Leader, Leonard Hirsch
Conductor, Eric Fogg
Haydn's so-called 'Clock' Symphony—No. 11 of the superb set of twelve symphonies written for the London impresario Salomon-was composed in 1794. Its nickname was obviously suggested by the slow movement, which is pervaded by a ' ticking ' figure in thirds. Bassoons and pizzicato strings have it first, and against this background the first violins play one of Haydn's most delightful melodies. The scoring is full of exquisite touches.
Nor are the other three movements at all inferior to this beautiful andante. Indeed the symphony as a whole is one of the finest of all pre-Beethovenian examples of the form.