Release Date: 07 January 2003
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313532421
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: HAYDN
Description
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)Symphony No. 50 in C major Symphony No. 51 in B flat majorSymphony No. 52 in C minorJoseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, theson of a wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St Stephen's Cathedral inVienna, he subsequently spent some years earning a living as best he could fromteaching and playing the violin or keyboard, and was able to profit fromassociation with the old composer Porpora, whose assistant he became. Haydn'sfirst appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman, Countvon Morzin, whose kinsman had once served as patron to Vivaldi. This wasfollowed in 1761 by employment as Vice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest menin the Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, succeeded after his death in 1762by Prince Nicolaus. On the death in 1766 of the elderly and somewhatobstructive Kapellmeister Gregor Werner, who had found much to complain aboutin the professionalism of his young and resented deputy, Haydn succeeded to hisposition, to remain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest ofhis life.On the completion of the magnificent palace at Eszterhaza inthe Hungarian plains under Prince Nicolaus, Haydn assumed command of anincreased musical establishment. Here he had responsibility for the musicalactivities of the palace, which included the provision and direction ofinstrumental music, opera and music for the theatre, as well as music for thechurch. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music of all kinds,particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a bowedstring instrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.Prince Nicolaus died in 1790 and Haydn found himself able toaccept an invitation to visit London. There he provided music for concertseasons organized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successfulvisit to London in 1794 and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with theEsterhazy family, the new head of which had settled principally at the familyproperty in Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career with them. Much ofthe year, however, was to be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passed his finalyears, dying in 1809, as the French armies of Napoleon approached the city yetagain.Haydn lived during the period of the eighteenth century thatsaw the development of instrumental music from the age of Bach and Handel tothe era of the classical sonata, with its tripartite first-movement form andcomplementary two or three movements, the basis now of much instrumentalcomposition. The symphony may claim to have become the most important form oforchestral composition and owes a great deal, if not its precise paternity, toHaydn. He first attempted such composition some time before 1759 and wrote hislast symphonies for London in the last decade of the century.On 31st August 1773 the Empress Maria Theresa and her courtvisited Eszterhaza. The first day brought a play in the palace theatre,followed the next day by Haydn's op
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Various
Various
Lully
