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Donald Macleod takes a closer look at Haydn's family ties, including his younger brother and fellow composer Michael, with music including Haydn's sparkling Keyboard Concerto in D.

The streets must have seemed like they were paved with gold when Haydn visited London in 1791. He was feted and applauded everywhere he went as one of Europe鈥檚 leading composers. He hobnobbed with royalty, the Prince of Wales commissioned a portrait of him from leading society portraitist John Hoppner. It鈥檚 still regarded as one of the best images we have today.

Haydn could hardly have imagined all this as a boy. His really is a rags-to-riches story. Born in 1732 in humble circumstances, Haydn's musical talent won him a position as a choir boy in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. However, he was forced to leave after his voice broke and, by the age of 17, he was on the streets, with only 鈥渢hree miserable shirts and a worn-out coat鈥� to his name. Happily, his life did then take an upward turn. Haydn was employed by the Esterh脿zys, one of the most powerful and influential families in the Hapsburg monarchy, for an astonishing 48 years.

But this week, Donald Macleod puts the public face of this internationally celebrated figure to one side. He鈥檚 going to be looking at Haydn through a narrower lens, drawing a picture of the composer through the relationships he enjoyed with some of his closest family and friends.

In 1745 Michael joined Haydn as a chorister at St. Stephen's in Vienna. It wasn't long before the beauty of his voice put his elder brother's into the shade.

Piano Sonata No. 1 in G major, Hob.XVI:8
V. Allegro
Jean Efflam Bavouzet, piano

Mass in D minor, H.XXII:11 (Nelson Mass)
Gloria
Jonty Ward, treble
Hugh Cutting, alto
Nick Pritchard, tenor
Tom Edwards, bass
New College choir Oxford
New Century Baroque
Edward Higginbottom, director

Motetto "O ceolitum beati", Hob. XXIIIa:G9
Ann Monoyios soprano
Daniel R眉ller, tenor
Soloists of T枚lzer Knabenchor
Matthias Ritter, alto
Jonas Will, alto
Tafelmusik
Bruno Weil, conductor

Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in D major, Hob.XVIII:2
I: Vivace
II: Un poco adagio
III: Rondo all ungarese
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Les Violons du Roy
Bernard Labadie, conductor

Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33 No. 2 in E flat major 'The Joke'
II: Scherzo
Doric String Quartet

Michael Haydn: Requiem in C minor
'Pro defuncto archiepiscopo Sigismundo',
VIa. Agnus Dei et Communio. Agnus Dei 鈥� Lux aeterna
VIb. Agnus Dei et Communio. Cum sanctis tuis
VII. Requiem aeternam: Requiem aeternam 鈥� Cum sanctis tuis
Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Hilary Summers, alto
James Gilchrist tenor
Peter Harvey, bass
Choir of The King鈥檚 Consort
The King鈥檚 Consort
Robert King, conductor

Producer: Johannah Smith