(Franz) Joseph Haydn[1][2] (March 31 March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 275 days remaining until the end of the year, 1732 Year 1732 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar) – May 31 May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 214 days remaining until the end of the year, 1809 Year 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar)) was an Austrian Germanic peoples, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Slovenes and Croatians composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers A composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. In the development of European music, the of the classical period The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as 1750 to 1825. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or seventeenth to the nineteenth . This article is about the specific period from 1. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony A symphony is a musical composition, often extended and usually for orchestra. "Symphony" does not imply a specific form. Many symphonies are tonal works in four movements with the first in sonata form, and this is often described by music theorists as the structure of a "classical" symphony, although many symphonies by the" and "Father of the String Quartet A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music" because of his important contributions to these genres. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musicians who regularly play this repertoire together; for a number of well-known piano trios, see below and in the evolution of sonata form Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. While it is typically used in the first movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well. Study of the sonata form in music theory rests on a standard definition, and a series of hypotheses about the underlying.[3][4]

A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Hungarian aristocratic Esterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original".[5] At the time of his death, he was one of the most celebrated composers across Europe.[6]

Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C (C5) in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B♭2 (two B♭s below middle C). At the highest extreme,. He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ amaˈdeus ˈmoːtsart], full name Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over six hundred works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (English pronunciation: /ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪtoʊvɨn/; German: [ˈluːt.vɪç fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən] ; baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of.

Contents

Life

Childhood

Map showing locations where Haydn lived or visited. For discussion, see List of residences of Joseph Haydn.

Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the center of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire. Over nearly 700 years, it evolved from a margravate to the center of an empire. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered in the area of the current Austrian, a village near the border with Hungary Hungary ( /ˈhʌŋɡəri/ ; Hungarian: Magyarország, pronounced [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság listen (help·info) "Hungarian Republic"), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor. Haydn's mother, the former Maria Koller, had previously worked as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could read music;[7] however, Mathias was an enthusiastic folk musician The term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folk lore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles, who during the journeyman period of his career had taught himself to play the harp A harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. As many other non-percussion instruments, it can also be used as a percussion instrument. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as. According to Haydn's later reminiscences, his childhood family was extremely musical, and frequently sang together and with their neighbours.[8]

Haydn's parents had noticed that their son was musically gifted and knew that in Rohrau he would have no chance to obtain any serious musical training. It was for this reason that they accepted a proposal from their relative Johann Matthias Frankh, the schoolmaster and choirmaster in Hainburg, that Haydn be apprenticed to Frankh in his home to train as a musician. Haydn therefore went off with Frankh to Hainburg (seven miles away) and never again lived with his parents. He was six years old.

Life in the Frankh household was not easy for Haydn, who later remembered being frequently hungry[9] as well as constantly humiliated by the filthy state of his clothing.[10] However, he did begin his musical training there, and soon was able to play both harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when each key is pressed and violin The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello and bass fiddle. The people of Hainburg were soon hearing him sing treble A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily be choristers who sing in a boys' choir parts in the church choir A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus, The former term is very often applied to groups affiliated with a church and the second to groups that perform in theatres or concert halls, but this distinction is far from rigid. "Choir" has the secondary definition of a subset of an ensemble; thus one speaks of the &.

There is reason to think that Haydn's singing impressed those who heard him, because he was soon[11] brought to the attention of Georg von Reutter, the director of music in St. Stephen's Cathedral St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Its current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, situated at the heart of Vienna, Austria in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, in Vienna Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), it is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by, who was touring the provinces looking for talented choirboys. Haydn passed his audition with Reutter, and in 1740 moved to Vienna, where he worked for the next nine years as a chorister, after 1745 in the company of his younger brother Michael Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.

