Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809, the elder member of the First Viennese School, helped perfect the instrumental language of the Classic era and was the last eminent composer to mainly work under the royal patronage system.
Haydn, one of twelve siblings, was born in Austria to poor parents, his father a cart maker and mother a cook. Joseph's musical talent was apparent so, at six years old, apprenticed to a relative in the next town, a teacher and choirmaster. Two years hence, Haydn was recruited as a choirboy at Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Choirboys were given room and board and instruction in Latin and other subjects as well as voice, violin, and keyboard. Sadly, Haydn was tossed into the street penniless when his voice changed at puberty. He survived his teen years by staying with friends, busking, and teaching music lessons to children.
Austria | Austria (red) is located in Europe (green) | Wikimedia Commons
Determined to succeed as a musician, Haydn learned composition and music theory by studying textbooks and scores. By the age of twenty-nine, after success in Vienna as a composer, he was taken into the service of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, head of the richest and most powerful family in Hungary. Haydn was employed as Kapellmeister by the Esterházy family for thirty years. His duties included composing, conducting, performing, teaching and instrument repair.
The Esterházy estate rivaled Versailles of Louis XIV: one hundred twenty-six guest rooms, two theaters (opera and marionette) and two concert halls. Musicians were recruited from the best talent: twenty-five instrumentalists and twelve vocalists. Haydn presented two operas and two concerts per week in addition to ceremonial music and playing daily chamber music in the Prince's apartment.
Chamber Music
Music composed for a small group of instruments—a group that could fit in a palace chamber or large living room—is called chamber music. Chamber music uses one performer to a part with no part doubling (doubling is used extensively in orchestras). The title—trio, quartet, etc.—refers to the number of players.
Chamber music is personable and intimate as it was originally conceived for home performance, not concert stages. Chamber music tends to be lighter in character than orchestral music, emphasizing enjoyment of the performers.
Prince Nikolaus played a rare bowed instrument called the baryton. It's similar to viola da gamba and cello but with a set of plucked harp-like sympathetic strings:
Haydn composed music for the Prince to play, producing about two hundred works for the baryton in various ensembles. Here's a taste of the chamber music Haydn wrote for the Prince:
Presto in D Major | Joseph Haydn
After Prince Nicholas' death in 1790, Haydn, at age fifty-eight, went on to achieve superstar status as a freelance composer. Once a uniformed servant, he was now rich and wined and dined by the aristocracy.
Works
Haydn was a prolific composer, but nobody knows exactly how many works he wrote. Eighteenth century publishers falsely attributed hundreds of counterfeits to Haydn because his name sold music. Authenticated works include one hundred six symphonies, twenty-five operas, sixty-eight string quartets, numerous other chamber works, overtures and concertos, sixty piano sonatas, four oratorios, solo song, Masses, cantatas and ceremonial music.
Haydn's music featured humor, folk elements and an optimistic mood. He was a pioneer in the development of the symphony and chamber music, especially the string quartet. The decades at Esterházy gave him nearly unlimited musical resources to test ideas and techniques.
Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-Flat Major was written in 1796 but forgotten for over a century. Today it is among his most popular pieces. Haydn Anton Weidinger, the inventor of the keyed trumpet: the first trumpet able to play a chromatic scale. Prior trumpets lacked valves and could only play a limited range of harmonic notes by controlling the vibration of the lips.
Like most concertos of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this one has three movements in a fast-slow-fast tempo scheme. We'll listen to the third movement, the finale. It's in Sonata-rondo form:
| A | B | A | B’ | A | Development | A | B” | Coda |
Before listening to the concerto, familiarize yourself with the themes. The A theme is important as it is the recurring rondo theme that defines the form.
(A) Rondo Theme | Trumpet and Orchestra in E flat Major, III. Finale:
(B) Theme | Trumpet and Orchestra in E flat Major, III. Finale:
Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra in E flat Major, III. Finale | Joseph Haydn | Alison Balsom, trumpet
String Quartets
The string quartet is chamber music scored for two violins, viola, and cello. Originally written for playing at home, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven elevated the string quartet to concert status during the late eighteen century.
Haydn wrote the Opus 20 String Quartets in 1772 while working for the Esterházys. These quartets are a milestone, using techniques that defined the medium well into the nineteenth century. Mozart said, "it was from Haydn that I first learned the true way to write string quartets" (Joseph Haydn by Raymond L. Knapp, Encyclopedia Britannica).
Listen to the fourth movement, Presto Scherzando. This movement uses Romani melodic materials: gypsy scale (minor scale with raised fourth and seventh) chromatic melodies, octave jumps and virtuosic embellishments. It's also loaded with polyphonic textures. Unlike earlier string quartets, each instrument is on near equal footing musically.
Quartet in D Major Op. 20 No. 4 | IV. Presto Scherzando | Joseph Haydn (7:39)
Trumpet Concerto
String Quartets
