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Great Masters: Haydn - His Life and Music  By  cover art

Great Masters: Haydn - His Life and Music

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
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Publisher's summary

Almost from the moment it was first set to paper, the music of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - technically superb, rich in quality, and widely imitated - has exemplified the Classical style, creating not only the Classical-era symphony but setting the standard, through his own 68 string quartets, against which that form has ever after been judged.

And yet Haydn, despite the influence left by more than 1,000 works, seems to no longer get his due, often thought of as an aged figure surpassed and overshadowed by Beethoven and Mozart, who actually credited Haydn, the only contemporary he admired, and with whom he formed a lasting and artistically fruitful friendship, with teaching him how to write string quartets. Even Beethoven, whose relationship with his compositional teacher was troubled and stormy, would never have been able to write his triumphant Ninth Symphony without the influence of Haydn's crowning achievement, the towering 1798 oratorio, Creation.

Now, in a series of eight vivid lectures, you can learn to understand and appreciate the music of one of the most original and influential composers of all time as you explore his origins, influence, and greatest works.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2000 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2000 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Great Masters: Haydn - His Life and Music

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Wonderful & Inspiring

What made the experience of listening to Great Masters: Haydn - His Life and Music the most enjoyable?

Robert Greenberg's knowledge of music form and in depth information of Haydn's life. The discription of how a piece was written and how it related to events in the composers life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great Masters: Haydn - His Life and Music?

Haydn's relationship with other composer's, Mozart and Beethoven.
Why is it that composers have messed up love lifes and seem to chase the wrong women?
Brhams, Haydn, Tchaikovsky

Have you listened to any of Professor Robert Greenberg’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my forth composer lecture of the series and I have three more to listen to. All have been very informative and inspiring.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I love the jokes, I love the enthusiasm, I love the lectures of Robert Greenberg.

Any additional comments?

Order these lectures today they are inexpensive, Then go buy some great music you can't go wrong.

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5 people found this helpful

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Another masterpiece from Greenberg

The narrator makes this great. He varies his pace, foreshadows, goes on occasional rants and just makes this biography very entertaining. I have listened to his long form courses. this is a great sample for someone who wants to try him out.

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4 people found this helpful

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The Venus de Milo, a ’58 Chevy, the music of Haydn

Altered slightly to fit the character count for headlines, that quote from Professor Greenberg neatly sums up what’s to love about these lectures. Concluding his explanation of why “Classical” music is called Classical (like the statue and the car, Haydn defined a genre), they exemplify our professor’s unfailing ability to be articulate, funny, and insightful all at once.

Along the way we gain an understanding of the times and culture that shaped Haydn (I’ve never run across a more succinct discussion of the Holy Roman Empire), his fundamentally cheerful and workmanlike attitude (he was a genius, but not arrogant or tortured) and the predecessors and contemporaries, patrons and artistic movements that helped shape his music. I’ve always loved Haydn’s stuff. Now I understand it, and him, a little better.

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3 people found this helpful

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So Good!

Haydn's story of kindness & generosity is a wonderful counterexample to the celebrated egotistical temperamental artist. As an artist myself & practicing Buddhist, I found inspiration & encouragement from Haydn's hard work, humility, joyful attitude, & spiritual devotion.

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1 person found this helpful

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Greenberg delivers again!

I loved every moment of this audio book! Recommended, especially if youre interested in music history.

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Fantastic! I'm a Haydn convert!

Professor Greenberg is animated and erudite. I love both his serious side and his irrepressible humorous side. I have many of his courses in my Audible library, and whenever I finish one, I'm on to the next. Looking forward to queuing up the next one right now!

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Entertaining, beautiful biography

I grew up long ago singing about Papa Haydn and never knew a thing about him. Well, this wonderful course has sure changed that. I really appreciate such a fine presentation of the man and his music.

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Haydn. excellent historical narrative.

Haydn. excellent historical narrative. well read, well written. highly interesting. Greenberg has great musical knowledge.

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Perfect audiobook, inspiring and enlightening

Thank professor greenberg for your energetic and engaging performance. I loved every minute of this book.

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Entertaining and informative

While I am occasionally annoyed at the rollicking and irreverent style Robert Greenberg employs for his lectures on music and famous composers, I have to give it to him that he knows how to put on a "damn good" show and I absolutely recommend his "shows" to listen to!
It IS hard work to educate as well as entertain, and just like Joseph Haydn himself, Greenberg strives for a great balance and combine these two aspects admirably. Also in praise of him: he offers us extensively well-researched material, supported by memoirs of eye-witnesses, correspondence of family, friends, analysis from contemporary newspapers and critics; quotes from old and modern biographies, results of musical analysis and parts of well-chosen musical pieces. He always gives you a narrower and wider historical and cultural context and manages to transport you into the era of his chosen composer and presents his subject in 3D. All his lectures are accompanied by PDF material outlining and summarising the content.

Last but not least, quite a few of his lectures are/were included in The Great Courses series on Audible to borrow for free, for which I am truly grateful.

I learned about Haydn in school as he has had important ties to Hungary and while I also enjoy his music a lot, I have not given him too much thought altogether. But after listening to these biographic lectures by Greenberg, I stand corrected and remorseful ... and am much more appreciative of and impressed by "Papa Haydn" than I was before. Plus I added some more music to listen to for my "Vienna Classics" channel on Youtube. :)

Haydn's life makes for a truly engrossing tale and Greenberg makes the most of it.

The most interesting points for me were the friendship between Haydn and Mozart (who was half Haydn's age when they met and the two men could not have been more different even had they tried), the far from ideal relationship between Haydn and the young Beethoven and the whole musical journey Haydn completed.
He had a long way to travel from starting off as a choirboy in Vienna's St Stephen Cathedral, struggling as a freelancer musician and composer, becoming a music "officer" of the Esterhazy family while slowly establishing himself as an acknowledged composer, to finally reaching celebrity status in London while being made the doctor of music in Oxford, meeting the Prince of Wales (later George IV) and George III and finally being revered by all in Vienna at the end of his life.

The body of music he created is truly staggering, the process of creating his own music among the musical impressions he received (Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, Mozart, J.S. Bach, Handel) is fascinating.

A much recommended biography/listen.

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