No, this isn’t a still from a black-and-white vampire movie. It’s a photograph documenting the belated reunion, in 1954, of skull and skeleton of Franz Joseph Haydn, following a separation of 145 years. The intermediary, with the mad scientist hairdo, is Austrian poet and sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi.
While Haydn was one of the most venerated composers of his age, at the time of his death Vienna was under occupation by Napoleon’s troops. So the plan was to get Haydn underground ASAP, with the idea of exhuming him at a later date and laying him to rest with the kind of funeral he deserved.
It would be ten years before someone reminded the composer’s former employer, Prince Esterházy, of his promise. A marble tomb was commissioned in Haydn’s honor. All the arrangements were in place. But when the time came for the coffin to be opened – on Halloween Day, 1820 – Haydn’s noggin was nowhere to be found.
The composer had spent much of his career isolated at the country estate of Esterházy, some 30 miles outside of Vienna, feeling cut off from the rest of the world. Now, in death, someone had cut off his head.
Marvel at the weird tale of Haydn’s stolen skull, and how the Father of the Symphony now rests – a veritable Franz Joseph Hydra – with more than one head.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haydn%27s_head
While I’m sure few surprises could match that of opening Haydn’s coffin to discover an empty wig, this one gave nodding concertgoers a start in 1792. Times were more refined.
Of course, the music has been the subject of much parody. Here’s Donald Swann’s arrangement of Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony for the Hoffnung Music Festival:
Happy birthday, Haydn. Rest in pieces.
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