Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn [Hardcover]

David Wyn Jones (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Oxford Composer Companion | Publication Date: June 6, 2002

This second volume in the acclaimed new Companion series on major composers is devoted to the immensely prolific Austrian composer and the father of both the symphony and the string quartet.
In more than 900 A-to-Z entries, Haydn's world is brought to vivid life. All of his music is highlighted including his symphonies, concertos, masses, oratorios, operas, string quartets and other chamber works, sonatas, and miscellaneous choral pieces. Family, friends, patrons and contemporaries (Mozart and the young Beethoven among them), ideas, influences, and aesthetics all played a major role in his life and are illuminated throughout the text.
An invaluable resource for students, teachers, and music lovers, this volume contains a wealth of information including maps, a chronology, a list of works, and expert assessments of Haydn's compositions and increasing popularity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This encyclopedia on Haydn's life, works, and influence could provide the basis for a Hollywood biopic on the composer, whose music-along with Mozart's and Beethoven's-defines an era. Jones (music, Univ. of Wales) presents more than 900 authoritative, accessible articles by 41 contributors on the surroundings (Eszterh za, Vienna), people (family, teachers, composers, performers, patrons), in-the-air ideas (Josephinism, Freemasonry), and musical genres (mass, quartet, symphony) that informed the composer, along with entries on his compositions and the long-range influence of his inventions (on everything from Brahms to the name of a pastry). Within an article, a word may be printed in small capital letters, indicating that it has a separate entry. Two useful appendixes list Haydn's works (with nicknames-Surprise!-and a key to how the works are listed in New Grove) and give text incipits to vocal works cross-referenced to the Hoboken catalog. Though an index would have been preferable, a "Thematic Overview" helps locate entries of like nature, e.g., "Catalogues, Diaries and Iconography" (five entries), "Structures and Style [of Haydn's music]" (ten entries), and "Performers" (53 entries). The front matter also includes family trees and a map of Haydn's world. Formatted much like the first entry in this series (on Bach), this is indeed the first encyclopedia on the composer, and it is highly recommended for all devotees of Western concert music and their libraries.
Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Libs., College Park
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Similar in format to the Oxford Composer Companions book on J. S. Bach (1999), this well-planned, scholarly encyclopedia is a comprehensive and informative reference source on the life, music, and times of the prolific and influential eighteenth-century composer of classical music.

A "Thematic Overview" listing the book's entries under broad topics and then subdivided by specific subjects related to Haydn helps readers focus on the areas of knowledge they are researching (e.g., biography; composers; family, friends, and acquaintances; cities, towns, and villages; individual musical works). This is followed by a Haydn family genealogical chart and a sketchy map of Europe and England. The main body of the encyclopedia consists of almost 1,000 alphabetically arranged entries related to Haydn's life, music, and historical era. Each entry is followed by the initials of the author, whose full name can be determined by referring to a list of contributors located at the beginning of the book. Many entries also cite one or two sources used in the preparation of the entry. In addition, there are several megaentries that give in-depth treatment to subjects like Haydn's life, his compositional method, the keyboard sonata, and the symphony.

Appendixes include a list of Haydn's works in chart format, noting details like instruments scored for, musical key, date, and Hoboken number as well as a chart of "text incipits" noting movements in Haydn's vocal music cross-referenced to the Hoboken catalogue. There is unfortunately no index, which would help readers identify specific subjects within the text of entries.

This reference source provides comprehensive and accurate information similar to that found in the 100-page article on Haydn in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2d ed, Groves, 2001). It is most useful as a complement to The New Grove Dictionary in academic libraries supporting graduate-level programs in music and in large public libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1st ed edition (June 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198662165
• ISBN-13: 978-0198662167
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #681,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Haydn

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Guide to Haydn, August 9, 2006

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn (Hardcover)

David Wyn Jones, the editor of this outstanding 2002 reference work on Haydn, (1732 -- 1809), notes in his Preface that "Joseph Haydn was the last 'great' composer to be adequately served by scholarship." This book, part of the Oxford Composer Companion series, fulfills its promise of offering a comprensive guide to Haydn's life, music, and legacy based upon the most up-to-date modern scholarship. David Wyn Jones is senior lecturer in music at the University of Wales and the author of numerous books about Haydn and the Classical Era. The 900 plus entries in this volume were prepared by 41 contributors, each a Haydn scholar in their own right. This book is a treasure-trove of information about Haydn for the lover of his music.

I was drawn to this book to help me in my project, completed recently, of listening to CDs of each of Haydn's 104 numbered symphonies and preparing a survey of them in reviews on this site. Thus, the Oxford Companion includes a 34-page essay on Haydn's symphonies by Professor Simon McVeigh, Goldsmithe College, University of London. Professor McVeigh's article includes an introduction to symphonic form and traces its development from Haydn's earlist to his final works in nine carefully organized sections. Virtually every symphony is given some individual attention, as McVeigh examines the course of Haydn's symphonic writing throught the 36 years he employed it. I found this guide indespensable to my project of getting to understand Haydn's symphonies myself in some detail and preparing a survey of them to encourage others to hear them.

I supplemented the basic article on the symphony with many others from this volume, including, most basically, a long biography of the composer written by Wyn Jones. I found valuable the many articles about the intellectual climate of Haydn's day, particularly the articles on Enlightenment, Freemasonry, Sturm und Drang, and Josephism. There are articles on sonata form, the minuet, and variation which are critical to better enjoying the symphonies. The article on performance practices discusses issues in the performance of Haydn from his lifetime up to current debates. There is an excellent article treating "recordings" of Haydn's music and an essay titled "reception" by the dean of Haydn scholars, H.C. Robbins Landon on how Haydn's music has been received and assessed over the years. These are only some of the articles that were of interest to me as a heard and wrote about Haydn's symphonies.

This book gives a compelling picture of the breadth and depth of Haydn's output. It includes lengthy essays on every form in which Haydn worked including the string quartet, oratorio, piano sonata, trio, concerto opera, mass, song, baryton music and much more. Many works are discussed in individual entries. Haydn is a composer that one can stay with and love over a long period of time.

The book is over 500 pages in length and the entries are organized alphabetically. The book opens with a "thematic overview" which is an index to the entries arranged by subject matter. I found it easy to use, but those coming to the book will want to examine it to find the entries that interest them. Following the detailed entries, an appendix lists Haydn's works organized by type. This appendix impressed me as little else could with the vastness of Haydn's output. A second appendix covers individual numbers in Haydn's vocal works.

This book is essential for those wanting to do scholarly work on Haydn. But, perhaps more importantly, it will appeal to lovers of music who want to explore and enjoy the work of this great composer in depth.

Robin Friedman

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haydn, August 22, 2010

By 

raymond Obermayr - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn (Paperback)

The amount of information in this volume with anything even remotely connected with Haydn is phenomenal. Its alphebetical organization gave me trouble at first. I bought the book because of my recent rediscovery of Haydn's music. I knew little of his life. I turned to "H" and found a satisfying 17 page biographical sketch. Most of the questions I had about Haydn were answered in the alphabetical listing from Abingdon to Zwettl. I am enjoying browsing through the Haydn related alphabet.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Goldmine, October 15, 2009

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Anthony P. Martin "apm" (Unincorporated Contra Costa County, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn (Hardcover)

Arranged alphabetically, the articles, mostly short, have all sorts of info that otherwise might be buried in specialized journal articles. Mahler wrote recits for Creation...who knew?