The composer
Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
is sometimes given the nickname
"Papa" Haydn. The practice began in the composer's lifetime, and has continued to some extent to the present day.
At the Eszterházy court, Haydn was (after 1766) the
KapellmeisterKapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . Kapelle derives from the Latin word capella. Thus, originally, the word was used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel...
; that is to say, the boss, for a fairly large group of musicians. Haydn's authority was evidently rather benevolent, as he often interceded with
Prince EszterházyNikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent"...
on behalf of musicians who had gotten in trouble in some way.
The composer
Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
is sometimes given the nickname
"Papa" Haydn. The practice began in the composer's lifetime, and has continued to some extent to the present day.
"Papa" as a term of affection
At the Eszterházy court, Haydn was (after 1766) the
KapellmeisterKapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . Kapelle derives from the Latin word capella. Thus, originally, the word was used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel...
; that is to say, the boss, for a fairly large group of musicians. Haydn's authority was evidently rather benevolent, as he often interceded with
Prince EszterházyNikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent"...
on behalf of musicians who had gotten in trouble in some way. The famous tale of the
Farewell SymphonySymphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony , was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1772....
also attests to Haydn's willingness to act on behalf of his subordinates. The practice of calling Haydn "Papa" doubtless became more and more plausible as Haydn's 30-odd years of service in the Eszterházy court went by; gradually, he would have become increasingly older than the average musician serving under him.
In old age, Haydn remarked nostalgically to
Georg August GriesingerGeorg August Griesinger was a tutor and diplomat resident in Vienna during the late 18th and 19th centuries. He is remembered for his friendships with the composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, and for the biography he wrote of Haydn....
, in connection with his (by then deceased) younger friend
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
that Mozart had called him "Papa".
"Papa" as founder
Another sense of the term "Papa Haydn" comes from his role in the history of classical music, notably in the development of the
symphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form though most are composed according to the sonata principle...
and
string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. While Haydn did not invent either genre, his work is considered important enough in establishing these genres that the labels "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" are often attached to him. This view was prevalent in Haydn's own lifetime: in 1797, the Tonkünstler-Societät of Vienna passed the resolution making him a life member, "by virtue of his extraordinary merit as the father and reformer of the noble art of music."
"Papa" as caricature
After Haydn's death (1809), during the 19th century, the term "Papa Haydn" became something of a stereotype, designating to many a kindly, perhaps doddering old man whose music was very simple and thus suitable for children. The stereotype is a counterpart to the evolution of
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
's reputation during the same period: Mozart died too young to become "Papa Mozart", but nevertheless was often regarded during this era as a kind of porcelain figure.
With the rise of Haydn's critical stock during the 20th century, scholars and critics became rather leery of the term, as a distortion of the composer's work. For instance, Jens Peter Larsen wrote (1980) in the New Grove encyclopedia:
- For years the nickname 'Papa Haydn' has characterized the composer. Used by his own musicians and others as a tribute of affection and respect, the expression increasingly took on misleading connotations, and came to signify a benevolent but bewigged and old-fashioned classic. The recent revival of interest in Haydn's music has made plain that the traditional picture had become a caricature, and that it gave a false impression of richness and diversity of his development as a composer.
However, since materials of music education still tend to reflect 19th century sources, the term is well known to the musical public.
This little rhyme goes with the first bars of the Surprise Symphony:
- Papa Haydn's dead and gone
but his memory lingers on.
When his heart was filled with bliss
he wrote merry tunes like this.
Sources
- The quotation from Jens Peter Larsen is from the 1980 edition of the New Grove. Larsen's article was published separately as The New Grove: Haydn, Norton, New York, 1982.
- The New Grove's current article on Haydn (by Webster and Feder, not by Larsen) includes other material on the term "Papa Haydn".
- Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965) Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.