Haydn is rightly considered the father of the symphony and quartet, the great founder of the classical instrumental music, the founder of the modern orchestra.

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 in Lower Austria, in the small town of Rohrau, located on the left bank of the Leita River, between the towns of Bruck and Hainburg, near the Hungarian border. Haydn's ancestors were hereditary Austro-German peasant artisans. The composer's father, Matthias, was engaged in carriage business. Mother - nee Anna Maria Koller - served as a cook.

The father's musicality and love of music were inherited by his children. Little Joseph already attracted the attention of musicians at the age of five. He had excellent hearing, memory, and a sense of rhythm. His ringing silver voice delighted everyone. Thanks to his outstanding musical abilities, the boy first joined the church choir of the small town of Gainburg, and then the choir chapel at the Cathedral (main) St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This was a significant event in Haydn's life. After all, he had no other opportunity to receive a musical education.

Singing in a choir was a very good, but only school for Haydn. The boy's abilities quickly developed, and he was assigned difficult solo parts. The church choir often performed at city festivals, weddings, and funerals. The choir was also invited to participate in court celebrations. How much time did it take to perform in the church itself, for rehearsals? All this was a heavy load for the little singers.

Josef was understanding and quickly accepted everything new. He even found time to practice playing the violin and keyboard cord and achieved significant success. Only his attempts to compose music did not meet with support. During his nine years in the choir, he received only two lessons from its director!

However, the lessons did not appear immediately. Before that, I had to go through a desperate time of searching for income. Little by little, I managed to find some work, which, although it did not provide any support, still allowed me not to die of hunger. Haydn began giving singing and music lessons, playing the violin at festive evenings, and sometimes just on the highways. By order, he composed several of his first works. But all these earnings were random. Haydn understood: to become a composer, you need to study a lot and hard. He began to study theoretical works, in particular the books of I. Matteson and I. Fuchs.

The collaboration with the Viennese comedian Johann Joseph Kurz turned out to be useful. Kurtz was at that time very popular in Vienna as a talented actor and author of a number of farces.

Kurtz, having met Haydn, immediately appreciated his talent and offered to compose music for the libretto he composed for the comic opera “The Crooked Demon.” Haydn wrote music that, unfortunately, has not reached us. We only know that “The Crooked Demon” was performed in the winter of 1751-1752 in the theater at the Carinthian Gate and was a success. "Haydn received 25 ducats for it and considered himself very rich." A bold debut of a young, still little-known composer on theater stage in 1751 immediately brought him popularity in democratic circles and... very bad reviews from adherents of old musical traditions. Reproaches of “buffoonery,” “frivolity,” and other feats were later transferred by various zealots of the “sublime” to the rest of Haydn’s work, starting with his symphonies and ending with his masses.

The last stage of Haydn's creative youth - before he embarked on an independent path as a composer - were classes with Nicola Antonio Porpora, an Italian composer and conductor, a representative of the Neapolitan school. Porpora reviewed Haydn's compositional experiments and gave him instructions. Haydn, in order to reward the teacher, was an accompanist in his singing lessons and even served as his servant.

Under the roof, in the cold attic where Haydn huddled, on an old broken clavichord, he studied the works of famous composers. A folk songs! He listened to so many of them, wandering day and night through the streets of Vienna. Here and there a variety of folk tunes sounded: Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Ukrainian, Croatian, Tyrolean. Therefore, Haydn's works are permeated with these wonderful melodies, most of them cheerful and cheerful.

A turning point was gradually brewing in Haydn's life and work. His financial situation began to improve little by little, life positions grow stronger At the same time, his great creative talent bore its first significant fruits.

Around 1750, Haydn wrote a small mass (in F major), showing in it not only a talented assimilation modern techniques of this genre, but also an obvious inclination towards composing “cheerful” church music. A more important fact is that the composer composed his first string quartet in 1755.

The impetus was an acquaintance with a music lover, landowner Karl Furnberg. Inspired by the attention and material support from Fürnberg, Haydn first wrote a series of string trios, and then the first string quartet, which was soon followed by about two dozen others. In 1756, Haydn composed the Concerto in C major. Haydn's patron also took care of strengthening his financial position. He recommended the composer to the Czech Viennese aristocrat and music lover Count Joseph Franz Morzin. Mortzin spent the winter in Vienna, and in the summer he lived on his estate Lukavec near Pilsen. In the service of Morcin, as a composer and conductor, Haydn received free accommodation, food and salary. This service turned out to be short-lived (1759-1760), but still helped Haydn take further steps in composition. In 1759, Haydn created his first symphony, followed by four others in the coming years.

Both in the field of the string quartet and in the field of the symphony, Haydn was to define and crystallize the genres of the new musical era: composing quartets and creating symphonies, he showed himself to be a brave, decisive innovator.

While in the service of Count Morcin, Haydn fell in love with youngest daughter his friend, the Viennese hairdresser Johann Peter Keller, Teresa and seriously planned to unite with her in marriage. However, the girl, for reasons that remained unknown, left her parental home, and her father did not find anything better than to say: “Haydn, you should marry my eldest daughter.” It is unknown what prompted Haydn to respond positively. One way or another, Haydn agreed. He was 28 years old, his bride, Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller, was 32. The marriage took place on November 26, 1760, and Haydn became... an unhappy husband for many decades.

His wife soon proved herself to be an extremely narrow-minded, stupid and quarrelsome woman. She absolutely did not understand or appreciate the great talent of her husband. “She didn’t care,” Haydn once said in his old age, “whether her husband was a shoemaker or an artist.” Maria Anna mercilessly destroyed a number of Haydn's music manuscripts, using them for curlers and linings for pates. Moreover, she was very wasteful and demanding.

Having married, Haydn violated the terms of service with Count Morcin - the latter accepted only single men into his chapel. However, he did not have to hide the change in his personal life for long. The financial shock forced Count Morcin to abandon musical pleasures and dissolve the chapel. Haydn faced the threat of again being left without a permanent income.

