Day 20: Eavesdropping

HaydnCD20Sometimes, being at Panera in the morning is a lesson in trying – hard! – to mind ones own business.

Like this morning for example. There’s a man and a younger woman (a dad and his daughter, I quickly discovered) sitting in the booth behind me who are deep in conversation of a serious nature. “The irony is,” the man just said, “that’s not who I am…wearing the right suit, saying the right thing at the board meeting…”

I don’t know who he tried to be, or what he wants to be. But it’s clear he’s not being what he thinks he is.

I’ve found that to be true with most people these days.

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation,” Thoreau wrote in Walden (1854). (Note that he did not write: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation…” That’s a misquote, according to the Thoreau web site. Plus, the quote did not come from Civil Disobedience and Other Essays. That is another mis-attribution. Oh, the things I learn…)

Whatever the exact quote, or its precise source, I think not being what one is is one of the great tragedies of human existence. I wonder if Haydn ever thought to himself, “You know, all things considered, I’d rather have been a cobbler”?

Symphony No. 67 in F, composed in 1779 (Haydn was 47), has been called “one of the most boldly original symphonies of this period.” Its entry on Wiki also tells me that:

This is the only symphony where Haydn opens in fast 6/8 time without a slow introduction.

At the end of the second movement, the entire string section is directed to play col legno dell’arco (with the back of the bow).

That’s cool. And would have been even cooler had the recording of this symphony been loud enough to hear. I had earbuds in, and the volume full up, and it was still barely audible.

Actually, I noticed that about this entire symphony. There are great dynamics here — from near-silent quiet to rambunctious loud — and the recording buries the quiet and accentuates the loud. In fact, even the loud isn’t as loud as the other recordings in this series. Maybe my earbuds are defective. Maybe my ears are. I dunno. But it’s hard to hear this symphony over the din of bad Muzak playing at Panera this morning.

So I can’t tell if it’s just the fact that it’s harder to hear this symphony, or if it’s the Muzak, of if this supposedly “boldly original” symphony just isn’t grabbing me. But I’m not feeling it this morning.

Symphony No. 68 in B Flat, also composed in 1779, “…is one of the first of Haydn’s symphonies to contain two independent bassoon parts.”

Walking on the wild side, eh, Franz?

Actually, the last Movement (“Finale: Presto”) is rather nice. Very jaunty. Quite Presto. Lots of playful interplay between the instruments.

According to its entry on Wikipedia,Laudon Symphony No. 69 in CLaudon” was “composed around 1775-1776, it represents a stylistic departure from the composer’s earlier intense Sturm und Drang period and was written at the same time as Haydn was writing numerous comic operas. Despite the lighter tone, however, the symphony is ‘as finely crafted, as interesting, indeed as original, as the preceding ones, albeit very different in character.'”

Once again, this symphony is recorded (or mastered) at a lower volume than those on CDs 1-19. I’m nearly full up with my volume, ‘buds in, and no hideous Muzak to compete with it and yet I still find myself straining to hear the slower, quieter passages.

Which is a shame because General Laudon, after whom the symphony is nicknamed, was probably a bold guy who didn’t pussyfoot around quietly.

The nickname originated with Haydn’s publisher Artaria, who issued a version for solo piano in the mid-1770s. As a device for increasing sales, Artaria attached to the work the name of a popular Austrian war hero, General Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon. Haydn agreed to make the keyboard arrangement, but insisted on omitting the final movement as inappropriate for keyboard performance. However, he endorsed Artaria’s sales maneuver, writing to his publisher on April 8, 1783 that the title “wird zu Beförderung des Verkaufs mehrs als zehen Finale beytragen” (will produce more sales than ten finales).

The last Movement (“Finale: Presto”) is a delight. I love the way Haydn’s violins skip and dance and pirouette, with bassoon, oboe, and horn bowing and dancing in, around, and between them.

Today’s Haydn CD was okay. But standout movements were few and far between for me.

The most fun I had was watching my wife (who came with me this time) read Pinterest and Instagram posts on her iPhone. Her smile always fills me with joy…

BethPaneraMorning…even when she’d rather be home in the sack, sleeping like a hibernating bear.

Especially then.

2 thoughts on “Day 20: Eavesdropping

  1. I think Haydn’s talent, prolificness, and enduring appeal indicate that he was one of the lucky few who discover their true purpose in life and do exactly what they were meant to be doing.

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