12th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in E major Hoboken directory I: 12 wrote Joseph Haydn in 1763 during his tenure as Vice-Kapellmeister to Prince I. Nikolaus Esterházy .

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Symphonies 12, 29 and 44 are the only ones in Joseph Haydn's oeuvre in the symphony key E, which was unusual for the time, the first two in major, the last in minor. The symphony No. 12 is a typical example of the Austrian chamber symphony from the middle of the 18th century. The last movement, however, is no longer an easy “sweep”, but has its own weight, albeit not as pronounced as in the two Years later composed Symphony No. 29. The first movements of both E major symphonies are characterized by a lyrical and vocal character.

"In the balance of its three movements, in the appealing thematic invention and formal concentration, it is one of the best of Haydn's early symphonies."

"The rather modest, minuet-free Symphony 12 has its special charms: Even Pohl found it" one of the best and equally interesting in all movements "symphonies of the time."

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns in E, two violins , viola , cello , double bass . At that time, a bassoon was used to reinforce the bass voice, even without separate notation . On the participation of a harpsichord - continuos are competing views in Haydn's symphonies.

Performance time: approx. 12 - 20 minutes (depending on the tempo and adherence to the prescribed repetitions).

With the terms of the sonata form used here, it should be noted that this model was only designed at the beginning of the 19th century (see there) and can only be used with restrictions for a symphony from 1763. - The description and structure of the sentences given here is to be understood as a suggestion. Depending on the point of view, other delimitations and interpretations are also possible.

First movement: Allegro

E major, 157 bars, 2/2 time (alla breve)

The strings begin in unison and - unusual for the opening of a symphony of the period - with a gentle melody on the piano. The eight-bar theme is structured periodically and is taken up by the tutti in a slightly modified form from bar 9 onwards . From bar 17 there follows a passage with an even, throbbing tone repetition, a somewhat more energetic tone repetition motif with eighth barrels and a lead motif. From bar 34 onwards the movement, which had been moving relatively evenly until then, is interrupted by quarter pauses, with Haydn modulating to the dominant B major . The second theme (bar 39 ff., B major) is only performed by the strings and hardly contrasts in character with the first. The violins play to each other with viola / bass in the piano a figure of third falling in seconds . The movement finally comes to rest in the violins, while in the viola and bass it still stops in the form of quarter-beats. In this way, Haydn switched to the double dominant F sharp major (bar 49) for a short time. This is followed by the final section with powerful chords (change from F sharp major and B major) and even quarter-beats in the bass (bars 59–64, organ point on B).

In the following middle section with a transition character (no development in the strict sense) the strings first play two broken, diminished chords piano, which form a chromatically falling figure with their target G sharp . The section in G sharp is held in pianissimo. From bar 83 there is stronger movement, when the violins play a motif with eighth runs offset, and from bar 89 syncopation occurs .

The recapitulation from bar 97 is prepared for B above an organ point and is structured in a similar way to the exposition . B. the first theme in the repetition in pianissimo is slightly modified, and the transition section is also slightly varied. The exposition, the middle section and the recapitulation are repeated.

Second movement: Adagio

E minor, 69 bars, 6/8 time, strings only

The movement as a whole has echoes of the opera seria due to its forte unison outbursts, the chromatics, “deceptive cadences ” and the dissonances . The Adagio opens as a typical Siciliano motif in the leading violin, answered in sharp contrast by a broken, falling, diminished chord in forte unison. The answer is repeated. From bar 12 the opening motif comes back, now in B minor, followed by new material, which is characterized by its partly chromatic movement. Haydn changes to the double dominant F sharp major in order to close the first part with energetic octave leaps in the minor dominant in B minor. This is unusual in that Haydn usually ends the exposition in the corresponding parallel key (here: G major).

The second part begins piano as a variant of the Siciliano motif in E major. This is followed by strongly contrasting runs in unison and forte, chromatic sections in A minor and G major as well as a sequenced motif with a fourth that already appeared in bar 20. In bar 44 the opening motif in E minor follows again, followed by a chromatic section with the fourth motif. The vigorous octave leaps again form the end, interrupted by a short solo for the violins. Both parts of the sentence are repeated.

Dietmar Holland thinks that Haydn "never before [...] designed musical attitudes and characters so perfectly in expression in a similar way" as here. The sentence reminds Antony Hodgson of the melancholy of a shepherd in an 18th century landscape.

Third movement: Presto

E major, 133 bars, 2/4 time

The first theme is based on the ascending E major triad with tone repetition. It is structured periodically, is performed in the forte and repeated with a modified ending that leads directly into the transition passage from bar 17. Here the tone repetition motif is spun as an upbeat variant. After a caesura on the dominant in B major, a further variant of the motif follows from bar 39, now in the piano and with a bulging trill, which, depending on your perspective, can be understood as a second theme. The final group up to bar 57 is kept in forte throughout and consists of unison figures and tremolo .

In the development the triad motif appears from different levels, interrupted by a new, falling motif in staggered use. From bar 85 the recapitulation begins with a shortened transition section. It is noticeable that the entire sentence, with the exception of the “second topic”, is kept in the forte. The exposition, the middle section and the recapitulation are repeated.

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ a b c James Webster: Hob.I: 12 Symphony in E major. Informational text on Haydn's 12th Symphony in the “Haydn 100 & 7” project, see under web links
  2. ^ Walter Lessing: The symphonies of Joseph Haydn, in addition: all masses. A series on Südwestfunk Baden-Baden 1987-89. Volume 1. Baden-Baden 1989, p. 53.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Braun, Sonja Gerlach: Symphonies 1761 to 1763. In: Joseph Haydn Institute Cologne (ed.): Joseph Haydn works. Series I, Volume 3. G. Henle-Verlag, Munich 1990, page IX.
  4. ↑ Examples: a) James Webster: On the Absence of Keyboard Continuo in Haydn's Symphonies. In: Early Music Volume 18 No. 4, 1990, pp. 599-608); b) Hartmut Haenchen : Haydn, Joseph: Haydn's orchestra and the harpsichord question in the early symphonies. Booklet text for the recordings of the early Haydn symphonies. , online (accessed June 26, 2019), to: H. Haenchen: Early Haydn Symphonies , Berlin Classics, 1988–1990, cassette with 18 symphonies; c) Jamie James: He'd Rather Fight Than Use Keyboard In His Haydn Series . In: New York Times , October 2, 1994 (accessed June 25, 2019; showing various positions by Roy Goodman , Christopher Hogwood , HC Robbins Landon and James Webster). Most orchestras with modern instruments currently (as of 2019) do not use a harpsichord continuo. Recordings with harpsichord continuo exist. a. by: Trevor Pinnock ( Sturm und Drang symphonies , archive, 1989/90); Nikolaus Harnoncourt (No. 6-8, Das Alte Werk, 1990); Sigiswald Kuijken (including Paris and London symphonies ; Virgin, 1988-1995); Roy Goodman (e.g. Nos. 1-25, 70-78; Hyperion, 2002).
  5. ↑ a b c The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in many recordings.
  6. ^ Dietmar Holland: Joseph Haydn. In: Attila Csampai & Dietmar Holland (eds.): The concert guide. Orchestral music from 1700 to the present day. Rowohlt-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-8052-0450-7 , p. 77 ff.
  7. ^ Antony Hodgson: The Music of Joseph Haydn . The Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London 1976, ISBN 0-8386-1684-4 , p. 53: "Rather it reflects the melancholy of a shepherd left to his thoughts in an Eighteenth-century landscape."

Web links, notes

See also