July 26, 2025 • 26 mins
Dive into the captivating life story of Joseph Haydn, as told by German music scholar, Ludwig Nohl. From his humble beginnings to his rise to international acclaim, Nohl paints a vivid picture of Haydns journey, complete with intriguing insights and humorous anecdotes. Explore the complexities of Haydns musical compositions, and discover how his work was both influenced by, and influential to, his contemporaries, including his close relationship with Mozart. Known affectionately as Papa Haydn, he is hailed as the Father of the symphony and the string quartet. (Summary by mkirkpat)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section four of Life of Heiden by Ludwignol, translated by
George p. Upton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
Chapter two, seventeen fifty four to seventeen eighty one. At
Prince ester Hazi's part b Heiden had also transferred to
the richer string quartet and full orchestra the sonata form
(00:23):
founded by Philip Emmanuel Bach, the organic character of which
is shown by the theory and history of music. How
he developed this form in his final perfection, it is
not necessary to consider in detail. At this time he established,
as we know, his fourth part form in the allegoro andagio,
minuet and finale, and by his great productivity and popularity,
(00:46):
brought this form into universal use. He was the first
to give to the minuet, which is attractive in itself,
a popular genial and above all a cheerful, humorous spirit.
He very materially broadened, arranged, and elevated the first movement
of the sonata form, gave to it more fullness and
meaning through the organic development of its own motive substance.
(01:09):
Deepened the adagio from a simple song cavatina to a
completely satisfying tone, picture, and above all by thematic treatment
produced in the finale the veritable wonders of the mind
and of life. That Heiden greatly heightened the effect of
the symphony by giving to the various instruments their full
development is apparent at once in his music. And yet
(01:30):
it should not be forgotten that Mozart, who had studied
the performances of the orchestras at Monheim and Paris, also
influenced him above all in his operas. But the crowning
result of Heiden's work will always remain the germ of
active life which he imparted to this form, in which
he developed so freely that it presented a definite and
finished shape. Heiden first gave the quartet and symphony that
(01:54):
style which may be called its own. Philip Emmanuelbach sonatas
for students and mmeters always have something which may be
called studied about them. They are thoughtful and considered above
all skillful and intellectual. But the free expression of feeling
only appears at intervals, especially in the adagio, where Bach
could depend for his effect upon the operatic aria and
(02:17):
the feeling of the original German lead. The great Sebastian
Bach's instrumental works are Cyclopean structures, pilasgic monuments, often the
elementary mountains themselves. Many a time there looks out of
the stone, as it were a visage. But it is
a stony face, like that on the laurels, or the
Romantic broken apparition, and the long rocky noses. How they snore,
(02:40):
how they blow. They are stone, giant bodies, mighty sphinx
images which conceal more than they tell. In the sharpest
contrast with this music was the opera of that time,
in which fashionable puppets affected and outward still did appearance
of dramatic activity. Gluk first stripped off the gaudy tinsel
and revealed the concealed earnestness of the reality. The instrumental
(03:05):
music of the French and Italians suffered also from this
affectation and superficiality of the theatrical music, and Scarlatti, Corelli
and Cuperin made the utmost effort to restore the free
expression of feeling, an unrestrained nature to their own place
in music. He who first revealed this natural, this inborn
(03:26):
and therefore spontaneous art in music speaking through its own
nature and with its own voice, was our Heiden. And
it was for this that Beethoven called him great, and
posterity has called him immortal. And as the Italians say
that no man can paint a more beautiful head than
he has himself. So though we have seen this Heiden
(03:46):
physically and intellectually, what matters it if his portrait appears
to us reversed in his music? Heiden was slender, but strong,
and below the medium height, with legs disproportionately short, and
seems all the shorter owing to his old fashioned style
of dress. His features were tolerably regular, his face serious
(04:07):
and expressive, but at the same time attractive for its benignity.
Kindliness and gentle earnestness showed themselves in his person and
bearings as greasinger. When he was in earnest, his countenance
was dignified, and in pleasant conversation he had a laughing expression,
though Dias says he never heard him laugh aloud. His large,
(04:28):
aquiline nose, disfigured by a polypus, was like the rest
of his face, deeply pitted by smallpox, so that the
nostrils were differently shaped. The under lip, which was strong
and somewhat coarse, was very prominent. His complexion was very brown.
One of his biographical sketches mentions that he was called
in war. He considered himself ugly and mentioned two princes
(04:52):
who could not endure his appearance because he seemed deformed
to them. He stuck to his wig, which has been
already ment in spite of all the changing modes through
two generations, even to his death, but it concealed to
the disadvantage of the general expression of his physiognomy. A
large part of his broad and finely developed forehead. Labiter,
(05:15):
looking at a silhouette, said I see something more than
common in his nose and eyebrows. The forehead also is good.
The mouth has something of the Philistine about it. There
was great joyousness and mirth in his characters, ays Diis,
and in his old age he said himself life is
a charming affair. Joy in life was the fundamental characteristic
(05:36):
of his existence and his compositions. His individual lot and
his satisfaction with common things contributed to this contentment is happiness,
says the philosopher. The unvarying simplicity of his life secured
him the luxury of good health, and next to that
the feeling of joy and living. But in reality, it
is not this life joyousness alone that is reflected in
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his work Woks. Though the influence of his outward life
and of his inner development were conducive to quiet reflection
and earnest thought, he preferred to give a sprightly turn
to conversation. We have already learned how deep were his
personal attachments and gratitude. He was also very beneficent and
kindly disposed. Hedn's humanity was exhibited to the high and low.
