Symphony No. 39 (Haydn)
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Symphony No. 39 is a symphony in G minor (Hoboken 1/39) composed by Joseph Haydn, under the patronage of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Although the date of its composition is not certain, it is thought to have been written between May and September 1765, making it the earliest of Haydn's minor key symphonies associated with his Sturm und Drang period<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (see also Symphony No. 26 and Symphony No. 45).
Movements
It is written for an orchestra consisting of two oboes, four French horns (two in BTemplate:Music alto and two in G), and strings (violins divided into two, violas, cellos and double basses).<ref name="Landon">HC Robbins Landon, Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 5 vols, (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1976– ) v. 2, Haydn at Eszterhaza, 1766–1790</ref> There are four movements:
- Allegro assai, Template:Music
- Andante, Template:Music in [[E flat major|ETemplate:Music major]]
- Menuet & Trio, Template:Music
- Finale: Allegro di molto, Template:Music
The opening movement features a nervously excited main theme interrupted by frequent pauses. Felix Diergarten has specifically analysed the pauses in the first movement in the symphony, with respect to symphonic form of the time.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Both the first and second theme groups begin with the same two bars of melodic material.<ref name="apbrown">Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press (Template:ISBN), pp. 104–108 (2002).</ref>
In contrast to the Sturm und Drang of the opening movement, A. P. Brown describes the Andante as "one of Haydn's most galant slow movements, with its small meter signature, sixteenth triplets, slides, weak resolutions, echoes, and generally thin texture".<ref name="apbrown"/> The second movement is scored only for strings.<ref name=mhs>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
The minor mode returns for the Menuet which is contrasted by a bright major-mode Trio which features high notes for the first horn.<ref name="apbrown"/> The movement is in two-part counterpoint.<ref name=mhs /> Douglas Townsend opined that this movement "wears a little thin" because of the two-part writing.<ref name=mhs />
The frenetic Sturm und Drang finale brings the symphony to an energetic conclusion, with significant changes in harmony and dynamics as well as wide melodic disjunct motion.<ref name=mhs />
Notes
References
- Robbins Landon, H. C. (1963) Joseph Haydn: Critical Edition of the Complete Symphonies, Universal Edition, Vienna