Books: Haydn

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A Posthumous Tribute

It is but fair to Haydn to say that, if he did not suffer his
nominal superior gladly, he at least treated him with respect and
a certain deference. He did more. Werner died in 1766, having
thus seen only five years of the new order of things, but Haydn's
regard for his memory was such that, so late as 1804, he
published six of his fugues arranged as string quartets, "out of
sincere esteem for this celebrated master." A kindness of heart
and a total absence of professional jealousy characterized Haydn
throughout his whole career, and never more than in this action.

Esterhazy "the Magnificent"

The composer had been rather less than a twelvemonth in his
service when Prince Paul Anton died on the 18th of March 1762. He
was succeeded by his brother Nicolaus, a sort of glorified "Grand
Duke" of Chandos, who rejoiced in the soubriquet of "The
Magnificent." He loved ostentation and glitter above all things,
wearing at times a uniform bedecked with diamonds. But he loved
music as well. More, he was a performer himself, and played the
baryton, a stringed instrument not unlike the viola-da-gamba, in
general use up to the end of the eighteenth century. Haydn
naturally desired to please his prince, and being perpetually
pestered to provide new works for the noble baryton player, he
thought it would flatter him if he himself learnt to handle the
baryton. This proved an unfortunate misreading of "The
Magnificent's" character, for when Haydn at length made his debut
with the instrument, the prince lost no time in letting him
understand that he disapproved of such rivalry. An amusing story
is told of Kraft, the Eisenstadt 'cellist, at this time, who
occasionally played the second baryton. Kraft presented the
prince with a composition into which he had introduced a solo for
himself as second baryton. The prince asked to see the part, and
proceeded to try it over. Coming to a difficult passage, he
exclaimed indignantly: "For the future, write solos only for my
part; it is no credit to you to play better than I; it is your
duty."

Compositions for Baryton

Haydn, so far as we can make out, never essayed the baryton
again, but he wrote a surprising amount of music for it,
considering its complicated mechanism and the weakness of its
tone. In the catalogue of his works there are no fewer than 175
compositions for the instrument--namely, six duets for two
barytons, twelve sonatas for baryton and violoncello, twelve
divertimenti for two barytons and bass, and 125 divertimenti for
baryton, viola and violoncello; seventeen so-called "cassations";
and three concertos for baryton, with accompaniment of two
violins and bass. There is no need to say anything about these
compositions, inasmuch as they have gone to oblivion with the
instrument which called them into being. At the best they can
never have been of much artistic importance. A Reproval

A new epoch began at Eisenstadt with the rule of Prince Nicolaus.
He was a man of unbounded energy himself, and he expected
everybody in his service to be energetic too. There is nothing to
suggest that Haydn neglected any of his routine duties, which
certainly gave him abundant opportunity to "break the legs of
time," but once, at least--in 1765--his employer taxed him with
lack of diligence in composition, as well as for failing to
maintain the necessary discipline among the musicians under his
charge. It is likely enough that Haydn was not a rigid
disciplinarian; but it must have been a mere whim on the part of
Prince Nicolaus to reprove him on the score of laziness in
composing. In any case, it seems to have been only a solitary
reproof. There is no evidence of its having been repeated, and we
may assume that even now it was not regarded as a very serious
matter, from the fact that three weeks after the prince was
requesting his steward to pay Haydn 12 ducats for three new
pieces, with which he was "very much pleased."

Operettas

Life at Eisenstadt moved on in "calm peace and quiet," but now
and again it was stirred into special activity, when Haydn had to
put forth his efforts in various new directions. Such an occasion
came very early in his service of Prince Nicolaus, when that
pompous person made triumphant entry into Eisenstadt. The
festivities were on a regal scale and continued for a whole
month. A company of foreign players had been engaged to perform
on a stage erected in the large conservatory, and Haydn was
required to provide them with operettas. He wrote several works
of the kind, one of which, "La Marchesa Nepola," survives in the
autograph score. Later on, for the marriage of Count Anton, the
eldest son of Prince Nicolaus, in 1763, he provided a setting of
the story which Handel had already used for his "Acis and
Galatea." This work, which was performed by the Eisenstadt
Capelle, with the orchestra clad in a new uniform of crimson and
gold, bore the name of "Acide e Galatea." Portions of the score
still exist--a section of the overture, four arias, and a finale
quartet. The overture is described as being "in his own style,
fresh and cheerful, foreshadowing his symphonies. The songs are
in the Italian manner, very inferior in originality and
expression to Handel's music; the quartet is crude in form and
uninteresting in substance." [See Miss Townsend's Hayden, p. 44]

