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Franz Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn
(Franz) Joseph Haydn, 31 March 1732 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific
Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber
music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets
"Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
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". At the time of his death, aged 77,
he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe.
Early Life
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.
Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria, a village that at that time stood on the border
with Hungary. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter",
an office akin to village mayor. Haydn's mother Maria, ne Koller, had previously worked as a
cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could
read music; however, Mathias was an enthusiastic folk musician, who during the journeyman
period of his career had taught himself to play the harp. According to Haydn's later
reminiscences, his childhood family was extremely musical, and frequently sang together and
with their neighbors.
Haydn's parents had noticed that their son was musically gifted and knew that in Rohrau he
would have no chance to obtain 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 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) away and never again lived
with his parents. He was about six years old.
Life in the Frankh household was not easy for Haydn, who later remembered being frequently
hungry[4] and humiliated by the filthy state of his clothing. He began his musical training there,
and could soon play both harpsichord and violin. The people of Hainburg heard him
sing treble parts in the church choir.
There is reason to think that Haydn's singing impressed those who heard him, because in 1739 he
was brought to the attention of Georg von Reutter, the director of music in St. Stephen's
Cathedral in Vienna, who happened to be visiting Hainburg and was looking for new choirboys.
Haydn successfully auditioned with Reutter, and after several months of further training moved
to Vienna (1740), where he worked for the next nine years as a chorister.
Haydn lived in the Kapellhaus next to the cathedral, along with Reutter, Reutter's family, and the
other four choirboys, which after 1745 included his younger brother Michael. The choirboys
were instructed in Latin and other school subjects as well as voice, violin, and keyboard. Reutter
was of little help to Haydn in the areas ofmusic theory and composition, giving him only two
lessons in his entire time as chorister. However, since St. Stephen's was one of the leading
musical centres in Europe, Haydn learned a great deal simply by serving as a professional
musician there.
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 audienceswhere the singers
were usually served refreshments.
Compositions
Year Title
1795
A cold frosty morning ("When innocent pastime..."), folk song for voice, violin &
keyboard, H. 31a/107
Vocal Music
1795
A country lassie ("In simmer when the hay was mawn"), folk song for voice, violin
& keyboard, H. 31a/144
Vocal Music
1801
A jacobite air ("O Phely happy be that day"), folk song for voice, violin, cello &
keyboard, H. 31a/231
Vocal Music
1794
A Pastoral Song ("My mother bids me bind my hair"), song for voice & keyboard
(English Canzonettas I), H. 26a/27
Vocal Music
Song
1796
Abendlied zu Gott ("Herr! Herr! Der du mir das Leben"), for 4 voices & keyboard,
H. 25c/9
Vocal Music
Art Song
1762
1770
and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time.... At the age of five, he was already
composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down.
These early pieces, K. 15, were recorded in the Nannerl Notenbuch.
There is some scholarly debate of whether Mozart was four or five years old when he created his
first musical compositions, though there is little doubt that Mozart composed his first three
pieces of music within a few weeks of each other: KVs 1a, 1b and 1c.
Solomon notes that, while Leopold was a devoted teacher to his children, there is evidence that
Mozart was keen to progress beyond what he was taught. His first ink-spattered composition and
his precocious efforts with the violin were of his own initiative and came as a surprise to his
father. Leopold eventually gave up composing when his son's musical talents became evident. In
his early years, Mozart's father was his only teacher. Along with music, he taught his children
languages and academic subjects.
Compositions
Year Title
1766
A Berenice...Sol nascente, recitative and aria for soprano & orchestra, K. 70 (K. 61c)
Vocal Music
Occasional Music
1781
A questo seno deh vieni...Or che il cielo, recitative and aria for soprano & orchestra,
K. 374
Vocal Music
Aria
1787
Abendempfindung an Laura ("Abend ist's"), song for voice & piano, K. 523
Vocal Music
Art Song
1788
1790
1788
Adagio and Fugue for string quartet (or string orchestra) in C minor, K. 546
Chamber Music
Fugue
1791
Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola & cello in C minor, K. 617
Chamber Music/Suite
1782), Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer (a family friend, who taught Beethoven the piano), and Franz
Rovantini (a relative, who instructed him in playing the violin and viola). Beethoven's musical
talent was obvious at a young age. Johann, aware of Leopold Mozart's successes in this area
(with son Wolfgang and daughter Nannerl), attempted to exploit his son as a child prodigy,
claiming that Beethoven was six (he was seven) on the posters for Beethoven's first public
performance in March 1778.
Sometime after 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in
Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Court's Organist in that year. Neefe
taught Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published
composition: a set of keyboard variations (WoO 63). Beethoven soon began working with Neefe
as assistant organist, at first unpaid (1781), and then as a paid employee (1784) of the court
chapel conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi. His first three piano sonatas, named
"Kurfrst" ("Elector") for their dedication to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich (17081784),
were published in 1783. Maximilian Frederick noticed Beethoven's talent early, and subsidised
and encouraged the young man's musical studies.
Maximilian Frederick's successor as the Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Franz, the youngest
son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and he brought notable changes to Bonn. Echoing
changes made in Vienna by his brother Joseph, he introduced reforms based on Enlightenment
philosophy, with increased support for education and the arts. The teenage Beethoven was almost
certainly influenced by these changes. He may also have been influenced at this time by ideas
prominent in freemasonry, as Neefe and others around Beethoven were members of the local
chapter of the Order of the Illuminati.
In March 1787 Beethoven traveled to Vienna (possibly at another's expense) for the first time,
apparently in the hope of studying with Mozart. The details of their relationship are uncertain,
including whether they actually met. Having learned that his mother was ill, Beethoven returned
about two weeks after his arrival. His mother died shortly thereafter, and his father lapsed deeper
into alcoholism. As a result, Beethoven became responsible for the care of his two younger
brothers, and spent the next five years in Bonn.
Beethoven was introduced in these years to several people who became important in his life.
Franz Wegeler, a young medical student, introduced him to the von Breuning family (one of
whose daughters Wegeler eventually married). Beethoven often visited the von Breuning
household, where he taught piano to some of the children. Here he encountered German and
classical literature. The von Breuning family environment was less stressful than his own, which
was increasingly dominated by his father's decline.[16] Beethoven also came to the attention
of Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, who became a lifelong friend and financial supporter.
In 1789 Beethoven obtained a legal order by which half of his father's salary was paid directly to
him for support of the family. He also contributed further to the family's income by
playing viola in the court orchestra. This familiarised Beethoven with a variety of operas,
including three by Mozart that were performed at court in this period. He also befriended Anton
Reicha, a flautist and violinist of about his own age who was a nephew of the court orchestra's
conductor, Josef Reicha.
Compositions
Year Title
1813
'Tis but in Vain, folk song for voice & piano trio, WoO 153/15
Vocal Music
Song
1815
'Tis Sunshine at Last, folk song for voice & piano trio, WoO 153/13
Vocal Music
Song
1816
A Madel, ja a Madel, folk song for voice & piano trio, WoO 158a/6
Vocal Music
Song
1810
A Wand'ring Gypsy, folk song for voice & piano trio, WoO 152/23
Vocal Music
Song
1820
Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel, song for voice & piano, WoO 150
Vocal Music
Song
1796
Abschiedsgesang an Wiens Bürger, song for voice & piano (or orchestra),
WoO 121
Vocal Music
Art Song
1816
Ach Bächlein, Bächlein, kühle Wasser, folk song for voice &
piano trio, WoO 158a/14
Vocal Music
Song
1815
1796