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diff --git a/43412-0.txt b/43412-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9e4eea --- /dev/null +++ b/43412-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21387 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43412 *** + +LIFE OF MOZART + +By Otto Jahn. + +Translated from The German by Pauline D. Townsend. + +With A Preface by George Grove, Esq., D.C.L. + +In Three Volumes Vol. II. + +London Novello, Ewer & Co. + +1881. + + + + +CONTENTS: + +XVIII.--French Opera.................. 1 + +XIX.--Paris, 1778.....................34 + +XX.--The Return Home.................. 71 + +XXI.--Court Service in Salzburg............84 + +XXII.--" Idomeneo ".....................126 + +XXIII.--Release .....................170 + +XXIV.--First Attempts in Vienna............186 + +XXV.--" Die Entpühruno aus dbm Serail ".........216 + +XXVI.--Courtship.....................249 + +XXVII.--Married Life..................264 + +XXVIII.--Mozart's Family and Friends............312 + +XXIX.--Social Intercourse...............352 + +XXX.--Van Swieten and Classical Music.........374 + +XXXI.--Mozart and Freemasonry...............400 + +XXXII.--Mozart as an Artist...............410 + +XXXIII.--Mozart's Pianoforte Music............441 + + + + + +VOL. II. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. FRENCH OPERA. + +MOZART and his mother left Mannheim on March 14, and arrived in Paris on +the 23rd, after a journey of nine days and a-half. "We thought we should +never get through it," writes Wolfgang (March 24, 1778),[1] "and I never +in my life was so tired. You can imagine what it was to leave Mannheim +and all our dear, good friends there, and to be obliged to exist for ten +days without a single soul even to speak to. God be praised, however, +we are now at our journey's end. I am in hopes that, with His help, all +will go well. To-day we mean to take a fiacre and go to call on Grimm +and Wendling. Early to-morrow I shall go to the Electoral Minister Herr +von Sickingen, who is a great connoisseur and lover of music, and to +whom I have letters of introduction from Herr von Gemmingen and Herr +Cannabich." L. Mozart was full of hope concerning this visit to Paris, +and believed that Wolfgang could not fail to gain fame and, as a +consequence, money in the French capital. He remembered the brilliant +reception which had been given to him and his children fourteen years +before, and he was convinced that a like support would be accorded to +the youth who had fulfilled his early promise to a degree that to an +intelligent observer must appear even more wonderful than his precocious +performances as a child. He counted upon the support and assistance +of many distinguished and influential persons, whose favour they had +already experienced, and more especially on the tried friendship of +Grimm, who had formerly given them the benefit of all his knowledge and +power, and with whom they had continued in connection ever since. Grimm +had lately passed through Salzburg with two + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(2) + +friends, and was pleased to hear his "Amadeo," as he called Wolfgang. +He chanced to arrive at Augsburg on the evening of Wolfgang's concert +there, and was present at it without making himself known, since he +was in haste, and had heard that Wolfgang was on his way to Paris. +L. Mozart, who placed great confidence in Grimm's friendship and +experience, had made no secret to him of his precarious position +in Salzburg, and of how greatly Wolfgang was in need of support; he +commended his son entirely to Grimm's favour (April 6, 1778):-- + +I recommend you most emphatically to endeavour by childlike confidence +to merit, or rather to preserve, the favour, love, and friendship of +the Baron von Grimm; to take counsel with him on every point, and to do +nothing hastily or from impulse; in all things be careful of your own +interests, which are those of us all. Life in Paris is very different +from life in Germany, and the French ways of expressing oneself +politely, of introducing oneself, of craving patronage, &c., are quite +peculiar; so much so, that Baron von Grimm used always to instruct me as +to what I should say, and how I should express myself. Be sure you tell +him, with my best compliments, that I have reminded you of this, and he +will tell you that I am right. + +But, clever as he was, L. Mozart had miscalculated on several points. +He did not reflect that Grimm had grown older, more indolent, and more +stately, and that even formerly a tact and obsequiousness had been +required in order to turn the great man's friendship to account, which, +natural as they were to himself, his son never did and never would +acquire. He had not sufficiently realised that the attention of the +public is far more easily attracted by what is strange and wonderful, +than by the greatest intellectual and artistic endowments. This was +peculiarly the case in Paris, where interest in musical performances +only mounted to enthusiasm when some unusual circumstance accompanied +them. True, such enthusiasm was at its height at the time of Mozart's +visit, but his father could not see that this very fact was against +a young man who had so little of the art of ingratiating himself with +others. To us it must ever appear as an extraordinary coincidence that +Mozart, fresh from Mannheim, and the efforts there being made for the +establishment of a national German opera, should have come to Paris at + +{LULLY, 1652-1687.} + +(3) + +the very height of the struggle between Italian opera and the French +opera, as reformed by Gluck, a struggle which appeared to be on the +point of being fought out. In neither case did his strong feelings on +the subject tempt him to take an active part; he maintained the attitude +of a neutral observer, in preparation for the tasks to which he might be +appointed. + +If we are clearly to apprehend the musical situation, we must remind +ourselves in order of the circumstances which had brought it about. + +Jean Baptiste de Lully (1633-1687), a native of Florence, had gained +such distinction by his violin-playing and ballet music, that in 1652 he +was appointed kapellmeister by Louis XIV., and in 1672 he received full +power to establish and direct the Académie Royale de Musique. Not +only was he the founder of this still existing institution,* but he +established by its means the grand opera in France. Faithful to the +traditions of his birthplace, Florence, he kept in view the first +attempts which had been made in Italy to revive ancient tragedy in +opera (Vol. I., p. 154 et seq.). As in Italy, so in Paris, operatic +performances were originally designed for court festivals; Lully's +privilege consisted in his being allowed to give public representations +of operas, "even of those which had been produced at court" ("même +celles qui auront été représentés devant Nous "). They were preceded by +ballets, in which the connection of the action was indicated by vocal +scenes; but the singing was quite subordinate to the long succession of +dances, in which the distinguished part of the audience, and even +the king himself, took part. Dances, therefore, became an essential +ingredient of the opera, and it was the task of the poet and the +composers to give them appropriate connection with the plot; to this +day, as is well known, the ballet is the special prerogative of +the Grand-Opéra at Paris. It was not less important to maintain the +reputation of the most brilliant court in the + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(4) + +world by means of variety and magnificence of scenery, costumes, +machinery, &c.; in this respect, also, the Grand-Opéra has kept true to +its traditions.[2] + +But whilst in Italy the musical, and especially the vocal, element of +the opera had always the upper hand, in Paris the dramatic element held +its ground with good success. It was the easier for Lully to found +a national opera in Paris, since he found a poet ready to hand in +Quinault, who had the genius to clothe his mythological subjects in +the dramatic and poetical dress of his own day. To us, indeed, his +productions seem far apart from the spirit of ancient tragedy, and more +rhetorical and epigrammatic than poetical in their conception. But his +operas (or rather tragedies) expressed truly the spirit of the age, and +they became more distinctively national in proportion as the reign of +Louis XIV. came to be considered as the golden age of France. It was +Lully's task to give musical expression to the national spirit, and +in this he succeeded to the admiration of his contemporaries and of +posterity. His music is closely connected' with those first attempts +in Italy. We find none of the set forms of the later opera seria, no +regular arie, no duets, no ensembles. The words are for the most +part simply rendered in recitative. There is sometimes a figured bass +accompaniment; but even then it is not the free movement of Italian +recitative, but is much more precisely apportioned, and the harmonies +of the accompaniment change more frequently. When the sentiment +becomes rather more elevated, a sort of compromise is effected between +recitative and song. The words are rendered with a declamatory spoken +accent; and not only are they strictly in time, but the harmonies are +so arranged that a full orchestral chord is given to every note of the +song. The melodies are therefore limited in every respect; the phrases +are generally too small in compass to be well carried out, and hang +loosely together without any proper design; it was difficult to develop +an elaborate musical form out of such elements as these. Independent +songs occur seldom, and then only in the most precise of forms, tending +generally to dance melodies (airs). When several voices unite they +alternate with each other; or if they + + +{LULLY'S OPERAS.} + +(5) + +sing together note follows note, with only exceptionally real ensemble +passages. The choruses are formed by a simple harmony in several +parts, the soprano not being always appointed to give the melody. +The orchestra, except in the dance music, has seldom any independent +significance, but simply gives the full harmony to every note of +the bass. Instrumental effect is seldom aimed at, and the different +instruments are only occasionally employed singly. Lully's merit chiefly +consists in his having accentuated his music in a manner which suited +the French language, and also in his having succeeded in throwing a +certain amount of characteristic pathos into some of his passages. It is +comprehensible that at first, musical cultivation being in its infancy, +this quality should be most readily felt and acknowledged; but in +every art, and especially in music, it is the fate of individual +characteristics to become the soonest incomprehensible, and, therefore, +unpleasing. For this reason, the reaction against Lully's music attacked +just this mode of treating the text. It was considered monotonous, +tiresome, and heavy; and the isolated significant phrases having lost +their power to please, were compared with the plain-song (plain-chant) +of church psalmody.[3] + +The delivery of the vocalists, male and female, is described as +dreadful; monotonous droning alternating with violent shrieks and +exaggerated accent (_urlo francese_).[4] + +Notwithstanding all this, Lully's operas held undisputed possession of +the stage during his life,[5] and even after his death, a sure proof +that his success was not merely the result of the favour personally +accorded to him. The composers whose operas found favour after his (such +as Campra, Colasse, Desmarets, Blamont, and Mouret) are of less + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(6) + +importance historically, because they all copied his manner. Any part of +their works which pointed to the influence of the opera seria, as it +was being formed in the Neapolitan school, was rejected by the national +vanity.[6] + +Jean Phil. Rameau (1683-1764) came to Paris from the provinces as an +established musician in 1721. He succeeded by his force of character, +and the powerful protection of the Farmer-General, La Popelinière, +in placing his operas on a level with those of Lully in the public +estimation. When he produced his "Hippolyte et Aricie" in 1732, he was +met by the most determined opposition on the part of Lully's supporters; +but the very decided success of his acknowledged masterpiece, "Castor +et Pollux," in 1737,[7] placed him, if not above Lully, certainly on +an equality with him during the remainder of his career. His opponents +became gradually reconciled to his supremacy, and acknowledged that +French music had not been essentially altered by Rameau, only developed +and perfected.[8] And there can be no question that this was the case. +Before Rameau had produced any operas he had made his reputation as an +organist and instrumental composer, and more especially as the founder +of a theory of harmony. On this latter point his operas also show +considerable progress--the harmonic treatment is rich and varied, though +sometimes the straining after novelty and effect + + +{RAMEAU, 1732-1764.} + +(7) + +leads to affectation and over-elaboration. Rameau's accompaniments are +free and independent; the orchestra is used with striking effect by +means of variety of tone-colour-ing in the instruments as well as +of independent subjects, which serve to accent the details. Rameau's +employment of the orchestra shows a marked improvement, not only on +Lully, but even on Italian opera as then existing. In the same way we +find the choruses released from the fetters of strict thorough-bass, and +the parts moving freely and expressively. In the lyrical portions of the +opera, much is evidently due to the advance in the art of solo singing, +both rhythm and melody move more freely, and embellishment is not wholly +wanting. But Rameau has not avowedly adopted the Italian style, although +he spent a short part of his youth in Italy. The accepted forms of +Italian opera are entirely disregarded, both in the choruses and solos. +The slow, uniform progress of Lully's operas becomes freer and more +animated in Rameau's, the dramatic expression has more energy and life, +and the music has more of individual colouring; but the foundation +remains. The same is the case with the treatment of the dialogue. It is +still severe, stately, recitative-like singing in varied measure, but +Rameau's harmonic art is displayed in his incomparably greater power of +expression. Rameau's opera, notwithstanding its independent invention +and advance in artistic feeling, is the natural development of Lully's +principles, not a revolution against them. It was debated at the time +with much warmth whether Rameau's peculiarities were to be accepted as +improvements, or to be looked upon as injudicious attempts at novelty. +The points which then excited the liveliest interest now seem to us +most trivial. But the main fact is not to be denied, that Rameau, by the +efforts of his own genius, constructed a national French opera upon the +foundations laid by Lully, and that the further development of the grand +opera proceeded along, the lines laid down by him. Not only can the +framework and design of these early operas be recognised in the grand +opera of the present day, but French dramatic music, spite of many +transformations, betrays its relationship with the early masters in many + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(8) + +peculiarities of melody, rhythm and harmony; a sure proof that national +feeling lies at the root of the traditions. + +The well-wishers of the national French opera were right in settling +their disputes about Lully and Rameau by the recognition of them both; +for both alike were threatened by a formidable irruption of Italian +taste, which now so completely governed the remainder of Europe that +France could not fail to be in some measure affected by it. In August, +1752, a company of Italian singers came to Paris under the direction +of a certain Bambini, and having received permission to represent comic +operas (intermezzi) in the hall of the Grand Opéra, were called "Les +Bouffons."[9] Their first representation of Pergolese's "Serva Padrona" +was a failure, but subsequently it was applauded with enthusiasm. The +chief singers of the company, Manelli and Anna Tonelli, were highly +esteemed both for their singing and acting, although they did not reach +to the highest level of Italian opera; the others were indifferent.[10] +But they were Italian throats, Italian ways of singing and acting which +lent all their powers to the interpretation of opera buffa, with its +polished, pleasing form, simply and easily grasped harmonies, and +sustained melodies. They found in Paris an appreciative audience, and +very soon even the Parisian orchestra, where the conductor beat time +audibly,[11] while the Italian conductor only directed from the clavier, +was described, in comparison to the Italian, as a company of uneducated +musicians whose great aim was to make as much noise as possible. The +supporters of the national school of music naturally took up arms +against the + + +{LES BOUFFONS, 1752.} + +(9) + +Italian enthusiasts, and so arose the well-known struggle between the +"coin du roi" (nationalists) and the "coin de la reine" (Italians).[12] + +Grimm, who always manifested great interest in musical matters, had +become acquainted with Italian opera in Germany, and afterwards in +Paris, where he took up his abode in 1749; his intercourse with Rousseau +and other sympathetic friends increased his partiality for it. His +burlesque of "Le Petit Prophète de Boehmischbroda" (1753), which +foretold in the biblical prophetic style the downfall of good taste if +Paris were not converted to Italian music,[13] proved a powerful ally +to Italian music; he was joined by Diderot, who, like all the +encyclopedists, was personally antagonistic to Rameau on account of his +attack on the "Encyclopédie."[14] Jean Jacques Rousseau, who in his "Devin +du Village" had shown the delighted public how far the treasures of the +Italian opera could be turned to good account in the French (Vol. I., p. +87 et seq.), threw all the weight of his influence into the scale of the +Bouffonists; not content with mercilessly exposing the shortcomings of +the French opera, he undertook to prove that the French language +was unfitted for composition, and French music altogether an +impossibility.[15] The enraged musicians threatened to punish this +daring outrage on the nation[16] with horsewhipping, assassination, or +even the Bastille; but a flood of angry discussion was all that actually +resulted.[17] Those, however, whose interests were + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(10) + +attacked, especially the proprietors and singers of the opera-house, +took such measures as obliged the Italian singers to quit Paris in +March, 1754.[18] + +It may well be wondered at that men like Rousseau[19] and Diderot,[20] +who upheld simplicity and nature as the true canons of art, should have +evinced a preference for Italian music. For though doubtless the Italian +style was grounded originally on the nature of music, it had already +become conventional, and far removed from what the philosophers called +natural. At the same time it must be remembered that their partiality +always turned in the direction of opera buffa, which sought from its +commencement to free itself from the conventional restraint of +opera seria (Vol. I., p. 203). Then, too, the musical element, as +distinguished from the poetical or dramatic, had always been the +foundation of Italian opera, and an opposition directed against the +French opera, with its poetical and dramatic proclivities, would be sure +to uphold the purely musical development of the Italians, even though +the exaggerations into which it was carried might be displeasing to the +philosophers. + +The influence of the Bouffons survived their departure. The Comédie +Italienne (aux Italiens) produced Italian comedies in masquerade, French +comedies, and parodies of qperas, the charm of which consisted mainly +in their vocal parts, on which account they were called opéras +comiques.[21] A dangerous rival to the Comédie Italienne was the Théätre +de la Foire, whose representations took place originally on + + +{OPÉRA COMIQUE--DUNI, 1757-1775.} + +(11) + +the Feasts of St. Germain, St. Laurent, and St. Ovide. The two companies +were always inimical, and the "Comédiens de la Foire" were from time to +time suppressed by their stronger rival,[22] but always revived, until +at last in 1762 the two companies were amalgamated.[23] In this soil +was planted opera buffa, and, favoured by circumstances, it grew into +a great national institution.[24] Translations and adaptations of +favourite Italian operas satisfied the public at first, and were decried +by the Bouffonists as travesties of the original.[25] But very soon, +especially after the brilliant success of Vade's "Les Troqueurs" in +1753, a new school of composers sought to reconcile the excellencies +of the Italian music, especially in singing, with the exigencies of +the national taste. It was difficult at first to break loose from the +defined outline and simple design of the intermezzi, but gradually the +French taste became apparent in the greater connection and interest +of the plot, and the delicacy and wit of the composition. The lively +interest of the public induced poets of talent, such as Favart, Sedaine, +and Marmontel, to devote themselves to operatic writing, and the French +comic opera soon surpassed the opera buffa, from a dramatic as well as a +musical point of view. These various impulses were all the more lasting +since they were founded on the national character.[26] + +Egidio Romoaldo Duni (1709-1775), born and educated in Naples, having +made his reputation on the Italian stage, was led by his connection with +the court at Parma, which was French in manners and in taste, to compose +French operettas, as, for instance, "Ninette ä la Cour." The applause +with which they were received induced him to go to Paris in 1757, where +he made an exceptionally favourable début with the "Peintre Amoureux," +and during the next + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(12) + +thirteen years produced a succession of comic operas, the easy style and +simple form of which secured them both the favour of the public and the +imitation of untrained French composers.