59th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in A major Hoboken directory I: 59 wrote Joseph Haydn around 1768 during his tenure as Kapellmeister to Prince I. Nikolaus Esterházy . It bears the title “Fire Symphony”, which was not by Haydn.

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Haydn probably composed Symphony No. 59 in 1768 while he was employed as Kapellmeister by Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy. Characteristic of the symphony are the strong motivic work (especially in the first and fourth movements) and violent dynamic contrasts (especially in the first and second movements). It is also noteworthy that the same theme is used in the second and third movements. Overall, the symphony stands out due to its "dramatic-extraverted character", which is why it was sometimes assumed that the work was intended as stage music. The Haydn edition (2008) summarizes:

“ Carl Ferdinand Pohl already assumed that the symphony was originally part of a piece of music that Haydn wrote for the play“ The Conflagration ”and later published as an independent work. But the play by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann , written in 1773, was only performed on April 4, 1778 by the Pauli and Meyer theater group in Esterháza, so that a connection with the symphony can be ruled out. However, Pohl created this mainly because of the nickname that the symphony bears in Aloys Fuchs' catalogs . There it is referred to as “Fire Sinfonie / La Tempesta” or “La Tempesta / Fire Sinfonie”, accordingly it is also called “Fire Symphony” by Pohl. Neither this epithet nor “La Tempesta” can be identified in the tradition of the work, only the word “fire” can be found as a rather inconspicuous note on a duplicate of Violino I in a Viennese transcript of parts of rather low source value. It is questionable whether this note inspired the naming of Fuchs, and it must also remain open from where Fuchs knew the title "La Tempesta". "

The fourth movement of the symphony No. 59 has also been handed down in B flat major as the finale of the three-movement symphony pasticcio Hob. I / B2. The first two movements of this work come from the Symphony in B flat major MH 82 by Michael Haydn .

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, and on the participation of a harpsichord in Haydn's symphonies are differing views.

Performance time: approx. 20 minutes (depending on compliance with the prescribed repetitions).

With regard to 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 Symphony No. 59 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: Presto

A major, 4/4 time, 124 bars

The whole movement is characterized by intensive motivic work and strong dynamic contrasts. This is already clear at the beginning of the sentence:

  • Upward octave jump downwards in the 1st violin (motif 1a),
  • This is followed by an energetic tone repetition of the 1st violin for two bars on A in staccato eighths, then sixteenths (motif 1b),
  • with the beginning of the third quarter beat in the first bar, bass run, also staccato.

Bar 3 consists only of motif 1b, supported by two chord hits, bars 4 and 5 repeat the two input bars, slightly varying.

In sharp contrast, bar 5 is followed by a calm piano cadenza in E major of the strings with half notes up to bar 9 (motif 2). After a general pause, motif 1 starts again, but breaks off briefly and changes to a passage with a change from A major ( tonic ) and E major ( dominant ), whereby a motif consisting of an upbeat and triple tone repetition is repeated Motive 1a and Motive 1b can think derived. This motif plays an important role for the rest of the sentence and can be referred to as motif 3a.

In bar 15 the dominant E major is reached. Up to measure 26, motif 3a is now processed by sequencing in the violins and in the bass. In addition, the half-bar motif itself becomes a two-bar motif (together: motif 3) through repetition and a one-bar legato addition (bar 17, motif 3b).

The following pendulum-like piano figure in the 1st violin (motif 4, this too could be further divided) ends in a surprising virtuoso run upwards in the forte, based on the E major seventh chord. Two different triplet motifs follow in the forte, each of which is repeated (motif 5: one bar, motif 6: two bars).

The following two motifs in the piano can be seen as the final group (bars 40-49): Motif 7 consisting of legato quarters and triplets and - concluding the exposition in pianissimo - a variant of Motif 2. The previously built up tension is released in slow calm on.

