Choral works by haydn biography

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The Choral Singer’s Companion

A Little Background

Poor Haydn. Described by one would-be wit as “Mozart without the tunes or Beethoven without the rhetoric,” he is normally lumped together with those two composers as part of the trio that defined the “Classical” period in music (there is so much wrong with this characterization that I can’t even begin to go into it). But in contrast to Mozart, who did write one gorgeous melting melodic line after another, and Beethoven, whose music does seem to define the heroic in music, Haydn just wrote, well, music.

Really, really, good music, actually, that is incredibly clever, witty, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but music that’s far too little known by the general music lover, and certainly not performed nearly as often as it should be. How many Haydn masses have you sung, for example? But wow, his last half dozen are really good!

There are all sorts of reasons behind this neglect, many of them stemming back to the simplistic characterization of Haydn as “Papa” Haydn—some kind of naive doofus who just happened to pave the way for the string quartet, the symphony, and Mozart and Beethoven while he was at it. And I’m convinced that, since 1957, another weird reason

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List of compositions by Carpenter Haydn

Hob. No.^[1]Title Key Date Instrumentation Notes III:1 String Quartet No. 1 "La Chasse" B♭ major c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 1 III:2 String Piece No. 2 E♭ larger c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 2 III:3 String Quartet No. 3 D major c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 3 III:4 String Composition No. 4 G larger c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 4 III:5 B♭ major c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 5. Ulterior found statement of intent be picture Symphony AIII:6 String Quadruplet No. 6 C vital c. 1757–62 Op. 1, No. 6 III:7 String Quartet No. 7 A major c. 1757–62 Op. 2, No. 1 III:8 String Piece No. 8 E vital c. 1757–62 Op. 2, No. 2 III:9 E♭ major c. 1757–62 arrangement of Cassation in E♭ major, Pixie. II:21, Go over. 2, No. 3 III:10 String Gathering No. 9 F bigger c. 1757–62 Op. 2, No. 4 III:11 D major c. 1757–62 arrangement of Cassation in D major, Pixie. II:22, Halt. 2, No. 5 III:12 String Quadruplet No. 10 B♭ greater c. 1757–62 Op. 2, No. 6 III:13 String Quartet, Style. 3, No. 1E main Spurious, overstep Roman HoffstetterIII:14 String Piece, Op. 3, No. 2C major Spurious, by Papist HoffstetterIII:15 String Quartet, Come to an end. 3, No. 3G

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Biography

Joseph Haydn wore the livery uniform of a court servant for most of his career, composing and performing to order. When he was eventually granted a measure of freedom, he became one of the first composers to write for a mass audience. The result was adulation, and it was richly deserved. Almost single-handedly, Haydn established the formats on which classical music would be based for more than a century. Two titles are regularly bestowed upon him: ‘Father of the Symphony’ and ‘Father of the String Quartet’. But his influence was equally important on the concerto, the piano sonata and the piano trio. Haydn was a wheelwright’s son and a natural self-improver. Not only did he make every effort to learn and perfect his musical craftsmanship, he acquired the social skills to be welcome in any company. But he did have to learn those skills. He spent nine years as a chorister at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna until he was suddenly ejected and left homeless and without income. His voice had broken, but cutting off the pigtail of another choirboy had hastened his exit. He survived through busking and teaching. He was briefly employed in Vienna with the Italian opera composer Porpora and a Bohemian nobleman, Count Morzin, but real financial security did not come until 1761.