As a vocal composer Haydn was not so striking, though his works were
neither few nor without merit. His operas were tuneful and entertaining,
but his dramatic power was slight and his conception of the form (as he
well knew) was limited. Of his oratorios The Creation was much the
best, overflowing with naïve and sincere feeling. His masses are unequal,
some being thoughtful, some showy, but as a rule they represent a view
of sacred music too external and even theatric to be typical. This remark
applies in some degree even to his serious Seven Words. In his
songs he shows affinity with the movement toward lyric expression in
small forms that at length became one of the valuable legacies of the 18th
century to the early 19th, though in his case the tendency to nicety of
form overweighted his spontaneity.
146. The Classical Sonata and Symphony.—Haydn can hardly be called the inventor of anything absolutely new in musical usage, but to him belongs the honor of so combining various points in procedure and so exemplifying them in masterly works that they became norms for a considerable period and, indeed, are still recognized as superior. This service of his concerned both the plan of movements in extended works and the particular form of each of them. The use of movements had been common for a full century, but the exaltation of one particular order as standard was a fresh step. Composition had long been tending toward homophonic and harmonic ways of conceiving and handling materials, but not until now were these made unquestionably supreme. The treatment of the first and last movements had been approximating its final stage of development, but essential points had usually been lacking that were now regularly supplied. All through the 17th century the 'sonata' had been properly a form for a solo instrument, and the transfer of such forms to the keyboard or to a concerted group had been becoming frequent since 1700, but henceforth this concerted use became typical. In this advance, so significant for modern style, the influence of Haydn was immediately reinforced by that of Mozart, Beethoven and others of the Viennese group.
Without trying to trace the growth of practice in full, the broad outlines
should be stated of the general plan and specific form, as ultimately
established not only for the keyboard works known as sonatas proper,
but for trios, quartets, symphonies and even concertos. For all these the
same general principles of structure became in Haydn's time standard.
His personal influence was exercised more in chamber or orchestral works
than in those for the keyboard.