Haydn lived in Reutter's home with the other five choirboys. He was instructed in Latin and other school subjects as well as voice, violin, and keyboard.[12] Reutter was of little help to Haydn in the areas of music theory and composition, giving him only two lessons in his entire time as chorister.[13] However, since St. Stephen's was one of the leading musical centers in Europe, Haydn was able to learn a great deal simply by serving as a professional musician there.[14]

Like Frankh before him, Reutter did not always bother to make sure Haydn was properly fed. As he later told his biographer Albert Christoph Dies, Haydn was motivated to sing very well, in hopes of gaining more invitations to perform before aristocratic audiences—where the singers were usually served refreshments.[15]

St. Stephen's Cathedral St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Its current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, situated at the heart of Vienna, Austria in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches,, Vienna Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), it is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by

Struggles as a freelancer

By 1749, Haydn had finally matured physically to the point that he was no longer able to sing high choral parts. On a weak pretext, he was summarily dismissed from his job. He was sent into the streets with no home to go to.[16] However, he had the good fortune to be taken in by a friend, Johann Michael Spangler, who for a few months shared with Haydn his family's crowded garret room. Haydn was able to begin immediately his pursuit of a career as a freelance musician.

During this arduous time, Haydn worked at many different jobs: as a music teacher, as a street serenader, and eventually as valet–accompanist for the Italian composer Nicola Porpora Nicola Porpora (or Niccolò Porpora) (17 August 1686 – 3 March 1768) was an Italian composer of Baroque operas (see opera seria) and teacher of singing, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli, from whom he later said he learned "the true fundamentals of composition".[17]

When he was a chorister, Haydn had not received serious training in music theory and composition, which he perceived as a serious gap. To fill it, he worked his way through the counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent. It has been most commonly identified in Western music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period, especially in Baroque music. The term originates from the exercises in the text Gradus ad Parnassum by Johann Joseph Fux, and carefully studied the work of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. He was a crucial composer in the transition between the Baroque and Classical periods, and one of the founders of the Classical style, composing in the Rococo and Classical periods, whom he later acknowledged as an important influence.[18]

As his skills increased, Haydn began to acquire a public reputation, first as the composer of an opera, Der krumme Teufel "The Limping Devil", written for the comic actor Johann Joseph Felix Kurz, whose stage name was "Bernardon". The work was premiered successfully in 1753, but was soon closed down by the censors.[19] Haydn also noticed, apparently without annoyance, that works he had simply given away were being published and sold in local music shops.[20]

With the increase in his reputation, Haydn eventually was able to obtain aristocratic patronage, crucial for the career of a composer in his day. Countess Thun,[21] having seen one of Haydn's compositions, summoned him and engaged him as her singing and keyboard teacher.[22] Baron Carl Josef Fürnberg employed Haydn at his country estate, Weinzierl, where the composer wrote his first string quartets. Fürnberg later recommended Haydn to Count Morzin, who in 1757[23] became his first full time employer.[24]

The years as Kapellmeister

Haydn portrait by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, ca. 1770

Haydn's job title under Count Morzin was Kapellmeister Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle (“choir”, “orchestra”, or literally, “chapel”) and Meister (“master”). Kapelle derives from the Latin word capella. Thus, originally, the word was used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a, that is, music director. He led the count's small orchestra and wrote his first symphonies for this ensemble. In 1760, with the security of a Kapellmeister position, Haydn married. His wife was the former Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller (1729–1800), the sister of Therese (b. 1733), with whom Haydn had previously been in love. Haydn and his wife had a completely unhappy marriage,[25] from which the laws of the time permitted them no escape; and they produced no children. Both took lovers.[26]

Count Morzin soon suffered financial reverses that forced him to dismiss his musical establishment, but Haydn was quickly offered a similar job (1761) as Vice Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family, one of the wealthiest and most important in the Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by combining the Royal House with that of Hungary creating the dual monarchy Austria-Hungary (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918),. When the old Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, died in 1766, Haydn was elevated to full Kapellmeister.

