by Leopold Kupelwieser
One of the most interesting things about being a student of Haydn, besides the great music, is getting to see all the different people he knew and was influenced by, or equally, who were influenced by him. It is a Who's Who of late 18th century royalty and art, from Emperors and Kings to lowly Counts and the occasional Prince, famous Italian operettists like Metastasio and Porpora to Sarti and Cimarosa, Ditters, Vanhal, Mozart, the list is never-ending, it seems. And on the return home from London, with the scars of Mozart's recent death still fresh, there looms the future, in the guise of yet another short, swarthy, pockmarked musical genius, Ludwig van Beethoven!
Haydn quit London in early July, and as we saw earlier, presumably had the intention of meeting up with Prince Anton Esterházy in Frankfurt for the coronation ceremony for Emperor Francis II on 14 July, and thence to Vienna. But on the way to Frankfurt, there was just enough time to fulfill an obligation, probably made at Christmas, 1790. There, Salomon and Haydn had stopped, in Salomon's hometown where he still had relatives, and spent Christmas at the residence of the Elector, Maximilian Franz, youngest of Maria Theresia's children, and so, brother to Joseph II, Leopold II and Marie Antoinette among so many others. On Christmas day in 1790, Beethoven's violin teacher Franz Anton Ries, introduced Haydn as a guest to the Lesegesellschaft (Reading Society) founded a few years earlier. Certainly, Salomon, who on his outward journey had attended the Reading Society on 1 October 1790 in the company of two guests from London, was there, too.
|
|
|
|
Letter from Salomon to Geiger explaining that Haydn will stop and visit him. Sent 28 June 1792. (Beethovenhaus Bonn) |
Page from the guest book of the Bonn Reading Society where Haydn signed, 'Kapellmeister to Prince Esterházy'. (Beethovenhaus Bonn) |
In this letter from Salomon to his brother-in-law, Geiger, he expresses his dismay that he can't make the trip to Bonn in July, 1792, since the pressures of business are too great. However, he tells Geiger that Haydn will be stopping by, and will explain why Salomon can't make it. So without a doubt, the trip to Bonn was on the agenda, not spur of the moment. Details of such informal occasions are always rather sketchy, but Beethoven did have a very close friend, Franz Wegeler, who probably left us more information than any other single source. He is a little shaky on dates, but not on other facts. Wegeler tells us that Beethoven showed Haydn (either at Christmas 1790 or in July 1792) the manuscripts of his two unpublished cantatas, Cantata on the Death of the Emperor Joseph II (WoO87) and Cantata on the Elevation of Emperor Leopold II (WoO88).
|
|
The earliest known portrait of Beethoven, a silhouette done by Joseph Neesen during a two day party at the von Breunig home in Bonn in 1786 when he was 16 years old.
Count Ferdinand Waldstein, who arrived in Bonn in 1788 and immediately became Beethoven's guardian angel! |
|
|
The Reading Society was a great source of networking possibilities for Beethoven, even though he couldn't be a member because he was a student at the University. He received commissions and performance opportunities, and there became the protégé of his long-time patron, Count Waldstein. That Haydn will have been impressed by Beethoven is a given, since he now had the chance to see him perform, and to see the cantatas. But Beethoven was an employee of the Elector, so there was no way, with Maximilian already in Frankfurt for the coronation, Haydn could make any sort of arrangement with Beethoven. But he could, and very probably did, work out with Waldstein to arrange with the Elector to send Beethoven to Vienna where Haydn would take over his education, and then take him to London in 1793 when he went back to work with Salomon. And there we leave our story for now, since we must race off to Frankfurt in time for the coronation!
When the German Crown became preeminent among those held by the Holy Roman Emperor, the coronation ceremony, previously held in Rome, was moved to Aachen, Germany after 1530, and then, in 1562 it was finally settled in Frankfurt until the end of the Empire after the last coronation in 1792. The Emperors-elect were crowned in Germany in Frankfurt Cathedral, which had already, in 1356, also become the established site for the imperial elections. So when Francis II began the trek from Vienna to Frankfurt, he was following in a long line, stretching all the way back to the first Emperor, Charlemagne! Like so many things which were coming to an end with the turn of the 19th century, this would be the very last time the crown was placed on the brow of an Emperor.
There is no way Prince Anton Esterházy was not in Frankfurt; missing the coronation is one of those things which simply wasn't done. But there is no record of it available to me, nor anything of Haydn joining his entourage, although those things certainly must have happened. It is amusing to see how we know Haydn was there: the day before the coronation, that is, July 13, in the Frankfurter Staats-Ristretto, we find a notice, a paid advertisement in fact, to the effect that a new musical instrument, the 'Harmonica celestina', has been "…played and tested by Haydn and thought worthy of his good praises.". Thank god for commerce or we would know nothing!
Painter Unknown
Franz, the very last Holy Roman Emperor, was the son of Leopold II, and the nephew of Joseph II. He was born and raised in Florence, but his family knew he was likely to be Emperor one day, since his uncle Joseph had no surviving issue from either of his two marriages, and so in 1784 he was sent to the Imperial Court in Vienna to become educated and prepared for his future role.
Emperor Joseph II himself took personal charge of Francis's development. Which turned out as badly as you would expect! His disciplinarian regime was a stark contrast to the indulgent Court of Papa Leopold. The Emperor wrote that Francis was "stunted in growth", "backward in bodily dexterity and deportment", and "neither more nor less than a spoiled mother's child".
One would suppose the family expected it would be more than eight more years before Franz took over the reins of power, but with Joseph's death in 1790, quickly and surprisingly followed by Leopold's only two years later, Franz was tossed into the ocean to sink or swim at the tender age of twenty-four. This 'spoiled child' would be Ruler of Austria for the remainder of Haydn's life, and ultimately inspire Haydn to compose Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser!
Haydn did spend some time talking with publishers while on this return trip, Simrock in Bonn, and then Schott near Frankfurt. Amazingly enough, after all this time out of print, he didn't have anything to sell them! L'anima del Filosofo was the property of Gallini, and The Storm and the symphonies belonged to Salomon, so basically the cupboards were bare. Time to get back home and get something down on paper!
[To MARIA ANNA VON GENZINGER, VIENNA. in German]
Gracious Lady!
Since Herr von Keess has invited me for lunch today, I shall have the opportunity to give his wife the knitting-needles I promised her.
If, therefore, Your Grace would be good enough to have some sent over, I shall be able to fulfill my promise, for which I kiss Your Grace's hands and remain, respectfully,
Your wholly obedient servant,
Joseph Haydn.
From my home, 4th August 1792.
So, the newspapers may not have had a word about 'return of local boy who made good in Big City', but we can count on his friends to save his letters! Actually, Haydn arrived home on 24 July, and was now, once again, comfortably ensconced with the lovely Mrs. H.. Haydn's London notebooks contained a couple of shopping lists for various oddments which must have been difficult to obtain in Vienna, and the knitting needles were among them. He probably gave the entire cache into Marianne's hands for doling out purposes, and he was stopping in today in order to be able to do some doling of his own. So the comfortable relationships of 1790 continued without missing a beat.
The Wiener Zeitung may have missed Haydn's return, but Der heimliche Botschafter (The Secret Messenger) was all over it, announcing in their 2nd October issue that "Kapellmeister Hayden, who has arrived here, is working on the second part of the favorite opera Die Zauberflöte by the late Mozart"! Well, it is no less accurate than some of the British 'papers, but at least the British 'papers could spell H-a-y-d-n…
Next time, we will examine the arrival of Beethoven to Vienna, and look at the small but interesting musical output from the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, it's nice to be home!
Thanks for reading!