What musical abilities did the future composer have? The remarkable life and work of Joseph Haydn. Personal life and further service

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 his musical style was folk art and music of everyday life. With amazing sensitivity he perceived folk melodies of various origins, the nature of peasant dances, the special coloring of the sound of folk instruments, some French song that had become 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 stories 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. From childhood, Haydn could hear the music of different nationalities, since among the local population of Rohrau 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, the 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 rich artistic culture of the Austrian capital. Even then it was a city literally filled with music. Italian opera has long flourished here, academy concerts of famous virtuosos were held, and large instrumental and choral chapels existed at the imperial court and the houses of large nobles. 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.

Musical 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 his own house 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.

Haydn Joseph Franz(1732-1809)

Franz Joseph Haydn

His ancestors were Austro-German peasant artisans. He inherited his love for music from his father. Even when he was 5 years old, musicians paid attention to him, because even then he had excellent hearing, memory, and a sense of rhythm. After the church choir, the future composer ended up in the choir chapel at the main St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This was the most significant event in his life. In addition to singing, which occupied most of his time, he managed to play the violin and clavichord, achieving significant success in playing music.

Creative path

When Haydn's voice began to break, he was expelled from the chapel and had to start all over again. In search of income, he began giving singing and music lessons, playing the violin at holidays or just on the main roads, just so as not to die of hunger. However, he understood that these earnings were accidental. It was then that the decision came - musical writing. Only four years later he found a permanent job - he got a job as an accompanist for the famous Italian opera composer Nicola Porpora (1686-1768). He appreciated Haydn's musical talent and began teaching him composition.

Having read many books, studied with many teachers, an upswing was gradually brewing in his life: his financial situation began to improve, his position in life became stronger. In 1761, Haydn entered the service of the wealthy Hungarian princes Esterhazy and spent almost thirty years at their court as a composer and leader of the chapel. In 1790, the chapel was dissolved, but Haydn retained his salary and the position of conductor. This gave the master the opportunity to settle in Vienna, travel, and give concerts.

Having become a free composer, the owner of many honorary degrees and titles, he worked extensively in England, Austria and Great Britain. Among his students was the young Beethoven.

Symphonies, quartets, sonatas and orchestra

Autograph of the score of Joseph Haydn's symphony

Haydn’s work is associated with the flourishing of such genres as the symphony (he had one hundred and four of them, not counting those lost), string quartet (eighty-three), keyboard sonata (fifty-two); The composer paid great attention to concerts for various instruments, chamber ensembles and sacred music.

Haydn is credited with forming a stable composition of the symphony orchestra. Previously, composers were content with only those instruments that were currently available. The appearance of a stable orchestra is a clear sign of classicism. The sound of musical instruments was thus brought into a strict system that obeyed the rules of instrumentation. These rules are based on knowledge of the capabilities of instruments and assume that the sound of each is not an end in itself, but a means of expressing a certain idea. The stable composition gave a solid, homogeneous sound to the orchestra.

In addition to instrumental music, Haydn paid attention to opera and spiritual works (he created a number of masses under the influence of Handel), and turned to the oratorio genre (“Creation of the World”, “The Seasons”).

"Father" of the symphony

Coins dedicated to the great composer

Joseph Haydn is often called the “father” of the symphony. It was in his work that the symphony became the leading genre of instrumental music.

In Haydn's symphonies, the development of the main themes is interesting. By conducting a melody in different keys and registers, giving it one mood or another, the composer thus discovers its hidden possibilities, reveals internal contradictions: the melody is either transformed or returns to its original state. Haydn had a subtle sense of humor, and this personality trait was reflected in his music. The Ninety-fourth Symphony is witty. In the middle of the second part, when the music sounds calm and quiet, timpani strikes are suddenly heard - so that the listeners “don’t get bored.” It is no coincidence that the work was called “With the Fighting Timpani, or Surprise.” Haydn often used the technique of onomatopoeia (birds sing, a bear wanders in the summer, etc.).

In his symphonies, the composer often turned to folk themes, mainly Slavic - Slovak and Croatian.

