Franz Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn

(1732-1809)

Franz Joseph Haydn was a composer of the Classical Period (1750-1820), a style which had its roots in the perfect balance and order of classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.He was the first of the three musical 'giants' of this time, the others being Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. All of these composers lived and worked in Vienna at some stage in their lives, and the Austrian capital became known as the city of music. Because of this they were called the Viennese Masters.

The musical capital was under the rule of the Hapsburgs, an aristocratic dynasty which controlled lands belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria began her reign in 1740 and married a French Emperor. She was a trained singer and strong supporter of music at the Viennese court. They had several choirs and the court eventually took over management of two leading theatres in the city.

Noblemen from the empire had palaces in Vienna as well as country estates. Musicians were in great demand and the existence of the court meant that composers were able to write lots of music which made them famous.In Joseph Haydn's time composers lived with the servants and wore a special uniform. For some years he was court composer to the Esterhazys, a noble family who owned lands in Hungary.He eventually settled in Vienna but visited London where he was very popular.

DID YOU KNOW THAT? ................

*Joseph was born on April Fool's Day. No wonder he enjoyed playing jokes on people!

*One of Joseph's first jobs involved playing the harpsichord as well as cleaning his master's boots, brushing his clothes and combing his wig!

*Talking of wigs – Joseph married the daughter of a wig maker!

*He wrote a piece of music called the 'Farewell Symphony.' When it was first performed each member of the court orchestra, one by one, snuffed out a candle, lifted his music from the stand and walked off with his instrument, leaving no-one but Joseph, the conductor, behind. The composer was hinting to the prince, his employer, that they all needed a holiday and wanted to leave the palace for a while. Luckily the prince got the message and gave them permission to do so!

*Joseph also wrote a piece called the 'Surprise Symphony'. In the middle was a very loud crash, designed to make the women jump and to wake up any listeners who had fallen asleep!

A symphony is quite a long piece of music written for a whole orchestra.It is usually made up of three or four sections, sometimes even more.These are called movements.The Andante (Andante means at a leisurely walking pace) is the second movement of this symphony.It was from the Andante that the whole symphony got its nickname 'The Clock'. Listen carefully and you will hear a persistent 'tick tock' sound played in the background which goes on for most of the time.