Joseph Haydn (31 March or 1 April 1732–31 May 1809) was a leading composer of the classical period, called the "Father of the symphony" and "Father of the string quartet". The name "Franz" was not used in the composer's lifetime; scholars, along with an increasing number of music publishers and recording companies, now use the historically more accurate form of his name, rendered in English as "Joseph Haydn".

Read more about Franz Joseph Haydn on Last.fm.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.