Haydn Crossing the English Channel. From painting by E. J. C. Hamman.
His first impressions of London, then a city of less than a million people, were of its great size and its noise. Many times the composer must have longed for the comparative quiet of Esterhaz, or of his own study in Vienna.
An amusing anecdote is told of Haydn in London. One morning he came upon a music shop, and, going in, asked to be shown any novelties that might be for sale.
"Certainly," answered the salesman, who forthwith brought out "some sublime music of Haydn's," as he termed it.
"Oh, I'll have nothing to do with that," said the customer.
"Why not?" asked the man, who happened to be a warm admirer of Haydn's music. "Have you any fault to find with it?"
"Yes," said the composer, "and if you can show me nothing better than that, I must go without making a purchase."
"Well, then, you had better go, for I've nothing that I can supply as suitable for such as you," and Mr. Shopman walked away.