Haydn's Seasons at the proms
Very enjoyable account at the proms last night of Haydn's 'The Seasons' with Roger Norrington - less often performed than the Creation (a much finer work), Seasons nonetheless contains many gems and inspired ideas including a rousing hunting chorus, a wine celebration with dancing peasants (foreshadowing the third movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony), a loud thunderstorm and a stirring ode to toil (or to "industry" in some translations). The libretto by Van Swieten (dedicatee of Beethoven's 1st symphony) was reluctantly set by Haydn who regarded it as trash - this got back to Van Swieten and resulted in a cooling of their relations.
