1796 - The Year part 1 - New beginnings

Marie Hermenegild Esterházy
by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Maybe you are like me in some ways. If so, you would have got home from the arduous London years, back to Vienna and gone to visit your tribute monument at your birthplace, put your money in the bank and started working on the lovely little garden in your new house in the suburbs of Vienna. But if that sounds like you, too, then neither of us resembles Haydn in any tangible way. The non-stop pace set in London continued throughout 1796 and beyond, even back home.

Since we appear to be shy of correspondents, there will be few documents to guide us, as there were in past years. What I seem to see more of than anything else are personal reminiscences by a variety of people Haydn met during these years, and accounts of larger stories which involved Haydn in some way. The correspondence is all business; fortunately, his business is music.

An apparent continuation of Haydn's generous ways in London is the first notable event of 1796. Haydn and Beethoven appeared at a benefit concert at the Redoutensaal for the famous opera singer Maria Bolla. In a repeat of the December concert, Beethoven played his Opus 19 piano concerto, while Haydn presented the increasingly popular Surprise Symphony. This was already an incredibly popular work, one which was still on the rise, as it would be played at virtually every opportunity throughout the year. And there were many opportunities. Needless to say, every band in the land (of bands) wanted to have a copy of the score or parts, but last August, in his last act before leaving London, Haydn had signed this, which pertained to the first six symphonies:

[AGREEMENT WITH JOHANN PETER SALOMON, LONDON. in German]
[Only the signature autograph]

The undersigned herewith testifies that, according to the agreement signed this day between myself and Herr Johan [sic] Peter Salomon, the afore-mentioned Herr Salomon shall have the exclusive rights pertaining to the following specified Overtures [NB: = symphonies] which I composed for his concerts; and that I hereby renounce any further claims whatever on him, now or at any other time. The afore-mentioned Overtures have the following incipits:

Executed at London this 13^th of August 1795.

Joseph Haydn [m.p] ria

And in February, the second set of six was likewise turned over to Salomon:

[AGREEMENT WITH JOHANN PETER SALOMON, LONDON. German]

Vienna, 27^th February 1796.

I, the undersigned, testify and declare that Herr Salomon shall be in perpetuity the sole owner and proprietor of my last six Symphonies, of which 3 are of the year 1794, and the last 3 of the year 1795¹, and promise on my honor to make no other but personal use of them.

Josephus Haydn [m.p] ria.

1 - Haydn refers to the dates when the works were first performed, not when they were composed.

Yet the many Princes of the realm, all of whom had bands, as we have seen, were beginning to stock up on London Symphonies. It would appear as though Haydn was up to his old tricks, but apparently, one of the 'personal uses' he could make was selling manuscript copies. Since his copyist from his London days, Johann Elssler, was now his personal valet and copyist, a position he would hold until Haydn's death, the making of manuscript copies was easily done. It seems another personal use was to be able to present the works in concert, and this practice continued for the next decade. The only thing he was apparently prohibited from was selling the symphonies to any other publisher. They just took the long way 'round to get to there.

In early 1795, we saw how the Prince of Wales seemed to have extended a standing invitation to Haydn to come over and give concerts. Eventually, Haydn sent a bill to Parliament, who were busy discharging the Prince's debts, and they notified Haydn payment was approved. In response he sent them this:

[To THE COMMISSIONERS OF PARLIAMENT. in English]

Vienna, y^e 15^th Aprill 1796.

I empower herewith Mr. Squire to receive for me from the H'ble Comissioners [sic] One hundred Pounds due to me by His Royal Highness the Prince of Walis [sic] and acknowledge hereby the receipt of that Sum in full of all demands.

Doctor Haydn [mp] ria.

Kings and princes may come and go, but Parliament can always be counted upon. Well, for some things…

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12 April 1796 - Battle of Montenotte
'Rampon Defending Monte Legino Redoubt'
by René Théodore Berthon

On 2 March, just when things had been going well for Austria in the ongoing War, an event occurred which would permanently change the face of modern Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French army in Italy. Many things have been said about Napoleon since that time, some of them true and others, not so much. But one thing is certain: the man was a genius at waging war.

Bonaparte on the Bridge at Arcole - 1796
by Antoine-Jean Gros

Beginning in April, the French army began to seriously beat up on the Austrians. Napoleon's strategy is to divide and to surprise his enemies. Instead of taking the obvious route along the coast, he leads his army through Alpine passes to catch the Austrians unaware at Montenotte on 12 April. It is the first of a stream of victories against Austrians and Sardinians separately. Even though they are allies, they are successfully prevented from joining forces against Napoleon's army because he is so agile. By April 28, in the armistice of Cherasco, the king of Sardinia is ready to make peace with France and to cede his territories of Savoy and Nice - both in practice already occupied, since 1792, by French Republican forces. They didn't advance into the Austrian homeland (yet), but they now had control of Italy and also were working their way through the Austrian Netherlands and had crossed the Rhine at Düsseldorf, moving ever closer to Vienna. Austria's last ally, England, is busily controlling the seas, but are of little or no help in a land battle in mid-continent!

