MUSIC TO WORK BY - HAYDN: PARIS SYMPHONY 83 AND 84

Roger Norrington conducts one of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras, the Camerata Academica Salzburg, in performances of Haydn’s Symphonies No. 83 in G minor (The Hen)and  No. 84 in E flat major..

The Symphony No. 83 in G minor, Hoboken I/83, is the second of the six so-called Paris Symphonies (numbers 82-87) written by Joseph Haydn in 1785 and it was published by Artaria in Vienna in December 1787. It is popularly known as The Hen (French: La poule).

The symphony is in the standard four movement form and scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, continuo (harpsichord) and strings.

1. Allegro spiritoso, 4/4
2. Andante, 3/4 in E flat major
3. Menuet: Allegretto - Trio, 3/4 in G major
4. Finale: Vivace, 12/8 in G major

The symphony opens in stormy G minor with the minor triad further intensified by the added dissonance of the C?. The dotted rhythms that answer are transformed into fanfares later in the first theme group of the sonata form movement.

The second theme in B flat major features dotted repeated notes in a solo oboe against jerky appoggiatura in the first violins. This is the "Hen" motif that gives the symphony its nickname, although it is also related to the dotted rhythm response in the first theme.^[  The development features the exploration of the two themes in different keys. It opens with the first theme in C minor, followed by the second theme in E flat major and F minor. The first theme is then heard contrapuntally leading towards the dominant allowing for a re-transition to the tonic for the recapitulation. The first theme is recapitulated in G minor while the second theme is recapitulated in G major.

The Symphony No. 84 in E-flat major, Hoboken I/84, is the third of the so-called six Paris Symphonies (numbers 82-87) written by Joseph Haydn. It is sometimes known by the subtitle In nomine Domini

The symphony was one of a series of six symphonies commissioned in 1784 by the Concerts de la Loge Olympique, a popular concert subscription in Paris (hence the name for the series as a whole). Like the other Paris symphonies, Symphony no. 84 was written for the largest orchestral ensemble that Haydn had written for up until that time, including reinforced woodwind parts and a large string section. Unlike the other Paris symphonies (save No. 87), in No. 84 greater "prominence [is] given to woodwind instruments."  Despite its number, the symphony was actually one of the last of the six Paris symphonies to be composed. It was completed in 1786.

The work is in standard four movement form and scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, horns, timpani, continuo (harpsichord) and strings.

1. Largo - Allegro
2. Andante, 6/8 in B flat major
3. Menuet e Trio, 3/4
4. Finale: Vivace

The slow second movement is a hybrid between ternary and variation form. The main theme is similar in shape the introduction to the first movement. After the theme is stated, there is a contrasting passage in the minor which is only loosely based melodically on the main theme. Then two more strophic variations follow, the first lyrical and the second more grand. The movement then segues to a cadenza passage that features the full wind band over pizzicato strings before the full tutti concludes the movement with one last statement of the theme.

Source: Wikipedia (the free online encyclopaedia)