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Symphony No. 103 (Haydn)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 103 in E-flat major, Hoboken 1/103, is the eleventh of the twelve so-called London Symphonies
written by Joseph Haydn
.
This symphony is nicknamed "The Drumroll", after the long roll
on the timpani
with which it begins.
was the last but one of twelve that were composed for performance in England during Haydn's two journeys there (1791–1792, 1794–1795). Haydn's music was well known in England well before the composer traveled there, and members of the British musical public had long expressed the wish that Haydn would visit. The composer's reception in England was in fact very enthusiastic, and the English visits were one of the most fruitful and happy periods of the composer's life. Haydn composed the "Drumroll" Symphony while living in London during the winter of 1794–1795.
The "Drumroll" Symphony was premiered on March 2, 1795 as part of a concert series called the "Opera Concerts", at the King's Theatre. The orchestra was unusually large for the time, consisting of about 60 players. The task of directing the work was divided between the concertmaster Viotti
and Haydn, who sat at a fortepiano
. The premiere was evidently a success, and the Morning Chronicle' s reviewer wrote:
Another new Overture [i.e., symphony], by the fertile and enchanting Haydn, was performed; which, as usual, had continual strokes of genius, both in air and harmony. The Introduction excited deepest attention, the Allegro charmed, the Andante was encored, the Minuets, especially the trio, were playful and sweet, and the last movement was equal, if not superior to the preceding."
The Sun wrote:
Haydn later performed the work in Vienna
, and for this purpose made a small cut in the final movement, which is usually respected by conductors today.
Since its premiere the "Drumroll" Symphony has been a favorite among Haydn's symphonies, and it is frequently performed and recorded today. In 1831, Richard Wagner
arranged it for piano.
The symphony takes about 30 minutes to perform.
s, 2 oboe
s, 2 clarinet
s, 2 bassoon
s, 2 horn
s, 2 trumpet
s, timpani
, and strings
.
As commentators have pointed out, the first four notes of which match the "Dies Irae
" chant, part of the Latin mass for the dead:
H. C. Robbins Landon
has remarked that at the start the theme is ambiguous between duple and triple time, and between the keys of C minor and (what ultimately proves the case) E flat major.
The sprightly 6/8 movement that follows this introduction is in sonata form
, with a monothematic exposition
. In a number of places it restates the theme of the introduction, in much faster tempo. Haydn restates part of the opening introduction in the coda, a formal procedure previously adopted by Mozart
in his String Quintet K. 593
(1790). Beethoven
was to do the same in his "Pathétique"
piano sonata, published two years after the Drumroll Symphony in 1797.
form, with alternatingly varied themes in C minor and C major plus coda. The double variations had been a favorite musical form of the composer for about 20 years; along with the Piano Trio H. XV:23 from the same year, this was the last set he wrote. The themes are said to have been developed by Haydn from Croatian folk songs he knew; for discussion, see Haydn and folk music
. Some different features in this movement include a long violin solo, as well as the lack of clarinets.
, in The Classical Style, chose this minuet to illustrate the point that Classical-era minuets often have very strong first beats, in contrast to the more flowing rhythm of the Baroque
minuet.
which is followed by a pause, and later echoed throughout the movement. It is in fast tempo, has a monothematic exposition
, and is in sonata rondo form
.
Like the themes of the second movement, the opening melody is said to be taken from Croatian folk song, in this case a tune called "Divojčica potok gazi", ("A little girl treads on a brook").
London symphonies
The London symphonies, sometimes called the Salomon symphonies after the man who introduced London to Joseph Haydn, were composed by Joseph Haydn between 1791 and 1795...
written by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
.
This symphony is nicknamed "The Drumroll", after the long roll
Drum roll
A drum roll is a technique the percussionist employs to produce a sustained sound on a percussion instrument. Rolls are used by composers to sustain the sound and create other effects, the most common of which is using a roll to build anticipation.- Snare drum roll :The most common snare drum roll...
on the timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
with which it begins.