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These once said, and modesty was a simple Austrian virtue.
Greasinger justly attributes religion as the basis of all these qualities,
which with him was the simple piety of the heart,
not a mere passing impulse, but the all and the
eternal reflected in him. The result of this beautiful influence
upon him was that he was never imperious or haughty,
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notwithstanding all the fame that was so profusely showered upon
him during his life. Honor and fame were the two
powerful elements that controlled him. But I have never known
an instance, says these, where they degenerated into immoderate ambition.
He regarded his talent as a blessed gift from heaven,
and no one was more ready to give newcomers their
(07:06):
just deserts. He always spoke of look and Handle with
the most grateful reverence, just as he did of Philip
Emmanuel Bach. Of his incomparably beautiful relations with Mozart we
shall soon learn. Nevertheless, he was not ignorant of his
own worth. I believe I have done my duty and
that the world has been benefited by my works. Let
(07:27):
others do the same, he used to say. He could
not endure personal flattery, and when it was offered, would
resent it. He never allowed his goodness to be abused,
and if were attempted, he would grow irritated and satirical.
A harmless waggishness, or what the English called humor, was
a leading trait in Haydn's character. He delighted in discovering
(07:47):
the comical side of things, and after spending an hour
with him, you could not help observing that he was
full of the spirit of the Austrian national cheerfulness. Says Grisinger,
we may well conceive that in his younger days he
was very susceptible to love, and in his old age
he always had compliments for the ladies. But we must
understand his remark that this is a part of my business,
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in the same sense that Gerta's Eligiamore is stuff for
song and the higher style to the romantic poets. In fact,
without some such personal inspiration, like the ever glowing and
universal fire that animates humanity, many of his pieces, especially
his adagios, cannot be understood. It has a deep meaning.
(08:32):
It is rather difficult, but full of feeling. He once
said of a sonata to his highly esteemed friend fralvon Genfinger,
whom we shall soon meet. It is the one, according
to all the indications which the letters give, whose adagio
Cantabilee is in B sharp major three fourth and has
in the second part a grand and mystical modulation, with
(08:54):
shifting of melody in the trouble and base by means
of the crossed hands. The first allegro is also constructed
like a quiet conversation between a male and female voice.
I had so much to say to your Grace, and
so much to confess, from which no one but your
Grace could absolve me, he writes. He begs that he
may call her a friend forever, and a minuet, which
(09:17):
she had asked of him in a letter a short
time before, wonderfully expresses the request. At a later period
in London, he took an English singer, Miss Billington, under
his protection, whose conduct was not highly regarded, and had
even been severely criticized in the public press. It is
said that her character is faulty. But in spite of
all of this, she is a great genius, though hated
(09:39):
by all the women because she is handsome, he writes
in his diary. The diary also contains letters from an
English widow, Madame Schroz, who loved him devotedly. She was
still a beautiful and attractive woman, though over sixty, and
had I been free, I should certainly have married her,
he said, upon one occasion to Diaz, with his peculiar roguishes, laugh,
(10:00):
A single extract from these tender letters is enough for
us to understand the depth of her devotion. My dearest Heidan,
I feel for you the deepest and warmest love of
which the human heart is capable. Unless it has something
to feed upon, however, the hottest fire will be extinguished.
He could not comprehend in his later life how so
(10:21):
many beautiful women had fallen in love with him. My
beauty could not have attracted them, he said in eighteen
o five to Diaz, And when the latter replied, you
have a certain genial something in your face, he answered,
one may see that I am on good terms with everyone.
He did not fancy that he was made of any
better material, nor did he seek, through assumed purity, to
(10:43):
place himself on any higher plane of morality than his
own opinion justified, explains Diis, he was the unaffected child
of his Austrian home in a time when one seemed
still to wander in paradise and life had no thorns. Thus,
from every point of view, Joseph Heiden stands before us
an original, well defined personality, passing as his lifelong bearing
(11:06):
shows us from an artificial and unnatural time in every
way to a period of the renewed free assertion of
individuality and his involuntary expression of feeling. He tells us
with the utmost naivete that it was not composition, but
inclination and enthusiasm that had been his inspiration. Heiden always
(11:27):
sketched out his works at the piano, says Griesinger. I
seated myself and began to compose, says Heiden. Whatever my
mood suggested, sad or joyous, earnest or trifling. As soon
as I seized upon an idea, I used my utmost
efforts to develop and hold it fast in conformity with
every rule of the art. The reason why so many
(11:48):
composers fail is that they strain fragments together, they break
off almost as soon as they have commenced, and nothing
is left to make an impression upon the heart. He
always wrote, impelled by inspiration, but at first only the
outlines of the whole. That it was this poetical musical
impulse that urged him on is shown by the following
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anecdote about the year seventeen seventy. Heidn was prostrated with
a burning fever, and his physician had expressly forbidden him
to do any musical work during his convalescence, says Griesinger.
