54

G major

Order by Hoboken
Hob.I: 54
Chronological order
61
Key
G major
Period
Middle Esterház-sonfonias 1767 to 1773; „Sturm und Drang“ and the „calm“ afterwards
Date of composition
1774
Customer
Prince Nikolaus I. Joseph Esterházy
Number of movements
4
Authenticity proof
Autograph
Score edition

Sinfonien 1773 und 1774
Herausgeber: Wolfgang Stockmeier; Reihe I, Band 7; G. Henle Verlag München

Symphony No. 54 in G major (second version)
As stated in the Historical and Chronological Notes, this is the last, most heavily scored version of this symphony. The Adagio introduction is longer than before, and colours the obligatory 'majesty' topic in a complex manner. The main theme of the opening Presto features the horns and obbligato bassoon over an ostinato motif in the strings. The exposition is brief; the second group in the dominant enters without transition and features a variety of short, active themes. Haydn compensates in the development which, unusually, is longer than the exposition. It is based primarily on the ostinato motif, which is led through a variety of keys, including an unexpectedly radiant E major after a general pause; eventually a fugato leads to the retransition which surprisingly is the climax of the entire development. Towards the end, a 'surprise' deceptive resolution onto a diminished-seventh chord leads to an expanded cadence.
The Adagio assai (an unusually slow tempo for Haydn) may be his longest instrumental movement. Such long, deeply felt, mostly quiet slow movements in sonata form had first become a 'type' for Haydn during his 'Sturm und Drang' period. The triplet figuration, sometimes imitative, sometimes spun out over static harmonies, becomes almost hypnotic: an other-worldly vision that is scarcely ruffled by the ominous repeated unisons at the beginning of the development. In the recapitulation this figure unexpectedly turns to the minor and leads astonishingly to a six-four chord and a written-out cadenza for both violin parts. Following this, the rustic minuet, with its insouciant grace-notes, seems almost raucous; the effect is not really dispelled by the quiet answering phrase, since Haydn reverts to forte for the cadence. By contrast, the trio, scored for strings alone with the bassoon doubling the melody, is all elegance.
The finale, though also marked Presto, is not as fast as the opening movement. Its opening
theme has a fast, syncopated accompaniment and ends oddly with a bump; these features foreshadow the many off-beat accents and longer syncopated passages later on. The movement is in broadly laid-out sonata form, with full transitions and a quiet, contrasting second theme. The retransition is one of Haydn's better jokes: the quiet second theme enters in a foreign key, as if we were still deep within the development, but it is harmonised with a chromatically descending bass that drifts sequentially towards the tonic; five bars later the recapitulation is suddenly in full swing.

Analysis

Analyse

Analysis of the movements

1. movement
61,1a
 
61,1b
Title of the movement
Adagio maestoso / Presto
Key
G major
Form
sonataform
2. movement
61,2
Title of the movement
Adagio assai
Key
D major
Form
ternary songform
3. movement
61,3
Title of the movement
Menuet Allegretto / Trio
Key
G-G major
4. movement
61,4
Title of the movement
Presto
Key
G major
Form
sonataform
Duration
appr. 29 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
61,1a
 
61,1b
2. movement
61,2
3. movement
61,3
4. movement
61,4



Score

54









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