Music Weblog

Born in Austria near its border with Hungary, Joseph Haydn [1732–1809] proved himself to be a pivotal composer within the realm of classical music.  He is often called “Papa Haydn” because of his influence on two highly valued musical forms—sharing the informal titles Father of the Symphony as well as Father of the String Quartet.  Haydn is recognized to have furthered the development of these two formats more than any other composer, whether before or since.

Haydn began his career as a self-taught freelance composer, oftentimes giving away pieces he had written in order to gain greater recognition.  In an era when most composers starved until and unless they were able to secure some sort of aristocratic patronage, Haydn’s career received a significant boost when the Countess Thun engaged him to be her voice and keyboard instructor.  He was in his early twenties at the time.  He composed his first string quartets in 1756 while working for Baron Fürnberg, and several years later found employment with Count Morzin.  All these engagements led him to capturing the position of assistant music director with the Esterházy family, quite possibly the greatest set of aristocrats of their day as members of the Austro-Hungarian ruling class.  During the 30 years he was associated with this wealthiest of families, Haydn wrote all sorts of music, operated and conducted the house orchestra, performed in chamber ensembles, and even directed various operatic productions.

The composer’s Austrian ties were severed when a young and decidedly unappreciative Esterházy scion fired everyone associated with the musical organization.  Haydn was awarded a small pension and used these funds—along with his great reputation—to finance extensive visits to London, which was then Vienna’s rival as two of the three European hotbeds of classical music (Paris was the third).  In London, Haydn composed some of his most famous music.  This included the “Surprise,” “Military” and “Drumroll” symphonies.  He returned to Vienna in 1795 and was reunited with the Esterházy clan—once again in the hands of a musical champion—where he wrote several of his greatest oratorios (The Seasons and The Creation), plus a wildly popular trumpet concerto and his remaining nine string quartets.  Upon his death, Mozart’s Requiem was performed at Haydn’s memorial service.

Although generally considered an Austrian composer, Gustav Mahler [1860–1911] was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in a small Bohemian town in what is now the Czech Republic.  He started piano lessons at age six, and by age 15 his talent was sufficient to have earned him a position at the Vienna Conservatory.  Mahler studied conducting in addition to the piano, and it was as an opera conductor that he earned significant kudos as a young adult.  For example, he was only 23 when he appeared on the podium at Vienna’s opera house, and he assumed the dual position of conductor and music director for the Hungarian Royal Opera from 1888 to 1891.  He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1897 in order to accept the same role with the Vienna State Opera, as laws in Austria-Hungary at the time prohibited Jews from filling so-called Imperial posts.

Throughout his professional career, Mahler used composition to supplement his income and also provide an artistic outlet.  Because of his interest in opera, many of his early works were written for the voice, including a cantata Das klagende Lied (“The Song of Lamentation”) from 1880, and his 1883 song cycle “Songs of a Wayfarer.”  He composed his first three symphonies by age 36—the year prior to his accession to the Vienna State Opera—and wrote nine in all, plus a tenth that instead goes by the title Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”) as it contains six movements (most symphonies are comprised of four) and is scored for two solo voices along with full orchestra.  Psychological and physical challenges, along with regular anti-Semitic attacks in the Viennese press, ultimately led to his resignation from the opera.  Thanks to an offer from New York’s Metropolitan Opera (Mahler conducted a single season there in 1908), he moved to the United States along with his wife Alma to lead the New York Philharmonic.  He was working on his Tenth Symphony (never completed) when he fell ill from a strep infection, and he died after returning to Vienna.  Mahler was only 50 years old.

Mahler’s composing style represents a transition from the Romantic period to the Modernist.  He experimented with unusual harmonies and embraced the concept of progressive tonality, where works begin in one key but finish in an entirely different tonic and mode.  For example, his Symphony No. 2 starts in C minor and ends in E-flat major.  He was also known for writing what some critics have called “rather depressing music,” a reflection of the difficulties he faced in his personal and professional life.  One of his major pieces is titled Kindertotenlieder, which translated into English as “Songs on the Death of Children.”

Born in Liège, Belgium, César Franck [1822–1890] rose to prominence as a composer while living in Paris, following his studies at that city’s Conservatoire in the late 1830s.  While his family held out hopes for Franck to become a famous concert pianist, he instead turned to composition—although his interest in the keyboard stirred him to take up the organ.  While still a young man, Franck accepted various church organist positions at locations around Paris.  His ability for improvisation set him on the road to becoming a composer, and his legacy includes two complete books of organ works—liturgical pieces as well as those with non-religious themes.

As a composer during the late Romantic period, Franck’s style was strongly influenced by Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt.  Among the most recognizable effects in his music is the use of chromatic modulations, where he changes key often during the course of a single piece or movement.  Franck also provided surprisingly strong inspiration to the world of classical music, despite the fact that his most-performed pieces are relatively few in number.  He is best known for his Symphony in D minor, Symphonic Variations (for piano and orchestra), and several chamber pieces including Sonata for Violin & Piano in A major, and Piano Quintet in F minor.  All these works come from his later years.  He exerted significant influence on future French composers, notably Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, and the aforementioned Franck pieces were credited with reviving the popularity of chamber music after a long decline in Parisian symphony halls, and also helping to reinvigorate an interest in writing symphonies with a decidedly French flavor.  Franck died shortly before his 68th birthday after being hit by a horse-drawn trolley.

Franck wrote very little vocal music—he never took on the challenge of composing an opera, for example—but one of his shorter pieces has remained a favorite of singers since its debut in 1872.  His setting of the hymn Panis angelicus (literally “bread of angels,” with words by Saint Thomas Aquinas) was composed originally for solo tenor plus organ and string ensemble; however, his arrangement that added a chorus to this mix remains the most famous version of the work.  Over the years, it has also been recast to accommodate singers in other voice ranges as well as different accompanying instruments, including full orchestra.