This accessible introduction to the musical work and cultural world of Joseph Haydn covers his contemporaries, working environments and aesthetics. Chapters on the reception of his music explore keyboard performance practices, Haydn's posthumous reputation, recorded performances and revivals of his operas. The book surveys his major performance genre--including symphonies, string quartets, keyboard sonatas and trios, liturgical music, oratorios, etc...

This fascinating study of ethnic theatrical representation provides original perspectives on the cultural milieu, compositional strategies and operatic legacy of Joseph Haydn. The portrayal of Jews changed markedly during the composer's lifetime. Before the Enlightenment, when Jews were treated as a people apart, physical infirmities and other markers of 'difference' were frequently caricatured on the comedic stage. However, when society began to debate the 'Jewish Question' - understood in the later eighteenth century as how best to integrate Jews into society as productive citizens -...

This fascinating study of ethnic theatrical representation provides original perspectives on the cultural milieu, compositional strategies and operatic legacy of Joseph Haydn. The portrayal of Jews changed markedly during the composer's lifetime. Before the Enlightenment, when Jews were treated as a people apart, physical infirmities and other markers of 'difference' were frequently caricatured on the comedic stage. However, when society began to debate the 'Jewish Question' - understood in the later eighteenth century as how best to integrate Jews into society as productive citizens -...

An authoritative, accessible reference work that brings together current knowledge and new interpretive insights into Haydn's music and cultural influence.