Haydn Seek

1796 – The Music part 6 - War & Peace, two different worlds

Hob. 25a	Genre	Key	Voice	Title	Instruments	Libretto
25a:1	Italian Duet	F	Soprano & Tenor	Guarda qui, che lo vedra	Fortepiano	Carlo Francesco Badini
25a:2		G		Saper vorrei se m'ami
Hob.	Genre	Key	Name		Instruments/Voices
22:09	Catholic Mass	C	Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in Time of War) OR Paukenmesse (Mass with Timpani)		S-A-T-B, Chorus, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings

The Italian Duets - published by Simrock in Bonn, 1803

In 1796 Samuel [Peploe] and Kitty [née Cornewall] made a visit through Germany to Vienna, at that time one of the great musical centers of Europe, and her younger brother George was at this time also doing a grand tour with his violoncello.

[snip]

In Vienna Kitty was feted by the musical elite and in November 1796 Joseph Haydn began to make a series of MS copies of his vocal music for her. He added for her the date 1796 to his autograph manuscript of the duet Guarda Qui che lo vedrai, and according to Kitty's own testimony she received that piece in December and the duet Saper vorrei se m'ami in November. Kitty later acquired further London and post London works from Haydn and many of them are now in the Burgenlandisches Landesmuseum at Eisenstadt.

When Haydn came to London in 1799 [recte: 1794(?)] he was entertained by the Peploe Birches at their London House and Mrs. [Kitty] Peploe of 22 Curzon Street [Mayfair] was one of the subscribers to 'The Creation' for its Premiere at The Convent [sic] Garden in 1800. Presumably these precious autograph works were kept at Garnstone during Kitty's life time but it is unfortunate that the inventory made at Samuel Peploe's death in 1845 provides insufficient details to be completely sure.

The New Peploe (Family History) chapter 4

As we know by now, when Haydn left London in 1795, he didn't really leave his associations behind, some of them were maintained until his death. We have only touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of his social circle from nearly four years in the City, and even though we don't know the circumstances beyond what I found here, Mrs. Kitty Peploe must have made some sort of impression upon him, although Landon, as well as every other writer I have checked, doesn't even tell us her first name! So you saw it here first. But by any account, Mrs. Peploe was a very talented amateur singer who was much in demand at social occasions, such as the salons of Mrs. Hunter and others, or at her own salons, which is very likely how Haydn came to meet her, possibly through Becky Schroeter.

What sorts of works are the Italian Duets? They are fine examples of idealized, pastoral love ballads with keyboard accompaniment which were very popular at the time. Perfect for salons, or even a stage recital as part of a larger programme, they would add a touch of class to the canzonets and Scottish ballads which were the usual fare. Nisa and Tirsi (soprano and tenor, respectively) are the characters in both works. Saper vorrei se m'ami (I should like to know if you love me) invokes nature: The plants know, and the mountains and the breezes, the birds, and the springs, and only you do not know what my soul is like. Guarda qui contains an equal dose of melodrama: I see a young man… who in me is vibrant now with flames, now darts, who now smiles, now weeps, now throbs, now pleases, now gives me pain. Could love be far behind? The poems are by Carlo Francesco Badini (born early 1700's – died before 1810), who was known to Haydn while in Eszterháza, where the libretto to the 1782 Orlando paladino by Nunziano Porta was based on the libretto Le pazzie d'Orlando written by Badini in 1771. But Haydn also met the man himself in London, where, as the poet-in-residence at the King's Theater, he wrote the libretto for Orfeo ed Eurydice. It was presumably at this same time that Badini gave Haydn these two poems, which he didn't get around to setting until several years later. Beyond this, I'm guessing from the nature of the birth and death dates I listed, you already know I'm not going to be able to tell you much more about Badini!

As we saw earlier with Arianna a Naxos, Haydn has a real flair for interposing the keyboard part into the lyric, and he does so again here. In addition, he gives a wonderful canonic setting to Saper vorrei…, which encompasses nearly all of the Allegro second half. From a musical sophistication point of view, this is clearly the one for connoisseurs, but Guarda qui… is also a very fine piece in its own right, and the pair very much belong together. The Guarda qui… manuscript which Elssler made for Kitty Peploe still survives in the British Museum, while other Elssler manuscripts of the pair are in the Burgenländisches Landesmuseum in Eisenstadt.

Hob. 25a:1 Duet in F for Soprano, Tenor & Fortepiano	Hob. 25a:2 Duet in G for Soprano, Tenor & Fortepiano
Guarda qui, che lo vedra (Look here, who would see him)	Saper vorrei se m'ami (I should like to know if you love me)
Look here who will see him, [Who will feel that he feels.] In these eyes what do you see? [What do you feel in this breast?]   I see a young man [I feel a proud young man] who in me is vibrant now with flames now darts who now smiles now weeps now throbs, now pleases now gives me pain.   What do you see? [What do you feel?] I see a ... ... gives me pain; to whom never, never will be?   It is Cupid's arrow which comes from the eyes to my heart and for you, my dear friend, plays tricks in my breast.         [N.B. - Words in square brackets are the soprano's part whenever it differs from the tenor's.] [Lyrics courtesy of lieder.net]	I should like to know if you love me, if there is another than I that you long for, if you live only for me, if you know that I live in you.   What would you like to know? [What would I like to know?] O how thankless you are! [Ungrateful, O God, why?]   The plants know, and the mountains, the breezes, the birds, and the springs, and only you do not know what my soul is like.   I know it, but I want to feel it, to hear it repeated.   If together we repeat it what harmony that would make. You begin, who in canon I want to follow.   I love you more than these eyes, much more than life you will always be for my good, always, forever I want to adore you.

1796 Battle of Rovereto
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1851)

The autumn of 1796, after the Eisenstadt festivities were over, provided the time for the completion of one of Haydn's finest masses, inscribed by Haydn on the manuscript Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in Time of War). And war was indeed the order of the day, as it would be for the remainder of Haydn's lifetime.

We saw earlier this year how Napoleon had come to be in charge of the French Army in Italy. Right from the beginning, in March 1796, the French forces fought with renewed energy and inexorably made their way across the northern Italian peninsula, getting ever closer to the Austrian homeland. As we can see from this map, May brought the fall of the major town of Lodi, and by June, the primary city of the region, Mantua, was solidly under siege, while the Austrian army had scarpered off through the Alps to the Tirol.

1796 Map of Italian campaign
(click to enlarge)

Meanwhile, the bulk of the French Republican Army was busily invading Germany by crossing the Rhine. The Austrians were not showing at their best in this campaign, and by late August and September, while the Esterházy's were enjoying Eisenstadt, the French were all but knocking at the door in Munich. On 4 September, Napoleon's Italian Army overran the Austrian forces at Rovereto, Italy, on the road directly into the Austrian Tirol.

I don't intend, here, to reenact the entire Napoleonic Wars, no worries there. But insofar as they directly affected Haydn, his life and music, it is imperative to at least know the current events. Also, it is well to recall this about Haydn: he was a true believer in his religion and its power in his life. Beyond this, another, less obvious fruit of the London Trips, is the change they wrought on Haydn himself. Earlier times, he may well have had a vague idea of the influence his music had on the world of Western Europe, but it can't have been much of a realistic view, beyond the clear implication stemming from the large amounts of money these foreigners were willing to pay for his art. But in London, he saw firsthand how his work had implications far beyond the confines of Eisenstadt or even Vienna. All of Europe was at his feet, and he could (and did) accept the burden of letting his art speak to and for the entire continent.

1796 Map of Rhine campaign
(click to enlarge)

It had been a long time since war had been on Vienna's doorstep. Way back in the Seven Years' War (1756 – 63) much of the fighting had been just a stone's throw away, but the subsequent wars against the Turks (1788-91) were a long way off in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria. Even the Wars of the French Revolution, in which Austria was heavily involved, had so far taken place mainly in Western Europe, so everything was kept at a safe remove. Not so now!

We have already seen how Vienna had begun to change since Haydn's return from London, and how the early progress of the war had started a patriotic fervor in Vienna which led to huge concerts being performed with passion-stirring cantatas and oratorios being performed, as well as Haydn's new symphonies, in particular #94. The purpose of these was to raise money to support the army. If I actually was recounting the war blow-by-blow, you would probably be, as I was, amazed at the numbers of new armies being raised to throw at the French on all fronts. It can't be denied; there was most likely a hint of desperation in the air by September when news of Rovereto and other losses reached the city.

Haydn must have begun this Mass immediately upon the heels of the performance of the Heiligmesse. One can surmise this by the simple fact that he now had a good idea of the quality of the singers and players who would be available to him, and thus the solo parts are far more difficult. While he could not know who would be available a year later for the Eisenstadt performance, he at least knew the Prince was willing and able to get good quality performers, and apparently that was enough to encourage him to let loose.

Even though this would also serve as the Name Day Mass for 1797, there is no way it falls in with the argument of 'Six Name Day Masses…'. This was composed for Vienna, for his old friends the Piarists, who had invited him, in 1771, to give a performance of his Stabat Mater in front of the nobility and gentry of Vienna in the perfect setting provided by their beautiful Baroque-style church. Now, twenty-five years later, he was coming back with one of his finest Masses to the same venue. The Piarists were a Catholic order of (primarily) teachers, founded by St. Joseph Calasanz. When he was canonized in 1767, the young Mozart (12 years old) was visiting Vienna and it is believed he wrote his Offertory Motet, Veni Sancte Spiritus (K 47), for the occasion. Later on, he was a regular visitor and diner at the monastery, and had his son, Karl Joseph, attend the Piarist School.

So when a high-ranking bureaucrat in the Imperial War Department named Hofmann approached Haydn to write a Mass for the ordination of his son, Joseph, as a Piarist priest at Christmas of 1796, there was probably no hesitation on Haydn's part to accept the commission. The celebration would take place on 26 December at the Church of Maria Treu. 26 December was an auspicious date for the celebration also because it is the Feast Day of St. Stephen, patron saint of the country of Austria. Demaree and Moses¹ suggest, plausibly, that the martial aspect of the Mass was more than just a nod to Napoleon, waiting to pounce upon them, but also a tribute to Hofmann Senior's role as an Imperial Army manager.

Anton Stadler

There is a lot to be said about the increased virtuosity in the instruments and voices. From the autograph manuscript, it appears at first as though there is just the skeletal core of an orchestra which the Prince kept in Eisenstadt. However, there are several additional parts added, including a Flute, 2 Clarinets, and 2 Horns in C basso, which double the trumpets and provide beautiful texture to their parts. It is the clarinet parts which are of special interest though. They are by far the most virtuosic clarinet parts Haydn has written to date. What might have compelled him to believe there were clarinetists in Vienna who were capable of playing them?

As of October 1780 Anton [Stadler] was employed by the Piaristen religious order of Maria Treu as a 'manorial musician'.²

If you are a Mozartian as well as a Haydnist, you are already well aware of Anton and Johann Stadler, quite possibly the finest clarinetists of the 18^th century. Anton, in particular, was a very close friend of Mozart, and the lion's share of the extremely fine clarinet and basset horn music which Mozart produced during his Vienna decade, including his Clarinet (originally Basset Horn) Concerto and Clarinet Quintet and the Trio for Keyboard, Viola & Clarinet (K 498) were composed specifically for him. He also played the clarinet part in Mozart's Quintet for Keyboard & Winds (K 452) at its première as well as the Gran partita (K370a/361). It is virtually impossible, given the convergence of dates and interests, to believe Haydn was not also very familiar with the brothers and their abilities. While Haydn was in London on his first tour, Stadler was in Vienna with Mozart until early October, 1791. Then he left for Prague with the newly completed Clarinet Concerto (K 622) in hand and spent the next four years on tour. Sometime after mid-September, 1795, however, he returned to Vienna, where he and Johann took up posts as Royal Imperial Court Musicians. And were reacquainted with Haydn. His link with the Piarist church, mentioned above, was never broken. It was always known that the Stadler's played in The Creation, but the documentation for their participation in the Missa in Tempore Belli, which solves some mysteries about the quality of the clarinet parts, is relative news.

Hob 22:09 – Catholic Mass in C Major Missa in Tempore Belli (The Mass in Time of War) OR Paukenmesse (Kettledrum Mass)
	Part	Section	Solo voices	Tempo	Key	Meter
1	Kyrie		Sop. & Alto	Largo Allegro moderato	C	4/4
2	Gloria	Gloria in excelsis Deo		Vivace	C	3/4
		Qui tollis peccata mundi	Bass	Adagio	A – a	2/2
		Quoniam tu solus Sanctus		Allegro	C	3/4
		Cum sancto Spiritu		Più stretto
3	Credo	Credo in unum Deum		Allegro	C	4/4
		Et incarnatus est	B-S-T-A	Adagio	c	3/4
		Et resurrexit	S-A-T-B	Allegro	C
4	Sanctus	Sanctus Dominus	Alto	Adagio	C	4/4
		Pleni sunt coeli et terra		Allegro con spiritu
5	Benedictus	Benedictus qui venit	S-A-T-B	Andante	c	6/8
		Benedictus qui venit			C
		Osanna in excelsis
6	Agnus Dei	Agnus Dei		Adagio	F	3/4
		Dona nobis pacem		Allegro con spiritu	C
		Dona nobis pacem		Più presto
Voices & Instruments: Soloists: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Chorus, 1 Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets (in C & Bb), 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in C basso, 2 Trumpets in C, Timpani in C & G & Strings (2 Violins, Viola) & Basso continuo (Organ, Cello & Double Bass)

Main Nave of Piarist Church of Maria Treu

Among the many contributions the London trips made to Haydn's style, the ones which stand out are the surprise in the Surprise Symphony, and the martial air of the Military Symphony. These were Haydn's two most successful works in their own time. Both of these ideas come into play in the Paukenmesse. The Kyrie begins very slowly (Largo) in a quiet way (p = piano = softly). But don't strain your ears too much, because at the start of the 5^th measure, there is a sudden change (f = forte = loudly) as the entire orchestra, especially the timpani (ff) give out a great crash. And by the 11^th measure, one of Haydn's most difficult solos for Soprano begins. As for the previous discussion about these Masses being written as though they were choral symphonies, it would be challenging then to explain away the fact that this Kyrie, at least, is written in concerto form! With a typically Haydnish twist: the solo soprano plus orchestra play the role of the orchestra, while the full chorus play the part normally reserved for the soloist. As always in Haydn's mature works, these tiny examples are just hints at all of the unique aspects on display in this opening movement. If you enjoy picking out parts of extraordinary beauty, try the oboe solos which sound like duets for soprano & flute like you would hear in an opera. In fact, some of the loveliest parts are what would make 'trouble' for Haydn when the works inevitably traveled beyond Vienna.

When we come to the Gloria, we see one of the revolutionary changes which Haydn introduced into the Mass at this time. Looking back at his earlier Masses, we see the traditional breakdown of the Gloria into its constituent parts. The music for each of these parts will be connected by its text, of course, and also by the normal key relationships one sees as between or within movements. All Masses were like this. But this Gloria has a difference. What Haydn first introduces in the first section, which appears to be just an accompaniment for the violins, turns out to be a tonal and rhythmic theme. You don't read about themes in 18^th century Masses because they weren't relevant. But this one turns out to be the basis for the whole first section. And the same theme returns later on, to form the main structural basis of the Quoniam. The net effect is that the 'movement' is tied together by its beginning and ending sections being based on a significant tonal and rhythmic motif, which is varied in myriad ways so it never becomes tedious. Unlike Masses which preceded it, this one truly uses a method which unifies the entire movement.

Haydn was heavily criticized for these Masses, as we have seen. Lightheartedness was not his only sin though, he also left out some words here and there, something which non-Austrian purists of the time damned his soul to hell for. Others, apologists perhaps, said variously that he was old, and busy and hadn't set a Mass for a long time, so he probably forgot the words. Seriously? This is what I think. There is always evolution on display as we look at this music. Mass settings were becoming increasingly elaborate all the time. And as it happened, the musical form became increasingly disconnected from the underlying liturgy. There had been a number of attempts to scale back the musical Mass, but when Emperor Joseph II put strict limitations on the use of instruments in a Mass in the early 1780s, Haydn's response was to stop writing Masses. It is apparent he was interested in something more than merely setting the text of the Mass. It was the music itself which constituted his hymn of praise, not the words.

We saw how the work opens, with a slow introduction in the Kyrie (and the first appearance of the timpani) before moving on to the main theme. The music does not reflect the three-part structure of the Kyrie text; Haydn disposes of the second line, Christe eleison, in a mere four measures. The Gloria is divided into three parts, fast – slow - fast, like a miniature Italian symphony. The middle section features a beautifully lyric cello line. The Credo is divided into sections that generally reflect the text, but again Haydn is more concerned with the larger musical structure. At the opening, as each voice part enters, it takes a different line of text. The idea of the telescoping of the text, which we saw earlier, was not entirely dead and Haydn uses it here. He then introduces a truncated fugue at the last line, but rather than continue it to the end as might be expected, he instead constructs an elaborate coda with the quartet of soloists and the chorus alternating in an antiphonal manner (Antiphonal music is performed by two choirs in interaction, singing alternate musical phrases).

Since I am not in the music analysis business, I won't recount the most of the rest of the Mass, with the exception of the Agnus Dei, specifically because this is where Timpani Mass derives from. After opening with three repetitions of the (quite short) text of the Agnus Dei, we are treated to an ominously soft solo for the timpani. While today, lacking context, we might think this is just an introduction for the next section, there would have been no one among the contemporary audience who did not recognize instantly that it was a reference to the approach of Napoleon and the French Army. Back when we discussed the Military Symphony, I wrote the following about the drumrolls in the Andante:

The feeling of dread evoked by the drum roll, followed by a discordant chord (Ab in the key of C) and then the trumpet fanfare (believed to be the Prussian Army's call "Parade Post") which we saw above in the Morning Chronicle review was "a climax of horrid sublimity…". And indeed it was, then and now. But in modern times, 'sublime' has acquired a connotation of "extremely good, beautiful, or enjoyable", while in Haydn's time, the philosophical and literary meaning of sublime was very different. To Haydn, as to his audience, sublime meant "something that could provoke terror in the audience, for terror and pain were the strongest of emotions". This is yet another pitfall of listening to 18^th century music with 21^st century ears. If what the audience of 1794 perceived in this expert intertwining of light, march style with the unmistakable sounds of conflict was "horridly sublime", then the degree of mastery exhibited by Haydn here is at an impossibly high level….

Substitute 1796 for 1794, and look at the words, something not always done, but which is necessary to understand Haydn in this instance:

Latin	English
Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,	Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
miserere nobis.	have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,	Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
dona nobis pacem.	grant us peace.

The Piarist Church of Maria Treu in 1781 as it
looked in Haydn's time, without steeples

There is an entire body of literature, it seems, on this Mass. For us now, knowing it was debuted at the Basilica of Maria Treu on 26 December 1796 is the important thing. Next year we will discuss other uses but for now, a careful listening in an otherwise silent milieu. Listening to the sublime music, the dreadful thunder of the timpani, the 1500 year old Latin text begging yet again for mercy from the terrifying enemy without the gates, understanding all the while how the original auditors were facing the reality of the entire spectacle. And if Haydn's final Dona nobis pacem ends on a cheerful Più presto of perhaps unwarranted faith that the Austrian Army would hold off Napoleon, well, that's what faith is for, after all.

Next time, we will look at 1797, a year which produced yet another array of Greatest Hits!

Thanks for reading!

