Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Peter Guth, Capella Istropolitana :: Haydn: Menuetti Hob.IX:16

If Johann Strauss Jr. was "The Waltz King," then Haydn was surely "The Minuet Monarch." He wrote around a thousand of them, and each is a little gem. As most of them are imbedded in larger works, however, there are very few opportunities to focus on his achievement as a dance music composer. Well, here's your chance. These 24 delightful little dances are the real McCoy--they were composed to be used at Viennese court balls, and the nobility really danced to them. For that reason, they are all shorter and stricter in form than the more stylized, instrumental or symphonic movements (It wouldn't do to trip up the Empress now, would it?), but the tunes are fantastic, and so is the orchestration. They offer a real window onto a vanished culture. --David Hurwitz