Symphony No. 60, 1st Movement (Haydn arr. Stephen Chin) – String Orchestra

Description

Haydn’s output of 104 symphonies is truly one of the great marvels in music. His adoring audiences waited with great anticipation for the next symphony to be written as each was unique and imparted elements of exceptional beauty, vigour, quirkiness, and surprise. Symphony no. 60 demonstrates this so well. It comprises material from an earlier composition of incidental music to a play Il Distratto (the distracted one) which tells the story of an absent-minded gentleman who almost forgot his own wedding. This aspect is clearly portrayed in this movement as the decrescendo melody line is suddenly interrupted by a fortissimo tutti. It is somewhat the Surprise Symphony before its time!

This arrangement for strings is faithful to the original work with the added features of sharing the melodic lines, a slight editing of a few bars of the bass part, a violin 3 part and a keyboard realization. It is also an excellent way to develop Classical style spiccato in more advanced players.

Instrumentation: Vln1, Vln2, Vln 3/Vla, Vlc, Bass, Keyboard (opt).

Grade: 3.5