, 1880-05-03

rushed back to his place. and amid q
general emotion tho orchestra opened
the concert.
The music of this oratorio is so well
known that review is unnecessary
but it may be easily imagined that a
composition of so sublime o character,
with all the accessories to insure per-
feet performance, in the presence of its
author and an audience comprising no.
bility, beauty, and the most renowned
professors and artists of the day, in
connection with its sad purpose. should
produce a most solemn and thrilling
effect.
At the close of the first part of the
is worth more than a passing notice.
The physician of the prince per
ceived that Haydn was apparently
suffering with cold. and communi-
Gated this fact to his highness.
Before the latter had time to give an
order the ladies of the court gathered
around him, and the old man was liter
ally enveloped in dense mass OF
shawls of the most costly fabrics that
that gay city could boast.
At the close of the concert Haydn
bowed his thanks to his kind audience,
and then, turning to the orchestra,
which numbered many of his old com
paniops, with appraised hands he pro
nounced a solemn benediction on them
all. Thus he took his sad but glorious
leave of the public.
The excitement incident to Haydn S
public appearance proved too much for
him, and his remaining powers were
greatly shattered. Still he fingered
until he entered the seventy eighth year
of his life. He frequently desired to
be brought to his piano, but his tremu-
lous fingers could only snatch a few
chords before the vertigo seized him,
and he was compelled to desist.
Joseph" said he, one morning.
they tell me that my pupil is becom-
ing great. Where is he, and why does
he not visit his old master and friend q
"Of whom is my good master speak
1ng?" asked the servant.
"Of Mozart, to be sure"
"Alas! sir. you forget that he died
long since"
dead! Mozart dead? Why, he was
but boy!"
my master cannot have forgotten
his splendid requiem and the occasion
on which it was performed ?"
"True, Joseph; remember now l
have directed that great work myself.
Yes, Mozart is dead. Boselli, the only
woman l ever loved, is dead. Gina
rosa, too-all are gone-gone!'' Then,
starting, with Look of anxiety he said,
Joseph, have we any money in the
house ?"
- Certainly, sir, an abundance"
You are sure of that ?"
why. master, we are absolutely
rich"
BE prudent, my good fellow, for it
would break my heart to be dependent
upon charity
The war between France and Austria
had now commenced in earnest, and the
French, IN their rapid advance, had al
ready reached Schonnbrunn. scarcely a
half leagues distance from Haydn's re-
treat. The next morning, at a stone s
throw from his house, they fired fifteen
hundred cannon shot upon Vienna, the
city which he so dearly loved. The old
man s enthusiasm on this occasion could
not be controlled. Madame de Kurz-
beck had used every entreaty to prevail
upon him to remove to her house,
which was situated in the city, but
without effect, for he stoutly persisted
in remaining where he was.
Joseph" he asked, g is the city en-
tirely given up to the sword p
by no means, master"
"Then Heaven be praised"
At that moment a terrific explosion
was heard. A house near by had been
destroyed by "a bomb. The servant fell
on his knees and cried,-
"The saints preserve US. master, or
we are lost!'
Haydn, with majestic air, rose I'M
aided from his chair, and, approaching
the trembling Joseph, exclaimed,-
"Foolish fellow, of what are you
afraid ?"
''Can it be that my master is uncon-
scious of danger?' exclaimed the SER
want, startled still more to see the old
man standing alone, when, for many
weeks, he had been unable to leave his
chair without assistance.
danger" lie exclaimed. "know
you not that no danger can come where
Haydn is %
He then rushed to the piano and sang
three times, as loud as the weak tones
of his voice would permit, s. God pre-
serve the emperor!''
The effort was more than his weak
frame could bear, and he fell to the
floor in a stupor from which he never
recovered. The servants bore him to
his bed, and in short time this great
man was no more. He died on the 31st
day of May, in the year 1910, aged sew
enty-eight years and two months. and
was buried at Gumpendorf, as he had
dacira1 in Iifo GunJ u,aro <bo loot