Haydn's three "daypart" symphonies were composed in 1761, early in the composer's employ at Esterháza castle. They are not heavily programmatic works, with only brief passages in each one suggesting, respectively, morning, noon, and evening. Historical performance techniques for symphonies of this period are hotly debated, with little definitive evidence supporting any particular solution. The early symphony has strong links to small-ensemble works like the divertimento, and veteran Dutch historical-performance specialist ...
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Haydn's three "daypart" symphonies were composed in 1761, early in the composer's employ at Esterháza castle. They are not heavily programmatic works, with only brief passages in each one suggesting, respectively, morning, noon, and evening. Historical performance techniques for symphonies of this period are hotly debated, with little definitive evidence supporting any particular solution. The early symphony has strong links to small-ensemble works like the divertimento, and veteran Dutch historical-performance specialist Sigiswald Kuijken and his group La Petite Bande seem to rely on that fact with their deployment of the 14-player orchestra heard here. It makes a certain degree of sense, and Kuijken does well by eliminating the harpsichord continuo. But clearly by the time of the Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor ("Farewell") the orchestra had bulked up considerably, and there's a strong case to be made for a somewhat larger group in Haydn's symphonies of the early 1760s. That's especially true for...
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