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One of the biggest names of classical music, a beloved friend of Mozart and Beethoven and the "Father of the Symphony"... Joseph Haydn was both modest and hardworking. His life is full of inspiration and hopefully as musiconline we're about to cover it all.

Unlike most of his peers, Haydn wasn't born to a musician family. His passion and excellence in music is shaped by his pure grinding. Haydn's talent for music was discovered while he was a kid but since getting music education was not that easy for the time, he had to take the hard way.

Leaving his family at the age of 6, Haydn began studying music in House of Fankh. Although Fankhs were considered as generous for helping this young talent, they were also making fun of him because of his looks.

Haydn, often being given small amounts of food, discovered that singers are provided with plenty of snacks and food and started practicing singing. In addition to his vocal training, he learned clavichord and playing violin.

When he was 20, Haydn decided to make music full time. He worked in different jobs like teaching music, street music and assistance in general. He then moved next to German chancellor Wilhelm von Haugwitz and kept earning money by making music.

Although he has never provided with a systematic music education, Haydn never stopped studying music. It is stated that he has carefully examined and studied the compositions of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who is the son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Haydn has made his way to aristocracy in a short amount of time, thanks to his hardworking nature. He has been offered a job from Count Morzin, whose house is somewhere in Czech Republic as of today. By applying this offer, Haydn became the music director of the house and responsible from Morzin's orchestra. This lasted for only 5 years since Morzin have gone broke and stopped spending money for music.

This didn't affect Haydn. He was already famous and well-known and offered a new job by Esterhazy family soon after he's done with Morzin. Esterhazy, was one of the oldest families of Austria and this was a great chance for Haydn to travel while making music.

1779 was a turning point for Haydn. Until this time, copyrights and distribution rights belonged to the family he was working for. With the new contract he signed, Haydn became the true owner of his songs. He immediately contacted with several different distribution companies across the Europe. His symphonies have gained popularity everyday.

Esterhazy family was living in a location where almost anyone else was around. Often getting bored of the isolated life, Haydn visited his friends as much as he can. His friends were precious to him and one of them was someone you already know: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Speaking to another friend, Charles Burney, Haydn stated his thoughts of Mozart as follows:

My friends keep complimenting my intelligence but Mozart is much better than me.

To be clear, as musiconline we love all the beautiful music without comparing none. Anecdotes like these only make music history more joyful and easier to follow. ?

Contacting with distributors was definitely worth for Haydn. He became popular all over the Europe in a short amount of time and started spending most of his time living in or traveling to Britain. He composed his top-performing symphonies like “Surprise”, “Military”, “Drumroll” and “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OitPLIowJ70” during this time.

Haydn also met with Beethoven on one of his traveling days and accepted him as a student. Haydn taught Beethoven what he knew during his days in Vienna. How Haydn affected Beethoven is a huge topic itself so we won't delve into it right now.

Haydn, kept working and composing until he was physically unable to make music.

No matter what obstacles life may present, working hard and working smart is a great way to overcome. Luckily, you don't have to leaver our families for music education, sing for food or make dramatic choices for making a life out of music. As long as you have internet access, you can learn music online with musiconline !