2nd symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in C major Hoboken directory I: 2 wrote Joseph Haydn probably from 1757 to 1759 during his period of employment with Count Morzin.

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Haydn probably composed the symphony in C major Hoboken index I: 2 between 1757 and 1759 during his employment with Count Morzin. The autograph of the symphony is lost, but contemporary copies of the parts are available. The authenticity is assured by the entry in Haydn's personal "draft catalog".

A special feature of the work is that the sentences do not have repetitions of parts of the sentence, as is usual. Despite its temporal proximity to Symphony No. 1, there are clear structural differences in comparison, and the first movement of Symphony No. 2 in particular is highlighted as being particularly highlighted in literature reviews:

According to Howard Chandler Robbins Landon , a comparison of the first movements of symphonies 1 and 2 shows a constant struggle between the pure baroque style and pre-classical elements of the Viennese, Mannheim and Italian schools. Regardless of their very different structures, numbers 1 and 2 are worlds apart. Symphony No. 1 is based more on the Mannheim school, while No. 2 returns to baroque cadences and long, deliberately archaic sequences . Nevertheless, No. 2 is clearly modern in terms of the general structure and thematic development. It is difficult to believe that both symphonies were composed a few years apart. The formal, orchestral and harmonic structure of the first movement is completely different from Haydn's other symphonic movements from this period.

“The C major symphony I: 2 comes from a completely different world - if you didn't know otherwise, you would hardly assume that the two works have the same author. Here the first movement connects homophonic and contrapuntal sections in such a way that the main motif of the homophonic beginning becomes one of the contrapuntal motifs, and the large form combines elements of the sonata movement and the ritornello form; On the dominant level, a contrapuntal incursion in G minor instead of G major appears, as the 'correct' dominant the main clause in G major, including contrapuntal-motivic processing, and so it goes on in a true puzzle. "

“This symphony refutes once and for all the opinion that the instrumental works of the young Haydn are 'conventional'. The opening Allegro is unique; it is the subject of some kind of dialogue or confrontation between traditional and modern styles. Although it simply begins with a hauntingly dotted unison theme and a homophonic continuation, the piano counter-representation suddenly evokes learned counterpoint. Indeed, the whole set is mastered by free alternations between homophonic and contrapuntal passages based on the ascending dotted theme. But this sentence is also formally unique. It is Haydn's only quick symphonic opening movement that lacks the inner repetitions of its two parts (...). "

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns , two violins , viola , cello , double bass . At that time, a bassoon was used to reinforce the bass voice, even without separate notation. There are different opinions about the involvement of a harpsichord continuo in Haydn's symphonies.

Performance time: approx. 10 minutes.

With the terms of the sonata form used here, it should be noted that this scheme was designed in the first half of the 19th century (see there) and can therefore only be transferred to a work from around 1760 with restrictions. - 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

C major, 2/2 time (alla breve), 194 measures

Beginning of the Allegro

The first theme (or the thematic unit, bars 1–19) is consistently forte and consists of several motifs: At the beginning there is a unison motif, in which, after the opening octave jump down, a scale begins over an octave upwards in dotted rhythm ( Motif 1, "scale motif"), followed by a further ascent (as a fifth) in eighth notes and a cadencing twist in quarters (motif 2, "cadence motif"). After repeating motif 1, motif 3 follows in dotted rhythm and with trills ("trill motif"), but the interval jumps are larger. The final turn of the theme ends with an emphasis on the tonic in C major (triads and horn fanfare, bars 17-19).

Immediately afterwards, the 2nd violin begins piano with the scale motif, shortly afterwards accompanied by the other strings - with the 1st violin playing a gradually descending counterpart, to which the 2nd violin then joins in a shifted manner. Now the whole orchestra starts again with two variants of the trill motif (the first without, the second with dotted rhythm), then from bar 34 with motif 4 in separate movement. Haydn switches to the dominant G major, which is reached in bar 41.

The second “theme” (motif 5, from bar 41) is then contrasted in the minor dominant (G minor). It is performed piano as a dialogue by the strings: The 1st violin begins as a "question" with its upbeat three-tone motif in dotted rhythm, answered by a four-tone ascending fourth-tone motif of the 2nd violin and viola. Both elements can be derived from the scale motif. Then the other strings also take up the four-tone motif in a dialog (1st violin and bass as well as 2nd violin and viola together) and sequence it downwards.

The final group begins again forte and contains, in addition to the tremolo of the violins, motif 6 in dotted rhythm. After a piano scale over a decimal point up on the violins, Haydn finishes the first part with chords in G major.

The development deals in particular with the scale motif: This is sequenced twice in thirds downwards (bars 74–80 in the bass, bars 94–100 in the 1st oboes and 1st violins) and each time counterpointed by opposing voices. The scale also occurs downwards instead of upwards (bars 79–81 in the violins). In bar 113, pianissimo follows a passage that is similar to the one from bar 19: the 1st violins begin with a motif in dotted rhythm (reminiscent of motif 1) in the context of an ascending fifth (reminiscent of motif 2), the 2nd violins set offset one - the subsequent gradual descent corresponds to that from bars 20–24. Haydn also processes the trill figure from the trill motif (from measure 82, piano, violins), from measure 100 onwards a scale fragment downwards (reminiscent of the scale motif, alternating between bass and 1st violin) and from measure 108 onwards, the variant becomes of the trill motif from measure 25.