[27] + +Duni was followed by Pierre Alex. Monsigny (1729-1817),[28] a +dilettante, who was so excited by the performances of the Bouffons that +he applied himself to the study of music, and at once began to compose +operas. In 1759 he put his first opera, "Les Aveux Indiscrets," on +the stage, and this was rapidly succeeded by others. Sedaine was so +interested in Monsigny that he intrusted all his operatic librettos to +him.[29] A wider sphere was opened to him with the three-act opera, "Le +Roi et le Fermier," which was the commencement of the most brilliant +success. It must be allowed that the co-operation of a poet to whom even +Grimm allows all the qualities of a good librettist[30] was an important +element in this success; but Monsigny's work was quite on a level with +that of his collaborateur. His music expresses with instinctive truth +the most amiable side of the French character. Monsigny not only had at +his command a wealth of pleasing sympathetic melodies, but possessed as +decided a talent for pathos as for light comedy, and a sure perception +of dramatic effect, combined with life, delicacy, and grace. His natural +feeling for beauty of form concealed the want of thorough artistic +training,[31] and his operas were universally admired, some of them, +such as "Le Déserteur,"[32] acquiring more extended fame. + + +{PHILIDOR, 1759-1795--GRÉTRY, 1768-1813.} + +(13) + +A better theoretical musician was Franç. André (Danican) Philidor +(1727-1795), who enjoyed the reputation of extraordinary genius as +a chess-player before appearing as a composer with his first opera, +"Blaise le Savetier," in 1759.[33] His fame as a musician was soon +established, and he ruled the comic stage with Duni and Monsigny until +Grétry took possession of it. He was reproached with justice for +too great a display of musical scholarship, and for making his +accompaniments too prominent.[34] He had more force and energy than +Monsigny, with greater power of passionate expression, but his fun +is coarser, and he is inferior in grace and tenderness. He finally +abandoned music, partly from disinclination to enter into rivalry with +Grétry, and partly from his passion for chess. + +It was characteristic that comic opera, the outcome of vaudeville and +chanson, should have been nursed in its infancy by composers like +Duni, who had no pretensions to great genius, Monsigny, who was half a +dilettante, and Philidor, who only composed music as a pastime. André +Ern. Grétry, on the contrary (1741-1813), threw himself into the pursuit +with all his powers, and with zealous ardour. He it was who perfected +the comic opera, making it, what it still remains, the representative +of the French national character in the province of dramatic music. As +a boy, he had delighted in the performances of Italian opera singers in +his native town of Liège, and as a youth he had been in Rome during the +most brilliant part of Piccinni's career, had studied there for several +years, and at last produced an intermezzo, "Le Vin-demiatrici," which +was well received, and gained even Pic-cinni's approval. In Paris, +although Monsigny and Philidor received him kindly, he had to contend +with difficulties; but + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(14) + +after the complete success of his opera "Le Huron," in 1768,[35] even +his remarkable fertility in production could hardly satisfy the demands +of the public for his works. Marmontel, Sedaine, and other poets offered +him libretti which were in themselves pledges of success. The idea that +dramatic poetry should represent human nature in its naked reality, +which had emanated from the encyclopedists, found its realisation in the +drama of common life, and had considerable influence on the development +of the comic opera. + +The strict line of demarcation between opera seria and buffa did not +exist in Paris. The effort to give more dramatic interest and freer +scope to operatic music led to the portrayal of the deeper and noble +emotions, and opera approached more and more nearly to serious comedy +in plot, situations, and psychological intention. Merriment gradually +ceased to be the predominating element, and became nothing more than a +flavouring thrown in; it was replaced by that mixture of seriousness +and playfulness which, in opposition to the former prohibition of +any amalgamation of different styles, was now considered as the true +expression of music.[36] A characteristic distinction between comic +and serious opera in France was the adoption by the former of spoken +dialogue instead of recitative.[37] Any attempt to imitate the free, +declamatory recitative of the Italians would have been thought too +daring, and was perhaps actually prohibited by the privileges of the +Grand-Opéra. But in renouncing recitative, the dialogue gained the +freedom of witty and sparkling conversation, without which the French +cannot exist; and this note, once struck, soon regulated the whole +character of + + +{GRÊTRY.} + +(15) + +operatic music, which, elevated as it may be, nevertheless starts from +the idea of a conversation. + +No one could be better fitted than Grétry for the development of such a +style as this.[38] His was a pliant and amiable nature, but not a great +one. He was excitable and susceptible to any emotion, but without depth; +his wit was delicate and versatile, and he possessed the power of giving +it the most striking and appropriate expression. He was determined that +his music should always faithfully render some definite emotion, even +to the minutest detail of the dramatic situation and characters. He held +that a composer could only attain this end by working himself up into +a pitch of intense excitement,[39] and living for the time in the drama +that was under his hands.[40] The actual means which he employed was +song, that is, melody. He learnt the art of tuneful song from the +Italians,[41] and made its expressiveness depend upon intonation in +delivery, which it is the composer's part to suggest and control.[42] +He laid great stress upon true and strongly accentuated declamation,[43] +which he had studied under good actors.[44] This lent a liveliness +and piquancy to his musical style,[45] and rendered it essentially +French.[46] + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(16) + +Grétry accomplished wonders for musical form, as far as grace and +freshness, lively emotion and wit go, but his powers did not attain +to anything truly great or important to art. The art of melodious +expression was developed by him almost to the exclusion of other means, +such as rich and well-chosen härmonies,[47] artistic accompaniments, +and instrumental effects, all of which he treated as subordinate and +unimportant. + +He inveighs against the misuse of the instruments, especially of the +wind instruments, which Gluck's example had introduced, even if he were +not personally responsible for it;[48] but he recommends the moderate +use of them for characterisation,[49] and prides himself on his +very questionable invention in his "Andromaque" of assigning special +instruments to the recitatives of each principal character--Andromache, +for instance, having always three flutes.[50] A saying of Grétry's, that +in opera song is the statue, and the orchestra the pedestal, and that +Mozart sometimes put the pedestal on the stage, has often been repeated. +Whether this is authentic or not, the fact remains that Grétry's neglect +of the orchestra was not altogether of set purpose, but that this branch +of artistic education was unknown to him and interested him as little +as did the minute elaboration and hard study which are dear to all +first-rate musicians. His idea that a musician of genius may spoil his +inventive powers by too much study is truly comical; what he tells of +his own studies shows how shallow they were, and his productions are +all of a piece. On the other hand he lays great weight upon reflection, +which does not properly concern music at all; but his simplicity, which +almost amounted to barrenness, served to heighten his truly excellent +qualities, and to make him the popular idol he was. It is quite +conceivable that the encyclopedists, who were the champions of Italian +music, should have seen in him the man who united beauty and melody with +Italian truth and characteristic expression. Diderot wrote under + + +{GLUCK.} + +(17) + +Grétry's portrait the motto: "Irritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus implet, +ut magus";[51] Rousseau thanked him for having reopened his heart to +emotion by his music;[52] Grimm, who had received him with approbation +from the first,[53] declared during the heat of the struggle between +Gluckists and Piccinnists that connoisseurs and others were all agreed +that no composer had succeeded like Grétry in fitting Italian melody to +the French language, and in satisfying the national taste for wit and +delicacy.[54] Suard and Arnaud, Gluck's supporters, stood by Grétry,[55] +as well as Marmontel, who was opposed to Gluck.[56] And with what +enthusiasm the public received his operas! Many of them--to mention +only "Zemire and Azor"--made their way throughout Europe, and had +unquestionably much influence on the formation of musical taste. + +While comic opera was thus flourishing more and more richly and +abundantly, the grand opera was confined almost exclusively to Lully and +Rameau; it might almost seem that it had reached its limits, and +that the interest of the public was henceforth to be centred on comic +opera.[57] But fresh trials awaited the grand opera. Doubtless the light +breezes which sprang from the reformed comic opera were precursors of +the coming storm; but the actual impulse to it was not given in Paris +itself. + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(18) + +Christ. Wilh. Gluck (1714-1787), after doing good service to Italian +opera in Italy and London, went to Vienna in 1748, and there wrote, +partly for the Prince of Hildburg-hausen, partly and chiefly for the +imperial court, a succession of Italian operas of no very striking +originality. It was precisely the time when the traditional forms were +becoming more and more conventional formulas, and when the vocal art was +demanding the sacrifice of simplicity, nature, and truth to the whim +of each virtuoso. The decadence of operatic music, which Metastasio +bitterly laments (Vol. I., p. 163), inspired Gluck with the desire to +lead it back to its first principles. He was a man of earnest thought +and strong will. The tendency of German literature to give dignity and +importance to poetry did not pass by him unnoticed, and he was a warm +admirer of Klopstock, whose odes he set to music.[58] The efforts then +being made to raise the German stage in Vienna had an influence on +him, and his own first attempts at reformation were greeted with loud +applause by Sonnenfels. + +Gluck has professed his principles of dramatic composition in the +well-known dedication to his "Alceste." He declares his opposition to +the abuses introduced by the vanity of singers and the servility of +composers, by which the most beautiful and stately drama becomes the +most tiresome; he refused to interrupt the action at a wrong time by a +ritornello, to sacrifice expression to a run or a cadenza, to neglect +the second part of a song when the situation demands that peculiar +stress shall be laid on it, in obedience to the custom which requires +the fourfold repetition of the words of the first part, or to give an +ending to the song against the sense of the text; his overtures were to +be characteristic of the drama which was to follow, and to prepare the +minds of the spectators for it. His fundamental law of operatic music +was its due subordination to the words, so that every turn in the action +should be suitably expressed, without any superfluous adornment, just as +colour gives life and expression to a + + +{CALSABIGI'S LIBRETTI.} + +(19) + +sketch. He professed his highest aim to be simple beauty;[59] he +condemned all difficulties which hinder clearness, all novelties which +do not proceed from the necessities of the situation; he set aside all +rule in order to obtain true effects. + +There can hardly be a doubt as to the justice of these principles in +general, and we are only concerned with the result of their adoption on +musical progress.[60] Our remarks on a style of music which professes +itself the handmaid of poetry, and is content with giving the fittest +expression to verse, must be prefaced by some notice of the poets who +supplied the verse. + +Ranieri de' Calsabigi came to Vienna in 1761, after making himself known +by an edition of Metastasio's works, with an aesthetic introduction +proving their perfection as tragedies and operas; he had also written +several libretti for operas and cantatas. He had formed an idea that +music fitted for dramatic poetry must approach as nearly as possible +to natural, energetic declamation; for since declamation was only +unperfected music, dramatic song could only be elaborated declamation +enriched by the harmonies of the accompaniment. The poetry for such +music must be intense, forcible, passionate, moving, and harmonious, and +it could not fail of its result. Full of this idea he wrote "Orfeo," +and submitted it to Count Durazzo; the latter wished it to be put on the +stage, and recommended Gluck as the composer who could best carry out +the intentions of the poet. Calsabigi declaimed his "Orfeo" repeatedly +before Gluck, and noted his declamation in the text-book with signs +which he illustrated by remarks.[61] Gluck, while giving full justice to +the impulse + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(20) + +which he had received from his poet,[62] could only partially yield to +his whimsical exaggeration of declamatory music. But Calsabigi's ideas +accorded with his own so far as to aid him in giving them clearness and +precision. + +Gluck's demands on the musical drama went farther and deeper than +Calsabigi's comprehension and powers could reach.[63] But in the +meantime he accepted what was offered to him, and so were produced +"Orfeo ed Euridice" (1762), "Alceste" (1767), and "Paride ed Elena" +(1769). + +Not one of these works betrays any apprehension of true tragedy, any +trace of the antique mind; when the poet seeks to escape from the +rhetoric of Italian poetry, he draws not from the Greek but from the +French tragedy. Nor do the operas possess any proper dramatic interest. +Instead of having a well-connected, symmetrical plot, they consist of a +succession of detached situations closely resembling each other, +which are too often repeated, while in details they are too broad and +rhetorical. Gluck's principle of making music the simple exponent of the +poet's words was calculated to give them dignity and influence. +Gluck possessed not only boldness and energy united with intellectual +acuteness; he had, what is a rare quality at all times, a deep +perception of true grandeur. But although Calsabigi strove to simplify +his plots and to excite the deeper and more powerful emotions of his +audience, of _greatness_ there was no trace in his librettos. Gluck, +perceiving the latent capabilities which the poet had failed to develop, +brought them out, as it were, instinctively, and while he believed +himself to be following the poet, he was in reality himself creating all +that was great and new in the work. His fame will be immortal, and rests +upon the stately breadth of his designs, upon the simple truth of his +representations--in short, upon the greatness of his artistic genius. +His weakness consisted in his one-sided tendency + + +{GLUCK'S OPERAS.} + +(21) + +to characterisation, a tendency in no way identical with those qualities +which made his reputation. + +Gluck does not abandon any of the accepted forms in his Italian operas; +he rather, in many respects, revives older traditions. His strict +treatment of the aria, the simplicity of his melodies, and the +moderation of his adornments, together with his careful recitative, and +especially his correct expression, were certainly variations on the +then ruling taste, but not innovations on the earlier method. But in +his desire to replace by accurate musical characterisation the +ear-flattering artificial degeneration of operatic singing, he made +use of stronger means than had hitherto been known. His harmonies in +especial are not only more important and interesting in themselves, but +they are used of set purpose for dramatic characterisation. In a similar +manner the orchestra is made of higher use. The instruments are treated +according to their individualities, not as combining to a purely musical +effect, but as giving by their tone-colouring definite expression to +a variety of moods; light and shade are carefully adjusted, and much +lively execution is allotted to the orchestra. The effect is still +further heightened by the frequent use of the chorus, which is +intricately treated, and so becomes a powerful factor in the musical +characterisation. + +Gluck extended his care to the details of scenery, to marches and +dances; everything was to be in accordance with and characteristic +of the situation. Here he had been preceded by Jean George Noverre +(1727-1810) who, in his "Lettres sur la Danse et sur les Ballets" in +1760, strove for a reformation in the ballet on the same principles +which Gluck employed for the opera. He condemned stereotyped forms of +set dances, and demanded a plot for the ballet; expression should be +the task of the dancer, with nature for his model, and the ballet-master +should be both poet and painter. The ballets which he produced upon +these principles at Stuttgart until 1764, then at Vienna, and after 1776 +at Paris, were finished productions of a very pure taste, and effected a +complete revolution in the art of dancing. + +Gluck laid great stress upon recitative. He almost entirely abandoned +the customary plain recitative, and used + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(22) + +accompanied recitative as most fitting for the dignified language of +musical drama. Truth and power of expression are combined with a wealth +of delicate and characteristic detail, and Gluck rarely falls into the +error of destroying the impression of the whole by over-elaboration of +detail; his nature was averse to all forms of triviality. + +But here again the one-sided application of Gluck's principle becomes a +weakness. As, according to his view, music is to be subservient to the +words, he follows with his strongly marked recitative every turn of the +dialogue, rhetorical and inflated as it might be, so that he not only +employs all the resources of his art on an unworthy object, but fritters +away the interest, on which he makes claims at once too extensive +and too rapidly succeeding one another. Musical representation works +immediately upon the mind and the emotions, and can do this so much +more strongly and vividly than verse, which, however forcibly declaimed, +appeals primarily to the intellect and the imagination, that a painful +incongruity occurs when music, with all her resources of accurate +characterisation, follows step by step the words of the poet. It is +therefore an error to suppose that the music must always yield to the +words; "as in a correct and well-composed picture," adds Gluck, "the +animation of the colouring and of well-disposed light and shade vivifies +the forms without distorting the outlines." But the true painter does +not colour or illumine the naked outline; he considers the form in its +total effect as a piece of colouring, and it exists for him only in this +totality, which it is his object to represent. The distinction between +form and colour is only technically important, and does not affect +artistic perception and production. In the same way the musician has +something more to do with respect to the words of his text than to +colour given outlines. The conceptions which the poet has formed, with +the consciousness that they could only attain complete independence +by their combination with music, must be absorbed by the musician, and +reproduced in the forms appointed by the nature of his art. + +The exaggerations attending on all forms of opposition and attempted +reformation will not suffice to explain this + +{GLUCK'S MUSIC.} + +(23) + +important error.[64] In dealing with so great and powerful a mind +as Gluck's we must go deeper, and seek for the cause in his artistic +organisation alone. An ardent admirer of Gluck has pronounced[65] that +he was "more intellectually than musically great"; and certainly his +musical productions do not correspond to the energy of his feelings +and his will. His organisation fitted him for a reformer; as a creative +artist his weakness became apparent. Gluck's works are not exactly +one-sided; he expressed every variety of passion with equal skill, and +he is never wanting in grace and charm; but he cannot be said to be +rich or spontaneous. The lofty sentiment which he expresses in firm and +comprehensive melodies is natural to him, but his exact and confined +mode of composition is in part the result of his limited power of +invention. The final cause of his desire to deprive music of her rights +as an independent art in favour of verse lies in this weakness of his +musical organisation. Closely connected with this is another +phenomenon. It has been justly remarked[66] that Gluck's powers of +characterisation extend only to soliloquies, that he failed to give +proper expression to the dialogue proper, the contrast of voices and +characters which, either in opposition or agreement, demonstrate their +different natures; the polyphonal power of music, in its intellectual +sense, remained undeveloped by Gluck. Failing in this, he failed in the +highest object of music, by virtue of which alone she can make any claim +to dramatic force. The fact that Gluck did not feel himself impelled to +express his dramatic situations after this fashion is a proof that +his imagination was more easily stirred poetically than musically. The +narrow limits within which he occasionally confines even the music whose +expression is intended to be purely lyrical may be traced to the same +source. For Gluck did not think it necessary that action on the musical +stage should maintain the same uninterrupted + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(24) + +flow as in real life. He thought it far more important to give a +well-sustained musical representation of some one mood or disposition; +and the more broadly such moods were indicated by the poet the better he +was pleased. It is true that even then he keeps within the limits of +the strictest form, but he is fond of employing frequent repetition, +particularly when the chorus and a solo voice are set in opposition to +each other. This way of rendering a dramatic idea is often of powerful +effect; but, considered from an artistic point of view, it should be +subordinated to the design of a grandly conceived composition expanding +into a living organism. + +It cannot be denied, therefore, that Gluck failed in the working out of +his subjects, and that he sometimes betrays a certain amount of weakness +as well in the structure of his compositions as in their details. It +was not for want of industry or care; it was that he did not feel the +necessity for mastering this important side of musical representation, +and the fact affords fresh testimony of the singularity of his musical +organisation. + +Gluck's first opera, "Orfeo ed Euridice," adheres most closely to the +usual Italian style, and was indeed successfully performed in Italy.