A message about the life and work of Haydn. Joseph Haydn - biography, information, personal life. In fiction

Composer Franz Joseph Haydn is called the founder of the modern orchestra, the “father of the symphony,” and the founder of the classical instrumental genre.

Composer Franz Joseph Haydn called the founder of the modern orchestra, the “father of the symphony,” the founder of the classical instrumental genre.

Haydn was born in 1732. His father was a carriage maker, his mother served as a cook. House in the town Rorau on the river bank Leiths, where little Joseph spent his childhood, has survived to this day.

Craftsman's Children Matthias Haydn loved music very much. Franz Joseph was gifted child– from birth he was given a ringing melodic voice and absolute pitch; he had a great sense of rhythm. The boy sang in the local church choir and tried to learn to play the violin and clavichord. As always happens with teenagers, young Haydn lost his voice during adolescence. He was immediately fired from the choir.

For eight years, the young man earned money by giving private music lessons, constantly improved himself through independent studies, and tried to compose works.

Life brought Joseph together with a Viennese comedian and popular actor - Johann Joseph Kurtz. It was luck. Kurtz ordered music from Haydn for his own libretto for the opera The Crooked Demon. The comic work was successful - it ran on the theater stage for two years. However, critics were quick to accuse the young composer of frivolity and “buffoonery.” (This stamp was later repeatedly transferred by retrogrades to other works of the composer.)

Meet the composer Nicola Antonio Porporoi gave Haydn a lot in terms of creative mastery. He served the famous maestro, was an accompanist in his lessons, and gradually studied himself. Under the roof of a house, in a cold attic, Joseph Haydn tried to compose music on an old clavichord. In his works, the influence of the work of famous composers and folk music was noticeable: Hungarian, Czech, Tyrolean motifs.

In 1750, Franz Joseph Haydn composed the Mass in F major, and in 1755 he wrote the first string quartet. From that time on, there was a turning point in the composer’s fate. Joseph received unexpected financial support from the landowner Carl Furnberg. The patron recommended the young composer to a count from the Czech Republic - Josef Franz Morzin- Viennese aristocrat. Until 1760, Haydn served as Morzin's bandmaster, had a table, shelter and salary, and could seriously study music.

Since 1759, Haydn has created four symphonies. At this time, the young composer got married - it happened impromptu, unexpectedly for him. However, marriage to a 32-year-old Anna Aloysia Keller was concluded. Haydn was only 28, he never loved Anna.

20 shillings, 1982, Austria, Haydn

After his marriage, Josef lost his position with Morcin and was left without income. He was lucky again - he received an invitation from an influential Prince Paul Esterhazy, who was able to appreciate his talent.

Haydn served as conductor for thirty years. His responsibility was to lead the orchestra and manage the choir. At the prince's request, the composer composed operas, symphonies, and instrumental plays. He could write music and listen to it performed live right there. During his service with Esterhazy, he created many works - one hundred and four symphonies alone were written in those years!

Haydn's symphonic concepts were unpretentious, simple and organic for the average listener. Storyteller Hoffman once called Haydn's works "the expression of a childishly joyful soul."

The composer's skill has reached perfection. The name Haydn was known to many outside Austria - he was known in England and France, in Russia. However, the famous maestro had no right to perform or sell works without Esterhazy's consent. In today’s language, the prince owned the “copyright” to all of Haydn’s works. Even long trips without the knowledge of the “master” were prohibited for Haydn.

Once, while in Vienna, Haydn met Mozart. The two brilliant musicians talked a lot and performed quartets together. Unfortunately, the Austrian composer had few such opportunities.

Joseph also had a lover - a singer Luigia, a Moorish woman from Naples, is a charming but selfish woman.

The composer could not leave the service and become independent. In 1791, the old Prince Esterhazy died. Haydn was 60 years old. The prince's heir dissolved the chapel and assigned the conductor a pension so that he would not have to earn a living. Finally, Franz Joseph Haydn became a free man! He went on a sea voyage and visited England twice. During these years, the already middle-aged composer wrote many works - among them twelve “London Symphonies”, the oratorio “The Seasons” and “The Creation of the World”. The work “Seasons” became the apotheosis of his creative path.

Large-scale musical works were not easy for the aging composer, but he was happy. The oratorios became the peak of Haydn's work - he wrote nothing else. Last years the composer lived in a small secluded house on the outskirts of Vienna. Fans visited him - he loved to talk with them, remembering his youth, full of creative searches and hardships.

Sarcophagus where Haydn's remains are buried

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The entire complex world of classical music, which cannot be covered at one glance, is conventionally divided into eras or styles (this applies to all classical art, but today we are talking specifically about music). One of the central stages in the development of music is the era of musical classicism. This era gave world music three names that probably anyone who has heard at least a little about classical music can name: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Since the lives of these three composers were in one way or another connected with Vienna in the 18th century, the style of their music, as well as the brilliant constellation of their names itself, was called Viennese classicism. These composers themselves are called Viennese classics.

"Papa Haydn" - whose papa?

