Essay Sample on Joseph Haydn

Introduction

Joseph Haydn was a composer who was responsible for laying out a foundation for the classical style of modern music. Born in Austria, Joseph's work was famous during the 18th century since it changed various aspects of music (Gotwals, 1963). An example of such aspects includes the string quartet's style (Gotwals, 1963). Despite having financial difficulties, Haydn managed to compose classical music which spread quickly Europe. During this period, the leaders of Austria were obsessed with music, which was one of the factors that promoted Joseph Haydn in his work. Joseph Haydn's fame was caused by his performance on the Austrian empire (Gotwals, 1963). He was urged to perform due to the unique factor in his form of music (Gotwals, 1963). His symphonies were characterized by humor, a factor which made him more entertaining to the leaders of the nation.

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Initially, Joseph Haydn was a servant who had been given the role of stepping in for an aged music performer in the Austrian Empire (Griesinger, 1963). The Orchestra used to carry out the task of both music performance and entertainment. However, ageing became an issue to the performer and Prince Pal Antal appointed Haydn to be the music performer (Gotwals, 1963). During this period, Haydn was suffering financially, and he had been unable to promote his music. As a servant, he saw this as an excellent chance to develop his form of music (Griesinger, 1963). Leaders within the Austrian empire loved his classic music style, which led to his fame. Between 1760-1770, Haydn became famous throughout Europe and the empires of other nations such as the Czech Republic became interested in his performance (Griesinger, 1963). His church music was also accepted in other nations such as Italy and Germany. These countries stored his music in their libraries since they valued his style (Griesinger, 1963). This period promoted Joseph Haydn and he became stable financially. By 1774, Haydn was already a mature music composer whose style of music was unique and famous across Europe (Griesinger, 1963).

Joseph Haydn began to work on church music. This was the music that made him popular among the leaders of the Austrian empire (Schroeder, 1997). Later, he was associated with other works, some of which are highlighted below.

• Symphonies - Haydn managed to come up with a total of 104 symphonies (Schroeder, 1997). Most of them have numbers that make them easier to identify since they arranged in a chronological order (Schroeder, 1997). Symphonies were viewed as the work that led to the fame of Haydn throughout Europe (Schroeder, 1997).
• Piano Trios - Joseph Haydn was also a pianist. He managed to come up with a volume of piano music within 5 years between 1760-1765 (Schroeder, 1997). These trios were used to entertain the leaders of the Austrian empire (Schroeder, 1997). Within this period, Haydn also produced Piano sonatas which managed to capture the attention of music audience within a short period (Schroeder, 1997).
• Masses - initially, Haydn was performing church music which was highly valued by the leaders of the Austrian empire (Schroeder, 1997). During this period, Haydn came up with several choral music works. This was the type of music that was characterized by vocal performances. Choral music is considered as the initial work of Joseph Haydn (Schroeder, 1997).

Haydn was very skillful in various aspects. His music was filled with humor that engaged the audience in his performances (Schroeder, 1997). He was entertaining to a point where people began to refer to him as the musical jokester (Schroeder, 1997). Sudden twists in his music performance made him an expert in his work. In his Symphony no. 94, Haydn employed slow movement to add to his music humor, an act that moved his audience (Schroeder, 1997). The skills required to perform such an act were unique and during this period, only Hayden could manage such an act. This movement was initiated using violins, which were followed by a bass line (Schroeder, 1997). The melody that followed the symphony seems quite simple. However, experts have agreed that it was a difficult task that could only be achieved by an individual with the talent of Joseph Haydn (Landon, 1955).

Symphony No. 94 that was written by Haydn is referred to like the Surprise Symphony (Landon, 1955). Haydn came up with this symphony while preparing for a concert that was taking place in London between 1790-1793 (Landon, 1955). The symphony was developed through a combination of different tools such as flutes and trumpets. String sections of the violin were also used in the formation of the symphony, a factor that made it more appealing during the concert. Joseph Haydn composed the symphony to last for a period of 23 minutes (Landon, 1955). During this period, the audience is introduced to the world of classical music and they can understand why Hayden is given a lot of credit from this form of music (Landon, 1955). The symphony is filled with jokes that make it lively and enjoyable at the same time.

Conclusion

Joseph Haydn is given credit for classical music since he is believed to be its inventor. He is always associated with various types of works such as masses, piano trios, piano sonatas and symphonies. He managed to overcome financial difficulties and develop his talent which spread across Europe within a period of 10 years (Landon, 1955). Hayden's work was filled with humor, an aspect that made him appealing to the leaders of different empires in Europe (Landon, 1955). His ability to use humor in music allowed him to capture the attention of many people. His audience enjoyed his performances due to the composure that he displayed during concerts. Hayden is therefore recognized as the individual who came up with the classical music style (Landon, 1955).

References

Gotwals, V. (1963). Joseph Haydn: Eighteenth-Century Gentleman and Genius. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Griesinger, G. A. (1963). Biographical Notes Concerning Joseph Haydn. University of Wisconsin Press.

Landon, H. C. R. (1955). The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn (Vol. 1). Universal Edition.

Schroeder, D. P. (1997). Haydn and the Enlightenment: The Late Symphonies and their Audience. Oxford University Press.