Franz Joseph Haydn (jan 1, 1732 – jan 1, 1809)

Description:

an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio. His contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".

Introduction
1. Haydn is known as the “father of the symphony,” with over 100 examples in that
genre.
2. By the eighteenth century, a “sinfonia” had come to mean what the French called
ouverture: the instrumental opener to an opera.
3. By the end of the eighteenth century, the symphony was a stand-alone genre, and over
16,000 have survived. It also had moved from background music to the main event.

Haydn: The Perfect Career
1. The number and quality of Haydn’s symphonies clearly designates him as the most
influential composer of symphonies in the eighteenth century.
a. He standardized the genre.
b. He made it a public genre.
c. He enlarged it in both size and scope, and his symphonies are the earliest
staples in the modern concert repertory.
2. Haydn’s talent as a singer was recognized when he was six; at age eight he went to
sing in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna.
4. In Vienna, Haydn attracted the attention of Empress Maria Theresa. When his voice
broke (at seventeen, not unusual in the eighteenth century), he lost his position.
5. He lived in strained circumstances for several years, taking odd musical jobs, playing
violin on the streets, and studying composition (including Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum).
a. Haydn’s earliest compositions date from this period.
b. He also composed small instrumental pieces, now called string quartets.
6. Early commercial success with these instrumental pieces (Op. 1 and 2) enabled Haydn to secure a position with a noble family, that of Count Morzin.

Haydn’s Years with the Esterházy Family
1. At age twenty-eight (1760), Haydn went to work for the Esterházy family. He remained with this family for almost fifty years.
2. The Esterházy family had two main residences, one in Vienna and one in Hungary;
Haydn worked at both.
3. Haydn’s typical duties included regular performances that included one opera and two
concerts per week, with daily chamber music and music for special occasions. He also wrote
music for the prince’s private amusement (on the baryton, the prince’s instrument of choice.
4. The working conditions for Esterházy were ideal.

*The baryton is a bowed string instrument similar to the viol, but distinguished by an extra set of plucked strings. It was in regular use in Europe until the end of the 18th century

Sonata Form
1. By the mid-1780s Haydn had established the symphonic form: fast opening movement,
slow second, dancelike third, and fast finale.
2. The first movement of mature Haydn symphonies is in sonata form.
a. Often he begins with a slow introduction that functions as the original sinfonias to operas—telling the audience that it is time to begin.
b. Explanation of sonata form, connecting “double return” to exposition.
c. The development tends to be short.

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