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In this installment of our Classical Collections, we will
focus on the symphonies of four composers of the German tradition: Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn
and Brahms.
Haydn the Symphonist (SOURCE: Handel + Haydn
Society)
Joseph Haydn is popularly known as the “Father of the
Symphony” ; born nearly 25 years before Mozart, but living 18 years longer,
Haydn’s life spanned nearly the entire Classical era. His early works were key
in establishing the Classical style, while his mentorship of the young
Beethoven laid the foundation for the subsequent Romantic era.
Haydn’s music had become very popular in France, and so he
wrote a series of symphonies for the Concert
de la Loge Olympique in Paris. The French orchestra was very good and very
large, and Haydn made full use of it in crafting his Paris symphonies.
Symphony No. 82 in C major, L'Ours [Guide #255]
Symphony No. 83 in G minor,L a Poule [Guide #256]
Symphony No. 84 in E♭ major, In Nomine Domini [Guide #256]
Symphony No. 86 in D major [Guide
#255]
Symphony No. 87 in A major [Guide #165]
Listener Guide #
255 – L’Ours
[Symphonies nos. 82 & 86] As with the nicknames of all
Haydn's symphonies, “The Bear” did not originate with the composer. Instead,
the name derives from a recurring feature from the last movement (including its
famous opening), in which Haydn intimates the tonality of bagpipes: a low
sustained drone, accentuated by a grace-note on the downbeat. This curious
tonality prompted an 1829 piano arrangement of the symphony to be entitled Danse de l'Ours, the earliest known
printed appearance of the nickname. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #106 – 24 May 2013)
Listener Guide # 256 – La Poule
[Symphonies nos. 83 & 84] The Symphony no. 83, "the
Hen", sees its nickname come from the clucking second subject in the first
movement, which reminded listeners of the jerky back-and forth head motion of a
walking hen. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #105 – 17 May 2013)
His set of London
symphonies, sometimes called the Salomon symphonies after the man who
brought Haydn to London, were composed during a four-year period in the
1790s. One set was written during
Haydn's first visit to London; the other was composed in preparation for his
second visit to the city.
Symphony No. 93 in D major [Guide #257]
Symphony No. 94 in G major, The Surprise [Guide #258]
Symphony No. 96 in D major, The Miracle [Guide
#258]
Symphony No. 98 in B♭ major [Guide
#258]
Symphony No. 99 in E♭ major
[Guide
#257]
Symphony No. 100 in G major, Military [Guide #257]
Symphony No. 101 in D major, The Clock [Guide
#257]
Symphony No. 102 in B♭ major
[Guide
#166]
Symphony No. 103 in E♭ major, Drumroll [Guide
#166]
Symphony No. 104 in D major, London [Guide #259]
Listener Guide # 257 – Scherchen/Haydn - Four More London Symphonies
[Symphonies nos. 93, 99, 100 & 101] Hermann Scherchen
was musically self-taught. Early in his career, he played viola, and for a time
he accompanied Arnold Schoenberg on tour. Interned in Russia during the First
World War, he returned to Berlin after the war and founded in 1918 the Neue
Musikgesellschaft ("Society for New Music"). In 1933, he fled Germany
for Belgium, and conducted in Spain, France and elsewhere in Europe during and
after the Second World War. (Once
Upon the Internet #61 – 5 June 2018)
Listener Guide # 258 – In Memoriam: Sir Jeffrey Tate (1943 - 2017)
[Symphonies nos. 94, 96 & 98] In 1985 Tate was appointed
the first Principal Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and began a
major recording programme for EMI which included the complete Mozart symphonies
as well as a number of Haydn's. Tate's Haydn and Mozart are in a class of their
own. Using modern instrumental forces and often adopting tempi which are much
broader than we have come to expect from period orchestras, Tate achieves a
lightness and lyricism which make every note compelling. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #265 – 24 November 2017)
Listener Guide # 259 – London
[Symphony no. 104] The last symphony of the set (and, in
fact, the last symphony of the Hoboken catalog) has the subtitle “London”, and
is possibly the most modern of Haydn’s symphonies. I may be alone to think
this, but I find quite a few similarities between this symphony and Mozart’s
Jupiter, in particular the finale. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #64 – 27 July 2012)
Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies
Beethoven remains one of the most well-known composers in
the modern world. It is, no doubt, made possible by his ground-breaking
symphonies. Beethoven's symphonies number only nine; each one unique, each one
preparing the way for the next. Beethoven’s most popular symphonies, numbers 3,
5, and 9, have graced the ears of millions of listeners.