The implementation , however, begins - in contrast to the final group of the exposure - again with the energetic forte repeated notes of motif 3a, which dominated the rest: It appears both in the violins as Bass, as a reversal and is, for example, to D major. Sequenced in B major and E minor. Motif 3b and the first measure of motif 1 also appear. Particularly noteworthy is the section beginning in F sharp minor, bar 61 ff. With motif 3a in countermovement of violins and bass, whereby in the violins the originally upbeat octave jump (motif 1b) now sets in from bars (also alternating between octave jump up and down) . This creates a rhythmic compression.

In measure 66, when a C sharp minor seventh chord is reached, the processing of motif 3 ends. The section that now follows a general pause up to the recapitulation is characterized by triplets, is somewhat reminiscent of motif 4 and is partly worked as a dialogue between the 1st and 2nd violin. Haydn modulates via F sharp minor, E major, A major and D major (again) to E major, which dominantly heralds the entry into A major.

The recapitulation is structured in a similar way to the exposition, but there are some deviations: Motif 2 ends on the first appearance as in the exposition in E major, but now as a seventh chord and with a fermata ; it is also extended by two bars; Motif 3a then starts without a start; the sequencing of motif 3a takes place in measure 95 ff. in the bass and not in the violins, motif 5 has been replaced by a figure similar to motif 6. The development and recapitulation are repeated, as is the exposition.

Second movement: Andante o piú tosto allegretto

A minor / A major, 3/4 time, 149 bars

The movement begins in A minor and is only for strings until the change to A major (bar 97). The character of the Andante forms a strong contrast to the preceding Presto. In the first theme (bars 1–16), both violins play a sustained melody made up of even quarters with dotted rhythm at the end of the first and second parts. Before the subsequent clause begins, the antecedent is repeated an octave higher. The whole section is consistently in the piano and closes with a short general pause.

This is followed by a short transition section (bars 16-20) of unison runs interrupted by eighth pauses in the forte, which changes to the parallel tonic in C major. After two further quarter-beats, the general pause follows the very vocal second theme in C major with the leading violin. The first and last paragraphs of the topic are repeated in different ways.

Again interrupted by a pause, the abbreviated antecedent of the first theme in the C major forte follows surprisingly (from bar 36), answered by a new “episode” in the piano. This turns into a longer passage with sweeping legato movements of the violins, which are enriched by chromatics and characteristic dissonances (bars 45–69). The first part of the movement ends in bar 73 with simple empty phrases. It is repeated.

The second part of the movement, which is not repeated, first brings the new "epilogue" analogous to bars 40 ff. In C major and, from bar 80, goes into the legato movement according to bars 45 ff. Haydn changes from C major to E minor. Above the following organ point on E, which is twelve bars long , the 1st violin plays the first theme in A minor, which, however, predominantly closes in E major in the aftermath (bar 96). With regard to the structure, the exposition now follows from the second topic onwards, but the timbre z. T. strongly deviates. Depending on your point of view, you could see the cut in measure 86 with the appearance of the first theme in A minor above the organ point. The basic key changes from A minor to A major, in which in bars 97 ff. The second theme is heard with the accompaniment of the wind instruments that are now used for the first time. The “entry into the reprise” appears to be veiled by these techniques.

From bar 113 the timbre changes again briefly with the appearance of the antecedent of the first theme in the A minor forte. To reinforce the contrast to the preceding major section, the horns play a fanfare in fortissimo:

“At the last abbreviated appearance of the first topic (...) the two horns suddenly join in at the highest volume with a short signal call, without this vehement break-in having any consequences for the rest of the movement. The passage is so unusual and puzzling that one would definitely suspect a programmatic intention behind it, and it should be remembered in this context that the symphony could possibly have been written as an overture, perhaps also partly as stage music, for a play and they could have been theirs Probably got the title "Fire Symphony" from there. But if the horn signal can be explained from a scenic situation, it is at least strange that Haydn took over this position unchanged when it was transformed into a symphony. "

As in the exposition (in the A major piano!), The motif from bars 40 ff. Is used as a follow-up. This is followed by the legato passage (bar 121 ff.) And the closing phrase.

