Haydn's Haus

[Gurn Blanston]

Whew, vacation is over! Getting back into the regular routine has been a challenge, but this week's topic, a sonata and fantasia for fortepiano, was well worth the research. See if you don't agree.

I had this fantasy (or was it just a caprice?)

Check it out!

[Karl Henning]

From The Symphony, I.: Haydn to Dvořák edited by Robert Simpson; the concluding paragraph of Harold Truscott's article on Haydn:

Haydn was the first supreme master to make the symphony and sonata the foremost vehicle of his thought. He retained pre-eminence until Beethoven arrived, for Mozart, great as are some of his symphonies, rarely have this medium the same attention as Haydn. No later symphonists have improved upon Haydn's position ; no one can do more than equal him ; even Beethoven, in some ways, scarcely surpassed him. One thing alone would mark him out -- the variety and range of his thought in this mass of works. Each symphony is a world in itself, even the smallest and earliest. There is no repetition. In this sense, and it is a deep one, he is the 'Father of the Symphony'. He first perceived and expressed the heights and depths this kind of music could attain.

[Gurn Blanston]

From The Symphony, I.: Haydn to Dvořák edited by Robert Simpson; the concluding paragraph of Harold Truscott's article on Haydn:

Haydn was the first supreme master to make the symphony and sonata the foremost vehicle of his thought. He retained pre-eminence until Beethoven arrived, for Mozart, great as are some of his symphonies, rarely have this medium the same attention as Haydn. No later symphonists have improved upon Haydn's position ; no one can do more than equal him ; even Beethoven, in some ways, scarcely surpassed him. One thing alone would mark him out -- the variety and range of his thought in this mass of works. Each symphony is a world in itself, even the smallest and earliest. There is no repetition. In this sense, and it is a deep one, he is the 'Father of the Symphony'. He first perceived and expressed the heights and depths this kind of music could attain.

Yes, I really like that book, and that is one of my favorite paragraphs; it sums up my own thoughts better than I could. 

[jlaurson]

Ffresh from Forbes:



SEP 21, 2015
No Rain On Bychkov And Vienna Philharmonic's Grafenegg Parade

...I'd say something about the Vienna Philharmonic having Haydn in their blood,
except I don't think they play Haydn that much more or better than any other large
philharmonic orchestra and certainly their Haydn discography is (perhaps surprising-
ly?) small and spotty. It's just that on this occasion they were fresher, the strings
more together, the execution tighter, and the tempos more appropriate than with
the BSO earlier. Granted, there was a little too much pleasantness here, also,
especially in the sticky-boots Minuet, but not to a debilitating degree...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2015/09/21/no-rain-on-bychkov-and-vienna-philharmonics-grafenegg-parade/

Grafenegg's Wolkenturm
Picture courtesy Grafenegg, © Alexander Haiden

[Gurn Blanston]

Nice review, Jens. Damn, I wish you could get to see Anima Eterna or Arion Baroque do #44. They kick ass and take names, which is far more what needs to be done. I love the Wieners, but I love Haydn more...

[Camphy]

You can listen online to this disk here (for a few weeks):

http://www.radio4.nl/plaatpaal/447/cd-van-de-week-robin-ticciati-dirgeert-haydn-symfonieen-

[Gurn Blanston]

It was a challenge, but this week's essay in about one of Haydn's less known but more interesting behind-the-scenes efforts. And you will finally get to hear a real Flötenuhr!

Time is everything!

Hope you enjoy!

[kishnevi]

It was a challenge, but this week's essay in about one of Haydn's less known but more interesting behind-the-scenes efforts. And you will finally get to hear a real Flötenuhr!

Time is everything!

Hope you enjoy!

Now I have to wait for 1792!

IIRC, that Mozart guy also wrote two or three pieces for a similar instrument.

[Florestan]

It was a challenge, but this week's essay in about one of Haydn's less known but more interesting behind-the-scenes efforts. And you will finally get to hear a real Flötenuhr!

Time is everything!

Hope you enjoy!

Absolutely charming topic, writing and music. One of the best installment in the series.

[Gurn Blanston]

Now I have to wait for 1792!

IIRC, that Mozart guy also wrote two or three pieces for a similar instrument.

Yes he did (the Fantasia K 616 for one), and so did Luigi. The main differences are that Mozart came right out and said he hated the instrument, it reminded him of a toy piano. Whereas Haydn was fascinated with the mechanical aspects and the possibilities it offered, rather than the drawbacks. When you only have 3 octaves to play with, your creativity could be constrained.

