Haydn

From the opening

Chapter I: Birth--Ancestry--Early Years Chapter II: Vienna--1750-1760 Chapter III: Eisenstadt--1761-1766 Chapter IV: Esterhaz--1766-1790 Chapter V: First London Visit--1791-1792 Chapter VI: Second London Visit--1794-1795 Chapter VII: "The Creation" and "The Seasons" Chapter VIII: Last Years Chapter IX: Haydn, the Man Chapter X: Haydn, the Composer Appendix A: Haydn's Last Will and Testament Appendix B: Catalogue of Works Appendix C: Bibliography Appendix D: Haydn's Brothers Appendix E: A Selection of Haydn's Letters

To The Rev. Robert Blair, D.D. In Grateful Acknowledgment of Many Kindnesses and Much Pleasant Intercourse

The authority for Haydn's life is the biography begun by the late Dr Pohl, and completed after his death by E.V. Mandyczewski. To this work, as yet untranslated, every subsequent writer is necessarily indebted, and the present volume, which I may fairly claim to be the fullest life of Haydn that has so far appeared in English, is largely based upon Pohl. I am also under obligations to Miss Pauline D. Townsend, the author of the monograph in the "Great Musicians" series. For the rest, I trust I have acquainted myself with all the more important references made to Haydn in contemporary records and in the writings of those who knew him. Finally, I have endeavoured to tell the story of his career simply and directly, to give a clear picture of the man, and to discuss the composer without trenching on the ground of the formalist.

Introductory--Rohrau--A Poor Home--Genealogy--Haydn's Parents--His Birth--His Precocity--Informal Music-making--His First Teacher--Hainburg--"A Regular Little Urchin"--Attacks the Drum--A Piece of Good Luck--A Musical Examination--Goes to Vienna--Choir School of St Stephen's--A House of Suffering--Lessons at the Cathedral--A Sixteen-Part Mass--Juvenile Escapades--"Sang like a Crow"--Dismissed from the Choir.

Haydn's position, alike in music and in musical biography, is almost unique. With the doubtful exception of Sebastian Bach, no composer of the first rank ever enjoyed a more tranquil career.

A short sample. Read the whole book

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