“FATHER” SYMPHONY JOSEF HAYDN
This composer created with the hope that his works will help people to become at least a little happier and serve them as a source of vigor and inspiration. With such thoughts, he embarked on his favorite activity. Joseph Haydn became the “father” of the symphony, the discoverer of other musical genres, he first wrote secular oratorios in German, and his masses became the pinnacle of a Viennese classical school.
Son of a wagon master
Joseph Haydn was awarded many honorary titles, became a member of music academies and societies, and the fame that came to him was deserved. No one could have imagined that the son of a carriage master from Austria would achieve such honors. Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 in the small Austrian village of Rorau. His father had no musical education, but he independently mastered the harp playing, the caring composer Joseph Haydnk was also the mother of the future composer. From early childhood, his parents found good vocal and hearing skills in Josef. Already at the age of five, he loudly sang along with his father, and then he learned to play the violin and clavier, and came to the church choir to perform masses.
The far-sighted father sent the juvenile Joseph to the neighboring town to the relative Johann Matias Frank – the rector of the school. He taught children not only grammar and mathematics, but also gave them lessons in singing and playing the violin. There, Haydn mastered string and wind instruments and learned to play the drums, retaining his life gratitude to his teacher.
Diligence, perseverance and natural beautiful treble made the young Joseph famous in the city. Once a Viennese composer Georg von Reiter arrived there to select juvenile singers for his chapel. Joseph Haydn impressed him and, at the age of 8, he joined the choir of Vienna’s largest cathedral. Eight years old young Haydn learned the skill of singing, the subtleties of composition, and even tried to compose spiritual works for several voices.
Heavy bread
The most difficult period for Haydn began in 1749, when he had to earn a living with lessons, sing in various church choirs, accompany the composer Joseph Haydnpevtsy and play in ensembles. At the same time, the young man never lost heart and did not lose his craving for comprehending everything new. He took lessons from composer Nikolo Porpora, and paid him by accompanying him to young students. Haydn studied books on composition and sorted out clavier sonatas, until late at night he diligently composed music of various genres. And in 1951, in one of the suburban Viennese theaters, they put Haydn’s singspiel under the name “The Lame Demon”. In 1755 he had the first string quartet, and four years later – the first symphony. In the future, these genres will become the most important in the composer’s entire work.
Joseph Haydn’s Strange Union
The fame acquired in Vienna helped the young musician get a job from Count Morzin. It was for his chapel that Joseph Haydn wrote the first five symphonies. By the way, in the incomplete two years of work with Mortsin, the composer managed to bind himself with marriage bonds. Composer Joseph Haydn 28-year-old Joseph had tender feelings for the youngest daughter of the court hairdresser, and she unexpectedly went to all the monastery. Then Haydn, either in retaliation, or for some other reason, married her sister, Maria Keller, who was 4 years older than Joseph. Their family union did not become happy. The composer’s wife was grumpy and wasteful; she did not at all appreciate her husband’s talent, turned his manuscripts into papillots or used them instead of paper for baking. But, surprisingly, their family life in the absence of love, desired children and homeliness lasted about 40 years.
In the service of the prince
The turning point in the creative life of Joseph Haydn was in 1761, when he signed a working contract with Prince Paul Esterhazy. For 30 long years the composer served as court conductor of an aristocratic family. The prince and his relatives lived in Vienna only in the winter, and the rest of the time he brought in his residence in the town of Eisenstadt or on the estate in Esterhazy. Therefore, Joseph had to leave the capital for 6 years. Composer Franz Haydn When Prince Paul died, his brother Nikolaus expanded the chapel to 16 people. In the family estate worked two theaters: one was intended for the performance of operas and dramas, and the second – for puppet shows.
Of course, Haydn’s position was highly dependent, but for that time it was considered completely natural. The composer appreciated his now comfortable life and always remembered his youthful years of need. Sometimes he was overwhelmed with a craving and a desire to throw off these fetters. Under the contract, Joseph Haydn was obliged to compose the works that the prince wishes. The composer had no right to show them to anyone, make copies or write for someone else. He had to be with стерstergazi all the time. Because of this, Joseph Haydn never once managed to visit the homeland of classical music in Italy.
