Symphony No. 22 (Haydn) - Form

Form

The symphony is in four movements:

  1. Adagio, 4/4
  2. Presto, 4/4
  3. Menuet e Trio, 3/4
  4. Finale: Presto, 6/8

This slow-fast-slow-fast sequence of tempos corresponds to the sonata da chiesa of the Baroque era, although the musical language of the piece is classical. As with other early Haydn symphonies that use this tempo scheme, all of the movements are in the same key. The first, second, and fourth movements are in sonata form and the third is the customary minuet and trio in ternary form.

The first movement is the highlight of the symphony and features horns answered by cors anglais over a walking bass line. The violins play with mutes. H. C. Robbins Landon calls it "surely one of the settecento's supremely original concepts". Played with all the indicated repeats, it lasts about 10 minutes, almost half the duration of the symphony as a whole.

As McVeigh notes, the opening theme of the third movement echoes that of the first, resembling an extended rendition of it in minuet tempo. The trio section features writing in the high register for the two horns.

The last movement is one of the earliest examples of a "hunting finale" that would later be used in symphonies such as No. 65 and No. 73 "La Chasse".

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