View of Eszterháza Eszterháza is a palace built in Fertőd, Hungary by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles," it is Hungary's grandest Rococo monument

As a "house officer" in the Esterházy establishment, Haydn wore livery A livery is a uniform or other insignia or symbol worn in a non-military context on a person or object to denote a relationship with a person or corporate body, often by using elements of the heraldry relating to that person or body, or a personal emblem, and normally given by them. It derives from the French livrée, meaning delivered. Most often and followed the family as they moved among their various palaces, most importantly the family's ancestral seat Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt Eisenstadt is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It has a population of about 12,000 (2006). In the Habsburg monarchy, Eisenstadt/Kismarton was the seat of the Eszterházy Hungarian noble family. The composer Joseph Haydn lived there as Hofkapellmeister under Esterházy patronage and later on Eszterháza Eszterháza is a palace built in Fertőd, Hungary by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles," it is Hungary's grandest Rococo monument, a grand new palace built in rural Hungary in the 1760s. Haydn had a huge range of responsibilities, including composition, running the orchestra, playing chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part. The word "chamber" signifies that the music can be performed in a small for and with his patrons, and eventually the mounting of operatic productions. Despite this workload, the job was in artistic terms a superb opportunity for Haydn.[27] The Esterházy princes (first Paul Anton, then most importantly Nikolaus I) were musical connoisseurs who appreciated his work and gave him daily access to his own small orchestra.

Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, Haydn's most important patron

During the nearly thirty years that Haydn worked at the Esterházy court, he produced a flood of compositions, and his musical style continued to develop. His popularity in the outside world also increased. Gradually, Haydn came to write as much for publication as for his employer, and several important works of this period, such as the Paris symphonies (1785–1786) and the original orchestral version of The Seven Last Words of Christ (1786), were commissions In classical music, ensembles are often said to commission pieces from composers, wherein the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors from abroad.

Haydn also gradually came to feel more isolated and lonely, particularly as the court came to spend most of the year at Esterháza, far from Vienna, rather than the closer-by Eisenstadt.[28] Haydn particularly longed to visit Vienna because of his friendships there.[29]

Of these, a particularly important one was with Maria Anna von Genzinger (1750–93), the wife of Prince Nikolaus's personal physician in Vienna, who began a close, platonic, relationship with the composer in 1789. Haydn wrote to Mrs. Genzinger often, expressing his loneliness at Eszterháza and his happiness for the few occasions on which he was able to visit her in Vienna; later on, Haydn wrote to her frequently from London. Her premature death in 1793 was a blow to Haydn, and his F minor variations for piano, Hob. XVII:6, may have been written in response to her death.[30]

Portrait of Mozart by Joseph Lange

Another friend in Vienna was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ amaˈdeus ˈmoːtsart], full name Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over six hundred works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is, whom Haydn met sometime around 1784. According to later testimony by Michael Kelly and others, the two composers occasionally played in string quartets A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music together. Haydn was hugely impressed with Mozart's work and praised it unstintingly to others. Mozart evidently returned the esteem, as seen in his dedication of a set of six quartets, now called the "Haydn" quartets, to his friend. For further details see Haydn and Mozart.

The London journeys

In 1790, Prince Nikolaus died and was succeeded by a thoroughly unmusical prince who dismissed the entire musical establishment and put Haydn on a pension. Freed of his obligations, Haydn was able to accept a lucrative offer from Johann Peter Salomon, a German impresario Impresario , from the Italian impresa "an enterprise or undertaking", is a traditional term still very much in use in the entertainment industry for a manager or producer of concerts, tours and other events in music, opera, theatre, and even rodeo. In Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, impresario is a slang term for middle-class, to visit England and conduct new symphonies with a large orchestra.

The visit (1791–1792), along with a repeat visit (1794–1795), was a huge success. Audiences flocked to Haydn's concerts; Haydn augmented his fame and made large profits, thus becoming financially secure. Charles Burney Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of author Frances Burney reviewed the first concert thus: "Haydn himself presided at the piano-forte; and the sight of that renowned composer so electrified the audience, as to excite an attention and a pleasure superior to any that had ever been caused by instrumental music in England."[31]

