Learned Borrowings From Other Nationalities
Like other composers who came from less humble backgrounds, Haydn sometimes would set folksongs from other countries. These fall into a different category from the cases given above, since Haydn obtained these songs through learned channels rather than through folkloric transmission.
The second movement of the Symphony No. 85, "La Reine" is described by H. C. Robbins Landon as "a set of variations on the old French folk-song 'La gentille et jeune Lisette'". This was an appropriate choice since the 85th Symphony is one of the "Paris" symphonies, written on commission for a Parisian audience.
Like Kozeluh, Beethoven and Weber after him, Haydn made a great number of arrangements of Scottish and Welsh folksongs for British publishers (including Napier, George Thomson, and William Whyte); this activity began in 1791 and continued from time to time to the very end of Haydn's compositional career, ca. 1804. The arrangements are set for high voice and piano trio.
Read more about this topic: Haydn And Folk Music
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