Franz Joseph Haydn

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN Dear President Schneider : On behalf of the great Franz Joseph Haydn, I write this letter of recommendation to support the admission of a great composer into the International Enlightenment Society. In order for a musician to be eligible for your society, I understand that he must embody the characteristics of the Enlightenment and more specifically, as a composer, his music must possess the characteristics of the Classical period. I assure you that …

…or Beethoven, when Haydn died he was not forgotten. Two weeks after his death, “the whole art-loving world of Vienna”, went to a great memorial service at the city center in honor of the greatest composer of the Classical period. If substance, restraint, simplicity, and balance of music are important characteristics of the Classical style, then it is not difficult to see why through his music, that Haydn was the greatest composer of Classical history.