Musically, the visits to England generated some of Haydn's best-known work, including the Surprise The Symphony No. 94 in G major is the second of the twelve so-called London symphonies (numbers 93-104) written by Joseph Haydn. It is usually called by its nickname, the Surprise Symphony, although in German it is more often referred to as the Symphony "mit dem Paukenschlag" ("with the kettledrum stroke"), Military, Drumroll, and London symphonies, the Rider This is a list of string quartets by Joseph Haydn, including the number they are given in Anthony van Hoboken's catalogue of his works. "FHE" stands for "First Haydn Edition." Note that some of the quartets in the standard numbering, here marked "spurious", were long thought to be by Haydn, but are now attributed by quartet, and the "Gypsy Rondo" piano trio. The only misstep in the venture was an opera, Orfeo ed Euridice, also called L'Anima del Filosofo, which Haydn was contracted to compose, but whose performance was blocked by intrigues.[32] Haydn made many new friends and was involved for a time in a romantic relationship with Rebecca Schroeter.

Portrait of Beethoven as a young man by Carl Traugott Riedel (1769 – 1832)

Between visits, Haydn taught Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (English pronunciation: /ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪtoʊvɨn/; German: [ˈluːt.vɪç fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən] ; baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of. Beethoven found him unsatisfactory as a teacher and sought help from others; the relationship between the two was sometimes rather tense. For discussion of their relationship, see Beethoven and his contemporaries.[33]

Final years in Vienna

Haydn returned to Vienna in 1795, moved into a large house in the suburb of Gumpendorf,[34] and turned to the composition of large religious works for chorus and orchestra. These include his two great oratorios (The Creation The Creation is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (H. 21/2), and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and The Seasons) and six masses The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the fixed portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music. Most Masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular for the Eszterházy family, which by this time was once again headed by a musically-inclined prince. Haydn also composed instrumental music: the popular Trumpet Concerto and the last nine in his long series of string quartets, including the Fifths, Emperor, and Sunrise quartets.

In 1802, an illness from which Haydn had been suffering for some time had increased in severity to the point that he became physically unable to compose. This was doubtless very difficult for him because, as he acknowledged, the flow of fresh musical ideas waiting to be worked out as compositions did not cease. Haydn was well cared for by his servants, and he received many visitors and public honours during his last years, but they could not have been very happy years for him. During his illness, Haydn often found solace by sitting at the piano and playing Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, which he had composed himself as a patriotic gesture in 1797.[35] This melody later was used for the Austrian and German national anthems A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.

Haydn died at the end of May in 1809, shortly after an attack on Vienna by the French army under Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century. He was 77. Among his last words was his attempt to calm and reassure his servants when cannon shot fell in the neighborhood.[36] "My children, have no fear, for where Haydn is, no harm can fall." Two weeks later, a memorial service was held in the Schottenkirche on June 15, 1809, at which Mozart's Requiem was performed.

Character and appearance

James Webster writes of Haydn's public character thus: "Haydn's public life exemplified the Enlightenment ideal of the honnête homme (honest man): the man whose good character and worldly success enable and justify each other. His modesty and probity were everywhere acknowledged. These traits were not only prerequisites to his success as Kapellmeister, entrepreneur and public figure, but also aided the favourable reception of his music."[37] Haydn was especially respected by the Eszterházy court musicians whom he supervised, as he maintained a cordial working atmosphere and effectively represented the musicians' interests with their employer; see Papa Haydn and the tale of the "Farewell" Symphony.

Haydn had a robust sense of humor, evident in his love of practical jokes[38] and often apparent in his music, and he had many friends. For much of his life he benefited from a "happy and naturally cheerful temperament",[39] but in his later life, there is evidence for periods of depression, notably in the correspondence with Mrs. Genzinger and in Dies's biography, based on visits made in Haydn's old age.

