Mogens Wöldike

Complete Danish Recordings

of Haydn Symphonies

Mogens Wöldike

Complete Danish Recordings

of Haydn Symphonies

Cello Concerto in D major with

Erling Blöndal Bengtssonand

Six German Dances

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If we look back to the middle years of the lastcentury we can see that it was an importanttime for the music of Joseph Haydn 1732-1809.The main reason for this was probably theformation of the Haydn Society of Boston in1949 by the American scholar H C RobbinsLandon 1926-2009. An early aim of the Societywas the publication of accurate editions ofHaydn’s scores under the musical guidance ofanother important Haydn scholar, this timefrom Denmark; Jens Peter Larsen 1902-88. Theshort-lived Haydn Society – it came to an end in1954 – is now remembered more for its recordsthan its scores but for these too J P Larsen wasan important link. He led Robbins Landon to acontact with the remarkable and distinguishedconductor of all the items on these two CDs,Mogens Wöldike, 1897-1988, who was,incidentally, Larsen’s father-in-law.

Until the end of the 1939-45 war, Haydn was acomposer more read about than performed.Perhaps ten of his more than a hundredsymphonies, a couple of concertos and ahandful of quartets were in the regularrepertoire. Of Haydn’s piano music, a fewsonatas were used for teaching purposes and inthe Catholic areas of central Europe a little ofhis church music was given local, liturgicalperformance. The two late oratorios TheCreation and The Seasons with their great lengthand big demands on soloists, chorus andorchestra were almost never performed. As lateas the beginning of 1950 neither had ever beenheard anywhere on records. As much as 95% ofHaydn’s music had been left in silence foralmost one and a half centuries.

The final vital factor was the expansion ofrecording – of Haydn’s as of all other music – inthe mid 20th century. Magnetic tape recordinghad been brought to a remarkable standard inGermany by 1945 though it was to be someyears before it replaced direct recording onto78rpm wax masters in studios elsewhere. Whenit did, robust, easily portable equipment replacedmassive but delicate disc cutting machines atrecording locations. Long ‘takes’, instant play-back and simple editing all became standardpractice. The last link in the chain; the popularand successful 33.3 rpm vinyl microgroove ‘LP’record which appeared in Europe from 1950onwards brought all this new technology to thepublic in a relatively compact form. Sidelengths of up to 30 minutes would have neverhave been musically practicable without theediting made possible by magnetic tape. Of theitems on these two CDs, only the Symphony No91 and the German Dances – which originallyfilled the sixth side of its three record set – weredirect-to-disc 78 recordings. All the other itemswere originally recorded onto tape.

Between 1950 and 1953 Haydn Society broughtout 29 of Haydn’s symphonies that had neverpreviously been recorded. All of them were onLP records and all but three of the records weremade in Vienna where depressed, post-wareconomic conditions made the hire of bothmusicians and recording venues very cheap foran American enterprise. It is fair to describethese Vienna recordings, both musically andtechnically, as enthusiastic and ambitiousrather than fully professional in their standards.Many were made in great haste.

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Of a very different quality and value are thethree of the 29 that are presented here; theSymphonies 43, 50 and 61. Although firstissued by Haydn Society, these recordings weremade by EMI Denmark and featured one ofEurope’s foremost orchestras working under aconductor – Wöldike – with a long-establishedreputation who was also a perfectionist inmatters of scholarship, style and detailedrehearsal. Like all the other music in thiscollection, these recordings were made in theLarge Concert Hall of the Radio House inCopenhagen which had been completed in1946. A form of passive resistance devisedrepeated ‘construction delays’ during the Nazioccupation to deprive the enemy of any creditfor the project. The Radio Symphony Orchestra– the oldest such in the world – reached aninternational standard after enlargement andintensive work following the war. There weretours abroad, and many recordings with theDanish conductors Thomas Jensen, Erik Tuxenand Launy Grøndahl. Fritz Busch and NikolaiMalko were engaged to strengthen theOrchestra’s experience with the Austro-GermanRussian and French repertoires while MogensWöldike specialised in 18th century musicincluding choral-orchestral pieces. Amongthese were also works by Nielsen of whom hewas eventually to be the last surviving pupil.

