Life Of Haydn

Presenting a fresh perspective on the life and work of Joseph Haydn, this biography probes the darker side of Haydn's personality, his commercial opportunism and double dealing, his penny-pinching and his troubled marriage.

Franz Joseph Haydn s importance in the history of music is so great that it would be difficult to summarize his achievements in a few paragraphs. He inherited the sonata from Bach and made it into a great form of musical expression. He established the symphony, preparing the way for Mozart and Beethoven. He is often called the father of the string quartet. In fact, Mozart commented that it was from Haydn that he learned how to compose for four-stringed instruments. Haydn possessed a sunny disposition and a lovable nature. He was extremely generous and had a warm heart. He is quoted as saying, Anybody can see by the look of me that I am a good-natured sort of fellow. Much of his good nature can be heard in his music, which lives on nearly 200 years after is death in 1809.

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In London he was, as we have seen, something of a "lion," but it is doubtful if he enjoyed the conventional diversions of the beau monde. Yet he liked the company of ladies, especially when they were personally attractive. That he was never at a loss for a compliment may perhaps be taken as explaining his frequent conquests, for, as he frankly said himself, the pretty women "were at anyrate not tempted by my beauty."-from "Haydn: The Man"This 1902 biography of the 18th-century Austrian composer is highly informative, focusing not only on the "tranquil career" of Franz Joseph Haydn but his private life, too, his "long, sane, sound, and on the whole fortunate existence." Hadden finds the drama inherent in Haydn's life, in his European travels and hobnobbing with royalty, making this a vastly entertaining work. The useful appendices include a catalog of Haydn's works, a selection of his personal correspondence, and his last will and testament.Scottish writer and musician JAMES CUTHBERT HADDEN (1816-1914) also wrote biographies of Chopin, Handel, and Mendelssohn.

A survey of Haydn's life and of his musical genius and its impact on posterity; offers detailed information with authoritative analytical commentary. Acidic paper. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This definitive study of the life and works of Joseph Haydn represents half a century of research. As a curator of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, Dr. Geiringer was in charge of one of the world's leading Hayden collections. His scholarly investigations took him to various monasteries, to libraries in Eisenstadt, Prague, Berlin, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C., and, as a guest of the Hungarian government, to the previously almost inaccessible archives of the Princes of Esterhazy in Budapest. In the past decade, Haydn studies have progressed enormously. A thematic catalog is now available, and a substantial part of Haydn's vast creative output is accessible in critically revised editions. The new edition of Hayden: A Creatie Life in Music has been substantially rewritten to incorporate the results of recent research and to remove the tarnish that had assimilated on the picture of Haydn in the earlier years.

Franz Joseph Haydn's importance in the history of music is so great that it would be difficult to summarize his achievements in a few paragraphs. He inherited the sonata from Bach and made it into a great form of musical expression. He established the symphony, preparing the way for Mozart and Beethoven. He is often called the father of the string quartet. In fact, Mozart commented that it was from Haydn that he learned how to compose for four-stringed instruments. Haydn possessed a sunny disposition and a lovable nature. He was extremely generous and had a warm heart. He is quoted as saying, "Anybody can see by the look of me that I am a good-natured sort of fellow." Much of his good nature can be heard in his music, which lives on nearly 200 years after is death in 1809.