Joseph Haydn - Symphony in E flat major "Mercury" Hob. I/43 Jurek Dybał Vienna Chamber Orchestra

[@johnninan758]

What an amazing music!!!! Thank you for sharing.

[@pigsbishop99]

You're not kidding. Haydn wrote 80+ symphonic mastyerpieces and this is one of them. The remaining Haydn symphonies tend to be experimental or at the request of Nicholas Esterhazy.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

pigsbishop99 Apart from the obvious exception of the works for baryton, there is no evidence of any works being written by Haydn at the specific request of Prince Nicholas; the Prince did however request performances of various works, chamber, orchestral and opera on a pretty regular basis though the details were often left to Haydn. Regarding the symphonies; no contemporary composer produced so many works of such a consistently high standard over such a long period. For myself, I would suggest that there is only a single work amongst the 104 numbered symphonies, plus Symphonies ‘A’ and ‘B’ (Hob. I:107 and 108), plus the three movement sinfonia (overture) Hob. I:106 that is not worth repeated hearing - and that would be the very early Symphony ‘A’ written c.1759.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Symphonies 6, 7, and 8 (the well-known ‘times of the day’ trilogy), were of course suggested by Haydn’s first Eszterhazy employer, Prince Paul Anton *not* by Prince Nicholas. This was probably due to his love of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and also due to the spectacular fresco type painting already on the ceiling of what is now the Haydnsaal (concert hall) at their Eisenstadt palace. Whether or not he requested symphonies or quartets, or that there should be four pieces is not entirely clear; what he did get though is three fantastic symphonies which are today, the earliest symphonies composed that are performed regularly in the entire symphonic repertoire. Additionally, there are about 35 currently available recordings of the works, almost all of which can be recommended.