Oxford Music Online

10. Orchestral music.

Although Haydn’s sobriquet ‘father of the symphony’ is not literally true, in a deeper sense it is apt: there is no other genre in Western music for which the output of a single composer is at once so vast in extent (106 works: hI:1–104, 107–8), so historically important and of such high artistic quality. His pre-Esterházy symphonies (most composed for Count Morzin) comprise nos.1, 37 and 18 (the earliest); 2, 4–5, 10–11, 17, 19–20, 25, 27, 32, 107; and possibly 3 and 15. All are scored for two oboes, two horns and strings except for no.32 (with trumpets) and perhaps nos.27 and 37 (in which the parts for horns and oboes respectively may not be original); the majority are in three movements, fast–slow–fast. The distinction between a relatively weighty first movement and a faster finale is already present; the interior movement for strings alone is only moderately slow (Andante) and ‘light’ in style. Only nos.3 and 20 exhibit the later standard four-movement pattern; in nos.32 and 37 the minuet precedes the slow movement (found also in nos.108, 44, 68). In nos.5 in A and 11 in E (the only ones in keys this distant from C), the slow movement comes first and is a weighty Adagio, producing the sequence slow–fast–minuet–fast with all four movements in the tonic (found also in nos.21–2, 34, 49). These early symphonies combine Italian and Austrian, light and serious, traditional and up-to-date features. Notwithstanding their limited outward dimensions, they are masterful; many exhibit considerable thematic integration (no.15) or manipulate generic norms to artistic effect (the opening movements of nos.15 and 25 are unusual in form, in ways that relate to the character and ordering of the succeeding movements); in no.3 the finale combines fugue and sonata form.

Haydn’s years as Esterházy vice-Kapellmeister (1761–5) were his most productive as a symphony composer, with about 25 works (nos.6–9, 12–16, 21–4, 28–31, 33–4, 36, 39–40, 72, 108(B)); nos.35, 38 and 58–9 from about 1766–7 are similar. They exhibit great variety of style, subject matter and orchestral treatment, although the common notion that they constituted a distinctly ‘experimental’ phase is untenable. Their stylistic élan and virtuoso brilliance are attributable to the splendour of the court and the professional players now at Haydn’s disposal. One finds works for connoisseurs (nos.6–8, 13, 21–2, 31), others that seek to entertain (nos.9, 16, 33, 36, 72, 108) and still others that combine both stances (nos.34, 39–40). A few present an apotheosis of the chamber symphony: at ease, yet refined and profound (nos. 28–9, 35). Extra-musical aspects are present not only in the Matin–Midi–Soir trilogy (see §3(i)) but also nos.30 (‘Alleluja’), 31 (‘Hornsignal’), and perhaps 22 (‘The Philosopher’) and 59 (‘Fire’, a modern nickname deriving from its supposed origin as incidental music). Although a few symphonies are still in three movements (nos.9, 12, 16, 30), four is now the norm. Concertante scoring is prominent not only in nos.6–8 but in nos.9, 13, 14, 16, 31, 36, 72 and 108; a special effect found in this period alone is the use of four horns rather than the usual two (nos.13, 31, 39, 72).

Haydn’s symphonies of the years around 1770 (nos.26, 41–9, 52, 65) are widely described as exemplifying his Sturm und Drang style; those of 1773–4 (nos.50, 51, 54–7, 60, 64), while less extreme, have many points of contact with it. The most commonly cited feature is the minor mode – of Haydn’s ten symphonies in the minor, six fall between 1765 and 1772 – although most works remain in the major, and most of the novel stylistic features are independent of mode. These include remote keys (no.45, ‘Farewell’, in F minor and major, and no.46 in B major), rhythmic and harmonic complexities, expansion of outward dimensions and harmonic range, rhythmic instability, extremes of dynamics and register, greater technical difficulty, increased use of counterpoint (e.g. in the canonic minuet of no.44, ‘Mourning’), musical ideas that seem dynamically potential rather than self-contained, and contrast within themes instead of merely between them. The slow movements and finales become more nearly comparable to the first movements in size and weight; in the former the violins play con sordino and the tempo is usually slowed to Adagio. No.26 (‘Lamentatione’) has religious associations and no.49 (‘La passione’) may have as well. The programmatic nos.45–6 (they seem to be a pair) are integrated in a through-composed, end-orientated manner not seen again until Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

