Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 54, 56 And 57

Cologne Co

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Cat No: 8554108

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 636943410820

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: HAYDN

Description
Joseph Haydn(1732-1809) Symphony No. 54 in Gmajor Symphony No. 56 in Cmajor Symphony No. 57 in DmajorJoseph Haydn was bornin the village of Rohrau in 1732, the son of a wheelwright. Trained at thechoir-school of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, he spent some years earning aliving as best he could from teaching and playing the violin or keyboard, andwas able to learn from the old musician Porpora, whose assistant he became.Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman,Count von Morzin. This was followed in 1761 by employment as Vice-Kapellmeisterto one of the richest men in the Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, succeededon his death in 1762 by his brother, Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 ofthe elderly and somewhat obstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydnsucceeded to his position, to remain in the same employment, nominally atleast, for the rest of his life.On the completion,under the new Prince, of the magnificent palace at Esterhaza, built on the siteof a former hunting-lodge set on the Hungarian plains, Haydn assumed command ofan increased musical establishment. Here he had responsibility for the musicalactivities of the palace, which included the provision and direction ofinstrumental music, opera and theatre music, and music for the church. For hispatron he provided a quantity of chamber music of all kinds, particularly forthe Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a bowed string instrumentwith sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.On the death of PrinceNikolaus in 1790, Haydn was able to accept an invitation to visit London, wherehe provided music for the concert season organized by the violinist-impresarioSalomon. A second successful visit to London in 1794 and 1795 was followed by areturn to duty with the Esterhazy family, the new head of which had settledprincipally at the family property in Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started hiscareer. Much of the year, however, was to be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passedhis final years, dying in 1809 as the French armies of Napoleon approached thecity yet again.Whether Haydn was thefather of the symphony is a question best left to musical genealogists. Hiscareer, however, spanned the period during which the classical symphonydeveloped as the principal orchestral form. He himself certainly played a majorpart in this development, from his first symphony some time before 1759 to hisfinal series of symphonies written for the greater resources of London in 1794 and1795. The London symphonies were preceded by similar works for Paris and a muchlarger body of compositions of more modest scoring for the orchestra atEsterhaza and at Eisenstadt, many of the last calling for a keyboard continuo,at least with the relatively smaller number of string players available.The three symphonieshere included form part of a group of four such works, written at Esterhaza in1774, a busy year in which Haydn received particular rewards from his patron.The Symphon
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