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[[Image:Haydnportrait.jpg|thumb|Ritratto di Ludwig Guttenbrunn, ca. 1770]]
Nel [[1759]], Haydn ricevette il primo incarico di rilievo, quello di maestro di cappella presso il conte Karl von Morzin. In questa veste, diresse la piccola orchestra del conte, per la quale scrisse le sue prime sinfonie. Improvvise ristrettezze finanziarie del conte lo forzarono la licenziare Haydn, che però trovò subito una nuova sistemazione come assistente maestro di cappella degli EsterázyEsterházy, una delle famiglie più ricche e importanti dell'impero Austroungarico. AllaNel morte1760 delHaydn maestrosi disposò cappella,con GregorMaria WernerAnna Keller, neldalla 1766quale non ebbe figli. E' possibile che ne abbia avuti da Luigia Polzelli, Haydncantante rilevòche illavorava suoanch'essa posto.alla corte degli Esterházy.
Alla morte del maestro di cappella, Gregor Werner, nel 1766, Haydn rilevò il suo posto, seguendo gli Esterházy nelle loro varie residenze: tra le sue mansioni, scrivere nuove composizioni, dirigere l'orchestra di corte, suonare musica da camera per e con i suoi protettori, e allestire rappresentazioni liriche. In ogni caso, nonostante l'impegno notevole, Haydn si considerava fortunato, dato che i principi Paul Anton e Nikolaus I erano raffinati intenditori di musica, che apprezzavano a dovere il suo lavoro e gli mettevano a disposizione tutto ciò di cui aveva bisogno.
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Durante i quasi trent'anni passati al servizio della famiglia, Haydn compose una mole impressionante di opere, e andò via via affinando il proprio stile. La sua popolarità andava crescendo di conseguenza, e, gradualmente, cominciò a scrivere anche indipendentemente dall'ambiente di corte. Numerose opere di questo periodo (tra cui le sinfonie dalla n. 82 alla n. 87) furono infatti scritte su commissioni esterne.
As a [[livery|liveried]] servant of the Eszterházys, Haydn followed them as they moved among their three main residences: the family seat in [[Eisenstadt]], their winter palace in Vienna, and [[Eszterháza]], a grand new palace built in rural Hungary in the [[1760s]]. Haydn had a huge range of responsibilities, including composition, running the orchestra, playing [[chamber music]] for and with his patrons, and eventually the mounting of operatic productions. Despite the backbreaking workload, Haydn considered himself fortunate to have his job. The Eszterházy princes (first Paul Anton, then most importantly Nikolaus I) were musical connoisseurs who appreciated his work and gave him the conditions needed for his artistic development, including daily access to his own small orchestra.
Attorno al 1781, Haydn strinse amicizia con Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Quest'ultimo, ancora giovane, era stato molto influenzato dal collega più anziano, e gli dedicò una serie di quartetti d'archi, pratica molto insolita in un'epoca in cui i dedicatari erano solitamente aristocratici. Si possono ricercare anche radici massoniche nell'amicizia fra i due musicisti, che erano infatti membri della stessa loggia cattolica.
In [[1760]], with the security of a Kapellmeister position, Haydn married. He and his wife, the former Maria Anna Keller, did not get along, and they produced no children. Haydn may have had one or more children with Luigia Polzelli, a singer in the Eszterházy establishment with whom he carried on a long-term love affair, and often wrote to on his travels.
Nel 1789, iniziò una relazione platonica ma assai intensa con Maria Anna von Genzinger, moglie del medico personale del principe Nikolaus I Esterházy. La morte prematura di questa, quattro anni dopo, fu un duro colpo per Haydn: se ne può forse sentire un richiamo nelle Variazioni in fa minore per pianoforte (Hob XVII:6), insolitamente drammatiche.
