Joseph Haydn

This Variations on a Theme excavates music from composers active in 1799, featuring a Napoleon favorite, Haydn, Beethoven, and a celebration of the discovery of the Rosetta stone!

What happens when the grandfather of the symphony takes on one of the brightest rising stars in classical music as his student? They shape history, of course!

Joseph Haydn - often called the father of the symphony and the string quartet, teacher to many and an all around good-natured man. To this day, he still wears the nickname “Papa Haydn” - but where did it come from?