Haydn and “The Absent Minded Lover”

Colin Dean “The Absent Minded Writer”

Haydn wrote the incidental music for the theatrical production Il Distratto during his servitude to the Esterhazy family. While the musical careers were beginning to be made among the middle class many composers still relied on the support of a patron to make a living. A late baroque composer’s incentive for composing, however growing to personal drive, still depended on the happiness of his provider. Haydn had a good relationship with the Esterhazy family and would compose towards their interests as well as his own.

Much of Haydn’s innovation comes from his isolation for parts of the year. Prince Nikolas built a summer home called Esterhaza which rivaled the magnificence of the original Esterhazy manor Eisenstadt. Prince Nikolas convinced himself to build a palace in a murky area near a lake that eventually made for costly construction. However once finished, Nikolas made sure to fill this vacation place with statues and fine works of art. Over the few years after its construction Haydn noticed prince Nikolas spe

Haydn scored the #60 is a similar manner of most of his symphonies because of the performers provided. Most of these works contain: 2 oboes, 2 horns (corni), timpani, 2 violins, viola and a bass part that can either be played on a violoncello or bass. What is remarkable about symphony #60 is that is contains six movements rather than the traditional four. The standard Adagio-Andante-Menuetto-Presto is supplemented with a seconds Adagio and a final Prestissimo.

The Menuetto highlights an interesting aspect to Haydn symphonies: his love for Hungarian folk melodies. When Prince Nikolas had guests over he often would throw big parties. Haydn would be in charge of organizing concerts and music for the guest’s enjoyment. Often the Prince would have the local Hungarian villagers parade by the palace with banners and perform their native dances and songs. Prince Nikolas had a wonderful fondness for these traditions as did Haydn, who would work the traditional melodies into his compositions. Unlike J.S. Bach who often took a chorale melody and expanded it into a work, Haydn just uses the melody as a section of one of his pieces. In the Prestissimo, Haydn doe

Some topics in this essay:
Il Distratto, Jean-Francios Regnard, Prince Nikolas, Night Watchmen”, Luckily Esterhaza, JS Bach, Writer” Oral, Prestissimo Haydn, prince nikolas, , symphony #60, il distratto, Colin Dean, esterhazy family, production il distratto, “the absent, minded lover”, musical humor, theatrical production, production il, absent minded, “the absent minded, theatrical production il,