English Canzonettas I (1794) : VI Fidelity Hob.XXVIa, 30-James Griffet

The set ends with "Fidelity", according to Robbins Landon "the most original and forward-looking of the whole series," a quality clearly sensed in the way this song, whilst intended for the cultivated drawing rooms of London society, actually prefigures the world of German Romantic lieder. The piano writing too, suggests Robbins Landon, "has also become more independent, and less like a frustrated orchestra." Haydn begins in the Sturm und Drang key of F minor, and then modulates into F major/minor. Further innovative qualities are also apparent in the varied through-composed/strophic setting of the text. H. C. Robbins Landon concludes, "the final ritornello is full of the suspensions that show that Haydn's heart was completely attuned to the mood of this poem. It is certainly his greatest achievement in the song form to date and a real link to the enchanted world of Franz Schubert."The set ends with "Fidelity", according to Robbins Landon "the most original and forward-looking of the whole series," a quality clearly sensed in the way this song, whilst intended for the cultivated drawing rooms of London society, actually prefigures the world of German Romantic lieder. The piano writing too, suggests Robbins Landon, "has also become more independent, and less like a frustrated orchestra." Haydn begins in the Sturm und Drang key of F minor, and then modulates into F major/minor. Further innovative qualities are also apparent in the varied through-composed/strophic setting of the text. H. C. Robbins Landon concludes, "the final ritornello is full of the suspensions that show that Haydn's heart was completely attuned to the mood of this poem. It is certainly his greatest achievement in the song form to date and a real link to the enchanted world of Franz Schubert."