The Wireless Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, S. Kneale Kelley)
Under the direction of Hermann Scherchen
Relayed from Fyvie Hall, Polytechnic
Great man though he was, in every sense of the word, shaping his own career with sturdy confidence, Haydn more than once held posts of service, with all the dignity which good and faithful service really means. And, of course, he owed some of his opportunities of composing, and of hearing his music performed, to the enthusiastic patrons on whose behalf he worked. In 1759, at the age of twenty-seven, when fortune was beginning to smile on him, and his great gifts were beginning to be recognized, he was appointed Director of Music and chamber music composer to Count Ferdinand Maximilian Morzin, who had a country seat near Pilsen. A small private orchestra was maintained there and for it Haydn composed a number of his earlier orchestral pieces, including this happy Symphony. Like several others, it has been given an affectionate name - 'Le Soir' (The Evening) - although it is in no sense descriptive music. It is among the first Symphonies in which each of the movements has it own distinct character, and all are melodious and simple, full of Haydn's unfailing good humour.
Born in Monaco in 1878, Schreker studied in Vienna and lived there until 1920. In 1911 he founded the Philharmonic Choral Society, becoming its first conductor, and in the same year was appointed Professor of Composition at the Royal and Imperial Academy. In 1920 he was called to Berlin as Director of the Hochschule (High School), one of the leading teaching institutions, not only in Germany, but in the world. As a composer, he has already given us much in many different forms, and in Germany they think of him as having a big influence on the course of present-day music. He is specially interested in dramatic subjects, especially those of mystic, fairy-tale order, and most of all, those which have some underlying symbolic meaning. He has a real gift of big, flowing melody, and a liking for effects of strong contrast.
This Suite has the special interest for wireless listeners that it is one of a number of works which the German broadcasting authorities commissioned from eminent composers of the day.
