Music Teacher March 20151

KS5

Hugh Benham has written on English church music, especially on John Taverner (d1545) and other Latin church music in England from c1460 to 1575, on Baroque music, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and various topics connected with A level music. He is an organist, choir director, senior examiner and composer.

Pre-U Music: Topic A – The Symphony in the Classical Period (c1740–c1802)

by Hugh Benham

InTrodUCTIon

Page 17 of the Cambridge Pre-U syllabus for 2016–2018 indicates the content for Topic A, including an

understanding of the defining features of the Classical style, the development of formal structures, recognising

relevant performance practice, and specific musical examples.

This article has the following sections:

� The symphony

� The Classical period

� Sonata form, rondo form, minuet and trio

� Performance

� representative works

The SyMPhony

A symphony may be generally defined as a work for orchestra with three or four movements in different tempos

– a sonata for orchestra in all but name.

In early 17th-century Italy, however, a ‘sinfonia’ was a work with independent parts for voices and instruments.

Later, the type of Italian opera overture developed by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), as in La caduta

de’Decemviri, was called ‘Sinfonia’ or ‘Sinfonia avanti l’opera’: such a ‘sinfonia’ had three sections (quick, slow

and quick). Sometimes overtures were detached from their parent operas and played separately. Subsequently

similar pieces were composed specifically for concert use.

Other forebears of the symphony included the orchestral suite (with both dance and non-dance movements,

mostly in binary form). There was also a legacy from the concerto, chiefly the orchestral concerto: Haydn’s

Symphonies Nos 6–8 come to mind particularly in this respect.

The earliest genuine symphonies include works by GB Sammartini (c1700–75) and Antonio Brioschi (active

c1725–50). These date from the late 1720s, 30s and 40s, and reveal both Baroque and emerging Classical

features.

See this web page.

‘Sinfonia’ is derived from the Greek for ‘sounding together’.

The French type of opera overture (called ‘ouverture’, literally ‘opening’) had slow and quick sections (and sometimes an additional slow passage or section). As late as the 1790s Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G was described as a ‘grand overture’: the first movement (as in other late Haydn symphonies) consists of slow and quick sections.

For example, Handel’s Concerto Op. 6 No. 7 in B flat. See, for example, Baroque Music in Focus by H Benham (Rhinegold Education), pages 58-59.

Pre-U

Music Teacher March 2015 2

The ClASSICAl PerIod

The expression ‘c1740–c1802’ in the title of Topic A makes it clear that the Classical period cannot be rigidly

defined, while still identifying a span of years during which most music was Classical in style.

Typically, Classical music is distinguished from earlier (Baroque) music by more rapid and more marked

contrasts of musical ideas, texture and mood. Counterpoint is still used, but homophonic writing is more widely

favoured – often with relatively simple bass parts underpinning a harmonic structure dominated by chords

I and V(7). Strings are still central to orchestral writing, but wind instruments are increasingly active. The

keyboard continuo does not disappear overnight but becomes increasingly redundant. Regular or ‘periodic’

phrasing (derived partly from the dance via the style galant and partly from song) underlies much Classical

writing.

SonATA forM, rondo forM, MInUeT And TrIo

Sonata form

Sonata form may be viewed as ternary (with three main sections), or binary (with two main sections) – or as a

synthesis of both.

How far is sonaTa forM Ternary?

Most sonata-form movements, like simple ternary movements (ABA), have a clear return to the opening music.

Before the return there is contrasting music, notably with more pronounced tonal (key) contrast and more

intensive development of material previously heard.

The heart of the Classical period coincides with the maturity of Haydn and Mozart (from c1755-60 to c1800). Transitional styles (including the style galant) had been in evidence since at least the 1720s – see, for instance, Baroque Music in Focus, pages 98-99 (‘From Baroque to Classical’). Romantic tendencies were increasingly apparent in the first years of the 19th century.

UsefUl reading inclUdes

� The Oxford History of Western Music (College Edition) by R Taruskin and CH Gibbs (OUP, 2013), pages 408–409

� The Classical Style by C Rosen (Faber, 2/1976)

� The article ‘Classical’ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S Sadie, (Macmillan, 2/2001). Or see Grove Music Online.

Recommended reading includes The Oxford History of Western Music (pages 414, 428–30), Rhinegold Dictionary of Music in Sound by D Bowman (Rhinegold, 2002), vol 1, pages 160–61, and the article ‘Sonata form’ in Grove.

