Stirling Newberry replies to Kevin Sutton:

>>The representation was very dissonant for its day.  The opening oboe solo
>>which begins as a chromatic scale would have sounded very strange indeed to
>>early nineteenth century ears.  We are accustomed to that sort of thing now
>>so it doesn't sound strange, but it did at the premier!
>
>You were there? If it sounded so bleeding strange and dissonant - why was
>it an instant popular hit? Haydn had had to alter works which were too
>dissonant for "learned ears".

I go with Stirling and we recommed a listen to Gesualdo, a propos
dissonance...

Mats Norrman
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