Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806)
- Sinfonia (D-moll) â piu strumenti (1784) [MH 393]
Performers: English Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras (1925-2010, conductor)
Further info: Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806) - Jubiläumsmesse (1782)
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Austrian composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). He was
born in the village of Rohrau on the Leitha river, near the current
border of Austria and Hungary. He went to Vienna at the age of eight and
entered the choir school at the Stephansdom. About 1753 his voice broke
and he was dismissed from the choir school. Haydn left Vienna for
Grosswardein about 1757. The festive Missa SS Cyrilli et Methodii
(1758), one of few dated works composed before 1760, was composed there.
Haydn was apparently back in the vicinity of Vienna in 1762. It was
perhaps during this time that he came to the attention of Count Vinzenz
Joseph Schrattenbach, the nephew of Sigismund Christoph, Archbishop of
Salzburg, who recommended that Haydn be offered a position in Salzburg.
From the quantity of Haydn's music that was copied for performances in
eastern Austria during the 1750s and 60s, it would seem that he was
quite well known throughout the region. The death of J.E. Eberlin in
1762 led to a reshuffling of the prominent musicians in Salzburg and
eventually to Haydn's appointment as court Konzertmeister. Among his
colleagues were Leopold Mozart, A.C. Adlgasser, G.F. Lolli and later
W.A. Mozart. On 24 July 1763 some ‘Tafelmusique’ by him was performed,
and on 14 August he officially assumed his new position, which involved
playing the organ as well as the violin. From then until the death of
Archbishop Schrattenbach late in 1771, Haydn composed predominantly
dramatic works for the theatre of the Benedictine University; Die
Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots (1767) was the result of a collaboration
between Haydn, Adlgasser and the 11-year-old Mozart. On 17 August 1768
he married Maria Magdalena Lipp (1745-1827), a singer in the Hofkapelle
and daughter of the court organist, Franz Ignaz Lipp. The couple lived
in an apartment owned by the Abbey of St Peter, for which Haydn composed
a number of occasional works. The Haydns’ only child, Aloysia Josepha,
was born in 1770, but died within a year. Hieronymus, Count Colloredo,
was enthroned as Prince-Archbishop in March 1772, and he immediately
instituted tighter fiscal controls which greatly restricted the
activities of the university theatre.
A planned trip to Italy probably never materialized because Haydn was
promptly given the position of organist at the Dreifaltigkeitskirche
when Adlgasser died suddenly on 22 December 1777. Bitter that the
position was not given to his son, Leopold Mozart, who had previously
praised his colleague, described Haydn as prone to heavy drinking and
laziness. Haydn composed his best-known works between 1771 and 1777: the
Requiem (1771) and the Missa S. Hieronymi (1777). In 1782 he assumed
the position of court organist. On the 1200th anniversary of the
archiepiscopate, in the same year, Colloredo published a pastoral
letter, the first of a series of proclamations intended to simplify
church services. In response, Haydn composed about 100 settings of Mass
Propers in a simple homophonic style. During the 1780s, Haydn completed
20 symphonies. Writing from Vienna in 1784, Mozart expressed his
astonishment at how quickly he was able to obtain copies of Michael
Haydn’s most recent symphonies. During the 1790s Haydn enjoyed an
expanding sphere of influence as a teacher of composition; Anton
Diabelli was involved in the publication of many of Haydn's sacred works
by the Viennese publishing firm that later bore his name. Sigismund
Neukomm was a pupil of Haydn in the 1790s. The young C.M. von Weber came
to Haydn in 1797; and Franz Schubert, though never one of his pupils,
visited Haydn's grave in Salzburg and included words of admiration for
him in a letter to his brother Ferdinand. In January 1801 his apartment
was plundered by French soldiers, and this was possibly a catalyst for a
trip to Vienna. By September 1801 he was again in Vienna rehearsing a
mass commissioned by Empress Maria Theresia, who sang a solo part in a
performance. He began work on a Requiem (1806), commissioned by the
empress, but owing to his declining health he never finished it.
Although he expected the coming spring to bring an improvement in his
health, it did not; and he died, with friends and students at his
bedside, on 10 August 1806.
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