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The three sections are known today as

exposition Compare A in ternary

development Compare B in ternary

recapitulation (often with coda) Compare second A in ternary

To demonstrate this, ask students to identify the broad ‘ternary-like’ outline of sonata form by listening to a short

and relatively simple movement in full. This might be done aurally, or with a score.

Students might be asked to answer as many as possible of the questions below, or you, as teacher, might

demonstrate the various landmarks. Movement I from Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A, K201/186a, would be

excellent for this purpose.

Questions:

� Is the exposition (first A) repeated?

� Identify the start of B.

� Identify the return to the opening material (and key) – the beginning of the recapitulation or second A – after

the more tense middle part (development, or B). remember that the exposition or first A is repeated in most

recorded performances.

� Are the development and recapitulation (B and second A) also (together) repeated?

� how does Mozart round off the movement?

Although sonata form shares with simple ternary the simultaneous return to the opening material and the

principal key, it differs vitally in that the exposition (its first A) ends away from the tonic, in a complementary key.

So it is useful to view sonata form as rooted essentially in binary form, or as a synthesis of binary and ternary.

Binary forM and sonaTa forM

In simple binary form (as used in many Baroque pieces, such as dances from Bach’s English Suites) two

sections are both repeated, the first commonly ending away from the tonic. The complementary key is most

commonly the dominant, but it is the relative major in many minor-key pieces.

A typical pattern is:

A Tonic to complementary key

A repeated

B return to the tonic, usually via ‘new’ key(s)

B repeated

With sonata form, it became usual to repeat only the first section (exposition), particularly as movements got

longer towards the end of the 18th century.

Terms such as ‘exposition’ belong to 19th- and 20th-century (post-Classical) theorising rather than to 18th-century practice. Section 6 of the Grove article traces some of the theoretical history of sonata form.

The performance here might be used (and perhaps compared with this one). Scores of all Mozart’s work are available online here.

The article on binary form in Grove is recommended.

Where the composer asks for repetition, it is important for the balance of a movement and should be observed.

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The broad outline of a Classical sonata-form movement in the late 18th century is:

exposition Tonic to complementary key Compare A in binary

exposition repeated

development returning to tonic, via ‘new’ key(s)

Compare first part of B in binary

recapitulation Tonic (including music previously heard in complementary key)

Compare rest of B in binary

development and recapitulation Sometimes repeated

Listen to Mozart’s Symphony No. 30 in D, K202/186b, and trace the progress of the music (including the moves

to and from the complementary key) – with and/or without a score.

Some Baroque binary pieces have the same music at the end of B as at the end of A (but in the tonic instead

of the complementary key). This is ‘balanced binary form’.

This music example shows the fairly extended ‘rhyming endings’ in the Gigue from Bach’s English Suite No.

4 in F, BWV 809.

There are two possible performances of Mozart’s Symphony No. 30 here and here.

19

22

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Such rhyming endings anticipate the extended correspondences in sonata form between exposition material

in the complementary key and matching recapitulation material in the tonic key.

In ‘rounded binary form’, the opening of A returns part way through B (again in the tonic key). Take, for

example, the Sarabande from Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D, BWV 828. This kind of recurrence is a precedent for

what happens at the beginning of a sonata-form recapitulation, where the opening of the exposition returns in

the tonic. However, such a recurrence, which is usually brief, does not parallel or anticipate the dramatic effect

of a recapitulation purposefully approached from an extended development.

While Baroque binary pieces are generally uniform and continuous in mood and rhythmic character, many

Classical sonata-form movements have greater variety in almost every way, combined with a dramatic element

bound up with the handling of tonality.

Mozart’s Symphony No. 29, for example, begins in A major and moves to E major during the exposition. In

this respect it is no different from the A section of the binary Allemande from Bach’s English Suite No. 1 in A,

BWV 806.

Whereas Bach’s modulation takes place within a continuous section featuring semiquaver movement and

the same motifs throughout, Mozart turns the modulation into an ‘event’, highlighted by changes of thematic

material and by sectional articulation.

sonaTa forM – an exaMple of an exposiTion

In his Symphony No. 29, Mozart begins with a short section for strings which ends at bars 8–9 on a perfect

cadence that decisively establishes the tonic key of A major despite some ‘subversive’ chromaticism in bars 3–6.

