Esterhazys had been devotedly attached to music,
and the reigning Prince had spared neither pains nor expense to equip
his establishment with the means of performing not only the fullest
Church services, but complete operas as well. The sight of the huge
building, with its spacious halls and apartments and its troops of
servants; the enchanting grounds, decked with parterres of choicest
flowers; and the lakes and fountains scintillating in the sunshine,
must have presented to the young musician, fresh from his lodging in
the crowded city, a vision of endless beauty. The very air of the
place breathed a music of its own, as, laden with the perfumes of
countless blossoms, it was wafted into the apartments set aside for
his use. Hard work lay before him; but what work could be too hard
when performed amidst such exquisite surroundings as these, and for a
master whose unstinting generosity and fatherly care for those about
him were so widely known? From the outset Haydn realised that here he
would enjoy the freest scope for the exercise of his gifts, with the
additional advantage, for which the greatest masters might well have
envied him, of being able to give practical effect to whatever he
wrote before committing it to the judgment of the world outside.

No wonder, then, that under such favouring conditions as these
compositions poured from his pen; nor was it long ere the musicians
whom he commanded had learnt to regard him with affection, and to vie
with each other in their eagerness to fulfil his wishes.

In about a year from the date of Haydn's engagement Prince Paul Anton
died, and the event marked a further advancement in the composer's
fortunes. Prince Nicolaus, who succeeded his brother, was a passionate
lover of the arts and sciences, in addition to being one of the most
generous and warm-hearted of men. His succession implied an added
magnificence and pomp to what seemed already perfect. To Haydn he gave
an assurance of his good-will and appreciation by raising his salary
from four hundred to six hundred florins, and, later, to seven hundred
and eighty-two florins (or L78), allowed him to select additional
musicians, and at the same time gave him to understand that he should
look for an increase in the number of performances. The Prince himself
played the baryton, or viola di bardone--a stringed instrument of
sweet, resonant tone, which, like the viol da gamba, to which it bore
some resemblance, has long since