Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Composer Of The Week | 20180312 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers |
| 02 | Composer Of The Week | 20180313 | |
| 03 | Composer Of The Week | 20180314 | |
| 04 | Composer Of The Week | 20180315 | |
| 05 | Composer Of The Week | 20180316 | |
| 01 | 20070521 | For much of his working life, Haydn lived and breathed opera and some of his best music was written for the stage. But until recently, his operas have suffered from chronic under-exposure. Donald Macleod blows a few layers of dust from these unfairly neglected works and introduces a complete performance of Haydn's very first comic opera, La canterina. Overture (Lo speziale) Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor) La canterina Ingrid Kertesi (soprano) Andrea Ulbrich (mezzo-soprano) Antal Pataki and Jozsef Mukk (tenors) Capella Savaria Pal Nemeth (conductor). | |
| 01 | 20120604 | Donald Macleod explores the life of Haydn, who became known as the 'Father of the string quartet. In his first programme, Donald looks at how the young composer stumbled upon a new instrumental form. Donald Macleod considers how the young Haydn stumbled upon a new instrumental form. Donald Macleod considers how the young Haydn stumbled upon a new instrumental form. Donald Macleod explores the life of Haydn, who became known as the 'Father of the string quartet. In his first programme, Donald looks at how the young composer stumbled upon a new instrumental form. | |
| 01 | 20180312 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, summoned by musician and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, Haydn takes London by storm. "It really is sad always to be a slave," Haydn wrote in a letter of 27 June 1790 to his friend Maria Anna von Genzinger, "but Providence wills it so." Well apparently not. Just three months later, Haydn's employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died after a brief illness, his entire musical establishment was disbanded, and the composer's 'slavery' as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court came to a sudden and unexpected end. Cue the London-based violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who was in Cologne when he heard the news of Haydn's emancipation. Salomon seized his opportunity and hot-footed it to Vienna, where he turned up unannounced one evening at Haydn's rented apartment. Salomon made Haydn an offer he didn't want to refuse and was now in a position to accept, and a week later the two men were en route to London, where Haydn was to be the star attraction of a 12-week season of concerts at the fashionable Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn's music had already won him a considerable reputation in England, and now he was to cement and enhance it with a truly extraordinary sequence of new works composed in and for London - sonatas, trios, quartets, symphonies and more - that showed a composer at the height of his powers propelled even higher by new challenges and fresh stimuli. Amidst all this success, there was one rather spectacular failure - though the failure wasn't Haydn's. Much of his energy during his first year in London was expended on composing L'anima del filosofo - The philosopher's soul - an opera on the Orpheus myth commissioned for the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Unfortunately, the manager there, John Gallini, had failed to procure a licence to stage opera, and the production had to be aborted during the first rehearsal. Not that that will have unduly bothered most of Haydn's London audience, who for the moment at least had plenty of his music to keep them occupied. In the hope that they could continue to be occupied with Haydn's music for a long time to come, there were those who proposed that he should stay here indefinitely - among them King George and Queen Charlotte, who pressed Haydn to take up permanent residence in this country. That was not to be, but buoyed by the success of his first London season, he was certainly happy to stay for a second - which is the subject of tomorrow's episode. Divertimento in C, Hob II:32; 3rd mvt, Finale. Molto vivace. L'anima del filosofo; Act 2 scene 3 - 'Al tuo seno fortunato' The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross, Hob XX:1; Sonata II, Grave e cantabile String Quartet in D, Op 64 No 5 (Hob III:63) ('The Lark'); 1st mvt, Allegro moderato Symphony No 96 in D, Hob I: 96 ('Miracle') | |
| 01 | 20180312 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, summoned by musician and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, Haydn takes London by storm. "It really is sad always to be a slave," Haydn wrote in a letter of 27 June 1790 to his friend Maria Anna von Genzinger, "but Providence wills it so." Well apparently not. Just three months later, Haydn's employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died after a brief illness, his entire musical establishment was disbanded, and the composer's 'slavery' as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court came to a sudden and unexpected end. Cue the London-based violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who was in Cologne when he heard the news of Haydn's emancipation. Salomon seized his opportunity and hot-footed it to Vienna, where he turned up unannounced one evening at Haydn's rented apartment. Salomon made Haydn an offer he didn't want to refuse and was now in a position to accept, and a week later the two men were en route to London, where Haydn was to be the star attraction of a 12-week season of concerts at the fashionable Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn's music had already won him a considerable reputation in England, and now he was to cement and enhance it with a truly extraordinary sequence of new works composed in and for London - sonatas, trios, quartets, symphonies and more - that showed a composer at the height of his powers propelled even higher by new challenges and fresh stimuli. Amidst all this success, there was one rather spectacular failure - though the failure wasn't Haydn's. Much of his energy during his first year in London was expended on composing L'anima del filosofo - The philosopher's soul - an opera on the Orpheus myth commissioned for the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Unfortunately, the manager there, John Gallini, had failed to procure a licence to stage opera, and the production had to be aborted during the first rehearsal. Not