1787 – The Music part 5 - Have we got it wrong? 7 Last Words redux

Hob. #	Genre		Instrument(s)		Notes
03:50-56	Quartet suite		2 Violins, Viola & Cello		Arrangement of the 7 Last Words
17:deest	Keyboard suite		Solo Keyboard		Arrangement of the 7 Last Words
Hob. #	Genre	Voice		Name		Opera / Composer
24b:11	Aria	Baritone character 'Ormondo'		Un cor s'i tenero		Il disertore by Bianchi
24b:12	Aria	Soprano character 'Cardellina'		Vada adagio, Signorina		La quakera spiritosa by Guglielmi
24b:13	Aria	Soprano character 'Erissena'		Chi vive amante, so che delira		Alessandro nell'Indie by Bianchi

[To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 11^th February 1787

Mon tres cher Amy!

This is to report that I have arranged 4 of the Sonatas as quartets, and have completed them; you will receive the whole work this coming Friday. Meanwhile you can give the first violin part of the first four Sonatas to the engraver, just as it stands, because there was no need to change anything…. [snip]

I am, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn

[To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 14^th February 1787

Mon tres cher Amy!

I enclose herewith all four altered parts, and hope that the copyist will understand me well, and especially that he will do all the parts in the right order, that is, as for proper quartets. If there should arise any doubt about certain passages, the copyist should let me know about them at once, so that I can help him in time. All 4 parts, that is, each Sonata in which there are changes, must be written out anew. As soon as proofs of the Sonatas (both as quartets and for full band) can be made, please send me the first copy, so that I can correct it. The content [NB: the actual Words] of the Sonatas expressed in music is also enclosed herewith, and it must be printed in the quartet version as well. [snip]

The opera rehearsals here detain me.

Meanwhile I am, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn

It is commonly known, at least we like to think so, that in the 18^th century, an era which consumed new music with giddy abandon, rescoring and arranging music for other ensembles than the original was routine. Keyboard reductions were particularly frequent, but especially in Vienna, the fact of arrangements for chamber ensembles of major works of music being made was simply taken for granted. In most cases, it wasn't a question of whether it would happen, rather, it was 'who is going to do it?'. Thus we have Mozart's letter to Leopold of 20 July, 1782:

...Now I'm really up against it — my opera [NB - The Abduction from the Seraglio] must he transcribed for winds by a week from Sunday or else someone will get there ahead of me and reap all my profits; and I'm supposed to be doing a new symphony [NB – The Haffner Symphony (K 385)] as well — how is all that possible! you won't believe how hard it is to transcribe something like this for winds so that it's really perfect for wind instruments and at the same time that the original flavor doesn't get lost — Oh well, I'll have to work nights, otherwise it can't be done — and it is to be dedicated to you, my dearest father — you should be getting something in each mail — and I'll write just as quickly as possible and write as well as haste will allow. —"

There is a great amount of information in this letter, which I think usually gets cast aside, apparently because many authors prefer to use it as a cudgel against Leopold's badgering of Mozart to finish the symphony. What it tells us about the climate for arrangements, though, is far more important than any Leopold bashing. The time limitation demonstrates the quantity of the business being done; indeed, there are 'composers' who did nothing else. So in Mozart's case, as a composer who was self-supporting, he had competition for the business. The second highly important thing is the emphasis he places on making the parts be idiomatic for the new instruments, a failure of which would arouse (righteous) criticism. This very interesting letter from Beethoven to his publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel, hits this aspect right on the nose:

[To Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig]

(Fragment) July 13, 1802.

.... With regard to arrangements, I am heartily glad that you decline them. The unnatural mania, at the present day, to wish to transfer pieces for the pianoforte to string instruments, which in every way are so different, ought to be stopped. I firmly assert that only Mozart himself could transfer his pianoforte music to other instruments, and the same of Haidn [sic]; and without placing myself on a level with these two great men, I make the same assertion with respect to my pianoforte sonatas; not only would whole passages have to be omitted or entirely rewritten, but further additions made — and herein lies the true stumbling-block to overcome which there must be either the master himself, or at least one possessing the same skill and inventive power. I changed just one sonata of my own [NB – Opus 14 #1] into a quartet for strings, which I was pressed to do, and am sure that no other man could have accomplished the task as I have done.

Brautigam - Fortepiano
Häkkinen - Clavichord
Lubimov - Tangent Piano

So what was the motivation for the trend, or for Haydn, who didn't really have Mozart's financial issues, although he may have declaimed otherwise, to follow suit?

