Haydn – ›The Shakespeare of Music‹

Joseph Haydn –London Symphonies
An introduction

Text: Gerard McBurney

Shortly before dawn on New Year’s Day 1791, at 7:30 in the morning, Europe’s most famous composer boarded a ship in the French port of Calais, to cross the English Channel to Dover. He was 58 years old and this was his first experience of the open sea: »I remained on deck during the whole passage, so as to gaze my fill at that mighty monster, the ocean. So long as it was calm, I wasn’t afraid at all, but towards the end, when the wind grew stronger and stronger, and I saw the monstrous high waves rushing at us, I became a little frightened, and a little indisposed, too. But I overcame it all and arrived safely, without vomiting, on shore. Most of the passengers were ill, and looked like ghosts, but since I went on to London, I didn’t feel the effects of the journey right away; but then I needed 2 days to recover. Now, however, I am fresh and well again, and occupied in looking at this endlessly huge city of London, whose various beauties and marvels have quite astonished me … My arrival has caused a great sensation throughout the city.«1

Haydn’s first visit to England lasted 18 months, and among the triumphs of that period, saw the premieres of the first six of his twelve London symphonies, Nos. 93 to 98. Around the end of June 1792, he set sail again across the English Channel and was home in Vienna by 24th July.

The general understanding at this time in London was that the composer would return again to England relatively soon, but events intervened, not least a sharp escalation in the French Revolutionary wars, and it was not until 4th February 1794 that Haydn reappeared in the English capital for his second and equally triumphant visit, during which the final six symphonies of his life, Nos. 99 to 104, were first performed.

On 15th August 1795, Joseph Haydn left England for the second time and forever. His second visit, like the first, had lasted about 18 months and included, towards the end, one of the most successful concerts of his entire career. In his private notebook, the composer jotted down the practical details:
»On 4th May 1795, I gave my benefit concert in the Haymarket Theatre. The room was full of a select company. a) First part of the Military Symphony; Aria (Rovedino); Concerto (Ferlandy) for the first time; Duet (Morichelli and Morelli) by me; a new Symphony in D, the twelfth and last of the English; b) Second part of the Military Symphony; Aria (Morichelli); Concerto (Viotti); Scena nuova by me, Mad. Banti (She song very scanty)« [This delightful note is mostly written in German, but the amusingly critical comment about Madame Banti’s singing is in – incorrect – English!]. He concluded: »The whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made four thousand Gulden on this evening. Such a thing is only possible in England.«

1 Letter to Maria Anna von Genzinger, 8th January 1791.