Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31st, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria near Hungary. His father, Mathias Haydn, was a wagoner and a sexton at his parish and his mother, Elizabeth, was a simple and humble woman. During the evening Mathias would play the harp, and Elizabeth would sing to their children. One day, his father noticed him scraping two sticks of wood against each other simulating a imitating a violin. His father was determined to give his son as much musical training as he could. He had asked the choirmaster, Johann Mathias Frankh, to teach the six-year-old boy the violin and harpsichord.
             After two years he was taken into the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, where he sang from around 1740 to 1750. The chapel-master, Reutter, neglected and often mistreated young Haydn. When Haydn turned 17, his voice broke, being of little use to the church. He was eventually dismissed from the choir, and bitter days followed for Haydn. He had no money, no friends, and no home. He was forced to sleep in the streets the first night away from the church. Then one of his peers from St. Stephens pitied him, and gave him temporary shelter. Soon after, he found some pupils and a few engagements as a violinist. He also studied much of Philip Emanuel Bach's sonatas.
             In a short while, he had composed a mass, which attracted some attention, bringing in
             some commission. Then, Haydn became acquainted with a famous singer, Michael Porpora,
             who worked for the Venetian ambassador to Vienna. Porpora made Haydn his accompanist, and through this, Haydn got the opportunity to meet several magnificent composers in Vienna.
             Joseph Haydn composed his first string quartet in 1755, in which he inherited this form of composition from Boccherini. This form of composition intrigued Haydn, and for the next few months he composed one string quartet after another. After listening to these quartets, von Furnberg recommende...