The oldest of the three composers, and therefore the founder of the style of their music, is Franz Joseph Haydn, whose biography you will read in this article (1732-1809) - “father Haydn” (they say that the great Mozart himself called Joseph that way, who, by the way, , was several decades younger than Haydn).

Anyone would put on airs! And Father Haydn? Not at all. He gets up at first light and works, writes his music. And he is dressed as if he were not a famous composer, but an inconspicuous musician. He is simple both in food and in conversation. He called all the boys from the street and allowed them to eat wonderful apples in his garden. It is immediately clear that his father was a poor man and that there were many children in the family - seventeen! If not for chance, maybe Haydn, like his father, would have become a master of carriage making.

Early childhood

The small village of Rohrau, lost in Lower Austria, is a huge family, headed by an ordinary worker, a carriage maker, whose responsibility is not the mastery of sound, but carts and wheels. But Joseph’s father also had a good command of sound. Villagers often gathered in the poor but hospitable Haydn house. They sang and danced. Austria is generally very musical, but perhaps the main subject of their interest was the owner of the house himself. Not knowing how to read music, he nevertheless sang well and accompanied himself on the harp, choosing the accompaniment by ear.

First successes

Little Joseph was more clearly affected by his father's musical abilities than all the other children. Already at the age of five, he stood out among his peers with his beautiful, ringing voice and excellent sense of rhythm. With such musical abilities, it was simply destined for him not to grow up in his own family.

At that time, church choirs were in dire need of high voices - women's voices: soprano, altach. Women, according to the structure of patriarchal society, did not sing in the choir, so their voices, so necessary for a full and harmonious sound, were replaced by the voices of very young boys. Before the onset of mutation (that is, the restructuring of the voice, which is part of the changes in the body during adolescence), boys with good musical abilities could well replace women in the choir.

So very little Joseph was taken into the choir of the church of Hainburg, a small town on the banks of the Danube. For his parents, this must have been a huge relief - at such an early age (Josef was about seven) no one in their family had yet become self-sufficient.

The town of Hainburg generally played an important role in Joseph’s fate - here he began to study music professionally. And soon Georg Reuther, a prominent musician from Vienna, visited the Hainburg church. He traveled around the country with the same goal - to find capable, vocal boys to sing in the choir of the Cathedral of St. Stefan. This name hardly tells us anything, but for Haydn it was a great honor. St. Stephen's Cathedral! Symbol of Austria, symbol of Vienna! A huge example of Gothic architecture with echoing vaults. But Haydn had to pay more than that for singing in such a place. Long solemn services and court festivities, which also required a choir, took up a huge part of his free time. But you still had to study at the school at the cathedral! This had to be done in fits and starts. The director of the choir, the same Georg Reuther, had little interest in what was going on in the minds and hearts of his charges, and did not notice that one of them was taking his first, perhaps clumsy, but independent steps in the world of composing music. The work of Joseph Haydn then still bore the stamp of amateurism and the very first attempts. For Haydn, the conservatory was replaced by a choir. Often he had to learn brilliant examples of choral music from previous eras, and Joseph along the way drew conclusions for himself about the techniques used by composers and extracted the knowledge and skills he needed from the musical text.

The boy had to do work that was completely unrelated to music, for example, serving at the court table and serving dishes. But this also turned out to be beneficial for the development of the future composer! The fact is that the nobles at court ate only to high symphonic music. And the little footman, who was not even noticed by the important nobles, while serving the dishes, made to himself the conclusions he needed about the structure of the musical form or the most colorful harmonies. Of course, to interesting facts The very fact of his musical self-education stems from the life of Joseph Haydn.

The situation at school was harsh: boys were punished petty and severely. No further prospects were foreseen: as soon as the voice began to break and was no longer as high and sonorous as before, its owner was mercilessly thrown out into the street.

Minor start to independent life

Haydn suffered the same fate. He was already 18 years old. After wandering the streets of Vienna for several days, he met an old school friend, and he helped him find an apartment, or rather, a small room right under the attic. It is not for nothing that Vienna is called the music capital of the world. Even then, not yet glorified by the names of the Viennese classics, it was the most musical city in Europe: the melodies of songs and dances floated through the streets, and in the little room under the very roof in which Haydn settled, there was a real treasure - an old, broken clavichord ( musical instrument, one of the forerunners of the piano). However, I didn't have to play it much. Most of my time was spent looking for work. In Vienna it is possible to obtain only a few private lessons, the income from which barely allows one to meet the necessary needs. Desperate to find work in Vienna, Haydn begins to wander around nearby cities and villages.

Niccolo Porpora

This time - Haydn's youth - was overshadowed by acute need and constant search for work. Until 1761, he managed to find work only temporarily. Describing this period of his life, it should be noted that he worked as an accompanist for the Italian composer, as well as vocalist and teacher Niccolo Porpora. Haydn got a job with him specifically to learn music theory. It was possible to learn while performing the duties of a footman: Haydn had to not only accompany.

Count Morcin

From 1759, for two years, Haydn lived and worked in the Czech Republic, on the estate of Count Morcin, who had an orchestral chapel. Haydn is the conductor, that is, the manager of this chapel. Here he is in large quantities writes music, music, of course, very good, but exactly the kind that the count demands from him. It is worth noting that most of Haydn’s musical works were written while performing official duties.

