Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Symphony No.83 in G Minor, La Poule
Symphony No.94 in G Major, Surprise
Symphony No.101 in D Major, The Clock
Joseph Haydn was as prolific as any eighteenth century composer, his
fecundity a matter, in good part, of the nature of his employment and the
length of his life. Born in 1732 in the village of Rohrau, the son of a
wheelwright, he was recruited to the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna
at the age of eight, later earning a living as best he could as a musician in
the capital and making useful acquaintances through his association with
Metastasio, the Court Poet, and the composer Nicola Porpora.
In 1759, after some eight years of teaching and free-lance performance,
whether as violinist or keyboard-player, Haydn found greater security in a
position in the household of Count Morzin as director of music, wintering in
Vienna and spending the summer on the Count's estate in Bohemia, where an
orchestra was available. In 1760 Haydn married the eldest daughter of a wig-maker,
a match that was to bring him no great solace, and by the following year he had
entered the service of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy as deputy to the old
Kapellmeister Gregor Werner, who had much fault to find with his young
colleague. In 1762 Prince Paul Anton died and was succeeded by his brother
Prince Nikolaus, who concerned himself with the building of the great palace of
Esterháza. In 1766 Werner died, and Haydn assumed the full duties of
Kapellmeister, spending the larger part of the year at Esterháza and part of
the winter at Eisenstadt, where his first years of service to the Esterházy
family had passed.
Haydn's responsibilities at Esterháza were manifold. As Kapellmeister
he was in full charge of the musicians employed by the Prince, writing music of
all kinds, and directing performances both instrumental and operatic. This busy
if isolated career came to an end with the death of Prince Nikolaus in 1790.
From then onwards Haydn had greater freedom, while continuing to enjoy the
title and emoluments of his position as Kapellmeisterto the Prince's
successors.
Haydn's release from his immediate responsibilities allowed him, in
1791, to accept an invitation to visit London, where he provided music for the
concerts organised by Johann Peter Salomon. His considerable success red to a
second visit in 1794. The following year, at the request of the new Prince
Esterházy, who had succeeded his eider brother in 1794, he resumed some of his
earlier duties as Kapellmeister, now in Eisenstadt and in Vienna, where he took
up his own residence until his death in 1809.
In 1778 Mozart had visited Paris in the hope of finding ernployment of
a suitable kind. He had there obliged the public with a symphony written for
the larger orchestra available in the French capital. At Esterháza Haydn had an
orchestra of some dozen string players. The concerts of the masonic Loge
olympique, for which Haydn provided a set of symphonies in 1785, could muster
40 violins and ten basses. These Haydn Paris Symphonies had been commissioned
by the young Comte d'Ogny and were performed in the 1787 season.
Symphony No.83, the second of the set, bears the nickname La Poule, not
with reference to any lady of the French court, although the young Count's
mistress was the subject of considerable comment, but a farm-yard reference to
the clucking of the hen. The first movement has an ironically old-fashioned air
about its opening subject, its intentions made clear by the clucking of the
second subject, a witty juxtaposition given still more point in the central
development section. The second movement is an E flat major Andante, with its
own dynamic surprises, followed by a Minuet and Trio, the latter with a
particularly charming dance like melody. The symphony ends with a witty and
varied finale.
In 1791 Haydn had visited England for the first time, responding to the
invitation and commission offered by the German-born violinist Salomon. Six new
symphonies were to be provided for the subscription concerts organised by
Salomon at the Hanover Square Rooms. Symphony
No.94 was to be performed at a concert on 23rd March, 1792, the
sixth of the new series, and proved to have an enduring popularity.
The first movement opens with a slow introduction, followed by a gentle
enough first subject and a double second subject. The well known C major slow
movement provides the surprise of a sudden burst of sound, interrupting the
steady progress of the melody, which is then varied. The Minuet is much quicker
than is usually the case, its Trio opening with first violins and bassoon in
octaves. The finale is launched, as usual, by the strings, with a cheerful
first subject, succeeded by a contrasting second subject in sonata form.
Symphony No.101 belongs
to the group of six symphonies written for Haydn's second visit to London in
1794. It was played there at a concert on 3rd March, followed by operatic
songs, a performance by Viotti of a violin concerto and by Fiorillo of a
Chaconne. Again, as with most of the London symphonies, there is a slow
introduction, this time in D minor, an eerie preface to a bright D major
movement from which the symphony derives its nickname, The Clock, its source
the accompanying figure with which the movement opens. The Minuet returns from
G major to the key of D major, its Trio providing a lop-sided clock
accompaniment to the initial flute melody. The symphony ends with a finale in
which the second subject is a clear variant of the first. There is a D minor
section, replaced by the major key to bring the work to a dramatic conclusion.
Capella Istropolitana
The Capella Istropolitana was founded in 1983 by members of the Slovak
Philharmonic Orchestra, at first as a chamber orchestra and then as an
orchestra large enough to tackle the standard classical repertoire. Based in
Bratislava, its name drawn from the ancient name still preserved in the
Academia Istropolitana, the historic university established in the Slovak and
one-time Hungarian capital by Matthias Corvinus, the orchestra works
principally in the recording studio. Recordings by the orchestra on the Naxos
label include The Best of Baroque Music, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, fifteen
each of Mozart's and Haydn's symphonies as well as works by Handel, Vivaldi and
Telemann.
Barry Wordsworth
Barry Wordsworth's career has been dominated by his work for the Royal
Ballet which started when he played the solo part in Frank Martin's Harpsichord
Concerto, which was the score used by Sir Kenneth MacMillan for his ballet, Las Hermanas. In 1973 he became Assistant
Conductor of the Royal Ballet's Touring Orchestra and in 1974 Principal
Conductor of Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet. He made his debut at Covent Garden
conducting MacMillan's Manon in
1975 and since then has conducted there frequently. He has toured extensively
with the Royal Ballet, conducting orchestras in New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Korea, Canada and Australia, where he has been guest conductor for
Australian Ballet.
In 1987 while retaining his connection with both Royal Ballet companies
as guest conductor, Barry Wordsworth also worked with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Ulster
Orchestra, the BBC Concert and the London Philharmonic Orchestras. He also
continued to work with New Sadlers Wells Opera, with whom he has recorded
excerpts from Kalman's Countess Maritza
and Lehar's The Count of Luxembourg
and The Merry Widow. For the
Naxos label Wordsworth recorded a number of Mozart and Haydn symphonies, works
by Smetana and Dvorak and for the Marco Polo label works by Bax.