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What happened to Joseph Haydn during Napoleonâs siege of Vienna in 1809?
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Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn, detail of a portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1791; in the collection of the Royal College of Music, London.
During the 1809 siege of Vienna by Napoleonâs forces, the elderly and enfeebled Joseph Haydn remained in his home and refused to seek refuge in the inner city.
In a gesture of respect, Napoleon placed a guard of honour outside the composer's residence. Haydn was reportedly deeply touched when a French hussarsâ officer visited him and sang an aria from his famous oratorio, The Creation. Haydn passed away peacefully on May 31, 1809, shortly after the French forces had entered the city.1