Third movement: Minuetto

A major, 3/4 time, with trio 66 bars

As the main motif, Haydn uses a variant of the antecedent from the first theme of the Andante, with the contrast to the previous movement being reinforced by the appearance in major and in the unison forte. The follow-up in the piano is based on a descending movement in the 1st violin, which ends as a repeated pendulum figure. In the second part, the main motif appears several times in a row, each with a different timbre. The return to D major beginning in measure 29 does not lead to a reprise-like repetition of the main theme, but ends in the pendulum movement from the first part.

The trio is in A minor and is only intended for strings in the piano. It is characterized by a “mumbling”, stepped eighth note movement of the violins, which are parallel to thirds, and which begin imitatively at the beginning of the first trio part.

Fourth movement: Allegro assai

A major, 2/2 time (alla breve), 151 measures

The movement begins with a signal-like motif in the horns of three whole notes ascending in whole tones (motif 1 or main motif, bars 1–3), which is answered by a further motif of quarter notes in the oboes (motif 2, bars 3–5) . Motif 2 initially ends “open” on the dominant E major, with the subsequent repetition of both motifs “closed” on the tonic A major. Then the horns pick up the signal motif decorated with trills for the third time and answer it instead of the oboes themselves with a new motif, also made up of quarter notes (motif 3). The horn signal at the beginning is similar to the beginning of the finale from Symphony No. 103 . In the following section up to measure 26, the strings also come in: first the two violins, each alternating with motif 1 and a counterpoint to it (motif 4), then (measure 17 ff.) Also the bass in a passage that leaves the main motif and modulated to the dominant E major.

In the second “theme” (bars 27 ff., Depending on your point of view, not a theme, but a further motif), the oboe with its continuous melody leads the voice, to which the violins are set in the eighth tremolo. In bar 38 the movement ends on a B major seventh chord, followed by broken chords in the violins and other chord melodies after a quarter break. The final group (bars 49 ff.) Is characterized by a motif in the solo oboes (motif 5) and its “answer” in the forte tutti.

The development (bars 58–83) is based on the polyphonic processing of motif 1 and a new counterpoint (motif 6) derived from motif 2. Motif 1 also appears in its inversion. This densely worked passage ends over an eight-bar organ point on E.

The beginning of the reprise is polyphonic in relation to the exposition and quasi continues the polyphonic development. Motif 1 is now played by the strings (not the horns), and motif 6 (instead of motif 2) played by the oboes is underlaid by motif 1 in the bass. With the entry of the second theme in bar 100, the further course corresponds to that of the exposition. The coda (from bar 130) initially takes up the first theme in the same form and scoring as at the beginning of the movement, but adds echo-like repetition of motif 3 three times in the strings, the oboes and finally in the horns. The movement closes with two strong chords (dominant - tonic). The development and recapitulation are repeated like the exposition.

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ Information page of the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, see under web links.
  2. ↑ a b c Andreas Friesenhagen, Christin Heitmann (editor): Joseph Haydn symphonies around 1766 - 1769. G. Henle Verlag, Munich 2008, ISMN M-2018-5041-2, page IX.
  3. ↑ The play has nothing to do with the singspiel "Die Feuerstbrunst" Hob. XXIXb: A, which was wrongly attributed to Haydn (Friesenhagen & Heitmann 2008).
  4. ↑ According to Friesenhagen & Heitmann (2008: IX) for Symphony No. 59, apparently referring to Pohl, the catalog of Otto Kades' music collection in Schwerin states: “Known as“ Fire Symphony ”, 1774 for the Prob'schen Troupe in Esterhaz on the piece: "Die Feuerstbrunst" written as inter-act music. "According to Friesenhagen & Heitmann (2008: IX), various authors erroneously state that this note is on the transcript of the parts stored in Schwerin itself (...)."
  5. ↑ 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).
  6. ↑ The theme is reminiscent of the beginning of the “Farewell Adagio” from Symphony No. 45 .
  7. ^ Wolfgang Marggraf : The symphonies of the years 1766-1772. http://www.haydn-sinfonien.de , accessed July 27, 2012.

Web links, notes

See also