In Josef Haydn (1782-1809) we are face to face with a musician of a
different type. Haydn is popularly known as the father of the Sonata,
the Symphony and the String-Quartet; but, according to Edward
Dickinson,[106] this estimate is something of an exaggeration, for "it
overlooks the fact that a large number of composers were struggling
with the same problem and working along similar lines. Haydn was
simply the greatest in _genius_ of the instrumental writers of his
day. His works have lived by virtue of the superiority, _i.e._, the
greater spontaneity and vitality, of their contents. He should be
called the 'foster-father,' rather than the father of the symphony and
quartet for he raised them from feebleness to strength and authority."
To him must be given the honor of establishing the types of
instrumental composition which became the foundations of modern music.
Haydn, moreover, was the first musician since Sebastian Bach who had a
real personality which may be felt in his works. To speak of a piece
of music as "Haydnish" conveys as distinct a meaning as to refer to a
poetic stanza as "Miltonic." When Haydn arrived on the scene,
music--through the labors of many earnest workers--had become a
language of definite expression, with a logical grammar and with
principles of structure. The time was ripe for the use of this
language in a more artistic way, _i.e._, for a more intense personal
expression and for more subtle treatment of the material. The composer
could count upon the public following his points; and with Haydn,
whose heart beat in sympathy with the common people, music begins to
be a truly popular art.

[Footnote 106: See his _Study of the History of Music_, p. 154.]

The striking features in Haydn's works are three: (1) The wealth of
spontaneous and sparkling melodies, for he was born with this lyric
gift and never had to cudgel his wits for a tune. That instrumental
melody could make such sudden progress as we find between the dryness
of Emmanuel Bach and the freshness of Haydn, was long a puzzle to
scholars, and only recently has the proof been submitted that Haydn
was largely of Croatian ancestry. Now the Croatians of Southern
Austria are one of the most musical races in the world, with a wealth
of folk-songs and dances. Haydn therefore did not have to "invent"
melodies in the ordinary sense of the term; they were his birthright.
Many of his melodies are adaptations of actual folk-songs[107] or
original