But then he received an offer from a new, more powerful patron of the arts - the richest and very influential Hungarian magnate - Prince Pavel Anton Esterhazy. Paying attention to Haydn in Morcin Castle, Esterhazy appreciated his talent.

Not far from Vienna, in the small Hungarian town of Eisenstadt, and in the summer in the Eszterhaz country palace, Haydn spent thirty years as a Kapellmeister (conductor). The duties of the bandmaster included directing the orchestra and singers. Haydn also had to compose symphonies, operas, quartets and other works at the prince's request. Often the capricious prince ordered a new essay to be written by the next day! Haydn’s talent and extraordinary hard work helped him here too. One after another, operas appeared, as well as symphonies, including “The Bear”, “Children’s Room”, “School Teacher”.

While directing the chapel, the composer could listen to live performances of the works he created. This made it possible to correct everything that did not sound good enough, and to remember what turned out to be especially successful.

During his service with Prince Esterhazy, Haydn wrote most of his operas, quartets and symphonies. In total, Haydn created 104 symphonies!

In his symphonies, Haydn did not set himself the task of individualizing the plot. The composer's programming is most often based on individual associations and visual "sketches". Even where it is more integral and consistent - purely emotionally, as in the “Farewell Symphony” (1772), or genre-wise, as in the “War Symphony” (1794), it still lacks clear plot foundations.

The enormous value of Haydn's symphonic concepts, for all their comparative simplicity and unpretentiousness, is in a very organic reflection and implementation of the unity of the spiritual and physical world of man.

This opinion is expressed, and very poetically, by E.T.A. Hoffmann: “Haydn’s works are dominated by the expression of a childish, joyful soul; his symphonies lead us into vast green groves, into a cheerful, motley crowd happy people, boys and girls rush in front of us in choral dances; Laughing children hide behind trees, behind rose bushes, playfully throwing flowers. A life full of love full of bliss And eternal youth, as before the Fall; no suffering, no sorrow - only a sweetly elegiac desire for the beloved image, which floats in the distance, in the pink flicker of the evening, neither approaching nor disappearing, and while it is there, night does not come, for he himself is the evening dawn burning above mountain and over the grove."

Haydn's skill has reached perfection over the years. His music invariably aroused the admiration of Esterhazy's many guests. The composer's name became widely known outside his homeland - in England, France, and Russia. The six symphonies performed in Paris in 1786 were called "Parisian". But Haydn had no right to go anywhere outside the prince’s estate, print his works, or simply give them as a gift without the consent of the prince. And the prince did not like the absence of “his” bandmaster. He was accustomed to Haydn, along with other servants, waiting for his orders in the hallway at a certain time. At such moments, the composer felt his dependence especially acutely. “Am I the bandmaster or the conductor?” - he exclaimed bitterly in letters to friends. One day he managed to escape and visit Vienna, see acquaintances and friends. How much joy it brought him to meet his beloved Mozart! Fascinating conversations were followed by performances of quartets, with Haydn playing the violin and Mozart playing the viola. Mozart took particular pleasure in performing quartets written by Haydn. In this genre great composer considered himself his student. But such meetings were extremely rare.

Haydn had a chance to experience other joys - the joys of love. On March 26, 1779, the Polzelli spouses were received into the Esterhazy Chapel. Antonio, the violinist, was no longer young. His wife, singer Luiga, a Moorish woman from Naples, was only nineteen years old. She was very attractive. Luigia lived unhappily with her husband, just like Haydn. Exhausted by the company of his grumpy and quarrelsome wife, he fell in love with Luigia. This passion lasted, gradually weakening and dimming, until the composer’s old age. Apparently, Luigia reciprocated Haydn’s feelings, but still, more self-interest than sincerity was shown in her attitude. In any case, she steadily and very persistently extorted money from Haydn.

Rumor even called (it is not known whether correctly) Luigi's son Antonio the son of Haydn. Her eldest son Pietro became the composer's favorite: Haydn took care of him like a father and took an active part in his training and upbringing.

Despite his dependent position, Haydn could not leave the service. At that time, a musician had the opportunity to work only in court chapels or lead a church choir. Before Haydn, no composer had ever dared to exist independently. Haydn also did not dare to part with his permanent job. In 1791, when Haydn was already about 60 years old, the old Prince Esterhazy died. His heir, who did not have much love for music, dissolved the chapel. But he was also flattered that the composer, who had become famous, was listed as his bandmaster. This forced the young Esterhazy to assign Haydn a pension sufficient to prevent “his servant” from entering a new service.

Haydn was happy! Finally he is free and independent! He agreed to the offer to go to England with concerts. While traveling on a ship, Haydn saw the sea for the first time. And how many times he dreamed about it, trying to imagine the boundless water element, the movement of the waves, the beauty and variability of the color of the water. Once in his youth, Haydn even tried to convey in music the picture of a raging sea. Life in England was also unusual for Haydn. The concerts in which he conducted his works were a triumphant success. This was the first open mass recognition of his music. The University of Oxford elected him as an honorary member.

Haydn visited England twice. Over the years, the composer wrote his famous twelve London Symphonies. The London Symphonies complete the evolution of Haydn's symphony. His talent reached its peak. The music sounded deeper and more expressive, the content became more serious, and the colors of the orchestra became richer and more varied.

Despite being extremely busy, Haydn managed to listen and new music. He was especially impressed by the oratorios of the German composer Handel, his senior contemporary. The impression of Handel's music was so great that, upon returning to Vienna, Haydn wrote two oratorios - "The Creation of Vdir" and "The Seasons".

The plot of "The Creation of the World" is extremely simple and naive. The first two parts of the oratorio tell about the emergence of the world according to the will of God. The third and last part is about the heavenly life of Adam and Eve before the Fall.

A number of judgments of contemporaries and immediate descendants about Haydn’s “Creation of the World” are typical. This oratorio was a huge success during the composer’s lifetime and greatly increased his fame. Nevertheless, critical voices were heard. Naturally, the visual imagery of Haydn’s music shocked philosophers and aestheticians who were inclined to the “sublime” mood.