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1 - H.C. Robbins Landon - Joseph Haydn: Chronicle & Works vol. 4 - Indiana University Press - 1977
2 - P[amela] Poulin, 'The basset clarinet of Anton Stadler', College Music Symposium 1982, 22, p. 67.
3 - Robert Demaree & Don Moses - The Masses of Joseph Haydn - Classical Heritage Press - 2008

Maps

• Rickard, J - Napoleon's crossing of the Po, 1796, http://www.historyofwar.org/Maps/maps_napoleon_across_po.html
• Rickard, J - War of the First Coalition - Rhine Front 1796, http://www.historyofwar.org/Maps/maps_rhine_front_1796.htm

1796 – The Music part 5 - Heiligmesse; Fit for a Princess

Hob. No.	Genre	Libretto	Name	Instruments/Voices
30:5a	Incidental music	adapted from a play by Alexander Bicknell: The Patriotic King OR Alfred & Elvida – translated into German by J.W. Cowmeadow	Alfred, König der Angelsachsen Triumph of the Danes (Chorus)	3 Voices, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings
30:5b	Incidental music		Alfred, König der Angelsachsen The Guardian Spirit's Aria: Ausgesandt von Strahlenthrone	Soprano and wind band sextet: 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns & 2 Bassoons
Hob. No.	Genre	Key	Name	Instruments/Voices
22:10	Catholic Mass	Bb	Missa Sancti Bernardi de Offida OR Heiligmesse	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings & Continuo (Organ)

The Bergkirche in Eisenstadt
Michael Mayr (1826) watercolor

[To P. CORNELIUS KNOBLICH, GRISSAU MONASTERY
NEAR LANDESHUT IN SILESIA. German]

Most worthy and Reverend Sir !

Your most worthy Abbot has done me an inestimable honor by subscribing to the Creation, and thus as soon as the work is printed, I shall not fail to send a copy to Your Reverence by the diligence.

Inasmuch as my present young Prince issued the moderate command four years ago that in my old age I must compose a new Mass once a year, it will be indeed a pleasure to be able to send you one of them; [snip] [NB – this is a long and interesting letter which we shall revisit some day]

Your Reverence's most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn.
Vienna, 10^th August 1799

1782. It seems like such a long time ago when Haydn wrote the Mariazeller Mass, many of us hardly recall it. Back then, I pointed out how that Mass had far more in common with the last 6 Masses than with the ones which came before. But though the road was begun fourteen years earlier, other things learned along the way most certainly came into play, and helped to take those partially-formed ideas and use them to create the inspiration for Masses in the 19^th century and beyond.

When Haydn returned from his final stay in London, as we saw, the new Prince, Nicholas II, husband of our old friend Princess Marie Hermenegild, had invited him to get the band back together. It has been generally assumed, nearly forever, he also made it a stipulation that Haydn would write a new Mass for Marie's Name Day every year, although the truth is there is no documentary evidence for this, despite the fact of the huge number of documents in the archives which cover everything else down to purchase of broken violin string replacements. Esteemed Haydnist Karl Geiringer, in his Haydn – A Creative Life in Music, page 156, simply states:

Haydn, although not enjoying the work for his fourth Prince, may not have resented it too much because his duties were not particularly heavy. His main obligation was occasionally composing new Masses for his patron. This he did, and six masterworks were written for this purpose.

The source reference for this would appear to be the letter above. Geiringer doesn't try to make more of it than what's there, to his credit.

Demaree and Moses, in their much newer (2008) Masses of Joseph Haydn: History, Style, Performance (page 377) say:

It is widely believed that the Prince directed Haydn to annually compose a Mass for presentation in a service on the Name Day of Marie Hermenegild. (italics mine)

Is it important whether he was fulfilling a contractual obligation or undertaking to fulfill a special interest? Clearly, not everyone thinks so. It is the easiest thing to just assume the widely held beliefs are true, and publishing on that basis won't generate any blowback, so why not? Maybe the contract itself will show up one day in a farmhouse attic outside of Bucharest, but I don't think so. Meanwhile, since my interest is more in Haydn's own personality and attitudes, I will propose something different.

If the 19^th century hadn't happened, and composers and other artists hadn't achieved a level of respect which their 18^th century counterparts never imagined, we could be more comfortable with this thought: Haydn was one of Prince Nicholas' proudest possessions! This isn't just me saying something. Again, without attribution, but based on de facto daily life as described by many contemporaries;

Haydn's most important duty was to be on hand when the Prince wanted to show off his famous conductor [to illustrious guests].

In fact, Nicholas didn't much care for Haydn's music, he liked old-style Mass music and the current version of avant garde. But he really did like art, and spent as much on paintings and statues as his namesake uncle had spent on music and opera. His other 'money pit' was sexual adventurism, he reputedly had over two hundred mistresses scattered around Vienna, each of them set up with a nice apartment and an allowance. The fact is, the relationship Haydn had with Nicholas II was the least friendly and intimate of any he had with his three predecessors. But we also saw, as far back as 1783, how Haydn and Princess Marie Hermenegild began a relationship which led to them becoming close friends. This relationship hadn't faded over the years, and it was now coming to fruition. Among other things, Marie loved and understood music, and Haydn's music in particular. Where her husband saw a jewel in his crown, she saw a consummate artist who made her long, lonely days more bearable. So these are the points I am looking at:

• Haydn knew the Prince liked, if any music at all, classic, old-style Mass music.
• Marie loved and understood music, and Haydn's music in particular.
• Haydn was a devout Catholic and hadn't written any Masses since Joseph II had essentially forbade anything with ornamentation in church, and so he had a store of ideas built up for a music which was spiritually from his heart.

All of which leads me to this postulate: I believe Haydn was left to his own resources when he came back to the Prince, there was no particular Name Day stipulation for the Masses. And when he took on this obligation to produce Masses for Marie's Name Day, he did it for her, and especially for himself. Even if a contract shows up one day, and it says that Haydn is obliged to do this, I submit it was his idea, not the Prince's. That is more in keeping with his character, in my opinion.

The six Masses have generated buzz since they were first put on paper. Even simple things, like the order of composition, have been a puzzle. If they were straightforward, then this would be Hob 22:09 instead of 22:10. But the real bone of contention, which first cropped up in Haydn's lifetime, is that they are simply much too easy to listen to. Church music is supposed to be harsh, serious and not in any way entertaining. I think, however, it is vitally important to point this out; absolutely none of this criticism comes from Austrian Catholics, and in many cases, the criticism, just like that in the 1760's and '70's, is more largely aimed at Austrians in general, with Haydn as the role model due to his prominence and clear superiority. It is safe to say, German and English Protestants at the time, and throughout the 19^th century, had an entirely different view of what the attitude of a Mass should be than that shared by Haydn and his local contemporaries. As we go through and look at these works, we will also look at the various contemporary and subsequent criticisms.

It may have been Haydn's plan right from the beginning to have a Mass ready to be played on the Name Day of his friend, Marie Hermenegild. Given his history of presenting special works to Prince Nicholas I on his Name Day, the idea was probably in his head as soon as Nicholas II put the 'Mass Task' out there. Landon tells us this Mass was written in the summer of 1796 in Vienna. Since it had to be performance-ready by ~9 September in Eisenstadt, the three to four months available would have been just right, even with the other projects on the agenda.

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The Blessed Bernard of Offida

Why did Haydn dedicate his first Mass to an obscure Italian holy man rather than to Mary, his personal patron and also the Saint who Marie was named for? Here is some background, although it is not a fully complete and satisfactory answer for anyone who is adamant about the Name Day thing! Bernard of Offida was beatified on 25 May, 1795 by Pope Pius VI. He was never canonized into sainthood, so Haydn's dedication of this Mass to 'Saint' Bernard is a bit premature, 200+ years and counting premature, it seems. Bernard was an Italian Capuchin monk who lived nearly the entire 17^th century (1604-94). According to the Catholic index of saints, the qualities he was especially well known for included "frugality, modesty, industriousness, physical strength, shrewdness and tenacity". There is no way to know quite why Haydn chose 'Saint' Bernard for this dedication, but a plausible sequence is put forward by Landon. At this time, Haydn, waiting for the house in Gumpendorf to be modified, lived in the Neuer Markt (New Market Square) in the inner city. As it happened, the Capuchin Monastery was also in the square, and having one of their number beatified was likely to have been a big deal. Even though Haydn was still in London in May, 1795, upon his return he was very likely to have gone to church there, or engaged in conversation with one of his neighbors, enough to have heard about, and been impressed by, this honored man, whose traits were so congruent with his own. In addition, the Capuchins had set aside days to honor their own dead, and Bernard's day was 11 September, which Haydn knew would be very near the date the Mass would be celebrated. In whatever way the actual sequence of events transpired, the end result was as we find it today, Missa Sancti Bernardi de Offida. It is also possible that Marie Hermenegild knew of and openly admired the saint. As for the alternative name, Heiligmesse, 'Heilig' is German for 'Holy'. 'Sanctus' is Latin for 'Holy'. There is an old German language Mass setting which was very popular in Vienna, and Haydn appropriated this very familiar and popular Sanctus and reset it as his own. Thus, Heiligmesse.

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It has been a long time since we saw a troupe of actors on hand to entertain the Esterházy's, way back when the Mayer Troupe wrapped up their season in 1788. So it was like old times for a while, when, on 1 July 1796, the acting troupe of a promising young actor named Johann Karl Stadler was hired on to provide the entertainment every "Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday between 1 September and 15 October". By all appearances, this was quite the talented troupe, performing a wide repertoire of current plays in German, as well as several German operas (by Ditters, Cimarosa and Wenzel Müller among others), even including Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. The plays also spanned a range of drama, comedy and musical. Unlike earlier times, Haydn didn't have to write the music for most of them, although it is believed his Esterházy Band played it. They would be supplemented by locals though, since there weren't enough of them to provide the range needed for an opera.

The only recording I know of 
"King Alfred...", fortunately excellent!

The feast of St. Mary, 9 September, fell on a Friday in 1796. Customarily, the Name Day celebration would have then been held on Sunday, the 11^th. There were no diarists there to detail the festivities, but on Friday there was a play by the Stadler Troupe, Alfred, König der Angelsachsen, in a German translation by J.W. Cowmeadow. While we don't know if the day began with a performance of the new Mass at Eisenstadt chapel, Landon says there is no evidence for it, but others take it for granted (with no evidence), but we DO know it contained the première presentation of this drama about Alfred the Great. What sort of stage music is Haydn writing at this point in his life?

Since this was actually a spoken drama play, it isn't overwhelmed with music like Il distratto was. Landon makes no mention of whether there was other music, such as an overture, or entr'actes and incidental music by someone else as part of the package, but since making assumptions appears to be okay here (see above), I will assume there was at least an overture and finale music for each of the five acts. But the pièces de résistance are the three Haydn works, which are very representative of his late style, and not easily mistaken for his earlier works. The first piece we would hear is The Triumph Chorus of the Danes. While we haven't yet heard the Mass in Time of War, it is being composed as you read this, and the choruses of this piece sound like they came right out of the Mass. The trumpets and timpani dominate above all. The drumming itself is an interesting evolution, alternating between the relentless, steady rhythm and bursts of really aggressive rolls as climaxes approach. It is a work for full orchestra, which Haydn didn't have available to him in Eisenstadt, but the general surmise, which postulates a small orchestra attached to the acting troupe, supplementing the Eisenstadt Band, possibly along with some mercenary musicians, is more or less verified by this work, not to mention the requirements of such as Mozart's Magic Flute, which had substantial music of its own.

The centerpiece of the play, though, had to be the wonderful aria/'duet', Ausgesandt von Strahlenthrone (The Guardian Spirit's Aria). It is an unusual duet, one part sings and the other only speaks. The heroine, Elvida, has the spoken text. But the Guardian Spirit displays her otherworldliness with a beautiful aria, which demonstrates, at the least, Haydn's appreciation for the talent of the original singer, since it has some real range. The entire is accompanied by a Harmonie sextet consisting of 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons & 2 Horns. It is really quite excellent. The third and final piece has never been published, probably due to the fact it can't be performed in a concert or recording because it is so intimately entwined in the fabric of the play. It is a duet (Der Morgen graut…) for two tenors, Alfred and Odun, but it abruptly breaks off in the middle of a musical and lyrical phrase in order to blend into ongoing action.

Alfred, König der Angelsachsen was Haydn's final piece of stage music, with the exception of the aria, Fatal Amour. Another product of this same time period, this is a concert aria, a French vaudeville actually, which was Haydn's one and only effort to set the French language. Unfortunately it suffers precisely the same fate as Der Morgen graut…, it is inseparably part of the play it is in, thus it has never been performed or recorded. Too bad, it would be interesting to hear Haydn setting French.

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Section	Sub section	Tempo	Key	Meter
Kyrie	Kyrie eleison	Adagio – Allegro moderato	Bb	3/4
Gloria	Gloria in excelsis Deo	Vivace	Bb	4/4
	Gratias agimus tibi	Allegretto	g – Bb – Eb – c - Bb	3/4
	Qui tollis peccata mundi	Più allegro		3/4
	Quoniam tu solus sanctus	Vivace	Bb	4/4
Credo	Credo in unum Deum	Allegro	Bb	2/2
	Et incarnatus est	Adagio	Eb	3/4
	Et resurrexit	Allegro	c – g - Bb	3/4
	Et vitam venturi	Vivace assai	Bb	3/4
Sanctus	Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus	Adagio	Bb – c – Bb	2/2
	Pleni sunt coeli	Allegro	Bb	3/4
Benedictus	Benedictus	Moderato	Eb	2/4
Agnus Dei	Agnus Dei	Adagio	bb	3/4
	Dona nobis pacem	Allegro	Bb	3/4
Instruments:	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns (not in very first version), 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings & Continuo (Organ) (plus extra Soprano & Bass soloist in the Et incarnatus est.

We are now ready, finally, to hear the Mass for St. Bernard of Offida for the first time. Getting back to my theme, just for a moment, of unsubstantiated assumption, in referring to Demaree & Moses' The Masses of Joseph Haydn, they begin coverage of this Mass with a general statement on the influence which Haydn's final six Masses had on the sacred music of the 19^th century, which is quite valid. However, they refer to the letter which Nicholas II sent to Haydn in London, and say that the specific instruction that Haydn should compose the Masses for Marie's Name Day originated here. The letter no longer exists, and the reference to it, which I have discussed before (turning down the King) and reprinted below, most certainly does not make that demand. So it goes.

About half a year after Haydn's arrival in London, a letter was sent him from Naples from the then-reigning Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy (who was at the time traveling in Italy) which contained the news that the Prince had named Haydn as his Kapellmeister and wished to re-establish the entire Kappel. Haydn received this news with greatest pleasure. He had always had a hearty affection for the Esterhazy princes, who had assured his daily bread, and (what he especially liked) given him great opportunity to develop his musical talents. Of course, Haydn saw that his income in England was large and far surpassed that in his fatherland. Besides it had become easy for him there to command an imposing salary anywhere. He had been since the death of Prince Anton a fully free person. Nothing bound him to the princely house except his love and his gratitude. It was these that met every objection and moved him to accept the proposal of Prince Nikolaus with joy and, as soon as his contract in London was ended, to return to his fatherland.⁸

Biographical Accounts of Joseph Haydn pg. 171 –
A.C. Dies (Vernon Gotwals translation)

Anyway, I think my point is made.

If, indeed, the Heiligmesse was not played actually on Friday the 9^th, it is no surprise, since customarily Name Day Masses were played on the Sunday following, in this case, the 11^th. Since we have no knowledge otherwise, we will join the 'assumers' in this case and say it was. The first performance, according to Demaree & Moses was at the Bergkirche at Eisenstadt. This is not the Schlosskapelle, the chapel at Eisenstadt's palace, but actually the main public church in the city. Haydn's original score for this Mass was actually intended for performance in the Schlosskapelle, and therefore is necessarily sparse on instrumentation. Shortly thereafter, and certainly by the time it got to Vienna, Haydn had added horns, and bolstered the clarinet parts. Also in the original, Haydn had the clarinets doubling the oboes whenever they didn't have something to play (they were tacet). Bolstering all the winds for the larger venue at the Bergkirche was not difficult, given the 'opera orchestra' available, something else Haydn didn't know about much in advance. With the singers also on hand, and the rented trumpets and timpani, it must have been a splendid performance, and one which pleased not only its intended dedicatee, Marie Hermenegild, but also the Mass-loving Prince.

	The long, narrow Schlosskapelle didn't have the 'large' acoustic of the Bergkirche.
	The small choir and organ loft of the Schlosskapelle
	The much roomier loft in the Bergkirche. The organist sits right in the front, center, facing the altar, not a usual position and much better than in the Schlosskapelle.

There were several advantages to be had at the Bergkirche. Not least was the far more spacious choir loft. As we see in the pictures here (the places haven't changed significantly in the intervening 200+ years!), the choir loft is much larger, and set in a way which allows the soloists to step forward and maximize the acoustic advantage from being on the front edge. The organist, who was almost certainly Haydn himself, sits where he can see the service as he plays. The orchestra is divided like on a stage, with chorus members behind on raised platforms. You can see that the Schlosskapelle offers none of these things.

Is Haydn's style for this Mass a whole new revolution in sacred music, as has been said? In truth, the answer is no. If you listened to the Mariazellermesse from 1782, his last Mass before the Big Mass Blackout resulting from Joseph II's austerity regulations, you can see it is almost like an unbroken continuation of its predecessor. Clearly Haydn has gained everything in the way of self-confidence for this, his first major work post-London. These works, music which he loved and for a purpose he also loved, are graced with all his accumulated skill and art.

At the end of his 1955 book, The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn, Landon postulated this idea; the late Masses are choral symphonies:

… he continued the symphonic form under this new guise: for the late Haydn masses are in their fundamental construction symphonies for voices and orchestra using the mass text. It was the deeply religions Haydn's ultimate aim to extend and perfect the purely orchestral apparatus of the symphony by means of the text of the High Mass, embodying as it does the central mysteries of the Christian religion.²

Symphonies of Joseph Haydn pg. 596 – H.C. Robbins Landon (1955)

Later on, a musicologist named Martin Chusid⁶ developed a theory, further championed by Landon in Chronicle & Works vol. 4¹, which tried to give support for this idea by breaking each Mass down and applying structural labels to it intended to demonstrate how each Mass was, in fact, a set of three symphonies. Chusid went through the Masses and found analogous structures to a symphony throughout each of the Masses. And indeed, the rise and fall of the drama, expressed through dynamics, tonal shifts and other musical devices, is there to hear, although I think Chusid's analogies are often a big stretch. In his theory of 'Chromatic Completion', Ed Green⁷ cites Chusid's structural divisions to demonstrate how the Heiligmesse satisfies his own theory, which (very briefly here) states that Haydn, and a few others of the most successful composers such as Mozart, employed a technique of withholding a crucial, necessarily satisfying to the ear and mind, tone until the most critical dramatic moment. It is a highly interesting concept, and I commend it to you because even if you have only the most rudimentary theoretical knowledge Green explains it so you can understand it. However, in reading Green's paper, I don't see where the validity of his idea depends on the validity of Landon/Chusid, it is just a handy example.

Marie Hermenegild Esterházy
Johann Georg Weikert

Haydn's genius is not found in the formal similarities with the symphony, but in the small details. These reveal how Haydn moves the listener from one tonal event to another. He accomplishes this by means of rhetorical gestures, both textual and musical, which he develops and manipulates to create and foil the listener's expectations⁴. In other words, the techniques he uses in all his other works are also used here, albeit at the highest level of mastery. The implication of Landon's statement above, and of Chusid's later work, is that Haydn wrote three symphonies in related keys and then superimposed the Mass text on top of them. Whether he did this with specific intent, or whether it was unconsciously done, is the real nut of the issue.

