45th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in F sharp minor Hoboken directory I: 45 wrote Joseph Haydn in 1772 during his tenure as Kapellmeister to Prince I. Nikolaus Esterházy . It bears the title Farewell Symphony, not by Haydn .

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Haydn composed Symphony No. 45 in 1772 while he was employed as Kapellmeister by Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy. The work shows some of the "experimentation" characteristics typical of Haydn's creative phase at the time:

  • it is the only symphony by Haydn in the unusual symphony key of F sharp minor;
  • differentiated dynamics ;
  • differentiated rhythms through syncope ;
  • Dissonances;
  • unusually long and "monotonous" second movement;
  • unusual ending of the symphony with an adagio in which the instruments gradually stop playing.

In addition to Symphony No. 44 in E minor , No. 46 in B major is seen as a “sister work” or counterpart to No. 45. The title “Farewell Symphony” is missing in the autograph . It evidently originated in Paris when the work was performed in April 1784 at the last concert of the “Concert spirituel” as “nouvelle symphonie, analogue à la ciconstance”. The Hamburg publisher Johann Christoph Westphal offered the “so-called farewell symphony” in 1786, and in 1794 the music dealer Johann Traeg in Vienna offered several new pieces of music, including the “farewell symphony”, also known as “the farewell”.

After the work had largely been forgotten, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy performed the symphony as the last piece at a concert in the Gewandhaus Leipzig on February 22, 1838. At the end, the musicians put out their candles and left the stage (for tradition see below). Shortly afterwards he wrote in a letter to his sister about the very successful performance: "It's a curious, melancholy bit."

The symphony was previously partially classified in the Sturm und Drang period . Ludwig Finscher , however, rejects classification in this context:

"Haydn's minor symphonies have nothing to do with the youth movement of the literary Sturm und Drang, which only had a short life and was hardly received in terms of content in Esterhaza as in the entire Habsburg court culture (...) - but very much to do with the general tendency, Enriching , deepening and even getting the language of the symphony to speak through minor keys and the adoption of elements of the operatic language such as orchestral tremolo , syncopation chains , large intervals , sharp contrasts, recitative formulas. "

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 . On the participation of a harpsichord - continuos are competing views in Haydn's symphonies.

Performance time: approx. 25–35 minutes (depending on compliance with the prescribed repetitions).

When it comes to the sonata form used here, it should be noted that this model was only designed at the beginning of the 19th century (see there). - 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 assai

F sharp minor, 3/4 time, 209 bars

Beginning of the main topic

The movement begins with the strong, sombre main theme. The main component (motif 1) of the periodically structured theme is the triad figure falling in staccato to the extent of the tredezime , followed by a “cushioning” upwards with a triple tone repetition. The 1st violin leads the part, the 2nd violin accompanies in restless syncopation, the other strings as a throbbing eighth note repeater and the wind instruments in sustained chords. The final turn of the theme (bars 13-16) is held in tremolo. After a general pause, the theme is repeated starting with piano as a variant, but changes abruptly to forte in the second four-bar and then seamlessly merges into the following section with motif 2, which is made possible by its octave jump upwards and the gradual formation of a falling triad figure (similar to motif 1 ) is noticeable. From bars 38–43, motif 1 appears as a variant in A minor, followed by the "field of resolution" with motif 2. The final group contains two new motifs: motif 3 with an ascending quarter movement and motif 4 with dissonant leads and a descending chord melody (similar to Motif 1 and 2).

The implementation can be divided into two parts: The first part represents the truncated end of the exposure with altered harmonies represents (for example, at the beginning. Modulation of A-major to Fis major). After the general pause with fermata in bar 107, the second part begins: a new, vocal theme with lead begins in the string piano in D major. The theme is first repeated an octave lower with a continuation that is somewhat reminiscent of motif 2. The second repetition with oboe participation then ends as an ascending “question” in the piano. One could see the late catching up of the second theme in this passage, but the harmony assignment (D major in relation to F sharp minor) is unusual for a typical second theme. Accordingly, the passage is discussed and understood differently in the literature.

