Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Symphony No.22 in E Flat Major, "The Philosopher"
Symphony No.29 in E Major
Symphony No.60 in C Major, "Il Distratto"
Joseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the son
of a wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen's
Cathedral in Vienna, he spent some years earning a living as best he could from teaching
and playing the violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora,
whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to a
Bohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in 1761 by employment as
Vice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in the Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterházy,
succeeded on his death in 1762 by his brother Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 of the
elderly and somewhat obstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydn succeeded to his
position, to remain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest of his life.
On the completion of the magnificent palace at Esterháza, in
the Hungarian plains under the new Prince, Haydn assumed command of an increased musical
establishment. Here he had responsibility for the musical activities of the palace, which
included the provision and direction of instrumental music, opera and theatre music, and
music for the church. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music of all kinds,
particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a bowed string
instrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.
On the death of Prince Nikolaus in
1790, Haydn was able to accept an invitation to visit London, where he provided music for
the concert season organized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successful
visit to London in 1794 and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with the Esterházy
family, the new head of which had settled principally at the family property in
Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career. Much of the year, however, was to be spent
in Vienna, where Haydn passed his final years, dying in 1809, as the French armies of
Napoleon approached the city yet again.
Whether Haydn was the father of the
symphony is a question best left to musical genealogists. His career, however, spanned the
period during which the classical symphony developed as the principal orchestral form. He
himself certainly played a major part in this development, from his first symphony some
time before 1759 to his final series of symphonies written for the greater resources of
London in 1794 and 1795. The London symphonies were preceded by similar works for Paris
and a much larger body of compositions of more modest scoring for the orchestra at
Esteráhza and at Eisenstadt, many of the last calling for a keyboard continuo, at least
with the relatively smaller number of string players available.
By 1764 Haydn had established himself in the favour of Prince
Nikolaus Esterházy and had assumed the general duties of Kapellmeister, in place of
Werner, who was now old and infirm. It was for Eisenstadt, the principal residence of the
Prince, that he wrote his Symphony No.22 in E flat
major, known to contemporaries and posterity as Der Philosoph. The scoring of the work is unusual,
calling for two cor anglais instead of the usual oboes, with bassoon, two horns in E flat,
strings and cembalo. Muted strings provide a quaver accompaniment at the outset to the
measured antiphonal notes of the wind instruments, the cor anglais answering the horns.
Structurally the movement echoes the old church sonata form, here offering a slow opening
movement dominated by the recurrent chorale-like theme that appears in various keys. The
second movement Presto offers a marked contrast of mood, its opening material briefly
developed, before re-appearing in a third and final section. The Trio, framed by the
customary repetition of the Minuet, allows prominence to the wind instruments, while the
Finale has the hunting-horns echoed by the cor anglais in the rhythms of the chase.
Haydn's Symphony No.29 in E
major was written in 1765 and scored for the usual orchestra of two oboes, two
horns and strings, with a bassoon doubling the bass line. The first movement opens with a
theme entrusted first to the strings, then capped by the oboes. Modulation to the dominant
key brings wide leaps in the first violin and the introduction of a triplet rhythm that
finds a place in the central development. The A major slow movement is in the hands of the
strings, with the first violins answered by the seconds. The wind instruments return for
the Minuet, but in the Trio the strings, now in E minor, are accompanied only by the
sustained notes of the horns in a characteristic dance. The last movement opens strongly,
proceeding to a development that momentarily relaxes the tension before the excitement of
a movement that forms the climax of the symphony, rather than serving as a final
light-hearted diversion.
In 1774 Haydn, now established at Esterháza, provided music
for the play Der Zerstreute, an adaptation
of the French comedy Le distrait, by Jean François Regnard, presented by the theatre
troupe led by Carl Wahr, who was engaged by Prince Nikolaus in successive summers. The
absent-mindedness of the principal character, on which the comedy revolves, is echoed in
Haydn's incidental music, the basis of his Symphony
No.60 in C major, othetwise known as Il
Distratto. Scored for an orchestra that includes trumpets and drums, it opens
with an introductory movement, an overture, that has a stately initial Adagio and a lively
Allegro, the latter fading to nothing in momentary forgetfulness, before resuming with a
forceful conclusion to the opening exposition. There is a similar lapse as the development
comes to an end. The second, slow movement, marked Andante, or, in some sources, Adagio,
is in G major and offers a gentle enough melody, interrupted more forcefully by the wind
instruments and in the middle section by what one source describes as an old French
melody. There is a Minuet and a Trio, the latter, in the key of C minor, suggesting local
peasant influence. The strings enter in unison in the C minor Presto that follows, with
its unexpected introduction of other melodies and keys. The drama now continues with an
Adagio that in one source carries the subtitle di
Lamentatione. Here a first violin melody is accompanied by the plucked notes of
the lower strings and the arpeggios of the second violins, a process suddenly interrupted
by the intrusion of wind instruments and drums. The speed of the movement increases,
leading to a finale Prestissimo for which the violins have forgotten to tune, and need to
adjust the bottom strings of their instruments from F to G. A further interruption allows
the appearance of an ominous folk-song, identified by scholars as The Night-Watchman, and
in consequence an allusion to the narrative.
Northern
Chamber Orchestra, Manchester
Formed in
1967, the Northern Chamber Orchestra in Manchester has established itself as one of
England's finest chamber ensembles. Though often augmented to meet the requirements of the
concert programme, the orchestra normally contains 24 musicians and performs both in
concert and on disc without a conductor. Their repertoire ranges from the baroque era to
music of our time, and they have gained a reputation for imaginative programme planning.
Concerts take the orchestra throughout the North of England and it has received four major
European bursaries for its achievements in the community. With a series of recordings for
Naxos the orchestra makes its debut on disc.
Nicholas
Ward
Nicholas Ward was born in Manchester
in 1952, the son of parents who had met as members of the Hallé Orchestra. In consequence
music played an important part in his life from childhood, allowing him, after less
successful attempts as a pianist, to learn the violin and, at the age of twelve, to form
his own string quartet. This last continued for some five years, until he entered the
Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he studied with Yossi Zivoni and
later, in Brussels, with André Gertler. In 1977 Nicholas Ward moved to London, where he
joined the Melos Ensemble and the Royal Philharmonic, when the orchestra worked under
Antal Dorati as its Principal Conductor. He became co-leader of the City of London
Sinfonia in 1984, a position followed by appointment as leader of the Northern Chamber
Orchestra, of which he became Music Director two years later, directing from the violin.
In this form the orchestra has won high regard for its work both in the concert hall and
the broadcasting studio.