Symphony No. 51 (Haydn)

The Symphony No. 51 in B-flat major, Hoboken I/51, is a symphony by Joseph Haydn, written in either 1773 or 1774,[1] although the exact dating remains ambiguous.[2]

Scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns (B-flat alto, E-flat), bassoon and strings, The work is in four movements:

  1. Vivace, 3/4
  2. Adagio
  3. Menuetto - Trio I - Trio II, 3/4
  4. Allegro

Sometimes described as "a concertante piece featuring the two horns, which are given parts of staggering difficulty."[3] The second, slow, movement contains high notes for the first horn (including an f''' which is considered the highest note ever written for the horn) and very low notes for the second horn.[4] Heartz has noted the character of the fourth movement as reminiscent of the French rondeau.[2] The first contrasting section is an oboe solo in E-flat major and the second contrasting section is fortissimo and in G minor.[4] The scherzo movement actually contains an even higher note for the first horn—a concert high B (the second movement contains a concert high A).

References

  1. James Webster & Georg Feder, The New Grove Haydn. New York: Macmillan (2002): 64. Haydn's symphonies of the years around 1770 ... are widely described as exemplifying his Sturm und Drang style; those of 1773-4 (nos.50, 51, 54-7, 60, 64), while less extreme, have many points of contact with it."
  2. 1 2 Daniel Heartz, Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School, 1740-1780. W.W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0393965333), pp. 363-364 (1995).
  3. Antony Hodgson, The Music of Joseph Haydn: The Symphonies. London: The Tantivy Press (1976): 78
  4. 1 2 H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 5 vols, (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1976-) v. 2, Haydn at Eszterhaza, 1766-1790..


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