Haydn was a devout Catholic who often turned to his rosary when he had trouble composing, a practice that he usually found to be effective.[40] He normally began the manuscript of each composition with "in nomine Domini" ("in the name of the Lord") and ended with "Laus Deo" ("praise be to God").[41]

Haydn was short in stature, perhaps as a result of having been underfed throughout most of his youth. He was not handsome, and like many in his day he was a survivor of smallpox, his face being pitted with the scars of this disease. His biographer Dies wrote, "he couldn't understand how it happened that in his life he had been loved by many a pretty woman. 'They couldn't have been led to it by my beauty'".[42]

Haydn also suffered from nasal polyposis for much of his adult life; this was an agonizing and debilitating disease in the 18th century, and at times it prevented him from writing music.[43]

Portion of an original manuscript by Haydn, in the British Museum, from a biography of Haydn available from Project Gutenberg

Works

James Webster summarizes Haydn's role in the history of classical music as follows:[44] "He excelled in every musical genre… He is familiarly known as the 'father of the symphony' and could with greater justice be thus regarded for the string quartet; no other composer approaches his combination of productivity, quality and historical importance in these genres."

Structure and character of the music

A central characteristic of Haydn's music is the development of larger structures out of very short, simple musical motifs, often derived from standard accompanying figures. The music is often quite formally concentrated, and the important musical events of a movement can unfold rather quickly.[45]

Haydn's work was central to the development of what came to be called sonata form. His practice, however, differed in some ways from that of Mozart and Beethoven, his younger contemporaries who likewise excelled in this form of composition. Haydn was particularly fond of the so-called "monothematic exposition", in which the music that establishes the dominant key is similar or identical to the opening theme. Haydn also differs from Mozart and Beethoven in his recapitulation sections, where he often rearranges the order of themes compared to the exposition and uses extensive thematic development.[46]

Haydn's formal inventiveness also led him to integrate the fugue into the classical style and to enrich the rondo form with more cohesive tonal logic (see sonata rondo form). Haydn was also the principal exponent of the double variation form – variations on two alternating themes, which are often major- and minor-mode versions of each other.

Perhaps more than any other composer's, Haydn's music is known for its humor.[47] The most famous example is the sudden loud chord in the slow movement of his "Surprise" symphony; Haydn's many other musical jokes include numerous false endings (e.g., in the quartets Op. 33 No. 2 and Op. 50 No. 3), and the remarkable rhythmic illusion placed in the trio section of the third movement of Op. 50 No. 1.

Much of the music was written to please and delight a prince, and its emotional tone is correspondingly upbeat.[citation needed] This tone also reflects, perhaps, Haydn's fundamentally healthy and well-balanced personality. Occasional minor-key works, often deadly serious in character, form striking exceptions to the general rule. Haydn's fast movements tend to be rhythmically propulsive and often impart a great sense of energy, especially in the finales. Some characteristic examples of Haydn's "rollicking" finale type are found in the "London" symphony No. 104, the string quartet Op. 50 No. 1, and the piano trio Hob XV: 27. Haydn's early slow movements are usually not too slow in tempo, relaxed, and reflective. Later on, the emotional range of the slow movements increases, notably in the deeply felt slow movements of the quartets Op. 76 Nos. 3 and 5, symphony No. 102, and piano trio Hob XV: 23. The minuets tend to have a strong downbeat and a clearly popular character. As early as Op. 33 (1781) Haydn turned some of his minuets into "scherzi" which are much faster, at one beat to the bar.

Evolution of Haydn's style

Haydn's early work dates from a period in which the compositional style of the High Baroque (seen in Bach and Handel) had gone out of fashion. This was a period of exploration and uncertainty, and Haydn, born 18 years before the death of Bach, was himself one of the musical explorers of this time.[48] An older contemporary whose work Haydn acknowledged as an important influence was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.[18]

Tracing Haydn's work over the six decades in which it was produced (roughly, 1749 to 1802), one finds a gradual but steady increase in complexity and musical sophistication, which developed as Haydn learned from his own experience and that of his colleagues. Several important landmarks have been observed in the evolution of Haydn's musical style.

In the late 1760s and early 1770s Haydn entered a stylistic period known as "Sturm und Drang" (storm and stress). This term is taken from a literary movement of about the same time, though it appears that the musical development actually preceded the literary one by a few years.[49] The musical language of this period is similar to what went before, but it is deployed in work that is more intensely expressive, especially in the works in minor keys. James Webster describes the works of this period as "longer, more passionate, and more daring."[50] Some of the most famous compositions of this time are the "Farewell" Symphony No. 45, the piano sonata in C minor (Hob. XVI/20, L. 33), and the six string quartets of Op. 20 (the "Sun" quartets), all from 1772. It was also around this time that Haydn became interested in writing fugues in the Baroque style, and three of the Op. 20 quartets end with such fugues.