[67] +Of action in this opera there is hardly any; the introduction of Cupid +at the beginning and the end gives it the cold allegorical character +of the then customary festival entertainments. The broadly represented +situations in which Orpheus mourns for Eurydice, and charms by his music +the demons of the lower world, form the main portions of the opera; and +they are expressed with striking fidelity and fervour of sentiment, +as well as with great force and beauty. The use which is made of +the chorus, and the cultivation of the orchestra, betoken great and +important advances on the older style. The opera was well received by +connoisseurs, both in Vienna and Paris,[68] but it does not appear to +have been regarded as the inauguration of a reformation + + +{"ALCESTE," 1767.} + +(25) + +in music; indeed, during the next few years Gluck composed several +Italian operas quite after the old fashion. + +"Alceste," however, is an avowed attempt towards a reformation of +dramatic music, and it manifests the settled purpose and the complete +individuality of the master. The poet offers nothing but a succession +of situations without any progressive action; the situations turn +exclusively on the decision of Alceste, and are employed less as +psychological developments of character than as opportunities for a +rhetorical representation of certain frames of mind. The character of +Hercules is omitted, and the task of deliverance is entrusted to Apollo +as an apparition in the clouds; this destroys an effective contrast; and +the two confidants retain a suspicious likeness to the _parte seconde_ +of Italian opera. But Gluck considered the separate scenes not only with +regard to their fitness for musical treatment; he felt firm ground in +which he might strike root. It testifies to his marvellous energy of +mind that no weakness was discernible in the repetition of such closely +allied situations, and that he had always new shades of expression and +climacteric effects at his command. The connection with the forms of +Italian opera is not by any means completely severed; an unprejudiced +survey discovers numerous traces of this, and many of the main features +of the composition are the results of the particular way in which Gluck +made use of these forms. + +The Vienna public received the opera with indifference, but the critics +welcomed it eagerly as the inauguration of a new era. Unhappily the +critics were not by any means competent judges; Sonnenfels and Riedel +were not cultivated musical connoisseurs.[69] The opera scarcely +reached a more extended circle; in Italy little notice was taken of +it; Frederick the Great had several portions of it performed before him +without finding any enjoyment in them;[70] North German + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(26) + +critics, while doing full justice to the new work, raised objections to +some of the essential points of Gluck's principles, as carried out in +it.[71] Gluck remarks with some resentment, in his dedication to "Paride +ed Elena," on the lukewarmness of the public, and the want of insight +and justice on the part of the critics; he goes on to blame the +cowardice and stupidity of musicians, none of whom had ventured to +follow his lead, and proudly declares his intention of maintaining his +principles, to the correctness of which this new opera was to testify on +altogether new grounds. This was an unlucky announcement, for "Paride +ed Elena" gave no proof of Gluck's exceptional powers. The subject, a +sufficiently poor one, is deprived of every vestige of interest by the +interposition of Cupid in disguise between the lovers--a fiction which +turns the whole drama into an absurdity. The meagre story is spun out +into five acts, while to the love scenes, which are wanting in any +true passion, independent choruses and dances are attached, calling for +nothing beyond outward display. Gluck's genius for depicting the +wider and deeper emotions found no task fitted to its powers, and the +inclination to mere grace and superficiality was one altogether foreign +to his nature. Beauties of detail do not suffice in the consideration of +a work of art. The opera was a failure, however, and it does not appear +to have been reproduced. + +Perhaps Gluck would now have paused in his endeavours,[72] had not new +prospects opened which seemed to promise good results. A Frenchman named +Du Rollet, attached to the embassy at Vienna, and an enthusiast for +poetry and music, asserted that the tendency of Gluck's principles +was in essentials the same as that of French opera style. He therefore +assured him that in Paris only would his + + +{"IPHIGÉNIE EN AULIDE."} + +(27) + +reformation meet with approval, and urged that a true tragedy ought +always to be the foundation of an opera. As an example, he suggested +Racine's "Iphigénie en Aulide," and commissioned him to arrange it as +an opera, and to take the preliminary steps for its production in Paris. +Gluck accepted the proposal without hesitation., + +The circumstances were, in fact, very favourable. The principal +difficulty against which Gluck had hitherto to contend, viz., the +deep-rooted partiality for Italian music and its accepted forms, did not +exist in Paris; for opera seria in its developed form had made as little +way there as the display of fine execution, and even lovers of Italian +music would have been loth to introduce its abuses and exaggerations +of set purpose. French opera, on the contrary, in accordance with +the genius of the nation, made its first principle dramatic and +characteristic expression, which could only be attained by correct yet +free treatment of musical forms, and by well-considered treatment of +recitative. Choruses, too, which were for Gluck an important aid to +climax and dramatic effect, were indispensable in French opera; and +since Rameau's time the orchestra had been successfully employed as a +means of characteristic expression. But the French school had hitherto +failed to combine dignity and beauty with their dramatic force and +expression; and here Gluck's Italian training enabled him to supply the +deficiency. As far as comic opera was concerned, Grétry had preceded him +with similar efforts, and had accustomed the ear of the Parisians to +the mingling of French and Italian music. But to carry out such a +reformation in the grand opera required a man of commanding qualities; +and such an one Gluck had proved himself to be. + +The choice of subjects was a happy one. Racine's tragedy was known as +a masterpiece to the whole nation, and unless the adaptation were very +clumsily made, success for the poetic share of the opera was assured. +The advance on earlier operas is a very decided one. An important +event forms the centre of the plot, dramatic contrasts, passions, and +characters, are effectively portrayed. It is true that the spirit of the +age of Louis XIV. runs + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(28) + +through it all;[73] we have Greeks in patches and powder, Monseigneur +Achille and Princesse Iphigénie behave with becoming courtesy and +gallantry, and even the artistic representation is made subordinate to +the ceremonial. But Gluck had been trained among these impressions, +the forms were not irksome to him, and the greatness of his artistic +individuality is nowhere more plainly seen than in his power of +exhibiting at momentous crises the purely human and poetic emotions +stripped of their outward disguise, and reflecting the ideal spirit +of antique art by means of music in a way of which the poet had never +dreamed. Gluck did not venture to depart from the national form of the +versification; he was well aware that he must yield to the demands of +French taste if he wished to influence the French on his main points. He +not only strove to conform to external conditions, as, for instance, to +the great extension of the ballet,[74] endeavouring to turn them to his +own ends; he carefully studied the language, in order to declaim it and +treat it musically in a way suitable to its character; he also eagerly +studied the operas of his predecessors, Lully and Rameau, that he might +adopt all that was truly and genuinely national in them. The influence +of these studies may be recognised even in details; but Gluck turned to +account whatever he adopted in a perfectly free and independent manner, +and developed it still further. His most important innovation was the +substitution of free Italian recitative, with the grand capabilities +for characteristic expression given to it by Gluck himself, for the +old "psalmodie." He changed throughout the fundamental character of +the musical representation, and here he had no predecessors; for the +treatment of the several parts of the composition after the Italian +style, comic opera had, as we have seen, in some degree prepared the +way. A + + +{PERFORMANCE OF "IPHIGÉNIE," 1774.} + +(29) + +further advance, brought about by the greater vividness of the dramatic +impersonations, was the cultivation of ensemble pieces; but this, as has +been already remarked, is the weakest side of Gluck's performances. + +Although Gluck's "Iphigénie" might rightfully claim to have perfected +the French grand opera in its national sense, yet it was a difficult +undertaking to gain recognition for this fact in Paris, and to produce +there the work of a foreign, if not of an unknown composer. Du +Rollet published a letter to D'Auvergne, one of the directors of the +Grand-Opéra, in the "Mercure de France" (October, 1772), in which he +acquaints him of Gluck's wish to produce his "Iphigénie" in Paris. He +laid stress on Gluck's having preferred the French language and music to +the Italian, and declared that his composition of Racine's masterpiece +was altogether after the French taste; he hoped in this way to gain the +favour of the public and the theatre management. As this met with no +response, Gluck himself published a letter in the "Mercure" (February, +1773), in which, without undue submission, he reiterates the wish; he +wastes great praise on J. J. Rousseau, who was destined to be the most +determined opponent of the French language and music. At last Gluck +succeeded in gaining the interest of the Dauphiness, Marie Antoinette, +all difficulties were overcome, and in the autumn of 1773 Gluck went to +Paris to put his opera in rehearsal.[75] Again hindrances were thrown in +his way which it required all the force and vigour of his character to +overcome. The hardest struggle was with the vocalists, male and female, +and with the orchestra; they must be attached to him at all costs. +But he was an implacable conductor,[76] and never gave way before +a storm.[77] After six months rehearsing, "Iphigénie" was performed +(February 14, 1774); the success of the first performance was not +brilliant, but the second quite confirmed the victory. Gluck had +succeeded (an important point in Paris) in raising public expectation to +a high pitch + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(30) + +beforehand, and he found zealous supporters among the journalists, +especially the Abbé Arnaud; the opposition engendered by the +enthusiastic partisanship of his admirers was in his favour in so far +that it prevented the interest of the public from becoming faint.[78] + +Opposition came, as might have been expected, from both sides;[79] the +followers of Lully and Rameau would not grant any progress made, and +saw in Gluck's innovations nothing but the harmful influence of Italian +music,[80] while the partisans of the Italians looked upon Gluck's music +as essentially identical with the "old French," and complained of the +"tudesque" modifications of the Italian style.[81] As usual, neither +party was satisfied with the concessions made to it, and still less +would either acknowledge that its strong places had been overthrown. +J. J. Rousseau alone acknowledged himself vanquished; and as he had +previously done justice to Grétry's efforts, so he now extolled Gluck's +music as being genuinely dramatic.[82] Not so Grimm. He was too well +versed in Italian music not to perceive that if Gluck's ideas became +prevalent, those forms which he held to be essential would soon be +annihilated; Gluck's operas appeared to him a revival of the old French +style, which would + + +{GLUCK'S OPERAS IN VIENNA.} + +(31) + +only hinder or retard the triumph of the Italian. It is true that out of +deference to public opinion, and to that of many of his friends and of +Gluck's royal patroness, he does not express himself very positively on +the subject, but his real views cannot be mistaken.[83] + +With just discrimination the directors had declared that they would not +risk appearing before the public with one of Gluck's operas; if he would +write six, they might have a chance of success. Gluck himself was aware +that if he was to succeed in the long run, his "Iphigénie" must not be +left long alone. He rapidly revised and elaborated "Orphée et Euridice," +not at all to the advantage of the opera, in which he was induced, quite +against his principles, to insert a long bravura aria by Bertoni.[84] +It was performed on August 2, 1774, with great success,[85] and was +followed on February 27, 1775, by a one-act opera, "L'Arbre Enchanté," +and on August 11, 1775, by an opera in three acts, "La Cythère +Assiégée," neither of which had any lasting effect. In order to insure +a fresh and lasting success Gluck took in hand his "Alceste" anew. +The text was thoroughly revised by Du Rollet, with the adoption of +Rousseau's suggestions, especially in the second act; Hercules is +introduced again, but not very skilfully.[86] Gluck's revision was +a very thorough one; the old music was transposed, curtailed, or +lengthened, the details altered, and new passages inserted, generally +with admirable discrimination.[87] Then, in order to put new works in +direct competition with his old compositions, he undertook to set operas +by Quinault to music unaltered, and chose "Roland" and "Armida." + +While Gluck was engaged on these works in Vienna, the + + +{FRENCH OPERA.} + +(32) + +supporters of Italian music, who were now convinced of the possibility +of procuring foreign composers for the grand opera, sought on their side +to oppose a rival to Gluck. Some time previously Madame Dubarry had +been induced by La Borde's influence to obtain the presence in Paris +of Piccinni, the most esteemed of Italian composers.[88] The Neapolitan +ambassador, the Marquis Caraccioli, by his intellect and position a +powerful patron of the arts and sciences, had been mainly instrumental +in summoning Piccinni; and the young Queen, Marie Antoinette, who saw no +necessity for bending her inclinations to party interests in the matter +of music, and who, like her brother the Emperor, was personally attached +to Italian music, gave her consent to Piccinni's appointment. + +Marmontel declared himself ready to adapt an opera by Quinault for +Piccinni, of whose music he announced himself the champion.[89] When +Gluck heard that the work selected was the "Roland," on which he was +already at work, he published a letter ("Année Littéraire," 1776), in +which he bitterly complained of this affront, and violently assailed his +adversaries. + +Open war was now declared between the critics of the Gluckists and +the Piccinnists, and carried on in pamphlets, journal articles, and +epigrams, with so much violence that even the public were led into a +partisanship more eager than had ever before arisen from a question of +art.[90] The leaders of the Piccinnists were Marmontel and La Harpe, +while Gluck's faithful partisans were Arnaud and Suard, who appeared +as the Anonymous of Vaugirard.[91] Grimm took no direct share in the +contest; but his comments on it show him, + + +{GLUCKISTS AND PICCINNISTS.} + +(33) + +in spite of apparent impartiality, to have been decidedly on the side of +Piccinni. + +The first performance of "Alceste," on April 23, 1776, was a failure, +and it only gained in public favour by slow degrees.[92] "Iphigénie," +too, which was reproduced, was severely criticised. But this severity +served but to increase public sympathy, and Gluck's operas drew full +houses, and became more and more unmistakably popular. + +Piccinni arrived in Paris quite at the end of 1776. He was welcomed by +all the composers, Grétry alone failing to pay his respects to him. For +this he was severely censured, since on first coming to Paris he had +announced himself as a pupil of Piccinni, which he was not.[93] Strange +and unknown in Paris, Piccinni took a great distaste to its harsh +climate, its unaccustomed way of living. His ignorance of the French +language isolated him and debarred him from any personal share in the +contest of which he was the subject. + +His easy-going and peace-loving temperament prevented his wishing +to join in the fray, while for Gluck's passionate nature it was a +satisfaction to give vent to angry vituperation in the public journals. + +Marmontel relates how he had to instruct Piccinni in French by reading +him his opera every day as a task, and translating what Piccinni had to +compose.[94] Thus slowly proceeded the work of the dissatisfied maestro, +and every day he doubted of its success more and more.[95] + +Gluck began the rehearsals of his "Armide" in July, 1777, and it was +performed on September 23. The opera, on which Gluck had built such +confident hopes of success, was very coolly received.[96] Its failure +was owing partly to + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(34) + +the dangerous rivalry of Lully, partly to the fact that the subject was +not suited to his genius,[97] and partly also to the premonitory +shadow of Piccinni's new work. Justice was not done to "Armide" until +later.[98] + +La Harpe attacked it bitterly, and Gluck, in a violent retort, called +for the aid of the Anonymous of Vaugirard, which did not tarry. Then +began the rehearsals of Piccinni's opera, and the storm of partisanship +was let loose.[99] Piccinni was incapable of restraining it. While his +friends espoused his cause with zeal, while Gluck himself sought to +restrain the singers and the orchestra,[100] Piccinni looked sorrowfully +to heaven and sighed, "Ah! toutte va male, toutte!" Firmly convinced +that the opera would be a failure, and resolved to return to Naples on +the following day, he went to the first performance (January, 1778), +consoling his family with the assurance that a cultivated nation like +the French would do a composer no bodily harm, even if they did not +admire his operas--and experienced a brilliant triumph.[101] + + + +FOOTNOTES CHAPTER XVIII. + + +[Footnote 1: Ed. Fournier, Mozart ä Paris (Revue Franç., 1856, II., t. 7, p. 28).] + +[Footnote 2: Cf. Histoire du Théätre de l'Opéra en France (Paris, 1753; 2nd +Edit., 1757). Castil-Blaze, L'Académie Imp. de Musique de 1645 ä 1855 +(Paris, 1855,1., II.).] + +[Footnote 3: Grimm, Corr. inéd., p. 222; cf. Corr. Litt., I., p. 93. The +following is not bad (Corr. Litt., II., p. 205): "M. Hasse, qui avait +entendu parler de la légèreté et de la pétulance françaises, ne se +lassait point, lorsqu'il fut en ce pays-ci, d'admirer la patience avec +laquelle on écoutait ä l'Opéra une musique lourde et monotone." Goldoni +amusingly describes the impression made upon him by the French opera +(Mém., II., p. 182).] + +[Footnote 4: Grimm, Corr. Litt., XV., p. 283; cf. IV., p. 165. Grétry gives more +particular instances of the faults of the old style ( Mém., I., p. 301).] + +[Footnote 5: The last performance of one of Lully's operas ("Thésée ") was in +1778.] + +[Footnote 6: Raguenet, Parallèle des Italiens et François en ce qui regarde +la Musique et les Opéras (.Paris, 1702), translated into German, with +notes, and the rejoinder of Freneuse de la Vieuville ( Bonnet, Histoire +de la Musique, p. 425; Bourdelot, Hist, de la Mus., I., p. 291), in +Mattheson's Critica Musica (Hamburg, 1712), I., p. 91, and in Marpurg's +Krit. Briefen, I., pp. 65, 89, 113, 398. Freneuse, Comparaison de la +Mus. Ital. et de la Mus. Franç. Brussels, 1705 (in Bourdelot'8 Hist, de +la Mus., 1725 and 1743, II.