Symphony No. 83 in G Minor, Hob.

I:83, "La poule" (The Hen)

Compositor: Haydn, Franz Joseph

Obra: Symphony No. 83 in G Minor, Hob.I:83, "La poule" (The Hen)

Ano da Composição:  1785

Instrumentação:  1.2.0.2/2000/st

Publishers: G. Schirmer Inc.

Kalmus Music & Co., Inc.
Schott Music
Barenreiter Verlag
Breitkopf & Hartel
Haydn Society
G. Henle Verlag
Haydn-Mozart Presse
Saier & Hug Music Publishing
Universal Edition, Vienna

Duração:  00:22:00

Período:  Classical (1750-1830)

Categoria:  Orquestral
Informação da Obra
 

Análise do trabalho
 

Gravação(ões) Disponível(eis)
Analysis b
y:Philip Coad
Reference:8.550114 tracks 1-4
Note: It would be a good idea to consult the chapters on 'Music of the Classical Period', 'Sonata Form'
and 'Ternary Form' in the Study Area before studying this analysis.
Background and Overview

By the 1780s Haydn's reputation as a symphonic composer was well established, and not just around Vienna.
Printed copies of his works had been available in Paris from 1764, and public concert life in Paris and London
was more developed than in Vienna. Since 1779, when his contract with his Esterhazy employers was revised,
Haydn had enjoyed freedom to accept commissions from abroad. The Symphony No. 83 is the second of a set
of six symphonies composed in 1785-86 for the Concerts de la Loge Olympique in Paris, and first performed in
the 1787 season. Three of the six soon acquired nicknames; here the clucking of the hen was suggested by the
music of the first movement's second subject.

Despite the nickname, this first movement has an energetic seriousness for much of its course, and a full range
of chromatic and modulatory features. The following three movements, all in the major, maintain a high level of
inspiration and humour. The work is scored for the standard 1780s orchestra of flute, two oboes, two bassoons,
two horns and strings. Structurally the designs are not unexpected; the Finale uses a monothematic sonata
form, which is particularly associated with Haydn's later works.

Analysis
First movement: Allegro spiritoso
This movement is in 4/4 time and is organised in sonata form.
 Exposition
First subject group 0.00-0.25 G minor
Bridge passage 0.25-1.08 G minor, modulating to...
Second subject group 1.08-1.46 B flat major

(The exposition is repeated on the recording)

Development 3.32-5.05 modulating widely

Recapitulation
First subject group 5.05-5.29 G minor
Bridge passage 5.29-5.46 G major
Second subject group 5.46-6.16 G major

Coda 6.16- 6.50 G major

An arresting four-note motif, of which the chromatic third note provides dissonance against the repeating tonic
chord, is followed by fanfare-like dotted rhythms and silence. Two similar phrases lead, at 0.17, to an antiphonal
extension of the dotted rhythms, strings answering wind, to emphasise the imperfect cadence.
Ex. 1.

The bridge passage begins in the same way, but soon suggests the relative major as Ex. 1 is heard in the bass
(0.31), now combined with the dotted rhythms above as the music becomes more continuous. A rising extension
of Ex. 1 given to flute and violins (0.37) is followed by a mid-texture reference (0.45) as 'cellos are briefly freed
from the bass line. At 0.50 a new rising broken-chord figure using pairs of semiquavers is followed by a
descending scale, establishing B flat major. These elements are extended, and the first violins' long
unaccompanied descent leads into a perfect cadence.
Is it the Alberti bass figuration of the second violins, the grace notes of the first violin's staccato melody - or even
the oboe's dotted rhythm dominant pedal reiterations from 1.19 - which reminded the Parisians of a hen?
Certainly the contrast with the high seriousness and weighty textures of the opening of the movement is a point
of humour, although the dotted rhythms have been well established earlier on. At 1.30 the
gentle pianissimo abruptly gives way to full-textured forte again: Ex. 1 appears to return, inverted and in
diminution, while the dotted rhythms give way temporarily to triplet quavers and a unison texture. It is not quite a
monothematic exposition, but Haydn shows here how fruitfully ideas may be shared between two very different
groups of material.
The development section begins with a couple of surprises. The first subject launches itself on the dominant of
C minor and stops. Equally unexpected is the second subject's arrival at 3.38 in the subdominant key of E flat
major; but its modulation into F minor is more typically developmental. This impression is reinforced,
suddenly forte, at 3.52. Ex. 1 in the bass is simultaneously inverted by the first oboe and pitted against the 0.50
bridge passage rhythm in the violins, soon modulating by means of a descending sequence. At 4.06 roles are
reversed, and then reorganised again at 4.14 so that bassoons and second violins are the instruments which
keep the rhythmic impetus going. At 4.31 a dominant pedal - but in the 'wrong' key of D minor - appears to draw
everyone together, but then the music comes to a sudden halt on a diminished seventh chord. A tentative and
highly chromatic exchange of Ex. 1, now piano, between first violins and 'cellos, disguises the underpinning of a
real dominant pedal in preparation of the recapitulation.
At 5.05, the first subject is suddenly back in its original fortissimo guise. It proceeds exactly as before.
The bridge passage, however, continues the catalogue of surprises by refusing to pick up on the first subject
after the silence: after all, it has no modulatory brief in the recapitulation. Instead it launches straight into the
major key, broken-chord figure of 0.50, but this time of course in the tonic major, not the relative major. The rest
of the bridge passage and most of the second subject group follow on as before, in the new key; we await the
triplet unison and a perfect cadence.
Instead Ex. 1 returns piano in the major key, moving through dotted rhythms to a pause on an interrupted
cadence. At 6.27 the strings give us a short glimpse of a gentler side to Ex. 1, sweetly doubled in thirds, before
the delayed triplet unison and final cadence.

