At this period he had composed his first Mass in F, a work which, though crude and faulty, is remarkable as the effort of a self-taught genius. By this time, also, he had finished his first opera, "Der Neue Krumme Teufel," for which he was paid twenty-four ducats, but of which only the libretto is extant. It was produced at the Stadttheatre in 1752, and as it was also given in Prague, Berlin and other cities, it would appear that it was successful. Judging by those operas by Haydn that have come down to us, the disappearance of the score of his first work in that class is not to be greatly lamented. His muse was essentially undramatic, yet with that peculiar blindness to the true bent of his talents, a blindness far from uncommon among men of genius, he entertained a firm faith that it was his mission to write operas. Fortunately his opportunities to indulge his idiosyncrasy were not of a nature to enable him to turn from the path in which he was to win fame, although he composed in addition to the opera named, thirteen Italian and five Marionette operas, of which nothing has survived or has deserved to survive. Haydn was destined to revolutionize instrumental music; but the man who was to revolutionize the opera was yet to come and was to be called Mozart.
Among Haydn's other compositions at this period were some clavier sonatas written by him for his pupils. They were the fruits of his study of the first six sonatas of C. Ph. Emanuel Bach, to which he devoted himself untiringly. Haydn said, "I played them constantly and did not rest until I had mastered them all, and those who know my music must also know that I owe very much to Emanuel Bach." In fact Haydn prided himself greatly because he had been once complimented by Bach for his knowledge of that composer's works. One of these sonatas by Haydn had attracted the attention of the Countess Thun, an enthusiastic amateur of music, who expressed a desire to see him. He called on her and surprised her by his youthful appearance and distressed her by the shabbiness of his attire. The evil fortune that always kept him in want during his early years was again accompanied by the good fortune that at every crucial stage of his youthful career brought him into contact with influential friends who assisted him. The Countess questioned him about himself. In response to her inquiries he gave her a straightforward account of his situation, on hearing which she presented him with twenty-five ducats and engaged him to give her lessons on the harpsichord and in singing. His prospects brightened, and as pupils began to increase in number he raised his charge for lessons from two to five florins ($2.50)—a month! An additional piece of good fortune came to him at this stage of his prosperity in the acquaintance of Baron Fürnberg, a rich nobleman and an ardent and talented amateur, to whose house Haydn was invited. Here private concerts were given, and the young composer heard frequent performances of string trios and quartets, such as they were.
On the solicitation of Fürnberg, Haydn composed his first quartet, and seventeen other quartets followed within a year. The Countess Thun still remained a warm friend and used all her influence for his advancement. Fürnberg, who appears to have been very fond of him, was no less eager to push his fortunes. Through these two supporters he was introduced to Count Ferdinand Maximilian Morzin, a Bohemian nobleman, immensely rich and a great lover of music. He had an orchestra of some eighteen performers, which, when necessity demanded, was augmented by servants who were musicians. Through the solicitations of Fürnberg, Morzin appointed Haydn his Musikdirector and Kammercompositor, and in 1759, at the age of twenty-seven, the composer began, what was up to that date, the most important stage of his artistic career, and ended forever his painful and uncertain toil for enough to eat from day to day. For twenty-one years he had struggled in misery, almost hopelessly, but without ever losing wholly his faith in his future, and always buoyed up by his intense love for his art. When he entered on the duties of his new position it is not unreasonable to believe that he looked back on his past, on the childhood days when he was beaten and sent to bed hungry by the stern but well-meaning Frankh; on his days of neglect and cruel insult under Reuter; on his homeless wanderings through the streets of Vienna, on that chill November night, not knowing how to obtain food and shelter; on his humiliating lackey services to Porpora. It was all over now, however, and he was never again to know want for the half century he had yet to live.
In his first year with Count Morzin, Haydn, taking advantage of the opportunities afforded him for hearing his own music performed by able musicians, wrote his first symphony. It is a brief work in three movements, for string quintet, two oboes, and two horns. It reflects Emanuel Bach strongly, but in its brightness and easy flow foreshadows the future style of the composer. It was the forerunner of one hundred and twenty-five symphonies, some of which were to break wholly with the past, and to widen infinitely the bounds of instrumental music, and to pave the way for a Beethoven. Haydn was now in comparative wealth. His salary was two hundred florins ($100), and in addition he received board and lodging free. Fortune seemed to smile on him at last. Unfortunately, in this bright hour he took a step which embittered his life for nearly forty years.
When Haydn was in the depths of poverty that attended his early days of adversity he made the acquaintance of one Keller, a wig-maker. This person had two daughters to whom Haydn gave music lessons. He fell desperately in love with the younger, but she entered a convent and took the veil. Her father, however, urgently entreated Haydn to marry the other, and in an evil hour he consented, though she was three years his elder. When prosperity dawned on him, with equal honesty and ill luck he kept his promise, and on the 26th of November, 1760, the girl became his wife. It was not long before he discovered his irreparable mistake. The partner he had taken for life was a vixen, foul-mouthed, quarrelsome, a bigot in religion, reckless in extravagance, utterly unappreciative of her husband's genius, and, as he complained, "did not care whether he was an artist or a cobbler," as long as he could supply her with money. She bickered with him constantly, insulted him for his inability to clothe her expensively, refused to know his friends, and acted like the virago that she was on the slightest provocation. Naturally genial and affectionate, and peculiarly fitted for a happy domestic life by his peaceful and amiable temperament, it is not surprising that he soon wearied of the woman who made existence a torture to him. No children came to soften the asperities of this ill-assorted union, and if Haydn turned from it to find the happiness and the comfort that were resolutely denied him at his own fireside, and at last became addicted to gallantry, excuse if not pardon may be accorded him. They lived apart during the greater portion of their married life, but were not formally separated until thirty-two years later. She passed the last years of her life at Baden, near Vienna, preceding her husband to the grave by nine years.
BUST OF JOSEPH HAYDN, TAKEN FROM LIFE.
From an India proof of an engraving by J. Thompson of drawing by Hammerton. Presented to the publisher for
Surmon's Exeter Hall edition of "The Creation" by the Chevalier Neukomm.