47

G major

Order by Hoboken
Hob.I: 47
Chronological order
54
Key
G major
Period
Middle Esterház-sonfonias 1767 to 1773; „Sturm und Drang“ and the „calm“ afterwards
Date of composition
1772
Customer
Prince Nikolaus I. Joseph Esterházy
Number of movements
4
Authenticity proof
Autograph
Score edition

Sinfonien 1767-1772
Herausgeber: Carl-Gabriel Stellan Mörner; Reihe I, Band 6; G. Henle Verlag München

Symphony No. 47 in G major
Unlike Nos.45 and 46, this symphony is in an 'ordinary' key and exhibits the customary sequence of four discrete movements, without overt extramusical associations. But the person who supposes that it therefore is not on the same high level has no hope of understanding Haydn's art.
The opening Allegro begins with a remarkable non-periodic martial theme (dotted motives), in which dissonant horn fanfares, later joined by the oboes, alternate with punctuating string motives; the whole builds up to an initial climax. The martial topos continues through the counterstatement and transition until, in the dominant, it yields to a quiet, ruminating theme in triplets; this leads directly to a brief codetta. The development begins with a piano modulating passage based on the martial theme, which eventually bursts out forte in combination with the triplets. A long, dissonant pedal on the martial motive leads to a repetition of the entire ruminating second theme, at whose cadence the triplets become forte and lead to the recapitulation. Here ensues one of Haydn's most astonishing surprises: in a manner not to be heard again until Schubert, the opening theme is rewritten in the tonic minor, and the build-up is correspondingly more dissonant until, as if nothing unusual had happened, it leads directly to the ruminating triplet theme. However, the remainder recapitulates everything in an entirely different order.
The slow movement, with the unusual heading 'Un poco adagio, cantabile', is a remarkable combination of counterpoint and Variation form. The theme is an A B A'; the A section is a complete antecedent-consequent period, made up of five-bar phrases; it is for strings alone, in two-part invertible counterpoint. The B section, in richer texture, comprises a four-bar phrase plus six-bar extension; the winds join in, with gorgeous tone-colours. The A', again for strings alone, repeats A with the two parts inverted. Three complete variations follow according to the 'double' principle, of faster notes in each successive variation. None too soon, Haydn abandons this procedure in favour of a final variation in which the winds participate from the beginning, more gorgeously than ever. This however closes with a deceptive cadence, leading to an extensive coda and a pianissimo ending.
Yet the minuet 'al roverso' tops this with ease. Each movement, minuet and trio, comprises merely a single period of written-out music; in both cases, the second strain is produced by performing the first part backwards. As opposed to a 'crab canon', in which contrapuntal ingenuities or intricacies of texture abound, this music is entirely homophonic; nothing can distract us from Haydn's tour de force in composing harmonies and rhythms that make sense in both 'directions'. The key is to attend to the dynamics and articulation (which come through far more clearly with historical instruments than modern ones).
The finale is marked 'Presto assai', on the face of it the fastest tempo Haydn ever prescribed (though compensated for by the relatively slow harmonic rhythm). It begins breathlessly, piano and off-tonic; no meaningfully contrasting/forte is heard until a terrific outburst in the dominant, which soon turns to the minor. The second group proper repeats the main theme, leading eventually to a brief, offbeat codetta. At the beginning of the development, Haydn proves once again that he can confound any expectations; soon, however, the main theme appears in the sub-dominant and leads by forte/piano sequence to the 'outburst' passage in E minor, including some hair-raising horn dissonances. The recapitulation is more or less regular (note the humourous transformation of an odd augmented passage into forte), until the codetta leads into a final high climax.

Analysis

Analyse

Analysis of the movements

1. movement
54,1
Title of the movement
Allegro
Key
G major
Form
sonataform
2. movement
54,2
Title of the movement
Un poco adagio, cantabile
Key
D major
Form
variationform
3. movement
54,3
Title of the movement
Menuet al roverso / Trio
Key
G-G major
4. movement
54,4
Title of the movement
Presto assai
Key
D major
Form
sonataform
Duration
appr. 24 min.

Musicians

Musiker

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".

Direction
Joseph Haydn
Instrumentation
0|2|0|1 – 2|0 – 0 – Str.
Cast oft he orchestra
0|2|0|1 – 2|0 – 0 – Str.
Cast
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

Medien

Music

Antal Dorati

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

1. movement
54,1
2. movement
54,2
3. movement
54,3
4. movement
54,4



Score

47









Haydn13

1757

1. Periode
Hob.I:1

1757-1759

1. Periode
Hob.I:37
Hob.I:18
Hob.I:2

1757-1760

1. Periode
Hob.I:4
Hob.I:27

1758-1760

1. Periode
Hob.I:10
Hob.I:20

1761/1762

1. Periode
Hob.I:36
Hob.I:33

1766

4. Periode

1771

4. Periode
Hob.I:52
Hob.I:42

1773/1774

4. Periode
Hob.I:50

1774/1775

5. Periode
Hob.I:68

1776

5. Periode
Hob.I:61

1777/1778

5. Periode
Hob.I:53 "L'Impériale"

1778/1779

5. Periode
Hob.I:71

1780

5. Periode
Hob.I:74
Hob.I:62

1781

5. Periode
Hob.I:73 "La chasse"

1787

8. Periode
Hob.I:89

-1788

8. Periode
Hob.I:88

1788

8. Periode
Hob.I:90
Hob.I:91

1789

8. Periode
Hob.I:92 "Oxford"

1791/1792

9. Periode
Hob.I:98

1793

10. Periode
Hob.I:99

1794

10. Periode
Hob.I:102

1796

1799

1801

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I. Periode
Acide
 
I. Periode
 
I. Periode
 
I. Periode
La canterina
I. Periode
 
I. Periode
Lo speziale
 
I. Periode
 
I. Periode
Le pescatrici
 
I. Periode
 
I. Periode
 
II. Periode
 
II. Periode
 
II. Periode
 
II. Periode
Il mondo della luna
 
II. Periode
 
III. Periode
 
III. Periode
La fedeltà premiata
 
III. Periode
Orlando paladino
 
III. Periode
Armida
 
III. Periode
La vera costanza II