Haydn: Austrian Classical Period Composer

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. Haydn was instrumental in the development of chamber music, including the piano trio and the string quartet, and is often referred to as the Father of the Symphony and the Father of the String Quartet. Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family, and his compositions were widely celebrated across Europe.

Haydn's early life and musical education

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on 31 March 1732 in Rohrau, Austria. Haydn was the second son of humble parents. His father, Mathias Haydn, was a wheelwright, and his mother, Maria, was a cook. Haydn's parents noticed their son's musical gifts and knew that he would have no chance to obtain serious musical training in Rohrau. For this reason, they accepted a proposal from their relative Johann Matthias Frankh, the schoolmaster and choirmaster in Hainburg, to take Haydn in as an apprentice and train him as a musician. Haydn went off with Frankh to Hainburg and never again lived with his parents.

Life in the Frankh household was not easy for Haydn, who later remembered being frequently hungry and humiliated by the state of his clothing. However, he began his musical training there and could soon play both the harpsichord and violin. He also sang treble parts in the church choir. In 1739, Haydn was brought to the attention of Georg Reutter the Younger, the director of music at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, who was visiting Hainburg and looking for new choirboys. Haydn passed his audition with Reutter and, after several months of further training, moved to Vienna in 1740, where he worked as a chorister for the next nine years.

Haydn lived in the Kapellhaus next to the cathedral, along with Reutter, Reutter's family, and the other choirboys, including his younger brother Michael, who joined after 1745. In addition to voice, violin, and keyboard, the choirboys were instructed in Latin and other school subjects. However, Reutter provided little help to Haydn in music theory and composition, giving him only two lessons during his entire time as a chorister. Nonetheless, Haydn learned a great deal simply by serving as a professional musician at St. Stephen's, one of the leading musical centres in Europe.

By 1749, Haydn had matured physically to the point that he could no longer sing high choral parts. After Empress Maria Theresa herself complained to Reutter about his singing, Haydn carried out a prank in which he cut off the pigtail of a fellow chorister. As punishment, Haydn was caned and summarily dismissed. He was taken in by a friend, Johann Michael Spangler, who shared his crowded garret room for a few months. Haydn then began his pursuit of a career as a freelance musician.

Haydn initially struggled, working various jobs, including as a music teacher and street serenader. Eventually, in 1752, he found work as a valet-accompanist for the Italian composer Nicola Porpora, from whom he later said he learned "the true fundamentals of composition". Haydn also worked briefly for Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz, playing the organ in the Bohemian Chancellery chapel.

While working as a chorister, Haydn had not received any systematic training in music theory and composition. To remedy this, he studied counterpoint exercises in Gradus ad Parnassum by Johann Joseph Fux and the work of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, whom he later acknowledged as an important influence. He also studied an encyclopedic treatise by German composer Johann Mattheson.

As his skills increased, Haydn began to acquire a public reputation as a composer. His first notable work was an opera, Der krumme Teufel ("The Limping Devil"), written for the comic actor Joseph Felix von Kurz in 1753. The work was initially successful, but it was soon shut down by censors due to "offensive remarks". Haydn also discovered that works he had given away were being published and sold in local music shops.

With the increase in his reputation, Haydn obtained aristocratic patronage, which was crucial for the career of a composer at the time. He was summoned by Countess Thun, who engaged him as her singing and keyboard teacher. In 1756, he was employed by Baron Carl Josef Fürnberg at his country estate, where he wrote his first string quartets. Fürnberg later recommended Haydn to Count Morzin, who became his first full-time employer in 1757. Haydn's job title under Count Morzin was Kapellmeister (music director), and he led the count's small orchestra, for whom he wrote his earliest symphonies.

Haydn's career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family

Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family. In 1761, he was invited to work for Prince Pál Antal Esterházy, whose family was one of the wealthiest and most influential in the Austrian empire. They had a well-appointed orchestra performing regularly in their castle at Eisenstadt, a small town about 30 miles from Vienna. Haydn's employment by the Esterházy family proved decisive for his career, and he remained in their service until his death.

