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It may be noted in passing that he entertained a very warm regard
for Elssler, whose father had been music copyist to Prince
Esterhazy. He was born at Eisenstadt in 1769, and, according to
Pohl, lived the whole of his life with Haydn, first as copyist, and
then as general servant and factotum. It was Elssler who tended the
composer in his last years, a service recompensed by the handsome
bequest of 6000 florins, which he lived to enjoy until 1843. No
man, it has been said, is a hero to his valet, but "Haydn was to
Elssler a constant subject of veneration, which he carried so far
that when he thought himself unobserved he would stop with the
censer before his master's portrait as if it were the altar." This
"true and honest servant" copied a large amount of Haydn's music,
partly in score, partly in separate parts, much of which is now
treasured as the autograph of Haydn, though the handwritings of
the two are essentially different. It is a pity that none of the
earlier writers on Haydn thought of applying to Elssler for
particulars of the private life of the composer. He could have
given information on many obscure points, and could have amplified
the details of this second London visit, about which we know much
less than we know about the former visit.
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