"Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.“ "I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or bother me, and I was forced to become original." Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Youth Joseph Haydn was born in 1732 as a peasant in the Austrian village Rohrau, son of a wagon maker and the village mayor. His family frequently performed folk music for fun. Joseph’s talent was recognized at a young age and his parents sent him away to a boarding school at age 5. The conditions there were harsh. He said, “there was more flogging there than food.”

Youth At age 8 he was accepted as a choirboy in the Viennese Cathedral where he studied singing, violin and keyboard. Again there was not much food and lots of harsh treatment, and soon Haydn’s voice changed and he couldn’t sing the high notes anymore. But Young Haydn had developed a sense of humor to deal with his harsh life. One day at 17 he played a joke by cutting off the pigtails of another boy in the choir.

On His Own The director beat him and threw him out into the street with only a change of clothes. Haydn lived where ever he could and made some money giving music lessons and serenading people on the street. He became the servant of a famous composer, Niccolo Porpora, and taught himself how to compose from observation and reading books.

Music Director for Prince Esterhazy Haydn’s reputation as a performer and composer slowly grew and he worked for several aristocrats. At 29 he was hired as the music director of Hungarian Prince Esterhazy. Haydn’s responsibilities were enormous, including monitoring the musicians of the Prince’s orchestra, in addition to composing and performing orchestra, opera, and chamber music.

Music Director for Prince Esterhazy The Prince’s palace, Eszterhaza was far from any major cities and composers, so Haydn had to be very creative on his own. While there, he invented the symphony and the string quartet, two forms that would become central to Classical music. Many of the 104 symphonies, 68 string quartets, 15 surviving operas, 12 masses, and 100s of short pieces he wrote were written during his 30 years at Esterhaza.

Haydn’s Humor Haydn’s sense of humor was also present in the music he wrote at Esterhaza. Surprise Symphony: Haydn got tired of the Prince falling asleep during his symphony concerts, so he decided to play a joke on him. https://youtu.be/tF5kr251BRs?t=16s Farewell Symphony: Another time all of his orchestra wanted to go on vacation, so he wrote a symphony that had each of the musicians stop playing and leave the room one by one until Haydn was the only one left on the piano. https://youtu.be/K0ligH6PCW0?t=3m59s

Haydn in London When the Prince died and his son decided to cut back on his musicians, Haydn, now 60, took the opportunity to travel to London to write and perform symphonies. He was greeted by an adoring public that paid good money to buy his music and attend his concerts. He wrote his famous “London Symphonies” then.

Haydn in Vienna Returning to Austria, he went to live in Vienna where he was a wealthy and respected celebrity. For the first time, he wrote in the form made famous by Handel, oratorios: “The Creation” and “The Seasons.” He was a mentor and a teacher to the next two great composers: Mozart and Beethoven. They called him “Papa Haydn” for trail-blazing the way for modern symphonies and string quartets.

Death and Legacy Haydn died at in 1809 at age 77 as one of the most famous composers in the Western world. He lived long enough to see Napoleon invade Vienna (in 1805 and 1809), and outlived his younger friend Mozart (who was 16 years younger than him) by 18 years. Still today, Haydn is considered one of the greatest composers ever.