The Large Concert Hall had been designed withspecial care for its acoustic and proved oncompletion to have an impressive combinationof warmth, clarity and spaciousness. Minorchanges were made in its early years for thebenefit of the performers, who were able to

improve their sense of ensemble as a result. Thesound of the hall which became the home of theRadio Symphony Orchestra makes animportant contribution to the impact and effectof all these recordings.

Symphony No 43 in the warm key of E flatmajor has the obscure title ‘Mercury’ which isnot Haydn’s own. It is a typical Austrianchamber symphony scored only for strings, twooboes and two horns. Other examples, all from1771-2 are Nos 44-47 which like 43 have theviolins muted in their slow movements. No 50,its original disc-partner, is in the greatestcontrast; in the open ‘festive’ key of C major. Aspecial feature of the score – as also No 48 andseveral others of the period – is the use of twohorns in high C, sounding at written pitch; atype long obsolete. There is also a pair oftympani just as there would have been withtrumpets. Robbins Landon’s original notes tothe LP record had some important information.The strings in the orchestra numbered six eachof first and second violins, four violas, twocellos and a single double bass. The bass line ofboth scores was doubled – as in Haydn’s day –by a bassoon. The author was clearly proud ofthe fact that the horns used had been speciallymade for his ‘own’ Haydn Society. The scoremakes provision for them to be supported bytrumpets; the parts for both are closely similarbut sometimes we seem to hear only the horns.The author states in the 1951 note: “to the bestof our knowledge, it [Symphony No 50] hasnever been performed anywhere since theeighteenth century”.

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The 1953 record which coupled the symphonies44 and 48 was made by the Decca Companyindependently of Haydn Society and EMI. It isre-issued here for the first time. The cover andlabel announced the “Danish State RadioSymphony Orchestra” but what we hear isclearly the same chamber-sized ensemble asbefore. Possibly the use of the word ‘Symphony’was thought to confer a higher status than‘Chamber’ used on all the other discs. Wöldikealways preferred to have the exposition repeatsof first and last movements played but here theDecca producer must have opposed the ideathough there would have been plenty of roomon the LP disc. In the recording there is a closeperspective of great clarity typical of Decca atthat time but with the acoustic ambience of theRadio Concert Hall less audible. The sombre Eminor character of No 44, called ‘Trauer-‘ orMourning- Symphony is exceptional. The nextsymphony in E minor to stay in the orchestralrepertory was Brahms’s No 4 of 1885! Again itmakes the greatest contrast with the brilliant Cmajor of No 48 ‘Maria Theresa’ though it nowseems that the work actually written for theEmpress’s visit to Esterház in 1773 was No 56.Both 48 and 56 have identical scoring to No 50but the players must have lost the use ofRobbins Landon’s C-horns by 1953 so Wöldikeopted for the effective solution in No 48 –sanctioned by Haydn’s score – of usingtrumpets so that we hear the parts at the rightpitch if not quite the ideal timbre.

Repeats are also missing in the first of all theserecordings, No 91 in E flat major of 1788 but thereason was surely to save space on the 78rpm

format. The result was a final free side whichwas used for the delightful German Dances, thefirst six of twelve written for the ViennaRedoutensaal in 1792. The warmth of theacoustic of the Radio Concert Hall is veryapparent in both these recordings and theirquality will surprise many listeners. The sameis true of the last and rarest of the symphonyrecordings, No 61 in D major of 1776 which wasavailable for only a short time and only in theUSA. After the gravity and concentration of themusic of 1767-73 there was a lightening of boththe form and the mood of Haydn’s symphoniesyet No 61 has a long slow movement thatanticipates the solemn Seven Last Words musicof ten years later.

The D major Cello Concerto of 1783 nowknown as No 2 (No 1 had yet to come to light,in Prague in 1961) was the last of all therecordings in this collection. The Danish-Icelandic soloist Erling Blöndal Bengtsson gavean expansive performance with slower temposthan usual especially on the first movement.One suspects that Wöldike may have subduedhis natural instinct to move forward morevitally here out of respect for the soloist but thiswas a performance that Robbins Landonadmired when he spoke of it in a BBC broadcastin the autumn of 1964.