Under the leadership of Prince Esterhazy

In 1761, Haydn began serving in the chapel of the Hungarian Prince Esterhazy. Remember this surname: the elder Esterhazy will die, the estate will pass to the department of his son, and Haydn will still serve. He would serve as Esterhazy's bandmaster for thirty years.

At that time, Austria was a huge feudal state. It included both Hungary and the Czech Republic. Feudal lords - nobles, princes, counts - considered it good form to have an orchestral and choir chapel at court. You've probably heard something about serf orchestras in Russia, but maybe you don't know that things weren't going well in Europe either. A musician - even the most talented one, even the leader of a choir - was in the position of a servant. At the time when Haydn was just beginning to serve with Esterházy, in another Austrian city, Salzburg, little Mozart was growing up, who, while in the service of the count, would have to dine in the people's room, sitting above the footmen, but below the cooks.

Haydn had to fulfill many large and small responsibilities - from writing music for holidays and celebrations and learning it with the choir and orchestra of the chapel, to discipline in the chapel, the peculiarities of the costume and the preservation of notes and musical instruments.

The Esterhazy estate was located in the Hungarian town of Eisenstadt. After the death of the elder Esterhazy, his son took over the estate. Prone to luxury and celebrations, he built a country residence - Eszterhaz. Guests were often invited to the palace, which consisted of one hundred and twenty-six rooms, and, of course, music had to be played for the guests. Prince Esterhazy went to the country palace for all the summer months and took all his musicians there.

Musician or servant?

A long period of service at the Esterhazy estate became the time of birth of many new works by Haydn. At the request of his master, he writes major works in various genres. Operas, quartets, sonatas, and other works come from his pen. But Joseph Haydn especially loves the symphony. This is a large, usually four-movement work for symphony orchestra. It was under Haydn’s pen that a classical symphony appeared, that is, an example of this genre on which other composers would later rely. During his life, Haydn wrote about one hundred and four symphonies (the exact number is unknown). And, of course, them most of was created precisely by the bandmaster of Prince Esterhazy.

Over time, Haydn's position reached a paradox (unfortunately, the same thing would later happen to Mozart): they know him, they listen to his music, they talk about him in different European countries, but he himself cannot even go anywhere without the permission of his owner. The humiliation that Haydn experiences from such an attitude of the prince towards him sometimes slips into letters to friends: “Am I a bandmaster or a bandmaster?” (Chapel - servant).

Joseph Haydn's Farewell Symphony

It is rare for a composer to be able to escape from the circle of official duties, visit Vienna, and see friends. By the way, for some time fate brings him together with Mozart. Haydn was one of those who unconditionally recognized not only the phenomenal virtuosity of Mozart, but precisely his deep talent, which allowed Wolfgang to look into the future.

However, these absences were rare. More often than not, Haydn and the choir musicians had to linger in Eszterhaza. The prince sometimes did not want to let the chapel go to the city even at the beginning of autumn. In the biography of Joseph Haydn, interesting facts undoubtedly include the history of the creation of his 45th, so-called Farewell Symphony. The prince once again detained the musicians for a long time in the summer residence. The cold had long set in, the musicians had not seen their family members for a long time, and the swamps surrounding Eszterhaz were not conducive to good health. The musicians turned to their bandmaster with a request to ask the prince about them. A direct request would hardly help, so Haydn writes a symphony, which he performs by candlelight. The symphony consists not of four, but of five movements, and during the last one the musicians take turns standing up, putting down their instruments and leaving the hall. Thus, Haydn reminded the prince that it was time to take the chapel to the city. Tradition says that the prince took the hint, and summer rest is finally over.

Last years of life. London

The life of the composer Joseph Haydn developed like a path in the mountains. It's hard to climb, but at the end - the top! The culmination of both his creativity and his fame came at the very end of his life. Haydn's works reached their final maturity in the 1980s. XVIII century. Examples of the style of the 80s include six so-called Parisian symphonies.

The composer's difficult life was marked by a triumphant conclusion. In 1791, Prince Esterhazy dies, and his heir dissolves the chapel. Haydn, already a well-known composer throughout Europe, becomes an honorary citizen of Vienna. He receives a house in this city and a lifelong pension. The last years of Haydn's life are very radiant. He visits London twice - as a result of these trips, twelve London symphonies appeared - his last works in this genre. In London, he gets acquainted with the work of Handel and, impressed by this acquaintance, for the first time tries himself in the oratorio genre - Handel's favorite genre. In his declining years, Haydn created two oratorios that are still known today: “The Seasons” and “The Creation of the World.” Joseph Haydn wrote music until his death.

Conclusion

We looked at the main stages of a father's life classic style in music. Optimism, the triumph of good over evil, reason over chaos and light over darkness, these are the characteristic features of the musical works of Joseph Haydn.

1. Characteristics of Haydn’s creative style.

J. Haydn (1732 - 1809) - Austrian composer (the town of Rohrau near Vienna) - a representative of the Viennese classical school. He contributed to the formation of classical genres - symphony, sonata, instrumental concerto, quartet, as well as sonata form.

