Toy_Symphony

Toy Symphony

Toy Symphony

Divertimento attributed to Joseph Haydn

For other uses, see Toy Symphony (disambiguation).

The Toy Symphony (full title: Cassation in G major for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo) is a musical work dating from the 1760s with parts for toy instruments, including toy trumpet, ratchet, bird calls (cuckoo, nightingale and quail), Mark tree, triangle, drum and glockenspiel. It has three movements and typically takes around seven minutes to perform.

Long taken to be a work of Joseph Haydn,[1] subsequent scholarship has suggested it to be that of Leopold Mozart,[2] Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael Haydn, [3] or most recently (1996) the Austrian Benedictine monk Edmund Angerer [de] (1740–1794).[4] If Angerer's manuscript (from 1765, entitled "Berchtolds-Gaden Musick") is the original, the Toy Symphony was originally written not in G but in C major.[lower-alpha 1] There is reason to believe that the true composer will likely never be known, in whole or in part, given its confused origins and the paucity of related manuscript sources.[5]

Other works for toy instruments

The cassation described above was one of a number of anonymous toy symphonies composed at Berchtesgaden near Salzburg, then a manufacturing centre for toy instruments. Some of the instruments used for these can be seen in the Museum Carolino Augusteum in Salzburg.[6]

Other toy symphonies, overtures and works for ensembles by named composers include:

Malcolm Arnold's Toy Symphony was first performed at a Savoy Hotel fund raising dinner in London on 28 November 1957, with toy instruments played by a group of eminent composers, musicians and personalities, including Thomas Armstrong, Edric Cundell, Gerard Hoffnung, Eileen Joyce, Steuart Wilson and Leslie Woodgate.[15] Similarly, the Jubilee Toy Symphony by Joseph Horowitz was composed for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977 and featured Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Richard Baker, Joseph Cooper, Humphrey Burton, James Blades, Fenella Fielding, Nigel Kennedy, Yehudi Menuhin, Steve Race and Malcolm Williamson, among others.[16] Tod Machover's piece deploys custom musical toys as electronic controllers.[17]

References

Notes

  1. See the title page, including incipit in staff notation, at "Toy Symphony, title page".

Citations

  1. [1]
    Ewen, David (1965). The Complete Book of Classical Music. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. p. 201.
  2. [2]
    Description by Uncle Dave Lewis. "Toy Symphony (Cassation), for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns & strings in G major (formerly K. 63) – Leopold Mozart | Details, Parts / Movements and Recordings". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  3. [3]
    Benstock, Seymour (June 14, 2013). Did You Know?: A Music Lover's Guide to Nicknames, Titles, and Whimsy. USA: Trafford Publishing. p. 194. ISBN 9781466972926.
  4. [4]
    "15. Wer komponierte die weltbekannte Kindersinfonie?". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  5. [5]
    Illing, Robert. "Haydn's Toy Symphony", in Music & Letters, vol. 78, no 1, February 1997, p. 143 JSTOR 737529
  6. [6]
    Davies, Hugh. 'Toy Instruments', in Grove Music Online (2001)
  7. [7]
    Todd, Larry R. 'Felix Mendelssohn' in Grove Music Online (2001)
  8. [8]
    Symphonie burlesque, Op. 62, IMSP
  9. [9]
    Toy Symphonies, Naxos CD 9.81017 (2013)
  10. [10]
    Toy Symphonies and Other Fun, conductor Raymond Lewenthal. Angel Records S-36080 (1975)
  11. [11]
    Score at IMSLP
  12. [12]
    Kinder-Sinfonie, Op.239, IMSLP
  13. [13]
    Craggs, Stewart R. Malcolm Arnold: A Bio-bibliography (1998), p 39
  14. [14]
    published by UMP
  15. [15]
    Arnold, Toy Symphony, Wise Music Classical
  16. [16]
    Horovitz, Jubilee Toy Symphony, Wise Music Classical
  17. [17]
    Johnson, Edmond T. 'Toy Instrument (USA)' in Grove Music Online (2001).
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