Unless you can recall the name of the red feathered serpent who guarded Papa when he approached his departure from chrono time to posterity, you sirs are no Franz Joseph Haydn. Aficionados welcome, no posers need apply. A message from one of the skulls of EsterHazy.
100 symphonies, 50 Piano sonatas, 64 string quartets. He was no slacker. “Where Haydn is nothing can hurt you!” Funny that’s the feeling I get when listening to his music. He creates a pure escape, never too heavy. Always life affirming.
Here's an interesting anecdote I read a long while ago. During one of the lengthy stays of the Esterhazy family in a remote secondary residence, which probably stretched out for months, Haydn's musicians' discontent was growing as they had not been able to see their families in a considerably long while. Joseph, their Kapelmeister came up with an idea to send a quiet, yet direct message home. At a given time, during the performance of a symphony, some of the audience were getting drowsy during the Adagio movement as might have been commonplace, and when came the time for the final Allegro Vivace or Presto, the court could have felt entitled to more lively entertainment, or even a Viennese bang with both wind and percussion instruments. However, shortly after the introduction to the movement, rather than hear a small group of soloists, being joined in by the suddenly increasing sound of added musicians, so as to add intensity to the music, the exact opposite happened... Each of the soloists, gradually began leaving their seats one by one, before exiting the performance hall. Hence, the music slowly yet surely faded and died away, leaving the audience rather astounded and perplexed to say the least; something had clearly not gone according to plan with regard to their leisurely entertainment. Not being used to such treatment on behalf of a group of employees, the court of Esterhazy had been shocked into motion, and it was therefore decided that they would promptly return to their main home residence. Any further stays afar with the court musicians were henceforth considerably briefer than before. This type of passive resistance must certainly have come across more subtley than a modern-day strike. A gentle warning to the employer that if he wished to keep enjoying quality musical performance, then he at least had to treat his players with some form of consideration, even in that day and age.
Great comment about part of the background context to Haydn’s Symphony 45 in f# minor (‘Farewell’), but otherwise, you’ve completely missed the point about one of the greatest symphonies of the 18th century - it is absolutely *not* all about the exiting pantomime. Check out James Webster’s 400 page book on the symphony - in short, it is the greatest work of through-composition and cyclic integration before Beethoven’s 5th.
Great work, PianoTV! As a youth, my parents and paternal grandmother spoke highly of Mr. Haydn. And, whenever his music is on stations such as Portland Classical, I always perk up. BUT, didn't know much about the man behind the music
God I love you...in a non creepy stalker sort of way of course. Seriously Haydn is one of those composers I didn't care about and literally never listened to. Thanks to you I plan to check him out. Cheers
Great presentation ... I was watching Shawshank Redemption and googled the opera played by Andy DuFresne when he locked himself in the warden's office. One thing lead to another and Haydn's name came up, and realizing I knew nothing about him, I found your wonderful Haydn bio! Thank you for sharing!
This was a very succinct and entertaining video. You'll be making an appearance in my Music Appreciation class this week as we begin our section on Haydn. Great work!!
The composer’s name is *Joseph Haydn.* The absurd use of the baptismal name Franz is as ridiculous as referring to Mozart as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart. Baptismal names were *never* used by either composer during their own lifetimes, and neither should we. Both Haydn and Mozart would be astonished to see these baptismal names being used randomly today - the titles should be edited, as should the silly comments referring to the composer as ‘Franz’. *Every* extant signature by Haydn on letters, manuscripts and other documents shows that he signs himself either Giuseppe (Italian form), Joseph (German), or occasionally Josephus (Latin). The Italian form is by far the most common, but the important point is that he never wrote the Franz in his whole life. There are also a shocking number of people who think the composer’s name is Hayden (sic), or Hadyn.
3:24 Not only Haydn and Mozart but also Dvorak married the sister (Anna Čermáková) of the woman (Josefina Čermáková) with whom he actually was in love.
I think another of the most telling signs of Haydn the man, and Haydn the talent, is his friendship with Mozart. By all accounts, Mozart looked up to him and treated him with respect. For someone like Mozart to look up to another musician and to consider them excellent says just how important and genial he must have been. In fact I have found myself wondering more than once about whether Mozart revered Haydn more than his father Leopold.
Graham Leopold Mozart was his father, whilst Haydn was the only composer of the age of a comparable stature from whom Mozart could learn; so he revered, and indeed loved them both in slightly different ways. It is doubtful that Mozart could have learned much musically from Leopold from being a very little boy; whilst in London between 1764 and 1765, Leopold basically handed over the eight year old boy to JC Bach who lived in the city.