Serov wrote enthusiastically about “The Creation of the World”: “What a gigantic creation this oratorio is! There is, by the way, one aria depicting the creation of birds - this is absolutely the highest triumph of onomatopoeic music, and, moreover, “what energy, what simplicity, what simple-minded grace!" - this is decidedly beyond all comparison."

The oratorio “The Seasons” should be recognized as an even more significant work of Haydn than “The Creation of the World”. The text of the oratorio "The Seasons", like the text of "The Creation of the World", was written by van Swieten. The second of Haydn's great oratorios is more diverse and deeply human not only in content, but also in form. This is a whole philosopheme, an encyclopedia of pictures of nature and Haydn’s patriarchal peasant morality, glorifying work, love of nature, the delights of village life and the purity of naive souls. In addition, the plot allowed Haydn to create a very harmonious and complete, harmonious musical concept of the whole.

Composing the enormous score of “The Four Seasons” was not easy for the decrepit Haydn, costing him many worries and sleepless nights. Towards the end he was tormented by headaches and the obsession with musical performances.

The London Symphonies and oratorios were the pinnacle of Haydn's work. After the oratorios he wrote almost nothing. Life has been too stressful. His strength was exhausted. The composer spent his last years on the outskirts of Vienna, in a small house. The quiet and secluded home was visited by admirers of the composer's talent. The conversations concerned the past. Haydn especially loved to remember his youth - hard, laborious, but full of bold, persistent searches.

Haydn died in 1809 and was buried in Vienna. His remains were subsequently transferred to Eisenstadt, where he spent so many years of his life.

This is real music! This is what should be enjoyed, this is what everyone who wants to cultivate a healthy musical sense, a sound taste should absorb into themselves.
A. Serov

The creative path of J. Haydn - the great Austrian composer, senior contemporary of W. A. ​​Mozart and L. Beethoven - lasted about fifty years, crossed the historical boundary of the 18th-19th centuries, and covered all stages of the development of the Viennese classical school - from its inception in 1760 's until the flowering of Beethoven's work at the beginning of the new century. The intensity of the creative process, the wealth of imagination, the freshness of perception, the harmonious and integral sense of life were preserved in Haydn's art until the very last years of his life.

Son carriage maker Haydn discovered rare musical abilities. At the age of six he moved to Hainburg, sang in the church choir, learned to play the violin and harpsichord, and from 1740 he lived in Vienna, where he served as a choirmaster in the chapel of St. Stephen's Cathedral (Vienna Cathedral). However, in the chapel they valued only the boy’s voice - a treble of rare purity, and entrusted him with the performance of solo parts; and the composer's inclinations, awakened in childhood, remained unnoticed. When his voice began to break, Haydn was forced to leave the chapel. The first years of independent life in Vienna were especially difficult - he was poor, hungry, wandering without a permanent shelter; Only occasionally was it possible to find private lessons or play the violin in a traveling ensemble. However, despite the vicissitudes of fate, Haydn retained his openness of character, his sense of humor, which never betrayed him, and the seriousness of his professional aspirations - he studies the keyboard works of F. E. Bach, independently studies counterpoint, gets acquainted with the works of the greatest German theorists, takes composition lessons from N. . Porpora - famous Italian opera composer and teacher.

In 1759, Haydn received the position of bandmaster from Count I. Mortsin. The first instrumental works (symphonies, quartets, clavier sonatas) were written for his court chapel. When Morcin dissolved the chapel in 1761, Haydn entered into a contract with P. Esterhazy, the richest Hungarian magnate and patron of the arts. The duties of the vice-kapellmeister, and after 5 years the princely chief-kapellmeister, included not only composing music. Haydn had to conduct rehearsals, maintain order in the chapel, be responsible for the safety of notes and instruments, etc. All of Haydn’s works were the property of Esterhazy; the composer did not have the right to write music commissioned by others, and could not freely leave the prince’s possessions. (Haydn lived on the Esterhazy estates - Eisenstadt and Esterhaz, occasionally visiting Vienna.)

However, many advantages and, above all, the opportunity to dispose of an excellent orchestra that performed all the composer’s works, as well as relative material and everyday security, persuaded Haydn to accept Esterhazy’s offer. Haydn remained in court service for almost 30 years. In the humiliating position of a princely servant, he retained his dignity, inner independence and desire for continuous creative improvement. Living far from the light, with almost no contact with the wide musical world, he became during his service with Esterhazy the greatest master of European scale. Haydn's works were successfully performed in major musical capitals.

So, in the mid-1780s. The French public became acquainted with six symphonies, called “Parisian”. Over time, the composites became increasingly burdened by their dependent position and felt loneliness more acutely.

The minor symphonies - “Mourning”, “Suffering”, “Farewell” - are colored with dramatic, anxious moods. The finale of “Farewell” gave many reasons for various interpretations - autobiographical, humorous, lyrical and philosophical - during this endlessly lasting Adagio, the musicians leave the orchestra one after another until two violinists remain on stage, finishing the melody, quiet and gentle...

However, a harmonious and clear view of the world always dominates both in Haydn’s music and in his sense of life. Haydn found sources of joy everywhere - in nature, in the lives of peasants, in his works, in communication with loved ones. Thus, acquaintance with Mozart, who arrived in Vienna in 1781, grew into real friendship. These relationships, based on deep inner kinship, understanding and mutual respect, have had a beneficial effect on creative development both composers.