Following the climax of the "Sturm und Drang", Haydn returned to a lighter, more overtly entertaining style. There are no quartets from this period, and the symphonies take on new features: the first movements now sometimes contain slow introductions, and the scoring often includes trumpets and timpani. These changes are often related to a major shift in Haydn's professional duties, which moved him away from "pure" music and toward the production of comic operas, which were very popular in 18th Century Italy. Several of the operas were Haydn's own work (see List of operas by Joseph Haydn); these are seldom performed today. Haydn sometimes recycled his opera music in symphonic works,[51] which helped him continue his career as a symphonist during this hectic decade.

In 1779, an important change in Haydn's contract permitted him to publish his compositions without prior authorization from his employer. This may have encouraged Haydn to rekindle his career as a composer of "pure" music. The change made itself felt most dramatically in 1781, when Haydn published the six string quartets of Opus 33, announcing (in a letter to potential purchasers) that they were written in "a completely new and special way". Charles Rosen has argued that this assertion on Haydn's part was not just sales talk, but meant quite seriously; and he points out a number of important advances in Haydn's compositional technique that appear in these quartets, advances that mark the advent of the Classical style in full flower. These include a fluid form of phrasing, in which each motif emerges from the previous one without interruption, the practice of letting accompanying material evolve into melodic material, and a kind of "Classical counterpoint" in which each instrumental part maintains its own integrity. These traits continue in the many quartets that Haydn wrote after Opus 33.[52]

In the 1790s, stimulated by his England journeys, Haydn developed what Rosen calls his "popular style", a way of composition that, with unprecedented success, created music having great popular appeal but retaining a learned and rigorous musical structure.[53] An important element of the popular style was the frequent use of folk or folk-like material, as discussed in the article Haydn and folk music. Haydn took care to deploy this material in appropriate locations, such as the endings of sonata expositions or the opening themes of finales. In such locations, the folk material serves as an element of stability, helping to anchor the larger structure.[54] Haydn's popular style can be heard in virtually all of his later work, including the twelve London symphonies, the late quartets and piano trios, and the two late oratorios.

The house in Vienna where Haydn lived in the last years of his life, now a museum

The return to Vienna in 1795 marked the last turning point in Haydn's career. Although his musical style evolved little, his intentions as a composer changed. While he had been a servant, and later a busy entrepreneur, Haydn wrote his works quickly and in profusion, with frequent deadlines. As a rich man, Haydn now felt he had the privilege of taking his time and writing for posterity. This is reflected in the subject matter of The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801), which address such weighty topics as the meaning of life and the purpose of humankind, and represent an attempt to render the sublime in music. Haydn's new intentions also meant that he was willing to spend much time on a single work: both oratorios took him over a year to complete. Haydn once remarked that he had worked on The Creation so long because he wanted it to last.[55]

The change in Haydn's approach was important in the history of music, as other composers soon were following his lead. Notably, Beethoven adopted the practice of taking his time and aiming high.[56]

Identifying Haydn's works

Haydn's works are listed in a comprehensive catalogue prepared by Anthony van Hoboken. This Hoboken catalogue provides each work with an identifying number, called its Hoboken number (abbreviation: H. or Hob.). The string quartets also have Hoboken numbers, but are usually identified instead by their opus numbers, which have the advantage of indicating the groups of six quartets that Haydn published together; thus for example the string quartet Opus 76, No. 3 is the third of the six quartets published in 1799 as Opus 76.

