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One feels almost brutally rude in breaking in upon the privacy of
this little romance. No doubt the flirtation was inexcusable
enough on certain grounds. But taking the whole circumstances
into account--above all, the loveless, childless home of the
composer--the biographer is disposed to see in the episode merely
that human yearning after affection and sympathy which had been
denied to Haydn where he had most right to expect them. He
admitted that he was apt to be fascinated by pretty and amiable
women, and the woman to whom he had given his name was neither
pretty nor amiable. An ancient philosopher has said that a man
should never marry a plain woman, since his affections would
always be in danger of straying when he met a beauty. This
incident in Haydn's career would seem to support the
philosopher's contention. For the rest, it was probably harmless
enough, for there is nothing to show that the severer codes of
morality were infringed.
The biographers of Haydn have not succeeded in discovering how
the Schroeter amourette ended. The letters printed by Mr
Krehbiel are all confined to the year 1792, and mention is
nowhere made of any of later date. When Haydn returned to London
in 1794, he occupied rooms at No. 1 Bury Street, St James', and
Pohl suggests that he may have owed the more pleasant quarters to
his old admirer, who would naturally be anxious to have him as
near her as possible. A short walk of ten minutes through St
James' Park and the Mall would bring him to Buckingham Palace,
and from that to Mrs Schroeter's was only a stone-throw. Whether
the old affectionate relations were resumed it is impossible to
say. If there were any letters of the second London visit, it is
curious that Haydn should not have preserved them with the rest.
There is no ground for supposing that any disagreement came
between the pair: the facts point rather the other way. When
Haydn finally said farewell to London, he left the scores of his
six last symphonies "in the hands of a lady." Pohl thinks the
lady was Mrs Schroeter, and doubtless he is right. At any rate
Haydn's esteem for her, to use no stronger term, is sufficiently
emphasized by his having inscribed to her the three trios
numbered 1, 2 and 6 in the Breitkopf & Hartel list.
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