After another general pause, the recapitulation begins in measure 142 with the main theme. It is structured in a similar way to the exposition, but somewhat expanded and characterized even more than the exposition by strong leaps in intervals, accents and dissonances. The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

Walter Lessing points out the special position of the sentence: “In the freedom of formal design, in the boldness of the emotional content, this sentence is unique in Haydn's work. Haydn never again wrote such “extreme” music. ” Ludwig Finscher believes that the sentence is characterized by “ extreme drama and the most intense urge to move ” and refers to the “ extremely clear construction, mostly in four-bar groups, and the articulation of the main caesuras the main clause and before the final group, in general pauses. (...) Haydn has seldom written such a dark recapitulation. After the inconsequential interlude of the new topic, it seems all the more depressing. "

Haydn later quotes motif 1 in the development of the first movement of Symphonies No. 60 and No. 86 .

Second movement: Adagio

A major, 3/8 time, 190 bars

The character of the Adagio contrasts strongly with the preceding movement. Its downright monotonous or "shy-disturbed" atmosphere comes about through:

  • little dynamics: with the exception of one accent (bar 118) exclusively piano to pianissimo;
  • with the exception of a few splashes of color, only the strings play, the violins with mutes (the muffling of the violins also appears in several other slow symphonic movements of Haydn from this period);
  • few melodic themes / motifs;
  • "Stuck" on seventh and non chords, e.g. B. bars 164-175; Standstill through several fermatas (bars 57, 109, 163) and chords held over the bar (bars 118/119);
  • Use of chromatic in the motifs, e.g. B. from bar 34 or from bar 58;
  • Change of major and minor for the same motif: from bar 135;
  • the "length" of over 12 minutes if the prescribed repetitions are adhered to.

The frequent use of suggestions is also noticeable.

The first theme (main theme or motif 1, bars 1 - 8) with a periodic structure is characterized by suggestions, syncopations and small runs in the violins leading the voice. After the repetition of the theme, two small motifs with suggested figures follow from bar 17: the first ascending, the second descending (in the second only the 1st violin is the part, while the 2nd violin changes to the accompaniment). In bar 29 the oboes join in briefly, with Haydn changing echo-like between E major and E minor, then the 1 violin leads in a chromatic-seeking to sweeping movement, which ends in bar 46 in E major. The following eighth note movement takes up the echo-like alternation of major and minor and is finally lost in a fermata (bar 57). After further chromatics with voice leading in viola / bass, the final section follows, which repeats the suggested figure from the beginning of the sentence and the ascending motif from bar 17 (now with the participation of the oboes) as a variant.

The development (bars 77–126) first processes the “ascending motif”, followed by a further chromatic section, which is similar to the passage from bar 58 and, after the fermata in G sharp (bar 109), takes up the suggested figure from the beginning of the sentence. After the sustained seventh chord on E (bars 118/119), the 1st violin is returned to the recapitulation.

The recapitulation (from bar 127) begins with the main theme, now with splashes of color from the horn (similar to the beginning of the trio) and, with the omission of the ascending and descending motifs, goes straight to the passage with the oboe insert. Here, too, the alternation of major and minor is pronounced. What is striking is the extension of the dragging section that begins after the fermata in bar 163 (corresponding to the fermata from bar 57) with minimal movement at the beginning. Walter Lessing writes:

“The differentiation that Haydn's harmony achieves in this movement is particularly vividly demonstrated by the huge arc of tension in which Haydn modulates back from B minor to A major shortly before the end. It is as if the music stands still as if in dreamy forlornness until the basic key of A major is finally fixed again with a cadence (...). "

The final group is like in the exposure. The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