Thanks for an interesting video. IMHO, Haydn successfully fought for control over his creations which paved the way for other composers back in those days; just like the late Prince who was considered to be the one who opened the door for present day artists to get free from record companies. Haydn's negotiation/business skill could be considered as one of his strengths and I'd view his 'employment freedom' as one of his achievements. He wouldn't be able to be generous with his staff if he couldn't support himself (it's sad that Mozart couldn't learn the business-side from Haydn). I can't blame him for wanting to get the most (at least, fair value) for his intellectual creations. Wouldn't we all want the same thing for ours? :-)
Yeah absolutely! Thanks for an excellent comment, you make some really important points. Musicians (and artists) being fairly compensated has been a struggle since probably forever. You gotta hand it to an artist who's able to make it for himself by being a shrewd businessman.
Napoleon sent guards to protect Haydn. You didn’t mention Joseph had a brother, Michael, who was a great composer in his own right; lived in Salzburg and had some influence on Mozart.
In contrast to his brother, Michael Haydn’s apartments were ransacked by French troops whose behaviour today would probably have been classed as a war crime. The French soldiers stole anything they found of any value.
This was a fantastic look into his history. Thank you for sharing it. I have not long started my piano journey, and have been learning an ABRSM Grade 1 version of Movement 2 from Surprise. Knowing that Haydn is a joker makes me see the piece in a completely different light :)
Thanks. I enjoyed this (my first of your works) and I will be looking for your others. Your look is “easy on the eyes” and I appreciate your light-hearted presentation. 👍🏼👍🏼
I have taught my 5th graders a LOT about Ludwig van Beethoven. In fact, I created a study guide for a movie called "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" that they completed while viewing that awesome movie. Since COVID-19, I have been forced to teach them through Google Classrooms and I just did a short unit on W.A. Mozart. After viewing your video on Haydn, I think it would be a good way of connecting all three of these hugely important composers. And I did do a until on Hayden using the "Surprise" symphony and a movement exercise. I had a listening map where they would "tip toe" around the room when they saw a pair of shoes. When they saw a giant "eyeball" the would "freeze" in their position and turn their head in the opposite direction. This was done during the pp section. During the ff section, they had to jump in the air. So, I believe your video would bring all of what I taught them to a "full circle." More people need to know about one of the "good guys" of the great composers in music history. Thanks for taking the time to create and post this very entertaining insight into one of music's sane and together composers!
Interesting....Antonio Salieri was quite popular and very influential in Vienna from his early 20s to his 60s....He worked with leading composers like Gassmann, Gluck, Haydn, Hasse, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and a very young Liszt... Considering he spent 60 years in Vienna....this list is only a fraction.
My name is Haydn and I pronounce it HAY-dn not HIGH-dn so I was wondering how he pronounces it because I love hearing how different people say things differently cuz it is so interesting
Bill Hannam The composer’s name has always been pronounced ‘High-dn’ whether in England, Austria or anywhere else. In English speaking countries around the world, children given the name Haydn or Hayden, the ‘Hay-dn’ pronunciation is not uncommon.
In English - Joseph; In German - Yo-sef. Haydn actually used the Italian form Giuseppe (Jew-*seh*-pay) more than anything judging by the number of extant signatures on scores, letters and documents; there is also the occasional use of the Latin form Josephus.
+Lena Blogger His Ballades are amazing, but I've never personally attempted them - they're extremely difficult. The RCM puts them at an ARCT level, which is the level after grade 10.
