Category Archives: Haydn Edition

Day 122: Ballykissangel Incidental Music?

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HaydnCD122One song from today’s baryton trios really jumped out at me: Movement III (“Finale: Scherzo Presto”) from Haydn Baryton Trio No. 76 in C.

I would bet dollars to donuts (what does that mean, anyway?) I’ve heard that before, possibly on one of my favorite BBC TV shows, Ballykissangel.

It’s not the theme song. That much I know.

But it sounds remarkably like snippets of incidental music I’ve heard in that wonderful series.

Screen Shot 2014-01-30 at 10.54.46 AMAt least, I think I’ve heard those sounds in Ballykissangel. Or was it Doc Martin? No. Must have been Ballykissangel.

Yet, if that’s true, then why can’t I find mention of it when I Google the name of the baryton trio and the name of the TV show?

I’ll keep digging.

Hey, something else of interest. I just discovered the pdf booklet that comes with the Brilliant Classics Haydn Edition:

The baryton’s technical limitations meant that the vast majority are in the keys of A (the easiest of all for the baryton), D and G, with a correspondingly narrow range of modulation within movements. The dark, husky instrumental palette lends itself particularly well to stately slow movements, something of a speciality in these trios.

See? Even I – a chap without a degree in musicology – knew that the baryton trios were mostly in the key of A, and were mostly slow in tempo.

Yeah. You with your Ph.D. in Musicology and your room-temperature brie and ever-so-slightly chilled Pinot Grigio. Yeah. Who’s laughing Continue reading →

Day 37: Send in the Clowns

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HaydnCD37Today’s CD of Haydn compositions is Organ Concertos II.

You know what that means.

More circus music.

And more “mechanical clocks” music.

An example of the latter: track number 10 is 12 minutes of what sounds to my untrained ears like circus Calliope music. I can almost smell the roasting almonds and cotton candy…and the manure from the performing animals.

And, wait. What’s that I hear? Children laughing? Do I see parents strolling with umbrellas and large hats?

ASundayAfternoonIt’s like a George Seurat painting come to life, something like the scene from his pointillist masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

I’m sure Flotenuhr (“mechanical clocks”) music has its place.

It probably excited the hell out of audiences back in the late 1700s.

Today, I think 12 minutes of Flotenuhr music is about 10 minutes too much of it.

But what do I know? I’m not a composer. I’m a listener. In 21st century America, no less. If I had the talent to compose, I surely would. But then I’d have to do something crazy like lop off my ear, or Continue reading →