Step 4: Shaping Ideas and Facts in English

Exercise 1: Render the piece of information below into Russian without consulting a dictionary. Pay special attention to the underlined words and word combinations.

A

Franz joseph haydn

(1732-1809)

The great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was born on 31 March 1732, one of the 12 children of a wheelwright in Rohrau, a village in Austria. He became a choirboy in Vienna when he was eight, but had to leave the choir when his voice broke. He worked hard to finish his musical studies, suffering some hardship, and then took up composing, learning a good deal from the sonatas of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, one of the sons of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach.

Haydn soon started to compose symphonies, the works for which he is best known, and his fortunes began to improve. In 1758 he was appointed composer to a Bohemian, and in 1761 he entered the service of Prince Paul Esterhazy, who belonged to an important Hungarian family. In 1766 Haydn became musical director at the Esterhazy castle of Eisenstadt, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Vienna. When Prince Paul died, Haydn con­tinued in his position under his successor Prince Nicolaus.

As director of the prince's orchestra, Haydn had opportunities to make experiments in composing orchestral music, and made many advances in the technical development of musical forms. He was always being asked for symphonies and chamber music, and the prince had a marionette (pup­pet) theater for which Haydn had to write operas. He also composed religious music, including a series of mass settings for soloists, choir, and orchestra.

Haydn was successful not only in his own country but also in England, which he visited for the first time after Prince Nicolaus Ester­hazy died in 1790. In London, Haydn pro­duced 12 of his symphonies at two series of concerts organized by the violinist Johann Peter Salomon. Haydn appeared at the Eng­lish court, and his music was played at the most important concerts. In 1791 he went to Oxford to receive the degree of Honorary Manwil Collection Haydn, here playing in a string quartet, greatly influenced its musical form. He wrote over 80 quartets.

Doctor of Music. After his visits to Eng­land, Haydn continued to live and teach in Vienna. While he was in England he heard much of the music of Handel, particularly Messiah, which he admired greatly, so on his return to Vienna he composed two oratorios—The Creation (based on the Bible story and on Mil­ton's Paradise Lost), and The Seasons (based on a long poem by the 18th-century poet James Thompson). Both these works are popular with choral societies.

In 1809 Vienna was captured by Napoleon, who gave express orders that no harm was to come to Haydn or his home. Haydn died in Vienna on 31 May the same year.

"Papa Haydn", as he was known, wrote over 100 symphonies. Among the best known are the "London" and "Oxford" symphonies, the "Farewell" symphony, the "Clock" symphony and the "Toy" symphony. He also wrote over 80 delightful string quartets and over 40 piano trios. Haydn was one of the greatest compo­sers of his time and wrote an enormous amount. Even today some of his works have not yet been published.

B