There must be some compelling reasons for re-issuing any series of recordings after a gap ofmore than half a century but we are confidentthat – perhaps with a little prompting – musiclovers of today will respond to the integrity andtimeless musicality that can be heard so vividly

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in recordings which are, fortunately, remark-able in technical quality for their age. Whenthey were made authenticity was a matter ofthe correctness of the text rather than details ofthe instruments used. The scale of the per-formances is very much as it would now be butthe instruments used would now be called‘modern’. For the strings this means old, butwith some more recent modifications. Theplaying is forthright yet sensitive, plain yetbeautiful. Mogens Wöldike came to this musicrelatively late in his career from his work withmostly earlier music as an organist and choir-master. The route to Haydn today is tradition-ally from the opposite direction. A constanttheme in his musical life was the pursuit oftruth through directness and simplicitywhether in the reform of Danish church musicwhich was built on the ideals of Thomas Laubor his tuition and mentorship of many membersof the choirs with which he worked, notably thetenor Aksel Schiøtz. Musicians of Wöldike’stype seem hardly to be heard of in our time. Hewas the antithesis of the celebrity.

Yet Wöldike’s instinct with the orchestra wassure and powerful. Vigorous semiquaverfiguration in the strings such as occurs in thefirst movement of Symphony No 44 followingbar 20 is executed with exciting panache as thenatural elasticity of the bows makes them leavethe strings between every tiny stroke. Thislively effect can be heard everywhere in hisorchestral recordings. At other times the violinssing out with a kind of contained ecstasy (No50, 1st movement, Allegro di molto). Even theirsurging repeated notes later are unaccountably

exciting. Yet another recurrent strengtheverywhere in these performances is the‘speaking’ quality of the phrasing (as in thetheme that begins the finale of No 50 or thelong first theme of no 43). Sometimes theconductor seems to set the players going withsuch a decisive gesture that the rest of themusic plays itself with only the lightestintervention from him (finale of No 48) and inthe final Prestissimo of No 61 there is hugegood humour and wellbeing without a trace ofhaste. One final strange detail is the ‘chinkchink’ sound heard on each beat of the sturdyminuet of No 43. This sounds rather like thesleigh-bells in Mozart’s K 605 but it is mostlikely to be the lively bowing of the singledouble bass. The skill and commitment of theexceptional players in all these performancesbring all the interpretative strengths of theconductor vividly before us. It is a marvellouspartnership that we hear.

These recordings were truly before their time.Through this re-issue they deserve to have anew life.

Graham SilcockApril 2011.

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Mogens Wöldike and the Gramophone

Wöldike was quick to understand the potentialof the gramophone. His first two records, madein 1928, were with his own Palestrina Choir. A12 inch disc has Gabrieli’s twelve voice,polyphonic Benedictus and another polyphonicwork by Palestrina; the motet Sicut cervusdesiderat ad fontem. On the other disc (10 inch)there is Praetorius’s version of En rose så jegSkyde and Kingo’s Hører til, I høje Himle.

We reach the mid 1930s before Wöldike reallystarts to assert himself as a conductor inrecordings – naturally enough a choralconductor – with records of both the MadrigalChoir and the Copenhagen Boys’ Choir. Therepertoire was centred around the lateRenaissance and early Baroque. Best knowninclude Buxtehude’s Cantatas Send hid din Engel(Send hither thine Angel) from 1936 and Was michauf dieser Welt Betrübt (1940). But the most lovedof them were the 1939 Morning Song and Oluf’sBallade both from Gade’s Elverskud. In these canbe heard The Copenhagen Boys’ Choir and theYoung Artists’ Music Society orchestra withAksel Schiøtz. This record became uniquelypopular and sold a very large number of copies,remaining in the catalogue and in the shopsuntil the mid-1950s and the end of 78 rpm era.

