Winds Howling

I first listened to Symphony No. 3 on Monday on a walk to the park, where I thought it would have its best chance to impress me. The peaceful sight of ducks swimming on the lake previously did favors for Symphony No. 32, after all. It was breezy and a little cloudy, but comfortable at 74 F.

According to James Webster, the music historian I’ve been citing for this series, this symphony probably dates to Haydn’s time as a court composer for Count Morzin, the same aristocrat the rest of these were written for so far.

The first movement (‘Allegro’) is good from moment to moment, but overall felt like it was spasming around a lot without cohering into much. It’s at its best whenever the oboes appear — particularly the moody oboe-heavy section that begins around 2:20.

The second movement (‘Andante moderato’) has a two-note, upward-sweeping thing it likes to do, which occasionally layers across multiple instruments bouncing back and forth (0:40, 1:50, etc). This was pretty striking, but diluted by interludes that were less interesting.

The third movement is a ‘Menuet and trio.’ Past movements of this type have conjured an image of an old-time ballroom dance in my head; this one is a bit more lively and engaging and gives more of a royal parade type of feel. Oboes again were a strong point.

The fourth movement (‘Alla breve’) is dotted with exciting crescendos and buzzing with rapid strings. Even though it wasn’t a presto finale, its effect was similar to the prestos that have finished so many of the symphonies up to this point. According to Webster, this movement is “a masterpiece … a remarkable synthesis of fugue and sonata style … arguably Haydn’s first example of this important type of finale.” It sounds quite good to me, too.

I think I actually liked this symphony a bit less during my walk to the park than I did later at home, sitting in front of my computer, writing this. It’s average at worst; if it was ever boring, it wasn’t for long.

I rate this symphony 3.5 stars out of 5.

Version listened to: Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood
Length: 17:39
Next up: Symphony No. 14.