Second movement: Andante

This movement is in 3/4 time, also in sonata form.
Exposition
First subject group 0.00-0.54 E flat major
Bridge passage 0.54-1.37 modulating to...
Second subject group 1.37-2.22 B flat major

Development 2.22-3.55 modulating

Recapitulation    
First subject group 3.55-4.19 E flat major
Bridge passage 4.19-4.46 E flat major
Second subject group 4.46-5.18 E flat major

Coda 5.18-5.46 E flat major

The notable initial feature of the first violins' opening idea, at first over a tonic pedal, is an anacrusis of five
quavers followed by an upward leap and a descent by step; the accompanying strings imitate the rhythmic
feature. Oboes and bassoons feature only to provide a link into what appears at first to be a repeat of the melody
for second violins (0.28) with decoration for firsts; but eventually the decorative line takes over completely as the
cadence approaches.

The bridge passage is full of humorous surprises. An expressive piano melodic line shared between first and
second violins take us to the brink of the dominant key. The first forte and the first tutti of the movement (1.13)
lasts only a bar, featuring a two octave descent of the scale of B flat. Back just as suddenly to piano (and
instructed to go quieter still), the solemn quaver reiterations of second violins and violas seem to last for ever.
Finally - after four long bars - the full orchestra bursts in fortissimo to cadence emphatically in the dominant key.
Second subject group material finds strings alone again and piano. Lower strings pick up on the first violin
melody's characteristic rhythmic feature, and lead into a delicious chromatic ascent. First violins, left on their
own, delay the cadence and the oboes in thirds provide a closing phrase.
The development begins unexpectedly with diminished seventh harmony, and the opening melody's stepwise
descent is inverted as first violins climb through C minor to the brink of A flat major. Instead the move to F minor
is reinforced emphatically by the rapid scales of 1.13 (at 2.50) - now up, then down, then both together - and
then questioned by more dissonant piano quaver reiterations - successive bars with different clashes of a minor
second reveal Haydn pushing his harmonic language to the limit. The following full orchestral forte at first
indicates D flat major (3.03), then seems to be aiming closer to home tonally. The horns begin a dominant pedal
at 3.22, while antiphonal rising scales for first violins and the flute combine beautifully with features of the
opening idea.
The flute's rising scales continue briefly into the recapitulation. The return of the first idea is interrupted at 4.19;
there is no room now for its decorated repeat and the shared violin line of the bridge passage. Instead the falling
scale of 1.13 is extended into a big perfect cadence in the tonic key lasting three bars. Never interested in
predictability, Haydn's piano reiterated quavers change pitch this time after two bars, and the big tutti is a bar
early (at 4.38)! Following the second subject group, this time in the tonic key, is a final reminder of the opening
melody - but enriched by simultaneous inversion, touches of chromaticism in the harmony and a delayed
cadential resolution. Haydn typically has kept something in reserve for the very end.
 

Third movement: Minuetto - Allegretto

All sections in the first minuet and trio are repeated.

Minuet A 0.00-0.21 G major

  B 0.21-1.50 modulating to D major,
returning to G major

Trio A 1.50-2.11 G major - D major

  B 2.11-2.51 returning to G major

Minuet A 2.51-3.02 G major

  B 3.02-3.50 modulating to D major
returning to G major

An apparently simple Minuet begins with an intriguing rhythmic ploy: notice how the first pair of quavers is an
anacrusis, while the second pair is on the strong beat:
Ex. 2.

