Playing Before the Lord: The Life and Work of Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) has been called the father of the symphony and the string quartet. A friend of Mozart and a teacher of Beethoven, "Papa" Haydn composed an amazing variety of music — symphonies, string quartets, concerti, masses, operas, oratorios, keyboard works — and his prolific output celebrates both the heights and depths of life.

In this fascinating book Calvin Stapert combines his skills as a biographer and a musicologist to recount Haydn's steady rise from humble origin...