Symphony No. 4 in Bb, Op. 60 [Guide
#30]
Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68, Pastoral [Guide #180]
Symphony No. 9 in D-, Op. 125, Choral [Guide #260]
Listener Guide # 260
– Musikalische Akademie der 7. Mai 1824
[Symphony no. 9] This montage is a reconstruction of the
concert programme from 7th May 1824, held at Vienna’s Kärntnertortheater, where
Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 was first performed. This was the composer's first
on-stage appearance in 12 years; a Beethoven "Akademie," was more of
a benefit concert for the composer himself. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #54 – 4 May 2012)
Felix Mendelssohn’s five numbered symphonies (he composed 12
string sinfonias as student works) make
a motley collection: a piece of precocious juvenilia, three ‘named’ symphonies,
only one of which (the Scottish) the composer deemed worthy of publication, and
the Lobgesang, a ‘symphony-cantata’ that found its way into the canon as No 2.
Once criticised for being a pale simulacrum of Beethoven’s Ninth, the
Lobgesang, like the Reformation, has benefited from performances set on
stripping the music of Victorian complacency and grandiloquence.
Symphony No. 1 in C-, Op. 11 [Guide #261]
Symphony No. 4 in A, Op. 90 Italian [Guide #262]
Symphony No. 5 in D-, Op. 107 Reformation [Guide #261]
Listener Guide # 261 – Felix Mendelssohn: Symphonies no. 1 & 5
[Symphonies nos. 1 & 5] Aside from the youthful String
Symphonies, Mendelssohn composed five "mature" symphonies, numbered
approximately in the order that they were published, rather than the order in
which they were composed. The order of actual composition is: 1, 5, 4, 2, 3.
The placement of No. 3 in this sequence is problematic because he worked on it
for over a decade, starting sketches for it soon after beginning work on No. 5,
but completing it after both Nos. 5 and 4. So, although the two symphonies we
feature today appear to book-end Mendelssohn's symphonic output, they are in
fact his first two "mature" symphonies. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #179 – 2 January 2015)
Listener Guide # 262 – Italian Symphony
[Symphony no. 4] The Fourth symphony results from
Mendelssohn's European travels in the late 1820's, which also gave us his
Scottish Symphony. Completed in Berlin, the symphony was first performed in
London in 1833 and - from what we can read - didn't completely please
Mendelssohn. He planned to do complete rewrites of several of its movements but
- thank Goodness - he never got around to it! (ITYWLTMT
Montage #156 – 16 May 2014)
Johannes Brahms was one of the romantic period's most
conflicted musical characters, and his symphonies are the perfect way to find
out why... The image of Brahms the curmudgeon with his hands firmly behind his
back is how most people see this most quietly influential of composers. But
particularly in his symphonies, this image is proven to be a complete myth. Few
symphonic composers have done so much with so few works, but Brahms four
symphonies have lasted through the centuries thanks to their verve, their
freedom and their complexity.
Symphony No. 3 in F, Op. 90 [Guide #263]
Listener Guide # 263 – Third Symphony
[Symphony no. 3] To many, the Third symphony is Brahms'
best: it has a very heroic flavour to it, and the well-known third movement
Allegretto is somewhat reminiscent of the funeral march of Beethoven's Third -
or is it just me? Unlike the jubilant theme and variations that end the Eroica,
however, the Third chooses to end with a tad more drama, giving the third a
lasting tragic overtone. (ITYWLTMT
Montage #88 – 18 January 2013)
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