His wife shortly afterward went to church one day, leaving
strict instructions with the servant about the doctor's orders. Scarcely
(12:30):
had she gone when he sent the servant away upon
some errand, and hurriedly rushed to the piano. At the
very first touch the idea of a whole sonata presented
itself in his mind, and the first part was finished
while his wife was at church. When he heard her
coming back, he quickly threw himself into bed again and
composed the rest of the sonata there. Mozart and Beethoven
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certainly did not at first need the piano in composing,
and it is by no means certain that Heidn also
did not find that first move in bed. In any case,
the anecdote shows a simple artistic, involuntary power that moved
him from the same source also preceded the vital personal
impulse of his joyous expression and the individual physiognomy of
(13:15):
the themes and motives in his compositions. His melody throughout
reminds one of the Aria, not in the affected Rococo
style of Lewis the fourteenth time, but based upon grammatical declamation,
and it is only a certain regularly recurring pattern of
the melody that makes us feel it belongs to the
very time in which he was living. The separate parts
(13:36):
of the sonata form were infused with a stronger vitality
by this virile humor and elevated and refined feeling. In
this connection, Griesinger's remark especially pertinent. This humor is extremely
striking in his compositions, and this is especially characteristic of
his allegros and finales, which playfully keep the listener alternating
(13:56):
from what has the appearance of seriousness to the highest
style of humane until it reaches unrestrained joyousness. These calls
it popular and refined, but in the highest sense original
musical wit. This musical frolicsomeness opened in reality a new
and richly profitable province for art. It aroused a spirit
(14:16):
which had hitherto slumbered, And from Mozart and Beethoven, even
to Schumann and Wagner, we find the simplest soul voice
in these wonderfully expressive tones, ravishing and at the same
time sorrowful in their nature. Springing up for the basis
of this voice is the involuntary but deep feeling for
human life, sorrowing with its sorrow, merry with its folly,
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and always intimately associated with all human actions. Heiden himself
attributes to this state of mind many features of his adagios,
as well as of his minuets and finales. The increasing
intellectual progress brought in time ideas which swept through his mind,
and which he strove to express in the language of tone.
(15:00):
He himself told Gresinger that in his symphonies he often
pictured moral attributes. In one of the oldest, the prominent
idea was a God spoke to a hardened sinner, beseeching
him to repent, but the careless sinner gave no heed
to the admonition. A symphony of the year seventeen sixty
seven is called The Philosopher A Divertimento the Beloved Schoolmaster,
(15:22):
and another work of a later period, the Distracted One.
An anecdote of the year seventeen seventy two shows us
a characteristic illustration of this artistic life work. After the
year seventeen sixty six, the Prince made a summer residence
of the castle at Esterhas on the Neusiedler's, where he
remained fully half the year, accompanied by the best of
(15:45):
his musicians. I was at that time young and lively,
and consequently not any better off than the others, said
Hayden with a laugh, especially in reference to the longing
of his musicians to go home to their wives and children.
The Prince must have known of their very nature homesickness,
for some time, and the ludicrous appearance they presented when
he announced to them that he had suddenly decided to
(16:07):
remain there two months longer amused him very much, says Dies.
The order plunged the young men into despair. They besieged
the Kapellmeister, and no one sympathized with them more than Haydn.
Should he present a petition that would only expose them
to laughter, He put a multitude of similar questions to himself,
but without answer, what did he do? Not many evenings after,
(16:30):
the Prince was surprised in a very extraordinary manner. Right
in the midst of some passionate music, one instrument ceased.
The player noiselessly folded up his music, put out his light,
and went away. Soon a second finished and went off also.
A third and fourth followed, all extinguishing their lights and
taking their instruments away. The orchestra grew smaller and more indistinct.
(16:55):
The Prince, in all present, sat in silent wonder. Finally,
the last but one extinguished his light, and then Heidn
took his and went also. Only the first violinist remained.
Heidn had purposely selected this one, as his plan was
very pleasing to the Prince, and therefore he would be
constrained to wait to the end. The end came, the
(17:16):
last light was extinguished, and even Tomassini disappeared. Then the
Prince arose and said, if all go, we may as
well go too. The players meanwhile had collected in the
ante room, and the Prince said, smiling, Heidn, the gentleman,
have my consent to go tomorrow. It was the composition
which afterward became well known under the name of the
(17:37):
Surprise Symphony. In like manner, Heidn, through his music, so
to speak, could reduce his ideas and emotions to practical reality.
The Chapter of the Cathedral at Cadiz desired some music
for Good Friday, which should follow at the end of
and complete the interpretation of the seven words of the
Savior on the Cross, after they had been spoken and
(17:58):
explained by the priest. Heiden himself says in a letter
to London that any text of the nature of the
seven words can only be expressed by instrumental music. That
made the deepest impression upon his mind, and that he
justly esteemed it as one of his best works. He
was performed twice at a later period in London under
his own direction. In the finale, he has an earthquake effect,
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which was called for the third time at his own
benefit concert there, and is the precursor of the imagery
of the creation. The work as a whole is of
decidedly characteristic quality. This was in the year seventeen eighty,
and that Haydn was selected for the work shows not
only how far his fame had extended at that time,
but above all that his artistic ability to invest instrumental
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music with the gift of language was unmistakably recognized. Thus,
the master's art was firmly established abroad, and he did
not have to wait long before grander themes of larger
proportions were tendered him. We close with a selection of
characteristic expressions made by Heidn in these earlier years of
his work about his art and artistic progress, most of
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which are to be found in the musical letters. In
the year seventeen seventy six. He says in that autobiography
which was requested of him for a learned national society
in Vienna, that in chamber music he has had the
good fortune to please almost all people except the Berliners.
His only wonder was that these judicious Berlin gentlemen kept
(19:29):
no medium in their criticisms, at one time elevating him
to the stars, and at another bearing him seventy fathoms
deep in the earth, and this without any good reason.
