Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell" (Mackerras)

I decided to analyze the a phrase of Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell" (Mackerras). The piece is written in a 3/4 time signature. This gives the song waltz-like quality to it. However, I didn't get that light-hearted feeling that you usually sense when listening to a waltz or any song with dancing quality. I found the tune to be quite heavy, dramatic and serious. I sensed a lot of anger, frustration, and tension throughout the song. The fact that the piece is written in such an obscure key, F-sharp minor, contributes to the eerie atmosphere surrounding the music. The dynamic changes also emphasize the emotion and drama. I pictured two distraught lovers bickering with one and another to the point in which utter chaos breaks out and one of them barges out of the doors, leaving the other lover with the feeling of guilt and wanting to mend the relationship they once had.

I chose the beginning phrase of the song (0:00-0:15) for my analysis. Immediately I recognized the sentence phrase from the first two measures. The basic idea is established in the first two measures with the descending quarter note arpeggios. The idea is repeated in the preceding two measures, except its played a half-step above (this builds the tension within the phrase). Then comes the continuation which is four measures long. Here, the first two measures of the song are presented once again and all the sudden, a rapid fire of sixteenth notes explode out of the violins, creating utter madness. The continuation ends on the tonic chord, thus ending on a perfect authentic cadence.

Sentence Phrase Diagram:

The phrase I chose and dissected represents the ideals of the Enlightenment period. It symbolizes the conversations between solonnieres that occur in the salons. One person would present an idea/topic for discussion (basic idea). Another person would then share his/her perspective on the idea/topic (basic idea repeated). Then there would be much heated discussion and argument between the solonnieres (continuation) until they finally reached an overall consensus on the subject matter (ending on a PAC).