A Brief History of Joseph Haydn

(1732 -1809)
Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Joseph Haydn was born in 1792 in Rohrau village, about 30 miles southeast of Vienna and was
the border of Austria and Hungary. His father was Mathias Haydn, a master wheelwright. His
mother Maria Nee Koller had previously worked as a cook in the palace of count Harrach, the
presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. None of his parents could read music. His dad was an enthusiast
folk musician who had taught himself how to play the harp.

His parents noticed his musical gifts and agreed to have him learn under the apprenticeship of
their relative Johann Matthias Frankh, the school master and choirmaster in Hainburg. He left for
Hainburg never to live again with his parents. He became a choirboy at the age of seven at St.
Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where he acquired practical experience in music and learned
singing, harpsichord and violin.

He was dismissed at the age of 17 after he had matured to the point he was no longer able to sing
high choral parts. He struggled working as a freelance musician, composer and teacher. In his
freelance career, Haydn became a music teacher, a street serenader and a valet accompanist.
Haydn had not received a systematic training in music theory and composition. He mastered
counterpoint using Fux’s Gradus ad Parnas-sum, studied music of other composers and took
composition lessons from Nicola Porpora (famous Italian composer to whom he was a valet
accompanist.

He became the music director for Count of Morzin in about 1757 and probably wrote his first
symphonies for the count. In 1760 he married Maria Anna Keller, a wigmaker’s daughter. It was
not a happy marriage and both Anna and Haydn had extramarital affairs and were childless. He
entered the service a Hungarian prince, Paul Anton Esterhazy in 1761 and continued in the
family’s service for the rest of his life. In this position, he was responsible for composing on
demand, presenting operas weekly and assisting with almost daily chamber music. The nature of
his work here forced him to compose music at a prodigious rate. It also allowed him to hear his
music in excellent performances and to experiment with new ideas.

Haydn met with Mozart around 1784 during his visits to Vienna and their mutual admiration
developed. The publications of his music brought him praise and fame all around Europe and
generated commissions from many other patrons. He spent most of the time between 1790 and
1795 composing, giving concerts, and teaching in London where he had long been famous.

His triumphs in London increased his reputation in Vienna and he was invited to return to
Vienna as court music director for Prince Nikolaus II Esterhazy, with minimal duties.

He began to complain of weakness around 1799 and by 1802 he had stopped to compose. He
died famous and admired widely in 1809.

Haydn’s Style

Haydn’s style drew on many sources and was recognized during that time as highly individual.
He looked for broad and immediate appeal by devising themes that seemed familiar on first
hearing and by following conventions for phrasing, form and harmony. Yet he made his scores
more interesting by introducing the unexpected. Each aspect of his style reinforced the others:
the familiar was enriched by contrasts, the reliance on conventions created the listeners’
expectations that made surprises possible.

The main source of his style was the gallant style. The gallant style was the main music language
of the midcentury. It was marked by a songful melody in short phrases, arranged in balanced
periods over light accompaniments. He included elements of other styles into this style. Haydn
adopted the heightened expressivity of the empfindsam style from C.P.E Bach’s keyboard
Sonatas and made an emphasis on making the most of each musical idea through variation and
development.

Haydn began his composition process by improvising at the keyboard until he settled on an
appropriate theme or idea. He then worked out the piece at the keyboard and on paper, usually
writing down only the main melody and harmony on one or two staves. His procedure for
writing the completed score combined improvisation and calculation while he first searched for
something to say and then devised the most effective way to say it.

Musical styles:
Symphonies
He is known as the “father of the symphony” as his symphonies set the pattern for later
composers through their high quality, wide dissemination and lasting appeal. He was the first to
have reshaped the structure of the old sinfonia, overture or other musical forms and create a
prototype of the familiar symphony for full orchestra; he was influenced by C.P.E Bach mainly.

String Quartets
He is also known as the “father of the string quartet”. Though he was not the first to compose the
string quartets, he was among the earliest and first great master of the genre. Haydn’s quartets
are very much addressed to the players. They are sometimes described as conversation among
the instruments.

Keyboard Sonatas and Trios

Keyboard sonatas and Trios were written for amateurs to play in private for their own enjoyment
during Haydn’s day. Both genres featured three movements: fast – slow – fast. The keyboard trio
was essentially a keyboard sonata accompanied by strings, the cello doubling the bass line and
the violin adding the background and some contrasting themes.

Vocal works
Opera

The operas occupied much of Haydn’s time and energy while working at Esterhazy. Of
his 15 or more Italian operas, most were comic with music abounding with humor and
high spirits.

Masses

Haydn’s earliest surviving and last completed works were masses dating from 1749 and
1802 respectively. His last six masses are large-scale, festive works using four solo
vocalists, chorus and full orchestra with trumpets and timpani. His masses have a
flamboyance that matches the architecture of the Austrian Baroque churches in which
they were performed. There was occasional criticism that his sacred music felt too
cheerful. The composer met this criticism by stating that at the thought of God his heart
leaped for joy and that God would not reproach him for praising the Lord with a cheerful
heart.
 Oratorios

Haydn’s interaction with Handel’s Messiah while he was in London inspired him to
compose his own. The Creation (completed 1798), on texts adopted from Genesis and
Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the Seasons (completed in 1801) were issued in both English
and German

Summary of his Major Works:

104 symphonies, 20 concertos, 68 string quartets, 29 Keyboard Trios, 126 baryton trios,
47 keyboard sonatas, 15 operas, 12 Masses, The creation, The season oratorios.