In 1790, A. Esterhazy, the heir of the deceased Prince P. Esterhazy, dissolved the chapel. Haydn, who was completely freed from service and retained only the title of bandmaster, began to receive a lifelong pension in accordance with the will of the old prince. Soon the opportunity arose to fulfill a long-standing dream - to travel outside of Austria. In the 1790s. Haydn made two tours to London (1791-92, 1794-95). The 12 “London” symphonies written on this occasion completed the development of this genre in Haydn’s work, confirmed the maturity of Viennese classical symphonism (somewhat earlier, in the late 1780s, Mozart’s last 3 symphonies appeared) and remained the pinnacle phenomena in the history of symphonic music. London symphonies were performed in unusual and extremely attractive conditions for the composer. Accustomed to the more closed atmosphere of the court salon, Haydn performed for the first time in public concerts and felt the reaction of a typical democratic audience. He had at his disposal large orchestras, similar in composition to modern symphonies. The English public enthusiastically received Haydn's music. At Oxfood he was awarded the title of Doctor of Music. Under the impression of G. F. Handel’s oratorios heard in London, 2 secular oratorios were created - “The Creation of the World” (1798) and “The Seasons” (1801). These monumental, epic-philosophical works, affirming the classical ideals of beauty and harmony of life, the unity of man and nature, worthily crowned creative path composer.

The last years of Haydn's life were spent in Vienna and its suburb of Gumpendorf. The composer was still cheerful, sociable, objective and friendly in his attitude towards people, and still worked hard. Haydn passed away at an alarming time, in the midst of Napoleonic campaigns, when French troops had already occupied the capital of Austria. During the siege of Vienna, Haydn consoled his loved ones: “Don’t be afraid, children, where Haydn is, nothing bad can happen.”

Haydn left a huge creative heritage- about 1000 works in all genres and forms that existed in the music of that time (symphonies, sonatas, chamber ensembles, concerts, operas, oratorios, masses, songs, etc.). Large cyclic forms (104 symphonies, 83 quartets, 52 keyboard sonatas) constitute the main, most precious part of the composer’s work and determine his historical place. P. Tchaikovsky wrote about the exceptional significance of Haydn’s works in the evolution of instrumental music: “Haydn immortalized himself, if not by inventing, then by improving that excellent, ideally balanced form of sonata and symphony, which Mozart and Beethoven later brought to the last degree of completeness and beauty.”

The symphony in Haydn’s work has come a long way: from early examples close to the genres of everyday and chamber music (serenade, divertissement, quartet), to the “Paris” and “London” symphonies, in which the classical patterns of the genre were established (the relationship and order of the parts of the cycle - sonata Allegro, slow movement, minuet, fast finale), characteristic types of thematism and development techniques, etc. Haydn’s symphony takes on the meaning of a generalized “picture of the world”, in which different aspects of life - serious, dramatic, lyrical-philosophical, humorous - brought to unity and balance. The rich and complex world of Haydn's symphonies has the remarkable qualities of openness, sociability, and focus on the listener. The main source of their musical language is genre, everyday, song and dance intonations, sometimes directly borrowed from folklore sources. Included in the complex process of symphonic development, they discover new imaginative, dynamic possibilities. Complete, ideally balanced and logically constructed forms of parts of the symphonic cycle (sonata, variation, rondo, etc.) include elements of improvisation; remarkable deviations and surprises heighten interest in the very process of development of thought, which is always fascinating and filled with events. Haydn’s favorite “surprises” and “practical jokes” helped the perception of the most serious genre of instrumental music, giving rise to specific associations among listeners that were fixed in the titles of the symphonies (“Bear”, “Chicken”, “Clock”, “Hunting”, “School Teacher”, etc. . P.). Forming the typical patterns of the genre, Haydn also reveals the wealth of possibilities for their manifestation, outlining different paths of evolution of the symphony in the 19th-20th centuries. In Haydn's mature symphonies, the classical composition of the orchestra is established, including all groups of instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion). The composition of the quartet is also stabilized, in which all instruments (two violins, viola, cello) become full members of the ensemble. Of great interest are Haydn's keyboard sonatas, in which the composer's imagination, truly inexhaustible, each time opens up new options for constructing a cycle, original ways of designing and developing the material. The last sonatas written in the 1790s. clearly focused on the expressive capabilities of the new instrument - the piano.

Throughout his life, art was Haydn’s main support and constant source of inner harmony, mental balance and health. He hoped that it would remain so for future listeners. “There are so few joyful and contented people in this world,” wrote the seventy-year-old composer, “everywhere they are haunted by grief and worries; Perhaps your work will sometimes serve as a source from which a person full of worries and burdened with affairs will draw moments of peace and relaxation.”

Born in , his father, a wheelwright, sent his son to study singing as a child. Soon (1740) the boy was accepted into the choir at the famous Viennese St. Stephen's Cathedral, where he sang for ten years. Along the way, the talented chorist was taught to play various musical instruments, which allowed him to subsequently earn a living by playing the violin, harpsichord and organ. Working as an accompanist for the venerable Italian composer and vocal teacher N. Porpora, he began to try himself as a composer and received the teacher’s approval. Basically, of course, it was church music. Haydn's musical career progressed. For two years (1759 - 1761) he worked as music director for Count Morcin, and then as vice-bandmaster for Prince Esterhazy, an aristocrat with Hungarian roots. Paul Anton Esterházy took Haydn into his service after the death of G. I. Werner, already a famous composer in Austria, who served as bandmaster in his house. The duty of a musician is to compose music commissioned by the employer and lead an ensemble of musicians. In 1762, Nikolaus Esterhazy, the younger brother of the previous owner, who was nicknamed “The Magnificent,” became such a customer.

At first, Nikolaus Esterhazy lived near Vienna in Eisenstadt, in his family castle. Then he moved to a new castle, built in a cozy corner near the lake. At first, Haydn wrote mainly instrumental music (symphonies, plays) for the afternoon rest of the princely family and for concerts that the owner organized every week. In those years, Joseph wrote several symphonies, cantatas, 125 plays and church music, and from 1768, after the opening of a new theater in Eszterhaz, he began to write operas. In the early 70s, he gradually moved away from the entertainment content of his music. His symphonies become serious and even dramatic, such as “Complaint”, “Suffering”, “Mourning”, “Farewell”. Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy did not like such tragic music; he repeatedly pointed this out to the composer, but still gave him the right, with his permission, to write music for other orders. And the author writes “Solar Quartets,” which are distinguished by their courage, scale, and sophistication of writing. It begins with these quartets classical genre string quartet. And he himself is developing the characteristic style of a mature composer. He wrote several operas for the Esterhazy Theater: “The Pharmacist”, “Deceived Infidelity”, “Moonlight”, “Loyalty Rewarded”, “Armide”. But they were not available to the general public. However, European publishers discovered a new talent and willingly published his works.

