Haydn's love life was far from simple, as the woman of his heart, Theresa Keller, was destined by her family to become a nun, and he was persuaded to marry his sister Maria Anna instead.
Their relationship was not an easy one, in Haydn's words, “it makes no difference to my wife whether her husband is a cobbler or an artist.”
Fuelled by repressed emotions, he fled into his art, as his more flamboyant works bear witness to this. The Bear Symphony “growls” with exaggerated basses, the Hen “clucks,” humorously invoking Rameau's work under the same title.
Haydn: Symphony in G minor ('The Hen'), No. 83
Levente Gyöngyösi: Symphony No. 2
Haydn: Berenice's scene concert aria
Haydn: Symphony in C major ('The Bear'), No. 82
