Franz Joseph Haydn's Life And Accomplishments

Franz Joseph Haydn was born in March, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria. Haydn was the second of five children who survived in infancy. Haydn’s father, Mathias Haydn, was an amateur musician, Haydn’s mother, Maria Koller, was a cook for the rich family in Rohrau. From early age Haydn demonstrated his musical talent quite early. As a five year old boy, he could sing all of his father’s simple pieces correctly. In 1737, a cousin of Haydn’s mother, Mathias Franck, took Haydn to Hainburg where he received his first formal training because he thought Haydn’s musical abilities could not be developed in his home town. His uncle was not only a school principal but also a music director of Hainburg Church. Doubtlessly, that was a great help for Haydn in his musical education and life career. From 1761, Haydn worked for the Esterhazy family where he served for most of his career.14 The Esterhazy family was the richest and most influential among Hungarian dynasty. In addition, they were very important patrons of culture and the arts. In 1762, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy died. Prince Nicolaus took a throne and became Haydn’s new boss and was even more enthusiastic about the music.15

In 1779, Haydn was granted the right to publish the compositions he had written in the service of his aristocratic employers, the Esterházy family, so his symphonies, quartets, and other works appeared in print all over Europe. It was an unusual arrangement at the time — music written for the court was considered the property of the court — and this event contributed to the birth of sheet music publishing as we now understand it. Haydn grew wealthy from the sales of his published music. This went a long way toward establishing him as the pre-eminent European composer of his day, and led to widespread emulation by other