that that will have unduly bothered most of Haydn's London audience, who for the moment at least had plenty of his music to keep them occupied. In the hope that they could continue to be occupied with Haydn's music for a long time to come, there were those who proposed that he should stay here indefinitely - among them King George and Queen Charlotte, who pressed Haydn to take up permanent residence in this country. That was not to be, but buoyed by the success of his first London season, he was certainly happy to stay for a second - which is the subject of tomorrow's episode. Divertimento in C, Hob II:32; 3rd mvt, Finale. Molto vivace. L'anima del filosofo; Act 2 scene 3 - 'Al tuo seno fortunato' The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross, Hob XX:1; Sonata II, Grave e cantabile String Quartet in D, Op 64 No 5 (Hob III:63) ('The Lark'); 1st mvt, Allegro moderato Symphony No 96 in D, Hob I: 96 ('Miracle') Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, summoned by musician and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, Haydn takes London by storm. "It really is sad always to be a slave," Haydn wrote in a letter of 27 June 1790 to his friend Maria Anna von Genzinger, "but Providence wills it so." Well apparently not. Just three months later, Haydn's employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died after a brief illness, his entire musical establishment was disbanded, and the composer's 'slavery' as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court came to a sudden and unexpected end. Cue the London-based violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who was in Cologne when he heard the news of Haydn's emancipation. Salomon seized his opportunity and hot-footed it to Vienna, where he turned up unannounced one evening at Haydn's rented apartment. Salomon made Haydn an offer he didn't want to refuse and was now in a position to accept, and a week later the two men were en route to London, where Haydn was to be the star attraction of a 12-week season of concerts at the fashionable Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn's music had already won him a considerable reputation in England, and now he was to cement and enhance it with a truly extraordinary sequence of new works composed in and for London - sonatas, trios, quartets, symphonies and more - that showed a composer at the height of his powers propelled even higher by new challenges and fresh stimuli. Amidst all this success, there was one rather spectacular failure - though the failure wasn't Haydn's. Much of his energy during his first year in London was expended on composing L'anima del filoso - The philosopher's soul - an opera on the Orpheus myth commissioned for the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Unfortunately, the manager there, John Gallini, had failed to procure a licence to stage opera, and the production had to be aborted during the first rehearsal. Not that that will have unduly bothered most of Haydn's London audience, who for the moment at least had plenty of his music to keep them occupied. In the hope that they could continue to be occupied with Haydn's music for a long time to come, there were those who proposed that he should stay here indefinitely - among them King George and Queen Charlotte, who pressed Haydn to take up permanent residence in this country. That was not to be, but buoyed by the success of his first London season, he was certainly happy to stay for a second - which is the subject of tomorrow's episode. Divertimento in C, Hob II:32; 3rd mvt, Finale. Molto vivace. L'anima del filosofo; Act 2 scene 3 - 'Al tuo seno fortunato' The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross, Hob XX:1; Sonata II, Grave e cantabile String Quartet in D, Op 64 No 5 (Hob III:63) ('The Lark'); 1st mvt, Allegro moderato Symphony No 96 in D, Hob I: 96 ('Miracle') | |
| 01 | * | 20090119 | Donald Macleod explores the compositions and early life of Joseph Haydn, including his disastrous marriage to his true love's elder sister. Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season. Missa Brevis l'isola disabitata (excerpt from part 2) organ concerto in c, h xviii 1 (largo) Donald Macleod explores the compositions and early life of joseph haydn piano trio, h xv 38 (finale) |
| 01 | Journeyman | 20060206 | Donald Macleod explores the first half of Haydn's career, beginning with a look at his earliest employers. Die Schöpfung, Stimmt an die Saiten Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and Choir Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor) Sonata in G, Menuetto Anthony Kooiker (piano) String Quartet in B flat, Op 1, No 1 Hagen Quartet Divertimento in E flat Haydn Sinfonietta Wien Manfred Huss (conductor) Symphony No 6 (Le Matin) Concentus musicus Wien Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor). |
| 01 | My Desert | 20170717 | Donald Macleod focuses on Haydn's work in the late 1760s. Donald Macleod introduces a week focusing of Haydn's often overlooked - yet utterly beguiling - piano sonatas, which span virtually his entire composing life. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from the light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be taken by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. We begin in the late 1760s, with Haydn engaged at the court of Prince Eszterhazy, deep in the Hungarian countryside - a place the composer gloomily dubbed "my desert". Benchmark sonatas recordings by John McCabe and Carole Cerasi are joined by a thrilling - and rather unusual - virtuoso reading by the Bulgarian-born pianist Alexis Weissenberg. Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn |
| 01 | The Father Of The Symphony | 20101108 | Donald Macleod introduces the life and work of Joseph Haydn, the 'father of the symphony'. Donald Macleod introduces Joseph Haydn, a composer who was more famous in his lifetime than Mozart or Beethoven, and who has since become known as the first great master of the string quartet and the so-called 'father of the symphony'. Donald investigates many aspects of Haydn's turbulent personality, including commercial opportunism, double dealing, penny pinching and matrimonial misery. Each programme also features an important Haydn symphony, beginning today with the Symphony No. 101, 'Clock', the work of a great composer on top form, written for a rapturous reception in late 18th-century London. |
