Founder of the Classical School ~ Haydn Haydn (1732 ~ 1809) (Part 1)

Dear Father Haydn

In the history of Western music, there was once a character nicknamed "Daddy", he has an optimistic and cheerful personality, likes to make some small jokes in life, he believes that music is "to enjoy", so his music is often full of joy and light, which makes people feel like a spring breeze. In the history of music, he occupies a pivotal position, because he established the standard structure of the symphony and string quartet (which makes him the "father of the symphony"), and this kind and great figure is the revered "Haydn Daddy"!

On 31 March 1732, Haydn was born in a small village on the Austrian border, his father a master of wheels and a cook to his mother. Haydn's family had 12 children, and he was the second oldest. When he was a child, the family was not very financially prosperous because of the large population, but because Haydn's father loved music very much, especially happy folk music, the family was often filled with music and laughter. Haydn was able to sing many popular songs of the time by the age of 5, and as a result, relatives and friends discovered his outstanding musical talent.

At the age of 6, Haydn's relative, Farranque, was the headmaster of a school in Hainburg and a church organist. Frank soon discovered Haydn's interest and talent in music, so after consulting with his parents, he decided to let little Haydn officially enroll in music. Haydn learned basic music knowledge and instrumental performance in Heinberg, where the education was very strict, but such a solid basic education also laid a good foundation for him. Haydn never forgot these difficult days and always felt grateful to Frank.

Haydn was born with a beautiful singing voice, and at the age of 8 he was chosen to travel to Vienna to become a member of the children's choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral. This opportunity was a turning point in his musical education, and the enterprising Haydn was also very competitive in Vienna, learning songs with his teachers, playing violin and harpsichord, especially in the children's high pitch, and was a qualified and hard-working student.

In 1749, Haydn, who had entered a period of voice change, was expelled from the church, and the obscure Haydn lived a very sloppy life in Vienna, when he could only live by composing music for some banquet occasions, but in the poor environment, Haydn still did not forget his love of music, always diligently absorbing more compositional skills, and continued to try to create unremittingly.

Grow in stability

Fortunately, the opportunity is always for the hard-working people, once Haydn met the famous court poet Pietro Metastasio, after his introduction, Haydn met the Italian composer Nicola An-tonio Porpora, Haydn later became Polpola's accompaniment and assistant, not only learned a lot of composition techniques here, but also followed him in the aristocratic social circle, met many high society people, Slowly gained his popularity.

Haydn devoted himself to chamber music during this period, and on one occasion Haydn accepted an invitation from Baron Karl Joseph von Furnberg to play in his country house and composed the earliest string quartet for the Count. Haydn's work received a warm response, and the Count decided to recommend Haydn to the music-loving Count Ferdinand Maxmil-ian Franzvon Morzin, and Haydn managed to find his first fixed-paying job as conductor of the Orchestra in the Count's house.

But the job lasted only two years, and then Count Mauljin disbanded the orchestra due to financial difficulties, and Haydn also faced the fate of rolling up, fortunately, the Duke of Paul Anton Esterhazy had already heard of Haydn's talent, and as soon as he heard that Haydn had been fired, he immediately appointed him as the deputy director of his orchestra, and haydn immediately took over as the chief musician after the death of the chief musician. This opportunity opened up a broader musical path for Haydn, and because the Este hatch family was a very rich and music-loving aristocrat, Haydn's musical talent was fully developed here. To put it bluntly, Haydn's position at Este hatch castle is actually a "high-ranking servant", responsible for providing the master's musical needs, leading the orchestra in the palace and taking care of all musical matters, but he has his own maid and a good salary, which is an enviable position for everyone!

Haydn served the family for a total of 30 years, overseeing chores for the orchestra, during which time he experimented with new musical forms and wrote many chamber music works, and his reputation gradually spread. Later, the Duke of Estehach died of illness and was succeeded by his younger brother Nicholas, who not only loved art and literature, but also invested in the construction of a luxurious palace and opera house, and Haydn, as the musician, worked harder to compose more music for his employer, and he got along well with his employer and was comfortable with the orchestra. Haydn loves this kind of work and life, and the members of the whole orchestra also trust Haydn's leadership and ability to handle things, he is like the big parent in the family, leading the members to practice and perform, and the members like the fair and honest and kind Haydn, so they all nickname him "Haydn Daddy".