It would seem rather ungracious, as it would certainly be
redundant to discuss these "occasional" works in detail. For one
thing, the material necessary to enable us to form a correct
estimate of Haydn's powers as a dramatic composer is wanting. The
original autograph of "Armida," first performed in 1783, is,
indeed, preserved. "Orfeo ed Euridice," written for the King's
Theatre in the Haymarket in 1791, but never staged, was printed
at Leipzig in 1806, and a fair idea of the general style of the
work may be obtained from the beautiful air, "Il pensier sta
negli oggetti," included in a collection entitled "Gemme
d'Antichita." But beyond these and the fragments previously
mentioned, there is little left to represent Haydn as a composer
of opera, the scores of most of the works written expressly for
Prince Esterhazy having been destroyed when the prince's private
theatre was burned down in 1779. What Haydn would have done for
opera if he had devoted his serious attention to it at any of the
larger theatres it is, of course, impossible to say. Judging from
what has survived of his work in this department, he was notable
for refinement rather than for dramatic power. We must, however,
remember the conditions under which he worked. He confessed
himself that his operas were fitted only for the small stage at
Esterhaz and "could never produce the proper effect elsewhere."
If he had written with a large stage in view, it may reasonably
be assumed that he would have written somewhat differently.

Occasional Works

In 1764 Prince Nicolaus made a journey to Frankfort for the
coronation of the Archduke Joseph as King of the Romans. After
the festivities connected with that imposing function were over
he extended his journey to Paris, where he created some sensation
by his extravagant displays of wealth and circumstance. During
the Prince's absence Haydn busied himself on a couple of
compositions intended to celebrate his home-coming. One was a Te
Deum, the other a cantata. The latter work is the more worthy of
remark, not because of its music, but because of the fulsomely
obsequious manner in which it celebrates the graces and virtues
of Nicolaus the Magnificent. The cantata is made up of choruses
and duets, a recitative and two arias. Parts of it were
afterwards employed in church services. The Te Deum is in C
major, and is for four voices with orchestra. It is interesting
as an early work, especially if we compare it with the greater Te
Deum in the same key composed in the year 1800. First Symphonies

At this point a summary may perhaps be made of the compositions
written by Haydn during these five years a Eisenstadt. The list,
as given by Pohl, comprises, in addition to the works already
named, about thirty symphonies six string trios, a few
divertimenti in five parts, a piece for four violins and two
'celli, entitled "Echo," twelve minuets for orchestra, concertos,
trios, sonatas and variations for clavier, and, in vocal music, a
"Salve Regina" for soprano and alto, two violins and organ. It
would serve no useful purpose to deal with these works in detail.
The symphonies are, of course, the most important feature in the
list, but of these we shall speak generally when treating of
Haydn as the father of instrumental music. The first Symphony in
C Major, usually called "Le Midi," is of special interest.

[Figure: a musical score excerpt]

The autograph score, dated 1761, and preserved at Eisenstadt, is
superscribed, "In Nomine Domini," and closes with Haydn's
customary "Laus Deo" after the final signature The work is in the
usual four movements. The symphonies of this date included also
those known in England as "Le Matin" and "Le Soir," the one
beginning--

[Figure: a musical score excerpt] and the other--

[figure: a musical score excerpt]

Of the string quartets and other instrumental compositions of the
period nothing need be said. In all these the composer was simply
feeling his way towards a more perfect expression, and as few of
them are now performed, their interest for us is almost entirely
antiquarian.

CHAPTER IV

ESTERHAZ--l766-l790

Haydn's Fame extending--Haydn and Mozart compared--Esterhaz--Its
Puppet Theatre--A Busy Life--Opera at Esterhaz--First Oratorio--
Opponents and Intriguers--"L'Isola Disabitata"--A Love Episode--
Correspondence with Artaria and Forster--Royal Dedicatees--The
"Seven Words"--The "Toy" and "Farewell" Symphonies.

To crowd the details of a professional career covering close upon
a quarter of a century into a single chapter would, in the case
of most of the great composers, be an altogether impossible task.
In Haydn's case the difficulty is to find the material for even
so slight a record. His life went on smoothly, almost sleepily,
as we should now think, in the service of his prince, without
personal incident and with next to no disturbance from the
outside world. If he had not been a genius of the first rank the
outside world would, in all probability, never have heard of his
existence.

