Esterhazy

Prince Nicholas Esterházy, the employer of Joseph Haydn, was a passionate music lover and played several instruments, among them the cello, the viola da gamba and the baryton, which was his favourite instrument.
Characteristic of the baryton are the parallel 6 to 7 gut strings, which are bowed, and up to 20, though usually 9 or 10 metal resonance strings running underneath the fingerboard. The neck, open to the rear, also allowed the strings to be plucked. The tuning of the fretted strings was similar to those of the viola da gamba. The baryton was almost exclusively played in Austria and South Germany between the middle of the 17th and the end of the 18th century.

The classical symphony is so dominated by the twin figures of Haydn & Mozart that it is all too easy to overlook the considerable contributions which were made by many lesser figures. The Naxos label is doing a great service by bringing to light many of these works in its '18th Century Symphony' series. It now launches a survey of the symphonies of the Bohemian composer Johann Baptist Vanhal with four highly spirited, engaging pieces dating from 1760-1780 that are the equal of Haydn's contemporary efforts. These are witty, original pieces and it's easy to see why Imperial Vienna took them immediately to its heart. Uwe Grodd and the very fine Hungarian players of the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia make a strong case for them.

Christian Cannabich was one of a family of German musicians. Born in Mannheim, the son of a musician in the service of the Elector, he established himself as one of the most important of the Mannheim composers. He made Mozart welcome in Mannheim in 1777 and 1778, in the latter year following the court to Munich, when the Palatine and Bavarian electorates were united. He was much respected as an orchestra director, and died in 1798 in Frankfurt while visiting his son, the composer Carl Cannabich.

During his first years in the service of the Esterházy princes, Joseph Haydn had every opportunity to show what he was capable of accomplishing as both instrumental soloist (on violin or keyboard) and composer; in fact, all his concertos, most of which date from the 1760s, offer a glimpse of a brilliant artist who gradually moved away from the style galant by inventing a new musical dialogue soon to become the Classical style.