Haydn’s Symphony No. 65 in A Major: Strange Theatrical Surprises
Strange, theatrical surprises abound in Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 65 in A Major. Numbered out of sequence, the Symphony may have originated as incidental music for a play presented at the private theater of Haydn’s patron, Prince Esterházy. Scholars such as Elaine Sisman have speculated that the play may have been Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The year of composition, perhaps 1768, is uncertain. Regardless, the music captures the free-spirited experimentation of a composer working in the splendid …