Happy Haydn-Jahr!
Jan. 2nd, 2009 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtran2009 is the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death. In his day, he was the most famous musician of his age - an age that included both Mozart and Beethoven. He was not only favoured by the elite, but was also a pop sensation.
As the above Guardian article says:
It is a formidable oeuvre, but still Haydn lives in the shadow of Mozart and Beethoven. His critics would say he was the faceless producer of immensely polished music, a relic of an aristocratic age. Other great composers have what might be called a signature: there is Bach's serenity, Mozart's ethereal perfection, Beethoven's grandeur, Schubert's lyricism, Wagner's transcendent musical climaxes. Haydn is more elusive. With the possible exception of the Creation, his late choral masterpiece, there is no defining work. Everything is extraordinary. Or, the sceptics might say, none of it is extraordinary.
I have to say I'm still a bit ambivalent about Haydn. I've heard about a dozen symphonies, some quartets (including the Lark and the Sunrise), one or two sonatas, the cello and trumpet concerti and about six of the Masses. Nothing has offended, but nothing has made me fall in love either.
As the above Guardian article says:
It is a formidable oeuvre, but still Haydn lives in the shadow of Mozart and Beethoven. His critics would say he was the faceless producer of immensely polished music, a relic of an aristocratic age. Other great composers have what might be called a signature: there is Bach's serenity, Mozart's ethereal perfection, Beethoven's grandeur, Schubert's lyricism, Wagner's transcendent musical climaxes. Haydn is more elusive. With the possible exception of the Creation, his late choral masterpiece, there is no defining work. Everything is extraordinary. Or, the sceptics might say, none of it is extraordinary.
I have to say I'm still a bit ambivalent about Haydn. I've heard about a dozen symphonies, some quartets (including the Lark and the Sunrise), one or two sonatas, the cello and trumpet concerti and about six of the Masses. Nothing has offended, but nothing has made me fall in love either.
