Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/553

 HAYDN 539 went into Renter's pocket; for, with the ex- ception of a little Latin and much practical mu- sic, Joseph seems to have been taught nothing. In the theory and science of the art he received in eight years but two lessons from his master. His physical wants were as ill supplied as those of his mind. Hunger during these years was a spur to him in the study of singing, he having early learned that his beautiful voice could be made to procure him food. Constant practice in singing the music of the best Italian and German ecclesiastical composers made up in some measure for the want of adequate instruc- tion in musical theory ; his natural instinct for correct harmony and counterpoint being de- veloped in spite of his ignorance of rules. With little bread, little instruction, and many a beat- ing from Reuter, Joseph reached his 16th year, when his voice began to break, and his master, seeing that he could no longer make him a source of profit, sought a fit occasion to dismiss him. Joseph was often in difficulty from his practical jests. One of these gave Renter the wished-for occasion. One of the boys wore his hair long and tied in a queue. Joseph, to bring him into uniformity with the others, took op- portunity to cut it off, and being complained of was sentenced to a severe castigation upon the open hand. He begged hard to be let off, offering to resign if his punishment were re- mitted. "No help for you," said Reuter; " you shall first receive your Schilling and then march." The boy of 16 was turned into the streets of Vienna with a threadbare coat and three bad shirts. His parents, to whom he went, could not aid him, and besought him to carry out the old plan and enter the church. What he had seen of the lower clergy during his eight years in St. Stephen's had not in- creased his liking for such a life, and he re- turned to Vienna to see what could be done in music. He took up his abode in a garret room of a five-story house, where he had neither stove nor fireplace, and where rain and snow penetrated through the holes in the roof. Among the first friends whom the boy found was a widow, who with her daughter lived by knitting ; she gave him permission to sleep on the floor in her own room when the winter came. She afterward fell into extreme want. Haydn was then in prosperity ; in his good for- tune he remembered her, and for 30 years gave her a small monthly pension. It was at this period that his genius received its permanent direction. The first six sonatas of 0. P. E. Bach fell into his hands. " I could not leave my instrument," said he in his old age, " until I had played them through ; and whoever thoroughly understands me, must see that I owe very much to Emanuel Bach ; that I com- prehended and industriously studied him. Emanuel Bach himself sent me a compliment for this." After a time he attracted the notice of Metastasio, who lived in the same house. The poet had charge of the education of a Si- gnora Martinez, then a child, and Haydn was employed to give her rudimental instructions in music, thus having opportunity to make him- self a thorough master of the Italian language. Through Metastasio he became acquainted with Porpora, who was then in Germany giving singing lessons to the mistress of Correr, the Venetian ambassador. Thus far Haydn had had no opportunity of studying the theory of music with a master, nor been able to pur- chase books for this purpose. It was therefore of the greatest importance to him to have the benefit of the profound knowledge and expe- rience of Porpora. Porpora, too, wished for some one to play the accompaniments when he gave his lessons. That he received lessons from Porpora directly, save such as were necessary to render him adequate to the old master's de- mands upon him, is very doubtful ; but he de- rived the highest advantage from being present at the lessons, and willingly bore the old man's ill humor. During a visit of three months to the baths of Mannersdorf, Correr took his mis- tress and her teacher, and Haydn chose to act during that time as Porpora's servant rather than miss the opportunity of improving himself. He wore no livery, and dined at the table of Correr's officials, not at that of the servants. He was known as Porpora's accompanist, and in this capacity attracted the notice of Gluck, Wagenseil, and other musical notabilities of Vienna. His salary was then six ducats a month. From this time his prospects were continually brighter. A Baron Furnberg often invited him to his house both in the city and in the country, to small musical parties ; and for him, during the autumn of 1750 or the winter following, Haydn composed his first quartet for stringed instruments. Returning one day to his lodgings, he found that his clothes and a few other possessions had been stolen ; but he had already made friends, and one of them gave him a good suit of black, another linen, &c., and Furnberg took him for two months to his country seat. From 1751 to 1759 his life was that of a successful young music teacher. His fees for instruction gradually rose from two to five florins per month. Sundays and church festivals were busy days with him ; at 8 in the morning he played the organ in the chapel of the Carmelites, at 10 in the chapel of Count Haugnitz, and at 11 he sang (tenor) in his old choir at St. Stephen's, receiving for each ser- vice 17 kreutzers. He was often employed in serenading, his own music generally forming part of the programme. One evening the handsome wife of Kurz, a famous harlequin, was the recipient of the serenaders' homage, and the husband was so struck by the music as to go down to the street and ask who was its author. Haydn, then about 20, acknowledged it. Kurz had the text for a short comic opera, DerUnkende Teufel( u The Limping Devil"), a satire on the lame theatre director, Affligio, and this he persuaded Haydn to compose. The piece was given three times with applause, and then forbidden by the police. Haydn received