Haydn Seek

1792 – The Year part 3 - Anatomy of a joke

Panorama from the roof of the Albion Mills
Robert Barker (1792)

There has never been a doubt; as great as Haydn's oeuvre is, it is the symphony which was, and still is, his calling card, worldwide. Twenty years earlier, it was the symphony which made him known and famous in London, even before he ever set foot in Dover. And this year, despite the other superb works he wrote for the Salomon Concerts, it is particularly the phenomenal feat of writing four great symphonies which distinguishes him from all others. Even if you are nit-picky enough to point out 'Hey, you told us last year he started sometime in September or October…' I will then say 'yes, but the fourth one was performed on 3 May, so it was really just a maximum of nine months! Well, he didn't have an opera to write this year, so time was not the issue.

Let's have a look at these six symphonies, when and where composed, and when they were premièred;

Hob. No.	Key	Title	Year & Place of Composition	Date of First Performance
96	D	Miracle	1791 – London	11 March, 1791
95	c		1791 – London	1791 – Date unk.
93	D		Autumn 1791 - London	17 February, 1792
94	G	Surprise	Autumn 1791 - London	23 March, 1792
98	Bb		1792 - London	2 March, 1792
97	C		1792 - London	3 May, 1792

In addition to these six, Haydn also had N^o.'s 90-92 along with him. So he was well stocked with symphonies. Of course, even a composer as great as Haydn can't supply the musical needs of such a large, well rounded musical audience, so there were certainly supplemental works at all of these concerts. Even 'Mr. Haydn's Benefit Night' wasn't programmed exclusively with works by Haydn.

I crunched a few numbers at the end of the 1791 season, this is what I came up with. It is nice to see a good, round forty symphonies being performed in the thirteen concerts. All concerts, save one, had three symphonies each, and they were evenly spaced as the opening of the First Part, the opening of the Second Part, and a finale. In every case, Haydn's symphony was the opener for the second part. At his Benefit night, there were three of his symphonies performed, making a total of fifteen for the season. Here are the remainder:

If your main interest is music of the Classic Era, nearly all of these names will be familiar to you. Clements, Demacchi and Häsler are strangers to me. But they are minor players here anyway, the main point being that, among other things, you can see Haydn's influence pervading the final decade of the 18^th century. Every one of the composers who is represented by more than one work was (and is) considered to be a follower of Haydn's style. The five composers at one work each were not, at least as far as symphonies go. Surprisingly, given the English predilection, both earlier and later, there are no English composers on the list. At this one point in time, Viennese music reigned.

When we think of a musical work, one already composed, it acquires an air of immutability, at least insofar as the composer making any changes to it is concerned. But Haydn's belief in his relationship with his audience, and what he wished to convey to them, invalidates this idea, at least as far as London in the 1790's. This piece of a letter to Marianne Genzinger demonstrates his thoughts nicely:

[To MARIA ANNA VON GENZINGER, VIENNA. In German]

London, 2^nd March 1792.

Nobly born and gracious Lady!

Yesterday evening I received your welcome letter and the Symphony [NB - #91] I had asked for; I respectfully kiss Your Grace's hands for the prompt and careful delivery. Six days before I had in fact received it through Herr von Keess from Brussels, but the score was much more useful, for I have to change many things for the English public. I only regret that I must bother Your Grace so often with my commissions, the more so since at present I cannot show you how grateful I am. I must confess and admit to Your Grace that this causes me great embarrassment and that there are days in which I am terribly sad; especially because at present I cannot send Your Grace the Symphony which is dedicated to you [NB - #93], for the following reasons: first, because I intend to alter the last movement of it, and to improve it, since it is too weak compared with the first. I was convinced of this myself, and so was the public, when it was played the first time last Friday; notwithstanding which, it made the most profound impression on the audience. [snip]

So here, in one paragraph, we see not one, but two symphonies which he wasn't happy with and wanted to redo. It is interesting that one of them was already four years old, but after his year exploring the tastes of London, he felt it wouldn't pass muster. In the event, it apparently did, since no known 'improved' version exists. Most likely there simply wasn't time to redo it before it was needed for performance. As for #93, we don't know today if the version we have is the original or the 'new and improved' one. David Schroeder (Haydn & The Enlightenment) points out that since the finale we now have appears so much more forceful than the first movement, it must be the replacement, although we have no other finale versions to compare it to.

