Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Haydn's birthday

Joseph Haydn (March 31, 1732 - May 31, 1809)

I looked at numerous biographies of Joseph Haydn for this post and thought the one at Classical Music Pages was thorough, befitting this prolific composer of church music, oratorios, stage works, vocal and orchestral music, concertos, chamber music, and keyboard works.



Performed by: Vladimir Horowitz




Of further interest:

At his blog Octogenarian, in a March 19 post titled My ancestors in Jerusalem, Mort has a wondrous photo of his maternal great-great-grandparents, from whom Mort might be distantly related to the great Vladimir Horowitz. It's a marvelous post.......and if you read his About Me profile you'll immediately understand why all of his posts make for the most enjoyable reading.

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8 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

family histories can be so wonderfully sordid. My Uncle likes to believe that we may be distantly decended from Shakespeare thanks to an unwanted pregnancy some hundreds of years ago.

Sadly there's no historical evidence to back this up :)

Melinda said...

Ah, Lydia--it was heavenly to sit back at my computer and listen to this lovely Haydn piece. My husband is a pianist and has often played Haydn for me (although his forte is really jazz).

We go to the Boston symphony on a fairly regular basis (we subscribe as season ticket holders). I love closing my eyes and just letting the music whisk me away. I enjoyed taking a break from my classwork today and listening here on your blog.

Melinda

Ted Bagley said...

Thanks! The piece has such a serious flighty sound to it.
Horowitz is just a piano god, too!

Lydia said...

@Pixies- From what you've mentioned about the photography genes in your family I thought you were going to say that you might be related to Ansel Adams. :)

@Melinda- That you found some relaxation during your day because of this post makes me very pleased. So cool that your husband is a musician (mine too, guitar and trumpet). Belonging to the symphony must be wonderful. Mike and I were season ticket holders to the Portland Opera for five years and loved every minute of it. You remind me to check out their smaller packages, e.g. three operas/season instead of the full deal.....

@Ted- You described the piece so well. I really love it and think I'll play it again. right. now.
:)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the music. Very restful and meditative. How come all those guys looked like George Washington??

Lydia said...

@Distracted- Glad it soothed. Good question about all those guys. You probably read this about Shakespeare's portrait....

Ted Bagley said...

your blog is a neat thing, thanks!

Lydia said...

@Ted- That is awesome for you to tell me that. I'd appreciate any comment from you, however, because the shot of you and the little guy just makes me so happy. :)

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