I. Largo – Vivace II. Adagio III. Menuetto. Allegro IV. Finale. Presto
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) remained an employee of the royal court, on paper at least, following the death of Count Nicholas Eszterházy for whom he had worked for 29 years. Haydn moved to Vienna where he took his place as the most respected and esteemed living composer. Haydn was persuaded by the German born impresario and violinist, J. P. Salomon, to undertake two journeys to his adopted country of England in late 1790 and the summer of 1795. Haydn was in his mid-sixties and derived immense inspiration from this very different cultural milieu with its grand concerts and superb orchestras. Despite his undoubted originality, Haydn could justly be described as mildly provincial (through no fault of his own) and this new stimulus profoundly influenced his style. He composed 12 major symphonies (alongside many other works) as a result of his English experiences and they represent the crowning glory of his career as a symphonist. He wrote his final three symphonies in 1794-1795, this time not for Salomon but the “Opera Concerts” society. The most important innovation in these symphonies is Haydn's use of the orchestra. He dispenses with the hierarchical relationship between various groups of instruments and it is increasingly hard to discern dominant and subordinate orchestral lines. We can say that Haydn's achieved a democratic balance between the instruments in these symphonies.
With the exception of the C minor symphony, virtually all of Haydn's London symphonies begin with a slow introduction and as generally in his mature works, the musical material of the introduction is related to the motifs of the subsequent movement. The opening movement of Symphony no.102, marked Vivace, exploits contrasts throughout between fast and slow, major and minor, to dramatic effect. Haydn creates an unusually dramatic content within the strict boundaries of classical sonata form.
The slow Adagio movement also creates a taut effect through the juxtaposition of opposites. Here, Haydn goes beyond major/minor, light/shade effects, but employs differences in melodic character, dynamic differentiation, a variety of rhythms and clever orchestration. For the first time, Haydn calls for muted trumpets and tympani at the same time, thus sound colour is used as a compositional element.
The exploitation of contrasting effects continues in the Minuet with Haydn's clever use of instrumental grouping and the placing of a romantic, highly serious trio in the centre of this otherwise lively, affirmative music.
The Presto finale is unambiguous in its free and easy mood. It is imbued with undeniable good humoured village dance character, which ushers the symphony to its close.
The premiere of the B flat major symphony took place on February 2nd 1795 at the King's Theatre and a contemporary description has elevated the event to legend: “When Haydn appeared among the orchestra and sat down at the piano to conduct his own symphony, the curious audience on the ground floor left their places and tried to get as close to the orchestra as possible for a better view of the Master. The middle seats of the ground floor were left quite empty. A few minutes later, something unexpected occurred: a chandelier suddenly dropped from the ceiling to the floor, precisely into the seats so recently vacated. People began to shout: a miracle has occurred, and Haydn expressed his gratitude to Providence.” (Posterity mistakenly associated Symphony no. 94 with this event which is why it is sometimes called “The Miracle”.)