Symphony no. 44 "Trauersymphonie"

The Symphony No. 44 in E minor, Hoboken 1/44, was completed in 1772 by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as Trauer (English: Mourning). Late in life, Haydn asked for the slow movement of this symphony to be played at his funeral.

Movements

The work is in four movements and is scored for two oboes, bassoon, two horns (in E and G), continuo (harpsichord) and strings:^[1]

1. Allegro con brio, 4/4
2. Menuetto: Allegretto, 3/4
3. Adagio, 2/4
4. Finale: Presto, 2/2

The piece is typical of Haydn's Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) period. The first movement, which is in sonata form, begins with a four-note motif played in unison which occurs throughout the movement. The second movement, unusually, is a minuet in E minor and trio in E major (this movement would normally come third). The minuet is in the form of a "Canone in Diapason" between the upper and lower strings with the lower strings trailing the upper strings by a single bar.^[1] Haydn would later use a similar double canon with the lower strings trailing the upper strings by one measure in the famous "Witches Minuet" of his D minor quartet from Op. 76.

The third movement is slow, also in E major, and with strings muted. The finale, like the first movement, is in sonata form and is dominated by a figure which opens the movement in unison. It is quite contrapuntal, and ends in E minor rather than finishing in a major key as was usual in most other minor key works of the time (including Haydn's next symphony, the Symphony No. 45, The Farewell).

Since all of the movements have the same tonic, the work is homotonal.

See also

• List of symphonies by name

Notes

References

• Robbins Landon, H. C. (1963) Joseph Haydn: Critical Edition of the Complete Symphonies, Universal Edition, Vienna