Haydn and Mozart
Encyclopedia
The composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
and Joseph Haydn
were friends. Their relationship is not very well documented, but the evidence that they enjoyed each other's company and greatly respected each other's work is strong.
(1772), called the "Sun" Quartets, were widely circulated and are conjectured (for instance, by Charles Rosen
) to have been the inspiration for the six string quartets K. 168-173
that the 17-year-old Mozart wrote during a 1773 visit to Vienna.
The two composers probably would not have had an opportunity to meet until after Mozart moved permanently to Vienna
in 1781. Haydn was required to reside most of the time at the remote palace of Eszterháza
in Hungary, where his employer and patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy
preferred to live. During the winter months, the Prince moved to the ancestral palace
of his family in Eisenstadt
, bringing Haydn with him. In these periods it was often feasible for Haydn to make brief visits to Vienna, about 40 km away.
Storace
gave a quartet party to his friends. The players were tolerable; not one of them excelled on the instrument he played, but there was a little science among them, which I dare say will be acknowledged when I name them:
Both Dittersdorf and Vanhal, though little-remembered now, were well-known composers of the time.
The composer Maximilian Stadler
also remembered chamber music performances in which Haydn and Mozart participated: the two of them took the viola parts in performances of Mozart's string quintets, K. 515
, 516
, and 593
.
To the musicologist Charles Burney
, he said "I have often been flattered by my friends with having some genius, but he was much my superior." In a letter to his friend Marianne von Genzinger, Haydn confessed to dreaming about Mozart's work, listening happily to a performance of Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro
.
, describes Mozart's esteem for Haydn. In one passage from his biography he says:
By "Haydns", Niemetschek refers also to Joseph's brother Michael
, who was Mozart's friend and colleague during his years in Salzburg
.
An often-retold anecdote from Niemetschek is the following:
Niemetschek adds, "By this remark he made for himself yet another irreconcilable enemy."
(K387, K421, K428, K458, K464 and K465) were written during the early years of their friendship, and were published in 1785. They are thought to be stylistically influenced by Haydn's Opus 33
series, which had appeared in 1781. Mozart's dedication of these six quartets to Haydn was rather unusual, at a time when dedicatees were usually aristocrats:
Haydn in turn was very impressed with Mozart's new work. He heard the new quartets for the first time at a social occasion on 15 January 1785, at which Mozart performed the quartets with "my dear friend Haydn and other good friends". At a second occasion, on 12 February, the last three quartets were performed. Mozart's father Leopold
was present, having come from Salzburg to visit. At that time Haydn Haydn made a remark to Leopold that is now widely quoted:
It is likely that Mozart would have appreciated the remark, in light of his father's frequently-expressed doubts about his career path.
Although Mozart remained an enthusiastic Mason (see Mozart and Freemasonry
), Haydn did not; in fact, there is no evidence that he ever attended a meeting after his admittance ceremony, and he was dropped from the lodge's rolls in 1787.
First, during the early Vienna years, when Mozart was influenced by Baron van Swieten to take up the study of Baroque counterpoint
, Haydn loaned him his personal copy of the famous counterpoint textbook Gradus ad Parnassum, by Johann Joseph Fux, a copy heavily covered with Haydn's personal annotations.
There is also the observation that, like many other younger musicians, Mozart addressed Haydn with the honorific term "Papa". For details of this form of address, see Papa Haydn
.
has two sets of second person pronouns, one (Sie, Ihnen, Ihr, etc.) for relatively formal relationships, the other (du, dich, dir, etc.) for more intimate relationships (see T-V distinction). Otto Jahn
, in his 1856 Mozart biography, reported that Haydn and Mozart used the du pronouns in conversation, and that such usage was unusual at the time for two people of such different ages, hence evidence for a close friendship. Jahn relied on the testimony of Mozart's sister-in-law Sophie Haibel as well as Haydn's friend and biographer Georg August Griesinger
.
, who interviewed the elderly Haydn 15 years after the event:
Griesinger
gives a different (and probably less romanticized) account of the same occasion:
offering musical instruction to her son when he reached the appropriate age, and later followed through on his offer.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
were friends. Their relationship is not very well documented, but the evidence that they enjoyed each other's company and greatly respected each other's work is strong.
