the keenest interest in every one of his new compositions and who at the same time was so thoughtful a hostess that she prepared his favorite dishes; musically gifted children whom he could guide. The Genzinger home offered him all that he had missed throughout his married life. He basked in this congenial atmosphere, only to feel all the more strongly the misery of his lonely existence when he returned to Eszterháza. Haydn's loneliness The backdrop to this description is that Haydn's own marriage had been unhappy almost from the very start, and had produced no children. Haydn was also conducting a long term love affair with the singer Luigia Polzelli, but this may have been fading, in light of the fact that two years later Haydn did not bring Luigia with him on his first visit to London. Haydn may also have been deprived of ordinary male friendship, given that his contract required him to act as a "house officer" and remain socially aloof from the musicians under his direction. That Haydn did indeed feel lonely during his final years at Eszterháza is suggested by a letter to Marianne, dated February 9, 1790: Well, here I sit in my wilderness; forsaken, like some poor orphan, almost without human society, melancholy, dwelling on the memory of past glorious days. Yes, past, alas! And who can tell when those happy hours may return--those charming meeting where the whole circle has but one heart and one soul--all those delightful musical evenings that can only be remembered and not described? Other letters suggest that Haydn, whose persona is often assumed to be uniformly and stereotypically jolly (see Papa Haydn) experienced depression at times. A letter of May 1790 reads: I beg Your Grace not to shy away from comforting me by your pleasant letters, for they cheer me up in my isolation, and are highly necessary for my heart, which is often very deeply hurt. The first London journey Haydn may be assumed to have visited the Genzingers more often after the death of Prince Nikolaus (28 September 1790), when he was dismissed by the new prince from his duties, was given a pension, and settled in Vienna. However, the stay in Vienna was only for a brief time; on 15 December 1790, Haydn left Vienna on the first of his two journeys to London, where he enjoyed great success both musically and