Joseph Haydn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Haydn" redirects here. For other uses, see Haydn (disambiguation).

Portrait of Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy (1792).

Franz Joseph Haydn[n 1] (/dozf hadn/; German: [jozf hadn] ( listen); 31

March[1] 1732 31 May 1809), known as Joseph Haydn,[n 1] was a prominent and
prolific composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development
of chamber music such as thepiano trio[2] and his contributions to musical form have earned
him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".[3]
A lifelong resident of Austria,[4] Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the
wealthy Esterhzy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him
from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become
original".[5] At the time of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in
Europe.
Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn himself a highly regarded composer
and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor. He was also a friend of Mozart and a teacher
of Beethoven.
Alternate titles: Symphony No. 94 in G Major
Surprise Symphony, byname of Symphony No. 94 in G Major, orchestral work by Austrian
composerJoseph Haydn, so named for the surprisea startlingly loud chordthat
interrupts the otherwise soft and gentle flow of the second movement. The distinctive feature
did not appear in the original score. Rather, it was added by the composer on a whim for the
pieces London premiere on March 23, 1792, and was retained in later performances.