| Violin Concerto No. 4 | |
|---|---|
| by Joseph Haydn | |
 Joseph Haydn in 1791; portrait by Thomas Hardy | |
| Key | G major |
| Catalogue | Hob. VIIa/4 |
| Movements | 3 |
The Violin Concerto No. 4 in G major (Hob. VIIa/4) by Joseph Haydn is one of the composer's three surviving violin concertos. [1]
There is some doubt as to whether or not Haydn wrote the violin concerto, although there is general agreement that he did earlier than assumed, as it is more "old fashioned" than his previously numbered violin concertos. [2] As with his first violin concerto, it might have been written for Luigi Tomasini, concertmaster of the Esterházy orchestra, where Haydn was kapellmeister. [3] Although having been called "uniquely beautiful," [4] Haydn remarked, "I was no wizard on any instrument, but I knew the potentialities and effects of all. I was not a bad pianist and singer and was also able to play a violin concerto." [5]
Scored for solo violin, string orchestra, and basso continuo. A typical performance lasts approximately 19 minutes.
The first movement is smooth, and plaintive, in sonata form, with concise phrases and ornate embellishments. This is followed by an aria-like middle movement, which weaves between major and minor keys. [6] The movement, with its "unmatched intimacy and loveliness," is followed by a "high-spirited" monothematic sonata-rondo. [4] The last movement, perhaps the most Haydnesque of all three movements, closely follows the galloping patterns and embellishments used by C. P. E. Bach in his music. [6]
Sonata form is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century.
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was the only concerto for violin composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Composed in 1878, it is one of the best-known violin concertos.
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor.
D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F♯, G, A, B, and C♯. Its key signature has two sharps. The D major scale is:
E-flat major is a major scale based on E♭, consisting of the pitches E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E♭ minor,.
The Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. VIIb/1, by Joseph Haydn was composed around 1761-65 for longtime friend Joseph Franz Weigl, then the principal cellist of Prince Nicolaus's Esterházy Orchestra.
The Symphony No. 100 in G major, Hoboken I/100, is the eighth of the twelve London symphonies written by Joseph Haydn and completed in 1793 or 1794. It is popularly known as the Military Symphony.
The Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219, often referred to by the nickname "Turkish", was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1775, premiering during the Christmas season that year in Salzburg. It follows the typical fast-slow-fast musical structure.
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in C major by Joseph Haydn, fatto per il luigi, was written in the 1760s for a well-known violinist of the time, Luigi Tomasini, who was just back from Italy and soon became the concertmaster of the Esterházy orchestra.
Hyacinthe Jadin was a French composer who came from a musical family. His uncle Georges Jadin was a composer in Versailles and Paris, along with his father Jean Jadin, who had played bassoon for the French Royal Orchestra. He was one of five musical brothers, the best known of whom was Louis-Emmanuel Jadin.
The six String Quartets, Op. 76, by Joseph Haydn were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy (1754–1824). They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed. At the time of the commission, Haydn was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II and was composing the oratorio The Creation as well as Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy's annual mass.
The Op. 33 String Quartets were written by Joseph Haydn in the summer and Autumn of 1781 for the Viennese publisher Artaria. This set of string quartets has several nicknames, the most common of which is the "Russian" quartets, because Haydn dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and many of the quartets were premiered on Christmas Day, 1781, at the Viennese apartment of the Duke's wife, the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Some scholars theorize that the "Russian" quartets were the inspiration for Mozart’s six string quartets dedicated to Haydn, but no direct evidence has been found.
An organ concerto is an orchestral piece of music in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone.
Homotonal (same-tonality) is a technical musical term that describes the tonal structure of multi-movement compositions. It was introduced into musicology by Hans Keller. According to Keller's definition and usage, a multi-movement composition is 'homotonal' if all of its movements have the same tonic (keynote).
The Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Hob. XVI/18, L. 20, was written in 1767 by Joseph Haydn.
The Sonata in E-flat major is a keyboard sonata composed by Joseph Haydn, also referred to as a piano sonata. The three-movement work was published by Artaria in 1780 in a set of six sonatas dedicated to the sisters Katharina and Marianna Auenbrugger.
Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio No. 44 in E major, Hob. XV/28, was published in 1797 but may have been written a few years earlier while Haydn was still in England on the second of his highly successful London visits. It is the second of a set of three piano trios dedicated to the eminent pianist Therese Jansen Bartolozzi, and is noted for its especially wide expressive range as well as its virtuosity.