"An empress" ? :D You make it sound like there was plenty of empresses at the time of Haydn's youth. No it was THE empress, none other than Maria Theresa... She was basically ruling over half of Europe, quite the historical figure. So imagine how such comment would affect a teenager's life. You showed a pic of count Morzin, but as far as I know, the actual count Morzin who hired Haydn is not identfied with certainty. There might be recent discoveries around this I'm not aware of though :) The first name of the "count Morzin" who hired Haydn was never mentioned, and the term "count Morzin" that Haydn had used while he was working on his biography in late XVIIIth century/early XIXth could have referred to any tenant of the title that came after the count Morzin that was in place between 1757 and 1760, while Haydn was working for him. You're showing the same pic of Anton II Esterhazy when Haydn was hired by the Esterhazy (1761) and when Nicolas II died in 1790 and was replaced by his son. But in 1761, when Haydn was first hired by the Esterhazy, it was Anton the first who was ruling, and died one year later, not Anton II. Not the same Prince :) And did you say "beloved wife" ? :D Not quite... He actually thought she was dumb. "light" to use his own term. Am I hearing a point of irony here though ? Not sure :) Haydn seems to be a very nice guy, but don't be mistaken, he also had some kind of ego of his own. He was rather judgmental and kind of conservative. Although he worked hard in terms of composition and giving representations, he could be rather lazy when it came to sorting instruments, managing the orchestra's life or teaching, etc. So the poor state of his relationship with Beethoven was as much his fault as Beethoven's. For example, Haydn's public comments on Beethoven's first publication was not really something a student would expect from a former teacher. Beethoven was not so impossible to live with. Although he's now known for his outbursts, he also left tons of apology letters. The deterioration of Beethoven's social life mostly came from his deafness (and his attempt to hide it for as long as possible). And at the time of his student to teacher relationship with Haydn (1792/1793) , he was not yet suffering from it.
Great video. Untroubled for the most part... but I didn't know about the unhappy marriage. That surprised me. Somehow I always pictured him happily married.
He reminds me of the mathematician Leonhard Euler who was also extremely prolific discovering numerous mundane (everyday) mathematical formulas and lived a long "boring" life.
Haydn actually married his wife because his brother was in love with the younger sister but they could not marry until the older sister was married so Franz took one for the team
do you ever pause ? for effect ...were it ... necessary... ( ) . . . like breathe ? - - _ -- the visuals are cool ,., but the editing is indigestible at best. may i suggest a bit of humming a tune....here and there. or just pause and breathe in deep. they'll love it. many thanks for posting. bless you
This is a brief video that covers almost too much information for a person who doesn't know tons about Haydn or not a native English speaker. There are slower paced youtube video biographies on Haydn, I've watched good ones on the BBC channel, about 30min to 1hr long... Personally, even though I did quite a bit of research on Hadyn for a college term paper, I find this young lady's take on Haydn captures the eternal youthfulness of Haydn....I imagine if Haydn were born in the 20th century he might have had lots of formal training in the classics, but branched out to any number of popular music genres....He might have had a band, become a music producer, a band manager, or even started a successful music label.... He probably would not be a music teacher or a choirmaster due to his tending to want to improve society as a whole with his music, as in today's world the masses sometimes see classical music as stuffy and dry...Hope this is helps, best of luck in your private studies on this maestro. Cheers.
Haydn is actually overrated as an innovator. People who overrate him are usually those who only listen to Mozart, Haydn (+a bit of Gluck and CPE Bach) when it comes to the Classical period. Not the likes of composers like Franz Ignaz von Beecke, Franz Ignaz Beck. Like more than 95% of the time the name "Haydn" is mentioned in the letters of Mozart and his family, they mean Mike, not Joe. And Mike is much more impressive with dissonant harmony and counterpoint in string ensemble works in general (yep, he was the actual "Mozart before Mozart"). In those times, string quartets didn't require so much a different technique to write from string trios, string quintets, "string symphonies". (David Wyn Jones cites the widespread practice of four players, one to a part, playing works written for string orchestra, such as divertimenti and serenades, there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century). I recommend listening to Mike's MH187, 188, 189, 199, 284, 287, 299, 319, 367, 411, 412, 600, etc. It's doubtful what things Joe actually invented himself. Franz Xaver Richter is the REAL Father of the string quartet. Listen to his contrapuntally complex Op.5 quartets from 1757. Mozart and his father knew him in person.
Thank you for educating those who only know who Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande are...The History of Classical music and it's phenomenal complex characteristics should be taught. The only advice I would give you is this...Buy a lapel mic and clip it to your blouse or near your mouth. It would make a huge difference in your presentation. Again...Very good info here!!!!
One of the best. I read that Haydn's music was more original during his time because of his isolation all the long years at the Esterházy. He wasn't exposed to the works of contemporary composers. Do you think so? Hey, could you do Frédéric Chopin next. Unless, you did already.
What about Thomas Linley?? He was also a prodigy like Amadeus and was even given the title "the English Mozart" back in his home. It feels like such a waste, he could've been so famous and his future so bright had he not died at age of 22 ;----; I'd love to learn more about him, what do you think?
Awesome video, Haydn is a musician I always know but recently appreciate a lot more because of how transparent and simple yet subtly moving and tickling his music can be, along with his great contributions. Keep on making these! (and if doable, maybe elaborate more on their contributions, style, and things to notice when listening to their music)
