# Haydn Symphony Series Part 4: 31-40



## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Apologies for the long break, I have not had internet access for a while. I shall try to be more efficient with the next ones. As always, vote for your favourites on the poll.

As usual, here are the Hoboken numbers against the current believed order of composition with the year next to it. 37 is the one that stands out here.

31. - 37. : 1765
32. - 15. : 1760/1761
33. - 22. : 1761/1762
34. - 29. : 1763
35. - 45. : 1767
36. - 21. : 1761/1762
37. - 2. : 1757/1758
38. - 41. : 1767
39. - 38. : 1765
40. - 27. : 1763

The Haydn symphony site where I got my chronologies from, followed by the previous Haydn symphony threads:

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

Previous Haydn symphony threads: 1-10, 11-20,21-30


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

This is about the time Haydn Symphonies got much better imo. Or at least starting in the last 20's. 'Sturm und Drang' ftw.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

I actually had some difficulty in voting on this one. One of them is obvious: symphony 39 is a really great symphony and my favourite of this set by such a long way that I had trouble selecting others. I have a version of 39 labelled "The Fist", but I thought it was uncommon enough not to put in this list.

Robbins Landon called it a "flawed masterpiece", but this is a harsh judgement, based on the sharp contrast of the andante slow movement with the character of the rest of the piece. I find it not lacking at all. The first movement is really brilliant, and although the last I find suffers (more than the slow movement) played on its own, it is a brilliant, really gripping end to the symphonic narrative taken as a whole. The first movement is the only piece of music that, to my ears, makes effective _thematic_ use of silence, more than Beethoven, or anyone after, but that is just my opinion. The silence is not just an effect, but a thematic idea itself, strongly connected to the main theme. I actually prefer this to Mozart's 39th, but that is probably a matter of familiarity to an extent.

This set contains some other gems however, and some less than gems. Symphony 34 I find very average, compared to some of Haydn's other minor symphonies before the late ones (such as 80 or 95). I like all the symphonies in C major (of which there is quite a large number), to a greater or lesser extent, but symphony 38 is particularly good, with a great development in the first movement, a genuinely comic slow movement, and a really exciting last movement. The other one I voted for is the Hornsignal, which is quite memorable and exciting, although not gripping. My 3 votes are therefore very ordered (39 then 38 then 31) but I think that there is a lot of good music in these symphonies.

Actually, in writing this and listening to them to check what I am saying, I have realised how much I really like 38 - it is almost as good as 39, and I really do prefer it to Mozart's 38th!


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

neoshredder said:


> This is about the time Haydn Symphonies got much better imo. Or at least starting in the last 20's. 'Sturm und Drang' ftw.


Yes, but the 40's are the real highlight!


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## DebussyDoesDallas (Jan 11, 2014)

No doubt, #39. Contrary to common critical opinion, I think the whole thing holds together, and the second mvt. not a jarringly light trifle but rather a sweet, flowing respite with rather more beauty and gravitas (just a little but enough) than it gets credit for. 

Other favorites are #35 and #38, especially their respective first mvts. as done by Pinnock.


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## Plato (Dec 20, 2015)

39 is so good that in fact it is easy to underrate the other highlights of this set. 39 is probably Haydn's most challenging symphony, with inventivness and character. However, I would also pay attention to the adagio of 34, a symphony which anticipates the Sturm und Drang period.


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## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

I went with 39 over 34 even though the first two movements of the latter really kick *** like nothing else in this period. Unfortunately, as Landon noted, the brilliance of the ideas falls off sharply in the 3rd and 4th movements of that one. 39 is solid throughout, and I love the very opening, which reminds me of an out-of-gear car rolling downhill, first encountering an obstacle that rolls it back up a litle, and then sliding on past that point to head on down. Pretty sure that's not what Haydn was thinking of when he wrote it, but it has such a clear narrative energy that it can support that and other interpretations.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Like them all :tiphat:


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

40 is a really nice symphony, very adept and fluent construction.


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## BoggyB (May 6, 2016)

Plato said:


> I would also pay attention to the adagio of 34, a symphony which anticipates the Sturm und Drang period.





Funny said:


> I went with 39 over 34 even though the first two movements of the latter really kick *** like nothing else in this period. Unfortunately, as Landon noted, the brilliance of the ideas falls off sharply in the 3rd and 4th movements of that one.


This adagio is extraordinary, like something from the following century, so I'm glad I'm not the only one to have noticed it.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Current choices for me are 31, one of my absolute favorite Haydn Symphonies, 32 (though I don't particularly care for its 3rd movement _adagio non troppo_), 34 (a strong favorite), 36 and 38.


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

There are some great ones in the 30s, but my favorite has to be 34. The opening slow movement is probably my favorite slow piece of all time. 38, the Echo, is also a great one with a fun first movement. And of course, the Hornsignal.


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