[Exploring Haydn: A Listener's Guide to Music's Boldest Innovator] (By: David Hurwitz) [published: November, 2005]

Unlocking the Masters #6

by David Hurwitz

No composer has ever achieved the amazing progression that Haydn has. He invented the string quartet as we know it today, became "the Father of the Symphony," and founded the greatest school in the history of music. His life was one of ceaseless experimentation and invention, of problems surmounted and challenges met. In this book, No. 6 in the Amadeus Press Unlocking the Masters series, David Hurwitz acquaints readers with Haydn's innovative melodic creativity, his revolutionary use of musical form, and important characteristics of his personal style, including his genius for writing in minor keys and creating comedy in his music. In addition to Haydn's principal instrumental works, Hurwitz explores Haydn's vocal music and instrumental masterpieces that fall outside the mainstream. Four appendixes list all of his symphonies, string quartets, piano sonatas, and piano trios. Two Universal Records CDs provide over two and a half hours of music keyed to pieces described in the book.

Genres: Music

Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

David Hurwitz (born 29 August 1961) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music.

Based in New York, he is the founder and executive editor of ClassicsToday.com and frequently reviews recordings there. Hurwitz has published numerous books, primarily guides on specific composers for the Amadeus Press "Unlocking the Masters" series, namely, Mahler, Mozart, Dvořák, Haydn, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Bernstein, Strauss, C. P. E. Bach and Handel. Other publications include an introduction to classical music, two articles on the 19th-century use of vibrato as well as surveys on the symphonies of Beethoven (the 5th and 7th) and Brahms (all four). He was the chairman for the Cannes Classical Awards while it existed from 1994 to 2010.

In 2020 Hurwitz launched a YouTube channel on which he regularly posts video reviews and discographical surveys.

Reviews

[David Dunlap · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book -- labeling Haydn as 'music's boldest innovator' -- is music to the ears of any Haydn aficionado. The author does a splendid job in supporting this contention, giving the reader numerous examples of the wide variety of music that came from the pen of the Austrian great. Haydn is presented as the father of classical music as we know it, and is shown to be able to hold his own -- and then some! -- in the company of the men in whose shadows he usually stands, Mozart and Beethoven. The author maintains that early Haydn compositions do not demonstrate the immaturity of other great composers, though -- to be sure -- his gifts developed, grew, and blossomed as his career advanced. It is ironic that, as Hurwitz notes, less has been written about Haydn than his contemporaries (M & B), since there is more documentary history left behind him -- meticulous records from the Esterhazy family (Haydn's long-time employers), no fewer than three biographies written about him in his own time (one of which was authored by someone who knew Haydn personally), and many letters. The emphasis throughout the book is on the music, not the man, but Hurwitz makes good use of quotations from Haydn's letters and papers to add a personal touch to the exposition. I found the final chapters a bit more technical than was had preceded them, which is unfortunate, as I believe this book serves as an excellent guide to Haydn's music for both the Haydn admirer and the musically curious.