Haydn's Haus

[bhodges]

Tonight is the first night of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, with ten groups vying for the top prize, to be awarded on Sunday. Each of them is doing Haydn and Bartók, and just now I laughed as the Verona Quartet faked everyone out in the final measures of Haydn's Op. 50, No. 1, prompting bravos and applause.

Tonight's groups: Argus, Aeolus, Tesla, and Verona -- the other six play tomorrow. All the concerts are being live-streamed, and if tonight is any indication, I'm going to be busy tomorrow. (It does appear that Banff archives all the performances, so you could probably catch them "not-live" later.)

https://www.banffcentre.ca/bisqc-watch-and-listen

--Bruce

[Gurn Blanston]

Tonight is the first night of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, with ten groups vying for the top prize, to be awarded on Sunday. Each of them is doing Haydn and Bartók, and just now I laughed as the Verona Quartet faked everyone out in the final measures of Haydn's Op. 50, No. 1, prompting bravos and applause.

Tonight's groups: Argus, Aeolus, Tesla, and Verona -- the other six play tomorrow. All the concerts are being live-streamed, and if tonight is any indication, I'm going to be busy tomorrow. (It does appear that Banff archives all the performances, so you could probably catch them "not-live" later.)

https://www.banffcentre.ca/bisqc-watch-and-listen

--Bruce

Excellent, Bruce, thanks for the heads-up. Op 50 #1 = my favorite! 

[Karl Henning]

"Papa" can still surprise 'em!

[bhodges]

Excellent, Bruce, thanks for the heads-up. Op 50 #1 = my favorite! 

I can see why! 

Here's the rest of the Haydn/20th-century schedule today. Tomorrow they go to the "Romantic" round (e.g., Sibelius, Dvorak), a break on Thursday, and then on Friday all ten do the same piece (a commission by Zosha Di Castri). Saturday is the "ad lib" round, when each group does a 30-minute set of whatever they want, and on Sunday afternoon, the three finalists do Beethoven or Schubert.

10:30am
Rolston String Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 77, No. 1
Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"

INTERMISSION

Castalian String Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 1
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114

2:30pm
Quartet Arpa
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33, No. 2
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102

INTERMISSION

Omer Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 5
Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, "Kreutzer Sonata"

7:30pm
Ulysses Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 5
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91

INTERMISSION

Quartet Berlin-Tokyo
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33, No. 4
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102

Quartet overload!

--Bruce

[Gurn Blanston]

Whew, quite a lineup! I could easily spend a day getting overloaded.   

[Brian]

Adios, everybody! Setting off on a road trip with these Haydn symphonies from the Bruggen/Hogwood/Dantone box:

38, 45, 52, 61*, 65, 66, 69, 71*, 73-77*, 82-87, 93, 102, 103

*61, 71, 74, and 76 are the LAST FOUR Haydn symphonies I've not yet heard!!!

[Gurn Blanston]

Adios, everybody! Setting off on a road trip with these Haydn symphonies from the Bruggen/Hogwood/Dantone box:

38, 45, 52, 61*, 65, 66, 69, 71*, 73-77*, 82-87, 93, 102, 103

*61, 71, 74, and 76 are the LAST FOUR Haydn symphonies I've not yet heard!!!

Excellent, Brian, have a great trip. I am off to New England tomorrow myself, and fortunately I have the entire set on my player.  

[Madiel]

This is most peculiar. Suddenly I own Haydn compositions that were written before the 1780s.

[asin]B002IVRBBU[/asin]

I decided I might as well explore these chronologically. So right now I'm experiencing Haydn circa 1749. Egads. That Mozart kid hasn't even born yet.

As I've been sometimes mentioning in the general listening thread, I've made it up to the 1782 "Mariazellermesse". So I'm essentially halfway through the box.

It's been pretty great so far, and I haven't reached the "great" Masses so I'm pretty excited about what those might offer. What's really struck me in the first half of the box, though, is how different some of these works are from each other! The size of them, both in terms of length and I suspect in terms of the instrumental/vocal forces, is massively different. The notes are helpful in pointing out what's known about the context for which each work was composed.

I don't know very many Masses, and I don't think I've ever known more than 1 from a given composer before, so this has been very educational. And pretty enjoyable.

[TheGSMoeller]

Adios, everybody! Setting off on a road trip with these Haydn symphonies from the Bruggen/Hogwood/Dantone box:

38, 45, 52, 61*, 65, 66, 69, 71*, 73-77*, 82-87, 93, 102, 103

*61, 71, 74, and 76 are the LAST FOUR Haydn symphonies I've not yet heard!!!

What a great mix tape!!
Have a safe trip, Brian.

[Karl Henning]

Travels With "Papa" in Search of America

[Gurn Blanston]

As I've been sometimes mentioning in the general listening thread, I've made it up to the 1782 "Mariazellermesse". So I'm essentially halfway through the box.

