Symphony No. 31 (Haydn)
Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 31 in D major, Hob. I/31, was composed in 1765 for Haydn's employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. It is nicknamed the "Hornsignal Symphony", because it gives a prominent role to an unusually large horn section of four players. Probably because of its prominent obbligato writing for the horns, in Paris, the publisher Sieber published this symphony as a "symphonie concertante" around 1785.
Background
The backdrop of this and other early Haydn symphonies was a patron who loved music and wanted his household music to be performed by top musicians – but whose budget did not accommodate anything like the orchestras of the size seen in modern times. Personnel fluctuated, and thus also the forces Haydn had available to work with. Haydn himself sought to retain the best instrumentalists, and he did so in part by writing interesting and challenging solos for them in his early symphonies.Prince Nikolaus's orchestra had included a large horn section earlier in the 1760s, but one horn player, Franz Reiner, left in 1763 and was not replaced. A further loss is reported in a letter by Haydn dated 23 January 1765. This informs the Prince of the death of a horn player named Knoblauch. Haydn suggested a replacement, but his suggestion was not accepted. The same letter serves as an illustration of Haydn's role as lobbyist for his men : he requests that the Prince provide a fringe benefit for the musicians by covering the cost of their medications. This too was turned down.
Prince Nikolaus brought the horn section back to full strength in May 1765, when hornists Franz Stamitz and Joseph Dietzl were engaged to fill the missing places. The "Hornsignal" Symphony evidently was written to celebrate this event.
The exact date of the symphony is not known, other than the year. However, the symphony must have been premiered no earlier than May and before September 13, 1765. The latter date is known since the symphony includes a flute part, and the flautist was dismissed on this date for having carelessly started a fire while shooting birds; it was only the following year that Haydn was able to persuade his patron to reinstate Siegl.
Premiere
The premiere performance would have taken place in the hall of one of Prince Esterházy's palaces, probably in the family seat at Eisenstadt. The orchestra was very small, with perhaps three each for first and second violins, one violist, one cellist, and one bass player; but in compensation the hall would have been quite reverberant—the basis of a sonically impressive effect when the horns of the day were played in a group of four.Haydn himself probably would have been one of the first violinists, leading the orchestra with his instrument. According to James Webster, "the audience would have consisted of the prince and his guests only and very often Haydn's orchestra of fifteen or so players would have outnumbered the listeners."
Movements
The work is scored for one flute, two oboes, four horns, and strings. David Wyn Jones remarks on these numbers: "given that the Esterházy orchestra as a whole was no more than 16 or 17 players, amounted to a quarter of the orchestra, a proportion that not even Mahler or Strauss contemplated. "The symphony is in four movements, marked as follows:
- Allegro,
- Adagio in G major,
- Menuet – Trio,
- Finale: Moderato molto,
This is followed immediately by a solo horn playing a posthorn signal. The recapitulation at first omits the fanfare, beginning with posthorn signal, but the fanfare returns in the codas of both the first and last movements.
The slow movement has a siciliano rhythm and feel with solo passages for violin and cello against pizzicato bass accompaniment. Full orchestration is retained for tutti passages, recalling the style of a concerto grosso.
The finale is a theme with seven variations. The variations here and in No. 72 are the first to appear in the Haydn symphonies. Most of the variations are written to show off a particular instrument or section of the orchestra, in the following order: oboes, cello, flute, horns, solo violin, tutti, and double bass. There is a final coda, marked Presto, whose final notes repeat the horn fanfare of the opening movement of symphony.