ceased to be heard. As the Prince
prided himself on his playing, Haydn was required to produce endless
pieces for the instrument, and he was even at considerable pains to
acquire a knowledge of the baryton itself, thinking thereby to afford
his master pleasure. To his chagrin, however, he discovered that his
efforts in this direction were not at all appreciated by the royal
performer, who had no fancy to see himself outskilled.

In 1766 Werner died, and Haydn succeeded to the full title. He had
thus reached the summit of his boyish ambition, and could look back
with pride to those early days when he studied the 'Complete
Chapel-master' in his lonely garret, and longed for the day to come
when his father's dream might be realised. And what of the parents
whom he had left behind in the little village? How had they fared
during these long years of struggle and success? The mother died seven
years before Haydn received his appointment to the Esterhazy family,
and while he was still striving to make his way; and the pleasure
which success had brought to him must have been tinged with the regret
that she had not lived to witness it. Mathias had married again, but
he managed to find his way to Eisenstadt, where, to his pride and joy,
he heard Joseph addressed as 'Herr Capellmeister!' Thither, also, came
Michael, who had been appointed director and concertmeister to
Archbishop Sigismund of Salzburg, to spend several happy days with his
elder brother.

Haydn's fame as a composer had spread far beyond the walls of
Eisenstadt. Musicians of Leipzig, Paris, Amsterdam, and even London,
were playing his symphonies, trios, and quartets, whilst the _Wiener
Diarium_--the Austrian official gazette--for 1766 refers to him as
'the favourite of our nation,' and pays him the high compliment of
comparing him with Gellert, the most esteemed poet of the day. 'What
Gellert is to poetry Haydn is to music,' writes the critic.

Werner's death was shortly followed by an event which implied a still
greater change in Haydn's surroundings. Prince Nicolaus had been
engaged in carrying out a scheme for the rebuilding of his
shooting-box near Suettoer on a scale of magnificence rivalling that of
Versailles in its palmiest days, and, the works being completed, the
Prince moved thither with the major portion of his household. No more
lonely spot or one more unhealthy in its natural state, could have
been chosen than that which formed the site of the new