Haydn, Mozart and Pleyel: Rivalry And Interinfluences

Dana A. Nagina

Abstract


Ignaz Pleyel was one of the talented and extraordinarily popular composers of his time. At least twice in his life he could instill a sense of rivalry in his eminent contemporaries—Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This gave birth to several most interesting instrumental works of the 18th century, i.e., the “Haydn” Quartets by Mozart and the Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major by Haydn.

Mark Evan Bonds has convincingly shown that the “forefather” of the genre was not the only person involved in the three out of six Mozart’s quartets dedicated to Haydn. When composing his works, Mozart made himself familiar with Pleyel’s Quartets Oр. 1 written according to the model of Haydn’s works. Mozart, to all appearances, decided to surpass Pleyel.

Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major was composed during the creative competition with Pleyel in London. It was organized by rival impresarios Johann Peter Salomon and Wilhelm Kramer. The composition was Haydn’s answer to similar works by his ex-pupil Pleyel—Sinfonia Concertante in F major and Sinfonia Concertante in A major. However, where Mozart was an absolute winner leaving behind not entirely independent quartet experi- ments of his rival, the competition between Haydn and Pleyel ended in a “draw”. The London concert symphonies of both composers are marked by the maturity of style, beautiful melodism, compositional creativity as well as the harmonic balance of virtuosic solo parts and orchestral monumentalism.

Pleyel was instrumental in the very existence of certain works by Mozart and Haydn. However, both of them also influenced his style. This is especially true of Pleyel’s interpretation of the sonata form. In the first quartets he relied on Haydn’s model with the variant transformation of the main theme, then, however, he resorts to Mozart’s model with its thematic plurality, combinatorics, and thematic and structural parallels with the Italian opera arias. Pleyel's symphonies concertante are the extreme of similarity to Mozart's form.

Keywords: Haydn, Mozart, Pleyel, “Haydn's” quartets, concert symphony, sonata form

For citation: Nagina D. A. Haydn, Mozart and Pleyel: Rivalry and interinfluences [Electronic source]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya / Contemporary Musicology, 2021, no. 2, pp. 91–144. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.56620/2587-9731-2021-2-091-144


References


Abert G. V.A. Mozart: in 2 Vol. Vol.II, B. 1. 1783–1787 / Transl. from German and comments by K.K. Sakwa. Мoskow: Muzyka [Music], 1983.

Gerver L.L. Fuga dlya hora i ansamblya solistov v pozdnih messah Jozefa Gajdna [Fugue for Choir and Ensemble of Soloists in Late Masses by Joseph Haydn] [Electronic resource]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya [Contemporary Musicology]. 2021. №1. Pp. 57–77. (the article is being published).

Drobot Yu.K. O var'irovannyh reprizah v klavirnoj muzyke epohi barokko (na primere shesti sonat dlya klavira K.F.E. Baha) [On varied recapitulations in clavier music of the Baroque era (on the example of six sonatas for clavier by K.F.E.Bach)]. In: Muzichne mistectvo. Zbirnik naukovih statej. Vip. 13. [Musical art. Collection of scientific articles. Iss. 13.]. Donetsk-Lviv: YUgo-Vostok [Southeast], 2013. Pp. 236–248.

Kirillina L.V. Klassicheskij stil' v muzyke XVIII – nachala XIX veka. CH. III: Poetika i stilistika [Classical style in music of the 18th - early 19th centuries. Part III: Poetics and stylistics]. Мoscow: Izdatel'skij dom «Kompozitor» [Publishing house “Composer”], 2007.

Lutsker P.V., Susidko I.P. Mocart i ego vremya [Mozart and His Time]. Мoscow: Izdatel'skij dom «Klassika-XXI» [Publishing house “Classic-21”], 2015.

Nagina D.A. ZHanr koncertnoj simfonii v tvorchestve Gajdna i Mocarta [Concert symphony genre in the works of Haydn and Mozart] [Electronic resource]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya [Contemporary Musicology]. 2019. №3. Pp. 2–23. Available at: http://gnesinsjournal.ru/archives/2040 (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Nagina D.A. Jozef Gajdn i Ignac Plejel': uchitel' i ego uchenik [Joseph Haydn and Ignaz Pleyel: Master and His Student] // Nauchnye shkoly v muzykovedenii XXI veka: k 125-letiyu uchebnyh zavedenij imeni Gnesinyh. Materialy Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj onlajn-konferencii 24-27 noyabrya 2020 goda [Scientific schools in musicology of the XXI century: to the 125th anniversary of the Gnessin educational institutions. Materials of the International Scientific Online Conference on November 24-27, 2020] / editor and compiler T.I. Naumenko / Russian Academy of Music. Мoscow: Izdatel'stvo «Rossijskaya akademiya muzyki imeni Gnesinyh» [Publishing house “Russian Academy of Music named after the Gnesins”], 2020. Pp. 230–239.