But he knew the source of all these attacks upon
his artistic work. The Vienna Pensions Bearne for artists widows,
which today bears the name of Heyden, and for which
he had written the oratorio The Return of Tobias, stipulated
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as a condition of his admission to membership, that besides
the above work, he should bind himself to furnish some
common position every year for the benefit of the society,
and in case a failure to do so should be dismissed.
Heiden at once demanded his deposit back and addressed them
in the following manner, Dear friends, I am a man
of too much feeling to constantly expose myself to the
(20:15):
risk of being cashiered. The free arts in the beautiful
science or composition, can endure no fetters upon their handiwork,
heart and soul must be free. This was in the
year seventeen seventy nine. It marks the full development of
his artistic consciousness. He was more and more convinced of
a lofty mission of an art which has its source
(20:36):
in such creations. In the year seventeen eighty one he
expressed the wish to have the opinion of the council
of von Griner, one of the most distinguished connoisseurs in Vienna,
often mentioned in Mozart's biographies with regard to the expression
of his songs, and assures his publisher Artaria that for variety,
beauty and simplicity they excel any other he has written.
(21:00):
The French admired exceedingly the pleasing melody of his stubb
and may work of that kind, not having been heard
in Paris and very rarely indeed in Vienna. This is
all the more remarkable, as g Look at that time,
had already written and brought out his great dramatic works collectively.
Some of his songs had been wretchedly set to music
(21:20):
by the Vienna Kapellmeister Hoffmann. Heiden goes on to relate,
and as this Swaggerer believed that he alone had scaled
Parnassus and sought to crush Heiden down. In certain circles
of the great world, he had set the same songs
to show this pretended great world the difference. They are
only songs, but not Hoffmannish street songs without ideas, expression,
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and above all melody. He closes, we can no longer
doubt from this that he would not suffer his creations
to be despoiled of their spiritually poetic nature. He would
not allow his songs to be sung by anyone until
he himself had brought them out in the concert room.
The master must maintain his rights by his own presence
and correct performance, says he. It is this distinctive nature
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in form of modern music which is fully revealed for
the first time in Mozart and Beethoven. And music which
has been created by the intellect can only be properly
judged by the intellect. There was also that inner something,
the musical nature, which impelled him and urged him on
to his most characteristic creations. One is seized upon by
(22:27):
a conscious mood which will not endure restraint, he once said.
In like manner. At another time he made the characteristic
remark the music plays upon me as if I were
a piano. Apropos of the technical side of music, he
characteristically to remarked to these in eighteen o five. If
an idea struck me as beautiful and satisfactory to the
(22:49):
ear and the heart, I would far rather let a
grammatical error remain than sacrifice what is beautiful to mere
pedantic trifling. Finally, that we may point out to the
players instances of this actual life painting and tones. Let
us take the well known Peters edition, which is easily
accessible to everyone. First of all, among the thirty four
(23:10):
piano sonatas, the one in C sharp minor is a
beautiful piece of earnest work and full of character. The
minuet very melancholy and illustrate in the national melody of
that Southern people. Number five is the clearest picture of
buoyant health. One can see young life at play in
the spring meadows. In number seven, the music assumes a
strange capriciousness, and in the largo and D minor, notwithstanding
(23:34):
it is barely eighteen measures long. Shows the grand tragic
style of Beethoven, as well as his humor, which recalls
the variations in F minor whose color and rhythm suggest
the funeral march in the eroica. The adagio of the
A flat major sonata number eight is a gem of
the intellectual development of all harmonic and contrapuntal means, and
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in the largetto of number twenty, surely all the night
Knight and gills of life are deliciously warbling. Both of
these are complete lyric scenes. Above all, the first as
well as a last sonata of Haydn's shows a plastic
touch which clearly reveals this master's natural and artistic feeling,
and often fills us with overwhelming astonishment at the power
(24:18):
of genius, which, in such small limits, in what such
simple means can utter things that today are immediately recognized.
Wherever feeling exists and is capable of manifesting itself in
the comprehension of the mission of human life, richer, greater,
more inwardly finished, if not always aesthetic in the highest sense.
(24:39):
Throughout this appears in the quartets, and here above all
else we first discovered that Hayden, in that style, was
the forerunner of Mozart and Beethoven alike, and still further
that he was the original source of the success of
the later Italians, who copied his sprightliness, his thoughtful style, amiability,
and natural spirit, while the German heroes found their native
(25:02):
power and their free mental conception and method in his
own inner life, culminating in the matchless melody of Franz Schubert.
These spirited first movements, these flowing finales, these minuets, these adagios,
full of ever increasing and exuberant wit, how irresistibly they
seize upon one, how their warm affection satisfies. It is,
(25:24):
in fact idea expression melody. Glance only at the pieces
which may be found in the Peters edition Opus fifty four,
with the highly characteristic minuet and the finale is remarkable
in itself for a presto contained in the adagio, as
well as for being the precursor of the adagio beethoven Sonata,
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Opus thirty one, number one. The adajos in Opus seventy four,
Opus seventy six, and Opus seventy seven are still grander
in tone, but not more beautiful or fervent than those
of Opus fifty four and OBUs sixty four. Zio in
Opus one O three has in its concluding measures somewhat
of the blessed and elevated nature of the close of
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that most beautiful of all soul poems which pure music
has created, the lentou of Opus one thirty five Beethoven's
Grave sum. We need not mention the symphonies those well
known works of Heiden. Everywhere in his music we meet
what Gertya calls the absolute source of all life, idea,
and love. We have seen that isolation enriched and prospered Heiden.
