1794 – The Year part 5 – Sightseeing, Talking & Making Music

Hob. 23 Nachtrag*	Genre	Voice	Title	Key	Instrument
a	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	How oft, instinct with warmth divine	F	S - A - B & Piano Forte
b	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	Blest be the name of Jacob's God	Eb	2 Violins & Cello
c	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	Maker of all! Be Thou my Guard	D	S - A - B & Piano Forte
d	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	The Lord, th'almighty monarch spake	C	2 Violins, Cello & Organ
e	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	Long life shall Israel's King behold	Eb	Cello & Organ
f	Sacred Song (Psalm)	Chorus	O let me in th'accepted hour	A	2 Violins, Cello & Organ
Hob 26b		Scoring	Title	Key	Instrument
3	Song	Soprano, Chorus	Dr. Harington's Compliment	A	Piano Forte
Hob 27b
45	Canon	4 Voices	Turk was a Faithful Dog	Bb
Hob 24a					Instrument
9	Aria & Chorus	Bass & Chorus	Mare Clausum (Invocation of Neptune)	F - D	Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns & Strings
Hob 31c		Scoring	Title	Key	Instrument
16	Songs	3 (male) voices	12 Sentimental Catches & Glees		Piano Forte
Hob 4		Instruments	Tempo	Key	Comment
1	Trio	2 Flutes & Cello	Allegro moderato – Andante – Finale: Vivace	C	Haydn composed all of these works for The Earl of Abingdon and his friend, Sir Walter, Baron Aston. The original intended layout of the works is unknown.
2	Trio	2 Flutes & Cello	Andante [con variazioni] – Allegro [1 movement]	G
3	Trio	2 Flutes & Cello	Spiritoso – Andante – Allegro	G
4	Trio	2 Flutes & Cello	[Allegro]	G
* Nachtrag = Supplement

 

The Victory of Lord Howe (The Glorious First of June) 
Phillipe Loutherbourg (1794)

The 3^rd London Notebook

On 11^th June [1794] the whole city was illuminated because of the capture of 7 French warships; a great many windows were broken. On the 12^th and 13^th the whole city was illuminated again. The common people behaved very violently on this occasion. In every street they shot off not only small but also large guns, and this went on the whole night.

The Glorious First of June
As we saw back in 1791, for less than obvious reasons Haydn was fascinated with all things Naval. England, at this time in history the Ruler of the Seas, certainly provided him with things to see and do! The great painting above, and the all-too-brief recounting of current events from the Notebook, are centered once again upon the French Revolutionary Wars. What instantly was dubbed 'The Glorious First of June' was one of the more interesting naval battles of a time which was loaded with them.

Briefly, the French were expecting a shipload of much-needed grain from America. The British were attempting to sink the convoy. The French had 26 ships delegated for protection detail, while Lord Howe, British commander, had 25 available to stop them. After sailing all over the Bay of Biscay for two weeks, the two sides finally met on 1^st June, and England won a decisive victory. Or so the story went at home. There were huge celebrations in London, and even the opera (Our old friend from Eszterháza, La Frascatana by Paisiello) was stopped midstream while Prima Donna Brigida Banti sang God save the King.

But both sides were actually able to declare victory. For the British, they had captured six ships of the line (the seventh, Vengeur du Peuple sank shortly after the battle). But on the French side, the battle served as a strategic victory in that it ended the British hunt for the grain convoy and allowed it to safely arrive on June 12. Casualties for the fighting are not known with certainty but British losses were around 1,200 men while the French may have lost about 4,000, with another 3,000 captured. Following the battle, the French fleet retired to port allowing the Royal Navy to begin blockading operations. As I have mentioned before, war was never very far away in those times.

