Herbert Francis Peyser - Joseph Haydn; Servant And Master

Haydn, barring a few hardships in his youth, lived an extraordinarily fortunate life and had abundant reason for the optimism which marked every step of his progress… Haydn was a master by the grace of Heaven and a servant only by the artificial conventions of a temporary social order… About the vast number of symphonies, the magnificent string quartets, the clavier works, the songs there can here be no question. — Summary by Author's Foreword