I think the implication here is fairly important for all the London Symphonies going forward. Haydn spent his first year in London studying, not only the reaction of the audience to his music, but also which sorts of effects in other people's music really turned on the audience. So the works going forward were more suited to that particular audience. This was certainly not the first and only time in his career he did this; it was in fact, a way of life for him. A statement to this effect is frequently heard even today, and though it is used mostly to highlight his originality, it also points strongly to his careful observation of his audience and desire to please them:

"As head of an orchestra I could experiment, observe what heightened the effect and what weakened it, and so could improve, expand, cut, take risks; I was cut off from the world, there was no one near me to torment me or make me doubt myself, and so I had to become original."

And producing effects is just what he did, on 23 March, 1792!

In all the 'papers, March 20 – 23

Mr. Salomon most respectfully acquaints the Nobility and Gentry, that his Sixth Performance will be on Friday next, the 23^rd instant;

Part I

Grand Overture (M.S.) Haydn

Song, Signor Albertarelli

Quartetto for 2 Violins, Tenor and Violoncello – Cambini
(NB - in the event, this was a Haydn Quartet, probably from Opus 64)

Scena, Miss Corri

New Concerto for Violin – Mr. Yaniewicz

Part II

New Grand Overture, M.S. Haydn

Aria, Signor Caliagni [sic]

(By desire) the new Concerto [for] Pedal Harp, Madame Krumpholtz
– by Dussek as performed on the Fourth Night.

Terzetto, Miss Corri, Signor Caliagni, and Signor Albertarelli

Finale, Gyrowetz

A Concert in Hanover Square Rooms
Engraving - Illustrated London News

Symphony #94 in G major is indeed the work described as the "New Grand Overture (in manuscript"). It is still a beloved work today, but did the original auditors think as highly of it? Let's see what 'the Daily's' had to say about this New Grand Overture, the very next day.

