63rd Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony No. 63 in C major “La Roxelane” was composed by Joseph Haydn around 1778/1779, but for the first movement he used an opera overture from 1777. In the older literature, a distinction was made between two versions of the symphony.

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Haydn took over the first movement of this symphony with changes to the instrumentation from the overture to his opera “ Il mondo della Luna ” from 1777. The second movement is entitled "The Roxolana", "La Roxolana" (also: "Roxolane" or "Roxelane"). Various explanations are given in the literature:

  • Without further explanation, Carl Ferdinand Pohl calls the subject French romance.
  • Arnold Schering saw a connection with Roxelane, the heroine from Charles-Simon Favart's comedy "Soliman Second ou Les trois Sultannes" (German: Soliman II or: The Three Sultanas) and suspected a connection between the play and the symphony. Favart's comedy was premiered on April 9, 1761 in Paris with the music of Paul-César Gibert, in 1765 it had its premiere in Vienna, and on September 29, 1770 it was translated into German by the theater company around Karl Wahr in Vienna's Kärntnertortheater listed. Since Karl Wahr also made a guest appearance in Eszterháza and Haydn wrote music between acts for his performances, a connection between Symphony 63 or at least the slow movement and the Wahrs play is conceivable. However, the theme of the variations is not found among the virtuoso arias of the French original version, and neither can the text of a song number of the German translation be assigned to it. If the sentence was written for the play, it could have been used as inter-act music or as a dance interlude.
  • Jacob de Ruiter thinks that Haydn used the sentence to characterize the character Roxelane from Favart's comedy, but he doubts that the symphony was created in the context of the incidental music for Favart's piece, since the symphony does not contain any “Turkish” music such as drums or cymbals. It is unlikely that around 1780 “a composer who writes music for a piece that plays in a seraglio in Constantinople would have renounced the use of the instruments and sounds that were then perceived as typically Turkish.” The sentence headed “Roxelane” provided does not represent stage music, "just the slow movement of a symphony that has been handed down in several versions."
  • Since the title only belongs to the slow movement, it is conceivable that Haydn only used a popular and well-known melody there, so it is not at all an incidental music. It is unknown whether the melody comes from the piece performed by Wahr or from a stage work at all.

The Prestissimo, initially intended as the final movement for the symphony, had neither an obbligato bassoon nor a flute. It has come down to us in a score together with another minuet. Haydn used this minuet and prestissimo to complete the first two movements of an overture (presumably for the opera “L´infedeltà delusa” (The foiled infidelity) from 1773) to make a symphony which he sent to Spain. This work is published in the complete edition published by the Joseph Haydn Institute in Cologne (see Symphony in C ). In the two pocket score editions of Symphony 63 (based on the conception of Howard Chandler Robbins Landon ) the Minuet and Prestissimo together with the overture to “Il mondo della luna” and the Roxelane movement are published as the “first version” of Symphony 63. This “first version” is viewed in the complete edition published by the Joseph Haydn Institute in Cologne as “a hypothetical compilation of sentences” that “should hardly have existed”.

The "second version", which is now regarded as valid, is criticized in the older literature compared to the "first version" due to the reduced instrumentation (lack of trumpets and timpani) as well as movements 3 and 4, which are regarded as lighter to more superficial. The alleged reworking from version 1 to version 2 was interpreted as an adaptation to distribution possibilities and quick success with the public.

The second movement was also popular as a piano version in the 18th century and was accompanied by a text for solo tenor.

To the music

Instrumentation: flute, two oboes , bassoon , two horns , two violins , viola , cello , double bass . On the participation of a harpsichord - continuos are competing views in Haydn's symphonies. The original version of the overture has two bassoons, trumpets and timpani and no flute. For the arrangement of the first movement of Symphony 63, Haydn transferred the two bassoon parts to the flute and bassoon. Timpani and trumpets have been cut. Existing timpani and trumpet parts are not authentic.

Performance time: approx. 20-25 minutes (depending on compliance with the prescribed repetitions).

