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Franz Joseph Haydn
As a composer, Franz Joseph Haydn was of immense historical importance. He and his
contemporaries literally established the Classical tradition, reinventing musical forms at the end
of the Baroque Era. As a man, Haydn was dutiful, prolific and, at least as far the art of
composing is concerned, largely self-taught. Despite having spent most of his professional life in
near isolation from the world, “Papa Haydn” became one of the most famous and significant
composers ever known.
Franz Joseph Haydn’s early years in Rohrau, Hainburg and Vienna are a bit fuzzy. Most of
what’s known comes from piecemeal anecdotes Haydn gave to biographers in his later years, at a
time when his memory was questionable. What is certain is that his father was Mathais Haydn,
his mother, Anna Maria Koller, and that Franz Joseph was born in March 1732, the second of
twelve children.
Though Matthais loved to sing with his children, Haydn’s parents didn’t have music in mind as a
career for their son (as the eldest boy in a Catholic family they assumed he would take holy
orders). But when he displayed incredible talent as a singer, religious studies were put on hold
and, at age 6, Haydn went off to school in Hainburg to study voice and instrument. Before long,
the Kapellmeister of St. Stephens Cathedral in Vienna visited Hainburg looking for talented
singers. With a recommendation from his instructor, Haydn was soon enrolled in what’s now
known as the Vienna Choir Boys.
When he finished at St. Stephens at 16, his parents again tried to convince Haydn to enter the
priesthood, but he remained resolute. The decision was a crucial one as it meant no more
financial assistance from his parents. Haydn found space in a “miserable little attic room without
a stove” in Vienna and divided his time among giving lessons, studying composition and
performing.
Soon Haydn met Nicola Porpora, a composer and teacher from whom the young musician would
learn much. Spending time with Porpora, Haydn met other famous musicians and composers
including Gluck and Wagensiel and also came under the influence of CPE Bach whose
composition book he purchased.
Around this time a new era was dawning in Vienna. The city had had a rich Baroque tradition for
years, most recently under Charles VI and composers like Fux and Caldara. But with the death of
all three around 1740, things were changing - and Franz Joseph Haydn would lead the way.
But first he needed a job. In 1759 Haydn took a position as music director to a count who kept an
orchestra at a summer home in Bohemia. (The same year Haydn composed the first of many
symphonies. Until now, much of his music had likely been simple pieces written for his students,
but it seems this important new position called for an important new piece.) The appointment
didn’t last long, however, as the Count squandered his fortune rather quickly. Fortunately for
Haydn, during one of those few summers he worked for the Count, he met Prince Paul Anton
Esterhazy. The Prince was in need of a replacement leader for his orchestra, Haydn was in need
of new employment and the rest follows. Haydn moved into the family’s castle in Eisenstadt just
south of Vienna.
Prince Paul Anton died within Haydn’s first year and was succeeded by his brother, Nikolaus.
Prince Nikolaus was to be Haydn’s employer for 30 years. Much has been said about the musical
importance of Franz Joseph Haydn, but history should not forget Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy. It
was his insatiable appetite for music that kept Haydn churning out new works and he was not
afraid to spend money on music or festivities. Similarly, when the Prince decided the family’s
hunting lodge in the country needed some sprucing up so that he might spend more time there, he
turned it into a full-fledged palace and named it Esterhaza. Soon the Prince and his court (and
Haydn and the orchestra) were spending every summer and often the whole year at Esterhaza.
From this point, records on Haydn’s life and works are much more detailed. As a result of the
prince reprimanding him for not writing enough music, beginning around 1765 Haydn kept
records of exactly what he was writing and doing. It’s true much of Haydn’s composing was
functional, but it was not at the sacrifice of expressiveness or creativity. Haydn composed in just
about every form, style and expression. He wrote operas, oratorios, and other vocal pieces, piano
and string trios, string quartets, divertimentos, many symphonies, and nearly as many works for
baryton, an obscure instrument similar to the viola d’amore, which was favored by the prince.