Compared to the exposition, the recapitulation from bar 134 is initially shortened, with motif 4 immediately following the “first theme” (corresponding to bars 1–19) with its separate movement. The final group is extended, however, by sequencing the scale motif again in thirds downwards after motif 6 (similar to from bar 94) with a short appendix in the bass (reversal of the scale motif in the fifth frame). The piano scale over a decimal point up the violins ends the movement with chord strokes in the forte as in the exposition.

According to Anthony Hodgson (1976), the movement is reminiscent of the finale from Haydn's First Horn Concerto.

Second movement: Andante

G major, 2/4 time, 78 bars

The two-part movement is only for strings and is consistently piano. The parallel violins play an uninterrupted, perpetual motion-like melody in regular sixteenth notes, which is often decorated with trills on the first bar. Likewise, the viola and bass instruments accompanying their striding movement are guided in parallel.

Due to the evenly flowing movement (predominantly legato, sometimes a little staccato), it is hardly possible to identify themes or motifs that contrast with one another. The first eight bars are characterized by the tonic in G major, then Haydn changes to the dominant D major (reached around bar 16). The first part ends in bar 30 and merges seamlessly into a middle part with minor opacity. The recapitulation begins in measure 54. It is structured similar to the first part, but shorter.

Due to the continuously flowing movement of the upper parts and the striding basses, the Andante is based on late Baroque models, especially the baroque spinning technique.

Third movement: Presto

C major, 3/8 time, 231 bars

The movement is structured as a rondo with the main theme ( refrain ) and two couplets .

  • A part (bars 1-56, refrain): Presentation of the periodically structured, dance-like main theme with trills and staccato throughout the orchestra with parallel upper parts (oboes, violins) as well as middle and lower parts (viola and bass). The A part is made up of three parts in the aba scheme: The a part represents the actual refrain theme, while the b part continues the theme briefly and then with a motif variant from the main theme, which is shifted from "top to bottom" by the voices runs, already transferred back to the a-part.
  • Couplet 1 (bars 57–91) is in C minor and is designed for piano strings. The 1st violin begins in three approaches with a motif, the 2nd violin follows, offset by one measure, imitating it, then accompanying the other strings.
  • The refrain is repeated from bars 92 to 129.
  • Couplet 2 (bars 130–173) is in the subdominant F major. The oboes are silent. Like the refrain, it is made up of three parts (pattern cdc´). The first part (F major, pianissimo) is characterized by its question-and-answer turn with trills and the falling falling line, the second (piano) shows an up-and-down movement in C minor. Then the first part is repeated as a variant. The trill and the ascending or descending line can be interpreted as derived from the refrain, depending on your point of view.
  • The refrain is then repeated again.

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ Information page of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  2. ^ A b Anthony Hodgson: The Music of Joseph Haydn. The Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London 1976, ISBN 0-8386-1684-4 , p. 47.
  3. ↑ Jens Peter Larsen, Walter Feder: Haydn. London, Macmillan 1982.
  4. ↑ According to Marggraf (2009) this could be an oversight at the time of printing.
  5. ^ A b Howard Chandler Robbins Landon: The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn. Universal Edition & Rocklife, London 1955, p. 208.
  6. ^ Robbins Landon (1955): “A comparison between the first movements of Nos. 1 and 2 will illustrate the constant struggle between purely baroque and Viennese Italian-Mannheim pre-classical elements. Even aside from their vastly different structures, Nos. 1 and 2 are worlds apart. Symphony No. 1 looks partly to the Mannheim school for its inspiration while No. 2 reverts to baroque cadences and long, deliberately archaic sequences, though it is distinctly modern as regards general structure and thematic development. It is hard to believe that the two symphonies were composed within a year or two of each other; and yet this must have been the case. ” (p. 208) “ The movement is in fact entirely different in formal, orchestral and harmonic structure from its chronological companions. ” (p. 211).
  7. ↑ as the Symphony No. 1
  8. ↑ Ludwig Finscher: Joseph Haydn and his time . Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2000, ISBN 3-921518-94-6 , pp. 136-137.
  9. ↑ a b James Webster: Hob.I: 2 Symphony in C major . Website of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  10. ↑ Examples: a) James Webster: On the Absence of Keyboard Continuo in Haydn's Symphonies. . In: Early Music Band. 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 ( inter alia Paris and London symphonies ; Virgin, 1988–1995); Roy Goodman (e.g. Nos. 1-25, 70-78; Hyperion, 2002).
  11. ^ Wolfgang Marggraf : Haydn's earliest symphonies (1759–1761). The symphonies of the three-movement Italian type. http://haydn-sinfonien.de/text/chapter2.1.html Status of the text: 2009. Accessed December 10, 2012.
  12. ↑ Baroque spinning technique: “the uninterrupted, only little articulated flow of the upper voice in relatively uniform movement with frequent sequencing over calmly stepping basses […].” (Marggraf 2009).

Web links, notes

See also