The Names of Sonatas and Symphonies II (Haydn) Quiz

Answer: None of these have names.

It is interesting that though many of Haydn's symphonies were named, none of his piano sonatas got a name allocated to them. Even though his sonatas are excellent, they were not his primary focus in life as he did not play piano. He was more focused on orchestral music such as symphonies and concertos throughout his life.

Answer: "Le matin", "Le midi", "Le soir"

In French, le matin translates to the morning in English. Le midi translates into noon, le soir translates into the evening and le nuit translates into the night. These three symphonies were commissioned with their names to Haydn all at once and he composed all three of them in less than a year. "Le matin", that is Symphony No. 6, was the first symphony composed by Haydn to receive a name.

Answer: "Oxford" and "London"

Both of these symphonies were written when Haydn was in England. However, the "Oxford" symphony is not one of Haydn's twelve London symphonies which were all written when Haydn was in England. Symphony No. 104, that is the "London" symphony, was the last symphony that Haydn composed in his lifetime.

Answer: "The Bear" and "The Hen"

One interesting fact about these symphonies is that Symphony No. 83 was composed before Symphony No. 82. Also, all the other Paris symphonies were written in 1785 or 1786.
Hens are found everywhere in France and one of their main animal exports are chickens. However, there are only about 300 bears living in France because bears were hunted in large amounts up until recently. The bear population in that area is coming back though.

Answer: Clock

Symphony No. 101, also known as "The Clock Symphony", was composed in 1793 or 1794. It is named "The Clock Symphony" because the music in the second movement sounds like the ticking of a clock.

Answer: Mercury

The name was only come up with about 75 years after Haydn wrote the symphony and 50 years after he died. We do not know when it was composed but we know it was written before or during the year 1771.

In Roman mythology, Mercury is the god of travelers, traders and trickery. His Greek parallel is Hermes. Mercury is the first planet.

Venus is the god of love and beauty. Her Greek parallel is Aphrodite. Venus is the second planet.

Mars is the god of war. His Greek parallel is Ares. Mars is the fourth planet.

Saturn is the god of money, agriculture, generation and new things. His Greek parallel is Cronos. Saturn is the sixth planet.

Answer: Maria Theresa

People named it "Maria Theresa" because they thought it was composed for the empress. However, it was later found that it was not composed for her but the name stayed on.

Maria Theresa was the only female Austrian monarch and she ruled between 1740 and 1780. Joseph I ruled between 1705 and 1711. Charles III ruled from 1711 to 1740 and Anne was not a queen of Austria but a duchess who later married Louis XIII of France.

Answer: Military

The Symphony is in G major, was composed in 1793 or 1794 and a performance lasts about 20 to 25 minutes.

Answer: Trauer

Trauer translates to mourning. Lamentatione also translates to mourning and Feuer translates to fire. One story states Haydn thought that his symphony was so mournful that he wanted the second movement of Symphony No. 44 played at his funeral. However, we do not know if the story is true.

Answer: Drum roll

Symphony No. 103 is named after the drum roll because there is a long solo drum roll at the very beginning of the symphony.