| The most respected and honored composer of his age, Haydn grew up with new musical ideas and, more than any other man, helped shape them. Called the father of the symphony and the string quartet, among others, he produced a huge amount of chamber music, and 108 symphonies during his long life. |
| Born the son of a wagon maker in 1732, Franz Joseph Haydn grew up virtually as a peasant. He made an early living working as a chorister at St. Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, but was kicked out nine years later for cutting off the pigtail of a fellow student. His career coincided with the development of classical style and forms, the symphony, the sonata and others. For many years Haydn worked in the Esterhazy castle in Eisenstadt, Austria, enjoying the patronage of the Esterhazy family. He never traveled far from Vienna for most of his lifetime. It wasn't until he was nearly 60 that he traveled farther. In 1791 he went to London, and became known as the Shakespeare of Music. During this visit, Haydn was given the honorary degree of doctor of music by the University of Oxford. |
| In 1772, Prince Nicholas decided to stay at the Esterhazy Castle some extra weeks, and the musicians were quite unhappy. They asked Papa Haydn for some help. He had the idea of writing a symphony in which one instrument after another would fall silent. The symphony had its first performance in front of the Prince, and every musician, when their part was completed, snuffed out the candle on his stand, gathered together his music, and left the stage with his instrument under his arm. At the end, even the conductor exited, leaving only two violinists on the stage playing the eloquent farewell theme. The Prince and his friends got the message, and the next day the order arrived saying they would be leaving. |
| Approximately 30 of Haydn's 108 symphonies have nicknames. Some are irrelevant to the music, and others are justified: the "Alleluia" symphony quotes the Alleluia chorus, the "Drumroll" has a prominent drum roll, and as expected the Symphony #31 in D, called the "Hornsignal," has a series of fanfares and posthorn signals in the first movement. It was in London during the first concert of the 1795 series that Symphony #96 earned the nickname "The Miracle Symphony." Haydn was presiding over the orchestra from his keyboard and a large portion of the crowd had left their seats and formed a crush at the gallery front to catch a better glimpse of Haydn. During the finale, a huge chandelier came crashing down in the seats that had been vacated. No one was hurt. Haydn spent his final years in a sad state of physical decline, his mind haunted by the music he was unable to write down. |