It was Haydn who was destined to become the founder of classical symphonism. He finally established the classical principles of constructing a sonata-symphonic cycle. The sonata-symphonic cycle usually consists of 3 or 4 parts. The 3-movement cycle (sonata, concerto) includes a sonata allegro, a slow movement (Adagio, Andante, Largo) and a finale. In a 4-movement cycle (symphony, quartet), between the slow movement and the finale there is a minuet (Beethoven deviates from this tradition and introduces a scherzo instead of a minuet).

In Haydn's work, a permanent composition of a string quartet was formed, which became a characteristic representative of chamber instrumental music: 2 violins, viola, cello.

Haydn also approved the classic - double - composition of the symphony orchestra: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, a pair of timpani and a string quintet: 2 groups of violins (I and II), violas, cellos and double basses. Clarinets occasionally appear in Haydn's symphonies. But only Beethoven used trombones for the first time.

Haydn wrote music in a wide variety of genres:

104 symphonies;

A huge number of chamber ensembles (83 quartets, trios);

Over 30 concertos for various instruments, incl. and clavier;

Works for solo clavier: 52 sonatas, rondos, variations;

2 oratorios: “The Creation of the World” and “The Seasons”;

About 50 songs;

Haydn's creative path turned out to be extremely long. Under Haydn, the activities of Bach and his sons took place, under him Gluck carried out his operatic reform, he communicated with Mozart, whom he considered the first composer of the world (in turn, Mozart dedicated 6 quartets to Haydn). During Haydn's lifetime, most of the symphonies of Beethoven, who took lessons from him in his youth, were written. Haydn died shortly before the young Schubert began composing his songs. Even in his declining years, the composer was an unusually fresh and cheerful person, full of creative strength and youthful enthusiasm.

Haydn's art is closely connected with the Age of Enlightenment, which is manifested in:

the rational basis of his creativity;

harmony, balance and thoughtfulness of all components of the artistic image;

connections with folklore (one of the main slogans of the German Enlightenment). Haydn's work is a kind of anthology of folklore of different nations (Austrian, German, Hungarian, Slavic, French). Haydn was born in Austria, near Hungary. However, the district was dominated by the Croatian population. Haydn served for two years at the Czech estate of Count Morcin and for 30 years at the Hungarian Prince Esterhazy. All his life he absorbed the musical speech of different peoples. But the element closest to Haydn was the element of Austro-German everyday song and dance music.

optimistic structure of works. Vigorous, energetic, cheerful, Haydn’s music instills faith in a person’s strength and supports his desire for happiness. In one of his letters, Haydn wrote: “Often, when I was struggling with all sorts of obstacles that arose in the path of my work, when the strength of spirit and body left me and it was difficult for me not to leave the path on which I had stepped, then a secret feeling whispered to me: “There are so few cheerful and contented people on earth, worries and grief lie in wait for them everywhere, perhaps your work will become a source from which a preoccupied and burdened person will draw peace and relaxation for a few moments.”

Favorite images of Haydn’s work:

humorous,

folk-household. These are not Handel’s legendary heroic people, but ordinary people, peasants, contemporaries of the composer (Haydn’s father is a rural coachmaker, his mother is a cook).

2. Symphonies and string quartets.

Symphonies and string quartets are the leading genres in Haydn’s work, although the significance of his sonatas, concertos, trios, and oratorios is also great.

Many of Haydn's symphonies and quartets are known by unofficial titles. In some cases they reflect the onomatopoeic or figurative aspect of Haydn’s themes, in others they recall the circumstances of their creation or first performance.

Group I includes the following symphonies:

"Hunting", No. 73

"Bear", No. 82

"Chicken", No. 83

"Military", No. 100

"Clocks", No. 101;

and also quartets:

"Bird", op. 33, no. 3

"Frog" op. 6, No. 6

"Lark", op. 64, no. 5

"The Rider", op. 74, no. 3.

The second group includes symphonies:

"Teacher", No. 55

"Maria Theresa", No. 48

"Oxford", No. 92 (Haydn performed this symphony when he was awarded the honorary title of Doctor of Music at Oxford University).

In the 80s, the “Parisian” symphonies were written (since they were first performed in Paris). In the 90s, Haydn created the famous “London” symphonies (there are 12 of them, among them No. 103 “With tremolo timpani”, No. 104 “Salomon, or London”). It is noteworthy that Haydn himself gave titles to only three early symphonies: “Morning”, “Noon”, “Evening” (1761).

The vast majority of Haydn's symphonies are light, optimistic, and major. Haydn also has “serious” dramatic symphonies– these are minor symphonies of the 1760s – 70s: “Complaint”, No. 26; “Mourning”, No. 44; “Farewell”, No. 45; “Suffering”, No. 49. This time was marked by quarrels between Haydn and Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, who was not satisfied with the overly tragic, in his opinion, tone of Haydn’s music. Therefore, Haydn wrote 18 string quartets (op. 9, 17, 20), which he called the “Solar Quartets.”

