symphony no. 22 in e-flat major, hoboken i/22, is a symphony written by joseph haydn in 1764. nicknamed "the philosopher" ("der philosoph"), it is the most widely programmed of haydn's early symphonies. thumb|the haydnsaal in eisenstadt. click to enlarge. ==composition and premiere== the composition date of 1764 appears on the autograph manuscript, which survives. haydn composed the work during his tenure as vice-kapellmeister at the court of prince nicolaus esterhÃ¡zy. as vice-kapellmeister haydn was in charge of all but religious music in the esterhÃ¡zy household; in particular he was the leader of the orchestra and was expected to compose symphonies for it to perform. this ensemble numbered about fifteen players.jones (1990:18) the intended audience (except on special occasions such as the prince's name day) consisted only of the prince and his guests; thus "very often haydn's orchestra would have outnumbered the listeners." (jones 1990:18). jones suggests that the first performance venue may have been what is today called the "haydnsaal", a large hall at the family palace in eisenstadt "having a very resonant acoustic". other candidates were somewhat smaller halls in the other primary esterhÃ¡zy palaces, at vienna and kittsee. ===the nickname "the philosopher"=== the name ("the philosopher") is not on the original manuscript and is unlikely to come from haydn himself. "le philosoph" appears on a manuscript copy of the symphony found in modena dated 1790; thus the nickname dates from the composer's own lifetime. the title is thought to derive from the melody and counterpoint of the first movement (between the horns and cor anglais), which musically allude to a question followed by an answer and paralleling the disputatio system of debate. the piece's use of a muted tick-tock effect also evokes the image of a philosopher deep in thought while time passes by. as jones notes, the nickname "becomes less appropriate as the symphony proceeds and earnestness gives way to high spirits."jones (1990:20) thumb|150px|a historical cor anglais. image from the 1911 encyclopÃ¦dia britannica ==scoring== the work is scored for two cor anglais (english horns), two horns, and strings.jones (2009:445) the use of the cor anglais in place of the (related, but higher-pitched) oboe is more than unusual; indeed mcveigh (2009:386) suggests that it is "the only symphony in the entire history of the genre to use this scoring". the horns play a prominent role in all but the second movement, and haydn's choice of e flat major may have been dictated by the fact that the valveless horns of the time sounded best when pla
1764_compositions Compositions_in_E-flat_major Symphonies_by_Joseph_Haydn