Symphony X - Smoke And Mirrors

Both of them, and Beethoven to an even greater extent than Mozart, were the first composers who went their own way, not being in the service of noble gentlemen and wanting to remain free artists, to be responsible only to themselves and their listeners. Beethoven’s self-esteem was exacerbated by his frank statement to Prince Lichnovsky, his noble patron, who sometimes allowed himself to be arrogant: “Prince! What you are, you owe to chance and origin; I have achieved everything myself. There were and will be thousands of princes, and Beethoven alone. ” Joseph Haydn, the eldest of the three Viennese classics, was also self-respecting, and he, one of the most famous composers of his time, paved the way for the development of symphony genres,a string quartet and sonatas, had every reason for this. Nevertheless, he just obeyed the traditions of his time, because up to the fifty-eighth year of his life, Haydn served as bandmaster with Prince Esterhazy, held a high position in the court hierarchy, and was not a free artist.