The pairs of quavers are soon built into a more extended unison chain, leading to a cadence in the tonic key
(the first part of a binary form movement does not have to modulate!).
The B section moves immediately by sequence via E minor to the dominant key of D major, and then - using
the first rhythm of Ex. 2 four times in succession - briefly hints at A major, the dominant of the dominant. But then
D major is properly established in a chain of quaver pairs, which now are based on broken chords; the texture
here is in only two real parts, looking back to the typical textures of Haydn's earlier minuets. At 0.41 the music of
the A section returns, but with two main differences: the accompanying harmony of the first phrase - over a
dominant pedal and with chromatic features - is new; and the unison chain which follows is extended by
sequence from four to six bars. A final phase begins (0.54), for strings alone but otherwise sounding at first
exactly like the opening: however, this time Haydn does not deviate from Ex. 2, now preferring its second rhythm
(six times in a row), passing it to the bass instruments, and putting all the accompanying chords on the second
beat - another touch of comedy.
The Trio is in the same key. A gentle melody for first violins is doubled an octave higher by the flute, with the
simplest of accompaniments for lower strings. Its second phrase begins similarly but then modulates to the
dominant key.
The B section begins by fluctuating between tonic and dominant keys. The texture remains unchanged, except
firstly that the flute now doubles at the unison and is therefore less obvious, and secondly where melodic and
accompanimental roles are briefly reversed, the 'cellos and bass taking a melodic phrase. The opening melody
returns, adjusted to cadence in the tonic.
The Minuet then returns without repeats to give the traditional overall ternary form to the movement.

Fourth movement: Finale - Vivace

This 12/8 movement is in monothematic sonata form.

Exposition
First subject group 0.00-0.14 G major
Bridge passage 0.14-0.27 modulating to...
Second subject group 0.27-0.44 D major
Codetta 0.44-0.55 D major
 The exposition is repeated on the recording.

Development 1.50-2.23 modulating

Recapitulation
First subject group 2.23-2.30 G major
Bridge passage 2.30-2.40 G major
Second subject group 2.40-3.02 G major

Coda 3.02-3.42 G major

There may not be many shorter sonata structures in Haydn's output, but there is no lack of motivic enterprise or
tonal range. The first subject begins piano for strings alone, its first two-bar phrase beginning as follows:
Ex. 3

A two-bar answering phrase begins by inverting the rising steps. A flute joins in an octave above for a decorated
repeat. The bridge passage begins, tutti forte, by confirming the tonic key; but Ex. 3 appears in inverted form in
the bass, and the music moves towards the dominant key. The second subject also uses Ex. 3, but in a more
concentrated form - it appears in every bar before continuous quaver patterns lead the music away into
chromaticism and hints of a minor tonality. As we approach a cadence, Ex. 3 returns, in contrary motion (i.e.
simultaneously inverted) and incorporating the chromaticism. At 0.44 the violins take on these modifications,
leading into a cadential tutti, which uses Ex. 3 in a plainer rhythm. The exposition is over in less than a minute!
The development section begins by using Ex. 3 on its own. We hear it first unharmonised in D minor; then,
using contrary motion and imitation, the music starts to modulate and eventually rediscovers the continuous
quaver figuration at the expense of Ex. 3. Accented dotted minim chords for everyone except the first violins
start to propel the action into a wide tonal arena, touching on F major, F minor, D flat major and A flat major
before reaching the safety of the dominant of G once more.
A silence follows this breathless tonal activity! The recapitulation telescopes the already brief first subject from
eight bars to four; the bridge passage is adjusted tonally with the minimum of fuss so that it can stay in the tonic
key. Ex. 3 is then heard five times in as many bars beneath continuous violin and flute quavers, suggesting
the second subject's take on the shared material - and the hints of chromaticism and minor key inflection return
as before.
The coda begins with the 0.44 violins material; but instead of hurtling towards a cadence, the first violins take a
lead in some delightful delaying tactics. There are pauses, silences, an unexpected repeat and finally a teasing
chromatic decoration in the cadence. At 3.21, upper strings get going again, toying with Ex. 3 but in the wrong
keys of C major and then (with oboe) D minor. Now Ex. 3 finds its most extended chromatic contrary motion in
the movement. It reaches the uncertainty of a diminished seventh chord; but Haydn finds a way to extend the
music of the exposition ending for its high-spirited conclusion.

Further Listening
The Symphony No. 83 is remarkable for starting in a minor key, but steering away from minor tonality as rapidly
as possible! In this respect it is very different from the Mozart Symphony in G minor (his fortieth) written two
years later. Haydn went on to write another twenty-one symphonies, all without exception sharing the motivic
and tonal ingenuity, humour and high spirits, which can be found here. It is interesting to compare these works
with the wonderful last symphonies of Mozart - especially Nos. 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 and 41.