Joyous music from the man who outlived Mozart on both sides (not a difficult thing to do, I suppose).
String quartets.
Uncomplicated melodies, or rather, just complicated enough.
A touch of Hungarian fire here and there (we are talking the heyday of the Austrian Empire)...
Add a taste of Austrian folkishness (untainted by the spectre of Nazism).
Haydn - warmth.
Less cultured/refined/inhibited than Mozart.
Sparky, surprising, goodhumoured.
Some of this spirit would inform the early Beethoven.
The big difference of course that Haydn, by and large, was content with his courtly position working for the Esterhazy Palace - Beethoven would/could never settle into that comfortable routine.
Vienna - home of enlightenment, good cake and coffee, splendid architecture and some of the best European music EVER produced.
But for now - a sunny day with a string quartet and the tuis and cicadas singing.
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the heyday of heydin
ReplyDeleteHere in the antipodes the Austrian guy often gets his name spelt (and pronounced) Hayden - like the famous rugby player Andy Hayden...
ReplyDeleteHey: An exclamation to get attention.
ReplyDeleteDin: A cacophony or loud commotion.
Haydn: Yeah, well...
Are you saying Haydn's music is cacophonic?
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Haydn's loud commotions are attention getting.
ReplyDeleteDrumroll or Surprise symphony?
ReplyDeleteEither are definitely attention-grabbers.
G.