MICHAEL HAYDN’S ‘LAUDATE PUERI’

Michael Haydn has been relegated almost entirely to the ranks of the neglected. Completely overshadowed today by his older brother Joseph, he was however no less respected during his time. Composing a vast array of both instrumental and vocal music, Michael Haydn is only now beginning to enjoy a renaissance of sorts, but much of his music is yet to enter the realm of regular performance in either church or concert settings.

Contemporary sources tell us the brothers were close but that of the two of them, Michael was the better student and his singing as a boy soprano in the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna was more admired. Michael ultimately would go on to hold the position of concertmaster in Salzburg for an incredible 44 years, which is where he became acquainted with the young Mozart, who had a tremendous fondness for his music and exchanged letters. The similarities between Mozart's Requiem and Michael Haydn's setting in C minor of the same text are striking.

In Salzburg, Michael Haydn also taught a number of important composers, with Carl Maria von Weber and Anton Diabelli chief among them. He was meticulous in dating the manuscripts of his works, which makes the task cataloguing them relatively straightforward, and although he did write in other genres such as the symphony, string quartet and trio sonata, it is his sacred music that is considered most important among his output.