Editing Joseph Haydn (section)

===Retirement, illness, and death===
By the end of 1803, Haydn's condition had declined to the point that he became physically unable to compose. He suffered from weakness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and painfully swollen legs. Since diagnosis was uncertain in Haydn's time, it is unlikely that the precise illness can ever be identified, though Jones suggests [[arteriosclerosis]].<ref>For symptoms see {{harvnb|Jones|2009a|p=146}}; for the arteriosclerosis hypothesis see {{harvnb|Jones|2009b|p=216}}.</ref> The illness was especially hard for Haydn because the flow of fresh musical ideas continued unabated, although he could no longer work them out as compositions.{{efn|Of Haydn's plight, {{harvtxt|Rosen|1997}} wrote, "The last years of Haydn's life, with all his success, comfort, and celebrity, are among the saddest in music. More moving than the false pathos of a [[Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart#Funeral|pauper's grave for Mozart]] ... is the figure of Haydn filled with musical ideas which were struggling to escape, as he himself said; he was too old and weak to go to the piano and submit to the discipline of working them out."}} His biographer Dies reported Haydn saying in 1806:

{{Blockquote|I must have something to do—usually musical ideas are pursuing me, to the point of torture, I cannot escape them, they stand like walls before me. If it's an [[allegro (music)|allegro]] that pursues me, my pulse keeps beating faster, I can get no sleep. If it's an [[Adagio (music)|adagio]], then I notice my pulse beating slowly. My imagination plays on me as if I were a clavier."{{efn|"Clavier" in the original German is ambiguous; literally "keyboard", it is used by extension to denote a keyboard instrument such as the piano or harpsichord. {{harvnb|Dies|1810|p=141}}.}} Haydn smiled, the blood rushed to his face, and he said "I am really just a living clavier."}}

[[File:HaydnsHouseInVienna.PNG|thumb|left|The house in Vienna (now [[Vienna Museum#Haydn House|a museum]]) where Haydn spent the last years of his life]]
The winding down of Haydn's career was gradual. The Esterházy family kept him on as Kapellmeister to the very end (much as they had with his predecessor Werner long before), but they appointed new staff to lead their musical establishment: Johann Michael Fuchs in 1802 as Vice-Kapellmeister<ref name=Jones2009a_209>{{harvnb|Jones|2009a|p=209}}.</ref> and [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel]] as Konzertmeister in 1804.{{sfn|Jones|2009a|pp=214–215}} Haydn's last summer in Eisenstadt was in 1803,{{r|Jones2009a_209}} and his last appearance before the public as a conductor was a charity performance of ''[[The Seven Last Words]]'' on 26 December 1803. As debility set in, he made largely futile efforts at composition, attempting to revise a rediscovered ''[[Missa brevis (Haydn)|Missa brevis]]'' from his teenage years and complete his [[List of string quartets by Joseph Haydn#Opus 103|final string quartet]]. The former project was abandoned for good in 1805, and the quartet was published with just two movements.{{sfn|Jones|2009a|p=213}}

Haydn was well cared for by his servants, and he received many visitors and public honours during his last years, but they could not have been very happy years for him.<ref>{{harvnb|Geiringer|1982|p=198}} gives the testimony of Haydn's early biographer [[Giuseppe Carpani]].</ref> During his illness, Haydn often found solace by sitting at the piano and playing his "[[Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser|Emperor's Hymn]]". A final triumph occurred on 27 March 1808 when a performance of ''The Creation'' was organized in his honour. The very frail composer was brought into the hall on an armchair to the sound of trumpets and drums and was greeted by Beethoven, [[Antonio Salieri|Salieri]] (who led the performance) and by other musicians and members of the aristocracy.<!--Speculation?:, many of whom probably sensed that they were saying goodbye to the elderly composer--> Haydn was both moved and exhausted by the experience and had to depart at intermission.{{sfn|Geiringer|1982|pp=186–187}}

[[File:Bergkirchemitkalvarienberg.jpg|thumb|The [[Bergkirche (Eisenstadt)|Bergkirche]] in Eisenstadt, site of Haydn's tomb]]
Haydn lived on for 14 more months. His final days were hardly serene, as in May 1809 the French army under [[Napoleon]] launched an attack on Vienna and on 10 May bombarded his neighbourhood. According to Griesinger, "Four [[case shot]]s fell, rattling the windows and doors of his house. He called out in a loud voice to his alarmed and frightened people, 'Don't be afraid, children, where Haydn is, no harm can reach you!'. But the spirit was stronger than the flesh, for he had hardly uttered the brave words when his whole body began to tremble."<ref name=Griesinger1810_50>{{harvnb|Griesinger|1963|p=50}}.</ref> More bombardments followed until the city fell to the French on 13 May.<ref name=Jones2009b_142>{{harvnb|Jones|2009b|p=142}}</ref> Haydn, was, however, deeply moved and appreciative when on 17 May a French cavalry officer named Sulémy came to pay his respects and sang, skillfully, an aria from ''The Creation''.{{efn|1="Mit Würd' und Hoheit angetan", the aria narrating the creation of humankind; {{harvtxt|Griesinger|1810|p=51}}. According to the less-reliable Dies, the date was 25 May, the officer's name was Sulimi, and he sang an aria from ''The Seasons'' ({{harvnb|Dies|1810|loc=in the English translation from {{harvnb|Gotwals|1963|p=193}}}}).}}

On 26 May Haydn played his "Emperor's Hymn" with unusual gusto three times; the same evening he collapsed and was taken to what proved to be his deathbed.{{r|Griesinger1810_50}} He died peacefully in his own home at 12:40&nbsp;a.m. on 31 May 1809, aged 77.{{r|Jones2009b_142}} On 15 June, a memorial service was held in the [[Schottenkirche, Vienna|Schottenkirche]] at which Mozart's [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] was performed. Haydn's remains were interred in the local [[Haydnpark|Hundsturm cemetery]] until 1820 when they were moved to Eisenstadt by Prince Nikolaus. His head took a different journey; [[Haydn's head|it was stolen]] by [[phrenology|phrenologists]] shortly after burial, and the skull was reunited with the other remains only in 1954, now interred in a tomb in the north tower of the [[Bergkirche (Eisenstadt)|Bergkirche]].