Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Joseph Martin Kraus, Les Agremens :: Haydn à Paris

The program for the Concert Spirituel given on April 13, 1784 lists "a symphony in which the players leave, by Haydn." An article published in the Mercure de France several days later provides definite confirmation that it was the symphony we know as the Farewell Symphony. We cannot know how this score made its way to Paris, but Haydn and his music were extremely popular there. The rival concert organization to the Concert Spirituel, the Concert de la loge Olympique, commissioned the six `Paris' symphonies the following year. Such a success was a clear incitement to less than scrupulous editors to publish works by other composers and to put Haydn's name on them. Joseph Martin Kraus was one of the victims of this sharp business practice.