Franz Joseph Haydn

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Franz Joseph Haydn

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Rohrau, Austria (1732 – 1809)

Joseph Haydn (31 March or 1 April 1732–31 May 1809) was a leading of the period, called the “Father of the ” and “Father of the ”.

The name “Franz” was not used in the composer’s lifetime; scholars, along with an increasing number of music publishers and recording companies, now use the historically more accurate form of his name, rendered in English as “Joseph Haydn”.

A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent most of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Eszterházy family on their remote estate. Being isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, “forced to become original”.

Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer at the court of Archbishop-Prince Hieronymous von Colloredo who also had in his employ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and father Leopold Mozart. Haydn had a third brother, Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor singer.


Joseph Haydn was born in 1732 in Rohrau, Austria village near the Hungarian border. His father was Matthias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as “Marktrichter”, an office akin to village mayor. Haydn’s mother, the former Maria Koller, had previously worked as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could read music. However, Matthias was an enthusiastic folk musician, who during the journeyman period of his career had taught himself to play the harp.

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  • BadKidAndrew

    COME TO BRAZIL

    12 Apr 7:23pm Reply
  • EIisabeth

    Feel free to join: http://www.last.fm/group/Addicted+to+Documentaries

    30 Mar 12:14pm Reply
  • Cranigen

    @the_melvin, go to your Account Settings > Website Tab, under the tab uncheck autocorrect

    15 Feb 4:26pm Reply
  • aenimauk

    The symphonies are good but a bit overrated, it's all about the Creation and the string quartets for me. The 'Representation of Chaos' in the Creation is fantastic, as are the tone poem portrayals of the creation of eagles, whales, etc.

    8 Feb 11:21am Reply
  • Marrajjj

    queen

    26 Jan 9:02pm Reply
  • the_melvin

    how do i fix my tag? id rather it say Joseph Haydn. thats what it says on my itunes... fuckin autocorrect.

    26 Jan 6:17am Reply
  • as-33

    how about 88

    28 Dec 2012 Reply
  • wolfram-r

    «В этом мире так мало радостных и довольных людей», — писал семидесятилетний композитор, — «везде их преследуют горе и заботы; быть может, твой труд послужит подчас источником, из которого полный забот и обремененный делами человек будет черпать минутами свое спокойствие и отдых».

    22 Nov 2012 Reply
  • mikeedols

    so.... Joseph Haydn is the correct tag? my whole life was a lie

    8 Oct 2012 Reply
  • KeIemvor

    Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

    11 Aug 2012 Reply
  • KeIemvor

    That's not a good idea, that way you will miss lots of great older symphonies.

    27 Jul 2012 Reply
  • wolfram-r

    Wooshmeister, I started from number 94.

    20 Jul 2012 Reply
  • KeIemvor

    Just listen through all of them chronologically, at least that's what I did :D

    9 Jul 2012 Reply
  • Wooshmeister

    I decided today to start listening to Haydn only to learn he composed over 100 Symphonies...I mean, Christ, where am I even supposed to begin with that kind of number?

    4 Jul 2012 Reply
  • HoweverFarAway_

    However, this guy > Mozart.

    26 Jun 2012 Reply
  • HoweverFarAway_

    The Surprise Symphony is one of the least surprising pieces of music I have ever heard. :P

    18 Jun 2012 Reply
  • Vengerer

    His Cello concerto No.1 is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!

    9 Jun 2012 Reply
  • l4tency

    Bernstein's recording of Symphony 82 is FANTABULOUS. Also, Furtwangler's 88.

    3 Jun 2012 Reply
  • Vigridr

    Reading a book about his life, very interesting makes me appreciate his music even more.

    28 May 2012 Reply
  • boehj

    the don.

    9 May 2012 Reply
  • All 197 shouts

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