Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 23, 24 And 61

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Cat No: 8550723

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 730099572323

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: HAYDN

Description
JosephHaydn (1732 - 1809)SymphonyNo.24 in D Major SymphonyNo.23 in G Major SymphonyNo.61 in D MajorJoseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the sonof a wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen'sCathedral in Vienna, he spent some years earning a living as best he could from teachingand playing the violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora,whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to aBohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in 1761 by employment asVice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in the Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy,succeeded on his death in 1762 by his brother Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 of theelderly and somewhat obstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydn succeeded to hisposition, to remain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest of his life. On the completion of the magnificent palace at Esterhaza, inthe Hungarian plains under the new Prince, Haydn assumed command of an increased musicalestablishment. Here he had responsibility for the musical activities of the palace, whichincluded the provision and direction of instrumental music, opera and theatre music, andmusic for the church. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music of all kinds,particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a bowed stringinstrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.On the death of Prince Nikolaus in1790, Haydn was able to accept an invitation to visit London, where he provided music forthe concert season organized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successfulvisit to London in 1794 and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with the Esterhazyfamily, the new head of which had settled principallyat the family property in Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career. Much of theyear, however, was to be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passed his final years, dying in1809, as the French armies of Napoleon approached the city yet again.WhetherHaydn was the father of the symphony is a question best left to musical genealogists. Hiscareer, however, spanned the period during which the classical symphony developed as theprincipal 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 writtenfor the greater resources of London in 1794 and 1795. The London symphonies were precededby similar works for Paris and a much larger body of compositions of more modest scoringfor the orchestra at Esterahza and at Eisenstadt, many of the last calling for a keyboardcontinuo, at least with the relatively smaller number of string players available.Symphonies Nos. 23 and 24were written in 1764 for performance before Prince Nikolaus at Eisenstadt, where theEsterahzy palace boasted a reception hall that could have held some four hundred people,although such numbers would not h
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