Thank you Yuval and Howard for this detailed information.
One point Howard makes is that Beethoven wanted more money than Haydn
because he added both a violin and bass line. First it is a fascinating
-- if down to earth -- insight on how musicians made (or begged or
haggled for) a living. And probably still do. But it leaves me puzzled
because Haydn's Barbara Allen does consist of the voice part, a violin
part and a figured bass (the collection title indicates "in three
parts") - so I guess the same thing Beethoven claimed to provide: The
equivalent of "I'll throw in an extra topping of mushrooms on the
mushroom pizza for topence more"...?
Two final thoughts: I think figured bass was fading out of use at that
time (early 19th century), yet the Barbara Allen score seems to me
overly figured. I assume that musicians proficient with continuo
markings would only indicate the rather less obvious harmonies - not
every chord. (?) Then, I find Haydn's arrangement rather uninspired and
almost at odds with the Romantic spirit behind a Burns' style of poetry.
Looking backwards rather than forward. At least in this version:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/haydn-folksong-arrangements-vol-5-scottish-songs-for-william-napier-i-mw0001398204
One of Haydn's 400+ arrangements includes a tune famous with lutenists:
John come kiss me now. see:
https://www.allmusic.com/performance/john-come-kiss-me-now-when-charming-chloe-gently-walks-folk-song-for-voice-violin-keyboard-h-31a-41-mq0001227966
Sorry for musing aloud, but thanks for the interesting information I got.
On 2/5/19 1:03 PM, yuval.dvo...@posteo.de wrote:
A good source of information is also the complete edition of Haydn's
works which appears at Henle, Germany. The Thompson songs have a long
introduction with extensive information on the songs.
Am 05.02.2019 20:11 schrieb howard posner:
On Feb 5, 2019, at 12:38 AM, Alain Veylit
<al...@musickshandmade.com> wrote:
I suspected I was a bit overly paranoid.
Not really, given the number of works falsely attributed to Haydn.
It seems to me like an easy job for the composer and a lucrative
thing for the publisher who is able to put a famous composer's name
on the title page
That was the plan in a nutshell. And this was all a few years after
Haydn had been a rock star in London.
The composers were only given the tunes: I suppose that means the
melody, when the results include both a violin part and a figured
bass. How much work would that be for Haydn or Beethoven?
Who knows? Haydn arranged 214 songs for Thomson, which may account
for a steep decline in his compositional output after 1802. Beethoven
(who started writing arrangements for Thomson in 1810, the year after
Haydn died) did about 150, of which Thomson published 125. There’s an
extant letter from Beethoven in which he explains that he should be
paid more than Haydn was paid because his settings are more elaborate,
with violin and cello parts. Thomson evidently agreed. There’s
another exchange in which Beethoven demands that Thomson start sending
him the lyrics along with the tunes. Thomson responded that he often
commissioned new poetry once the arrangements were done, but he did
send Beethoven some texts after that. Some of Beethoven’s settings
have elements of real composition, so he may spent real time on them.
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