(Franz) Joseph Haydn
(Born; Rohrau, 31 March 1732; Died; Vienna, 31 May 1809). Austrian
composer. The son of a wheelwright, he was trained as a choirboy and taken into the choir
at St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, where he sang from c.1740 to c.1750. He then worked as
a freelance musician, playing the violin and keyboard instruments, accompanying for
singing lessons given by the composer Porpora, who helped and encouraged him. At this time
he wrote some sacred works, music for theatre comedies and chamber music. In c.1759 he was
appointed music director to Count Morzin; but he soon moved, into service as
Vice-Kapellmeister with one of the leading Hungarian families, the Esterházys, becoming
full Kapellmeister on Werner's death in 1766.
He was director of an ensemble of generally
some 15-20 musicians, with responsibility for the music and the instruments, and was
required to compose as his employer - from 1762, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy - might
command. At first he lived at Eisenstadt, c.30 miles south-east of Vienna; by 1767 the
family's chief residence, and Haydn's chief place of work, was at the new palace at
Eszterháza. In his early years Haydn chiefly wrote instrumental music, including
symphonies and other pieces for the twice-weekly concerts and the prince's Tafelmusik,
and works for the instrument played by the prince, the baryton (a kind of viol), for which
he composed Circa;125 trios in ten years. There were also cantatas and a little church
music. After Werner's death church music became more central, and so, after the opening of
a new opera house at Eszterháza in 1768, did opera. Some of the symphonies from
Circa; 1770 show Haydn expanding his musical horizons from occasional, entertainment music
towards larger and more original pieces, for example nos.26, 39, 49, 44 and 52 (many of
them in minor keys, and serious in mood, in line with trends in the contemporary symphony
in Germany and Austria). Also from 1768-72 come three sets of string quartets, probably
not written for the Esterházy establishment but for another patron or perhaps for
publication (Haydn was allowed to write other than for the Esterházys only with
permission); op.20 clearly shows the beginnings of a more adventurous and integrated
quartet style.
Among the operas from this period are Lo speziale
(for the opening of the new house), L'infedeltŕ delusa (1773) and Il mondo
della luna (1777). Operatic activity became increasingly central from the mid-1770s as
regular performances came to be given at the new house. It was part of Haydn's job to
prepare the music, adapting or arranging it for the voices of the resident singers. In
1779 the opera house burnt down; Haydn composed La fedeltŕ premiata for its
reopening in1781. Until then his operas had largely been in a comic genre; his last two
for Eszterháza, Orlando paladino (1782) and Armida (1783), are in mixed or
serious genres. Although his operas never attained wider exposure, Haydn's reputation had
now grown and was international. Much of his music had been published in all the main
European centres; under a revised contract with the Esterháza his employers no longer had
exclusive rights to his music.
His works of the 1780s that carried his name further afield
include piano sonatas, piano trios, symphonies (nos.76-81 were published in 1784-5, and
nos.82-7 were written on commission for a concert organization in Paris in 1785-6) and
string quartets. His influential op.33 quartets, issued in 1782, were said to be 'in a
quite new, special manner': this is sometimes thought to refer to the use of instruments
or the style of thematic development, but could refer to the introduction of scherzos or
might simply be an advertising device. More quartets appeared at the end of the decade,
op.50 (dedicated to the King of Prussia and often said to be influenced by the quartets
Mozart had dedicated to Haydn) and two sets (opp. 54-5 and 64) written for a former
Esterházy violinist who became a Viennese businessman. All these show an increasing
enterprise, originality and freedom of style as well as melodic fluency, command of form,
and humour. Other works that carried Haydn's reputation beyond central Europe include
concertos and notturnos for a type of hurdy-gurdy, written on commission for the King of
Naples, and The Seven Last Words, commissioned for Holy Week from Cadíz Cathedral
and existing not only in its original orchestral form but also for string quartet, for
piano and (later) for chorus and orchestra.
In 1790, Nikolaus Esterházy died; Haydn (unlike most of
his musicians) was retained by his son but was free to live in Vienna (which he had many
times visited) and to travel. He was invited by the impresario and violinist J P. Salomon
to go to London to write an opera, symphonies and other works. In the event he went to
London twice, in 1791-2 and 1794-5. He composed his last 12 symphonies for performance
there, where they enjoyed great success; he also wrote a symphonie concertante, choral
pieces, piano trios, piano sonatas and songs (some to English words) as well as arranging
British folksongs for publishers in London and Edinburgh. But because of intrigues his
opera, L'anima del filosofo, on the Orpheus story, remained unperformed. He was
honoured (with an Oxford DMus) and fęted generously, and played, sang and conducted
before the royal family. He also heard performances of Handel's music by large choirs in
Westminster Abbey.