Of course, the word 'symphony', itself, can be a cause for confusion. "Symphonic Mass". Chusid takes it literally as being a piece of music. Landon seems to intend it that way also. But 'symphony/symphonic' is also a group of instruments, and these (as well as nearly all other Viennese Masses in the 18^th century) are intended to be played by far more instruments than Masses anywhere else, save possibly Venice. Bruce MacIntyre avoids this very issue by giving a much different name to his seminal book on the subject, The Viennese Concerted Mass in the Early Classic Period⁵. I'm not entirely sure at this point what Landon's original intention was, maybe he just couldn't accept the idea that Haydn was done with symphonies and just move on, just like he couldn't handle the idea that the so-called Sturm und Drang period was over until the Paris Symphonies were composed. But we have seen Haydn move on throughout his career, and I believe he did so here too. The Heiligmesse is NOT the natural progenitor of Beethoven's 9^th symphony! There is more to this story, and five more Masses to go, so we haven't got to the end of it, by any means.

Next time we will also look at a Mass, in C Major this time, and this one contains all the drama you could hope for.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

1 - H.C. Robbins Landon - Joseph Haydn: Chronicle & Works vol. 4 - Indiana University Press - 1977
2 - H.C. Robbins Landon - The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn - Rockliff Publishing & Universal Editions - 1955
3 - Robert Demaree & Don Moses - The Masses of Joseph Haydn - Classical Heritage Press - 2008
4 - Eric Johnson - F. J. Haydn's Late Masses: An Examination of the Symphonic Mass Form - Choral Journal - February 2002
5 - Bruce MacIntyre - The Viennese Concerted Mass in the Early Classic Period - UMI Research Press - 1984 - 1986
6 - Martin Chusid - Some observations on liturgy, text and structure in Haydn's late masses - 1970 - in Studies in Eighteenth-century Music: A Tribute to Karl Geiringer on His Seventieth Birthday edited by H.C. Robbins Landon
7 - Edward Green -  The Technique of Chromatic Completion in Haydn’s Late Masses -  Extract from Doctoral Thesis -  Chromatic Completion in the Late Vocal Music of Haydn and Mozart: A Technical, Philosophic, and Historical Study. (New York University, 2008).
8 - Joseph Haydn; Eighteenth-Century Gentleman and Genius - A translation with introduction and notes by Vernon Gotwals of the Biographische Notizen über Joseph Haydn by G. A. Griesinger and the Biographische Nachrichten von Joseph Haydn by A. C. Dies - The University of Wisconsin Press • Madison, 1963
9 - H.C. Robbins Landon -  The Collected Correspondence & London Notebooks of Joseph Haydn - Barrie and Rockliff, 1959

 

 

 

 

1796 – The Music part 4 - The Glee of Vienna

Hob. No.	Genre	Key	Title	Voice	Instruments	Libretto
25b:1-4	Partsongs	See table below		3 voices – var.	Fortepiano continuo	See table below
25c:1-9	Partsongs			4 voices - S-A-T-B	Fortepiano continuo (but fully composed in #6-9)

