Haydn: Symphonies

This series devoted to Haydn s symphonies is probably the most ambitious recording project that Hogwood has embarked on, and one of the most impressive that has been undertaken in the world of period instruments. A project that sets out to counter a lack that is not only quantitative but also qualitative : or, rather, that seeks not only to spread awareness of a very extensive and unfamiliar area of Haydn s output but also to provide an interpretation closer to the spirit and wishes of the composer.
In that interview in 1997, Hogwood talked about himself, his memories, his projects and the idea of Haydn that he had developed over the years. He talked about a composer who, for many years, was only known to have written nine symphonies, like Beethoven, and who for a long time had been considered a light-hearted, superficial composer, adding that perhaps it was because, unlike Mozart, who somehow or other serves up music all fully formed, Haydn finds satisfaction in clearly enlightening us on the logic of his derivations: it was, he said, like the little voice on TV that gives a step-by-step explanation of what is happening.
But he also spoke of another Haydn, quite the opposite of immediate, one who lived in profundity: a learned master of balance and form. A composer whose secrets of composition as applied in the organisation of his symphonies, such as the references to the golden ratios of classical art, had only been revealed by computer studies. The proportions that in the past had inspired the architecture of Leon Battista Alberti and the musical instruments made by Stradivari. Hidden proportions that Hogwood sought to restore in his recordings by performing all the repetitions and ritornelli prescribed by the composer.
Massimo Rolando Zegna