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For the present the dining and the entertaining went on. The 12th of
January found him at the "Crown and Anchor" in the Strand, where the
Anacreonatic Society expressed their respect and admiration in the
usual fashion. The 18th of the same month was the Queen's birthday,
and Haydn was invited to a Court ball in the evening. This was quite
an exceptional distinction, for he had not yet been "presented" at
Court. Probably he owed it to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George
IV. The Prince was a musical amateur, like his father and his
grandfather, whose enthusiasm for Handel it is hardly necessary to
recall. He played the 'cello--"not badly for a Prince," to parody
Boccherini's answer to his royal master--and liked to take his part
in glees and catches. Haydn was charmed by his affability. "He is
the handsomest man on God's earth," wrote the composer. "He has an
extraordinary love for music, and a great deal of feeling, but very
little money." These courtesies to Haydn may perhaps be allowed to
balance the apparent incivility shown to Beethoven and Weber, who
sent compositions to the same royal amateur that were never so much
as acknowledged.
But even the attentions of princes may become irksome and
unprofitable. Haydn soon found that his health and his work were
suffering from the flood of social engagements which London
poured upon him. The dinner hour at this time was six o'clock. He
complained that the hour was too late, and made a resolve to dine
at home at four. He wanted his mornings for composition, and if
visitors must see him they would have to wait till afternoon.
Obviously he was beginning to tire of "the trivial round."
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