Comparison of Mozart and Haydn

Haydn and Mozart

Haydn and Mozart are "regarded as the most accomplished among a large number of highly skilled musicians active in the second half of the eighteenth century" (Yudkin). Haydn was born in Austria as one of 12 children. There was quite a fond love of music throughout his household, and he began to show an early talent for music. Much like Haydn, Mozart was also born into a musically centered household. His father however was in the music career but gave it up to help endorse his son's career. He also appeared to have quite talent at an early age. By age eight Mozart had already began to publish music, by ten he was writing symphonies, and by fourteen he even began to write a full-length opera.

Mozart found quite difficulty in his later years to obtain a job. The Prince Archbishop of Salzburg was already angry at his father for his long leaves of absence. He did finally hire Mozart, but he only managed to get a junior position. Mozart didn't like this job very much so he began to travel. What made it the most difficult for Mozart to find a job was the fact that many employers considered him too good for the job. Haydn however was very lucky. During a period in Haydn's life he had to give harpsichord lessons and playing in local orchestras. He had lived in a small room in an apartment building. One day as he practiced, a very prominent poet overheard his music and introduced Haydn to many other important people. One of which was Maria Esterhбzy, who was a member of an aristocratic family. He was soon hired as a music director for Prince Paul Anton Esterhбzy. When he died Prince Nikolaus succeeded the crown and was also an avid music lover and kept him around until about 1790 when Nikolaus died.

Haydn died in 1809 at the decent age of 77, while Mozart died at a shockingly young age of 35 in 1791. Both of these artists are considered musical geniuses.

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Works Cited:

Yudkin, Jeremy. Understanding Music. 4th. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.