Big Ben Phonogram

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphonys, 88, 89 & 90

Tracklisting

Symphony No. 88 in G major ("Letter V"), H. 1/88
1. I. Adagio - Allegro (5'13)
2. II. Largo (5'05)
3. III. Menuetto. Allegretto (4'06)
4. IV. Finale: Allegro con spirito (3'45)

Symphony No. 89 in F major ("Letter W"), H. 1/89
1. I. Vivace (5'12)
2. II. Andante con moto (4'24)
3. III. Menuet. Allegretto (3'37)
4. IV. Finale. Vivace assai (3'39)

Symphony No. 90 in C major ("Letter R"), H. 1/90
1. I. Adagio - Allegro assai (4'54)
2. II. Andante (6'58)
3. III. Menuet (4'56)
4. IV. Finale: Allegro assai (3'54)

Recording Date: August & October 1986
Recording Location:
The Concert Hall, Helsingborg, Sweden
Produced by: Francis Noorren
Balance Engineer: Göran Finnberg
Format: DDD Stereo

Recording Information

Haydn's symphonies have more pure fun in them than those of any other composer. Symphony No. 88 used to have a nickname, "The Letter V," but no one knows how it got the name or what it means. Nevertheless, it's one of Haydn's best, with a delicious bagpipe-like episode in the minuet, and a slow movement that prompted Brahms to exclaim, "I want my tenth symphony to sound like that!" Nos. 89 and 90 are equally delicious, but far less well known. This is a pity, for they are full of fine music, and No. 90 features some fantastic writing to timpani and high horns.
David Hurwitz

The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra originated in 1912, one of the first Swedish symphony orchestras. It was originally of the size of a chamber orchestra but today numbers some 51 musicians, giving some sixty concerts a year, in Helsingborg and the southern areas of Sweden. In 1988 the orchestra undertook its first foreign tour with a visit to Berlin, followed by tours to Poland and the then Czechoslovakia and subsequently to the United States of America and to Spain. The German conductor Hans-Peter Frank directed the orchestra throughout the 1980s and in 1991 Okko Kamu was appointed chief conductor. The Helsingborg Concert Hall acoustics created by the architect Sven Markelius have aroused great international interest and have served as a model for manymore recently built concert houses.

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