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Joseph Haydn: Composers
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Haydn's positive attitude and sense of humor made him a favorite among musicians. Music students valued his knowledge and skill and considered it an honor to learn from him. One such musician was Mozart. Although Mozart was much younger than Haydn, the two men treated each other with a mutual respect reserved for the obviously gifted. Although Haydn openly opined Mozart as the more dramatic composer, his young counterpart looked to Papa Haydn as a mentor and the master of quartets.
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Haydn was born in Rohrau, Lower Austria, on March 31, 1732. At the age of 8 he became a choirboy at the Cathedral of St. Stephen's in Vienna, remaining there until his dismissal in 1749. By his own account his early years were largely given to self-instruction in music: he developed some facility as a violinist and keyboard player (but he was never a virtuoso performer); he studied briefly with the Italian opera composer and singing master Niccolò Porpora; and he became thoroughly acquainted with Viennese musical life of the period 1740-1760 and knew its leading figures.
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Haydn was hired in 1761 as Vice-Kapellmeister in the musical establishment of Prince Anton Esterházy, a leading member of the Hungarian nobility. When Nicholas Esterházy succeeded to the title of Prince after the death of Anton, he had a large hunting lodge in the rural community of Suttor expanded into a great palace, Esterháza, where Haydn and the musicians he supervised (the composer was the acting Kapellmeister now) spent part of their year. It was in 1765 that Nicholas began his practice of summer residence there.
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The return to Vienna in 1795 marked the last turning point in Haydn's career. Although his musical style evolved little, his intentions as a composer changed. While he had been a servant, and later a busy entrepreneur, Haydn wrote his works quickly and in profusion, with frequent deadlines. As a rich man, Haydn now felt he had the privilege of taking his time and writing for posterity. This is reflected in the subject matter of The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801), which address such weighty topics as the meaning of life and the purpose of humankind, and represent an attempt to render the sublime in music. Haydn's new intentions ... meant that he was willing to spend much time on a single work: both oratorios took him over a year to complete.
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Haydn was a prolific composer who gave his compositions at times funny nicknames. Some of his works are: Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons), Symphony No. 49 " La Passione", Symphony No. 82 "The Bear", Symphony No. 83 The Hen", Symphony No. 92 "The Oxford", Symphony No. 94 "The Surprise", Symphony No. 96 "The Miracle", Symphony No. 100 "The Military, Symphony No. 101 "The Clock" and Symphony No. 103 "The Drumroll".
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A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent most of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original".[3]
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