Haydn 2032, Vol. 8: La Roxolana

Description

For its eighth volume, Haydn2032 invites us on a musical journey that follows the Balkan route. Among the "Viennese Classics", Joseph Haydn is certainly the composer closest to popular music, first because he grew up in the countryside and also because, unlike his colleagues who worked in the urban centers of the Habsburg monarchy, Haydn was in contact with Croats, Roma, and Hungarians throughout his life. These influences are omnipresent in his music, to the delight of Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy and his guests, but according to some chronicles, not to the taste of many music theorists in Germany. Haydn gave his Symphony No. 63 in C major the title "La Roxelane", a famous 16th-century sultana who was the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent after having been his slave... This limited and numbered edition includes a double vinyl as well as a photo album by Mark Power (Magnum Photos) and a magnificent unpublished text, entitled "Skulls", written by the French author Mathias Énard, winner of the 2015 Goncourt Prize for his novel *Boussole*.