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In 1820 the remains were exhumed by order of Prince Esterhazy,
and re-interred with fresh funeral honours in the Pilgrimage
Church of Maria-Einsiedel, near Eisenstadt, on November 7. A
simple stone, with a Latin inscription, is inserted in the wall
over the vault. When the coffin was opened, the startling
discovery was made that the skull had been stolen. The
desecration took place two days after the funeral. It appears
that one Johann Peter, intendant of the royal and imperial
prisons of Vienna, conceived the grim idea of forming a
collection of skulls, made, as he avowed in his will, to
corroborate the theory of Dr Gall, the founder of phrenology.
This functionary bribed the sexton, and--in concert with Prince
Esterhazy's secretary Rosenbaum, and with two Government
officials named Jungermann and Ullmann--he opened Haydn's grave
and removed the skull. Peter afterwards gave the most minute
details of the sacrilege. He declared that he examined the head
and found the bump of music fully developed, and traces in the
nose of the polypus from which Haydn suffered. The skull was
placed in a lined box, and when Peter got into difficulties and
his collection was dispersed, the relic passed into the
possession of Rosenbaum. That worthy's conscience seems to have
troubled him in the matter, for he conceived the idea of erecting
a monument to the skull in his back garden! When the desecration
was discovered in 1820 there was an outcry, followed by police
search. Prince Esterhazy would stand no nonsense. The skull must
be returned, no questions would be asked, and Peter was offered a
reward if he found it. The notion then occurred to Rosenbaum of
palming off another skull for Haydn's. This he actually succeeded
in doing, the head of some unfortunate individual being handed to
the police. Peter claimed the reward, which was very justly
refused him. When Rosenbaum was dying he confessed to the
deception, and gave the skull back to Peter. Peter formed the
resolution of bequeathing it, by will, to the Conservatorium at
Vienna; but he altered his mind before he died, and by codicil
left the skull to Dr Haller, from whose keeping it ultimately
found its way to the anatomical museum at Vienna. We believe it
is still in the museum. Its proper place is, of course, in
Haydn's grave, and a stigma will rest on Vienna until it is
placed there.
[The great masters have been peculiarly unfortunate in the matter
of their "remains." When Beethoven's grave was opened in 1863,
Professor Wagner was actually allowed to cut off the ears and
aural cavities of the corpse in order to investigate the cause of
the dead man's deafness. The alleged skeleton of Sebastian Bach
was taken to an anatomical museum a few years ago, "cleaned up,"
and clothed with a semblance of flesh to show how Bach looked in
life! Donizetti's skull was stolen before the funeral, and was
afterwards sold to a pork butcher, who used it as a money-bowl.
Gluck was re-buried in 1890 beside Mozart, Beethoven and
Schubert, after having lain in the little suburban churchyard of
Matzleinsdorf since 1787.]
A copy of Haydn's will has been printed as one of the appendices
to the present volume, with notes and all necessary information
about the interesting document. Two years before his death he had
arranged that his books, music, manuscripts and medals should
become the property of the Esterhazy family. Among the relics
were twenty-four canons which had hung, framed and glazed, in his
bedroom. "I am not rich enough," he said, "to buy good pictures,
so I have provided myself with hangings of a kind that few
possess." These little compositions were the subject of an
oft-quoted anecdote. His wife, in one of her peevish moods,
was complaining that if he should die suddenly, there was not
sufficient money in the house to bury him. "In case such a
calamity should occur," he replied, "take these canons to the
music-publisher. I will answer for it, that they will bring
enough to pay for a decent funeral."
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