Great joker

About the music of Joseph Haydn, one of the founders of the Viennese classical school, his friend and younger contemporary Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote: “No one is able to do everything: joke and shock, cause laughter and deeply touch, and all equally well, as he can.” Haydn."

on our website) wrote up to 125 symphonies (of which the first were designed for string orchestra, oboes, horns; the latter, in addition, for flute, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and timpani). Among Haydn’s orchestral works, “Seven Words of the Savior on the Cross” and over 65 “divertimentos”, “cassations”, etc. are also known. In addition, Haydn wrote 41 concertos for a wide variety of instruments, 77 string quartets, 35 trios for piano, violin and cellos, 33 trios for other instrumental combinations, 175 pieces for baritone (Count Esterhazy's favorite instrument), 53 piano sonatas, fantasies, etc., and many other instrumental works. The following are known from Haydn's vocal works: 3 oratorios, 14 masses, 13 offertories, cantatas, arias, duets, trios, etc. Haydn wrote another 24 operas, most of which were intended for the modest home theater of Count Esterhazy; Haydn himself did not want their execution in other places. He also composed the Austrian national anthem.

Portrait of Joseph Haydn. Artist T. Hardy, 1791

Haydn's significance in the history of music is based mainly on his symphonies and quartets, which have not lost their vibrant artistic interest to this day. Haydn completed the process of separating instrumental from vocal music, which began long before him on the basis of dance forms and whose main representatives before Haydn were S. Bach, his son Em. Bach, Sammartini, etc. The sonata form of symphony and quartet, as developed by Haydn, served as the basis for instrumental music for the entire classical period.

Joseph Haydn. Best works

Haydn’s contribution to the development of orchestral style is also great: he was the first to initiate the individualization of each instrument, highlighting its characteristic, original properties. He often contrasts one instrument with another, one orchestral group with another. That is why Haydn’s orchestra is distinguished by a hitherto unknown life, a variety of sonorities, and expressiveness, especially in the last works, which were not without the influence of Mozart, who was Haydn’s friend and admirer. Haydn also expanded the quartet form, and by the nobility of his quartet style gave it a special and deep meaning in music. “Merry Old Vienna”, with its humor, naivety, warmth and, at times, unbridled playfulness, with all the conventions of the era of the minuet and braid, was reflected in the works of Haydn. But when Haydn needed to convey a deep, serious, passionate mood in music, here too he achieved a power unprecedented among his contemporaries; in this respect he is directly adjacent to Mozart and

Haydn is rightly considered the father of the symphony and quartet, the great founder of classical instrumental music, and 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. But 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." The bold debut of a young, still little-known composer on the 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. And 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 and his position in life became 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 of 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 a new musical era: composing quartets, creating symphonies, he showed himself to be a bold, decisive innovator.

While in the service of Count Morzin, Haydn fell in love with the youngest daughter of his friend, the Viennese hairdresser Johann Peter Keller, Teresa, and was seriously planning to marry her. 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 childishly joyful soul; his symphonies lead us into vast green groves, into a cheerful, motley crowd of 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 a beloved image, which floats in the distance, in the pink flicker of the evening, neither approaching nor disappearing, and while he is there, night does not come, for he himself is the evening dawn, burning over the 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, the 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 had no great 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 for 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 to 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 characteristic. 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.

The entire complex world of classical music, which cannot be covered at one glance, is conventionally divided into eras or styles (this applies to all classical art, but today we are talking specifically about music). One of the central stages in the development of music is the era of musical classicism. This era gave world music three names that probably anyone who has heard at least a little about classical music can name: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Since the lives of these three composers were in one way or another connected with Vienna in the 18th century, the style of their music, as well as the brilliant constellation of their names itself, was called Viennese classicism. These composers themselves are called Viennese classics.

"Papa Haydn" - whose papa?

The oldest of the three composers, and therefore the founder of the style of their music, is Franz Joseph Haydn, whose biography you will read in this article (1732-1809) - “father Haydn” (they say that the great Mozart himself called Joseph that way, who, by the way, , was several decades younger than Haydn).

Anyone would put on airs! And Father Haydn? Not at all. He gets up at first light and works, writes his music. And he is dressed as if he were not a famous composer, but an inconspicuous musician. He is simple in food and in conversation. He called all the boys from the street and allowed them to eat wonderful apples in his garden. It is immediately clear that his father was a poor man and that there were many children in the family - seventeen! If not for chance, maybe Haydn, like his father, would have become a master of carriage making.

Early childhood

The small village of Rohrau, lost in Lower Austria, is a huge family, headed by an ordinary worker, a carriage maker, whose responsibility is not the mastery of sound, but carts and wheels. But Joseph’s father also had a good command of sound. Villagers often gathered in the poor but hospitable Haydn house. They sang and danced. Austria is generally very musical, but perhaps the main subject of their interest was the owner of the house himself. Not knowing how to read music, he nevertheless sang well and accompanied himself on the harp, choosing the accompaniment by ear.

