One of the great joys of living life as a Haydn fan and a devoted new music practitioner is that he is essentially a living composer as a matter of personal experience. By that, I mean that there is no doubt that the most prolific Haydn performers go to their graves having never even heard all of his music, let alone performed it all. Folks like myself will be only too grateful to spend time with just a tiny fraction. Therefore, over many years, you will constantly find yourself experiencing works that are new to you, as if they are all world premieres.
Symphony No. 53 in D Major, Hob. I:53 "L'Impériale": I. Largo maestoso - Vivace.· Royal Northern Sinfonia, Rebecca Miller.
Long ago, I had my last opportunity to hear a Beethoven symphony for the first time, for instance. Not so with Haydn! He wrote over 104 symphonies, and that is merely one genre among many. Haydn's Creation is merely a single work. Step back for a moment and recognize how astonishing that is. At every point along the musical journey, you find yourself blindsided by some other A-list-level piece of his that you've not once heard in your life. There are just too many!
Haydn is just a delight to listen to, like a crisp sav blanc (and by the way, he's a perfect summer seasonal!). At turns he can be ruthless, violent, silly, vibrant, sentimental, mannered, tortured, lamenting, gentle, and most importantly: much of his music is genuinely funny, without ever resorting to slapstick. That is not easy to do! I never cease to experience childlike surprise when I enjoy another Haydn symphony for the first time.
It gets worse: not only are there too many works, they are all fantastic. Ordinarily, I might expect some pieces by any fine composer to strike me as dull. I keep looking, and I have yet to find a single dud in this bunch, something that cannot be said for Mozart, by the way!
Here's my latest "new music discovery" – Symphony No. 52 in C minor, "l'imperiale" (or "The Imperial"). Although, now that I think of it, I guess we could also call it "the halfway point."
Check out this fine 2015 rendering, conducted by Rebecca Miller (pictured above) and performed by the Royal Northern Sinfonia. It also contains Haydn’s Symphony No. 59 which is a perrenial fan favorite.
As conductor, mentor, and friend Steven White would say, "this is the music I find most necessary today." Enjoy!
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