Michael Haydn's Harum

Started by snyprrr, September 24, 2009, 08:56:12 AM

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snyprrr

I just happened upon a supposed cd of the extant SQs of Michael Haydn by the Sonare Quartet on Claves (1988). I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before; there it was, just sitting there for $6. He supposedly wrote nine SQs, but only the six on this cd survive.

My SQ index shows Haydn's SQs scattered 1776 and 1802 (all have the "~" "circa" symbol, so none of these dates is verifiable) yet the cd notes state that "the chronological order of these quartets cannot be fixed due to the absence of an autograph score, just as an assignment of their date for their origen is not possible. Estimations based on style comparisons point to a time before 1770"!

Well...that's interesting. All of M.Haydn's SQs are written before 1770? Here is what my SQ index states: (the "P" is for the publisher Perger)

P116 (C)- P118 (Eb): 1781

P119-20 (F, g): 1783

P122 (A): 1796

P124 (Bb): 1777

The index also shows the three remaining "lost" SQs: one in F (1776), and a set of two (F. G; 1794).

I wonder does anyone have anything interesting to add here?



As for the music, well, I guess some people know that Michael sounds a lot more like Mozart than he does his brother. This album of SQs reveal very charming and melodic works all but one of which are around ten minutes, with three mvmts. P119 (F) has four mvmts. and last about a quarter hour. And, thank you, there IS a "g minor" SQ in here, haha, which, I must say, has a very nice and refreshing air to it.

The typical Vienna classical sound are here in spades. It really does have that Mozart charm (they were good friends?). For anyone plunging beyond the big two, this should be your next purchase (before Pleyel, before Kraus). I really can't state enough how utterly "there" these SQs are: totally charming and packed (seeing how short they are). And, at $6, I can tell you, it is now one of the crown jewels of my pre-1800 library. There are none of the capricious aspects of his brother's SQs, just lilting melodies in that Mozart "way." Michael Haydn, Kraus, and Wranitsky are my candidates in the Rob Newman conspiracy (the Italians??? ???) Oh, haha, chew on that!

Anyhow, I do wish one of y'alls will go right away now and order this cd of Michael Haydn SQs so I can have a witness. Are these some of the most utterly charming SQs you've heard... or, if it's not Scottish, IT'S CRAP!!!???!!!

I do believe this is the same Sonare Quartet that plays Boccherini's Op.2, and the Krenek cycle? Either way, they too are utterly charming in this repertoire.

HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

snyprrr

No one has any Michael Haydn cds? I've always been curious about the Notturnos on CPO.

DavidW

Quote from: snyprrr on September 26, 2009, 09:35:31 PM
No one has any Michael Haydn cds?

You came to that conclusion just because nobody replied to your post within 1/2 an hour in the middle of the night? ::)

Gabriel

Quote from: DavidW on September 27, 2009, 05:59:58 AM
You came to that conclusion just because nobody replied to your post within 1/2 an hour in the middle of the night? ::)

And certainly a false conclusion!

snyprrr

Quote from: DavidW on September 27, 2009, 05:59:58 AM
You came to that conclusion just because nobody replied to your post within 1/2 an hour in the middle of the night? ::)

;D

snyprrr

Groves' says that all the SQs on my Michael Haydn cd are spurious. Huh, where's Rob New... oh, ok, never mind.

JBS

September/October release (depending on which side of the Atlantic you are on)

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Karl Henning

Missa Tempore Quadragesimæ ...? @Gurn Blanston ?

A friend is singing the Kyrie from this for a service at King's Chapel soon.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

powderedwig

Quote from: snyprrr on September 24, 2009, 08:56:12 AMThe typical Vienna classical sound are here in spades. It really does have that Mozart charm (they were good friends?). For anyone plunging beyond the big two, this should be your next purchase (before Pleyel, before Kraus). I really can't state enough how utterly "there" these SQs are: totally charming and packed (seeing how short they are). And, at $6, I can tell you, it is now one of the crown jewels of my pre-1800 library. There are none of the capricious aspects of his brother's SQs, just lilting melodies in that Mozart "way." Michael Haydn, Kraus, and Wranitsky are my candidates in the Rob Newman conspiracy (the Italians??? ???) Oh, haha, chew on that!

Anyhow, I do wish one of y'alls will go right away now and order this cd of Michael Haydn SQs so I can have a witness. Are these some of the most utterly charming SQs you've heard... or, if it's not Scottish, IT'S CRAP!!!???!!!

Btw, there have been various string quartets attributed to Haydn; I think the authentic ones are MH299, MH316, MH319, as argued by Dwight Blazin in his article "Michael Haydn and the Haydn Tradition".
There is actually a distinctive "ground bass rhythm" signature in every one of his works, so it's not that hard to tell his works apart from his more Galant-style-based contemporaries'.
MH319