It's been pretty great so far, and I haven't reached the "great" Masses so I'm pretty excited about what those might offer. What's really struck me in the first half of the box, though, is how different some of these works are from each other! The size of them, both in terms of length and I suspect in terms of the instrumental/vocal forces, is massively different. The notes are helpful in pointing out what's known about the context for which each work was composed.

I don't know very many Masses, and I don't think I've ever known more than 1 from a given composer before, so this has been very educational. And pretty enjoyable.

All you ever hear about are his Last 6 Masses, but the first ones are excellent, IMO, and I have heard a ton of Viennese masses!  He wrote them all for such different venues, only one (the Nicolaimesse) for his own little church in Eisenstadt. So they do, indeed, span the range of stylistic possibilities. I like both of the Mariazeller masses, they are a range all their own.   

[Gurn Blanston]

Travels With "Papa" in Search of America

I don't know, pretty Steinbeckian...

[Gurn Blanston]

Yesterday my local NPR played the Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII:6, the Emanuel Ax recording.  It struck me that I had hardly spent any time with this wonderful work, so I spent most of today listening to various recordings.  The one recording I couldn't find on a streaming service or Youtube was the one on a period instrument by Paul Badura-Skoda.



So, I ordered a copy from Amazon, for less than $5.00.

All's well that ends well.

Small world it is: now I am back home, my next essay is about that exact piece of music. What a lovely thing it is! 

[Gurn Blanston]

Are you of the opinion he wrote it in 1793 or do you go for the alternate date of 1790?  There is a quote somewhere to the effect that Haydn was excited to play the work on one of the new Broadwood pianos in England.  I saw it and then couldn't find it again when I wanted to use it.

It is an exceptional work.

He was eager to play it on a new Broadwood, something he wouldn't have known about before his first trip. He wrote on the score that it was written for England, and shared it with several pianists there. IIRC, he wrote it for the same person (Ployer) that Mozart wrote music for (e.g. - K 449 concerto), he very probably had an "exclusive use" clause which kept him from publishing it in Vienna for 2 years or something, but he showed it off in England on his second trip. 

His real motivation for writing it was probably a mourning piece for Marianne Genzinger though. The theme actually was a mourning piece from his Orpheus and Euridyce opera.

[Mandryka]

His real motivation for writing it was probably a mourning piece for Marianne Genzinger though. The theme actually was a mourning piece from his Orpheus and Euridyce opera.

Is mourning piece a common genre in classical style, or was he referring back to the baroque tombeau? What exactly is a mourning piece? If it really is like a tombeau, it's surprising he didn't include her name in the title, were there 18th century conventions against this?

Bart van Oort plays it like a Tombeau.

[Gurn Blanston]

Is mourning piece a common genre in classical style, or was he referring back to the baroque tombeau? What exactly is a mourning piece? If it really is like a tombeau, it's surprising he didn't include her name in the title, were there 18th century conventions against this?

Bart van Oort plays it like a Tombeau.

No, there is no tradition in Austria that I have ever seen of any sort of non-sacred music being specifically dedicated as the French did with Tombeau's.  Which is not to say that any composer might not wish to dedicate a certain piece to a dead friend. I don't want to get into too much detail here, but the theme which is varied in this piece is from a grief aria (in f minor, a traditional very sad key) which Orpheus sang while holding Eurydice's dead body. 

I have lost the heart of my heart, my soul again.
Ah, what will become of me?
All I can see are terrifying spectres all around.
The realms of the blessed have vanished forever,
and in one brief moment
have been replaced by the abodes of eternal weeping.
I have the realms of darkness in my heart.

Considering this was written within a few weeks of her death, and they were very close friends, it is not much of a stretch to say it was a mourning piece, even for someone like me who doesn't believe in such things. I know that people do... 

[Karl Henning]

If El Tupé wins, we shall all mourn America.

[Gurn Blanston]

If El Tupé wins, we shall all mourn America.

You shall have to take Haydn's place and write a mourning song...

[Mandryka]

No, there is no tradition in Austria that I have ever seen of any sort of non-sacred music being specifically dedicated as the French did with Tombeau's.  Which is not to say that any composer might not wish to dedicate a certain piece to a dead friend. I don't want to get into too much detail here, but the theme which is varied in this piece is from a grief aria (in f minor, a traditional very sad key) which Orpheus sang while holding Eurydice's dead body. 

Considering this was written within a few weeks of her death, and they were very close friends, it is not much of a stretch to say it was a mourning piece, even for someone like me who doesn't believe in such things. I know that people do... 

Thanks. It's a good example of how this type of scholarly research can have major implications for performance. Oort's way with the music works well for me, no doubt there are others who find a similar emotional content.

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks. It's a good example of how this type of scholarly research can have major implications for performance.

I think it is important for a performer to know that, even if he/she chooses to play it in a different mood, at least it can be a consideration. Context is everything in things like opera, but it doesn't hurt to know it for smaller forms either.