Haydn's Haus

[Karl Henning]

You will probably have more joy with the symphonies though. Many 'Paris' sets, as you surmise. Also ones like this;



a highly recommended choice.

Not that more is wanted than The Gurn Seal of Approval, but I pound the table for this, as well.

[Sergeant Rock]

....but can I get 76-78 together? Or 79-81? Or 90-92, which did belong together before no.92 became Oxfordised? I'm less hopeful.

76-78 and 90-92 are on single Goodman/Hanover discs:




Volume Five of the Fischer cycle has a nice grouping that covers some of your needs too: 70-81




Sarge

[Geo Dude]

I've been on a bit of a choral kick lately so I took a crack at one of the discs in the set of Weil's recording of Haydn's late masses; specifically the Mass in the Time of War/Salve Regina/Motet disc.  Good stuff!  I'll soon be giving the rest of that set a try.

Also, I saw a question posed on an Amazon review of Weil's recording of Haydn's London Symphonies that only the mighty Gurn can answer... 

"Hearing these symphonies afresh makes one wonder about dear old Josef. For a great composer, he seems to have been suspiciously normal - no drug habit, syphilis, deafness, madness or part-time axe murder habit. This is deeply worrying; to confirm his status as one of the musical immortals, could some kind musicologist please identify hitherto unrevealed nastiness that we can associate with him?"

[Madiel]

Thanks for the symphony tips. I have heard good things about both Kujiken and Goodman so will certainly keep those in mind when the time comes.  Not up to more classical purchases just yet, but always thinking about them...

[Gurn Blanston]

I've been on a bit of a choral kick lately so I took a crack at one of the discs in the set of Weil's recording of Haydn's late masses; specifically the Mass in the Time of War/Salve Regina/Motet disc.  Good stuff!  I'll soon be giving the rest of that set a try.

Also, I saw a question posed on an Amazon review of Weil's recording of Haydn's London Symphonies that only the mighty Gurn can answer... 

"Hearing these symphonies afresh makes one wonder about dear old Josef. For a great composer, he seems to have been suspiciously normal - no drug habit, syphilis, deafness, madness or part-time axe murder habit. This is deeply worrying; to confirm his status as one of the musical immortals, could some kind musicologist please identify hitherto unrevealed nastiness that we can associate with him?"

I think that the problem was not that Haydn was actually an angel, but that he was rather discreet and didn't really make a spectacle of himself the way some do. It all depends on ones personal moral compass, of course, whether or not this sort of behavior is objectionable or no. But Haydn, a long time married man, would willingly dally with any warm body that came down the road. There are 5 or 6 ladies who are either documented paramours or else strongly suspected to be, and that is only the ones who managed to let it slip that they were carrying on. Of course, to a lot of people, then and now, this was perfectly normal and fine behavior, so probably not fodder for Entertainment Tonight. But as far as excessive drinking or opium smoking or any of the vices, true enough, he was a dull fellow. Probably that's why he was so damned good at what he did.

[Karl Henning]

And lived so long to continue doing it.

[Madiel]

Yeah, I thought all we needed to say was: Bad Marriage.

[Gurn Blanston]

And lived so long to continue doing it.

Yeah, I thought all we needed to say was: Bad Marriage.

Pretty much. Nowadays, a person needs to be a serial killer/convict/rehabber/whatever to get any attention. I guess Haydn finally is a failure at something, being only a serial adulterer....

[Karl Henning]

Pretty much. Nowadays, a person needs to be a serial killer/convict/rehabber/whatever to get any attention.

A composer these days has tough choices . . . . ; )

[Gurn Blanston]

One reason why I really am attracted to Haydn's music is because he appears to have been the consummate professional.  No melodrama, no hand-wringing, no overarching egoistic demands; none of the "music is about ME" but instead the music serves itself.  For me this typifies the zeitgeist of the Classical period as opposed to the Romantic era where the composer began to become a focal point and the music became more sensationalist, at least IMO.

Thank you for putting my thoughts into words.

+1 (is that how it's done these days?)

[Wakefield]

I've been on a bit of a choral kick lately so I took a crack at one of the discs in the set of Weil's recording of Haydn's late masses; specifically the Mass in the Time of War/Salve Regina/Motet disc.  Good stuff!  I'll soon be giving the rest of that set a try.

Also, I saw a question posed on an Amazon review of Weil's recording of Haydn's London Symphonies that only the mighty Gurn can answer... 

"Hearing these symphonies afresh makes one wonder about dear old Josef. For a great composer, he seems to have been suspiciously normal - no drug habit, syphilis, deafness, madness or part-time axe murder habit. This is deeply worrying; to confirm his status as one of the musical immortals, could some kind musicologist please identify hitherto unrevealed nastiness that we can associate with him?"

Well, quite curiously the same assertion could be done about Bach, if we exclude the cataracts of his last years.

[Gurn Blanston]

A composer these days has tough choices . . . . ; )

Just choosing to be a composer is accomplishment enough. One could so easily have become an entertainer of more vulgar popularity potential and with the associated vices. Glad you rose above it, Karl (or if you didn't, actually, I hope we don't find out til after you die! ).

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, quite curiously the same assertion could be done about Bach, if we exclude the cataracts of his last years.

Well, there's that 23 kids thing though. The man was a menace!  0:)   

[Opus106]

Well, quite curiously the same assertion could be done about Bach, if we exclude the cataracts of his last years.

Why would a cataract be considered a morally bad characteristic or a physical side-effect thereof?

[Wakefield]

Well, there's that 23 kids thing though. The man was a menace!  0:)   

Yes. Anyway, I think -although I'm a single man without children- very few things help more to focus on the occupations of every day than a large number of children. It is a matter of survival. 

[Wakefield]

Why would a cataract be considered a morally bad characteristic or a physical side-effect thereof?

Oh no, it was just one example of disease that undoubtedly changed his normal daily life. Apparently, if we exclude the increasing blindness of his last years, Bach was a healthy guy all his life.

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh no, it was just one example of disease that undoubtedly changed his normal daily life. Apparently, if we exclude the increasing blindness of his last years, Bach was a healthy guy all his life.

If you haven't done yet, you should read up on his attempts to get that fixed. It reminds one of just why one doesn't wish to go back in time and live there! 

[Gurn Blanston]

Why would a cataract be considered a morally bad characteristic or a physical side-effect thereof?

I think it is one of those hardships that composers had to overcome for their art.  Haydn had ferocious nasal polyps. Much worse a thing than it sounds, but probably not photogenic enough for Hollywood.   

[Opus106]

Oh no, it was just one example of disease that undoubtedly changed his normal daily life. Apparently, if we exclude the increasing blindness of his last years, Bach was a healthy guy all his life.

I think it is one of those hardships that composers had to overcome for their art.  Haydn had ferocious nasal polyps. Much worse a thing than it sounds, but probably not photogenic enough for Hollywood.   

Oh, we're talking about those sorts of nastiness as well, eh?

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh, we're talking about those sorts of nastiness as well, eh?

Anything for a story. Schubert's syphilis is one of the all-time greats! He was brilliant to contract that, merely by wick-dipping. When they say Schubert was a genius, that's what they're talking about!