1. how you come across to it:
My violinist gave me the music one evening, and we sight-read the entire suite.
2. why this piece?
She wanted to play this in her recital.
3. (and...)
After sight-reading it, I ended up liking it very much. It is beautiful in an austere way, much like the kind one finds in, say, a beautiful mathematical proof or an elegant physical law. The music doesn't have even a trace of sentimentality or passion. In this neo-classical experiment, the Swiss-clock maker has gone so much further than Hindemith. I can only wonder how the original Pergolesi pieces (on which this Suite is based) sound like.
16.9.08
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 47 in G major
1. how you come across to it:
I must be in primary school when I first heard that there was this remarkable man, Haydn, who composed over a hundred symphonies.
2. why this piece?
The saga continues...
3. (and...)
In the opinion of Charles Rosen, this is one of Haydn's most brilliant symphonies before his Paris series. Mozart copied down themes of this symphony in his sketches, apparently planning on conducting it himself. The first movement opens with a line passing between the horns and unison strings: a dialogue so full of tension, and so exciting for the listener. The second movement is a variation built upon a gracious two-voice melody; perhaps not surprisingly, the voices are inverted in the theme's second half. The counterpoint employed here is not sophisticated, though it adds richness to this elegant movement. As in many other Haydn symphonies of this period, the Minuet is the most interesting: the second half of the dance is a literal, note-to-note repetition of the first half, except in retrograde motion. At the end of the first half, the downbeats are all accented so that in the beginning of the second half, the accented upbeats (as a result of the backward motion) are dramatic enough to alert the listener of this intricacy. The finale is, unfortunately, a disappointment. Neither is it substantial enough to sustain the drama in the previous movements, nor is it jovial enough to resolve any tension. But overall, this is no doubt an admirable work.
I must be in primary school when I first heard that there was this remarkable man, Haydn, who composed over a hundred symphonies.
2. why this piece?
The saga continues...
3. (and...)
In the opinion of Charles Rosen, this is one of Haydn's most brilliant symphonies before his Paris series. Mozart copied down themes of this symphony in his sketches, apparently planning on conducting it himself. The first movement opens with a line passing between the horns and unison strings: a dialogue so full of tension, and so exciting for the listener. The second movement is a variation built upon a gracious two-voice melody; perhaps not surprisingly, the voices are inverted in the theme's second half. The counterpoint employed here is not sophisticated, though it adds richness to this elegant movement. As in many other Haydn symphonies of this period, the Minuet is the most interesting: the second half of the dance is a literal, note-to-note repetition of the first half, except in retrograde motion. At the end of the first half, the downbeats are all accented so that in the beginning of the second half, the accented upbeats (as a result of the backward motion) are dramatic enough to alert the listener of this intricacy. The finale is, unfortunately, a disappointment. Neither is it substantial enough to sustain the drama in the previous movements, nor is it jovial enough to resolve any tension. But overall, this is no doubt an admirable work.
7.9.08
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 46 in B major
1. how you come across to it:
Listening to this symphony is part of an ongoing project of systematically surveying Haydn's oeuvre.
2. why this piece?
Haydn's complete symphonies is too important to be omitted in such a listening project.
3. (and...)
This is a very gallant work composed during his Storm-and-Stress period. The B-minor second movement sounds like Barbarina singing in the beginning of Figaro's Act IV (i.e., melancholy over trivia). In the finale, before the theme's final statement, the middle of the minuet, played by solo strings, all of a sudden reappears. The portion of the minuet cited even happens to resemble the finale's theme. Has Beethoven learned from Haydn in his Fifth?
Listening to this symphony is part of an ongoing project of systematically surveying Haydn's oeuvre.
2. why this piece?
Haydn's complete symphonies is too important to be omitted in such a listening project.
3. (and...)
This is a very gallant work composed during his Storm-and-Stress period. The B-minor second movement sounds like Barbarina singing in the beginning of Figaro's Act IV (i.e., melancholy over trivia). In the finale, before the theme's final statement, the middle of the minuet, played by solo strings, all of a sudden reappears. The portion of the minuet cited even happens to resemble the finale's theme. Has Beethoven learned from Haydn in his Fifth?
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