Haydn - Symphony No. 88 In G Major Hob. I/88

 Joseph Haydn's name as a composer was known even before he was semi-retired and living in Vienna.With his six symphonies written for the Concert de la Loge Olympique orchestra of Paris in 1786, and his two sets of six symphonies written for Johann Peter Salomon of London in 1791-1795, his reputation as the most famous composer of western music of  the era was secured. 

He worked as Kappellmeister for the Esterházy family of Hungary, and all of the music Haydn composed up until 1779 was the property of his employer. But with the renegotiation of his contract in 1779, he was allowed to take outside commissions and sell to publishers. 

Symphony No. 88 was the first written after his Paris Symphonies in 1787, and has become one of his favorites, despite not having a nickname or being included in a set. Haydn did allow a violinist that played in the Esterházy orchestra, Johann Tost, to take it along with Symphony No. 89 to Paris to try and sell them, which he did.   

 The Symphony is in four movements:

1. Adagio-Allegro  -  The symphony begins with a short introduction, that haltingly leads to the more animated beginning of the movement proper.

The rest of the movement consists of the traditional repeats and alterations of this single theme. Haydn wrote many works in sonata form that deviated from the normal of the time of two or more themes, usually contrasting. But Haydn's creativity does not make this, a mono thematic movement, monotonous by any means. At the beginning of the recapitulation, a flute is added, and Haydn finishes the movement with a short dialogue between woodwinds and strings.

 

 

 

 

 2. Largo -   The slow movement manages to bring a feeling of melancholy with an underlying nobility as well. It is a set of variations on the opening theme which played by the oboe and cello an octave apart with a light accompaniment from bassoon, horn, viola, and contrabass.  Johannes Brahms after hearing this movement said "I want my 9th Symphony to sound like this." , which says a lot about the depth of feeling Haydn reached in this short set of variations. The flow of the music is interrupted by the trumpet and timpani. It is only the second instance of Haydn using trumpet and timpani in a slow movement up to that time.

3. Menuetto - Allegro  - The Menuetto reflects the changing character of the symphonic minuet that would lead to it being replaced by the Scherzo, if not in name, but by character. The minuet has a heavy downbeat, more like a peasant stomp than a graceful minuet. The trio of the Minuetto has a melody in oboes and violins with a drone accompaniment in cellos and bassoons.

 

 

4. Finale: Allegro con spirito  This finale is a com- bination of rondo and sonata form, a hybrid that was perhaps used by Mozart. While the origins, as in who first used it, my be sketchy, there's no doubt that it was a product of the Classic era of music, when composers such as Haydn, Beeth-oven, and Mozart were experimenting in different forms. Rondo-sonata form went on to be used in not only the Classical era but in the Romantic era as well by Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. The movement has been described as a perpetual motion piece, and it does zip along at a fast pace. The bassoons and horns have a particularly delightful section of accompaniment that has them chugging away at staccato thirds in the tonic and dominant.