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The world has seen many an instance of genius without industry, as
of industry without genius. In Haydn the two were happily wedded.
He was always an early riser, and long after his student days were
over he worked steadily from sixteen to eighteen hours a day.
He lived strictly by a self-imposed routine, and was so little
addicted to what Scott called "bed-gown and slipper tricks," that
he never sat down to work or received a visitor until he was fully
dressed. He had none of Wagner's luxurious tastes or Balzac's
affectations in regard to a special attire for work, but when
engaged on his more important compositions he always wore the ring
given him by the King of Prussia. In Haydn's case there are no
incredible tales of dashing off scores in the twinkling of an
eye. That he produced so much must be attributed to his habit of
devoting all his leisure to composition. He was not a rapid worker
if we compare him with Handel and Mozart. He never put down
anything till he was "quite sure it was the right thing"--a habit
of mind indicated by his neat and uniform handwriting ["His
notes had such little heads and slender tails that he used, very
properly, to call them his, flies' legs."--Bombet, p. 97.]--and
he assures us: "I never was a quick writer, and always composed
with care and deliberation. That alone," he added, "is the way to
compose works that will last, and a real connoisseur can see at a
glance whether a score has been written in undue haste or not." He
is quoted as saying that "genius is always prolific." However the
saying may be interpreted, there does not seem to have been about
him anything of what has been called the irregular dishabille of
composers, "the natural result of the habit of genius of watching
for an inspiration, and encouraging it to take possession of the
whole being when it comes."
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