Haydn

by J. Cuthbert Hadden, Jenny Bavidge (Editor)

James Cuthbert Hadden was a Scottish organist and a writer who wrote biographies of Chopin, Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. His writing style is both highly accessible and generously endowed with a capacity for information. The present work traces the development of Haydn as a man and Haydn as composer from his early days in Rohrau to his years in Vienna and Eisenstadt, to his London visits, to his last years. Much attention is given to his compositions, but also to such details as his face and features, social habits, humour, piety, industry, and so on. A useful inclusion is a catalogue of Haydn s works, and most readers will find the selection of Haydn s letters included as an appendix, as well as his last will and testament, highly informative.

Genres: Music

167 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

James Cuthbert Hadden (1861-1914)

Reviews

[David Dunlap · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that was originally published in 1902. The author's style is dry, but the content is solid. There are some interesting vignettes about the composer's life of which I had been previously unaware. (For example, a young Haydn was a drummer in a marching band...but he was too small to carry the drum himself, so it was strapped on the back of the musician ahead of him -- a hunchback.) It's difficult to recommend this particular edition, however: it is quite clear that the original book included illustrations and musical examples. The -space- for these things is still there, but the displays are -not-. There are also allusions to other books, but no accompanying documentation: the allusions merely tantalize; they do not provide sufficient clues for the curious to pursue. -- A definite mixed-bag, then. I enjoyed it...but I do not heartily recommend it to others.