As we've seen so far, Haydn has gone through a whole list of changes in his life, and it is about time for him to settle down for a while. So of course, it is the perfect time for more changes than ever!
To proceed chronologically (as I always try to do), the most important event of the year came first. On March 3, 1766, the titular Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, died. While it was probably a foregone conclusion that Haydn would immediately take his place as full Kapellmeister, and indeed, while this is just what happened, the repercussions on his work product are perhaps underestimated. Up until now, his main compositional focus had been instrumental work. But the elderly Werner had been in charge of sacred music, and due to his infirmities had left a considerable time period with no new works. One of the things we will see from Haydn now are large works, sacred and profane. Masses and other religiously centered works, and operas will come to the fore. Meanwhile, there isn't really a slowdown in instrumental works either, which basically says that Haydn was working harder now. His actual output for the next 15 years is truly phenomenal!
of his life within this area!
During the previous two years, we haven't actually seen too much of the Prince. His omnipresence at Eisenstadt was only a spiritual one; in fact, he had mainly been spending his time at his former residence, Süttör, the family hunting lodge on Lake Neusiedl. He hadn't been spending this time hunting snipe in the swamp (for indeed, it was good for little more than that), but instead had been overseeing the construction of what would eventually be 'the Versailles of Hungary', Eszterháza. One of the ancestors had begun building a Schloß on the site as early as 1721, and various others had pitched in a bit here and there, but it was only when Nicholas became the head of the family (law required that there be only one heir to everything in order to keep fortunes from being diluted) that things began in earnest. And it was in the summer of 1766 that enough was completed (the entire wasn't done until 1784) for some of the musicians, including Haydn, to pick up and head there for the extended summer period. Even though it was only 25 mi. (40 km.) it was no easy journey back and forth in the half-hour it would take today.
Since the musicians' quarters were not completed until 1768, the musicians were given guest rooms, and some were put up at the village inn. Clearly the wives and families had to be left behind in Eisenstadt, which posed another issue for Haydn to resolve. It was at this time he purchased his first house. One stands today on the same spot, undoubtedly a replica due to the burning down of it. It is a Haydn Museum now, beautifully conserved, and contains some interesting artifacts. Since Eszterháza never became a permanent residence, this house served a valuable purpose for many years thereafter. Here is their web page (it's all in German): http://www.haydn-haus.at well worth a look.
Robbins-Landon (Chronicle & Works Vol. 2) speculates that it was a peculiarly 18th century sort of project to build a luxury palace, a fairy tale sort of place if one ever could be called that, out in an isolated swamp. Then to stock it with some of the finest art works in Europe, an opera house, marionette theater, gardens, concert hall, the finest musicians in Europe led by the most interesting living composer… it makes one wonder if Nicholas was a bit of a loony! Yet he likely wasn't one, nor was he merely a rich man looking for something to waste all his money on. One can say fairly that the Age of Enlightenment produced some men to whom the dominance of their surroundings, the subjugation of the wild into the grandest display of civilization, was the fulfillment of their personal and philosophical destiny. Certainly Nicholas' death only 6 years after the eventual completion, followed by the nearly immediate abandonment and gradual sinking into oblivion of the 'Versailles of Hungary' seems in some way to reflect the futility of the vision that created it. But for one brief moment in time, with the colored lights and brilliant chandeliers glittering, the costumed courtiers dancing their minuets to the strains of the elegantly liveried orchestra, with the intoxicating scent wafting from the rose gardens, it must have justified itself simply as a physical representation of the possibilities of human creation.
Next time we will begin to look at the music. Things are changing already!
Thanks for reading!