Programme note
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)
Symphony No 6 in D major (Le Matin)
Adagio – Allegro
Adagio – Andante – Adagio
Menuet and Trio
Finale: Allegro
Symphony No 7 in C major (Le Midi)
Adagio – Allegro
Recitativo: Adagio – Allegro – Adagio –Adagio
Menuetto and Trio
Finale: Allegro
Symphony No 8 in G major (Le Soir)
Allegro molto
Andante
Menuetto and Trio
La Tempesta: Presto
Haydn’s Symphonies Nos 6, 7 and 8 are the first three symphonies which he wrote for the Esterházy family: they date from 1761, the year in which he took up the post of Vice-Kapellmeister and director of the orchestra at the palace of Eisenstadt, beginning nearly thirty years of continuous service to the family. It seems to have been at the suggestion of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy that Haydn composed a trilogy of symphonies depicting morning, afternoon and evening – a plan which may have been inspired by Telemann’s cantata The Times of Day, or more probably (since the work was in the Esterházy library) by Vivaldi’s concerto cycle The Four Seasons. On the whole, Haydn did not provide nearly as much descriptive detail as there is in these Baroque antecedents. But he did follow through in a much more systematic way a scheme which may perhaps have been his own idea: to write a set of symphonies showing off the talents of his new colleagues in the Esterházy orchestra.
The orchestra in all three works is a small one: flute, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, probably a harpsichord (from which Haydn would have directed), and strings. (There is also a second flute in the later part of the slow movement of No. 7: since the oboes are silent at that point, one of the oboists presumably put down his instrument and picked up a flute.) But Haydn scatters through his scores not only passages highlighting each wind principal and section, as was his custom, but also solos for the leader, the principal second violinist (in Nos. 7 and 8), the principal violist (in one movement of No. 6), the principal cellist, and even the principal double bass. The result is a greater variety of colours and textures than Haydn was to attempt again in his symphonies over the next few years – anticipating the genre of the sinfonia concertante, or multiple concerto, that was to become popular much later in his career.
The 'Morning' Symphony begins with a slow introduction, a six-bar crescendo presumably representing a sunrise. This leads to a triple-time Allegro including some solo writing for the flute, the two oboes, and, in a fanfaring anticipation of the closing recapitulation section, the first horn. The G major slow movement is a reminder that Haydn was writing in the shadow of the Baroque masters (still within the lifetimes of, for example, Telemann and Rameau): like many a Baroque work, it is scored for strings alone, with ornate solos for violin and cello; and the central Andante is framed by an Adagio introduction, with solo violin, and an Adagio coda – the overall shape of the movement and the style of the coda both recalling the influential string Concerti Grossi of Corelli. The Minuet restores the full orchestra and a variety of colouring: solo flute in the first section, the wind band on its own in the second, and then in the minor-key Trio solo double bass, alternating with solo viola and cello, and solo bassoon. The Finale includes more solo passages for various instruments, including an especially dashing violin solo which lasts virtually the whole of the central development section, and a bright fanfare for the two horns near the start of the recapitulation.
The 'Afternoon' Symphony starts, like its predecessor, with a slow introduction leading to a triple-time Allegro. But this time the introduction is longer and more full-textured, with imperious dotted rhythms and sharp contrasts of loud and soft, perhaps suggesting the glare of the midday sun and the deep shadows it produces; while most of the solo passages in the Allegro are allocated not to wind instruments but to two violins and cello. The second movement is an instrumental recitative, ingeniously translated from the opera house, with the first violinist as the capricious prima donna, accompanied by two oboes and strings. This is followed by the obvious next step, an aria (in G major), with the violinist again as soloist and a mellifluous pair of flutes joining the strings (we can imagine some suitable words about little birds singing in the trees); but after a while a solo cello also makes an entrance, and the movement continues as a duet, culminating in an elaborate double cadenza. The horns celebrate their return quite spectacularly in the Minuet; the Trio gives the double bass another taxing solo. The Finale is, like that of “Morning”, an Allegro in 2/4 time with concertante writing spread generously round the orchestra – though if one player stands out this time, it is the agile flautist.
The 'Evening' symphony plunges without a slow introduction into much the quickest of the three first movements in the trilogy: this is indicated not only by the tempo marking of “very fast” but also by the time-signature of 3/8 rather than 3/4. The solo writing is confined here to a few brief flourishes for the wind instruments, and the interest of the movement lies chiefly in the way it anticipates Haydn’s mature symphonic style, with its sense of forward movement and its resourceful use of the opening idea. Much more old-fashioned by comparison is the C major slow movement, in the ornate, “galant” style of the mid-century; and here there is concertante writing in plenty, for two solo violins and a solo cello, and also for the only wind instrument used in the movement, the bassoon. The sturdy Minuet has a brief passage for the wind band alone; the Trio provides the double bass with another demanding solo. The Symphony ends with a programmatic movement depicting an evening storm: there is plenty of tremulous solo violin writing, in the tradition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and there are also rumbles of thunder from the solo cello, flickers of lightning from the flute, and a great deal of sound and fury from the whole orchestra.
© Anthony Burton
