Hob.I:80 Symphony in D Minor
Symphony in D Minor, No. 80, begins with an animated tremolo, highly dramatic gestures and passionate accents. Shortly before the end of the exposition the listener is suddenly startled by an ornamental waltz melody with the flute, indicating that what came before it was not meant to be taken so seriously. But that’s not all: the melody dominates the development; twice it begins the developmental passage with coquettish hesitation (each time after a general pause of two bars). Moreover, the movement features a highly abbreviated reprise: since Haydn knows he can no longer approach the listener with the expressive affectation of the beginning, he simply disregards it and immediately commences with the second half of the exposition. The adagio is heartfelt and melodious, the minuet of its own dark, almost melancholic (d minor) colour, whereby the trio resumes the accompaniment of the secondary theme in adagio. The finale is also arranged in the plan of a sonata movement. Its principal theme is syncopated against the metrical scheme so that the ear fails to find its metric bearings at the beginning, but later learns to appreciate the exquisite effects with which Haydn knows how to lead his listeners up the garden path.

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