This 18th century Austrian was the son of a wheelwright whose love for music led him to ignore his parents' wish for him to enter holy orders and insstead to doggedly pursue a musical career. He rose over the years of his life from a talented choirboy who sang for his neighbors to one of the most significant composers of his time. Deeply involved in the evolution of the Classical style, its subsequent growth can be seen in his own music. Under his care the symphony and the string quartet came to life. The great oratorios and masses of his late years belong to the consummation of the classical spirit in music. The New Grove Haydn takes an in-depth look at this fascinating composer.About The New Grove II Composer Biography Series:These new, fully re-written editions of some of the most popular titles in the New Grove composer biography series last published in the 1980s build on the enormous success of those books, offering fresh new insights drawn from the most recent scholarship. Focusing on some of the greatest and most influential composers of the last few centuries of the millennium, these titles are derived from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Most excitingly, as they will be published before the dictionary, they offer sneak previews of some of the best, most up-to-date entries in this landmark, end-of-the-century edition of the most authoritative, comprehensive, and widely respected music encyclopedia in the world. In addition to the re-written editions of The New Grove Wagner, The New Grove Haydn,and The New Grove Mozart comes for the first time The New Grove Stravinsky, the first in a series of New Grove composer biographies that will cover the great masters of the 20th century, never before published as individual volumes. This series is edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. Both men live in the United Kingdom and have edited The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition.

An in-depth look at the great 18th century Austrian composer, derived and adapted from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

This German-born composer was quite possibly the most controversial musical figure of the 19th century. A great literary, philosophical, and political man as well as a musical talent, he pursued his artistic aims with ruthless determination in his public and private life as well as through his many critical and theoretical writings. His contribution to the development of the German Romantic opera included the training of a more dramatically powerful type of opera singer and the extension of thematic development. His life and works arouse passions like no other composer's and his works are hated as much as they are worshipped. The New Grove Wagner is a fascinating guide to this challenging, yet stimulating, composer. About The New Grove II Composer Biography Series:These new, fully re-written editions of some of the most popular titles in the New Grove composer biography series last published in the 1980s build on the enormous success of those books, offering fresh new insights drawn from the most recent scholarship. Focusing on some of the greatest and most influential composers of the last few centuries of the millennium, these titles are derived from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Most excitingly, as they will be published before the dictionary, they offer sneak previews of some of the best, most up-to-date entries in this landmark, end-of-the-century edition of the most authoritative, comprehensive, and widely respected music encyclopedia in the world. In addition to the re-written editions of The New Grove Wagner, The New Grove Haydn,and The New Grove Mozart comes for the first time The New Grove Stravinsky, the first in a series of New Grove composer biographies that will cover the great masters of the 20th century, never before published as individual volumes. This series is edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. Both men live in the United Kingdom and have edited The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition.

"This reference classic has approximately doubled in size since its last publication 20 years ago, and the expansion involves more than the thorough revision and addition of articles about music of the past. More articles about 20th-century composers and composer-performers have been added, as well as topical articles about the gender-related, multicultural, and interdisciplinary ways that music is now being studied. Add to these changes that New Grove is also available online, making it a source that would have made its many-faceted creator Sir George Grove proud"--Outstanding reference sources, American Libraries, May 2002.

An introduction to the musical work and cultural world of Joseph Haydn.

This 20th-century Russian composer, later of French and American nationality, led a varied life which was mirrored by often startling changes in his musical style over the course of his life. His early years found him in Russia, where Rimsky, Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky were great influences. His international career soon exploded with the premieres of the Firebird, Petrushka, and the Rite of Spring. The period from 1920-1939, which he spent in France, was that of the great neo-classical compositions, this stylistic inclination eventually gave way to a highly individual use of serial techniques in his last years, when he took up residence in the US.The New Grove Stravinskymaps the composer`s life and works in the finest of detail, bringing this great man and his music to life.About The New Grove II Composer Biography Series:These new, fully re-written editions of some of the most popular titles in the New Grove composer biography series last published in the 1980s build on the enormous success of those books, offering fresh new insights drawn from the most recent scholarship. Focusing on some of the greatest and most influential composers of the last few centuries of the millennium, these titles are derived from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Most excitingly, as they will be published before the dictionary, they offer sneak previews of some of the best, most up-to-date entries in this landmark, end-of-the-century edition of the most authoritative, comprehensive, and widely respected music encyclopedia in the world. In addition to the re-written editions of The New Grove Wagner, The New Grove Haydn,and The New Grove Mozart comes for the first time The New Grove Stravinsky, the first in a series of New Grove composer biographies that will cover the great masters of the 20th century, never before published as individual volumes. This series is edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. Both men live in the United Kingdom and have edited The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition.

Renowned music historians Floyd and Margaret Grave present a fresh perspective on a comprehensive survey of the works. This thorough and unique analysis offers new insights into the creation of the quartets, the wealth of musical customs and conventions on which they draw, the scope of their innovations, and their significance as reflections of Haydn's artistic personality. Each set of quartets is characterized in terms of its particular mix of structural conventions and novelties, stylistic allusions, and its special points of connection with other opus groups in the series. Throughout the book, the authors draw attention to the boundless supply of compositional strategies by which Haydn appears to be continually rethinking, reevaluating, and refining the quartet's potentials. They also lucidly describe Haydn's famous penchant for wit, humor, and compositional artifice, illuminating the unexpected connections he draws between seemingly unrelated ideas, his irony, and his lightning bolts of surprise and thwarted expectation. Approaching the quartets from a variety of vantage points, the authors correct many prevailing assumptions about convention, innovation, and developing compositional technique in the music of Haydn and his contemporaries.