Haydn's Manuscripts make it to the Hairdresser

Josef Haydn (Yes, I know it was "Franz Josef Haydn," but he didn't know it) was irrepressibly optimistic. With sore difficulties wracking his childhood ("I received more floggings than food") he came out beaming with happiness in his demeanor, his conversation and of course in his music. He was socially successful because of this point. Constantly negative people drain so much energy it's depressing just to talk to them, But Haydn, the lighthearted prankster made friends right and left that helped him succeed in spite of coming out of low socioeconomic circumstances, which, I might add, may have been stacks harder to combat in that day.

But it wasn't all sunbeams for Haydn the adult either- He missed the mark big time in one respect: His wife. Oops. Haydn loved a girl who was unfortunately predestined by her family to a nunnery, so she was packed off to the nunnery, much to Haydn's disappointment. Her sister was available. So he went for her instead. After their marriage he found she had... not a lot of respect for music or composition or composers or manuscripts or any such thing which made things really hard for her musical, composing, manuscript writing husband because their living depended on his success and his success depended on his manuscripts that were too often taken from his writing desk and ending up lining her muffin tins and ending up as curl-papers for Mrs. Haydn's coiffure. I am Dead Serious. This really happened. This is one of those situations that would make even the most hardened marriage counselor's jaw drop. Well, needless to say, their relationship did not flourish because she was like this on a regular basis. They separated, whether amicably or not I cannot tell, but he supported her comfortably in her own home and regarded himself as a married man the rest of his life. This I really, really respect about him: Haydn wrote to a friend who was suggesting the beginning of a relationship between Haydn and one of his students, a rich, handsome widow who obviously preferred him: "I am not a free man." Haydn recognized that vows are forever.

Uplifting Haydn

Click on this Lesson on Haydn (and Faure) by Lang Lang to a Japanese student Shion Ota- to see a perfect example of how when you are wondering how things could possibly improve, they do.

All Stories have Morals:

Franz Josef Haydn wanted to marry a lovely girl whose parents had destined for a nunnery. He made his proposal, and she was sent packing… to the nunnery. Her fine sister was still single and readily available, so he married her instead. She wasn’t very sympathetic toward his musical tendencies: She used his manuscripts to line her muffin tins and hair curlers. She was contumacious and sullen, and he was outgoing and lighthearted except regarding his relationship with her. They agreed to separate. He supported her financially. While in England, a rich and handsome widow became his student and was obviously attracted to him. “If I were a free man, this would have been a lovely thing,” he told a friend, “but I am not…” That is what I call being faithful in the face of adversity and temptation. I guess the moral of that story is, if you’re a really nice guy like Haydn, make sure to get what you really wanted in the first place... maybe even if it means breaking into the convent...