Growing up as a prodigy always sounded glamorous to others. In practice, it was less enchanting. People either regarded me as a trained parrot or overwhelmed me with praise thicker than strudel filling. My childhood was spent performing for emperors and cardinals, surrounded by admiration from musicians who respected my talent but rarely challenged it.
As I grew older, I began to understand that genuine peers and mentors were harder to find than applause. There were very few people who could keep pace with my musical thoughts, and fewer still who wished to try. That changed when I met Joseph Haydn[i].
Haydn was older (twenty-four years older to be exact), wiser (a-billiard-table-he-could-afford-wiser), and mischievous in a manner that remained entirely gentlemanly. He was already celebrated across Europe and served under the patronage of Prince Esterházy in nearby Hungary. From the beginning, he treated me neither as a marvel nor as a walking metronome, but as a colleague. He listened. Even better, he responded.
Haydn was living proof that I was not the only person who heard entire symphonies while performing ordinary tasks. He could meet me idea for idea, joke for joke, and fugue for fugue. With him, conversations moved as freely as music.
Inspired by this friendship, and filled with admiration, I composed six string quartets which I dedicated to him. They were the most intricate and heartfelt pieces I had written to that point – each a conversation shaped by respect, ambition, and trust. They were not written to impress, but to engage.
One evening, somewhere between mulled wine and candles burning lower than advisable, our friendship reached a moment I would never forget. Haydn turned to Father and said, “Before God, and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me, either in person or by name.”
Father said little in reply. But I could have sworn I saw a tear in his eye. In that quiet moment, I knew what he did not need to say. He was proud of me.
[i] Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led him to be called “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String quartet”.