ed at the opportunity,
and when he was only six years old he left for Haimburg. There he was under a very strict
schedule which included lessons in reading, writing, and catechism, followed by Mass in the
church, and of course instruction in singing and playing almost all wind and string instruments.
Joseph also learned to play the timpani, and did so in a Holy Week procession. He had a deep
love for music and was very grateful for his stay at Haimburg. He once said, "I shall owe it to
that man [Franck] even in my grave that he taught me so many things, though in the process I
have received more thrashings than food."
In 1740, Karl Georg Reutter, the music director of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna
came to Hainburg in search of new, young boys to replace the older ones whose voices broke.
Haydn was immediately recommended, and after singing a few pieces for Reutter, the badly
nourished boy was taken in as a new student to the Choir School at St. Stephen's Cathedral,
where he would remain for the next nine years.
Haydn loved Vienna and was impressed greatly by all the fine music surrounding the city.
his life in the Cathedral was hard, however, and the schedule once again was rigorous. There
were lessons in Latin, math, and all the academic studies, as well as classes in singing, violin,
and percussion. However, there was no teaching of composition or theory, and Haydn often
claimed that he never had a proper teacher. As a matter of fact, it was often the older boys
teaching the younger boys. This meant Joseph was often the teacher of his younger brother,
Michael, who joined the choir a few years later. His other brother, Johann Evangelist, also joined
the choir and together the boys had a great time. There were many concerts outside the cathedral,
which were looked forward to with great excitement. This was because the amount of food at the
Cathedral was...