Haydn’s Advice: Write a New Piece

Haydn was the musical celebrity of Vienna, and young composers were always asking him for help. A pianist named Kozeluch wrote an E-flat concerto and wanted to dedicate it to Haydn. He sent the score and asked what the dedication should say.

Haydn replied politely but honestly. He could not accept the dedication, he said, because the concerto was too close to one of his own compositions. If Kozeluch wished, Haydn would give him permission to dedicate it—on one condition: the young man must rewrite it in a new form.

Kozeluch wasn’t thrilled, but he went away, reworked the concerto and sent the new version. Haydn approved. The author notes that in those days people could quote and reuse ideas freely—until they collided with a master’s memory.