Symphonic Intelligibility and Sonata Form

Abstract For Haydn’s biographer G. A. Griesinger, a perfectly logical and appropriate question to put to the most celebrated symphonist of his time was ‘to know from what motives Haydn wrote his compositions, as well as the feelings and ideas that he had in mind and that he strove to express through musical language’ (Not. 62). There was no doubt for Haydn that it was appropriate to answer this question, although given his age, it would have been ‘irksome’ to elucidate each work in this way. Haydn’s answer, which has already been cited in earlier chapters, should now be given in full: For those who doubt the capacity of the symphony to do anything other than serve a purely musical function, Haydn’s reply could be successfully dismissed in a number of ways. These could be the words of an elderly man whose thinking is no longer lucid. On the other hand, it could be yet another demonstration of Haydn’s famous sense of humour. However, in the context of the eighteenth century, this reply is entirely lucid and genuine. As we have seen, his choice of the term ‘moral characters’ was borrowed from the practice of the moral weeklies, a tradition over a century old by this time. His reference to an abandoned sinner raises an interesting matter as well. Supporters of programmatic music may wish to take these remarks as evidence that Haydn attempted to represent specific objects, persons, or events in his symphonies.