Many composers have cause to envy Haydn. During his nearly 30-year tenure as court composer for the Esterházy family, Haydn enjoyed complete job security (something his colleague Wolfgang Amadé Mozart chronically lacked), access to a better-than-average orchestra, and freedom to compose what he liked.

As Haydn himself observed, “My Prince was always satisfied with my work. Not only did I have the encouragement of constant approval, but as conductor of the orchestra I could experiment, find out what made a good effect and what weakened it, so I was free to alter, improve, add, or omit, and be as bold as I pleased. Cut off from the world, I had no one to bother me and was forced to become original.”