D. Stephen Heersink ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Haydn wrote 104 symphonies, a large opus of trios, quartets, and sonatas,
>13 Masses, etc.  Of the melieu, there's no one piece that I usually
>recognize instantly as "Haydn's 56th," or "Haydn's Trio in C,"

I'd be more worried if there were *two* pieces you instantly recopgnised as
Haydn's 56th...:-)

>The opus is just too large, and none of it is so impressive in and of
>itself to compare with Bach's B minor Mass, Beethoven's Fifth or Ninth,
>his piano concertos, Brahm's Symphony 4, etc.

But Stephen, this is entirely personal.  Of works by Haydn I'd recognise
immediately I'd include most of the Op50 and Op76 quartets, many of the
last 20-25 symphonies, the Nelson Mass, the C major Cello Concerto...

And actually, during the last couple of weeks I have frequently found
myself humming bits of the Drum Roll and the London symphonies.

Deryk Barker
[log in to unmask]