The Diary or Woodfall's Register, 24 March

…The compositions last night were chiefly from Haydn. The opening Overture was not new, but very fine. A quartetto was also excellent. The third piece of Haydn was a new Overture, of very extraordinary merit. It was simple, profound and sublime. The Andante was particularly admired….

~~~~~~~~~~

The Morning Herald, 24 March

…A new composition from such a man as Haydn is a great event in the History of Music. – His novelty last night was a grand Overture, the subject of which was remarkably simple, but extended to vast complication, exquisitely modulated, and striking in effect. Critical applause was fervid and abundant.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Oracle, 24 March

… The 2^nd Act opened with a first performance of the Grand Overture composed by Haydn for that evening.

    The Second Movement was equal to the happiest of this great Master's conceptions. The 'surprise' would not be unaptly likened to the situation of a beautiful Shepherdess who, lulled to slumber by the murmur of a distant waterfall, starts, alarmed by the unexpected firing of a fowling-piece. The flute obbligato was delicious.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, it seems they liked it. In fact, it became the most popular of the London Symphonies, certainly in the first six. What of this famous Andante though? Even in Haydn's own time, there were a variety of tales concerning his intention in playing this great joke upon the unsuspecting public. Mostly they concern motivation. Dies, for example, tells us that the audiences would fall asleep, because Haydn's works were programmed in the second half to avoid the hustle and bustle of latecomers, and a postprandial nap couldn't be helped. But when he proposed this to Haydn, the reply was 'I know nothing of this'. He told Dies that he just wanted to create a great effect to make him stand out against Pleyel.

This story, published by Dies after Haydn's death, was often accepted through the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. But back at the time of publication, it was already drawing fire. An article in an 1825 magazine, for example, is a letter by teacher and composer Johann Christian Firnhaber, which states unequivocally that only the most musically naïve person would have believed Haydn didn't intentionally try to prank his audience, not simply wake them up. Firnhaber lived in the same house as Salomon in 1791 and '92, and claimed Salomon told him that 'Haydn ordered this drum beat to be given six times in rehearsal before he was satisfied with it'. This doesn't sound 'spur of the moment' to me! Sigismond Neukomm, Haydn's student and dogsbody after 1800, seems to have put Dies' claims about snoozing audiences into perspective with this, 'The long and rather silly story is really restricted to the fact that H[aydn] had noticed an old man, who occupied the same seat at every concert and who regularly went to sleep at the very beginning. H. allowed himself the joke of awakening the sleeper with a single drumbeat. Everything else is silly nonsense and not worth the repetition…

How does this all tie in with Haydn's pleasing of his audience? I think the real motivation behind the Surprise is accurately given by Greisinger, who is often at odds with Dies when it comes to the stories Haydn told. He gives us this, much simpler, account;

I asked once if it was true that he wrote the Andante with the kettledrum beat in order to awaken the English public which had gone to sleep at his concert. 'No', he answered, 'rather, it was my wish to surprise the public with something new, and to make a début in a brilliant manner so as not to be outdone by my pupil Pleyel, who at that time was engaged by an orchestra in London which had begun its concert series a few days before mine. The first Allegro of my symphony was received with countless bravos, but the enthusiasm reached its highest point in the Andante with the kettledrum beat. Ancora! Ancora! sounded from every throat, and even Pleyel complimented me on my idea.

And this new idea, a joke firmly embedded in a matrix of quiet, graceful and catchy melody, is exactly what he calculated the public would enjoy, but no more nor less than the solo violins in the slow movement of #96, the extended obbligato keyboard at the end of #98, or the Great Bassoon Fart in #93!

Even modern critics, musicians and musicologists have little negative to say about this work. Peter Brown, in his book The First Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony, admits 'the G major symphony, known as 'The Surprise', is one of Haydn's perfect works; it contains not a single miscalculation, regardless of the perspective from which it is viewed. I couldn't agree more!

~~~~~~~~~~

And a bit of whimsy

One of the challenges in music appreciation came, for me, from the choice between placing a work in a Petri dish, analyzing what makes it tick, evaluating its contribution to the arts, and then deciding whose interpretation best meets the original conception of the composer. Versus the alternative, listening for the sheer enjoyment, and trying to listen to the music in a situation which might be analogous to that in which it was originally realized. Any serious music listener faces this dilemma, most especially when he or she expands out from the original, private world in which the music was first discovered and into the serious sort of discussion and listening groups which populate the hobby or business.

It should be clear to any of my regular readers which course I chose. I'm no analyst! However, the pleasure I derive from studying the history and context of music easily fills the gap in my interest. And like anything else, if you are going to play, you have to play!

To play this music, I looked at the entire concert series of 1791, and dropped some numbers into a spreadsheet. Part of my findings are shown above; there were forty symphonies played in the Salomon Series in 1791, by twelve different composers. In addition, there was an average of just over two concertos or Sinfonias concertante, and a little over five vocal works per concert. Finally, there was one 'other' work, such as a string quartet or notturno. In the final tally, each concert averaged eleven works, none had fewer than ten nor more than twelve. So the rumors you have heard of marathon concerts in those days are pretty much right on the money!

In these wonderful times of 'streaming audio', where a subscriber can listen to virtually anything he desires, the next step is simple. Make a playlist of music by those composers which emulates the sorts of music you have seen listed. Of course, since descriptions are so generic, you may not duplicate an exact concert, or know it if you accidentally did, however, the full flavor of an evening at Hanover Square Rooms is there for the taking, with the added satisfaction that you were Salomon for an evening! I am personally not a 'streamer' of music, so these works were chosen from my CD collection.

Mr. Blanston most respectfully acquaints the Nobility and Gentry, that his Next Performance will be presented on Friday next, the 25^th inst.

