1732-1809
As with my Mozart page, there is very little I can offer on Haydn which hasn't already been covered, and with more veracity which I can provide.
What I will say, is between Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven alone, a lifetime's worth of music is available to explore. Much more than this listener cares to cover.
At a very base level, I appreciate Haydn most for his inventiveness and humor. While these aspects can be found in his symphonies and string quartets, for example, you can also detect these attributes in his Masses as well.
Because there is just so much music, I will probably limit myself to covering my very favorite portions of Haydn's oeuvre, and recordings thereof.
As a side note, I have sung most of Haydn's Mass settings, many of them in Eisenstadt at Esterházy Palace and the Bergkirche. These are moments I treasure greatly.
Recordings and reviews currently on hand
(Click orange links to visit a musing):
2002: Symphonies (Fischer set)
2004: The Seasons
2005: Masses (Marriner set)
• Masses (Pink)
• Masses (Purple)
2006: Masses (Hickox set)
2009: Return of Tobias
2011: Seven Last Words of Christ
2012: The Creation
2023: Stabat Mater
Works Series
Individual recording reviews from a set
Symphonies (Fischer)
Introduction
• A Prelude to Haydn's Symphonies
Eight Volumes
• Symphonies 1 - 20
• Symphonies 21 - 40
• Symphonies 41 - 54
• Symphonies 55 - 69
• Symphonies 70 - 81
• Symphonies 82 - 87
• Symphonies 88- 92
• Symphonies 93 - 104
Individual Recordings
• Symphony 1 - 5
• Symphony 6 - 8
• Symphony 9 - 12
• Symphony 13 - 16
• Symphony 17 - 20
• Symphony 21 - 24
• Symphony 25 - 29
• Symphony 30 - 33
• Symphony 34 - 37
• Symphony 38 & 39
• Symphony 40 - 42
• Symphony 43 - 45
• Symphony 46 - 48
• Symphony 49 - 51
• Symphony 52 - 54
• Symphony 55 - 57
• Symphony 58 - 60
• Symphony 61 - 63
• Symphony 64 - 66
• Symphony 67 - 69
• Symphony 70 - 72
• Symphony 73 - 75
• Symphony 76 - 78
• Symphony 79 - 81
• Symphony 82 - 84
• Symphony 85 - 87
• Symphony 88 - 90
• Symphony 91 & 92
• Symphony 93 - 95
• Symphony 96 - 98
• Symphony 99 & 100
• Symphony 101 & 102
• Symphony 103 & 104