The London Symphonies Flashcards
1
Q
The London Symphonies dates?
A
1791-95
2
Q
How many London Symphonies were there?
A
12
3
Q
What were the London Symphonies sometimes known as?
A
‘The Salomon Symphonies’
Named after Joseph Salomon who brought Haydn to London and commissioned his works.
4
Q
Features of the STRUCTURE of the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- consolidated strong forms
- all begin with a slow introduction except No.95
- exhibited extensive musical invention
- first movements were in sonata form and showed tonal order, thematic development and mono thematic techniques.
- all in 4 movements
- also fond of sonata-rondo forms
- fond of variation structure
5
Q
Features of TONALITY in the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- all in a major key
- BUT note his fondness for a tonic minor introduction followed by a modulation into a major key
6
Q
Features of HARMONY in the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- mostly diatonic + functional
- slow chord progressions to give music a sense of direction
- chromatic inflections built into the functional system
- highly sophisticated technique : sudden modulations; use of suspensions; diminished, augmented and Neapolitan chords; extended sequences based on secondary dominant chords
7
Q
Features of MELODY in the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- Themes co-ordinated into tonal plan
- scalic movement
- arpeggios in the figuration
- graceful style
- also included rustic themes (in the trio of the ‘clock’)
8
Q
Features of TEXTURE in the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- reliance on homophonic presentation
- contrapuntal textures also employed (fugue in the finale of the ‘clock’)
9
Q
Features of INSTRUMENTATION in the ‘London Symphonies’
A
- used with originality (opening drumroll + use of horn at start of finale of No.103)
(And when S1 is introduced by just flutes + oboes, the use of divisi violas and clarinets in movt. 2 of ‘Military’) - Sometimes Haydn wrote it the repeats to include changes of instrumentation.
