Symphony No. 80

Why is it that we know so few of Franz Joseph Haydn’s symphonies? Could it simply be that he wrote so many that we struggle to get to know more than the handful that we regularly hear? Where do we start in an output of over 100 symphonies that represents such a large part of the Viennese classical world?

The 80th is one of Haydn’s lesser-played symphonies, but it quickly reminds us, despite (or because of) its relative obscurity, that ingenuity and invention rarely failed this composer. The more one dips a toe away from familiar waters and instead ventures into the less-frequently traversed parts of his symphonic output, the more we can find in which to delight — and the more Haydn’s mastery is revealed to us.

From the time he was 29 in 1761 until his death 48 years later, Haydn served at the Court of Esterházy, for the richest aristocratic family in the Austrian empire. For the second half of his time there, Haydn was increasingly involved in opera, which had become “all the rage” at court. Beginning in 1776, there was a regular operatic season at the Esterházy estate, and Haydn had to act as Kappellmeister for the operas in addition to writing his own works.

It has been suggested that Haydn’s operatic work between 1775 and 1784, both as conductor and composer, put such a strain on him that the concert music he wrote during this period fails to display the distinctive stamp of his inventive personality. It may be, however, that he was searching for new life to breathe into the symphonic and quartet forms. Symphony No. 80, written in 1784, certainly shows no signs of fatigue on Haydn’s part. Indeed, by 1786–87, when he composed the well-known “Paris” symphonies (Nos. 82–87), Haydn had gained a revitalized compositional voice with a remarkable diversity of form and expression.

In retrospect, Haydn’s operatic experience should perhaps be seen as an integral part of his symphonic development. As pianist and music critic Charles Rosen has written about this period in Haydn’s career: “The application of dramatic technique and structure to ‘absolute’ music was … the outcome of an age which saw the development of the symphonic concert as a public event. The symphony was forced to become a dramatic performance, and it accordingly developed not only something like a plot, but a unity of tone, character, and action it had only partially reached before.”

From 1782 onward, Haydn wrote his symphonies in groups of three or six. This was no doubt due to pressure from the publishing houses who preferred to issue works as sets. (The most famous of Haydn’s sets are his “London” symphonies: Nos. 93–98 and 99–104.) Musically, the groupings also allowed Haydn to vary the mood and key of the symphonies.

The three symphonies Haydn wrote in 1784 (Nos. 79–81) were for his syndicated group of publishers in Vienna, Paris, and London. No. 80, the middle work of the set, while in a traditional four-movement structure, is an excellent example of Haydn’s personal mix of symphonic and dramatic. The effects it contains are astonishing and arresting, yet always contained within strict Classical devices. And, as in so much of Haydn’s music, uneven phrase lengths and curious syncopations heighten the drama while also playing a part in the symphonic scheme of the whole work.

The ferocious beginning leads us to anticipate a movement of epic proportions, but its jokey second theme quickly dispels such expectations. Emotional contrast pervades all the movements. The slow second movement is warm and serene, while the Menuetto that follows it is more angular.

The Finale is a high-spirited romp. The off-beat rhythms at its start throw us continually off balance and never let the music settle. The whole movement is a delightful and brilliant close to an extraordinary symphony that incorporates Classical and forward-looking Romantic ideals with energy, wit, and refinement.

— Roger Wright

Roger Wright previously served as Artistic Administrator of The Cleveland Orchestra.