|
The journey to London was begun by Haydn and Salomon on the 15th
of December 1790, and the travellers arrived at Bonn on Christmas
Day. It is supposed, with good reason, that Haydn here met
Beethoven, then a youth of twenty, for the first time. Beethoven
was a member of the Electoral Chapel, and we know that Haydn,
after having one of his masses performed and being complimented
by the Elector, the musical brother of Joseph II, entertained the
chief musicians at dinner at his lodgings. An amusing description
of the regale may be read in Thayer's biography of Beethoven.
From Bonn the journey was resumed by way of Brussels to Calais,
which was reached in a violent storm and an incessant downpour
of rain. "I am very well, thank God!" writes the composer to
Frau Genzinger, "although somewhat thinner, owing to fatigue,
irregular sleep, and eating and drinking so many different
things."
|
|