During the nearly thirty years that Haydn worked in the Eszterházy household, he produced a flood of compositions, and his musical style became ever more developed. His popularity in the outside world also increased. Gradually, Haydn came to write as much for publication as for his employer, and several important works of this period, such as the [[Symphonies No. 82-87 (Haydn)|Paris symphonies]] ([[1785]]–[[1786|6]]) and the original orchestral version of [[The Seven Last Words of Christ]] ([[1786]]), were commissions from abroad.
=== Londra ===
Around [[1781]] Haydn established a friendship with [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], whose work he had already been influencing by example for many years. According to later testimony by [[Stephen Storace]], the two composers occasionally played in [[string quartet]]s together. Haydn was hugely impressed with Mozart's work, and in various ways tried to help the younger composer. During the years 1782 to 1785, Mozart wrote a set of string quartets thought to be inspired by Haydn's Opus 33 series. On completion he dedicated them to Haydn, a very unusual thing to do at a time when dedicatees were usually aristocrats. The extremely close 'brotherly' Mozart-Haydn connection may be an expression of Freemasonic sympathies as well: Mozart and Haydn were members of the same Masonic lodge. Mozart joined in 1784 in the middle of writing those string quartets subsequently dedicated to his Masonic brother Haydn. This lodge was a specifically Catholic rather than a deistic one.
Nel 1790, con la morte di Nikolaus I Esterházy, l'''ensemble'' musicale della corte venne smantellato, e Haydn messo in pensione. Il compositore, ormai non più giovane, si trovò così libero di accettare un'offerta economicamente vantaggiosa, fattagli dall'impresario Johann Peter Salomon: libero dagli impegni di corte, viaggiare in Inghilterra e dirigere sinfonie con una grande orchestra.
In [[1789]], Haydn developed another friendship with [[Maria Anna von Genzinger]] (1750–93), the wife of Prince Nicolaus's personal physician in Vienna. Their relationship, documented in Haydn's letters, was evidently intense but platonic. The letters express Haydn's sense of loneliness and melancholy at his long isolation at Eszterháza. Genzinger's premature death in 1793 was a blow to Haydn, and his [[Variations in F minor for piano (Haydn)|F minor variations]] for piano, Hob. XVII:6, which are unusual in Haydn's work for their tone of impassioned tragedy, may have been written as response to her death.
Il primo viaggio (1791-1792) e i successivi (1794-1795) furono un successo clamoroso. Il pubblico accorreva entusiasta ai concerti di Haydn, che acquistò in breve tempo fama e ricchezze. Dal punto di vista della produzione, i viaggi generarono alcune fra le opere più note di Haydn, tra cui le sinfonie n. 94 (''Sorpresa''), n. 100 (''Militare''), n. 103 (''Col rullo di timpani''), n. 104 (''London''), il quartetto Hob III:74 (''Il cavaliere'') e il trio con pianoforte ''Rondò all'ungherese''.
The only misstep in the venture was an opera, ''L'anima del filosofo'', which Haydn was contracted to compose, and paid a substantial sum of money for. Only one aria was sung at the time, and 11 numbers were published; the entire opera was not performed until [[1950]]. ▼
===Ritorno a Vienna===
Alla fine del Settecento, Haydn prese seriamente in considerazione la possibilità di diventare un cittadino inglese, ma alla fine tornò a Vienna, dove si fece costruire una grande casa e si dedicò alla composizione di grandi opere sacre per coro e orchestra: tra queste si ricordano i due grandi oratori ''La creazione'' e ''Le stagioni'', e sei messe per la famiglia Esterházy, che nel frattempo aveva ritrovato l'interesse per la musica. In questo periodo, Haydn scrisse anche gli ultimi nove quartetti per archi. E a dispetto della non più giovane età, esclamò in una lettera "quanto rimane ancora da fare in questa arte meravigliosa!".
Nel [[1802]], una malattia di cui soffriva da tempo si acutizzò improvvisamente: al dolore fisico si aggiungeva l'impossibilità di dedicarsi al lavoro di composizione, nonostante la creatività fosse sempre tumultuosa. Durante gli ultimi anni, fu assistito con cura dai suoi servitori, e ricevette abitualmente numerose visite e pubblici riconoscimenti. Morì nel 1809, durante un attacco delle armate napoleoniche su Vienna.
