HAYDN, JOSEnt, a German composer, was b. at the village of Rohrau, on the con fines of Hungary and Austria, Mar. 31, 1732. He was the son of a poor wheelwright; and manifesting great musical talent, lie was received, at the age of eight, into the choir of the cathedral of St. Stephen's, at Vienna. Here he remained till his 16th year, acquiring a practical rather than a theoretical knowledge of his art, by singing the music of best Italian and German religious composers. In that year, however, his voice broke, and he lost his place as a chorister. He now gave lessons in Vienna, played in the orchestra, occupied himself with composition, and in this manner earned a maintenance. At the same time he studied with extreme care the first six sonatas of Emanuel Bach, which had accidentally fallen into his hands. His position, however, continued very critical, and he was on the verge of starvation, when he had the good fortune to obtain as a pupil it little girl, Signora Martinez, who was being educated at Vienna under the care of the poet Metastasio. Haydn embraced this opportunity of making himself acquainted with the Italian language. Subsequently, Metastasio intro duced him to the celebrated singer Porpora, who employed him to accompany him on the piano during his singing lessons, and from whom he obtained the instruction in composition he so anxiously desired and needed. In the latter part of 1750, he com posed his first quartet for stringed instruments, and from this period his prospects rapidly brightened. Ia 1759 a certain count Morzitrengaged him as music director and composer, "with a salary of 200 'florins, free 10dgitIgS,.and table with his secretaries and other officials." About this time, Haydn married the daughter of a hairdresser, who had been kind to him in his days of penury: This marriage did not prove a happy one. "It is nothing to her," said Haydn near the close of his life, "whether her hus band be a cobbler or an artist." Her sole ambition was to squander Haydn's earnings. In 1760 prince Esterhazy placed him at the head of his private chapel. For him Haydn composed his beautiful symphonies (a style of composition in which he greatly excelled all his predecessors, and the greater number of his magnificent quartets. While
in this situation, his patron conceiving the. design of dismissing the band, Haydn com posed the famous symphony known as Ritydn's Farewell, in which one instrument after another becomes mute, and each musician, as soon as he has ceased to play, puts out his light, rolls up his music, and departs with his instrument. It is said that in conse quence the prince changed his mind, and did not dismiss the band. After the death of prince Esterhazy, in 1790, Haydn accompanied Salomon the violinist to England, where, in 1791-92, he produced six of his Twelve Grand Symphonies. His reception was brilliant in the highest degree. In 1794 he made a second engagement with Salomon for Eng land, and during this period brought out the remaining six symphonies. In England he first obtained that recognition which afterwards fell to his share in his own country. On his return to Austria he purchased a small house with a garden in one of the suburbs of Vienna. Here he composed his oratorios, the Creation and the Seasons. The former work, the harmonies of which are pervaded with the fire of youth, was written in his sixty-fifth year,. and is considered by many to be equal to the finest productions of Handel; the Seasons (completed in eleven months) was almost his last work. He died at Vienna, May 31, 1809.
Although Haydn composed slowly and very carefully, his works are exceedingly numerous, comprising 118 symphonies, 83 quartets, 24 trios, 19 operas, 5 oratorios, 163 pieces for the baritone, 24 concertos for different instruments, 15 masses, 10 smaller church-pieces, 44 sonatas for the pianoforte, with and without accompaniments; 12 German and Italian songs, 39 canzenets, 13 hymns in three and four parts, the harmony and accompaniment to 365 old Scottish songs, besides a prodigious number of divertisse ments and pieces for various instruments.—Compare Griesinger, Diographisehe Notizen fiber Haydn (Liep. 1810); Vie de Haydn (Paris, 1817); Grosser, Biographische Notizeniiber Haydn (Hirschb. 1820); Pohl, Joseph Haydn (Part I. 1875).