Another popular disc (1943) was of pieces byMozart, Ave Verum Corpus with The Boys’Choir, and Alleluia from Exsultate, Jubilate withKarin Munk as soloist. In that same year, justbefore Wöldike had to flee to Sweden with hiswife who was of Jewish descent and so in

danger of Nazi persecution in occupiedDenmark, he recorded five pieces from MogensPederssøn’s collection Pratum spirituale from1620 : Kyrie at Easter, Aleneste Gud I Himmerig,Ad te levavi , Med Konning David Klage and Nubede vi den Helligånd.

After the war, as early as 1945, Wöldike quicklyresumed recording work with Buxtehude’sAperite mihi Portas and three years later withthe Madrigal Choir came Gabrieli’s Jubilate Deoin eight parts and Schütz’s Selig sind die toten(six parts). He remade Gabrieli’s Benedictuswith the Madrigal Choir and, with them also,there was Buxtehude’s Missa Brevis.

With a few exceptions like the Elverskud record,one must say that all this is what we, today,would call a narrow repertoire. But in the late1940s the field began to expand.Wöldike had formed a chamber orchestra; theRoyal Chapel Chamber Orchestra which, whileplaying only baroque music, included worksthat appealed to a wider audience. With it hebegan recording Bach’s BrandenburgConcertos, and also Bach’s concertos withviolin and oboe, and two violins as well as oneof Corelli’s Concerti grossi.

Eventually it was difficult to maintain the RoyalChapel Chamber Orchestra and Wöldike beganto record with the Radio Chamber Orchestrawhich was also founded at his instigation. Itsmembers were chosen by him from the RadioSymphony Orchestra so that he could cultivatehis ideal sound. With this ensemble he maderecords both in the 78 and LP eras.

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Before leaving the 78 era I must just mentionHaydn’s Symphony No 91 which can be heardon this CD set, a pair of sinfonias by theSwedish Baroque composer Johan Roman, theOboe Concerto in F minor of Telemann and ahighly successful recording of Bach’s cantata Ichhabe genug with the Swedish baritone BernhardSönnerstedt as soloist. Wöldike had metSönnerstedt during his stay in Sweden duringthe war. The singer made several records inDenmark with the pianist Folmer Jensenprobably because of this association.

When the LP became the main format forrecords, Wöldike continued with his series ofthe Brandenburg Concertos and also theOrchestral suites. Repertoire also began toappear from the classical period and thenworks by Carl Nielsen who was among histeachers and with whom he collaborated onseveral publications. Most famous of theserecordings was the Nielsen Violin Concertowith Menuhin as soloist, but also Springtime inFunen was often played. Of the classicalrepertoire I must mention Mozart’s ClarinetConcerto with the French clarinettist LouisCahuzac and Haydn’s D major cello concerto;part of this CD release. The romantic repertoirewas never central in his work but there is anexcellent recording of J P E Hartmann’s FirstSymphony and the overture to his Yrsa in theDanish Music Anthology series.

Besides this long series of records, Wöldikemade, here in Denmark, in the late 1940s alittle-known series for a small Americanpublisher, The Gramophone Shop. This

publishing house specialised in Renaissancemusic and pre-Bach Baroque compositions. 3578rpm records were produced and intendedprimarily for the US market. The mainperformers were Wöldike and the organist FinnViderø. The records could be bought inDenmark but there was little interest in therepertoire and the marketing was so low-keythat even those that might have been interestedwere rarely aware of the records’ existence.

Wöldike had a considerable internationalreputation and was given the opportunity tomake with the Radio Chamber orchestrarecords for release abroad. All the Haydn LPrecordings in this collection are in that category.Another example is the recording of Haydn’sHeiligmesse with the Copenhagen Boys’ Choirwhich was made in collaboration with theHaydn Society of Boston USA.

