Hob.I:108 Symphony (“B”) in B-Flat Major     
This work has posed a number of riddles to Haydn researchers. All four movements are very short. The introductory allegro molto consisting of an entire 48 bars is the shortest and formally the most straightforward that appears in any Haydn symphony. Its musical material is unremarkable as well, and is hardly developed. Nevertheless, the minuet features another dotted rhythmic figure, and the trio in the subdominant is distinguished by the much-discussed solo of the bassoon. The andante in the parallel key is meditative and based on substantial contrapuntal development. For a remarkable sound the “hopping” parallel intervals of a tenth which play around the smooth second violins in the second group of themes (these violins pretend to avoid parallel fifths to the melody). The presto finale in 2/4 time has the more the right length than the allegro molto for its type. Otherwise it does not stand out from the bulk of Haydn’s early symphonies.

Analysis of the movements

Musicians

Due to the unclear time of origin of most of Haydn’s symphonies - and unlike his 13 Italian operas, where we really know the exact dates of premieres and performances - detailed and correct name lists of the orchestral musicians cannot be given.  As a rough outline, his symphony works can be divided into three temporal blocks. In the first block, in the service of Count Morzin (1757-1761), in the second block, the one at the court of the Esterházys (1761-1790 but with the last symphony for the Esterház audience in 1781) and the third block, the one after Esterház (1782-1795), i.e. in Paris and London.  Just for this middle block at the court of the Esterházys 1761-1781 (the last composed symphony for the Esterház audience) respectively 1790, at the end of his service at the court of Esterház we can choose Haydn’s most important musicians and “long-serving companions” and thereby extract an "all-time - all-stars orchestra".

Music

Score