René Staar

Movimientos para Don José Haydn op. 8/a

Shortly after René Staar returned to Europe from a tour of Latin America in 1981, he was asked to write a piece for the Vienna Chamber Orchestra for Joseph Haydn’s 250th birthday in 1982. A spontaneous vision of a Latin American folk musician without academic knowledge, but with a great deal of autodidactic ability and talent, led him to create "Miguel", who composed the Movimientos as Staar's intermediary. After completing the composition, Miguel wrapped the work in a package and sent it to his great idol (Haydn), unaware that the latter had already died almost 200 years ago ... The similarity to Haydn’s work is restricted solely to the formal imitation of a Haydn symphony. The musical language (harmony, rhythm, melodic structure, etc.) is virtually not affected. Miguel’s efforts to emulate Haydn lead—naively in the best sense—to completely different results that are also infused with Latin American rhythms. Just as Miguel sent his package to Haydn too late, the Movimientos were also completed too late for the Haydn anniversary year. They were first performed in the year of Haydn’s 251st birthday.