When Haydn met the Herschels

Jonathan Powell on how the astronomer siblings inspired the famous composer

- Jonathan Powell

It is 1792 and, with the French Revolution deep in its third year, court martial proceedings begin in Plymouth for the instigators of the infamous mutiny on the Bounty. King George III is on the British throne, William Pitt the Younger commands the House of Commons, and the great composer Franz Joseph Haydn has crowds flocking to hear his latest symphony in London. The year also marks the birth of John Herschel, son to astronomer and composer William Herschel, and nephew to astronomer Caroline Herschel.