Haydn's Farewell Symphony

by Anna Harwell Celenza, Joann Kitchel (Illustrator)

Anna Harwell Celenza's engaging fictionalized telling of the story behind Franz Joseph Haydn's famous symphony is a perfect introduction to classical music and its power. THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY brings to life a long summer spent at Esterháza, the summer palace of Prince Nicholas of Esterházy.

The blustering, bellowing prince entertained hundreds of guests at his rural retreat and demanded music for every occasion. As the months passed, Haydn was kept very busy writing and performing music for parties, balls, dinners, and even walks in the gardens. His orchestra members became homesick and missed their families. The anger, frustration, and longing of the musicians is expressed beautifully in the symphony born of the clever mind of Joseph Haydn who used it to convince Prince Nicholas that it was time to go home.

Wonderfully expressive illustrations by JoAnn E. Kitchel capture all the comedy and pathos of this unique symphony. Beautifully interpretive motifs and borders convey the setting and emotion of the story mirroring the structure of the symphony with the repetitive use of sets of four. Making classical music and history come alive with color and character, THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY ensures a place for the arts in the hearts and minds of children.

Genres: Music, Picture Books, History, Biography, Childrens, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prince Nicholas went love music in the summer Prince Nicholas went to his estate in Hungary with twenty-two Musician and Joseph Haydn he is famous composer. As summer fade into autumn, the musician grow increasingly homesick. It seem the prince will never return home to Austria. Haydn mentions the musicians distress, the princess threatens to fire the entire orchestra when the prince heard the Music. He understand the how it feel to be homesick.

[Stephanie Luebbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story for teaching! The kids love that it's based on a true story. I like how the author makes the different movements of the symphony interesting for the kids. Along with the book I showed my students what Esterhaza Court looks like today and their minds were blown.... This is a good teaching tool, and a fun read. I'd say 3rd to 4th grade.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Celenza's music appreciation series. This one is especially moving... in part, perhaps, because the piece is so old that much of the history is lost and Celenza was able to improvise a bit more than usual. Still, she told us what she knows from history, and the story and notes are all so enlightening. I recommend these to all libraries that serve children.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a true story about how Prince Nicholas keeps his Orchestra away from thier families and won't let them go home to see them. Papa Hayden writes a Symphony with three movements that send a clear message to Prince Nicholas, who finally agrees to let them go home.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes music can communicate when people won't listen to words. That's what Haydn accomplished with his stubborn, self-centered employer.

[Tracy Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read-aloud during our homeschool music study of Joseph Haydn.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story with CD of the symphony. For adults too!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the events that led up to the composition and first performance of Haydn's Farewell Symphony.

A well told story in words and pictures of a famous piece of music. Haydn was a bit of a mastermind with his use of music to get what he and his co-workers wanted from a stubborn man. Further information is in the back of the book. A fantastic resource for music history.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaching the history of music is a tricky business. Reading the biographies of composers alone is simply not enough. We need to listen to music too. But listening to music is not enough either, we need to understand the music, not only the tools used to make it such as instruments and structures, but the STORY of the music.

This book provides the STORY of the Farewell Symphony. Colorful illustrations and a good story arch illuminate Hayden's motivation for this piece. The CD included contains not only the "highly unusual" Symphony #45 in F-Sharp Minor, but also the more typical Symphony 31 Hornsignal in D Major. The 31st Symphony is first, so that students can understand a typical sound and progression of one of Hayden's works and then experience how the 45th is unique.

We thoroughly enjoyed this book and are looking forward to purchasing others in Celenza's series.

Question for other educators: What else to do recommend for teaching students the meaning of classical music pieces?

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered this book from the library when we were reading about Hadyn in Classical Music for Dummies (by David Pogue). CMD referenced Hadyn working for Prince Nicholas Esterhazy (sp?), and I reminded the kids about this book. They didn't remember it, so I got it again from the library and will read to them.

I like the illustrations almost better than the text of this book. Last year, I used some books in this series (the one about Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was particularly good) to read at school library story time. It was not super smooth to read aloud, though I was able to adapt it, especially for the younger grades.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well-done. It gave interesting information relating to Joseph Haydn (pronounce HI-dun, not HAY-dun) and the symphony he wrote during one summer. While some of the conversations were "made up" I felt it was fairly true to what we do know about him. The illustrations were colorful. My kids really enjoyed the story and looked through the book many times on their own.

I highly recommend any of Anna Celenza's books. They bring the composer and music to life. We're on a quest to collect as many as we can.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew reached up high, pulled this off a shelf from its place wedged between books, found the CD at the back and wanted to listen to the story. The CD only played the music, so I read it to him and he sat quietly and listened to the whole story. It may have been over his head, but he enjoyed hearing every word.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't amazing, but I like that it told the story of Haydn's symphony. Definitely wordy and not for a four year old...8 year old might even be better, but maybe 6 or 7 if they're into music biography stories.

[Stephanie]

historical book about composer Haydn written for children. Comes with a CD

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing look (especially the illustrations) at how a piece of music came to be. Read as part of my son's music class. Enjoyable CD.

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of telling the stories behind the music, and thought this was perfect. Great story, or paired with the music as a teaching tool.

[Miss Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hadyn teaches the prince empathy using music