left him Haydn.  That he learned much from Handel cannot be doubted, and it must have been Handel’s music that suggested to him the idea of composing The Creation and so much church music; but Haydn the artist remained unchanged, like Haydn the man; he learnt and he profited, but he went on doing things in his own way.  Handel was one of the three most potent influences who made him.  The first was Emanuel Bach, who fertilized his mind, sowed ideas; the second was Mozart, who shaped, coloured and directed his thoughts; the last, Handel, turned his attention to oratorio, sacred music and choral writing.  Handel modified Haydn less than the others; Haydn was then getting on towards old age; he was also by force of sheer instinct above all things a writer for the orchestra; and Handel’s art, derived in the first place from Purcell’s, had become a purely personal one which no one since has copied with the slightest success.  Still it must have been good for Haydn to hear such a rolling river of tone as the “Amen” of The Messiah, the springtide joyfulness and jubilation of “And the glory of the Lord,” the white heat of “And He shall purify,” and “For unto us a Child is born,” with its recurring climaxes of ever-increasing intensity.  He frankly imitated none of these things, but they must, consciously or unconsciously, have heightened the nobility of the great choral fugues that relieve the triviality of so much of his church music.

After what we should call the concert season was over, Haydn again went off on a round of visits.  Amongst others, there was one to Bath with Dr. Burney.  When music in London came to life again, both Haydn and Salomon were much in evidence, but the Salomon concerts were now given under a more grandiloquent title, following the fashion of the time.  They became the National School of Music, and were given in the King’s concert-room which had recently been added to the King’s theatre.  Haydn was, as before, composer and conductor, and one or two of his symphonies figured in every programme.  His last benefit brought him L400.  It took place on May 4, and on June 1 he appeared before an English audience for the last time.  Prince Nicolaus had sent urgently for him, as he desired to have his household and chapel music set in order.  Haydn, of course, had never left the Esterhazy service.  He continued to draw the emoluments of office, and thought it his duty to obey his Prince’s wishes.  He never again drudged as he had done in the old days, but he was always within call of his master.  But those were leisurely days, and it took Haydn two and a half months to wind up his various affairs and say good-bye to his friends.  On August 15 he set off.  He must have carried away pleasant recollections.  He had come to England with Salomon the first time, at the end of 1790, to have a fling, and by the time the second trip was over he must have felt that he had had one.  It was assuredly a fling such as few composers have had after a long, industrious and