NELSON MASS

Franz Joseph and his younger brother, Johann Michael Haydn (1737 - 1806), were born in a wheelwright’s cottage at Rohrau in Lower Austria. Both brothers had great natural gifts which they nurtured and developed, ultimately achieving great acclaim and success throughout Europe.

Some of the Haydns ancestors are thought to have been of Slav descent and so much of his music is reflects the tunes of the Croatian peasants who had previously settled in the district. As Sir Henry Hadow observed, “It is hardly too much to say that he stood to the folk music of Croatia as Burns to the peasant songs of Scotland”.

He joined the choir school of the neighbouring town at the age of six and then moved on to the cathedral at Vienna two years later. After his voice broke, Haydn moved into an attic and took on a few pupils. Inspired by the sonatas and symphonies of Emmanuel Bach, Haydn started to compose his own music.

Haydn got married when he was twenty eight, an unwise marriage which he had cause to regret as the years passed, and had become musical director to a nobleman in the neighbourhood. Later, he was appointed musical director to the Esterhazy family, a prominent Hungarian family who had been at the forefront of the politics in Central Europe for four centuries.

The Esterhazy family were able to provide him with an orchestra, choir and solo singers and the setting of the chapel, the theatre and the concert room of their palace. Thus, Haydn had the perfect incentive and settings to compose and experiment.

Haydn was tremendously popular in England, receiving a doctorate in music from Oxford University. He was honoured by those who took part in the artistic and social life of England. Sitting at the keyboard in the manner of that time, Haydn also conducted his Salomon Symphonies in London.

A genial and good humoured man, Haydn cheered people around him with his happy touches of Croatian peasant humour and impressed them with his deep Croatian religious beliefs. Despite his somewhat dumpy figure, he shared the typical Croatian love of sport. Whilst resident on the Esterhazy’s country estate at Eisenstadt, Haydn proved to be an excellent marksman and fisherman.

Haydn’s last public appearance took place at Vienna in 1809, at a time when the city was occupied by Napoleon. Due to his age and illness, he had to be carried to the piano and solemnly played his Emperor’s Hymn, which suggested by an admiration of the British National Anthem. A few days later, he died.

Franz Joseph Haydn is renowned as ‘The Father of the Symphony’, widely credited for the development of both the classical symphonic form and classical symphonic orchestration which flowied from his original inspiration, the experimental works of Emmanuel Bach.

“GREAT” MASS IN C MINOR, K 427

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has frequently been described as one of the most perfectly equipped musicians who ever lived. As a child, his ear was so accurate and his musical memory so strong that he was said to detect a difference of an eighth of a tone and recall it next day. When he was twelve, Mozart visited the Sistine Chapel in Rome with his father, Leopold Mozart, and was able to immediately transcribe Allegri’s Miserere after hearing it just once. At the age of fourteen, Mozart was knighted by the Pope, an honour which he used only briefly at the insistence of his father.

Leopold Mozart was a wise parent and an intelligent teacher, giving his son the firm foundation of sound musical and general instruction which his talents richly deserved. Wolfgang wrote his first musical pieces at the age of five and began touring the great courts of Europe a year later with his gifted elder sister. Wolfgang performed on both the harpsichord and violin in the homes of noblemen and princes.

After this golden childhood, Mozart then experienced a time of great vexation and sorrow when he settled down as a member of the Archbishop of Salzburg’s household. Having been used to the company of monarchs, Mozart now dined at the servants table and was expected to shine in private concerts for his patron. Ultimately, “this vile wretch” was discharged by the Archbishop and removed from his room by the Court Marshal.

Moving to Vienna, Mozart enjoyed the support of the Emperor and many members of the nobility. In a five year span in his early thirties, he composed Figaro (1787), Don Giovanni (1788) and The Magic Flute (1791), as well as his three greatest symphonies (the ones in E flat, G minor and C).

Mozart wrote nearly fifty symphonies, almost twenty operas and operettas, over twenty piano concertos, twenty seven string quartets, about forty violin sonatas as well as a considerable amount of other music in his brief career.

Amongst a number of ball games, Mozart had a great liking for billiards and bowls. There are a number of recorded instances when he stopped playing in the middle of a game and made the briefest notes of an idea in a notebook which he kept close at hand. He particularly enjoyed playing billiards alone. With the various themes which were always running through his head, Mozart would incessantly tap his fob, a table, a chair-back or whatever came to hand while he played at the billiard table.

The musical relationship between Mozart and Haydn is probably unique in the history of music. As Mozart’s music was founded on the work of Haydn, Haydn had based his art on the music of Emanuel Bach. With the emergence and triumphs of Mozart, Haydn learnt in turn from his own “pupil” and creatively surged ahead once more.