Haydn, Michael

Michael Haydn – Mythologische Operette

Sinfonia, Menuet, and Finale

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Johann Michael Haydn was a prolific composer, primarily remembered for his sacred music. Born in 1737 in Rohrau, Austria, he began his musical career as a choirboy at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. By 1763, he became Konzertmeister to the Archbishop of Salzburg, where he would live for the remainder of his life. Although he did not maintain the same level of fame as his older brother, Joseph Haydn, he was a master of the stile antico, producing nearly 400 sacred works and more than three dozen masses. His vast body of work and his reputation as an excellent composer eventually earned Empress Maria Theresa’s favor. Although the majority of his works were sacred, Michael Haydn also composed secular music, including several Italian cantatas, German oratorios, and Singspiele. His Schuldrama, Mythologische Operette, for example, remained in obscurity until recently due in part to its ambiguous title. Mythologische Operette proves to be an important work because it gives us insight into a now obscure genre, the Schuldrama, as well as into Michael Haydn’s compositional style in the secular realm.

Schuldrama were academic dramas, usually with a Protestant allegorical theme, created for performance in schools and universities. Court musicians generally provided their music. From 1767 to 1771, Michael Haydn was composing Schuldrama at the Benediktineruniversität in Salzburg. These performances were popular and accessible to most citizens, both financially and aesthetically. In Mythologische Operette, the libretto was taken from a popular poem by P.F. Reichsiegel, entitled, “Die Wahrheit der Natur, in den drey irdischen Grazien, nämlich in der Dichtkunst, Musik und Malerey.” The poem is a Scherz-und Lehrgedicht, a comic poem that teaches a moral lesson. The story follows the Mentor, an embodiment of Reason, and the three earthly Graces, the daughters of Nature, as they seek true art. The Schuldrama would have been known by the libretto’s title; however, Michael Haydn titled his score for the poem Mythologische Operette. Despite the different titles, because the names of the characters from the original libretto appear in the musical manuscript and because Michael Haydn completed the composition on July 7, 1769, just days before the performance of “Die Wahrheit der Natur,” scholars are sure that the music for Mythologische Operette was performed with Reichsiegel’s libretto. …

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