Johann Peter Salomon’s Scores of Four Haydn Symphonies 1791-1792 - Edition with Commentary

When the violinist and orchestra leader Johann Peter Salomon invited Joseph Haydn to London as the featured composer for his public concert series in 1791-92 and again in 1794-95, he could not have imagined the significance these concerts would assume in the history of orchestral performance, nor could he have foreseen that the twelve symphonies Haydn wrote for his orchestra would become important models of the mature Classical symphonic style. In light of the historical significance of the concerts and symphonies composed for them, considerable effort has gone into understanding the complex web of interrelationships of contemporary sources for these “London” symphonies. H. C. Robbins Landon’s monumental study in the 1950s and ‘60s, followed by the more recent critical scores compiled by the editors of the Joseph Haydn Werke, have answered many of the questions regarding the authenticity of the many sources, including Haydn’s autograph scores, score and part copies made by Haydn’s amanuensis Johann Elssler, and early printed parts by various publishers. In the early 1980s, Arthur Searle and A. Hyatt King uncovered Salomon’s own scores for the twelve “London” symphonies among the Royal Philharmonic Society Collection of the British Library. Haydn’s autograph scores of two of the symphonies from his first trip to London were bound with score copies of the other four from this trip. These four score copies were made sometime between 1792 and 1794 from Salomon’s performance parts rather than other scores, and thus reflect the details of the early performances in London under Salomon’s leadership, quite possibly even their premières.

This book presents these significant scores in a modern edition that is suitable for scholars and performers. Copious critical notes and discussions of various aspects of the manuscripts, including physical descriptions, and their provenance and relationship to other contemporary sources, will be most enlightening for musicologists interested in Haydn source materials. Conductors will find that the careful, clear editing of the scores can easily translate to performance. In addition, the description of important performance aspects found in Salomon’s scores, but not all other authentic sources, will reveal to scholar and conductor musical details that were likely part of the earliest performances of these works in London, but have not been included in other modern editions.