Background
Haydn was already a famous composer when Mozart was a child. His six string quartets of Opus 20String Quartets, Op. 20 (Haydn)
The six string quartets opus 20 by Joseph Haydn are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet." The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next...
(1772), called the "Sun" Quartets, were widely circulated and are conjectured (for instance, by Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
) to have been the inspiration for the six string quartets K. 168-173
Viennese Quartets (Mozart)
The six string quartets, K. 168-173, were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1773 in Vienna. These are popularly known as the Viennese Quartets....
that the 17-year-old Mozart wrote during a 1773 visit to Vienna.
The two composers probably would not have had an opportunity to meet until after Mozart moved permanently to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1781. Haydn was required to reside most of the time at the remote palace of Eszterháza
Eszterháza
Esterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice.-History:...
in Hungary, where his employer and patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy
Nikolaus Esterházy
Nikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent"...
preferred to live. During the winter months, the Prince moved to the ancestral palace
Schloss Esterházy
----The Schloss Esterházy is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622...
of his family in Eisenstadt
Eisenstadt
- Politics :The current mayor of Eisenstadt is Andrea Fraunschiel ÖVP.The district council is composed as follows :* ÖVP: 17 seats* SPÖ: 8 seats* Austrian Green Party: 2 seats* FPÖ: 2 seats- Castles and palaces :...
, bringing Haydn with him. In these periods it was often feasible for Haydn to make brief visits to Vienna, about 40 km away.
Meeting
It is thought that Haydn and Mozart most probably met around 1783-1784, perhaps at a performance (28 and 30 March, 1784) of Haydn's oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia. By this time, Haydn was the most celebrated composer in Europe. Mozart's own reputation was definitely on the rise. His opera The Abduction from the Seraglio had been premiered with great success in Vienna and was being produced in several other cities. Haydn would have been about 52 years old at the time, Mozart about 28.Playing chamber music
Jens Peter Larsen suggests that "quartet playing was central to the contact between Haydn and Mozart", though the documentation of the occasions in which the two composers played or heard quartets or other chamber music together is slim. One report of such an occasion comes from the Reminiscences (1826) of the tenor Michael Kelly.Storace
Stephen Storace
Stephen Storace was an English composer. His sister was the famous opera singer Nancy Storace. He was born in London in the Parish of St Marylebone to an English mother and Italian father...
gave a quartet party to his friends. The players were tolerable; not one of them excelled on the instrument he played, but there was a little science among them, which I dare say will be acknowledged when I name them:
- First Violin: Haydn
- Second Violin: Baron Dittersdorf
- Violoncello: VanhalJohann Baptist VanhalJohann Baptist Vanhal also spelled Wanhal, Waṅhall or Wanhall was an important classical music composer born in Nechanice, Bohemia to a Czech family.- Biography :...
- Viola: Mozart.
- I was there, and a greater treat, or a more remarkable one, cannot be imagined.
Both Dittersdorf and Vanhal, though little-remembered now, were well-known composers of the time.
The composer Maximilian Stadler
Maximilian Stadler
Maximilian Johann Karl Dominik Stadler, Abbé Stadler was an Austrian composer, musicologist and pianist....
also remembered chamber music performances in which Haydn and Mozart participated: the two of them took the viola parts in performances of Mozart's string quintets, K. 515
String Quintet No. 3 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 is written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola ....
, 516
String Quintet No. 4 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K. 516 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola ....
, and 593
String Quintet No. 5 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola .-Movements:...
.
Haydn's view of Mozart
Haydn freely praised Mozart, without jealousy, to his friends. For instance, he wrote to Franz Rott,- "If only I could impress Mozart's inimitable works on the soul of every friend of music, and the souls of high personages in particular, as deeply, with the same musical understanding and with the same deep feeling, as I understand and feel them, the nations would vie with each other to possess such a jewel."
To the musicologist Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
, he said "I have often been flattered by my friends with having some genius, but he was much my superior." In a letter to his friend Marianne von Genzinger, Haydn confessed to dreaming about Mozart's work, listening happily to a performance of Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
.
Mozart's view of Haydn
Mozart's early biographer Franz Niemetschek, who interviewed Mozart's wife ConstanzeConstanze Mozart
Constanze Mozart was the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Early years:Constanze Weber was born in Zell im Wiesental. Her mother was Cäcilia Weber, née Stamm. Her father Fridolin Weber worked as a "double bass player, prompter and music copyist." Fridolin's half-brother was the father of composer...