The new agreement with Esterhazy deprived the latter of exclusive rights to Haydn's music. In the 80s his fame grew. He writes piano trios, sonatas, symphonies, string quartets, including those dedicated to the future Russian Emperor Paul, known as “Russians”. The new period of the composer’s work was also marked by six quartets in honor of the King of Prussia. They were distinguished by a new form, a special melody, and a variety of contrasts. Having gone beyond the borders of Central Europe, the orchestral passion piece entitled “Seven Words of the Savior on the Cross,” written by Joseph for a Spanish cathedral, also became known. This passion was subsequently arranged by the author for performance by a string quartet, choir, and orchestra, and it is still popular. After the death of Nikolaus Esterhazy (1790), Haydn remained in his house as conductor, but received the right to live in the capital and work abroad. For several years he has been working in, where he writes a lot: a concert symphony, music for choirs, several sonatas for piano, arranges folk songs, and the opera series “The Soul of a Philosopher” (based on the myth of Orpheus). There he became an honorary doctor of Oxford University, there the royal family listened to his music, there he became acquainted with the work of G.F. Handel. In 1795, Haydn had to return to Esterhazy. Now the main responsibility of the bandmaster was to compose masses in honor of the princess’s name day. He wrote six masses that have a symphonic scope, prayerful focus, and civic motifs inspired by the events of the Napoleonic Wars. The best instrumental concerto for trumpet and orchestra (1796), two monumental oratorios “The Creation of the World” and “The Seasons” are examples of the mature Haydn. In 1804 he was given the title of “Honorary Citizen of Vienna”. He hardly worked as a composer anymore. He died in Vienna on his birthday - March 31, 1809, leaving an indelible mark on the art of music.

Franz Joseph Haydn is one of the most prominent representatives of the art of the Enlightenment. A great Austrian composer, he left a huge creative legacy - about 1000 works in a variety of genres. The main, most significant part of this heritage, which determined Haydn’s historical place in the development of world culture, consists of large cyclical works. These are 104 symphonies, 83 quartets, 52 keyboard sonatas, thanks to which Haydn gained fame as the founder of classical symphonism.

Haydn's art is deeply democratic. The basis of it musical style was folk art and music everyday life. He perceived with amazing sensitivity folk melodies of various origins, the nature of peasant dances, and the special flavor of sound folk instruments, some French song that became popular in Austria. Haydn's music is imbued not only with the rhythms and intonations of folklore, but also with folk humor, inexhaustible optimism and vital energy. “Into the halls of the palaces, where his symphonies usually sounded, fresh streams of folk melody, folk jokes, something from folk ideas of life rushed with them” ( T. Livanova,352 ).

Haydn's art is related in style, but the range of his images and concepts have their own characteristics. High tragedy, ancient subjects that inspired Gluck are not his area. The world of more ordinary images and feelings is closer to him. The sublime principle is not at all alien to Haydn, but he does not find it in the sphere of tragedy. Serious thought, a poetic perception of life, the beauty of nature - all this becomes sublime in Haydn. A harmonious and clear view of the world dominates both his music and his attitude. He was always sociable, objective and friendly. He found sources of joy everywhere - in the lives of peasants, in his works, in communication with close people (for example, with Mozart, whose friendship, based on internal kinship and mutual respect, had a beneficial effect on the creative development of both composers).

Haydn's creative path lasted about fifty years, covering all stages of the development of the Viennese classical school - from its origins in the 60s of the 18th century until the heyday of Beethoven's work.

Childhood

The composer's character was formed in the working atmosphere of peasant life: he was born on March 31, 1732 in the village of Rohrau (Lower Austria) in the family of a carriage maker, his mother was a simple cook. Since childhood, Haydn could hear music different nationalities, since among the local population of Rorau there were Hungarians, Croats, and Czechs. The family was musical: the father loved to sing, accompanying himself by ear on the harp.

Paying attention to his son’s rare musical abilities, Haydn’s father sends him to the neighboring town of Hainburg to visit his relative (Frank), who served there as a school rector and choir director. Later future composer recalled that he received “more punches than food” from Frank; however, from the age of 5, he learned to play wind and string instruments, as well as the harpsichord, and sang in the church choir.

The next stage of Haydn's life is associated with the musical chapel at Cathedral of St. Stephen's in Vienna. The head of the choir (Georg Reuther) traveled around the country from time to time to recruit new choristers. Listening to the choir in which little Haydn sang, he immediately appreciated the beauty of his voice and rare musical talent. Having received an invitation to become a choir member at the cathedral, 8-year-old Haydn first came into contact with the richest artistic culture Austrian capital. Even then it was a city literally filled with music. Italian opera has long flourished here, and academy concerts were held here. famous virtuosos, at the imperial court and the houses of large nobles there were large instrumental and choral chapels. But the main musical wealth of Vienna is its diverse folklore (the most important prerequisite for the formation of a classical school).

Constant participation in the performance of music - not only church music, but also opera - developed Haydn most of all. In addition, the Reuther Chapel was often invited to the imperial palace, where the future composer could hear instrumental music. Unfortunately, the choir valued only the boy’s voice, entrusting him with the performance of solo parts; the composer's inclinations, awakened already in childhood, remained unnoticed. When his voice began to break, Haydn was fired from the chapel.