Among the early symphonies, the Farewell Symphony (1772) deserves special attention. Instead of 4 parts, it has 5 - the last part was introduced additionally with an original purpose: during its performance, according to Haydn’s plan, the musicians took turns extinguishing the candles, took their instruments and left - first the 1st oboe, the 2nd horn, then – 2nd oboe and 1st horn. The symphony was completed by 2 violinists. A legend has developed regarding its end, which is now disputed. Prince Esterhazy kept the chapel in his summer residence for a long time and did not give the musicians leave. The orchestra's musicians turned to Haydn with a request to intercede for them with the prince. Haydn then composed this symphony, the finale of which, where the musicians leave one by one, should have been a corresponding hint for the prince.

In the 80s Haydn created the "Russian" quartets, op. 33 (there are 6 in total). The name is explained by their dedication to Grand Duke Paul, the future Emperor of Russia, who in the 80s. lived in Vienna. In 1787, 6 more quartets op. 50, dedicated to the King of Prussia (marked by the influence of Mozart).

3. Oratorio creativity.

Among Haydn’s peak works are his oratorios: “The Creation of the World” and “The Seasons.” Both of them were written under the impression of Handel's oratorios, which Haydn heard in London. They are based on English literary primary sources: Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost” and Thomson’s poem “The Seasons”. The plot of the first oratorio is traditionally biblical: the picture of the creation of the world and the life of Adam and Eve in paradise. “The Seasons” is a secular oratorio. The main characters are simple people, peasants: the old plowman Simon, his daughter Hanna and the young peasant Luka. In 4 parts of the oratorio, the composer depicts all seasons and compares pictures of nature (summer thunderstorm, winter cold) with pictures of peasant life.

Haydn is rightly considered the father of the symphony and quartet, the great founder of classical instrumental music, and the founder of the modern orchestra.

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 in Lower Austria, in the small town of Rohrau, located on the left bank of the Leita River, between the towns of Bruck and Hainburg, near the Hungarian border. Haydn's ancestors were hereditary Austro-German peasant artisans. The composer's father, Matthias, was engaged in carriage business. Mother - nee Anna Maria Koller - served as a cook.

The father's musicality and love of music were inherited by his children. Little Joseph already attracted the attention of musicians at the age of five. He had excellent hearing, memory, and a sense of rhythm. Its sonorous silver voice delighted everyone.

Thanks to his outstanding musical abilities, the boy first joined the church choir of the small town of Gainburg, and then the choir chapel at the Cathedral (main) St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This was a significant event in Haydn's life. After all, he had no other opportunity to receive a musical education.

Singing in a choir was a very good, but only school for Haydn. The boy's abilities quickly developed, and he was assigned difficult solo parts. The church choir often performed at city festivals, weddings, and funerals. The choir was also invited to participate in court celebrations. How much time did it take to perform in the church itself, for rehearsals? All this was a heavy load for the little singers.

Josef was understanding and quickly accepted everything new. He even found time to play the violin and clavichord and achieved significant success. Only his attempts to compose music did not meet with support. During his nine years in the choir, he received only two lessons from its director!

However, the lessons did not appear immediately. Before that, I had to go through a desperate time of searching for income. Little by little I managed to find some work, which, although it did not provide any support, still allowed me not to die of hunger. Haydn began giving singing and music lessons, playing the violin at festive evenings, and sometimes just on the highways. By order, he composed several of his first works. But all these earnings were random. Haydn understood: to become a composer, you need to study a lot and hard. He began to study theoretical works, in particular the books of I. Matteson and I. Fuchs.

The collaboration with the Viennese comedian Johann Joseph Kurz turned out to be useful. Kurtz was at that time very popular in Vienna as a talented actor and author of a number of farces.

Kurtz, having met Haydn, immediately appreciated his talent and offered to compose music for the libretto of the comic opera “The Crooked Demon” that he compiled. Haydn wrote music that, unfortunately, has not reached us. We only know that “The Crooked Demon” was performed in the winter of 1751-1752 in the theater at the Carinthian Gate and was a success. “Haydn received 25 ducats for it and considered himself very rich.”

The bold debut of a young, still little-known composer on the theater stage in 1751 immediately brought him popularity in democratic circles and... very bad reviews from adherents of old musical traditions. Reproaches of “buffoonery,” “frivolity,” and other sins were later transferred by various zealots of the “sublime” to the rest of Haydn’s work, starting with his symphonies and ending with his masses.

The last stage of Haydn's creative youth - before he embarked on an independent path as a composer - were classes with Nicola Antonio Porpora, an Italian composer and conductor, a representative of the Neapolitan school.

Porpora reviewed Haydn's compositional experiments and gave him instructions. Haydn, in order to reward the teacher, was an accompanist in his singing lessons and even served as his servant.

Under the roof, in the cold attic where Haydn huddled, on an old broken clavichord, he studied the works of famous composers. And folk songs! He listened to so many of them, wandering day and night through the streets of Vienna. Here and there a variety of folk tunes sounded: Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Ukrainian, Croatian, Tyrolean. Therefore, Haydn’s works are permeated with these wonderful melodies, most of them cheerful and cheerful.

A turning point was gradually brewing in Haydn's life and work. His financial situation began to improve little by little, life positions grow stronger At the same time, his great creative talent bore its first significant fruits.

