Michael Haydn

Michael Haydn (1737-1806) was a distinguished Salzburg composer whose music influenced that of Mozart, Schubert, Weber, and others. Haydn's sacred, choral works (masses, hymns, and cantatas) are considered to be his best music, with even Joseph Haydn believing his younger brother's church music to be better than his own. Mozart's Requiem, K. 626, is frequently compared to Haydn's because of the similarity in structure. Haydn often employed contrapuntal techniques in his music, regardless of the genre, but he also wrote in all the current instrumental forms of the era. His instrumental music includes 40 symphonies, divertimentos, and a popular trumpet concerto.