Part I

Overture, - Rosetti

Cantata, Signora Augèr - Haydn

Concerto for Violin, Miss Wallfisch - Viotti

Aria, Signor Streit - Mozart

Quartetto for 2 Violins, Tenor and Violoncello -
Ms. Manson, Mr. Gurevich, Mr. Boyd & Mr. Manson
it being their first appearance in this country - Haydn

Concerto for Pianoforte, Miss Marsoner – Dussek

Part II

New Grand Overture, M.S. - Haydn

Aria, Signor Quasthoff - Haydn

Concerto [for] Pedal Harp,
Miss Alessandrini - Dussek

Duetto, Miss Bartoli and Mr. Heilman - Haydn

Finale, 'La chasse', - Hoffmeister

Doctor Haydn will accompany at the Pianoforte

Tickets available from Mr. Blanston or at the door, Ladies are Green, Gentlemen are Red.
Please have your coachman park with the horses facing the Street.

I'm going to have a great time next Friday evening, hope you can join me!

Thanks for reading!

 

1792 – The Year part 2 - The Concert Season – Already a Tradition

 

Hanover Square (1787) The Rooms are left, center, background.
Engraving by Edward Dayes

5 January, 1792 – the Public Advertiser

Haydn and Pleyel are to be pitted against each other this season: and the supporters of each are violent partisans. As both these composers are men of first-rate talents, it may be hoped that they will not participate in the little feelings of their respective admirers.

When I look at historical phenomena, I think that what I usually do, since choices are limited, is to visualize them in the context of what I know in my own era. And I would wager I'm not the only one; how many Londoners today have a mental picture of Hanover Square Rooms which looks amazingly like Wigmore Hall? So while it is true that much of what we have come to accept as the "standard concert experience" was indeed developed in London in the 18^th century, this is not saying it greatly resembled what we know today.

Here is a 'Notice' from the end of the announcement of the first concert lineup of 1791:

    Tickets transferrable, as usual, Ladies to Ladies and Gentlemen to Gentlemen only. The Ladies tickets are Green, the Gentlemen's Black.

    The Subscribers are intreated [sic] to give particular orders to their Coachmen to set down and take up at the Side Door in the Street, with the Horses' Heads towards the Square.

    The Door in the Square is for Chairs only

Well, OK, there is something which didn't just pop into your head when you thought 'concert'! While I was looking around for material on this, I ran into several descriptions of what a mess the streets of London were due to the 'exhaust' from the limos of the day. A close look at the Hanover Square engraving at top will show my meaning. So, whether it was the Prince of Wales' 2 horsepower Phæton, or the innumerable coaches, carriages and even riding horses, there had to be both clean-up and parking places for them. So please, have your man turn the horses towards the Square, we don't want a traffic jam-up!

The principal Series never missed a chance at advertising. This advert appeared a few dozen times among all the various 'papers in the run-up to première night.

The Morning Herald – 2 February, 1792

Mr. Salomon respectfully acquaints the Nobility and Gentry, that his Concert will open on Friday, the 17^th inst., and continuing on the succeeding Friday, upon the same grand scale as last year.

Dr. Haydn, who is engaged for the whole Season, will give every night a New Piece of his Composition, and direct the Performance of it at the Piano Forte.

The principal vocal performers already engaged are, Signor Simoni, (being his first appearance in England,)

And Signor Tarelli [sic], Miss Corri, And Madame Mara, (who is to return by the middle of March;) Besides other distinguished vocal Performers, who will be introduced in the course of the season.

Principal Instrumental Performers, who will alternately perform Solo Concertos and Concertantes, on their respective Instruments, are, - Violin, Messrs. Salomon and Janievicz – Violoncello, Messrs. Menel, Shram, and Damer [sic], - Piano Forte, Messrs. Dussec and Haessler – Oboe, Mr. Harrrington – Flute, Messrs. Graeff and Ash[e], - Clarinet, Mr. Hartman – Bassoon, Mr. Holmes – And Pedal Harp, Mesdames Krumpholtz and Delaval.

Subscriptions at Five Guineas for the Twelve Nights are received, and Tickets delivered at Messrs. Lockhart's, Bankers, No. 36 Pall-mall. Tickets transferable, as usual, Ladies to Ladies, Gentlemen to Gentlemen.