| 02 | 20070522 | Donald Macleod continues his exploration of Haydn's neglected operatic masterpieces with two comedies from the 1770s: L'infedelta delusa and L'incontro improvviso. The latter features the same kind of Oriental escape storyline that Mozart was to use a few years later in his Abduction from the Seraglio. L'infedelta delusa (Overture; Act I, Sc 1) Magda Kalmar, Julia Paszthy (sopranos) Istvan Rozsos, Attila Fulop (tenors) Jozsef Gregor (bass-baritone) Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Frigyes Sandor (conductor) L'incontro improvviso (Act I, Sc 3) Linda Zoghby, Margaret Marshall (sopranos) Della Jones (mezzo-soprano) Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Antal Dorati (conductor/continuo). | |
| 02 | 20120605 | Donald Macleod follows Haydn to the court of Esterhazy. Donald Macleod continues his story of the 'Father of the string quartet'. Today, Donald follows Haydn to the court of Esterhazy where, at first, there seems little opportunity to explore the musical form he has just invented. | |
| 02 | 20180313 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, romance, rivalry and the death of a friend as Haydn embarks on a second London season. In January 1792, news reached Haydn that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had died in Vienna the previous month, a few weeks short of his 36th birthday. Haydn was devastated: "For some time I was beside myself about his death and I could not believe that Providence would so soon claim the life of such an indispensable man." Some musicologists believe that Haydn wrote the slow movement of his Symphony No 98 in memory of his old friend. Meanwhile, another young composer had arrived in London - as it happens, a former student of Haydn's who had come at the behest of The Professional Concert, a rival concert organization to that of Johann Peter Salomon, the violinist, composer and impresario who had invited Haydn to London for the previous season. That season had been such a success that The Professional Concert had made strenuous efforts to poach Haydn for their own concert series. When they failed to snare the master, they turned to the pupil: Ignaz Pleyel, who nowadays is remembered less as a composer than as the publisher and piano manufacturer he would later become. Pleyel agreed to produce a new work for each of the 12 concerts in the series. Haydn felt honour-bound to do the same, but he found the workload utterly draining: "My eyes suffer the most, and I have many sleepless nights", he wrote to a friend. His Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and orchestra, premiered in the fourth concert of the season, seems to have been a direct response to a piece of Pleyel's for similar forces that had been unveiled by The Professional Concert only the previous week. At this stressful time, some measure of solace was at hand in the attractive form of Rebecca Schroeter, a wealthy Scottish widow who had originally approached Haydn for music lessons but soon became an intimate companion. Haydn made hand-copies of her letters to him, many of which deal with practicalities such as requests for concert tickets and invitations to dinner. But every now and then we get a glimpse of the passion smouldering beneath the surface: "My Dearest I cannot be happy till I see you, if you know, do tell me when you will come." Mrs Schroeter was doubtless present at the concert held a week before Haydn's 60th birthday, which saw the première of his now-famous 'Surprise' Symphony - the surprise being a mischievously unexpected fortissimo chord right at the end of the second movement's otherwise tranquil opening theme. Unsurprisingly, this proved a big hit with the London audience, and turned out to be one of the greatest successes of Haydn's English career. Symphony No 94 in G, Hob I:94 ('Surprise'); 2nd mvt, Andante (extract) Sinfonia Concertante in B flat, Hob I:105; 1st mvt, Allegro Symphony No 98 in B flat, Hob I:98; 2nd mvt, Adagio The Storm, Hob XXIVa:8 Symphony No 94 in G, Hob I:94 ('Surprise') | |
| 02 | 20180313 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, romance, rivalry and the death of a friend as Haydn embarks on a second London season. In January 1792, news reached Haydn that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had died in Vienna the previous month, a few weeks short of his 36th birthday. Haydn was devastated: "For some time I was beside myself about his death and I could not believe that Providence would so soon claim the life of such an indispensable man." Some musicologists believe that Haydn wrote the slow movement of his Symphony No 98 in memory of his old friend. Meanwhile, another young composer had arrived in London - as it happens, a former student of Haydn's who had come at the behest of The Professional Concert, a rival concert organization to that of Johann Peter Salomon, the violinist, composer and impresario who had invited Haydn to London for the previous season. That season had been such a success that The Professional Concert had made strenuous efforts to poach Haydn for their own concert series. When they failed to snare the master, they turned to the pupil: Ignaz Pleyel, who nowadays is remembered less as a composer than as the publisher and piano manufacturer he would later become. Pleyel agreed to produce a new work for each of the 12 concerts in the series. Haydn felt honour-bound to do the same, but he found the workload utterly draining: "My eyes suffer the most, and I have many sleepless nights", he wrote to a friend. His Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and orchestra, premiered in the fourth concert of the season, seems to have been a direct response to a piece of Pleyel's for similar forces that had been unveiled by The Professional Concert only the previous week. At this stressful time, some measure of solace was at hand in the attractive form of Rebecca Schroeter, a wealthy Scottish widow who had originally approached Haydn for music lessons but soon became an intimate companion. Haydn made hand-copies of her letters to him, many of which deal with practicalities such as requests for concert tickets and invitations to dinner. But every now and then we get a glimpse of the passion smouldering beneath the surface: "My Dearest I cannot be happy till I see you, if you know, do tell me when you will come." Mrs Schroeter was doubtless present at the concert held a week before Haydn's 60th birthday, which saw the première of his now-famous 'Surprise' Symphony - the surprise being a mischievously unexpected fortissimo chord right at the end of the second movement's otherwise tranquil opening theme. Unsurprisingly, this proved a big hit with the London audience, and turned out to be one of the greatest successes of Haydn's English career. Symphony No 94 in G, Hob I:94 ('Surprise'); 2nd mvt, Andante (extract) Sinfonia Concertante in B flat, Hob I:105; 1st mvt, Allegro Symphony No 98 in B flat, Hob I:98; 2nd mvt, Adagio The Storm, Hob XXIVa:8 Symphony No 94 in G, Hob I:94 ('Surprise') | |