This section is self-contained, unlike any part of Bach’s A section. It is the first subject – that part of the

exposition that, however short, establishes the tonic key.

After a linking passage for violins only, there is a repeat of the opening bars. But bar 19 takes a different turn

from bar 7; new thematic ideas are heard and after a ‘battle’ between D sharps and D naturals, the sharps win

and the dominant key (E major) emerges.

47

50

Rhyming beginnings are also found, with the opening material reappearing in the complementary key at the start of B, as in the Gavotte I from Bach’s English Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811.

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Bars 13–32 are the bridge passage or transition, in which the modulation to the complementary key gets

under way.

However, as in many other Classical symphonies, the bridge passage ends with an imperfect cadence in E

rather than a perfect cadence, and is followed by a short rest in all parts.

The music having been left ‘open’ in this way, it falls to the new material that follows (from bar 32) to clinch the

complementary key. This new music in the complementary key is the second subject.

Towards the end of the second subject there is repeated cadencing in the dominant, with an extension of the

tonic chord of E in bars 73–76. The repeat of the exposition follows, all the hard work done in establishing E

major being demolished by a single prominent D natural in bar 76.

The pattern of first subject, bridge passage, and second subject with closing cadential gestures (sometimes

regarded as constituting a separate codetta – a ‘little coda’) underlies most expositions. However, it was

something that developed gradually and was open to variation, rather than a rigid formula.

Before THe exposiTion

Some first movements (including many from Haydn’s later symphonies) begin with a fairly extended slow

introduction. Such an introduction conventionally ends on the dominant chord and leads inevitably into the

main (Allegro) structure.

The slow introductions of symphonies such as Nos 100 in G and 104 in D called the audience to attention in a

way that the relatively lightweight first subjects could not have done.

developMenT

The development section is normally the location of the most systematic and extensive development of ideas

from the exposition.

Composers can develop as few or as many themes as they wish: there was no common formula for development

sections (or the ‘free fantasia’ as it has occasionally been called). Tonally the development was the most varied

area, and the most intense, with minor key(s) providing new force in most major-key movements.

how do bars 13–18 differ from bars 1–6? What is the harmonic and tonal function of the long held As in the wind?

Classical second subjects tend to be longer than first subjects. Both subjects, especially the second, can have more than one thematic idea. Sometimes first and second subjects share the same thematic material (as in Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D, first movement – a reminder that contrast of keys not contrast of themes is at the heart of sonata form. See, for example, The Oxford History of Western Music, pages 430–31.

listen (with or without a score) to the first movements of some of the following symphonies, and compare their expositions with that of Mozart’s Symphony no. 29:• Mozart: Symphony no. 1 in e flat, 1764• Mozart: Symphony no. 40 in G minor, 1788• haydn: Symphony no. 26 in d minor (lamentatione), c1768• haydn, ‘london’ Symphony no. 104 in d, 1795 (where does

the exposition begin, incidentally?• Beethoven: Symphony no. 2 in d, 1802)

There is a good definition of development in the Rhinegold Dictionary of Music, vol 1, pages 46–47. The account of ‘The Development’ in Grove, ‘Sonata form’, section 3.(ii) is also highly recommended.

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To sum up, the development is ‘in a psychological sense… the climax of the movement. At the same time,

it prepares the structural climax, the simultaneous return [of first subject and tonic key] which begins the

recapitulation’ (Grove).

recapiTulaTion

The ‘simultaneous return’ is found in the great majority of recapitulations. Some time after this, at least some of

the second subject, previously heard in the complementary key, reappears in the tonic. To achieve this it needs

to be approached differently, typically with changes to the bridge passage.

Recapitulations may involve much repetition, both straight and transposed, but Haydn is often very inventive

in his recapitulations (more so than Mozart or Beethoven): see for example the first movements of Symphonies

Nos 47, 100 and (especially) 104.

Remember that even the apparently simple process of transposing material from the complementary key to the

tonic can involve choosing if particular passages or parts go up a 4th or down a 5th.

coda

A coda is usually a fairly short concluding section after the recapitulation of the second subject, to reinforce

still further the re-establishment of the tonic key, and ensure finality.

The coda in the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 is easy to identify on the page because of

the repeat sign marking off the end of the recapitulation. From the listener’s point of view, there is some

brief development of the first subject (including the imitative entries of bars 189–194) before the conventional

cadencing gestures.

