28
A major
Sinfonien 1764 und 1765
Herausgeber: Horst Walter; Reihe I, Band 4; G. Henle Verlag München
Symphony No. 28 in A major
One of the features that distinguishes Haydn, even in this comparatively early stage in his career, from Ordonez, Gassmann, Dittersdorf and other contemporaries is his ability to create a focussed musical argument with the minimum of material. At the end of his life the composer told his biographer, Griesinger: 'Once I had seized upon an idea, my whole endeavour was to develop and sustain it in keeping with the rules of art'. The first movement of this A major symphony from 1765 provides a perfect early example of Haydn's approach; hardly a bar in the movement does not feature the four-note anacrusic figure heard at the beginning. There are some harmonic surprises too, when, in the recapitulation, a solo oboe leads the music into a digression into the minor key. The Poco Adagio is scored for muted strings alone with the melody played by first and second violins in a low register, except for some punctuating phrases played in thirds in a higher register. Different orchestral colours catch the ear in the Menuet: bariolage, that is the oscillation of the same pitch on two different strings, and in the Trio, a severe sounding A minor as the music moves around a restricted range of chords in an almost aimless way. The last movement is a hectic 6/8 scamper.
Analysis

Analysis of the movements




Musicians

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".
Flute | Franz Sigl 1761-1773 |
Flute | Zacharias Hirsch 1777-1790 |
Oboe | Michael Kapfer 1761-1769 |
Oboe | Georg Kapfer 1761-1770 |
Oboe | Anton Mayer 1782-1790 |
Oboe | Joseph Czerwenka 1784-1790 |
Bassoon | Johann Hinterberger 1761-1777 |
Bassoon | Franz Czerwenka 1784-1790 |
Bassoon | Joseph Steiner 1781-1790 |
Horn (played violin) | Franz Pauer 1770-1790 |
Horn (played violin) | Joseph Oliva 1770-1790 |
Timpani or Bassoon | Caspar Peczival 1773-1790 |
Violin | Luigi Tomasini 1761-1790 |
Violin (leader 2. Vl) | Johann Tost 1783-1788 |
Violin | Joseph Purgsteiner 1766-1790 |
Violin | Joseph Dietzl 1766-1790 |
Violin | Vito Ungricht 1777-1790 |
Violin (most Viola) | Christian Specht 1777-1790 |
Cello | Anton Kraft 1779-1790 |
Violone | Carl Schieringer 1768-1790 |
Medias

Music
Antal Dorati
Joseph Haydn
The Symphonies
Philharmonia Hungarica
33 CDs, aufgenommen 1970 bis 1974, herausgegeben 1996 Decca (Universal)



