Symphony No. 55 (Haydn)

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The Symphony No. 55 in E-flat major (Hoboken I/55) is a symphony by Joseph Haydn.

Contents

[edit] Date of composition and scoring

The symphony was composed by 1774. It is scored for two oboes, bassoon, two horns and strings.

[edit] Nickname ("The Schoolmaster")

In volume two of Landon's Haydn: Chronicle and Works, Landon notes that while Haydn's autograph manuscript of the symphony contains no reference to this title, the work has been known by this name since the early nineteenth century. Landon suggests that the dotted rhythm of the second movement calls to mind the wagging finger of a schoolmaster, and points out that in the catalog of his works that Haydn helped prepare in the final years of his life, there is a fragment of a lost Divertimento in D containing a similar dotted rhythm entitled "Der verliebte Schulmeister" (the schoolmaster in love). Landon goes on to propose a program for the symphony's second movement in which the sections marked semplice represent the "strict, pedantic" teacher and the dolce sections depict the same teacher overwhelmed by love.

[edit] Movements

The trio of the Menuetto is scored for solo cello and and two solo violins.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ HC Robins Landon, Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 5 vols, (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1976-) v. 2, Haydn at Eszterhaza, 1766-1790

[edit] References

  • Robbins Landon, H.C. (1976-1980) Haydn: Chronicle and Works, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

[edit] See also