Hob.I:95 Symphony in C Minor     
Composed in London in 1791 and performed for the first time in the same season as the Salomon Concerts, the C minor symphony (No. 95) is in many ways strikingly different from the usual framework of the London Symphonies: it is the only piece in a minor key (there are also just two forerunners in this key in Haydn’s body of symphonic work: No. 52, a work of the so-called Sturm and Drang period, and No. 78) and the only one of the London Symphonies that does not begin with a slow introduction. Due to its basic style expressed with the defiant unison statement at the beginning, it was long one of the least popular of the series. A clear indication for the fact that Salomon’s trio arrangement of this symphony for the piano sold the least. Nonetheless, it is consummate with respect to its composition and “inner beauty” so that today’s concert activity is rightly rediscovering it. The most remarkable movement of this composition is probably the finale, in which the usual rondo form is most elaborately permeated with contrapuntal elements. Here the influence of the finale in Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony is very clearly noticeable.

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