Download Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an

Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an Austrian
composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical
period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the
String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms. He was
also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in the evolution of
sonata form. Haydn had a spectacular voice and his musicality was precise.
Johann Franc, impressed by Haydn’s voice, insisted that Haydn’s parents allow
Haydn to live with him to study music. Franc was a school principal and the
choir director of a church in Hainburg. Haydn’s parents allowed him to go in
hopes that he would amount to something very special. Haydn studied mostly
music, but also Latin, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Haydn spent most of his
childhood singing in church choirs. Haydn earned a living by becoming a
freelance musician, teaching music, and composing. His first steady job came
in 1757, when he was hired as music director for Count Morzin. His name and
compositions steadily became recognizable. During his time with Count Morzin,
Haydn wrote 15 symphonies, concertos, piano sonatas, and possibly string
quartets op. 2, nos. 1-2. He married Maria Anna Keller on November 26, 1760. In 1761, Haydn began his lifelong
relationship with the wealthiest family among Hungarian nobility, the Esterhazy family. Haydn spent nearly 30 years of his
life here. He was hired as vice-Kapellmeister earning 400 gulden a year, and as time went on, his salary increased as well as
his ranking within the court. His music became widely popular. From 1791, Haydn spent four years in London composing
music and experiencing life outside the royal court. His time in London was the high point of his career. He earned nearly
24,000 gulden in a single year (the sum of his combined salary of nearly 20 years as Kapellmeister). Haydn spent the last
years of his life in Vienna composing only vocal pieces such as masses and oratorios. Haydn passed away in the middle of
the night from old age. Mozart’s Requiem was performed at his funeral.
Concerto per il Clarino, Hob.: VII e, 1 (Trumpet Concerto in E flat major) was written in 1796, when Haydn was 64 years old,
for his long time friend Anton Weidinger, who reputably had developed a keyed trumpet which could play chromatically
throughout its entire range. Before this, the trumpet was commonly valveless (or so called “natural”) and could only play a
limited range of harmonic notes by altering lip pressure. These harmonic notes were clustered in the higher registers, so
previous trumpet concertos could only offer melodies at very high pitches (e.g., Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2).
Haydn's concerto includes melodies in the lower register, exploiting the capabilities of the new instrument. There were
attempts all over Europe around the mid-classical era to expand the range of the trumpet using valves, and Weidinger's
idea of drilling holes and covering them with flute-like keys proved reasonably unpopular, due to their poorer quality of
sound. Thus the natural trumpet still had continual use in the classical orchestra whilst the keyed trumpet had barely any
repertoire. The valved trumpets used today started to appear in the 1830s. Haydn’s Trumpet concerto is composed in three
movements (typical of a concerto): I. Allegro (sonata), II. Andante (sonata), III. Finale-Allegro (Rondo). In addition to the solo
trumpet, the concerto is scored for an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 (presumably natural)
trumpets (which generally play in support of the horns or timpani rather than the solo trumpet), timpani and strings.