664 
Haydn. eomposition; he generally dwelt with the prince of . 
Esterhazy, at Eisenstadt in Hungary, and accompa- 
nied him during two or three months of the year, 
which were spent at Vienna. Here he became ac- 
quainted with the Chevalier Christopher Gluck, an 
eminent composer for the opera, Mozart and others. 
The former advised him to travel in France and Italy, 
from which he predicted the greatest advantage in dra- 
matic compositions; but the moderate finances of Haydn 
seem to have deterred him from following his coun- 
sel. His fame, however, had extended far beyond the 
sphere of his residence; and he was employed to com- 
pose an instrumental oratorio on the seven last sentences 
of our Saviour, for some religious ceremony, in a cathe- 
dral at Cadiz, which was hung with black, while a sin- 
gle lamp glimmered over the audience. Twelve years 
later, Haydn, without changing any of the instrumen- 
tal parts, had words adapted to it. Many of his com- 
positions are quite unknown in Britain, particularly 
a multitude of pieces for the bariton, a kind of small 
violoncello, with five strings above the bridge, and 
others behind the hand, to be touched by the thumb, 
played on by the Prince of Esterhazy, and to which the 
inhabitants of this country are strangers. 
By the advice of Baron Van Swieten, Haydn visit- 
ed London ; and his residence there may be regarded 
as one of the most fortunate periods of his life. His 
great and steady patron the prince of Esterhazy had 
died in the same year, 1790 ;- and while he left him his 
usual salary, he also dispensed with his discharging the 
duties of the situation. He seems. indeed to have held 
him in great estimation; for when Haydn's house at 
Eisenstadt was burned down during his absence at 
Vienna, the prince directed another to be built, having 
exactly the same size, appearance, and accommodation. 
In London Haydn experienced the most gratifying 
reception ; he remained there eighteen months, and re- 
turned to the continent in the year 1794. | He now be- 
gan to be treated with those honourable distinctions due 
to his transcendant genius. He was created Doctor of 
music by the University of Oxford, and other lite- 
rary and musical associations soon followed the ex- 
ample. . At this time a concert on a liberal and ex- 
pensive plan was established by Salomon, .the late 
leader of the opera, where all the first/performers were 
engaged; and each performance was anneunced to 
commence with an overture, expressly composed for 
it by Haydn. Twelve symphonies, which stand un- 
rivalled, were thus produced ; and, as is well known, 
these were afterwards ingeniously reduced to quintetts 
by Salomon. Some of them, or the whole, have since 
been adapted as trios for the piano-forte, violin, and vio- 
loncello. Haydn also composed and published several 
other works while in London; several of which are 
dedicated to the amateurs of this island: and a still 
more essential result was, the universal diffusion of a 
taste for his music. 
During his absence from Germany, a tablet, or obe- 
lisk, had been erected in honour of him at Rohrau, the 
place of his nativity, by Count Harrach; and on re- 
turning to the continent, he composed the oratorio of 
the Creation, in 1795, which is esteemed among the 
finest and most elaborate of his works. But his other 
compositions of the same kind, the Seasons, Stabat 
Mater, The Last Words of Christ, and The. Return of 
Tobit, have not been all equally successful; partly, 
it is supposed, from the want of coincidence between 
the music and the words. The last, however, which 
was written in 1775, is performed annually at Berlin, 
for the benefit of the widows of musicians. 
1 
HAYDN. 
While Haydn approached that period of life when 1 
the faculties usually decline, he was loaded with ho. 
nours, and his vigorous invention continued to be un= — 
impaired. He received honorary degrees from the 
academies of Stockholm and Amsterdam in 1798 and 
1801; and in the following year, on a vacancy occur- 
ring in the National Institute of France, he was elected 
a member, at which time our countryman Mr Sheridan 
was one of the candidates. He was also chosen a 
member of the Phil-Harmonie Societies of Laybach 
and St Petersburgh, and of the Children of Apollo at 
Paris, in 1805, 1807, 1808. Nay, the last “a mea 
dal, bearing his portrait, and invited him to the capital, 
with an offer of a sufficient sum to defray his expences. 
But this was not all; for Prince Kurakin, the Austrian 
ambassador at Vienna, presented him with a letter from 
the Phil-Harmonic Society of Petersburgh, full of gra« 
titude and admiration of his works, pre accompanied 
by a large gold medal, weighing above half a 
struck in honour of him, and his portrait, with 
the most flattering legend. He is also said to be the 
hero of a Spanish Poem on music. 
But Haydn was now little more than sensible of the 
distinctions he received. He bent under the weight of 
years, and ceased entirely to compose about 1803. It 
was not without regret, however, that he witnessed his 
own decay. He feelingly deplores it in a vocal quar= 
tett, beginning, “ My strength is enfeebled, death awaits 
at my gate.” Indeed he was so much weakened, that 
it became neéc¢ to construct a piano for him, re« 
markably light and easy in the touch. We have even 
heard those who knew him well declare, that he re« 
lapsed into a second childhood. : 
Haydn dwelt constantly at Vienna, and confined 
himself to his house and garden after the year 1806. 
The seventy-third anniversary of his birth had been 
celebrated by a concert in one of the theatres, conduct« 
ed by the son of Mozart; and, in 1808, a great musi- 
cal association of that city resolved to close the perform 
ances of the season with the Creation. Haydn, though 
withdrawn from the world, consented to be present. 
He was received by the Princess Esterhazy, and others 
of distinguished rank, in the hall of performance, and 
carried, amidst the sound of trumpets and loud accla~ 
mations, to a particular part of the gallery which was 
appropriated for him. He was overwhelmed by this 
mark of approbation ; and upon retiring, which he did 
very early, signified that he felt it was for ever. This 
great composer expired on the 31st May 1808. 
Haydn’s personal appearance betrayed no indications 
of genius. His stature was large, and his features 
coarse, But he was mild and complacent in manners ; 
modest and unassuming, and universally beloved in 
private life. He was never tainted by jealousy, and, 
unlike those who proclaim their own merits by under- 
valuing the works of others, he was always ready to 
approve where approbation was due. Handel’s cho- 
russes he thought sublime, though his music might be 
defective in melody. He entertained the highest opi- 
nion of Mozart, declaring his death a public cals 
and when invited to be present along with him at the 
coronation of the Emperor Leopold at Prague, he ob- 
served, “ Where Mozart is present, Haydn ought not 
to appear.” Haydn indeéd was too reserved. That 
innate modesty, and his moderate finances perhaps, pre- 
vented him from attaining some distinguished situation 
in his own country, which his talents merited. The 
Emperor Joseph is justly reproached with neglecting 
to place the first musician at the head of his orchestra ; 
but probably it is there, as it is in many other countries, 
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