Around 1750, Haydn wrote a small mass (in F major), showing in it not only a talented assimilation of modern techniques of this genre, but also an obvious inclination towards composing “cheerful” church music. More important fact is the composition of the composer's first string quartet in 1755.

The impetus was an acquaintance with a music lover, landowner Karl Furnberg. Encouraged by Fürnberg's attention and financial support, Haydn first wrote a series of string trios, and then the first string quartet, which was soon followed by about two dozen others. In 1756, Haydn composed the Concerto in C major. Haydn's patron also took care of strengthening his financial position. He recommended the composer to the Czech Viennese aristocrat and music lover Count Joseph Franz Morzin. Morcin spent the winter in Vienna, and in the summer he lived on his estate Lukavec near Pilsen. In the service of Morcin, as a composer and conductor, Haydn received free accommodation, food and salary.

This service turned out to be short-lived (1759-1760), but still helped Haydn take further steps in composition. In 1759, Haydn created his first symphony, followed by four others in the coming years.

Both in the field of the string quartet and in the field of the symphony, Haydn was to define and crystallize the genres of the new musical era: composing quartets and creating symphonies, he showed himself to be a brave, decisive innovator.

While in the service of Count Morzin, Haydn fell in love with the youngest daughter of his friend, the Viennese hairdresser Johann Peter Keller, Teresa, and was seriously planning to marry her. However, the girl, for reasons that remained unknown, left her parental home, and her father did not find anything better than to say: “Haydn, you should marry my eldest daughter.” It is unknown what prompted Haydn to respond positively. One way or another, Haydn agreed. He was 28 years old, his bride, Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller, was 32. The marriage took place on November 26, 1760, and Haydn became... an unhappy husband for many decades.

His wife soon proved herself to be an extremely narrow-minded, stupid and quarrelsome woman. She absolutely did not understand or appreciate the great talent of her husband. “She didn’t care,” Haydn once said in his old age, “whether her husband was a shoemaker or an artist.”

Maria Anna mercilessly destroyed a number of Haydn's music manuscripts, using them for curlers and linings for pates. Moreover, she was very wasteful and demanding.

Having married, Haydn violated the terms of service with Count Morcin - the latter accepted only single men into his chapel. However, he did not have to hide the change in his personal life for long. The financial shock forced Count Morcin to abandon musical pleasures and dissolve the chapel. Haydn faced the threat of again being left without a permanent income.

But then he received an offer from a new, more powerful patron of the arts - the richest and very influential Hungarian magnate - Prince Pavel Anton Esterhazy. Paying attention to Haydn in Morcin Castle, Esterhazy appreciated his talent.

Not far from Vienna, in the small Hungarian town of Eisenstadt, and in the summer in the Eszterhaz country palace, Haydn spent thirty years as a conductor. The duties of the bandmaster included directing the orchestra and singers. Haydn also had to compose symphonies, operas, quartets and other works at the prince’s request. Often the capricious prince ordered a new essay to be written by the next day! Haydn’s talent and extraordinary hard work helped him here too. One after another, operas appeared, as well as symphonies, including “The Bear”, “Children’s Room”, “School Teacher”.

While directing the chapel, the composer could listen to live performances of the works he created. This made it possible to correct everything that did not sound good enough, and to remember what turned out to be especially successful.

During his service with Prince Esterhazy, Haydn wrote most of his operas, quartets and symphonies. In total, Haydn created 104 symphonies!

In his symphonies, Haydn did not set himself the task of individualizing the plot. The composer’s programming is most often based on individual associations and visual “sketches.” Even where it is more integral and consistent - purely emotionally, as in the “Farewell Symphony” (1772), or genre-wise, as in the “War Symphony” (1794), it still lacks clear plot foundations.

The enormous value of Haydn's symphonic concepts, for all their comparative simplicity and unpretentiousness, is in a very organic reflection and implementation of the unity of the spiritual and physical world of man.

This opinion is expressed, and very poetically, by E.T.A. Hoffman:

“Haydn’s works are dominated by the expression of a childish, joyful soul; his symphonies lead us into vast green groves, into a cheerful, motley crowd happy people, boys and girls rush in front of us in choral dances; Laughing children hide behind trees, behind rose bushes, playfully throwing flowers. A life full of love, full of bliss and eternal youth, as before the Fall; no suffering, no sorrow - only a sweetly elegiac desire for the beloved image, which floats in the distance, in the pink flicker of the evening, neither approaching nor disappearing, and while it is there, night does not come, for he himself is the evening dawn burning above mountain and over the grove."

Haydn's skill has reached perfection over the years. His music invariably aroused the admiration of Esterhazy's many guests. The composer's name became widely known outside his homeland - in England, France, and Russia. The six symphonies performed in Paris in 1786 were called "Parisian". But Haydn had no right to go anywhere outside the prince’s estate, print his works, or simply give them as a gift without the consent of the prince. And the prince did not like the absences of “his” bandmaster. He was accustomed to Haydn, along with other servants, waiting for his orders in the hallway at a certain time. At such moments, the composer felt his dependence especially acutely. “Am I the bandmaster or the conductor?” - he exclaimed bitterly in letters to friends. One day he managed to escape and visit Vienna, see acquaintances and friends. How much joy it brought him to meet his beloved Mozart! Fascinating conversations were followed by performances of quartets, with Haydn playing the violin and Mozart playing the viola. Mozart took particular pleasure in performing quartets written by Haydn. In this genre, the great composer considered himself his student. But such meetings were extremely rare.

