Composer
Joseph Haydn
"The father of the symphony" and "the father of the string quartet."
Joseph Haydn spent nearly thirty years as a court composer for the wealthy Esterházy family, largely isolated from other major composers - a position he later said forced him to "become original." In that relative isolation, he did more than almost anyone to establish the symphony and the string quartet in the forms later composers would inherit, writing over 100 symphonies and dozens of quartets that set the template for the entire Classical era.
Life in brief
Haydn was born in 1732 in Rohrau, a village in Lower Austria, the son of a wheelwright. His singing voice won him a place as a choirboy at St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, but when his voice broke he was turned out, and he spent several lean years scraping a living as a freelance musician while teaching himself composition from textbooks and scores.
In 1761 he entered the service of the Esterházy princes, the richest noble family in Hungary, and he stayed for nearly three decades, much of it at their remote palace of Eszterháza. He ran the court's orchestra and opera house and wrote music for every occasion - including a vast amount for the prince's favorite instrument, the obscure baryton. His "Farewell" Symphony (No. 45) is a famous example of his wit: in its finale the musicians stop playing and leave one by one, a hint to the prince that they wanted to go home to their families.
When the prince died in 1790, Haydn was free to travel, and the London impresario Johann Peter Salomon brought him to England. His two London visits were a triumph: he was celebrated by the public, given an honorary doctorate by Oxford, and wrote his last twelve symphonies, the "London" symphonies, for Salomon's concerts. He died in Vienna in 1809, while the city was occupied by Napoleon's army; French soldiers stood guard at his house as a mark of respect.
Music and style
Haydn's music is clear, inventive, and full of humor - unexpected pauses, false endings, sudden loud chords - but it's also deeply serious craftsmanship. He was a master at building whole movements from a single short idea, and he treated the four players of a string quartet as genuine partners in conversation. He befriended the young Mozart, the two influencing each other deeply, and for a time taught the young Beethoven.
His Symphony No. 94, nicknamed "Surprise," is a good example of his sense of humor: a hushed, gentle passage is suddenly interrupted by a single loud orchestral chord. Popular legend says it was written to jolt a dozing audience awake, though Haydn himself denied that was the intent when asked.
Key works
- The "London" symphonies (Nos. 93 – 104) - including the "Surprise," "Military," "Clock," and "London."
- String quartets - around 68, including the Op. 33 set and the Op. 76 set, whose "Emperor" Quartet contains the melody now used as Germany's national anthem.
- The Creation (1798) - an oratorio on the biblical creation story, inspired by hearing Handel's oratorios performed at large scale in London. It pushed his own music toward the grander, more dramatic scale the Romantic era would soon take even further.
- The Seasons (1801) - a second large oratorio, on country life.
- Trumpet Concerto (1796) - still the cornerstone of the trumpet repertoire.
- Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major - rediscovered in 1961.
Legacy
Affectionately known as "Papa Haydn," he was the most famous composer in Europe by the end of his life. Every later composer of symphonies and quartets worked in the forms he shaped, and his wit and economy remain a model of how much can be done with very little.
Where to start listening: the slow movement of Symphony No. 94, with its famous surprise chord, is a quick demonstration of his wit; The Creation's opening depiction of chaos resolving into light shows his more dramatic ambitions. The finale of the Trumpet Concerto is pure delight.