1749-1759 - the first years of independent life in Vienna

This 10th anniversary was the most difficult in Haydn's entire biography, especially at first. Without a roof over his head, without a penny in his pocket, he was extremely poor, wandering without a permanent shelter and getting by with odd jobs (occasionally he managed to find private lessons or play the violin in a traveling ensemble). But at the same time, these were also happy years, full of hope and faith in his vocation as a composer. Having bought several books on music theory from a second-hand bookseller, Haydn independently studied counterpoint, became acquainted with the works of the greatest German theorists, and studied the keyboard sonatas of Philipp Emmanuel Bach. Despite the vicissitudes of fate, he retained both his openness of character and his sense of humor, which never betrayed him.

Among the earliest works of the 19-year-old Haydn is the singspiel “The Lame Demon,” written at the suggestion of the famous Viennese comedian Kurtz (lost). Over time, his knowledge in the field of composition was enriched through communication with Niccolo Porpora, a famous Italian opera composer and vocal teacher: Haydn served as his accompanist for some time.

Gradually, the young musician gains fame in the musical circles of Vienna. Since the mid-1750s, he was often invited to participate in home musical evenings in the house of a wealthy Viennese official (named Fürnberg). For these home concerts, Haydn wrote his first string trios and quartets (18 in total).

In 1759, on the recommendation of Fürnberg, Haydn received his first permanent position - the position of conductor in the home orchestra of the Czech aristocrat, Count Morcin. It was written for this orchestra Haydn's first symphony- D major in three parts. This was the beginning of the formation of the Viennese classical symphony. Two years later, Morcin disbanded the choir due to financial difficulties, and Haydn entered into a contract with the richest Hungarian magnate, a passionate music fan, Paul Anton Esterhazy.

The period of creative maturity

Haydn worked in the service of the princes of Esterhazy for 30 years: first as vice-kapellmeister (assistant), and after 5 years as chief-kapellmeister. His duties included not only composing music. Haydn had to conduct rehearsals, maintain order in the chapel, be responsible for the safety of notes and instruments, etc. All of Haydn’s works were the property of Esterhazy; the composer did not have the right to write music commissioned by others, and could not freely leave the prince’s possessions. However, the opportunity to dispose of an excellent orchestra that performed all of his works, as well as relative material and everyday security, persuaded Haydn to accept Esterhazy’s proposal.

Living on the Esterhazy estates (Eisenstadt and Esterhase), and only occasionally visiting Vienna, with little contact with the wider musical world, during this service he became the greatest master on a European scale. Most (in the 1760s ~ 40, in the 70s ~ 30, in the 80s ~ 18), quartets and operas were written for the Esterházy Chapel and Home Theatre.

Music life at the Esterhazy residence was open in its own way. Notable guests, including foreigners, attended concerts, opera performances, and receptions accompanied by music. Gradually, Haydn's fame spread beyond Austria. His works are successfully performed in major music capitals. Thus, in the mid-1780s, the French public became acquainted with six symphonies called “Parisian” (Nos. 82-87, they were created specifically for the Paris “Olympic Box Concerts”).

Late period of creativity.

In 1790, Prince Miklos Esterhazy died, bequeathing Haydn a lifelong pension. His heir dissolved the chapel, retaining the title of conductor for Haydn. Completely freed from service, the composer was able to fulfill his old dream - to travel outside of Austria. In the 1790s he made 2 tours trips to London at the invitation of the organizer of the “Subscription Concerts”, violinist I. P. Salomon (1791-92, 1794-95). Those written on this occasion completed the development of this genre in Haydn’s work and confirmed the maturity of Viennese classical symphonism (a little earlier, in the late 1780s, Mozart’s last 3 symphonies appeared). The English public enthusiastically received Haydn's music. At Oxford he was awarded an honorary doctorate of music.

The last owner of Esterhazy during Haydn's lifetime, Prince Miklos II, turned out to be a passionate lover of art. The composer was again called up for service, although his activities were now modest. Living in your own home on the outskirts of Vienna, he composed mainly masses for Eszterhaz (“Nelson”, “Theresia”, etc.).

Inspired by Handel's oratorios heard in London, Haydn wrote 2 secular oratorios - “The Creation of the World” (1798) and (1801). These monumental, epic-philosophical works, affirming the classical ideals of beauty and harmony of life, the unity of man and nature, worthily crowned the composer’s creative path.

Haydn passed away at the height of Napoleonic campaigns, when French troops had already occupied the capital of Austria. During the siege of Vienna, Haydn consoled his loved ones: “Don’t be afraid, children, where Haydn is, nothing bad can happen.”.

His younger brother Michael (who later also became a famous composer working in Salzburg), who had the same beautiful treble, was already singing in the choir.

A total of 24 operas in different genres, among which the most organic genre for Haydn was buffa. For example, the opera “Loyalty Rewarded” enjoyed great success with the public.

Austrian composer

short biography

Franz Joseph Haydn(German Franz Joseph Haydn, March 31, 1732 - May 31, 1809) - Austrian composer, representative of the Viennese classical school, one of the founders of such musical genres as symphony and string quartet. The creator of the melody, which later formed the basis of the anthems of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Son of a carriage maker.

Joseph Haydn was born on the estate of the Counts of Harrach - the Lower Austrian village of Rohrau, near the border with Hungary, in the family of carriage maker Matthias Haydn (1699-1763). His parents, who were seriously interested in vocals and amateur music-making, discovered musical abilities in the boy, and in 1737 Joseph was taken by his uncle and taken to the city of Hainburg an der Donau, where Joseph began to study choral singing and music. In 1740 he was noticed by Georg von Reutter, director of the Viennese St. Stephen's Chapel. Reutter took the talented boy to the chapel, and for nine years (from 1740 to 1749) he sang in the choir (including several years with his younger brothers) of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he also learned to play instruments.

