Franz Joseph Haydn (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} numinous_) wrote,@ 2012-08-21 18:57:00 |
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Father of the Symphony  PERSONALITY In his life, Haydn was seen as the perfect honnête homme or 'honest man'. He was kind and modest, and this was widely reported. He was also well respected by his musicians as well as his patrons as he kept the working environment light and amicable and he represented the interests of both musician and employer equally. He was also well known for his sense of humour and he loved to play practical jokes. He had a lot of friends and he was known as a happy and cheerful man. He did have periods of depression in his later life, but this is attributed to his age. He was also a devout catholic and he took his religion very seriously. His one trait people see as a flaw was greed. He drove a hard bargain and during business proceedings he could get angry when things weren't going his way. This didn't flow over to his personal life, however. He contributed to charity and was seen as generous outside of business. These traits are certainly still true today. He is a genial man who is extremely humble and kind. He can be generous though not when it comes to arranging monetary terms when he is hired. He has a sense of humour and loves jokes and puns as well as pranks. Thanks to his childhood where he was deprived and hungry, he does tend to hoarde money. He likes his surroundings to be nice and clean and he is fussy about his clothes. He gets a little frustrated if he doesn't get to shower twice a day and if he gets anything on his clothes he will immediately change them. He doesn't want to be seen as poor, as he was once mocked for it, nor does he want to ever be in a position where he doesn't know where his next meal is coming from. He has a nice apartment in Manhattan and he is incredibly money-savvy. He does help out young musicians if he sees them struggling, however. He will take them under his wing and help them get a foothold in the business. He is still 'Papa Haydn' even if these musicians don't know who he truly is. And, as in the past, he still is quite the charmer when it comes to women. Even though he was never the most attractive man, he always had his share of lovers. He marriage was extremely unhappy, however, so he is terrified of settling down, instead preferring to keep things casual. Unless, of course, something special comes along. He was always close to his family and his younger brother Michael often asked advice from him and considered him a dear friend. Another brother, Johann, was taken in and worked for the Esterhazy family under Haydn's tutelage for decades despite not being a very talented singer. Haydn himself paid Johann's wages and took care of his brother. He hopes one day to find Michael again and it pains him that he is unlikely to see Johann ever again. HISTORY Haydn was born on 31 March, 1732 in Rohrau, Austria. His father was a wheelwright and his mother was a cook in the palace of a Count. Neither parent could read music but his father had taught himself the harp and they were a very musical family. When he was very young, his parents realised he was incredibly gifted musically. They knew he would never get anywhere in Rohrau so they sent him to apprentice for a relative in Hainburg. The relative, Frankh, was a choirmaster and could train Haydn as a musician. Life with the Frankhs was not easy. Haydn later recalled being constantly hungry in the years he lived with them, as well as being constantly humiliated by the state of his clothes. He did, however, receive the training he had gone for. He learned harpsichord and violin as well as singing, and while singing treble in the church choir, he was noticed. The man who noticed Haydn was Georg von Reutter, the director of music in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He was impressed by Haydn and at the age of eight, Haydn moved to become a chorister there. At the age of twelve, his younger brother Michael joined him. While serving as chorister, Haydn lived in a kapellhaus with Reutter and the other chorus boys. He was instructed in Latin as well as keyboards and violin. While he wasn't taught musical theory, he managed to learn by proxy just by being in an area of great musical energy. Like the Frankhs before him, Reutter never bothered to feed his choristers very well and so Haydn strived to perform perfectly so that he would be invited to perform at the homes of aristocrats. While performing there, refreshments were often served, and it meant a meal when otherwise there would be nothing. By the age of 17, Haydn's voice had matured so much that he could no longer sing the parts he was known for. In fact, even the empress complained. After playing a prank on another chorus boy, Reutter saw his chance and he fired Haydn and threw him out into the streets. Luckily Haydn was taken in by a friend who let Haydn live in his family room while he tried his best to make a name for himself independently. For several years Haydn worked at several different jobs including street musician and music teacher while he taught himself musical theory. In 1753 his first opera, Der krumme Teufel ("The Limping Devil"), opened successfully, though it was quickly closed down by the censors. Haydn began to get a name for himself and some of his works he had given away started to be sold in shops. He worked freelance for the court in Vienna supplying music for the imperial