From the mid 1950s several large choral workswith internationally-known soloists wererecorded in Vienna. These were made byVanguard records USA whose classical divisionwas under the control of Seymour Solomonwho met Wöldike on the recommendation of HC Robbins Landon. The largest project wasBach’s St Matthew Passion in stereo with TeresaStich-Randall and Walter Berry among thesoloists and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra(known on the records as the ‘Vienna StateOpera Orchestra’ for contractual reasons).]Stich Randall, Anton Dermota and PaulSchöffler were among the soloists in a 1955recording of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with thesame orchestra. The following year this team

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recorded Haydn’s last six big LondonSymphonies 99-104.

In an interview in 1997 Seymour Solomon, inlate retirement, remembered the recordsWöldike made with his Company as among itsfinest achievements.

There is no discography of recordings eitherconducted by him or in which he participatesand this little review does not claim to beexhaustive. It aims simply to demonstrateWöldike’s music breadth and his ability toexploit his contacts both in Denmark andabroad. Another scene of his activities wasEngland where he conducted and, through hiscontacts with Robert Layton, an authority onthe musical life of Scandinavia and Finland anda radio producer, was heard on the BBC.

To summarise, without doubt Wöldike is theDanish conductor that has had by far the largestrecord production outside Denmark. No otherDane can remotely approach him in this respect.

Many of the older records are now lessinteresting than once they were but the Haydnrecordings are stamped with a clarity andauthority that speak to the listener of today andwork just as freshly on him as they did sixtyyears ago. I still remember the radio broadcastswith Haydn symphonies – and perhapsespecially the Schöpfungsmesse a highlightamong the transmissions of the 1960ties. Ibelieve that it was in his Haydn performancesthat Mogens Wöldike reached the pinnacle ofhis career as a conductor.

Mogens Wöldike brief biography

Mogens Wöldike, 1897-1988 occupied a centralposition in Danish musical life for more thanhalf a century. He prevailed in many areas ofchurch music both as an organist and especiallyas a choral conductor. In addition he didextensive work as an orchestral conductor aswell as being an organiser and initiator in awealth of areas of musical life.

Wöldike graduated in 1915 and one year latertook his organists’ exam privately at the RoyalDanish Academy of Music. By the time, in1920,he took the Masters’ Degree at the University ofCopenhagen he had come under the influenceof Thomas Laub’s ideas on the nature of churchmusic. The following year he was appointed tothe position of cantor at Holmens Church inCopenhagen where Laub was organist and in1925 he succeeded Laub in that position.Already in 1922 he had helped to found theDanish Church Singing Society. By 1927 hesucceeded Laub as its Chairman.

As early as 1922 Wöldike also founded thePalestrina Choir whose many concerts at homeand abroad showed that in a few years he hadcreated and ensemble with a high standard thathad hardly been heard in Denmark. In 1928 theRadio Choir was created. Many formermembers of the Palestrina Choir which wasdisbanded became members of it. In 1937Wöldike became leader of the choir, nowknown as the Radio Madrigal Choir whichspecialised in A capella works.

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In his choir training Wöldike was inspired bythe Thomanerchor of Leipzig and by the Choirof King’s College Chapel, Cambridge amongothers. He founded the Copenhagen Boys’ choirin 1924 and under his influence the Copenha-gen Municipality transformed one of the localschools into a special singing school; the St.Annæ High School which is still very muchalive today.

Christiansborg Palace Chapel was transferredin 1931 to a parish church and Wöldike becamethe organist. He attached the Boys’ Choir to thechurch and held many musical evening eventswith it. He continued this practice in theCathedral Church of Our Lady after taking upoffice as organist there in 1959. The ChurchMusic Evenings presented a repertoire that waslargely unknown at that time to Danishaudiences. But before the war he includedmajor works such as The Creation of Haydnwith full orchestra. It was through theseconcerts that Wöldike gained experience as anorchestral conductor which would later come tobe of great importance both to himself and toDenmark’s future musical life.

