Symphony No. 107 ('A') in B flat
Although this work was long thought to be an early string quartet ('Op. 1 No.5'), its status as one of Haydn's earliest symphonies has been clear since Landon's publication of it in the 1950s. But it does seem slightly unusual in the present context, in part because of its key (it is the only 'fast-movement' work on the flat side). The opening Allegro, with a 'rocketing' upward theme, exhibits the usual bustle; it includes a relatively long and complex development section. The Andante is a beautiful, finely wrought miniature, which develops surprising variety out of its basically simple idea (note particularly the fate of the initial downward octave-leap). The triple-meter wind-up, unusually, is in 6/8 rather than 3/8, perhaps owing to its rushing semiquavers in Allegro molto (rather than quavers in Presto). In the transition and second group it becomes surprisingly complex in texture; the beginning of the recapitulation (if it is not merely under-articulated) is one of the earliest of Haydn's 'surprises' of this kind.

Joseph Haydn
The Symphonies
Philharmonia Hungarica
Antal Dorati
33 CDs, aufgenommen 1970 bis 1974, herausgegeben 1996
Decca (Universal)
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Haydn
Symphonies complete
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra
Adam Fischer
33 CDs, aufgenommen 1987 bis 2001, herausgegeben 1996
Brilliant Classics
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Haydn
Symphonies
Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood
10 doppel- und triple-CDs
aufgenommen und herausgegeben 1990 bis 2000
Decca (Universal)
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