March 31 is Joseph Haydn’s birthday!

It’s also a fabulous occasion to celebrate his contributions to the world of chamber music with a gift in his honor to ACMP…

Throughout the month of March, we hope you will participate in the ACMP Haydn Challenge. And since it’s also March Winds (Wind Chamber Music Appreciation Month), let’s all enjoy exploring Haydn’s prolific list of chamber music including woodwinds and brass, alongside the string quartets and piano trios you all know and love!

How it works:

1. Organize a chamber music date with your friends and/or new friends you find in the ACMP Directory of Chamber Musicians
2. Find some Haydn pieces for your instrumentation and procure sets of parts if you don’t have them already.
3. Get together sometime (or multiple times!) to play some Haydn chamber music from now through the end of the day on March 31
4. After you play, encourage each member of your group to make a suggested minimum donation of $10 to ACMP – any amount is greatly appreciated!
5. Tell ACMP which Haydn piece or pieces you all played that day right on the donation form which now says: “Is this a donation in honor of Joseph Haydn’s birthday? If so, which piece(s) did you play?”

FAQs

Why celebrate Haydn?

For us chamber musicians, Haydn is arguably the most important composer. He’s the “father of the piano trio” and the “father of the string quartet.” He even played string quartets with Dittersdorf, Vanhal and Mozart, who dedicated six of his greatest quartets to him!

But – I play the clarinet/French horn/oboe/bassoon/trumpet/other instrument that’s not strings or piano! What if I can’t find any chamber works by Haydn to play?

FEAR NOT! Haydn’s repertoire list is comprehensive and includes fun pieces for all kinds of combinations. He’s probably second only to Georg Philipp Telemann for the sheer scope of his output of small ensemble music.

HAYDN LIST OF WORKS

How can I get a hold of parts and scores for Haydn’s lesser known chamber music?

On IMSLP’s list of Haydn’s works (above), all of the pieces with Hoboken numbers in blue typeface are hyperlinks to the score, parts and recordings on IMSLP. Some of them will have more useable parts than others – but you will find some great pieces. Note that in the preface to the list, the editors say that the list is manually updated. For a comprehensive list of Haydn’s works on IMSLP you can also check here. (But it is in alphabetical order by title, rather than organized by category.)

What are some other ways I could get involved with the ACMP Haydn Challenge?

The simplest way, as outlined above, is just to organize a private session with your friends, but you could also organize a chamber music reading party or informal concert dedicated to Haydn’s chamber music as a benefit to ACMP. There are many possible approaches. Email Stephanie at sgriffin@acmp.net if you’d like some help.

What if I don’t like to donate online?

If you or your friends prefer to donate by check, they can write a check out to ACMP with the names of the Haydn piece(s) in the memo line and mail it to:

ACMP
1133 Broadway, Suite 810
New York, NY 10010

How else can I share my Haydn experience?

We would also love it if you could take some photos or make some short video clips of you playing Haydn with your friends!

If you are on Facebook or Instagram, please post them and tag ACMP.

Better still – you could post it yourself in the ACMP Members Facebook Group.