Symphony No. 37 in C major
Like No.32, this work exemplifies Haydn's C major style; insofar as it appears not to have originally included trumpets and drums, however, it is less festive and more nearly typical of his early symphonies in general. The opening Presto, for all its clarity of form, is a fantastic farrago of distinct but related motives, whose shapes and formal functions constantly change. The stately minuet with dotted rhythms again comes second, and again the trio is in the tonic minor, this time with more pointedly original material. The Andante is also in the tonic minor (an unusual 'doubling' of the related key); it is more regular in phrasing than that in No. 32, but has greater variety of material and texture and attains greater expressiveness and harmonic range in the development. The finale, again Presto 3/8, is even more abrupt and includes more internal contrast than most of its colleagues.

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