Joseph Haydn's ethnicity
Encyclopedia
The ethnicity of Joseph Haydn
was a controversial matter in Haydn scholarship during a period lasting from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. The principal contending ethnicities were Croatian
and German
. Mainstream musical scholarship in the English language today generally adopts the second of these two hypotheses. Due to the vagueness of the concept, German written scholarship does not use the term ethnicity in this context any more, but takes it for granted that Haydn's mother tongue was German
.
gathered a great number of Croatian folk tunes
in fieldwork. Kuhač was struck by the resemblance of a number of these tunes to themes found in Haydn's works, and suggested that Haydn knew these tunes and incorporated them into his work. Other scholars disagreed, suggesting instead that the Haydn original themes had circulated among the people, evolving gradually into more folk-like forms. For details and examples, see Haydn and folk music
.
Haydn never set foot in Croatia, but he almost certainly lived in the vicinity of Croatian speakers. This is because migration
in previous centuries had resulted in a considerable number of Croatians dwelling far to the north of Croatia in the Austro-Hungarian border region where Haydn was born and spent most of his life. This aspect of Kuhač's claim is considered uncontroversial, though the relative fraction of the population that was Croatian-speaking is in dispute.
Kuhač went on to claim that the reason Haydn used so many Croatian folk tunes in his music is that he was himself a Croatian; that is, a member of the Croatian diaspora. As such, he would have been a native speaker of Croatian and a participant in Croatian folk culture. Kuhač also claimed that the name "Haydn" is of Croatian origin ("Hajdin"), and likewise for the name of Haydn's mother, Maria Koller.
Kuhač wrote in Croatian, which would have been a barrier to scholarly transmission at the time. However, his works were studied by the English-speaking musicologist Henry Hadow, who promulgated them further in his book Haydn: A Croatian Composer (1897) and in the second and third editions of the prestigious Grove Dictionary
.
Ernst Fritz Schmid took up the issue of Haydn's origins, searching in parish records and elsewhere for evidence of Haydn's ancestry. He concluded on the basis of his research that Haydn's ethnic roots were not Croatian, but German, and that the names "Haydn" and "Koller" are of German origin.
Schmid's work, just like Kuhač's, has been impugned as being motivated by nationalist zealotry rather than a thirst for the truth. This may be related to the fact that Schmid's research coincided historically with the rise of Nazi Germany
, which included among its political doctrines a fanatical emphasis on German ethnicity.
Among the scholars who accept Schmid's finding are the musicologist Karl Geiringer
, writing both in his Haydn biography and the fourth edition of the Grove Dictionary. In the 1982 revision of his biography, Geiringer wrote
Geiringer's position in turn was endorsed by the French scholar, Michel Brenet, and by Rosemary Hughes in her own Haydn biography. H. C. Robbins Landon
, a leading Haydn scholar, devotes the opening pages of his massive work Haydn: Chronicle and Works with a long summary and warm endorsement of Schmid's research.
The Danish scholar Jens Peter Larsen, writing in the 1980 New Grove, says of this question:
In the current version of the Grove Dictionary, the Haydn biography (by James Webster
) does not even mention the old controversy, other than to cite Schmid's work in the bibliography. Neither Kuhač nor Hadow is cited.
, who was Haydn's student in Vienna around the year 1800; he wrote them down in his memoirs, published 1824. In the memoirs, Kalkbrenner refers to himself in the third person.
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...
was a controversial matter in Haydn scholarship during a period lasting from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. The principal contending ethnicities were Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
. Mainstream musical scholarship in the English language today generally adopts the second of these two hypotheses. Due to the vagueness of the concept, German written scholarship does not use the term ethnicity in this context any more, but takes it for granted that Haydn's mother tongue was German
German 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....
.
Kuhač's Croatian hypothesis
During the late 19th century, the Croatian ethnologist Franjo KuhačFranjo Kuhac
Franjo Ksaver Kuhač was a piano teacher, choral conductor, and comparative musicologist who studied Croatian folk music. Kuhač did a great deal of field work in this area, collecting and publishing 1,600 folk songs...
gathered a great number of Croatian folk tunes
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
in fieldwork. Kuhač was struck by the resemblance of a number of these tunes to themes found in Haydn's works, and suggested that Haydn knew these tunes and incorporated them into his work. Other scholars disagreed, suggesting instead that the Haydn original themes had circulated among the people, evolving gradually into more folk-like forms. For details and examples, see Haydn and folk music
Haydn and folk music
This article discusses the influence of folk music on the work of the composer Joseph Haydn .-Background:Haydn was of humble family, perhaps unusually so for a famous composer. His parents were working people . They dwelt in an obscure rural village, and had no musical training...
.
Haydn never set foot in Croatia, but he almost certainly lived in the vicinity of Croatian speakers. This is because migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
in previous centuries had resulted in a considerable number of Croatians dwelling far to the north of Croatia in the Austro-Hungarian border region where Haydn was born and spent most of his life. This aspect of Kuhač's claim is considered uncontroversial, though the relative fraction of the population that was Croatian-speaking is in dispute.
