That the symphony may claim to have become the most important form of orchestral composition owes a great deal to Haydn' refinement of the genre over a period of almost 40 years.

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 28 (Nos. 37, 38, 39, 40)

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 27 (Nos. 50, 51, 52)

"Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 41, 58 and 59 were written between 1768 and 179, during the composer's erly period as Kapellmeister at the Ersterhaza, but they already display his imaginative thrust and feeling for orchestral colour. They are beautifully played here."

-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

The Haydn symphonies with numbers in the 70s don't appear often in the concert hall or on disc, making Volume 25 of the continuing Naxos survey of these works particularly useful. The performances, by Béla Drahos and the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, were recorded and edited in 20-bit digital sound, which affords considerable sonic gains over previous issues from this source--though don't forget that Naxos is using several different ensembles, conductors, and recording teams in this exploration, so results vary widely. But throughout this disc, Drahos secures effective and stylish results, and the orchestral playing is of an impressively high order of expertise.


Symphonies 70 and 71 date from 1779-80, and each has unique features that Drahos doesn't overlook. For example, in No. 70's opening allegro Haydn sets his brief but highly concentrated development as a terse, jagged stretto, a highly progressive and "modern" technique in its day, and Drahos dissects the off-beat exchanges with an edgy angularity that's as aptly disturbing today as it must have been for Haydn's first audiences. Drahos also vividly captures the contrast between the ceremonial opening, complete with trumpets and drums, and the dark, severe middle section. The same severity extends to the weird canonic andante, its inverted counterpoint made doubly sinister owing to Haydn's "con sordino" direction to the violins. Unusually for a symphony in D major, a great deal of it is in the minor mode, so the provision of a startling and dramatic finale with fugal elements (there's even a triple fugue!) is no surprise. Drahos and his band give a fine reading, but it might have been even more telling had the violins been antiphonally divided.


In Symphony No. 71, Drahos is very adept at underscoring the Hungarian rhythms and effects. Particularly good is the trio section of the Menuet, with its two solo violins (they play with no vibrato, producing just the right rustic, gypsy feel) heard above guitar-like pizzicato strummings of the accompaniment. The later Symphony No. 73 in D "La Chasse" is better known, and the present account is in every regard a fine recommendation. The athletic high-lying horn parts are rock-solid throughout, the winds are superb, and the strings (especially violins in the songful Andante) play with impressive uniformity of tone and ensemble. Though Drahos is very good at managing effects such as the jubilant horn calls and droning hurdy-gurdy pedal notes suggestive of village festivities, the one disappointment comes with his unconvincing diminuendo at the symphony's conclusion. Decca's complete survey from Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica includes a more pictorialist and imaginative version, but the orchestral playing isn't as refined and the recording is too resonant to allow inner voices to register ideally, as they do here.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 24 (Nos. 43, 46, 47)

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 22 (Nos. 13, 36 / Sinfonia Concertan

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 20 (Nos. 77, 78, 79)

Whether Haydn was the father of the symphony is a question best left to musical genealogists. His career, however, spanned the period during which the classical symphony developed as the principal orchestral form. He himself certainly played a major part in this development, from his first symphony some time before 1759 to his final series of symphonies written for the greater resources of London in 1794 and 1795. The London symphonies were preceded by similar works for Paris and a much larger body of compositions of more modest scoring for the orchestra at Esterh�za and at Eisenstadt, many of the last calling for a keyboard continuo, at least with the relatively smaller number of string players available. It seems that Symphony No. 32 and Symphony No. 33 may be dated to 1760, or thereabouts, to a period when Haydn was employed in Lukavec by Count von Morzin in a musical establishment that was soon to be disbanded. The first of these is a festive work, in the appropriate key of C major and using trumpets and drums. It is otherwise scored for the necessary strings, with pairs of oboes and horns, the latter presumably in C alto, and a bassoon doubling the cellos and double bass. The first movement opens in appropriate style, with a bright, celebratory first subject, leading to a second subject that is at first in G minor. There is a central development, exploring this material and leading to the inevitable recapitulation, the return of the original key and first subject, with the second subject, which has had it's turn already in the development, now omitted. The whole orchestra continues with the Minuet, with it's C minor Trio for strings alone. This is followed by the slow movement, marked Adagio ma non troppo, an F major movement scored only for strings. Wind instruments return for the final Presto, in a forceful and triumphant 3/8, a briefer version of the tripartite form that had marked the first movement. Symphony No. 33, in C major and similarly scored, also belongs to Haydn's period of employment under Count von Morzin. The celebratory mood of the work echoes that of it's immediate numerical predecessor, opening with a movement in 3/4, marked Vivace. There is a more varied and extended second subject, in G major, the key in which the development begins, with it's reminiscence of the first theme and inventive writing in the music that follows, with an element of surprise in an anticipation of the recapitulation, before the proper return of the first subject and material of the initial exposition. The second movement, marked Andante, is in C minor and scored for strings only, for a time using a sparer two-part texture. The Minuet, for the whole orchestra, frames a softer Trio in F major, scored for strings. The wind instruments return for the final Allegro, now in a fuller tripartite sonata-form. Symphony No. 34 in D minor belongs to a slightly later period, probably 1765, when Haydn was in Eisenstadt in the service of Prince Nikolaus Esterh�zy. The work, perhaps the earliest of Haydn's symphonies to be in a minor key, is scored for two oboes, bassoon, two horns in D and strings, and follows the pattern of a church sonata with an opening slow movement, here marked Adagio. This movement, imbued with melancholy, is followed by a cheerful D major Allegro, with wide spacing in the first subject for first violins and a second subject that brings prominence to the oboes, material much abbreviated in it's final appearance in the recapitulation. The same key continues in the Minuet, marked Moderato, and Trio, the latter allowing the wind instruments to assume greater importance. Triplet rhythms mark the thematic material that introduces the final Presto assai, with it's central passage in the tonic minor key.

