Joseph Haydn Accomplishments

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 in Rohrau, Austria. He started out his musical days as a choir member. This all began when he was six years old. This was the age when Haydn went to go live with a cousin who was a choirmaster. Haydn would sing in the church choir, and that is what lead his life to change quite drastically at the age of eight years old. When he was eight years old, he was asked to come and sing in one of Austria’s most famous churches named St. Stephan’s Cathedral. He did this for about nine years until his voice changed and he had to leave. From there he was eventually accepted as an accompanist to Nicola Porpora, who helped Haydn correct his compositions. Joseph Haydn eventually composed his first symphony. He did this while he was the

I like to keep people intrigued in the music, and keep them on their toes. I don’t want people that are listening to my music to always know what is going to happen. A couple of my compositions that showcase my humor are the Surprise Symphony and the String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Opus 33/2 “The Joke.” In the Surprise Symphony I have this slow movement played that is quite soft and calming, then all of a sudden I have a loud chord played. Then I composed to it to just go back to playing the slow movement. I like to include the loud chord because it is unexpected and I find it funny because the people don’t anticipate it. In the String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Opus 33/2 “The Joke,” I include some humor in at the end of the piece. This is where I give a number of different endings that are false. I just keep having the music end, like it would at the end of a regular piece, but then I have the music pick up again. I do this a few times so I can confuse the listeners. In this piece I find it funny to give multiple false endings because it keeps the people on their