TDCM: September 6th - Joseph Haydn

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Bio

Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria. His father was a politician, wheelwright, and folk musician. Haydn was trained as a singer and may have sung at Vivaldi's funeral as a 9-year-old. While freelancing as a composer he studied CPE Bach and named him a key influence in his development. Eventually, he gained enough notoriety to attract aristocratic patrons including Count Morzin, Prince Paul Anton, and Prince Nikolaus I - the latter two heads of the Esterházy court. Haydn and Mozart became friends in Vienna, he succeeded JC Bach in London as the premier composer, and then he met Beethoven in Bonn and tutored the young composer. He is known as the "Father of the Symphony" and the "Father of the String Quartet" and did as much to establish the concept of Classical music as any man before or since.

Music

Symphony No. 100 in G major "Military"

Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major

Symphony No. 83 "La Poule"

Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major

Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise"

Symphony No. 1 in D major

Symphony No. 20 in C major

Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell"

The London Symphonies