Composition and premiere
The symphonySymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
was the last but one of twelve that were composed for performance in England during Haydn's two journeys there (1791–1792, 1794–1795). Haydn's music was well known in England well before the composer traveled there, and members of the British musical public had long expressed the wish that Haydn would visit. The composer's reception in England was in fact very enthusiastic, and the English visits were one of the most fruitful and happy periods of the composer's life. Haydn composed the "Drumroll" Symphony while living in London during the winter of 1794–1795.
The "Drumroll" Symphony was premiered on March 2, 1795 as part of a concert series called the "Opera Concerts", at the King's Theatre. The orchestra was unusually large for the time, consisting of about 60 players. The task of directing the work was divided between the concertmaster Viotti
Giovanni Battista Viotti
Giovanni Battista Viotti was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness...
and Haydn, who sat at a fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
. The premiere was evidently a success, and the Morning Chronicle
Another new Overture [i.e., symphony], by the fertile and enchanting Haydn, was performed; which, as usual, had continual strokes of genius, both in air and harmony. The Introduction excited deepest attention, the Allegro charmed, the Andante was encored, the Minuets, especially the trio, were playful and sweet, and the last movement was equal, if not superior to the preceding."
The Sun wrote:
- HAYDN's new Overture was much applauded. It is a fine mixture of grandeur and fancy ... the second movement was encored.
Haydn later performed the work in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and for this purpose made a small cut in the final movement, which is usually respected by conductors today.
Since its premiere the "Drumroll" Symphony has been a favorite among Haydn's symphonies, and it is frequently performed and recorded today. In 1831, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
arranged it for piano.
The symphony takes about 30 minutes to perform.
Scoring
The work is scored for 2 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, 2 horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, 2 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
I. Adagio - Allegro con spirito
After the opening drumroll, the bass instruments play a somber opening theme:Dies Irae
Dies Irae is a thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano . It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic...
" chant, part of the Latin mass for the dead:
H. C. Robbins Landon
Howard Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and studied music at Swarthmore College and Boston University. He subsequently moved to Europe where he worked as a music critic. From 1947 he undertook research in Vienna on Joseph Haydn, a composer...
has remarked that at the start the theme is ambiguous between duple and triple time, and between the keys of C minor and (what ultimately proves the case) E flat major.
The sprightly 6/8 movement that follows this introduction is in sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, with a monothematic exposition
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
. In a number of places it restates the theme of the introduction, in much faster tempo. Haydn restates part of the opening introduction in the coda, a formal procedure previously adopted by Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
in his String Quintet K. 593
String Quintet No. 5 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola .-Movements:...
(1790). Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
was to do the same in his "Pathétique"
Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published in 1799. Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky...
piano sonata, published two years after the Drumroll Symphony in 1797.
II. Andante più tosto allegretto
In double variationDouble variation
The double variation is a musical form used in classical music. It is a type of theme and variations that employs two themes. In a double variation set, a first theme is followed by a second theme , followed by a variation on A, then a variation on B, and so on with alternating A and B...
form, with alternatingly varied themes in C minor and C major plus coda. The double variations had been a favorite musical form of the composer for about 20 years; along with the Piano Trio H. XV:23 from the same year, this was the last set he wrote. The themes are said to have been developed by Haydn from Croatian folk songs he knew; for discussion, see Haydn and folk music
Haydn and folk music
This article discusses the influence of folk music on the work of the composer Joseph Haydn .-Background:Haydn was of humble family, perhaps unusually so for a famous composer. His parents were working people . They dwelt in an obscure rural village, and had no musical training...
. Some different features in this movement include a long violin solo, as well as the lack of clarinets.
III. Menuetto
The minuet is in the home key of E flat major. Charles RosenCharles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
, in The Classical Style, chose this minuet to illustrate the point that Classical-era minuets often have very strong first beats, in contrast to the more flowing rhythm of the Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
minuet.
IV. Finale: Allegro con spirito
Like the first movement, the finale begins with a quasi-ritual gesture - in this case, a horn call:which is followed by a pause, and later echoed throughout the movement. It is in fast tempo, has a monothematic exposition
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, and is in sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata form and rondo form.- Structure :...
.
Like the themes of the second movement, the opening melody is said to be taken from Croatian folk song, in this case a tune called "Divojčica potok gazi", ("A little girl treads on a brook").