Symphony No. 32 (Haydn)

The Symphony No. 32 in C major (Hoboken I/32) is a festive symphony by Joseph Haydn. [Antony Hodgson, "The Music of Joseph Haydn: The Symphonies". London: The Tantivy Press (1976): 58. "Symphony No. 32 is remarkable for its sound. ... above all this is a Festive Symphony and the attack of the high brass with its percussive underpinning could only have been created by Haydn."] The symphony was most likely composed in 1760, or at the very latest in 1761, at about the same time as No. 33. [(Hodgson, 1976): 58. "Symphonies Nos. 32 and 33 were written at much the same time."] [H. C. Robbins Landon, "The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn". London: Universal Edition & Rockliff (1955): 663. Landon casts a wider net, suggesting it could have been written as early as 1757 or as late as 1763.]

It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings and continuo. [(Landon, 1955): 663. "2 ob., 2 cor. (C, prob. "alto"), 2 clarini (trpt.), timp., str. (fag.), [ cemb. ] ."] The work is in four movements:

# Allegro molto 2/4
# Menuet
# Adagio ma non troppo
# Finale: Presto 3/8

The work is one of the few symphonies of the Classical era to place the Minuet second (others include Haydn's 44th and his brother Michael's 15th and 16th). The winds are dismissed for the slow movement. The 3/8 time signature for the finale confirms its early composition. [(Hodgson, 1976): 59]

Discography

Maerzendorfer with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, unlike Antal Doráti with the Philharmonia Hungarica, "omits the harpsichord continuo." [Hodgson (1976): 173]

Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music chose to put it on a 3-CD set with contemporary symphonies (such as No.s 10, 27 and 107, but not 33). Helmut Müller-Brühl conducting the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, on the other hand, pairs it with the numerically closer Symphonies No.s 33 and 34 on the Naxos Records label, but does not use continuo for any of them.

References