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We arrive now at a period when, by his intimate
personal association with Mozart and his entrance into the great,
changing outer world, he was destined to develop his genius
to his fullest extent. End of Section four
Section four of Life of Heiden by Ludwignol, translated by
George p. Upton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
Chapter two, seventeen fifty four to seventeen eighty one. At
Prince ester Hazi's part b Heiden had also transferred to
the richer string quartet and full orchestra the sonata form
(00:23):
founded by Philip Emmanuel Bach, the organic character of which
is shown by the theory and history of music. How
he developed this form in his final perfection, it is
not necessary to consider in detail. At this time he established,
as we know, his fourth part form in the allegoro andagio,
minuet and finale, and by his great productivity and popularity,
(00:46):
brought this form into universal use. He was the first
to give to the minuet, which is attractive in itself,
a popular genial and above all a cheerful, humorous spirit.
He very materially broadened, arranged, and elevated the first movement
of the sonata form, gave to it more fullness and
meaning through the organic development of its own motive substance.
(01:09):
Deepened the adagio from a simple song cavatina to a
completely satisfying tone, picture, and above all by thematic treatment
produced in the finale the veritable wonders of the mind
and of life. That Heiden greatly heightened the effect of
the symphony by giving to the various instruments their full
development is apparent at once in his music. And yet
(01:30):
it should not be forgotten that Mozart, who had studied
the performances of the orchestras at Monheim and Paris, also
influenced him above all in his operas. But the crowning
result of Heiden's work will always remain the germ of
active life which he imparted to this form, in which
he developed so freely that it presented a definite and
finished shape. Heiden first gave the quartet and symphony that
(01:54):
style which may be called its own. Philip Emmanuelbach sonatas
for students and mmeters always have something which may be
called studied about them. They are thoughtful and considered above
all skillful and intellectual. But the free expression of feeling
only appears at intervals, especially in the adagio, where Bach
could depend for his effect upon the operatic aria and
(02:17):
the feeling of the original German lead. The great Sebastian
Bach's instrumental works are Cyclopean structures, pilasgic monuments, often the
elementary mountains themselves. Many a time there looks out of
the stone, as it were a visage. But it is
a stony face, like that on the laurels, or the
Romantic broken apparition, and the long rocky noses. How they snore,
(02:40):
how they blow. They are stone, giant bodies, mighty sphinx
images which conceal more than they tell. In the sharpest
contrast with this music was the opera of that time,
in which fashionable puppets affected and outward still did appearance
of dramatic activity. Gluk first stripped off the gaudy tinsel
and revealed the concealed earnestness of the reality. The instrumental
(03:05):
music of the French and Italians suffered also from this
affectation and superficiality of the theatrical music, and Scarlatti, Corelli
and Cuperin made the utmost effort to restore the free
expression of feeling, an unrestrained nature to their own place
in music. He who first revealed this natural, this inborn
(03:26):
and therefore spontaneous art in music speaking through its own
nature and with its own voice, was our Heiden. And
it was for this that Beethoven called him great, and
posterity has called him immortal. And as the Italians say
that no man can paint a more beautiful head than
he has himself. So though we have seen this Heiden
(03:46):
physically and intellectually, what matters it if his portrait appears
to us reversed in his music? Heiden was slender, but strong,
and below the medium height, with legs disproportionately short, and
seems all the shorter owing to his old fashioned style
of dress. His features were tolerably regular, his face serious
(04:07):
and expressive, but at the same time attractive for its benignity.
Kindliness and gentle earnestness showed themselves in his person and
bearings as greasinger. When he was in earnest, his countenance
was dignified, and in pleasant conversation he had a laughing expression,
though Dias says he never heard him laugh aloud. His large,
(04:28):
aquiline nose, disfigured by a polypus, was like the rest
of his face, deeply pitted by smallpox, so that the
nostrils were differently shaped. The under lip, which was strong
and somewhat coarse, was very prominent. His complexion was very brown.
One of his biographical sketches mentions that he was called
in war. He considered himself ugly and mentioned two princes
(04:52):
who could not endure his appearance because he seemed deformed
to them. He stuck to his wig, which has been
already ment in spite of all the changing modes through
two generations, even to his death, but it concealed to
the disadvantage of the general expression of his physiognomy. A
large part of his broad and finely developed forehead. Labiter,
(05:15):
looking at a silhouette, said I see something more than
common in his nose and eyebrows. The forehead also is good.
The mouth has something of the Philistine about it. There
was great joyousness and mirth in his characters, ays Diis,
and in his old age he said himself life is
a charming affair. Joy in life was the fundamental characteristic
(05:36):
of his existence and his compositions. His individual lot and
his satisfaction with common things contributed to this contentment is happiness,
says the philosopher. The unvarying simplicity of his life secured
him the luxury of good health, and next to that
the feeling of joy and living. But in reality, it
is not this life joyousness alone that is reflected in
(05:59):
his work Woks. Though the influence of his outward life
and of his inner development were conducive to quiet reflection
and earnest thought, he preferred to give a sprightly turn
to conversation. We have already learned how deep were his
personal attachments and gratitude. He was also very beneficent and
kindly disposed. Hedn's humanity was exhibited to the high and low.
(06:22):
These once said, and modesty was a simple Austrian virtue.
Greasinger justly attributes religion as the basis of all these qualities,
which with him was the simple piety of the heart,
not a mere passing impulse, but the all and the
eternal reflected in him. The result of this beautiful influence
upon him was that he was never imperious or haughty,
(06:44):
notwithstanding all the fame that was so profusely showered upon
him during his life. Honor and fame were the two
powerful elements that controlled him. But I have never known
an instance, says these, where they degenerated into immoderate ambition.
