# Haydn Symphony Series Part 3: 21-30, A&B



## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Ok, here is the third part of the Haydn symphony cycle thread series. I am in general taking my time in making all these threads because there is quite a lot of music per thread to consider. There will be links in all the threads from now on, so that if you want to revisit earlier symphony threads you can do so.

I decided to add symphonies A and B to this thread, for no particular reason except that they have to be included somewhere. Actually, in doing so, I have automatically placed one of my votes because symphony A is a great symphony as far as I am concerned. It is very short, but the first movement is really good, and the second has a really catchy tune: the third is less interesting for me, but is good enough to finish the symphony in satisfaction. Symphony B I have never found very interesting.

In the numbered symphonies, of course in this lot we have some quite famous ones. Numbers 22 and 26 are named, and are both fine symphonies. 22, "the Philosopher", boasts a particularly good first movement. The whole things is in sonata di chiesa form, so the it is a slow movement. Highly unusually, the symphony includes scoring for Cor anglais rather than oboes. This caused some confusion at the time, and various different versions were written which included substitutes for the parts given to the relatively rare instrument. Number 26, "Lamentatione", is a very good symphony, and actually it was this symphony's slow movement that first revealed to me the expressive power of the earlier classical style. I think it is the first symphony in the _Sturm und Drang_ style, and the first movement is also very good (and stormy!). There are other very good things in this set, and I would like to say that symphony 21 is quite good (also in sonata di chiesa form), and the Adagio from number 24 is very beautiful. However, one of my favourites in this set is number 27, and I must thank a member here for pointing it out to me some time ago (I'm sorry I forget who it was). It's first movement is really very good, and the others by no means put it to shame. I have been surprised to learn just now how early it is in terms of the time of composition; it just goes to prove that Haydn was capable of writing masterpieces from the very beginning of his symphonic career.

Here are the Hoboken numbers against the believed real order and year of composition again.

21. - 34. : 1764 (2nd half)
22. - 33. : 1764
23. - 32. : 1764 (1st half)
24. - 35. : 1764 (2nd half)
25. - 12. : 1760/1761
26. - 46. : 1768
27. - 6. : 1757/1760
28. - 40. : end of 1765
29. - 39. : 1765
30. - 36. : 1765 (spring)
A. - 11. : 1760/1761
B. - 24. : 1762

This is the Haydn symphony site where I got my chronologies from, as well as much other interesting information, followed by the previous Haydn symphony threads.

http://www.haydn107.com/index.php?id=21&lng=2

Previous Haydn symphony threads: 1-10, 11-20


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

I know these symphonies like a book.

Without a doubt, Symphony #22: especially the first two movements. The first movement sounds heavily Late Baroque, if I may say so. The second movement has a dance-step exuberance and lyricism that give it an especially memorable quality.

The Minuet of Symphony #25 could easily be a Minuet from Rameau's "Les Paladins".

I deeply enjoy Symphony #26 as being the first of Haydn's Minor Key Symphonies. Although not his custom, I find Haydn a great master of minor key works [String Quartet #76, Op. 76/2; String Quartet #68, Op. 64/2; Symphony #78; Baryton Trio #96; Piano Sonata #49, H 16/36; and especially Piano Trio in F Minor, H 15/F1!]. Sometimes Haydn shows himself fully capable of sounding like Bach, especially in his "Insanae et Vanae Curae" from "Il Ritorno di Tobia"--a stormy and excellent work whose first listening made me astonished by Haydn's choral genius.

The Finale of Symphony #29 is so joyous, that it cannot but warm the heart. When I first obtained the complete recordings of Haydn's Symphonies, there was only one word with which I could describe my feeling toward them: joy. Pardon the sentimentality. I made a concerted effort years ago to begin from the very beginning of music, working my way toward our own era [I have done likewise with literature and reading about philosophy]. I celebrate Haydn as among the most important composers in the Western tradition. There is a purity of form, despite the loftiness of expression, that Mozart also exemplified--so it is wholly apt that he should be called "Papa" Haydn.

Long digression, sorry. Favorites: Symphonies #22, & 26.

Again, it's curious that Symphonies #25, 26, 26, & 30 are three movement symphonies.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Symphonies "A" and "B" have always struck me as average works. Not that they don't have charm, but they aren't extraordinary, in my opinion.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I voted for the two that I remember the most, and I might have voted for the Philosopher but I second guessed because I remember it somehow not living up to my expectations. I'll look into grouping as well for listening. Lamentation has that odd syncopated 1st mvt. that I think may have used a folk song for its main theme, cool and very different. Also, the *minuet finale* of Lamentation really stands out, if I remember correctly, with its build up of "rising scale canons"(if that makes sense) in the strings in this one section, and just overall.

I also voted for 28 in A major. It has a frantic sounding first movement that struck me as unusual, and there is an odd use of muted strings in its minuet, which has a very "wide open" theme that sounds very rustic. The movement in question starts at 12:12 in this link 




Edit: ah, and listening to its trio, that is a really silly trio! This is a nice and catchy symphony and though not the most interesting, I feel it deserves a mention thanks to what seems to me, its oddness.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

I hadn't thought of the first movement of 28 as "frantic", but now that you say it, absolutely!

The Minuet begins with an interesting effect, in which the violins alternate an open E with an E achieved on the A string by the fourth finger. It's really an interesting minuet! Generally, I don't find most of Haydn's minuet all that interesting--they can be frightfully tedious, but I agree that this one stands out.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

26 

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## DebussyDoesDallas (Jan 11, 2014)

No brainer, 26 mini-masterpiece.

I like #22 too. First mvt. always reminded me of Mozart's #21 C concerto, second mvt, with the descending melodic line.

A lot of the others in this bunch are cool but a little in one ear out the other.


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## Plato (Dec 20, 2015)

I find it a little strange that no one mentioned 24, definitely the most enjoyable symphony in this group as far as I am concerned. 22 being the second best in my opinion.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Ah! I don't know many of them. I'll have to get symphonies 20-30 at some point for sure . I'm sure I'll love them though.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Most satisfying for me are 21, 22, 23 and 24.


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