Disappointment and solace

Donald Macleod compares and contrasts two of Haydn's closest and longest personal relationships, with music including his early Salve Regina and his celebrated Horn Concerto in D.

The streets must have seemed like they were paved with gold when Haydn visited London in 1791. He was feted and applauded everywhere he went as one of Europe’s leading composers. He hobnobbed with royalty, the Prince of Wales commissioned a portrait of him from leading society portraitist John Hoppner. It’s still regarded as one of the best images we have today.

Haydn could hardly have imagined all this as a boy. His really is a rags-to-riches story. Born in 1732 in humble circumstances, Haydn's musical talent won him a position as a choir boy in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. However, he was forced to leave after his voice broke and, by the age of 17, he was on the streets, with only “three miserable shirts and a worn-out coat” to his name. Happily, his life did then take an upward turn. Haydn was employed by the Esterhàzys, one of the most powerful and influential families in the Hapsburg monarchy, for an astonishing 48 years.

But this week, Donald Macleod puts the public face of this celebrated figure to one side. He’s going to be looking at Haydn through a narrower lens, drawing a picture of the composer through the relationships he enjoyed with some of his closest family and friends.

If Haydn had applied hindsight to his decision to marry, it's highly probable he would have reconsidered his options. By contrast, his feelings for one of the court singers were considerably warmer, enduring long after their affair had petered out.

Piano Trio No. 4 in F major, Hob.XV:39
Scherzo
Beaux Arts Trio

Signor voi sapete, Hob.XXIVb:7
Written for insertion in Anfossi’s “Il matrimonio per inganno”
Chen Reiss, soprano, Rosina
l’Arte del mondo
Werner Ehrhardt, conductor

Symphony no 1 in D major, Hob 1/1
I: Presto
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra
Ádám Fischer, conductor

Salve Regina in E major, Hob. XXIIIb:1
I. Salve Regina
Nancy Argenta, soprano
Collegium Musicum 90 Choir
Collegium Musicum 90
Richard Hickox, director

Horn Concerto no 1 in D, Hob.VIId:3
I: Allegro
II: Adagio
III: Allegro
Alec Frank-Gemmill, horn
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Nicholas McGeegan, conductor

Vada adagio, signorina, Hob.XXIVb:12
for P. Guglielmi: La Quakera spiritosa
Chen Reiss, soprano, Cardellina
l’Arte del mondo
Werner Ehrhardt, conductor

L'isola disabilitata, Act 2, sc 12
Quartet: Sono contenta appieno
Anett Fritsch, soprano, Costanza
Sunhae Im, soprano, Silvia
Krystian Adam, tenor Enrico
André Morsch, baritone, Gernando’s companion
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Bernhard Forck, musical direction

Producer: Johannah Smith for BBC Audio