From about 1775 (in some respects 1773) to 1781 Haydn again changed his orientation. Symphonies nos.53, 61–3, 66–71 and 73–5 are primarily in a light, even popular style (only no.70 is an exception), perhaps reflecting his resumption of operatic composition in 1773; indeed nos.53, 62, 63 and 73 include adaptations of stage-music (see §3(iii)), as had nos.50 (1773) and 60 (1774) before them. This stylistic turn has been interpreted as a kind of relaxation, or even as an outright selling out, but it is better understood as representing the distinct artistic stance of entertainment. They are easy (as Haydn was to say of nos.76–8), but superbly crafted, and abound in striking and beautiful passages, not to mention witty and eccentric ones: works of comic genius that approach the buffa stage. The slow movements exhibit new formal and stylistic options (the hymn-like no.61, the exquisitely ‘popular’ theme in no.53, the play of comic and serious in no.68, the ethereal dream in no.62), while the finales adumbrate rondo and hybrid forms. Slow introductions become important about 1779 and begin to create tangible links to the allegros (nos.53, 71 and 73).

During the 1780s Haydn’s style changed again, as he began to sell his symphonies abroad, in ‘opus’ format (see §3(iv) above). Although in many respects nos.76–81 (1782–4) are still ‘easy’, they include superb movements such as the opening Vivace of no.81 and the finales of nos.77 (with its contrapuntal development) and 80 (with its cross-rhythm theme). In nos.78 and 80 Haydn returns to the minor, although from no.80 on he usually ends such movements in the major, and places the entire finale in the major as well. The Paris symphonies (nos.82–7) are the grandest he had yet composed. Nos.87, 83 and 85 (1785) already have a new esprit, a combination of learned and popular style, consistency of musical argument and depth of feeling; see the slow movements of nos.83 and 87 and the outer movements of no.85 (the opening Vivace is particularly graceful and harmoniously constructed). In nos.82 and 86 (1786) the trumpets and drums lend added brilliance and the outer movements are on a still larger scale; the Capriccio of no.86 is one of Haydn’s most original slow movements. All these features characterize nos.88 and 90–92 as well (no.89 falls off somewhat). Nos.88 and 92 are the best-known: the former boasts concentrated, in part contrapuntal, outer movements, while the gorgeous Largo theme is set off by entries of the trumpets and drums (withheld from the first movement for this purpose); the latter features an unusually close integration of slow introduction and Allegro, a beautiful Adagio, rhythmically intricate trio and Haydn’s sprightliest and wittiest finale to date.

Haydn’s London symphonies (nos.93–104) crown his career as a symphonic composer. Not only do they outdo the Paris symphonies stylistically, but he produced them in person for rapturous audiences; this interaction stimulated him to ever bolder and more original conceptions. Nos.95–6 (1791) most nearly resemble the preceding symphonies, although no.95 in C minor has a gripping opening movement dominated by a striking unison motto, an ominously terse minuet and a brilliant sonata-fugal finale in C major (possibly influenced by the finale of Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’). Those given in 1792 (nos.93–4, 97–8) respond to Haydn’s public: in no.94 the famous outburst in the Andante is actually the least remarkable ‘surprise’; the opening Vivace reaches new heights of tonal wit and expansive brilliance, and the concluding sonata-rondo is the first to exhibit the blend of rhythmic vitality, playful surprise, larger scale and underlying cogency of argument that distinguish Haydn’s London finales. These last features are found in nos.97–8 as well, along with a new romanticism in the opening movement of no.97 (the breathtaking diminished 7th chord in bar 2, which returns at several key points, and the remote flat-side modulations in the recapitulation); in no.98 Haydn composed an extended fortepiano obbligato for himself in the coda of the finale.

