Haydn, (Johann) Michael
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 Leben—sein Schaffen—seine Zeit: Eine Bildbiographie (Vienna, 1987).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire