flat, C minor, and D. All these save the first
are dated 1791.

The press, such as it was--one wonders who wrote the critiques of those
days--was as enthusiastic as the audiences, so every one was pleased.
One of his principal admirers was the "pretty widow." The incident was
charmingly related by the late Mrs. Craigie in "The Artist's Life"
(Werner Laurie). The lady was a Mrs. Schroeter, a wealthy widow, who
lived in James Street, Buckingham Gate. Haydn gave her lessons, and
appears to have visited her every day; the pair corresponded, and on his
second trip to England he took lodgings in Bury Street, apparently to be
near her. She was turned sixty, but Haydn described her in after-years
as strikingly handsome. Whether she was or not, she evidently conquered
his hot Hungarian heart, for he said that had he been free he certainly
would have married her. What happened before his final return to Vienna
is not known; afterwards there seem to have been no more letters, and
only a chance remark shows that he preserved a tender memory of her.
Thank goodness, they could not marry, so the romance is unspotted.

But Haydn had plenty of matters beside love-making to attend to. One
Gallini got a licence to give entertainments in the King's theatre, and
Haydn was engaged to compose, and did compose, for them. He had also
been paid for an opera, _Orfeo_, and tried to finish it at Lisson Grove,
but nothing ever came of it as the enterprise collapsed. His first
benefit concert brought him L350; at the second, given on May 30, in the
Hanover Square Rooms, he gave the _Seven Words_ in its original form as
a "Passione Instrumentale." Then he turned to a little holiday-making.
He had multitudes of friends--almost chief amongst them being Cramer the
younger--and multitudes of invitations. In July he went to Oxford, and
was given an honorary degree; he directed three orchestral concerts
there--imagine it!--from the organ. One of the symphonies played there
became known as _The Oxford_, though it had been written long before.
Prince Anton had invited him to return, but as Haydn had entered into a
second contract with Salomon he contrived somehow to prolong his stay in
England. The Prince of Wales had just got married, and invited Haydn to
stay with him a few days--presumably to cheer him during the honeymoon.
So they made music together; Haydn even obliged his hostess by singing
with a voice which is said to have been like a crow's. Hoppner