Secondo la tradizione, le sue ultime parole sono state per tranquillizzare i suoi servitori durante il bombardamento su Vienna delle armate francesi.
Uno dei passatempi in cui trovava sollievo era suonare ''Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser'' al pianoforte, un tema patriottico che aveva composto nel 1797. Successivamente, venne usato come inno austriaco e tedesco, ed è attualmente l'inno nazionale della Germania.
A life-long resident of [[Austria]], Haydn spent most of his career as a [[Noble court|court]] musician for the wealthy [[Esterhazy|Eszterházy]] family on their remote estate. Being isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original".
Joseph Haydn was the brother of [[Michael Haydn]], himself a highly regarded composer, and [[Johann Evangelist Haydn]], a [[tenor]] [[singer]].
===Struggles as a freelancer===
===The London journeys===
In [[1790]], Prince Nikolaus died and was succeeded by a thoroughly unmusical prince who dismissed the entire musical establishment and put Haydn on a pension. Thus freed of his obligations, Haydn was able to accept a lucrative offer from [[Johann Peter Salomon]], a German impresario, to visit [[England]] and conduct new symphonies with a large orchestra.
The visit ([[1791]]-[[1792|2]]), along with a repeat visit ([[1794]]-[[1795|5]]), was a huge success. Audiences flocked to Haydn's concerts, and he quickly achieved wealth and fame: one review called him "incomparable." Musically, the visits to England generated some of Haydn's best-known work, including the ''[[Symphony No. 94 (Haydn)|Surprise]]'', ''[[Symphony No. 100 (Haydn)|Military]]'', ''[[Symphony No. 103 (Haydn)|Drumroll]]'', and ''[[Symphony No. 104 (Haydn)|London]]'' symphonies, the ''[[Rider quartet|Rider]]'' quartet, and the ''[[Gypsy Rondo piano trio|Gypsy Rondo]]'' piano trio.
▲The only misstep in the venture was an opera, ''L'anima del filosofo'', which Haydn was contracted to compose, and paid a substantial sum of money for. Only one aria was sung at the time, and 11 numbers were published; the entire opera was not performed until [[1950]].
===Final years in Vienna===
Haydn actually considered becoming an English citizen and settling permanently, as composers such as [[Handel]] had before him, but decided on a different course. He returned to Vienna, had a large house built for himself, and turned to the composition of large religious works for chorus and orchestra. These include his two great oratorios [[The Creation]] and [[The Seasons (Haydn)|The Seasons]] and six [[Mass (music)|masses]] for the Eszterházy family, which by this time was once again headed by a musically-inclined prince. Haydn also composed the last nine in his long series of string quartets, including the ''[[Media:EMPEROR.MID|Emperor]]'', ''[[Sunrise quartet|Sunrise]]'', and ''[[Fifths quartet|Fifths]]'' quartets. Despite his increasing age, Haydn looked to the future, exclaiming once in a letter, "how much remains to be done in this glorious art!"
In [[1802]], Haydn found that an illness from which he had been suffering for some time had increased greatly in severity to the point that he became physically unable to compose. This was doubtless very difficult for him because, as he acknowledged, the flow of fresh musical ideas waiting to be worked out as compositions did not cease. Haydn was well cared for by his servants, and he received many visitors and public honours during his last years, but they cannot have been very happy years for him. During his illness, Haydn often found solace by sitting at the piano and playing [[Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser]], which he had composed himself as a patriotic gesture in [[1797]]. This melody later became used for the [[Austria|Austrian]] and [[Germany|German]] [[national anthems]], and is the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Haydn died in [[1809]] following an attack on Vienna by the French army under [[Napoleon]]. Among his last words was his attempt to calm and reassure his servants as [[cannon]] shots fell on the neighbourhood.
== Character and appearance ==
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