Haydn2032 Vol.19: Trauer
£14.73
In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Alpha
Cat No: ALPHA1101
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Orchestral
Release Date: 8th May 2026
Contents
Works
Symphony no.44 in E minor, Hob.I:44 'Mourning'Symphony no.52 in C minor, Hob.I:52
Symphony no.108 in B flat major, Hob.I:108 'Symphony B'
Da pacem Domine
Paduan dolorosa a 4, SSWV42
Artists
Il Giardino Armonico (orchestra)Conductor
Giovanni AntoniniWorks
Symphony no.44 in E minor, Hob.I:44 'Mourning'Symphony no.52 in C minor, Hob.I:52
Symphony no.108 in B flat major, Hob.I:108 'Symphony B'
Da pacem Domine
Paduan dolorosa a 4, SSWV42
Artists
Il Giardino Armonico (orchestra)Conductor
Giovanni AntoniniAbout
This 19th volume of Haydn's complete symphonies coincides with the 40th anniversary of Il Giardino Armonico, the ensemble created and conducted by Giovanni Antonini, artistic director of the Haydn 2032 series. Il Giardino has made its mark on the baroque world with its revolutionary approach to Vivaldi, but Haydn has long been part of the Italian group's history, and Symphony no.44, featured in this volume, was the first work by Haydn performed by the ensemble and Antonini. The title of this symphony, known as the "Funeral Symphony", inspired the inclusion in this programme of Scheidt's Paduana dolorosa, published in 1621 at the beginning of the bloody Thirty Years' War, and Arvo Pärt's Da pacem Domine, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings: "Its contemplative fixity and the sad Pavana dolorosa take on an almost cathartic function which, in my opinion, shows a perfect integration between music that is so stylistically and chronologically distant," says Antonini, who also conducts Symphonies nos. 108 (1762) and 52 (1771).
Sound/Video
Paused
-
1Haydn - Symphony No. 52 in C Minor, Hob. I52 I. Allegro assai con brio
-
2Haydn - Symphony No. 52 in C Minor, Hob. I52 II. Andante
-
3Haydn - Symphony No. 52 in C Minor, Hob. I52 III. Menuet. Allegretto – Trio
-
4Haydn - Symphony No. 52 in C Minor, Hob. I52 IV. Finale. Presto
-
5Pärt - Da pacem Domine
-
6Haydn - Symphony No. 44 in E Minor, Hob. I44 ‘Trauer’ I. Allegro con brio
-
7Haydn - Symphony No. 44 in E Minor, Hob. I44 ‘Trauer’ II. Menuet. Allegretto canone in diapason - Trio
-
8Haydn - Symphony No. 44 in E Minor, Hob. I44 ‘Trauer’ III. Adagio
-
9Haydn - Symphony No. 44 in E Minor, Hob. I44 ‘Trauer’ IV. Finale. Presto
-
10Scheidt - Ludi musici I 5. Paduan a 4, SSWV 43
-
11Haydn - Symphony No. 108 in B Flat Major, Hob. I108 I. Allegro molto
-
12Haydn - Symphony No. 108 in B Flat Major, Hob. I108 II. Menuet – Trio
-
13Haydn - Symphony No. 108 in B Flat Major, Hob. I108 III. Andante
-
14Haydn - Symphony No. 108 in B Flat Major, Hob. I108 IV. Finale. Presto
Europadisc Review
Even in his most severe ‘Sturm und Drang’ phase, Joseph Haydn found it difficult to suppress the essential warmth of his underlying character. Take the Menuet second movement of his Symphony no.44 in E minor: it takes the form of a canon between the upper and lower strings, and although it is not the strictest example of this technique deployed by the composer, there is something hollowed and gaunt about it. The Trio section, however, is in a quietly radiant E major, with the delicate upper strings joined by one of those high horn parts so typical of Haydn’s Esterházy symphonies. The following Adagio is likewise cast in a warm E major, helping to offset memories of the stark octaves that characterise the opening Allegro con brio, and the ferocious energy of the concluding Presto.
The Symphony No.44 is nicknamed the ‘Trauersinfonie’ (‘Mourning Symphony’), a sobriquet perhaps first acquired after the work was played at a ‘solemn commemoration’ held in a Masonic Lodge in Berlin in September 1809, a few months after the composer’s death. And it lends its name to the latest volume of Giovanni Antonini’s ambitious Haydn 2032 project to record all of Haydn’s symphonies in time for the 300th anniversary of his birth. As the centrepoint of the album, this – one of the most celebrated of the Sturm und Drang symphonies, along with the ‘Farewell’ and ‘La Passione’ – receives a performance which balances the barely-contained urgency and passion of the outer movements with a rhythmic alertness, poise and sensitivity to instrumental colour which are hallmarks of this cycle.
Another of the Sturm und Drang symphonies from the early 1770s, No.52 in C minor, opens the album. It was probably one of the symphonies mentioned by Giuseppe Carpani in his Le Haydine ovvero Lettere su la vita e le opere del celebre maestro Giuseppe Haydn (published a few years after Haydn’s death) as having been composed for performance in Holy Week at the Eisenstadt court chapel. Like the ‘Trauersinfonie’, its first movement, marked Allegro assai con brio, opens with arresting octaves before hurling itself into action, with dynamic contrasts and steely upper lines which have an unmistakably astringent feeling. Yet, once again, the second subject brings a moment of radiance, however brief, and the Andante is a further source of balm, with moments of exquisitely gentle shading balanced against more dramatic outbursts of energy. The major-key Trio to the somewhat stern Menuet (with deliberately misleading stress patterns) has further energising accents which hint at Haydn’s sense of humour. The Finale, another Presto movement, starts in a more secretive mood, as if sharing an unspecified confidence, but the latent energy eventually proves uncontainable, and (after a teasing moment of silence) the closing pages end with high drama and bustling activity.
The album’s concluding work is the B flat major Symphony previously numbered among Haydn’s Partitas, but now designated as Symphony no.108. It was composed early in the composer’s years of service at the Esterházy court, soon after the death of Haydn’s first employer there, Prince Paul II Anton. The siciliana rhythm and sensitively deployed suspensions of the G minor Andante may be an understated yet profound tribute to the late Prince. The rest of the work, however, is notably good-humoured, with a particularly lovely Trio to the Menuet (placed second, like that of the ‘Trauersinfonie’) featuring gentle strings and a beautifully warm solo bassoon taking on a saxophone-like hue.
Between these three symphonies, Antonini places two surprises: a richly mournful Paduana dolorosa by Samuel Scheidt published in 1621 soon after the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, and the string orchestra version of Arvo Pärt’s Da pacem Domine, composed in memory of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Both works provide moments of contemplative stillness amid the irrepressible drama of the symphonies, and the booklet photos, by Emin Özmen, further enhance the overall theme of mourning, whether public or private, worldly or spiritual. With Il Giardino Armonico in splendid form, this is another outstanding addition to this consistently rewarding series.
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here