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–) 5:1933–44. e. tittel, Österreichische Kirchenmusik (Vienna 1961). r. g. pauly, "The Reforms of Church Music under Joseph II," Musical Quarterly 43 (1957) 372–382. 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 1820–1896," Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 78 (1994) 83–93. 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) 8:407–412. d. m. randel, ed., The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass.1996) 369–370. n. slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (8th ed. New York 1992) 740–741.

[f. j. moleck]