You can study all sorts of history. The history of science or marriage or music can offer as much insight into who we are and have been and where we came from, as the political and military history that enchants those who wish to be heros and shoot enemies. I like music and in an effort to understand how opera, sonatas, symphonies came to be and who made them and under what circumstances, I listen to The Great Courses. In the area of music, nearly all of the courses are taught by Robert Greenberg, who has got to be the most energetic lecturer in the world.
I have been listening to Greenberg's biography of Haydn. I have some favorites among the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Strauss, and Schubert. I listened to the music of Michael Haydn quite often but I never really got around to Joseph Haydn. Now I am learning that he was a cool guy, good-humored and balanced all his life, despite some hardships. Greenberg makes it clear that Mozart, a couple decades younger than Haydn, was a child prodigy and recognized by many as almost a miracle while Haydn was much slower and more paced in his development. The two men knew and appreciated each other.
When one of Mozart's fellow musicians criticized a passage of Haydn's, Mozart is quoted as saying that if he and the critic were combined into one man, they couldn't together match Haydn.
Listening to some of the details of the contract with Haydn's employer, Prince Esterhazy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and listening to the TED talk by "Amanda F*cking (sic, after replacing the asterisk with a u, that has been the stage name this musician of today uses at times) Palmer", I grasp the hit and miss life that musicians have often led. Haydn was a live-in choir boy attached to St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna. After his voice deepened and he pulled a couple of pranks, he was dismissed. Lean years followed but as his skill and musical insight developed, he became recognized as the premier musician of Europe.
He was an officer of the household of the prince and was in charge of all the musicians. One year, the prince was so enjoying staying in the summer residence, that he kept the royal household there long after the expected end of the season. The musicians badly needed a break and a chance to visit their own homes and see their wives and children. They went to Haydn and asked him to do something. In response, he wrote and had performed his "Farewell" symphony. The final movement required each musician in turn to end his playing and quietly blow out his candle and leave the stage. The prince got the message and went home the next day, giving everyone their break the next day.
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