The coda of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, first movement, lasts for nearly 60 bars, but is far less extended

than some later codas by Beethoven.

rondo forM

A rondo has a recurring section (A) whose three or more appearances are separated by contrasting episodes

(B, C, etc).

What does the composer do in the development sections of some of the movements listed above? Can you, for instance, find examples of fragmentation, extension by sequence and other devices identified in the Grove article?

examine the recapitulations of some of the first movements referred to here and above.

This does not represent one sixth of the playing time for the whole movement of 363 bars, because the exposition is repeated, and the relatively few bars of the introduction are relatively long in performance.

What happens in the coda of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2? Is there development of anything previously heard? Is there just repeated cadencing? Is there any new thematic material?

See ‘Rondo forms’ in the Rhinegold Dictionary of Music, vol 1, pages 147–48.

The ‘transformation [of the Baroque rondeau] into the rondo of the Classical period [has] not been adequately investigated’ (Grove).

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A Symphony in A minor (almost certainly from the 1760s) that was formerly attributed to Mozart, and is still

identified as K Anh 200/16a, concludes with a rondo whose pattern is as follows:

A B A C A D A

Listen to this movement, using the quotations below to follow the structure.

The movement is tuneful, but it may strike the present-day listener as over-sectionalised, with too much regular

phrasing and exact repetition. Such movements clearly appealed to contemporary audiences, but Mozart and

Haydn moved beyond such naivety. In particular they developed the sonata rondo, by (often rather freely)

blending rondo and sonata form.

Many of Haydn’s late symphonies end with sonata rondos, including Nos 94 in G, 99 in E flat and 103 in E flat

(Drumroll).

Listen to the finale of Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 – and in particular note the characteristic repetition of music

heard first in the complementary key (the dominant, bar 75) and later in the tonic (bar 210).

There is a recording here. For a complete score, go to this website, click ‘YES’, select ‘Series X: Supplement’, scroll down to ‘(113)’, click on the red ‘i’ on the right, and then select the third PDF.

RONDO Allegro moderato

A

B

C

D

See section 6 of ‘Rondo’ in Grove.

For extended comment on the finale of Symphony No. 103 – quite a complex movement – see ‘OCR GCE Music: Prescribed Orchestral Scores (June 2012–January 2014): Haydn and Beethoven’ by H Benham (Music Teacher, online).

Click here for an online recording.

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MinueT and Trio

In the late 18th century, most symphonies had four movements, with a minuet and trio as the third. Johann

Stamitz (1717–1757) pioneered this arrangement in Mannheim in the 1740s, but his pupils returned to the

earlier three-movement plan without minuet.

The four-movement plan with minuet and trio was normal for Haydn from the early 1760s, most of his earliest

symphonies having had three movements. Mozart composed more symphonies with four movements than with

three, but continued to write some of the latter kind right up to the ‘Prague’ (No. 38 in D, 1786).

Some of the earliest (three-movement) symphonies concluded with a single minuet, or a ‘tempo di menuetto’

(rather than a minuet and trio), the precedent being those opera overtures or ‘sinfonias’ whose final sections

were in minuet style. Sometimes – particularly in England – the binary structure of a single minuet was broadly

similar to sonata form, with ideas heard early on in the complementary key reappearing towards the end in

the tonic.

The composite minuet and trio was preferred in the last quarter of the 18th century. This was ternary overall,

with minuet, trio, minuet repeated. The trio was often more lightly scored than the minuet: it was not literally

a trio for three instruments or with three instrumental parts, but essentially a contrasting second minuet. Both

minuet and trio were binary, with both sections of each repeated.

Haydn in particular demonstrates great subtlety and variety in handling the simple and rather repetitive minuet

and trio pattern. The third movement of his Symphony No. 104 in D (London), for example, avoids the usual

note-for-note repetition of the first section of the minuet that was conventionally indicated by repeat signs.

Instead, Haydn repeats the opening forte eight-bar passage by writing it out again with changes of dynamic,

rhythm and scoring.

Note also in this movement:

� The intensive use in the minuet of the opening triadic motif and of the following three-crotchet motif (usually

with the upbeat accented).

� The three successive trills near the end of the minuet (compared with the one trill in the opening section) –

one of haydn’s characteristically witty moments. The first of the three trills, which is unexpectedly (almost

ridiculously) low, fails to generate a definitive cadence After a further false start the eventual strong cadence

is humorously over-emphasised by a two-bar trill, with a crescendo from the sudden piano that was preceded

by two completely silent bars.