-IV.). Raguenet, Défense du Parallèle (Paris, +1705).] + +[Footnote 7: La Harpe, Corresp. Litt., II., p. 302.] + +[Footnote 8: When Grimm first came to Paris he wrote to Gottsched: "M. Rameau is +rightly considered by all connoisseurs to be the greatest musician who +has ever lived" (Danzel Gottsched, p. 349). His opinion soon changed, +but the account he afterwards gives of Rameau (Corr. Litt., IV., p. 80), +prejudiced as it is, recognises Rameau's merits, though without giving +him the credit of them. In his Lettre sur "Omphale" (1752, Corr. Litt., +XV., p. 281), Grimm gave a detailed criticism in a very moderate tone. +A good account of him may be found in Ad. Adam's Derniers Souvenirs d'un +Musicien, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 9: Hiller, Wöch. Nachr., 1770, p. 331. Schelle, N. Ztschr. f. Mus., +LVII., and LVIII., p. 119.] + +[Footnote 10: According to Castil-Blaze (L'Opéra Italien, p. 144), the operas +produced by the Bouffons were, "La Serva Padrona," by Pergolese; "ü +Giocatore," by Orlandini: "ü Maestro di Musica," by Al. Scarlatti; "La +Finta Cameri'era," by Atella; "La Donna Superba," by Rinaldo da Capua; +"La Scaltra Gover-natrice," by Cocchi; "ü Cinese Rimpatriato," by +Selletti; "La Zingara" by Rinaldo da Capua; "Gli Artigiani Arrichiti," +by Ladlla; "II. Paratajo" by Jomelli; "Bertoldo in Corte," by Ciampi; "I +Viaggiatori," by Leo.] + +[Footnote 11: The Italian opera was conducted from the pianoforte only, while in +the French opera time was beaten audibly with a stick. Cf. Grétry, Mém., +I.p. 39.] + +[Footnote 12: The heads of the parties had their regular places below the box of +the King and Queen.] + +[Footnote 13: It was republished (Corr. Litt., XV., p. 315,) and translated into +German (N. Ztschr. f. Mus., IV., p. 63, where it is wrongly ascribed to +Rousseau). Grimm speaks of its extraordinary success to Gottsched, and +Frau Gottsched speaks of an imitation of it directed against Weisse's +operetta, "Der Teufel ist los" (Danzel Gottsched, p. 350).] + +[Footnote 14: The account which he gives to Rameau's nephew of his uncle and +Italian music is graphic enough (Goethe, XXIII., p. 208).] + +[Footnote 15: This was in the well-known Lettre sur la Musique Française (1753), to +which the Lettre d'un symphoniste de l'Académie Royale de Musique ä ses +camarades de l'orchestre (1753) was a witty after-piece.] + +[Footnote 16: Grétry, Mém., I., p. 279.] + +[Footnote 17: Rousseau, Confessions 1., VIII. Grimm, Corr. Litt., I., p. 92. +Fétis, Curios. Hist, de la Mus., p. 107.] + +[Footnote 18: Grimm, Corr. Litt., I., p. 114.] + +[Footnote 19: Rousseau had apparently a natural musical talent, which was +quickened by Italian music; his logical reflections sometimes led him +into error, but he remained accessible to new musical impressions, even +when they contradicted his expressed opinions.] + +[Footnote 20: Diderot appears to have had some musical taste, but not much +cultivation, and in this respect Grimm had some influence upon his +opinions, as he certainly had upon Grimm's in more important matters. +The article "Poème lyrique" in the Encyclopédie (publ. Corr. Litt., XV., +p. 349), is a curious mixture of Italian taste, and of reflections after +Diderot's manner: the views it upholds are often warped and superficial.] + +[Footnote 21: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VI., p. 229. The parodies are collected in Les +Parodies du Nouveau Théätre Italien ( Paris, 1738,I.-IV.). Supplément +aux Parodies (Paris, 1763,1. III.).] + +[Footnote 22: Favart, Mém., I., p. XVII.] + +[Footnote 23: Favart, Mém., I., pp. 203, 214, 228, 233.] + +[Footnote 24: [ D'Orville] Histoire de l'Opéra Bouffon (Amst., 1760). +[Footnote Desboulmiers] Histoire du Théätre de l'Opéra-Comique (Paris, 1769, I., +II.). Fétis, Curios. Hist, de la Mus., p. 342. Castil-Blaze, Acad. Imp. +de la Mus., I., p. 216.] + +[Footnote 25: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VII., p. 289.] + +[Footnote 26: Goldoni concedes the superiority of the opéra-comique over the +Italian huffa (Mém., II., p. 227).] + +[Footnote 27: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IV., p. 164; VII., p. 126. After 1765 he +thought his style "un peu vieux et faible, mais ailleurs plein de +finesse, de charme, de grace, et de vérité. C'est toujours malgré sa +faiblesse l'homme chez lequel nos jeunes compositeurs devraient aller ä +l'école" (Corr. Litt., IV., p. 414). He afterwards exhorts Philidor and +Grétry to yield the field to him with honour (Corr. Litt., V.» pp. 140, +369; VI., p. 63).] + +[Footnote 28: A. Adam, Derniers Souvenirs d'un Musicien, p. 107.] + +[Footnote 29: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VI., p. 61.] + +[Footnote 30: Grimm, Corr. Litt., III., p. 136.] + +[Footnote 31: Grimm judged him so severely (Corr. inéd., p. 219; cf. Corr. Litt., +III., p. 136; VI., p. 208; IX., p. 463); that one suspects personal +dislike. Madame de Genlis rightly protested against his severity (Mém., +II., p. 22).] + +[Footnote 32: Grimm, even in this case, ascribed all the merit to the poet (Corr. +Litt., VI., pp. 197, 206); Madame de Genlis, on the contrary, maintained +that Monsigny's music caused one to overlook the improbabilities of the +piece ( Mém., II., p. 21)] + +[Footnote 33: G. Allen, Life of Philidor (Philadelphia, 1863). At first Grimm +thought his music no better than other French music (Corr. Litt., II., +p. 346; III., p. 89); after 1764 he notes his increasing progress (III., +p. 401; IV., p. 200), and praises him highly in 1768 (VI., p. 14). He +was accused of stealing from Italian masters, but Grimm retorted that +it required great talent to steal in such a way (V., p. 25; VI., p. 145). +Later on Grimm considered that Philidor inclined too much to Gluck's +manner (IX., p. 378; X., p. 358), and finally he declared that Philidor +had grown feeble (XII., p. 468; XIII., p. 137).] + +[Footnote 34: Tagebuch der Mannh. Schaub'., I., p. 264.] + +[Footnote 35: Marmontel relates the affair more circumstantially (Mém., IX.; +Ouvr., II., p. 72).] + +[Footnote 36: Grimm discusses this question after the manner of Diderot, on the +production of "Le Déserteur," the first comic opera of the kind (Corr. +Litt., VI., p. 212). Madame du Deffand thought the exhibition of passion +in "Le Déserteur" of very doubtful propriety (Corr. inéd., I., p. 175).] + +[Footnote 37: Grimm condemns the "barbarous fashion" of mixing spoken dialogue +and song in the comic opera, and asserts that there can be no great +composers in France until real recitative is made use of (Corr. Litt., +IV., p. 166; VI., pp. 120, 209).] + +[Footnote 38: He has given a detailed account of his education, of the +suggestions for his works and of his views on dramatic music in his +Mémoires ou Essais sur la Musique (Paris, 1789; Brussels 1829,1.-III.). +The naïveté of intense vanity is apparent everywhere. His opinions +show some power of observation, but are for the most part trivial and +arbitrary.] + +[Footnote 39: He describes his way of working to the celebrated physician +Tronchin (Mém., I., p. 21): "Je lis, je relis vingt fois les paroles que +je veux peindre avec des sons; il me faut plusieurs jours pour échauffer +ma tète; enfin je perds l'appétit, mes yeux s'enflamment, l'imagination +se monte, alors je fais un opéra en trois semaines ou un mois." He +maintains that this excitement is more likely to lead a composer aright +than attention to rules ( I., pp. 168, 204).] + +[Footnote 40: Prince Henry of Prussia paid him the most appropriate compliment in +the words: "Vous avez le courage d'oublier que vous êtes musicien pour +être poète" ( Mém., I., p. 121, cf., p. 346).] + +[Footnote 41: Mém., I., p. 112.] + +[Footnote 42: Mém., I., pp. 141, 238; III., p. 144.] + +[Footnote 43: Mém., I., p. 169.] + +[Footnote 44: Mém., I., pp. 146, 170.] + +[Footnote 45: Mém., I., p. 231.] + +[Footnote 46: He declared the French language to be the one best suited to music +( I., p. 400), although he does not conceal its difficulties ( I., p. +134), and demonstrates that France is destined to be pre-eminent in +music.] + +[Footnote 47: Mém., I., p. 212; cf. pp. 224, 260.] + +[Footnote 48: Mém., I., p. 339; II., p. 45.] + +[Footnote 49: Mém., I., pp. 237, 375.] + +[Footnote 50: Mém., I., p. 356.] + +[Footnote 51: Mém., II., p. 10. He sometimes gave him good advice (I., p. 215) +and Grétry embraced his views (III., p. 377).] + +[Footnote 52: Grétry, Mém., I., p. 270; cf. II., p. 331.] + +[Footnote 53: Grimm says, after the performance of "Le Huron" (Corr. Litt., VI., +p. 34): "M. Grétry est un jeune homme qui fait ici son coup d'essai; +mais ce coup d'essai est le chef-d'ouvre d'un maître, qui élève l'auteur +sans contradiction au premier rang." His praise of the "Lucile".] + +[Footnote 54: Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., p. 228.] + +[Footnote 55: Grétry, Mém., I., p. 150.] + +[Footnote 56: He himself examines the grounds on which his music has become +naturalised in France, "sans me faire des partisans enthousiastes et +sans exciter des ces disputes puériles, telles que nous en avons vu +(Mém., I., p. 169).] + +[Footnote 57: It is almost comical to observe the pertinacity with which the +Grand-Opèra brought out its old pieces, to be as pertinaciously attacked +by Grimm.] + +[Footnote 58: A collection of Klopstock's odes, set to music by Gluck has often +been published; he had the "Herrmannsschlacht" ready in his head, +according to his habit, but it was never written out. For Gluck's +intercourse with Klopstock in Karlsruhe. (see Strauss, Kl. Schr., p. 42. +p. 122) and the "Tableau parlant" (VI., p. 251) was equally strong, and +he accompanied it with a respectful and appreciative criticism.] + +[Footnote 59: It is worthy of note how certain intellectual currents, running +through an age, take simultaneous effect in different spheres. The +tendency to individuality in art, to truth and nature, which was due to +the encyclopedists, made itself manifest side by side with the principle +of simple beauty which Winckelmann laid down as characteristic of +ancient art.] + +[Footnote 60: Planelli, Dell' Opera in Musica (Neap., 1772), p. 148, approves of +Gluck's principles, and the latter praises Planelli's performance of +"Alceste"; Vine. Manfredini (Regole Arm., p. 163) takes much exception +to it.] + +[Footnote 61: Schelle has (N. Ztschr. f. Mus., LIX., p. 42) published Calsabigi's +letter (Mercure de France, Aug. 21,1784), in which the latter, who +considered himself neglected, represents his relations with Gluck.] + +[Footnote 62: Mém. pour servir ä l'Hist. de la révolution opérée dans la Musique +par Gluck, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 63: Calsabigi retracted his opinion on the opera in the letter prefixed +to his "Elfrida" in 1794. At that time he believed in Paesiello as the +true philosophical composer.] + +[Footnote 64: Berlioz rightly protests against Gluck's views (Voy. Mus., II., p. +269; X Travers Chants, p. 150). Cf. Hanslick, Vom Musikalisch-Schönen, +p. 24.] + +[Footnote 65: A. B. Marx, Musik des neunzehnten Jahrh., p. 82.] + +[Footnote 66: Marx ibid., p. 183; he modified his opinion afterwards (Gluck u. d. +Opera, II., p. 67. II.] + +[Footnote 67: It failed in Naples in 1774 (Galiani, Corr. inéd., II., p. 96).] + +[Footnote 68: Count Durazzo had the score printed there; Favart tells him how +highly Mondonville and Philidor thought of the opera. (Favart, Mém., +II., pp. 67, 102, 180).] + +[Footnote 69: Sonnenfels, Briefe IIb. d. Wien. Schaubühne (Ges. Schr., V., p. 155; +Hiller, Wöch. Nachr., 1768, p. 127). Riedel, Ueber die Musik des Ritter +Gluck, p. IX.] + +[Footnote 70: Allgem. deutsche Bibl., X., 2 p. 31. Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 529. +Reichardt relates (A. M. Z., XV., p. 612; Schletteier Reichardt, I., p. +264) that the King afterwards expressed himself in violent terms against +Gluck. Cf. A. M. Z., III., p. 187.] + +[Footnote 71: Agricola criticised "Alceste" in the Allgem. deutschen Bibliothek +(X., 2 p. 29, XIV., 1 p. 3; also in Forkel's Musik. Krit. Bibl., I., p. +174) in a pedantic, trivial spirit, but not ill-naturedly.] + +[Footnote 72: Calsabigi says that he wrote the libretti for "Semiramide" and +"Iperm-nestra" on Gluck's commission, and they were afterwards taken as +the foundation of Salieri's "Danaides" (Cramer, Magaz. d. Mus., I., p. +366; N. Ztschr, f. Mus. LIX., p. 42).] + +[Footnote 73: This is correctly put forward by Marx ( Musik des neunzehnten +Jahr-hunderts, p. 84).] + +[Footnote 74: His admirable ballet music was slow in making its way in Paris; it +was so confidently assumed that the French were the first masters in +the world for ballet music, that a foreigner had to contend against much +prejudice. La Harpe remarks that want of success in this respect was +in Gluck's favour, for that his system, consistently carried out, would +exclude ballet.] + +[Footnote 75: Interesting details of this visit are given by Frz. M. Rudhart, +Gluck in Paris (Munich, 1864).] + +[Footnote 76: Burney, Reise, II., p. 253. Cf. Cramer's Magazin, 1783, p. 561.] + +[Footnote 77: Madame de Genlis, Mém., II., p. 248.] + +[Footnote 78: A number of pamphlets and newspaper articles of this and following +years are collected in Mémoires pour servir ä l'Histoire de la +révolution opérée dans la musique par M. le Chev. Gluck (ä Naples et +ä Paris, 1781), partly translated by Siegmeyer: Ueber Gluck und seine +Werke (Berlin, 1823). Here again the dispute is chiefly carried on by +men of literary rather than musical knowledge (Madame de Genlis, Mém., +II., p. 250). The first favourable notices were at once translated by +Riedel and published with an enthusiastic preface, Ueber die Musik +des Ritters Gluck ( Vienna 1775). This called forth Forkel's criticism +(Musik. Krit. Bibl., I., p. 53). He was incapable of appreciating +Gluck's true greatness, and as partial and philistine as other Berlin +critics of that day; he was spiteful besides; but some of his remarks +are true enough. The personal animosity which Forkel afterwards threw +into his attacks is quite repulsive.] + +[Footnote 79: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VIII., p. 320.] + +[Footnote 80: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VIII., p. 321; IX., pp. 34, 350.] + +[Footnote 81: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VIII., pp. 321, 427; IX., p. 350.] + +[Footnote 82: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VIII., p. 321. Garat, Mém. sur M. Suard, II., +p. 238. La Harpe, Corr. Litt., I., p. 86. Rudhart, Gluck in Paris, p. +xo. A speaking testimony of his reverence for Gluck is the "Réponse +sur un morceau de l'Orphée de M. le Chev. Gluck," and the unfinished +"Observations sur l'Alceste Italien de M. le Chev. Gluck," where some +striking observations are made.] + +[Footnote 83: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VIII., pp. 78, 322. When he remarked that Gluck +influenced other composers, such as Grétry, he turned the full sharpness +of his criticism upon them.] + +[Footnote 84: Berlioz, À Travers Chants, p. 127.] + +[Footnote 85: Mdlle. de l'Espinasse, in Stendsal, Vie de Rossini, p. 607. As +might be expected, Grimm bestowed his highest praise upon "Orphée" +(Corr. Litt., VIII., p. 390).] + +[Footnote 86: Winterfeld, Zur G each. heil. Tonk., II., p. 308.] + +[Footnote 87: Berlioz, Voy. Mus., II., p. 279; À Travers Chants, p. 142. Schelle, +N. Ztschr. f. Mus., LV., p. 205. LVI., p. z.] + +[Footnote 88: Galiani, Corr. inéd., II., p. 106.] + +[Footnote 89: Marmontel, Mém. Litt., IX.; Ouvr., II., p. no.] + +[Footnote 90: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 348. Dorat describes very comically +in an Irishman's letter the party-fight in the pit (Coup d'Oeil sur la +Littér., I., p. 211). Amusing incidents were not wanting. At one +concert a song by Gluck was announced; as it began the Piccinnists +ostentatiously left the hall, and the Gluckists applauded noisily; it +afterwards appeared that the song was by Jomelli (Grimm, Corr. Litt., +X., p. 440).] + +[Footnote 91: An account of the whole dispute from this side is given by Garat, +Mém. Hist, sur M. Suard, II., p. 231.] + +[Footnote 92: Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., p. 34. Schelle, N. Ztschr. f. Mus., LV., p. +197.] + +[Footnote 93: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 352. Galiani, Corr. inéd., II., p. 292.] + +[Footnote 94: Marmontel, Mém. Litt., IX.; Ouvr., II., p. 115. P. L. Ginguené, +Not. sur Piccinni, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 95: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 352. Galiani, Corr. inéd., II., p. 291.] + +[Footnote 96: To Marie Antoinette's question as to whether his opera, "Armida," +was finished, and how he liked it, Gluck is said to have answered +composedly: "Madame, il est bientöt fini, et vraiment ce sera superbe!" +(Madame Campan, Mém., 7 p. 131.)] + +[Footnote 97: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 428.] + +[Footnote 98: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 469.] + +[Footnote 99: Grimm gives a minute and amusing account of all this.] + +[Footnote 100: So Grimm says. His friendliness towards Piccinni is confirmed by +Galiani (Corr. inéd., II., p. 248), and Madame de Genlis (Mém., II., p. +248). Cf. Gin-guené, Not. sur Piccinni, p. 45] + +[Footnote 101: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 500; X., p. 23.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. PARIS, 1778. + +SUCH was the condition of musical affairs at the time of Mozart's +arrival in Paris. The successes on either side, and the violence of +partisan controversy, had, as might have been expected, prevented any +decisive conclusion of the dispute. We know now that Gluck remained +master of the field, and that the influence of Lully and Rameau sinking +henceforth into oblivion, Gluck determined the character of French opera +in all its essential points as it still exists, in spite of its many +Italian modifications. But at the time of + + +{UNFAVOURABLE PROSPECTS.} + +(35) + +which we are speaking the Gluckists and Piccinnists were carrying on the +warfare with greater bitterness than ever, and the old national party, +although pushed into the background, was seeking to free itself from +both influences.[1] + +The interest of the public was more eagerly excited than ever, but, as +usual, more for the sake of the literary scandal and personal animosity +than with any love of art, and when audiences flocked to the opera they +desired not to enjoy but to participate in what was going on. + +This was an unfortunate state of things for a young composer whose +object was to acquire an honourable position for himself; he must, in +order to be heard at all, attach himself to one or other party, and so +lose his independence, the only true foundation of excellence. To put +an end to the dispute by forcing the combatants to acknowledge a success +greater than that of either was at this juncture beyond the power of +even a transcendent genius; and Mozart brought nothing with him to Paris +but his genius. + +He had failed in obtaining an introduction to the Queen Marie Antoinette +from Vienna, and access to the circle of the nobility was no +easy matter. Mozart had little to expect from the support of his +fellow-artists, for they were all ranged against each other, and had +enough to do to fight their own battles. Gluck had left Paris when +Mozart entered it; he renewed his acquaintance with Piccinni, whom he +had known in Italy (Vol. I., p. 111), and was polite in his greetings +when he met him at the Concert Spirituel and elsewhere; but there the +intercourse ended. "I know my affairs, and he his, and that suffices" +(July 9, 1778). + +We find no traces of any acquaintance with Grétry, who never mentions +Mozart in his "Mémoires." He was resigned to professional envy, and had +already experienced his full share of it; but in Paris at that time the +"gens de lettres" were the arbiters of taste and fashion. Pamphlets and +critical articles, epigrams and _bon mots_, proceeding from + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(36) + +the literary circle, ruled public opinion, and a thorough knowledge +of music was, as a rule, the last requirement thought of by those who +strove to influence its progress. + +It was a new world to Wolfgang, in which he would have found it +difficult to move successfully and uprightly, even if he had gained +access to its favour. + +Grimm, who might have introduced him, was himself a partisan, and +esteemed only by his own party; besides which, he could not fail soon +to discover that Mozart was the last man in the world for this kind of +intercourse. Nevertheless, he received him very kindly, and sought to +make him known wherever he could; they were always quite of accord +in their opinions of French music. "Baron Grimm and I," writes Mozart +(April 5, 1778), "often pour out our wrath over the music of the present +day, but in private, be it understood; in public, it is all 'bravo, +bravissimo,' and clapping one's hands till the fingers burn." And in +another letter he says: "What annoys me is that the French have improved +their taste just enough to enable them to listen to good music. But +their own is still very bad. Ay! upon my word, but it is! and their +singing! _oime!_ If they would only let Italian songs alone, I could +forgive their Frenchified chirruping; but it is really unpardonable so +to spoil good music." + +Mozart's outward circumstances were not pleasant. In order to economise +(for his mother found everything in Paris half as dear again as +elsewhere) they took a dark, uncomfortable lodging, so small that +Wolfgang could not get his clavier into it. But their life was rendered +considerably more cheerful by the presence of their Mannheim friends. +"Wendling," writes the mother (April 5) (there is no more talk of +his irreligion), "has prepared Wolfgang's way for him, and has now +introduced him to all his friends. He is a true benefactor, and M. von +Grimm has promised him to use all his influence, which is greater than +Wendling's, to make Wolfgang known." In Paris, too, Mozart became better +acquainted with Raaff, and learned to value him as an artist and as a +friend. This was greatly owing to the interest Raaff took in the Weber +family; he appreciated + + +{WOLFGANG'S HOPES AND FEARS.} + +(37) + +Aloysia's talents, promised to give her lessons, and approved of +Mozart's liking for her; this was all the greater consolation since he +dared not speak openly on the subject to his father, although he did not +attempt to conceal his correspondence with the Weber family. Nor could +his wishes and feelings fail to be perceived when he wrote (July 3, +1778):-- + +I have never been backward, and never will be. I will always use my +powers to the uttermost. God can make all things good. I have something +in my mind, for which I pray to God daily; if it is His Divine will it +will come to pass; if not, I am content. I have at least done my best. +If all goes well, and things turn out as I wish, then you must do your +share, or the whole business will fall through; I trust to your kindness +to do it. Do not attempt to discover my meaning, for the immediate +favour I have to beg of you is to let me keep my ideas to myself until +the right time comes. + +He does not seem to have been very hopeful (March 29, 1778) + +I am pretty well, thank God: but for the rest, I often scarcely know or +care for anything; I am quite indifferent, and take little pleasure in +anything. What most supports and invigorates me is the thought that you, +dear father, and my dear sister are safe and well, that I am an honest +German; and that although I cannot always say what I like, I can always +think what I like--which is the main point. + +In a mood like this the encouragement of musical compatriots would +be doubly grateful to him. This was freely bestowed on him by the +ambassador from the Palatinate, Count von Sickingen, to whom +Gemmingen and Cannabich had given him letters, and Raaff a personal +introduction:-- + +He is a charming man, a passionate lover and true judge of music. I +spent eight hours with him quite alone; we were at the clavier morning +and afternoon, and up to ten o'clock in the evening, all the time +making, praising, admiring, altering, discussing, and criticising +nothing but music: he has about thirty operatic scores. + +He maintained this acquaintance zealously, often dining with the Count, +and spending the evening over his own compositions with so much interest +that the time went without their knowing it (June 12, 1778). + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(38) + +The Mannheim friends were engaged for the Concert Spirituel, which +had been founded in 1725. Anne Danican Philidor, elder brother to the +composer already mentioned, was accorded the privilege, on payment of a +fixed sum, of giving about four-and-twenty concerts in the course of the +year, on festivals when there was no grand opera. They were given in a +hall of the Tuileries, and consisted of instrumental music, and sacred +or classical compositions for chorus or solo singing.