Contents
Preface
PROLOGUES
The Bridgetower
Prologue of the Rambling Sort
I
THE PRODIGY
(Re)Naissance
Capriccio
Friedrich Augustus Bridgetower Discovers the Purposes of Fatherhood
Lines Whispered to a Pillow
Recollection, Preempted
Paris, Panting
What Doesn’t Happen
Windsor
Mrs. Papendiek’s Diary (1)
The Marine Pavilion, Brighthelmston
The Wardrobe Lesson
Mrs. Papendiek’s Diary (2)
The Seaside Concerts
Disappearance
II
BREAD & BUTTER, TURBANS & CHINOISERIE
Hear Ye!
The Lesson: Adagio
Black Pearl
Ode to the Moon
Janissary Rap
Concert at Hanover Square
Pulling the Organ Stops
Black Billy Waters, at His Pitch
Haydn, Overheard
Mrs. Papendiek’s Diary (3)
The Dressing
The African Prince Sings Songs of Love
Abandoned, Again
Mrs. Papendiek’s Diary (4)
The Transaction
The Undressing
Ode on a Negress Head Clock, with Eight Tunes
Intermezzo
Tafelmusik (1)
Brothers in Spring
The Salomon Concerts
Haydn Leaves London
Seduction Against Exterior Pilaster, Waning Gibbous
Pretty Boy
New Century Aubade
III
STURM UND DRANG
The Petition
To the Continent
Old World Lullaby
Floating Requiem
Ach, Wien
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Return to Vienna
First Contact
Vienna Spring
Polgreen, Sight-Reading
Beethoven Summons His Copyist
Augarten, 7 AM
The Performer
VOLKSTHEATER: A SHORT PLAY FOR THE COMMON MAN
Georgie Porgie, or A Moor in Vienna
IV
“ALL IS ASHES”
Tail Tucked
Rain
Esterháza, Prodigal
Home Again
Eroica
Tafelmusik (2)
The Countess Shares Confidences over Karneval Chocolate
Andante con Variazioni
Haydn Serenades the Napoleonic Honor Guard
The Regency Fete
Cambridge, Great St. Mary’s Church
Panopticon
The Last Frost Fair
V
NOMADIA
Half-Life
Life in London, Now Playing at the Adelphi
Moor with Emeralds
Vanities
Haydn’s Head
Birthday Stroll on the Pall Mall
Staffordshire Figurine, 1825
Nomadia
Self-Eulogy
#8 Victory Cottages, Peckham, 1860
The Witness
EPILOGUES
The Queen’s Wardrobe Keeper
All That Jazz
The Composer’s Coda
Haydn’s Skull
The Name Game
Instrumental
The End, with MapQuest
Notes
A Chronology
Acknowledgments
Biographical Note