| 02 | * | 20090120 | Donald Macleod considers Haydn's relationship with his long-time employers, the aristocratic Esterhazy family, and discovers the composer's loyalty to his boss and the musicians on his staff. Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season. Qual dubbio ormai Donald Macleod looks at haydn's relationship with the aristocratic esterhazy family missa cellensis (kyrie) violin concerto in c, h viia 1 baryton trio no 64 in d |
| 02 | A Visit From The Empress | 20170718 | How Haydn juggled a visit from the Empress with composing more effervescent piano sonatas. Donald Macleod explores how Haydn juggled a high-profile visit from Empress Maria Theresa with the demands of composing a set of brilliant new piano sonatas. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be elevated by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. Still ensconced in the Eszterhaza palace, deep in the Hungarian marshes, Haydn buries himself in a new set of piano sonatas - as well as his first mature attempts at opera. Donald Macleod introduces three more highly contrasting - yet equally beguiling - keyboard recordings from the BBC archives, from Monique Haas, Yakov Kasman and Christine Schornsheim. Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn |
| 02 | Esterhazy | 20101109 | Donald Macleod investigates what working at the court of Esterhazy meant for Haydn. "As head of an orchestra I could experiment, observe what heightened the effect and what weakened it, and so could improve, expand, cut, take risks. I was cut off from the world, there was no one near me to torment me or make me doubt myself, and so I had to become original." Donald Macleod investigates what working the court of Esterházy meant for Haydn. |
| 02 | Master Of The Chapel | 20060207 | As the new Vice-Kapellmeister to the court of Esterházy, Haydn enjoyed the support of Gregor Werner, the court Kapellmeister, but their relationship cooled as Haydn began to outshine his superior. With Donald Macleod. Acide e Galatea, Overture Haydn Sinfonietta Wien Manfred Huss (director) Baryton Trio in A Geringas Baryton Trio Missa Cellensis, Credo Susan Gritton, Pamela Helen Stephen, Mark Padmore, Stephen Varcoe Collegium Musicum 90 Richard Hickox (conductor) Symphony No 46 The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (conductor). |
| 03 | 20070523 | If Haydn's operas have failed to catch on, it's certainly not the fault of the music: Donald Macleod considers the composer's dreadful choice of libretti. In terms of textual turkey, La vera costanza is a prime offender, yet it contains some of Haydn's most inspired music. Il mondo della luna (Act 2, Finale; Act 3) Arleen Auger, Edith Mathis (sopranos) Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini-Terrani (mezzo-sopranos) Luigi Alva, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenors) Domenico Trimarchi (baritone) Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Antal Dorati (conductor/continuo) D'una sposa meschinella (insertion aria for Paisiello's La Frascatana) Edith Mathis (soprano) Armin Jordan (conductor) La vera costanza (So che una bestia sei, Act 1) La vera costanza (Act 1, Finale) Jessye Norman, Helen Donath, Kari Lovaas (sopranos) Claes H Ahnsjo, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenors) Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Domenico Trimarchi (baritones) | |
| 03 | 20120606 | Donald Macleod on how Haydn began to discover the commercial potential of string quartets. Donald Macleod continues his story of the 'Father of the string quartet'. Haydn's employer, Prince Esterhazy had no interest in quartets, but Haydn continued to write them purely for himself and he began to discover the commercial potential of this increasingly popular musical form. | |
| 03 | 20180314 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, Haydn appears in no hurry to return to London as he settles back into Viennese life. Haydn's extended stay in London through 1791 to the summer of the following year had been made possible by the death of his employer, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Esterházy's son, Prince Anton, lost no time in dismantling the elaborate and costly musical establishment his father had spent the previous two-and-a-half decades assembling, leaving Haydn - almost - fancy-free. 'Almost' because as a condition of receiving his pension, Haydn remained, at least nominally, the Eszterháza Kapellmeister. So when Prince Anton yanked at the leash, requiring his Kapellmeister's presence at the coronation of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt in July 1792, Haydn had no option but to pack his bags and go. Thereafter, the plan seems to have been that he would head back to Vienna, perhaps spending a little time at Eszterháza before returning to London for the 1793 season. This certainly seems to have been the assumption of the London impresario, Johann Peter Salomon, who began advertising his third annual series of Haydn-centric concerts at the Hanover Square Rooms from December 1792. When January came and his star failed to appear, Salomon made his apologies, claiming the composer was so seriously indisposed by a troublesome nasal polyp that surgery would be required. Whatever the source of this face-saving fiction, the truth is probably that Haydn was finding plenty to occupy himself with on his home turf; and in any case, from the 21st of January 1793, travel became much riskier in the febrile atmosphere following the execution of Louis XVI. One of the tasks on Haydn's current agenda was the tuition of a promising new student by the name of Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he took with him to Eszterháza. He also had ample time to compose, blissfully free from the relentless pressure of his previous London season, for which he had had to produce a new work for every concert. So when he eventually set off for London again in the middle of January 1794, traversing war-torn Europe in one of the coldest winters in living memory, he at least had the warm glow of knowing that accompanying him in his trunk were the manuscripts of six brand new string quartets - Opuses 71 and 74 - and what would become one of his best-loved symphonies, No 99 in E flat. 12 Menuetti di ballo, Hob IX:11; No 5 in C String Quartet in C, Op 74 No 1 (Hob III:72) Symphony No 99 in E flat, Hob I:99 | |
