Post by erik on Sept 2, 2023 21:07:06 GMT -5
The younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with a symphony that was initially mistaken as being one by their close friend Mozart.
Michael Haydn: SYMPHONY NO. 25 IN G MAJOR
Because he was born five years later, Johann Michael Haydn always found himself under the shadow of his older brother Franz Joseph Haydn; but at the same time, the two brothers were never sibling rivals, and Joseph was always hugely supportive of his brother’s works. This was particularly true of the symphonies that he wrote; and while the final output of forty-three symphonies pales in comparison to his brother’s 104 works in the form, they nevertheless are fine examples of the classical era. The one that has provoked the most mystery, strangely enough, is his G Major 25th Symphony, which was composed in 1783. For nearly a century and a quarter, it was believed that this was actually the 37th Symphony of his and his brother’s close young friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It initially had an Adagio Maestoso introduction to its first movement that was in Mozart’s hands; but this was as far as the Mozart connection went, and it was eventually excised from the first movement. The actual ownership of the work was finally confirmed by musicologist Lothar Perger in 1907. It is not hard to see, however, how much Mozart’s, and indeed Joseph Haydn’s, influence on the symphony is, as the work requires an orchestra of chamber size (pairs of oboes, horns, and bassoons; a single flute; and the traditional string compliment), and it is relatively compact in length at 15-17 minutes in length. Michael Haydn passed away in 1806 at the age of 68, three years before his older brother; but in that time, he also managed to compose an impending setting of the Requiem Mass that seemed to have influenced Mozart’s own (albeit incomplete) setting.
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra/CHRISTIAN ZACHARIAS (MDG Gold)
Included:
SYMPHONY NO. 11 IN B FLAT MAJOR
REQUIEM (Soprano: JOHANETTE ZOMER; Alto: HELENA RASKER; Tenor: MARKUS SHAFER; Bass: KLAUS MERTENS; Swiss Chamber Choir)
Michael Haydn: SYMPHONY NO. 25 IN G MAJOR
Because he was born five years later, Johann Michael Haydn always found himself under the shadow of his older brother Franz Joseph Haydn; but at the same time, the two brothers were never sibling rivals, and Joseph was always hugely supportive of his brother’s works. This was particularly true of the symphonies that he wrote; and while the final output of forty-three symphonies pales in comparison to his brother’s 104 works in the form, they nevertheless are fine examples of the classical era. The one that has provoked the most mystery, strangely enough, is his G Major 25th Symphony, which was composed in 1783. For nearly a century and a quarter, it was believed that this was actually the 37th Symphony of his and his brother’s close young friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It initially had an Adagio Maestoso introduction to its first movement that was in Mozart’s hands; but this was as far as the Mozart connection went, and it was eventually excised from the first movement. The actual ownership of the work was finally confirmed by musicologist Lothar Perger in 1907. It is not hard to see, however, how much Mozart’s, and indeed Joseph Haydn’s, influence on the symphony is, as the work requires an orchestra of chamber size (pairs of oboes, horns, and bassoons; a single flute; and the traditional string compliment), and it is relatively compact in length at 15-17 minutes in length. Michael Haydn passed away in 1806 at the age of 68, three years before his older brother; but in that time, he also managed to compose an impending setting of the Requiem Mass that seemed to have influenced Mozart’s own (albeit incomplete) setting.
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra/CHRISTIAN ZACHARIAS (MDG Gold)
Included:
SYMPHONY NO. 11 IN B FLAT MAJOR
REQUIEM (Soprano: JOHANETTE ZOMER; Alto: HELENA RASKER; Tenor: MARKUS SHAFER; Bass: KLAUS MERTENS; Swiss Chamber Choir)