The work of the great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn impresses with its richness and diversity, even among those well acquainted with it. In his musical legacy, which includes more than a hundred symphonies, about the same number of quartets, a large number of operas, major oratorios, sonatas, divertimenti, and concertos for various instruments, researchers and performers can find many interesting pages of forgotten and semi-forgotten music. It is important to emphasize that Haydn belongs to a rare type of artist, even among outstanding creators, whose work does not contain so-called "minor" music. In this regard, perhaps only his younger contemporary, the incomparable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, can be placed beside him.
The Concert Symphony in B-flat major (No. 105) for violin, cello, oboe, bassoon, and orchestra is one of the brilliant examples of the "sinfonia concertante" in world literature, comparable to masterpieces like Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, Beethoven's Triple Concerto, and Brahms' Double Concerto. The origins of this genre can be found in the remarkable instrumental concertos of Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi. Although the famous Italians typically used primarily strings (in the orchestra), in Vivaldi's work, we already find a bold expansion of the orchestra and soloists to include a number of wind instruments (a concerto written for the "Dresden Chapel" — one of the best orchestras in Europe at the time). Without attempting to trace the genre's development systematically, we can note Johann Christian Bach, the "London" Bach, with his concert symphonies for two or more instruments with orchestra as a direct predecessor to Haydn. These works were undoubtedly well known to Haydn. In some of his earlier symphonies, the composer extensively used the principle of numerous soli in the orchestra (the symphonies "Morning," "Noon," "Evening").
In the Concert Symphony, Haydn achieves a truly remarkable balance in the parts of two pairs of different instruments, utilizing all their virtuosic possibilities. The unique sound and timbre of the oboe and bassoon combined with the violin and cello are revealed to the listeners in a sequence of solo episodes framed by brilliant orchestral tutti. In the development section, which unfolds freely and effortlessly, the dialogues of the soloists evoke associations with a conversation between lively and witty interlocutors — a sensitive and heartfelt exchange.
The magnificent cadenza for the four solo instruments, written by Haydn himself, serves as an impeccable stylistic model for any performer tackling a similar task in Haydn's or Mozart's concertos.
In the Andante, a mood of enlightened melancholy and a crystal-clear sense of proportion of parts and the whole prevails, so characteristic of Haydn's music. Sublimity, perfection, incomparable purity of feelings — words that can only approximately convey the essence of this music! It makes you want to listen to it endlessly.
The Finale (Allegro con spirito), written in the form of a Rondo, begins with an energetic orchestral introduction, interrupted by an agitated violin recitative. After a general fermata, the theme of the Rondo, charming in its naive cheerfulness, is played. In the numerous episodes, the soloists and the orchestra compete, demonstrating virtuosity in the best sense of the word. A dramatically intense contrasting episode leads back to the violin solo recitative, followed by a coda that magnificently crowns this vividly colored, life-affirming music.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Serenade for eight wind instruments is now listed in new editions as Divertimento No. 11 in C minor for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, and two horns, K. 388. The theme of the first movement, masculine and resolute, is often found in the composer's works. One only needs to recall the Piano Sonata in C minor, K. 457 or the finale of the Symphony in G minor, K. 550. It is amazing to observe Mozart's boundless imagination and inventiveness. It is worth noting that this piece was reworked by Mozart himself for a string quintet (the so-called quintet with two violas). This tendency to vary his compositions is often observed in J.S. Bach. However, there is no equivalence between the author's transcriptions by Bach and Mozart. Bach often started from the idea of an ideal instrument, combining the advantages of string cantilena and the polyphonic possibilities of keyboard instruments. In Mozart, on the other hand, each time you listen to the string version of the Divertimento, you cannot imagine any other realization of this music. And yet, the final perfection is achieved precisely in the wind version. The combination of six woodwinds with two brass (horns) offers the composer vast coloristic possibilities. While yielding to strings in dynamic variety and warmth of sound, winds surpass them in the richness of timbral relationships and articulatory rhythm.
Mozart achieves astonishing and diverse sounds from the wind octet using classically clear and perfect instrumentation techniques. Listing its merits would mean recounting the music from the first to the last bar in words. Let us leave this to the performers! We can only note the powerful unisons in the first movement, the elegance of the secondary theme passed from one instrument to another, the deep contemplation and unearthly beauty of the Andante (second movement), the strength and resilience of the Minuet written in the form of a canon, and the contrasting delicate lacework of the trio, and finally, the variations (fourth movement) with their endless melodic and rhythmic richness and diversity.
Lev Markiz
