took place
in 1796]. I caused that meritorious poet Haschka to write the words,
and applied to our immortal countryman Haydn to set them to music, for I
considered him alone capable of writing anything approaching in merit
to the English "God save the King." Such was the origin of our national
hymn.

It would not have been difficult to match "God save the King," the
mediocrity of which, especially as regards the words, has been the butt
of countless satirists. Beethoven wrote in his diary that he "must show
the English what a blessing they have" in that "national disgrace." If
Haydn regarded it as a "blessing," he certainly did not take it as a
model. He produced an air which, looking at it from a purely artistic
point of view, is the best thing of the national anthem kind that has
ever been written. The Emperor was enchanted with it when sung on his
birthday, February 12, 1797, at the National Theatre in Vienna, and
through Count Saurau sent the composer a gold box adorned with a
facsimile of the royal features. "Such a surprise and such a mark of
favour, especially as regards the portrait of my beloved monarch," wrote
Haydn, "I never before received in acknowledgment of my poor talents."

Haydn's Love for It

We have several indications of Haydn's predilection for this fine air,
which has long been popular as a hymn tune in all the churches. He
wrote a set of variations for it as the Andante of his "Kaiser Quartet."
Griesinger tells us, too, that as often as the warm weather and his
strength permitted, during the last few years of his life, he used to be
led into his back room that he might play it on the piano. It is further
related by Dies that, during the bombardment of Vienna in May 1809,
Haydn seated himself at his instrument every forenoon to give forth the
sound of the favourite song. Indeed, on May 26, only five days before
his death, he played it over three times in succession, and "with a
degree of expression that astonished himself." As one writer puts it,
the air "seemed to have acquired a certain sacredness in his eyes in an
age when kings were beheaded and their crowns tossed to the rabble."

Haydn's first sketch of the melody was found among his papers after his
death. We reproduce it here, with an improvement shown in small notes.
There are, it will be observed, some slight differences between the
draft and the published version of the air:

[figure: a musical score excerpt from the draft]

[fi