prencipe d'Estorhazy
So, I leave you that to chew upon, there is a lot of valuable information there, and most certainly it can be seen, in answer to my earlier question, that Haydn really did care about the success or failure of even the most ephemeral of his works. Maybe I'll listen to the recitatives this time… Thanks for reading!