[2] Wolfgang +was introduced to the director, Jean le Gros (1739-1793), and at once +received from him a commission, with which he acquaints his father +(April 5, 1778). + +The kapellmeister, Holzbauer, has sent a Miserere; but the Mannheim +chorus being weak and bad, while here it is good and strong, his +choruses make no effect; therefore M. le Gros has commissioned me to +write other choruses. Holzbauer's introductory chorus remains; the +first by me is "Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego," &c., allegro; the +second, adagio, "Ecce enim in iniquitatibus"; then, allegro, "Ecce +enim veritatem dilexisti," up to "ossa humiliata." Then an andante +for soprano, tenor and bass soli, "Cor mundum créa"; and "Redde mihi +lætitiam," allegro as far as "te convertentur." Then I have done a +recitative for the basses, "Libera me de sanguinibus," because it is +followed by a bass song by Holzbauer, "Domine, labia mea." In the same +way, because "Sacrificium Deo, spiritus" is an andante tenor air for +Raaff, with solo oboe and bassoon, I have added a little recitative, +"Quoniam si voluisses," also with oboe and bassoon concertante: +recitatives are very much in vogue here. "Benigne fac" up to "muri +Jerusalem," andante moderato, chorus. Then "Tunc acceptabis" to +"super altare tuum vitulos," allegro, tenor solo (Le Gros), and chorus +together.[3] I must say I am glad I have finished this work, for it is +confoundedly awkward when one is in a hurry with work and cannot write +at home. But it is finished, thank God, and will, I think, make an +effect. M. Gossec, whom you must know, told M. Le Gros, after seeing +my first chorus, that it was charming, and would certainly tell in +performance; that the words were well arranged, and admirably set to +music. He is a good friend of mine, but a dry, reserved man. + +That this scampering work (for Mozart was only a few + + +{COMPOSITIONS FOR THE CONCERT SPIRITUEL} + +(39) + +days over it) should form his _début_ before the French public caused +his father great uneasiness; but it was uncalled for, for in his next +letter Wolfgang informs him (March 1, 1778) + +I must tell you, by the way, that my chorus work came to nothing. +Holzbauer's Miserere is too long as it is, and did not please; besides +which, they only performed two of my choruses instead of four, and left +out the best. It did not much matter, for many people did not know that +they were mine, and many more never heard of me. Notwithstanding, they +were highly applauded at rehearsal, and, what is more important (for I +do not think much of Parisian applause), I liked them myself. + +Another work was occasioned by the presence of the Mannheim performers, +with whom was associated the celebrated hornist, Joh. Punto (1748-1803), +who in Mozart's opinion "played magnificently." Mozart set to work at +a Sinfonie Concertante for flute (Wendling), oboe (Ramm), French horn +(Punto), and bassoon (Ritter), which was to be performed at one of +the concerts. But he was soon obliged to write to his father (May 1, +1778):-- + +There is another "hickl-hackl" with the Sinfonie Concertante. I believe +there is something behind, for I have my enemies here, as where have +I not had them? It is a good sign, however. I was obliged to write the +symphony in great haste, worked hard at it, and thoroughly satisfied +the four performers. Le Gros had it four days for copying, and I always +found it lying in the same place. At last, the day but one before the +concert, I did not find it; searched about among the music, and found it +hidden away. I could do nothing but ask Le Gros, "_A propos_, have you +given the Sinfonie Concertante to be copied?" "No, I forgot it." Of +course I could not order him to have it copied and played, so said +nothing. The day it should have been performed I went to the concert; +Ramm and Punto came up to me in a rage, and asked why my sinfonie +concertante was not played. "I do not know; this is the first I have +heard of it." Ramm was furious, and abused Le Gros in French, saying +that it was unhandsome of him, &c. What annoyed me most in the whole +affair was Le Gros not telling me a word about it, as if I was to know +nothing of it. If he had only made an apology, that the time was too +short, or anything; but no, not a word.[4] I think Cambini, an Italian + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(40) + +composer here, is at the bottom of it, for I was the innocent cause +of his being extinguished on his first introduction to Le Gros. He has +written some pretty quartets, one of which I had heard at Mannheim; I +praised it to him, and played the beginning; Ritter, Ramm, and Punto +were there, and they left me no peace, insisting that I should go on, +and make up myself what I could not remember. So I did it, and Cambini +was quite beside himself, and could not refrain from saying, "Questa +è una gran testa!" But it must have been sorely against the grain with +him. + +The father was of the same opinion, and warned Wolfgang that Cambini +would not be the only one who would seek to injure him; but he must not +allow himself to be disconcerted (April 29, 1778). Wolfgang expressed +himself with considerable dissatisfaction:-- + +If this were a place where the people had ears to hear, and a heart to +feel, and just a little understanding and taste for music, I would laugh +from my heart at all these things; but, as far as music is concerned, +I am among a set of dolts and blockheads. How can it be otherwise? They +are just the same in all their transactions, love-affairs, and passions. +There is no place in the world like Paris. You must not think that I +exaggerate in speaking so of the music here. Ask whom you will (only not +a native Frenchman), and they will tell you the same. Well, I am here, +and must make the best of it, for your sake. I shall thank the Almighty +if I come out of it with unvitiated taste. I pray to God daily to give +me grace to stand firm, and do honour to myself and the German nation, +and that He will grant me success, so that I may make plenty of money, +help you out of all your present troubles, and that we may meet once +more, and all live happily together again. + +Through the good offices of Grimm, Mozart was recommended to the Duc +de Guines, who had been recalled from his post as Ambassador in London +after his notorious lawsuit with secretary Tort[5] in 1776, and stood +high in favour with the Queen.[6] L. Mozart wrote (March 28, 1778):[7]-- + +My dear Son,--I beg that you will do your best to gain the friendship of +the Duc de Guines, and to keep well with him; I have frequently read in +the papers of his high place in the royal favour; the Queen being now +_enceinte_, there are sure to be grand festivities when the child is +born; you may get something to do, and make your fortune; for in these +cases everything depends upon the pleasure of the Queen. + + +{CONCERTO IN C MAJOR.} + +(41) + +The Duke was amusing and fond of music;[8] as Mozart himself says, he +played the flute inimitably, and his daughter the harp magnificently.[9] +He gave Mozart a commission to compose a concerto for flute and +harp. These were exactly the two instruments which Mozart could not +endure.[10] But this did not prevent his accomplishing his task to the +perfect satisfaction of the Duke. The concerto (299 K.) is in C major, +with accompaniments for a small orchestra, and consists of the usual +three movements. In conformity with the nature of the instruments the +character of the concerto is cheerful and graceful, and it is excellent +of its kind. Each movement is well and compactly formed, and has an +abundance of rich melody, enhanced in effect by the harmonic treatment, +the varied character of the accompaniment, and the alternation of the +solo instruments. The thematic treatment is only lightly sketched in so +as to keep the interest alive; but in the middle movement of the first +part the harmonic arrangement betrays a master-hand; at its close a +fresh melody is introduced, as was then the rule, in order to excite +the attention anew. Especially graceful and tender is the Andantino, +accompanied only by a quartet. The solo instruments are brilliant +without being particularly difficult; the orchestra is discreetly made +use of to support the delicate solo instruments without interfering with +their effect; but the easy setting _ä jour_ is elaborated in detail +with great skill and decision, both as regards the sound effects and the +passages and turns of the accompaniment. + +Besides this, Mozart gave the Duke's daughter two hours' lessons in +composition daily, for which generous payment might be expected. He +describes the lessons minutely (May 14, 1778):-- + +She has talent and even genius, but especially has she a marvellous +memory: she knows two hundred pieces, and can play them all by heart. + +"Once when we were talking of instruments, Mozart said that he detested +the harp and the flute." + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(42) + +She is, however, very doubtful whether she has any talent for +composition, particularly as regards ideas and imagination; but her +father--who, between ourselves, is a little infatuated about her--says +she has plenty of ideas, but is over-modest, and has too little +confidence in herself. Well, we shall see. If she does not get any ideas +or imagination (at present she has absolutely none) it is all in vain, +for, God knows, I cannot give them to her. Her father has no intention +of making her into a great composer. "I do not wish her," says he, "to +write operas, concertos, songs, or symphonies, but only grand sonatas +for her instrument and mine." To-day I gave her her fourth lesson, and, +as far as regards the rules of composition and exercises, I am fairly +satisfied. She has supplied a very good bass to the first minuet which I +set her. She is beginning now to write in three parts. She does it, but +she gets _ennuyée_. I cannot help it, for I cannot possibly take her +farther. Even if she had genius it would be too soon, and unhappily she +has none--everything must be done artificially. She has no ideas, and so +nothing comes of it. I have tried her in every sort of way. Among other +things, it came into my head to write down a very simple minuet, and to +try if she could write a variation on it. No; it was in vain. "Well," I +thought, "she does not know how to begin;" so I began to vary the first +bar, and told her to go on with it, and keep the same idea; and at +last she managed it. When that was done, I told her to begin something +herself, only the first part of a melody. She reflected for a quarter of +an hour, but nothing came of it. Then I wrote the first four bars of a +minuet, and said, "See what a donkey I am; I have begun a minuet, and +cannot even finish the first part. Be so kind as to do it for me." She +thought it was impossible. At last, after much trouble, something +came to light; and I was very glad of it. Then I made her complete the +minuet--only the first part, of course. I have given her nothing to do +at home but to alter my four bars, and make something out of them--to +invent a new beginning, even if the harmony is the same, so long as the +melody is altered. I shall see to-morrow what she has made of it. + +The father was justly astonished at the demands made by Wolfgang on the +talent of his pupil, and on the earnestness with which he threw himself +into his task (May 28,1778):-- + +You write that you have just given Mdlle. de Guines her fourth lesson, +and you want her to write down her own ideas; do you think that +everybody has your genius? It will come in time. She has a good memory; +let her _steal,_ or more politely, _adapt_; it does no harm at the +beginning, until courage comes. Your plan of variations is a good +one, only persevere. If M. le Duc sees anything, however small, by his +daughter, he will be delighted. It is really an excellent acquaintance. + +But Wolfgang had not the art of cultivating such + + +{LIFE IN PARIS.} + +(43) + +acquaintances any more than of giving lessons in composition to young +ladies of no talent; he wrote later that she was thoroughly stupid and +thoroughly lazy (July 9, 1778), and in conclusion the Duke offered him +two louis-d'or, which he indignantly rejected. + +He had some other pupils, and might have had more had not the distances +in Paris been so great that his time was too much curtailed thereby; he +complains (July 31, 1778):-- + +It is no joke to give lessons here. You must not think that it is +laziness; no! but it is quite against my nature, my way of life. You +know that I, so to speak, live in music; that I am busy at it the whole +day, planning, studying, considering. Lessons come in the way of this; +I shall certainly have some hours free, but I need them rather for rest +than for work. + +Highly distasteful to him also were visits to people of rank, and +attempts to gain their favour. He enumerates all the disagreeables of it +(May 1, 1778):-- + +You write that I should pay plenty of visits to make new acquaintances +and renew old ones. It is really impossible. To go on foot takes too +long and makes one too dirty, for Paris is inconceivably filthy; and to +drive costs four or five livres a day, and all for nothing; the people +pay compliments and nothing more; engage me for such or such a day, and +then I play, and they say "Oh! c'est un prodige, c'est inconcevable, +c'est étonnant!" and then adieu. I have already spent money enough in +that way, and often uselessly, for the people have been out. No one can +know the annoyance of it who is not here. Paris is very much altered; +the French are not nearly so polite as they were fourteen years ago; +they approach very near to rudeness now, and are dreadfully arrogant. + +The example which he gives his father sufficiently justifies his +complaints, and is as significant of the impertinence of the nobility +towards artists as of Mozart's powerlessness to resent such behaviour:-- + +M. Grimm gave me a letter to Madame la Duchesse de Chabot,[11] and I +went there. The purport of the letter was principally to recommend me + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(44) + +to the Duchesse de Bourbon[12] (then in a convent),[13] and to bring me +again to her remembrance. A week passed without any notice taken; but, +as she had already commanded my presence in that time, I went. I was +left to wait half an hour in an icily cold, very large room, with no +stove or means of heating it. At last the Duchesse de Chabot came in, +and politely begged me to make allowances for the clavier, since she had +none in good order; would I try it? I said I should have been delighted +to play something, but that I could not feel my fingers for the cold, +and I begged her to allow me to go to a room where at least there was a +stove. "Oh, oui, monsieur; vous avez raison," was her only answer. Then +she sat down and began to draw for at least an hour with some other +gentlemen, who all sat round a great table. I had the honour of standing +waiting this hour. The doors and windows were open; very soon, not only +my hands, but my feet and whole body were stiff with cold, and my head +began to ache. No one spoke to me, and I did not know what to do for +cold, headache, and fatigue. At last, to cut it short, I played on the +wretched, miserable pianoforte. The most vexatious part of all was that +Madame and all the gentlemen went on with their employment without a +moment's pause or notice, so that I played for the walls and chairs. +All these things put together were too much for my patience. I began the +Fischer variations, played the half, and got up. Then followed no end of +_éloges_. I said what was quite true, that I could do myself no credit +with such a clavier, and that I should be very pleased to appoint +another day when I could have a better clavier. But she did not consent, +and I was obliged to wait another half-hour, till her husband came +in.[14] But he sat down beside me, and listened with all attention; and +then I--I forgot cold, and headache, and annoyance, and played on the +wretched clavier as you know I can play when I am in a good humour. Give +me the best clavier in Europe, but with an audience who do not or will +not understand and feel with me when I play, and I lose all pleasure in +it. I told the whole affair to M. Grimm. + +Wolfgang tells his father (May 14, 1778) of a prospect of a settled +position, in which, however, he was disappointed:-- + +Rudolph (the French horn-player) is in the royal service here, and very +friendly to me. He has offered me the place of organist at Versailles, +if I like to take it. It brings in 2,000 livres a year, but I should +have to live six months at Versailles, the other six where I + + +{OFFER OF COURT SERVICE.} + +(45) + +chose. I must ask the advice of my friends, for 2,000 livres is no such +great sum. It would be if it were in German coin, but not here; it makes +83 louis-d'or and 8 livres a year; that is, 915 florins 45 kreutzers of +our money (a large sum), but only 333 dollars and 2 livres here, +which is not much. It is dreadful how soon a dollar goes! I cannot be +surprised at people thinking so little of a louis-d'or here, for it is +very little; four dollars, or a louis-d'or, which is the same thing, are +gone directly. + +His father, who considered a settled position of such importance that +a certain amount of concession should be made for it, advised him to +reflect well on the proposal, if indeed Rudolph (1730-1812), who had +been a member of the band since 1763, had sufficient influence to bring +it about (May 28, 1778):-- + +You must not reject it at once. You must consider that the 83 louis-d'or +are earned in six months; that you have half the year for other work; +that it probably is a permanent post, whether you are ill or well; that +you can give it up when you like; that you are _at Court, consequently_ +daily under the eyes of the King and Queen, and so much the nearer your +fortune; that you may be promoted to one of the two kapellmeisters' +places; that in time, if promotion is the rule, you may become +clavier-master to the royal family, which would be a lucrative post; +that there would be nothing to hinder your writing for the theatre, +concert spirituel, &c., and printing music with dedications to your +grand acquaintance among the ministers who frequent Versailles, +especially in summer; that Versailles itself is a small town, or at all +events, has many respectable inhabitants, among whom pupils would surely +be found; and that, finally, this is the surest way to the favour and +protection of the queen. Read this to the Baron von Grimm, and ask his +opinion. + +But Grimm took Wolfgang's view of the matter, expressed in his answer to +his father (July 3, 1778):-- + +My inclination has never turned towards Versailles; I took the advice +of Baron Grimm, and others of my best friends, and they all thought with +me. It is small pay. I should have to waste half the year in a place +where nothing else could be earned, and where my talents would be +buried. For to be in the royal service is to be forgotten in Paris--and +then to be only organist! I should like a good post extremely, but +nothing less than kapellmeister--and well paid. + +Mozart's absorbing desire was to have an opportunity of distinguishing +himself as a composer, above all things by an opera. There seemed a fair +prospect of doing this soon + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(46) + +after his arrival in Paris. He had renewed his acquaintance with Noverre +(p. 145), who, after giving up the direction of the ballet at Vienna in +1775, had, through the Queen's influence, been appointed ballet-master +to the Grand-Opéra in 1776.[15] He took such a liking for Mozart that he +not only invited him to his table as often as he chose, but commissioned +him to write an opera. He proposed as a good subject, "Alexander and +Roxane," and set a librettist to work at the adaptation of it. The first +act was ready at the beginning of April; and a month later Mozart was +in hopes of receiving the whole text. It had then to be submitted to the +approbation of the director of the Grand-Opéra, De Vismes; but this did +not seem to offer any difficulty, Noverre's influence being powerful +with the director. + +As soon as L. Mozart heard of the prospect of an opera, he wrote (April +12, 1778):-- + +I strongly advise you, before writing for the French stage, to hear +their operas, and find what pleases them. In this way you will become +quite a Frenchman, and I hope you will be specially careful to accustom +yourself to the proper accent of the language. + +And he continues to impress upon him (April 29, 1778):-- + +Now that you tell me you are about to write an opera, follow my advice, +and reflect that your whole reputation hangs on your first piece. Listen +before you write, and study the national taste; listen to their operas, +and examine them. I know your wonderful powers of imitation. Do not +write hurriedly--no sensible composer does that. Study the words +beforehand with Baron von Grimm and Noverre; make sketches, and let them +hear them. It is always done: Voltaire reads his poems to his friends, +hears their judgments, and follows their suggestions. Your honour and +profit depend upon it; and as soon as we have money we will go to Italy +again. + +Wolfgang was aware of the difficulties which lay before him, especially +with regard to the language and the vocalists, and expressed himself +energetically on both points (July 9, 1778) + +If I do get as far as writing an opera, I shall have trouble enough over +it; that I do not mind, for I am used to it, if only this cursed French + + +{PROSPECTS OF AN OPERA, 1778.