Haydn had a chance to experience other joys - the joys of love. On March 26, 1779, the Polzelli spouses were received into the Esterhazy Chapel. Antonio, the violinist, was no longer young. His wife, singer Luiga, a Moorish woman from Naples, was only nineteen years old. She was very attractive. Luigia lived unhappily with her husband, just like Haydn. Exhausted by the company of his grumpy and quarrelsome wife, he fell in love with Luigia. This passion lasted, gradually weakening and dimming, until the composer’s old age. Apparently, Luigia reciprocated Haydn’s feelings, but still, more self-interest than sincerity appeared in her attitude. In any case, she steadily and very persistently extorted money from Haydn.

Rumor even called (it is not known whether correctly) Luigi's son Antonio the son of Haydn. Her eldest son Pietro became the composer’s favorite: Haydn took care of him like a father and took an active part in his training and upbringing.

Despite his dependent position, Haydn could not leave the service. At that time, a musician had the opportunity to work only in court chapels or lead a church choir. Before Haydn, no composer had ever dared to exist independently. Haydn also did not dare to part with his permanent job.

In 1791, when Haydn was already about 60 years old, the old Prince Esterhazy died. His heir, who did not have much love for music, dissolved the chapel. But he was also flattered that the composer, who had become famous, was listed as his bandmaster. This forced the young Esterhazy to grant Haydn a pension sufficient to prevent “his servant” from entering a new service.

Haydn was happy! Finally he is free and independent! He agreed to the offer to go to England for concerts. While traveling on a ship, Haydn saw the sea for the first time. And how many times did he dream about it, trying to imagine the boundless water element, the movement of the waves, the beauty and variability of the color of the water. Once in his youth, Haydn even tried to convey in music the picture of a raging sea.

Life in England was also unusual for Haydn. The concerts in which he conducted his works were a triumphant success. This was the first open mass recognition of his music. The University of Oxford elected him as an honorary member.

Haydn visited England twice. Over the years, the composer wrote his famous twelve London Symphonies. The London Symphonies complete the evolution of Haydn's symphony. His talent reached its peak. The music sounded deeper and more expressive, the content became more serious, and the colors of the orchestra became richer and more varied.

Despite being extremely busy, Haydn managed to listen to new music. The oratorios made a particularly strong impression on him. German composer Handel, his elder contemporary. The impression of Handel's music was so great that, returning to Vienna, Haydn wrote two oratorios - “The Creation of the World” and “The Seasons”.

The plot of “The Creation of the World” is extremely simple and naive. The first two parts of the oratorio tell about the emergence of the world according to the will of God. The third and last part is about the heavenly life of Adam and Eve before the Fall.

A number of judgments of contemporaries and immediate descendants about Haydn’s “Creation of the World” are typical. This oratorio was a huge success during the composer’s lifetime and greatly increased his fame. Nevertheless, critical voices were also heard. Naturally, the visual imagery of Haydn’s music shocked philosophers and aestheticians who were in a “sublime” mood. Serov wrote enthusiastically about “The Creation of the World”:

“What a gigantic creation this oratorio is! There is, by the way, one aria depicting the creation of birds - this is absolutely the highest triumph of onomatopoeic music, and, moreover, “what energy, what simplicity, what simple-minded grace!” “This is absolutely beyond any comparison.” The oratorio “The Seasons” should be recognized as an even more significant work of Haydn than “The Creation of the World”. The text of the oratorio “The Seasons,” like the text of “The Creation of the World,” was written by van Swieten. The second of Haydn's great oratorios is more diverse and deeply human not only in content, but also in form. This is a whole philosopheme, an encyclopedia of pictures of nature and Haydn’s patriarchal peasant morality, glorifying work, love of nature, the delights of village life and the purity of naive souls. In addition, the plot allowed Haydn to create a very harmonious and complete, harmonious musical concept of the whole.

Composing the enormous score of “The Four Seasons” was not easy for the decrepit Haydn; it cost him a lot of anxiety and sleepless nights. Towards the end he was tormented by headaches and the obsession with musical performances.

The London Symphonies and oratorios were the pinnacle of Haydn's work. After the oratorios he wrote almost nothing. Life has been too stressful. His strength was exhausted. The composer spent his last years on the outskirts of Vienna, in a small house. The quiet and secluded home was visited by admirers of the composer's talent. The conversations concerned the past. Haydn especially loved to remember his youth - hard, laborious, but full of bold, persistent searches.

Haydn died in 1809 and was buried in Vienna. Subsequently, his remains were transferred to Eisenstadt, where he spent so many years of his life.

