Reviving Haydn
by Bryan Proksch /
2015 / English / PDF
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By the 1840s Joseph Haydn, who died in 1809 as the most celebrated composer of his generation, had degenerated into the bewigged ""Papa Haydn,"" a shallow placeholder in music history who merely invented the forms used by Beethoven.In a remarkable reversal unique within music history, Haydn swiftly regained his former stature within the opening decades of the twentieth century. Reviving Haydn: New Appreciations in the Twentieth Century examines boththe decline and the subsequent resurgence of Haydn's reputation in an effort to better understand the forces that shape critical reception on a broad scale. No single person or event marked the turning point for Haydn's reputation. Instead a broad resurgence reshaped opinion in Europe and the United States in short order. The Haydn revival engaged many of the music world's leading figures – composers (Vincent d'Indy and Arnold Schoenberg), conductors (Arturo Toscanini), performers (Wanda Landowska), critics (Lawrence Gilman), and scholars (Heinrich Schenker and Donald Tovey) – each of whom valued Haydn's music for specific reasons and used it to advance particular goals.Yet each advocated for a rehearing and rereading of the composer's works, calling for a new appreciation of Haydn's music. Bryan Proksch is assistant professor of music history at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where he specializes in the music of the late eighteenth century.
