Nikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent". He is remembered as the principal employer of the composer Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

.

Life

Nikolaus Esterházy was the son of Prince Joseph (József Simon Antal) (1688–1721), and the younger brother of Prince Paul Anton (Pál Antal)

Paul II Anton Esterházy

Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galantha was a prince of the Esterházy family. He had a distinguished career as a soldier and patron of music.-Life:...

 (1711–1762). He took the title of Prince on his brother's death.

His name is given in various languages: German (the lingua franca of the Habsburg Empire) "Nikolaus Josef", Hungarian (probably his native language) "Miklós Jozsef," and (in English contexts) the English form of his name, "Nicholas".

In early life he was educated by Jesuits

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

. He became a military officer, serving the Austrian Empire. Of his military career, Robbins Landon notes that he achieved, "considerable distinction, particularly as Colonel at the Battle of Kolin

Battle of Kolin

-Results:The battle was Frederick's first defeat in this war. This disaster forced him to abandon his intended march on Vienna, raise his siege of Prague, and fall back on Litoměřice...

 (1757) in the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 where, with great personal courage, he led the wavering cavalry troops to victory. He was later made a Lieutenant Field-Marshal."

Robbins Landon narrates Nikolaus's marriage thus: "On 4 March 1737, he married Freiin Marie Elisabeth, daughter of Reichsgraf (Count of the Holy Roman Empire) Ferdinand von Weissenwolf".

During the period before his brother Paul Anton's death, Nikolaus held the title of Count. He generally lived apart from his brother, favoring a hunting lodge near the Neusiedlersee in Hungary. The brothers got along well, however, at least as can be determined from their correspondence.

Upon his brother's death in 1762, (Paul Anton having had no children) Nikolaus inherited the title of Prince.

In 1766, Nikolaus began the construction of a magnificent new palace constructed at Eszterháza

Eszterháza

Esterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice.-History:...

 (now Fertőd

Fertod

Fertőd is a town located in the Győr-Moson-Sopron county of Hungary, not far from Austria. Fertőd was formed when the towns of Eszterháza and Süttör were unified, in 1950....

), in rural Hungary on the site of his old hunting lodge. This is the most admired of the various Esterházy homes, is often called the "Hungarian Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

," and is a tourist attraction today. The Prince at first spent only summers there, but gradually came to spend ten months of the year—much to the distress of his musicians; see the tale of the "Farewell" Symphony

Symphony No. 45 (Haydn)

Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony , was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1772....

. Nikolaus evidently did not enjoy Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 (where most of the Empire's landed aristocrats spent much of their time, and the time he spent away from Eszterháza was mostly at the old family seat in Eisenstadt

Schloss Esterházy

----The Schloss Esterházy is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622...

.

Nikolaus had a very high income; according some sources, he was richer than the Austrian Emperor. However, his expenses were also high, and on his death his son and successor Anton (Antal) (1738–1794) was forced to retrench financially.

Personal characteristics

Nikolaus carried over habits he had acquired in the military to the administration of his household and lands. His chief administrator, Peter Ludwig von Rahier, was likewise a military man, and the highest ranking servants (including Joseph Haydn) were designated as "house officers" and ate at a special table provided for them.

The Prince insisted on honesty and exact adherence to procedure in his officials. At one point his issued "a detailed printed document to his subordinates, containing all manner of ... instructions and advice ('locks on granaries

Granary

A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...

 must be subject to checks'; 'officials must be polite'; 'intoxication is the greatest vice'; 'the bee-hives are to be counted'; 'officials must lead God-fearing lives').". In fact, his management style was successful, insofar as "by the time of his death in 1790, he had great increased the wealth of the family estates."

Nikolaus was extravagant in his clothing budget, and wore a famous jacket studded with diamonds. He was also "intensely musical" (Robbins Landon and Jones, 35), and he played the cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

, the viola da gamba, and (his favourite instrument), the difficult and now-obscure baryton

Baryton

The baryton is a bowed string instrument in the viol family, in regular use in Europe up until the end of the 18th century. In London a performance at Marylebone Gardens was announced in 1744, when Mr Ferrand was to perform on "the Pariton, an instrument never played on in publick before." It most...

.
Goethe, who beheld Nikolaus in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 on a diplomatic mission in 1764, described him as 'not tall, though well-formed, lively, and at the same time eminently decorous, without pride or coldness.'

Benevolence

Nikolaus did not spend all of his income on himself; Karl Geiringer

Karl Geiringer

Karl Geiringer was a musicologist, educator, and biographer of composers. He was educated in Vienna but at the beginning of the Nazi years he emigrated to England and ultimately the United States, where he had a lengthy and distinguished career at several universities. He was a noted authority...