Podkolzina O.V. Skripichnye koncerty V.A. Mocarta: osobennosti zhanra i ispolnitel'skoj interpretacii: dissertaciya … kandidata iskusstvovedeniya. [Violin Concertos of W. A. Mozart: features of the genre and performing interpretation: PhD thesis]. Moscow: 2010.

Bäzner H.A.,Hennerici M.G. What Was the Reason for Joseph Haydn's Mental Decline and Gait Disturbance? [Electronic resource]. In: Cerebrovascular Diseases. October 31, 1997. № 7. Pp. 359–366. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1159/000108224 (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Benton R. Ignace Joseph [Ignaz Josef] Pleyel [Electronic resource]. In: Grove Music Online. 2001. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.013.6002277636 (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Bonds M.E. Replacing Haydn: Mozart's “Pleyel” Quartets. In: Music and Letters. May 2007. Vol. 88, № 2. Pp. 201–225.

Dies A.Ch. Biographische Nachrichten von Joseph Haydn. Wien: Camesina, 1810.

Ehrentraud A. Ignaz Joseph Pleyel: Weltbürger aus Niederösterreich [Electronic resource]. In: Pleyel.at. 2011. S. 1–9. Available at: https://www.pleyel.at/pleyel/pdf/de/Pleyelbiographie.pdf (accessed: 1.06. 2020).

Ehrentraud A. Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757 Ruppersthal–1831 Paris). In: Ignaz Joseph Pleyel. Symphonie Concertante. Erich Schagerl, Violine Alexandra Uhlig, Flöte Emma Black-Davislim, Oboe Armin Berger, Horn Katalin Sebella, Fagott Stefan Stroissnig, Piano Camerata pro Musica, Christian Birnbaum. Aufnahme des Neujahrskonzerts am 4.1.2014, Haus der Musik in Grafenwörth. Internationale Ignaz Joseph Pleyel Gesellschaft (IPG). Ruppersthal, 2015.

Foglesong S. Haydn's sinfonia concertante for London [Electronic resource]. In: Scott Foglesong. Chair. Musicianship and Music Theory San Francisco Conservatory of Music. May 3, 2009. Available at: http://scottfoglesong.com/examiner/haydns_sinfonia_concertante_for_ london.html (accessed: 1.06. 2020).

Green E. A patron among peers: dedications to Haydn and the economy of celebrity. In: Haydn. Ed. By D.W. Jones. London: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 2016. Pp. 25–47.

Johann André [Electronic resource]. In: IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Available at: www.imslp.org/wiki/Johann_André (accessed: 1.06. 2020).

Joseph Haydn. Collected letters and notes. Using the collection of sources by H.C. Robbins Landon. Ed. and commented by D. Bartha. Kassel a.о: Bärenreiter, 1965.

Köchel L. Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts nebst Angabe der verlorengegange- nen, angefangenen, übertragenen, zweifelhaften und unterschobenen Kompositionen. Nachdruck der dritten, von A. Einstein bearbeiten Auflage. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1989.

Lenneberg H. Revising the history of the miniature score. In: Notes. Second Series. Dec., 1988. Vol. 45, № 2. Pp. 258–261.

Leopold Mozart an Maria Anna von Berchtold zu Sonnenburg in Salzburg, Wien, 14. und 16. Februar 1785 (BD 847). In: Mozart Letters and Documents – Online Edition / Ed. by International Mozarteum Foundation, Salzburg [Electronic resource]. Digital Interactive Mozart-Edition (DIME). Available at: https://dme.mozarteum.at/briefe-dokumente/online-edition/ (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Saner G.P. Ignaz Pleyel [Electronic resource] // Austria-Forum. 3. Februar 2014. Available at: https://austria-forum.org/af/Wis- senssammlungen /Essays/Musik/Pleyel_Ignaz_Josef. (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Symphonie concertante in E-flat major, B.111 (Pleyel, Ignaz) [Electronic resource]. In: IMSLP. Petrucci Music Library. Available at: imslp.org/wiki/Symphonie_concertante_in_E-flat_major%2C_B.111_ (Pleyel%2C_Ignaz) (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Tolley Th. Haydn’s “bloody harmonious war”: A Pictorial Souvenir of Battles with Publishers, “Professionals,” and Pleyel in London, 1788– 1792. Studia Musicologica 58/1, 2017. Pp. 15–56. Available at: DOI: 10.1556/6.2017.58.1.2. (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Wigmore R. Introduction [Electronic resource]. In: Mozart: Concertos; Haydn: Sinfonia concertante. Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (con- ductor). Hyperion Records Ltd, London. 2012–2014. Booklet. 2015. Pp. 6–8. Available at: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/68090-B.pdf. (accessed: 1.06.2020).

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart an Leopold Mozart in Salzburg, Wien, April 784 (Bd. 786). In: Mozart Letters and Documents – Online Edition / Ed. by International Mozarteum Foundation, Salzburg [Electronic resource]. Digital Interactive Mozart-Edition (DIME). Available at: https://dme.mozarteum.at /briefe-dokumente/online-edition/ (accessed: 1.06.2020).




DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2021-2-091-144

Copyright (c) 2021 Dana A. Nagina

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/