Symphony No. 32 (Haydn) Explained

The Symphony No. 32 in C major (Hoboken I/32) is a festive symphony by Joseph Haydn.^[1] The exact date of composition is unknown. It has been suggested by noted Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon that it could have been written as early as 1757 and as late as 1763.^[2] More recent scholars have suggested it was composed in either 1760 or 1761^[3]

Movements

The work is in four movements and is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings and continuo.^[4]

1. Allegro molto,
2. Menuet in C major and Trio in C minor,
3. Adagio ma non troppo, F major
4. Finale: Presto,

The work is one of the few symphonies of the Classical era to place the Minuet second (others include Haydn's 37th and 44th, and his brother Michael's 15th and 16th). The winds are dismissed for the slow movement. The time signature for the finale is consistent with an early date of its composition.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Antony Hodgson, The Music of Joseph Haydn: The Symphonies. London: The Tantivy Press (1976): 58. "Symphony No. 32 is remarkable for its sound. ... above all this is a Festive Symphony and the attack of the high brass with its percussive underpinning could only have been created by Haydn."
2. [H. C. Robbins Landon]
3. Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press, pp. 30 (2002). Table reads: Landon 55: c1760-65, Hoboken: by 1766, Landon 70s: c. 1759-60, Feder, New Grove: by 1766 (by 1760?), Gerlach: 1760/1761
4. (Landon, 1955): 663. "2 ob., 2 cor. (C, prob. alto), 2 clarini (trpt.), timp., str. (fag.), [cemb. ]."
5. (Hodgson, 1976): 59