For concise accounts of minuet and scherzo, see the entries in the Rhinegold Dictionary of Music, vol 1. See also the more comprehensive articles in Grove.

See Grove, ‘Minuet’, section 3, with its reference to Arne’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat (1767). Here is an online recording.

The minuet and trio pattern originated in the Baroque. See for example Baroque Music in Focus, p49.

Tonality and harmony are unchanged. (Both eight-bar passages are entirely in D major, the G sharp and E sharp in bar 2 being chromatic).

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� The shift to B flat major (the flattened submediant) for the trio. The modulation back to d major is effected by

means of a transition (bar 94–104), a passage heard only once (something exceptional in a minuet).

Beethoven’s Second Symphony (1802) is exceptional for our study period in having a scherzo rather than a

minuet – although the minuet in the First Symphony is fast enough to have merited the title scherzo.

The example above is from a 19th-century transcription for piano by August Horn. This, rather than the full score, has been used to save space, and to suggest that such transcriptions may be useful for demonstration in the classroom or for familiarisation by students with good keyboard skills.

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PerforMAnCe

Audiences, increased status and scale

Early symphonies were often composed for the entertainment of the wealthy and privileged at private concerts

or at state or civic functions. In Catholic areas movements from symphonies were sometimes used in place of

parts of the Mass, such as the gradual.

Later, symphonies were increasingly for public consumption with larger and socially more diverse concert

audiences, although this is not to imply attendance by the least prosperous in society.

The status of the symphony gradually increased, together with its scale. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C was

his Op. 21, begun in his 29th year only after he had composed a number of substantial piano and chamber

works. He went on to complete ‘only’ nine symphonies, whereas Haydn’s tally is over 100 and Mozart’s about

50. Mozart’s Symphony No. 1 in E flat lasts for less than ten minutes, whereas Beethoven’s Symphony No.

1 lasts between 25 and 30. Nevertheless, Mozart and Haydn had both already extended the scale of the

symphony: the former’s Symphony No. 41 in C (Jupiter) lasts for about half an hour, and some of Haydn’s late

‘London’ symphonies are of similar proportions.

Performing forces

Instruments in the 18th and early 19th centuries were different from their present-day counterparts in sound

quality and playing technique. When a composer wrote for brass instruments, then without valves, he had to

be content with the notes of a single harmonic series, which limited him to repeated-note and broken-chord

patterns in the lower register and limited diatonic scalic writing higher up.

Just as the status and scale of the symphony increased in the 18th century, so did the numbers of players and

types of instruments.

A major factor was availability – Haydn’s symphonies, for example, were composed for the forces engaged

by his current patron or available for public concerts, notably in Paris in the 1780s and London in the 1790s.

When first employed by the Esterházy family, Haydn had at his disposal just over a dozen players; later he

had more than 20. In Paris in the 1780s the strings alone numbered over 50. Numbers playing in the ‘London’

symphonies (1790s) varied from about 40 players all told to more than 60.

A considerable number of Haydn’s earlier symphonies (up to the 1770s, mainly under the patronage of Count

Morzin and the Esterházy family) are for two oboes, two horns and strings, including No. 1 in D (perhaps as

early as 1757) and No. 57 in D of 1774. Others go beyond this, adding some or all of the following: a flute, one

or two bassoons, a second pair of horns, two trumpets, timpani. Symphony No. 20 (perhaps 1762) is one of

several festive symphonies in C with trumpets and timpani.

Of the six symphonies composed for Paris (Nos 82–87, from the mid 1780s), four are scored for flute, two

oboes, two bassoons, two horns and strings. One (No. 86 in D) also has two trumpets and timpani. No. 82 in

C (The Bear) has horns or trumpets in movements I, III and IV (all in C major) with timpani only in III and IV, but

horns in the F major Allegretto.

See, for example, Grove, ‘Symphony’, section 1,2 (‘Social aspects’).

For more detail on natural (valveless) horns, see for example here.

See Section 1,4 (‘Instrumentation’) in the Grove article on ‘Symphony’.

Grove, ‘Haydn, Joseph’, section 3(ii), page 177; The Oxford History of Western Music, page 428, and CD notes by Paul Wigmore.

The Grove article on Haydn lists the scoring of each symphony (under ‘Works’, section J: Symphonies). The article on Mozart has similar information.

