He ain’t heavy; he’s Haydn’s brother.
Though Johann Michael Haydn’s entrance into a musical career was eased by his yet-to-be-famous older brother, he very much earned a reputation on his own merits. Michael started out as an organist and chorister (gone to Vienna at age 8; employed as an organist there by age 12). It’s said that Michael was the brighter student of the two and that his singing was more admired.
In 1762, Michael arrived in Salzburg, where he rose through the ranks to become concertmaster and organist to Archbishop Sigismund Schrattenbach. In Schrattenbach’s service, he churned out over 360 compositions. The Haydns met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg. Naturally, his music made a great impression. What’s surprising, perhaps, is that their music made a great impression on him, as well.
For years, Michael’s Symphony No. 26 was misidentified as Mozart’s Symphony No. 37. Mozart had borrowed the work to perform in Linz. On another occasion, Mozart stepped up to fulfill one of Michael’s commissions (anonymously) when Michael was too ill to do so himself. When he came to write his Requiem in 1791, Mozart clearly remembered the requiem mass Michael had composed some 20 years earlier on the death of his employer.
For his part, Mozart’s father, Leopold, disapproved of Michael’s heavy drinking. Perhaps that only made him all the more appealing to his son.
Joseph Haydn also thought very highly of his brother’s music. He found his sacred works to be particularly effective, bearing an intimate and devotional stamp in contrast to his own more secular, monumental approach. At a point, Michael received a job offer from Joseph’s former boss, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, but he opted to remain in Salzburg. He would die there at the age of 68.
Join me this afternoon, as we honor the Haydn brothers, on this, Michael’s birthday (born in 1737). We’ll also have music of Luigi Cherubini on the anniversary of his birth (in 1760). In addition, there will be selections by Franz Liszt, William Mathias, Roberto Sierra, and others, between 4 and 7 EDT on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
FUN FACT: Franz Joseph and Johann Michael had a still younger brother named Johann Evangelist. He was a tenor, whom the family nicknamed Hansl (without the “e”).
IMAGES: Those talented Haydn boys, Michael (left) and Joseph