} + +(47) + +language were not so utterly opposed to music! It is truly miserable; +German is divine in comparison. And then the vocalists, male and female! +they have no right to the name, for they do not sing, but shriek and +howl, and all from the nose and the throat. + +In spite of all this, he was eager to set to work (July 31, 1778):-- + +I assure you that I shall be only too pleased if I do succeed in writing +an opera. The language is the invention of the devil, that is true; and +the same difficulties are before me that beset all composers; but I +feel as well able as any one else to surmount them; in fact, when I tell +myself that all goes well with my opera, I feel a fire within me, and my +limbs tingle with the desire to make the French know, honour, and fear +the German nation more. + +In the meantime L. Mozart heard that at the very time when Noverre was +interesting himself so warmly in Wolfgang's opera, he had engaged him to +write the music for a ballet which was coming out (May 14, 1778). When, +after a considerable lapse of time, the father inquired what had +become of this ballet, and what he had made by it, Wolfgang had almost +forgotten the subject (July 9, 1778):-- + +As to Noverre's ballet, I only wrote that perhaps he would be making +a new one. He just wanted half a ballet, and for that I provided the +music; that is, there were six pieces by other people in it, consisting +of poor, miserable French songs; I did the overture and contredanses, +altogether about twelve pieces. The ballet has been performed four times +with great applause.[16] But now I mean to do nothing without being sure +beforehand what I am to get for it, for this was only as a good turn to +Noverre. + +But such "good turns" were precisely what Noverre had in view. It suited +him, as it did Le Gros, to have at command the services of a young +artist eager to compose and ready to accept hope and patronage in lieu +of payment, whose name it was not necessary to risk bringing before the +public, since he was only employed as a stop-gap. But it would be a +very different and far more serious thing for them to bring forward an +original work, such as an opera, by this + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(48) + +same unknown young man. In case of failure the protectors would share +the responsibilities of the _protégé_, while success would bring fame +and profit to the latter alone. Nothing shows more clearly Mozart's +unsuspecting nature than his explanation of the long delay of his +libretto (July 9, 1778):-- + +It is always so with an opera. It is so hard to find a good poem; the +old ones, which are the best, are not in the modern style, and the new +ones are good for nothing; for poetry, which was the only thing the +French had to be proud of, gets worse every day, and the poetry of the +opera is just the part that must be good, for they do not understand the +music. There are only two operas _in aria_ which I could write--one +in two acts, the other in three. The one in two acts is "Alexander and +Roxane," but the poet who is writing it is still in the country. That +in three acts is "Demofoonte" (by Metastasio), translated and mixed with +choruses and dances, and specially arranged for the French theatre» and +this I have not yet been able to see. + +The father saw through it all more plainly, and cautioned Wolfgang, +if he wanted to succeed with an opera in Paris, to make himself known +beforehand (August 27, 1778):-- + +You must make a name for yourself. When did Gluck, when did Piccinni, +when did all these people come forward? Gluck is not less than sixty, +and it is twenty-six or twenty-seven years since he was first spoken of; +and can you really imagine that the French public, or even the manager +of the theatre, can be convinced of your powers of composition without +having heard anything by you in their lives, or knowing you, except in +your childhood as an excellent clavier-player and precocious genius? +You must exert yourself, and make yourself known as a composer in every +branch; make opportunities, and be indefatigable in making friends and +in urging them on; wake them up when their energies slacken, and do not +take for granted that they have done all they say they have. I should +have written long ago to M. de Noverre if I had known his title and +address. + +But this way of pushing his talents was completely foreign to Wolfgang's +nature; and so it followed, in the natural course of things, that after +a delay of months Noverre declared that he might be able to help him to +a libretto, but could not insure the opera being performed when it was +ready. + +One success, however, was to be granted him in Paris. He had naturally +ceased to visit Le Gros since the latter + + +{PARISIAN SYMPHONY.} + +(49) + +had so ruthlessly rejected his Sinfonie Concertante, but had been every +day with Raaff, who lived in the same house. He had chanced to meet Le +Gros there, who made the politest apologies, and begged him again to +write a symphony for the Concert Spirituel. How could Mozart resist such +a petition? On June 12 he took the symphony which he had just finished +to Count Sickingen, where Raaff was. He continues:-- + +They were both highly pleased. I myself am quite satisfied with it. +Whether it will please generally I do not know; and, truth to say, I +care very little; for whom have I to please? The _very few_ intelligent +Frenchmen that there are I can answer for; as for the stupid ones, it +does not signify much whether they are pleased or not. But I am in hopes +that even the donkeys will find something to admire. I have not omitted +the _premier coup d'archet!_--and that is enough for them. What a fuss +they make about that, to be sure! _Was Teufel!_ I see no difference. +They just begin together, as they do elsewhere. It is quite +ludicrous.[17] + +The symphony pleased unusually, however, as he tells his father (July 3, +1778):-- + +It was performed on Corpus Christi day with all applause. I hear that +a notice of it has appeared in the "Courrier de l'Europe." I was very +unhappy over the rehearsal, for I never heard anything worse in my life; +you cannot imagine how they scraped and scrambled over the symphony +twice. I was really unhappy; I should like to have rehearsed it again, +but there are so many things, that there was no time. So I went to bed +with a heavy heart and a discontented and angry spirit. The day before, +I decided not to go to the concert; but it was a fine evening, and I +determined at last to go, but with the intention, if it went as ill as +at the rehearsal, of going into the orchestra, taking the violin out of +the hands of M. La Houssaye, and conducting myself. I prayed for God's +grace that it might go well, for it is all to His honour and glory; and, +_ecce!_ the symphony began. Raaff stood close to me, and + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(50) + +in the middle of the first allegro was a passage that I knew was sure to +please; the whole audience was struck, and there was great applause. + +I knew when I was writing it that it would make an effect, so I brought +it in again at the end, _da capo_. The andante pleased also, but +especially the last allegro. I had heard that all the last allegros +here, like the first, begin with all the instruments together, and +generally in unison; so I began with the violins alone _piano_ for eight +bars, followed at once by a _forte_. The audience (as I had anticipated) +cried "Hush!" at the _piano_ but directly the _forte_ began they took to +clapping. As soon as the symphony was over I went into the Palais-Royal, +took an ice, told my beads as I had vowed, and went home. + +So brilliant a success was not wanting in more lasting results: "M. Le +Qros has taken a tremendous fancy to me," he writes (July 9, 1778); and +he was commissioned to write a French oratorio for performance at the +Concert Spirituel during the following Lent:-- + +My symphony was unanimously applauded; and Le Gros is so pleased with +it that he calls it his best symphony.[18] Only the andante does not hit +his taste; he says there are too many changes of key in it, and it is +too long; but the real truth is that the audience forgot to clap their +hands so loud as for the first and last movements; the andante is more +admired than any other part by myself, and by all connoisseurs, as well +as by the majority of the audience; it is just the contrary of what Le +Gros says, being unaffected and short. But for his satisfaction (and +that of others, according to him) I have written another. Either is good +of its kind, for they differ greatly; perhaps, on the whole, I prefer +the second one. + +The symphony (297 K.), well known, by the name of the French or Parisian +Symphony, was repeated with the new andante on August 15. It consists of +three movements in the customary form, except that none of the parts +are repeated entire, although they are perfectly distinct. This was +a concession to the Parisian taste. Wolfgang writes to his father +(September 11, 1778) that his earlier symphonies would not please there: +"We in Germany have a taste for lengthy performances, but in point of +fact, it is better to be short and + + +{PARISIAN SYMPHONY.} + +(51) + +good," The first and last movements are unusually animated and restless, +with an almost unbroken rapidity of movement; and the different subjects +offer no contrasts as to character, being all in the same light, +restless style. Thematic elaboration is only hinted at, except in the +well worked-out middle movement of the finale. Melodies are scattered +through the whole in great abundance, often connected with each other in +a highly original and attractive manner. Suspense is kept up by strong +contrasts of forte and piano, by sudden breaks and imperceptible +modulations, and by striking harmonic effects. The general impression +given by both movements is animated and brilliant, but they are more +calculated to stir the intellect than to awaken the deeper emotions, and +are therefore well suited to a Parisian audience. The same is the +case with the tender and beautiful andante, which only now and then, +surreptitiously as it were, betrays the existence of deep feeling. There +are, as has been seen, two versions of the andante, both still existing +in Mozart's handwriting--the second considerably shorter than the first. +The leading part is minutely given throughout the score of the whole +piece (which is marked andantino), besides a fixed subject being +indicated for the bass, and in some places for the other instruments. +After thus laying down, as it were, the ground plan, he proceeded to +details, making few alterations beyond some slight abbreviations. When, +in working out the movement, he came to a passage which seemed to him +tedious or superfluous, he struck it out, and went on with the next. +This has been the case with several unimportant passages, and with one +longer one, a transition to the theme by means of an imitative passage +(after page 36, bar 6, of the score); soon after, too, a middle passage +with flute and oboe solos is cut out. After thus elaborating the +movement, he hastily copied it all, as it is now printed.[19] The later +andante is printed in a Parisian edition of the symphony;[20] it is far +less important than the first, and was + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(52) + +rightly rejected by Mozart. It is worthy of remark that the violoncello +is employed as a leading instrument. + +The orchestral workmanship shows that Mozart had not listened to the +Mannheim band in vain; the different instruments form a well-ordered +whole, in which each has its individual significance. It is only +necessary to examine the thematic arrangement in the last movement +(score, page 54) to perceive how skilfully the effect of varied +tone-colouring is taken into account, while at the same time, by +means of contrapuntal treatment, due prominence is given to the purely +melodious element. It may well be imagined that Mozart would not let +slip the opportunity of trying the splendid effect of a symphony with +flutes, oboes, and clarinets (Vol. I., p. 385). But the clarinets are +sparely used as a foreign importation, and, together with the trumpets +and drums, are altogether omitted from the andante. Large demands are +made on the executive delicacy of the orchestra, and in many places the +whole effect depends on a well-managed _crescendo_, as it had never done +in previous works; in fact, it is not too much to say that many of the +subjects would not have been conceived as they are, without the prospect +of their performance by a well-organised orchestra. + +During this interval Mozart also completed the clavier sonatas, with +violin accompaniment, which he had begun at Mannheim (301-306 K.), the +fourth bearing the inscription "ä Paris," and busied himself to find a +publisher for them who would pay him well.[21] He found leisure, also, +to compose a capriccio for his sister's birthday. + +Thus we see Mozart, disliking Paris and the Parisians, deriving little +practical gain from all his exertions, and yet striving in his own way +to attain the position which was his due, when an event occurred which +plunged himself and his family into the deepest grief. Paris had never +agreed with the Frau Mozart. Their lodging in the "Hötel des quatre fils +d'Aymon," in the Rue du Gros-Chenet--a musical quarter + + +{DEATH OF MOZART'S MOTHER.} + +(53) + +--was bad, as well as the living, and she sat all day "as if under +arrest," Wolfgang's affairs necessitating his almost constant absence. +She was ill for three weeks in May, and intended, on her recovery, to +seek out better lodgings, and manage the housekeeping herself. But +in June she fell ill again; she was bled, and wrote afterwards to her +husband (June 12, 1778) that she was very weak, and had pains in her arm +and her eyes, but that on the whole she was better. But the improvement +was only apparent, and her illness took a serious turn; the physician +whom Grimm sent in gave up hope, and after a fortnight of the deepest +anxiety, which Wolfgang passed at his mother's bedside, she gently +passed away on July 3. His only support at this trying time was a +musician named Heina, who had known his father in former days, and had +often, with his wife, visited Frau Mozart in her solitude. Wolfgang's +first thought was to break the news gently to his father, who was ill +prepared for so crushing a blow. He wrote to him at once, saying that +his mother was ill, and that her condition excited alarm; at the same +time he acquainted their true friend Bullinger with the whole truth, +and begged him to break the dreadful news to his father as gently as +possible. In a few days, when he knew that this had been done, he wrote +again himself in detail, offering all the consolation he could, and +strove to turn his father's thoughts from the sad subject to the +consideration of his own prospects. This letter[22] affords a fresh +example of the deep and tender love which bound parents and children +together, and of Wolfgang's own sentiments and turn of mind. The +consolations he offers, and the form in which he expresses them, are +those of one who has himself passed through all the sad experiences +of life; but to his father, whose teaching had tended to produce this +effect, his expressions were justified and correct. With a natural and +genuine sorrow for his irreparable loss is combined a manly composure, +which sought not to obtain relief by indulging in sorrow, but to look +forward calmly and steadily to the future and its duties. + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(54) + +As a loving son, he set himself to the filial task of comforting and +supporting his father. After hearing that the latter was aware of his +wife's death, and resigned to God's will, Wolfgang answers (July 31, +1778):-- + +Sad as your letter made me, I was beyond measure pleased to find that +you take everything in a right spirit, and that I need not be uneasy +about my dear father and my darling sister. My impulse after reading +your letter was to fall on my knees and thank God for His mercy. I am +well and strong again now, and have only occasional fits of melancholy, +for which the best remedy is writing or receiving letters--that restores +my spirits again at once. + +He felt, and with justice, that his father's anxiety on his account +would now be redoubled. In keeping him informed of all his exertions +and successes he satisfied his own longing to confide in his father, and +gave the latter just that kind of interest and occupation of the mind +which would serve to dispel his grief. It is touching to see the pains +he takes to keep his father informed of all that he thinks will interest +him, and how a certain irritability which had occasionally, and under +the circumstances excusably, betrayed itself in his former letters, now +completely disappears before the expression of tender affection: even +the handwriting, which had been blamed as careless and untidy by his +father, becomes neater and better. Trifles such as these are often the +clearest expression of deep and refined feeling. + +When the heavy blow fell, Wolfgang was alone, his Mannheim friends +having left Paris; his father might well be apprehensive lest he should +neglect the proper care of himself and his affairs. But Grimm now came +forward; he, or more properly, as Mozart declares, his friend Madame +D'Epinay, offered him an asylum in their house,[23] and a place at their +table, and he willingly agreed, as soon as he was convinced that he +should cause neither appreciable expense nor inconvenience. He soon +found himself obliged occasionally to borrow small sums of Grimm, which +gradually mounted + + +{MOZART AS GRIMM'S GUEST.} + +(55) + +"piecemeal" to fifteen louis-d'or; Grimm reassures the father by telling +him that repayment may be indefinitely postponed. But Wolfgang soon +found the way of life in Grimm's household not at all to his mind, and +wrote of it as "stupid and dull." And, indeed, a greater contrast cannot +well be imagined than when, from the house whence issued with scrupulous +devotion bulletins of Voltaire's health, contradictory reports of his +religious condition, and finally the announcement of his death (May 30, +1778), Wolfgang should write to his father (July 3, 1778): "I will tell +you a piece of news, which perhaps you know already; that godless +fellow and arch-scoundrel Voltaire is dead, like a dog, like a brute +beast--that is his reward!" The condescending patronage with which he +was treated soon became intolerable to him, and he complains of Grimm's +way of furthering his interests in Paris as better fitted to a child +than a grown man. We can well imagine that Grimm, like Mozart's own +father, desired that he should make acquaintances, should gain access to +distinguished families as a teacher and clavier-player, and should +seek to win the favour of the fashion-leading part of the community; no +doubt, too, Grimm felt it his duty to remonstrate openly with Wolfgang +for what he considered his indolence and indifference. It is impossible +to deny the good sense and proper appreciation of the position of all +Grimm's remarks, but they were resented by Mozart on account of the tone +of superiority with which they were enforced. Grimm was indeed openly +opposed to Mozart, and told him frankly that he would never succeed in +Paris--he was not active, and did not go about enough; and he wrote the +same thing to Wolfgang's father.[24] + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(56) + +It soon became apparent that Grimm was not really of opinion that +Mozart's talents were of such an order as to offer him a career in +Paris; he said that he could not believe that Wolfgang would be able to +write a French opera likely to succeed, and referred him for instruction +to the Italians. "He is always wanting me," writes Mozart (September 11, +1778), "to follow Piccinni or Caribaldi (Vol. I., p. 77), in fact, he +belongs to the foreign party--he is false--and tries to put me down in +every way." He longed above all things to write an opera to show Grimm +"that I can do as much as his dear Piccinni, although I am only a +German." Grimm's character was not a simple one;[25] he had both won and +kept for himself under adverse circumstances an influential position, +which was no easy matter in Paris at any time. Queer stories were told +of him,[26] and his love of truth was not implicitly relied on.[27] +Rousseau describes him as perfidious and egotistical. Madame D'Epinay, +on the other hand, extols him as a disinterested friend, and others +speak of his benevolence and ready sympathy.[28] There is, at any +rate, no reason to suspect that he meant otherwise than well by Mozart, +although he did not appreciate his genius, and interested himself more +for the father's sake than the son's. He had striven for years to +assert the supremacy of Italian music, and his ideal was Italian opera +performed in Paris by Italian singers in the Italian language. When De +Vismes, who was anxious to propitiate all parties, engaged a company of +Italian + + +{STUDY OF FRENCH OPERA.} + +(57) + +singers,[29] Grimm hailed the auspicious day on which Caribaldi, +Baglioni, and Chiavacci appeared in Piccinni's "Finte Gemelle" (June +n, 1778).[30] It is therefore quite conceivable that he renounced all +interest in Mozart's artistic future as soon as he was convinced of his +falling off from purely Italian notions, and it is interesting to us to +have so clear an indication that even thus early in his career Mozart +had set himself in opposition to the Italian school. He had long since +learnt all that it had to teach, and he fully recognised the fact that +it was his mission to carry on the reform set on foot by Gluck and +Grétry, at the same time retaining all that was valuable in the Italian +teaching. + +A confirmation of this is found in a later expression of opinion made +by Mozart to Joseph Frank, who found him engaged in the study of French +scores, and asked him if it would not be better to devote himself to +Italian compositions; whereupon Mozart answered: "As far as melody is +concerned, yes; but as far as dramatic effect is concerned, no; besides, +the scores which you see here are by Gluck, Piccinni, Salieri, as well +as Grétry, and have nothing French but the words."