With the terms of the sonata form used here, it must be taken into account that this scheme was designed in the first half of the 19th century (see there) and can therefore only be transferred to Symphony No. 63 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. The description given here corresponds to "Version 2" from the older literature.

First movement: Allegro

C major, 3/4 time, 179 bars

first theme Allegro, violins 1 and 2 together

The violins perform the memorable, solemn first theme forte in a fairly low register, underlined by eighth repetitions in the bass. The theme is repeated piano by the woodwinds with voice guidance in the oboe (this one octave higher than the violins before) and thus in a completely different timbre. The final phrase of the topic is then spun off in dialogue with a motif of the strings that is emphasized at the beginning. After the movement in pianissimo subsides, the whole orchestra begins again with the theme of fortissimo (bars 29 ff.). The second topic (bars 43 ff.) Then changes quite abruptly. This is six measures in length , is, as expected, in the dominant G major and is characterized by its chromatic, winding, even eighth note movement of the 1st violin. After a forte section in unison with tremolo-like sixteenth notes and a "signal motif" with dotted rhythm, the final group follows in bar 65. This brings a melodious, two-bar motif in the oboes, underlaid by syncopation of the violins, and a final twist. The exposure is repeated.

The development (bars 78–145) processes elements of both main themes. It begins as a tremolo surface on E-flat in pianissimo, which increases in crescendo to fortissimo. Then the harmony changes with the appearance of the first theme in the woodwinds to D minor. The downward sequenced dialogue from the beginning of the movement between woodwinds and strings reaches the first theme in F major with full orchestra and moving syncopation (mock recapitulation). Then different keys (e.g. G minor, A minor, E major) are briefly cut and the action changes to the second theme in A minor. After continuing with the eighth figure of the theme, G major has been established from bar 138, which functions as the dominant to the recapitulation (bar 145 ff.) With the first theme in C major.

The recapitulation is structured similarly to the exposition, but the second theme is missing. Furthermore, the “signal motif” initially appears in a non-dotted form (bars 159 ff.). The development and recapitulation are also repeated.

Second movement: “La Roxelane”. Allegretto o piu tosto Allegro

Change from C minor and C major, 2/4 time, 139 bars, strings initially with mute

Minor theme of the movement, 1st violin, bars 1–4

The sentence can be structured as follows (double variation sentence):

  • Presentation of the 1st topic: C minor, bars 1-20, strings only, piano, consisting of two repeated parts.
  • Presentation of the 2nd theme: C major, bars 21–36, consisting of two repeated parts. Oboes double the violins, piano. The two song-like themes are similar to each other and, depending on your point of view, can be interpreted as minor and major variants of the same melody.
  • 1st variation of the 1st theme: C minor, bars 37–56, consisting of two repeated parts. Piano, flute doubles the 1st violin.
  • 1st variation of the 2nd theme: C major, bars 57–72, consisting of two repeated parts. Piano (strings only) and forte (with brass section).
  • 2nd variation of the 1st theme: C minor, bars 73–98, consisting of two repeated parts, only strings, mostly piano.
  • 2. Variation of the 2nd theme: C major, bar 98 ff. First theme played by oboes and bassoon, after eight bars the entire orchestra entered the forte, violins (now without mutes) with mumbling sixteenth notes, bars 107–118 is repeated almost verbatim from bar 119 to the end.

Third movement: Menuetto

C major, 3/4 time, with trio 58 bars.

The simply structured minuet is characterized by its upbeat triplet movement and subsequent triple tone repetition. In the second part, Haydn uses an echo effect up to pianissimo.

The trio is also in C major. In addition to the 1st oboe, which plays the main melody, the bassoon emerges as a running eighth note accompaniment, while the strings take a back seat with pizzicato beats.

Fourth movement: Finale. Presto

C major, 2/4 time, 206 bars

Beginning of Presto, 1st violin, motifs A and B

The strings begin with the first theme piano (voice guidance in the 1st violin, the rest accompany in eighth staccato chains), whereby two motifs with three-tone repetitions are characteristic (motif A also with dotted rhythm, motif B with sixteenth notes). The end of the eight-bar thematic unit, which in turn contains motif A, is played by the whole orchestra forte. It ends first on the dominant G major, with the repetition of the thematic unit "closed" on the tonic in C major.

