Francis Berger
  • Blog
  • My Work

Hot Dog Haydn

3/17/2019

6 Comments

 
Esterháza Palace, a sprawling Rococo edifice loosely modeled upon the Palace of Versailles, was built by Miklós Esterházy in the 1760s. The palace is located in the town of Fertőd, which is a mere four kilometers from my village of Fertőendréd. My family and I discovered Esterháza Palace three years ago after we moved to Fertőendréd from Sopron. Since then, we make a point of visiting the palace at least once a month to marvel at the ornate architecture and enjoy the tranquility of the sprawling French garden. My son was a little more than four years old the first time we visited, and he loved the vast landscaped garden, which he was free to explore as he saw fit.
PictureEsterháza Palace - Fertőd, Hungary

During our initial walk through the gardens at Esterháza Palace, we came upon a life-sized bronze statue of a man carrying a violin. My son paused before the statue and asked me who the figure was. I read the short inscription on the statue’s base and informed him it was Joseph Haydn. I then went on to explain who Joseph Haydn had been and why there was a statue of him in the gardens of Esterháza Palace. My son listened intently, but kept his eyes focused on the looming statue before him the whole time. When I had finished telling him about Haydn and his patron Miklós Esterhazy, my son pointed up at the statue’s right hand and asked,

​

“Why is Haydn carrying a hot dog?”



The question caught me off-guard, and I turned my attention to the statue’s left hand. This is what we were looking at:
Picture
As you can see, the statue carries a violin tucked under its left arm and what is meant to be a curled batch of completed sheet music in its right, but in my son’s eyes, the completed compositions Haydn holds aloft in his right hand are a hot dog.

I started chuckling immediately. It didn’t take too much imagination at all to see the curled sheet music could indeed be mistaken for a hot dog.

“He’s probably going back the palace because he forgot to put ketchup on it,” I said jokingly.

“Maybe he forgot the mustard, too!” my son chimed in.

My son and I named the statue “Hot Dog Haydn” that day, and we stop before it every time we go to the gardens of Esterháza Palace. No matter how many times I see the statue, I cannot “unsee” my son’s original “hot dog” interpretation.


Though I know the object in Haydn’s right hand is sheet music, my eyes acknowledge only a hot dog, and my mind playfully conjures up an impossible scene from 1765 – one of the esteemed composer scurrying back toward the magnificent palace in order to put some ketchup on the hot dog he had been given.           
Picture
6 Comments
Epimetheus
3/18/2019 15:26:57

That looks beautiful. We don't get much of this sort of thing in North America.

Reply
William James Tychonievich link
3/20/2019 19:54:14

Right, I think the closest thing to Hot Dog Haydn we have in North America is "Touchdown Jesus."

Reply
Francis Berger
3/20/2019 20:38:37

I admit, I had to look it up.

Francis Berger
3/18/2019 20:36:18

I spent most of my life in North America, so I get what your are saying.

Reply
Epimetheus
3/19/2019 19:04:58

I guess we have something here Europe doesn't -vast virgin wilderness. A beauty all of its own...

Reply
Francis Berger
3/19/2019 19:38:15

Touché, mon ami.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Blog and Comments

    Blog posts tend to be spontaneous, unpolished, first draft entries ranging from the insightful and periodically profound to the poorly-argued and occasionally disparaging.
     

    Comments are moderated. Anonymous comments are never published (please use your name or a pseudonym). 

    Emails welcome:

    f er en c ber g er (at) h otm   ail (dot) co m
    Blogs/Sites I Read
    Bruce Charlton's Notions
    Meeting the Masters
    From The Narrow Desert
    Synlogos ✞ Aggregator
    New World Island  
    New World Island YouTube
    ​Steeple Tea
    Berdyaev.com
    Adam Piggott
    Fourth Gospel Blog
    The Orthosphere
    Junior Ganymede

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Picture
    A free PDF is also available in My Work. 
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.