The year 1781 was a monumental one for Haydn. It was the year he met the twenty-five-year-old Mozart; the meeting and the man changed his life and his musical style forever. It is well recorded that Haydn was utterly blown away by the younger genius, and, although older and well established, began to learn from him as if at his father's knee. Mozart, for his part, likewise recognized genius in the older man, and the two would continue to inspire through the decade. It was immediately after meeting Mozart that Haydn wrote the Symphony No. 73 and it turns a corner from his previous works in the genre. It is not imitation Mozart, nor is it anything other than mature Haydn. Nor was Haydn above writing a work first and then applying a name or nickname to it later, which may have been done in this case. But the piece is newly adventuresome. The soft, pensive opening of the first movement previews the harmonic structure to follow but not the rhythmic—a device Haydn commonly used in his later symphonies but not those before this. The movement as a whole is driven by an insistent four-note figure of unbelievable energy, which survives unseemly pauses and cadences along the way but sustains through all and finally drives the movement to rest. At one point there occurs a brief series of Mozartean sequential modulations. It is not so much a quote as a tip of the hat to an idea recently picked up. The second-movement andante begins as a minuet of transparent simplicity, while the third movement, an actual minuet and trio, features a more heavy-footed theme. Regardless of what each is called, Haydn has crafted a four-movement symphony with two minuets. The finale, a four and one half minute whirlwind evocative of a hunt, is possessed of an almost insane energy and features horn calls, doubled with oboe, and a driving rhythm of which even Beethoven at his most relentless would be proud. A gentle second subject, as if the trail has temporarily been obscured, intrudes, but the momentum does not slacken, and in another instant, the first theme returns and the chase is on once again. As the movement hurtles into a frisky coda, the scent is suddenly lost, the trail cold—and the piece simply and quietly ends. It is brilliant beyond verbal description. Haydn's association with Mozart lasted ten years, up until the older man left for his first visit to England in early 1791. It is said he bade Mozart a tearful farewell, fearing they would not meet again. Although Haydn was referring to his own demise, he was shocked to learn of Mozart's passing in December of that year and the effect on him was devastating. Haydn learned volumes from Mozart but, as may be seen in this work, never imitated him.

© All Music Guide