In his twenties, Joseph Haydn fell in love with a girl named Therese, whose parents, however, intended her for a convent. Some speculate that this forbidden love inspired the young composer’s E-flat major gem, Salve Regina, which, according to the stories, was composed for the girl’s vow ceremony. Therese took the name Josepha as a nun, while Haydn eventually married her sister, with whom he had a famously unhappy marriage.
Charles Kennedy Burt: The Beautiful Nun (Maria Clementina), engraving (circa 1850)
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