Preview - In Search of Haydn is released in cinemas on January 20
Published: 19 January, 2012
by SARAH DAWES
I wonder if today’s children are told about Joseph Haydn, the naughty choirboy, who cut off the pigtail of the boy in front of him at choir practice.
Certainly I was enchanted by the story.
I longed to do the same but didn’t dare.
Perhaps that’s why I’m a humble reviewer rather than a world class composer.
Haydn (1732-1809) has always been one of my favourites, and so I was delighted to have an evening at the Barbican devoted to “searching for him,” the world premiere of In Search of Haydn directed by Phil Grabsky.
We certainly found Haydn that night.
It began with a magnetic live performance of Opus 76 No1 by the Endellion String Quartet, and the film that followed had several sequences where the audience were treated to close-ups of these talented musicians’ brilliant finger-work.
The film also has interviews with accomplished singers and instrumentalists, as well as excerpts from their performances.
Haydn began as a choir boy, and he never forgot the joys of choral singing, composing some of the greatest masterpieces of church music, including The Creation, The Seasons and 14 fine settings of the Mass.
Haydn’s working environment as court composer to Prince Esterhazy is depicted by shots of the palaces and country houses where he could experiment with many different musical forms, for the chapel, theatre and the beautiful concert halls.
Haydn invented the string quartet and the modern form of the symphony; his output was prodigious: 107 symphonies, 20 piano concertos, six cello concertos, and endless chamber music, not bad for the son of a humble wheelwright – no wonder both Mozart and Beethoven paid public homage to him.
As the film shows, there are plenty of other intriguing stories about this amazing fellow. The Farewell’ Symphony, (No 45 in F-sharp minor) was a sort of musical work-to-rule, actually a staged walk-out by the orchestra, who one by one drop out of the last adagio, quietly packing up and walking out until only two violins are left.
The film is worth seeing for this episode alone which was Haydn’s hint to his patron that they had been too long at the Prince’s summer residence and it was time to go home to their wives, left behind in the city. It worked, and they were allowed to go back to Eisenstadt the next day.
The film is a wonderful journey through 18th-century European musical and cultural history.
• In Search of Haydn is released in cinemas tomorrow (Friday)