The transition to the second theme (bars 17 ff.) Initially consists of a sixteenth-note movement derived from motif B, then a staccato figure with an alternation of forte and piano and finally a twisting chain of motif A, which changes to the double-dominant D major. Three quarter-beats on D, which slow down the movement, announce the second theme (bars 34-53), which is structurally similar to the first theme (echoes of motifs A and B, the first violin leading the voice is initially only played by oboe and second Violin accompanied). A fortissimo outburst of the entire orchestra follows abruptly, beginning in the harmoniously distant E flat major and releasing its tension over five bars to the dominant G major. A second E flat major breakout (violins one octave lower) now leads back over seven bars to G major, where the final group begins with an ascending chord motif (bar 81). The motif appears first in the violins, then in the bass.

In the development (bars 82–137), the processing of motifs A and B, among other things, achieves the keys of E flat major, F major, E major and G minor; In addition, other elements of the exposition reappear (e.g. the chains of staccato eighth notes). From bar 98 onwards, a two-part effect is created by adding an opposing voice to motif A.

The recapitulation begins in measure 138 with the first theme as at the beginning of the sentence. In particular, the transition to the second theme is different from the exposition and, with the voice against motif A from bar 147 (similar to the previous bar 98), still contains elements of the development. After the second theme, the first “outbreak” begins on an F major seventh chord (bar 181), the second on A flat major (bar 187), both of which relieve their tension on the tonic in C major. The exposition is repeated, but the development and recapitulation are not.

Walter Lessing (1989) describes the sentence as "lively, witty Presto in the opera-influenced, lighter style of the late 1770s."

See also

Web links, notes

Individual references, comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Stephen C. Fisher, Sonja Gerlach: Symphonies around 1777–1779. In: Joseph Haydn Institute Cologne (ed.): Joseph Haydn works. Series I, Volume 9. G. Henle-Verlag, Munich 2002, page XIII ff. And 272 ff.
  2. ↑ a b Harry Newstone: Symphony No. 63 in C (La Roxelane). Ernst Eulenburg-Verlag No. 557, London without year (pocket score)
  3. ^ Carl Ferdinand Pohl: Joseph Haydn. Volume II. Leipzig 1882. Quoted in Fisher & Gerlach (2002: 280).
  4. ^ Arnold Schering: Comments on Joseph Haydn's program symphonies. In: Yearbook of the Peters Music Library for 1939 , XLVI (1940), pp. 9-27. Quoted in Fisher & Gerlach (2002: 280).
  5. ↑ Jacob de Ruiter: The character concept of music. Studies on the German Aesthetics of Instrumental Music 1740-1850 (= Archive for Musicology . Supplement 29). Steiner, Stuttgart 1989, p. 90.
  6. ^ Andreas Friesenhagen & Ulrich Wilker: Symphonies around 1770–1774. In: Joseph Haydn Institute Cologne (ed.): Joseph Haydn works. Row I, Volume 5b. G. Henle-Verlag, Munich 2013, ISMN 979-0-2018-5044-3.
  7. ↑ at Philharmonia and Eulenburg, see below under web links, notes
  8. ^ Howard Chandler Robbins Landon: The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn. Universal Edition & Rocklife, London 1955, p. 361.
  9. ^ Antony Hodgson: The Music of Joseph Haydn . The Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London 1976, ISBN 0-8386-1684-4 , p. 93
  10. ^ A b 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 ; P. 182
  11. ^ A b Walter Lessing: The symphonies of Joseph Haydn, in addition: all masses. A series on Südwestfunk Baden-Baden 1987-89. Volume 2. Baden-Baden 1989, p. 164f.
  12. ↑ 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).
  13. ↑ a b The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in many recordings.
  14. ↑ If applicable Can be interpreted as a front and a trailer 16-bar theme, can also be broken down into smaller components.