Hob.I:91 Symphony in E Flat Major     
Symphony No. 91 in E Flat Major, the second of the symphonies written for the Loge Olympique as a follow-up to the Paris Symphonies and simultaneously delivered to the Prince of Oettingen-Wallenstein features many a detail which delight the connoisseur: the principal theme of the first movement is a two-part structure in double counterpoint at the octave, that is, the higher voice and lower voice are interchangeable in accordance with strict rules. In the intermediary episode other contrapuntal parts appear which are then brought to a joint culmination at the end of the movement. The second movement, a movement of variations, has several humorous effects, such as the long trills shortly before the end which sound as if the entire orchestra has got out of control. The final movement features additional compositional treats for connoisseurs: for example, specific segments are extracted from the main theme in order to be used then for accompaniment, etc.

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