Joseph Haydn was a prolific Viennese composer during the classical period. He grew up in a musical family and was sent to study music with a distant relative at the age of six. He suffered abuse but learned the harpsichord, violin, and singing. He became a member of the boys’ choir at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and later worked for the Eszterházy family for thirty years. He became friends with Mozart and composed some of his most famous works during a trip to England. Despite his infidelities, he was kind and greatly influenced the symphony and string quartet.
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is one of the most prolific and well-known Viennese composers during the classical period of music. Although he is often referred to as Franz Joseph Haydn, he was never known by that name in his lifetime, and music purists often insist that “Franz” be dropped when Haydn is mentioned.
Haydn grew up in a very musical family. Accounts of him refer to his family often singing together or with neighbors at their home in Rohrau. Haydn’s father was a well known folk musician. Two brothers were also successful musicians in their lives. Michael Haydn became a composer, although he certainly didn’t bring his brother closer to his talent. Johann Evangelist Haydn was a much loved tenor. Both parents acknowledged that Haydn had extraordinary musical gifts. As such, he was sent to study music with a distant relative, Johann Franck.
Haydn was only six at the time and accounts say he was often starved and abused by Franck. However, in his studies he learned the harpsichord, the violin and also singing. His singing ability brought Haydn to the attention of George von Reutter, who took over Haydn’s care and enlisted him as a member of the popular boys’ choir in Vienna at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Still suffering from Reutter’s abandonment and not receiving much musical training, Haydn managed to amass quite a bit of knowledge at St. Stephen’s. It was considered the musical center of Vienna in many respects and almost every major composer of the time performed there at one time or another. How a starving kid can continue to love music and learn so much is hard to guess. Perhaps learning was his refuge from an otherwise neglected childhood.
When Haydn was seventeen, he could no longer sing the tall boy tenor and was fired from the choir. For several years he traveled as a freelance musician before being hired as assistant director (kappellmeister) by the Eszterházy family, one of Austria’s richest and most affluent families. He soon became conductor or conductor of the small family orchestral group, and will remain there for thirty years, realizing numerous compositions. He became famous outside royal circles and wrote about half of his own work for publication and half for the orchestra he conducted.
Mozart and Haydn became friends in the 1780s. Haydn was overwhelmed by Mozart’s genius and the two became inseparable. It seems logical that Haydn could easily be related to the hardships Mozart endured as a child prodigy. The two were also part of a Masonic lodge dedicated to Catholicism. The two great composers often played string quartets together and Mozart dedicated a series of string quartets to “his Masonic brother”, Haydn.
A trip to England in 1790 earned Haydn even more praise. During this period he composed some of his most famous works today, including the beautiful Surprise Symphony. Now quite wealthy, he retired to Austria, battling an illness for some time, which made it impossible for him to compose. He was able to compose a little patriotic tune which is now used in the Austrian and German national anthems.
Haydn was loved by many who remarked on his sense of humour, his humility and his irrepressible energy. His marriage in 1760 to Maria Anna Keller was an unhappy one and they had no children together. Despite his devout nature as a Catholic, he is thought to have had several mistresses in his lifetime and may have fathered a child or two with mistress Luigia Polzelli. However, disregarding his infidelities, he was said to be kind and gifted. He greatly influenced the developing musical forms of the symphony and string quartet. His work is considered most influential on other artists of the classical era.
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