Haydn's original autograph manuscript

Aus des Ramlers Lyrischer Blumenlese

In die Music gesetzt

von Jos. Haydn '796

~~~~~~~~~~~

From Ramler's Lyrical Anthology

Put into music

by Joseph Haydn 1796

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They are among his wittiest, most beautiful and most touching creations, with an inimitable air of casual sophistication and a brilliant combination of comic and serious topics and styles; their fusion of easy intelligibility and wit with the highest art and their ravishing part-writing almost suggest string quartets for voices.⁴
                                                                                            James Webster

It can be surprising when you discover the large variety of genres one can encounter while studying 18^th century music. Not surprising so many existed, since there are always a variety of tastes and interests, but moreso that one composer would tackle such a number of them. Here is another, not exactly a novelty for Haydn, but certainly a variation on some previous musical thoughts. I consider the possibility he was trying to make up for lost time, in the way that some people do when they realize later in life that their real calling was perhaps not what they built their reputation upon.

Haydn sometimes said that instead of the many quartets, sonatas, and symphonies, he should have written more vocal music….
Griesinger - Biographical Notes page 63

Many of us today may disagree with him, but the fact is, we might not even know his name now if things had gone that way. There are scores of very fine 18^th century composers who are only known to specialists for just this reason. Horrible thing to contemplate, isn't it?

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[To E. L. GERBER, in German]

[Only extracts preserved]

Vienna 23rd September 1799.

. . [Haydn speaks of his new Oratorio, The Seasons, then…] Since this subject cannot be as sublime as that of the Creation, comparison between the two will show a distinct difference. Despite this, and with the help of Providence, I shall press on, and when this new work is completed I shall retire, because of the weakened state of my nerves, in order to be able to complete my last work. This will consist of vocal quartets, with accompaniment only of the pianoforte, based on German texts of our greatest poets; I have already composed thirteen such pieces, but have not yet performed any of them. . .

1 – ERNST LUDWIG GERBER (1746-1819), the famous German musical lexicographer, whose Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkunstler (Leipzig, 1790-1792) and Neue Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkunstler (Leipzig, 1812-1814) are among the most important musico-biographical lexica ever written. The extract from this letter is taken from the second volume of this latter publication.

2 - These choruses, of which Haydn was very proud, were later published by Breitkopf & Härtel

Collected Correspondence & London Notebooks of Joseph Haydn – HC Robbins Landon

 

A glee club on the lid of a snuffbox
Anon. England ca 1795

When someone wants to leave a lasting legacy, it is natural to assume he/she is speaking about leaving a personal presence in the future, i.e. - their own name. But Haydn, as usual, was different. At least part of the legacy he wanted to leave was a new tradition of singing, in the manner of the English Glee Club he had seen in London. Thus his statement above, about spending his retirement writing vocal quartets. For something which was so important to Haydn, it seems odd that modern musicology has spent very little time contextualizing these works. They do have at least one champion though, in Balázs Mikusi¹, who has written several articles about them. Most of what I know comes from him and Landon, who, even if he didn't spend a lot of time with them, did provide a solid history to get along with.

Hob 25b	Title	Translation	Poet	Scoring	Key	Tempo	Meter
1	An den Vetter	To the Cousin	K.W. Ramler	S-A-T & Continuo	G	Allegro	2/3
2	Daphnens einziger Fehler	Daphne's only Mistake	J. N. Götz	T-T-B & Continuo	C	Allegro	3/4
3	Betrachtung des Todes	Contemplation of Death	C.F. Gellert	S-T-B & Continuo	a	Andante	6/8
4	An die Frauen	To the Women	G. A. Bürger	T-T-B & Keyboard	F	Allegro moderato	4/4
Hob 25c
1	Der Augenblick	The Moment	K.W. Ramler	S-A-T-B & Continuo	A	Poco adagio	3/4
2	Die Harmonie in der Ehe	The Harmony in Marriage	J. N. Götz	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Bb	Allegretto	4/4
3	Alles hat seine Zeit	Everything has it's Time	J.A. Ebert	S-A-T-B & Continuo	F	Allegretto	4/4
4	Die Beredsamkeit	The Eloquence	G.E. Lessing	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Bb	Allegretto	4/4
5	Der Greis	The Old Man	J.W.L. Gleim	S-A-T-B & Continuo	A	Molto adagio	4/4
6	Die Warnung	The Warning	Anonymous	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Bb	Andante	4/4
7	Wider den Ubermut	Preserve me from Arrogance	C.F. Gellert	S-A-T-B & Continuo	A	Adagio	3/4
8	Danklied zu Gott	Thanksgiving song to God	C.F. Gellert	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Eb	Poco adagio	2/2
9	Abendlied zu Gott	Evening song to God	C.F. Gellert	S-A-T-B & Continuo	A	Adagio	3/4

Michael Haydn's partsongs
for 4 male voices from 1795

One can only speculate what led Haydn down this road. There was no tradition of singing of this type in Austria at the time. His brother, Michael, had almost concurrently (1795) released some marvelous songs for four male voices. But his were just that, songs. They had a melody line and accompaniment from the other voices. What was Joseph doing though?

According to Griesinger, Haydn composed the partsongs "simply con amore, in happy hours, without commission"². While this has long been interpreted to mean he considered them to be just toss-offs which filled his idle hours, the letter to Gerber, quoted above, throws an entirely different light on it. If Haydn wanted to retire and make this his final masterpiece, and he was doing it, unusually enough, out of his own pocket, then he must have thought highly of the entire concept. In 1801, when Griesinger urged him to publish the extant thirteen pieces, he still insisted that the series should be completed to twenty-five, or at least twenty numbers, for "if I now have something published, [...] it must be somewhat big"³. And this was always the idea, since we see from another character, one we haven't met previously, named Fredrik Samuel Silverstolpe, who writes this news home from Vienna in June of 1797:

Moreover, he (Haydn) sang several arias to me, which he intends to issue by subscription when the number has reached 24. His usual rhythm characterizes them and they reveal many strokes of genius and well-chosen thoughts.                                                                              F. S. Silverstolpe, 1797

What sort of arias are these, then? Ramler's Lyrical Anthology was a very popular collection of German poetry. Given Haydn's predilection for poetry, it is not too outrageous to suppose he had it since it's original printing in 1780. Ramler wrote in his introduction that he published all the pieces without authorship denoted in order that "those connoisseurs who are used to judging the excellence of a work only from the author's name may find it a little more difficult". Landon supposes that Haydn originally intended to use Ramler for the entire set of songs, but in the event, the old problem of finding just the right lyric presented itself again. So he used at least two other sources, one being a "poetry in installments" series along the same idea as our own "Everyman's Library", collected by F.A. Schrämbl in Vienna beginning in 1791. The other source, poetry in a far more serious, religious and philosophic vein, was C.F. Gellert's Geistliche Oden und Lieder (Spiritual Odes and Songs), published in 1757.

The music itself is modeled in some ways on the Catches and Glees which he was heavily exposed to in England Indeed, he wrote a dozen of them for Lord Abingdon (Hob 31c:16 N^o's.1-12). These vocal quartets are very unlike brother Michael's, which, as we saw, are actually homophonic songs. Joseph's, instead, are very much strict counterpoint, purely polyphonic, and don't waver from that ideal. They do incorporate many features from the Catch, techniques such as leaving 'windows', openings for one voice between the others to highlight a special point in the text. The interesting thing, and what sets them apart from other efforts beyond quality of the writing, is that the lyrics range in character from deeply solemn and spiritual to highly comic, but the music doesn't ever waver from being strict counterpoint. As Mikusi says:

…notwithstanding the above hints at imitation, Haydn's partsongs - and even some of the comic songs among them - engage in strict contrapuntal writing to a degree quite foreign to the glee repertory. So much so that one can hardly avoid having doubts whether many friendly companies in Vienna or elsewhere could have included a sufficient number of accomplished singers to perform pieces like Die Beredsamkeit or Daphnens ein ziger Fehler.

 

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715-1769)
by Anton Graff - ca. 1769

As an aid to polyphonic singing, Haydn used the traditional figured bass for accompaniment in the first nine pieces. When they were published by Breitkopf & Härtel, the figures were realized and written out for the keyboard. The final four had fully written out keyboard parts for both hands. If he had completed the entire cycle as the twenty-five he envisioned, one would assume the latter form would have prevailed, although with Haydn, one never knows.

Silverstolpe's visit of 1797, chronicled in reports sent back to his associates at the Swedish Music Academy in Stockholm, probably tells us more about Haydn's life than any other single document from this period. He knew music, he had been a student of Kraus just a few years earlier. He actually wrote the first biography of Kraus in the 1830's. But from our Haydnish perspective, it is the notes home about Haydn, and the translation of The Creation into Swedish, which allowed its performance there in 1801, only two years after its première in Vienna, which will capture our interest.

In the same room where the instrument [NB - his English pianoforte] stood, there was a bookcase with glass doors. There I especially noticed a collection of the best poets of Germany, and when we spoke of them, it seemed Gellert was his hero…        Silverstolpe

We have touched upon many cultural topics in this series. If you have learned anything from it, you are on track with me, because it was all new to me when we started out. One of the most important Haydn discoveries we've made concerns his love for the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Many of his early songs, his attendance at salons, joining the Freemasons, his amazingly large library, all attest to the breadth of his interest. Indeed, the entire decade of the 1780's was a two-way assimilation; Haydn got Enlightenment culture and in return contributed music.

Haydn's personal contacts and reading made him very much aware of the tenet's of the Enlightenment. This can be seen in his association with persons such as Franz Sales von Greiner, Gottfried van Swieten, and Johann Caspar Lavater; by his attendance at literary salons which brought him into contact with Johann Baptist von Alxinger, Aloys Blumauer, Michael Denis, Lorenz Haschka, Tobias Philipp Gebler and Ignaz von Born; and by his eventual membership in the Masonic Lodge Zur wahren Eintracht. As a result of these social and literary influences, it is entirely possible that Haydn revised his symphonic approach to bring it into line with the prevailing attitude towards literature. This attitude, very simply, was that literature should serve the goals of the Enlightenment. ⁵ Schroeder

All of this is the long way 'round to explain Haydn's deep feeling of kinship with Gellert. Even though Gellert was dead (NB - 1769) by the time of the Enlightenment's full flowering, due to Vienna's late awakening, the philosophy of the 1780's was more in tune with the thinking of the mid-18^th century and Gellert than it was with the proto-Romantics such as Goethe. And while Haydn eventually adopted Gellert's Spiritual Odes and Songs to complete his final partsongs, it is really the fact of their shared belief in the Enlightenment philosophy, particularly "everything a person creates should improve his fellow man, especially spiritually and intellectually", which bound them together. If you now return to Haydn's letter to Gerber, or his statements to Griesinger, the emphasis which he puts on quality and expectations placed on him makes more sense.

So what was Haydn trying to accomplish? Did he succeed? We have seen already, with the late keyboard trios for example, how Haydn was influenced by his time in England, and especially by the culture of music more than its actual structure. I don't want to be a spoiler here, but here is a secret look into the future: Haydn is going to write two major oratorios and an Austrian National Anthem, all within the next four years. Seriously, I'm not kidding! As we will see, he was keen on at least two of those things, and willing in spirit, at least, for the second oratorio too. And the reason was his belief that Austria would benefit from adopting some English traditions. He had seen London come to a standstill to sing God Save the King, and he had seen the King himself and the Royal family join in with his massed subjects to sing Handel at the annual festivals. And he saw how it bound the country together. His Enlightened ideals were doubtless stirred by this outpouring of patriotism, and he wanted his own country to share in it. Haydn also saw how the Glee Clubs acted in a unifying way, specifically bringing enjoyment from making music. And what could be more stirring to a composer? On this basis, Balázs Mikusi suggests¹;

…the mehrstimmige Gesänge could plausibly have been intended as a nationalized version of the English glee - one, however, that would even outdo its model in both compositional care and performing effort.                  Mikusi

Did he succeed? As we saw with Haydn's early German Lieder, and also with many of his operas, there was a major stumbling block which existed in the musical minds of the day. It can be simply stated, even though it is far more complicated than it sounds: the finest music cannot overcome mediocre (which includes inappropriate) texts. And Haydn's transgression was great: he set comic lyrics into some of the finest polyphonic settings of the era. Music deserving of being played in Church, now dedicated to Daphne's Only Mistake or the cynical The Harmony in Marriage! Yet for all the bluster of the critics, the genre did indeed take off, and Haydn's works served as the benchmark to which all others were compared. As here:

Carl Maria von Weber, in an 1815 review of Gottfried Weber's Zwölf vierstimmige Gesänge für zwei Soprane, Tenor und Bass, [in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung] wrote "these pieces were not simple lieder, but rather songs properly worked out in four parts, in their basic idea, just as in their aesthetic and artistic treatment, most similar to those which Joseph Haydn published not long before his death [...] much to the delight of countless amateurs.         Mikusi

I tend to take a fine composer like C.M. von Weber more seriously than your average critic anyway. But I'm not living in those times, and it is fair to say the consensus was weighted against the concept of setting comic lyrics to sublime music. As for performances, and there were many throughout the 19^th century, the religious songs immediately became part of the canon of partsongs. The remainder, not so much. If the taste for music of this type allowed it to still be written today, I fancy that the balance would be tipped in the other direction. Styles change; style doesn't. And these songs certainly have style!

More singing next time, the long drought of Masses since 1782 is about to break!

Thanks for reading!

1 - Balázs Mikusi - Between Tradition, Innovation and Utopia: Haydn's "mehrstimmige Gesänge" - Studia Musicologica, Vol. 51, No. 1/2

2 - Botstiber and Pohl, Joseph Haydn, Vol. 3, pg. 336

3 - Griesinger's letter to Gottfried Christoph Härtel dated 23 December 1801, in Eben komme ich, ed. Biba, pg. 118

4 – James Webster – Biography section – The New Grove Haydn

5 - David Schroeder - Haydn & Gellert: Parallels in Eighteenth-Century Music and Literature Current Musicology Vol. 35 Spring 1983

 

1796 – The Music part 3 - Ten Years After, Not quite dead

Hob. No.	Genre	Libretto	Name	Instruments/Voices
20:02	Oratorio	Words arranged by Gottfried van Swieten	The Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani & Strings

The Crucifixion
Hieronymus Bosch ca 1485

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At the very end of the last essay, while I was already whingeing over the passing of certain genres which Haydn is known for, the list I made then was only a small (but very significant) part of the entire. I had also noted the same phenomenon with concertos, but in mentally running down a list of possibilities, things which we have come to expect, in addition to keyboard sonatas and trios, symphonies, concertos etc., we can add these blasts from the past: divertimentos for various numbers of winds and/or strings, flute trios, and string trios and duos. Of course, the unusual instruments, such as Baryton, Lira organizzate and Flötenuhr are long gone. The obvious commonality on this list is they are all instrumental genres. Almost the only vocal genre which could be added to the missing is Italian operas, although I don't know that he wouldn't have tackled yet another of them if a commission and decent libretto had come along. Conspicuous by its absence from the list, thankfully, is the string quartet. Plus one more set of variations for keyboard. But beyond those, we must change our inherited mindset about Haydn from 'instrumental composer' to 'vocal generalist'. Which I call him because the variety of vocal music he tackled, partly represented in our next couple of essays, was nearly the full spectrum at the end of the 18^th century.

When Haydn was returning home from England after his final sojourn there, we saw this particular event:

We learn from Haydn's future student, Neukomm (whom we will meet many times later) that one of the places they stopped for the night was the town of Passau. In his honor, on the evening they spent, the local Kapellmeister, Joseph Friebert, arranged a performance in the Cathedral of Passau of The Seven Last Words, to which Friebert had added some choral parts and recitatives. Haydn told Neukomm that 'The performance was satisfactory, but the vocal parts, I could have done better'.

It didn't take long for him to have a chance to prove these words. And indeed he did!

… It was only many years later that a canon in Passau [Joseph Friberth] fitted a German text to Haydn's music, and so Swieten's contention that an analogous poem could be written to go with each of Haydn's compositions was literally confirmed.                         Griesinger Biographical Notices pg. 21-22

We have already met Gottfried, Baron van Swieten. His various ambassadorial positions, and later the Imperial Librarian, a post he held for the rest of his life, may seem tangential to a discussion of Viennese music. In fact, they provided the opportunities for his exposure to, and then the material for teaching and disseminating, his love for Baroque polyphony to the greats of the First Viennese School. Much has been made of Mozart's "Sunday's with Gottfried", but Haydn also spent time in that venue whenever it worked with his schedule. He had been associating with Swieten since before 1776, as we can infer from this quote in his famous autobiographical letter. The subject was the constant harsh criticism he got from the Berliners:

Despite this, they try very hard to get all my works, as Herr Baron von Swieten, the Imperial and Royal ambassador to Berlin, told me only last winter when he was in Vienna…

This was an important bit of encouragement at a critical time for Haydn, and certainly must have helped cement his faith in Swieten. Which he clearly had in abundance, since post-London, he redirected his career trajectory so a large part was focused on their work together.

Swieten was pompous in his dealings with musicians. He was acutely aware of his own minor aristocratic status, but he could also be generous and loyal. Remember, on Haydn's second trip to London, he went from Vienna to the coast in a comfortable carriage given him by Swieten. He had nothing but respect for the works of his musical 'friends', but they weren't friends per se since they were commoners. Still, their influence on the later development of western classical music would have been very different without him, because he was mainly responsible for bringing the works of 'Old Bach' and Handel to their attention and encouraging them to integrate it into their own musical styles. He composed more than a little, as Griesinger again tells us, along with Haydn's opinion of them:

… Swieten himself had composed eight symphonies— "they were as stiff as he was"

Looking back now, with our historical perspective supplemented by ensuing events, we know that this collaboration would produce two major oratorios which would seal Haydn's claim on musical immortality more than any of his instrumental works. The Creation and The Seasons would certainly not have been what they ended up being without the input of Baron van Swieten. But it was not their first joint venture, and a proper introduction to those works cannot fail to include this one, which is actually some of my personal favorite Haydn music.

In 1786, we took a look at the commission from Cádiz, Spain, for an instrumental work which would be played on Good Friday during the Passion. It is fair to say Haydn outdid himself with this work, which is brilliant in every way. But beyond satisfying the terms of the commission, it didn't really achieve widespread recognition, perhaps because it was so specialized. The next year, he adapted the work for solo keyboard and arranged it for string quartet, and now that it was playable by smaller groups and individuals, it did, indeed, begin to spread across Europe. With both of those arrangements, though, much of the impact of the music lost its effect, even though the string quartet version was the most popular for many years.

When Haydn was returning from England and saw the choral performance in the Passau Cathedral, some bit of inspiration must have struck, something which would save this work from oblivion. It is safe to say, just because a piece is brilliant, doesn't mean it will be everlasting. This is especially true of music, since the appeal of many works is so limited. But the addition of words, which Haydn had seen in action so recently in London, could perhaps broaden the appeal beyond the one day a year for the many, or the rare performances for connoisseurs which it had now.

"The Death of Jesus"
A Passion Cantata by C.W. Ramler
with music by Carl Heinrich Graun

The text itself comes (via Friberth in Passau) in part from prayers for the day, some odes by Christian Gellert, a hugely popular poet who wrote many poems which were destined to become hymns for both Catholics and Protestants (and was also a lifetime favorite of Beethoven), and from C. W. Ramler's cantata, Der Tod Jesu (The Death of Jesus), which had been set many years earlier by Carl Heinrich Graun, and achieved some popularity. All of this was carefully massaged by Swieten, and then Haydn went to work to carefully tailor the music to the words.

Much of the instrumental music remains unchanged insofar as the notes and rhythms go. There are, however many changes which are more subtle, but obvious if one compares them side-by-side.

Original Version Instruments	Oratorio Instruments
2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani & Strings

So first things first, parts needed to be changed, revised and adapted to the different instruments before anything else could be done. Clarinets! Trombones! A contrabassoon! Haydn surely expanded his language while in London.

Other than the instrumentation requirements, Haydn made two other, even more major changes. We saw in the original how the Seven Last Phrases (if I may) were intoned by the celebrant at the beginning of each sonata. This was the essential concept of the work. But oratorios, as we saw way back when Haydn wrote his first one, Il ritorno di Tobia, are, by definition, NOT music played during masses or other official services, although they are often performed in a church. Since there was no longer an officiating priest, Haydn had to come up with a way to present the phrase. His solution was an a capella chant, a sort of old-style four-voice recitative which was both beautiful and effective. The second major change he made involved the beginning of Sonata N^o. 5. With it's tiny phrase, I thirst, it needed something more to bolster the introduction. Another problem which had to be solved involved the basic oratorio structure. It needed an intermission. This is a structural requirement, and though Haydn loved flouting convention when it came to harmonic or rhythmic schemes, or Affekt, he didn't play fast and loose with established rules of structure. Whether it was the coincidence of placement within the overall work, with an introduction and four sonatas before and three sonatas and The Earthquake after, the beginning of Sonata N^o. 5 is also as near as one can get to the midpoint of the work. So, a little break is now followed by one of the finest introductions in Haydn's oeuvre. The austere, nearly funereal sounding piece is for wind band only. It is about five and a half minutes long, and it is given great gravitas by the contrabassoon (Haydn's first use of one) and the trombones. As we have seen, trombones were a tradition in Austrian Church music (to the exclusion of nearly any other use) for the last few centuries, and there would have been no missing their significance here. To top things off, this is the only Haydn work which he wrote in a minor, and perhaps the somberness helps give an explanation why this might be. There is no hint of the underlying joy that we have grown accustomed to in nearly all of Haydn's works. For all that, a current critic (for the Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung), stated that this introduction was "some of the best music Haydn has ever written".

Part	Phrase (Word) & Source	Key	Tempo
Introduction to Part 1		d minor	Maestoso ed Adagio
Sonata I	Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do Luke 23: 33-34	Bb Major	Largo
Sonata II	Hodie mecum eris in paradise Today you will be with me in Paradise Luke 23: 39-43	c minor ending in C Major	Grave e cantabile
Sonata III	Mulier, ecce filius tuus! Woman, behold your son! John 19: 25-27	E Major	Grave
Sonata IV	Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27: 45-47	f minor	Largo
Introduction to Part 2		a minor	Largo e cantabile
Sonata V	Sitio I thirst John 19: 28	A Major	Adagio
