Danish Chamber Orchestra - Haydn: Late Symphonies, Vol. 4 - Nos. 102-104 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Haydn composed the three symphonies in this volume during the mid-1780s in a spirit of triumph. Though still employed by the Esterhazy family, he had recently been allowed to publish his music himself and to accept outside commissions. A number of symphonies were duly commissioned by a new, large ensemble recently established in Paris. Superficially similar, they reveal Haydn's inexhaustible creativity whether in the astonishingly colourful introduction to No. 84, the rustic interludes in the trio section of No. 85 - a favourite of Marie Antoinette, or in the greatest of the Paris symphonies, No. 86, where the transition from the slow introduction to the main section is unequalled in his music.

Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 99 in E flat major was his first ever symphony to use clarinets; No. 100 in G major gained it's 'Military' appellation due to it's grand second movement featuring cymbals and triangle; and No. 101 in D major has long been nicknamed 'The Clock' due to the ticking rhythm in the second movement for plucked strings and bassoons. Previous volumes in the series are available on 8.574516 and 8.574517.

Leontyne Price - God Bless America [COMPACT DISCS] date 11/20/2001