Haydn's Fame extending

As it was, his fame was now manifestly spreading. Thus the Wiener
Diarum for 1766 includes him among the most distinguished
musicians of Vienna, and describes him as "the darling of our
nation." His amiable disposition, says the panegyrist, "speaks
through every one of his works. His music has beauty, purity, and
a delicate and noble simplicity which commends it to every
hearer. His cassations, quartets and trios may be compared to a
pure, clear stream of water, the surface now rippled by a gentle
breeze from the south, and anon breaking into agitated billows,
but without ever leaving its proper channel and appointed course.
His symphonies are full of force and delicate sympathy. In his
cantatas he shows himself at once captivating and caressing, and
in his minuets he is delightful and full of humour. In short,
Haydn is in music what Gellert is in poetry." This comparison
with Gellert, who died three years later, was at that date, as Dr.
Pohl remarks, the most flattering that could well be made. The
simplicity and naturalness of Gellert's style were the very
antithesis of the pedantries and frigid formalities of the older
school; and just as he pioneered the way for the resuscitation of
German poetry under Goethe and Schiller, so Haydn may be said to
have prepared the path for Beethoven and the modern school. Very
likely it was this comparison of the magazine writer that
suggested Dittersdorf's remark to Joseph II in 1786, when the
emperor requested him to draw an analogy between Haydn's and
Mozart's chamber music.

Haydn and Mozart compared

Dittersdorf shrewdly replied by asking the emperor in his turn to
draw a parallel between Gellert and Klopstock; whereupon Joseph
made answer by saying that both were great poets, but that
Klopstock's works required attentive study, while Gellert's
beauties were open to the first glance. The analogy, Dittersdorf
tells us, "pleased the emperor very much." Its point is, however,
not very clear--that is to say, it is not very clear whether the
emperor meant to compare Klopstock with Haydn and Gellert with
Mozart or vice versa, and whether, again, he regarded it as more
of a merit that the poet and the composer should require study or
be "open to the first glance." Joseph was certainly friendly
towards Mozart, but by all accounts he had no great love for
Haydn, to whose "tricks and nonsense" he made frequent sneering
reference.

The first noteworthy event of 1766 was the death of Werner, which
took place on March 5. It made no real difference to Haydn, who,
as we have seen, had been from the first, in effect, if not in
name, chief of the musical establishment; but it at least freed
him from sundry petty annoyances, and left him absolutely master
of the musical situation. Shortly after Werner's death, the
entire musical establishment at Eisenstadt was removed to the
prince's new palace of Esterhaz, with which Haydn was now to be
connected for practically the whole of his remaining professional
career.

Esterhaz

A great deal has been written about Esterhaz, but it is not
necessary that we should occupy much space with a description of
the castle and its surroundings. The palace probably owed its
inception to the prince's visit to Paris in 1764. At any rate, it
is in the French Renaissance style, and there is some
significance in the fact that a French traveler who saw it about
1782 described it as having no place but Versailles to compare
with it for magnificence. The situation--about three and a half
miles from Eisenstadt--was anything but suitable for an erection
of the kind, being in an unhealthy marsh and "quite out of the
world." But Prince Nicolaus had set his heart upon the scheme, as
Scott set his heart upon Abbotsford; and just as "Clarty Hole"
came in time to be "parked about and gated grandly," so Esterhaz,
after something like 11,000,000 gulden had been spent upon it,
emerged a veritable Versailles, with groves and grottoes,
hermitages and temples, summer-houses and hot-houses, and deer
parks and flower gardens. There were two theatres in the grounds:
one for operas and dramatic performances generally; the other
"brilliantly ornamented and furnished with large artistic
marionettes, excellent scenery and appliances."

A Puppet Theatre

It is upon the entertainments connected with the latter house
that the French traveler just mentioned chiefly dwells. "The
prince," he says, "has a puppet theatre which is certainly unique
in character. Here the grandest operas are produced. One knows
not whether to be amazed or to laugh at seeing 'Alceste,'
'Alcides,' etc., put on the stage with all due solemnity, and
played by puppets. His orchestra is one of the best I ever heard,
and the great Haydn is his court and theatre composer. He employs
a poet for his singular theatre, whose humour and skill in
suiting the grandest subjects for the stage, and in parodying the
gravest effects, are often exceedingly happy. He often engages a
troupe of wandering players for a month at a time, and he himself
and his retinue form the entire audience. They are allowed to
come on the stage uncombed, drunk, their parts not half learned,
and half-dressed. The prince is not for the serious and tragic,
and he enjoys it when the players, like Sancho Panza, give loose
reins to their humour."