| 03 | 20180314 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, Haydn appears in no hurry to return to London as he settles back into Viennese life. Haydn's extended stay in London through 1791 to the summer of the following year had been made possible by the death of his employer, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Esterházy's son, Prince Anton, lost no time in dismantling the elaborate and costly musical establishment his father had spent the previous two-and-a-half decades assembling, leaving Haydn - almost - fancy-free. 'Almost' because as a condition of receiving his pension, Haydn remained, at least nominally, the Eszterháza Kapellmeister. So when Prince Anton yanked at the leash, requiring his Kapellmeister's presence at the coronation of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt in July 1792, Haydn had no option but to pack his bags and go. Thereafter, the plan seems to have been that he would head back to Vienna, perhaps spending a little time at Eszterháza before returning to London for the 1793 season. This certainly seems to have been the assumption of the London impresario, Johann Peter Salomon, who began advertising his third annual series of Haydn-centric concerts at the Hanover Square Rooms from December 1792. When January came and his star failed to appear, Salomon made his apologies, claiming the composer was so seriously indisposed by a troublesome nasal polyp that surgery would be required. Whatever the source of this face-saving fiction, the truth is probably that Haydn was finding plenty to occupy himself with on his home turf; and in any case, from the 21st of January 1793, travel became much riskier in the febrile atmosphere following the execution of Louis XVI. One of the tasks on Haydn's current agenda was the tuition of a promising new student by the name of Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he took with him to Eszterháza. He also had ample time to compose, blissfully free from the relentless pressure of his previous London season, for which he had had to produce a new work for every concert. So when he eventually set off for London again in the middle of January 1794, traversing war-torn Europe in one of the coldest winters in living memory, he at least had the warm glow of knowing that accompanying him in his trunk were the manuscripts of six brand new string quartets - Opuses 71 and 74 - and what would become one of his best-loved symphonies, No 99 in E flat. 12 Menuetti di ballo, Hob IX:11; No 5 in C String Quartet in C, Op 74 No 1 (Hob III:72) Symphony No 99 in E flat, Hob I:99 | |
| 03 | * | 20090121 | Donald Macleod looks at Haydn's life and work as opera impresario at the Esterhazy summer residence - a glorious palace set in a Hungarian swamp - and tells the story of a tactful musical message to Haydn's employer - the Farewell Symphony. Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season. Lo Speziale (excerpt) symphony no 45 in f sharp minor (farewell) armida (excerpt) Donald Macleod looks at haydn's life and work at the esterhazy summer residence l'infedelta delusa (excerpt) |
| 03 | Conflagration | 20170719 | How Haydn's musical activities were interrupted by a huge fire at the Eszterhaza Palace. Donald Macleod tells the story of how - as he plotted his exit from the Eszterhaza Place - Haydn's musical activities were interrupted by a huge fire at the estate's opera house. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be taken by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. As Haydn's operatic activities are briefly quelled by the Eszterhazy fire, he also realises he's been overtaken as a stage composer by the brilliant precocity of his contemporary Mozart. Donald Macleod introduces another trio of the keyboard sonatas Haydn wrote during this period - in the virtuoso hands of Ronald Brautigam, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, and one of the giants of 20th century recorded music: Glenn Gould. Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn |
| 03 | Esterháza | 20060208 | Donald Macleod explores the glories of Esterháza - home to the wealthy Prince Nikolaus Esterházy and workplace to Haydn for nearly a quarter of a century. Sonata in Cm, Finale Andreas Staier (fortepiano) String Quartet in A, Op 20, No 6 The Lindsays Lo Speziale, Act 1, Scene 1 - Tutto il giorno István Rozsos Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Budapest György Lehel (conductor) Symphony No 48 The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (conductor). 3/5. Esterháza 3/5. Esterháza Donald Macleod explores the glories of Esterháza - home to the wealthy Prince Nikolaus Esterházy and workplace to Haydn for nearly a quarter of a century. Sonata in Cm, Finale Andreas Staier (fortepiano) String Quartet in A, Op 20, No 6 The Lindsays Lo Speziale, Act 1, Scene 1 - Tutto il giorno István Rozsos Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Budapest György Lehel (conductor) Symphony No 48 The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (conductor). |
| 03 | In The Name Of The Lord | 20101110 | Donald Macleod explores Haydn's Catholic faith and religious drama in many of his works. Donald Macleod explores Haydn's Catholic faith, including how he was nearly castrated as a choirboy. The young composer's sense of mischief curtailed his career as a young singer at St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, when he cut off another boy's pigtail in a prank. His later career, though, demonstrated devout faith, with powerful religious drama conveyed in many works, including a depiction of the earthquake which followed Christ's death on the cross. |
| 04 | 20070524 | Donald Macleod continues to examine Haydn's neglected operas. He investigates how the composer took a striking new direction in L'isola disabitata and explores La fedelta premiata, which contains arguably the finest operatic finale outside of Mozart's Da Ponte operas. L'isola disabitata (Sinfonia) Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Antal Dorati (conductor) L'isola disabitata (Act 2, finale) Linda Zoghby (soprano) Norma Lerer (contralto) Luigi Alva (tenor) Renato Bruson (baritone) La fedelta premiata (Act 1, scene 3; Act 2, finale) Ileana Cotrubas, Kari Lovaas (sopranos) Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Frederica von Stade (mezzo-sopranos) Tonny Landy, Luigi Alva (tenors) Alan Titus, Maurizio Mazzieri (baritones) | |
