Father of the Symphony

Franz Josef Haydn was born today in 1732 in Austria.

The above article quotes musicologist James Webster summarizing Haydn's role in the history of classical music: "He excelled in every musical genre… He is familiarly known as the 'father of the symphony' and could with greater justice be thus regarded for the string quartet; no other composer approaches his combination of productivity, quality and historical importance in these genres."

Haydn wrote a whole lot of music. Check out the list! Among them: more than 100 symphonies, 52 piano sonatas, 80-some string quartets, and the list goes on.

I have to confess, I haven't listened to a lot of Haydn's music. Some of it sounds a little bit simplistic to me, and just not as good as Mozart. But other works I've heard sound very rich and quite advanced, like Beethoven. He had a great richness especially in some of his later works. While Haydn (the elder) and Mozart got along very well, playing music together at times and having mutual admiration for each other's works, Haydn and Beethoven's relationship was at times tense. Beethoven had taken lessons from Haydn for a short while, but found his teaching unsatisfactory.

Haydn had a really good sense of humor. This is evident in his "Surprise" symphony (heard here), "Farewell" symphony, and many other works.

Here's a couple other links:

- Trumpet Concerto in Eb, 3rd movement - a delightful piece of music, I grew up hearing my brother play this

- Part of a piano Sonata, showing more of his sense of humor...

- Another piano sonata, light-hearted and full of spirit

- Symphony No. 104, a mature work, and his last symphony.