The 3rd London Notebook
On 9^th July, I left at 5 o'clock in the morning for Portsmouth, 72 miles from London, and arrived there at 8 o'clock in the evening. Some small earthworks were thrown up 14 miles before Portsmouth; nearby there is a small camp of 800 men; one mile further, in the direction of the city, some 3,500 Frenchmen are quartered in barracks. I inspected the fortifications there, which are in good repair, especially the fortress opposite, in Godsport, which the gubernium [ = the governors] had had constructed recently. I went aboard the French ship-of-the-line called Le just, it has 80 cannon ; the English, or rather Lord Howe, captured it. The 18 cannon in the harbor-fortress are 36-pounders. The ship is terribly shot to pieces. The great mast, which is 10 feet 5 inches in circumference, was cut off at the very bottom and lay stretched on the ground. A single cannon-ball, which passed through the captain's room, killed 14 sailors…

I met Lauterburg, the famous painter. [Me - gathering background for the painting above?]

So, Haydn's fascination with Naval subjects, and numerical factoids, continues.

Every ship-of-the-line, or man-of-war, has 3 masts, likewise a Frigate. Most of them have 3 decks. A Brig has 2 masts. A Cutter has only 1 mast. Every ship-of-the-line must have at least 64 cannon. A Cutter has but 14, at the most 16 cannon. A fire-ship has 2 masts. In the middle of its sails it has 2 large and long cross-beams with round, pointed double irons: (Haydn's drawing, left, from Notebook) When they come near an enemy ship, this iron grapples the rigging or even the sails, whereupon one sets the ship on fire, so that the other ship which is grappled to it has to burn, too. The crew saves itself in the little lifeboats which they take with them.

When we were looking at the off-season in 1791, you may have noticed, and wondered at, the seemingly large number of people Haydn met or visited. Rather more than a celebrity of today would do, and yet at a time when there was little in the way of mass media to stoke the fame machine, which is so routine today. Meeting people, visiting with them, living with them for a few days at a time, was actually standard fare for the learned classes. But what was the attraction?

One of the numerous things which the Habsburg lands and Britain itself had appropriated from France (although they would have been loathe to say it) was the Art of Conversation. Talk was all the rage in the 18^th century, a culmination of 200 years of development, and the last grand flourishing of an art form which began with the Romans. Cicero's book De Officiis ('On Obligations'), was one of the preeminent books of the Middle Ages, and even the Enlightenment. It was so well thought of that it was just the second work to be printed on the printing press, after only Gutenberg's Bible. Among all the discussions on ethics and morals contained in the three volumes, we find this:

In De Officiis, Cicero outlines a new "art" of conversation - an art mediating between, on the one hand, moral duty and manners, and, on the other, rhetoric and eloquence. In chapters 35 to 42 of book I, Cicero sets forth rules for achieving the "comeliness" and "order" which are appropriate to familiar discourse, applying the rhetorical places of invention, disposition, style, and delivery to "discourse with our Friends, when we walk in any of the Publick Places, or are sitting at Table, and over a Glass of Wine". Among his concerns are these: What subjects are commonly discussed in everyday talk? How might one best prepare a stock of appropriate knowledge? Are pleasantries and light matters fitting? When should subjects properly be introduced, and at what length should they be continued? What is attractive in vocal quality and enunciation, and what is harmonious in the management of bodily and facial gestures? What kind of language is appropriate? And what, finally, is the purpose of conversation; what is its role in human society?¹

In France, which lacked an internal news distribution system equivalent to the British Press, conversation groups were centered on salons, and not surprisingly, one of their main activities involved separating fact from gossip, something which continues even to this day, as the recent spate of faux news on social media tells us. In Paris, the conversation wave was far more than a trend or fashion; after 200 years it had become a lifestyle. Which is not to say the English weren't right on their heels though. One of the most prominent books on the subject was Jonathan Swift's Hints Towards an Essay on Conversation. If you know Swift, his biting humor is present throughout this short essay, which he wrote to channel his thoughts towards a larger work on the subject (Polite Conversation). But Hints… turned out to be a very popular and influential look at the topic, one which was dear to Swift's heart. Conversation was so important to him that in a travelogue he wrote, he even rated 'conversation' among other attributes of cities! The basic premise, simply stated, is conversation at its best has authentic moral and pedagogical value, but as it commonly falls prey to various abuses in practice, the faults and errors to which it is subject need to be addressed and rectified.

