Lamb & Hayward Curator's Series: C.P.E. Bach, Albinoni, Haydn

Programme Notes

Travel back in time to the opulence of the 1700's with accomplished Australian violinist Sophie Rowell as your guide. Christchurch Symphony Orchestra has curated a trio of works composed during a sixty-year period, by three superstars of the Baroque and Classical periods.

Symphony No. 3 in C Major (H. 649/Wq. 174) (1755)

C.P.E. BACH (1714–1788)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was initially taught by his father, none other than Johann Sebastian Bach. He can be considered a kind of eighteenth century ‘change manager’ – recognised for building a bridge between what we now refer to as the Baroque and Classical styles. His symphonies have unexpected twists and turns, and fewer formal structures than those of his predecessors – the conductor Roger Norrington has described C.P.E. Bach as “filling in the huge stylistic gap between the music of his father, and that of Haydn and Mozart.”

To set the scene, Frederick the Great had taken the throne in 1740, and there was a flourishing musical scene in Berlin. This helped spur on the symphonic form to stand on its own two feet away from the more prevalent overture. C.P.E. Bach was the harpsichordist of the Hofkapelle (resident court ensemble), and aside from his numerous keyboard works, he also found time to write a collection of symphonies while serving in the Prussian court between 1740 and 1768.

Surviving sources have made it possible for music historians to reconstruct what musical life would have been like in Berlin under Frederick II – and one can almost picture a scene out of the cult Netflix series Bridgerton. Symphonic concerts took place for the Dowager Queen Sophia Dorothea, the Reigning Queen Elisabeth Christine, and Princess Anna Amalia, at glamourous evenings in the Berlin castle or their summer residences. The King also held smaller chamber concerts every evening – it is no wonder they needed a resident composer to keep producing new repertoire.

This period of time often presents musicologists many detective-worthy moments in their research as there is often scarce evidence and a lack of cataloguing to prove authenticity of composition. For example, C.P.E. Bach stated in his autobiography that he had written “a few dozen” symphonies, but we do not have evidence today of that many existing – some suggest that additional works may have been lost, or that Bach himself had destroyed them, not deeming them good enough. We do know that he wrote eight symphonies during the Prussian court years (Wq. 173-181) that are sometimes referred to as the Berlin symphonies. Only this symphony, C Major Wq. 174, survives in an autograph score that confirms its dates and place of composition: Potsdam, 1755.

The style of symphonies around this time was taken from contemporary Italian works, almost always in three movements, with a four-part string orchestra. Woodwinds began to appear after the court ensemble expanded in 1740, with an instrumentation that more resembled the opera overture, which had already featured pairs of winds and horns.

Oboe Concerto in D minor Op. 9 No. 2 (1722)

ALBINONI (1671–1751)

Born in Venice into a family with a successful paper and stationery business, Albinoni initially followed his father into the trade, before finding his way into vocal music and opera in particular – writing over 50 operas, of which three opera serie survive today. He also wrote a number of works for small ensembles, cantatas for singers, and serenatas, which were performed for the birthdays, marriages, and name days of aristocrats around Venice.

In terms of his concerto writing, Albinoni has been called an “improver” of the concerto of the time, contributing to the early years of the format, by taking the three-movement form of the opera sinfonia and making a fast-slow-fast format for the concertos of the early 18th century.

Albinoni was one of the first Italian composers to write for the oboe – a newly emerging instrument at the time – with composers including Vivaldi (better-known today than Albinoni) and Marcello hot on his creative heels. The oboe appeared in Venice opera houses in the late 1600s, and Albinoni’s Op. 7 collection in 1715 featured the first published concertos for oboe. This concerto hails from his 1722 collection, Op. 9, a set of eight concertos dedicated to the Bavarian Elector Maximilian II Emanuel, who had a resident ensemble in his court. Listeners can hear references to the sounds of Bavarian court life in the collection of concertos – a life which featured hunting, dancing, opera, and celebrations of military victories.

The most famous work is undoubtedly this second concerto in D minor, and Albinoni’s opera writing clearly feeds into his skill for writing slow movements that have the soloist singing as if in an aria from an opera – this concerto is particularly famed for its gorgeous slow movement. This soaring melody is bookended by a noble opening with energetic dotted rhythms and a bustling sprightly finale.

Symphony No. 89 in F Major (1787)

HAYDN (1721–1809)

Affectionately referred to as “the father of the symphony,” Haydn wrote over 100 of them, many noted for their remarkable originality of form for the time. The symphony structure was already in existence – proven earlier in this programme by the works of C.P.E. Bach – but Haydn has been described as someone who profoundly shaped the course of western classical music as we know it – Beethoven was very influenced by the symphonies of Haydn, and Mozart dedicated his string quartets to Haydn as a thanks for what he taught him. The Guardian wrote: “famed as the father of the symphony and of the string quartet, in reality he invented neither – but he did consolidate new principles of musical form based on balance and proportion, expectation, and fulfilment. Haydn’s gift was in flexing the rules to ensure variety, creating tensions and dramatic effects.”

Haydn began his musical career as a freelance musician in Vienna: singing, accompanying, teaching, and starting to get commissions from those in the aristocratic circles. His dream job came along as kapellmeister in the court of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy in 1761. This role kept him very busy, writing cantatas, trios for the baryton (an instrument Esterházy loved, which was soon to become obsolete), and concertos. The court had a 25-piece orchestra, so Haydn also busied himself with symphonies – this cheerful 89th symphony comes from the Prince Esterházy years.

This symphony was crafted in 1787, and perhaps Haydn had a tight deadline, or perhaps it was a request from the commissioner, but he cleverly mined material from several of his own earlier works, with the second and fourth movements based on a lyre concerto (a stringed instrument from the lute family) written the previous year for King Ferdinand IV, where he has replaced the lyre parts with flutes and oboes. This symphony follows a standard four-movement structure and, along with strings, flutes, and oboes, also includes bassoons and horns.

This symphony’s sister work is No. 88 in G Major, both given to a violinist from the court orchestra, Johann Tost, to sell to a publisher in Paris. It has been described as being pastoral and charming in character, but not without hints of drama throughout.



Thank you to Hannah Darroch for our programme notes.