c. 1790 by William Hodges
London Notebook No. 2:
In the month of January 1792, a roasting chicken cost 7 shillings, a turkey 9 shillings, a dozen larks 1 crown. N.B. : a duck, if it is plucked, costs 5 shillings.
Haydn, a man who loved his trivia (and his food)! Well, 1792 will likely bring more than a fowl meal, in whatever homonymic sense you will apply. In fact, if 1791 introduced Haydn into the public consciousness, then he left London in 1792 as The King of the World!
As we did last year, this year we will mainly look at just a very few people of the hundreds who were part of Haydn's life. No suspense to be injected here, they are Ignaz Pleyel and Rebecca Schröter. It would be hard to find more similar or more diverse people to have had such an effect on Haydn's life this year.
London Notebook No. 2:
When Mr. Fox was seeking votes to elect him to Parliament, a citizen said he would give him a rope instead of a vote. Fox answered that he could not rob him of a family heirloom.
Why did The Professors choose Pleyel?
We saw last time:
London Notebook No. 2:
On 23rd Dec. [1791] Pleyel arrived in London. On the 24th I dined with him.
In the period before the concert season began, and even well into it, Haydn and Pleyel were nothing if not chummy. As we see here, they saw the Old Year out together with a trip to the opera.
London Notebook No. 1:
On 31st Dec. [1791] I was with Pleyel in the Pantheon Theatre. They gave La Pastorella Mobile by Guglielmi. Mad. Cassentini played the leading role and Laza[rini] die primo huomo. The thin Calvesi had l'ultima parte. The opera did not please. Neither did the ballet, even though the great [Mad.] Hillisburg danced.
Various people, myself included, have speculated that when the Professional Concert contracted Pleyel's services, they were less than candid with him about their motivations for doing so. From Pleyel's point of view, the job served two functions; it got him out of town at a time when being in France was a less than desirable situation, even for a neutral party, and it also put a nice bit of money into his account. He had no ax to grind with Haydn, nothing but fond memories of early times, such as we see here. Rita Benton, Pleyel's modern champion, wrote the article in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians which sums up the very little we know about Pleyel's early life and education with Haydn:
Pleyel, Ignaz Joseph (b Ruppersthal, Lower Austria, 18 June 1757; d Paris, 14 Nov 1831) He was the 24th of 38 children in the family.
…Pleyel's baptismal certificate in the parish office names his father Martin, a schoolteacher, and his mother Anna Theresia (Maria Christina Theresa in MGG1). He is said to have studied with Vanhal while very young, and in about 1772 he became Haydn's pupil and lodger in Eisenstadt, his annual pension being paid by Count Ladislaus Erdödy, whose family at Pressburg was related to Haydn's patrons, the Esterházy's. The count showed his pleasure at the progress of his protégé by offering Haydn a carriage and two horses, for which Prince Esterházy agreed to provide a coachman and fodder.
Little is known of the daily activities of Haydn's several pupils. A few incidents concerning Pleyel's apprenticeship are recounted in Framery's Notice sur Joseph Haydn, in which the author claimed that 'these various anecdotes were furnished me by a person who spent his entire youth with him and who guarantees their authenticity'. That person is generally identified as Pleyel, living in Paris when the Notice appeared there in 1810. The assumption is strengthened by the manner in which the narrative favors Pleyel, always emphasizing the closeness of his relationship with Haydn and the master's affection and esteem for him. During this period Pleyel's puppet opera Die Fee Urgele was first performed at Eszterháza (November 1776), and at the Vienna National theater. Haydn's puppet opera Das abgebrannte Haus, or Die Feuersbrunst, was also first performed in 1776 or 1777, with an overture (or at least its first two movements) now generally accepted as being by Pleyel.
Modern musicologists are generally tepid about Pleyel. As they are about anyone else outside of their personal Top Ten. The same wasn't true of his contemporaries though, as we see in this letter from Mozart:
Mozart to Leopold Mozart – April 4th, 1784
I must tell you that some quartets [NB – his Opus 2] have just appeared here, composed by a certain Pleyel, a pupil of Joseph Haydn. If you do not know them, do try and get hold of them; you will find them worth the trouble. They are very well written and most pleasing to listen to. You will also see at once who was his master. Well, it will be a lucky day for music, if, when the time comes, Pleyel should be able to replace Haydn.