“As an idyllic counterpart to the first movement, the first bars of the Adagio seem to be in A major (...). But the sentence is thinned out again and again and comes to a standstill over dissonant harmonies. If the first sentence was the manifestation of the inevitable, the second sentence is one of the hesitant, the insecure, basically not finding oneself. "

Third movement: Menuetto. Allegretto

F sharp major, 3/4 time, with trio 76 bars

The violins begin the minuet by dancing in the unusual key of F sharp major, for which the horns have to be retuned (in the second movement the horns were tuned in A). However, when the whole orchestra comes into play in measure 3, the cheerful character begins to falter when the viola, cello and double bass play the harmoniously foreign D (instead of D). With the numerous syncopations and reservations, the menuet draws on elements of the second movement. It is also noteworthy that the final bars of the first and second sections show a falling figure of the violins in pianissimo that end on A, i.e. the third of the tonic in F sharp major. This makes the ending seem cautious and insecure.

The trio is also in F sharp major and begins with the sonorous solo of the horns. The second part contains a new, descending figure and several dissonant leads reinforced by forte, before the opening motif is played again in pianissimo from bar 71. Haydn also used the horn motif in the fourth movement of the divertimento Hoboken-Index II: 23.

“(The trio) is opened by the two horns with a six-measure motto-like call, which is provided in the manuscript with the comment“ Incipit Lamentatione ”. So it is evidently a quote from the same collection of liturgical lamentations for Holy Week from which Haydn had already quoted a section in the second movement of Symphony 26 . The quote is repeated at the end of the trio, but here performed by the whole orchestra. The purpose of this unusual framing of a trio by means of a liturgical quotation remains a mystery; but at least it could be understood as an indication of the tragic character of the work as a whole. Because that there is a meaning behind it seems certain and is also made probable by the strange fact that this quote corresponds to a passage in the second sentence (T.127 ff.). "

Fourth movement: Finale. Presto - Adagio

Presto: F sharp minor, 2/2 time (alla breve); 150 bars; Adagio: A major and F sharp major, 3/8 time, 107 bars

The Presto, which a contemporary French reviewer called “a noisy play with no character” in 1784 , begins with the upbeat first theme (main theme). This has a periodic structure and consists of a piano "question" from the strings, answered by the whole orchestra in forte and unison. The theme is repeated as a variant. The forte block from bar 17 first takes up the unison figure and then brings a new eighth note motif, which is sequenced downwards as a virtuoso running figure in staggered use . After five bars with staccato chords, another virtuoso eighth note movement follows. The final group from bar 45 includes bariolageartige tone repetition of the first violin on A rapid scale runs and finished the challenge with a motif of changing chord strokes of dominant and tonic.

The development (bars 57-97) first takes up the main theme in A major, then remains on the eighth phrase from the end of the “question” of the main theme and, from bar 80, processes the dominant tonic motif from the final group. Haydn changes to C sharp major, B major, A major and D major; the section then gradually ends in C sharp major.

The recapitulation from bar 98 is structured in a similar way to the exposition, but the final group varies and ends instead of the closing chord beats on the unison C sharp.

After a general pause with fermata, the Adagio begins. The first section (A major) consists of the exposition of the first theme (bars 151–156), transition (bars 156–168), the second theme (bars 168) and the final group (bars 175 ff.). The exposition ends in bars 180/181 in the forte unison of the final group motif. The short development brings material from both themes (bars 182–191). The recapitulation from bar 192 is missing the second theme, but the final section is extended like a coda . The first section ends like the Presto in C sharp major, which leads as a dominant to the F sharp major of the second section. This (bar 218 ff.) Brings again the first topic, second topic with extension (bar 227 ff.) And the final group (bar 253 to the end).

With regard to breaking off the instruments while playing, the following sequence arises (sometimes after a solo interlude):

  • 1st oboe and 2nd horn (with solo): bar 181, d. H. after the end of exposure;
  • Bassoon: bar 197;
  • 2nd oboe and 1st horn (with solo): bar 204;
  • Double bass (with solo): bar 217; d. H. with the end of the first section;
  • Cello: bar 227;
  • Violins 3 and 4: The division of the violins into four parts only applies to the Adagio part of the fourth movement.
  • viola

The violins end the movement in pianissimo and with mutes.

