48th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in C major Hoboken directory I: 48 wrote Joseph Haydn probably in 1769 during his tenure as Kapellmeister to Prince I. Nikolaus Esterházy . The symphony bears the nickname " Maria Theresia " , which was not by Haydn .

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Haydn probably composed symphony No. 48 in 1769 while he was employed as Kapellmeister by Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy. The autograph has not survived, but there is a copy by the court copyist Joseph Elssler from 1769.

The title “Maria Theresia” does not come from Haydn and is not passed down in any of the numerous copies. It appears for the first time in 1812 with Ernst Ludwig Gerber, later on a print from the 1860s and is written down by Carl Ferdinand Pohl in 1879. The unproven claim that Haydn performed the symphony in 1773 when Empress Maria Theresa visited the court of Esterháza is based on Pohl. In the older literature it is also sometimes claimed that Haydn composed the symphony especially for the visit of the empress. In some copies, the symphony No. 48 also bears the title “Laudon”, which is apparently due to a confusion of the symphony No. 69 with a similar beginning of the first movement. It is possible that the symphony was performed during the visit of the empress to Kittsee Castle in 1770 or during her visit to Esterháza Castle in 1773. It is unclear to what extent the title of the symphony originated in the visit of the empress.

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns , two violins , viola , cello , double bass . To reinforce the bass voice was at that time also without separate listing bassoon and harpsichord - Continuo used, different on the participation of a harpsichord Disagreement exists. In its original version without trumpets and timpani “the extraordinarily high level of difficulty is particularly clearly expressed, because the work requires precise strings, excellent wind instruments and, above all, risk-taking horn players who, in addition to the musical task, also have to complete a technical tightrope act in C alto . ”In some early copies there are also parts for two trumpets, which were apparently intended to reinforce or replace the horns. In some other sources, timpani have also come down to us. These instruments were not used regularly in the court orchestra until 1773 (when Maria Theresa visited Esterháza). The trumpet and timpani parts are not considered authentic.

Performance time: approx. 25 to 30 minutes (depending on compliance with the prescribed repetitions).

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 composed around 1769 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, 4/4 time, 196 bars

Beginning of the Allegro

The first theme is characterized by the brilliant, festive fanfare of the dominating wind instruments. The resulting sequence of three ascending (measure 2) or descending notes (measure 4) plays an important role in the further course of the movement ("three-tone motif"). From bar 7, however, the brilliant music surprisingly loses its momentum:

"Before the music actually gets going, something strange happens: after the only four-bar theme has sounded in the forte, the strings enter the dominant in the piano after two transitional bars and build up a sound surface over eleven bars that spans c- Minor modulated to A flat major and back to G major - quite unusual at such an early stage of the musical process - and over which the first violin spins out an indecisive melody of a thoughtful, dark character that revolves around the note g Fermata comes to a halt on the dominant. The beginning of the sentence works like a "preamble", in which the possibilities for the course of the sentence are tried out. "

In another attempt, Haydn repeats the theme. This time it doesn't get stuck, but continues its festive, forward-pushing character as a forte block with chord strikes on the 1st violin and tremolo on the 2nd violin. After changing to the dominant G major and a short pause, a longer passage follows from bar 30, which brings two rhythmic motifs in the violins and in the bass (in the bass with an upbeat triplet, both motifs are related to the three-note motif at the beginning of the movement). The calm second theme from bar 42 with a sweeping gesture is also related to the three-note motif. The theme ends in E minor in a fallacy. Shortly afterwards the orchestra breaks loose again in a five-bar unison, followed by a piano motif that is offset in the strings and "acts like a swan song on the secondary theme, as its previously withheld second part." The noisy final group repeats from bar 64 first a three-bar phrase with a triplet, then the violins' rapid, virtuoso scale runs, with the rhythmic motif of the violins recurring from bar 30, and finally a unison that resembles the bass figure from bar 30.

The development does not begin as usual with the first theme in the dominant, but as a variant of the hesitant piano string passage from the beginning of the movement: the minor cloudiness is left out, the music changes to E major and comes to rest there for a short time. In bar 95, a variant of the unison block, which followed the second theme in the exposition, follows. As a special feature, this section contains two crescendos . Then the three-tone motif is processed intensively until only the grinder-like prelude is left. The prelude is also subjected to intensive processing through upward and downward movement as well as “speeding up” to thirty-second . This passage (bars 114 to 119) is reminiscent of the section from the first movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony KV 551 , which is also in C major (there: bars 171 to 179). From bar 128 the intensity of the music, which sinks into the piano, decreases, "as it were dissolves and opens with a general pause dominant to the recapitulation."

In the recapitulation from bar 134, the first theme goes straight into the forte block with chord strikes and tremolo without repetition, otherwise it is structured similar to the exposition except for details (the unison after the second theme is lengthened by one bar and reinforced to fortissimo ; the following piano passage is shortened by one measure). The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

Second movement: Adagio

F major, 6/8 time, 89 bars

The Adagio is one of Haydn's longest slow movements. The first, somewhat ornate theme is presented piano by the strings, with the violins being muted (which occurs in several slow movements of Haydn's symphonies of that time). It is upbeat, structured periodically and contains a triple tone repetition. In the first half of the theme, the solo oboes play in dialogue with the strings. An aspiring horn solo leads to the second theme, which is related to the first due to its tone repetition, the prelude and the periodic structure. The 1st violin leads the part, the 2nd violin accompanies in continuous triplets. In the second half of the theme the winds join. In the extended final group, the triplets played accompanying the 2nd violin dominate, which ensures an increasing flow of movement. However, this is interrupted by a reluctant recitative passage with chromaticism and fallacies.

