Hermenegild

Saint Hermenegild or Ermengild (died 13 April 585) (Spanish: San Hermenegildo, from Gothic Ermen Gild, "immense tribute"), was the son of king Leovigild of Visigothic Spain. He fell out with his father in 579, then revolted the following year. During his rebellion, he converted from Arian Christianity to Chalcedonian Christianity. Hermenegild was defeated in 584, and exiled. His death was later celebrated as a martyrdom due to the influence of Pope Gregory the Great's Dialogues, in which he portrayed Hermenegild as a "Catholic martyr rebelling against the tyranny of an Arian father."

Marriage to Ingund

Hermenegild was the eldest son of the Arian King Leovigild and his first wife, the Catholic Princess Theodosia. He was brother to Reccared and brought up in the Arian belief. Leovigild made his sons co-regents.

In 1579 he married Ingund, daughter of the Frankish King Sigebert I of Austrasia), who was a Catholic. Her moher was the Visigoth princess Brunhilda of Austrasia. The twelve year old Ingunthis was pressured by Hermenegild's stepmother Goiswintha to abjure her beliefs, but she stayed firm in her faith.

Cosmas

Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek name and may refer to:

Saints

Patriarchs

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, with most major composers, from the mid to late 18th century onwards, writing string quartets.

The string quartet was developed into its current form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, with his works in the 1750s establishing the genre. Ever since Haydn's day the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form and represents one of the true tests of the composer's art. With four parts to play with, a composer working in anything like the classical key system has enough lines to fashion a full argument, but none to spare for padding. The closely related characters of the four instruments, moreover, while they cover in combination an ample compass of pitch, do not lend themselves to indulgence in purely colouristic effects. Thus, where the composer of symphonies commands the means for textural enrichment beyond the call of his harmonic discourse, and where the concerto medium offers the further resource of personal characterization and drama in the individual-pitted-against-the-mass vein, the writer of string quartets must perforce concentrate on the bare bones of musical logic. Thus, in many ways the string quartet is pre-eminently the dialectical form of instrumental music, the one most naturally suited to the activity of logical disputation and philosophical enquiry.

Joseph Haydn

(Franz) Joseph Haydn (/ˈdʒoʊzəf ˈhaɪdən/; German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈhaɪdən]; 31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".

Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.

Joseph Haydn was the older brother of composer Michael Haydn, a friend and mentor of Mozart, and a teacher of Beethoven.

Biography

Early life

Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria, a village that at that time stood on the border with Hungary. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor. Haydn's mother Maria, née Koller, had previously worked as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could read music; however, Mathias was an enthusiastic folk musician, who during the journeyman period of his career had taught himself to play the harp. According to Haydn's later reminiscences, his childhood family was extremely musical, and frequently sang together and with their neighbors.