Franz Joseph Haydn (1732~1809) was born into a small village in eastern Austria, there were twelve kids in his family. Since he had showed his gift in music when he was little, his father send him to his uncle, who was a conductor of a chorus, to learn more about music when he was six. His uncle taught him music theory, violin and cello.
Two years later, he joined the chorus of Stephansdom, he didn't leave there until he had his mutation period. After that, he made his living by teaching music, and try to compose in his leisure time. After his Missa caught public's attention, he was invited to be a conductor, and was able to focus on composition.
Haydn is well-known for his amiability and humor, members of his band even called him "papa Haydn".
Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart are called "the three classical musician". It goes without saying that he had composed many gorgeous melody. So let's enjoy his work together.
Franz Seraphicus Peter Schubert(1797-1828) was born into a poor family in Vienna, his father was a poor teacher. Though his family was poor, they loved music very much, so Schubert was able to expose to music since he was little. When he was nine, his performance in music had become better than his father and brothers. Schubert got into a music school to learn how to compose when he was eleven, and he showed great talent. But because of the pressure of money from his family, he became a teacher just like his father. He taught at school during the day, and never stop composing at night. He usually composed using poem as lyrics, such like Goethe's poem.
In 1818, Schubert decided to quit teaching, focus on composition. Unfortunately, his work did't recieve good response, so his economic situation didn't turn well. Luckily, because of his good temper, he had many good friends who were willing to help him. They not only give him economic help, they also promoted his work.
Schubert died when he was only 31, his friends buried him near to Beethoven because of his admiration to Beethoven. Though his life was not long, he left us many great compositions.
Ludwig Von Beethoven(1770-1827) was born into a poor family in Germany, his grandfather found his talent in music when he was only three. Unfortunately, his grandfather soon passed away. Beethoven's father was a bad-tempered drunkard, and he requested Beethoven to become "the second Mozart" in order to earn more money and fame. Beethoven became antisocial because of his miserable childhood.
When Beethoven was seventeen, he went to Vienna to meet Mozart, and then learned how to compose from Haydn. He composed his first symphony when he was thirty, and soon was viewed as " the successor of Mozart". Some even regarded Beethoven as the initiator of Romanticism. At first, Beethoven intended to be a pianist, but after he noticed that he would became deaf in the no distant future, he decided to concentrate on composing.
Beethoven didn't lead a happy life, being mistreated by his father, becoming deaf though he was a musician, being frustrated in love. But he DO love life, and he showed his love in his music.
Let's enjoy some beautiful melody from Beethoven together.
Last week we talked about Mozart, this week, let's move on to the father of music - Bach.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was born into a great musical family. Unfortunately, he became an orphan when he was 10. After that, he had been raised by his brother, who was an church organist. That's when he started to play music. After he grew up, he also became an church organist, and gradually became famous for his improvisation.
Bach is representative of Baroque composer. His composition is precise and skillful, numerous and high-quality. He pushed polyphonic music to the climax, and separated music from religion. He is the one who developed homophonic music from polyphonic music, and that's why he is called "the father of music".
Let's hear some of his composition together.
To teach his wife music, Bach composed this well-known melody - Minuet in G Major.