Sonata VI	Consummatum est It is finished John 19: 29-30	g minor ending in G Major	Lento
Sonata VII	In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum Father, into your hands I commend my spirit Luke 23: 44-46	Eb Major	Largo
Postlude	Il terremoto The Earthquake	c minor	Presto e con tutta la forza

The Gesellschaft der Associierten was an association of music-loving noblemen centered in Vienna and founded by Swieten in 1786. They sponsored concerts, often reviving music from the past, and also commissioned new works. Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven all benefitted hugely from their relationship with these men. I'm sure many of the names are familiar:

… and Swieten was the life secretary of a musical society in Vienna whose members (the Princes Lichtenstein, Esterhazy, Schwarzenberg, Lobkowitz, Auersberg, Kinsky, Lichnowsky, Trautmannsdorf, Sinzendorf [sic], the Counts Czernin, Harrach, Erdody, Aponi [sic], Fries) were accustomed to arrange several concerts a year.

Griesinger 1810 (Gotwals) Biographical Notes Concerning Joseph Haydn

This oratorio was first performed on 26 March 1796, in a private affair at the palace of Prince Schwarzenberg. It wasn't until 1 April 1798 that the public were allowed to hear what these connoisseurs already knew. The Emperor and his family were all at the Burgtheater for the première. Evidently it gained approval, since it was performed regularly throughout German-speaking lands for the next century. I think Landon's contention that it could only be appreciated by connoisseurs and so was ultimately a failure (sorry, that's the only way I can interpret his comments) effectively glosses over the clear fact that musical appreciation by connoisseurs is not the only possible way for a work to succeed, not only in popularity (whatever that might entail) but also when it engenders appreciation for its sheer beauty and relevance to the event which it defines. And this by connoisseur and layman alike. And there is absolutely no doubt it accomplishes that!

Since you already know the effects produced by this magnificent music while it is still only played on instruments, you must believe me when I tell you that with words the music is even more powerful and expressive. I tell you this so as to make your musical soul doubly regret the fact that you were not able to be there…

Anonymous letter writer, 1802

Did Haydn's effort to rescue The Seven Last Words from sure oblivion succeed? I suppose the fact that I can sit here and recommend three different recordings of the oratorio, and in fact, I could easily do so with each of the other three versions, would argue for the answer to be yes. Is it the finest or best or most popular work Haydn ever wrote? Haydn thought it was his finest work, as we see in the little article I reprinted from the Harmonicon (Magazine), volume VIII, 1830, page 29:

[Abbé Stadler, ... (The 7 Last Words)] …

The "Mr. N." is Vincent Novello, who traveled to Vienna in the late 1820's with his wife, Mary to amass material for a book about the famous composers of the late 18^th century while their contemporaries were still alive to reminisce. The resulting book, A Mozart Pilgrimage, Being the Travel Diaries of Vincent and Mary Novello in the Year 1829, is a fount of information, much of it accurate.The other noticeable item here is the fact that it was "made to order". This could well be something I am unaware of in the modern world, but if so, I must apologize to you, dear reader. Do you, or does anyone in the 21^st century, rate works automatically into a secondary position because they were commissioned? Something tells me the answer would be no to that. A modern equivalent would be an orchestra asking a composer to write them a symphony, or a violinist a new concerto. Yet, in 1830, there doesn't appear to be any reluctance to call a work second-tier for that reason. If you recall, long ago I had a mild rant over this exact topic. James Webster was explaining this tenet of 19th century belief:

 "...unique synthesis of form and content, necessity and independence. This ideal demands the artwork be complete and intelligible in its own terms, that it exclude everything superfluous and contingent, that it be incapable of alteration without violating its essence and that it stake a claim to the realms of spirituality as opposed to materiality, transcendence as opposed to quotidian reality. Analogously, it demands that the artist create solely according to his muse, and not for 'eternal' reasons. Hence, to be great, an artwork must be psychologically and historically 'authentic': fully and in all details an autonomous expression of its maker's personality, yet reflecting the social-philosophical reality of its time and place of origin."

After I published that essay I had several debates with friends about it. Yet here, in an actual extract from an 1830 musical journal, is an undisguised statement of precisely the same belief. I have a sneaking suspicion that not every musicologist, even today, has fully rid him or her self of it, either. I wonder if the writer thought that any of Haydn's symphonies were NOT "written to order"?

For me, the issue can never be resolved, it is a matter of taste and no one's reigns supreme. But if I were to compile a 'Haydn Top 10' of my own favorites, The 7 Last Words would be on it, with either one of or both the instrumental or choral versions.

Next time, more vocal music, some of a different stripe altogether.

Thanks for reading!

I am reprinting here the entire libretto, something I have long wished to have since I am a dunce with German. The 7 Words themselves are still always sung in Latin, but the hymns have been translated into many languages. Here they are in English.

1 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father in Heaven. Look down from thy eternal throne! Loving Father, thy only begotten Son Prays for sinners, for thy children. Grant the prayer of thy Son! Alas. we have fallen from grace. We have grievously sinned; But for us all and for our salvation Thy Son has shed his blood The blood of the Lamb does not cry out for vengeance; It redeems our sins. Loving Father, let us find grace. Grant the prayer of thy Son.	2 Verily, I say unto thee: Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise, Full of mercy, grace and love, Thou art the mediator, the Lamb of God. If he but calls to thee, full of Remorse: When thou enterest into thy Kingdom, alas, think of me: To him thou didst promise, full of pity: Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Lord God: Look upon us! See at the foot of thy Cross Our true remorse and repentance! Oh Father, see our remorse! Grant us in our final hour That consolation from thy lips: Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
3 Woman, behold thy son, and Thou, behold thy mother! Mother of Jesus, weeping in Despair. Standing sighing by the Cross. And in the hour of bitter parting, The torments of his suffering Thou didst feel in sevenfold Measure. Barely conscious in thy anguish, Yet ever steadfast and composed. Thou didst take as thy son thy faithful disciple And didst take all of us as thy children, Mother of Jesus, refuge of all Sinners. Hear the entreaty of all sinners. Be with us in our final throes. Mother full of tenderness Be our succor! When with death we struggle And the sighs of our fearful hearts rise aloft to thee. Let us not, Mother, let us not Succumb! Help us to overcome the enemy. Be with us in our final throes! When at last with death we struggle Show us that thou art our Mother And, oh Mother, Intercede for us with thy Son.	4 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Who can see God's work in this? Who can grasp this mystery? Oh, God of strength and might, Oh, God of might and power. We are the works of thy hand. And thy love, oh Lord, has redeemed us. Oh Lord, we thank thee from hearts. For our sakes thou didst suffer pain, Mockery, abandonment, fear and torment. Who could fail to love thee, Lord. Who could sadden thee with sin? Who could deny thy grace? No, nothing shall part us from Thee. Here and in eternity.
5 Jesus saith; Alas, I thirst! Curb your vengeance, calm your anger! Men, let pity soften you, Summon mercy to your hearts. Jesus saith: Alas, I thirst! They give him wine to drink mingled with gall, That is how they refresh him. Can cruelty be harsher? He can no longer endure the pain that was relief:   Alas, he thirsts before his end And they offer him gall!	6 It is finished! Nailed to the tree of sacrifice. Jesus hangs throughout the night; Then he loudly cries: It is finished! The harm done to us by that tree is redeemed by this. Woe to your evil ones, Woe to you who are blind. Woe to you all, to all of you! Who piles sins upon one another! World, consider! will you find mercy, When he comes in his majesty and power?
7 Save us, our mediator, from damnation! Hear our cries, God made man! Let not my suffering and death Be for naught because of us, Let us some day inherit Heaven And eternally rejoice with thee.   Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit Into thy hands, oh Lord, I commend my spirit. Now his sufferings can increase no more. Now he triumphs loudly and says: Father, take my soul, To thee l commend my spirit. And when he bows his head and dies. From everlasting damnation His blood has redeemed us. For his love for all mankind, for his love He died sinner's death. Thou gavest us new life; What can we give to thee? At thy feet, oh Jesus, Deeply moved we lie: Accept our hearts in sacrifice! Into thy hands, Oh Lord, I commend my spirit.	The Earthquake He has departed. The depths of the earth resound: He has departed. Tremble, Golgotha, tremble! He died upon your summit Oh, sun, be gone And light this day no more! Be rent, land, on which the murderers stand. Graves, open up, Fathers, rise up into the light! The earth which covers you Is all stained with blood.

1796 – The Music part 2 - Music for home and office - The Last Keyboard Trios

Hob. 15 No.	Landon No.	Key	Genre	Instruments	Note
30	42	Eb	Accompanied Sonata (Keyboard Trio)	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	for Breitkopf & Härtel
27	43	C			for Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi
28	44	E
29	45	Eb

Domestic music making, ala James Gillray

When we were preparing to leave London and reviewing the music written while there, you may have got a hint that it wasn't quite over yet. And indeed it wasn't. He still had the hugely-admired Mrs. Bartolozzi to take care of, and one other trio, more domestically centered, but which became the final product of the trio workshop. One thing this group shows is that the combination of living in London and returning to Vienna had spurred Haydn on to yet higher efforts when it came to abandoning the 18^th century and being early through the door for the 19^th.

We've talked in the past about Haydn's use of certain genres as models for working out compositional ideas. Back in the late 1760's, for example, there was almost no other discernable reason for him to compose his three sets of string quartets (Opp. 9, 17 & 20) other than as exercises he set for himself while undergoing the 'Complete Course in Composition' which he completed as a 40^th birthday challenge. But by the time he wanted to write more quartets, they were too valuable a commodity to use for pedantry, and had acquired a certain cachet which set them far above mere Hausmusik. In the early 1780's, though, accompanied keyboard sonatas were taking off, and they were still a private enough medium to be just right as workshop material. One sterling example of this is the Adagio of Symphony 102, which began life as the inside movement of Trio Hob. 26 in f#. But the concept of working out ideas is ordinarily far more subtle than overt adaptation. What Haydn was really doing was keeping himself on the leading edge of musical thought, and using a vehicle which was, as he knew, not at all public.

Illustration on title page of Haydn’s piano trio Hob 15:10
(Artaria Op 80) 1798

Because it was the first time such a thing was possible, the latter half of the 18^th century was a period when there was a huge growth in 'private' music. Before this time, there really was no significant middle class tradition of home music-making. When Mozart, in a 1781 letter to his father, called Vienna 'the Land of the Clavier', he wasn't only talking about public performances which would generate income, but also about plugging in to the huge market for giving lessons and writing private music: "As for pupils, I can have as many as I want ...". This was where and how other composers, such as Leopold Koželuch made their real income. And Mozart, too, made a nice share from giving keyboard lessons to upper-middle-class young ladies.

Another important aspect of private music was the growth of the concept of the 'conversation among instruments' idea. This was clearly not present in the chamber music of the 1750's, and only began to manifest after that. Conversational gestures, such as passing an idea or theme around the group of players became the exclusive domain of small group chamber music; orchestral music didn't use it, or at least do it the same way and for the same purpose. When one instrument has the 'lead', and suddenly is playing accompaniment while a formerly accompanying instrument takes the lead, it directly emulates the way a conversation unfolds.

Yet another main function of domestic music was to present players with 'big music' such as pieces from operas and symphonies, arranged in a neat package which could be presented at a soirée, party or salon and provide the player/host with music her audience would know or want to know. Many of these pieces still bore the hallmarks of having originally been orchestral and showpieces, with things such as a 'noise-killer' chord or chords at the beginning (Hob 15:18 and 24) and the orchestral style of the finale of Hob 15:27. And shouldn't have to ask, but can the Gypsy Rondo of Hob 25 be any 'larger' if it were played by an orchestra? The blending of 'public' and 'private' musical styles was already well on its way to accomplishment.

We already saw how Mozart, writing to Leopold in 1782, was concerned about arranging his own work before someone else could:

...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. —"

And when, in 1787, Haydn scored his '7 Last Words' for string quartet and for solo keyboard, there were doubtless any number of adapters who would have lined up to fulfill Artaria's request if called upon.

The net result of this particular tradition is a blurring of the lines between what one expects from music in a concert hall or in a parlor. The 19^th century took these developments to the level which we expect from concerts today, where in public we expect privacy while in private we expect professional quality, but this is still the 1790's, and people had different expectations. The Era of Liberté – Égalité - Fraternité had not achieved the preeminence which it would soon hold in sorting the social order, but the Enlightenment had lit the flame, and many of the perquisites which had obtained solely to the Upper Classes were now being enjoyed by the wealthier (and bolder?) of the bourgeoisie, too.

One of the major differences in private versus public works is the number of opportunities Haydn leaves for the performer to improvise and invent ornaments. In the late keyboard trios, there are dozens of such opportunities: in the string quartets, for example, there are none. Clearly this isn't coincidental, nor are the opportunities available for the string players to the same extent they are for the keyboardist. As with all of Haydn's trios, these are written for and/or dedicated to women. Amateurs who could really play the keyboard, and might very well welcome an opportunity to show off. True, they were all published and thus available to any interested party, but concern for that aspect doesn't seem to be part of Haydn's agenda. As well, he fully writes out many ornamented repeats, and in such a way as to let them also sound improvised. The net result is that the keyboardist, already a good player, sounds even better through this cooperative venture with the composer.

Farmer Giles & Wife Showing Off Their Daughter, Betty, to the neighbors on Her Return From School
James Gillray 1806 -  Gillray certainly had a way of capturing the times!

What, then was the driving force behind all this creative energy being focused on music? It had to be more than merely an ostentatious display of new riches. I think the entire scene will be well explained in a very few short years by the brilliant Jane Austen. As much as there are differences between Austria and England, which Haydn knows there certainly are, there are also many points of sameness. And one of these is the universal need to find husbands. So women became 'accomplished'. Not educated like men were, that would be asking far too much of a culture which still wasn't ready to admit women had brains too, but very well polished in the arts, literature and music. Also French, Italian and German in particular, as opposed to the Classics such as Latin or Greek.

"no one can be really esteemed 'accomplished' who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved."   Caroline Bingley – Pride and Prejudice

One of the many points which Austen made during these varied discussions was the sad fact that many women, after succeeding in their goal of nabbing a husband, promptly gave up all of the 'accomplishments' they had attained and many never played again. But the large number of others were well able to entertain themselves, their families and their guests for years to come, in this age before broadcast or recorded music changed everything.

---

If we recall back in 1789:

[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF, LEIPZIG. in German]

Estoras, 5^th April 1789.

Well born, Most highly respected Sir !

Through Herr Traeg I am sending you the new pianoforte Sonata, fully hoping that it will meet with the musical world's approbation. I have received the 10 # [ducats] in good order, for which I thank you. As for the other demands in your letter, I cannot accommodate you because I am simply overloaded with work. I would only ask for a clean engraving, and that you send me a few copies. Meanwhile I remain, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn.

P.S.: I would ask you at your convenience to send me a few English engravings, but beautiful ones, for I am a great admirer of them; I shall repay you gratefully by something of my work.

A lot of things happened with Haydn between April 1789 and early 1796, many of which we have seen. Clearly something fell through a crack, and now, nearly 7 years later, Breitkopf is asking for his quid pro quo.

[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF¹, LEIPZIG . German]

Vienna, 16^th April 1796.

[Breitkopf's clerk notes: "rec'd the 21^st".]

Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir !

I must apologize a thousand times for not having answered all your letters. Please do not be angry at a man who will never be ungrateful. If you will be patient a little longer, I shall send you the money and the music, and this as surely as I am, Sir, most respectfully,

Your devoted and indebted servant,

Jos: Haydn.

1 - CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF (1750 - 1800) was the son of Johann Gottlob Immanuel, who had visited Haydn in 1786. The money Haydn owed the firm was probably for the English engravings he had ordered (see letter of 5th April 1789). The promised music was, as the next letter shows, the pianoforte Trio in E flat (No. 30, 1795(6?)), which Breitkopf published as Op. 88.

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[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF, LEIPZIG. German]

Vienna, 9th November 1796.

[Breitkopf 's clerk notes: "rec'd 10^th Dec."]

Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir !

The bearer of this letter, Herr Wägl [NB - Weigl] from Vienna, will at last give you the promised pianoforte Sonata together with 15 f. in bank notes: meanwhile I thank you once again and am, Sir, most respectfully,

Your obliging and obedient servant,

Jos: Haydn

Fürstl Esterházyscher Capell Meister.

As with so many other Haydn works, it is difficult to know if this is the very last one or if the Bartolozzi Trios came afterwards. Either way, we find here a different sort of work than the three Bartolozzi trios.

The Breitkopf (Leipzig Germany)/Corri & Dussek (London England) Trio - 1796
Work	Movement	Tempo	Meter	Key
Hob. 15:30 – Lan. 42	I	Allegro moderato	C – 4/4	Eb
	II	Andante con moto	3/8	C
	III	Presto	3/4	Eb

So we have seen Breitkopf's acquisition of this work, but it also ended up in London simultaneously. We saw Sophia Corri many times on the stage in London. She was a singer and harpist, and eventually married our old friend Jan Dussek. Just like seemingly everyone else, they started up a music publishing house, and in fact were the publishers of all of Dr. Haydn's Original Canzonettas and the Opus 71/74 quartets. The friendship clearly continued after Haydn headed home, since they published this trio early times. And Breitkopf paid for his delay (he didn't publish until 1798) since meantime, Haydn also sold it to Artaria who had it on the shop shelves in Vienna by 1797.

Writers are generally agreed that this trio is very technically complex, with intricate tonal relationships like a modulation to the key of Cb from Bb in the first movement and an f minor | c minor | Eb Major progression to get to the reprise. There is even a place in the finale, which has turned by this point to eb minor (6 flats!!) where, as Landon tells us "things had gotten so bizarre, tonally, that Haydn cancels all the accidentals in the key signature" and  modulates again to Cb, which is actually now 'spelled' the same as B (what is called 'enharmonic'), and by the time the strings come back, all is perfectly 'normal' again! To appreciate Haydn's genius all the more, you must realize that he takes these vast bits of 'learnedness' as it was called, and arranges them in such a way that it doesn't require a virtuoso to realize either the pianoforte or violin parts. Very good players? Yes. Extraordinary? No. And this is just what his audience was. And this is what will differentiate it from the amazing trios yet to leave the workshop, destined for London.

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The Bartolozzi Trios
Work	Movement	Tempo	Meter	Key
Hob. 15:27 – Lan. 43	I	Allegro	C – 4/4	C
	II	Andante	6/8	A
	III	Finale: Presto	2/4	C
Hob. 15:28 – Lan. 44	I	Allegro moderato	C – 4/4	E
	II	Allegretto	3/4	e
	III	Finale: Allegro	3/4	E
Hob. 15:29 – Lan. 45	I	Poco allegretto	2/4	Eb
	II	Andantino ed innocentemente	6/8	B
	III	Finale: Allemande ("in the German Style"): Presto assai	3/4	Eb

Not all women had such short-term goals as some of Austen's characters though. We have already spoken of Therese Jansen Bartolozzi, most particularly to point out how exceptional she was, being a woman in a man's world. Even though she didn't call herself a professional, which would have been unbecoming to her gender and station, nor did she play in large public concerts, she was in all respects a professional keyboardist. One didn't become enshrined as a Top 3 student of a teacher like Clementi by being a dilettante! During Haydn's time in London, especially the last two years, he had developed a strong friendship with Therese, based, at least in part, upon her extraordinary talent. As we saw, he wrote the solo sonatas Hob. 16:50 and 16:52 for her exclusive use, and also the tremendous joke of the Jacob's Dream accompanied sonata. Also, he was a primary witness at her wedding to another friend of his, second generation engraver Gaetano Bartolozzi.

Even Robbins Landon doesn't have anything in the way of documentary evidence concerning the composition of the Bartolozzi Trios. Feder, in the New Grove Haydn, has them as completed (with a question mark) by the time Haydn left London in August 1795, but I think he is just surmising an earliest possible date. They first show up in an August 1796 agreement between Haydn and an English music seller named Frederick Augustus Hyde. By all appearances, Hyde wasn't a publisher, but more like a broker. His 'indenture' with Haydn, witnessed by Rebecca Schroeter no less, guaranteed Haydn £75 for "Three sonatas for the Piano Forte or Harpsichord with an accompaniment for a Violin and Violoncello". This indenture went on to establish a sort of price table, which was what Haydn would be paid if he wrote various sorts of works over the next five years. It did lay out a desire for fifty-five various compositions totaling £911. In the event, it was Longman & Broderip who published the works in April 1797 as Opus 75 with Haydn's dedication to Therese Bartolozzi. When we discussed the London Piano School, I mentioned how many instrument makers and music publishers were in fact the same companies, and in this case, the interesting point is Haydn had a L & B pianoforte (very likely a wise gift from the maker) shipped home to Vienna when he left London, which replaced his once-loved Schantz, and so these works published by L & B were also no doubt composed on one of their own instruments. Small world!

It is very clear that Haydn had his dedicatee in mind when he wrote these works. The string parts require a very good player, but at the time there were many amateurs who could handle them. However, unlike nearly all accompanied sonatas written in the late 18^th century, the keyboard parts of these were unquestionably for professionals. They are not parlor music!

There is an amazingly large body of literature that focuses on these three trios, especially in relation to what has been written on the ones which preceded them. Some of the things which are shared by all the writers, from the brilliant and prescient Donald Tovey in the 1920's right up to liner notes of releases from within the last decade, are tributes to the technical difficulties of the keyboard part (Jean-Yves Bras in the liner notes to Cohen-Höbarth-Coin Trio talks about: "…the formidable technical difficulty of the piano part of these trios.") to the outstanding ways in which Haydn was being himself, totally unrestrained. Bras again;

The finale, Presto, is a symphonic rondo, possibly the most humorous piece that Haydn wrote. Everything about the movement is unexpected,: the opening theme is an enchanting joke, with the harmony changing to make accents on the off-beats, an angular melody that appears at times in the wrong register, and a scherzando rhythm that allows the melody to start when one is least ready for it.

Robbins Landon tells us in the notes to L'Archibudelli/Levin Trio;

"…in #44's slow movement, we are given a nightmarish piece in e minor which starts like a Baroque ritornello for the three instruments, out of which the piano breaks away in a long passage for two bare parts with yawning gaps between top and bottom. There is something distinctly spooky about all of this… the end of this eerie movement, with its wildly eccentric cadenza, has to be heard to be believed"

Naturally, this just scratches the surface of these amazing pieces. There is not a weak movement in the set compared to his own or others, and with Haydn's usual fertility of ideas, there isn't even a place within the set to compare to; no 'best opening', no 'best finale'.