Haydn was just as intrigued with good conversation as anyone else of his time. The reputation he had for being the absolute master of musical rhetoric, coupled with the rhetorical perfection of his letters and even short notes to the Prince, give ample indication of what his conversational skills must have been. In 1791, on his first bit of touring, his language skill in English would have kept him from fully taking part, except if he had a translator, such as Salomon, at hand. But by 1794, his skills had improved enough to get by nicely with.

The Gore Family and the Earl of Cowper
Johann Joseph Zoffany (1775)

So on this last Grand Tour of the Island, there are three things which occupied Haydn for the whole six months: sightseeing, conversation and music. Music in the home was even more of a standard in 18^th century England than in the concert halls which we have been looking at. Paintings such as this one by Johann Joseph Zoffany, depicting the Charles Gore Family and George Nassau Cowper, 3^rd Earl Cowper in 1775, is just the sort of performance venue in which Haydn's Canzonets, Scottish Songs and smaller chamber works, like the keyboard trios and solo keyboard works would have been right at home.

Unless otherwise noted, all of these comments are from Haydn's Third London Notebook. They really only scratch the surface of all the people and places he saw, and in this limited space I can only scratch the surface of them!

HAYDN'S SIGHTSEEING GALLERY - 1794

	Mr. Orde, gouveneur at Fernhall [recte: Fernhill] on the Isle of Wight, whose country house commands the most magnificent view over the ocean. Isle of Whight [sic] is 64 miles in circumference
	The Castle [NB - Carisbrooke] at Newport has a well 300 feet deep which is driven by a mule. Newport is a nice little town; the people look just like the Germans and mostly have black hair… [NB - Newport is the capitol of the Isle of Wight]             The donkeys are still employed today
Bank of England in 1790 by William Marlow
On 15th July [1794] I saw the Bank [of England]. There are, first, a gouverneur, a Deputy or Vice gouverneur, 24 Directores, and a whole lot of other officials in the department. Mr. Dea guided me, and showed me all the treasures. There is a very great fortune in gold ingots, most of which are worth £700 Sterling. There are over one and-one-half millions in bank notes, some of which are £1000 notes. An enormous amount of Spanish Taler. Most of the gold is underground in the vaults. In order to see the main cashier's office, 3 of the directors have to be present, each one of which has his own key. The vaults are exceedingly massive. There are also hidden vaults, which must be very useful in case of a rebellion. To write down all the bills they need 2000 large folio books every year, and on this account there is a very large library which is, however, apart from that very insignificant…
Winchester Cathedral JMW Turner (1795)	I left Cowes at 4 o'clock in the afternoon for Southampton where I spent the night. It is a little town on a peninsula. From there to Winschester [sic], where there is a beautiful Gothic Cathedral Church, the altar-piece BY WEST               "The Raising of Lazarus" by Benjamin West, which was used as the altarpiece at Winchester until ca. 1890.
The Raising of Lazarus by Benjamin West (ca. 1770)

Haydn also copied out in the notebook this little commemoration of yet another musical undertaking, one which is scarcely ever mentioned, and only once recorded for our listening pleasure. Karl Geiringer says it was on a silver goblet, others say plate, but either way, the original is sadly missing:

In the year 1794

Dr. Haydn, Dr. Arnold, Mr. John Stafford Smith, and Mr. Atterbury declared their readiness to cooperate with Dr. Cooke, Dr. Hayes, Dr. Dupuis, Dr. Parsons, Mr. Calcott, the Rev. Osborne Wight, Mr. Webber, Mr. Shield, and Mr. Stevens in their Exertions towards perfecting a work for the Improvement of Parochial Psalmody. As a Small Token of esteem for his abilities and of gratitude for his Services this Piece of Plate is presented to Doctor Haydn.

[in another hand:] by W. D. Tattersall.