, describes Mozart's esteem for Haydn. In one passage from his biography he says:
- High esteem for true merit, and regard for the individual, influenced his judgment of works of art. He was always very touched when he spoke of the two Haydns or other great masters.
By "Haydns", Niemetschek refers also to Joseph's brother Michael
Michael Haydn
Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:...
, who was Mozart's friend and colleague during his years in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
.
An often-retold anecdote from Niemetschek is the following:
- At a private party a new work of Joseph Haydn was being performed. Besides Mozart there were a number of other musicians present, among them a certain man who was never known to praise anyone but himself. He was standing next to Mozart and found fault with one thing after another. For a while Mozart listened patiently; when he could bear it no longer and the fault-finder once more conceitedly declared: 'I would not have done that', Mozart retorted: 'Neither would I but do you know why? Because neither of us could have thought of anything so appropriate."
Niemetschek adds, "By this remark he made for himself yet another irreconcilable enemy."
The "Haydn" quartets
Mozart's "Haydn" quartetsHaydn Quartets (Mozart)
The "Haydn" Quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are a set of six string quartets published in 1785 in Vienna, dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn. They are considered to be the pinnacle of Classical string quartet writing, containing some of Mozart's most memorable melodic writing and refined...
(K387, K421, K428, K458, K464 and K465) were written during the early years of their friendship, and were published in 1785. They are thought to be stylistically influenced by Haydn's Opus 33
String Quartets, Op. 33 (Haydn)
The Op. 33 String Quartets were written by Joseph Haydn in the summer and Autumn of 1781 for the Viennese publisher Artaria. This set of quartets has several nicknames, the most common of which is the "Russian" quartets, because Haydn dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and...
series, which had appeared in 1781. Mozart's dedication of these six quartets to Haydn was rather unusual, at a time when dedicatees were usually aristocrats:
- A father who had decided to send his sons out into the great world thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time, and who happened moreover to be his best friend. In the same way I send my six sons to you [...] Please then, receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide, and friend! [...] I entreat you, however, to be indulgent to those faults which may have escaped a father's partial eye, and in spite of them, to continue your generous friendship towards one who so highly appreciates it.
Haydn in turn was very impressed with Mozart's new work. He heard the new quartets for the first time at a social occasion on 15 January 1785, at which Mozart performed the quartets with "my dear friend Haydn and other good friends". At a second occasion, on 12 February, the last three quartets were performed. Mozart's father Leopold
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
was present, having come from Salzburg to visit. At that time Haydn Haydn made a remark to Leopold that is now widely quoted:
- Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name; he has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition.
It is likely that Mozart would have appreciated the remark, in light of his father's frequently-expressed doubts about his career path.
Freemasonry
It may have been Mozart who attempted to bring Haydn into Freemasonry. Mozart joined the lodge called "Zur Wohltätigkeit" ("Beneficence") on 14 December 1784, and Haydn applied to the lodge "Zur wahren Eintracht" ("True Concord") on 29 December 1784. Lodge records show that Mozart frequently attended "Zur wahren Eintracht" as a visitor. Haydn's admission ceremony was held on 11 February 1785; Mozart could not attend due to a concert that night.Although Mozart remained an enthusiastic Mason (see Mozart and Freemasonry
Mozart and Freemasonry
For the last seven years of his life Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Mason. The Masonic order played an important role in his life and work.-Mozart's lodges:...
), Haydn did not; in fact, there is no evidence that he ever attended a meeting after his admittance ceremony, and he was dropped from the lodge's rolls in 1787.
Haydn as Mozart's mentor
Mozart in many ways did not need a mentor by the time he met Haydn; he was already rather successful and for most of his life up to then had been under the very active tutelage of his father Leopold. However, two aspects of the historical record suggest that Haydn did in some sense take Mozart under his wing and offer him advice.First, during the early Vienna years, when Mozart was influenced by Baron van Swieten to take up the study of Baroque counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
, Haydn loaned him his personal copy of the famous counterpoint textbook Gradus ad Parnassum, by Johann Joseph Fux, a copy heavily covered with Haydn's personal annotations.