The rather short development deals with the first half of the second topic and touches on several keys. Haydn designed the beginning of the recapitulation in a special way: after the music has reached the dominant A major, it suddenly stops; the oboes and horns bring the A pianissimo at octave intervals , suddenly the horns play A again as the third of the tonic in F major and intone their solo from the transition to the second theme. "That all sounds amazingly romantic."

The recapitulation is structured in a similar way to the exposition, but it is shortened: the first theme goes straight to the second half of the second theme. The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

Third movement: Menuet. Allegretto

C major, 3/4 time, with trio 84 bars

The minuet, with its folk tone, "retains the unusually large dimensions that are characteristic of the entire symphony." It is characterized by two to three tone repetitions as well as numerous reverberant trills and is mainly held forte. The beginning of the main theme can be derived from the second half of the Adagio's theme. The first part remains largely in the C major tonic, the beginning of the second part changes to A major and D minor, with a phrase being vigorously repeated four times. At the end of the second part, “a warlike fanfare in octaves” interrupts the folk tone in fortissimo, which, however, is followed by an afterthought in the string piano.

The trio is in C minor and its serious character contrasts strongly with the festive folk minuet. The main motif, a signal-like unison call with a bulging trill, is derived from the beginning of the minuet. The second part initially continues the unison figure in a descending line with a full-bar trill:

“A trill in all strings and for the duration of a whole bar gives the whole thing the macabre behavior of a courtly“ scratchy foot ”set to music, as one used to introduce the deep bow - and the brass falls completely silent - apart from a deep sustained note after trilling "scratchy foot", as if they too wanted to bow low. "

The trio closes "with an extended chromatic progression that only returns to the tonic at the last moment."

Fourth movement: Allegro

C major, 2/2 time (alla breve), 160 bars

The rapid movement begins with the main theme made up of ascending and descending scales. The "stormy eighth movement" dominates almost the entire movement: It is also characteristic in various forms for the following forte block, which extends to the end of the exposition - interrupted by an extended organ point on D, after which the dominant G major established.

The development does not begin (as in the first movement) with the main theme in the dominant, but varies the passage with the extended organ point, changing to C minor. Surprisingly, the main theme then begins in the tonic (“Scheinreprise” or “immediate recapitulation”). After a few bars, however, Haydn changes to more distant keys, so that the listener realizes that the recapitulation has not yet started.

The actual recapitulation from bar 113 is shortened compared to the exposition: the main theme immediately merges into the extended organ point. The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ Information page of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  2. ^ Antony Hodgson: The Music of Joseph Haydn: The Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London 1976, pp. 75-76.
  3. ↑ a b Horst Walter: Maria Theresia. In Armin Raab, Christine Siegert, Wolfram Steinbeck (eds.): The Haydn Lexicon. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2010, ISBN 978-3-89007-557-0 , p. 490.
  4. ^ A b Anthony van Hoboken: Joseph Haydn. Thematic-bibliographical catalog raisonné, Volume I. Schott-Verlag, Mainz 1957, p. 60.
  5. ^ A b c d Anton Gabmayer: Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 48 in C major, Hob.I: 48 "Maria Theresia". (Information on Symphony No. 48 by Joseph Haydn for performance on June 18, 2009, accessed May 30, 2013)
  6. ↑ On the one hand Michael Walter (2007, p. 54): “The reason for the notion of 'Maria Theresia' in Symphony No. 48, which is not attributed to Haydn, is unknown; In any case, it is not related to a performance on the occasion of a visit by the Empress to Esterháza. ”On the other hand, Anton Gabmayer (Haydn Festival Eisenstadt): The symphony“ should either be during the visit of Empress Maria Theresa to Kittsee Castle in 1770 or during her visit to the castle Eszterháza may have been performed in 1773; which explains the nickname (...). "
  7. ↑ 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).
  8. ↑ Except in the second movement, the horns are in C alto.
  9. ^ A b c Walter Lessing: The symphonies of Joseph Haydn, in addition: all masses. A series of broadcasts on Südwestfunk Baden-Baden 1987-89, published by Südwestfunk Baden-Baden in 3 volumes. Volume 2, Baden-Baden 1989, pp. 32-3.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i James Webster: Hob.I: 48 Symphony in C major. Information text on Symphony No. 48 of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  11. ↑ James Webster: The Development of the Symphony in Joseph Haydn. Episode 6: Hob.I: 26, 42, 43, 44, 48 and 49. http://www.haydn107.com/index.php?id=21&lng=1&pages=symphonie Accessed April 22, 2013.
  12. ^ Andreas Friesenhagen, Christin Heitmann (editor): Joseph Haydn symphonies around 1766 - 1769. G. Henle Verlag, Munich 2008, ISMN M-2018-5041-2, page VIII.
  13. ↑ Antony Hodgson (1976, p. 76): “The very opening with its thrilling melodic use of high brass, making the previous fanfarish methods seem primitive, is a revelation in itself, with horns and oboes taking the tune entirely on their own. "
  14. ^ A b c d e Wolfgang Marggraf : The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn. The symphonies of the years 1766–1772. http://www.haydn-sinfonien.de/ Accessed May 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ second topic
  16. ↑ a b Haydn's symphonies. A musical factory guide. CH Beck-Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-44813-3 , p. 54.
  17. ^ Klaus Schweizer, Arnold Werner-Jensen: Reclams concert guide orchestral music. 16th edition. Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-010434-3 , p. 133.
  18. ↑ Similar thematic entries also in the opening movements of the symphonies No. 41 , No. 42 , No. 43 and No. 47, which were written around the time .

Web links, notes

See also