Symphony No. 19 in D major
This symphony, more than any others in this volume, resembles the three-movement 'Morzin' works collected in Volume 1. The opening Allegro molto contrasts a triadic theme striding upward through tonal space with the usual diverse collection of active motives; a tremolo figure first heard during the transition becomes prominent in the development. The Andante, again in the tonic minor, is unusually short even for this type of movement; its most memorable incident is an 'endless' descending scale in parallel tenths underneath a syncopated pedal in octaves. The finale is another conventional-sounding 3/8 Presto, except that the middle section is a 'true', if short, development, and it leads to a double reprise: first to a variant of the main theme in the minor; then to the second theme in the major.

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