Haydn: Concerto in D Major for Cello and Orchestra, Hob. VII;2b

Concerto in D Major for Cello and Orchestra, Hob. VII;2b

Franz Josef Haydn
(1732-1809)

Before the mid-1780s Josef Haydn produced a sizeable number of operas and concerti for a variety of solo instruments. But with Mozart’s move to Vienna in 1781, and the appearance of his remarkable stage works and concerti, Haydn increasingly confined his creative activity to a chamber music, symphonies, and keyboard works, as if to avoid competing with his younger colleague. (A letter written by Haydn in response to a request for a new opera in the 1780s would seem to point to that possibility.) In the case of Haydn’s four best-known concerti, only the brilliant Trumpet Concerto is a late work---significantly, composed five years after Mozart’s death. Of a pair of cello concerti, the earlier C Major Cello Concerto (written around 1762) only came to light in the 1960’s, while the D major Concerto (written in 1783) has long been favoured by cellists. In 1784 there appeared the D Major Piano Concerto, which remains on the margin of the concert repertoire, although often more favoured by student performers than seasoned professionals.

Oddly, while many works attributed to Haydn have been found to be spurious, the D Major Concerto, now conclusively declared to be the work of Haydn, was for a long time thought to be the work of a cellist friend of Haydn, Anton Kraft. While there are a handful of cello concertos written before those of Haydn (notably by Carl Philipp Emannuel Bach and Boccherini), this ingratiating work stands as perhaps the earliest work of outstanding quality to earn a secure place in the rather limited repertoire of works for cello and orchestra.

Written about the time when Haydn was emerging from a period of heavy involvement in operatic composition, the D Major Concerto (unlike the fiery and dramatic earlier C Major work) is a relaxed, often reflective composition, one emphasizing the lyrical character of the solo cello---an instrument which, until Haydn, had been largely ignored as solo instrument..

This expansive lyrical mood is especially noteworthy in the opening allegro moderato, at fourteen minutes’ duration one of Haydn’s most extended first movements. This leisurely unfolding of thematic elements is shaped within the traditional sonataform pattern, but with little of the ceremonial flourishes common to concertos of the period. Indeed, the two principle themes are both marked by a gentle cantabile character, presenting the composer with the challenge of creating an extended musical structure with little of the drama and element of surprise so notable in his symphonies. But any risk of melodic blandness is avoided through Haydn’s usual harmonic originality, seen in the central development section, where the music becomes solidly anchored in B Minor, as if establishing a tonality to counter the genial warms of the home key of D Major. The development, as well as some of the transitional passages linking the main thematic elements, provides the soloist with unexpected opportunities for brilliant passage-work in the upper register of the instrument, although never at the expense of the over-all tone of gentle lyricism which colours the entire work.

The remaining movements of the concerto are as compressed as the first is spacious. The A Major adagio movement is a tender aria for cello, bringing out the special coloration of the instrument’s “mezzo-soprano” register. With the orchestra briefly shifting into A Minor, a darkening of tone leads the cello to a meditative moment in the unexpected stillness of C Major, soon returning to the warmth of A Major to conclude the movement.

The allegro finale is a vivacious rondo with a carefree tune rather reminiscent of the English folksong, “Here we go gathering nuts in May.” Virtuoso display of brilliant exuberance comes to the fore for the first time in the concerto, the central D Minor episode encouraging a hearty outburst of temperament on the part of the soloist . But the work’s mood of good humour and lyrical expressivity remains uppermost, as the work comes to a spirited conclusion.