Back in Vienna, he resumed work for Nikolaus Esterházy's
grandson (whose father had now died); his main duty was to produce masses for the
princess's nameday. He wrote six works, firmly in the Austrian mass tradition but
strengthened and invigorated by his command of symphonic technique. Other works of these
late years include further string quartets (opp. 71 and 74 between the London visits,
op.76 and the op.77 pair after them), showing great diversity of style and seriousness of
content yet retaining his vitality and fluency of utterance; some have a more public
manner, acknowledging the new use of string quartets at concerts as well as in the home.
The most important work, however, is his oratorio The Creation in which his
essentially simple-hearted joy in Man, Beast and Nature, and his gratitude to God for his
creation of these things to our benefit, are made a part of universal experience by his
treatment of them in an oratorio modelled on Handle's, with massive choral writing of a
kind he had not essayed before. He followed this with The Seasons, in a similar
vein but more a series of attractive episodes than a whole.
Haydn died in 1809, after twice dictating his recollections
and preparing a catalogue of his works. He was widely revered, even though by then his
music was old-fashioned compared with Beethoven's. He was immensely prolific: some of his
music remains unpublished and little known. His operas have never succeeded in holding the
stage. But he is regarded, with some justice, as father of the symphony and the string
quartet: he saw both genres from their beginnings to a high level of sophistication and
artistic expression, even if he did not originate them. He brought to them new
intellectual weight, and his closely argued style of development laid the foundations for
the larger structures of Beethoven and later composers.
Sacred vocal music: masses - Missa brevis, F (Quest;1749); Missa Cellensis, C, 'Cecilia Mass' (1766); Missa Sancti Nicolai, G (1772);
Missa in honorem BVM, EFlat;, 'Great Organ Mass' (by 1774); Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de
Deo, BFlat;, 'Little Organ Mass' (by 1778); Missa Cellensis, C, 'Mariazell Mass' (1782);
Missa Sancti Bernardi von Offida, BFlat;, 'Heiligmesse' (1796); Missa in tempore belli, C,
'Paukenmesse' (1796); 'Nelson Mass', d, 'Coronation Mass', 'Missa in angustiis' (1798);
Theresienmesse, BFlat; (1799); Creation Mass, BFlat; (1801); Harmoniemesse, BFlat; (1802);
other church music, incl. Te Deum, C (by 1800).
Oratorios: Stabat mater (1767); Applausus, allegorical oratorio/cantata (by 1768); Il ritorno di Tobia (1775); Die sieben letzten
Wrote ('The Seven Last Words') [based on orch work] (by 1796); The Creation (1798); The
Seasons (1801) Dramatic musicoperas - Acide (frag.) (1763); La canterina (1766); Lo speziale (1768); Le pescatrici (1770); L';infedeltŕ delusa (1773); Philemon und Baucis
(1773); L'incontro improvviso (1775); Il mondo della luna (1777); La vera costanza (1779,
rev. 1785); L'isola disabitata (1779); La fedeltŕ premiata (1781); Orlando paladino
(1782); Armida (1784); L'anima del filosofo (comp. 1791); music for plays.
Miscellaneous vocal music: Arianna a Naxos, cantata (by 1790); arias, scenas, partsongs; songs to English and German texts; folksong
arrs.; canons.