Media

Symphony No. 101, the Clock Symphony, 2nd movement (Chamber Arrangement)
Sonata 62, Hoboken XVI:52 1st movement
Sonata 62, Hoboken XVI:52 2nd movement
Sonata 54, Hoboken XVI:40 1st movement
Sonata 54, Hoboken XVI:40 2nd movement
Cello Concerto in D
Cello Concerto in D, 3rd movement
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

See also

Works

Contemporaries

Other topics

Notes

  1. ^ Although he is sometimes called "Franz Joseph Haydn", the name "Franz" was not used in the composer's lifetime and is avoided by scholars. (Webster, James: "Haydn, Joseph", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 18 January 2007), http://www.grovemusic.com)
  2. ^ German pronunciation: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈhaɪdn̩]; English: /ˈdʒoʊzəf ˈhaɪdən/
  3. ^ Rosen 1997, pp. 43-54
  4. ^ Smallman, Basil (1992). The Piano Trio: Its History, Technique, and Repertoire. Oxford University Press. pp. 16-19. ISBN 0193183072.
  5. ^ Griesinger 1963, pp. 24–25
  6. ^ Harrison, Bernard (1998). Haydn, the "Paris" symphonies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 20ff. ISBN 0521471648.
  7. ^ Haydn reported this in his 1776 Autobiographical sketch.
  8. ^ Dies 1963, pp. 80–81
  9. ^ Griesinger 1963, p. 9
  10. ^ Dies 1963, p. 82
  11. ^ Probably in 1739; Finscher 2000, p. 12
  12. ^ Finscher 2000, p. 12
  13. ^ Griesinger 1963, p. 10
  14. ^ Landon & Jones 1988, p. 27
  15. ^ Dies 1963, p. 87
  16. ^ Geiringer 1982, p. 27
  17. ^ Larsen 1980, p. 8
  18. ^ a b Geiringer 1982, p. 30
  19. ^ Geiringer 1982, pp. 30–32
  20. ^ Griesinger 1963, p. 15
  21. ^ Various individuals bore the title "Countess Thun" over time. Candidates for the countess who engaged Haydn are (a) "the elder Countess Maria Christine Thun", (Webster 2002); (b) Maria Wilhelmine Thun (later a famous salon hostess and patroness of Mozart), (Volkmar Braunbehrens, 1990, Mozart in Vienna).
  22. ^ Webster 2002, p. 8. Webster expresses doubts, since the source is the early biography of Nicolas-Étienne Framery, judged (Webster 2002, p. 1) the least reliable of Haydn's early biographers.
  23. ^ This date is uncertain, since the early biography of Griesinger (1963) gives 1759. For the evidence supporting the earlier date see Landon & Jones (1988, p. 34) and Webster (2002, p. 10).
  24. ^ Source for this paragraph: Geiringer 1982, pp. 34–35
  25. ^ See, e.g., Geiringer 1982, pp. 36–40
  26. ^ Mrs. Haydn's paramour (1770) was Ludwig Guttenbrunn, an artist who produced the portrait of Haydn seen above (Landon & Jones 1988, p. 109). Joseph Haydn had a long relationship, starting in 1779, with the singer Luigia Polzelli, and was probably the father of her son Antonio (Landon & Jones 1988, p. 116).
  27. ^ This view is given, for instance, by Webster (2002, p. 13) and Landon & Jones (1988, p. 37).
  28. ^ Geiringer 1982, p. 60
  29. ^ For details see Geiringer 1982, Chapter 6
  30. ^ Geiringer 1982, p. 316, citing Robbins Landon
  31. ^ From Burney's memoirs; quoted from Landon & Jones (1988, p. 234)
  32. ^ The premier performance occurred only in 1951, at the Florence May Festival with Maria Callas in the role of Euridice. The opera and its history are discussed in Geiringer 1982, pp. 342-343.
  33. ^ Geiringer 1982, pp. 131–135
  34. ^ The house, at Haydngasse 19, has since 1899 been a Haydn museum ([1], [showUid=27&cHash=0a55f69cfa]).
  35. ^ Geiringer 1982, pp. 161–2
  36. ^ Geiringer 1982, p. 189
  37. ^ Webster 2002, p. 44
  38. ^ Griesinger 1963, p. 20; Dies 1963, pp. 92–93
  39. ^ Dies 1963, p. 91
  40. ^ Griesinger 1963, p. 54
  41. ^ Larsen 1980, p. 81
  42. ^ Dies 1963, p. 157; translation taken from Robbins Landon and Jones 1988
  43. ^ Discussed in "The Agony of Nasal Polyps and the Terror of Their Removal 200 Years Ago" by Jack Cohen, MD. This article appeared in The Laryngoscope, 108(9): 1311-1313, September 1998. No free online text available.
  44. ^ Online edition, article "Joseph Haydn"; downloaded Feb. 3, 2007
  45. ^ Sutcliffe (1989, p. 343) mentions this in a criticism of contemporary Haydn performance practice: "[Haydn's] music sometime seems to 'live on its nerves' ... It is above all in this respect that Haydn performances often fail, whereby most interpreters lack the mental agility to deal with the ever-changing 'physiognomy' of Haydn's music, subsiding instead into an ease of manner and a concern for broader effects that they have acquired in their playing of Mozart."
  46. ^ Hughes (1970, p. 112) writes: "Having begun to 'develop', he could not stop; his recapitulations begin to take on irregular contours, sometimes sharply condensed, sometimes surprisingly expanded, losing their first tame symmetry to regain a balance of a far higher and more satisfying order."
  47. ^ See, for instance, Brendel (2001), which focuses on the humor of Haydn and Beethoven.
  48. ^ Rosen (1997, p. 57) writes, "the period from 1750 to 1775 was penetrated by eccentricity, hit-or-miss experimentation, resulting in works which are still difficult to accept today because of their oddities." Similar remarks are made by Hughes (1970, pp. 111–112)
  49. ^ See Webster (2002, p. 18): "the term has been criticized: taken from the title of a play of 1776 by Maximilian Klinger, it properly pertains to a literary movement of the middle and late 1770s rather than a musical one of about 1768–1772."
  50. ^ Webster 2002, p. 18
  51. ^ Webster and Feder 2001, section 3.iii
  52. ^ Rosen's case that Opus 33 represents a "revolution in style" (1971 and 1997, 116) can be found in chapter III.1 of (Rosen 1971 and 1997). For dissenting views, see Larsen (1980, p. 102) and Webster (1991).
  53. ^ Rosen discusses the popular style in ch. VI.1 of Rosen (1971 and 1997).
  54. ^ Rosen (1997 and 2001), 333–337
  55. ^ Geiringer 1982, p. 158
  56. ^ For discussion, see Antony Hopkins (1981) The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven, Heinemann, London, pp. 7–8.

