J. Haydn - Hob I:75 - Symphony No. 75 in D major (Hogwood)

The symphony is set in 4 movements:
1. Grave - Presto (0:00)
2. Poco adagio con variazioni (8:18)
3. Menuetto: Allegretto (16:48)
4. Finale: Vivace (20:08)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony...)
Performers: The Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Christopher Hogwood.

[@MrFiddler66]

1779 - A quest'opera che, almeno per quanto riguarda i due tempi centrali, è tra le più fresche ed originali di Haydn, è legato ad un episodio che l'autore stesso annotò nel diario, in occasione di una esecuzione a Londra il 26 marzo 1792. Nel suo tedesco sbrigativo Haydn riferisce che al concerto era presente un pastore anglicano, il quale non seppe resistere all'emozione suscitata dall'adagio e dovette abbandonare la sala. La notte precedente, rivelò poi ad Haydn, che egli aveva sognato quella musica triste, mescolata a pensieri di morte. Il presagio doveva avverarsi: un mese più tardi si seppe che il pastore era spirato. Neppure nello Sturm und Drang Haydn aveva saputo raggiungere una realtà melodica così palpitante e introdurre un canto tanto sereno in un tempo lento, facendone il nucleo spirituale della sinfonia. LDC

[@joselopes2293]

Haydn is the father of the symphony. His music is amazing in harmony, grace and elegance. Viva Haydn a true genius of music that gives us unforgettable moments of pleasure and haunting music. Bravissimo

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Lots of interesting things about this symphony written in 1779, and it might increase everyone’s enjoyment to know that:
1. Mozart knew this symphony.
Mozart jotted down the first few notes of the Presto first movement - along with the incipits of 47 and 62 - with the intention of performing them in his concerts.
Is there a foreshadowing of the Don Giovanni overture here?
Likewise, other commentators have suggested links between Haydn’s slow movement and the Andante of Mozart’s piano concerto in B flat K450.
2. Don’t read this if you are superstitious.
Like many of Haydn’s symphonies, this work was well known in England - indeed across Europe - well before Haydn ever got to London.
In his notebook, Haydn noted a curious story about an English clergyman who, on 26 March 1792, after listening to the beautiful, hymn-like slow movement,
‘...fell into a profound melancholy as he had had a premonition of his own approaching death’.
A month later, Haydn heard that the clergyman had died!
This Poco Adagio has indeed a very profound, serious, and haunting mood which is sustained throughout this variation form movement.
3. A bit of clever counterpoint.
Listen out for more subtle contrapuntal moves in the finale - Haydn was occasionally criticized in his own time for being ‘...too scientific’.
Hope these pointers help everyone to enjoy, understand and appreciate this wonderful work just a little more than would otherwise have been the case.

[@tomstarzeck7137]

My knowledge on the topic of Haydn symphonies is greater as a result of reading your insightful comments, Elaine. As a teenager I went from hearing a lot of beethoven Brahms, and Tchaikovsky but found myself mesmerized by mahler..here I am 30 plus years later finding a wealth of musical output that I overlooked and learning about Haydn and JS Bach.. I fully understand how important these works were and are to the legacy of symphonic music 🎶.. this particular symphony is another example of a well thought out and masterfully orchestrated.. I still have not heard all of the symphonies of Haydn yet but am on my path of discovery.. I enjoy reading the comments in particular as they are insightful and no nonsense about unrelated stuff that I see on some other works by later composers like Wagner. Enjoy the music and be kind to each other.

[@davestrickland8378]

What is an incipit, Elaine? I've never heard of it before. BTW, thank you for answering a question I asked somewhere in these symphonies a few months ago. It was about their chronological order. I wonder how many people think Chopin's 2nd Concerto came after his 1st.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@davestrickland8378
An incipit in the musical sense is when you write out the first two or three bars of music - usually just the melodic line - in order to identify a piece.
Haydn and Mozart both kept catalogues of almost their whole output by using this method, and as mentioned above, Mozart noted down the incipit of three Haydn symphonies he intended to perform later (this particular scrap of paper is in Philadelphia).

[@snowcarriagechengcheng-hun3454]

Thanks for uploading!

[@harryandruschak2843]

"Like" on 8 September 2017

[@portcanad3488]

Masterpiece

[@enis.atallah]

I am listening to the first movement and it really sounds like Mozart !

[@climate42]

in my first couple of decades of listening to music i might have agreed, but having spent 5 decades with Herr Haydn I find little common in style with mozart aside from general late classicism. they had very different ideas about composition even if they were best friends.

[@climate42]

for example, mozart would have never used gypsy tune in the trio of the third movement (if he ever used one at all). haydn used these melodies all the time.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

climate42
Absolutely correct; additionally, the second movement is marked ‘Poco adagio...’; Mozart in his 41 symphonies did not write a single genuine ‘slow’ movement - they are all ‘andante’, or some variant such as ‘andantino’ for example.
Mozart did write three slow introductions to first movements towards the end of his life in Symphonies 36, 38, and 39 following the Haydn model; but it is surprising that most people are not aware that he never wrote a symphonic ‘slow’ movement, something that is to be found frequently in Haydn.
Haydn was extremely proud of the honorary Doctorate in Music that he was awarded in 1791 by the University of Oxford* which he went to collect personally a few months after his arrival in England; I think rather than plain Herr Haydn, he much preferred - and used - Dr Haydn.
Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the composer ever identify himself as Herr Haydn on any extant document or score; the most commonly found signature is the Italian form Giuseppe Haydn, sometimes the German Joseph, and very occasionally the Latin Josephus.
Beyond that, there is the occasional Sig. (Italian Signor), and post-1791 as explained, Doctor.
* This most highest of honours was very rarely given; neither Handel nor JC Bach for example received one.

[@m.zn_11]

1:31