Haydn, Michael

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HAYDN, MICHAEL

Church composer of the classical period; b. Rohrau, Lower Austria, Sept. 14, 1737 (baptized Johann Michael); d. Salzburg, Aug. 10, 1806. Like his older brother, Franz Joseph haydn, he began his career with the choristers of St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna. His three-octave soprano voice won for him the place of soloist in the choir after his brother's voice changed. The training he received at St. Stephen's was supplemented by his mastery of J. J. fux's Gradus ad Parnassum, which proved very influential in his compositional technique. After a period in Hungary and Grosswardein as Kapellmeister to Archbishop Count Firmian, he was appointed music director in 1762 to Archbishop Count Schrattenbach, uncle of Count Firmian. This brought him to Salzburg, where he married Maria Magdalena Lipp, daughter of the cathedral organist and herself a noted court singer (she sang the role of Rosina in mozart's early opera La Finta Semplice and the Regina Caeli, K. 127, that he wrote for her). Haydn also provided music for the Salzburg Benedictine church, St. Peter's, and much of his music is still in its archives.

With the succession of Hieronymus Collaredo to the Salzburg archbishopric, the course of liturgical music in the Austrian center took a new direction. Collaredo, a prominent clerical figure during the Enlightenment, attempted to simplify the celebration of the liturgy in the light of josephinism. After Mozart's departure from Salzburg, Haydn took full responsibility for the archbishop's liturgical music and wrote 117 Graduals and 45 Offertories to reinstate the performance of these liturgical items. His idiom combined the symphonic instrumental emphasis of the classical style with the polyphonic background he had absorbed from the Gradus ad Parnassum. In addition to these Mass Propers, he wrote 30 Latin Masses, 4 Vespers, 10 litanies, 6 Te Deums, many motets, "German Masses," and other religious music. Symphonic and chamber works number more than 100, and he composed also one opera and several vocal works. His music has been compared frequently and unfavorably to his brother's; yet considered on its own merits, it reveals a craftsmanship of the highest order by a musician who understood well symphonic form, counterpoint, and the happy combination of the two. His religious music was readily admitted by Franz Joseph to be superior to his own in style and treatment. Bound closely to his Salzburg circle, Michael enjoyed friendly relations with the Mozart family and many other musicians, as well as clerics and students, including (briefly) Carl Maria von weber.

Bibliography: h. jancik, Michael Haydn (Zurich 1952); Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume (Kassel-Basel 1949) 5:193344. e. tittel, Österreichische Kirchenmusik (Vienna 1961). r. g. pauly, "The Reforms of Church Music under Joseph II," Musical Quarterly 43 (1957) 372382. Most of his music is still unpublished, but his Masses are ed. by a. m. klafsky in Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich (1893 ; repr. Graz 1959) v. 45, 62. r. angermÜller, "Geistliche Werke von Michael Haydn in der k. k. Hofkapelle in Wien 18201896," Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 78 (1994) 8393. r. d. miller, The Graduals of Johann Michael Haydn: Performance Editions and Studies of Selected Works (Ph.D. diss. Texas Tech University 1998). r. g. pauly, Michael Haydn's Latin Proprium Missae Compositions (Ph.D. diss. Yale University 1956). r. g. pauly and c. h. sherman, "Michael Haydn," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. s. sadie (New York 1980) 8:407412. d. m. randel, ed., The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass.1996) 369370. n. slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (8th ed. New York 1992) 740741.

[f. j. moleck]

Haydn, (Johann) Michael

views updated May 21 2018

Haydn, (Johann) Michael

Haydn, (Johann) Michael, distinguished Austrian composer, brother of (Franz) Joseph Haydn; b. Rohrau, Lower Austria (baptized), Sept. 14, 1737; d. Salzburg, Aug. 10, 1806. He went to Vienna about 1745 and became a chorister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral; his voice was remarkable for its wide range, extending 3 octaves. In addition to the academic and musical training he received as a chorister, he also studied composition on his own by absorbing the theories of Fux as propounded in his treatise on counterpoint, Gradus ad Parnassum. He then obtained the post of Kapellmeister to the Bishop of Grosswardein in 1757, and subsequently was named a court musician and Konzertmeister to Archbishop Sigismund Schrattenbach of Salzburg in 1762. In 1768 he married Maria Magdalen Lipp (1745–1827), daughter of the court organist Franz Ignaz Lipp and a soprano in the archbishop’s service. Haydn also became principal organist of the Dre-ifatigkeitskirche in 1777, and was Mozart’s successor as cathedral organist in 1781. Part of his time he devoted to teaching; Carl Maria von Weber and Anton Diabelli were among his students. When Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo abdicated in 1800 and the French took control of Salzburg, Haydn lost his positions. Although his last years were made difficult by this change in his fortunes, he turned down the post of Vice-Kapellmeister to Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, his famous brother’s patron. He was a prolific composer of both sacred and secular music, and particularly esteemed for his mastery of church music. His outstanding Requiem in C minor, Pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo, was composed in memory of his patron in 1771; it was also performed at Joseph Haydn’s funeral. He also wrote a fine Mass, the Sotto il titulo di S. Teresia, for the Empress Maria Theresia, who sang the soprano solos under his direction in Vienna in 1801. His secular output included dramatic works, syms., serenades, divertimentos, chamber music, etc. His Sym. in G major (1783) was long attributed to Mozart (who composed an introduction to its 1st movement) as K.444/425a.

