Day 6: Off to a Slow Start

HaydnCD7Exploring a world of creative delights is terrific. I highly recommend it.

Yet, what is required for such an endeavor to succeed is discipline.

For example, a couple of years ago I spent time exploring the complete works of Mozart (180 Days With Mozart and Me). I arose at 5:31 every morning, drove to the same restaurant, arrived as they opened at 6am, sat at the same square table near the wall plug and the windows, and ate the same thing – an Asiago bagel, toasted with light cream cheese, and a mug of Light Roast coffee — every morning for six straight months.

From the table I came to consider “mine,” I’d listen, discover, observe, and then write about it.

Doing that assured me of two things:

1. I’d gain 15 pounds from the bagels, and

2. I’d develop a disciplined, methodical approach that kept me focused

And it worked. On both counts.

This morning, I wasn’t able to do that. I agreed to visit mom’s for breakfast at 9:30. But first I had to go to the office and get my computer. If I’d brought my computer home last night (as I should have), I could have listened to and wrote about CD 6 before leaving the house. As it was, the first stop was the office. Next stop was mom’s, which was nice because the four of us (my wife, my brother, and my mother) don’t get together very often. So I’m not complaining.

But now it’s noon and I’m only just now listening to Haydn’s Symphony No. 21 in A.

Figures, the first movement is Adagio (“slow and stately”). So now I’m not only late in getting to my appointed task, the first symphony opens with something akin to a dirge. Even its entry on Wikipedia puts it this way:

The entire first movement is slow, with the tempo marking adagio. It is uncommon for Haydn to have an opening movement set at a slow pace for its entirety; usually he will begin a first movement with a slow tempo for an introduction but the main body will be at a faster tempo. The slow section also ends on the tonic, an unusual ending for an introduction.

In addition to the slow beginning, Symphony No. 21 in A is kind of an odd duck in the Haydn canon. According to its entry on Wiki:

The symphony’s movements have unusual structures that make their form hard to identify. The parts that pertain to sonata form are often hard to recognize immediately and are often identified “only in retrospect.”

 

Swell. So not only is the opening movement slower than normal for Haydn, but the construction of all four movements is “unusual.”

I feel like shaking my fist at the heavens and saying, “Oh, Lord, why do you mock me so?”

Thankfully, the second movement is “presto” and so the tempo jumps dramatically, almost jarringly…and the rest of the symphony becomes something enjoyable. The French horns are especially nice. If only Franz had started with the presto second movement.

The symphony was written “around the year 1764.” Haydn was 32.

Symphony No 22 in E Flat (“Der Philosoph”) is the first symphony to have a nickname in the title, although its doubtful Haydn called it that himself. Der Philosoph is German for The Philosopher. According to its entry on Wiki,

The name (“the Philosopher”) is not on the original manuscript and is unlikely to come from Haydn himself. “Le Philosoph” appears on a manuscript copy of the symphony found in Modena dated 1790; thus the nickname dates from the composer’s own lifetime. The title is thought to derive from the melody and counterpoint of the first movement (between the horns and cor anglais), which musically allude to a question followed by an answer and paralleling the disputatio system of debate. The piece’s use of a muted tick-tock effect also evokes the image of a philosopher deep in thought while time passes by. As Jones notes, the nickname “becomes less appropriate as the symphony proceeds and earnestness gives way to high spirits.”

The symphony was written in 1764. Haydn was 32.

The Philosopher is brilliant, most notably for the scoring. According to its entry on Wiki,

The work is scored for two cor anglais (English horns), two horns, and strings. The use of the cor anglais in place of the (related, but higher-pitched) oboe is more than unusual; indeed McVeigh (2009:386) suggests that it is “the only symphony in the entire history of the genre to use this scoring”. The horns play a prominent role in all but the second movement, and Haydn’s choice of E flat major may have been dictated by the fact that the valveless horns of the time sounded best when played as E flat instruments (that is, with E flat crooks inserted).

 

Even though Symphony No. 22 in E Flat also opens with an adagio movement, the instrumentation is so beautiful that it doesn’t seem to drag. It’s just a very pretty, compelling movement.

From start to finish, Symphony No. 22 in E Flat is a joy, making this one of my favorite Haydn symphonies so far. (Wikipedia says, “it is the most widely programmed of Haydn’s early symphonies.”)

Given the brilliance of The Philosopher, Symphony No. 23 in G has a lot to live up to. And, believe it or not, it does. This lively, fun symphony is remarkably compelling. It was written in 1764. Haydn was 32. The last movement (“Finale: Presto assai”) fades out in an unusual way, leading H. C. Robbins to conclude that “this may be “the first positive example of Haydn’s famous sense of humour”. (From its entry on Wiki.)

Symphony No. 24 in D is a stellar way to end CD 6. It is extremely lively. Two of the four movements are allegro. It opens with a bang and really doesn’t let up, even with an adagio second movement.

This symphony was written in 1764. Haydn was 32.

It’s still raining. But I feel sunny inside.

Thank you, Franz.

2 thoughts on “Day 6: Off to a Slow Start

  1. It’s always interesting to me that early horn music had to be written based on the notes the valveless horn could actually play. Some notes could be played by jamming the hand into the bell to bend the pitch, but those notes don’t sound as nice as open notes, so they sometimes wrote around those notes. And they could change tubes to get different keys and notes, but it takes a minute to swap out the tubes, so you couldn’t get those notes in the middle of a fast part.

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