Symphonies nos. 88-92 & Sinfonia concertante

Abstract

Between the completion of the set of six 'Paris' Symphonies in 1786 and his depaure for London in 1791, Haydn composed five new symphonies, all of which rapidly fold their way to Paris and might, therefore, justly be designated a second set o'Paris' Svmphonies. Nos. 88 and 89 (both 1787) were carried, either in parts or in manusipt, by the violinist Johann Tost when he visited Paris in 1788. He sold them, alonjwith a symphony by Adalbert Gyrowetz which he passed off as Haydn's, to the music pblisher Sieber, who issued them the following year. Due to the success of these symhonies, added to that of the 'Paris' set, Monseigneur le Comte d'Ogny commissioned aoirther three symphonies from Haydn for the Concert de la Loge Olympique. At the sa:e time, Haydn received another commission for three symphonies, this time from south German patron, Prince Krafft Ernst von Oettingen-Wallerstein. In order to kill bo birds with one stone, Haydn composed symphonies Nos. 90, 91 (both 1787) and 92 (H8) and sent them to both patrons. Wallerstein, on discovering the subterfuge, was aparently less than happy to find he was not the sole 'owner' of the symphonies! Although we may consider Symphonies Nos. 88 and 89 to be a complementry pair, it would be difficult to imagine that two works more different from one anothr could flow from the pen of one man at roughly the same time. No. 88 opens witla slow introduction: this is necessary, as the main theme of the first movement is of such nature that it would be implausible as the opening of the symphony. It is based on a>assage typical of natural horn writing, but is first heard in the violins, being given to tb horns themselves only in the first orchestral tult: passage. The theme is counterpointecagainst a number of different versions of a semiquaver passage, mainly in the strings, diing the exposition and the masterful development section. In the recapitulation, the leme is again played against the semiquaver figure, this time given to the flute. Thisecond movement is notable for being the first time Haydn uses the trumpets and drms in a symphonic slow movement. Having been silent during the whole of the first nwement - the limitations of eighteenth-century trumpets severely curtailing their possiUities in the key of G major - they interrupt the serene hymn like tune with fortissin) stabs. Although the use of trumpets in slow movements was an accepted practice in Austria (in, |br eximp'e, Mozart's Lmz Symphony and Michael Haydn's D major Serenade of 1785) it wa; a novelty to the Parisians, and was still being remarked upon as late as 1798. Brahr.s is reputed to have said of this movement, "I want my Ninth Symphony to sound ike tlat," and it has been noted that certain passages seem to foreshadow moments in the 'Finedictus' of Mozart´s Requiem. The Minuet has been likened by H.C. Robbins Landon to a peasant scene from Dniejel: an impression heightened by brief but exposed timpani passages towards the endsof both main sections of the movement. The Trio continues this rustic aspect with its dnne-like accompaniment. Both the Minuet and Trio display Haydn's predilection for exterding phrases, almost to the point of making them seem unbalanced. The theme of the snata-rondo Finale puts one in mind of the music for the ploughman in The Seasons or prhaps Papageno in The Magic Flute. Its surface pastoral simplicity is contrasted agaiist more sophisticated Viennese-style sections, but surely Haydn's greatest coup is, on nturning to the tonic key, the fortissimo canon in which the previously innocent-sounlinp theme is played against itself, dividing the orchestra into two: the higher-agaiist the lower-pitched instruments. The folk-like charm of the theme is expertly drivm through Haydn's brilliant counterpoint to send the direction of the movement off at ar astonishing tangent. /fter the rustic excursions of Symphony No. 88, the following symphony, No. 89 in F majcr transports the listener firmly back to the Viennese salon. The first movement opens in a more traditional - one might be tempted to say staid - manner :han does its predecessor, but it does contain moments that are uniquely Haydnesque: the cheeky sccoid subject, for example. The second and fourth movements are 'recycled': they orignally came from a Concerto for two Lire Organizzate and strings, composed the previous year for the King of Naples. The slow movement is structurally identical in both piecs - only the orchestration has been changed. The Finale, on the other hand, benefits fron the insertion of the symphonic F minor section, which lifts the movement onto a higler level altogether.