Sharp’s the Word
On realising that he had the edge on his rivals, music publisher John Brand moved quickly to secure one of Haydn’s peerless Quartets.
1789
King George III 1760-1820
On realising that he had the edge on his rivals, music publisher John Brand moved quickly to secure one of Haydn’s peerless Quartets.
1789
King George III 1760-1820
A contributor calling himself ‘A Constant Reader’ submitted this story to the Musical World in 1836. He declared that he could vouch for the truth of it, as he had heard it from ‘the originator,’ music publisher John Bland (1750-1840), who was still alive at the time and in a position to refute it. He never did, and the story found its way into Carl Ferdinand Pohl’s influential biography and thence into musical folkore.
HAYDN, on his first visit to this great metropolis, domiciled at the house of Bland, the music-publisher, 45, High Holborn, who used to relate the story alluded to, which I will give in his own words:
“When I went over to the Continent, to secure the services of Haydn at the concerts of Salomon,* I was introduced to him while he was in the act of shaving himself,— an operation by no means the pleasantest in the world, even when one has good tools; but it happened that Haydn was badly off in that respect, and feeling the inconvenience deeply, said, ‘Ah, Mr Bland, if I had but an English razor, I would give one of the best compositions I ever wrote for it!’* I immediately, without waiting to reply, posted off to my inn,* and brought my best pair. Presenting them to the great man, he put into my hands one of his quartetts in manuscript, which I afterwards published, and used to term it my Razor Quartett.”*
* This was in November 1789, at the Schloss Esterhazy in Eisenstadt, Austria. Urged on by London-based impressario Johann Peter Salomon (1745-1815), Bland had been trying to get Franz Joseph Haydn over to England for two years by this time. When he finally succeeded, Haydn stayed with the Blands on his arrival in London in January 1791.
* On England’s deserved reputation for superior razors, see The Hollow Blade Sword Company.
* The verb ‘post’ in this context means ‘hurry, move at speed,’ from the horses stationed at ‘posts’ along the route and used in relays for stagecoaches, to make the journey faster.
* Pohl gave the Razor Quartet as the fifth of the ‘Tost quartets,’ which makes it Op. 55 No. 2 in F minor; but that set (set I) was published in England by Longman and Broderip, not by Bland. Bland did subsequently receive a set of six quartets from Haydn, the so-called Tost II quartets Op. 64, and published them in 1791 after Haydn came to stay with him in London. Perhaps the quartet he was promised in exchange for his razor was one of these. At any rate, it would appear that he did not take the manuscript away with him when he left Austria. In a letter to his publisher Artaria and Co. dated November 15th, 1789, Haydn was at pains to stress: “Last week Mr Bland, an Englishman, was here to see me and wanted to purchase various pieces from me; but on your account he did not receive a single note.”
Haydn’s String Quartet in E flat Op. 64 No. 6, 4: Presto, performed by the Kodaly Quartet.
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1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why was music publisher John Bland at Eisenstadt in November 1789?
To invite Haydn to conduct in London.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Salomon put on concerts in London. He wanted Haydn to appear at one. He sent John Bland to Austria to invite him.
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IBehalf. IIPerform. IIIRequest.