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Meanwhile his native exuberance and cheerfulness of soul were
irrepressible. Several stories are told of the schoolboy
escapades he enjoyed with his fellow choristers. One will suffice
here. He used to boast that he had sung with success at Court as
well as in St Stephen's. This meant that he had made one of the
choir when visits were paid to the Palace of Schonbrunn, where
the Empress Maria and her Court resided. On the occasion of one
of these visits the palace was in the hands of the builders, and
the scaffolding presented the usual temptation to the youngsters.
"The empress," to quote Pohl, "had caught them climbing it many a
time, but her threats and prohibitions had no effect. One day
when Haydn was balancing himself aloft, far above his
schoolfellows, the empress saw him from the windows, and
requested her Hofcompositor to take care that 'that fair-headed
blockhead,' the ringleader of them all, got 'einen recenten
Schilling' (slang for 'a good hiding')." The command was only too
willingly obeyed by the obsequious Reutter, who by this time had
been ennobled, and rejoiced in the addition of "von" to his name.
Many years afterwards, when the empress was on a visit to Prince
Esterhazy, the "fair-headed blockhead" took the cruel delight of
thanking her for this rather questionable mark of Imperial
favour!
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