References

Biography

Criticism and analysis

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joseph Haydn
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Scores and Recordings

Joseph Haydn
Lists of works by form Concertos · Masses · Operas · Piano trios · Solo piano · String quartets · Symphonies · Hoboken catalogue
Other works The Creation · The Seasons · Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Associated people
Family Michael Haydn · Johann Evangelist Haydn · Mathias Haydn
Friends Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf · Maria Anna von Genzinger · Marianne von Martinez · Ignaz Pleyel · Luigia Polzelli · Johann Peter Salomon · Rebecca Schroeter
Employers Nikolaus Esterházy · Paul II Anton Esterházy · Count Morzin · Gottfried van Swieten
Composers Haydn and Beethoven · Haydn and Mozart
Historians Albert Christoph Dies · Georg August Griesinger · Anthony van Hoboken · Autobiographical sketch
Other topics Haydn and folk music · Haydn's ethnicity · Haydn's head · 'Papa Haydn' · Haydn's residences · Baryton · Eszterháza · Sturm und Drang · Double variation
Persondata
NAME Haydn, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Haydn, Franz Joseph; "Father of the Symphony"; "Father of the String Quartet"
SHORT DESCRIPTION Austrian composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Rohrau
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1809
PLACE OF DEATH Vienna

Categories: 1732 births | 1809 deaths | Austrian composers | Austrian musicians | Classical era composers | Composers for cello | Composers for lute | Composers for pipe organ | Joseph Haydn | The Enlightenment | Viennese composers | National anthem writers

 

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