Wiebke Thormählen, in the essay Playing with Art: Musical Arrangements as Educational Tools in van Swieten's Vienna, provides some surprising (to me) answers. There was an actual governmental push to disseminate The Arts as far as possible. Gottfried van Swieten, the man who introduced Mozart to J.S. Bach and would one day write the libretto for Haydn's The Creation, was Joseph II's Prefect of the Imperial Library, and also the President of the Court Commission on Education. He gave a series of lectures on improving Austrian society by incorporating the Arts more fully into them. And one of the ways to do this was to make great music more readily available at all levels of society. As we have seen in recent years, these goals were totally as one with both The Enlightenment and Freemasonry, as practiced in Vienna in the 1770's and '80's. No surprise, since van Swieten was a prominent Freemason and also a strong supporter of his employer, apparently from true belief rather than toadyism. And here we also come to Haydn's motivation, the man who was also a true supporter of The Enlightenment and Freemasonic ideals, which he deemed to be for the good of humankind. He supported the dissemination of music as a principle, but also, since he wasn't a total altruist, as a way to help himself out.

                [To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. German]

            Estoras, 21^st June 1787

            Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir!

I have revised and corrected the Seven Words, not only for full band but also for quartet and piano score; but I cannot send it today with the Hussars because the parcel is too large, and so I shall send you everything, together with the 4th and 5th Quartets*, on Sunday at the latest…. [snip]

Meanwhile I am, most respectfully,

Your wholly obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn

* - of Opus 50

And then:

[To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. in German]

Estoras, 23^rd June 1787

Dearest friend!

I send you the proofs of the Seven Words in all 3 forms. Inter alia I compliment you on the piano score, which is very good and has been prepared with the greatest care. I should be happy if you could place the word "Fr lim"* of the 3rd Sonata in the first violin part of the version for full band, just as I have indicated it in the quartet version. I enclose the fourth Quartet [of Opus 50], you will quite certainly receive the 5th this coming week.

I am, as always,

Your most obedient servant,

Haydn

N.B. The last movement, Il Terremoto, is not engraved in the viola part at all!

* It is unclear what Haydn means here : the Words which preface the third Sonata are "Mulier, Ecce filius tuus", nor does "Fr lim" stand for these words in French or German. (Robbins-Landon)

Kuijken Quartet
Skálholt Quartet
Quatuor Mosaiques

Ever since these arrangements were released, the string quartet version has been the more popular, deservedly or otherwise. The fact it comes closer to replicating the original, although still falling short, coupled with the far greater potential of gathering players together for a recital, make it not only accessible but closer to the original's intent.

But a word or two about the piano score is fairly inserted here, too. To begin with, I should dearly like to upbraid Anthony van Hoboken for his handling of both these pieces. He created a special category for 'Works on The Seven Last Words', and then immediately failed to include the string quartet version in it. These are not string quartets, they are a suite of sonatas with an introduction and finale, arranged for string quartet. Thus, properly speaking they should be categorized as Hob 20:02, since they are the second version. The piano arrangement is not treated by Hoboken at all, except in adjunct notes. I would challenge the reader to review the bolded sections of the two letters above, the only ones which mention the existence of the piano arrangement, and show me where it says that Haydn didn't arrange this himself. In a separate letter to Artaria, asking for a copy of a score (which he says Haydn would pay for), brother Johann Haydn, the tenor at Eszterháza, asks Artaria for a copy of 'the piano score of Joseph's 7 Last Words in his arrangement…' (italics mine)[Robbins-Landon, Haydn's Chronicle & Works Vol II footnote #1 on page 707]. Perhaps it was not given out at the time that it may have been someone else's arrangement, or possibly it was Joseph who arranged it. To say 'I compliment you on the piano score, which is very good and has been prepared with the greatest care' is not the same, to me, as denying responsibility for writing it! Especially coming from a composer who earlier wrote this to Artaria about the treatment of one of his piano reductions:

[To ARTARIA & Co., VIENNA. German]

Estoras, 8th April 1783.

Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir !

I send you herewith the Symphony, Sir, which was so full of mistakes that the fellow who wrote it ought to have his paw [Bratze] chopped off. The last or 4th movement is not practicable for the pianoforte and I don't think it necessary to include it in print: the word "Laudon" will contribute more to the sale than any ten finales. ..... [snip]

Your wholly obedient servant,
Joseph Haydn

 

So, would it be out of character then for him to actually compliment Artaria for doing it well this time? No, I think not!

And as a final note, I refer you to the front page of the original Artaria edition, pictured above. It reads:

 

So, I will call it Hob. 20:03, standing alone for now, and let the chips fall where they may!

We are in the twilight of the Eszterháza years, still a robust opera schedule, of course, but it has become virtually the only remaining vestige of the once-great Esterházy entertainment empire. No doubt there were still some concerts, and for a year or two, we have some shadow of the dramatic troupe, but Haydn is mainly working for Haydn now, and working hard to catch up on all those years spent pouring out his creative talents on music which traveled no further than the concert hall across the street. As far as he knew, of course. This year's ninety-eight performances did need the hand of the master to make them fit in with the talents available locally, and thus we find at least three remaining 'insertion' arias for this year. I don't know what the originals sounded like, but these are excellent, and if you are a connoisseur of arias, worth finding a recording of, since this is likely the only way you will ever hear them.

And so, thus passes 1787. The heyday of the Golden Age. Next year, the Affair of Johann Tost continues, as well as another set of 'Paris' symphonies. Golden Ages aren't confined to a single year, after all.

Thanks for reading!