children's carnivals. Eventually he began to receive aristocratic patronage. He tutored a countess and worked for a few barons. In 1757 he gained his first full-time position as kapellmeister under Count Morzin. Three years later, with the safety of his full-time job, Haydn married Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller, the sister of a woman he had once been in love with. His marriage was incredibly unhappy and both of them took lovers. In 1761 Count Morzin had to release most of his employees, but almost immediately Haydn was given the position of Vice-Kapellmeister by Prince Paul Anton, head of the very important Esterhazy family. In 1766 the old Kapellmeister died and Haydn was promoted. Haydn followed the family around as they moved from estate to estate. He was in charge of "composition, running the orchestra, playing chamber music for and with his patrons, and eventually the mounting of operatic productions". The Esterhazy family truly appreciated his work and kept him on for 30 years. While he worked there he composed many great pieces of music. His life with the Esterhazy family began to make him feel isolated. With the family spending a lot of time at Esterhaza which was far from Vienna, he was far from his friends which included Maria Anna von Genzinger. She was one of his closest friends and when she died in 1793 it was a great blow to him. Another close friend was Mozart whom he had met in 1784. The pair of them occasionally played together in string quartets and Haydn praised Mozart constantly. Mozart returned the favour, including writing a few songs for Haydn. In 1790 his employer died and while Haydn was kept on, most of the family's musicians were dismissed and his salary was reduced. While he had little to do, his new patron allowed him to travel. Haydn accepted a deal to travel to England and compose and conduct new music there. He made two trips there over the years and people flocked to see the performances. From that, Haydn received so much money he finally became financially secure. On his way to London the first time, he met Beethoven and on the second journey, Beethoven was with him as his pupil. He young lad moved to Vienna to continue study with Haydn. While the two of them had some rivalry, they did remain on good terms. In 1795 his patron once again died and a new prince took over. This prince wanted to reinstate the musical past of the Esterhazy family. Haydn took on the position, but only part time. He spent summers with the family in Eisenstadt but he spent most of the year in his own home in Vienna as he had become a well-known figure. He continued to compose until 1802 when old age and ill health made it impossible for him to compose any more. This was difficult for him as he said the ideas didn't stop coming to him. He spent a lot of time in those years sitting at the piano and playing a song he had composed in 1797 which eventually became the tune used for the German national anthem. In 1806 a concert was put on for his benefit and he was brought before the crowd. The concert was conducted by his previous pupil, Beethoven as well as Salieri. The musicians and aristocracy paid tribute to him as they felt they were saying goodbye to the great composer. He was moved by the experience but had to leave at intermission as he was too exhausted by it to stay. He lived for another year and died shortly after an attack on Vienna by Napoleon in 1809. After his death two men conspired to steal Haydn's head in the name of phrenology. The process was pretty gross and smelly, but the men managed to clean the skull and inspect the 'musical bump' which they found was fully developed. Then one of them kept the head in a pretty case with a lyre in it. When Haydn's patron finally realised (in 1820) the body should have been moved, he had it exhumed and he was pissed off when he found the body had no head. He immediately suspected the two men, and one of them provided the man with a false skull to put in the coffin. Haydn's skull was eventually willed to the 'Society of Musical Friends' in Vienna where it was on display. Eventually a member of the Esterhazy family gained a plot for Haydn in the Bergkiche in Eisenstadt and he wished to have the composer's body unified. In was only in 1954 that the skull finally was reunited with the composer's body, 145 years later. Since the false skull was not removed, his coffin now contains two skulls. It wasn't until his body was put back together that Haydn popped up again. The popularity of the story fueled his belief. He travelled to America where he has been living in New York City since his arrival. He teaches music as well as occasionally working as a conductor and composer for the ABT as well as some of the symphony orchestras in NYC. He, of course, can no longer compose like he used to, but he can help out. |  JOSEPH HAYDN ALLENSTANDE! FULL NAME: Franz Joseph Haydn ALIAS: Joseph Rohrau APPARENT AGE: 30s DATE OF BIRTH: 31 March, 1732 PLACE OF BIRTH: Rohrau, Austria MARITAL STATUS: Single SEXUALITY: Straight OCCUPATION: Voice teacher CURRENT RESIDENCE: NYC • Haydn and Mozart's friendship • Haydn and Beethoven's relationship • The strange story of Haydn's head • List of Residences • Papa Haydn • Haydn's Name • Works by Haydn • Timeline 1 • Timeline 2 • Profile • History • Michael Haydn • Johann Evangelist Haydn • Haydnsaal at Schloss Esterhazy • Biographical Information • List of Compositions on Allmusic.com • Haydn's Work linked NAME: Lara PB: Benedict Cumberbatch |