JOSEPH HAYDN

The six Paris Symphonies by Joseph Haydn (Nos. 82-87, 1785–1786), commissioned by the Concert de la Loge Olympique, belong to the composer’s late period. A reviewer of the Mercure de France newspaper wrote about them: “This great genius has succeeded in developing each symphony from one single theme in such a rich and varied way! It’s not like music by other composers, constantly jumping from one thought to another.” In the Paris Symphonies, Haydn emerged as the master of irony and sophisticated humor of the highest-caliber.
Symphony No. 83 in G minor is a synthesis of dramatic mood, expression, elegance, and grace, enriched with humorous imitations of sounds, playful mimicking of bird song intonations. Due to the strings and oboes’ theme (in the 1st movement) evoking the clucking sound, the symphony received its subtitle The Hen.