The subsequent ten-year period was very difficult for him. Josef took on various jobs, including being a servant to the Viennese composer and singing teacher Nikola Porpora. Haydn really wanted to be Nicolas Porpora's student, but his lessons were very expensive. big money. Therefore, Haydn agreed with him that during lessons he would sit behind a curtain and listen without disturbing anyone. Haydn tried to fill the gaps in his musical education by diligently studying the works of Emmanuel Bach and the theory of composition. Studying musical works predecessors and theoretical works of J. Fuchs, J. Matteson and others compensated for Joseph Haydn's lack of systematic musical education. The harpsichord sonatas he wrote at this time were published and attracted attention. His first major works were two brevis masses, F-dur and G-dur, written by Haydn in 1749 before he left the chapel of St. Stephen's Cathedral. In the 50s of the 18th century, Joseph wrote a number of works that marked the beginning of his fame as a composer: the singspiel “The Lame Demon” (was staged in 1752 in Vienna and other cities of Austria, has not survived to this day), divertissements and serenades, strings quartets for the musical circle of Baron Furnberg, about a dozen quartets (1755), the first symphony (1759).

In the period from 1754 to 1756, Haydn worked at the Viennese court as a free artist. In 1759, he received the position of bandmaster at the court of Count Karl von Morzin, where he had a small orchestra under his command - for which the composer composed his first symphonies. However, von Mortzin soon began to experience financial difficulties and ceased operations of his music project.

In 1760, Haydn married Maria Anna Keller. They did not have children, which the composer greatly regretted. His wife treated his professional activities coldly and used his scores for curlers and stands for pate. The marriage was unhappy, but the laws of that time did not allow them to separate.

Service at the court of the princes of Esterhazy

After the disbandment of the musical project of the financially failed Count von Morzin in 1761, Joseph Haydn was offered a similar job with Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, the head of the extremely wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family. Haydn initially held the position of vice-kapellmeister, but he was immediately allowed to lead most of Esterházy's musical institutions, along with the old Kapellmeister Gregor Werner, who retained absolute authority only for church music. In 1766, a fateful event occurred in Haydn's life - after the death of Gregor Werner, he was elevated to the position of bandmaster at the court of the new Prince Esterhazy - Miklos Joseph Esterhazy, a representative of one of the most influential and powerful aristocratic families in Hungary and Austria. The duties of the bandmaster included composing music, leading the orchestra, playing chamber music for the patron and staging operas.

The year 1779 becomes a turning point in the career of Joseph Haydn - his contract was revised: while previously all his compositions were the property of the Esterhazy family, he was now allowed to write for others and sell his works to publishers. Soon, taking this circumstance into account, Haydn shifted the emphasis in his compositional activity: he wrote fewer operas and created more quartets and symphonies. In addition, he is in negotiations with several publishers, both Austrian and foreign. Of Haydn's new employment contract, Jones writes: “This document acted as a catalyst towards the next stage of Haydn's career - the achievement of international popularity. By 1790, Haydn found himself in a paradoxical, if not strange, position: as Europe's leading composer, but bound by a previously signed contract, he was spending his time as conductor in a remote palace in the Hungarian countryside.

During his almost thirty-year career at the Esterházy court, the composer composed a large number of works, and his fame is growing. In 1781, while staying in Vienna, Haydn met and became friends with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He gave music lessons to Sigismund von Neukom, who later became his close friend and Franz Lessel.

On February 11, 1785, Haydn was initiated into the Masonic lodge “Toward True Harmony” (“Zur wahren Eintracht”). Mozart was unable to attend the dedication because he was attending a concert with his father Leopold.

Throughout the 18th century, in a number of countries (Italy, Germany, Austria, France and others), processes of formation of new genres and forms of instrumental music took place, which finally took shape and reached their peak in the so-called “Viennese classical school” - in the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven . Instead of polyphonic texture great importance acquired a homophonic-harmonic texture, but at the same time, large instrumental works often included polyphonic episodes that dynamized the musical fabric.

Thus, the years of service (1761-1790) with the Hungarian princes Esterházy contributed to the flourishing creative activity Haydn, which peaked in the 80s - 90s of the 18th century, when mature quartets (starting with opus 33), 6 Paris (1785-86) symphonies, oratorios, masses and other works were created. The whims of the patron of the arts often forced Joseph to give up his creative freedom. At the same time, working with the orchestra and choir he led had a beneficial effect on his development as a composer. Most of the composer's symphonies (including the widely known Farewell, 1772) and operas were written for Esterházy's chapel and home theater. Haydn's trips to Vienna allowed him to communicate with the most prominent of his contemporaries, in particular with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Free musician again

In 1790, after the death of Miklós Esterházy, his son and successor, Prince Antal Esterházy, not being a music lover, disbanded the orchestra. In 1791, Haydn received a contract to work in England. Subsequently he worked extensively in Austria and Great Britain. Two trips to London (1791-1792 and 1794-1795) at the invitation of the organizer of the “Subscription Concerts”, violinist I. P. Zalomon, where he wrote his best symphonies for Zalomon’s concerts, broadened his horizons, further strengthened his fame and contributed to the growth of Haydn’s popularity. In London, Haydn attracted huge audiences: Haydn's concerts attracted huge numbers of listeners, which increased his fame, contributed to the collection of large profits and, ultimately, allowed him to become financially secure. In 1791, Joseph Haydn was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

While passing through Bonn in 1792, he met the young Beethoven and took him on as a student.

Last years

Haydn returned and settled in Vienna in 1795. By that time, Prince Antal had died and his successor Miklos II proposed to revive the musical institutions of Esterházy under the leadership of Haydn, again acting as conductor. Haydn accepted the offer and took the offered position, albeit on a part-time basis. He spent his summer with Esterhazy in the city of Eisenstadt, and over the course of several years wrote six masses. But by this time Haydn had become a public figure in Vienna and spent most of his time in his own large house in Gumpendorf, where he wrote several works for public performance. Among other things, in Vienna Haydn wrote two of his famous oratorios: “The Creation of the World” (1798) and “The Seasons” (1801), in which the composer developed the traditions of the lyrical-epic oratorios of G. F. Handel. Joseph Haydn's oratorios are marked by a rich, everyday character that is new to this genre, a colorful embodiment of natural phenomena, and they reveal the composer's skill as a colorist.

