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At the age of 8 Joseph Haydn
was sent to Vienna as a choirboy at St.
Stephen's Cathedral. Until 1750 he studied violin and
various keyboard instruments. It was at that time that he
started to compose his first work.
By 1766 he was assigned Kapellmeister for the Esterhazy family
in Eisenstadt, one of the leading Hungarian Families, where
he was in charge of up to 20 musicians. After the death of
Prince Nicholas in 1790 and the dissolving of the Esterhazy
orchestra, Haydn moved back to Vienna, where he became one
of the leading musicians and a doyen of his era. Beethoven
was one of his pupils. Mozart, a
great admirer of Haydn's art, dedicated as many as 6 string
quartets to him.
From 1791 to 1792 he stayed in London, where Oxford University
awarded him an honorary doctor of music.
In 1795 the Esterhazy orchestra was resurrected by Prince
Nikolaus II and Haydn was given a lot of freedom in his work
as musical director. During this time he composed the string
quartets "Rider" and the "Emperor Quartet"
and the world famous song "God Save The Emperor Franz".
This song was later used as German national anthem, obviously,
the lyrics were adapted. It is in use as Germany's national
anthem till today.
His famous
quote "My language is spoken throughout the world"
prooves him to be highly aware of the international appeal
of (his) music transcending language and other barriers.
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