1732-1761


The first period of Haydn's life is marked by the two above dates--that
of his entry into this world and that of his entry into the service of
Prince Anton Esterhazy. He was born, then, in 1732, "between March 31
and April 1." As there is no "between" possible, either the Haydn family
had no clock or were averse to stating definitely that their son was
born on All Fool's Day. They need not have worried, for, however simple
Haydn might be, he was only once in his whole life a fool, which is more
than can be said for most men, great or small. But while he was about
it, there was no lack of completeness in Haydn's folly, and he felt the
consequences of it all his days. The place of his birth was originally
called Tristnik, translated into German, Rohrau, then (whatever it may
be now) a sleepy old-world village on the banks of the Leitha, in the
very heart of a Croatian settlement in Hungary. The Leitha at Rohrau
divides Hungary from Austria. Haydn's father, Mathias Haydn, said to
have been a master-wheelwright, came from Hainburg, near to the Danube,
and some little distance from Rohrau. More cannot be said of his
ancestors than that for some generations they had been hard-working,
honest folk of the peasant class, given to music, but by no means a
family of musicians like the Bachs. His mother was born Maria Koller,
and it has been suggested that the name is a variant or corruption of
the Croatian Kolar, meaning a wheelwright. Perhaps she thought that,
bearing such a name, she must marry Mathias, a wheelwright. The point is
that this fact, if fact it be, is another indication or proof of Haydn's
Croatian descent. It seems, indeed, to be established that by blood he
was pure Slav, the name being formerly spelt Hajdgn. It is just as well
for our tongues that it was changed. Franz Joseph (he dropped the Franz)
was the second of twelve children, the only other worth noting being