Symphony No. 96, Miracle

Symphony No. 96 in D major, Miracle, Hob. I:96 Joseph Haydn or nearly three decades, from 1761 to included in his very first London concert, F1790, Joseph Haydn was employed by on March 11, 1791, at the Hanover-Square the Esterházy Princes, scions of a powerful Concert Rooms. It is often difficult to tell family of Austro-Hungarian aristocrats who from advertisements, press reviews, and ruled over vast expanses of Central Europe. other documentation precisely which A princely succession in September 1790 led symphony was played at a given concert, to severe cutbacks in the court’s arts pro- since the pieces were almost uniformly grams, leaving Haydn free to explore the referred to in such accounts as simply “a world beyond the circuit of Esterházy cas- new grand overture by Mr. Haydn” or some- tles in Austria and Hungary that had been thing along those lines. If it wasn’t played his stomping grounds. The German-born at that opening concert it certainly was at violinist Johann Peter Salomon, now work- one of the ensuing dates, which were scat- ing as a concert impresario in England, had tered through the spring. In any case, the been angling to present Haydn for some symphony would have been just one item time. The two quickly reached an accord on a long and diverse evening. That open- whereby Haydn would travel to London and ing concert was typical of the programs on be richly rewarded for new works he was which Haydn’s “London” symphonies were to unveil there, not to mention publication unveiled: an Overture by Rosetti; a song deals and income from a benefit concert featuring Signore Tajana; an oboe concer- — all of this taking place between January to; a song featuring Signora Storace (that 1791 and the summer of 1792, when Haydn would be Nancy Storace, who had been the returned to Vienna. first-ever Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Although he groused about the British Figaro); a recitative and aria with Signor audiences’ inattentiveness and their ten- dency to be noisy, Haydn loved his time in In Short England and he returned for a second res- idency in 1794–95. For both of his visits he Born: March 31, 1732 (almost certainly, since wrote sets of six symphonies — Nos. 93–98 he was baptized on April 1), in Rohrau, for the first trip, Nos. 99–104 for the second Lower Austria — which ever since have been dubbed the Died: May 31, 1809, in Vienna “London” or “Salomon” symphonies. The Work composed: 1791 works exhibit great diversity, but as a whole they are grander in scope and orchestration World premiere: probably on March 11, 1791, than anything Haydn had previously writ- at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London, with Johann Peter Salomon leading ten, in every way representing the apex of the orchestra his symphonic achievement. It appears that he came prepared with a few of his sympho- New York Philharmonic premiere: November 21, nies already written, but most were penned 1954, Bruno Walter, conductor on English soil. Most recent New York Philharmonic Symphony No. 96 may have been one that performance: November 19, 2011, Bernard Haydn prepared in advance of his initial Haitink, conductor trip, since it seems quite possible that it was Estimated duration: ca. 20 minutes JANUARY 2020 | 33 David (Giacomo David, on whom Haydn when I made inquiry of Haydn in the mat- bestowed the leading role in his final opera, ter, he said, “I know nothing about that.” L’anima del filosofo); and then intermission. The second half opened with Haydn’s “new It’s hard to imagine how Haydn could have grand overture” and continued with anoth- forgotten such a memorable mishap. Re- er recitative and aria, a sung rondo, a con- search has revealed that a chandelier did fall, certante, and other pieces. although it was at a different London concert, This work has traditionally been called at the King’s Theatre in February 1795, during the Miracle Symphony, the nickname deriv- the premiere of Haydn’s Symphony No. 102. ing from the belief that a chandelier crashed Haydn was pleased by this D major sym- in the concert hall during its premiere with- phony. He wrote in his diary: out injuring anyone. Haydn’s biographer Al- bert Christoph Dies, who based his book on I created a furor with a new Symphony, interviews he had with the composer from and they had to repeat the Adagio: this 1805 to 1809, stated: had never occurred before in London. Imagine what it means to hear such a I have heard this incident related in vari- thing from an Englishman’s lips. ous ways and almost always with the addi- tion that in London they conferred on the Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, symphony the flattering name, The Mir- two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, tim- acle. It may be that such is the case, but pani, and strings. Listen for . a Concerto Spirit Haydn wrote in his diary of the London audience’s appreciation for his Symphony No. 96, especially the demand for an encore of the Adagio. In The Symphony; A Listener’s Guide, the late Michael Steinberg, a former New York Philharmonic program annotator, pointed to the work’s other charms. The Andante, he wrote, “is delicately chamber-musical in character, something like an 18th-century Concerto for Orchestra,” with rewarding passages for solo winds and an attractive solo originally written for the impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who served as concertmaster for the premiere. “So concerto-like is the spirit that the orchestra even draws up on a six-four chord to introduce a cadenza, one that has an unexpected outcome indeed.” Steinberg added: The Minuet is vigorous and laid out on a generous scale; the Trio is an enchanting oboe solo, and the sound of the high horn accompaniment is delectable. The Finale is a bubbly comedy whose first theme begins with that favor- ite Haydn device, one of those double upbeats that allow for inventive when-is-it-going-to-begin-again? games. — The Editors Haydn, ca. 1791 34 | NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC.

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