It seems odd, somehow, to see this staunchly Catholic composer contributing to a book of Protestant hymns, but Haydn was undeterred by parochialism, seeing the clear need for modernization of both the poetry and the music for Psalm singing at worship services. Tattersall intended to redo all the Psalms, using a new text, A Version or Paraphrase of the Psalms by J. Merrick, adapted to the Purposes of Devotion (1789). Some of them got music adapted from Handel, but many of the others got 'modern' music by some of the most prominent composers of the time. Haydn did six of them, 26, 31, 41, 50, 61 & 69. They are a nice blend of the happy devotion, which is the hallmark of Haydn's church music, and style representing current state of Haydn's musical art. 

3^rd London Notebook
On 2^nd August 1794, I left at 5 o'clock in the morning for Bath, with Mr. Ashe and Mr. Cimador, and arrived there at 8 o'clock in the evening. It's 107 miles from London. The Mail Coach does this distance in 12 hours. I lived at the house of Herr Rauzzini, a Musicus who is very famous, and who in his time was one of the greatest singers. He has lived there 19 years, supports himself by the Subscription Concerts which are given in the Winter, and by giving lessons. He is a very nice and hospitable man. His summer house, where I stayed, is situated on a rise in the middle of a most beautiful neighborhood, from which you can see the whole city. Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. All the houses are built of stone; this stone comes from quarries in the surrounding mountains; it is very soft, so soft, in fact, that it's no trouble to cut it up into any desired shape; it is very white, and the older it is, once it has been taken from the quarry, the harder it gets. The whole city lies on a slope, and that is why there are very few carriages; instead of them, there are a lot of sedan-chairs, who will take you quite a way for 6 pence. But too bad that there are so few straight roads; there are a lot of beautiful squares, on which stand the most magnificent houses, but which cannot be reached by any vehicle: they are now building a brand new and broad street.

Rauzzini & Turk
(attr. to) J. Hutchison

It is surprising, somehow, that so many people who we met (or would have met) in pursuing a Mozart biography are now turning up in England many years later for Haydn. Rauzzini indeed was a 'Musicus who is very famous', being perhaps the foremost castrato of his time. Mozart had seen him in Vienna in 1767, and in 1772, when Mozart was in Milan composing his opera Lucio Silla, he had the opportunity to acquire Rauzzini as the leading man, which he seized upon instantly. In addition to the arias from Lucio Silla, perhaps the most important composition Mozart wrote for Rauzzini was the glorious motet, Exultate jubilate, one of his very finest pieces of sacred music.

One piece of music came out of this stay in Bath, one which you may be unlikely to hear, sadly, but quite interesting nonetheless. I have mentioned Haydn's rather large body of canons, including the one he submitted for his Oxonian Doctorate, and the Ten Commandments. He also wrote an additional number of secular canons, perhaps 35-40, and possibly many more which are lost. Many of them owed their existence to circumstances just like this, jotted down in a guest book or on a thank-you note. Rauzzini had recently lost his companion dog, Turk, and he placed a stone over the grave in his yard. Seeing this, Haydn wrote a little canon on the words on the stone:

[English]

[Penciled note:] Turk was a Faithful Dog and not a Man.

Dr. Henry Harington
by Charles Turner

Rauzzini had the tune of the canon engraved on the stone. In any case, the two must have enjoyed each other's company, because Haydn stayed in Bath for six weeks, with a side trip to "Pristol" as Haydn called Bristol.

Rauzzini wasn't the only Bath resident to entertain Haydn though. The third entry on page 1 of the 3^rd Notebook contains the address of Dr. Henry Harington, 'composer at Bath'. So when the opportunity arose, Haydn spent time with him, too. Harington had written a very short lyric, along with a nice, elegant tune to go with it, and Haydn set the entire work into a piece he called Dr. Harington's Compliment.

What art expresses, and what science praises,
Haydn the theme of both to Heaven raises.

