“Where are my trunks of clothes?” bellowed Prince Nicholas. “And my chess set and the silver candlesticks?”
“They are all on the wagons, sir,” replied a weary servant.
“Haydn!” the prince shouted. “Are the instruments packed? What about the musicians? Where are all the musicians?”
“They are saying farewell to their families, sir,” Haydn replied.
“Well, tell them to hurry up!” barked the prince. “I am ready to leave.”
This was the scene at Prince Nicholas’s winter estate in Eisenstadt, Austria, on a sunny March morning in 1772. The winter’s snow had just started to melt, and Prince Nicholas was preparing for the annual move to his summer palace in the Hungarian countryside. The palace was called Esterháza, and it was the prince’s pride and joy.
Accompanying the prince were twenty-two musicians and the royal music director, Joseph Haydn. Haydn was an excellent composer, famous throughout Europe. He wrote music for Prince Nicholas, but that was not his only responsibility. He also made sure that the musicians practiced diligently and stayed out of trouble. Haydn was even in charge of repairing broken instruments.
Copyright © 2016 by Anna Celenza (Author); JoAnn Kitchel (Illustrator). All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