Since I am so patently a huge fan of all the keyboard trios, it is no stretch at all for me to say this; when Haydn returned to the form in the 1780's and began to use it as his 'workshop' for harmonies and rhythmic ideas, he was always heading to where these trios actually reach, which is, they point directly to the music of the 19^th century. They stretch harmonic possibilities to their fullest potential, nearly to where subsequent composers were going to have a great deal of difficulty coming up with something which Haydn hadn't done already. Beethoven and Schubert, for example, are very well known for their use of remote keys and unusual enharmonic key changes. The B major/Eb major key relationship in the Emperor Concerto? Haydn did it already, in the finale "in the German Style" of #45. Even the eerie 'Ghost Trio' of Beethoven? Did that, in the inner movement of #44. This is no implication that others were copying him, it is merely pointing out that no composer, no matter how great, composed in a vacuum. Haydn's greatest lesson for the next generation was think for yourself, don't be bound by convention.

I was very sad when, in 1794, we said so long to the keyboard sonata, in fact with a stupendous work which Haydn completed for this same lady. And then, in 1795, we saw the final symphony flow from quill to page, the unmatched N^o. 104, 'London'. 1796 bids farewell to yet another genre, a great personal favorite of mine, and maybe of yours. The keyboard trios, all forty-five of them, began at such an early time in Haydn's career there was no real remark of them. But earlier, the New Grove article on "Accompanied Keyboard Sonatas" told us:

Vienna was isolated from most of these developments – and these foreign publications – until the 1770s. Early Viennese chamber music with keyboard was an indigenous tradition dependent on Austrian models. In the 1750s and 60s the genre was cultivated by the leading keyboard players, Wagenseil, Hofmann, Steffan, Vanhal and especially Haydn, whose early keyboard trios are the expression and summit of this style.

It wasn't long before Haydn's genius conquered the genre. Then, in every musical era over this forty year period, there are trios by Haydn, all of them as good as there was at the time. But the final twelve years of Haydn's life were focused in a different direction, as we will soon see. And it is hard to complain about any of that!

Thanks for reading!

The Music of 1791-95

Haydn in 1792
by Thomas Hardy

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Keeping up with Haydn in the 1790's can be a real challenge. We think we know all he did, but in fact, we only know what he wrote down or else told his later biographers about, and caught up in there are, on the one hand, music we wouldn't know about if he hadn't told us, and on the other, neglect of some things which we DO know from other sources. 

It is such a large amount of music that I have broken the decade into two temporally equal parts, the five years in England, which will be followed, soon, by the five subsequent years in Vienna. As always,  I invite your questions and comments. To head one of those off in advance; yes, I have included the works Haydn wrote in Vienna in 1793. For two reasons, first, it is a list of all music written during that time, and second, Haydn himself included them in his own list of 'Music Written in England'. 

I have also, intentionally, not included works which are lost, or otherwise unidentifiable, such as these (from Haydn's list); "4 Scotch songs" and "1 Aria con Orchestra" and even "God Save the King". There is still plenty here, though!

Hoboken I – Symphonies
Year	New Chronology	Hob I:	HRL	Key	Name	Instruments
1791	95	95	95	c		Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1791	96	96	96	D	The Miracle	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1792	97	93	97	D		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1792	98	94	98	G	Surprise	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1792	99	97	100	C		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1792	100	98	99	Bb		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Harpsichord obbligato & Strings
1794	101	99	101	Eb		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1794	102	101	103	D	The Clock	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1794	103	100	102	G	Military	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Percussion & Strings
1795	104	102	104	Bb		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1795	105	103	105	Eb	Drumroll	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1795	106	104	106	D	London	2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1792	107	105		Bb	Sinfonia concertante	Solo Violin, Cello, Oboe & Bassoon with Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
1791 & 95		1a:3		C	Overture to Orfeo & Eurydice also Overture to Windsor Castle	Almost certainly the overture for L'anima del Filosofo, Haydn arranged it for Salomon to use at the première of his 'English Opera', Windsor Castle. Instrumentation unknown for 1795.
	(New Chronology / Gerlach N°s.)	(Hoboken catalog N°s.)	(Robbins-Landon N°s.)

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Hoboken II – Divertimentos for 4 or more Instruments
Hob 2#	Key	Instruments	Notes
27a	C	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins 2 Horns, 2 Violas, Cello & Basso	Notturno #3 - London version
28a	C	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins 2 Horns, 2 Violas, Cello & Basso	Notturno #4 - London version
29a	C	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins 2 Horns, 2 Violas, Cello & Basso	Notturno #5 - London version
31a	F	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins 2 Horns, 2 Violas, Cello & Basso	Notturno #7 - London version
32a	G	2 Flutes, Oboe, 2 Violins 2 Horns, 2 Violas, Cello & Basso	Notturno #8 - London version

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Hoboken III – String Quartets
Year	Hob 3 #	Opus #	New Grove #	Key	Notes
1793	69	71 #1	54	Bb	Written for London, but dedicated to Count Apponyi of Vienna
1793	70	71 #2	55	D
1793	71	71 #3	56	Eb
1793	72	74 #1	57	C
1793	73	74 #2	58	F
1793	74	74 #3	59	g

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Hoboken IV – Divertimentos for 3 Instruments
Year	Hob 4 #	Key	Instruments	Notes
1794	1	C	2 Flutes & Cello	Haydn composed all of these works for The Earl of Abingdon and his friend, Sir Walter, Baron Aston. The original intended layout of the works is unknown.
1794	2	G	2 Flutes & Cello
1794	3	G	2 Flutes & Cello
1794	4	G	2 Flutes & Cello

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Hoboken VII – Concertos (other than keyboard or baryton)
Hob 7#	Key	Instruments	Notes
h:1b	C	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Baß	Reorchestrated versions that Haydn made for London tour. It is uncertain how many of the five he did himself, possibly all of them.
h:2b	G	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Baß
h:3b	G	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Baß
h:4b	F	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Baß
h:5b	F	Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Baß

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Hoboken VIII - Marches for Wind Band
Year	Hob #	Key	Instruments		Notes
1792	3	Eb	2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Trumpet & Serpent		for the Prince of Wales
1792/95?	3a	Eb	2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets & 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets & Strings		Arrangement Haydn made for the full orchestra of the Royal Society of Musicians
1795	1	Eb	2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Trumpet & Serpent		For Sir Henry Harpur - Derbyshire March #1
1795	2	C	2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Trumpet & Serpent		Derbyshire March #2
Hoboken IX - Dances
Year	Hob #	Genre		Instruments	Notes
1792	11	Minuet		Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings	Composed for the big winter dance at the Redoutensaal in Vienna.
1792	12	Deutsche Tänze (German Dance)		2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns, 2 Bassoons, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings

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Hoboken XV – Keyboard Trios
Year	Hob 15 #	Landon #	Key	Instruments	Notes
1793	32	18	A	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Dedicated to Princess Maria Anna, wife of Prince Anton Esterházy
1793	33	19	g
1793	34	20	Bb
1792-4	31	32	G		This is the only work which was both a genuine trio (in London) & an authentic violin sonata (in Vienna)
1794	35	21	C		Dedicated to Princess Maria Hermenegild, wife of Prince Nicholas Esterházy
1794	36	22	Eb
1794	37	23	d
1795	38	24	D		Dedicated to Rebecca Schröter
1795	39	25	G
1795	40	26	f#
1795	41	31	eb		Written as a gift for Teresa Jansen-Bartolozzi

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Hoboken XVI – Solo Keyboard Sonatas
Year	Hob #	Landon #	Key	Notes
1794	50	60	C	for Teresa Jansen
1794	51	61	D	for Maria Hester Park
1794	52	62	Eb	for Teresa Jansen
Hoboken XVII – Other Solo Keyboard Works
Year	Hob #	Key	Genre	Notes
1792	deest	various	Minuet	12 Minuets Hob 09:11 Keyboard arrangement
1792	deest	various	Deutsch Tänze	12 German Dances Hob 09:12 Keyboard arrangement
1792	deest	Eb	March	March in Eb – "Prince of Wales" Keyboard arrangement Hob 08:3
1793	6	f	Double Variations	Andante & Variations, called by Haydn "Un piccolo divertimento"
1795	deest	Eb	March	Derbyshire March #1 Hob 08:1 Keyboard arrangement
1795	deest	C	March	Derbyshire March #1 Hob 08:2 Keyboard arrangement

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Hoboken XIX – Works for Flötenuhr (Flute Clock)
Hob 19#	Year	Key	Notes
17	1792	C	Menuett
18	1792	C	Vivace: Der Kaffeeklatsch
19	1793	F/C	Allegretto
20	1793	F/C	Andante
21	1793	C/F - G/C	Vivace	Different keys on 2 different clocks
22	1793		Menuett
23	1793		Allegro ma non troppo
24	1793	C	Fuga: Allegro
25	1793	D	Marche
26	1793		Andante - Allegro
27	1793	G	Allegretto
28	1793	C	Allegro
29	1793	C	Menuett
30	1793	G	Presto
31	1793	C	Presto
32	1793	F	Allegro

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Hoboken XXIII – Other Sacred Works
Year	Hob 23 Nachtrag*	Key	Title	Voices/Instruments**
1794	a	F	How oft, instinct with warmth divine	Soprano, Alto, Bass & Keyboard (fortepiano or organ)
1794	b	Eb	Blest be the name of Jacob's God	Choir, 2 Violins, Cello
1794	c	D	Maker of all! Be thou my guard	Soprano, Alto, Bass & Keyboard (fortepiano or organ)
1794	d	C	The Lord, th'almighty monarch spake	Choir, 2 Violins, Cello & Organ
1794	e	Eb	Long life shall Israel's King behold	Choir, Congregation, Cello & Organ
1794	f	A	O let me in th'accepted hour	Choir, Congregation, 2 Violins, Cello & Organ
* Nachtrag means 'supplement'				** From Tattersall's 'Improved Psalmody'

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Hoboken XXIV – Arias & Cantatas with Orchestra
Year	Hob 24a #	Key	Title	Instruments/Voices	Notes
1792	8	d	The Storm	S-A-T-B Chorus, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons & Strings	Haydn called this work a madrigal. Words by Peter Pindar (John Wolcot)
1794	9	F - D	Mare Clausum (Invocation of Neptune)	Bass, Chorus, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns & Strings	Lord Abingdon suggested Haydn write an oratorio on British themes. He completed just a Bass aria and a chorus.
1795	10	f	Berenice, che fai?	Soprano, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns & Strings	Written for the famous soprano Brigida Banti. She premiered it at Haydn's Benefit Concert in May, 1795.

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Hoboken XXVI – Arias & Cantatas with Orchestra
Year	Hob 24#	Key	Title	Instruments/Voices	Notes
1794	a:25	C	The Mermaid's Song	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	6 Original English Canzonettas Book 1 - Anne Hunter
1794	a:26	F	Recollection	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794	a:27	A	A Pastoral Song	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794	a:28	E	Despair	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794	a:29	G	Pleasing Pain	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794	a:30	f	Fidelity	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794-95	a:31	A	Sailor's Song	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	6 Original English Canzonettas Book 2 - Anne Hunter
1794-95	a:32	g	The Wanderer	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter
1794-95	a:33	E	Sympathy	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Metastasio
1794-95	a:34	Ab	She never told her love	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Shakespeare
1794-95	a:35	G	Piercing Eyes	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anonymous
1794-95	a:36	A	Content	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anonymous
1795	a:41	f	The Spirit's Song	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter – Single Song
1795	a:42	Eb	O Tuneful Voice	Solo Soprano or Tenor & Keyboard	Anne Hunter – Single Song
1794	b:3	A	Dr. Harington's Compliment	Soprano, Chorus & Keyboard	Dr. Henry Harington

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Hoboken XXVII – Vocal Canons
Year	Hob 27#	Key	Title		Genre/Voices	Notes
1791	a:1	C	The 1st Commandment	Du sollst an einen Gott glaube	Canon in 3 or 4 parts	The 10 Commandments The exact history of these canons is not known. Various recountings include; they were written for a Saxon Minister in 1791 (probable) or they were written for the ambassador from Saxony in 1795 (less likely).
1791	a:2	G	The 2nd Commandment	Du sollst den Namen Gottes nicht eitel nennen	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:3	Bb	The 3rd Commandment	Du sollst Sonn- und Feiertag heiligen	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:4	Eb	The 4th Commandment	Du sollst Vater und Mutter verehren	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:5	g	The 5th Commandment	Du sollst nicht töten	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:6	C	The 6th Commandment	Du sollst nicht Unkeuschheit treiben	Canon in 5 parts
1791	a:7	a	The 7th Commandment	Du sollst nicht siehlen	Canon in 5 parts
1791	a:8	E	The 8th Commandment	Du sollst kein falsch Zeugnis gehen	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:9	C	The 9th Commandment	Du sollst nicht begehren deines Nächsten Weis	Canon in 4 parts
1791	a:10	c	The 10th Commandment	Du sollst nicht begehren deines Nächsten Gut	Canon in 4 parts
1794	b:45	Bb		Turk was a faithful dog	Canon in 4 parts	Written for Rauzzini as an epitaph for his dog's gravestone
1791	b:46	C		Thy voice, o Harmony, is Divine	Canon in 3 parts	Written as his Doctoral thesis for Oxford - it is a variation of 27a:1 above

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Hoboken XXVIII – Italian Operas
Year	Hob 28 #	Title	Libretto	Voices/Instruments	Notes
1791	13	L'anima del filosofo, OSSIA Orfeo ed Eurydice (The Soul of the Philosopher, OR Orpheus & Eurydice)	Carlo Francesco Badini	2 Sop. Tenor, Bass, 4 Voice Chorus, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 English Horns, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani, Harp, Strings, Basso continuo (pianoforte)	Never performed in London due to theater licensing issues. First full performance was in Florence, Italy in 1951.

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Hoboken XXXI – Various Other Songs
Year	Hob 31 #	Title		Songs	Notes
1792	a:1-100	100 Scottish National Airs A Selection of Original Scots Songs in Three Parts, the Harmony by Haydn		Click here to see full listing	For William Napier. The harmony consisted of a line for violin and one for continuo, played usually by a fortepiano, with a cello when available.
1795	a:101-150	50 Scottish National Airs		Click here to see full listing
1795 (4?)	c:16 (1-12)	12 Sentimental Catches & Glees		Haydn called them 12 Ballads – the words are by Lord Abingdon All are for 3 Voices & Keyboard
	No.	Key	Title		Genre
	1	A	Know then this truth		Catch
	2	G	O say what is		Catch
	3	A	Hail to the myrtle shade		Glee
	4	D	Love free as air		Catch
	5	C	Ah no[n] lasciarmi		Catch
	6	A	O ever beauteous		Catch
	7	G	Where shall a hapless		Glee
	8	Eb	Ye little loves		Glee
	9	A	Some kind angel		Catch
	10	a	Fruitless mourn		Catch
	11	A	Farewell my flocks		Catch
	12	C	The envious snow		Catch

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1796 – The Music part 1 - The Trumpet Concerto: was that an A flat?!

Hob	Genre	Key	Instruments
7e:1	Concerto	Eb	Keyed Trumpet, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings

The World Première of the Concerto for Organized Trumpet

Do you like to let your mind wander to relive certain points in time, sometimes major game-changers, other times just minor points of little interest to others? What historian doesn't, really? Surely this is why most of us got into the history game, I have to believe. And so;

On 28 March, 1800 I went to the Burg(theater). I don't go often, but yesterday I saw a poster for this Akademie with Anton Weidinger, and since I am one of that vanishing breed who loves trumpet music, I wanted to see what this "organized trumpet" of his is all about. And besides the trumpet concerto, there are two symphonies on the programme by Doctor Haydn, one of them is said to be new, although I haven't heard of him writing any orchestral music lately, so this should be a treat!

A Keyed or Organized Trumpet

What times they lived in, those Viennese music lovers! From our vantage point, and strictly in terms of music (who wanted to deal with Napoleon?), it was the best of times. Mozart's music, also on this programme, was beginning to find its rightful place in the world, Haydn was still alive and producing outstanding new music on a regular basis, and that young fellow from Bonn, the new King of the Keyboard, was becoming known for more than that. In fact, just five days from now, on 2 April, sitting in this same seat, one would be able to see the première of his First Symphony! What our 1800 music lover sensed, but didn't know, was that the concerto for Klappentrompete was destined to actually be Haydn's very last standalone piece of orchestral music, and it had been written four years previous, in 1796. Of the two symphonies, as we will see later, one of them was from the first six London symphonies, while the other one, the 'new' one, was from the second six, just released in 1799, hence new to Vienna.

That first symphony was excellent, even though I had heard it a few times before. Good, here's Weidinger. I'm surprised to see the full band still there, that's unusual for a concerto. Nice ritornello, OK, here we go… hmmm, that's just some standard trumpet stuff, fanfares…. Now the next… well, any good trumpeter can play this. Maybe it isn't so special…. Whoa! How did he do that?

For the many people who really liked great trumpet music, we are at a watershed time in its history. The trumpeter had, for centuries, been part of a guild of extremely highly trained musicians, specializing in arcane procedures and techniques, only working for the highest ranks in Church and State. The 'trumpet' had been widespread for millennia, virtually every civilization had a form of it, going back at least as far as the pair which were discovered in King Tut's tomb. There were many design changes over the centuries, but when we think of a natural trumpet today, it is a bent tube with a bell and mouthpiece, no holes, no slides, no valves or keys. And they didn't show up until the 16^th century, which is when 'Baroque' trumpeting really took off. And the next 200-plus years were its heyday.

It took the rise of 'Classic' music to herald the end of this age. Since the trumpeter pursued his craft through using his lips to produce harmonic and partial harmonic tones and couldn't play a chromatic scale to save his life, the Classical choice to make trumpets part of the texture of the orchestra forced many limits on the composer. We have seen Haydn, and all Viennese composers, using trumpets (and timpani) mainly in just one way, as added ornamentation in symphonies in C, in what became known as 'Viennese Festive C major' works. But when we look at the instrumentation of any or all symphonies before the turn of the century, trumpets simply do not figure into the equation. Yet the color and quality of the sound produced, and the many capabilities of good players, were highly desirable. Back in 1787, when I was writing about Symphony #88, we looked at the complications brought about for Haydn when he was trying to work with trumpets in either C or D in a symphony in G. He wanted the trumpet sound, at least in that movement, and he moved a lot of barriers to get it, but even there, it was just in a small part of the symphony. Something needed to be done.

A natural valveless trumpet of the Nuremburg type

The answer was obvious, but the solution was less so. Since many (all?) other wind instruments had become chromatic, or at least approached it, by the use of holes and extra tubes (crooks), it was apparent the trumpet could do the same, the question was how to do it without killing the brilliance of the sound. There were many tries at it. As early as Purcell's time there was a 'slide trumpet' which functioned along the lines of a trombone. While this might seem today like an evolutionary dead end, in fact it was very popular in its time (1400-1900) not least because a musician didn't have to be a member of the Trumpet Guild to play one, and also because many of the basic problems of intonation were solved. City Watchmen and others who were in positions which didn't automatically require Guild membership played these trumpets because they worked very well indeed.

More efforts: 16th century Slide Trumpet (above) & Vented Trumpet (courtesy of Sam Goble)

Our old friend Charles Burney may have provided the impetus for the next step in slide trumpet history when he wrote a review of the 1784 Handel Festival performance in London:

Perhaps the main reason for development of the (1779) Slide Trumpet was the scathing review of the Messiah Concert given in 1784. Music historian Charles Burney criticized eminent trumpeter James Sarjant for his performance of "The Trumpet Shall Sound", saying: "the 4th and 6th of the key on these instruments, being naturally so much out of tune that no player can make them perfect, should never be used…" and that, "every time he was obliged to dwell upon G, the fourth of D, displeasure appeared in every countenance". *

* The Waits Website (Trumpet Essays)

The result of this natural trumpet debacle was a breath of new life for the slide trumpet, which gained a wonderful new device; a clock-spring sort of mechanism which automatically returned the slide(s) to the closed position and provided tension against the player's hand which increased precision. The resulting instrument, along with the natural trumpet, continued to be used in opera houses and other public venues throughout the 19^th century. But all of this was in England. Europe itself wasn't having it.

The desire of Classic composers, exemplified by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven but including all the Viennese and those who emulated them, was to have trumpets available in the orchestra no matter the key the work was written in. They could be major contributors to filling in the orchestral texture, but also their skill in playing clarion style hadn't just left them, there were many superb trumpeters still working, and still in training. In the mid-1750's, the 'stop trumpet' was developed, played much like the natural horn in that the hand was used to 'stop' and adjust the tone to allow chromatics. As with the horn, though, the stopped notes didn't have the purity and clarity of the natural notes of the harmonic series, so this was a 'stopgap' at best.

There are likely to be a great number of evolutionary dead ends, but finally we run into something that points the way forward. Circa 1756, Ferdinand Kölbel put keys on a horn. It worked although it was too difficult and expensive to manufacture. But it paved the way and others followed close behind. Altenburg reported seeing one in Weimar circa 1770, and Christoph Friedrich Nessmann, developed a version of the keyed trumpet in the 1790's that he dubbed the Inventionstrompete. And there are mentions of a variety of different variations on the idea, but none before Weidinger achieved success.

Weidinger was born in Vienna, 9 June 1767 and died there 20 September 1852. He was a student of the court trumpeter of Vienna, Peter Neuhold. Based upon his early release from apprenticeship and his accompanying letter, Weidinger was apparently a pupil of considerable talent. In his letter of release from apprenticeship, Neuhold stated "Through good conduct and his own diligence he reduced his period of apprenticeship and became so skilled that he can give full satisfaction, not only in military service in the field, but also at great courts, wherever they may be". Only a very small percentage of apprentices ever got early matriculation, it was a rare and impressive feat that would have required him "to perform the main military signals (playing style called principale in the low registers) and show aptitude in the high or clarino register". Weidinger got tired of blowing military signals fairly quickly. In 1792, he resigned permanently from the military and was employed at the Marinelli Theater in Vienna. His relationship with Haydn is clouded in mystery. The more you read and research it, the more confusing and contradictory it all becomes. For example, Landon's source (Richard Heuberger⁴) says that Haydn was a witness at the wedding of Weidinger's daughter on 6 February 1797. But Aaron Moore¹ tells us that "Weidinger and Haydn were close friends. This is based upon the fact that Haydn was an official witness when Weidinger was married on February 6, 1797", which he got from a more modern source, Reine Dahlqvist². I very much doubt that Weidinger married his daughter, in 1797 or any other time. As a result, the only trustworthy source, who provides all the documentation you can ask for is, as so often, Michael Lorenz.⁵ He tells us, with full documentation, that "Six children of the court trumpeter Anton Weidinger, for whom Haydn in 1796 wrote his trumpet concerto, Hob.VIIe:1, were godchildren of Haydn."

As for the concerto itself, the question which immediately occurred to me was "why four years between composition and performance?". The consensus reply seems to be "because it's really difficult". While one wouldn't think so, having only dealt with modern, piston-valve trumpets, or better yet, Eb cornets made to play in higher registers, it must be kept in mind that the keyed trumpet didn't work quite the same way, and there were still notes which needed to be massaged with embouchure (shaping of the lips) in order to be clean and on pitch. The reports from 1800 through 1820, when the valve trumpet arrived on the scene, all speak about certain tonal imperfections, especially on notes which require the keys to be used. Unlike with modern trumpets, one only depresses one key at a time, not a combination of keys. And like a natural trumpet, there are certain 'open' notes which are not exactly perfect. Weidinger worked all this out, but it took a while.