| 04 | 20120607 | Donald Macleod focuses on how Haydn was finally lured away from his remote German court. Donald Macleod continues his story of the 'Father of the string quartet'. With his quartets becoming huge bestsellers around Europe, Haydn is finally lured away from his remote German court, and makes a wildly successful visit to London. | |
| 04 | 20180315 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, back in London for a third season, Haydn scores the biggest success of his career. In early February 1794, after an absence of more than 18 months, and a whole year later than he had originally undertaken to return, Haydn finally made it back to the English capital. He may have lingered longer than he had intended to in Vienna, but he certainly hadn't been malingering, and he took with him the fruits of his labours - the scores of six string quartets and a symphony. It was this symphony - No 99 - that he chose to reacquaint London audiences with his music in the first concert of the new series, and to judge by the review in the following day's Morning Chronicle, it was an excellent choice: "The incomparable Haydn produced an Overture of which it is impossible to speak in common terms. It is one of the grandest efforts of art that we ever witnessed. It abounds with ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive; it rouses and affects every emotion of the soul. It was received with rapturous applause." But there were still greater raptures to come. In the eighth concert of the season, Haydn unleashed his 'Grand Overture with the Militaire Movement' - what we know today as his 'Military' Symphony. The 'military' element was supplied by the fashionable 'Turkish' percussion - triangle, cymbals and bass drum - that Haydn employed to rousing effect in the Allegretto second movement and also the Finale. Europe was in the throes of the Napoleonic Wars, and Haydn's new symphony tapped directly into a heady vein of contemporary popular sentiment. At the other end of the scale, it was during this period that he produced his final three keyboard sonatas, for a prodigiously talented amateur by the name of Therese Jansen, a pupil of the celebrated Italian virtuoso Muzio Clementi. Haydn's powerful, big-boned keyboard writing in these sonatas reflects the character of the instruments he had encountered in London - mechanically superior to and more robustly constructed than the relatively weak little square pianos popular in Vienna at the time. From here, it's a short step to the early sonatas of Beethoven - the first set of which he dedicated to his teacher, Haydn. Trio No 1 in C for 2 flutes and cello, Hob IV:1; 3rd mvt, Finale - vivace 6 Original Canzonettas, Hob XXVIa:30; No 6, 'Fidelity' Symphony No 100 in G, Hob I:100 ('Military') Piano Sonata in E flat, Hob XVI:52 | |
| 04 | 20180315 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, back in London for a third season, Haydn scores the biggest success of his career. In early February 1794, after an absence of more than 18 months, and a whole year later than he had originally undertaken to return, Haydn finally made it back to the English capital. He may have lingered longer than he had intended to in Vienna, but he certainly hadn't been malingering, and he took with him the fruits of his labours - the scores of six string quartets and a symphony. It was this symphony - No 99 - that he chose to reacquaint London audiences with his music in the first concert of the new series, and to judge by the review in the following day's Morning Chronicle, it was an excellent choice: "The incomparable Haydn produced an Overture of which it is impossible to speak in common terms. It is one of the grandest efforts of art that we ever witnessed. It abounds with ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive; it rouses and affects every emotion of the soul. It was received with rapturous applause." But there were still greater raptures to come. In the eighth concert of the season, Haydn unleashed his 'Grand Overture with the Militaire Movement' - what we know today as his 'Military' Symphony. The 'military' element was supplied by the fashionable 'Turkish' percussion - triangle, cymbals and bass drum - that Haydn employed to rousing effect in the Allegretto second movement and also the Finale. Europe was in the throes of the Napoleonic Wars, and Haydn's new symphony tapped directly into a heady vein of contemporary popular sentiment. At the other end of the scale, it was during this period that he produced his final three keyboard sonatas, for a prodigiously talented amateur by the name of Therese Jansen, a pupil of the celebrated Italian virtuoso Muzio Clementi. Haydn's powerful, big-boned keyboard writing in these sonatas reflects the character of the instruments he had encountered in London - mechanically superior to and more robustly constructed than the relatively weak little square pianos popular in Vienna at the time. From here, it's a short step to the early sonatas of Beethoven - the first set of which he dedicated to his teacher, Haydn. Trio No 1 in C for 2 flutes and cello, Hob IV:1; 3rd mvt, Finale - vivace 6 Original Canzonettas, Hob XXVIa:30; No 6, 'Fidelity' Symphony No 100 in G, Hob I:100 ('Military') Piano Sonata in E flat, Hob XVI:52 | |
| 04 | * | 20090122 | Donald Macleod tells the story of Haydn's trip to England, where he won the hearts of everyone from concert-going public to royalty - not to mention one or two ladies of a certain age. Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season. Sailor's Song o tuneful voice Donald Macleod tells the story of haydn's hugely successful trip to england symphony no 94 (surprise) string quartet, op 71, no 2 |
| 04 | At Last, Freedom | 20170720 | Exploring the aftermath of the death of Haydn's patron, Prince Nikolaus Eszterhazy. Donald Macleod explores the aftermath of one of the most important moments of Haydn's life: the death of his patron Prince Nikolaus Eszterhazy, leaving the composer free to travel. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be taken by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. In today's episode Donald Macleod explores two key relationships - one professional, one personal - crucial to the development of Haydn's keyboard sonatas. He introduces the composer's business dealings with the publisher Artaria, who would commission a number of new works, as well as Haydn's deep - and unrequited - affection for the pianist Maria Anna von Genzinger. Featuring two more complete sonata recordings performed by Emanuel Ax and Andreas Staier. Haydn Haydn Haydn |
