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Episode 1

Donald Macleod explores the work of Joseph Haydn's younger brother, focusing on his time as music director to the Bishop of Grosswardein and as a concertmaster in Salzburg.

He was respected by Mozart, revered by Schubert, and regarded during his lifetime as the leading contemporary composer of church music. Who was he? The answer is Michael - yes, Michael - Haydn. Johann Michael Haydn, to give him his full name, has come down to posterity as little more than a footnote in the biography of his celebrated older brother, Joseph. After all, Joseph Haydn was 'father' of the symphony and the string quartet - and Michael wasn't.

Michael Haydn may be less historically significant than Joseph, but he's nonetheless an important composer in his own right, and his achievement has been overshadowed in a way that it might perhaps not have been had he borne a different family name. Michael Haydn has come down to posterity as little more than a footnote in the biography of his celebrated older brother, Joseph. Donald Macleod takes him out of those footnotes and into the footlights, placing him centre-stage for a change - a position he can occupy quite unapologetically and without having to ask his big brother's permission.

This episode sees him take up his first job - as Music Director to the Bishop of Grosswardein - and move on to his second, as concertmaster to the archiepiscopal court at Salzburg, where he was to remain until his death 43 years later, working alongside Leopold Mozart and, for a time, his son Wolfgang. On the playlist: Haydn's first symphony; an early liturgical work, Christus factus est; his only surviving piano composition; and an extract from one of his most brilliantly virtuosic serenades.

1 hour

Last on

Mon 21 Jun 2010 22:00

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Music Played

  • Michael Haydn

    Partita [Symphony] no.1c in E flat major, MH35 (P1)

    Performer: Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Johannes Goritzki (Conductor)

    • CPO 999 380-2,.
    • 8 to 11.
  • Michael Haydn

    Christus factus est (gradual), MH38

    Performer: St Jacob's Chamber Choir, Gary Graden (Conductor)

    • BIS-CD-859,.
    • 12.
  • Michael Haydn

    Variations in C major for piano (P132)

    Performer: Wolfgang Brunner

    • CPO 999 230-2,.
    • 5.
  • Michael Haydn

    4 movements from Serenade in D major, MH68

    Performer: 6. Allegro spiritoso Performer: Prager Kammerorchester / Gernot Schmalfuss (Conductor)

    • Orfeo.
    • 6.
  • Michael Haydn

    4 movements from Serenade in D major, MH68

    Performer: 7. Menuetto - Trio Performer: Prager Kammerorchester / Gernot Schmalfuss (Conductor)

    • Orfeo.
    • 7.
  • Michael Haydn

    4 movements from Serenade in D major, MH68

    Performer: 3. Andante Performer: Prager Kammerorchester / Gernot Schmalfuss (Conductor)

    • Orfeo.
    • 3.
  • Michael Haydn

    4 movements from Serenade in D major, MH68

    Performer: 9. Finale. Presto Performer: Prager Kammerorchester / Gernot Schmalfuss (Conductor)

    • Orfeo.
    • 9.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 17 Nov 2008 12:00
  • Mon 17 Nov 2008 22:00
  • Mon 21 Jun 2010 12:00
  • Mon 21 Jun 2010 22:00

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