Haydn encored

Synopsis

These days if someone goes to all the trouble to write a symphony, they’re lucky to hear it performed at all—and it might be years before a second hearing. But back in 1791, when Haydn paid his first visit to England, Londoners were so enthusiastic about his new symphonies they asked for repeat performances as soon as possible. On today’s date in 1791, the work we know as Haydn’s Symphony No. 92 had its London premiere, and, “by particular desire,” as they phrased it back then, was repeated a week later and again the following month.

And when Haydn paid a visit to Oxford University that summer to receive an honorary doctorate, he led a performance of this same symphony at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre. Ever since, this particular English favorite has been nick-named Haydn’s “Oxford” Symphony.

Haydn, being a politically astute sort of chap, didn’t publicize to his British fans that one of their favorite symphonies was actually commissioned by a French Count who had sponsored a series of Haydn concerts in Paris some five years earlier.

One wonders how the music-loving Count fared during the French Revolution, which was well underway in 1791. In any case, by 1794, when Haydn next paid a visit to London, England and France were at war, and Napoleon Buonaparte, the purported inspiration for one of Beethoven’s famous symphonies, was on the rise.

Music Played in Today's Program

Franz Josef Haydn (1732 - 1808) Symphony No. 92 (Oxford) Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra; Adam Fischer, cond. Nimbus 5269

On This Day

Births

• 1876 - American composer Carl Ruggles, in Marion, Mass.;

• 1897 - American composer Henry Cowell, in Menlo Park, Calif.;

Premieres

• 1791 - Haydn: Symphony No. 92, conducted by the composer, at the first of his London concerts; Haydn had composed this symphony at the request of a French count in 1788-89, and presumably its first performance took place in Paris around that time; The symphony's nickname, "Oxford," derives from a July 7, 1791, performance conducted by Haydn at the Sheldonian Theater at Oxford University, where Haydn was awarded an honorary degree;

• 1830 - Bellini: opera "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" (The Capulets and Montagues), in Venice at the Teatro la Fenice;

• 1851 - Verdi: opera "Rigoletto," in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice;

• 1867 - Verdi: opera "Don Carlos" (1st French-language version in 5 acts) at the Paris Opéra;

• 1886 - Tchaikovsky: "Manfred" Symphony (after Byron), in Moscow (Gregorian date: Mar. 23);

• 1888 - Dvorak: Symphony No. 2 in Bb, in Prague; This symphony was composed in 1865;

• 1915 - Ravel: ballet "Ma Mère l'Oye" (Mother Goose), at the Paris Opéra; This orchestral score is based on an earlier Ravel work of the same name for two pianos;

• 1917 - Respighi: tone-poem "The Fountains of Rome," in Rome;

• 1929 - Colin McPhee: Concerto for Piano with Wind Octet, in Boston;

• 1999 - Corigliano: "A Dylan Thomas Trilogy," at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with soloists and the National Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting;

Others

• 1829 - Mendelssohn conducts a revival performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" in Berlin.