ABSTRACT
A portrait of Joseph Haydn by Ludwig Guttenbrunn 1 shows the composer deep in thought, working at the keyboard (Plate 1). His eyes are focused in the distance, a quill poised for writing in his right hand, his left hand resting on the keyboard. Before him on the music stand is an open manuscript ruled with staves and containing some musical notation. On the instrument rests an ink well atop additional manuscript paper. The pose is by no means common in the contemporary portraits of the composer. 2 In his surviving letters and personal papers, Haydn never mentions using the keyboard to create his musical works. Haydn’s pose in the portrait could of course be an iconic representation, meant to inform the viewer of the subject’s profession, and not to portray a scene from Haydn’s life. However, abundant contemporary evidence of Haydn’s composing at the keyboard comes from his biographers, Georg August Griesinger and Albert Christoph Dies. 3