He regarded his talent as a blessed gift from heaven,
and no one was more ready to give newcomers their
(07:06):
just deserts. He always spoke of look and Handle with
the most grateful reverence, just as he did of Philip
Emmanuel Bach. Of his incomparably beautiful relations with Mozart we
shall soon learn. Nevertheless, he was not ignorant of his
own worth. I believe I have done my duty and
that the world has been benefited by my works. Let
(07:27):
others do the same, he used to say. He could
not endure personal flattery, and when it was offered, would
resent it. He never allowed his goodness to be abused,
and if were attempted, he would grow irritated and satirical.
A harmless waggishness, or what the English called humor, was
a leading trait in Haydn's character. He delighted in discovering
(07:47):
the comical side of things, and after spending an hour
with him, you could not help observing that he was
full of the spirit of the Austrian national cheerfulness. Says Grisinger,
we may well conceive that in his younger days he
was very susceptible to love, and in his old age
he always had compliments for the ladies. But we must
understand his remark that this is a part of my business,
(08:11):
in the same sense that Gerta's Eligiamore is stuff for
song and the higher style to the romantic poets. In fact,
without some such personal inspiration, like the ever glowing and
universal fire that animates humanity, many of his pieces, especially
his adagios, cannot be understood. It has a deep meaning.
(08:32):
It is rather difficult, but full of feeling. He once
said of a sonata to his highly esteemed friend fralvon Genfinger,
whom we shall soon meet. It is the one, according
to all the indications which the letters give, whose adagio
Cantabilee is in B sharp major three fourth and has
in the second part a grand and mystical modulation, with
(08:54):
shifting of melody in the trouble and base by means
of the crossed hands. The first allegro is also constructed
like a quiet conversation between a male and female voice.
I had so much to say to your Grace, and
so much to confess, from which no one but your
Grace could absolve me, he writes. He begs that he
may call her a friend forever, and a minuet, which
(09:17):
she had asked of him in a letter a short
time before, wonderfully expresses the request. At a later period
in London, he took an English singer, Miss Billington, under
his protection, whose conduct was not highly regarded, and had
even been severely criticized in the public press. It is
said that her character is faulty. But in spite of
all of this, she is a great genius, though hated
(09:39):
by all the women because she is handsome, he writes
in his diary. The diary also contains letters from an
English widow, Madame Schroz, who loved him devotedly. She was
still a beautiful and attractive woman, though over sixty, and
had I been free, I should certainly have married her,
he said, upon one occasion to Diaz, with his peculiar roguishes, laugh,
(10:00):
A single extract from these tender letters is enough for
us to understand the depth of her devotion. My dearest Heidan,
I feel for you the deepest and warmest love of
which the human heart is capable. Unless it has something
to feed upon, however, the hottest fire will be extinguished.
He could not comprehend in his later life how so
(10:21):
many beautiful women had fallen in love with him. My
beauty could not have attracted them, he said in eighteen
o five to Diaz, And when the latter replied, you
have a certain genial something in your face, he answered,
one may see that I am on good terms with everyone.
He did not fancy that he was made of any
better material, nor did he seek, through assumed purity, to
(10:43):
place himself on any higher plane of morality than his
own opinion justified, explains Diis, he was the unaffected child
of his Austrian home in a time when one seemed
still to wander in paradise and life had no thorns. Thus,
from every point of view, Joseph Heiden stands before us
an original, well defined personality, passing as his lifelong bearing
(11:06):
shows us from an artificial and unnatural time in every
way to a period of the renewed free assertion of
individuality and his involuntary expression of feeling. He tells us
with the utmost naivete that it was not composition, but
inclination and enthusiasm that had been his inspiration. Heiden always
(11:27):
sketched out his works at the piano, says Griesinger. I
seated myself and began to compose, says Heiden. Whatever my
mood suggested, sad or joyous, earnest or trifling. As soon
as I seized upon an idea, I used my utmost
efforts to develop and hold it fast in conformity with
every rule of the art. The reason why so many
(11:48):
composers fail is that they strain fragments together, they break
off almost as soon as they have commenced, and nothing
is left to make an impression upon the heart. He
always wrote, impelled by inspiration, but at first only the
outlines of the whole. That it was this poetical musical
impulse that urged him on is shown by the following
(12:09):
anecdote about the year seventeen seventy. Heidn was prostrated with
a burning fever, and his physician had expressly forbidden him
to do any musical work during his convalescence, says Griesinger.