[31] This view +was confirmed by his stay in Paris, a stay quite as fruitful for his +artistic development as that at Mannheim had been. Grimm's accounts show +that Mozart had opportunities for hearing the operas of numerous French +composers. Besides Gluck's "Armide" which was still new, "Orpheus," +"Alceste," and "Iphigenia in Aulis," which had been revived, Piccinni's +"Roland," Grètry's "Matroco," "Les Trois Ages de l'Opéra," and "Le +Jugement de Midas" were given, as well as Philidor's "Ernelinde," +Dezaide's "Zulima," Gossec's "Fête du Village," Rousseau's "Devin +du Village." Added to these were Piccinni's Italian opera "Le Finte +Gemelle," and doubtless many others of which we know nothing. It may +well excite wonder that Mozart's letters to his father describe + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(58) + +none of the new artistic impressions which he must have received in +Paris. But, apart from the fact that personal affairs naturally held +the first place in his home correspondence, it must be remembered that +abstract reflections on art and its relation to individual artists were +not at that time the fashion, and were besides quite foreign to Mozart's +nature. His aesthetic remarks and judgments whether they treated of +technical questions or of executive effects, are mostly founded on +concrete phenomena. The practical directness of his productive power, +set in motion by every impulse of his artistic nature, prevented his +fathoming the latest psychical conditions of artistic activity, or +tracing the delicate threads which connect the inner consciousness +of the artist with his external impressions, or analysing the secret +processes of the soul which precede the production of a work of art. He +does not seem any more actively conscious of the effect wrought upon +him by the works of others. Some men's impressions of a great work are +involuntary, and they seek later to comprehend the grounds of their +enjoyment; others strive consciously to grasp the idea of the work and +to incorporate it into their being; but to the man of creative genius +alone is it given to preserve his own totality while absorbing all that +is good in the works of other artists. + +Without ever losing his own individuality, an artist of true genius +absorbs impressions from nature and from other works of art than his +own, and constructs them anew from his inner consciousness. He accepts +and assimilates whatever is calculated to nourish his formative power, +and rejects with intuitive right judgment all that is foreign to his +nature. Just as in the production of a true work of art invention and +labour, inspiration and execution, willing and doing, are inseparably +interwoven, so in the consideration by a genius of the works of other +men and other ages, delighted appreciation is combined with criticism, +ready apprehension collects materials for original work in its truest +sense; it is a natural process, which perfects itself in the mind of the +artist without any conscious action on his part. + +Therefore the judgment that one artist pronounces on + + +{RESULT. OF STAY IN PARIS.} + +(59) + +another is not always in perfect accord with the influence which has +been brought to bear on himself by that other. The deeper the influence +penetrates into the roots of an artist's inner being, the more will it +become part and parcel of his productive powers, and the consciousness +of any outside influence will be rapidly lost. It remains for future +historical inquirers to ascertain and define the influence of the +intellectual current of the age on the individual, and the mutual action +on each other of exceptional phenomena. + +Small as the visible results of Mozart's stay in Paris might be, and far +as he remained from the object with which he had undertaken the journey, +it yet enabled him, with great gain to his progress as an artist, to +free himself from the Italian school, after such a thorough study of +its principles as convinced him of the value of the element of dramatic +construction which lay concealed in it. It may indeed be considered as a +fortunate circumstance that no sooner had this conviction taken root in +him than he turned his back on party disputes and left the place +which was of all others the least fitted to encourage the quiet steady +progress of genius. + +L. Mozart had other and very different reasons for wishing to shorten +Wolfgang's stay in Paris as much as he had hitherto desired to prolong +it. With his wife's death he had lost the assurance that Wolfgang's life +in Paris would be of no detriment to his moral nature. Indulgent as she +had been to her son, in this respect her influence was unbounded; and +now it might be feared that Wolfgang's easy-going nature would lead him +into bad company. Grimm's account convinced him that Wolfgang had +no prospects of success in Paris, the less so as he took no pains to +conceal his dislike of the place. His dearest wish at this time was to +be appointed Kapellmeister to the Elector of Bavaria; he hoped thus +to be able to improve the position of the Weber family, and to claim +Aloysia as his own. The project was not disapproved of by his father +(who, however, was told nothing of the last item); on the contrary, he +wrote to Padre Martini describing the state of affairs, and earnestly + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(60) + +requesting him directly and through Raaff to gain the Elector for +Wolfgang; this the Padre readily undertook. As for Raaff, his friendship +for Mozart and the interest which he took in Aloysia Weber were +incentives enough for exertion, and Mozart had other influential friends +among the musicians, besides being able to count on the support of Count +Sickingen. + +In Munich especially, where there was no German operatic composer of +merit--Holzbauer being too old to have much influence--the need of a +kapellmeister and composer was strongly felt; but the circumstances +were very unfavourable. After it had been finally decided that the court +should be removed from Mannheim to Munich, and all had been prepared +for the move, threatenings of war threw everything into confusion +again. Wolfgang felt this a heavy blow to the interests of the Webers, +concerning whom he writes to his father (July 31, 1778):-- + +The day before yesterday my dear friend Weber wrote to me, among other +things, that the day after the Elector's arrival it was announced that +he intended to take up his residence at Munich. This news came like a +thunderbolt to Mannheim, and the joy which had been testified by the +illuminations of the day before was suddenly extinguished (p. 404). The +court musicians were all informed that they were at liberty to follow +the court to Munich, or to remain in Mannheim with their present salary; +each one was to send in his written and sealed decision to the Intendant +within fourteen days. Weber, whose miserable circumstances you know, +wrote as follows: "My decayed circumstances put it out of my power to +follow my gracious master to Munich, however earnestly I may wish to do +so." Before this happened there was a grand concert at court, and poor +Mdlle. Weber felt her enemies' malice; she was not invited to sing--no +one knows why. Immediately afterwards was a concert at Herr von +Gemmingen's, and Count Seeau was present. She sang two of my songs, and +was fortunate enough to please, in spite of the wretched foreigners (the +Munich singers). She is much injured by these infamous slanderers, who +say that her singing is deteriorating. But Cannabich, when the songs +were over, said to her, "Mademoiselle, I hope that you will go on +deteriorating after this fashion! I will write to Herr Mozart to-morrow, +and acquaint him with your success." As the matter now stands, if war +had not broken out, the court would have removed to Munich; Count Seeau, +who positively _will have Mdlle. Weber_, had arranged everything so +as to take her, and there was hope that the circumstances of the whole +family would improve in + + +{PROSPECTS IN SALZBURG.} + +(61) + +consequence. But now the Munich journey is no more talked of, and +the unfortunate Webers may have to wait here long enough, their debts +growing heavier day by day. If I could only help them! My dear father, +I recommend them to you with my whole heart. If they had only 1,000 +florins a year to depend upon! + +Thereupon his father reminds him that his anxiety about the Webers is +unbecoming, as long as he does not bestow the same care on himself and +his own family (August 27, 1778). Besides there was no prospect for him +in Munich at present, and his father therefore wished him to remain in +Paris, at all events until the matter was decided.[32] + +In the midst of this uncertainty a favourable prospect opened in +Salzburg itself. Since Adlgasser's death it had become more and more +evident at court that Wolfgang's recall would be of all things most +advantageous; it was signified to L. Mozart through Bullinger that, +as he doubtless wished to retain his son near him, the court would be +prepared to give him a monthly salary of fifty florins as organist and +concertmeister, and he might look forward with certainty to being made +kapellmeister; but the Archbishop could not make the first advances. +Bullinger duly performed his mission, but L. Mozart, who well knew the +perplexity the Archbishop was in, required that the proposition should +be made direct to him. So, therefore, it was obliged to be; and the +diplomatic skill, "worthy of a Ulysses" as Wolfgang says, with which L. +Mozart contrived to hold his ground and to avail himself of his strong +position in an interview with the canon, Count Joseph Stahremberg, is +minutely described by himself (June 29, 1778):-- + +When I arrived no one was there but his brother the major, who is +staying with him to recover from the fright into which he has been +thrown by Prussian powder and shot. He told me that an organist had been +recommended to him, but he would not accept him without being sure that +he was good. He wished to know if I was acquainted with him--Mandl, +or some such name, he did not remember what. "Oh, you stupid fellow!" +thought I; "is it likely that an order or a request should be received +from Vienna with reference to a candidate whose + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(62) + +name is not even mentioned." As if I could not guess that all this was +by way of inducing me to mention my son! But not I! no, not a syllable. +I said I had not the honour of knowing any such person, and that I would +never venture to recommend any one to our prince, since it would be +difficult to find any one who would altogether suit him. "Yes," said +he, "I cannot recommend him any one; it is far too difficult! Your son +should be here now!" "Bravo! the bait has taken," thought I; "what a +pity that this man is not a minister of state or an ambassador!" Then +I said, "We will speak plainly. Is it not the case that all possible +measures were taken to drive my son out of Salzburg?" I began at the +beginning and enumerated every past circumstance, so that his brother +was quite astonished, but he himself could not deny the truth of a +single point, and at length told his brother that young Mozart had been +the wonder of all who came to Salzburg. He wanted to persuade me to +write to my son; but I said that I would not do so--it would be labour +in vain, for that unless I could tell him what income he might expect, +my son would laugh at the proposition; Adlgasser's salary would be +totally insufficient. Indeed, even if his Grace the Archbishop were to +offer him fifty florins a-month, it would be doubtful whether he would +accept it. We all three left the house together, for they were going to +the riding-school, and I accompanied them. We spoke on the subject all +the way, and I held to what I had said; he held to my son as the only +candidate for him. The fact is, that the Archbishop can hear of no other +good organist who is also a good clavier-player; he says now (but only +to his favourites) that Beecké was a charlatan and a buffoon, and that +Mozart excels all others; he would rather have him whom he knows than +some one else highly paid whom he does not know. He cannot promise any +one (as he would have to do if he gave a smaller salary) an income by +pupils, since there are but few, and those are mine, I having the name +of giving as good lessons as any man. Here then is the affair in full +swing. I do not write, my dear Wolfgang, with the intention of inducing +you to return to Salzburg, for I place no reliance on the words of the +Archbishop, and I have not yet spoken to his sister the Countess;[33] +I rather avoided the opportunity of meeting her; for she would take +the least word as consent and petition. They must come to me, and if +anything is to be done, I must have a clear and advantageous proposal +made, which can hardly be expected. We must wait, and hold fast to our +point. + +Wolfgang, who disliked Salzburg more even than Paris, at first took +no notice of all this. But the death of the old kapellmeister Lolli, +coinciding with that of his mother, brought + + +{MOZART'S DISLIKE OF SALZBURG.} + +(63) + +matters in Salzburg to a crisis, and under the circumstances L. Mozart +was more than ever convinced that Wolfgang should have a good position +there. Good old Bullinger was again employed as a mediator to reconcile +Wolfgang to the idea. He wrote to his young friend that he would be +wronging his family by refusing so advantageous a position as that now +offered to him, and that life might be endurable even in so small a +place as Salzburg. He mentioned casually that the Archbishop intended +engaging a new singer, and hints that his choice might be turned towards +Aloysia Weber. Thereupon Wolfgang wrote candidly to Bullinger (August 7, +1778):-- + +You know how hateful Salzburg is to me!--not alone on account of the +unjust treatment received there by both my father and myself--though +that in itself is enough to make one wish to wipe the place clean out of +one's memory. But even supposing that things turned out so that we could +live _well_--living _well_ and living _happily_ are two things, and the +latter I should never be able to do without the aid of magic--it +would be against the natural order of things! It would be the greatest +pleasure to me to embrace my dear father and sister, and the sooner the +better; but I cannot deny that my joy would be doubled if the reunion +took place anywhere but in Salzburg. I should have far more hope of +living happily and contentedly. + +He goes on to explain that it is not because Salzburg is small that he +dreads returning to it, but because it offers no field for his talent, +music being but little esteemed there; he remarks with bitter satire how +the Archbishop pretends to seek with much parade for a kapellmeister and +a prima donna, and in reality does nothing. + +Soon after his father gives him further information as to the position +of affairs (August 27, 1778):-- + +I have written to you already that your recall here is desired, and they +beat about the bush with me for a long time without getting me to commit +myself; until at last, after Lolli's death, I was obliged to tell the +Countess that I had addressed a petition to the Archbishop, which, +however, simply appealed to his favour by drawing attention to my long +and uncomplaining services. The conversation then turned upon you, and +I expressed myself as frankly upon all necessary points as I had +previously done to Count Stahremberg. At last she asked me whether +you would come if the Archbishop were to give me Lolli's post, and you +Adlgasser's, which, as I had already calculated, would bring us in + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(64) + +together one thousand florins a year; I could do nothing else but answer +that I had no doubt that if this happened you would consent for love +of me, especially as the Countess declared that there was not the least +doubt that the Archbishop would allow you to travel in Italy every +second year, since he himself had said how important it was to hear +something new from time to time, and that he would furnish you with +good letters of introduction. If this were to happen, we might reckon +securely on one hundred and fifteen florins a month; and, as things now +are, on more than one hundred and twenty florins. We should be better +off than in any other place where living is twice as dear, and, not +having to look so closely after money, we should be able to think more +of amusement. But I am far from thinking the affair a certainty, for I +know how hard such a decision will be to the Archbishop. You have the +entire goodwill and sympathy of the Countess, that is certain; and it +is equally certain that old Arco, Count Stahremberg, and the Bishop of +Konigsgratz, are all anxious to bring the matter to a conclusion. + +But there are reasons, as is always the case; and, as I have always told +you, the Countess and old Arco are afraid of my leaving also. They have +no one to succeed me as a clavier-teacher: I have the name of teaching +well--and, indeed, the proofs are there. They know of no one; and, +should a teacher come from Vienna, is it likely that he would give +lessons for four florins or a ducat the dozen, when anywhere else he +would have two or three ducats? This sets them all in perplexity. +But, as I have said before, I do not reckon on it, because I know the +Archbishop. It may be true that he sincerely wishes to secure you; but +he cannot make up his mind, especially when it concerns _giving_. + +Probably Wolfgang counted on this fact, and refrained on that account +from treating the matter seriously. Just at this time his discomfort +in Paris was lightened by a pleasant event. His old London friend Bach, +(Vol. I., p. 39), had been invited to write an opera ("Amadis") for +Paris. "The French are asses, and always will be," remarks Wolfgang +thereupon (July 9, 1778); "they can do nothing themselves, but are +obliged to have recourse to foreigners. Bach came to Paris to make the +necessary arrangements, and Wolfgang wrote (August 27, 1778):-- + +Herr Bach has been in Paris for the last fortnight. He is going to write +a French opera. He has come to hear the singers; then he goes back to +London, writes the opera, and returns to put it on the stage.[34] You +may imagine his joy and mine at our meeting. Perhaps mine is + + +{SUMMONS TO SALZBURG.} + +(65) + +more sincere, but it must be acknowledged that he is an honest man, and +does people justice. I love him, as you know, from my heart, and have +a high esteem for him. As for him, he does not flatter or exaggerate +as some do, but both to myself and others he praises me seriously and +sincerely. + +Bach had introduced Wolfgang to the Marshal de Noailles,[35] and the +latter had invited them both, as well as Bach's "bosom friend" Tenducci +(Vol. I., p. 41), to St. Germain. There they spent some pleasant days +together, and it need hardly be said that Mozart composed a scena for +Tenducci, with pianoforte, oboe, horn, and bassoon accompaniment, the +instruments being taken by dependents of the Marshal, chiefly Germans, +who played well.[36] + +Meanwhile the time for decision drew near. The Salzburg authorities had +made a definite proposal to L. Mozart, as he had wished, and he wrote to +his son in a way which hardly left him a choice (August 31, 1778):-- + +You do not like Paris, and I scarcely think you are wrong. My heart and +mind have been troubled for you until now, and I have been obliged to +play a very ticklish part, concealing my anxiety under the semblance of +light-heartedness, in order to give the impression that you were in the +best of circumstances and had money in abundance, although I well knew +to the contrary. I was very doubtful of gaining my point because, as you +know, the step we took and your hasty resignation left us little to hope +from our haughty Archbishop. But my clever management has carried me +through, and the Archbishop has agreed to all my terms, both for you and +myself. You are to have five hundred florins, and he expressed regret at +not being able to make you kapellmeister at once. You are to be allowed +to act as my deputy when the work is beyond me, or I am unfit to do it. +He said he had always intended to give you a better post, &c.; in fact, +to my amazement, he made the politest apologies. More than that! he +has given five florins additional to Paris,[37] so that he may take the +heaviest duties, and enable you to act as concertmeister again. So that + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(66) + +we shall get altogether, as I told you before, an income of one thousand +florins. Now I should like to know whether you think my head is worth +anything, and whether or not I have done my best for you. I have thought +of everything. The Archbishop has declared himself prepared to let you +travel where you will, if you want to write an opera. He apologised for +his refusal last year by saying that he could not bear his subjects to +go about begging. Now Salzburg is a middle point between Munich, Vienna, +and Italy. It will be easier to get a commission for an opera in Munich +than to get an official post, for German composers are scarce. The +Elector's death has put a stop to all appointments, and war is breaking +out again. The Duke of + +Zweibrücken[38] is no great lover of music. But I would rather you did +not leave Paris until I have the signed agreement in my hand. The Prince +and the whole court are wonderfully taken with Mdlle. Weber, and are +absolutely determined to hear her. She must stay with us. Her father +seems to me to have no head. I will manage the affair for them if they +choose to follow my advice. You must speak the word for her here, for +there is another singer wanted for operatic performances. + +He was now so sure of the affair that he concluded his letter with the +words, "My next letter will tell you when to set off." + +L. Mozart was not mistaken in his son; however great the sacrifice it +entailed upon him, he prepared to yield to the will of his father. "When +I read your letter," he answered (September 11, 1778), "I trembled with +joy, for I felt myself already in your embrace. It is true, as you will +acknowledge, that it is not much of a prospect for me; but when I look +forward to seeing you, and embracing my dearest sister, I think of no +other prospect." He did not conceal from his father his repugnance to +the idea of a residence at Salzburg, on account of the want of congenial +society, the unmusical tone of the place, and the little confidence +placed by the Archbishop in sensible and cultivated people. His +consolation was the permission to travel, without which he would +hardly have made up his mind to come. "A man of mediocre talent remains +mediocre whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent (which +I cannot without hypocrisy deny myself to be) becomes bad if he always +remains in the same place." The possibility that Aloysia Weber might +come to Salzburg + + +{ENCOURAGEMENT FROM L. MOZART.