SYMPHONY No. 103 in E FLAT, ‘DRUM ROLL’

Adagio – Allegro con spirito
Andante piu tosto allegretto
Menuetto
Finale: Allegro con spirito

This work is Haydn's penultimate symphony, one of the three that he wrote for the 1795 season of Opera Concerts in London, which were produced by the violinist-composer Giovanni Battista Viotti. The ‘Drum roll’ of the title comes at the very beginning of the symphony, and as there are no dynamic markings at this point in the score, the actual sound of the roll on the timpani depends on the particular performance. It is worth noting, however, that the percussion is prominent not just here but throughout this particular symphony.

The slow introduction aroused, in the words of the critic of the Morning Chronicle, “the deepest attention”. Not surprisingly, for it is the longest of all Haydn’s symphonic slow introductions and exceptionally sombre in character; a brooding, almost sinister Adagio, with its dark blend of lower strings and bassoons.

Following this introduction the ensuing Allegro con spirito, in 6/8 time, brings a change in mood with its two lively themes. At the coda, Haydn restates the Adagio introduction, an original and unexpected device that no doubt delighted his London listeners. The Andante second movement which follows is based on a double set of variations in which two themes are stated, the first in C minor, the second in C major. Two variations on each theme are then presented in turn, with the first major mode variation featuring a charming violin solo.

The characteristic melodic feature of the the minuet movement is the short/long rhythmic formula commonly described as the ‘Scotch-snap’, although it is just as common a feature of Hungarian music of the time with which Haydn would have been familiar. There is a melancholy second theme, cast in a dark minor key. Clarinets, absent in the second movement, are prominent in the Trio section.

A short fanfare for two horns ushers in the main subject of the Allegro con spirito finale, which is unique in Haydn’s output for being based exclusively on one subject, with a complete absence of repeats. The first five notes of the theme will return constantly, emerging from one or another corner of the orchestra to drive the movement along. Haydn never hesitated to use, where appropriate, folk music as the basis of his material, and the theme of this movement, together with both subjects of the Andante, were folk tunes that would almost certainly have been familiar to the Croation farm folk inhabiting the countryside surrounding the Estarhazy palace of Haydn’s employer.

The first performance took place on March 2nd 1795 at the King’s Theatre in London, when it received a wildly enthusiastic reception. That very same night in Vienna, the twenty-four-year-old Beethoven made his debut at a concert given by Prince Lobkowitz.