Hadyn: London Symphonies No. 103 + 104
These two last symphonies by Haydn (beautifully performed here) crown a lifetime of  musical experimentation and orchestral mastery. No. 103, as the title implies, begins with a drum  solo--a shocking innovation at the time, and one which "excited the deepest attention" in  contemporary audiences. The creepy introduction reappears just before the end of the first  movement, and it's a strategy that Haydn's pupil Beethoven immediately copied in his famousPathetiquePiano Sonata. TheLondonSymphony had a longer reach still: The  finale of Brahms' Second Symphony pays affectionate homage to one famous passage, but all of  this music is just as valuable for itself as for its impact on later generations. Haydn is tops!-- David Hurwitz