H. C. Robbins Landon

Howard Chandler Robbins Landon (March 6, 1926 – November 20, 2009) was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstandings about Mozart.

The son of a musician, Landon became enthusiastic about Haydn's compositions in high school and was eager to pursue a career in Haydn scholarship. He studied with, among others, Karl Geiringer, an authority on Haydn, graduating with a music degree in 1947. He moved to Europe, where he lived for the rest of his life. He co-founded the Haydn Society in 1949, the goal of which was to publish and record Haydn's works. Gaining access to archives in countries throughout Europe, he spent decades researching the life and works of Haydn. He rescued, published critical editions of, wrote books about, and with the society arranged for the recording of, numerous forgotten works. He finally published his five-volume study, Haydn: Chronicle and Works, between 1976 and 1980.

In addition to his work on Haydn, Landon and the society recorded neglected works of Mozart, and he published five popular books about Mozart, dispelling myths about the composer's life. He had written 28 books by 1996. Landon also wrote regularly for music magazines and newspapers, especially the longest-established London paper, The Times. He was a popular broadcaster for the BBC on radio and television and was praised for his ability to enthuse general audiences with his chosen subject. From the 1970s, he was a sought-after lecturer and held appointments with colleges in the US and the UK.

Life and career

Early years Landon was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of William Grinnell Landon, a writer of Huguenot descent, and his wife Dorothea LeBaron née Robbins, a musician. He was educated at Aiken Preparatory School, Lenox School for Boys and Asheville School. |

Most of Haydn's music had been neglected for many years. In the first half of the nineteenth century Robert Schumann wrote of him, "Today it is impossible to learn anything new from him. He ... has ceased to arouse any particular interest." At the end of the century, Hubert Parry said that musicians need not be ashamed of knowing only a few of Haydn's symphonies "for Haydn is scarcely himself in this most important branch of composition till this very late period of his life." Of Haydn's output of more than 750 works, only a tenth was available in print in the mid-twentieth century. From 1943 to 1945 he was a student at Swarthmore College, studying music theory with Alfred Swan, composition with Harl McDonald and English literature with W. H. Auden. His studies at Swarthmore ended when its Quaker administrators expelled him for an affair with a female student. From 1945 to 1947 Landon was at Boston University, studying music with Hugo Norton and Karl Geiringer, who was described by The Times as "the great Haydn scholar". Landon graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1947. Recognizing that he would shortly be conscripted for two years' military service, Landon sought out the U.S. Army of Occupation in Vienna and volunteered as a military historian, researching and documenting the role of the Fifth Army in liberating Italy. but other cited sources say that this marriage was his first. completed his military service, and returned to Boston to undertake postgraduate research. While there, he and a group of friends, including Geiringer, founded the Haydn Society. It sold out almost immediately. Landon travelled through central and eastern Europe in search of Haydn manuscripts.

His first book, The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn, appeared in 1955.

Between 1976 and 1980, Landon produced his five volume magnum opus, Haydn: Chronicle and Works.

Landon did not confine his scholarship to the study of Haydn. His five books on the life and music of Mozart were aimed at a wider public than his works about Haydn, and sold in large numbers in many languages, making his name internationally known.

In Europe and America, Landon was sought after as a lecturer. In the 1960s, '70s and '80s he held professorial posts at Queens College, New York; the University of California; University College, Cardiff University; and Middlebury College, Vermont.

Reputation and honors The New York Times said of Landon, "Though a serious and prolific scholar, Mr. Landon also had a knack for making musicology seem exciting to the general public."

Landon was granted honorary doctorates by Boston University (1969), Queen's University, Belfast (1974), Bristol University (1981) and the New England Conservatory (1989), and was an honorary fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, (1980). He was awarded the Siemens Prize (1991) and the Medal of Honor of the Handel and Haydn Society (1993). He received the Verdienstkreuz für Kunst und Wissenschaft from the Austrian Government in 1972 and the Gold Medal of the City of Vienna in 1987.

Publications Landon's output was huge; a tribute volume published for his 70th birthday in 1996 contained a bibliography listing 516 publications by him, including 28 books. In his Who's Who entry Landon selected as his major publications: The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn, 1955 The Mozart Companion (co-ed with Donald Mitchell), 1956 The Collected Correspondence and London Notebooks of Joseph Haydn, 1959 Critical edition of the 107 Haydn Symphonies, completed 1968 Essays on Eighteenth-Century Music, 1969 Ludwig van Beethoven: A Documentary Study, 1970 Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 1976–80: vol. 3, Haydn in England, 1976 vol. 4, Haydn: The Years of The Creation, 1977 vol. 5, Haydn: The Late Years, 1977 vol. 1, Haydn: The Early Years, 1978 vol. 2, Haydn in Eszterhaza, 1980 Haydn: A Documentary Study, 1981 Mozart and the Masons, 1982 Handel and his World, 1984 1791: Mozart's Last Year, 1988 Haydn: His Life and Music (with David Wyn Jones), 1988 Mozart: The Golden Years, 1989 The Mozart Compendium (ed), 1990 Mozart and Vienna, 1991 Five Centuries of Music in Venice, 1991 Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque, 1993 The Mozart Essays, 1995 Horns in High C (memoirs), 1999 Scholarly editions of eighteenth-century music (various European publishing houses)