7th Symphony (Haydn)

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The Symphony in C major Hoboken directory I: 7 composed Joseph Haydn in 1761 during his tenure as Vice-Kapellmeister to Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galantha. . It is nicknamed "Le midi" (the noon).

General

Joseph Haydn (painting by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, around 1770)

Joseph Haydn wrote the Symphony No. 7 in C major “Le midi” (The Midday) in 1761, probably together with the symphonies No. 6 “Le matin” (The morning) and No. 8 “Le soir” (The evening ). It is the only coherent cycle within his symphonies; it became known as "The Times of the Day". For more on the history and form of these symphonies, see Symphony No. 6.

Haydn has overwritten the autograph of the symphony with “Le Midi. In Nomine Domini. Giuseppe Haydn 761. ” , so the work is the only one of the“ time of day symphonies ”to have a title and a year (1761).

Regarding the structure, the movements of Symphony No. 7 cannot be clearly classified in a scheme. The topics or motifs are hardly processed. They are therefore intermediate forms on the way from the old suite to new forms such as the sonata form , of which terms are sometimes used as an aid in the following. - The following description and structure is to be understood as a suggestion. Depending on the point of view, other delimitations and interpretations are also possible.

To the music

Instrumentation: two flutes , two oboes , bassoon , two horns , two solo violins , two violins ripieno , viola , cello solo, cello ripieno, double bass . The autograph of " Le midi " several times, the words "appear basso continuo ", which is quite clearly an after the performance practice of the time Harpsichord - Continuo suggesting (and without this information in 1760 was quite normal). Nevertheless, there are (in general) different opinions about the involvement of a harpsichord in Haydn's symphonies. The “full” cast occurs only in the fifth movement.

Performance time: approx. 22-27 minutes (depending on compliance with the prescribed repetitions)

First movement: Adagio - Allegro

Adagio: C major, 4/4 time, bars 1–10 The festive and celebratory Adagio is characterized by its dotted rhythms and movement in unison. In addition, there is an ascending oboe line in bar 7/8. The introduction is reminiscent of a solemn French overture .

Allegro: C major, 3/4 time, bars 11–149

The movement begins in the style of the overture to a Neapolitan opera with the energetic unison melody line led in tremolo (violins: sixteenth notes, other strings and bassoon: eighth notes), which has leaps in intervals up to the octave . The six-bar theme is repeated in various ways, with the 1st violin playing counter-voices. This is followed by further sections, each of which is characterized by a motif: The passage from bar 24 is determined by the first appearance of the two solo violins and the solo cello (with a parallel bassoon) (motif 2), followed by the oboe motif 3, which establishes the dominant G major, the tone repetition motif 4 and the final motif of the first part of the sentence (motif 5) with continuous sixteenth notes.

The middle section begins with the new trill motif 6 in the piano, which is repeated as a variant after a forte insert with rapid unison runs upwards. From bar 76, a virtuoso passage for both solo violins follows (alternating), which ends after the fortissimo outburst in bar 83/84 on E major chords. Now, in the unexpected C major, a new, cadenza-like section begins again , which from bar 91 with a motif 2-like, chromatic figure and virtuoso runs of the 1st solo violin merges into a piano mock reprise in E major. The actual recapitulation then starts suddenly in bar 105 in the usual C major. Before the solo section for violins and cello occurs analogously to measure 26 (motif 2), the further piano motif 7 is switched on with a separate eighth note movement in C minor (measures 111–117). The rest of the recapitulation corresponds to the exposition. The exposition as well as the middle section and recapitulation are repeated.

As a possible structure, one can think of the sentence as composed of several sections, each characterized by motifs or groups of instruments.

Second movement: Recitativo. adagio

Start: C minor, End: B minor; 4/4 time, 29 bars

With its abrupt mood swings and the unusual tonal progression from C minor to G minor to B minor, the movement is reminiscent of a dramatic “Accompagnato recitative ” of the opera. Haydn begins the movement piano with broken chords in C minor, A flat major and E flat major of the 1st violin and whispering, evenly running accompanying figures of the 2nd violin. The rest of the accompaniment is extremely sparse. After a D major seventh chord in the forte, the 1st solo violin begins with its “speaking” performance from bar 6, in which the tutti sections are switched on. There is also a change from Adagio to Allegro and back again.

The landscape painter Albert Christoph Dies reports on his visit to Haydn on May 27, 1806 in the “Biographische Nachrichten”:

“For a long time I had made up my mind to ask Haydn to what extent the claim (which I had heard and read several times) was true that he was trying to deal with some arbitrary literal task in his instrumentation? (...) “Seldom,” replied Haydn. “I usually let my mere musical imagination run wild in instrumental music. Only one exception occurs to me now, when in the adagio of a symphony I chose a conversation between God and a reckless sinner as the subject. ”- On a later occasion the speech fell on this adagio again and Haydn said that he always got the deity through that expressed love and kindness. I asked Haydn to choose the theme of the Adagio for me because it should be of interest to most readers. But he didn't remember which symphony it was in. "

Ernst Praetorius places the present movement in this context, while Howard Chandler Robbins Landon places the Adagio from Symphony No. 22 .

