Joseph Haydn

Introduction & Top Questions
Early years
Esterházy patronage
English period
The late Esterházy and Viennese period
Works, development, and achievement

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Engraving of Franz Joseph Haydn conducting a string quartet in an elegant room, with musicians playing and several listeners gathered around.

At a Glance

Joseph Haydn summary

Quizzes

Illustration of musical notes. classical music composer composition. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society, music notes

Composers & Their Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart rehearsing his 12th Mass with singer and musician. (Austrian composer. (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

Quiz: Who Composed It?

Related Questions

Did Joseph Haydn have any children?
How did George Frideric Handel’s oratorios inspire Joseph Haydn?
How did Joseph Haydn begin his musical education in Hainburg?
How did Joseph Haydn help establish the string quartet as a major musical form?
How did Joseph Haydn support himself after leaving the choir school?
How did Joseph Haydn’s Opus 33 quartets change the string quartet?
How did Joseph Haydn’s early music reflect Baroque, Austrian, and north German styles?
How did Joseph Haydn’s music become known across Europe during the 1760s?
How did Joseph Haydn’s reputation change during the 19th and 20th centuries?
How did Mozart influence Joseph Haydn’s later music?
How did Nicola Porpora help Joseph Haydn develop as a composer?
How did Prince Miklós Esterházy support Joseph Haydn’s career?
How did musicologists identify works that were not actually composed by Joseph Haydn?
How long did Joseph Haydn serve the Esterházy family?
How many symphonies did Joseph Haydn compose?
What did Joseph Haydn learn as a chorister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral?
What happened to Joseph Haydn during Napoleon’s siege of Vienna in 1809?
What kinds of jobs did Joseph Haydn’s parents have?
What makes the Erdödy quartets important in Joseph Haydn’s career?
What problems did Joseph Haydn face in his marriage?
What responsibilities did Joseph Haydn have at the Esterházy court?
What was Joseph Haydn’s first job with the Esterházy family?
What was Joseph Haydn’s relationship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
When and where did Joseph Haydn die?
When and where was Joseph Haydn born?
When did Joseph Haydn first arrive in London?
Where did Joseph Haydn write his first string quartets?
Which composers and music theory books did Joseph Haydn study on his own?
Which types of music did Joseph Haydn compose besides symphonies?
Which unusual percussion instruments did Joseph Haydn use in the Military Symphony?
Who was Count Ferdinand Maximilian von Morzin?
Who was Luigia Polzelli in Joseph Haydn’s life?
Why did Joseph Haydn compose more than 150 works for the baryton?
Why did Joseph Haydn return to Austria instead of staying in England?
Why did Joseph Haydn use the Emperor’s Hymn in the Emperor Quartet?
Why did Ludwig van Beethoven move to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn?
Why did Mozart dedicate six string quartets to Joseph Haydn?
Why is Joseph Haydn associated with the development of the Classical style?
Why is Joseph Haydn’s Farewell Symphony famous?
Why was Joseph Haydn expelled from the cathedral choir school?
Why were many musical works incorrectly attributed to Joseph Haydn?
What was Joseph Haydn’s family like?
How was Joseph Haydn educated?
What was Claude Debussy’s early life like?
What were George Gershwin’s jobs?
What did George Gershwin compose?
What is Robert Schumann famous for?
What was Robert Schumann’s family like?
How was Robert Schumann educated?
How did Robert Schumann die?
How did Franz Liszt begin his career in music?

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External Websites

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Biography of Franz Joseph Haydn
University of Alberta - Faculty of Arts - Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies - Joseph Haydn
AllMusic - Franz Joseph Haydn
Humanities LibreTexts - Franz Joseph Haydn
World History Encyclopedia - Joseph Haydn
CUNY Pressbooks Network - Understanding Music: BMCC Edition - Music of Joseph Haydn (1732Â–1809)
NPR - Band Of Gypsies: Haydn And Brahms At Spoleto Festival
Hektoen International - Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
London Symphony Orchestra - What you should know about Joseph Haydn
Naxos - Biography of Franz Joseph Haydn
LiveAbout - Biography of Franz Joseph Haydn, Austrian Composer

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Joseph Haydn - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Joseph Haydn

Austrian composer

Also known as: Franz Joseph Haydn

Written by

H.C. Robbins Landon

Freelance writer and music historian. Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Wales College of Cardiff, 1971–79. Coeditor, Haydn Yearbook. Author of Haydn: A Documentary Study and...

H.C. Robbins LandonAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026 •History

Joseph Haydn (born March 31, 1732, Rohrau, Austria—died May 31, 1809, Vienna) was an Austrian composer who was one of the most important figures in the development of the Classical style in music during the 18th century. He helped establish the forms and styles for the string quartet and the symphony. Haydn was the second son of humble parents. His father was a wheelwright, his mother, before her marriage, a cook for the lords of...

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