The last six symphonies are even more brilliant (clarinets are added, except in no.102); Haydn’s determination to conquer new territory with each work is palpable. No.99 in E is his most elaborate symphonic essay in remote tonal relations; it also features a particularly warm slow movement (in G major), with extensive wind writing (much commented on at the time). No.101 (‘Clock’) has by far the longest minuet and trio Haydn ever composed and a particularly brilliant rondo finale. No.100 (‘Military’) rapidly became his most popular, owing to the slow movement based on a romance (from the lyre concerto hVIIh:3), overlaid by massive percussion outbursts that audiences found deliciously terrifying. No.102 is the least ‘characteristic’ of these six, yet one of the greatest; its most remarkable movement is the Adagio (identical in musical substance to that in the F minor Piano Trio hXV:26), in which the exposition is repeated in order to vary the instrumentation, with muted trumpets and drums. No.103 (‘Drumroll’) offers Haydn’s most telling invocation of the sublime in instrumental music, by means of an astonishing double annunciation: first the ‘intrada’ fortissimo drum roll, then the mysterious bass theme (resembling the ‘Dies irae’), which dominates the Allegro as well and, even more astonishingly, interrupts the recapitulation near the end. No.104 begins with a massive dotted motif on the 5th D–A, which some commentators describe as dominating the entire symphony; the first movement is one of Haydn’s freest and the finale has greater relative weight than that in any other of the London symphonies.

Besides the symphonies Haydn’s orchestral music comprises the six early Scherzandi (hII:33–8), a few miscellaneous symphonic movements, overtures and instrumental numbers from operas and oratorios, incidental music, more than 100 minuets (many lost), of which the most important are the magnificent minuets and German dances hIX:11–12 (1792), and four late marches. He also composed numerous concertos, both for melody instruments (many of them lost) and for keyboard. Of the former, the most important are two virtuoso early Esterházy works: the Violin Concerto in C (hVIIa:1) and the massive Cello Concerto in C (hVIIb:1), and two late works: the Concertante (hI:105, 1792) and the Trumpet Concerto (1796), composed for Anton Weidinger’s ‘keyed’ trumpet (a forerunner of the valve trumpet). The six concertos for two lire organizzate (hVIIh:1–5; the sixth is lost), commissioned by the King of Naples in 1786, represent a special case; restricted to the keys of C, G and F and by the technical limitations of the instruments, they are Haydn’s shortest and most modest concertos, though delightful in every way.

Haydn’s three earliest keyboard concertos (1756 to c1761) were probably composed for organ, although they were more widely disseminated as harpsichord works; hXVIII:1 in C (?1756) is his earliest surviving large-scale instrumental composition, while no.3 in F is an unusual double concerto for organ or harpsichord and violin. Later came nos.4 in F (probably c1770) and 5 in G (probably the early 1770s), both for harpsichord, and no.11, the Piano Concerto in D (c1783–4), Haydn’s only popular work in this genre. A distinct subgenre comprises the early concertinos (hXIV:11–13, XVIII:F2), not easily distinguished from a group of similar, probably soloistic divertimentos (hXIV:3, 4, 7–10); all are tiny works for harpsichord, violins and bass, mainly in C. Although finely crafted, his keyboard concertos are less original and less popular than his symphonies, perhaps in part because he favours the middle register (except in no.11), eschews both overt and technical display and cantabile writing (except in slow movements), and includes many sequential passages. (These features reflect a particular stylistic orientation, not limitations on Haydn’s imagination or his prowess as a performer. The old canard that he was a mediocre keyboard player has long been laid to rest; his statement to Griesinger that ‘I was no mean keyboard player and singer’ was clearly an understatement, for he continued, ‘I could also perform a concerto on the violin’.)

James Webster