The Ladies' tickets are red, and Gentlemen's blue.

This was another hallmark of the time; they liked to have an even balance of genders, so Ladies to Ladies, &c. was, as they say, 'as usual'.

And finally, it was time! The first Professional Concert of the Season was announced for February 13^th:

The Morning Herald - 9 February 1792

The Committee respectfully acquaint the Subscribers, that the FIRST CONCERT will be on Monday next, February the 13^th.

Act I

Overture – Haydn

Song – Signor Lazarini

Concert Violin – Mr. Cramer

Song – Mrs. Billington

Grand Symphony, composed for the occasion – Mr. Pleyel

Act II

Concerto Violoncello – Mr. Lindley

Song – Signora Negri

Concerto French Harp – Madame Musegny

Duetto – Signor Lazzarini and Mrs. Billington

Symphony – Mozart

The Prince of Wales' Phæton (1793)
by George Stubbs

I would love to know which Mozart symphony they played, but alas. And just like today, we wait for the reviews to come out in the next few days…

Review: Morning Herald 14 February 1792

The Professional Concert opened last night with its usual éclat, and had such a brilliant train of subscribers as occupied The Room.

The first piece was an overture (Symphony) of Haydn, performed with admirable correctness. Lazzarini sung his favorite air from the opera Armida. Cramer's Violin Concerto exhibited such merit as to enable him to withstand any novelty which might appear against him.

Mrs. Billington gave the beautiful air of Gyrowetz, which she had sung at the benefit for that composer. The First Act concluded with a very fine Overture composed on purpose for this concert, by Pleyel; it abounded with beautiful passages, and was elegant, interesting and scientific…. The Prince of Wales came very early in the evening, and seemed gratified by the exertions of this admirable band.

Well, that all looks very nice. However shall we reply to this? The following Friday, 17 February, the Salomon Concerts premièred in the same venue.

The Oracle, 15 February 

Mr. Salomon most respectfully acquaints the Nobility and Gentry, that his first concert will be on Friday next, the 17^th instant.

Act I

Overture – Pleyel

Song – Mr. Nield

Concerto Oboe – Mr. Harrington

Song – Signor Calcagni (being his first appearance in this country)

Concert Pedal Harp – Madame Delaval

Song – Miss Corri

Act II

New Grand Overture [M.S.] – Haydn (NB - #93)

Song – Signor Calcagni

Concerto Violin – Mr. Janieviez

Duetto – Miss Corri and Mr. Nield

Finale – Gyrowetz

The doors to be opened at Seven…

What a friendly gesture, the opening salvo by both competitors is a piece by their opponent's leader. Nice.  

Has The Times not always been The Times? Here are a couple of reviews of this first concert of the Season, note the quality of these two reviews;

The Morning Herald, 18 February

Mr. Salomon's Concert opened for the Season last night to a very elegant audience. The want of room will not permit us to do justice to the excellence of this concert, which was indeed admirable.

[snip (tiny one)]

    The new Grand Overture of Haydn was a composition of very extraordinary merit: and proved that his genius, active as it has been, is as vigorous and fertile as ever.

Contrasted with this:

The Times, 20 February [Highlights]

    The First Subscription Concert took place last Friday, Hanover Square.

    The established musical judges present all agreed that it went off with surprising effect and rigid exactness. No Band in the world can go better.

    A new Overture from the pen of the incomparable Haydn, formed one considerable branch of this stupendous musical tree.

    Such a combination of excellence was contained in every movement, as inspired all the performers as well as the audience with enthusiastic ardor.

    Novelty of idea, agreeable caprice, and whim combined with all of Haydn's sublime and wonton grandeur, gave additional consequence to the soul and feelings of every individual present.

    The Critic's eye brightened with additional luster – then was the moment that the great Painter might have caught – that, which cannot be thrown on the human frame, but on such rare and great occasions.

[snip] The Orchestra under the direction of Salomon, produced an effect, that may with propriety be said, was a soul and body of harmony.

There is some prose to write home about!

