Franz Joseph Haydn, composer

Born: March 31, 1732 in Rohrau, Austria

Died: May 31, 1809 in Vienna

Began his musical career: as an 8-year-old choir boy in Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral; after his voice changed he worked as a music teacher, a street serenader, and a valet-accompanist for the composer Nicola Porpora.

Assignments: Kapellmeister to Count Morzin (1757-1761), Kapellmeister to the Esterházys (1761-1790)

Known as: a devout Catholic, an avid practical joker, an “honnête homme” (honest man), the Father of the symphony and the string quartet, a good friend of Mozart’s (in fact Mozart’s Requiem was performed at Haydn’s funeral)

Prolific: more than 30 concerti, 14 masses, 15 operas, 45 piano trios, more than 70 piano sonatas and solo pieces, 68 string quartets, 108 symphonies, and two oratorios