Haydn was one of the two outstanding composers of the late 18th century. He, along with Mozart, represented the Classic period by using the musical language of the time and creating works of unsurpassed perfection. Haydn experienced some hardship as a young boy. He was largely self-taught as a musician. He was modest and a patient and persistent worker as evidenced in his long stay with a wealthy family. An excellent conductor, Haydn was no virtuoso soloist but played occasionally viola in string quartets.
             The musicians he conducted nicknamed him "Papa," but the nickname was misleading. It suggested that the music he composed was mild and pleasant, and that the conditions that he worked under were calm and peaceful; however, Haydn struggled from early childhood for the chance to compose at all. He was the last eminent composer to live in the service of a nobleman. He died in 1809, revered by his countrymen and acknowledged throughout Europe as the premier musician of his time.
             Nothing in Haydn's early years or in his family history indicated that he might become famous. He was born in 1732 in the Austrian village of Rohrau. His great-grandfather had been the first Haydn to settle in Austria around 1650. For the next two generations, most of the male family members worked as wheelwrights. Even the composer's father, Mathias, worked in that profession, yet he also had a love of music, and developed a small talent for singing and playing the harp. Three of Mathias's seventeen children would inherit that passion. His eleventh child, Johann, would become a professional singer. His sixth child, Michael, would become a noted composer, conductor and teacher. The greatest fame, though, would be reserved for his second child, Franz Joseph Haydn. The family spent their time listening to Austrian folk song and dance. This musical heritage would later play a role in Haydn's compositions.
             At the age of six, Haydn left home to...