You would hardly think this little lyric could support the treatment it got, which included a section for voice (soprano) and piano forte, followed by a mixed chorus, and ending up with variations for piano forte solo! It brought out grins in their contemporaries though;

Clementi found this procedure very amusing, and wrote: "The first doctor [Harington] having bestowed much praise on the second doctor [Haydn], the said second doctor, out of doctoral gratitude, returns the first doctor thanks for all favour received, and praises in his turn the said first doctor most handsomely."

Geiringer, Haydn, London 1947

Finally, our last character is truly just that! Willoughby Bertie, the 4^th Earl of Abingdon, was a character in every sense of the word. He had never been one to follow custom, nor been a "God & King Right or Wrong" type either. He had backed the Americans in the 1776 revolt, and yet was virulently against the French Revolution a decade later. His speeches in Lords were said to be 'highly eccentric'.

3^rd London Notebook
Lord Avington [Abingdon] had an organ built in the church on his estate. When the Archbishop of the diocese heard about it, he wrote a letter reproving him for having done this without his knowledge, inasmuch as one cannot do such a thing without previously informing the authorities. He got an answer: "The Lord gave it, and the Lord can take it away again." This is most ambiguous, but very good.

Willoughby Bertie 4th Earl of Abingdon

But above all, Abingdon is remembered as a patron of music. We remember John Galini, opera impresario who had been instrumental in bringing Haydn to London and commissioning the ill-fated L'anima del filosofo from Haydn. He was Bertie's brother-in-law, and earlier times had introduced him to J.C. Bach and Carl Abel. Bertie had become their sponsor, and was instrumental in their success. He was also the person who had been in contact with Haydn since the early 1780's, trying to get him to come to London. Even though these attempts were doomed to fail before the death of the Prince. Afterwards, he was also a player in the cabal which included Salomon who finally succeeded in the effort.

In September, Haydn traveled to Oxfordshire to visit Abingdon. Landon speculates that this was when Abingdon suggested that Haydn compose an oratorio based on British themes. Haydn did have a start at Mare Clausum, but stopped after two numbers (a bass aria and a chorus), possibly because the text was really, really bad. The music he wrote is very good, as you would expect, but stopping was probably the best thing that could happen for posterity.

Rycote House, Oxfordshire, Abingdon's
Estate where he entertained Haydn

Working together though, they did complete Twelve Sentimental Catches and Glees (Hob 31c:16), something which was very much of the time. As nearly as I can tell, there has never been a recording made of these works, but this has nothing to do with their quality. Since the sheet music exists for them, it will be hoped that some entity will take up the cause for recording some Haydn works which have been overlooked so far. Canons, marches and dances would all be beneficiaries of this effort.

Happily, there is no shortage of recordings of the final works inspired by Abingdon:

London Notebook #4 (From Greisinger)
On 14th Nov. 1794 I went with Lord Avingdon [Abingdon] to Preston, 26 miles from London, to visit the Baron of Aston; he and his wife love music.

For this little party, Haydn provided just the thing for the flute-playing aristocrats. Hob 4:1-4 are a set of little trios for 2 Flutes & Cello. It remains unsure what order Haydn intended them to be played, but it really doesn't matter. They are superb examples of Hausmusik, and one of the great additions to the flute repertoire. They are the cherry on top of the other flute music commissions which Abingdon had solicited over the years, from, among others, JC Bach, Carl Abel, and the French master André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry. As a side note, Trio #2 is a set of variations on the song The Lady's Looking Glass, a tune which was written by Abingdon. Haydn later set it as another of his English songs (Hob 31c:17).

Next time we will look at some of the more famous music which Haydn wrote in this time period. But it is nice to examine the smaller and more private side. Sometimes we need to be reminded that even the famous and celebrated had a life outside the spotlights!

Thanks for reading!

1 - Glenn J Broadhead - Samuel Johnson and the Rhetoric of Conversation

Some recordings of these works. 

	The 6 Psalms Dr. Harington's Compliment
	Many songs & country Dances by Abingdon   Flute Trios by Haydn   Some Canzonets & Scottish Airs by Haydn
	Flute music commissioned by Abingdon, including the Haydn trios.
	The only recording I've ever seen of "Mare Clausum", and it's a good one too!