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We have spoken of Haydn's visit as a long-meditated project. In
1787 Cramer, the violinist, had offered to engage him on his own
terms for the Professional Concerts; and Gallini, the director of
the King's Theatre in Drury Lane, pressed him to write an opera
for that house. Nothing came of these proposals, mainly because
Haydn was too much attached to his prince to think of leaving
him, even temporarily. But the time arrived and the man with it.
The man was Johann Peter Salomon, a violinist, who, having fallen
out with the directors of the professional concerts, had started
concerts on his own account. Salomon was a native of Bonn, and
had been a member of the Electoral Orchestra there. He had
travelled about the Continent a good deal, and no one was better
fitted to organize and direct a series of concerts on a large
scale. In 1790 he had gone abroad in search of singers, and,
hearing of the death of Prince Esterhazy, he set off at once for
Vienna, resolved to secure Haydn at any cost. "My name is
Salomon," he bluntly announced to the composer, as he was shown
into his room one morning. "I have come from London to fetch you;
we will settle terms to-morrow."
The question of terms was, we may be sure, important enough for
Haydn. But it was not the only question. The "heavy years" were
beginning to weigh upon him. He was bordering on threescore, and
a long journey in those days was not to be lightly undertaken.
Moreover, he was still, nominally at least, the servant of Prince
Anton, whose consent would have to be obtained; and, besides all
this, he was engaged on various commissions, notably some for the
King of Naples, which were probably a burden on his conscience.
His friends, again, do not appear to have been very enthusiastic
about the projected visit. There were Dittersdorf and
Albrechtsberger, and Dr Leopold von Genzinger, the prince's
physician, and Frau von Genzinger, whose tea and coffee he so
much appreciated, and who sent him such excellent cream. Above
all, there was Mozart--"a man very dear to me," as Haydn himself
said.
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