# My Haydn Symphony Project



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Having listened to all the Haydn symphonies twice (and many of them dozens of times), I am still frustrated by not being able to remember all of the ones that I really enjoyed more than others in a very short amount of time after my last listening. Frankly, there are just too many of them, and most identified only by number and key, to remember.

So, I decided to create a spreadsheet and give each individual movement a rating from 1 to 10, and each symphony a figure that is the average of the individual movements.

So far, I've completed this process for the first 20 numbered symphonies.

While I was at it, I created my own way of trying to figure out the approximate order of composition through a numerical computation based on the date ranges given by scholars.

Given that all of this is highly subjective and of little interest to most people, I expect most readers to have checked out by now.

For those who haven't - here is my chronological list so far (later numbered symphonies will no doubt be somewhat plugged into this and thus will change things as I get to them):

2
4
10
16
19
17
18
1
3
5
11
20
15
6
7
8
14
9
12
13

and here is my list organized by rating:

12 ....................8.50
13
6
20
16
14
8
11
18
15
5
9
7
19
17
10
4
2
3
1 .......................5.33

I always knew I liked number 6 "Le Matin", but now at least I can remind myself I liked numbers 12 and 13 even better.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Vesteralen said:


> Having listened to all the Haydn symphonies twice (and many of them dozens of times), I am still frustrated by not being able to remember all of the ones that I really enjoyed more than others in a very short amount of time after my last listening. Frankly, there are just too many of them, and most identified only by number and key, to remember.
> 
> So, I decided to create a spreadsheet and give each individual movement a rating from 1 to 10, and each symphony a figure that is the average of the individual movements.
> 
> ...


That will be a massive job to complete. He wrote 104 numbered symphonies. I know most are not as long as Beethoven or Mahler but that will take a lot of time to listen and rank all of them.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> That will be a massive job to complete. He wrote 104 numbered symphonies. I know most are not as long as Beethoven or Mahler but that will take a lot of time to listen and rank all of them.


Well, it's my third time through. The only difference is, this time I'm keeping a list.

Of course, given my pattern of disappearing for a year or so on this site, and then turning up again like a bad penny, who knows when anyone else will see the finished project? Plus, I'm not getting any younger.....


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Third time could be the time you finish it. Good luck.:tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Vesteralen said:


> Having listened to all the Haydn symphonies twice (and many of them dozens of times), I am still frustrated by not being able to remember all of the ones that I really enjoyed more than others in a very short amount of time after my last listening. Frankly, there are just too many of them, and most identified only by number and key, to remember.
> 
> So, I decided to create a spreadsheet and give each individual movement a rating from 1 to 10, and each symphony a figure that is the average of the individual movements.
> 
> ...


In how much time you did listen?


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Pugg said:


> In how much time you did listen?


Not sure exactly what you are asking here, but I'd say my first time through took me about six to eight months. The second time through took much longer because I included each disc (two to four symphonies each) in my regular disc rotation (which also meant listening to each disc four to six times or more). I'd guess this took well over a year - maybe even two..

This time, I'm listening more carefully (not in the car, not at work, but only at home - with headphones), and even listening to some movements more than once. Going through this first group of twenty has taken about a month and a half, I'd say. So, I think it will be, at the very least, another eight month project.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

This is a fascinating idea, and one that appeals to me 
However the issue as ever is time. So I might try something similar but start with the later symphonies from Paris and London


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Vesteralen said:


> Not sure exactly what you are asking here, but I'd say my first time through took me about six to eight months. The second time through took much longer because I included each disc (two to four symphonies each) in my regular disc rotation (which also meant listening to each disc four to six times or more). I'd guess this took well over a year - maybe even two..
> 
> This time, I'm listening more carefully (not in the car, not at work, but only at home - with headphones), and even listening to some movements more than once. Going through this first group of twenty has taken about a month and a half, I'd say. So, I think it will be, at the very least, another eight month project.


Sorry my fault, very expressive.:tiphat:


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Vesteralen said:


> Not sure exactly what you are asking here, but I'd say my first time through took me about six to eight months. The second time through took much longer because I included each disc (two to four symphonies each) in my regular disc rotation (which also meant listening to each disc four to six times or more). I'd guess this took well over a year - maybe even two..
> 
> This time, I'm listening more carefully (not in the car, not at work, but only at home - with headphones), and even listening to some movements more than once. Going through this first group of twenty has taken about a month and a half, I'd say. So, I think it will be, at the very least, another eight month project.


I hope you enjoy the all of Haydn's symphonies.


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