The Amazing Mr. Haydn

New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 723, 22 May 1953, Page 20

The Amazing Mr. Haydn

A Monthly, Review. » by

OWEN

JENSEN

less HAYDN!" wrote Dr: Charles Burney, "from whose productions I have received more pleasure late in my life, when tired of most other music, than I ever received in the most ignorant and: rapturous part of my youth." That goes for me, too, and, I imagine, for the rapidly growing circle of Haydn’s admirers-which includes, apparently, those who decide what shall or shall not be recorded. Joseph Haydn is indeed: coming iffto his own. Recently.to hand are the ‘six,,String. Quartets,Op. 17, played by, the. Schneider. ‘Quartet (Nixa HLP 13, 14and-15). Here is the craftsman Haydn’ moulding the string quartet into a flexible’ and expressive medium, giving the first violin mature music and. letting the umderneath strings join in the fun. Grand music and grand playing by the Schneider ‘Quartet. The String Quartets, Op. 17, are the musician. Haydn growing in stature. Somewhere or other there’ must have been a beginning. Remembering Symphony No. 104, one remembers, too, that way back in Joseph’s callow youth there must have been a first. Here it is, Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, by oT admirable and match--:

Haydn, played by the Vienna*Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan Sternberg (Parlophone R 20616).° You" may find this first symphony of Papa. Haydn’s graceful, interesting, even original-if you can forget the other hundred and three-but even with the best will in the world you are hardly likely to class it as exciting: Nevertheless, a disc worth popping into your Curiosity Corner. And while you are there, make room for Eight Pieces for Mechanical Clocks, a.further by-product of Haydn’s inex‘haustible fecundity. These were written to be played on Prince Esterhazy’s "flute-clacks" which were not actually clocks ‘but mechanical organs. As played "ena less ‘mechanical organ by Geraint dhes (HMYV 04177), these little pieces by Haydn still. retain much of.-their fragrance... Haydn must have been the most professional of all professional musicians, excepting perhaps: John Sebastien Bach. Almost everything he turned out in the way of composition was a job of work, written for an occasion. There are, for instance, Three Notturni for the King of Naples (Nixa

HLP 1044). The Viennese were strong on serenades, nocturnes and. such-like outdoor music, and no doubt visitors from other salubrious places envied them. The King of Naples took a bunch of nocturnes home with him. They may delight you as much as they did the Neapolitan monarch. The Vienna Chamber Orchestra under Fraz Lischauer makes the most of them.

Thrown in for good measure on the same disc is. a trio-also by. Haydnfor horn, violin and ’cello. This sounds like a little bit of private entertainment for Haydn and three musicians from his Esterhazy band. As such, it may seem a little naive to our sophisticated ears, but at least you may be mildly astonished by the brilliant horn playing of Franz Koch of a part which is no mean feat for the modern player, and must have been incredibly difficult for Haydn’s 18th Century man. Operation SP You will have noticed that the Haydn Symphony No. 1 and the Eight Little Pieces are on SPs, which shows there’s life in the standard 78 yet. One has to remember that every four minutes one good turn deserves another, and also that record beauty lies deeper than the surface scratch. Nevertheless, there is still much to be said for the SP when it comes to short pieces. Whether or not you fall for the mechanical clock music you surely must find delight in Irmgard Lechner’s harpsichord playing of two fantasias by Bach’s great contemporary, Telemann. This is straightforward playing, with no frills, of music by a composer of whom we may yet hear more-and like it, too. These fantasias are by HMV-C 4167. Far removed’ from Telemann’s intimate music are Four Marches for Wind Instruments, "Pour La Garde Nationale," composed by Cherubini. They are played

‘by the London Baroque Wind Orchestra conducted by Karl Haas (Parlophone R 20613), and should be admirable for rising in the morning or adding zest to your next children’s party. With a clatter of percussion and-a deep breath from the brass, Cherubini’s marches sound like a Ruritanian changing of the guard. Definitely pre-Sousa. Another march in the same tradition is also played by the London Baroque Wind Orchestra (Parlophone R 20614). It is by Beethoven. Both these discs may be added to your Curiosity Corner. Vaughan Williams on LP Decca have. given us a new version eof Vaughan Williams’s London Symphony by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir, Adrian Boult (LXT 2693). This is in every way fine-sensi-tive playing of music that is still fresh and clean. It is a reminder, too, that it is high time all V-W’s symphonies were recorded. So far as one remembers, only the second, fifth and sixth have been done. The first, third and fourth are no less significant and deserve recording while the composer is still able to give the work the impress. of his approval. J. S. Bach seems to be running neck and neck with Haydn in the matter of records. His Easter Oratorio by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the’ Akademie Choir and soloists under Felix Prohaska (NIXA BLP 307) is wonderful music, beautifully performed. It is strange that so fine a work is not yet available in a practical edition. For the recording, parts had to be copied out from the Bach Gesellschaft. It is claimed that the performance is given with. authentic Bach instruments and a chorus and orchestra of approximately Bach size. A disc that should be the delight of woodwind players-and those building up: a Curiosity Corner!-is a recording

of a Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano by Beethoven (Ducretet-Thomson LPG 8002). The playing by J. P. Rampal (flute), Paul Honge (bassoon) and R. Veyron-Lacroix (piano) makes agreeable listening. On the Teverse side are several sets of variations for flute, also by Beethoven, an incentive no doubt to all. ardent flautists. A very different kettle of fish in the way of novelties is Symphonie No. 1-Jean de La Peur, by Marcel Landowski played by the Association des Concerts Pasdeloup (Ducre-tet-Thomson LPG 8005), Although M. Landowski, having got on to a good idea, seems at times to want to play round with it overlong, this is original and exciting music which the contemporary music enthusiast will not wish to miss. On the reverse side is a brisk workmanlike performance of Bartok’s Divertimento for Strings, by the Ensemble Charlotte Samaran-Taffanel.