Haydn tried his hand at all types of musical composition, but his creativity did not manifest itself with equal force in all genres. In the field of instrumental music, he is rightly considered one of the largest composers of the second half of the 18th and early XIX centuries. The greatness of Joseph Haydn as a composer was maximally manifested in his two final works: the great oratorios “The Creation of the World” (1798) and “The Seasons” (1801). The oratorio “The Seasons” can serve as an exemplary standard of musical classicism. Towards the end of his life, Haydn enjoyed enormous popularity. In subsequent years, this successful period for Haydn's work is faced with the onset of old age and failing health - now the composer must fight to complete his begun works. Work on oratorios undermined the composer's strength. His last works were “Harmoniemesse” (1802) and the unfinished string quartet opus 103 (1802). By about 1802, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he became physically unable to compose. The last sketches date back to 1806; after this date, Haydn did not write anything else.

The composer died in Vienna. He died at the age of 77 on May 31, 1809, shortly after the attack on Vienna by the French army led by Napoleon. Among his last words was an attempt to calm his servants when a cannonball fell in the vicinity of the house: “Do not be afraid, my children, for where Haydn is, no harm can happen.” Two weeks later, on June 15, 1809, a funeral service was held in the Scottish Monastery Church (German: Shottenkirche), at which Mozart's Requiem was performed.

Creative heritage

The composer created 24 operas, wrote 104 symphonies, 83 string quartets, 52 piano (clavier) sonatas, 126 trios for baritone, overtures, marches, dances, divertiments for orchestra and various instruments, concertos for clavier and other instruments, oratorios, various pieces for clavier, songs, canons, arrangements of Scottish, Irish, Welsh songs for voice with piano (violin or cello if desired). Among the works are 3 oratorios (“Creation of the World”, “Seasons” and “Seven Words of the Savior on the Cross”), 14 masses and other spiritual works.

Chamber music

  • 12 sonatas for violin and piano
  • 83 string quartets for two violins, viola and cello
  • 7 duets for violin and viola
  • 40 trios for piano, violin (or flute) and cello
  • 21 trios for 2 violins and cello
  • 126 trio for baritone, viola (violin) and cello
  • 11 trios for mixed winds and strings

Concerts

36 concertos for one or more instruments with orchestra, including:

  • 4 concertos for violin and orchestra (one lost)
  • 3 concertos for cello and orchestra
  • 3 concertos for clarinet and orchestra (Haydn’s affiliation has not been definitively proven)
  • 4 concertos for horn and orchestra (two lost)
  • concert for 2 horns and orchestra (lost)
  • Concerto for oboe and orchestra (Haydn’s affiliation has not been conclusively proven)
  • 11 concertos for piano and orchestra
  • 6 organ concerts
  • 5 concertos for two hurdy-gurdies
  • 4 concertos for baritone and orchestra
  • concerto for double bass and orchestra (lost)
  • concerto for flute and orchestra (lost)
  • concerto for trumpet and orchestra
  • 13 divertimentos with clavier

Vocal works

Operas

There are 24 operas in total, including:

  • “The Lame Demon” (Der krumme Teufel), 1751 (lost)
  • "True Constancy"
  • "Orpheus and Eurydice, or the Soul of a Philosopher", 1791
  • "Asmodeus, or the New Lame Demon"
  • "Pharmacist"
  • "Acis and Galatea", 1762
  • "The Desert Island" (L'lsola disabitata)
  • "Armida", 1783
  • “Fisherwomen” (Le Pescatrici), 1769
  • "Deceived Infidelity" (L'Infedeltà delusa)
  • “An Unforeseen Meeting” (L’Incontro improviso), 1775
  • "The Lunar World" (II Mondo della luna), 1777
  • "True Constancy" (La Vera costanza), 1776
  • "Loyalty Rewarded" (La Fedeltà premiata)
  • “Roland the Paladin” (Orlando Рaladino), a heroic-comic opera based on the plot of Ariosto’s poem “Roland the Furious”

Oratorios

14 oratorios, including:

  • "World creation"
  • "Seasons"
  • "Seven Words of the Savior on the Cross"
  • "The Return of Tobias"
  • Allegorical cantata-oratorio “Applause”
  • oratorio hymn Stabat Mater

Masses

14 masses, including:

  • small mass (Missa brevis, F-dur, around 1750)
  • large organ mass Es-dur (1766)
  • mass in honor of St. Nicholas (Missa in honorem Sancti Nicolai, G-dur, 1772)
  • Mass of St. Caeciliae (Missa Sanctae Caeciliae, c-moll, between 1769 and 1773)
  • small organ mass (B major, 1778)
  • Mariazellermesse, C-dur, 1782
  • Mass with timpani, or Mass during the war (Paukenmesse, C-dur, 1796)
  • Mass Heiligmesse (B major, 1796)
  • Nelson-Messe, d-moll, 1798
  • Mass Theresa (Theresienmesse, B-dur, 1799)
  • mass with theme from the oratorio “The Creation of the World” (Schopfungsmesse, B-dur, 1801)
  • Mass with wind instruments (Harmoniemesse, B-dur, 1802)

Symphonic music

See List of Haydn symphonies

104 symphonies, including:

  • "Farewell Symphony"
  • "Oxford Symphony"
  • "Funeral Symphony"
  • 6 Paris Symphonies (1785-1786)
  • 12 London Symphonies (1791-1792, 1794-1795), including Symphony No. 103 “With tremolo timpani”
  • 66 divertissements and cassations

Works for piano

  • fantasies, variations
  • 52 piano sonatas

Memory

  • A house-museum has been created in Vienna, in which the composer spent last years life.
  • A crater on the planet Mercury is named after Haydn.

In fiction

  • George Sand "Consuelo"
  • Stendhal published the lives of Haydn, Mozart, Rossini and Metastasio in letters.

In numismatics and philately

Coin and postage stamp

20 schillings 1982 - Austrian commemorative coin dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Haydn