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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)Piano Concerto in F Major, Hob. XVIII: 7Piano Concerto in G Major, Hob. XVIII: 4Piano Concerto in G Major, Hob. XVIII: 9Piano Concerto in D Major, Hob. XVIII: 11Joseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the sonof a wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen'sCathedral in Vienna, he spent some years earning a living as best he could from teachingand playing the violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora,whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to aBohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in 1761 by employment asVice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in the Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy,succeeded on his death in 1762 by his brother Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 of theelderlyand somewhat obstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydn succeeded to his position, toremain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest of his life. On the completion of the magnificent palace at Esterhaza, inthe Hungarian plains under the new Prince, Haydn assumed command of an increased musicalestablishment. Here he had responsibility for the musical activities of the palace, whichincluded the provision and direction of instrumental music, opera and theatre music, andmusic for the church. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music of all kinds,particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a bowed stringinstrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked. On the death of Prince Nikolaus in 1790, Haydn was able toaccept an invitation to visit London, where he provided music for the concert seasonorganized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successful visit to London in 1794and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with the Esterhazy family, the new head ofwhich had settledprincipally at the family property in Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career. Muchof the year, however, was to be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passed his final years, dyingin 1809, as the French armies of Napoleon approached the city yet again.The concertos of Haydn have survived only in part and it was aform that he seems, perhaps for practical reasons, to have favoured less. In addition tothe three surviving violin concertos, a horn concerto, the two cello concertos and a setof five concertos for lira organizzata written in 1786-7 for the King of Naples, thereremain five keyboard concertos so described and eight smaller scale works for harpsichord,two violins and cello, known either under the title Concertinoor Divertimento, the latter composed duringthe earlier part of Haydn's career, either during his period of service with Count vonMorzin or during his first years at Eisenstadt with the Esterhazys. A number of otherconcertos of various kinds have been ascribed to Haydn, these with greater or lesserdegrees of probability. The authenticity of the Concertoin F major, Hob. XV