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From his agreement with Prince Esterhazy it will have been
gathered that, though virtually entrusted with the direction of
the Eisenstadt musical establishment, Haydn was really under the
control of an old official. Such arrangements seldom work well.
The retention of Joseph Werner was presumably due to the
thoughtful kindness of his noble patron, but it was bound to
lead to awkward situations. Werner had served the Esterhazys for
thirty-two years, and could not be expected to placidly accept
his supersession by a young and as yet almost unknown musician.
True, he was not a very distinguished man himself. He had
composed a large amount of music, chiefly sacred, including
thirty-nine masses and twelve "Oratorios for Good Friday,"
besides some grotesque pieces intended as burlesques of the
musical life of Vienna. Not one of his works has any real musical
value; but, as is usually the case with the talent which stops
short of genius, he thought a great deal of himself, and was
inclined to look down upon Haydn as an interloper, unskilled
in that rigid counterpoint which was the "heaven's law" of
the old-time composer. Indeed, he described his associate as
"a mere fop" and "a scribbler of songs."
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