There is also the observation that, like many other younger musicians, Mozart addressed Haydn with the honorific term "Papa". For details of this form of address, see Papa Haydn
Papa Haydn
The composer Joseph Haydn is sometimes given the nickname "Papa" Haydn. The practice began in the composer's lifetime, and has continued to some extent to the present day.-"Papa" as a term of affection:...
.
Form of address
The German languageGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
has two sets of second person pronouns, one (Sie, Ihnen, Ihr, etc.) for relatively formal relationships, the other (du, dich, dir, etc.) for more intimate relationships (see T-V distinction). Otto Jahn
Otto Jahn
Otto Jahn , was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music.He was born at Kiel...
, in his 1856 Mozart biography, reported that Haydn and Mozart used the du pronouns in conversation, and that such usage was unusual at the time for two people of such different ages, hence evidence for a close friendship. Jahn relied on the testimony of Mozart's sister-in-law Sophie Haibel as well as Haydn's friend and biographer Georg August Griesinger
Georg August Griesinger
Georg August von Griesinger was a tutor and diplomat resident in Vienna during the late 18th and 19th centuries. He is remembered for his friendships with the composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, and for the biography he wrote of Haydn....
.
Haydn's departure for London
Haydn last saw Mozart in the days before he departed for London in December 1790. The oft-retold tale of their last interactions can be found in the biography of Albert Christoph DiesAlbert Christoph Dies
-As painter:He was born at Hanover , and began his studies there. For one year he studied in the academy of Düsseldorf, and then he started at the age of twenty with thirty ducats in his pocket for Rome, studying briefly on the way in Mannheim and Basel. In Rome he lived a frugal life till 1796;...
, who interviewed the elderly Haydn 15 years after the event:
- [Haydn's patron] Prince Anton Esterházy granted permission for the journey at once, but it was not right as far as Haydn's friends were concerned ... they reminded him of his age (sixty years), of the discomforts of a long journey, and of many other things to shake his resolve. But in vain! Mozart especially took pains to say, "Papa!" as he usually called him, "you have had no training for the great world, and you speak too few languages."
- "Oh," replied Haydn, "my language is understood all over the world!"...
- When Haydn had settled ... his household affairs, he fixed his departure and left on 15 December [1790], in company with SalomonJohann Peter SalomonJohann Peter Salomon was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.-Life:...
. Mozart on this day never left his friend Haydn. He dined with him, and said at the moment of parting, "We are probably saying our last farewell in this life." Tears welled from the eyes of both. Haydn was deeply moved, for he applied Mozart's words to himself, and the possibility never occurred to him that the thread of Mozart's life could be cut off by the inexorable ParcaeParcaethumb|#00px|Early 16th-century [[millefleur tapestry]] depicting the Three Fates under their Greek namesIn Roman mythology, the Parcae were the personifications of destiny, often called The Fates in English. Their Greek equivalent were the Moirae. They controlled the metaphorical thread of life of...
within the following year.
Griesinger
Georg August Griesinger
Georg August von Griesinger was a tutor and diplomat resident in Vienna during the late 18th and 19th centuries. He is remembered for his friendships with the composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, and for the biography he wrote of Haydn....
gives a different (and probably less romanticized) account of the same occasion:
- Mozart said to Haydn, at a happy meal with Salomon, "You will not bear it very long and will probably soon come back again, because you are no longer young." "But I am still vigorous and in good health," answered Haydn. He was at that time almost fifty-nine years old, but he did not find it necessary to conceal the fact. Had Mozart not hastened to an early death on 5 December 1791, he would have taken Haydn's place in Salomon's concerts in 1794.
Mozart's death
Haydn, still in London a year later when the news of Mozart's death reached him, was distraught; he wrote to their mutual friend Michael Puchberg, "for some time I was quite beside myself over his death, and could not believe that Providence should so quickly have called away an irreplaceable man into the next world." Haydn wrote to Constanze MozartConstanze Mozart
Constanze Mozart was the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Early years:Constanze Weber was born in Zell im Wiesental. Her mother was Cäcilia Weber, née Stamm. Her father Fridolin Weber worked as a "double bass player, prompter and music copyist." Fridolin's half-brother was the father of composer...
offering musical instruction to her son when he reached the appropriate age, and later followed through on his offer.