Warning: Quite a long post
For reasons this special and not too well known chapter in Haydn's work touches me a bit more.
Joseph Haydn travelled the British islands twice, the second time as an already old man. The English, Welsh and Scottish folk music inspired him to do great works. More than 400 song adaptations were created, including 375 Scottish songs alone - some of them landed on this album with the tenor Werner Güra.
In the case of the Scottish "folk songs", a distinction was made between song, this meant exclusively the text, and air, the melody. It usually already existed, was a traditional. The text was newly written about it and done were the songs, very popular at the end of the 18th Century, especially in the salons of the "upper class".
The market for it grew, and Haydn served several English clients. Some of these were extremely rich, like a certain George Thomson, who took the collection and publication of such songs as a life's work, who associated a special claim with it and commissioned arrangements from other European composers such as Beethoven and Weber. Nevertheless, these Haydn compositions are hardly to be mentioned popular today, but with the instrumentation of piano, cello and violin, although there is often even an artistic before and after, rather chamber music for a sophisticated entertainment.
One has to praise the musicians, especially the soloist Werner Güra. They did the balancing act between partly rough folk and high art songs with brilliance. Thrilling, exuberant, with so much joy in these miniatures. It was also a good idea to integrate the Piano Trio No. 27 in C major into the process, but not as a compact work, but sprinkling a movement here and there. Haydn's enthusiasm for English and Scottish folk music can also be heard in this trio.
Sorry for another very long sermon and I am aware that this kind of music isn't everyone's choice
) after a pub quiz brought John Fogerty back to my mind. His inglorious, silly, outrageous and in parts criminal behavior in the aftermath of CCR should be well known. Nevertheless he made some good music. The first solo album under his real name:
