it occupied latterly. The Symphony (Salomon, No. 2) was the first piece in the second part, the position stipulated for by Haydn, and the Adagio was encored—'a very rare occurrence.' The Morning Chronicle gives an animated description of the concert, the success of which was most brilliant, and ensured that of the whole series. Haydn's benefit was on May 16; £200 was guaranteed, but the receipts amounted to £350. Meantime Gallini, manager of the King's Theatre, was trying in vain to obtain a licence for the performance of operas. Two parties were at issue on the question. The Prince of Wales espoused the cause of the King's Theatre, while the King publicly declared his adhesion to the Pantheon, and pronounced two Italian opera-houses undesirable. At length Gallini was clever enough to obtain a license for 'Entertainments of Music and Dancing,' with which he opened the theatre on March 26, with David as tenor, Vestris as ballet-master, Haydn as composer, Federici as composer and conductor, and Salomon as leader—and with these he performed various works of Haydn's, including symphonies and quartets, his Chorus 'The Storm' (the words by Peter Pindar, 'Hark the wild uproar of the waves'), an Italian catch for 7 voices, and a cantata composed for David. His opera 'Orfeo ed Euridice,' though paid for and nearly completed, was not performed, owing to the failure of the undertaking. During the time he was composing it, Haydn lived in Lisson Grove—then absolutely in the country—where one of his most frequent visitors was J. B. Cramer, then 20 years old. His second benefit was on May 30, at the request of some amateurs of high position. Haydn gave a concert at the Hanover Square Rooms, where he conducted two of his symphonies, and, for the first time, the 'Seven Words' (La Passione instrumentale), afterwards repeated at the concert of Clement, the boy-violinist, and elsewhere. About this time he was invited to the annual dinner of the Royal Society of Musicians, and composed for the occasion a march for orchestra, the autograph of which is still preserved by the society. He also attended the Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey. He had a good place near the King's box, and never having heard any performance on so grand a scale, was immensely impressed. When the Hallelujah Chorus rang through the nave, and the whole audience rose to their feet, he wept like a child, exclaiming, 'He is the master of us all.'
In the first week of July he went to the Oxford Commemoration, for the honorary degree of Doctor of Music, conferred at Dr. Burney's suggestion. Three grand concerts formed an important feature of the entertainments; at the second of these the 'Oxford' symphony[1] was performed, Haydn giving the tempi at the organ; and at the third he appeared in his Doctor's gown, amid enthusiastic applause. The 'Catalogue of all Graduates' contains the entry, 'Haydn, Joseph, Composer to His Serene Highness the Prince of Esterhazy, cr. Doctor of Music, July 8, 1791.' He sent the University as his 'exercise' the following composition'—afterwards used for the first of the 'Ten Commandments,' the whole of which he set to canons during his stay in London[2].
Canon cancrizans, a tre.
On his return he made several excursions in the neighbourhood of London, and stayed five weeks with Mr. Brassey (of 71 Lombard Street)[3] at his country house 12 miles from town, where he gave lessons to Miss Brassey, and enjoyed the repose of country life in the midst of a family circle all cordially attached to him. Meantime a new contract was entered into with Salomon, which prevented his obeying a pressing summons from Prince Esterhazy to a great fête for the Emperor. In November he was a guest at two Guildhall banquets—that of the outgoing Lord Mayor (Sir John Boydell) on the 5th, and that of the new one (John Hopkins) on the 9th. Of these entertainments he left a curious account in his diary.[4] In the same month he visited the marionnettes at the Fantoccini theatre in Savile Row, in which he took a great interest from old associations with Esterház. On the 25th, on an invitation from the Prince of Wales, he went to Oatlands, to visit the Duke of York, who had married the Princess of Prussia two days before. 'Die liebe kleine'—she was but 17—quite won Haydn's heart; she sang, played the piano, sat by his side during his symphony (one she had often heard at home), and hummed all the airs as it went on. The Prince of Wales played the violoncello, and all the music was of Haydn's composition. They even made him sing his own songs. During the visit, which lasted three days, Hoppner painted his portrait, by the Prince's command; it was engraved in 1807 by Facius, and is now at Hampton Court (Ante-room, No. 920). Engravings were also published in London by Schiavonetti and Bartolozzi from portraits by Guttenbrunn and Ott, and by Hardy from his own oil-painting. Haydn next went to Cambridge to see the University, thence to Sir Patrick Blake's at Langham, and afterwards to the house of a Mr. Shaw, where he was received
- ↑ He had taken a new Symphony with him, but that in G (Letter Q, 1787 or 8) was substituted, owing to the time being too short for rehearsals.
- ↑ The autograph, the gift of Griesinger, is preserved in the Museum of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.
- ↑ An ancestor of the present Thomas Brassey, Esq., M. P.
- ↑ See Pohl's 'Haydn in London' p. 157.