Sometimes one forgets that Salomon and Cramer weren't the only competitors for the discretionary guinea. On the same Friday night as the 2^nd concert, for example, Handel's Redemption is playing at the Haymarket Theater, and his L'allegro is on in Covent Garden. One has to keep in mind the overwhelming power of Handel over the British public to realize just how strong this competition was. No matter to Salomon and Haydn though, they sold out yet again.

Inside the Pantheon; a Masquerade (c. 1780)

One resemblance of 18^th century concerts to modern symphonic series came about with the rise of 'subscription' concerts in the late 1750's. Like a Country Club or Opera membership in the 20^th century, a concert subscription, a lavish expense, was a form of ostentatious showing off for one's similarly well-endowed peers. It was a place for displaying the latest fashions and jewelry. Recall how, in 1791, we had this 'article' in the 'paper:

6 January 1791 – Public Advertiser

Musical arrangements for every day in the week, through the winter season

Sunday – The Noblemen's Subscription is held every Sunday at a different House

Monday – The Professional Concert – at Hanover Square     Rooms – with Mrs. Billington

Tuesday – The Opera

Wednesday – The Ancient Music at the rooms on Tottenham Street, under the Patronage of their Majesties.

Thursday – The Pantheon. – A Pasticcio of Music and Dancing, in case that the Opera Coalition shall take place; if not, a concert with Madame Mara and Sig. Pacchierotti

Academy of Ancient Music, every other Thursday, at Freemason's Hall.

Friday – A Concert under the auspices of Haydn at The Rooms, Hanover Square, with Sig. David.

Saturday – The Opera

This is the arrangement for each week throughout the season; and so full is the town of eminent professors in every department of the science, that there may be a double orchestra found of admirable performers, so as to open to places of musical entertainment every evening.

If Music be the food of Love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
                               Shakespeare

Was this scheduling merely a fortuitous accident? No, not at all. It was a concerted (no pun intended) effort to fill up the social schedules of the leisure class, meanwhile maximizing opportunities for them to conspicuously spread their wealth around. Such 'articles' date back to the 1770's, in fact, they were de rigueur by now.

By the 1770's, concert attendance was near the top of the list of social affairs for the moneyed classes. A venue such as the Pantheon was a work of art in itself, thus providing an ideal showcase for fashionistas to rub elbows. All this is not to say that only and all of the upper classes were musically literate, but de facto, they were the trend setters in music because they were the only ones who could afford it. It is one thing to say 'open to the public', but prohibitive pricing rendered it highly unlikely the Bourgeoisie or the hoi polloi would be in attendance. Haydn's own background was such that he was likely oblivious to all this. Prince Esterházy didn't run a for-profit business. For all of Haydn's career, he got paid whether there was anyone or no one at all in the audience, and at Eszterháza, anyone who wasn't otherwise occupied was free to attend the concerts or operas as long as they weren't unduly intoxicated.

None of this goes to say it was all 'see and be seen', and people didn't care what was played, or were simply being led by the nose in whatever direction the promoters or musicians wished them to go. There were quite specific interests which needed to be gratified, and woe betide the careless impresario who neglected them!

The major genres had changed considerably during the course of the century. Early on, vocal music reigned here, as it did throughout Europe. On the instrumental front, the early leaders were the concerto grosso and the French overture. Here again, English taste differed little from French, German or Italian. The main difference was in the type of vocal music preferred. Foreign operas were right out, and foreign oratorios and cantatas and the like were right along with them. But English Oratorios, a genre virtually invented by Handel, lasted well after his death. Such English composers as Arne and Smith and Stanley, who specialized in a rather moralizing, Old Testament-based type of work, remained popular even into the beginning of the 19^th century. By 1780, Italian arias finally made it, and the great singers, many Italian imports but many English also, were performing scenas and concert arias to general acclaim.

Second London Notebook

Lord Clermont [Claremont] once gave a large Soupé, and when the King's health was drunk, he ordered the wind band to play the well-known song, "God save the King" in the street during a wild snowstorm. This occurred on 19^th Feby 1792, so madly do they drink in England.

