On 31 March 1809, Joseph Haydn turned 77, passing the day unostentatiously at his home in Gumpendorf, a village near Vienna. Nine days later, Austria declared war on France, and within a month Napoleon’s cannonballs were flying over Gumpendorf, one landing in the courtyard of Haydn’s property. These were hardly the placid conditions the ailing composer needed, and they cast a shadow as he stoically endured his final illness.
Haydn died on 31 May, widely acknowledged as one of classical music’s greatest masters. Two weeks later, a memorial service was held in Vienna, with the cream of Viennese society present. The burial itself, constricted by wartime conditions, had been a quieter affair, unadorned with pomp and circumstance. A simple ceremony was held in Gumpendorf, and Haydn was laid to rest…