Haydn was initially appointed assistant conductor, with the old Kapellmeister Gregor Werner retaining authority for church music. When Werner died in 1766, Haydn was elevated to full Kapellmeister. As a "house officer" in the Esterházy establishment, Haydn wore livery and followed the family as they moved between their various palaces, most importantly the family's ancestral seat Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt and later on Esterháza, 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 for and with his patrons, and eventually the mounting of operatic productions. Despite this backbreaking workload, the job was a superb opportunity for Haydn. The Esterházy princes were musical connoisseurs who appreciated his work and gave him daily access to his own small orchestra. 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.

Much of Haydn's activity at the time followed the musical taste of his patron, Prince Nikolaus. In about 1765, the prince obtained and began to learn to play the baryton, an uncommon musical instrument similar to the bass viol. Haydn was commanded to provide music for the prince to play, and over the next ten years produced about 200 works for this instrument in various ensembles, the most notable of which are the 126 baryton trios. Around 1775, the prince abandoned the baryton and took up a new hobby: opera productions, which became the focus of musical life at court. Haydn served as company director, recruiting and training the singers and preparing and leading the performances. He also wrote several of the operas performed and wrote substitution arias to insert into the operas of other composers.

In 1779, Haydn's contract was renegotiated: whereas previously, all his compositions were the property of the Esterházy family, he was now permitted to write for others and sell his work to publishers. This was a watershed moment in his career, allowing him to achieve international popularity. By 1790, Haydn was in the paradoxical position of being Europe's leading composer but spending his time as a duty-bound Kapellmeister in a remote palace in the Hungarian countryside.

Haydn's friendship and influence on Mozart

Yes, Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was a friend and mentor to Mozart, who was 24 years younger. The two composers first met in Vienna in December 1783, and they quickly formed a deep friendship. Haydn, already a vastly accomplished composer, admired Mozart's work, and vice versa. Haydn helped Mozart by lending him his annotated copy of a textbook on Baroque counterpoint. Mozart affectionately addressed Haydn as "Papa", and their friendship was further affirmed in 1785 when Mozart dedicated his six "Haydn quartets" to his older friend.

Haydn wrote to a friend about Mozart:

> If only I could impress Mozart's inimitable works on the soul of every friend of music, and the souls of high personages in particular, as deeply, with the same musical understanding and with the same deep feeling, as I understand and feel them, the nations would vie with each other to possess such a jewel.

Mozart, in turn, dedicated his six quartets to Haydn, writing:

> A father who had decided to send his sons out into the great world thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time, and who happened moreover to be his best friend. In the same way I send my six sons to you... Please, then, receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide, and friend! ... I entreat you, however, to be indulgent to those faults which may have escaped a father's partial eye, and in spite of them, to continue your generous friendship towards one who so highly appreciates it.

Haydn was impressed with Mozart's new quartets, and after hearing them for the first time in January 1785, he told Mozart's father:

> Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name; he has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition.

Haydn was distraught when Mozart died at the age of 35 in 1791, writing:

> I was for some time quite beside myself over his death. I cannot believe that Providence should so quickly have called an irreplaceable man into the next world.

Haydn eulogized Mozart, saying:

> Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.

The two composers' friendship was also described by Mozart's early biographer, Franz Niemetschek, who wrote:

> High esteem for true merit, and regard for the individual, influenced his judgment of works of art. He was always very touched when he spoke of the two Haydns or other great masters.

Haydn and Mozart's final meeting took place in December 1790, shortly before Haydn left for London. Haydn recounted the details of their last interaction to his biographer, Albert Christoph Dies, 15 years later:

> Mozart especially took pains to say, "Papa!" as he usually called him, "you have had no training for the great world, and you speak too few languages." "Oh," replied Haydn, "my language is understood all over the world!"... When Haydn had settled... his household affairs, he fixed his departure and left on 15 December [1790], in company with Salomon. Mozart on this day never left his friend Haydn. He dined with him, and said at the moment of parting, "We are probably saying our last farewell in this life." Tears welled from the eyes of both. Haydn was deeply moved, for he applied Mozart's words to himself, and the possibility never occurred to him that the thread of Mozart's life could be cut off by the inexorable Parcae within the following year.