[Gurn Blanston]

Absolutely charming topic, writing and music. One of the best installment in the series.

Thanks, Florestan. Many of these essays seem to write themselves (although that may be just the way I write??) but some of them, like this one, are really a tough nut. I'm delighted that it turned out OK.

[Florestan]

And while delving into Mozart´s wonderful juvenilia, why not some early Haydn? I mean, some keyboard trios and sonatas from around 1766-67, more or less the years of Mozart´s childhood violin sonatas.





So here we have a young man of 34 and a kid of 10, as of yet unkown to each other, composing music of the highest quality at the same time. A true miracle of God!

[Scion7]

Thanks for posting the pic of you beside the holy Haffner text!  Did it give off rays of light?   

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks for posting the pic of you beside the holy Haffner text!  Did it give off rays of light?   

Oh yes: that room was actually totally dark, all of the light emanated solely from the manuscript (and my eyes, if you could have seen them!). That pic was taken by my fellow mod Brewski, by the way. He was as impressed as I was!   

[Gurn Blanston]

1790 is one of the major, watershed years in the Haydn saga. It started off so perfectly though....

A vignette of happy days in Vienna

Check it out!
Thanks,

[kishnevi]

Do you know why Haydn adressed Frau von Gennzinger as "Your Grace"?  English usage keeps that term for higher levels of nobility.  Was Hapsburg usage looser.

And I'm spelling it Gennzinger because if it was good enough for Papa, it is good enough for me.

[Gurn Blanston]

Do you know why Haydn addressed Frau von Gennzinger as "Your Grace"?  English usage keeps that term for higher levels of nobility.  Was Hapsburg usage looser.

And I'm spelling it Gennzinger because if it was good enough for Papa, it is good enough for me.

She was a minor nobility, which is the reason for the 'von' in here name, which isn't gratuitous (as was Ludwig van Beethoven's). Haydn was distinctly a commoner and was also a stickler for correctness, which was very much expected in those days. He wouldn't have wanted to give any cause for offense. Her full name, which he gives on the envelope is:

Madame de Gennzinger
Noble de Kayser a Son Logis.

Spelling in those times was extraordinarily variable. Women's writing, from a spelling POV, was practically indecipherable. The fact is, in 1790, both ways were probably right, and maybe others besides. Vastly different from now!   

[Jo498]

To this day, Austrians are rumored to be obsessed with degrees and titles* and in times when those indicated strong social distinctions one probably preferred to err in the direction of more polite and obedient.

* At least some high school teachers are still called "Professor", so every university professor has to be addressed "Universitätsprofessor" to show proper respect. Also instead of just the highest degree, they tend to list every degree someone might have passed, so Herr Hofrat Universitätsprofessor Doktor [PhD] MMag [M.A.] etc....

Beethoven's "van" from the Dutch did not indicate nobility but I think Beethoven himself was either not entirely clear about that or in any case he sometimes claimed otherwise to improve his social standing and I have seen "von Beethoven" (which would indicate at least minor nobility) in contemporary sources.

[Gurn Blanston]

To this day, Austrians are rumored to be obsessed with degrees and titles* and in times when those indicated strong social distinctions one probably preferred to err in the direction of more polite and obedient.

* At least some high school teachers are still called "Professor", so every university professor has to be addressed "Universitätsprofessor" to show proper respect. Also instead of just the highest degree, they tend to list every degree someone might have passed, so Herr Hofrat Universitätsprofessor Doktor [PhD] MMag [M.A.] etc....

Beethoven's "van" from the Dutch did not indicate nobility but I think Beethoven himself was either not entirely clear about that or in any case he sometimes claimed otherwise to improve his social standing and I have seen "von Beethoven" (which would indicate at least minor nobility) in contemporary sources

Beethoven actually took advantage of this passion for order and proper titles to let people think that he was minor nobility. At some point in his early life in Vienna, this mattered to him far more than it did once he realized that he was noble all on his own, which was more important than material nobility. 

[Karl Henning]

Beethoven actually took advantage of this passion for order and proper titles to let people think that he was minor nobility. At some point in his early life in Vienna, this mattered to him far more than it did once he realized that he was noble all on his own, which was more important than material nobility. 

He wuz playin' us!