The Profound Religiosity of Franz Joseph Haydn

One of history’s greatest Catholic composers, Franz Joseph Haydn’s masses, oratorios and sacred instrumental works are so moving, energising and innovative that he transcended the mere category of musician. In 1785 the English newspaper Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser called Haydn the “Shakespeare of music”, while an early biographer, Giuseppe Carpani, likened Haydn to Catholic discoverers such as Christopher Columbus or the Venetian painter Tintoretto.