Haydn said of his English experience, “It is England which has made me famous in Germany.”
In 1797 he wrote God Preserve the Emperor which became the Austrian National Hymn, and later put it in his quartet called the Kaiser Quartet. From this time on, nearly every nation honored him,—Russia, France, Sweden, England, Austria, Germany. And as Haydn was leaving for England, when Mozart said to him, “Papa, you are scarcely fitted for such an undertaking, mixing with the big world without the gift of language,” he replied, “Aye, but my language is understood by the whole world.”
And this is the keynote of Haydn’s greatness, his music is and was understood by the whole world, so true and simple and melodious is it.
A Gala Performance
One year before his death when he was seventy-six years of age, he was so feeble that he had to be carried to the concert hall where a great performance of The Creation was given in his honor under the direction of Salieri, who later taught Beethoven. Princes and nobles and grand ladies did him homage and the ladies threw their beautiful cloaks over his couch to keep him warm, for it was a cold night in March, 1808. When that part of the oratorio came where they sing, “And there was light,” it is said that Haydn exclaimed, “Not I, but a power from above created that.”
He died on May 30th, 1809, from shock, it is said, caused by the booming of cannon near his house when the French besieged Vienna.
So passed this conscientious musician, whose belief is summed up in these sentences: “I know that God appointed me a task. I acknowledge it with thanks, and hope and believe I have done my duty and have been useful to the world. May others do likewise.”
Haydn’s Gift to Music
1. He made over the orchestra, he discovered that muted strings made a beautiful winning effect.
2. He and Mozart at about the same time, added the clarinet to the orchestra.