“He knows and understands counterpoint about as well as my cook!”
Home Again
One evening while Händel was at Dublin, a certain Mr. Dubourg was to sing a solo to an aria, with a cadence ad libitum. For some time he strayed about in different keys, but at last he commenced the trill with which the cadence closed and Händel cried loud enough for the whole house to hear, to the great amusement of the audience: “Welcome home, Mr. Dubourg!”
Too Particular
In 1749, Händel had such poor success with his oratorio “Theodora” that he was pleased when some musicians, who did not play in it, accepted tickets. Later on some of these gentlemen begged permission to hear The Messiah, but Händel said: “Oh, I am your humble servant, gentlemen; you are too infernally particular! You did not care to hear Theodora, when there was room enough to dance, now there is none left for you!”
The Villain
Händel was holding the last rehearsal of his incomparable and difficult “Te Deum Laudamus” to be rendered at the celebration of the Peace of Utrecht. Before starting, he cried, full of enthusiasm: “Gentlemen! Whoever makes a mistake to-day, is a villain!”
The sublime composition, the excellent rendition, carried him away to such an extent, that at the end of a phrase, forgetting everything around him, he stood like one inspired, and when spoken to, shivered and was unable to control his emotion. With the last note, he cried, tears streaming down his face: “Gentlemen, I am the villain!”
F. Joseph Haydn
While Haydn lived in Ungarn (Hungary) gunning and fishing were his favorite recreations. He never forgot that he once killed three pheasants at one shot, which afterwards graced the dinner table of the Empress, Maria Theresa.