96

"The miracle"

D major

Order by Hoboken
Hob.I: 96
Chronological order
95
Key
D major
Title
"The miracle"
Period
7 Symphonies of the first London travel 1791/1792
Date of composition
London 1791, premiere 1791
Customer
Johann Peter Salomon
Number of movements
4
Authenticity proof
Autograph (mit Skizze)
Score edition

Londoner Sinfonien, 1. Folge
Herausgeber: Robert von Zahn und Gernot Gruber; Reihe I, Band 15; G. Henle Verlag München

Hob.I:96 Symphony in D Major The Miracle     
Symphony No. 96 is the “genuine” first of the London Symphonies despite its numbering; it was the first of those initial six symphonies Haydn wrote for the 1791/92 season of the London Salomon Concerts for which violinist and concert organiser Johann Peter Salomon had commissioned Haydn. It is also called The Miracle from an incident which, based on more recent findings, occurred not at one of its performances, but of that of the B Flat Major Symphony No. 102 in 1795: before the start of the performance the audience had crowded toward the orchestra in order to obtain a better view of the famous Joseph Haydn. The seats in the middle of the floor had therefore emptied; at that moment the giant chandelier came crashing down, but without injuring anyone. This was considered a “miracle.” The symphony features all the elements characteristic of Haydn’s late symphonic work and on which Haydn founded his reputation as a “classical composer”: extreme economy and mastery of form coupled with superior individual arrangement of each of the movements. The first movement is “monothematically” organised, that is, only a single theme competes with its variants throughout the development. Haydn added one special effect at the end of the second movement: after a pause solo instruments unexpectedly continue the activity, as if at a solo concert. (Haydn seems to have calculated this effect very specifically for the English public, which loved concerts for several solo instruments or “concertante symphonies” at this time – see also Concertante I:105). The minuet is characterised by an Alpine melody and the finale, a so-called sonata rondo in the style of a kehraus, by an entire series of subtle effects.

 

Analysis

Analyse

Analysis of the movements

1. movement
95,1a
 
95,1b
Title of the movement
Adagio / Allegro
Key
D major
Form
sonataform
2. movement
95,2
Title of the movement
Andante
Key
G major
Form
rondo
3. movement
95,3
Title of the movement
Menuetto Allegretto / Trio
Key
D-D major
4. movement
95,4
Title of the movement
Vivace (assai)
Key
D major
Form
rondo
Duration
appr. 20 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
Johann Peter Salomon
Instrumentation
2|2|0|2 – 2|2 – 1 – Str.
Cast oft he orchestra
2|2|0|2 – 2|2 – 1 – Str.

Medias

Medien

Music

Choose the interpreter

Antal Dorati

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

1. movement
95,1a
 
95,1b
2. movement
95,2
3. movement
95,3
4. movement
95,4



Score

96









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