JOSEPH HAYDN

I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son (W A Mozart)is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition.

Never was I so devout as when I composed The Creation. I knelt down each day to pray to God to give me strength for my work....When I was working on The Creation I felt so impregnated with Divine certainty, that before sitting down to the piano, I would quietly and confidently pray to God to grant me the talent that was needed to praise Him worthily.

Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.

When I think of my God, my heart dances within me for joy, and then my music has to dance, too.

I listened more than I studied... therefore little by little my knowledge and ability were developed.

There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.

Rules are my very humble, obedient servants.

I would give my best quartet for a good razor.

When I think upon my God, my heart is full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen.

The custom of saluting [i.e., embracing] ladies by their relatives and friends was introduced, it is said, by the early Romans, not out of respect originally, but to find by their breath whether they had been drinking wine, this being criminal for women to do, as it sometimes led to adultery.

I was never a quick writer, but composed with great care and efforts.

I listened more than I studied... therefore little by little my knowledge and ability were developed.

There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.

I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original.

If you want to know whether you have written anything worth preserving, sing it to yourself without any accompaniment.

I was for some time quite beside myself and could not believe that Providence could have required the presence of this indispensable man in the other world so soon.

Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully.

I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son (W A Mozart)is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition.

Never was I so devout as when I composed The Creation. I knelt down each day to pray to God to give me strength for my work....When I was working on The Creation I felt so impregnated with Divine certainty, that before sitting down to the piano, I would quietly and confidently pray to God to grant me the talent that was needed to praise Him worthily.

The custom of saluting [i.e., embracing] ladies by their relatives and friends was introduced, it is said, by the early Romans, not out of respect originally, but to find by their breath whether they had been drinking wine, this being criminal for women to do, as it sometimes led to adultery.

Rules are my very humble, obedient servants.

It is the melody which is the charm of music, and it is that which is most difficult to produce. The invention of a fine melody is a work of genius.

Children be comforted, I am well.

I would give my best quartet for a good razor.

Whenever I think of God I can only conceive of Him as a Being infinitely great and infinitely good. This last quality of the divine nature inspires me with such confidence and joy that I could have written even a miserere in tempo allegro.

When I think upon my God, my heart is full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen.

When I think of my God, my heart dances within me for joy, and then my music has to dance, too.

Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.