Haydn Biography

Franz Joseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau, Austria on March 31, 1732. He began his musical career by singing in Vienna for the Saint Stephens Cathedral when he was eight years old. At the age of seventeen, Haydn began his career as a freelance musician. In 1759, Count Ferdinand Maximilian von Morzin hired him as music director. In 1761, he became music director to Prince Pal Antal Esterhazy who was later succeeded by his brother Prince Miklos Jozsef Esterhazy. Prince Miklos allowed Haydn the opportunity to expand musically by allowing him a larger staff, daily performances, and formal concerts.

Haydn was friends with Wolfgang Mozart and often admitted the superiority of the operas of Mozart. Haydn also was a teacher to Beethoven for a brief while but their personalities clashed so much that those lessons didn’t last too long.

Haydn had written 107 symphonies, 68 string quartets, 62 piano sonatas, and 43 piano trios in his lifetime that ended on May 31, 1809 in Vienna, Austria (Haydn).