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Haydn's chief instrument was the clavier, but in addition to that
he diligently practiced the violin. It was at this date that he
took lessons on the latter instrument from "a celebrated
virtuoso." The name is not mentioned, but the general opinion is
that Dittersdorf was the instructor. This eminent musician
obtained a situation as violinist in the Court Orchestra at
Vienna in 1760; and, curiously enough, after many years of
professional activity, succeeded Haydn's brother, Michael, as
Capellmeister to the Bishop of Groswardein in Hungary. He wrote
an incredible amount of music, and his opera, "Doctor and
Apotheker," by which he eclipsed Mozart at one time, has survived
up to the present. Whether or not he gave Haydn lessons on the
violin, it is certain that the pair became intimate friends, and
had many happy days and some practical jokes together. One story
connected with their names sounds apocryphal, but there is no
harm in quoting it. Haydn and Dittersdorf were strolling down a
back street when they heard a fiddler scraping away in a little
beer cellar. Haydn, entering, inquired, "Whose minuet is that you
are playing?" "Haydn's," answered the fiddler. "It's a--bad
minuet," replied Haydn, whereupon the enraged player turned upon
him and would have broken his head with the fiddle had not
Dittersdorf dragged him away.
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