134.—LIVES OF LABOR.
Verily, the old classic composers seemed to take literally the command "be not weary in well doing." Händel, whom Beethoven declared to be "the monarch of the musical kingdom," left nearly four hundred compositions, most of them of considerable length, including his forty-three operas, nineteen oratories, and one hundred and fifty cantatas.
Haydn wrote much more than Händel, his compositions being about eight hundred in number. But many of these were of no great length. The principal ones were one hundred and eighteen symphonies, eighty-three string quartets, twenty-four operas and fourteen masses. Haydn's life was more quiet and his disposition more tranquil than was Händel's. While the latter composer had to fight his way in the musical world, Haydn was enjoying the patronage and support of Prince Esterhazy, in whose musical establishment he reigned supreme.
Another writer who put forth an astonishing number of compositions was Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Amandeus Mozart. That Mozart died young was not owing to the weight of so long a name, probable as that might appear. Händel had seventy-one and Haydn seventy-seven years in which to turn out these long arrays of compositions, while Mozart was cut off with thirty-five short years. But in those years his labor was unceasing; and as a result his catalogue shows between six hundred and seven hundred works, large and small. In the larger forms were forty-nine symphonies, twenty-three operas, twenty-eight masses and litanies, thirty-one string quartets, and fifty-five concertos; to say nothing of thirty-three sonatas for piano, forty-five for violin, and ninety sonatas and pieces for the organ.
The catalogue of Beethoven's works shows as many or more compositions than that of Haydn. If we reckon all the smaller numbers as individuals, we find over eight hundred and twenty-five works, of which some two hundred and fifty were vocal; but many of these were combined in sets, and frequently several would appear in the same opus. Of this number but one was an opera and only nine were symphonies; yet those are the "great nine" symphonies of the world.