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I have been fortunate enough to please almost all nations except the
Berliners; this is shown by the public newspapers and letters addressed to me. I only wonder that the Berlin gentlemen, who are otherwise so reasonable, preserve no medium in their criticism of my music, for in one weekly paper they
38:
is the only autobiographical document that was ever prepared by this composer. Haydn wrote the sketch, which is about two pages long, when he was 44 at the request, relayed to him by a chain of two mutual acquaintances, of Ignaz de Luca, who was preparing a volume of brief biographies of
Austrian
51:
The sketch begins with a brief account of the first 29 years of Haydn's life. He mentions his early home life in Rohrau, his early education in
Hainburg, his subsequent career as a choirboy in Vienna, his struggles during eight years of freelance work and his appointments as
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praise me to the skies, whilst in another they dash me sixty fathoms deep into the earth, and this without explaining why; I know very well why: because they are incapable of performing some of my works, and are too conceited to take the trouble to understand them properly.
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After the failure of Haydn's health in around 1803, the service was only nominal, but he maintained his official position. Haydn's visits to London (1791-1792, 1794-1795) were made with the Esterházys' permission, but he returned from them somewhat
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laid down in the Middle Ages. She notes that Haydn studied Latin as a schoolboy and that traditional Latin instruction would likely have included the principles of rhetoric. Sisman annotates the sections of Haydn's original letter as follows:
20:
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notes that "in the eighteenth century vocal music was considered pre-eminent. With opinion such as this as the common currency, it should not surprise us that Haydn... listed only vocal works among those he considered his finest."
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Having related his rise to career success, Haydn says nothing at all of the years 1761 to 1776 that spent working in the Esterházy court, but he concludes his narrative with a declaration of loyalty to his employer:
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The letter begins with an apology for its roughness, pleading lack of time. In 1776 Haydn was working on the implementation of a full-scale opera season at Esterháza and was indeed extremely busy.
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I offer all my praises to
Almighty God, for I owe them to Him alone: my sole wish is to offend neither my neighbour, nor my gracious Prince, nor above all our merciful God.
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117:(1767). All of them are vocal music; Haydn omits the pre-1776 instrumental works that arguably have received greater critical acclaim in modern times, such as the
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409:(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) are posted on line at Google Books' these include Jones's translation of the Autobiographical Sketch:
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Haydn also offers an assessment of his then-current reputation as a composer, expressing appreciation for the praise and support of
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Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony and the Idea of
Classical Style: Through-Composition and Cyclic Integration in His Instrumental Music
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has offered a novel interpretation of the sketch as having been written, whether consciously or not, according to principles of
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Haydn held to his word: despite considerable tedium and loneliness when his employer required him to live in isolated
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The sketch goes on to list what Haydn regarded as his most important works up to that time: the operas
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342:. London: Barrie and Rockliff. The Autobiographical sketch in English translation, with commentary.
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Schroeder, David (2005) "Orchestral music: symphonies and concertos," in Caryl Leslie Clark, ed.,
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The sketch is a classic rhetorically organized composition, drawing particularly on the medieval
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43:("Learned Austria"). The sketch was published in 1778, in Volume 1, Part 3 of that work.
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My highest ambition is only that all the world regard me as the honest man I am.
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as well as considerable resentment directed at various (unnamed) critics in
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211:, in this case by self-deprecation); then the narration of facts (
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The
Collected Correspondence and London Notebooks of Joseph Haydn
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I was engaged as... Capellmeister of His
Highness the Prince
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to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.
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260:English translations of all extracts are by
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352:. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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405:Portions of David Wyn Jones's (2009)
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395:. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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350:Haydn and the Classical Variation
60:and then with the hugely wealthy
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366:The Cambridge Companion to Haydn
860:Beethoven–Haydn–Mozart Memorial
824:Joseph Haydn Kammerphilharmonie
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617:The Seven Last Words of Christ
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624:Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
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139:Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
160:The sketch concludes thus:
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296:See, e.g., Webster (1991).
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251:Robbins Landon (1959, 21)
691:Maria Anna von Genzinger
275:Maria Anna von Genzinger
123:string quartets, Opus 20
41:Das gelehrte Oesterreich
16:Document by Joseph Haydn
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784:Autobiographical sketch
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658:Johann Evangelist Haydn
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768:Ludwig van Beethoven
727:Nikolaus I Esterházy
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469:Haydn and folk music
455:List of compositions
336:Robbins Landon, H.C.
305:Schroeder (2005, 95)
262:H. C. Robbins Landon
799:Anthony van Hoboken
603:Il ritorno di Tobia
135:Johann Adolph Hasse
119:"Farewell" Symphony
110:Il Ritorno di Tobia
494:Haydn's residences
474:Haydn's birthplace
273:See discussion in
104:L'infedelta delusa
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25:Ludwig Guttenbrunn
23:Haydn portrait by
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407:The Life of Haydn
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323:Sisman (1993, 24)
182:The musicologist
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717:Count Morzin
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446:Joseph Haydn
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834:Haydn Inlet
777:Scholarship
610:The Seasons
583:Other works
544:Piano trios
178:As rhetoric
950:Categories
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669:and lovers
559:Solo piano
522:Symphonies
506:Papa Haydn
499:Eszterháza
330:References
226:confutatio
34:(1776) of
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710:Employers
564:Concertos
232:peroratio
84:Esterháza
75:Esterházy
62:Esterházy
923:help out
888:Category
667:Friends
214:narratio
202:exordium
188:rhetoric
64:family.
921:Please
853:Related
391:(1991)
348:(1993)
338:(1959)
121:or the
47:Content
751:Pupils
641:Family
634:People
569:Operas
554:Masses
462:Topics
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147:Berlin
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287:late.
240:Notes
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