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Most people know Joseph Haydn as Austria's great master of Classical style, and the man who taught Mozart and Beethoven. He is called by some the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".

A life-long citizen of Austria, Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family on its remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the latter part of his long life he was, as he put it, "forced to become original".

As the composer of some of the world's best-loved symphonies, choral music and chamber music, his fame was truly international. Haydn arrived in England on New Year's Day, 1791 – it was the first time that he'd been allowed to leave his noble masters at Esterházy, and it was Britain that he chose as his destination.

Right from the start, he enjoyed a level of fame and adulation here that was unprecedented for a composer of classical music. His presence here marked a turning point not only in musical culture, but also in his music. He died in Vienna on 31 May 1809, aged 77.