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Reviewed by:
  • The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia ed. by Caryl Clark and Sarah Day-O’Connell
  • John A. Rice
Caryl Clark and Sarah Day-O’Connell, eds., The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019). Pp. 520; 53 b/w illus. and 22 music examples. $170 cloth.

In the preface to The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia, the editors explain why, after the publication of Haydn (2002, edited by David Wyn Jones in the series “Oxford Composer Companions”) and Das Haydn-Lexikon (2010, edited [End Page 215] by Armin Raab, Christine Siegert, and Wolfram Steinbeck), they felt compelled to offer a different approach to the understanding of Haydn and his music. Instead of entries on works, individuals, and genres, their book is “organized around clusters of ideas” (xv). Even as the book follows in the long encyclopedic tradition of entries in alphabetical order, the editors differentiate short articles, typically one to three pages in length, from seven longer essays on broader topics: “Biography and Identity,” “Ideas,” “Institutions,” “Musical Materials,” “People and Networks,” “Performance,” and “Place.” In addition to the short articles and longer essays, the book contains a detailed chronology of Haydn’s life, a bibliography, and a thorough index.

This approach is thoughtful, original, and promising. The editors and their sixty-five contributors have successfully brought the ambitious plan to fruition. The short articles, by scholars who include many of the world’s leading Haydn specialists, are well-written, insightful, and full of useful information, giving readers a clear idea of the state of Haydn research in the second decade of the twenty-first century as seen from a North American perspective. The editors have very effectively imposed uniformity of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation on a complicated text and have proofread with great care.

Some of the topics overlap. For example, title headings for entries include both “Education” and “Experiential Learning,” both “Theater and Theatricality,” both “Librettos and Librettists,” and both “Church” and “Religion and Spiritual Beliefs.” Under such circumstances, contributors can hardly avoid referring, occasionally, to the same facts and anecdotes. Thus, for example, Haydn’s recollections of his experiences with Nicola Porpora come up repeatedly throughout the book:

“Chronology”: “Works as valet and keyboard accompanist for the Neapolitan opera composer and singing teacher Nicola Porpora, learning the Italian language and partimento counterpoint, which Haydn referred to as ‘the true fundamentals of composition’”

(xxi).

“Biography and Identity,” essay by Wolfgang Fuhrmann: “There is no evidence to contradict his claim that his compositional education was largely self-taught ‘until at last I had the good fortune to learn the true fundamentals of composition from the celebrated Herr Porpora’”

(25).

“Composers and Music Professional,” entry by Mark Ferraguto: “[A] course of lessons in singing, composition, and Italian with opera composer Nicola Porpora expanded his musical horizons”

(63).

“Compositional Process,” entry by Felix Diergarten: “In his autobiographical sketch of 1776, Porpora is the only person mentioned by Haydn as a composition teacher: ‘I wrote diligently but not in a well-founded way until, finally, I had the good fortune to learn the true fundamentals of composition from the celebrated Herr Porpora’”

(69).

“Experiential Learning,” entry by Federico Celestini: “Through Metastasio, Haydn met the celebrated opera composer Nicola Porpora, for whom he worked as a servant in exchange for composition and singing lessons. Haydn reported that he learned ‘the true fundamentals of the art of harmony’ from Porpora”

(120).

“Melody,” entry by Markus Neuwirth: “Haydn’s first teacher, the renowned Neapolitan opera composer Nicola Porpora, . . . taught Haydn the ‘true fundamentals of composition’”

(210). [End Page 216]

“Place,” essay by Nicholas Mathew: “[D]uring a short period of apprenticeship with the Neapolitan master Nicola Porpora in the 1750s, Haydn was to receive distinctly Italianate modes of musical instruction, both in singing and at the keyboard”

(297).

“Vocal coaching and Rehearsal,” entry by Erin Helyard: “In the 1750s Haydn gained valuable first-hand experience as a coach in assisting one of Europe’s greatest vocal pedagogues, Nicola Porpora. Dies reports that ‘[w]hile Porpora taught the girl singing, Haydn, who had to accompany at the keyboard, found it a useful opportunity to gain a perfect knowledge of, and practice in, the Italian method of singing...

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