Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ/Die sieben letzten Worte Jesu Christi
(Musica instrumentale sopra le 7 ultime parole del nostro Redentore in croce) Hob. III: 50-56, Op. 51
String Quartet in D Minor, Hob. III: 83, Op. 103

Joseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the son of a wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, he spent some years living as best he could from teaching and playing the violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora, whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as Kapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in 1761 by employment as Vice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in the Empire, Prince Esterházy. On the death of the elderly Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, in 1766 Haydn succeeded to his position, to remain in the same employment