Third movement: Adagio

G major, 4/4 time, 53 bars

The second adagio, a “softly loosened aria” in contrast to the dramatic recitative of the previous adagio, forms a “scene” together with the preceding one (something like the recitative and aria of the opera). The instrumentation (the flutes appear for the first time) and the character of the movement take up the type of pastoral scenery popular in baroque music .

The movement is structured in such a way that variable, virtuoso sections for the solo violin and the solo cello are switched between some of the main motifs, in which the musicians - as was common at the time - also had a certain amount of leeway for improvisation. The main motifs can be defined:

  • Measure 1: dialogue of the flowing movement of the violins and the flutes (tonic in G major), long held D of the 1st solo violin leads to the first solo section from measure 3,
  • Measure 11/12: motif with tone repetition that runs through the instruments (dominant D major),
  • Bar 14–16: final motif with the violins and flutes in unison, ends the first section of the movement in D major.

From bar 17 the second section follows, which is a variant of the first, with the solo passages between the main motifs differing in particular. The unusually long, “large solo cadenza ” for solo violin and cello (bars 36–51) is remarkable . As in the previous movement, there is a change in tempo from Adagio to Allegro and back.

Fourth movement: Menuetto

C major, 3/4 time, with trio 54 bars

The minuet is one of the “old style, solemn and dignified.” It begins in full bar with an upward octave, dotted rhythm, trills and ascending triad fanfare. The courtly character is interrupted from bar 9 by a more “gallant” piano figure with dabbing eighth notes. In the first part of the minuet and at the beginning of the second part of the trio, the horn has short solo motifs. As in the other two symphonies in the cycle, the trio is characterized by the use of a solo double bass (or violone).

Fifth movement: Allegro

C major, 2/4 time, 131 bars

Similar to the first movement, the Allegro can also be thought of as composed of several sections, each characterized by motifs or groups of instruments. The opening motif is played by both solo violins in parallel. It is based on a broken C major triad downwards with trills, which is answered by a bar forte tutti in unison. Up to bar 10 there is a short “dialogue” between solo instruments and tutti. The flute then takes up the sixteenth-note figure from the previous tutti and spins it out as a solo passage, imitated from bar 15 of the forte tutti. This is followed by another piano passage for the flute, also with virtuoso runs over an octave (derived from the previous motif), in which both solo violins join from bar 26. After the general pause with fermata in bar 37, the first solo violin in the piano begins with a suggestion phrase that abruptly changes into running movement in forte unison. The first main section of the movement (exposition) ends in measure 52 and is repeated.

In relation to the first movement, the following section (bars 53–84) is more like a development in that motifs from the exposition are taken up and “processed”: the “opening motif”, the runs over an octave and the suggestion phrase. Haydn u. a. to A major (bars 63 ff.) and even brings a small new motif to the oboe. The recapitulation (bars 85 ff.) Is structured similarly to the exposition. Development and recapitulation are repeated.

Individual references, comments

  1. ^ A b Ernst Praetorius: Revision report. Ernst Eulenburg Ltd. No. 513, London / Mainz without year (revision report on the pocket score).
  2. ^ A b After Antony Hodgson: The Music of Joseph Haydn. The Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London 1976, ISBN 0-8386-1684-4 , p. 52.) originally Violone .
  3. ↑ 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, here p. 607.
  4. ↑ 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).
  5. ^ A b c Howard Chandler Robbins Landon: Haydn: Chronicle and works. The early years 1732-1765. Thames and Hudson, London 1980, p. 556.
  6. ↑ A similar structure can also be found at the beginning of the Symphony in C major KV 73 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or in Haydn's 80th Symphony .
  7. ↑ a b The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in some recordings.
  8. ^ Heinrich Eduard Jacob: Joseph Haydn. His art, his time, his fame. Christian Wegner Verlag, Hamburg 1952.
  9. ^ Albert Christoph Dies: Biographical news from Joseph Haydn. Based on oral accounts of the same, designed and edited by Albert Christoph Dies, landscape painter. Camesinaische Buchhandlung, Vienna 1810. Re-edited by Horst Seeger with a foreword and notes. Reprinted by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel, no year (approx. 1950), p. 131.
  10. ^ Karl Geiringer: Joseph Haydn. The creative career of a master of the classics. B. Schott's sons, Mainz 1959.
  11. ↑ a b Jürgen Mainka: Symphony No. 7 in C major “Le Midi” Hob. I: 7. In: Malte Korff (ed.): Concert book orchestral music 1650-1800. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden / Leipzig 1991, pp. 349–352.
  12. ↑ Ludwig Finscher: Joseph Haydn and his time . Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2000, ISBN 3-921518-94-6 .
  13. ↑ The repeated figure with dotted rhythm and lead (bars 46/47) is reminiscent of the first bars of the introduction to the first movement of Haydn's 6th Symphony .

Web links, notes

See also