James Zehm <[log in to unmask]> wrote about F.J.Haydn's
60th symphony:

>When I first heard it I thought: "This is another candidate for
>PDQ-Bach-lives".  For those who not yet have heard it: It starts with a
>melody that is going on for some seconds, just to be interrupted by the
>strings who are tuning their instruments.  The music starts again and is
>after a while interrupted by a slavonic melody, which clearly not should
>be supposed to be a part of the music if this had been a normal piece,
>etc etc...

One great admirer of Haydn, who was quite influential as a teacher
in Frankfurt-am-Main if I remember correctly, was Swiss composer Xaver
Schnyder von Wartensee.  I do not know his 2d Symphony (Hommage a Haydn),
but the third "Military" belongs to the type described by James.  Actually
it is a remarkable work under many respects -- a relatively long work,
bursting with energy (the slow movement itself is, of course, interrupted
by scherzando passages, which probably explains why one of Chailley's books
compared him to Berwald), often ironical as in the "sentimental" contrabass
melody at the middle of the first movement, but also full of sensibility,
and superbly orchestrated.  Maybe it is too lively actually, making it
an almost exhausting experience, but it would deserve to be performed
regularly.  I sometimes think that it is a kind of 19th-century equivalent
of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, less modern of course, but probably
deeper in a sense.

Best regards,

Thanh-Tam Le
[log in to unmask]