Martinů / Shostakovich / Haydn
Sinfonietta La Jolla, H. 328 for chamber orchestra by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů was commissioned by a music society in the small California town of La Jolla, which asked Martinů in 1950 to write a melodic and accessible composition. In this lively three-movement work, with its pulsating ostinatos and syncopated rhythms, Martinů's “Haydn-like” playfulness is complemented by a lyricism that connects the music of the Sinfonietta to his homeland.
A distinctive feature of Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35 Dmitri Shostakovich is the use of the trumpet, which often acts as a sarcastic commentator on the musical events in the piano part. This work, with its neoclassical features from the early 1930s, resembles a virtuosic collage of images from various musical traditions (from Bach and Beethoven through Weber to Mahler, Prokofiev, and Hindemith), referencing both the musical past and present.
In 1790, the death of Miklós I Esterházy brought to an end Joseph Haydn's three-decade-long service to the family of influential Hungarian magnates. The composer was 58 years old, had secured a decent pension, lived in Vienna, enjoyed the status of one of Europe's greatest musicians, and did not wish to be tied down any further. However, when an offer came in the fall of 1790 from violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon (1745–1815) to perform concerts in England, he did not hesitate for long. Symphony No. 103 in E-flat major, “With the Roar of the Timpani,” Hob. I:103 is associated with his second trip to London. Critics hailed the symphony as a work of genius, both in harmony and melody, combining grandeur, nobility, and humor.