Haydn's prolific career and notable works

Haydn's career was prolific, to say the least. He composed over 100 symphonies and almost 70 string quartets, earning him the nickname ""Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". He also produced numerous operas, masses, concertos, piano sonatas and other compositions.

Haydn's career began with an education in music from his cousin, followed by a position as a chorister at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. After being expelled due to his voice changing, Haydn began to teach himself music theory through the study of musical works and manuals. Haydn's first symphony was written for Count Ferdinand Maximilian von Morzin, for whom he was briefly employed as musical director and chamber composer.

Haydn's career really took off when he was invited to enter the service of Prince Pál Antal Esterházy in 1761. The Esterházy family were one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the Austrian Empire, with a well-appointed orchestra performing regularly in their castle. Haydn was initially appointed assistant conductor but soon took over as musical director, a position he held until his death.

During his time with the Esterházy family, Haydn composed a huge amount of music, including symphonies, string quartets, operas, and chamber music. He also frequently visited Vienna with the prince, where he became close friends with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

In 1779, Haydn's contract was renegotiated to allow him to write for others and sell his work to publishers. This marked a new stage in his career, as he achieved international popularity and began to travel. He visited England twice, where he composed some of his best-known works, including the "Surprise", "Military", "Drumroll" and "London" symphonies.

Haydn returned to Vienna in 1795 and continued to compose, now with the freedom to write for a wider audience. He collaborated with librettist Gottfried van Swieten to create his two great oratorios, "The Creation" and "The Seasons", which are considered the pinnacle of Classical oratorios.

Haydn's other notable works include the "Emperor's Hymn", "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", which became the national anthem of Germany; the "Farewell" Symphony; the "Trauer" Symphony; the "Oxford" Symphony; the "Emperor" Quartet; and the "Gypsy Rondo" piano trio.

Haydn's death and legacy

Haydn died in Vienna, aged 77, on the 31st of May 1809, after a long illness. Austria was at war and Vienna was occupied by Napoleon's troops, so a rather simple funeral was held in Gumpendorf, the parish in Vienna to which Haydn's house on the Windmühle belonged, followed by burial in the Hundsturm cemetery.

Haydn's skull was stolen shortly after his death by two men interested in examining it for phrenology, a now-discredited scientific movement that attempted to associate mental capacities with aspects of cranial anatomy. The thieves were identified 11 years later, but they cleverly evaded punishment. For 145 years, the skull was passed from owner to owner; it was only in 1954 that it was reunified for burial with the rest of Haydn's remains.

Haydn's death came at the end of a long and illustrious career. He was one of the last major musicians who worked almost exclusively for a single aristocratic patron – in his case, the princely Hungarian Esterházy family, whose main residence was the castle of Eisenstadt on the Austrian-Hungarian border. Haydn's employers treated him fairly, but in their eyes, he was no better than a servant, a position he came to resent. His lifelong desire for freedom was only granted towards the end of his long career, when he was effectively pensioned off and was able to travel and enjoy his spreading European reputation.

Haydn's legacy is a rich one. He is known as the "Father of the Symphony" and the "Father of the String Quartet", and his work in these forms, as well as in piano sonatas and piano trios, was foundational for the Classical music style. Haydn's work was also central to the development of what came to be called sonata form. His sense of formal inventiveness also led him to integrate the fugue into the classical style and to enrich the rondo form with more cohesive tonal logic.

Haydn's music is known for its humour, with the most famous example being the sudden loud chord in the slow movement of his Surprise Symphony. His compositions are also full of wit and drama, with many false endings and rhythmic illusions. Haydn's work was hugely influential on his contemporaries and successors, with Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert all owing an incalculable debt to him.

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