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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)Symphony No.45 in F Sharp Minor "Farewell"Symphony No.94 in G Major "Surprise"Symphony No.101 in D Major "The Clock"Joseph Haydn was as prolific as any eighteenth century composer, hisfecundity a matter, in good part, of the nature of his employment and the lengthof his life. Born in 1732 in the village of Rohrau, the son of a wheelwright, hewas recruited to the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna at the age ofeight, later earning a living as best he could as a musician in the capital andmaking useful acquaintances through his association with Metastasio, the CourtPoet, and the composer Nicola Porpora.In 1759, after some eight years of teaching and free-lance performance,whether as violinist or keyboard-player, Haydn found greater security in aposition in the household of Count Morzin as director of music, wintering inVienna and spending the summer on the Count's estate in Bohemia, where anorchestra was available. In 1760 Haydn married the eldest daughter of awig-maker, a match that was to bring him no great solace, and by the followingyear he had entered the service of Prince Paul Anton Esterazy as deputy to theold Kapellmeister Gregor Werner, who had much fault to find with his youngcolleague. In 1762 Prince Paul Anton died and was succeeded by his brotherPrince Nikolaus, who concerned himself with the building of the great palace ofEsteraza. In 1766 Werner died, and Haydn assumed the full duties ofKapellmeister, spending the larger part of the year at Esterhaza and part ofthe winter at Eisenstadt, where his first years of service to the Esterhazyfamily had passed.Haydn's responsibilities at Esterhaza were manifold. As Kapellmeister he wasin full charge of the musicians employed by the prince, writing music of allkinds, and directing performances both instrumental and operatic. This busy ifisolated career came to an end with the death of Prince Nikolausin 1790. Fromthen onwards Haydn had greater freedom, while continuing to enjoy the title andemoluments of his position as Kapellmeister to the Prince's successors.Haydn's release from his immediate responsibilities allowed him, in 1791, toaccept an invitation to visit London, where he provided music for the concertsorganised by the German-born violinist Johann Peter Salomon. His considerablesuccess led to a second visit in 1794. The following year, at the request of thenew Prince Esterhazy, who had succeeded his elder brother in 1794, he resumedsome of his earlier duties as Kapelhneister, now in Eisenstadt and in Vienna,where he took up his own residence until his death in 1809Haydn's Farewell Symphony was written in 1772, occasioned bythe prolonged stay of Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy at his Hungarian palace. Someof the musicians had been compelled to leave their wives behind in Eisenstadtwhen the Prince took up his summer residence. The Symphony, in the finalAdagio of which the musicians leave one by one, was intended as a delicate hintthat the time had come to ret