Interpretation of the Adagios

It is often reported about this Adagio that the musicians were instructed to leave the orchestra in the above order. This hypothesis is based on the following tradition:

There was an ordinance that ordered the band's musicians to appear at Esterházy Palace without their wives and children as soon as the summer season began there. The musicians therefore had no contact with their families throughout the summer; only two singers were excluded, the violinist Tomasini and Haydn. The reason given was that there was no room for so many people. When the musicians complained that they ran two households and were homesick, the prince, without hesitation, paid an allowance. The main thing seemed to him not to have to see his people's wives and children. The music summer of 1772 dragged on, however, and the musicians urged Haydn to stand up for them with the prince. Heinrich Eduard Jacob portrays the performance as follows:

“After no more than 100 bars, all instruments suddenly stopped on the dominant F sharp: completely unexpectedly, four violins began to play a theme that you had never heard before, dragging and falling apart. Something unheard of happened at the desk of the second horn player: he and the first oboist got up in the middle of playing, packed up the instruments and left the podium. The bassoonist, who has not been employed until now, takes up his instrument eleven bars further, but only briefly to blow the beginning of the first motif in unison with the second violin; then he turns off the light and also goes out. After seven bars he is followed by the first horn player and the second oboe. Now the cello, which has so far shared the same path with the bass violin, is breaking away from it: at a turn - unexpectedly C sharp enters as the dominant - the bass violin stands up and walks away. The music is getting narrower and thinner. Haydn at the piano continues to conduct as if he didn't notice anything. A couple of bars of Adagio in A major. But as they sound, the cellist, the third and fourth violinists and the violist gradually disappear.

It's almost dark in the orchestra. Only two candles are still burning on one desk: here are Luigi Tomasini and a second violinist, who had the final say. Softly, muffled by sordines, the alternating chants of their violins can be heard, devouring themselves in thirds and sixths and then dying as if in the slightest breath. Now the last lights have gone out, the last violinists got up and disappeared like shadows on the wall: a breath of autumnal loneliness wafts into the auditorium. As Haydn wants to walk off on tiptoe, the prince approaches and quietly puts his hand on his shoulder: “My dear Haydn! I have understood. The musicians long for home ... Good then! Tomorrow we'll pack ... "

In the antechamber, the band waited in anxious anticipation for their master. Had he succeeded in the loving prank? But by then he was among them, his look told them more than words the happy outcome of the matter. They pulled him away with hugs. "

In the context of this widespread tradition, Uwe Schweikert sees in the first movement a musical confrontation between the prince (first theme) and the musicians with the "pleading" theme in the development.

According to the “Wiener Blättchen” of July 19, 1787, the clarinet is said to have left the orchestra last. A clarinet is not provided for in the orchestra.

Johann Matthias Sperger composed an “Arrival Symphony” in 1796 as a counterpart to the “Farewell Symphony”.

James Webster sees the whole work as a description of the condition of the Eszterhazy orchestra members: E.g. Let the dejection of the musicians, who desperately want to go home, be vividly depicted in the first movement, the unusual key of F sharp major symbolizes the almost unreachable distant home.

Wolfgang Marggraf discusses the story, which probably goes back to Haydn's pupil Ignaz Pleyel , according to which Prince Nikolaus suffered from occasional depression. Haydn had composed a new symphony to cheer up, but the prince was disinterested in it. Haydn was then deeply dismayed and asked for his release the following day. “This final movement - probably the most unusual in symphonic literature - concludes a symphony of unparalleled urgency in the representation of deep conflicts; it is not a musical joke, but a farewell to a shocking dramatic event, shrouded in grief and tragedy, perhaps best understood as the echo of a great catastrophe that has been averted. "

The instruction to leave the seat is not in the autograph, but only in most of the copies, of which only one is in the vicinity of the creation of the work. Some authors doubt that such a spectacle should have been possible in Esterhaza with its strict hierarchical structure and etiquette. Perhaps the finale is “simply to be mistaken for another of the experimental finals of 1771/72, without any symbolic or allegorical background” ?