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In the 1790s most of Haydn’s final 12 ‘London’ symphonies have the two flutes that became standard in the

work of Beethoven and his successors. Some of Mozart’s symphonies from the 1770s onwards have a second

flute (eg No. 26 in E flat, composed at Salzburg in 1773). Perhaps surprisingly, the three last and greatest

Mozart symphonies (Nos 39–41, 1788) use only one flute.

Apart from No. 102 in B flat, Haydn’s final six symphonies (the second London set of 1793–95) include two

clarinets, instruments that were to become regular members of the 19th-century symphony orchestra. Mozart

sometimes used clarinets, but they are absent from Symphony No. 41 in C (Jupiter) and from the first version

of Symphony No. 40 in G minor.

Horns, trumpets and timpani feature in all of Haydn’s ‘London’ symphonies, although they are still excluded

from the slow movements of Nos 95 in C minor and 98 in B flat (symphonies that also have the ‘old-fashioned’

use of a single flute).

Musical direction and keyboard continuo

In the 18th century, a symphony would not have been directed by a conductor in the 19th- and 20th-century

fashion.

The most common practice was for the leading first violinist to direct. Haydn himself directed at Esterházy, for

example, without keyboard continuo other than in the theatre.

The impresario and concert promoter JP Salomon led the orchestra for the ‘London’ symphonies. When

reviewing one concert, the critic Charles Burney wrote that ‘Haydn himself presided at the piano-forte’ – which

appears to mean that there was a keyboard continuo at least on this occasion. It is unlikely to mean that Haydn

and Salomon directed performances jointly.

reduced scoring in movements outside the tonic key (usually second or slow movements) is not uncommon in the 18th century. look, for example, at the second movement of haydn’s Symphony no. 86. Why are there no parts for trumpets and timpani here?

Comment on haydn’s handling of the clarinets in Symphony no. 103 in e flat (drumroll), with special reference to the second movement and trio of the third movement.

how are present-day performances of 18th-century symphonies directed?

See Grove, ‘Haydn, Joseph’, section 3(ii), page 177, and the article ‘On the absence of keyboard continuo in Haydn’s symphonies’ by J Webster in Early Music, xviii (1990), pages 599–608.

Burney’s remark is quoted and sourced here. Burney continued: ‘and the sight of that renowned composer so electrified the audience, as to excite an attention and a pleasure superior to any that had ever been caused by instrumental music in England’. On the concept of ‘dual direction’, see Grove, ‘Conducting’, section 1, page 263.

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Haydn gave himself a short pianoforte solo near the end of Symphony No. 98 in B flat (see below). Just a

right-hand part is provided – presumably he also played the orchestral bass line, having previously played

this part and improvised a continuo-style accompaniment over it. There were brief solos for Salomon earlier in

the movement.

Comparison of performances

When comparing different performances of the same music, consider first the aspects numbered 1–4 below.

Other features, such as articulation, dynamics and general character, deserve attention but are not addressed

here.

Many excellent recordings of Classical symphonies are available. As well buying CDs, there are opportunities to sample performances on iTunes and YouTube. It is also worth looking at CD reviews in print and online, and keeping an eye on BBC Radio 3 listings and programmes such as CD Review.

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1) Instrumental forcesConsider:

� if a large symphony orchestra is used (with more players than are likely to have been available c1800)

� or if the music is played by a smaller ‘period’ (or ‘historically informed’) ensemble, perhaps with ‘period’

instruments (for example, natural horns with crooks not valves, wooden flute(s) with pre-Boehm mechanism,

timpani without pedals, possibly with a harpsichord continuo).

The ability to differentiate between ‘period’ ensembles and ‘ordinary’ symphony orchestras will develop through

exposure to both types of performance.

2) TempoDifferent performances may vary quite considerably in tempo. Classical symphonies have sometimes been

sometimes played too slowly (sometimes perhaps with excessive respect for their ‘classical’ status?). Roger

Norrington in particular has countered this tendency by paying greater attention to Beethoven’s tempo

indication and metronome marks.

3) PitchIn the 18th century, there was no single pitch standard like the present-day a1 = 440 Hz. Towards the end of the

century, pitch was generally a little lower (eg at a1 = 430 or 435), and historically informed performances may

reflect this. Students should aim to be able to detect which of two performances is the higher (or lower) in pitch.

