I went to the Haydn House about a month ago (I know. I haven't updated my blog for a while... we've been really busy). For all those who haven't heard of Josef Haydn, he was a famous composer of the Wiener Klassic. At a young age, Haydn was a singer at St. Stephen's Cathedral, however, when his voice broke, he decided to start writing music (when he was about 17 years old!). He then searched for a job and took an opening for the Esterházy family in Hungary. Now, at this time, when one was a composer, they literally sold their soul to the family that desired a composer. When Haydn decided to do this, he basically was indebted to the Esterházy family for life. Luckily for Haydn, the Esterházy family truly appreciated music, and this appreciation led Haydn to compose some of the most beautiful symphonies, string trios, piano sonatas, and operas heard in history. One of his most famous works is "The Creation" ( a symphony that interprets the creation of Earth [as in the bible]).
Now, you may be wondering how I visited the Haydn House if he lived with the Esterházy family in Hungary. Well, the Esterházy family was a very generous family and allowed Haydn to travel freely just as long as he kept composing for them. Haydn went to London, which he did not enjoy because the noise of the city affected his composing. He then decided to return to Vienna, where he moved into a house in Gumpendorf (close to the center of present-day Vienna). He spent the remainder of his life there and died several days after an attack by Napoleon in May 1809 (it wasn't the attack that killed him, but rather an illness that he became worse over the years). Here are some pictures of the house, which is now a museum:
The outside facade of the Haydn House. At one point, the house was not surrounded by buildings at all, but over time, Vienna expanded and the house itself seems lost in the city.
Here is one of Haydn's compositions composed in 1796/1797. It is called "Gast erhalte Franz den Kaiser" (or "Franz the Emperor receiving Guests"). I would say that this was played for Franz Josef, one of the Habsburgs, during a ball.
Haydn enjoyed having many visitors - many composers visited him (for example, Mozart).
This is the guest book of Haydn. It is filled with many names.
A bust of Haydn. I'm not sure if it was sculpted during or after Haydn died.
This is the piano Haydn used to compose many of his symphonies and other music.
When Haydn died, this was believed to be the last pencil he used to write music.
O! And I decided to give Haydn's piano a try! (but not really)
Hope y'all learned something about Haydn!