Prince Nicolaus became so much attached to this superb creation
of his own, that he seldom cared to leave it. A small portion of
the Capelle remained at Eisenstadt to carry on the church service
there, but the prince seldom went to Eisenstadt, and more seldom
still to Vienna. Most of the Hungarian grandees liked nothing
better than to display their wealth in the Imperial city during
the winter season; but to Haydn's employer there was literally
"no place like home." When he did go to Vienna, he would often
cut short his visits in the most abrupt manner, to the great
confusion of his musicians and other dependants. These
eccentricities must have given some annoyance to Haydn, who,
notwithstanding his love of quiet and seclusion, often longed for
the change and variety of city life. It is said that he was
specially anxious to make a tour in Italy about this time, but
that ambition had, of necessity, to be abandoned.

A Busy Life

There was certainly plenty for him to do at Esterhaz--more than
he had ever been required to do at Eisenstadt. Royalties, nobles
and aristocrats were constantly at the palace; and music was one
of the chief diversions provided for them. The prince was very
proud of his musical establishment, and desired to have it
considered the best of its kind in Europe. The orchestra of the
opera was formed of members of the Capelle; "the singers were
Italian for the most part, engaged for one, two, or more years,
and the books of the words were printed. Numerous strolling
companies were engaged for shorter terms; traveling virtuosi
often played with the members of the band. Special days and hours
were fixed for chamber music, and for orchestral works; and in
the interval the singers, musicians and actors met at the cafe,
and formed, so to speak, one family." Something more than
creative genius was obviously required to direct the music of an
establishment of this kind. A talent for organization, an eye for
detail, tact in the management of players and singers--these
qualities were all indispensable for the performance of duties
such as Haydn had undertaken. That he possessed them we may
fairly assume from more than one circumstance. In the first
place, his employer was satisfied with him. He raised his salary,
listened attentively to all his suggestions, and did everything
that he could to retain his services. In the second place, his
band and singers were sincerely attached to him. They saw that he
had their interests, personal and professional, at heart, and
they "loved him like a father." The prince paid them well, and
several of them were sufficiently capable to receive appointments
afterwards in the Imperial Chapel. Pohl gives a list of the names
about this time, but, with one or two exceptions, they are quite
unfamiliar. J. B. Krumpholtz, the harpist, was engaged from 1773
to 1776, and Andreas Lidl, who played in London soon after
leaving the band, was in the service of the prince from 1769 to
1774.

The sum paid to Haydn at this date was not large as we should now
consider it, but it was sufficient to free him from financial
worry had it not been for the extravagance and bad management of
his wife. The prince gave him about 78 pounds, in addition
to which he had certain allowances in kind, and, as we have
already said, free quarters for himself and his wife when
she thought fit to stay with him. Probably, too, he was now
making something substantial by his compositions. Griesinger
declares that he had saved about 200 pounds before 1790,
the year when he started for London. If that be true, he must
have been very economical. His wife, we must remember, was making
constant calls upon him for money, and in addition he had to meet
the pressing demands of various poor relations. His
correspondence certainly does not tend to show that he was
saving, and we know that when he set out for London he had not
only to draw upon the generosity of his prince for the costs of
the journey, but had to sell his house to provide for his wife
until his return.

Opera at Esterhaz

It is time, however, to speak of some of Haydn's compositions
during this period. At Esterhaz he "wrote nearly all his operas,
most of his arias and songs, the music for the marionette
theatre--of which he was particularly fond--and the greater part
of his orchestral and chamber works." The dramatic works bulk
rather largely during the earlier part of the period. In 1769,
for example, when the whole musical establishment of Esterhaz
visited Vienna, a performance of his opera, "Lo Speciale," was
given at the house of Freiherr von Sommerau, and was repeated in
the form of a concert. Other works of the kind were performed at
intervals, particularly on festival occasions, but as most of
them have perished, and all of them are essentially pieces
d'occasion, it is unnecessary even to recall their names. In 1771
Haydn wrote a "Stabat Mater" and a "Salve Regina," and in 1773
followed the Symphony in C which bears the name of the Empress
Maria Theresa, having been written for the empress's visit to
Esterhaz in September of that year. In the course of the visit
Haydn was naturally introduced to Her Majesty, when, as we have
stated, he took occasion to remind her of the "good hiding" she
had ordered him to have at Schonbrunn during the old chorister
days at St Stephen's. "Well, you see, my dear Haydn," was the
reply, "the hiding has borne good fruit."

