Sinfonia Nr 1 in D, Franz Joseph Haydn

[aulos43]

This is transcribed from IMSLP31268-PMLP71223-_Sinfonia_Nr1__HCR_Landon_.pdf

No continuo is provided as yet. Also, there may have been a couple of sinfonie prior to this one:

Symphony No. 1 (Haydn), From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 1 in D major, Hoboken I/1, was written in 1759 in Dolní Lukavice, while in the service of Count Morzin. Though identified by Haydn himself as his first symphony, scholars are not sure if it is indeed the very first symphony Haydn wrote, or if it's even the earliest he wrote of the ones that have survived to posterity. In contrast to the certainty that No. 1 was written in 1759, H. C. Robbins Landon can't rule out either No. 2 or No. 4 (or both) could have been composed in 1757 or 1758.

Symphony No. 1 is scored for 2 oboes (or possibly flute), bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo. Like many of the earliest symphonies by Haydn and his contemporaries, it is in three movements:

Presto, 4/4
Andante in G major, 2/4
Presto, 3/8

The first movement opens with a Mannheim crescendo which is in contrast to the rest of the symphony, which is more Austrian in character.

The first movement has "frequent passages where" the violas are "used with some ingenuity and quite separately from the bass line."

Walt

[Sherry C]

Hi Walt,

Thanks so much for sharing this (and other) works with the rest of us, as well as the music history that goes with it.

So now I'm going to show my ignorance: what differentiates a "Mannheim crescendo" from any other type of crescendo?

ttfn,
Sherry

[aulos43]

In the second quarter of the 18th century, owing to a confluence of wealth, political stability, enlightened patronage and an abundance of musical talent, a relatively large (for the time), highly disciplined orchestra was developed at Mannheim, by then the capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate. Johann Stamitz is seen as a prime contributor and a major innovator, putting Mannheim on the map of world musical capitals, along with Paris, Vienna and Hamburg.

One of the innovations was a concerted crescendo by the whole orchestra -- it was said to make the ladies swoon. This became known as the Mannheim Crescendo.

Walt

[aulos43]

Haydn's musical lifetime spanned the passing of the high baroque to just before the dawn of romanticism. Theorist Charles Rosen (and others) credits him with the invention of the "Classical Style," fully developed with the writing of the string quartets, Opus 33, published in 1781. Haydn himself claimed to the publisher that these quartets were of “a new and entirely special kind.” Some of his symphonies of the late 1770's show experiments with the new style.

This symphony in D is most likely from early in his tenure as Kapellmeister for Graf Morzin, c. 1759. It is a good example of proto-classic style.

Here are pointers to an mp3 version -- produced with Notation Composer, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Aria and converted from wav to mp3 using iTunes:
Sinfonia Nr 1 in D mvt 1, Presto
http://home.comcast.net/~w_j_peterso...in_D_mvt_1.mp3
mvt 2, Andante
http://home.comcast.net/~w_j_peterso...in_D_mvt_2.mp3
mvt 3, Finale, Presto
http://home.comcast.net/~w_j_peterso...in_D_mvt_3.mp3

Regards

Walt