| 04 | Court Politics * | 20060209 | Donald Macleod shows how Haydn's flair for diplomacy became a vital skill during his years of employment at the court of Esterházy. Symphony No 60, Finale Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra Hartmut Haenchen (conductor) Horn Concerto No 1 Michael Thompson The Philharmonia Orchestra Christopher Warren-green (director) Symphony No 45 - The Farewell The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Ton Koopman (conductor) Missa Sancti Niccolai, Gloria Nancy Argenta Choir of the English Concert The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (conductor). |
| 04 | The Shakespeare Of Music | 20101111 | Donald discusses how Haydn became a sought-after celebrity in London. Haydn is tempted to London by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon and becomes a sought-after celebrity, composing a dozen symphonies which contain some of his finest music. The English capital was much more important in building the composer's fame and legacy than his home of Vienna, as Donald Macleod discovers. |
| 05 | 20180316 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Series exploring the life and works of a succession of composers Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, Haydn's fourth London season brings forth his last - and perhaps greatest - symphony. At the final concert of Haydn's third London season on the 12th of May 1794, it was announced to the audience in the Hanover Square Rooms - presumably to general jubilation - that the world's greatest living composer had agreed to stay on in town for another year. Perhaps at this point he was even considering remaining in England for good. His employer, Prince Anton Esterházy, had died a few months earlier, and there was little reason for him to return to Vienna - least of all his unhappy marriage to a woman Haydn, by all accounts one of the mildest-mannered of men, had once dubbed a "bestia infernale". The following month, however, he received a letter from Anton's son Nicolaus - now Prince Nicolaus - informing him of his intention to restore his grandfather's musical establishment and re-appoint Haydn as Kapellmeister. Now into his 60s, Haydn was doubtless pondering the question of where he might be most comfortable in his old age, and the answer now seemed clear: his native country. Accordingly, his next London season would be his last. It wouldn't be quite like the previous ones, though. Because of the continuing war on the Continent, the violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who had invited Haydn to London in the first place and organised the previous three concert seasons, found it "impossible to procure from abroad any Vocal Performers of the first talents", as he explained in a lengthy press advertisement addressed to the "Nobility and Gentry" who had supported his efforts to date. Instead, Salomon did a deal with the London Opera, the upshot of which was a jointly organised season of nine Opera Concerts at the King's Theatre on Haymarket. If time-travel were possible, you'd want to be transported back for the premières of Haydn's last three symphonies, on the 2nd of February, 2nd of March and 4th of May - the latter, not one of the nine Opera Concerts but Haydn's final Benefit Concert, in which his Symphony No 104, which has acquired the nickname 'London', was heard for the very first time. According to the critic of the Morning Chronicle, Haydn had "rewarded the good intentions of his friends by writing a new Overture which for fullness, richness, and majesty, in all its parts, is thought by some of the best judges to surpass all his other compositions." We know from his notebook that Haydn was happy too: "On 4th May 1795, I gave my benefit concert in the Haymarket Theatre. The whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made four thousand Gulden on this evening. Such a thing is only possible in England." 'O'er the moor amang the heather', Hob XXXIa:122 Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob XV:26 Symphony No 104 in D, Hob I:104 ('London') 'O tuneful voice', Hob XXVIa:42 | |
| 05 | And So To London | 20170721 | Focusing on Haydn's final trip to London, which heralded his final keyboard sonatas. Donald Macleod explores Haydn's second and final trip to London in the mid 1790s - a trip that would accompany the composition of his last three keyboard sonata masterpieces. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be taken by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. Haydn would write his final three sonatas for keyboard around the time of his second visit to London, for the acclaimed pianist Therese Jansen. Donald Macleod ends the week with a complete performance of all three, in the hands of Alfred Brendel, Malcolm Bilson, and a remarkable recent recording by the young Polish virtuoso Rafal Blechacz. Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn Focusing on Haydn's final trip to London, which heralded his final keyboard sonatas. Donald Macleod explores Haydn's second and final trip to London in the mid 1790s - a trip that would accompany the composition of his last three keyboard sonata masterpieces. Joseph Haydn's rightly lionised by music history as the "Father of the Symphony" - a man who took a nascent form and turned it into the very apex of musical composition. Repeating the trick with another benchmark musical genre seems almost greedy of him - and yet, with more than eighty masterful examples, Haydn's dubbed the "Father of the String Quartet" too. Which makes the neglect of one area of his musical output rather puzzling. Haydn wrote more than sixty keyboard sonatas, spanning a remarkable half-century in music history. This period saw harpsichords and clavichords replaced by the forerunners of the modern piano, and - more than that - keyboard music go from light dance suites to the sonata: a form that would shortly be taken by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert into the very highest pinnacle of musical art. None of this could have happened without Haydn. And yet, his array of sonatas lag behind the fame and appreciation of his symphonies and quartets. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right: with no fewer than fourteen examples, in the hands of fourteen virtuoso pianists from the last century, with a supporting cast of musical excerpts from opera, chamber and vocal works. Haydn would write his final three sonatas for keyboard around the time of his second visit to London, for the acclaimed pianist Therese Jansen. Donald Macleod ends the week with a complete performance of all three, in the hands of Alfred Brendel, Malcolm Bilson, and a remarkable recent recording by the young Polish virtuoso Rafal Blechacz. Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn |
