Haydn

The Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was born in 1732. For many years he worked for the Hungarian Esterhazy family and wrote innumerable works mainly of a religious nature. Whilst his operas never succeeded he is still regarded as the father of the symphony and string quartet. A Scottish organist and a writer who wrote biographies of Chopin, Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn Hadden’s style is both highly accessible and generously endowed with a capacity for information. This work traces the development of Haydn as a man and Haydn as composer from his early days in Rohrau to his years in Vienna and Eisenstadt, to his London visits, to his last years. Much attention is given to his compositions, but also to such details as his face and features, social habits, humour, piety, industry, and so on. Also included are a catalogue of Haydn’s works, a selection of Haydn’s letters and his last will and testament.