In 1943 Wöldike and his wife had to move toSweden as she was of Jewish descent andwould have come under the Nazi spotlight. Hewas soon linked to the national radio corpora-tion Radiotjänst both as choral and orchestralconductor especially in the Haydn and Mozartrepertoire. Home again after the war, Wöldike’swork on the Danish Radio steadily grew. In1948 the choir was again reorganised and thenext year with the introduction of two radio

programmes instead of one the Radio ChamberOrchestra was created, again from his initiative.As an employee at the State Broadcasting aschoir and orchestra conductor from 1950,Wöldike now had, in effect, his own orchestraof hand-picked members of the SymphonyOrchestra with which he could work inten-sively to realise his own sound ideals. Overtime this arrangement led to the formation offactions and some grumbling within theSymphony Orchestra but the musical results ofit were excellent and through numerous toursan international reputation was established.

Wöldike played an important part in the worldof publishing. Most famous of his achievementsare the Folk High School Melody Book and theofficial Danish Choral Book of The DanishChurch. His organisational skills ensured thathis ideas had both firm foundations and werepractical and viable. In addition he had the giftof presenting his plans convincingly and to theright people. He was especially skilled inwinning the support of his colleagues and hisartistic integrity always guaranteed quality.Over the years Wöldike received numerousawards and recognitions. Here are a few:Ingenio et Arti (1948), member of the RoyalSwedish Academy of Music - in recognition ofhis efforts in Sweden during the war (1950).The Carl Nielsen Prize (1957), Sonning´s MusicPrize (1976). In 1965 he was awarded anHonorary Doctorate at the University ofCopenhagen. After a major US tour with theBoys’ Choir on the occasion of the 200th

anniversary of the American Declaration ofIndependence in 1776, Mogens Wöldike was

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even made an honorary citizen of the State ofKentucky.

Claus ByrithAugust 29, 2011

A note on the recordings:

Symphonies 43, 44, 48, 50 and 61 are found inseveral different issues and pressings from theHaydn Society, Decca and Nixa. The recordsused are those mentioned. The year ofrecording is difficult to establish. The label onthe Haydn Society HSLP 1041 recording says:Recorded in Copenhagen 1951. The others statenothing and the years indicated are based onknown dates for matrices close to those foundhere.

Den originale danske tekst af Claus Byrith kanfindes på internettet under:http://danacord.dk/frmsets/records/703-704-r.html

A larger-than-life sized bronze statue ofERLING BLÖNDAL BENGTSSON stands infront of Reykjavik´s University Concert hall inIceland´s capital city. Erected in 1970, thestatue, by the Icelandic sculptress OlöfPalsdottir, is the testimonial to the esteem inwhich the legendary cellist is held by all ofScandinavia.

Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, born 1932, regularlyperforms in Europe, the United States, SouthAmerica and Russia.

He has appeared with most of the world´sleading orchestras including the RoyalPhilharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic,English Chamber Orchestra, Salzburg´sMozarteum Orchestra, the Hague´s ResidentieOrkest under the direction of many of today´sleading maestros, such as Yuri Temirkanov,Mariss Jansons, David Zinmann, Sixten Ehrling,Herbert Blomstedt, Sergiu Commissiona.

His repertoire is all-encompassing and he haschampioned the works of leading Scandinaviancomposers, as well as performing theScandinavian premieres of cello concertos byBritten, Barber, Khatchaturian, Delius,Lutoslawsky and Walton and, indeed, the lattertwo, themselves, conducted several perform-ances each with Mr. Bengtsson as soloist.

A consistent recording artist, with over 50albums, he has, along with the completestandard repertoire for cello and orchestra,recorded many contemporary concertos, mostof which were dedicated to him.

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In 1985, his recordings of the six Cello Suites ofJ.S. Bach on the Danacord, was selected as “Thechoice of the year” by the American recordingmagazine Fanfare. In 1998 his recording of theZoltán Kodály Solo Sonata, was chosen by the“GUINNESS CLASSICAL 1000” as being one ofthe top 1000 recordings of all time.

At the age 16, Erling Blöndal Bengtsson wasaccepted by the Curtis Institute of Music inPhiladelphia, where he took up studies withGregor Piatigorsky. One year later, he becamePiatigorsky´s instructing assistant and thefollowing year became a faculty member of theCurtis Institute.

A world-class performer who also enjoyspedagogy, Mr. Bengtsson has become a rolemodel for a whole family of young cellists inEurope and abroad. During the course of acareer spanning seven decades, he has been onthe faculties of the leading conservatories ofCopenhagen, Stockholm and Cologne.