, in his biography of Haydn, documents a program of social welfare maintained by the Prince for his employees: “Prince Nicolaus often showed himself to be generous and kindhearted and by and large displayed a degree of social-mindedness uncommon at that time. He paid pensions to aged employees, and bestowed small sums on their widows. He supported a modest hospital in Eisenstadt and another in Eszterháza, which were available to the court employees. The medicines dispensed by the monastery of the Brothers of the Order of Mercy were, in most cases, paid for by the Prince. Any employee was entitled to consult one of the three physicians attached to the court, and, if the doctor so advised, an ailing servant was sent at the sovereign's expense to a spa to receive treatment.”

Nikolaus and Joseph Haydn

Nikolaus did not hire Haydn, but rather "inherited" him from his brother, who had hired him as Vice Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...

 in 1761. He was responsible for the promotion of Haydn to full Kapellmeister on the death of the old Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner

Gregor Werner

-Career:Werner was born in Ybbs an der Donau. He served from 1715 to either 1716 or 1721 as the organist at Melk Abbey. During the 1720s he was in Vienna, where he may have studied with Johann Fux and was married on 27 January 1727....

, in 1766.

It is evident that, following a brief initial rough period (Haydn was reprimanded for negligence in 1765), the prince ultimately came to treasure Haydn. For instance, he frequently presented Haydn with gold ducats in praise of individual compositions, twice rebuilt Haydn's house when it burnt down (1768, 1776), and reversed a decision (1780) to dismiss the mediocre soprano Luigia Polzelli

Luigia Polzelli

Luigia Polzelli was an Italian mezzo-soprano, who sang at the Esterházy court in Hungary during the late 18th century. She was for a number of years the lover of the composer Joseph Haydn.-Early years:...

 from the payroll when it became evident that Polzelli had become Haydn's mistress. Haydn was also allowed (1766) to retain another mediocre singer on the payroll, his younger brother Johann

Johann Evangelist Haydn

Johann Evangelist Haydn was a tenor singer of the classical era; the younger brother of the composers Joseph Haydn and Michael Haydn. He was often called "Hansl", a diminutive form of "Johann"....

.

The official reprimand of 1765 included wording insisting that Haydn compose more works for the Prince's favorite instrument, the baryton

Baryton

The baryton is a bowed string instrument in the viol family, in regular use in Europe up until the end of the 18th century. In London a performance at Marylebone Gardens was announced in 1744, when Mr Ferrand was to perform on "the Pariton, an instrument never played on in publick before." It most...

. Haydn responded immediately, and in the period starting at this time and continuing into the mid 1770's wrote 126 baryton trios, as well as other works for the instrument. The baryton being quite obscure today, this music is not often played at present.

In his later life Nikolaus played much less and became something of a couch potato, listening to ceaseless performances of opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s produced by Haydn and his troupe both for the main theatre and for the marionette theatre at Esterhaza. Haydn wrote several of these operas himself (see List of operas by Joseph Haydn). These are likewise among his least remembered works.

There is no sign that Nikolaus had any real interest in Haydn's string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

s, now considered among his greatest works.

However, this is one area of Haydn's œuvre where Nikolaus can be uncontroversially considered a great patron of musical arts, as he was the primary sponsor of Haydn's series of symphonies

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

. Of the 106 symphonies, those following the series written for Count Morzin

Count Morzin

Count Morzin was an aristocrat of the Austrian Empire during the 18th century. He is remembered today as the first person to employ the composer Joseph Haydn as his Kapellmeister, or music director...

 (Haydn's first employer) and for Paul Anton, and before the Paris symphonies

Paris symphonies

The Paris Symphonies are a group of six symphonies written by Joseph Haydn and performed at the Concert Spirituel, the Concert de la Loge Olympique and the Concert de Amateurs in Paris.-The Symphonies:...

of the late 1780s, were written specifically at Nikolaus's instigation. They were premiered by a small orchestra that Nikolaus provided to Haydn, giving the composer ample rehearsal time, salary levels to attract top personnel, and full artistic control. Few composers can ever have claimed to have possessed such an incubator for their creations, and the symphonies that Haydn wrote for this ensemble can fairly be regarded as Nikolaus's gift to posterity.

The orchestra maintained by the Prince was much smaller than modern symphony orchestras; in the 1760s it numbered only about 13-15. Later, particularly with the introduction of opera performances, the orchestra was expanded, reaching a peak of about 22-24.

A letter of Haydn's tells us that Nikolaus was disconsolate at the death (25 February 1790) of his wife, Princess Maria Elisabeth. The composer struggled to keep his employer's spirits up with music during the few months that he survived her. Haydn was touchingly loyal to his prince, but probably felt a certain sense of relief when Nikolaus finally died, on 28 September 1790.