HAYDN, JOSEPH. - Musician, b. at Rohrau (Lower Austria), on 31 March 1732, d. at Vienna on 31 May 1809. Having entered in 1745 as a choirboy in the choir of St. Stephen's in Vienna, he had to leave it in '49 because of his voice changing; years of poverty followed, in which the young H. was able to continue his studies, while to earn a living he played in orchestras and for nocturnal serenades.
Presented by Metastasio to Niccolò Porpora, he received from him some advice on composition; he was afterward in the service of the knight von Fürnberg, then of Count Morzin. His condition improved when in 1766 he was engaged by Prince Esterházy as deputy director and after some years as sole director of the musical chapel; he remained in that office for twenty-five years. In 1790-92 he was in England for a series of concerts that were a great success, as is also attested by the conferral of the title of doctor of music at the University of Oxford; after a second stay in England (1794) his financial independence was assured, which allowed him to spend in serenity the last years of his industrious existence.
H.'s glory is chiefly entrusted to his instrumental music which, in its various forms, was soon recognized as a model of classical balance. Besides numerous compositions for various instruments, his most original work is to be discerned in the symphonies and the quartets, in which thematic development asserts itself as the most characteristic element of the new instrumental style. While his theatrical output, occasionally composed for the festivities of the house of Esterházy, may be considered secondary, his religious output is on the other hand quite remarkable; 12 masses have come down to us (the last six, more significant, written from 1796 to 1802), two Te Deum, one Stabat Mater and one Requiem, numerous cantatas. In 1775 he composed the oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia, in 1785 Le sette parole di Cristo sulla Croce (an instrumental composition later reworked with the addition of vocal parts in 1801); but the last two oratorios La creazione (1798) and Le stagioni (1801) in their broad symphonic-choral conception sum up the best qualities of the master's spiritual expression.
Bibliography5 works
Luigi Ronge