First movement - Allegro in Eb
No doubt, Weidinger was readily available to Haydn during the composition process to be able to show what he could and couldn't do. I have mentioned before how Haydn took care of his hornists by breaking up the really hard and exertive sections in order to give their lips a rest. Even though Weidinger was a superb professional in a business in which strength and endurance were paramount, he still followed this practice in this concerto. Haydn keeps technically difficult passages short, separating them with rests and allowing Weidinger time to reset his instrument and prepare for the next passage. Not to mention, he was Haydn; humor was integral to his work. Humor is evident right away in the first movement. The first three notes by the trumpet are a single, interrupting, loud, low concert Eb. The next two statements are basic fanfares which could have come straight from any Baroque Era trumpet concerto. Those first three trumpet blasts stand in direct contrast to the next section. The first full phrase for the solo trumpet reveals a low register scale passage which would have been impossible on the natural trumpet. Until this point, our mythical auditor above would have been fooled, as he was, into wondering what the big deal was. Later on in the movement, Haydn writes a descending chromatic line in half notes with a relatively sparse accompaniment, yet another display of the unique capabilities of the new instrument.

Second movement - Andante (Ab)
My favorite movement in this work is the lyrical Andante. When one considers an analysis of this movement in particular, a great deal of emphasis is placed on some factually extraordinary things, like the sounding db and cb, for example, notes which had probably never been intentionally played on a trumpet before.

It is worth noting that A-flat is the pre-dominant in the key of E-flat, the significance being that A-flat is the highly problematic eleventh partial of the harmonic series with E-flat being the fundamental. In the harmonic series the eleventh partial is a tritone above the tonic. Due to the limitations of natural trumpet, it would have been impossible to write a movement in the pre-dominant to the fundamental of the horn. The keyed trumpet can effectively navigate this tonality, as is evidenced in the second movement.¹ (Aaron Moore)

Certainly, the feature of a modulatory passage from Ab major to Cb major in which the trumpet is a full participant had to be mind-blowing for the audience. These parts are only playable on a chromatic trumpet. But I am not so much of a technician as the writer above; I am rather more enamored of the virtual musical poetry which Haydn wrote here. And I grew up in the heyday of Swing and Jazz trumpeting, so chromaticism on a trumpet is no big surprise to me. I can only imagine what concert-goers who had only ever heard fanfares and the like must have thought and felt about this emulation of a voice singing a song.

Third movement - Finale: Allegro (Eb)
As you would expect in 1796, the finale is a Sonata-Rondo, so typical of late period Haydn. As we always hope to see in a concerto, the trumpet introduces all of the material at one point or another. During the ritornellos, the trumpet repeats pieces of the themes, sometimes in different, remote keys, and punctuates the orchestral sections with little fanfares, octave leaps and a cadenza. It is truly a brilliant tour-de-force display of the potential of the trumpet and a demonstration for the aware in the audience that the future was now.

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If we took a rare excursion into the future, we would see the roller-coaster this work took after that fateful night. Weidinger went on to play it in concert for most of the rest of his life. His son learned to play the keyed trumpet when he was as young as twelve years, and they toured together. In 1803, J. Nepomuk Hummel, who we last saw performing a Haydn keyboard trio on the stage in London, added another concerto to Weidinger's arsenal, this one in E Major. In many ways it shows off the instrument even more than Haydn's did, despite the fact that Hummel borrowed many structural and tonal features from Haydn. It is clear that Weidinger's quest for improvement in both the instrument and his playing of it had gained much success between 1796 and 1803. Where Haydn had been quite careful to limit the playing of keyed notes in succession, Hummel made no distinction between keyed and open. And where Haydn allowed the trumpet to take part in one (huge) modulatory passage in the slow movement, Hummel put him in there for any and all of it. I think it is distinctly possible that if Haydn had made his concerto this difficult, Weidinger may have given up altogether!

Still, with all this promotion, the keyed trumpet just never hit it big, at least for orchestral work, which was the target, after all. After the première of the Hummel concerto at the Esterházy castle on New Year's Day 1804, Weidinger spent the rest of his life trying to find additional performance opportunities, with only modest success. It wasn't until 1818, when the valve trumpet was finally arrived at, that the trumpet fulfilled the vision of earlier players and composers. Meantime, Haydn's (and Hummel's) concertos faded into complete obscurity. A trumpet and piano arrangement survived and was used through the 19^th century as a teaching aid.

We have seen in the past how Haydn's concertos, in particular, have been rescued from total oblivion because one copy survived. The two cello concertos and then the horn concerto both lived this dream. And on the list of good fortune, we can add to them this trumpet concerto. One, and only one, handwritten (by Haydn) copy exists in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Photocopies of it allowed for the first performance in England in modern times to occur. This was by Ernest Hall, in a BBC broadcast, presumably with an iteration of the BBC Orchestra. This broadcast of 30 March 1932, as part of a programme celebrating the bicentenary of Haydn's birth, was the single beginning of a whole new appreciation of Haydn and his music. It was followed up in 1938 by another BBC performance by George Eskdale which became the first commercially released recording.

By all accounts, the most authentic recording available

It is said, and probably rightly, that this work is the single most popular work Haydn ever wrote. Would you have thought so? Its status as a one-of-a-kind work (a late Haydn concerto), as well as first-of-its-kind (concerto for chromatic trumpet), make for that combination of characters which gives it timeless appeal. Not to mention, it is an outstandingly lovely representation of Haydn's greatest creative period, that narrow window in a career when ideas are still abundant, and the means to express them are so ingrained as to not even need thinking of. I don't want to dwell at length on the 20^th century, I already had to live through half of it, but there is more to the development of the popularity of this great work than just an appreciation of its status as the first of its kind. If you are interested, and you could well be, I recommend you download a copy of Brian Moore's essay⁶ which has a step-by-step review of the entire process of getting from Ernest Hall in 1932 to Crispian Steele-Perkins in 2005. The evolution of 'music appreciation' during that span is an amazing journey in instruments, playing techniques, arranging from scores and recordings.

Next time, we will look at the last four Keyboard Trios. Once again, Haydn will be looking into the 19^th century, never back at the fading 18^th!

Thanks for reading!

Further Reading:

1 Aaron Moore, 2014 - Scholarly Program Notes (on Trumpet music from Torelli to Artunian)

2 Reine Dahlqvist, The Keyed Trumpet and It's Greatest Virtuoso, Anton Weidinger (1975)

3 Michael Thomas Roeder, A History of the Concerto (1994)

4 Richard Heuberger, Biographical Sketch of Anton Weidinger (1907)

5 Michael Lorenz, Six more unknown godchildren of Joseph Haydn (2015)

6 Brian Moore, Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in the Twentieth Century (2005)

1796 - The Year part 1 - New beginnings

Marie Hermenegild Esterházy
by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Maybe you are like me in some ways. If so, you would have got home from the arduous London years, back to Vienna and gone to visit your tribute monument at your birthplace, put your money in the bank and started working on the lovely little garden in your new house in the suburbs of Vienna. But if that sounds like you, too, then neither of us resembles Haydn in any tangible way. The non-stop pace set in London continued throughout 1796 and beyond, even back home.

Since we appear to be shy of correspondents, there will be few documents to guide us, as there were in past years. What I seem to see more of than anything else are personal reminiscences by a variety of people Haydn met during these years, and accounts of larger stories which involved Haydn in some way. The correspondence is all business; fortunately, his business is music.

An apparent continuation of Haydn's generous ways in London is the first notable event of 1796. Haydn and Beethoven appeared at a benefit concert at the Redoutensaal for the famous opera singer Maria Bolla. In a repeat of the December concert, Beethoven played his Opus 19 piano concerto, while Haydn presented the increasingly popular Surprise Symphony. This was already an incredibly popular work, one which was still on the rise, as it would be played at virtually every opportunity throughout the year. And there were many opportunities. Needless to say, every band in the land (of bands) wanted to have a copy of the score or parts, but last August, in his last act before leaving London, Haydn had signed this, which pertained to the first six symphonies:

[AGREEMENT WITH JOHANN PETER SALOMON, LONDON. in German]
[Only the signature autograph]

The undersigned herewith testifies that, according to the agreement signed this day between myself and Herr Johan [sic] Peter Salomon, the afore-mentioned Herr Salomon shall have the exclusive rights pertaining to the following specified Overtures [NB: = symphonies] which I composed for his concerts; and that I hereby renounce any further claims whatever on him, now or at any other time. The afore-mentioned Overtures have the following incipits:

Executed at London this 13^th of August 1795.

Joseph Haydn [m.p] ria

And in February, the second set of six was likewise turned over to Salomon:

[AGREEMENT WITH JOHANN PETER SALOMON, LONDON. German]

Vienna, 27^th February 1796.

I, the undersigned, testify and declare that Herr Salomon shall be in perpetuity the sole owner and proprietor of my last six Symphonies, of which 3 are of the year 1794, and the last 3 of the year 1795¹, and promise on my honor to make no other but personal use of them.

Josephus Haydn [m.p] ria.

1 - Haydn refers to the dates when the works were first performed, not when they were composed.

Yet the many Princes of the realm, all of whom had bands, as we have seen, were beginning to stock up on London Symphonies. It would appear as though Haydn was up to his old tricks, but apparently, one of the 'personal uses' he could make was selling manuscript copies. Since his copyist from his London days, Johann Elssler, was now his personal valet and copyist, a position he would hold until Haydn's death, the making of manuscript copies was easily done. It seems another personal use was to be able to present the works in concert, and this practice continued for the next decade. The only thing he was apparently prohibited from was selling the symphonies to any other publisher. They just took the long way 'round to get to there.

In early 1795, we saw how the Prince of Wales seemed to have extended a standing invitation to Haydn to come over and give concerts. Eventually, Haydn sent a bill to Parliament, who were busy discharging the Prince's debts, and they notified Haydn payment was approved. In response he sent them this:

[To THE COMMISSIONERS OF PARLIAMENT. in English]

Vienna, y^e 15^th Aprill 1796.

I empower herewith Mr. Squire to receive for me from the H'ble Comissioners [sic] One hundred Pounds due to me by His Royal Highness the Prince of Walis [sic] and acknowledge hereby the receipt of that Sum in full of all demands.

Doctor Haydn [mp] ria.

Kings and princes may come and go, but Parliament can always be counted upon. Well, for some things…

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12 April 1796 - Battle of Montenotte
'Rampon Defending Monte Legino Redoubt'
by René Théodore Berthon

On 2 March, just when things had been going well for Austria in the ongoing War, an event occurred which would permanently change the face of modern Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French army in Italy. Many things have been said about Napoleon since that time, some of them true and others, not so much. But one thing is certain: the man was a genius at waging war.

Bonaparte on the Bridge at Arcole - 1796
by Antoine-Jean Gros

Beginning in April, the French army began to seriously beat up on the Austrians. Napoleon's strategy is to divide and to surprise his enemies. Instead of taking the obvious route along the coast, he leads his army through Alpine passes to catch the Austrians unaware at Montenotte on 12 April. It is the first of a stream of victories against Austrians and Sardinians separately. Even though they are allies, they are successfully prevented from joining forces against Napoleon's army because he is so agile. By April 28, in the armistice of Cherasco, the king of Sardinia is ready to make peace with France and to cede his territories of Savoy and Nice - both in practice already occupied, since 1792, by French Republican forces. They didn't advance into the Austrian homeland (yet), but they now had control of Italy and also were working their way through the Austrian Netherlands and had crossed the Rhine at Düsseldorf, moving ever closer to Vienna. Austria's last ally, England, is busily controlling the seas, but are of little or no help in a land battle in mid-continent!

Haydn was in Eisenstadt all this time, Beethoven was in Prague. But in Vienna, 'war fever' was ramping up. One has to go a long way back, to the Seven Years War which ended in 1763, to find war threatening to knock on the doorstep of Vienna. But now we were seeing the organization of a Vienna Volunteer Corps, for example. And in order to raise money to support the effort, they turned once again to the old standby, benefit concerts. New patriotic music was being written, such as the cantata Der Retter in Gefahr [The Savior in Distress] by Rautenstrauch, and played at frequent fundraisers along with Haydn's Symphonie mit dem Paukenschlag… as though they were a set, meant to be together. Just as it had in London four years earlier, The Surprise captured the imagination of Austria and Germany now. It seems Haydn had correctly judged many things about this work, not least its international appeal. We will certainly follow the Napoleon story, nearly as closely as the Viennese were doing. It was hugely influential on the lives of everyone we have met or will meet soon.

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This year we will finally meet firsthand a character who has been in the background for several decades, influencing the lives and careers of most Viennese musicians, and especially that of Mozart and even Haydn. Baron Gottfried van Swieten was Dutch, the son of Empress Maria Theresia's personal physician, and a brilliant scholar. He began to do tasks for the government at a young age, representing its interests all over Europe. In 1769 he traveled to London and it is believed this was where he developed his taste for Handel's oratorios, which lasted the rest of his life.

Gottfried van Swieten

In 1770 he earned the post of ambassador to the Court of Frederick the Great. His years in Germany gave him a taste for the music of Sebastian Bach and the other German contrapuntists. And also for modern music of the school of CPE Bach. In 1777 he returned to Vienna, and partook heavily of its musical scene. Since he entertained musicians in his house on a weekly basis, it was inevitable that this taste should be passed along, thus Mozart learned his Bach and Handel from Swieten. One of the groups of connoisseurs which Swieten founded, the Gesellschaft der Associierten, sponsored private oratorio performances in the various members' palaces. Mozart was commissioned to 'modernize' four of Handel's works for performance in this venue. Even after Mozart's death, the Gesellschaft continued this process, and this time Haydn himself would be the beneficiary, as we will very soon see.

There would have been one character we knew, if fate hadn't intervened at such a young age. Pietro Polzelli, Luigia's son, now age nineteen and a violinist in Schikaneder's opera orchestra, died of tuberculosis in December. Haydn was extraordinarily fond of him, and as we recall, he helped him to advance whenever possible.

In a departure from my usual format, I thought I would present the entire list of music for the year. A lot went on in 1796, so maybe it will present a chance to jump ahead and look at some of this superb music ahead of my arrival. It will surely be worth your while. And it doesn't even take into account the great probability of the Opus 76 quartets having been started and Chaos, the overture of The Creation also! We will leave it for the future to go there.

So that's the year, in only the barest sketch. Next time we will look at some instrumental music, paying back old debts and new.

Thanks for reading!

 

Hob. 15#	Genre	Key	Lan. No.	Instrument(s)	Notes
27	Accompanied Sonata (Trio)	C	42	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
28		E	43	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
29		Eb	44	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
30		Eb	45	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello
7e:1	Concerto	Eb			Solo Keyed Trumpet, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
Hob. No	Genre	Key	Name	Instruments/Voices		Libretto
Hob 20:2	Oratorio	Various	The Seven Last Words	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani & Strings		Arranged by Gottfried van Swieten
Hob 22:10	Catholic Mass	Bb	Missa Sancti Bernardi Offida 'Heiligmesse'	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings & Continuo (Organ)
Hob 22:09	Catholic Mass	C	Missa in tempore belli 'Paukenmesse'	S-A-T-B, Chorus, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
Hob. No	Genre	Name	Piece	Instruments
30:5a	Incidental music	Alfred, Knig der Angelsachsen	Triumph of Haldane (Chorus)	3 Voices, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings
30:5b	Incidental music	Alfred, Knig der Angelsachsen	Aria: Ausgesandt von Strahlenthrone	Soprano, Wind band sextet: 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns & 2 Bassoons
Hob. 25#	Genre	Voices	Title	Key	Instruments	Libretto
25a:1	Italian Duet	Soprano & Tenor	Guarda qui, che lo vedra	F	Fortepiano	Carlo Badini
25a:2	Italian Duet	Soprano & Tenor	Saper vorrei se m'ami	G	Fortepiano	Carlo Badini
25b:1	Partsong	S-A-T & Continuo	An den Vetter
25b:2	Partsong	T-T-B & Continuo	Daphnens einziger Fehler
25b:3	Partsong	S-T-B & Continuo	Betrachtung des Todes
25b:4	Partsong	T-T-B & Keyboard	An die Frauen
25c:1	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Der Augenblick
25c:2	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Die Harmonie in der Ehe
25c:3	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Alles hat seine Zeit
25c:4	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Beredsamkeit
25c:5	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Der Greis
25c:6	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Die Warnung
25c:7	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Wider den Ubermut
25c:8	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Danklied zu Gott
25c:9	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Abendlied zu Gott

1795 – The Year part 9 - Vienna; can this be home?

 

Hamburg in 1811 by J.M. David

Haydn counted the days he spent in England among the happiest of his life. He was universally respected there, a new world was opened up to him, and he was enabled by generous profits at last to pull out of the limited circumstances in which he had grown old and gray; for in 1790 he had hardly two thousand gulden capital of his own… [snip] He earned in a three-year stay in England something like twenty-four thousand gulden*, of which about nine thousand went for the journey, his support, and other expenses.

*The net 15,000 florins = ~$70,000 USD (~55.000£)/2017

Griesinger

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Is it any wonder Haydn loved England? Until 1790, he was facing the prospect of impending old age with nothing more than the money he got for selling his house in Eisenstadt back in 1778, and his 1000 gulden per annum pension from the Esterházy's. It is no exaggeration, even for a passionate Haydn fan such as me, to say that at this point in time, Haydn was easily the most famous and highly esteemed living composer. England was influential that way.

Haydn and Elssler, with the parrot, the silver plate and the coconut from Clementi, along with the pile of music manuscripts including the last-minute addition of the libretto from Salomon about the Creation of the World, took a carriage from London to the port, saying goodbye for the last time to the country he had grown so fond of. Back in Austria, who knew what awaited him? There was a new Emperor, a newer Prince, and an older wife; what did the remainder of his life have in store?

Before Vienna, though, there remained a fair bit of travel, and to new places too.

Haydn this time traveled back by way of Hamburg expressly to make the personal acquaintance of C. P. E. Bach. He came too late; Bach was dead, and of the family he found only one daughter living.

Dies

C.P.E. Bach's last chamber works with the
Flute Trios of Haydn. Recommended listening!

Of course, we know that C.P.E. Bach died in 1788. Gotwals (and later, Landon) both say Haydn must certainly have known this, but I wonder if he did, really. Not only was communication of such news very spotty at best, but as we saw with Mozart, Haydn wrote to Marianne Genzinger, "I look forward tremendously to going home and to embracing all my good friends. I only regret that the great Mozart will not be among them, if it is really true, which I trust it is not, that he has died.". And false reports of Haydn's own death in 1804 inspired Cherubini to write a cantata, Chant Sur La Mort de Joseph Haydn, for him! At the very worst, David Wyn Jones' speculation that it was an opportunity to pay homage to a composer he had always respected and admired, was sufficient reason to call on Anna Caroline Philippine Bach. It may have done well for both of them.

There is a certain irony, not totally surprising, in what he discovered when he got home. Even before his arrival we see this:

Pressburger Zeitung – 8 September 1795
According to letters from Hamburg, the Princely Esterházy Kapellmeister Herr Joseph Haydn, that universally esteemed and indeed very great composer whose excellent compositions are everywhere received with the greatest approbation, arrived there from London on the 20^th of last month, continuing the journey towards Vienna the next day.

I don't know about you, but I had to read that one twice. Can you imagine such a thing being written in Austria at any time before now? Although Pressburg is like having home field advantage, even there they were never quite so laudatory!

Haydn oftentimes repeated that he had become famous in Germany only by way of England. The worth of his works was recognized, but that public homage which conspicuous talent usually enjoys came only quite late.

Griesinger

From this point forward though, we will be seeing far more adulatory press than otherwise, and at last, they [usually] even spell his name correctly.

The remainder of the trip home was not entirely uneventful. We learn from Haydn's future student, Neukomm (whom we will meet many times later) that one of the places they stopped for the night was the town of Passau. In his honor, on the evening they spent, the local Kapellmeister, Joseph Friebert, arranged a performance in the Cathedral of Passau of The Seven Last Words, to which Friebert had added some choral parts and recitatives. Haydn told Neukomm that 'The performance was satisfactory, but the vocal parts, I could have done better'. We shall soon see that thought come to fruition.

If Landon's speculation that Haydn stopped over in Linz is indeed correct, one wonders what he must have thought of the clearly very shoddy performance of Orlando paladino (in German, of course) which was playing there. I found it rather more amusing than Haydn would have done, to read 'for in our opinion, this music was NOT written for this cast!'. But it does show the ongoing popularity of that particular opera, which was now thirteen years old and still going strong. Virtually every city with an opera house had it on the agenda until nearly the time of Haydn's death, the only one of his operas to achieve such success at a local level.

Finally though, we have reached Vienna; it is time to get back to work.

---

The Augarten Restaurant in Vienna around 1800
Engraving by Artaria

Vienna, 1795
One of the things we saw in London was the ongoing threat of the French Revolutionary Wars. But it wasn't just the English who were hip-deep in conflict; if anything, the Austrians were even deeper. For them, it was more than avenging Marie Antoinette, who frankly had been so long gone she was little remembered by her young nephew. What Francis actually saw slipping away was the entire foundation that the power and wealth of the Habsburgs had been built on. We saw George III shake off an assassination attempt as though it was merely a fly buzzing around his head. Would young Franz have the fortitude to emulate this, or would Vienna be changed forever by his fervid reaction? While you may wonder at the relevance to Haydn, as we will see, the ongoing political changes would impact not just him, but every subsequent composer throughout the 19^th century!

There was no way things would ever be the same for Haydn in the Vienna of 1795. He had outlived his third Esterházy prince, and the new one was an essentially unknown quantity. His two best friends, Mozart and Genzinger, were dead. Polzelli was in Italy, never to be seen again. Other than his sullen, erstwhile student, Beethoven, and the beloved (!) Mrs. H., we are virtually starting over with a new cast of characters. But even changes to Haydn's immediate circle pale in comparison to the differences to be seen in Vienna itself. There's a war on, and it has as much to do with internal cultural evolution as it does with the hated French. Let's see what has been going on while Haydn was out conquering the world.