In 1790, Duke Nicholas died, and the successor Duke disbanded the orchestra, retaining Haydn's title and salary. Haydn was 58 years old at the time and decided to leave the court of Estehach and return to Vienna to live. Haydn was already a highly prestigious musician at the time, and he was invited by many countries to visit London, where he was warmly welcomed by the people and composed the famous 12 Salomon Symphonies.

The humming lion roared

After Haydn's career stabilized, he began to think about his life's events, but he was helpless, his thin figure, long eagle hook nose, and smallpox scars on his face, such a look was really difficult to attract the attention of girls. Fortunately, Haydn's elegant temperament and gentle attitude made up for his appearance defects, and he still had some opportunities to associate with girls. His first love was the second daughter of a barber, who was also his student, but when Haydn plucked up the courage to confess to her, the girl said that she would rather be a nun than marry him. Disappointed Haydn was sullen all day, and the barber had to comfort him: "Young man, don't be sad, do you want to try to be friends with my eldest daughter?" Haydn began to associate with his sister Maria Anna, and married in 1760. Regardless of whether the couple has a deep emotional foundation, they really don't get along very well after marriage. Maria was a rude and loud voice, often yelling and barking at Haydn, without the slightest hint of tenderness. Not only that, Maria didn't know how to appreciate music, she used Haydn's sheet music as a hair roll, or used the original manuscript as a cushion for a snack box!

Poor Haydn was only insulted at home, and he often told his friends about his misfortunes, and this wife never gave him a good look, let alone gave birth to a man and a half woman. How Haydn longed to have a warm and happy family, surrounded by a few children, and after dinner he could play music and tell jokes for his wife and children, but this wish was always a distant dream... Disappointed, Haydn then threw himself into the world of composition, hoping to be soothed by it.

In 1791 Haydn went to London to develop, where he fell in love with the widow of the German musician Johann Samiel Shuretta overseas, and she and Haydn slowly developed a relationship based on the teacher-student relationship. Madame Huretta wrote many letters of affection to Haydn, and Haydn not only regarded these love letters as treasures, but also copied them verbatim! Madame Huretta admired Haydn, loved Haydn's gentlemanly demeanor and the music he produced, and she listened to every concert Haydn gave in England and expressed her love for it without hesitation. The intimate affection nourished Haydn's heart, and Haydn had told his friend that if he had not had a wife, he would marry the lady he loved so much. Haydn wrote many moving symphonies in London, perhaps related to this beautiful encounter!

As for the wife of Haydn's family, Haydn could not stand her viciousness and domineering, so he asked for separation. Maria died in 1800, finally giving Haydn a quiet time in his later years.

Musical style of the Age of Enlightenment

In the 18th century, Europe was embarking on an ideological revolution called the Enlightenment. Under the influence of the Enlightenment, there were also some major changes in music. The polyphonic music of the Baroque period turned to the main key music after the 18th century, which we call the music of the "classical period", and the representative figures are the great Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

The music of the classical period emphasized a balanced symmetrical form, they were based on the beauty of the ancient Greek period, paying attention to the harmony of the melody and the beautiful melody, and the harmony became simple and direct, and the rhythm was much more distinct. This period also produced a number of new musical forms, such as classical sonatas, concertos, symphonies and chamber music. As the founder of music in the classical period, Haydn's attitude towards writing music has always been down-to-earth and step-by-step, because at that time he had to rely on his employer for a living, and his music has always had the spirit of serving the employer, but his works always grow with new musical concepts, and he is also credited with creating new musical forms. His cheerful personality and dedication to music made him a role model for the music scene of the Enlightenment era.

Haydn is 24 years older than Mozart, and these two great figures were in the same era and had a relationship with each other! In 1785, Mozart presented Haydn with six string quartets at a banquet, and from then on, the two began to have close contacts, they had no mentorship or jealousy, but often praised each other's talents in public. In fact, they have very different personalities from father and son: Haydn is a down-to-earth and gentle man, his musical career is always at steady pace, and the administrative affairs of the orchestra are even more orderly; while Mozart belongs to the talented type, he is a chaotic life, but he writes music easily and quickly, and only can concentrate on music creation. The disparity in personality and the age gap did not affect their feelings of pity for each other, and at haydn's money farewell meeting to London in 1790, he and his friend Mozart cried, Mozart predicted that this would be the last time the two of them met, and sure enough, Mozart died a year later, and Haydn had been lamenting the untimely death of his friend.