In 1990 he returned to the United States as a fullprofessor at the School of Music of theUniversity of Michigan in Ann Arbor until2006. He is now concentrating on concertizingand giving master-classes.

Erling Blöndal Bengtsson has been awarded theKnight, first class, of the order of Dannebrog,Denmark, and from Iceland, the Grand Knightof the Order of the Falcon.

He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academyof Music and has been awarded the EnglishHyam Morrison Gold Medal for Cello. In 1993he was honored with the title “Chevalier duVioloncelle” by Indiana University, School ofMusic, Eva Janzer Memorial Cello Center. In2001 he received the Manchester InternationalCello Festival's “Award of Distinction”.Named "Premier Master Cellist 2005" by TheDetroit Cello Society,U.S.A.

The IFPI (The International Federation of thePhonographic Industry) Honorary Award 2006.Copenhagen, Denmark.

A DVD was released nov. 2007, ”The Cello and I”to celebrate EBB's 70 years on the concert stage.

www.erlingbb.comwww.danacord.dk

DACOCD 703-704

Mogens Wöldike conducts Haydn

CD 1Symphony No. 48, C Major (?1769) 20:08[ 1 ] Allegro 6:01[ 2 ] Adagio 6:20[ 3 ] Menuetto (Allegretto) 5:09[ 4 ] Finale (Allegro) 2:30Decca LXT 2832, Mtx. ARL 1720 Rec 1953

Symphony No. 44, E Minor (1772) 19:50[ 5 ] Allegro con brio 5:11[ 6 ] Menuetto (Allegretto) 5:59[ 7 ] Adagio 5:41[ 8 ] Finale (Presto) 2:49Decca LXT 2832 Mtx. ARL 1721R rec 1953

Symphony No. 50, C Major (1773) 18:53[ 9 ] Adagio e maestoso-Allegro di molto5:45[10] Andante moderato 3:44[11] Menuetto 5:07[12] Finale (Presto) 4:10Haydn Society HSLP 1041 Mtx. XTV 15175 Rec 1951

Symphony No. 91, E Flat Major (1788) 20:10[13] Largo-Allegro assai 6:39[14] Andante 5:18[15] Menuetto (Un poco allegretto) 4:13[16] Finale (Vivace) 3:54HMV Z 7016/18 Mtx 2CS 2682/86 (78rpm records) Rec 1949

CD 2[ 1 ] – [ 6 ] 12 German Dances

No. 1 – 6 (1792) 4:43HMV Z7016 Mtx 2CS2687 Rec 1949 (78 rpm record)

Cello Concerto in D Major (1783) 26:11[ 7 ] Allegro moderato 15:42[ 8 ] Adagio 5:33[ 9 ] Rondo (Allegro) 4:48Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, cello.HMV ALP 1501 Mtx 2XCS 146/47 Rec 1956

Symphony No. 43 E Flat Major (1772) 22:11[10] Allegro 7:56[11] Adagio 5:39[12] Memuetto 3:39[13] Finale (Presto) 4:46Haydn Society HSLP 9071 Mtx K8-OP-011 Rec 1951

Symphony No. 61, D Major (1776) 24:29[14] Vivace 8:34[15] Adagio 7:42[16] Menuetto (Allegretto) 4:15[17] Finale (prestissimo) 3:47Haydn Society HSL-1047 Mtx XTV17149 Rec 1952

DACOCD 703DACOCD 704

2 CD

MONO ADD

Transferred by Claus Byrith

Produced by Claus Byrith andGraham Silcock

Executive producer:Jesper Buhl

DANACORDNørregade 22

DK-1165 Copenhagen©DANACORD 2011www.danacord.dk

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CDThere must be some compelling reasons for re-issuing any series of recordings after a gap ofmore than half a century but we are confident that – perhaps with a little prompting – musiclovers of today will respond to the integrity and timeless musicality that can be heard sovividly in recordings which are, fortunately, remarkable in technical quality for their age.