Some events of varying importance in 1776:
- Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
- Scottish economist Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations in London.
- Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
- American Declaration of Independence.
- Mozart's Serenade No. 7, Haffner, is first performed in Salzburg, Austria.
- First running of the St. Leger Stakes horse race in England.
- Hurricane hits Guadeloupe, killing more than 6000 people.
- Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
- Prince Nicholas Esterházy of Hungary puts his Baryton in the closet and begins a full-time opera season.
So, an interesting year on many fronts. I'm just guessing here, but the one of primary importance to Haydn probably didn't involve events in Concord, Massachusetts nor the oldest horse race in England. That Baryton thing though…
Probably due to the success of, and publicity generated by, his oratorio Il Ritorno di Tobia, Haydn was invited to submit an autobiographical sketch to the publisher of a book called Das gelehrte Oesterreich (Scholarly Austria), a sort of Who's Who of 1776. For reasons unknown, this was done in a circuitous manner, so ultimately the request came through a Mademoiselle Leonore, who eventually married Lechner, the Estates Director for the Prince. It is the only actual autobiographical document in existence, thus its importance to Haydn scholarship cannot be overestimated.
Like the letter which Haydn wrote to the monks in Zwettl describing how he would like them to play his Applausus cantata, the autobiographical sketch does not seem to appear online, although it is contained in any number of books. I have given up after a week of Googling and will type it all in for you, since I think it is important enough to be read by any interested Haydnistos, even if they are only web-surfing!
Mademoiselle,
You will not take it amiss if I hand you a hotchpotch of all sorts of things as an answer to your request: to describe such things properly takes time, and that I don't have; for this reason I do not dare to write to Mons. Zoller personally, and therefore ask for forgiveness.
I send you only a rough draft, for neither pride, nor fame, but solely the great kindness and marked satisfaction that so learned a national institution has shown towards my previous compositions, have induced me to comply with their demand.
I was born on the last day of March, 1733 (recte 1732), in the market town of Rohrau, Lower Austria, near Prugg on the Leythä River. My father was a wheelwright by profession and served Count Harrach, and [he was] a great lover of music by nature. He [my father], without being able to read music, played the harp, and when I was a boy of five I was able to correctly sing all of his short and simple songs; this induced my father to leave me in the care of a relative, the schoolmaster at Hainburg on the Danube, in order that I might learn the rudiments of music and other juvenile requirements. Almighty God gave me such musical talent that in my sixth year I was able to sing along with the choir during Mass and to play some on the violin and harpsichord.
When I was seven years old the late Imperial Kapellmeister von Reutter passed through Hainburg, and quite accidentally he happened to hear my weak but pleasant voice and accepted me at once for the Kapellhaus [of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna] where, apart from my studies, I learned, from very good masters, the art of singing and had instruction on the harpsichord and violin. Until I reached the age of eighteen I sang soprano there with great success, not only at St. Stephen's but at court. When my voice finally changed I barely managed to stay alive by giving music lessons to children for eight whole years. In this way many talented people are ruined: they have to earn a miserable living and have no time to study. I experienced this too, and would have never learned what little I did, had I not, in my zeal for composition, composed well into the night: I wrote diligently but not quite correctly, until at last I had the good fortune to learn the true fundamentals of composition from the celebrated Herr Porpora: finally, by the recommendation of the late Herr von Fürnberg, I was engaged as Directeur at Herr Count von Morzin's, and from there as Kapellmeister of His Highness the Prince [Esterházy], in whose service I wish to live and die.
Inter alia the following compositions of mine have received the most approbation:
The operas
Le Pescatrice, L'incontro improvviso and
L'Infedeltà Delusa, [which was] performed in the presence of Her Imperial and Royal Majesty.
The oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia, performed in Vienna
The Stabat Mater, about which I received a testimonial from our great composer Hasse, containing quite undeserved eulogiums. I shall treasure this testimonial all my life, as if it were gold; not for its contents, but for the sake of so admirable a man.
In the chamber music style, I have been fortunate enough to please almost all nations except the Berliners; this is shown by the public newspapers and letters addressed to me. I only wonder that the Berlin gentlemen, who are otherwise so reasonable, preserve no medium in their criticism of my music, for in one weekly paper they praise me to the skies, whilst in another they dash me sixty fathoms deep into the earth, and this without explaining why; I know very well why: because they are incapable of performing some of my works, and are too conceited to take the trouble to understand them properly, and for other reasons which, with God's help, I will answer in good time. Herr Kapellmeister von Dittersdorf, in Silesia, wrote to me recently and asked me to defend myself against their hard words, but I answered that one swallow doesn't make the Summer: and that perhaps one of these days some unprejudiced person might stop their tongues, as happened once before when they accused me of monotony. Despite this, they try very hard to get all my works, as Herr Baron von Swieten, the Imperial and Royal ambassador to Berlin, told me only last winter when he was in Vienna: but enough of this.
Dear Mademoiselle Leonore: You will be good enough to give this present letter, and my compliments, to Mons. Zoller for his consideration: my highest ambition is only that all the world will regard me as the honest man I am.
I offer my praises to Almighty God, for I owe them to Him alone: my sole wish is to offend neither my neighbor, nor my gracious Prince, nor above all our merciful God.
Meanwhile I remain, Mademoiselle, with high esteem,
Your most sincere friend and servant
Josephus Haydn [m.p.]ria (Manu propria: By my own hand)
As you can imagine, this document has been analyzed to death! You probably just did so yourself. Since the biographical details are well known now, the main points which come from it today are inferences about his education ("the letter has perfect Latin rhetoric...") and thought processes, and more than a little about his relationship to his critics. It should be noted here that Haydn stood for a group of composers, Austrians all, who offended the sensibilities of the Germans by introducing change into music. The Germans were conservatives, and as such, they didn't want change. Their main issues included not following 'rules of composition' and in having movements in a work which differed in affekt, that is, in mood. A serious, raging movement must not be followed by one which makes you laugh. In fact, no movement should make you laugh. That's crazy, it's music, not comedy! Haydn was merely the leader and the best at it, there were a host of followers condemned in his name.
For the next few years, we will be looking at things a bit differently. As we will see, there aren't a lot of compositions to deal with, the main thing Haydn did was to be the Opera Impresario which the Prince wanted him to be. There are some fine works in here too, just not as many as we are accustomed to. So every year, if we are being true to our mission, we must have a look at opera and dramatic presentations, whether Haydn wrote them or not. In fact, no matter the original composer, you can be sure each opera presented had a complete touchup by the Boss, if only to resolve the 'who can sing this?' questions. So, we follow the path where it leads us!
Next time, we will take a look at our symphony for the year, and then go down the path a little further.
Thanks for reading!