First Oratorio

In 1775 came his first oratorio, "Il Ritorno di Tobia." This is
an exceedingly interesting work. It was first performed under
Haydn's direction by the Tonkunstler Societat, with solo singers
from Esterbaz, at Vienna, on April 2, 1775. In 1784 Haydn added
two choruses, one a "Storm Chorus," which is sometimes confused
with the "Storm Chorus" (in the same key, but in triple time)
composed during his sojourn in London. It is from "Il Ritorno di
Tobia" that the so-called motet, "Insanae et Vanae Curae," is
adapted, and the "Storm Chorus" immediately follows a fine
soprano air in F minor and major, sung by Anna in the original
work, a portion of which forms the beautiful second subject (in
F) of the "Insanae." The original words of this chorus--"Svanisce
in un momento"--are to the effect that the soul threatens to
yield to the fury of its enemies, yet trust in God keeps one
steadfast. The music admirably reflects these contrasting
sentiments, first in the tumultuous D minor section, and then in
the tranquility of the F major portion which follows, no less
than in the trustful quietude of the D major conclusion. Latin
words were adapted to three of the original choruses, but nothing
seems to be known as to the origin of the "Insanae" adaptation. A
full score of the motet, published by Breitkopf & Hartel in 1809,
was reviewed in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of August 15,
1810, as if it were an entirely original work. The source of the
Latin words also remains a mystery. They were presumably put
together to fit Haydn's music, but by whom we have no means of
ascertaining.

It is interesting to know that Haydn brought the score of his "Il
Ritorno di Tobia" with him to England on the occasion of his
first visit in 1791, probably with a view to its performance
here. Messrs Novello's private library contains an oblong volume
in the handwriting of Vincent Novello, in which he has copied
some numbers from "Tobia," including the air of Anna already
mentioned, but not the "Insanae" chorus. The inside cover of the
book bears the following note in Novello's hand, written, not
later than 1820, under the contents of the volume:

"The whole of the above are unpublished manuscripts, and were
copied from an extremely rare volume, containing the full
orchestral score of the entire oratorio, kindly lent to me for
the purpose by my friend, Mr. Shield, who had obtained it from
Haydn himself during the visit of the latter to England in the
year 1791.

--VINCENT NOVELLO

240 Oxford St."

[See an interesting account of "Il Ritorno di Tobia" in The
Musical Times for September 1901, p. 600.]

Some of our musical societies in search of novelties might do
worse than revive this almost completely forgotten oratorio. The
airs are exceedingly melodious, and the choruses bold and
tuneful, with well-developed fugue subjects. The "Insanae"
already referred to is frequently performed.

Opponents

In 1776 Haydn composed "La Vera Costanza" for the Court Theatre
of Vienna, but owing to certain intrigues it was declined by the
management and produced at Esterhaz instead. The opera was
subsequently staged at Vienna in 1790, and six of its airs and a
duet were published by Artaria. This incident makes it
sufficiently plain that Haydn had his opponents among the
musicians and critics of Vienna as well as elsewhere. Burney says
a friend in Hamburg wrote him in 1772 that "the genius, fine
ideas and fancy of Haydn, Ditters and Filitz were praised, but
their mixture of serious and comic was disliked, particularly as
there is more of the latter than the former in their works; and
as for rules, they knew but little of them." If we substitute
"humorous" for "comic," this may be allowed to fully represent
the views of the critics and amateurs of Vienna in regard to
Haydn's music.

And, unfortunately, the incident just mentioned was not a
solitary one. In 1778 Haydn applied for membership to the
Tonkunstler Societat, for whom he had in reality written his "Il
Ritorno di Tobia." One would have expected such a body to receive
him with open arms, but instead of that they exacted a sum of 300
florins on the ground of his non-residence in Vienna! Not only
so, but they would fain have brought him under a promise to
compose for them whenever they chose to ask him. This latter
condition Haydn felt to be impossible in view of his engagement
at Esterhaz, and he withdrew his admission fee. That the society
were not ashamed of themselves is obvious from a further episode.
Some years after this they desired Haydn to rearrange his "Tobia"
for a special performance, and when he demanded payment for his
trouble they promptly decided to produce Hasse's "Elena" instead.
Everything comes to the man who waits. After his second visit to
London the Tonkunstler Societat welcomed Haydn at a special
meeting, and with one voice appointed him "Assessor Senior" for
life. In return for this distinction he presented the society
with "The Creation" and "The Seasons," to which gifts, according
to Pohl, its prosperity is mainly owing.

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