Franz Joseph Haydn Over the course of his 106 symphonies, Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn became the principal architect of the classical style of music. Haydn was called the father of the symphony and the father of the string Quartet. He was born March 31, 1732. When he was eight years old, he went to Vienna to sing in the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral. His younger brother Michael joined him a short time later. Haydn spent a lot of his life as a musician somewhat secluded from the rest of the music world. On May 1, 1761, he went to work for the Esterhazy family where he remained for the next 30 years. Once he left the Esterhazy family, he was well known and worked with a number of composers. Joseph, he did not go by Franz, was also famous for his sense of humor. This affected his music in a few ways. He also knew other very famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a very busy man and took many trips throughout his life. By the end of his life he was ill and weak; luckily he was alive to enjoy some of his fame. Haydn died May 31, 1809 in Vienna, Austria as one of the greatest composers of his time. Joseph Haydn had a pretty good childhood. He was born in Rohrau, Austria which bordered Hungary. His two well-known siblings were Michael Haydn and Johann Evangelist Haydn. Michael Haydn was born on September 14th, 1737, and he also became a well-known composer. In 1745 he followed in brother Josephs footsteps and became a chorister in St. Stephen's Cathedral. Some say he may have even been better than Joseph. Johann Evangelist Haydn was born December 23rd, 1743. He was a tenor singer of the classical era. Although Joseph’s siblings made a name for themselves, neither was nearly as famous as him. His father, Matthias Haydn, worked as a wheelwright and also served as Marktrichter, an office akin to village mayor. His mother, Maria Koller, was a cook in the Palace of Count Harrach. Neither parent could read music although Haydn’s father had taught himself to play the harp when he was young. His parents realized that Joseph had a passion for singing and a talent for music and encouraged him. He showed musical abilities and at the age of five, he was trained by a schoolmaster at Hainburg, Johann Matthais Frankh, who taught and introduced him to the world of music. He started singing in choirs and people noticed that he could even hit treble parts with his vocal cords. People were impressed with his talent and he was soon spotted by George Von Reutter, the director of music at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. He was accepted to the institution and went on to work as a chorister with the institution for the next nine years. For the next few years, Haydn stayed with the Reutter family and learnt a lot at the Cathedral even though he did not learn much from Reutter himself. He was introduced to a wide variety of topics such as voice, violin, and keyboard. The school was a premier institution at the time and Haydn continued to learn even though he was appointed as a chorister. In the year 1749, Haydn’s voice seasoned and he could not sing high anymore. The empress herself noticed and complained to the school that he was no longer fit to sing. Later, Haydn played a prank on one of his schoolmates by cutting her pigtail off. This was enough to anger the management and he was expelled from the institution, with no home or family to go to. One of Haydn’s friends let him move in with him and he pursued a career as a freelance musician.
Haydn worked hard and tried different jobs after he left the cathedral. He was finally accepted as an apprentice to the composer Nicola Porpora who taught him basics of composition. Nicola played a big role in the molding and direction of Haydn’s popular career. While he was an apprentice to Nicola, he also made a living by playing the organ in the Bohemian chancellery chapel and continued to refine his theory and musical skills by reading up and studying the works of Carl Phillip Bach and Johann Fux. Around this time Haydn’s popularity slowly began to increase with his number of works. He worked for a freelance court in Vienna and was one of the several musicians at balls and other important arrangements. He was also summoned by the Countess Thun as her keyboard and singing teacher. With the increase in his reputation, Haydn was called to the important estate, Weinzierl where he first started to compose his string quartets. This was followed by a brief period of compositions and performances after which he was picked by his first, permanent employer Count Morzin, in 1757. While at Count Morzin’s, he was appointed as the chief music director or the Kapellmeister, where he wrote and produced many symphonies, quartets and songs. Following his appointment as the music director, Haydn decided to settle down with Maria Anna. They had a very unhappy marriage. They had no children so both Haydn and his wife decided to go their separate ways. The count started losing money after a while and had to let Haydn go. Luckily Haydn was hired by Prince Paul Anton, the heir to the Esterhazy family. It was here that Haydn musically established himself. He was happy to have a chance to create and perform music as he pleased. He took over as senior Kapellmeister at the royal conservatory. He also travelled with the royals on various occasions. For the next thirty years, Haydn worked with the Esterhazy court and his musical style continued to develop. Around this time he produced some of his famous works like the Paris symphonies and the last seven words of Christ. During his stay with the Esterhazy’s, his popularity around the world increased and he continued to keep in touch with some of his friends. He wrote to Prince Nicolas’s physician’s wife and told her about how lonely he was. After writing to each other for a while, he was told she had died which led him to write one of his legendary pieces, F minor variations for piano. Soon the ruler of Esterhazy died and his son took over the throne. Haydn’s salary decreased so he decided to leave and travelled to another part of Europe to make a living.
Haydn met many new people and travelled a lot as he got older. When he moved he was made an offer by Johann Peter Salomon, an impresario, whom he performed symphonies with. After some visits to London he began to get involved with a woman named Rebecca Schroeter. He met Wolfgang Mozart on a couple of occasions and even congratulated him for his creations in music. They played string quartets together. Haydn played violin and Mozart played viola. Although Mozart is more well-known than him, Haydn was the most famous composer during their time. He also met Beethoven around this time and took him on as his apprentice. Haydn was always busy though and Beethoven eventually found another teacher due to this fact. Most of the works of Beethoven and Mozart were influenced greatly by Haydn’s style. In 1795, Haydn accepted an offer to be a Kapellmeister at the estate of Prince Anton’s successor. He worked part time writing and composing for him. During his free time he worked with his friend Gottfried and created two oratorios, the creation and the season, both of which are quite famous. As Haydn got older, he suffered from many health problems which made it difficult for him to perform. Despite his illnesses he managed to compose a patriotic piece that was used in the Austrian and German national anthems after his death. He died on May 31, 1809 in Vienna, Austria. The father of the symphony, Franz Joseph Haydn, truly was a great composer. Thanks to his family for supporting him in his youth, he learned to play from prestigious schools and famous composers. Even though he lived in seclusion from most of the world for thirty years he was well known to the world. He played with Mozart and he mentored Beethoven. He was a huge musical influence to them both. Haydn paved the way for the classical era and was one of the best composers of his and all generations.
Work cited
Music Appreciation Textbook http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/joseph-haydn-463.php Haydn: A Creative Life in Music