Haydn: Symphony No. 59 in A Major, "Fire" Symphony

i am also only doing one entry for this symphony, which is very early haydn (circa ~1767, perhaps earlier). the nickname, as with most of haydn's, is more or less unrelated (at least, to the actual music). while one who was  looking at it in hindsight might be able to attribute the name to the perky opening and the quick tempo marking of the first movement, the symphony is not very much more or less fiery than any other symphony that haydn wrote during the time. the leading theory is that parts of it were used as the music to a play by Großmann called "die feuersbrunt" or the conflagration. but it was presented as a gift to the court of his patron esterhazy in full, after this

2 ob, 2 hn, strings

I. Presto

II. Andante o piu tosto allegretto (andante or a faster allegretto)

III. Menuotto

IV. Allegro assai

unfortunately i'm unable to provide a recording for this. hopefully i will find one someday, but i guess you'll have to live with a quick synopsis. because of this, i won't do my usual analysis type style since that's really dull if you don't have a recording to reference.

note the fast tempo marking of the first movement, which is probably the most interesting. the firsts do a quick pickup, but then the melody goes to the other strings while the firsts saw off on on a repeated A. then there is a gentler theme. a nice note i read says that the effect is as if two characters in a play have been introduced. the drama effect is a big force in the symphony, with the character being driving and insistent rather than normal sunny A major.
the second movement, in a minor, is actually in 3/4, which is a bit unusual. it's also not too slow, and sounds more like a minuet than anything else for a while. it has the character of a galante. there is also a crazy moment at the recap, where the horns, playing for the first time in the movement, burst in with a FF fanfare type figure over the quiet theme that vanishes almost as soon as it's played.
the third is a relatively fast (for the time) minuet, in A major switching to A minor during the trio.
the fourth opens with a brilliant horn duo in open intervals, which is answered by oboes before bursting into a rushed and lively string gallop.


i'm sure i will find a recording to update this with someday. until then, see if you can't keep an eye out for this very charming short symphony.