Apart from a number of brief trips to Vienna, Haydn spent almost all of the 30 years working for
the Esterhazys at either Eisenstadt or in the countryside at Esterhaza. Haydn loved going to
Vienna but usually needed an excuse to travel (i.e. he was looking for music for the orchestra)
and was never able to stay long. The Prince was very attached to his composer and musicians
and wanted them nearby. He was also attached to Esterhaza, at times much more than the
musicians were. There is, of course, the famous story of Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony in which
one by one each member of the orchestra gets up to leave as the last movement plays out. As the
tale goes, the prince got the hint and made preparations to leave the next day.
Initially, Haydn’s compositions were technically property of the Prince, though there is little
evidence he was held to this. When a new contract was written up in 1779, it included no such
stipulation, so Haydn was free to publish his works. Though Haydn spent most of his time in
Eisenstadt or Esterhaza, his works were traveling all over Europe. Haydn had publishers in Paris,
Vienna and London and to keep up with the demand was often forced to send the same piece of
music to more than one publisher as a new and original work. Such trickery went both ways,
though. Many publishers offered pirated version of works by the “world famous” Franz Joseph
Haydn.
Haydn was well paid and lived in an immense palace, but it’s likely he was lonely at Esterhaza.
He longed to leave the isolated palace for good. Haydn was wed in 1760 to Maria Anna Keller,
but the marriage was doomed from the beginning. Maria was the sister of the woman whom
Haydn really wanted to marry, but she had decided to enter the convent. As a favor to her father,
Haydn married Maria instead. Maria had no interest in Haydn or his music and was unable to
have children. The two did not divorce, but it seems neither did they love each other. Evidence of
Haydn’s unhappiness is found in letters exchanged with a friend in Vienna from 1789. He wrote
that his friend’s letters comforted him and helped “in my solitude… to cheer my heart, often so
deeply hurt.” After visiting Vienna, the return to Esterhaza was even more difficult. Haydn had
experienced for the first time in a long while the warmth and sympathy of a circle of friends. His
longing for life in Vienna grew.
Fortunately he wouldn’t have to wait long. In September 1790, Prince Nikolaus died. The
Prince’s successor, his son Paul Anton, did not have the same love for music as his father and
dismissed the orchestra. Haydn could continue with full salary on an as needed basis, but he was
already making plans to move in with a friend in Vienna.
Haydn was in Vienna only a short time when a concert manager from London, named Johann
Salomon showed up at his door. As the story goes, he said simply: “I am Salomon from London
and have come to fetch you.” Of course bringing the world famous Haydn to England was not a
new idea, but free of his duties under the prince, it was now an option. Promised a generous sum
in exchange for the composition of certain pieces, Haydn went with the stranger and arrived in
England on January 1, 1791.
Haydn was very busy in London. Salomon’s concerts were mostly to blame, but it was also
Haydn’s celebrity that kept him occupied. A week after his arrival, he wrote to a friend:
“Everyone wants to know me. I had to dine out six times up to now. I could have an invitation
everyday…” He even received an honorary Doctorate from Oxford University.
Haydn returned to Vienna in June 1792, to a very different atmosphere. The press in Vienna
didn’t make nearly as big a deal of him as the London press had done. But it was just as well;
Haydn had more time to compose and, as it happened, take on a student by the name of Ludwig
van Beethoven.
Haydn went back to London in 1794 for another series of concerts, nearly as successful as the
first. Just as he was leaving for London, Haydn learned of the death of Prince Paul Anton (just
four years after his father). Prince Paul’s son, Prince Nikolaus, sent word to Haydn asking him to
come back. Haydn was obliged to and, it seems, wanted to return. Perhaps a little homesick,
Haydn traveled to Eisenstadt.
Upon his return, much of Haydn’s output consisted of vocal music. He wrote a number of masses
and his incredibly successful oratorio The Creation.
Haydn spent his last years as a ‘grand old man’ of Vienna; he was named honorary member of
music societies, received medals and was visited by numerous VIPs. Near the end, he did not
travel to Eisenstadt, instead staying at his home and attending concerts here and there. The weeks
just before his death were sad ones for Vienna as the city was attacked and conquered by
Napoleon and his army on May 12 and 13, 1809. Haydn never went into the city to see what was
happening in his beloved Vienna. He died at his home on May 31.