In the third installment in their acclaimed series, Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society present a new live recording devoted to the master of the symphony – Joseph Haydn. This release showcases Haydn’s Symphony No. 8 Le soir, which completes the trilogy written for Prince Paul Anton Esterházy. Also included is the later Symphony No. 84 which shows just how much Haydn’s symphonies had transformed from those early years. Not only is it an incredible fusion of grace, brilliance and warmth but it also contains one of the most striking wind band solos in all of his Paris symphonies. Completing the programme is the Violin Concerto in A major performed by H+H’s fiery and expressive Concertmaster, Aisslinn Nosky.

Joseph Haydn was as prolific as any eighteenth century composer, his fecundity a matter, in good pan, of the nature of his employment and the length of his life. Born in 1732 in the village of Rohrau, the son of a wheelwright, he was recruited to the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna at the age of eight, later earning a living as best he could as a musician in the capital and making useful acquaintances through his association with Metastasio, the Court Poet, and the composer Nicola Porpora. The first movement opens, as do most of the London symphonies, with a slow introduction, the solo oboe leading to the Allegro, in which the first violin proposes the principal theme, followed by a subsidiary theme in which the woodwind instruments at first answer the first violin. The development seems to end with a sudden pause, but what follows is in another key, leading eventually to the recapitulation proper. The G Major slow movement allows the wind instruments a gradually increasing share, after the announcement of the principal theme by the first violin. There is a Minor middle section, before the return of the main theme, with scoring for two solo violins. The Minuet calls for the full orchestra, with it's flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and drums, while the companion Trio is dominated by the solo oboe. The finale is opened by the strings with the principal theme, a lively and delicate rondo, that includes an excursion into the Minor, with the same theme, and a contrapuntal development of the material. Symphony No. 82 in C Major, the first of the set, was written in 1786, one of a second group of three in order of composition. All seem to have been played for the first time during the 1787 concert season, when they were enthusiastically received. No. 85 appealed particularly to Queen Marie Antoinette, and was thereafter known as La Reine, while No. 83 became known as La poule, a reference to the clucking of a first movement melody rather than to any lady of the French court. No. 82 won the nickname L'Ours, The Bear, from the bagpipe bear-dance that opens it's last movement. The symphony provides a fine opportunity for the premier coup d'archet, the unanimous attack at the beginning of a work, a feature on which French orchestras prided themselves and that Mozart had found unexceptional. The gentler second subject of the first movement follows relatively startling discords. The slow movement, not a particularly slow one, offers two themes, the first in F Major, the second, a related one, in F Minor. These elements are repeated with variations, with a final repetition of an even more varied version of the first theme, followed by a coda. The French-style Menuet and it's contrasting Trio leads to the famous finale, with it's opening bagpipe drone from the cellos and double basses, and bear-dance violin melody, elements that dominate the rest of a remarkable movement.

Selections recorded October 1995 and April 1996.

In a program packed full of great drama and theatricality, Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society present a new live recording devoted to the master of the symphony. This disc showcases Haydn's Symphony No. 7 "Le midi" which is amongst the most striking of his early symphonies and one of the very first the composer wrote as Kapellmeister to Prince Paul Anton Esterh�zy. It is set alongside the much later Paris Symphony No. 83 "La poule", named as such because of it's famous clucking dotted note motif. Completing the program is the Violin Concerto in C major performed by HH's fiery and expressive Concertmaster, Aisslinn Nosky. Handel and Haydn Society is America's oldest continuously operating arts organization. It's Bicentennial celebration began with the 2014-2015 Season and continues into the 2015-2016 Season. Harry Christophers has been Artistic Director since 2008.

"Müller-Brühl, as in his other Haydn recordings, favours broad adagios and Minuets that retain the idea of a stately dance. Yet the freshness and rhythmic resilience never fail to bring the performances to life. An excellent recommendation."

-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society release the first in a new series of recordings devoted to Haydn and introduce violinist Aisslinn Nosky. "Onstage, Christophers has what it takes to inspire the Society's fine musicians." The Wall Street Journal "...lively and characterful string playing, part of a performance that blends bonhomie with drama. The orchestra proves itself as expert in period style as it is musically spontaneous, with some particularly lovely flute solos." BBC Music Magazine In Harry Christophers' expert hands, Haydn comes to life in the first in a series of new live recordings from the Handel and Haydn Society. This disc showcases one of Haydn's Paris Symphonies, L'ours (The Bear), a festive and jubilant work commissioned by a Parisian orchestra in the 1780s, as well as one of his earlier symphonies, No. 6 Le matin, which is characterised by unusual virtuoso writing across the orchestral ensemble. Completing the disc is Haydn's Violin Concerto in G major performed by Handel and Haydn's fiery and expressive Concertmaster, Aisslinn Nosky, who will be making her solo debut on the CORO label. Harry Christophers was appointed Artistic Director of Boston's internationally acclaimed Handel and Haydn Society in 2008. Founded in 1815, the Society is considered the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the U.S. and has given the American premieres of major works by Handel, Bach and Haydn, has won a Grammy Award. It will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2015. Aisslinn Nosky is one of the most versatile and dynamic violinists today. She is in demand internationally as a soloist and leader and was appointed Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society in 2011. She has performed in solo and chamber music recitals across North America, Europe and Asia.