It was the steady growth of the symphony which brought instrumental music to preeminence by the 1770's. And symphonies, being mainly a foreign import, perhaps were what opened the door a crack to allow other styles in along with them. But it was another genre which set England further apart from the Continent. The string quartet (and quintet), 'in concert'. Beginning in the mid 1760's and right through the end of the century, the performance of a string quartet was as common in London as it was rare everywhere else. In fact, there is no record of any performance of quartets in concert in Paris, Vienna or elsewhere during this era. The requirements for these quartets were rather specialized though. This is why Haydn's quartets weren't exceedingly popular in the public sphere before he showed up in person; his Viennese 'conversational' style simply didn't translate well to the concert stage, as it was circumscribed in those days. What pleased were works written in the style which the French called quatuor concertante. Characteristic of the quatuors concertante are the alternating solos in the different voices, catchy melodies, and a great ingenuity in detail in melody, harmony and rhythm.

In many ways, they resembled our other popular genre, the sinfonia concertante (SC). One could consider the SC to be a direct replacement for, but not a descendant of, the old concerto grosso. Despite the differences caused by modernization of the music itself, they had many more commonalities: at the most basic level, a structure of two or three movements, and a ritornello, played by the orchestra, with a concertino by the soloists. Another Parisian export, they were very popular right through the end of the century. Finally, it is important to note the paucity of solo works. Although popular in early times, by the late 18^th century, it had become nearly impossible to hear a solo sonata, nor an accompanied one for that matter, on the concert stage. These were generally considered to be Hausmusik. Virtuoso players played nothing but concertos or the concertino parts of SC's. And then, they only played their own. You would never hear Dussek, for example, play a Mozart concerto (if he knew one), he would have been quickly hooted off, no matter the quality of the work or the playing.

In the latter half of the century, the other major influence in fashioning taste was, then as now, the newspaper. We have seen, already, how they were used as weapons in the wars being waged on the concert stages of the City. We saw last Autumn how the Professors, chagrined at not getting Haydn to abandon Salomon for their far better financial offer, resumed the war of words in the newspapers, describing Haydn as "written out", "weak", and "incapable of composing anything new". Of course, these words would come back to haunt them, and soon, but it was typical of the way business was done. No doubt, Cramer's allies paid a handsome fee to the editors to have these broadsides published as though they were genuine articles. I have been, and will continue to use the newspaper quotes I run across to show you the style of writing, but also to give a general idea of the potential influence these heavily editorial reviews and announcement had.

One of the most important ways in which the 'papers were used to get the advertising message out was the use of certain 'code' words or phrases to indicate the novelty of a work. I'm sure you have noticed how works are scarcely ever identified. It was generally calculated that the name of the composer or the performer was adequate to inform the cognoscenti of all they needed to know. However, the patrons were quite fickle about whether they would tolerate hearing a piece a second or third time, even one which had been well-received originally. Some pieces could be played every week for a time, and we see then 'by desire' or more strongly 'by particular desire'. Many of Haydn's symphonies received this blessing. Another indication of novelty is M.S. (in manuscript) after the genre. "New Grand Overture, M.S." meant 'you haven't heard this one before!'.

J.C. Bach & Carl Abel
by Gainsborough

Most of these details had been worked out to the satisfaction of the music lovers by the time Haydn finally showed up in London. There were plenty of predecessors, both winners and losers. Among the biggest winners were the (J.C.) Bach/Abel concerts, which ran from 1765 to c.1785. This was one of the first of the subscription concerts, and was successful enough to build the Hanover Square Rooms. They were an 'every Wednesday Night in Season' for two decades, with Bach and Abel alternating the direction duties from week to week. Upon Bach's death in 1782, Abel tried to go it alone for one season, then turned over the reins to Lord Abingdon, who was the very first of the many who tried to bring Haydn to London. We shall see him again.

I hope some of the mysteries of the concert have been illumined now. After last Season, I had a lot of questions myself which demanded explanation. This concert season of 1792 was one of the most successful ever, but certainly not without its struggles. We'll have a look at more of it next time. Wait until you hear some of the music!

Thanks for reading!