Franz Joseph Haydn : The Classical Symphonist from Austria

His Personality Described in One Word – Humorous Franz Joseph Haydn had told his biographer, Georg August Griesinger, “I have always preferred to see the funny side of life.” This is not to say that Haydn’s life could be described as a `bed of roses’. Haydn almost starved during his youth and that experience remained a traumatic one for him. He was not able to earn enough to eat well. When Haydn was tutoring Beethoven, he was always trying to extract some more money from Beethoven’s patron, Elector Maximilian Franz. He wrote to Franz, “While we are on the subject of Beethoven, our Highness will perhaps permit me to say a few words concerning his financial status. A hundred Ducats or 450 Gulden were allotted to him during the past year. Your Highness is no doubt convinced that this sum has been insufficient and not even enough to live from; you had your own reasons for choosing to send him into the great world with such a paltry sum. Under these circumstances and to prevent him from falling into the hands of usurers, I have in part gone bail for him and I partly lent him money; with the result that he owes me five-hundred Florins. You must know that not a Kreutzer was spent unnecessarily; which sum I would ask you to send him, here. Since the interest on borrowed money grows continually, it is very tedious for an artist like Beethoven. Please send him a thousand Florins for the coming year and you would earn his eternal gratitude, relieving him of all his distress.” This kind of writing represents a little wit rather than the tone of humour. An example of this nature could also be seen in the slow movement of his Symphony # 55, `The Schoolmaster.’ It has a tender and a moving quality, which makes the wit stand out even more. In this movement, there are sections marked `semplice’ where the violins are to play in a deadpan style and without vibrato while in the `dolce’ sections, they have to play sweetly and also with vibrato. Hints of wit are also seen in his Surprise and Clock symphony and his 88th Symphony. The String Quartets of Haydn To call Haydn the father of he symphony is wrong as Karl Stamitz and several other composers had already written symphonies much before he even began writing one. As far as string quartets are concerned, yes; Haydn was the one who made the string quartet popular. I don’t know if he invented the ensemble form. As far as I can remember, Claudio Monteverdi used to write for string quartets but the classical sonata form that Haydn introduced for the string quartets was unique and it picked up popularity in the last couple of decades of the eighteenth century. The divertimento was the preferred format for the string quartet in the early phases. Haydn’s earliest publications included the string quartets. There is plenty of self-discipline in these quartets and they have remained among his admired compositions. Haydn used fugues quite frequently in his string quartets. One of his finest is the `Lark’ string quartet, which is the fifth among the series of six quartets that Haydn wrote in 1790, op. 64. The Trumpet and Haydn The trumpet had evolved from the keyed trumpet to a valve one. Haydn was impressed by this change and wrote a concerto for this instrument which went on to become perhaps the preferred one among his concerti. The third movement is popular among the trumpeters and the audiences as it introduces its theme in a twelve-bar structure brought about by the internal repetition, first on the strings and then repeated by the full orchestra. The second theme does not begin on the tonic chord of E Flat Major. It is built out of broken chord figuration. A new motif helps end the ritornellos before the entry of the soloist. There are passages written for the trumpet with arpeggios and daring octave leaps. Haydn’s Friendship with Mozart This friendship began when Mozart edited Haydn’s manuscripts of his string quartets op. 17 for a performance in Salzburg. Both composers were fond of hearing each other’s compositions in concerts. It became cemented when Haydn joined the Masonic Lodge in December 1784. Haydn respected the music of Mozart deeply and even commented once to Leopold Mozart, “Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer I know either personally or by name. He has taste in composing and has a profound knowledge on the techniques of composition. (Citations: H.C. Robbins Landon –An American musicologist from Boston University. He has done extensive research on classical composers, particularly Haydn and Mozart. He is the founder of the Haydn Society, which he formed in 1947 and has spent much of his time searching in Europe for last manuscripts of Haydn. His famous book is `The Symphonies of Franz Joseph Haydn’.)