Joseph Haydn Composer

Biography

Born into a modest family in 1732, Joseph Haydn left his parents at an early age. In 1753 he became secretary to the Italian composer Niccolò Porpora, who taught him 'the true fundamentals of composition' (Haydn dixit). In 1760 he was employed as assistant choirmaster by one of the most important families in Hungary, the Princes Esterházy. At the end of the 1760s he composed his first works for string quartet for the Baron of Fürnberg.

Hired by Pope Paul II Anton, he went on to serve Nicholas I 'the Magnificent', a great lover of music, after the latter's death the following year. This marked the beginning of a long period of particularly rich composition (chamber music, especially quartets and trios for the prince, keyboard music, symphonies for the Esterházy musicians), written away from the Viennese musical world. Haydn was tied to the princes' estates - Eisenstadt and then, from 1769, Esterháza Castle in Hungary - although Nicolas, aware of his genius, gradually gave him more freedom. He met Mozart in the early 1780s and their friendship lasted until Mozart's death in 1791. This relative solitude gave Haydn a certain independence.

The Sturm und Drang works of the 1770s, those of the subsequent lighter period and the great 'classical' works of the 1780s all testify to the vitality of the composer's inspiration. During these decades he played a central role in the development of what were to become fundamental musical genres, such as the symphony and the string quartet (in 1785 he composed The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross for string quartet, commissioned by the Cathedral of Cádiz). The death of Prince Nikolaus in September 1790 opened up a period of greater availability for Haydn; his son Anton allowed the composer to leave the family estate. This was the occasion for a trip to England in 1791.

Haydn triumphed there, and the concerts he conducted gave him the opportunity to write so many new symphonies. Known as the 'London Symphonies', these last twelve were all composed and premiered during his two stays in England (1791-1792 and 1794-1795).

Back in Vienna in the summer of 1792, Haydn began to study with Beethoven, but the relationship between the two men soon seems to have become rather difficult. On his return from his second stay in England, Haydn turned to vocal music: he devoted himself to writing his two great oratorios, The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801). Tired, he composed less and less and died in May 1809, a year after his last public performance.

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