It has been a long process of maturation, but this is the year when we will finally begin to see the man Haydn will become in a few short years. When he had finally worked himself into a position by 1779 to be able to leverage a new negotiating stance in his contract with the Prince, the hidden aspect which had been missing finally came to the surface; the Entrepreneur!
Of course, he still fulfilled his duties, and they seemed to have been ceaseless. Here is a list of operas for the year. As you remember, each and every one was revised to suit the circumstances of performance at Eszterháza, so they each represent a fair amount of time and effort, considering they always appear to have been composed by someone else!
Italian operas:
69 performances total, of which six were new operas and four were repeated from earlier seasons.
The new ones:
|
Giuseppe Haydn |
La fedeltà premiata |
17 performances |
|
Isabella e Rodrigo |
16 performances |
|
|
L'avaro deluso |
16 performances |
|
|
Il Francese bizzarro |
5 performances |
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Il convitato di pietra |
5 performances |
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|
La schiava riconosciuta |
1 performance this year |
As is usual, Haydn made significant changes in all of these works, in addition, of course, to composing the first one outright. Some of the insertion arias still exist, mostly they are either in fragments or lost altogether, or even, in some cases where there is no composer indicated, cannot be proved as Haydn, despite him being the only composer in town! But the Eszterháza performance material is still intact, and the many changes in key or pitch, orchestration and reorganization can be seen in the handwriting of Haydn or Ellsler, his right-hand man. A note about the Righini work: Il convitato di pietra translates to 'The Stone Guest', it is an earlier (than Mozart) version of Don Giovanni, and by all accounts quite a bit bloodier at the end!
Outside of the operatic world, we see Haydn, the budding entrepreneur, not only composing, but negotiating with his publisher, selling manuscripts, performing 'in the critical houses' to sell himself and his music; in short, acting like a man building a new career independent of the mainstay attachment to the Prince. And this is exactly what he was!
Of course, 1781 will always be remembered as the year of the Opus 33 string quartets. A considerably long time after their publication, even up to the present day in some cases, these works are considered the beginning of the so-called 'Viennese High Classical' era, serving as an artificial construct to help people who need an event as a milestone. The 'written in a new and entirely different way…' letters have probably been given weight far beyond reality insofar as being markers of time, but one can listen to them and clearly hear the new Haydn, who (unsurprisingly) was a more skilled composer in 1781 than in 1771!
His other works of the year, XII Lieder for Klavier & Voice, are equally brilliant in their own way. Although they are not the genesis of a whole new genre, giving cause to call Haydn the Father of the Lied, they are still a significant milepost on the road leading to Schubert and beyond. And as we will see, much of the criticism which has attached over the years is based on nothing more than some perverse inverted bitterness that they aren't, in fact, Schubert!
The overture of La fedeltà premiata will find continued life as the finale to one of Haydn's most popular pre-London symphonies, and we will also take a look at a case history of one of the constant problems of dealing with Haydn's music, the authenticity of the Horn Concerto #2 in D, is it or isn't it Haydn, and if so, which Haydn? We haven't seen this problem crop up since the early Esterházy days, mainly because many of the problematic works have been decided by earlier generations. But this debate still rages on.
by Friedrich Gauermann
There is documentary evidence for a visit by Anton Walter, fortepiano maker, which finally confirms what we have believed for a long time; there was a fortepiano at Eszterháza already.
His bill, dated 3rd March 1781:
I the undersigned, worked 12 days repairing the clavier and harpsichord instruments, per accord two Gulden for each day, makes a total of twenty-four Gulden.
Esterhaz, 3rd March 1781
Anton Walter, Organ & Instrument Maker
Countersigned: These clavier and harpsichord instruments have been examined closely by me and found in order.
Josephus Haydn m. pria
Capell Meister.
At the very least, we can surmise that the grand harpsichord which played the continuo at all the opera performances had burned up and was now being replaced by a Walter Grand Fortepiano. So states Landon, and it is hard to disagree with the circumstances. However, the tenor of the bill, with its 'repairing the clavier and harpsichord instruments' makes me read this as a repair call for presently existing 'clavier' instruments also. Not being nearly as conservative in my interpretations as Landon, I will go out on a limb here and say this was far more than the mere delivery of a new instrument (which it likely was also) but a much needed 'oil change and sparking plugs' for existing instruments. The additional fillip to this story is if Walter was there for the twelve days preceding 3 March, then he was undoubtedly present for the première of La fedeltà premiata. One wonders at his reaction to it, if any.
On April 12, Metastasio died. An era was over. Even though Haydn only set one of his libretti, L'isola disabitata, he arguably benefitted more from his brief relationship with Metastasio, from 1751 to 1756, than from any other single relationship in his life.
Haydn wrote often to Artaria about his Lieder texts, he clearly was spending an inordinate amount of time selecting them, and in the process of writing he mentioned several interesting historic facts. He had had a letter from [Joseph] Le Gros in Paris, Director of the Concert Spirituel, telling him that the Stabat Mater had been performed there four times to the greatest applause; ultimately they made an offer to engrave and sell all of his works for the Paris market at very favorable terms for Haydn. One wonders if this tidbit was not slipped into the letter for strategic reasons, as a reminder to Artaria that there were other fish in the sea, and hungry ones at that!
There is also this one letter which I will expand on in a later essay, but which includes this paragraph, addressed to Artaria himself:
I pray you especially, good Sir, not to let anyone copy, sing or in any way alter these Lieder before publication, because when they are ready, I shall sing them myself in the critical houses. By his presence and through the proper execution, the master must maintain his rights….
There is really only one interpretation of the phrase 'critical houses', and this would be the important salons, which we discussed earlier. So, Haydn didn't merely attend salons to party and network, he also performed there.
Of course, the other major composing event of the year was the completion of the Opus 33 quartets. Here, the entrepreneur is hard at work, selling manuscript copies:
I take the liberty of asking you to do a small favor for me. Since I know that there are in Zurich and Winterthur many gentlemen amateurs and great connoisseurs and patrons of music, I shall not conceal from you the fact that I am issuing, by subscription, for the price of 6 ducats, a work, consisting of 6 Quartets for 2 violins, viola and violoncello concertante, correctly copied, and WRITTEN IN A NEW AND SPECIAL WAY. I haven't composed any for 10 years, I did not want to fail to offer these to the great patrons of music and the amateur gentlemen. Subscribers who live abroad will receive them before I print the works. Please don't take it amiss that I bother you with this request; if I should be fortunate enough to receive an answer containing your approval, I would most appreciate it, and remain,
Most learned Sir,
Your ever obedient
Josephus Haydn m.pr.
Fürst Estorhazischer
Capell Meister
Vienna, 3rd December 1781.
Is this the same Haydn we have grown to know in the last 30 years? Where did this entrepreneurial spirit come from? Here is something to explore over the next decade and a half. Certainly, this side of his personality is something which aroused discussion and controversy even while he was still alive. As we will see, right since the beginning he was a combination of eloquent salesman of his product and devious shark, preying upon the pirates of business with as much avidity and deviousness as they had used against him. It should be an interesting showdown!
Next time, chasing down a concerto!
Thanks for reading!