Concerto #3 in G Major "Lirenkonzert" - FL/OB/PN

Edited by HC Robbins Landon, the work has the catalog designation Hoboken VIIh:3). This piano reduction is by Karl Trotzmuller. The full score to this work may be found HERE.

About 1785, Haydn received a commission to write a series of concertos for Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and the Twin Sicilies. it was a very curious commission: for these three concertos were to be written for a pair of strange instruments, the so-called "lira organizzata"- a kind of hurdy-gurdy. The lira was a favorite instrument of the lazzaroni, the common people of Naples. The Bourbon King, though often rough and uncouth, had a deep affection for his people and for all their peculiar customs, and it is characteristic that his favorite musical instrument should have been that so beloved by his people. Five total lira concerto of Haydn survive, and Haydn lavished a great deal of care and affection on them. He had not written complicated double concertos, but rather ensemble music for two lire, along with two horns, two violins, two violas, and cello. In other words, nine solo instruments. Moreover, he neatly combined the concerto form with that of the divertimento: there is often no strict division into solo and tutti but a constant intermingling of both, though there are real cadenzas in the first movement. With a flute playing the first lire part, and an oboe covering the second, Haydn had, without changing a single note, beautiful ensemble music that could be played at a moment's notice.