Haydn was in Eisenstadt all this time, Beethoven was in Prague. But in Vienna, 'war fever' was ramping up. One has to go a long way back, to the Seven Years War which ended in 1763, to find war threatening to knock on the doorstep of Vienna. But now we were seeing the organization of a Vienna Volunteer Corps, for example. And in order to raise money to support the effort, they turned once again to the old standby, benefit concerts. New patriotic music was being written, such as the cantata Der Retter in Gefahr [The Savior in Distress] by Rautenstrauch, and played at frequent fundraisers along with Haydn's Symphonie mit dem Paukenschlag… as though they were a set, meant to be together. Just as it had in London four years earlier, The Surprise captured the imagination of Austria and Germany now. It seems Haydn had correctly judged many things about this work, not least its international appeal. We will certainly follow the Napoleon story, nearly as closely as the Viennese were doing. It was hugely influential on the lives of everyone we have met or will meet soon.

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This year we will finally meet firsthand a character who has been in the background for several decades, influencing the lives and careers of most Viennese musicians, and especially that of Mozart and even Haydn. Baron Gottfried van Swieten was Dutch, the son of Empress Maria Theresia's personal physician, and a brilliant scholar. He began to do tasks for the government at a young age, representing its interests all over Europe. In 1769 he traveled to London and it is believed this was where he developed his taste for Handel's oratorios, which lasted the rest of his life.

Gottfried van Swieten

In 1770 he earned the post of ambassador to the Court of Frederick the Great. His years in Germany gave him a taste for the music of Sebastian Bach and the other German contrapuntists. And also for modern music of the school of CPE Bach. In 1777 he returned to Vienna, and partook heavily of its musical scene. Since he entertained musicians in his house on a weekly basis, it was inevitable that this taste should be passed along, thus Mozart learned his Bach and Handel from Swieten. One of the groups of connoisseurs which Swieten founded, the Gesellschaft der Associierten, sponsored private oratorio performances in the various members' palaces. Mozart was commissioned to 'modernize' four of Handel's works for performance in this venue. Even after Mozart's death, the Gesellschaft continued this process, and this time Haydn himself would be the beneficiary, as we will very soon see.

There would have been one character we knew, if fate hadn't intervened at such a young age. Pietro Polzelli, Luigia's son, now age nineteen and a violinist in Schikaneder's opera orchestra, died of tuberculosis in December. Haydn was extraordinarily fond of him, and as we recall, he helped him to advance whenever possible.

In a departure from my usual format, I thought I would present the entire list of music for the year. A lot went on in 1796, so maybe it will present a chance to jump ahead and look at some of this superb music ahead of my arrival. It will surely be worth your while. And it doesn't even take into account the great probability of the Opus 76 quartets having been started and Chaos, the overture of The Creation also! We will leave it for the future to go there.

So that's the year, in only the barest sketch. Next time we will look at some instrumental music, paying back old debts and new.

Thanks for reading!

 

Hob. 15#	Genre	Key	Lan. No.	Instrument(s)	Notes
27	Accompanied Sonata (Trio)	C	42	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
28		E	43	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
29		Eb	44	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	Bartolozzi Trios - Dedicated to Theresa Jansen
30		Eb	45	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello
7e:1	Concerto	Eb			Solo Keyed Trumpet, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
Hob. No	Genre	Key	Name	Instruments/Voices		Libretto
Hob 20:2	Oratorio	Various	The Seven Last Words	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani & Strings		Arranged by Gottfried van Swieten
Hob 22:10	Catholic Mass	Bb	Missa Sancti Bernardi Offida 'Heiligmesse'	S-A-T-B, Chorus, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings & Continuo (Organ)
Hob 22:09	Catholic Mass	C	Missa in tempore belli 'Paukenmesse'	S-A-T-B, Chorus, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani & Strings
Hob. No	Genre	Name	Piece	Instruments
30:5a	Incidental music	Alfred, Knig der Angelsachsen	Triumph of Haldane (Chorus)	3 Voices, 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings
30:5b	Incidental music	Alfred, Knig der Angelsachsen	Aria: Ausgesandt von Strahlenthrone	Soprano, Wind band sextet: 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns & 2 Bassoons
Hob. 25#	Genre	Voices	Title	Key	Instruments	Libretto
25a:1	Italian Duet	Soprano & Tenor	Guarda qui, che lo vedra	F	Fortepiano	Carlo Badini
25a:2	Italian Duet	Soprano & Tenor	Saper vorrei se m'ami	G	Fortepiano	Carlo Badini
25b:1	Partsong	S-A-T & Continuo	An den Vetter
25b:2	Partsong	T-T-B & Continuo	Daphnens einziger Fehler
25b:3	Partsong	S-T-B & Continuo	Betrachtung des Todes
25b:4	Partsong	T-T-B & Keyboard	An die Frauen
25c:1	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Der Augenblick
25c:2	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Die Harmonie in der Ehe
25c:3	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Alles hat seine Zeit
25c:4	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Beredsamkeit
25c:5	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Der Greis
25c:6	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Die Warnung
25c:7	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Wider den Ubermut
25c:8	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Danklied zu Gott
25c:9	Partsong	S-A-T-B & Continuo	Abendlied zu Gott