J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

material in different keys, with little in the way of textural or thematic relief, hardly
sounds like a recipe for an exciting fugue; but the whole texture is energised by the
omnipresence of the introduction’s enigmatic repeated crotchets.
The movement is further enlivened by Haydn’s enterprising orchestration. His
orchestra is significantly bigger than that of Symphonies no.3 and 40, now including
flute, bassoon, trumpets, and timpani; tonic entries are doubled with striking effect by
the brass and timpani. There are also a number of imaginative, unusual doublings
involving the woodwind (bb.53-60, 64-69, 120-24); and occasionally the woodwind
are entrusted with a contrapuntal line of their own (bb.44-49 and 68-71). Haydn’s
procedure is never predictable for long—the synthesis of orchestral and fugal thought
here is of a very high order.
An exciting stretto begins at b.105, first subject only, at half a bar’s distance.
This compression of the entries, per arsin et thesin, destabilises the metre’s strong-
weak pattern; and soon in bb.115-119 there is an almost Beethovenian rhythmic
diminution as the thematic unit is reduced from two bars to one bar to half a bar. This
is followed by further development of the three subjects over a lengthy dominant
pedal, after which there is a sense of recapitulation in b.135 (tonic entry in the bass,
initially doubled by brass as at bb.37 and 67).
Fugal activity appears to end with an abrupt cadence in b.143, and the
introductory material returns. Haydn hasn’t yet run out of ideas, however. There is a
sudden Neapolitan irruption on E flat from the whole orchestra, forte, then a return to
the fugal texture for one last entry. Unexpectedly, this entry occurs in D major (the
key of the symphony as a whole). The movement then concludes as it began, with a
major-key reprise of the opening. After after a prolonged, teasing diminuendo, the
forte entry by the whole orchestra that disrupted the texture so much in bb.15 and 152
serves to conclude the piece. This triumphant major ending to a minor-key fugue is
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