of the 'Creation,'
Haydn was busily composing a second oratorio founded upon Thomson's
famous poem, 'The Seasons.' The desire for work was as strong as ever,
but his health was declining, and the strain involved by so great an
undertaking proved too much for his strength. '"The Seasons" gave me
my finishing stroke,' was Haydn's often-repeated remark to his friends
after the oratorio had left his hands. But no trace of diminished
power is visible in the work itself, and the success which attended
its production was such as to place it on a level with the 'Creation.'

With these two great works the flow of composition from the master's
pen fittingly closed. Upon the subject of his life-work as a whole we
may not dwell in this brief story. The history of music has accorded
to Haydn the high position which his works entitled him to occupy, and
the feeling of gratitude for those great gifts having been vouchsafed
to us is one that has grown deeper and deeper with the passing years.
Musicians and music-lovers all the world over give expression to this
gratitude by pointing to what he has accomplished for the symphony,
the quartet, and the sonata--to mention the three branches of
composition to which his genius was specially directed. Acknowledged
on every hand as the father of instrumental music, Haydn compels our
admiration by 'his inexhaustible invention as shown in the originality
of his themes and melodies; the life and spontaneity of the ideas; the
clearness which makes his compositions as interesting to the amateur
as to the artist; the child-like cheerfulness and drollery which charm
away trouble and care.' His insistence on the importance of melody was
a marked characteristic. 'It is the air which is the charm of music,'
he once remarked to the composer Kelly, 'and it is that which is most
difficult to produce. The invention of a fine melody is a work of
genius.'

The honourable peace which should have been the companion of his old
age was marred by much physical suffering, through which, however, at
intervals his genial nature forced its way like sunshine through
clouds. Nor were his declining years without the solace of numerous
friends--indeed, by none to whom his great gifts and kindly
personality had brought pleasure and instruction was the old composer
forgotten, and nothing gave him keener delight than to gather his
friends about him to talk over the chief events of his life, and to
exhibit his collection of