The Symphony No. 37 in C major

C major

C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....

, Hob.

Hoboken-Verzeichnis

The Hoboken-Verzeichnis is the catalogue of over 750 works by Joseph Haydn as compiled by Anthony van Hoboken.Unlike Ludwig von Köchel's catalogue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's works, or Otto Erich Deutsch's catalogue of Franz Schubert's works, which are both arranged chronologically by date of...

 I/37, is a symphony

Symphony

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...

 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...

. The numbering is misleading, as it is one of Haydn's earliest symphonies. A copy of the score at Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle...

 is dated 1758.

Movements

The work is scored for two 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, 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...

, two 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, 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 instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

 with continuo. It is possible the trumpet and timpani parts were added later.

The work is in four movements:

1. Presto, 2/4
2. Menuet
   Minuet
   A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
   
    (C major) e Trio, C minor
   C minor
   C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
   
    3/4
3. Andante, C minor
   C minor
   C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
   
    2/4
4. Presto, 3/8

The work is one of the few symphonies of the Classical era to place the Minuet second (others include Haydn's 32nd

Symphony No. 32 (Haydn)

The Symphony No. 32 in C major is a festive symphony by Joseph Haydn. The exact date of composition is unknown. It has been suggested by noted Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon that it could have been written as early as 1757 and as late as 1763...

 and 44th

Symphony No. 44 (Haydn)

The Symphony No. 44 in E minor, Hoboken 1/44, was completed in 1772 by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as Trauer...

, and his brother Michael's

Michael Haydn

Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:...

 15th

Symphony No. 15 (Michael Haydn)

Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 15 in D major, Perger 41, Sherman 15, MH 150, is believed to have been written in Salzburg after 1771. This work was at one time attributed to Joseph Haydn, the first work in D major so attributed....

 and 16th

Symphony No. 16 (Michael Haydn)

Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 16 in A major, Perger 6, Sherman 16, Sherman-adjusted 17, MH 152, was written in Salzburg in 1771. This work was at one time attributed to Joseph Haydn, the ninth work in A major so attributed in Anthony van Hoboken's catalog....

).

Similarities have been drawn between the 2/4 opening movement and the 2/4 finale to Georg von Reutter's Servizio di tavola in C major from 1757. The two knew each other because Reutter was the director of music in St. Stephen's Cathedral where Haydn sang as a child.

The slow movement is very similar to the slow movement in one of Haydn's earliest piano sonatas, Hob. XVI:Es2.

Discography

Antal Doráti

Antal Doráti

Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...

's recording with the Philharmonia Hungarica

Philharmonia Hungarica

The Philharmonia Hungarica was a symphony orchestra, based in Germany, which existed from 1956 to 2001.It was first established in Baden bei Wien near Vienna by Hungarian musicians who had fled their homeland after it was invaded by Soviet troops...

 inexplicably omits trumpets and timpani. Christopher Hogwood

Christopher Hogwood

Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...

 and the Academy of Ancient Music

Academy of Ancient Music

The Academy of Ancient Music is a period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after a previous organisation of the same name of the 18th century. The musicians play on either original instruments or modern copies of...

 chose to put it on a 3-CD set with contemporary symphonies (such as No.s 1, 10, 27 and 32). Helmut Müller-Brühl

Helmut Müller-Brühl

Helmut Müller-Brühl is a German conductor.Müller-Brühl is a former pupil of Hermann Abendroth, the founder of Cologne Chamber Orchestra. In 1958, Müller-Brühl invited this orchestra to be the principal orchestra for concerts given at his family home, Schloss Brühl...

 conducting the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, on the other hand, pairs it with the numerically closer Symphonies No.s 38, 39, and 40 on the Naxos Records

Naxos Records

Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

label.