30th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in C major Hoboken directory I: 30 wrote Joseph Haydn in 1765 during his tenure as Vice-Kapellmeister to Prince I. Nikolaus Esterházy . Its nickname "Alleluia" goes back to the main theme of the first movement, which is based on the Easter alleluia of the corresponding Gregorian chant .

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

From the year Symphony No.; 30 (1765) was composed, three further symphonies by Joseph Haydn have been preserved in dated autographs : No.; 28 , No.; 29 and No.; 31 .

The name "Alleluja" is already present on contemporary copies of the symphony. It is based on the use of the Gregorian alleluia of the Easter liturgy in the main theme of the first movement. Other composers of the 18th century also used this alleluia - e.g. B. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the canon Köchelverzeichnis 553 or Gottlieb Muffat as the theme of a fugue. Haydn himself used the theme again in the Baryton Trio in D major Hoboken Index XI: 64, the first movement of which goes back to the first movement of Symphony No. 30.

Due to the use of the Gregorian alleluia, the symphony was perhaps (also) composed for church use (possible performance on Easter Sunday 1765).

A special feature of the symphony is the merging of the minuet and finale into a rondo-like "Tempo di Menuet" - a type of form that Haydn also used in piano sonatas and piano trios, but only rarely used in the symphonies (similar structure e.g. in No. ; 18 ).

To the music

Instrumentation: transverse flute (only in the second and third movements), 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 . On the participation of a harpsichord - continuos are competing views in Haydn's symphonies.

Performance time: approx. 15 minutes.

With the terms of the sonata form used here, it should be taken into account 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 1765. - 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, 4/4 time, 81 bars

The main melody based on the alleluia

The movement opens with an eight-bar theme, which consists of two-bar building blocks and whose trills and runs give it a baroque character. The leading parts are the 1st oboe and 1st violin. Hidden in the middle voices (2nd oboe, horns, 2nd violin, partly bass) - overlaid by the "main melody" - the Gregorian alleluia appears (in a rhythmically adapted form: with an upbeat and interrupted by pauses). The main melody can be interpreted as a play around the Alleluja version performed by the middle voices.

From bar 8, there is a passage with small fanfares, virtuoso runs and a repeated note motif. The second theme (bar 20; ff.) In the dominant key of G major represents a further variant of the alleluja: the parallel violins play the beginning of the theme in the piano under a long held D of the 1st oboe, decorated with trills, cloudiness Minor and modulations over G minor, D major, B flat major and E flat major. The theme (the first four notes) is then spun out in a tremolo passage (bar 30; ff.) And leads to the short final group (bars 35–37). The exposition ends with chords on G and is repeated.

The implementation starts in G major, such as exposure to the superposition of the two subjects. From bar 45, Haydn modulates with sixteenths runs in the violins over A minor, D minor, G major, C major and E major - underlaid by the theme of the alleluia motif in the other strings and the 2nd oboe. A falling line in the tremolo leads back to the tonic in C major, in which the recapitulation begins in bar 58 .

In contrast to the exposition, the alleluia theme now appears clearly audible in the solo winds. After just one transition bar, the variant of the Alleluja corresponding to the second theme in C major / minor (bar 64; ff. Analogous to bar 20; ff.) With a long held G in the 1st oboe or the horns follows. The subsequent tremolo passage and the final group structurally correspond to the exposure. The development and recapitulation are also repeated.

Haydn may have assigned the first occurrence of the alleluia to the middle voices in order to incorporate the biblical saying “the last will be the first” into the music.

Second movement: Andante

G major, 2/4 time, 71 bars, with solo flute, without horns

The periodically structured main theme of the movement takes on a striding character thanks to its characteristic dotted rhythm. The other motifs of the sentence can be derived from the elements of this main theme (especially the dotted rhythm).

From bars 9–12, the solo flute takes up the theme as a variant. The following bird-call-like motif in the oboe in dialogue with a string unison phrase can also be traced back to the main theme. This dialogue is repeated with different roles (violins instead of oboes, flute instead of violins). The passage is in the dominant key of D major and can therefore, depending on your point of view, be viewed as a second theme due to its instrumentation / timbre, which contrasts with the previous event.

The section from bar 21ff. is based on a figure in the violins which, after two attempts, turns upwards in a dotted rhythm and ends in the final motif (bars 27ff.). Here the oboe takes up the “bird call motif” again, which is similar to the motif of the final group from the first movement. The exposition ends in bar 29 in D major.

The following “middle section” (no development in the narrower sense, since no material from the exposition is processed) first brings the main theme again in D major, in order to then offer space for a longer solo of the flute. Haydn modulates downwards in the circle of fifths (bars 35ff.): E minor / major, A minor, D major, G major and C major. The recapitulation (from bar 45) is structured in a similar way to the exposition, but the instrumentation is slightly different (e.g. the flute is included in the final group).

Third movement: finale. Tempo di Menuet, più tosto Allegretto

C major, 3/4 time, 115 bars

A special feature of the symphony is the merging of the minuet and finale into a rondo-like “Tempo di Menuet”. The minuet has two trios, but no repetitions of the minuet part between Trio I and II (form type: ABCA). The whole orchestra is involved in the minuet (bars 1–32 and 71ff.) And Trio II (bars 53–70, A minor), while the Landler-like Trio I (bars 32–52, F major) only for flute and Strider is set.

The movement ends with a short coda in fortissimo. The Trio II has u. a. because of its chromaticity - like the trios of the 1765 symphonies No. 28 and No. 29 - have Slavic features.

Web links, notes

Individual references, comments

  1. ^ Horst Walter: Symphonies 1764 and 1765. In: Joseph Haydn Institute Cologne (Ed.): Joseph Haydn Works. Series I, Volume 4. G. Henle-Verlag, Munich 1964, page VI.
  2. ↑ Christa Landon : Joseph Haydn, Symphony No 30 ("Alleluja"). Ernst Eulenburg Ltd., No. 566, London / Zurich without a year (preface and revision report from 1963 on the pocket score)
  3. ↑ Ludwig Finscher ( Joseph Haydn und seine Zeit . Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2000, ISBN 3-921518-94-6 ) writes: “The trio movement builds from the three chorale lines, derivations and secondary motifs from exposition, development and recapitulation and with own motivic derivations that do not come from the symphony a kind of motivic puzzle that only someone who knows the symphony movement pretty well can unravel. "
  4. ^ A b Anton Gabmayer: Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 30 in C major, Hob.I: 30 "Alleluja". Text accompanying the performance of the symphony on May 30, 2009 at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, http://www.haydn107.com/index.php?id=32 , as of August 2009
  5. ^ Howard Chandler Robbins Landon: The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn. Universal Edition & Rocklife, London 1955, p. 243
  6. ↑ 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).
  7. ↑ The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not observed in some recordings.
  8. ↑ James Webster: Hob.I: 30 Symphony in C major. Informational text on Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 30 as part of the Haydn 100 & 7 project at the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt: http://www.haydn107.com/index.php?id=2&sym=30 , as of March 22, 2009.