| 05 LAST | 20070525 | Donald Macleod looks at the final chapter of Haydn's operatic career, with excerpts from Armida, a tale of love and sorcery set in the Middle Ages, and Orfeo ed Euridice, a version of the Orpheus myth commissioned for the King's Theatre, Haymarket, at the start of Haydn's first English adventure. Armida (Act 3, scene 1) Christoph Pregardien (tenor) Patricia Petibon (soprano) Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) Concentus Musicus Wien Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor) Orfeo ed Euridice (Act 2, scene 1) Jose Fardilha, Uwe Heilmann, James Oxley (tenors) Ildebrando d'Arcangelo (bass) Academy of Ancient Music Christopher Hogwood (conductor) Al tuo seno fortunato (Orfeo ed Euridice, Act 3) Urli orrendi, disperati (Orfeo ed Euridice, Act 4) | |
| 05 LAST | 20090123 | Donald Macleod looks at Haydn's late compositions, including his masterpiece The Creation, inspired partly by the music of Handel and also by a visit to the planetary observatory of William Herschel. Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season. Trumpet Concerto Donald Macleod looks at haydn's late compositions, including the creation string quartet, op 76, no 3 (emperor) - 2nd mvt the creation (excerpt) arianna a naxos | |
| 05 LAST | 20120608 | Donald Macleod focuses on some of Haydn's later works. Donald Macleod continues his story of the 'Father of the string quartet'. As Haydn slipped into retirement, he crowned his career with a series of grand public masterpieces but for his very last musical offering, he returned to his beloved string quartets. | |
| 05 LAST | 20180316 | Donald Macleod explores a hugely successful episode in Haydn's life, his London years. Today, Haydn's fourth London season brings forth his last - and perhaps greatest - symphony. At the final concert of Haydn's third London season on the 12th of May 1794, it was announced to the audience in the Hanover Square Rooms - presumably to general jubilation - that the world's greatest living composer had agreed to stay on in town for another year. Perhaps at this point he was even considering remaining in England for good. His employer, Prince Anton Esterházy, had died a few months earlier, and there was little reason for him to return to Vienna - least of all his unhappy marriage to a woman Haydn, by all accounts one of the mildest-mannered of men, had once dubbed a "bestia infernale". The following month, however, he received a letter from Anton's son Nicolaus - now Prince Nicolaus - informing him of his intention to restore his grandfather's musical establishment and re-appoint Haydn as Kapellmeister. Now into his 60s, Haydn was doubtless pondering the question of where he might be most comfortable in his old age, and the answer now seemed clear: his native country. Accordingly, his next London season would be his last. It wouldn't be quite like the previous ones, though. Because of the continuing war on the Continent, the violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who had invited Haydn to London in the first place and organised the previous three concert seasons, found it "impossible to procure from abroad any Vocal Performers of the first talents", as he explained in a lengthy press advertisement addressed to the "Nobility and Gentry" who had supported his efforts to date. Instead, Salomon did a deal with the London Opera, the upshot of which was a jointly organised season of nine Opera Concerts at the King's Theatre on Haymarket. If time-travel were possible, you'd want to be transported back for the premières of Haydn's last three symphonies, on the 2nd of February, 2nd of March and 4th of May - the latter, not one of the nine Opera Concerts but Haydn's final Benefit Concert, in which his Symphony No 104, which has acquired the nickname 'London', was heard for the very first time. According to the critic of the Morning Chronicle, Haydn had "rewarded the good intentions of his friends by writing a new Overture which for fullness, richness, and majesty, in all its parts, is thought by some of the best judges to surpass all his other compositions." We know from his notebook that Haydn was happy too: "On 4th May 1795, I gave my benefit concert in the Haymarket Theatre. The whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made four thousand Gulden on this evening. Such a thing is only possible in England." 'O'er the moor amang the heather', Hob XXXIa:122 Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob XV:26 Symphony No 104 in D, Hob I:104 ('London') 'O tuneful voice', Hob XXVIa:42 | |
| 05 LAST | Broadening Horizons | 20060210 | Donald Macleod looks at the composer's first steps towards the fame and celebrity that would crown his final years. Quartet in G, Op 17, No 5, Menuetto Kodály Quartet Insanae et vanae curae Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Piano Sonata in D Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) L'infedeltà delusa: Act 1, Scene 4 - Aria 'Come piglia si bene la mira' Nancy Argenta La Petite Bande Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor) Haydn: Symphony No 70 The Hanover Band Roy Goodman (director). |
| 05 LAST | Long Live Papa Haydn | 20101112 | Donald Macleod discusses why Haydn was not such a Viennese composer. Donald Macleod discovers why Haydn was not such a Viennese composer, only living in the city at the beginning and end of his career. His relationship with the city was a fitful, troublesome one, from what he described himself as his 'wretched existence' as a student musician, to his last moments in this world, lying on his deathbed, as Napoleon's artillery battalions bombarded the city and cannon shot blasted his neighbourhood. "My children," Haydn is said to have told his anxious servants during his final hours, "have no fear, for where Haydn is, no harm can fall.". |