Michael Haydn Free Sheet Music, Program Notes, Recordings and Biography

The Master of Salzburg's Sacred Sound

It was a moment of crisis in Salzburg. The brilliant but often unreliable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was ill and had failed to complete a commission for the demanding Archbishop Colloredo: a set of six duets for violin and viola. With the deadline looming and the Archbishop’s temper a known hazard, the situation seemed dire. In a remarkable act of friendship and professional solidarity, a colleague stepped in. Working swiftly, he composed the final two duets, masterpieces of the form, and allowed Mozart to sign his own name to them. The deception worked, the commission was fulfilled, and the world largely credited Mozart for the works for over a century. That quiet, generous colleague was Johann Michael Haydn, a composer whose life was defined by immense talent, profound humility, and a close orbit to some of music history's brightest stars.

Early Life and Choirboy Years

Johann Michael Haydn was born in the Austrian village of Rohrau on September 14, 1737, to Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright, and Maria Koller, a former cook. Music was the lifeblood of the Haydn household. Though his father was not a trained musician, he was a passionate folk enthusiast with a fine tenor voice who taught himself the harp. The Haydn home was frequently filled with song, instilling a deep love of music in the children from their earliest days. Michael, five years younger than his brother Joseph Haydn, showed similar prodigious musical talent.

Following in his older brother's footsteps, Michael’s beautiful treble voice earned him a place as a chorister at the prestigious St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Under the direction of Georg Reutter the Younger, the brothers received a rigorous musical education, though general studies were often neglected. Michael quickly distinguished himself, earning a reputation as an even finer boy soprano than his brother. He served as a soloist and, when Joseph’s voice broke, Michael took over the most demanding vocal parts. Life as a choirboy was not easy—it was a spartan existence of constant rehearsal and performance with little food—but it provided an unparalleled foundation in sacred music that would become the cornerstone of Michael’s career. After his voice changed, he remained at the cathedral for a time as a freelance musician, piecing together a living by playing violin and organ and beginning to compose in earnest.

A Career in Salzburg

In 1757, Michael secured his first major appointment as Kapellmeister to the Bishop of Grosswardein (now Oradea, Romania). This position gave him the stability and opportunity to hone his craft, composing his first symphonies and sacred works. His reputation grew, and in 1763, he was invited to Salzburg to become the concertmaster for the Archbishop of Salzburg, Sigismund von Schrattenbach. This was a prestigious post in a highly musical city, and it was a position he would hold for the rest of his life, for an astonishing 43 years.

Salzburg brought him into the circle of another famous musical family: the Mozarts. Michael Haydn became a close friend and respected colleague of Leopold Mozart and, later, his son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They held each other in high esteem; Michael was a godfather to one of Leopold’s children who died in infancy, and the younger Mozart deeply admired Michael’s work, particularly his sacred compositions. Mozart studied Haydn’s Requiem in C minor, MH 155, written for the death of Archbishop Schrattenbach, and it served as a significant model for his own famous Requiem in D minor, K. 626.

Michael Haydn’s duties in Salzburg were extensive. He was responsible for composing music for court services, concerts, and special occasions. He taught the choirboys at the cathedral, a role he cherished, and eventually succeeded Mozart as the court and cathedral organist after Mozart departed for Vienna. Despite his immense workload and relatively modest pay, he was remarkably prolific, composing over 360 sacred works, including masses, requiems, and motets, as well as dozens of symphonies, concertos, and a vast amount of chamber music. His tenure in Salzburg, however, was not without its difficulties, particularly under the rule of Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo, whose austere reforms and difficult personality famously clashed with Mozart and also placed constraints on Haydn.

The Teacher and The Man

Unlike his brother Joseph, who attained international fame and fortune, Michael Haydn was a man of simpler tastes and ambitions. He was deeply devout, kind-hearted, and modest, seemingly content with his life in Salzburg. However, his life was also touched by personal tragedy. In 1768, he married the singer Maria Magdalena Lipp, but their only child, a daughter named Aloisia Josepha, died before her first birthday. This loss deeply affected Haydn, and he and his wife had no more children. He was known to enjoy the conviviality of the local tavern, and some accounts suggest he struggled with alcoholism later in life, which occasionally impacted his professional duties.

Despite these personal struggles, he was a revered and influential teacher. His pupils included a young Carl Maria von Weber, the future father of German Romantic opera, and Anton Diabelli, who would later become a famous publisher in Vienna. Haydn’s pedagogical approach was thorough and grounded in the fundamentals of counterpoint and harmony, instilling a deep sense of craftsmanship in his students. He passed down the traditions of the Viennese school with a gentle and patient hand, shaping the next generation of musicians.

Compositional Style and Major Works

Michael Haydn was a master craftsman whose music is characterized by its lyrical grace, clarity, and structural integrity. While he worked firmly within the Classical style, his music often contains passages of striking contrapuntal complexity, a testament to his early training. His church music is his most enduring contribution. Works like the Missa Hispanica, MH 422, written to celebrate a royal Spanish wedding, and the powerful Requiem pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo (Requiem in C minor), MH 155, are masterpieces of the genre, filled with rich textures, dramatic intensity, and profound spiritual feeling.

His instrumental music is also of a very high quality. He composed around 40 symphonies, many of which are notable for their inventive scoring and memorable themes. For many years, his Symphony No. 25 in G major was mistakenly attributed to Mozart as his "Symphony No. 37," K. 444; Mozart had simply added a slow introduction to Haydn's work for a performance. This misattribution is a testament to the quality of Michael’s writing, which could easily be confused with that of his more famous contemporary. He also made important contributions to chamber music and is credited with writing the first string quintet with two violas, a model later adopted by Mozart.

Legacy and Rediscovery

Upon Michael Haydn's death in 1806, Salzburg was under French occupation following the Napoleonic Wars. His final years were marked by financial hardship and declining health. He had received offers of more lucrative positions, including from his brother Joseph who urged him to join him at the Esterháza court, but Michael remained loyal to Salzburg to the end.

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Michael Haydn was largely a footnote in music history—the "other Haydn." His fame was eclipsed by his brother's towering reputation and the dazzling genius of Mozart. Many of his works were lost or misattributed. However, modern scholarship has led to a significant reassessment of his contributions. Scholars and performers have rediscovered a composer of immense skill and sensitivity, an essential figure in the Salzburg musical scene, and a crucial influence on his contemporaries. His sacred music, in particular, is now recognized as among the finest of the late 18th century. While he may never be as famous as his brother, Johann Michael Haydn stands on his own as a quiet master of the Classical era, a composer whose beautiful, heartfelt music is more than deserving of its place in the concert hall and the church.

Section 4: References and Further Reading

• Sherman, Charles H., and T. Donley Thomas. Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806): A Chronological Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1993.

• Hearty, K. "Michael Haydn." In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001.

• Pauly, Reinhard G. "The Motets of Michael Haydn." The Musical Quarterly 45, no. 2 (1959): 197-208.

• Rice, John A. Music in the Eighteenth Century. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.