Thursday, April 30, 2009

Haydn and the Habsburgs

Here is a compelling article from History Today about Joseph Haydn and the German nation. (Via Joshua Snyder) Share

2 comments:

Athanasius said...

I have a biographical CD of Haydn with music and narration, and one of the stories told on it is that as a boy he was misbehaving in the presence of the Hapsburgs, and the Empress Maria Theresa ordered him spanked. Years later when he composed for her he reminded her of the incident, and she remarked "I'm glad to see the spanking did some good."

Is that a true anecdote?

elena maria vidal said...

I don't know. All I really know about Haydn's boyhood (off the top of my head) is that his family were peasants on the Esterhazy estates and Haydn's musical talent was noticed and cultivated by the seigneurs.