Haydn composer instrumental orchestra

One of the greatest composers of all time is Franz Joseph Haydn. A brilliant musician of Austrian origin. The man who created the foundations of the classical music school, as well as the orchestral and instrumental standard that we see in our time. In addition to these merits, Franz Joseph represented the Vienna Classical School. There is an opinion among musicologists that musical genres symphony and quartet were first composed by Joseph Haydn. The talented composer lived a very interesting and eventful life. You will learn about this and much more on this page.

Franz Joseph Haydn. Movie.

short biography

On March 31, 1732, little Joseph was born in the fair commune of Rohrau (Lower Austria). His father was a wheelwright, and his mother worked as a servant in the kitchen. Thanks to his father, who loved to sing, the future composer became interested in music. Little Joseph was gifted with perfect pitch and an excellent sense of rhythm by nature. These musical abilities allowed the talented boy to sing in the Gainburg church choir. Franz Joseph would later be accepted into the Vienna Choir Chapel at the Catholic Cathedral of St. Stephen.
At the age of sixteen, Josef lost his job - a place in the choir. This happened just during the voice mutation. Now he has no income to support himself. Out of desperation, the young man takes on any job. The Italian vocal maestro and composer Nicola Porpora took the young man as his servant, but Joseph found benefit in this work as well. The boy delves into the science of music and begins to take lessons from a teacher.
Porpora could not have noticed that Josef has genuine feelings for music, and on this basis the famous composer decides to offer the young man an interesting job - to become his personal valet companion. Haydn held this position for almost ten years. The maestro paid for his work mainly not in money; he taught music theory and harmony to the young talent for free. So the talented young man learned many important musical fundamentals in different directions. Over time, Haydn's financial problems slowly begin to disappear, and his initial works as a composer are successfully accepted by the public. At this time, the young composer wrote his first symphony.
Despite the fact that in those days it was considered already “too late,” Haydn decided to start a family with Anna Maria Keller only at the age of 28. And this marriage turned out to be unsuccessful. According to his wife, Joseph had an indecent profession for a man. Within two dozen life together the couple never had children, which also influenced the unsuccessful family history. But an unpredictable life brought Franz Josef together with the young and charming opera singer Luigia Polzelli, who was only 19 years old when they met. But the passion faded quite quickly. Haydn seeks patronage among rich and influential people. In the early 1760s, the composer received a job as second bandmaster in the palace of the influential Esterhazy family. For 30 years, Haydn worked at the court of this noble dynasty. During this time, he composed a huge number of symphonies - 104.
Haydn had few close friends, but one of them was Amadeus Mozart. Composers meet in 1781. After 11 years, Joseph is introduced to the young Ludwig van Beethoven, whom Haydn makes his student. Service at the palace ends with the death of the patron - Joseph loses his position. But the name Franz Joseph Haydn has already thundered not only in Austria, but also in many other countries such as Russia, England, France. During his stay in London, the composer earned almost as much in one year as he did in 20 years as conductor of the Esterhazy family, his former

Russian Quartet op.33

Interesting Facts:

It is generally accepted that Joseph Haydn's birthday is March 31st. But his certificate indicated a different date - April 1. If you believe the composer's diaries, then such a minor change was made in order not to celebrate his holiday on April Fool's Day.
Little Joseph was so talented that he could play the drums at the age of 6! When the drummer who was supposed to take part in the procession on the occasion of Holy Week suddenly died, Haydn was asked to replace him. Because the future composer was short, due to the characteristics of his age, then in front of him walked a hunchback, who had a drum tied on his back, and Joseph could calmly play the instrument. The rare drum still exists today. It is located in Hainburg Church.

It is known that Haydn and Mozart had a very strong friendship. Mozart greatly respected and revered his friend. And if Haydn criticized Amadeus’s works or gave any advice, Mozart always listened; Joseph’s opinion always came first for the young composer. Despite their peculiar temperaments and age difference, the friends had no quarrels or disagreements.

Symphony No. 94. "Surprise"

1. Adagio - Vivace assai

2.Andante

3. Menuetto: Allegro molto

4. Finale: Allegro molto

Haydn has a Symphony with timpani strikes or it is also called "Surprise". The history of the creation of this symphony is interesting. Joseph and the orchestra periodically toured London, and one day he noticed how some spectators during a concert fell asleep or were already watching beautiful dreams. Haydn suggested that this happens because the British intelligentsia are not used to listening to classical music and do not have any special feelings for art, but the British are a people of tradition, so they necessarily attended concerts. The composer, the life of the party and a merry fellow, decided to act cunningly. Without thinking twice, he wrote a special symphony for the English public. The piece began with quiet, smooth, almost soothing melodic sounds. Suddenly, during the sound, a drum beat and the thunder of timpani were heard. Such a surprise was repeated more than once in the work. Thus, Londoners no longer fell asleep in concert halls where Haydn conducted.

Symphony No. 44. "Trauer".

1. Allegro con brio

2. Menuetto - Allegretto

3. Adagio 15:10

4.Presto 22:38

Concerto for piano and orchestra, D major.

The composer's last work is considered to be the oratorio "The Seasons". He composes it with great difficulty, he was prevented headache and sleep problems.

The great composer dies at the age of 78 (May 31, 1809). Joseph Haydn spent his last days in his home in Vienna. Later it was decided to transport the remains to Eisenstadt.