In his search for employment he was, now and then, fortunate enough to be engaged to play the violin at dances and merrymakings. Then he obtained a few scholars who paid him the by no means munificent sum of two florins per month. In the meantime he studied incessantly, especially the six clavier sonatas of Emanuel Bach. With a rickety harpsichord for his companion, he forgot his misery and the squalor of the garret in which he lived. About this time he met a good angel, a Vienna tradesman, by name, Buchholz, who becoming interested in him, and sympathizing with the miserable poverty in which he struggled so cheerfully, loaned him one hundred and fifty florins, taking no acknowledgment therefor and making no conditions for repayment. It may be mentioned here that Haydn promptly returned the money when fortune smiled on him, and that he did not forget the kindness is evidenced by his first will, in which he left "Jungfrau Anna Buchholz one hundred florins, in remembrance that in my youth and extreme need, her grandfather made me a loan of one hundred and fifty florins without interest which I faithfully repaid fifty years ago." This money was a godsend, for it enabled him to procure a room of his own. The new apartment was not a great improvement on that which he had quitted. It was in the old "Michaelerhaus"; and was also a garret boarded off from a larger room. There was scarcely any light and the space was hardly more than would suffice for a fair-sized closet. The roof was in a neglected state, and when the weather was inclement the rain or snow would come through and fall on the lodger's bed. However, Haydn was happy and could study and practice without interruption.
Curiously enough, his selection of this room had a great influence on his future, for in the same house lived Métastasio in a style befitting his position. The poet was superintending the education of his host's two daughters. He soon began to take notice of the young man whom he frequently met on the stairs, and charmed with his character, sought his acquaintance. Recognizing his talents and wishing to serve him, he taught him Italian, and after a time, entrusted to him the musical education of one of the young girls, but now referred to. He added still further to these services by introducing him to Porpora, then the greatest of singing-teachers, and one of the most eminent masters of composition. Before these friendships with Métastasio and Porpora began, however, Haydn lived alone for a year and a half, supporting himself by teaching for whatever payment he could obtain; playing the violin whenever he could earn even the smallest pittance, and obtaining such other engagements as would help him to buy food, and to pay for his room.