Joseh Haydn

Joseph Haydn was born in Austria and came from an artisan background. His mother wanted him to be a priest. She was happy when he enrolled in a church school in Vienna. After several years, Joseph Haydn was kicked out of school for pulling pranks. One of the pranks was that he cut off the ponytail of a kid who sat in front of him. Known as the “Father of the Symphony,” Haydn wrote 104 of them. He was a good composer even if he didn’t stay in school for long!

One of the songs I’m listening to this month is “Military” (Symphony 100.) The Prince’s wife died and he didn’t want Haydn to leave, because he thought that music will help him heal. So, Haydn had to stay there until he was fifty-eight; Haydn was able to leave the castle when the Prince died. The song “Military” is good; you can imagine that the prince is sad, because the music is soft. Then it goes faster and louder, then softer and quieter. I can’t imagine an army, but you might. That is what the “Military” symphony is supposed to be about.

The other song is called “Surprise” (Symphony 94); it’s a good song because it has a crashing noise in the beginning, which surprises you, plus it has Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in it. You’re probably wondering why it has Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as part of the music, well, that’s because it originated from this symphony. Anyway, Haydn did the crashing in the beginning because he knew that his music made people tired and not interested. The song is not that interesting really, but some of it is. Where the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is, I like those parts! No surprise there, I guess.