4) RepetitionPerformances nowadays usually observe most or all marked repeats, but students may encounter exceptions.

rePreSenTATIve WorkS

The syllabus requires candidates to be look closely at four works, as follows.

‘An early symphony (eg by Johann Stamitz, Carl Stamitz, CPE Bach or JC Bach)’

It would be wrong to diminish choice by trying to be prescriptive. Teachers and students should make their

own judgements after appropriate listening, performing (where possible) and reading. A complete score of the

chosen work should be available, and if possible more than one recorded performance.

Locating suitable critical comment is likely to involve going beyond material in CD sleeve notes and information

accessed from online sources such as Wikipedia (although some Wikipedia entries are useful, not least in

including references to appropriate scholarly publications). Suitable material can often be found in the ‘Further

Reading…Checklist’ in The Oxford History of Western Music, page 1161, and in composer bibliographies in

Grove.

Some leading ‘period’ ensembles are listed here with appropriate links. See also John Armstrong’s review of a recording of Haydn Symphonies Nos 6–8 here.

See, for example, ‘In tune with the time’ by Roger Norrington here. If time allows, consult also the following two articles: ‘How Fast Shall We Play?’ by Martin Saving here and ‘Mozart’s tempo indications: what do they refer to?’ by Helmut Breidenstein here.

On 18th-century pitch standards, see Grove, Pitch, section 1,2 (especially (vii)). This link may help students develop awareness of pitch differences. Googling ‘Haydn Symphony 432Hz YouTube’ should turn up several symphonies recorded at a1 = 432, including No. 104.

Some appropriate scores can be accessed here.

15 Music Teacher March 2015

‘A symphony by Haydn’

Recordings and scores of Haydn’s symphonies are easy to find.

Any of the ‘London’ symphonies will provide plenty of scope for detailed investigation, and will permit fruitful

comparisons with Mozart’s mature works and with Beethoven’s First or Second symphonies. Many earlier

Haydn symphonies also offer good opportunities for in-depth study and comparative work (especially those

with four movements).

The most widely known Haydn scholar is HC Robbins Landon. The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn (Universal

Edition, Rockliff, 1955; supplement 1961) is still invaluable, even though younger scholars including James

Webster, the writer of the Grove article on Haydn, have questioned some findings. The Oxford Composer

Companions: Haydn, ed D Wyn Jones (OUP, 2002) is highly regarded.

‘A symphony by Mozart’

Many of the early Mozart symphonies are relatively slight. Any one of the four last symphonies (1786–88) would

be a particularly rewarding choice – not just the most widely heard, Nos 40 in G minor and 41 (Jupiter) in C,

1788.

No. 40 is, however, a work of very special intensity – one of only two minor-key symphonies by Mozart. It has

additional interest because it circulated in two versions, one with clarinets and one without. Symphony No.

41 is exceptionally fine, with some poignant harmony in the second movement, and in the finale contrapuntal

wizardry unparalleled in the 18th-century symphony.

Two important books are Mozart’s Symphonies: Context, Performance Practice, Reception by Neal Zaslaw

(Clarendon Press, 1991) and The Music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Symphonies by Robert Dearling

(Associated University Presses, Inc, 1982). The Mozart Companion, ed HC Robbins Landon and D Mitchell

(Faber, 1956), is also worth consulting.

‘An early symphony by Beethoven (either No. 1 or No. 2)’

Perhaps the choice of Beethoven’s First or Second Symphony will be made just on personal preference! The

Second has the ‘advantage’ of a scherzo to contrast with the minuets in other representative works, but the

First is an attractive work, and even the introduction to its first movement provides some interesting scope for

harmonic analysis.

The discussions in Essays in Musical Analysis, vol 1 by DF Tovey (OUP, 1935) still make useful and stimulating

reading. Chapter 7 by Basil Deane from The Beethoven Companion, ed D Arnold and N Fortune (Faber, 1971)

is recommended. The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven (Heinemann, 1981) is by Antony Hopkins (1921–2014),

for many years a successful populariser of Classical music on BBC Radio.

Many recordings are listed, often with brief descriptions, here. Scores of all Haydn’s symphonies are available online here. Miniature scores of most symphonies are published by Eulenburg (see here).

On the first and second movements of Symphony No. 1, see for example, OCR and AQA GCE Music: Revision of movements from Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto and Beethoven Symphony No. 1 by H Benham (Rhinegold Music Teacher online, 2011).