First successes

Little Joseph was more clearly affected by his father's musical abilities than all the other children. Already at the age of five, he stood out among his peers with his beautiful, ringing voice and excellent sense of rhythm. With such musical abilities, it was simply destined for him not to grow up in his own family.

At that time, church choirs were in dire need of high voices - female voices: sopranos, altos. Women, according to the structure of patriarchal society, did not sing in the choir, so their voices, so necessary for a full and harmonious sound, were replaced by the voices of very young boys. Before the onset of mutation (that is, the restructuring of the voice, which is part of the changes in the body during adolescence), boys with good musical abilities could well replace women in the choir.

So very little Joseph was taken into the choir of the church of Hainburg, a small town on the banks of the Danube. For his parents, this must have been a huge relief - at such an early age (Josef was about seven) no one in their family had yet become self-sufficient.

The town of Hainburg generally played an important role in Joseph’s fate - here he began to study music professionally. And soon Georg Reuther, a prominent musician from Vienna, visited the Hainburg church. He traveled around the country with the same goal - to find capable, vocal boys to sing in the choir of the Cathedral of St. Stefan. This name hardly tells us anything, but for Haydn it was a great honor. St. Stephen's Cathedral! Symbol of Austria, symbol of Vienna! A huge example of Gothic architecture with echoing vaults. But Haydn had to pay more than that for singing in such a place. Long solemn services and court festivities, which also required a choir, took up a huge part of his free time. But you still had to study at the school at the cathedral! This had to be done in fits and starts. The director of the choir, the same Georg Reuther, had little interest in what was going on in the minds and hearts of his charges, and did not notice that one of them was taking his first, perhaps clumsy, but independent steps in the world of composing music. The work of Joseph Haydn then still bore the stamp of amateurism and the very first attempts. For Haydn, the conservatory was replaced by a choir. Often he had to learn brilliant examples of choral music from previous eras, and Joseph along the way drew conclusions for himself about the techniques used by composers and extracted the knowledge and skills he needed from the musical text.

The boy had to do work that was completely unrelated to music, for example, serving at the court table and serving dishes. But this also turned out to be beneficial for the development of the future composer! The fact is that the nobles at court ate only to high symphonic music. And the little footman, who was not even noticed by the important nobles, while serving the dishes, made to himself the conclusions he needed about the structure of the musical form or the most colorful harmonies. Of course, interesting facts from the life of Joseph Haydn include the very fact of his musical self-education.

The situation at school was harsh: boys were punished petty and severely. No further prospects were foreseen: as soon as the voice began to break and was no longer as high and sonorous as before, its owner was mercilessly thrown out into the street.

Minor start to independent life

Haydn suffered the same fate. He was already 18 years old. After wandering the streets of Vienna for several days, he met an old school friend, and he helped him find an apartment, or rather, a small room right under the attic. It is not for nothing that Vienna is called the music capital of the world. Even then, not yet glorified by the names of the Viennese classics, it was the most musical city in Europe: the melodies of songs and dances floated through the streets, and in the little room under the very roof in which Haydn settled, there was a real treasure - an old, broken clavichord (a musical instrument, one of forerunners of the piano). However, I didn't have to play it much. Most of my time was spent looking for work. In Vienna it is possible to obtain only a few private lessons, the income from which barely allows one to meet the necessary needs. Desperate to find work in Vienna, Haydn begins to wander around nearby cities and villages.

Niccolo Porpora

This time - Haydn's youth - was overshadowed by acute need and constant search for work. Until 1761, he managed to find work only temporarily. Describing this period of his life, it should be noted that he worked as an accompanist for the Italian composer, as well as vocalist and teacher Niccolo Porpora. Haydn got a job with him specifically to learn music theory. It was possible to learn while performing the duties of a footman: Haydn had to not only accompany.

Count Morcin

From 1759, for two years, Haydn lived and worked in the Czech Republic, on the estate of Count Morcin, who had an orchestral chapel. Haydn is the conductor, that is, the manager of this chapel. Here he writes a lot of music, music, of course, very good, but exactly the kind that the count demands from him. It is worth noting that most of Haydn’s musical works were written while performing official duties.

Under the leadership of Prince Esterhazy

In 1761, Haydn began serving in the chapel of the Hungarian Prince Esterhazy. Remember this surname: the elder Esterházy will die, the estate will pass into the department of his son, and Haydn will still serve. He would serve as Esterhazy's bandmaster for thirty years.

