The New Grove Haydn

by Jens Peter Larsen, Peter Larsen, Georg Feder

The son of an 18th century Austrian wheelwright, Haydn is acknowledged for refining the symphony and string quartet and praised for his oratorios and masses. Deeply involved in the evolution of the Classical style, its subsequent growth can be seen in his own music. Indeed, he is considered to be one of the most significant composers of the Classical Period. Under his care the symphony and string quartet came to life, and the oratios and masses of his late years belong to the consummation of the classical spirit in music.
This biography of Joseph Haydn is one in a new series of composer biographies, derived and adapted from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. These newly written biographies bring the best of the book-length pieces in The New Grove to a wider audience.
Each title provides fresh new insights into the life and works of a major composer, derived from the most recent scholarship. In addition to a detailed and informative view of the subject's life and works, written by an expert in the field, each book includes comprehensive, tabular work-lists and a fully revised and updated bibliography.

Genres: Music

237 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1983

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is derived from The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians and made part of The composer biography series. This one concerns the Austrian composer Haydn (1732-1809). Jens Peter Larsen is responsible for the tekst, Georg Feder for the work list (page 122-208 in very small text). It is at the least noticeable that the main part of the book once was a dictionary: so many dates, enumerations of works and, in every tenth sentence the remark that it is hard to date a work. We hardly read about Haydn; we read a review of his work-list. The only pages really devoted to the composer Franz Joseph Haydn are in the chapter called Artistic development.
The work-list, by Georg Feder of the Haydn-Institut in Köln (Cologne), is quite an achievement. Respect! Well, I have some more Haydn literature on my wooden shelves, so there still are enough opportunities to get to know some more about Haydn.
The circumstance that triggered me to read about Haydn was the novel ‘Sloop’ by Anna Enquist. The protagonist of this novel is a composer of both commercial jingles and serious modernistic music. Enquist fits interludes within the story line about Haydn, her very favourite composer. I might elaborate on that in my reader’s experience of that novel, later on.
During my ‘career’ as a concert visitor (preliminary until March 7, 2020) 92 times a work of Haydn was performed. I don’t mention this to boast, but to express that I like Haydn’s music very much. One of the most remarkable concerts was when the Ludwig ensemble was conducted by Barbara Hannigan on April 5, 2014 in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. O, that sympathetic approach, with such souplesse and finesse. (Look her up, do a search with the words haydn symfonie hannigan.) OK, I am a fan of Barbara Hannigan, too. I consider her one of the greatest living performing artists. But that’s another story.
By the way, the person who seems to be the author of this book – J. Larsen – is not the same as Jens Larsen is not the same as Jens Peter Larsen. Jens Peter Larsen is the musicologist who wrote this Haydn book – and other books about Haydn. In due time I will notify GR. JM