His wife shortly afterward went to church one day, leaving
strict instructions with the servant about the doctor's orders. Scarcely
(12:30):
had she gone when he sent the servant away upon
some errand, and hurriedly rushed to the piano. At the
very first touch the idea of a whole sonata presented
itself in his mind, and the first part was finished
while his wife was at church. When he heard her
coming back, he quickly threw himself into bed again and
composed the rest of the sonata there. Mozart and Beethoven
(12:52):
certainly did not at first need the piano in composing,
and it is by no means certain that Heidn also
did not find that first move in bed. In any case,
the anecdote shows a simple artistic, involuntary power that moved
him from the same source also preceded the vital personal
impulse of his joyous expression and the individual physiognomy of
(13:15):
the themes and motives in his compositions. His melody throughout
reminds one of the Aria, not in the affected Rococo
style of Lewis the fourteenth time, but based upon grammatical declamation,
and it is only a certain regularly recurring pattern of
the melody that makes us feel it belongs to the
very time in which he was living. The separate parts
(13:36):
of the sonata form were infused with a stronger vitality
by this virile humor and elevated and refined feeling. In
this connection, Griesinger's remark especially pertinent. This humor is extremely
striking in his compositions, and this is especially characteristic of
his allegros and finales, which playfully keep the listener alternating
(13:56):
from what has the appearance of seriousness to the highest
style of humane until it reaches unrestrained joyousness. These calls
it popular and refined, but in the highest sense original
musical wit. This musical frolicsomeness opened in reality a new
and richly profitable province for art. It aroused a spirit
(14:16):
which had hitherto slumbered, And from Mozart and Beethoven, even
to Schumann and Wagner, we find the simplest soul voice
in these wonderfully expressive tones, ravishing and at the same
time sorrowful in their nature. Springing up for the basis
of this voice is the involuntary but deep feeling for
human life, sorrowing with its sorrow, merry with its folly,
(14:39):
and always intimately associated with all human actions. Heiden himself
attributes to this state of mind many features of his adagios,
as well as of his minuets and finales. The increasing
intellectual progress brought in time ideas which swept through his mind,
and which he strove to express in the language of tone.
(15:00):
He himself told Gresinger that in his symphonies he often
pictured moral attributes. In one of the oldest, the prominent
idea was a God spoke to a hardened sinner, beseeching
him to repent, but the careless sinner gave no heed
to the admonition. A symphony of the year seventeen sixty
seven is called The Philosopher A Divertimento the Beloved Schoolmaster,
(15:22):
and another work of a later period, the Distracted One.
An anecdote of the year seventeen seventy two shows us
a characteristic illustration of this artistic life work. After the
year seventeen sixty six, the Prince made a summer residence
of the castle at Esterhas on the Neusiedler's, where he
remained fully half the year, accompanied by the best of
(15:45):
his musicians. I was at that time young and lively,
and consequently not any better off than the others, said
Hayden with a laugh, especially in reference to the longing
of his musicians to go home to their wives and children.
The Prince must have known of their very nature homesickness,
for some time, and the ludicrous appearance they presented when
he announced to them that he had suddenly decided to
(16:07):
remain there two months longer amused him very much, says Dies.
The order plunged the young men into despair. They besieged
the Kapellmeister, and no one sympathized with them more than Haydn.
Should he present a petition that would only expose them
to laughter, He put a multitude of similar questions to himself,
but without answer, what did he do? Not many evenings after,
(16:30):
the Prince was surprised in a very extraordinary manner. Right
in the midst of some passionate music, one instrument ceased.
The player noiselessly folded up his music, put out his light,
and went away. Soon a second finished and went off also.
A third and fourth followed, all extinguishing their lights and
taking their instruments away. The orchestra grew smaller and more indistinct.
(16:55):
The Prince, in all present, sat in silent wonder. Finally,
the last but one extinguished his light, and then Heidn
took his and went also. Only the first violinist remained.
Heidn had purposely selected this one, as his plan was
very pleasing to the Prince, and therefore he would be
constrained to wait to the end. The end came, the
(17:16):
last light was extinguished, and even Tomassini disappeared. Then the
Prince arose and said, if all go, we may as
well go too. The players meanwhile had collected in the
ante room, and the Prince said, smiling, Heidn, the gentleman,
have my consent to go tomorrow. It was the composition
which afterward became well known under the name of the
(17:37):
Surprise Symphony. In like manner, Heidn, through his music, so
to speak, could reduce his ideas and emotions to practical reality.
The Chapter of the Cathedral at Cadiz desired some music
for Good Friday, which should follow at the end of
and complete the interpretation of the seven words of the
Savior on the Cross, after they had been spoken and
(17:58):
explained by the priest. Heiden himself says in a letter
to London that any text of the nature of the
seven words can only be expressed by instrumental music. That
made the deepest impression upon his mind, and that he
justly esteemed it as one of his best works. He
was performed twice at a later period in London under
his own direction. In the finale, he has an earthquake effect,
(18:22):
which was called for the third time at his own
benefit concert there, and is the precursor of the imagery
of the creation. The work as a whole is of
decidedly characteristic quality. This was in the year seventeen eighty,
and that Haydn was selected for the work shows not
only how far his fame had extended at that time,
but above all that his artistic ability to invest instrumental
(18:45):
music with the gift of language was unmistakably recognized. Thus,
the master's art was firmly established abroad, and he did
not have to wait long before grander themes of larger
proportions were tendered him. We close with a selection of
characteristic expressions made by Heidn in these earlier years of
his work about his art and artistic progress, most of
(19:09):
which are to be found in the musical letters. In
the year seventeen seventy six. He says in that autobiography
which was requested of him for a learned national society
in Vienna, that in chamber music he has had the
good fortune to please almost all people except the Berliners.
His only wonder was that these judicious Berlin gentlemen kept
(19:29):
no medium in their criticisms, at one time elevating him
to the stars, and at another bearing him seventy fathoms
deep in the earth, and this without any good reason.
But he knew the source of all these attacks upon
his artistic work. The Vienna Pensions Bearne for artists widows,
which today bears the name of Heyden, and for which
he had written the oratorio The Return of Tobias, stipulated
(19:53):
as a condition of his admission to membership, that besides
the above work, he should bind himself to furnish some
common position every year for the benefit of the society,
and in case a failure to do so should be dismissed.