Even though Joseph II was long dead, his legacy of Enlightened Despotism was still going strong. It is very difficult, at this remove, to estimate just how much furor he created in his attempts to deconstruct the feudal system and the Church. Everyone had something they were angry about, whether it was the clerics with their loss of power or the peasants who could no longer make pilgrimages. So any attempt to placate everyone was doomed to fail and likely create even more problems. Leopold II had instituted a mild rollback of some of the more controversial regulations, but he died after just two years, hardly long enough to undo thirty years worth of reform.

This left Franz, Leopold's son and still in his early twenties, with some major headaches. When you throw in the threat of Republicanism and the stress of constant war, with the fact that Franz was only barely trained and had few allies in Vienna yet, you can see how this would make an essentially quirky man become, oh, just a bit quirkier.

In 1792 and '93, Franz attempted to get an evaluation of where things stood so he could decide what moves to make. As it turned out, his government and all his advisers were about evenly split between Josephinians and Anti-Josephinians. The Antis, consisting mainly of senior officials, clerics and high aristocracy, strongly advocated canceling, en masse, every law passed during the reign of Joseph, both as Emperor and while he was adviser and co-ruler with Maria Theresia. The Josephinians, on the other hand, wanted nothing changed and let things take their course. If you can imagine possible outcomes, start out with repealing every law passed in the last 35 years in your country and see where that takes you. Or, leaving in effect a large slate of laws which are not only unpopular with nearly all classes of your subjects, but also will eventually turn your country into a state with no need for an Emperor or any ruling class. Neither of these appealed to Franz, who, we will recall, believed, as did all Kings at the time, that he ruled by Divine Right.

Franz elevated his former tutor, Count Franz von Colloredo, who was uncle to Count Hieronymus Colloredo the nemesis of Mozart, and an archconservative. Colloredo regarded the French Revolution as the work of a small group of self-seeking troublemakers who, not having been checked by immediate vigorous action, could be defeated only by the restoration of the Bourbons. He was also convinced that the revolutionaries carried on their subversive activities under the guise of science and enlightenment. Hence he looked with disfavor upon intellectuals as a group and was suspicious of all but the most conservative lawyers, journalists, and political thinkers. His ideal was to maintain the political status quo, through strict censorship if necessary. And to this cause he and his supporters were able to win over the emperor. One can scarcely emphasize how important to Vienna's future this attitude came to be.

Count Franz von Saurau

Leopold had always advised Franz to keep a sharp lookout for suspicious characters and subversive publications, so on 3 January, 1793, he established a new state authority called the Polizeihofstelle or Police Bureau, headed up by Count John Anthony von Pergen who had been chief of police under Joseph and Leopold and was the founder of the Austrian secret police. Because he was now sixty-seven years old, Pergen was assisted by Count Franz Joseph von Saurau. Saurau's opponents called him Torquemada and accused him of inventing conspiracies so that he might crush them and thus impress the emperor with his zeal and alertness. Such a charge would be as difficult to disprove as to prove.

Excerpt from letter from Count Pergen to regional governors,
5 April 1793:
…Your Excellency will, in particular . . . tolerate no clubs or other secret, suspect gatherings under whatever name. These rarely aim at anything good, and because of their potentialities for evil may become dangerous in spite of all intentions to the contrary. This has been amply demonstrated by experience. In this connection it is understood that the scattering or detention of really dangerous persons among the participants must be done without attracting undue notice...

If the Freemasons weren't completely wiped out under Joseph, they certainly were now!

In this political atmosphere the Viennese police in the summer of 1794 announced the discovery of a "Jacobin conspiracy" to overthrow the monarchy and convert it into a republic on the French model. This news set Franz's mind in a political mold which remained rigid for the rest of his life. Thereafter, "the specter of revolution" never ceased to haunt him. So, ironically, the chief reminder of Joseph's reforming days, zealously fostered even under Franz, was the institution of an all-powerful police.

Since Austria was at war and French emissaries were urging the subjects of Francis to rebel, the long arm of the police began to reach into every corner of the monarchy. Strict watch was kept over all foreigners, including diplomatic representatives, and over every native who was in position to influence the thoughts of others. Persons who had distinguished themselves in political, social, or economic endeavors were especially interesting to the police. The latter carefully noted the books and papers the intellectuals read, the discussions they held, the company they kept, the journeys they took, and the assemblies and cafes they frequented. Spies were placed in every branch of the government and among all levels of the population. Skill was displayed in the secret opening of letters and the imitation of private seals.

Saurau's hunt for "sneaking agitators" and "Jacobins" led to a series of notorious trials in 1794 and 1795. It had for some time been rumored that conspirators were plotting to blow up a strategic Vienna bridge, start incendiary fires in several parts of the city, and take advantage of the ensuing disorder to precipitate a revolution under the cry: "Long live liberty!" According to these stories the imperial family was marked for murder, while the aristocrats and wealthier members of the middle class were scheduled to be plundered.

1795 The Hanging of Franz Hebenstreit

Among many taken into custody were First Lieutenant Franz Hebenstreit von Streitenfels, inventor and poet and Abbot (Joseph) Ignace Martinovics, who was a secret agent under Leopold II. In the eyes of the Austrian government they were the two most dangerous prisoners. Hebenstreit was sentenced to "the confiscation of his property, nullification of his patent of nobility, dishonorable discharge from the armed forces, and hanging". The execution was carried out publicly in Vienna in January, 1795 and the condemned man ascended the scaffold bearing a placard with the inscription: "Franz Hebenstreit, for treason". Martinovics was beheaded in May, 1795, having first been made to witness the decapitation of four of his Hungarian co-conspirators. In all, at least twenty others were executed, since all were found guilty. Some, like Martinovics, actually were plotting against the Emperor. Others were merely bitter over having got the sack for their political beliefs and said the wrong thing in the wrong place. That's where things stood in September, when Haydn rolled into town from London.

---

Haydn's monument as it was in a
March 1800 AmZ article by Rochlitz

As we saw back in 1793, Count Harrach, in Rohrau, had constructed a monument to Haydn on an island he had built in the River Leitha, a tributary of the Danube. Haydn didn't know about the monument in 1793, but by 1795 he had heard about it in some way, and according to biographer Ludwig Pohl, upon his return from London, one of his first acts was to accompany three of the Counts Harrach and some 'other music lovers' to Rohrau to see the monument. Haydn hadn't been to Rohrau since 1764, when he went to attend business related to the death of his father. So when Pohl reports that when they entered his birth house, Haydn knelt at the threshold and kissed it, it is not hard to imagine the rush of memories, all good ones, that came over him at the time. They all went down to the park to see the monument afterwards. There is little else in the literature about it, except that Haydn had a wooden model of it on his desk in Gumpendorf. Dies says he used to correct the birthdate given on the tablet from 1 April to 31 March whenever a visitor would comment on it. One thing I found interesting, and am unable to elaborate at the moment, is that here in the Rochlitz engraving from 1800, there is no bust of Haydn at the top. In looking as closely as I can at the engraving in my first essay on the monument, I don't see it there either. It must have been put on early times, perhaps when the tablets were added at his death. This looks like a project which is in need of a champion.

The remainder of 1795 consists mainly in getting settled in and organized. There was a little bit of musical theater now being given in Eisenstadt, since Nicholas II apparently was a fan and hired some players. They plundered costumes from Eszterháza's Opera House, but there was never any indication that anything ever again would happen there. Nicholas liked Vienna, and he needed Eisenstadt as an official seat. For now, Haydn spent time at both places.

Relations with Beethoven were also renewed. Haydn presented a big (self)-benefit Academy in December at Vienna, in the smaller Redoutensaal. He premiered three of his London Symphonies, including the Military with certainty, but the other two remain unknown. Also, Irene Dutillieu, the favorite soprano in Vienna at the time, sang Scena di Berenice, while Beethoven premiered the final version of his Bb piano concerto (Opus 19) to considerable acclaim. It must have been a fine occasion, although we will never know much more about it than this, since Vienna, still rather provincial at that time, didn't have the newspaper reviews the next morning like cosmopolitan London had.

1795 has been an interesting year. From the surprise failure of the Salomon Concerts in January through the many times spent with the Royals; the fantastic Dr. Haydn's Night benefit and the other nine Opera Concerts, the (presumably) sad parting with Rebecca, Therese Jansen Bartolozzi and Anne Hunter, then the interesting trip home to a Vienna which must have been hard to recognize. It would have been a strain on a person half his age, yet the 63 year-old Haydn seems to have taken it all in stride. As we will see next year, there was no shortage of musical inspiration remaining in the sack, and though it will be different genres from what we are used to, the quality will be higher than ever! So let's say adieu to this year and get ready to move on to bigger and better things!

Thanks for reading!

1795 – The Year part 8 - Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square

London Bridge, Monument & Church of St Magnus
J.M.W. Turner c 1795

It has certainly been a busy four and a half years. Given that Haydn was in his fifty-ninth year when the Prince died in September of 1790, and when he said his final good bye to his friend Mozart in December, it was likely not with an idea in his head of what the next five years had in store for him.

A lot of ink has been spilled over the years concerning Haydn's isolation from society in rural Eisenstadt or in Eszterháza. And yet, nothing of what we have seen has demonstrated him to be anything but an extraordinarily well-finished gentleman, conversing easily with highest society, conducting business like any other businessman of his time, receiving his Doctorate from Oxford in a manner which made the most favorable possible impression on all in attendance. I think it speaks volumes about his character to see the Rohrau lad, and how he lived up to his 1761 contract. I had paraphrased that entire document in an earlier essay, here is Article 3 (in my translation):

III    He will refrain from drinking and acting like a fool in front of his subordinates so they won't lose respect for him. He will act like a gentleman/courtier.

I think King George and Prince Paul Esterházy would have been in agreement, he learned his lessons well. He was, after all, invited to come live at the Palace!

In many ways, Haydn was a beneficiary of English liberality concerning class distinction. While many Englishmen (then and now) may have thought they carried the weight of the world due to class discrimination, the truth of the matter is far different. Haydn could have easily regaled them with stories of how musicians and entertainers, as a class, were treated in the Habsburg realms. What might they have thought, for example, of the Prince's decree that there would be no contact between musicians and their families during the Season at Eszterháza? Or the requirement that any Princely employee could only marry with permission from the Prince? But from the time Haydn arrived in London, he was treated like an aristocrat. Which of itself must have been disorienting.

But as an "aristocrat", he got to see whatever he wanted, and meet whomever he wished to meet. In the off season he traveled wherever he wished, with extended journeys in August, 1791, November, 1791, June, 1792 and June, 1794. Not to even mention the great picnic outing to Oxford to become Doctor Haydn. The single mention of being denied access was to the Portsmouth (or Godsport?) Navy Yard:

[Third London Notebook – ca. 9 July '794]

The Dockyard, or the place where ships are built, is of an enormous size, and has a great many splendid buildings. But I couldn't go there, because I was a foreigner. Hard by is a new and most splendid ship-of-the-line with no cannon, called the Prince of Wales. The King and his family stayed 3 days in the Dockyard at the gouverneur's [sic] house.

As we have seen, the purpose of these trips was multifold; sightseeing was high on the list, and not to be underestimated. The Notebook entries profess to the profound interest of their author in simply seeing the wonderful sights available in his host country. Meeting people he either knew or had heard of, such as Herschel and Rauzzini, was another priority. As well, attending parties, gatherings and salons for the sake of conversation and exchange of ideas, an 18^th century ideal, was of paramount interest. But the ultimate occupation was one which he already pursued; writing and realizing music.

It is hard to imagine the output of this 60+ years old composer during his years in England. The flame of inspiration was certainly not flickering yet! Among other things, during his final two months he compiled this list of things he recalled writing while there. I left off the column containing the number of sheets of music paper each work took, but I discuss it briefly below. Just these five years produced a career's worth of music for many composers! 

Highlights of the Catalogue of the works Haydn wrote in and for England between 2nd January 1791 and 1795 [in English]
Haydn's Listing (as he wrote it down)	What we think it is
Orfeo, opera seria.	L'anima del filosofo – an easy one to start off
6 Symphonies.	Hob 93 – 98
Concertant Symphonic.	The Sinfonia concertante in Bb  - Hob 1:105
The Storm. Chor.	Which Haydn called Madrigal in the manuscript Hob 24a:8
3 Symphonies.	Hob 99 – 101 from 1793-94
Aria for Davide.	We saw its performance in May, 1791: lost
6 Quartettes.	Opus 71/74
3 Sonates for Broderip.	Pianoforte Trios Hob 18-20
3 Sonates for Preston.	Pianoforte Trios Hob 21-23
2 Sonates for Miss Janson.	Hob 50 & 52 from 1794
1 Sonate in F minore.	The Piccolo Divertimento Hob 17:6
1 Sonate in g.	Pianoforte Trio Hob 32
The Dream.	Pianoforte Trio Hob 31
Dr. Harrington’s Compliment.	What art expresses – we saw this in 1794   Hob 26b:3
6 English songs.	The 1st Book of Original Canzonettas Hob 26a:25-30
100 Scotch songs.	The 1st set of songs for Napier Hob 31a:1-100
50 Scotch songs (for Nepire). [sic]	The 2nd set of songs for Napier Hob 31a:101-150
2 Flute divert.	It has never been known just how Haydn originally divided up the nine movements.       Hob 4:1-4
3 Symphonies.	Hob 102 – 104 from 1794-95
4 Song for Tattersall	The 6 hymns which we saw in 1794. Hob 23 Nachtrag: a-f
2 Marches.	for Sir Henry Harpur, the Derbyshire Marches Hob 8: 1 & 2
1 Aria for Miss Poole.	For one of the Salomon concerts. Unfortunately lost.
God save the King.	We don’t know what instrument(s) Haydn set it for, but it is lost.
1 Aria con Orchestra.	Lost
Invocation of Neptun.	The Aria & Chorus from Mare clausum for Abingdon. Hob 24a:9
10 Commandments (Canons).	Canons Haydn set for a Saxon minister in London. Hob 27a:1-10
March for the Prince of Wales.	Haydn wrote 2 versions, one for the Prince’s wind band, the other for the orchestra of the Royal Society of Musicians. Hob 8:3 & 3a
2 Divertimenti a più voci.	These are 2 of the Lira Divertimenti (Notturnos) for the King of Naples which Haydn reorchestrated for London. He actually did at least four of them, autograph manuscripts are still extant. Hob 2:27, 28, 31 & 32 plus some of the Lira concertos.
24 Minuets and German dances.	These are the Redoutensaal dances of late 1792. Hob 9:11 & 12
12 Ballads for Lord Avingdon.	Hob 31c:16 (1-12)  12 Sentimental Catches & Glees
Canons.	There is no way to know what canons Haydn refers to. Maybe the one he wrote for Oxford (Thy voice, O Harmony, is Divine) and the one he wrote for Rauzzini (Turk was a faithful dog)? If so, they are Hob 27b:46 & 45
1 Song with the whole orchestra of Lord Avingdon.	Unknown. Lost? Probably.
4 Contrydances [sic]**	Apparently lost. Probably for/with Abingdon
6 Songs	The 2nd Book of Original Canzonettas Hob 26a:31-36
Overtura Coventgarden	The Overture to Windsor Castle for Salomon. Hob 1a:3
Aria per la Band.[la Band = Banti]	The Scena di Berenice for Banti.     Hob 24a:10
4 Scotch songs.	Unknown, lost
2 Songs	The two canzonettas which were not part of the two sets of six: O Tuneful Voice & The Spirit’s Song Hob 26a:41 & 42
3 Sonates for Broderip.	Pianoforte Trios Hob 27-29
(not mentioned by Haydn) 1 "little sonat" in D  for pianoforte	for Maria Hester Park Hob 16:51

Haydn also wrote down the number of sheets of paper it took to do each work. A sheet was a large piece of paper, folded in either half or quarters (Haydn used both ways). So "40 sheets" in one circumstance was 80 pages (the Sinfonia concertante), but in another case, "11 sheets" is 44 pages (in Scena di Berenice). So when his sheets came up with a grand total of 768, we can only guess how many actual pages of music that is. As I mentioned in the title of the list, this is 'highlights', I deleted several entries which are just like the ones we see here marked 'lost' or 'unknown'. All in all, it is a prodigious quantity of music, and for people who have just heard Haydn's music for the first time, there is a good chance the music they heard is on this list. The London Symphonies, the last keyboard sonatas, the great keyboard trios; these have become Haydn's calling card. The upcoming years will see him writing more quartets, returning to masses, and producing his two great oratorios, along with many more Scottish Songs. But as we will see, many of those works will retain the English influence he adopted in London, and the contacts he made there will be with him for the rest of his life.

The first edition of the trios for Becky Schroeter, published in October 1795	One volume of Salomon's chamber arrangement of London Symphonies

The last performance of the Opera Concert was on 1 June. Haydn didn't leave for home until 15 August. How did he manage to keep himself busy those last ten weeks? We do know a little bit…

The Times – June 2, 4, 6 & 8

Mr. Ashe's Concert
On Monday, 8 June, 1795, will be a Grand Concert of Vocal and Instrumental music; at which Madame Mara has kindly consented to perform.

Leader of the Band Mr. Cramer.

Pianoforte, Mr. Clementi; and Dr. Haydn will preside during the Performance of His Grand MS Sinfonia. &c &c

It was Haydn's last appearance at a London concert hall. He spent his final two months fulfilling obligations, both real and perceived, to produce music for his creditors and his friends.

We have seen what some of these obligations were. Most are on the list above. The works we have looked at in the last few essays; the 50 Scots Songs for Napier, the publication of the Pianoforte Trios, the second set of canzonettas, all needed to be prepared for publication. There is also little doubt about him working along with Salomon to get the symphonies, which they drew up a contract for at this time, arranged for string quartet, flute and pianoforte. Salomon is named as the arranger, and no doubt he did much of it, but included are several changes in the orchestral autographs which are in Haydn's handwriting, which probably resulted from the original performances. However the work burden was distributed, these are masterful arrangements which gave an amazingly fine representation of these works even with just six instruments. Given the market set up to feed amateur musicians, the likelihood is that Salomon made far more money from these arrangements than he ever saw from the full orchestral versions.

One of the things we haven't looked at during this series is the huge market in England for arrangements of music of all sorts. While there was an unending appetite for the latest pianoforte trios and sonatas, which could simply not be satisfied by the composers of the day, the slack was more than taken up by the other music which was rearranged for suitable forces. And while salons were a virtually perfect outlet for the less self-conscious player, the vast majority preferred to entertain their family and friends in the confines of their own parlor.

In late eighteenth-century London, as today, the market of music consumers clearly extended far beyond those performers and listeners who assembled for public concerts. Arrangements made possible a considerably expanded and prolonged circulation of works-albeit often in truncated or simplified form that were otherwise accessible to relatively few. They also offered the possibility of a domestic setting for performance of such works, one in which the amateur could participate in music-making, at ease among family and friends.

Publishers eager to feed this market took a pragmatic if casual approach to the masterpiece. Indeed, the marketing slogan for works in arrangement might have been "Have it your way." It is not surprising that in London, as elsewhere, by far the favorite way was with keyboard, either as solo instrument or in ensembles.

Gretchen Wheelock*

As we have noticed, many of the publishers of the time, such as Bland and Longman & Broderip, and eventually Clementi were also instrument makers. Even those who weren't publishers, such as Broadwood, were closely allied with various publishers. The reasons are self-evident: there is an age-old debate, which continues today, over the relationship between technological advancement and greater intricacy of compositions to take advantage. The clear question is which of these things drives them forward? In London in the last half of the 18^th century, they weren't taking any chances. Whether musical ideas or techniques improved, or technology improved, they had it covered. Vienna in the 1780's was called, famously by Mozart, the 'Land of the Piano'. But this is only because he hadn't seen London since he was a child. If I had the time to expand on this theme, I would really like to go into the remainder of Wheelock's paper, which shows that one of the main products of this relationship was the marrying of classic English poems, usually pastoral, to a huge variety of musical masterpieces. And so we find works such as this:

Some Haydn works for Pianoforte & Voice (adapted from Wheelock ibid.):

Haydn Work	Poet	Title
Opus 33 #6, 4th mvmt	Mary Whately	Hymn to Solitude
Duo for Violin & Viola 1st mvmt Hob 6:3	Thomas Tickell	Colin & Lucy
Divertimento for Winds 4th mvmt Hob 2:11	James Hammond	Love Elegy VI
Op 33 #2 3rd mvmt	James Hammond	Love Elegy VIII
Keyboard Sonata 1st mvmt Hob 16:39	John Hawkesworth	Life, an Ode
Symphony #69 4th mvmt Hob 1:69	C. Smith (?)	from the Sorrows of Young Werther (Tis she I adore, tho fair yet unkind)

You must admit, the musical sources for these 'ballads' are probably not exactly what you were thinking about when you heard them in their original incarnation!

The Siege of Quiberon (June-July 95)
by Paul-Émile Boutigny

It should not be overlooked, especially now, how the ongoing French Revolution was affecting affairs far beyond France's own borders. While Haydn was busy tidying up loose ends in London, and more or less idling along to his inevitable return to Vienna, the war business was still booming across the Channel. Haydn was not in any particular rush because his new Prince, Nicholas II, had been lingering in Naples, but he returned to Vienna in June, and things were coming to a swift conclusion.

For some little while now, rumors, which Haydn could scarcely avoid having heard, were swirling that the French Revolutionary Wars were, to all intents and purposes, lost to England and Austria. They were the only two members of the Coalition left standing at this point, but they demonstrated a steadfast refusal to give it up, and so things kept going. On 27 June, a small English fleet allied with a cadre of Royalists from western France, landed on the Breton coast at Quiberon. The fighting lasted through July, but by early August all of the Royalists and émigrés had been captured and executed.

Haydn signed the contract with Salomon over the London Symphonies on 13 August. He didn't have a whole lot of baggage for the trip. Clementi gave him a cup made out of a carved coconut (a highly prized item in those days), trimmed with silver. Tattersall had given him the engraved silver plate for the 6 Psalms. He also had a little key to the future, innocuously enough it was a libretto from Salomon which he was told was written for Handel, about the Creation of the World. Finally, and most surprisingly, he was gifted with a talking parrot! I have been unable to discover what sort it was, I am a parrot lover as well as a Haydnist and I would dearly love to know. Haydn had this parrot for the rest of his life, he taught it to call him Papa. A fond reminder of what he always said was the greatest time of his life.

With all this in mind, it should be no surprise to discover that on 15 August, Haydn and Elssler and their baggage slipped out of London, not to Calais and through the Austrian Netherlands as one would normally do, but by ship to Hamburg, Germany, then southeasterly overland through Dresden, and finally home in Vienna by the last of August. The journey of a lifetime was finally over!

~~~~~

And as this era of Haydn's life draws to a close, so, too, does Year 4 in the life of this blog. It has been my great pleasure to have shared what I have learned about Haydn with you, my loyal, patient and supportive group of readers. 46 years of Haydn's creative life have been captured so far, if even in the most cursory way. There are still more years to go, not nearly as adventurous, perhaps, but if anything, even more creative. I hope you will continue to check in with Haydn through the remainder of his creative years. As is often promised but rarely lived up to: the best is yet to come.

Thanks to all 40,000 of you for stopping in to visit!

And thanks for reading!

 

* Gretchen A. Wheelock - Marriage à la Mode: Haydn's Instrumental Works "Englished" for Voice and Piano