17 Oct 2019

Giving them a Haydn

From Upbeat, 6:02 am on 17 October 2019

How come Haydn has been completely absent from the Settling the Score countdown for the past two years?

Joseph Haydn

Portrait of Joseph Haydn Photo: Thomas Hardy, Public Domain

Franz Josef Haydn is a mammoth composer. He wrote hundreds of works and is considered both the ‘father of the symphony’ and the ‘father of the string quartet’.

However, Haydn is often eclipsed by the even more colossal figures of Mozart and Beethoven.

Nowhere is this more evident than in RNZ Concert’s annual poll Settling the Score, where Haydn has been completely absent from the countdown of New Zealand’s favourite classical music for the past two years!

Is it, as one dismissive listener suggested, because ‘Haydn wrote elevator music’?  Haydn completed over 100 symphonies, many whilst in the employ of the Esterhazys - one of those typically aristocratic families with its own orchestra - and he was required to churn out music at a furious rate.

Could it be that Haydn simply wrote too much music?

More likely, the absence of votes for Haydn is down to the fact that he has merely been overlooked by voters.

Haydn’s story isn’t the magical one of Mozart, who’s dazzling light was snuffed out too soon. Neither is he the brilliant Beethoven whose thunderous dominance of classical music can cause deafness to the works of other composers.

Haydn lived a long life, achieved fame and fortune in his day and, on top of all this, was considered a thoroughly nice bloke.

So if you haven't voted yet for Settling the Score 2019, have a listen to the genius of Haydn. His humour, his endurance and his innate ability to spread joy.

Symphony No 45, ‘Farewell’

The end of this symphony was a ‘subtle hint’ from Haydn to his employer Prince Nicolas Esterházy. Haydn had the ear of the Esterházy orchestra, many of whom were missing their wives and families due to the Prince’s extended stay at his remote summer palace. Haydn composed this finale so the musicians would one-by-one stop playing, blow out their candles, and walk off stage. Esterházy understood and obliged. His household (and orchestra) returned to Vienna the following day.

Watch this hilarious performance of the finale as the New Century Chamber Orchestra leave the stage one by one.

Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C

This cello concerto was missing presumed lost for 200 years. It turned up in the late 1950s and according to British cellist Steven Isserlis turned out to be "THE Greatest Cello Concerto".

“It’s full of joy, it’s full of virtuosity and very good sense, it’s not just showing off, it’s joyous virtuosity. Lots of humour. It’s structurally perfect. It’s a very loveable work", he says.

“Let there be Light” from The Creation by Haydn

Wait for the “big bang” two minutes into this precursor to Haydn’s detailing of the biblical story of creation.