Composers: Franz Joseph Haydn - Essay Example

Composers Introduction Franz Joseph Haydn commonly known by the s Joseph Haydn is a ical composer of Australian origin. He remains one of the most prominent and prolific composers of classical music in the Classical period. His remarkable contribution has left most lovers of this music genre to refer to him as ‘Symphony father’ and String Quartet father’ as a result of his crucial contributions in Classical music. Haydn is also remembered for the instrumental role he played in piano trio development and sonata form evolution (Landon 54). His early life was marked by a young but outstanding music career with his earliest career being a court musician of Esterhazy family. It was his isolation from other trends and composers in music in his career that led to his work being original and unique. Haydn insists that the situation around him forced him to be original. By the time he met his fate, Haydn was considered to be among the most celebrated music composers all over Europe. Those around him also contributed to his remarkable career. Michael Haydn who was his brother was a highly regarded composer as well as Evangelist Haydn, who was a tenor (Landon 39). Other historical figures that played a big part in Haydn’s career include Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, who was his teacher. It is arguably said that no other composers whether in history or modern times came close to his combination of quality, production and the important historical genres associated with his compositions. Haydn Character and Structure of Music Haydn music is characteristic of very simple and short musical motifs of its larger structure that was mostly gotten from accompanying figures that were standard. The music in most cases, was formally concentrated in making the most desirable and important musical events of the music movement to unfold quickly. It was his work that was based on the development of what is now referred to as the sonata form. Despite this contribution, his work still remained unique in its own way from that of Beethoven and Mozart who also excelled as composers during the Classical period. Haydn’s work was fond of ‘monothematic exposition where his music established the dominating key that was identical or similar to the original theme. His work also differed from Beethoven and Mozart considering his recapitulation sections in which he rearranged the theme orders compared to the extensive thematic and exposition development. Haydn also introduced formal inventiveness leading to his integration of the classical style fugue and his enriching of the rondo form with a tonal logic that was more cohesive than the rest of the composers (Jones 31). He also stood out as being the double variation form principle exponent that involves the variations of two themes that are alternating. These two themes in most cases were minor- and major mode versions of one another. More than all the composers in history, Haydn’s music is recognized and appreciated for its humor. The most common among his works is the “Surprise” symphony which came out as being a sudden loud chord in the normal slow movement. Haydn wrote most his music with the aim of delighting and pleasing a prince making the emotional tone of most of the music correspondingly upbeat. This tone has been used by many to reflect his fundamentally well balanced and healthy personality. Haydn moved fast to become rhythmically propulsive and tried to impart great energies, mostly in the finales. He later varied the emotions in his compositions with a range of slow movements. Evolution and Impact of Haydn’s Style Haydn’s early compositions happened to be at a period when the style used by the High Baroque had been considered as being out of fashion. This period was thus marked with uncertainty and exploration. With Haydn being 18 years of age, he joined in the musical exploration of this period. He acknowledges Philipp Emanuel Back’s work because it had significant influence to his early development. During the period between 1749 and 1802, Haydn’s work gradually and steadily increased the complexity and sophistication of music. This left a landmark in not just his music but a revolution in the classic music. Some of the things in Haydn’s life that are believed to have contributed to his style of music include a stylistic period and the early 1770’s known as the “Sturm und Drang. This refers to a literary movement that was being introduced in the musical development. The language used in music at this period was similar to what had been used earlier by most of the composers but the difference was that the introduction that involved the deployment in work set ups was more intensely expressed mostly in the minor keys (Jones 22). The works at this period were more passionate, longer and more daring. After the climax experienced during the “Sturm und Drang”, Haydn in an effort of remaining unique went back to a lighter and more overt style. No quarters were witnessed in this period and the existing symphonies took on new features such as timpani and trumpets. Haydn’s professional duties took him away from what was called pure music to comic opera production. During the hectic decade, Haydn continued his career by recycling his earlier opera music works of symphonic and this helped him continue his symphonic career (Hadden 32). A change in contract in 1779 enabled him to be in a position to publish his compositions without getting his employer’s authorization. This was an important encouragement to Haydn as it allowed him to rekindle his pure music career as a composer. At that particular time, he published six quartets and referred to them as being completely special and new. Jones asserts that his journeys to England helped him develop his popular style of composition that earned him unprecedented success as he created music with great popular appeal but still retained a rigorous and leaning musical structure (16). One of the most important elements of this style was the common use of folk or other folk like material. Haydn was keen to make use of such material in the most appropriate locations like the sonata endings or the finale theme opening. His style became popular and he continued to use it in all his later works. His return to Vienna changed his career completely as his music underwent some evolution through little but important changes. In the past, Haydn used to write his work in profusion and quickly with frequent deadlines as he was still a servant and later become an entrepreneur thus had to divide his time. Rich and with enough time, Haydn now took his time and started writing with posterity while reflecting on the seasons and creation as his main subject matter. This also meant that he had enough time to concentrate on a single piece of work. Most of his works were on creation because he wanted them to last. Haydn’s change in approach was important and recognized by the rest of the composers. The change also played an important role in the music history as the rest of the composers followed the lead soon. Haydn Private Life and Music Reception Haydn’s early life was full of struggles which kept him away from developing his music career. While under Reutter it to come a point when he had grown too physical that he couldn’t sing. Consequently, he was thrown away to the streets. It is while in the streets that he was taken in by a friend and immediately begun to pursue a freelance musical career. This was not very successful as he had to take on different jobs to sustain his life which meant that he could not dedicate all of his time to his career. During the arduous time, he had to work at different jobs at the same time; he was a street serenader as well as a music teacher. His training was also not to standard as it was mostly done by well wishers some of which were not even qualified. For example when he was a chorister, he had not gone through any serious music composition and theory training. This to him was a very serious gap. In order to bridge it, he worked tirelessly through counterpoint means and practices in the book Gradus as Parnssum and also studied Emanuel Back’s work (Hadden 45). Despite these hardships, Haydn was able to acquire increased skills in music composition and managed to win the reputation of the public all over the world. Among his compositions that earned him public recognition is the opera ‘The Limping Devil’. He was later able to gain aristocratic patronage that was crucial in his career as a composer. At some point he had to risk giving up his career for the sake of his family. His responsibilities and career had taken him away from his family until at some point he felt so lonely that he was ready to give up his career if that was what he had to do to be together with his family. It was while he was working at the Esterhazy court, that he was able produce numerous compositions with his musical style developing. From this point, Haydn started writing important works for both his employer and other significant works at that period including “Paris symphonies’ and ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’, its original version. These two works were commissioned from above showing how his type of work had received recognition. His working contract now gave him the freedom to publish his work without any restrictions from the employer. His trips to England and Vietnam helped him gain writing experience as he met with more mature composers. Conclusion At the time Haydn was starting his career as a classical music composer, the style that was used at that time had been considered as outdated. His unique style of writing came in just at the right time when people were in need of some changes. This is to mean that his style was appreciated as away of doing away with the old fashioned style. He is referred to by many as the father of classic music to mean his contribution was is significant in the modern times. Most of his works have been borrowed by modern composers and that was the case during his times when most of the composers abandoned their style to adopt his. Haydn’s life contributed a lot to his writing in both positive and negative ways. The lack of enough time and resources denied him the chance to get one of the best training in music theory and compositions. However, he took this as a challenge and studies on its own in order to develop his career. This made his work borrow some features from the work of earlier composers like Emanuel Back Work cited Hadden, James. Haydn. London: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print Jones, David. Oxford Composers Companions: Haydn. London: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print Jones, David. The Life of Haydn. London: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print Landon, Robbins. Haydn: His life and Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. Press Read More