No doubt, Mozart had his own personal reasons for being so effusive, but this doesn't negate the certain degree of enthusiasm which he expresses for Pleyel's music. Certainly he was nowhere near as close to Haydn in 1784 as in 1790, although he was in the process of composing his 'Haydn' quartets at the time.
In future times, Pleyel's fame would rest on his publishing activities and instrument manufacturing. But in 1792, his music was the dernier cri of London and Paris, so there is no mystery, really, why The Professors wanted him. It is a typical case of a composer being a star in his own time, which has since been dimmed by the obscuring effects of history.
London Notebook No. 2:
Begehre nicht ein glück zu gross Und nicht ein weib zu schön, Der Himmel möchte dir dies Loos Im zorne zugestehn.
(Do not desire too great happiness or too beautiful a wife: Heaven might, in anger, grant your wish!)
Was Haydn at all intimidated (as The Professors would have liked) by this 'hired gun'? Here is what he has to say to his various lady friends at the time:
[To LUIGIA POLZELLI, PIACENZA [Northern Italy]. Italian, "Tu" form]
London, 14th January 1792.
My dearest Polzelli!
This very moment I received your letter, and hasten to answer it. I am relieved that you are in good health, and that you have found a position in a little theatre; not so much because of the payment but to have the experience. I wish you every possible success, in particular a good role and a good teacher, who takes the same pains with you as did your Haydn. [snip]I see her [NB – Polzelli's sister] but rarely, for I have a lot to do, especially now, when the Professional Concert has had my pupil Pleyel brought over, to face me as a rival; but I'm not afraid, because last year I made a great impression on the English and hope therefore to win their approval this year, too. [snip]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[To MARIA ANNA VON GENZINGER, VIENNA. German]
London, 17th January 1792.
Nobly born and gracious Lady!
[snip] …. I am making every effort to do my best, because our rivals, The Professional Concert, have had my pupil Pleyel from Strasbourg come here to conduct their concerts. So now a bloody harmonious war will commence between master and pupil. The newspapers are full of it, but it seems to me that there will soon be an armistice, because my reputation is so firmly established here. Pleyel behaved so modestly towards me upon his arrival that he won my affection again. We are very often together, and this does him credit, for he knows how to appreciate his father. We shall share our laurels equally and each go home satisfied.
And later on:
[To MARIA ANNA VON GENZINGER, VIENNA. German]
London, 2nd March 1792.
Nobly born and gracious Lady!
Yesterday evening I received your welcome letter and the Symphony [NB - #91, finally!] I had asked for; I respectfully kiss Your Grace's hands for the prompt and careful delivery. Six days before I had in fact received it [NB – the parts] through Herr von Keess from Brussels, but the score was much more useful, for I have to change many things for the English public. [snip]… but there isn't a day, not a single day, in which I am free from work, and I shall thank the dear Lord when I can leave London, the sooner the better. My labors have been augmented by the arrival of my pupil Pleyel, whom the Professional Concert have brought here. He arrived here with a lot of new compositions, but they had been composed long ago; he therefore promised to present a new work every evening. As soon as I saw this, I realized at once that a lot of people were dead set against me, and so I announced publicly that I would likewise produce 12 different new pieces. In order to keep my word, and to support poor Salomon, I must be the victim and work the whole time. But I really do feel it. My eyes suffer the most, and I have many sleepless nights, though with God's help I shall overcome it all. The people of the Professional Concert wanted to put a spoke in my wheel, because I would not go over to them; but the public is just. I enjoyed a great deal of success last year, but still more this year. Pleyel's presumption is sharply criticized, but I love him just the same. I always go to his concerts, and am the first to applaud him….
So, it would appear as though Haydn was not so much intimidated as he was merely prepared to do his best and confidently go forward, letting the chips fall where they would. Much as he had done his entire life.
London Notebook No. 2:
Wer mit Vernunft betracht' den wechsel aller Sachen, Den kan kein glück nicht froh, kein unglück traurig machen.
(He who wisely observes how all things change cannot be made happy by good fortune or unhappy by bad.)
We shall see where the chips did fall as we look at the procession of events of 1792.
Thanks for reading!