Works

VOCAL: Sacred: Over 400 works, including 38 masses; among the most notable are Requiem in C minor, the Pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo (Salzburg, Dec. 31, 1771; ed. in Accademia Musicale, VIII [Vienna, 1970]), S. Hieronymi (Salzburg, Sept. 14, 1777; ed. in Accademia Musicale, VII [Vienna, 1970]), S. Aloysii (Salzburg, Dec. 21, 1779; publ, in Zürich, 1942); A due cori or Missa hispanica (Salzburg, Aug. 4, 1786; ed. by C. Sherman, Vienna, 1966), Sotto il titulo di S. Teresia (Vienna, Aug. 3, 1801), and S. Leopoldi (Salzburg, Dec. 22, 1805; ed. by W. Reinhart, Zürich, 1952); 6 settings of the Te Deum, 4 of the Litaniae lauretanae, 4 vespers, 6 responsories, 130 gradual motets, 65 offertory motets, 20 settings of the Tantum ergo, 13 settings of the Salve Regina, etc.; also 8 German masses, 9 German offertory motets, etc. DRAMATIC: Sing-spiels: Rebekka als Braut (Salzburg, April 10, 1766); Die Hochzeit auf der Alm (Salzburg, May 6, 1768); Die Wahrheit der Natur (Salzburg, July 7, 1769); Der Bassgeiger zu Wörgl (c. 1773-75); Abels Tod (c. 1778; only fragment extant); Der englische Patriot (c. 1779); Die Ährenleserin (Salzburg, July 2, 1788). Opera Seria: Andromeda e Perseo (Salzburg, March 14, 1787). Oratorios: Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots (1767; part 2 by Haydn; remainder in collaboration with Mozart and Adlgasser; not extant); Der Kampf der Busse und Bekehrung (Salzburg, Feb. 21, 1768); Kaiser Constantin I. Feldzug und Sieg (Salzburg, Feb. 20, 1769; part 3 by Haydn, part 1 by Adlgasser, and part 2 by Scheicher); Der reumütige Petrus (Salzburg, March 11, 1770); Der büssende Sünder (Salzburg, Feb. 15, 1771); Oratorium de Passione Domini nostri Jesu Christi (c. 1775); Figura: In emigratione nostra (Salzburg, Aug. 24, 1782). OTHER: Incidental music to Voltaire’s Zaïre (Salzburg, Sept. 29, 1777; ed. by K. Geiringer, Vienna, 1934), cantatas, songs, canons, part-songs, etc. INSTRUMENTAL: About 40 syms. composed between 1759 and 1789; 3 violin concertos (1759-61; 1760; 1775-76); 2 flute concertos (1766, 1771); Trumpet Concerto (1764); Horn Concerto (1775–76); etc. He also wrote about 30 divertimentos, 2 serenatas, 3 notturnos, dances, marches, and other pieces. chamber: 12 string quartets (1776–1802); sonatas; etc. Much of his instrumental music is available in modern eds.

Bibliography

[J.]G. Schirm and [F.]J. Otter, Biographische Skizze von M. H. (Salzburg, 1808); C. von Wurzbach, Joseph Haydn und sein Bruder M. (Vienna, 1861); A. Schnerich, Der Messentypus von H. bis Schubert (Vienna, 1892); J. Engl, Zum Gedenken J. M. H.s (Salzburg, 1906); O. Schmid, J. M. H….Sein Leben und Wirken (Langensalza, 1906); H. Jancik, M. H.: Ein vergessener Meister (Vienna, 1952); R. Pauly, M. H.’s Latin “Proprium Missae” Compositions (diss., Yale Univ., 1956); R. Hess, Serenade, Cassation, Notturno und Divertimento bei M. H. (Mainz, 1963); C. Sherman, The Masses of M. H: A Critical Survey of Sources (diss., Univ. of Mich., 1967); G. Croll and K. Vössing, J. M. H.: Sein Lebensein Schaffenseine Zeit: Eine Bildbiographie (Vienna, 1987).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

Haydn, (Johann) Michael

views updated May 17 2018

Haydn, (Johann) Michael (b Rohrau, 1737; d Salzburg, 1806). Austrian-born composer, brother of Franz Joseph Haydn. Chorister, St Stephen's, Vienna, 1745–55, also deputy org. Court mus. and Konzertmeister to Archbishops of Salzburg 1763 to end of his life. Wrote 40 syms., vn. concs., hn. concs., tpt. conc., hpd.-and-va. conc., fl. concs., 12 str. quartets, operas, masses, and vast amount of other church mus. Weber and Diabelli were among his pupils. His Requiem in C minor was perf. at his brother's funeral.

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