Haydn in the morning

Papa Haydn, Father of the Symphony: they are meant as terms of respect, but they do him a disservice. Haydn was never old.  His works abound with boyish jokes and youthful high spirits.  It was Haydn - not Beethoven - who first replaced the stiff and formal minuet with the anarchic scherzo.  Throughout his life his style was refined and pared down, but never lost its sparkle; nor did it ever lapse into senile mannerisms.

In part this can be attributed to being born in a young age.  When Haydn started writing, the Classical style was in its infancy.  What became cliché was then fresh - even the tonic chord was imbued was a sense of wonder and discovery.  The preceding Baroque period had regarded music as the harmonious coincidence of contrapuntal lines; chords were almost just accidents.  It was not until the first Classicists that the basic dynamics of music - chord progressions and their implicit tonalities - were explored for themselves. Anyone who doubts the centrality of this approach might reflect that the vast majority of present-day pop music - the most vital art around - derives its power from just three chords.

As the language of music was at its most fertile during Haydn's lifetime, so that same period saw most of the main compositional forms established.  What is loosely called sonata form evolved from earlier dance movements written with simple binary structures. That form was then implemented in three main Classical vehicles; the piano sonata, the string quartet and the symphony.  Haydn was a master of them all; his long and fecund life is largely the story of his delighted roaming through these virgin tracts.

The piano sonata is remarkable for using not only the Classical period's defining style and form, but its characteristic instrument too.  The pianoforte was developed in the early 1700s from the harpsichord, which it far surpassed in terms of expressive and hence formal possibilities.  Haydn's 50 or so piano sonatas represent the gradual evolution of a basic pianistic style we now take for granted.  From the very earliest exercises in two-part writing through to the later works with their exploration of almost orchestral sonorities, Haydn's piano sonatas are remarkable above all for their clear lines and plain delight in the physical medium.

Although Haydn is frequently called the Father of the Symphony, he has far better title to being the creator of the string quartet.  Much of his most innovative music was written for what is perhaps the quintessential Classical medium.  Again it is the honesty of his music which shines through this most perspicuous of instrumental combinations.

But for many people the richest expression of Haydn remains his hundred or so symphonies.  It is certainly true that the greater resources allowed his fertile imagination full play; more than anyone - Mozart included - he writes with the pure sound of each instrument in mind, rather than creating novel orchestral sonorities for their own sake.  His watchword is economy.  Perhaps this is why his symphonies remain the perfect music to start the day with, the aural equivalent of early sunlight streaming through the window.  They seem to offer a simple and joyous vision of such clarity and order we almost believe the rest of the day might follow suit.

(7.2.87)

See also Moody Sonnets – Sixty-eight Quartets

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