At that time, Austria was a huge feudal state. It included both Hungary and the Czech Republic. Feudal lords - nobles, princes, counts - considered it good form to have an orchestral and choir chapel at court. You've probably heard something about serf orchestras in Russia, but maybe you don't know that things weren't going well in Europe either. A musician - even the most talented one, even the leader of a choir - was in the position of a servant. At the time when Haydn was just beginning to serve with Esterházy, in another Austrian city, Salzburg, little Mozart was growing up, who, while in the service of the count, would have to dine in the people's room, sitting above the footmen, but below the cooks.

Haydn had to fulfill many large and small responsibilities - from writing music for holidays and celebrations and learning it with the choir and orchestra of the chapel, to discipline in the chapel, the peculiarities of the costume and the preservation of notes and musical instruments.

The Esterhazy estate was located in the Hungarian town of Eisenstadt. After the death of the elder Esterhazy, his son took over the estate. Prone to luxury and celebrations, he built a country residence - Eszterhaz. Guests were often invited to the palace, which consisted of one hundred and twenty-six rooms, and, of course, music had to be played for the guests. Prince Esterhazy went to the country palace for all the summer months and took all his musicians there.

Musician or servant?

A long period of service at the Esterhazy estate became the time of birth of many new works by Haydn. At the request of his master, he writes major works in various genres. Operas, quartets, sonatas, and other works come from his pen. But Joseph Haydn especially loves the symphony. This is a large, usually four-movement work for symphony orchestra. It was under Haydn’s pen that a classical symphony appeared, that is, an example of this genre on which other composers would later rely. During his life, Haydn wrote about one hundred and four symphonies (the exact number is unknown). And, of course, most of them were created by the bandmaster of Prince Esterhazy.

Over time, Haydn's position reached a paradox (unfortunately, the same thing would later happen to Mozart): they know him, they listen to his music, they talk about him in different European countries, but he himself cannot even go somewhere without the permission of his owner. The humiliation that Haydn experiences from such an attitude of the prince towards him sometimes slips into letters to friends: “Am I a bandmaster or a bandmaster?” (Chapel - servant).

Joseph Haydn's Farewell Symphony

It is rare for a composer to be able to escape from the circle of official duties, visit Vienna, and see friends. By the way, for some time fate brings him together with Mozart. Haydn was one of those who unconditionally recognized not only the phenomenal virtuosity of Mozart, but precisely his deep talent, which allowed Wolfgang to look into the future.

However, these absences were rare. More often than not, Haydn and the choir musicians had to linger in Eszterhaza. The prince sometimes did not want to let the chapel go to the city even at the beginning of autumn. In the biography of Joseph Haydn, interesting facts undoubtedly include the history of the creation of his 45th, so-called Farewell Symphony. The prince once again detained the musicians for a long time in the summer residence. The cold had long set in, the musicians had not seen their family members for a long time, and the swamps surrounding Eszterhaz were not conducive to good health. The musicians turned to their bandmaster with a request to ask the prince about them. It is unlikely that a direct request would help, so Haydn writes a symphony, which he performs by candlelight. The symphony consists not of four, but of five movements, and during the last one the musicians take turns standing up, putting down their instruments and leaving the hall. Thus, Haydn reminded the prince that it was time to take the chapel to the city. The legend says that the prince took the hint, and the summer holiday was finally over.

Last years of life. London

The life of the composer Joseph Haydn developed like a path in the mountains. It's hard to climb, but at the end - the top! The culmination of both his creativity and his fame came at the very end of his life. Haydn's works reached their final maturity in the 1980s. XVIII century. Examples of the style of the 80s include six so-called Parisian symphonies.

The composer's difficult life was marked by a triumphant conclusion. In 1791, Prince Esterhazy dies, and his heir dissolves the chapel. Haydn, already a well-known composer throughout Europe, becomes an honorary citizen of Vienna. He receives a house in this city and a lifelong pension. The last years of Haydn's life are very radiant. He visits London twice - as a result of these trips, twelve London symphonies appeared - his last works in this genre. In London, he gets acquainted with the work of Handel and, impressed by this acquaintance, for the first time tries himself in the oratorio genre - Handel's favorite genre. In his declining years, Haydn created two oratorios that are still known today: “The Seasons” and “The Creation of the World.” Joseph Haydn wrote music until his death.

Conclusion

We examined the main stages of the life of the father of the classical style in music. Optimism, the triumph of good over evil, reason over chaos and light over darkness, these are the characteristic features of the musical works of Joseph Haydn.