Anthony van Hoboken provides an overview of the other theories of origin, none of which is adequately guaranteed (like the one listed above):

  • economic reasons are said to have caused the prince to close down his chapel.
  • By abandoning the game, Haydn wanted to fool individual players who were too rebellious for him.
  • Haydn wrote a counterpart to this symphony, where the two violins make the beginning and the other musicians appear gradually.

See also

List of Joseph Haydn's symphonies

Web links, notes, literature

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ Information page of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  2. ↑ a b c Michael Walter: Haydn's symphonies. A musical factory guide. CH Beck-Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-44813-3
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Ludwig Finscher: Joseph Haydn and his time . Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2000, ISBN 3-921518-94-6
  4. ↑ Hans-Joseph Irmen: Joseph Haydn. Life and work. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-20020-6
  5. ↑ Horst Walter: Farewell Symphony. In Armin Raab, Christine Siegert, Wolfram Steinbeck (eds.): The Haydn Lexicon. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2010, ISBN 978-3-89007-557-0 , p. 24.
  6. ^ Howard Chandler Robbins Landon: Haydn: Chronicle and works. Haydn at Eszterháza 1766 - 1790. Thames and Hudson, London 1978, p. 303.
  7. ^ Dietmar Holland: Joseph Haydn. In: Attila Csampai & Dietmar Holland (eds.): The concert guide. Orchestral music from 1700 to the present day. Rowohlt-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-8052-0450-7 , pp. 77-147
  8. ↑ 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).
  9. ↑ This section is included in the overview of forms in the Philharmonia pocket score from around 1950 (Joseph Haydn: Symphony XVIII F sharp minor. Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag AG, No. 38, Vienna. (Pocket score, the Roman number 18 refers to the old Breitkopf Edition) suggested as "page set".
  10. ↑ a b Uwe Schweikert: (Text contribution to the recording of the symphonies No. 45 and No. 60 by Joseph Haydn with the Concentus musicus Vienna with Nikolaus Harnoncourt). Warner Classics International, 1988.
  11. ↑ a b c A. Peter Brown: The Symphonic Repertoire. Volume II. The First Golden Age of the Vienese Symphony: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis 2002, ISBN 0-253-33487-X ; Pp. 133-136.
  12. ↑ a b The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in many recordings.
  13. ^ A b c d e Walter Lessing: The Symphonies by Joseph Haydn, in addition: all masses. A series on Südwestfunk Baden-Baden 1987-89. Volume 2. Baden-Baden 1989, pp. 65-67.
  14. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Marggraf : The symphonies of the years 1766-1772. Individual symphonies - Symphony No. 45, F sharp minor (farewell symphony). http://www.haydn-sinfonien.de/text/chapter4.5c.html , accessed May 22, 2011 (status of the text: 2009).
  15. ↑ The final movement of Symphony No. 46 shows a similarly unusual structure with an insertion of the minuet
  16. ^ A b c Heinrich Eduard Jacob: Joseph Haydn. His art, his time, his fame. Christian Wegner Verlag, Hamburg 1952.
  17. ↑ Note: there are 150 bars.
  18. ↑ Note: it is not in unison
  19. ^ A b Anthony van Hoboken: Joseph Haydn. Thematic-bibliographical catalog raisonné, volume I. Schott-Verlag, Mainz 1957, 848 pp.
  20. ↑ James Webster: Hob.I: 45 Symphony in F sharp minor ("Farewell Symphony") . Website of the project "Haydn 100 & 7" of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, http://www.haydn107.com/index.php?id=2&sym=45 , as of December 2009