Kuhač went on to claim that the reason Haydn used so many Croatian folk tunes in his music is that he was himself a Croatian; that is, a member of the Croatian diaspora. As such, he would have been a native speaker of Croatian and a participant in Croatian folk culture. Kuhač also claimed that the name "Haydn" is of Croatian origin ("Hajdin"), and likewise for the name of Haydn's mother, Maria Koller.
Kuhač wrote in Croatian, which would have been a barrier to scholarly transmission at the time. However, his works were studied by the English-speaking musicologist Henry Hadow, who promulgated them further in his book Haydn: A Croatian Composer (1897) and in the second and third editions of the prestigious Grove Dictionary
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
.
The "Haydn as German" hypothesis
In the 1930s, the German musicologistMusicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
Ernst Fritz Schmid took up the issue of Haydn's origins, searching in parish records and elsewhere for evidence of Haydn's ancestry. He concluded on the basis of his research that Haydn's ethnic roots were not Croatian, but German, and that the names "Haydn" and "Koller" are of German origin.
Schmid's work, just like Kuhač's, has been impugned as being motivated by nationalist zealotry rather than a thirst for the truth. This may be related to the fact that Schmid's research coincided historically with the rise of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, which included among its political doctrines a fanatical emphasis on German ethnicity.
Views of more recent scholars
Despite this, later Haydn scholarship seems to have been sufficiently impressed by the data Schmid gathered to accept his general premise that Haydn was of German ethnic origin.Among the scholars who accept Schmid's finding are the musicologist Karl Geiringer
Karl Geiringer
Karl Geiringer was a musicologist, educator, and biographer of composers. He was educated in Vienna but at the beginning of the Nazi years he emigrated to England and ultimately the United States, where he had a lengthy and distinguished career at several universities. He was a noted authority...
, writing both in his Haydn biography and the fourth edition of the Grove Dictionary. In the 1982 revision of his biography, Geiringer wrote
- "Schmid undert[oo]k elaborate genealogical research, tracing the family names back to the Middle Ages and producing most valuable data about Haydn's ancestors. According to his final conclusions, here can be no doubt that the Haydn and Koller families were of German origin."
Geiringer's position in turn was endorsed by the French scholar, Michel Brenet, and by Rosemary Hughes in her own Haydn biography. H. C. Robbins Landon
H. C. Robbins Landon
Howard Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and studied music at Swarthmore College and Boston University. He subsequently moved to Europe where he worked as a music critic. From 1947 he undertook research in Vienna on Joseph Haydn, a composer...
, a leading Haydn scholar, devotes the opening pages of his massive work Haydn: Chronicle and Works with a long summary and warm endorsement of Schmid's research.
The Danish scholar Jens Peter Larsen, writing in the 1980 New Grove, says of this question:
- "the matter must be regarded as settled by [Schmid's work]. It may we be said that Schmid 'was even more intent to prove Haydn a German than Kuhač and Hadow had been to prove him a Slav' [quotation from Scott, in the fifth edition of Grove]. But the weight of the documentary evidence that supports his case is decisive."
In the current version of the Grove Dictionary, the Haydn biography (by James Webster
James Webster (musicologist)
James Webster is a musicologist, specializing in the music of Joseph Haydn and other composers of the classical era. His professional position is as the Goldwin Smith Professor of Music at Cornell University...
) does not even mention the old controversy, other than to cite Schmid's work in the bibliography. Neither Kuhač nor Hadow is cited.
Haydn's remark on Croatians
Curiously, Haydn himself is recorded as having made a somewhat disparaging remark about Croatians. His words were remembered by the composer and pianist Friedrich KalkbrennerFriedrich Kalkbrenner
Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner was a German pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer who spent most of his life in England and France. Before the advent of Frédéric Chopin, Sigismond Thalberg and Franz Liszt, Kalkbrenner was by many considered to be the foremost pianist in...
, who was Haydn's student in Vienna around the year 1800; he wrote them down in his memoirs, published 1824. In the memoirs, Kalkbrenner refers to himself in the third person.
- "He received instruction [from Haydn] during the remainder of his stay at Vienna, which was nearly two years. In the first quartet he attempted to write under this great master - the young artist thought he must put forth all his learning as well as all his imagination, and when he produced it, anticipated that he must inevitably receive no usual quantity of praise. The moment Haydn cast his eyes upon it, he exclaimed - hey day! what have we here! CalmucKalmyk peopleKalmyk people is the name given to the Oirats, western Mongols in Russia, whose descendants migrated from Dzhungaria in 1607. Today they form a majority in the autonomous Republic of Kalmykia on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Kalmykia is Europe's only Buddhist government...
, SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n, Cossack, CroatCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
- all the barbarians of the world jumbled together - he laughed heartily, but tempered his severity with some commendation - telling him that there was by far too much fire, but that it was better to have too much than too little and that time and experience would bring his exertions to more favourable issue."
External links
- http://www.haydnfestival.at/haydn_de/netautor/napro4/appl/na_professional/parse.php3?mlay_id=10120&xmlval_ID_KEY%5B%5D=2619&xmlval_ID_DOC%5B%5D=1033787&mdoc_id=1034559 Notes on the genealogy of composer Joseph Haydn (Dr.Fritz Königshofer). Web site of the Eisenstadt Haydn Festival.