Symphony No.102 in B-flat Major, Hob.I/102

JOSEPH HAYDN and Beethoven had the opportunity to meet between 1792 and 1794, during the years between the two London periods of Haydn. Following the success of the 1791 and 1792 concert seasons, organised by impresario Johann Peter Salomon, Haydn was summoned back to Austria by Prince Anton Esterházy, where he spent the following eighteen months. It was during this time that Haydn taught a young, passionate man who had recently arrived in Vienna: "one Ludwig van Beethoven". Haydn arranged a second visit to London as soon as possible after that, beginning in February 1794, and started composing more symphonies before the trip. He remained in London during the spring season of 1795, but by then Salomon had discontinued his concert series. Haydn therefore turned his attention to the 'Opera Concerts' organised by the violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, who led a large orchestra of around sixty musicians. In most of his London symphonies, Haydn added clarinets to the orchestration and included remarkable effects that inspired the nicknames of the works. Examples include the percussion 'arsenal' of Symphony No. 100 'Military', the 'tick-tock' accompaniment of Symphony No. 101 'Clock', and the emblematic timpani solo with which 'Timpani Tremolo' Symphony No. 103 begins. Composed in 1794, Symphony No. 102 was written during Haydn's second triumphant visit to London. Although it has no descriptive title, it deserves to be known as The Miracle, a title instead attributed to Symphony No. 96. During the premiere of Symphony No. 102 on February 2^nd 1795, a chandelier fell and shattered on the floor, miraculously injuring no one. Composer and researcher H. C. Robbins Landon refers to it as “Haydn's loudest and most aggressive symphony”. The structure is typical of Haydn: after a slow introduction, the first movement continues with a brilliant 'Vivace'; the second movement is fine and delicate, to which Haydn subsequently adds trumpets and timpani. Haydn quotes the theme of this adagio in his trio in F-sharp minor, which was composed around the same time. The minuet is followed by an original and playful thematic finale. Some studies have identified the theme of the finale as a Croatian folk melody, comparing it to "a march usually performed in Turopolje at rural weddings". Given that Haydn was born in a region of Austria with a sizeable immigrant population from Croatia and Hungary, some have even suggested that he may have had Croatian ancestors.