Haydn

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Franz Joseph Haydn Biography

by Aaron Green
Updated March 17, 2017
Born:
March 31, 1732 – Rohrau, Austria
Died:
May 31, 1809 – Vienna
Franz Joseph Haydn Quick Facts:
Haydn and Mozart were friends. They respected each other's music and occasionally invited one another to their
performances.
Haydn composed 104 symphonies!

Unlike Wagner, Haydn was warm and heartfelt. He was caring, loving, extremely intelligent, and very well controlled.
Haydn's Family Background:
Haydn was one of three boys born to Mathias Haydn and Anna Maria Koller. His father was a master wheelwright who loved
music. He played the harp, while Haydn’s mother sang the melodies. Anna Maria was a cook for Count Karl Anton Harrach
before she married Mathias. Haydn’s brother, Michael, also composed music and became relatively famous. His youngest
brother, Johann Evangelist, sang tenor in the church choir of the Esterhazy Court.
Childhood:
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.
Teenage Years:
Haydn trained his younger brother Michael when he joined the choir school three years later; it was customary for the older
choirboys to instruct the younger ones. Although great Haydn's voice was, he lost it when he went through puberty. Michael,
who also had a beautiful voice, received the attention Haydn was used to getting. Haydn was dismissed from the school when
he was 18.
Early Adult Years:
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.
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Mid Adult Years:
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.
Late Adult Years:
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.
Selected Works by Haydn:
Symphony
Symphony No. 34, d minor - 1765
Symphony No. 35, B flat Major - 1767

Symphony No. 36, E flat Major - 1769
Symphony No. 37, C Major - 1758
Symphony No. 39, G Major - 1770
Symphony No. 40, F Major - 1763
Symphony No. 94, "Surprise Symphony", G Major - 1791
Symphony No. 95, c minor - 1791

Symphony No. 96, D Major - 1791
Symphony No. 98, B flat Major - 1792
Symphony No. 99, E flat Major - 1793
Symphony No. 100, "Military", G Major - 1793/4
Mass
Missa Sancti Bernardi von Offida (Heiligmesse), B flat Major - 1796

Missa in tempore belli (Kriegsmesse; Paukenmesse), C Major -1796
Missa (Nelsonmesse; Imperial Mass; Coronation Mass), d minor - 1798
Oratorio
Die Schöpfung (The Creation) - 1796-8

Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) - 1799-1801
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12/2/2018 https://www.thoughtco.com/franz-joseph-haydn-biography-723885?

Franz Joseph Haydn Biography

March 31, 1732 – Rohrau, Austria

May 31, 1809 – Vienna

Franz Joseph Haydn Quick Facts:

Haydn composed 104 symphonies!

Haydn's Family Background:

Early Adult Years:

Mid Adult Years:

Late Adult Years:

Selected Works by Haydn:

Symphony No. 34, d minor - 1765

Symphony No. 35, B ﬂat Major - 1767

Symphony No. 95, c minor - 1791

Missa Sancti Bernardi von Oﬃda (Heiligmesse), B ﬂat Major - 1796

Die Schöpfung (The Creation) - 1796-8

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