Recording
Title: Symphony No6 in D 'Le Matin'. Symphony No7 in C 'Le Midi', Symphony No8 in G 'Le Soir'
Performer: The Hanover Band
Director: Roy Goodman
Year: 1991
Length: 1 hour 9 minutes
Review
Ah! I must admit that I was quickly getting tired of the Baroque, so they give us the Classical period, and what better to start it off with than Haydn, a composer that strides the Classical period, starting here and going all the way to producing stuff at the same time as Beethoven right at the transition to the Romantic period.
It is almost impossible to realise that this is just one year after Boyce, it sounds like a complete revolution. The music is much simpler in the way in which it is easier to discern the melody lines, but then it is full of contrasts, the excitement is all here. And this is still transitional.
Haydn is looking back at the earlier Baroque at people like Vivaldi for his inspiration while at the same time mixing it all with something truly new. A truly admirable work, but don't get too hung up on the names of the Symphonies, the programmatic quality is tenuous at best with the only real link being the clear sunrise at the beginning of No 6. Great.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The nickname (Le Matin, the Morning) (not Haydn's own, but quickly adopted) derives from the opening slow introduction of the opening movement, which clearly depicts sunrise. The remainder of the work is abstract, as, indeed, are the other two symphonies in the series. Because of the initial association, however, the remaining were quickly and complementarily named "noon" and "evening".
Adagio from No. 6:
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