Music = Happiness

During this time of COVID I continually look for things that make me happy.  Music is one of those things.  All types of music - my taste is rather eclectic, as you probably know if you listen to the music I share here on the blog.  Anyway - I was watching a show recently on PBS about Franz Joseph Haydn.  One of the main musicians in the PBS show was a man named Geoff Nuttall who knows a whole lot about Haydn.  He is the first violinist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet.  It was a great program, and one of the highlights was Mr. Nuttall and three other string players playing the Kaiserlied in Haydn's home in Vienna.

Haydn was one of my mom's favorite composers and I always remember liking his Surprise symphony when I was little (I confess - I thought it was the Hide and Surprise symphony - for a very long time . . .  ;-D). He is known as the father of the string quartet - he wrote at least 68 of them!  One of the tunes of his that is most recognizable is the one I mentioned - Kaiserlied - which long before it was the national anthem of Germany was the national anthem of Austria.  In the PBS program I learned that Haydn used part of the melody of a folk tune to write it.  If you're Anglican or Presbyterian you probably recognize it as the hymn, Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.  

There is something hypnotic and soothing about Kaiserlied when you hear it as it was originally written (in the late 1700s).   It forms the basis of the second movement of Haydn's Emperor quartet.  I've been listening to this second movement over and over lately - ever since the PBS program. 

The link below is long.  If you have the time and interest, the first half of it is a class, really, about Haydn and understanding the form of the quartet.  

If you want to hear just the full quartet, it starts at about 44:30.  It's weird that the audience applauded between the movements, but just ignore that and enjoy them playing - they are quite wonderful.

If you want to hear just the second movement where Kaiserlied appears, it starts at about 55:23.  I hope this brings some calmness and serenity to your day, and I hope it makes you happy, too.  :-)