Heiden at once demanded his deposit back and addressed them
in the following manner, Dear friends, I am a man
of too much feeling to constantly expose myself to the
(20:15):
risk of being cashiered. The free arts in the beautiful
science or composition, can endure no fetters upon their handiwork,
heart and soul must be free. This was in the
year seventeen seventy nine. It marks the full development of
his artistic consciousness. He was more and more convinced of
a lofty mission of an art which has its source
(20:36):
in such creations. In the year seventeen eighty one he
expressed the wish to have the opinion of the council
of von Griner, one of the most distinguished connoisseurs in Vienna,
often mentioned in Mozart's biographies with regard to the expression
of his songs, and assures his publisher Artaria that for variety,
beauty and simplicity they excel any other he has written.
(21:00):
The French admired exceedingly the pleasing melody of his stubb
and may work of that kind, not having been heard
in Paris and very rarely indeed in Vienna. This is
all the more remarkable, as g Look at that time,
had already written and brought out his great dramatic works collectively.
Some of his songs had been wretchedly set to music
(21:20):
by the Vienna Kapellmeister Hoffmann. Heiden goes on to relate,
and as this Swaggerer believed that he alone had scaled
Parnassus and sought to crush Heiden down. In certain circles
of the great world, he had set the same songs
to show this pretended great world the difference. They are
only songs, but not Hoffmannish street songs without ideas, expression,
(21:43):
and above all melody. He closes, we can no longer
doubt from this that he would not suffer his creations
to be despoiled of their spiritually poetic nature. He would
not allow his songs to be sung by anyone until
he himself had brought them out in the concert room.
The master must maintain his rights by his own presence
and correct performance, says he. It is this distinctive nature
(22:07):
in form of modern music which is fully revealed for
the first time in Mozart and Beethoven. And music which
has been created by the intellect can only be properly
judged by the intellect. There was also that inner something,
the musical nature, which impelled him and urged him on
to his most characteristic creations. One is seized upon by
(22:27):
a conscious mood which will not endure restraint, he once said.
In like manner. At another time he made the characteristic
remark the music plays upon me as if I were
a piano. Apropos of the technical side of music, he
characteristically to remarked to these in eighteen o five. If
an idea struck me as beautiful and satisfactory to the
(22:49):
ear and the heart, I would far rather let a
grammatical error remain than sacrifice what is beautiful to mere
pedantic trifling. Finally, that we may point out to the
players instances of this actual life painting and tones. Let
us take the well known Peters edition, which is easily
accessible to everyone. First of all, among the thirty four
(23:10):
piano sonatas, the one in C sharp minor is a
beautiful piece of earnest work and full of character. The
minuet very melancholy and illustrate in the national melody of
that Southern people. Number five is the clearest picture of
buoyant health. One can see young life at play in
the spring meadows. In number seven, the music assumes a
strange capriciousness, and in the largo and D minor, notwithstanding
(23:34):
it is barely eighteen measures long. Shows the grand tragic
style of Beethoven, as well as his humor, which recalls
the variations in F minor whose color and rhythm suggest
the funeral march in the eroica. The adagio of the
A flat major sonata number eight is a gem of
the intellectual development of all harmonic and contrapuntal means, and
(23:57):
in the largetto of number twenty, surely all the night
Knight and gills of life are deliciously warbling. Both of
these are complete lyric scenes. Above all, the first as
well as a last sonata of Haydn's shows a plastic
touch which clearly reveals this master's natural and artistic feeling,
and often fills us with overwhelming astonishment at the power
(24:18):
of genius, which, in such small limits, in what such
simple means can utter things that today are immediately recognized.
Wherever feeling exists and is capable of manifesting itself in
the comprehension of the mission of human life, richer, greater,
more inwardly finished, if not always aesthetic in the highest sense.
(24:39):
Throughout this appears in the quartets, and here above all
else we first discovered that Hayden, in that style, was
the forerunner of Mozart and Beethoven alike, and still further
that he was the original source of the success of
the later Italians, who copied his sprightliness, his thoughtful style, amiability,
and natural spirit, while the German heroes found their native
(25:02):
power and their free mental conception and method in his
own inner life, culminating in the matchless melody of Franz Schubert.
These spirited first movements, these flowing finales, these minuets, these adagios,
full of ever increasing and exuberant wit, how irresistibly they
seize upon one, how their warm affection satisfies. It is,
(25:24):
in fact idea expression melody. Glance only at the pieces
which may be found in the Peters edition Opus fifty four,
with the highly characteristic minuet and the finale is remarkable
in itself for a presto contained in the adagio, as
well as for being the precursor of the adagio beethoven Sonata,
(25:44):
Opus thirty one, number one. The adajos in Opus seventy four,
Opus seventy six, and Opus seventy seven are still grander
in tone, but not more beautiful or fervent than those
of Opus fifty four and OBUs sixty four. Zio in
Opus one O three has in its concluding measures somewhat
of the blessed and elevated nature of the close of
(26:07):
that most beautiful of all soul poems which pure music
has created, the lentou of Opus one thirty five Beethoven's
Grave sum. We need not mention the symphonies those well
known works of Heiden. Everywhere in his music we meet
what Gertya calls the absolute source of all life, idea,
and love. We have seen that isolation enriched and prospered Heiden.
(26:31):
We arrive now at a period when, by his intimate
personal association with Mozart and his entrance into the great,
changing outer world, he was destined to develop his genius
to his fullest extent. End of Section four
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