Talk:Symphony No. 44 (Haydn)

''The finale, like the first movement, is in sonata form and is dominated by a figure which opens the movement in unison. It is quite contrapuntal, and ends in E minor rather than finishing in a major key as was usual in most other minor key works of the time''

Not really. With Haydn in this period it WAS usual for his symphonies in minor keys to finish in the minor: look at symphonies 26 (D minor), 39 (G minor), 49 (F minor) and 52 (C minor): they all finish in the minor.--Zeisseng 18:01, 3 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Indeed it seems to have been more usual the earlier in the Classical period- early Haydn, JC Bach's Op.6 No.6, trying to remember when Méhul's, Maldere's and some other examples are from (I need to look at it more systematically really before being quite so sure...) Haydn 49 dates from before 44 (since the numbering we use is an artifact of later publishing) and provides another good example... Schissel | Sound the Note! 19:30, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

"wished it to be played at his funeral" anecdote
This appears to be one of those "oft-repeated anecdotes" that has become so noteworthy that its authenticity is not necessarily that important. Secondary sources like Landon bring it up with parenthetical "perhaps the story is apocryphal, but the title is apt" comments (Landon, Vol 2 Haydn at Esterhazy 1766-1790). That said, anyone got a reference for the original quote? DavidRF (talk) 17:34, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Canone in Diapasone
I personally note that the later "Witches Minuet" from the string quartet Op. 76, No 2 (the great D minor one) is also a canone where the lower strings trail the upper strings by a bar. I'm putting it here so I don't get smacked with an OR tag. Anyone have a citation for this association? DavidRF (talk) 19:10, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Hello David, Quite right, it's a canon. Mary Hughes (bio cited in main Haydn article) says "the famous canonic 'Witches' Minuet, a masterpiece of weird effectiveness"; p. 165.  Both recordings I own also call it a canon.  Also, I checked the score; it is indeed violins first, a measure ahead of the lower strings.  Cheers, Opus33 (talk) 22:48, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Oops, that wasn't your question; rather, you wanted to know whether pointing out the quartet-symphony parallel has ever been done before.


 * Oddly, James Webster in his comments on the symphony for Hogwood's recording, does invoke Op. 76 no. 2--but in a comparison to the first movement! So that's no help.


 * If you just put in the parallel without a reference, I certainly wouldn't complain. Cheers, Opus33 (talk) 23:05, 23 March 2008 (UTC)