Symphonies: 1, D (by 1759); 2, C (by 1764); 3, G (by 1762); 4, D (by 1762); 5, A (by 1762); 6, D, 'Le matin'; (?1761); 7, C,'Le midi'
(1761); 8, G,'Le soir' (?1761); 9, C (?1762); 10, D (by 1766); 11, EFlat; (by 1769); 12, E
(1763); 13, D (1763); 14, A (by 1764); 15, D (by 1764); 16, BFlat; (by 1766); 17, F (by
1765); 18, G (by 1766); 19, D (by 1766); 20, C (by 1766); 21, A (1764); 22, EFlat;, 'The
Philosopher' (1764); 23, G (1764); 24, D (1764); 25, C (by 1766); 26, d, 'Lamentatione'
(by 1770); 27, G (by 1766); 28, A (1765); 29, E (1765); 30, C, 'Alleluja' (1765); 31, D,
'Hornsignal' (1765); 32, C (by 1766); 33, C (by 1767); 34, d/D (by 1767); 35, BFlat;
(1767); 36, EFlat; (by 1769); 37, C(?by 1758); 38, C (by 1769); 39, g (by 1770); 40, F
(1763); 41, C (by 1770); 42, D (1771); 43, EFlat;, 'Mercury' (by 1772); 44, e,
'Trauersinfonie' (by 1772); 45, fSharp;, 'Farewell' (1772); 46, B (1772); 47, G (1772);
48, C, 'Maria Theresia' (?by 1769); 49, f, 'La passione' (1768); 50, C (1773); 51, BFlat;
(by 1774); 52, c (by 1774); 53, D, 'Imperial', 'Festino' (?1778/9); 54, G (1774); 55,
EFlat;, 'The Schoolmaster' (1774); 56, C (1774); 57, D (1774); 58, F (by 1775); 59, A,
'Fire' (by 1769); 60, C,'Il distratto' (by 1774); 61, D (1776); 62, D (by 1781); 63, C,
'La Roxelane' (by 1781); 64, A, 'Tempora mutantur' (by 1778); 65, A (by 1778); 66, BFlat;
(by 1779); 67, F (by 1779); 68, BFlat; (by 1779); 69, C,'Laudon', 'Loudon' (by 1779); 70,
D (by 1779); 71, BFlat; (by 1780); 72, D (by 1781); 73, D, 'La chasse' (by 1782); 74,
EFlat; (by 1781); 75, D (by 1781); 76, EFlat; (?1782); 77, BFlat; (?1782); 78, C (?1782);
79, F (?by 1784); 80, d (by 1784); 81, G (by 1784); 6 Paris syms.: 82, C, 'L'ours', 'The
Bear' (1786); 83, g, 'La poule', 'The Hen'(1785); 84, EFlat; (1786); 85, BFlat;, Lsquo;La
reineRsquo;, Lsquo;The QueenRsquo; (?1785); 86, D, (1786); 87, A (1785); 88, G (?1787);
89, F (1787); 90, C (1788); 91, EFlat; (1788); 92, G, 'Oxford' (1789); 12 London syms.:
93, D (1791); 94, G,'The Surprise' (1791); 95, c (1791); 96, D, 'The Miracle' (1791); 97,
C (1792); 98, BFlat; (1792); 99, EFlat; (1793); 100, G, 'Military' (1793/4); 101, D, 'The
Clock' (1793/4); 102, BFlat; (1794); 103, EFlat; 'Drumroll' (1795); 104, D, 'London'
(1795); 106, D (?1769);107, BFlat; (by 1762);108, BFlat; (by 1765).
Other orchestral music: 3 vn concs. - C (by 1769), A (by 1771), G (by 1769); 2 vc concs. - C (?c.1765), D (1783); Hn conc., D (1762);
Tpt conc., EFlat; (1796); Concertante, vn, vc, ob, bn, orch, BFlat; (1792); 3 hpd concs. -
F (by 1771), G (by 1781), D (by 1784); other concs.; concertinos and divertimentos for hpd
and orch; dances, marches etc; Die sieben letzten Worte ('The Seven Last Words') (by 1787).
String quartets: op.1 nos.1, BFlat; 'La chasse', 2, EFlat;, 3, D, 4, G, 'O', EFlat;, 6, C (?c.1757-1764) [op.1 no.5 = arr. of Sym.
no.107]; op.2 nos.1, A, 2, E, 4, F, 6, B Flat; (?c.1760-1765) [op.2 nos.3, 5 = arrs. of
divertimentos]; [op.3 probably not by Haydn] op.9 nos.1-6, C, EFlat;, G, d, BFlat;, A (by
1771); op.17 nos.1-6, E, F, EFlat;, c, G, D (1771); op.20, 'Sun', nos.1-6, EFlat;, C, g,
D, f, A (1772); op.33, 'Russian', nos.1-6, b, EFlat; 'The Joke', C 'The Bird', BFlat;, G
'How do you do', D; op.42, d (1785); op.50, 'Prussian', nos.1-6, BFlat;, C EFlat;,
fSharp;, F, D 'The Frog' (1787); op.54 nos.1-3, G, C, E (by 1788); op.55 nos.1-3, A, f
'The Razor', BFlat; (by 1788); op.64 nos.1-6, C, b, BFlat;, G, D 'The Lark', EFlat;
(1790); op.71 nos.1-3, BFlat;, D, EFlat; (1793); op.74 nos.1-3, C, F, g, 'The Rider'
(1793); op.76 nos.1-6, G, d 'Fifths', C 'Emperor', BFlat; 'Sunrise', D, EFlat; (by 1797);
op.77 nos.1-2, G, (1799); op.103, d (unfinished, by 1803).
Other chamber music: over 120 trios for baryton, va and bass; 29 kbd trios; other trios, trio sonatas, duos; pieces for
flute-clock; 8 notturnos for 2 lire organizzate (Circa;1790); numerous divertimentos.
Keyboard music: Circa;50 sonatas;
Variations, f (1793); other variations, capriccios.
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