} + +(67) + +filled him with joy; for, indeed, if the Archbishop really wanted a +prima donna, he could not have a better one. He is already troubled by +the thought "that if people come from Salzburg for the Carnival, and +'Rosamund' is played, poor Mdlle. Weber will perhaps not please, or +at least will not be judged of as she deserves, for she has a wretched +part--almost a _persona muta_--to sing a few bars between the choruses" +(Vol. I., p. 403). "When I am in Salzburg," he continues, "I shall +certainly not fail to intercede with all zeal for my dear friend; and in +the meantime I earnestly hope you will do your best for her--you cannot +give your son any greater pleasure." He begs for permission to take +Mannheim on his way home, in order to visit the Webers. + +L. Mozart, knowing how deep and well-founded an antipathy Wolfgang had +for Salzburg, sought to convince him that he would find himself in a +much better position there now than formerly. "Our assured income," he +wrote (September 3, 1778), "is what I have written to you, and your mode +of life will not come in the way of your studies and any other work. +You are not to play the violin at court, but you have full power of +direction at the clavier." This was an important point to Wolfgang, and +his father recurs to it again (September 24, 1778):-- + +Formerly you were really nothing but a violinist, and that only as +concertmeister; now you are concertmeister and court organist, and your +chief duty is to accompany at the clavier. You will not think it any +disgrace to play the violin as an _amateur_ in the first symphony, since +you will do it in company with the Archbishop himself, and all the +court nobility. Herr Haydn is a man whose musical merit you will readily +acknowledge--should you stigmatise him as a "court fiddler" because, +in his capacity as concertmeister, he plays the viola in the smaller +concerts? It is all by way of amusement; and I would lay a wager that, +rather than hear your compositions bungled, you would set to yourself +with a will." + +He consoles him also by reminding him that the concerts at court are +short, from seven o'clock to a quarter past eight, and that seldom +more than four pieces are performed--a symphony, an aria, a symphony or +concerto, and another aria (September 17, 1778). Since the + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(68) + +payment of their debts did not press, they could pay off annually a +few hundred gulden, and live easily and comfortably. "You will find +amusement enough here; for when one has not to look at every kreutzer, +it makes many things possible. We can go to all the balls at the +Town-Hall during the Carnival. The Munich theatrical company are to +come at the end of September, and to remain here the whole winter with +comedies and operettas. Then there is our quoit-playing every Sunday, +and if we choose to go into society it will come to us; everything is +altered when one has a better income." But the father knew that the +point on which Wolfgang would be most open to persuasion was not the +prospect of Salzburg gaieties, but that of a union with his beloved +Mdlle. Weber; and he goes on to speak on this subject too. Not only does +he say, "You will soon be asked about Mdlle. Weber when you are here; +I have praised her continually, and I will do all I can to gain her a +hearing," but he continues: "As to Mdlle. Weber, you must not imagine +that I disapprove of the acquaintance. All young people must make fools +of themselves. You are welcome to continue your correspondence without +interference from me. Nay, more! I will give you a piece of advice. +Every one knows you here. You had better address your letters to Mdlle. +Weber under cover to some one else, and receive them in the same way, +unless you think my prudence a sufficient safeguard." + +The paternal permission to make a fool of himself was calculated to hurt +the lover's tenderest feelings, and he does not disguise that this is +the case in narrating a proof of the genuine attachment of the Webers +for him. "The poor things," he writes (October 15, 1778), "were all in +great anxiety on my account. They thought I was dead, not having heard +from me for a whole month, owing to the loss of a letter; they were +confirmed in their opinion because of a report in Mannheim that my dear +mother had died of an infectious illness. They all prayed for my soul, +and the dear girl went every day to the church of the Capucins. You will +laugh, no doubt? but not I; it touches me; I cannot help it." About the +same time he received the news + + +{ALOYSIA WEBER AT MUNICH.} + +(69) + +that Aloysia had obtained an operatic engagement at Munich with a good +salary,[39] and he expresses the mingled feelings with which he heard it +simply and truly:-- + +I am as pleased at Mdlle. Weber's, or rather at my dear Aloysia's +appointment as any one who has taken such a warm interest in her affairs +was sure to be; but I can no longer expect the fulfilment of my earnest +wish that she should settle in Salzburg, for the Archbishop would never +give her what she is to have in Munich. All I can hope for is that she +will sometimes come to Salzburg to sing in operas. + +This turn in affairs must have strengthened Mozart's secret wish +to obtain an appointment under the Elector of Bavaria, and his +determination to do all he could towards this end on his journey through +Mannheim and Munich, and to "turn a cold shoulder" on the Archbishop. +His father had nothing to oppose to such a project except the +uncertainty of its prospects; he sought, therefore, to convince Wolfgang +that his only right course now was to accept the certainty offered to +him, and to keep Munich in view for a future time. He gave him definite +instructions on the point (September 3, 1778):-- + +Since the Electoral Court is expected in Munich on September 15, you can +speak yourself to your friend Count Seeau, and perhaps to the Elector +himself on your journey through. You can say that your father wishes you +to return to Salzburg, and that the Prince has offered you a salary +of seven or eight hundred florins (add on two or three hundred) as +concertmeister; that you have accepted it from filial duty to your +father, although you know he has always wished to see you in the +electoral service. But, N.B., no more than this! You may want to write +an opera in Munich, and you can do so best from here; it cannot fail +to be so, for German operatic composers are very scarce. Schweitzer and +Holzbauer will not write every year; and should Michl write one, he +will soon be out-Michled. Should there be those who throw doubts and +difficulties in the way, you have friends in the profession who will +stand up for you; and this court will also bring out something during +the year. In short you will be at hand. + +It was now quite necessary that Wolfgang should leave Paris; and in +anticipating what he had to expect in Salzburg, he began to feel what he +was leaving in Paris. He + + +{PARIS, 1778.} + +(70) + +was angry with Grimm, who desired that he should be ready for his +journey in a week, which was impossible, since he had still claims on +the Duc de Guines and on Le Gros, and must wait to correct the proofs of +his sonatas, and to sell the compositions he had with him.[40] He had +no small desire to write six more trios, for which he might expect good +payment. Grimm's evident wish that he should go, and his offer to +pay the journey to Strasburg (which seemed to the father a proof of +friendship) was considered by Wolfgang as distrust and insincerity. +Grimm no doubt wished to be relieved of the responsibility he had +undertaken as soon as possible, and may have offended his _protégé_ +by too open an expression of his desire; but there is no doubt that he +acted according to the mind of the father, and in the sincere opinion +that the unpractical and vacillating young man required decided +treatment. But Wolfgang was so firmly convinced that his departure from +Paris was premature, that he wrote to his father from Strasburg (October +15, 1778), that it was the greatest folly in the world to go to Salzburg +now, and only his love to his father had induced him to set aside the +representations of his friends. He had been praised for this, but with +the remark that-- + +If my father had known my present good circumstances and prospects, and +had not believed the reports of certain false friends, he would not have +written to me in a way that I could not withstand. And I think myself +that if I had not been so annoyed in the house where I was staying, +and if the whole thing had not come upon me like a thunderbolt, so that +there was no time to consider it in cool blood, I should certainly have +begged you to have a little more patience, and to leave me in Paris; I +assure you I should have gained both money and fame, and been able to +extricate you from all your embarrassments. But it + + +{STRASBURG, 1778.} + +(71) + +is done now. Do not imagine that I repent the step, for only you, my +dear father, only you can sweeten for me the bitterness of Salzburg, and +we shall do it--I know we shall; but I must frankly own that I should +come to Salzburg with a lighter heart if I did not know that I was to be +in the service of the court. The idea is intolerable to me. + +In the meantime business was wound up, the mother's property and the +heavy baggage was sent direct to Salzburg; and on September 26 Wolfgang +left Paris, having gained much experience but little satisfaction, as +depressed and out of humour as he had entered it. + + + +FOOTNOTES CHAPTER XIX. + +[Footnote 1: [Goudard] Le Brigandage de la Musique Italienne (Amsterdam, 1780) +is directed against Italian musicians, but includes in this category "Le +Général Gluck et son Lieutenant-Général Piccinni et tous les autres noms +en _ini_."] + +[Footnote 2: Histoire du Théätre de l'Opéra en France, I., p. 164. Fétis, Curios. +Hist, de la Mus., p. 325. Burney gives a detailed account of a "Concert +Spirituel" at which he was present in 1770 (Reise, I., p. n).] + +[Footnote 3: Nothing is known of this music, so far as I am aware; Mozart does +not seem to have kept it himself, and therefore did not bring it to +Salzburg.] + +[Footnote 4: This Sinfonie Concertante is lost beyond recovery. Mozart sold it to +Le Gros, and kept no copy; he must have thought he could write it again +from memory; but apparently cared the less to do so as there were no +virtuosi in Salzburg able to perform the symphony.] + +[Footnote 5: L. de Lomenie, Beaumarchais, II., p. 89. Dutens, Mém., II., p. 59. +Madame du Deffand, Lettr., III., p. 172, 297.] + +[Footnote 6: Madame du Deffand, Lettr., IV., p. 107.] + +[Footnote 7: The Dauphin was born on December 11, 1778.] + +[Footnote 8: Madame de Genlis, Mém., I., p. 288.] + +[Footnote 9: She married M. de Chartus (afterwards Duc de Castries) in the summer +of 1778, with a dowry from the King, and died in childbirth (Madame du +Deffand, Lettr., IV., p. 52).] + +[Footnote 10: Jos. Frank narrates in his Reminiscences (Prutz, Deutsch. Mus., +II., p. 28):] + +[Footnote 11: The Duchesse de Chabot, daughter of Lord Stafford, mentioned as an +acquaintance by Grimm and Madame Epinay (Galiani, Corr. inéd., II., p. +305).] + +[Footnote 12: She was the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, sister to the then +Duc de Chartres, the future Egalité. A short time previously a duel, +of which she was the occasion, between the Duc de Bourbon and the Comte +d'Artois, had made a great stir (Du Deffand, Lettr., IV., p. 28. Grimm, +Corr. Litt., X., p. 1.)] + +[Footnote 13: That is on his first visit to Paris. The Duchess entered a convent +in her fifteenth year, and remained there several years (Genlis, Mém., +III., p. 84).] + +[Footnote 14: "Cf. Madame de Genlis, Mém., I., p. 289; II., p. 185.] + +[Footnote 15: Grimm, Corr. Litt., IX., p. 174.] + +[Footnote 16: Noverre's ballet "Les Petits Riens" was given in June, 1778 (in +Italian by Italian singers), and was praised by Grimm, but without +mention of the music (Corr. Litt., X., p. 53). This composition has also +been irrecoverably lost.] + +[Footnote 17: The imposing effect of the simultaneous attack of a fine orchestra +was the occasion of this catchword. Raaff told Mozart of a piquant _bon +mot ä propos_ of the term. He was asked by a Frenchman, at Munich or +some other place: "Monsieur, vous avez été ä Paris?" "Oui." "Est-ce que +vous étiez au Concert Spirituel?" "Oui." "Que dites-vous du premier +coup d'archet? avez-vous entendu le premier coup d'archet?" "Oui, j'ai +entendu le premier et le dernier." "Comment, le dernier? qui veut dire +cela?" "Mais oui, le premier et le dernier, et le dernier même m'a donné +plus de plaisir."] + +[Footnote 18: Mozart speaks in a later letter (September 11,1778) of two +symphonies which had been much admired, and of which the last was +performed on September 8. With this agrees his assertion (October 3, +1778) that he had sold to Le Gros two overtures (i.e., symphonies) and +the Sinfonie Concertante. There are no further traces of this symphony.] + +[Footnote 19: Mozart has made considerable abbreviations in the first movement +of this symphony, while working oat the score in the manner described +above.] + +[Footnote 20: Süddeutsche Mus. Ztg., 1857, No. 44, p. 175.] + +[Footnote 21: The father writes to Breitkopf (August 10,1781): "The six sonatas +dedicated to the Elector Palatine were published by M. Sieber, in Paris. +He paid my son for them fifteen louis neuf, thirty copies and a free +dedication."] + +[Footnote 22: A fac-similé of the letter to Bullinger will be found at the end of +the third volume.] + +[Footnote 23: Mémoires et Correspondance de Madame d'Epinay (Paris, 1818). Cf. +Grimm, Corr. Litt., XI.,? 468. Madame de Genlis, Mém., III., p. 99. +Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du Lundi, II., p. 146.] + +[Footnote 24: Grimm's letter to L. Mozart, which the latter forwarded to his son +(August 13, 1778), runs as follows: "Il est _zu treuherzig_, peu actif, +trop aisé ä attraper, trop peu occupé des moyens qui peuvent conduire +ä la fortune. Ici, pour percer, il faut être retors, entreprenant, +audacieux. Je lui voudrais pour sa fortune la moitié moins de talent et +le double plus d'entregent, et je n'en serais pas embarrassé. Au reste, +il ne peut tenter ici que deux chemins pour se faire un sort. Le premier +est de donner des leçons de clavecin; mais sans compter qu'on n'a des +écoliers qu'avec beaucoup d'activité et même de charlatanerie, je ne +sais s'il aurait assez de santé pour soutenir ce métier, car c'est +une chose très fatiguante de courir les quatre coins de Paris et de +s'épuiser ä parler pour montres. Et puis ce métier ne lui plaît pas, +parcequ'il l'empêchera d'écrire, ce qu'il aime par-dessus tout. Il +pourrait donc s'y livrer tout ä fait; mais en ce pays ici le gros du +public ne se connaît pas en musique. On donne par conséquent tout aux +noms, et le mérite de l'ouvrage ne peut être jugé que par un très petit +nombre. Le public est dans ce moment si ridiculement partagé entre +Piccinni et Gluck que tous les raisonnements qu'on entend sur la musique +font pitié. Il est donc très difficile pour votre fils pour réuissir +entre ces deux partis. Vous voyez, mon cher maître, que dans un pays où +tant de musiciens médiocres et détestables même ont fait des fortunes +immenses, je crains fort que M. votre fils ne se tire pas seulement +d'affaire."] + +[Footnote 25: Cf. the account 'by Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du Lundi, VII., p. 226; +II., p. 158.] + +[Footnote 26: Merck, Briefe, II., p. 282.] + +[Footnote 27: Madame de Genlis, Mèm., IV., p. 3.] + +[Footnote 28: Jacobs, in Hoffmann's Lebensbilder ber. Humanisten, p. 15.] + +[Footnote 29: Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., pp. 37, 112, 162. La Harpe, Corr. Litt., +II., p. 249.] + +[Footnote 30: Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., p. 52.] + +[Footnote 31: Prutz, Deutsches Museum, II., p. 28.] + +[Footnote 32: Both the father and son, especially the former, follow closely the +course of political and military events, and communicate them to each +other.] + +[Footnote 33: The Archbishop's sister, Marie Franziska (b. 1746), who had +married Oliver, Count von Wallis, had a residence assigned her in the +archiépiscopal palace, and kept up a sort of regal state.] + +[Footnote 34: Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., p. 236.] + +[Footnote 35: There were two Marshals of the name, the Duke and the Count de +Noailles: I do not know which of the two is here meant. The first was +the father of the Countess de Tessé, Mozart's early patroness (Vol. I., +p. 35), and, like her, was interested in literature and art (Lomenie, +Beaumarchais, I., p. 206).] + +[Footnote 36: Tenducci must have taken this composition with him to London. +Burney (Barrington's Miscellanies, p. 289) praises it as a masterpiece +of invention and technical execution (Pohl, Mozart und Haydn in London, +p. 121).] + +[Footnote 37: Anton Paris was the third court organist in Salzburg.] + +[Footnote 38: The heir-apparent, afterwards King Max I.] + +[Footnote 39: Aloysia received a salary of 1,000 florins, her father 400 florins, +together with 200 florins as prompter, as Mozart afterwards learnt at +Mannheim.] + +[Footnote 40: He hoped to sell his three pianoforte concertos (238, 246, 271, K.) +to the engraver of his sonatas for ready money, and if possible his six +difficult piano sonatas (279-284 K.). Whether he succeeded or not I do +not know, but they do not seem to have been engraved. His father advised +him to insure his connection with the Parisian publishers for the +future. In a letter to Breitkopf (August xo, 1781), he mentions Trois +airs variés pour le clavecin ou fortepiano, engraved by Heyna, in Paris. +These are the variations on Fischer's Minuet (179 K.); on an air from +Salieri's "Fiera di Venezia," "Mio caro Adone" (180 K.), mentioned in a +letter to his father (December 28,1778); and on "Je suis Lindor," from +Beaumarchais' "Barbier de Seville" (354 K.).] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE RETURN HOME. + + + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(72) + +WOLFGANG'S father expected that he would perform his homeward journey +without any unnecessary delay, and his anxiety became serious when day +after day passed and he received no tidings of his son's approach to +Strasburg. + +"I confessed and communicated together with your sister," he writes +(October 19, 1778), "and earnestly prayed for your preservation; good +old Bullinger prayed for you daily in the holy mass." The fact was, that +instead of providing Mozart with means to travel by the diligence, which +accomplished the journey to Strasburg in a week, Grimm had satisfied +himself with an ordinary conveyance, which occupied twelve days on the +road. Mozart's patience was tired out in a week, and he halted at Nancy. +Here he met with a German merchant, the best man in the world, who at +once conceived a paternal attachment for him, and wept at the idea of +their parting. With this new friend Wolfgang, determined to travel to +Strasburg as soon as an opportunity of doing so cheaply should occur. +They were obliged to wait a considerable time, and it was the middle of +October before they reached Strasburg:-- + +Things are not promising here; but the day after to-morrow (Saturday, +October 17) I intend, _quite alone_ (to avoid expense), to give a +subscription concert to certain friends and connoisseurs; if I had +engaged any other instruments it would, with the lighting, have cost me +more than three louis-d'or; and who knows if it will bring in so much? + +It was a shrewd guess, for his next letter had to announce three +louis-d'or as the exact sum made by this "little model of a concert":-- + +But the principal receipts were in "bravos" and "bravissimos," which +resounded from all sides. Prince Max of Zweibrücken, too, honoured +the concert with his presence. I need scarcely say that every one was +pleased. I should have left Strasburg immediately after this, but I was +advised to stay until the following Saturday, and give a grand concert +in the theatre. At this I made the identical same sum, to the amazement +and indignation and shame of all Strasburg. I must say, however, that +my ears ached as much from the applauding and hand-clapping as if the +theatre had been crammed full. Every one present openly and loudly +denounced the conduct of their fellow-townsmen; and I told them all +that if I could have imagined that I should have so small an audience, +I would gladly have given the concert gratis, for the pleasure of seeing +the theatre full. Indeed, I should have preferred it; for nothing can +be more dismal than to lay a table for eighty guests and receive only +three--and then it was so cold! But I soon grew warm; and in order to +show my gentlemen of Strasburg that I was not put out, I played a great +deal for my own entertainment; I gave them a concerto more than I had +promised, and improvised for a long time at the end. Well, it is over +and done with, and at least I have gained the reputation and honour. + +Besides the concerts, he played publicly on the two best of Silbermann's +organs in the Neue Kirche and the Thomas Kirche, and the roads being +flooded and his departure for the present impossible, he resolved to +give another concert on his fête-day, October 31. This he did at the +solicitation and for the gratification of his friends Frank, De Beyer, +&c., and the result was--_one_ louis-d'or. No wonder that he was +obliged to raise money in order to continue his journey, a fact which he +remembered years after with indignation. + +By the advice of friends who had made the journey he continued his +way by diligence via Mannheim; the better roads and more comfortable +carriage amply compensating for the _détour_. At Mannheim he alighted +on November 6, and was welcomed with acclamations by his friends. +The journey viä Mannheim seemed to Leopold Mozart a most senseless +proceeding on Wolfgang's part; the Weber family and all his best friends +had migrated to Munich, and there was nothing to be gained by the visit. + + + +{MANNHEIM, 1778.} + +(73) + +He stayed with Madame Cannabich, who had not yet left, and who was never +tired of hearing about himself; all his acquaintance tore him in pieces, +for "as I love Mannheim, so Mannheim loves me." The old associations +woke in him the old hopes and wishes. The Mannheim people were anxious +to believe that the Elector could not stand the coarse manners of the +Bavarians, and would soon be tired of Munich. It was reported that +Madame Toscani and Madame Urban had been so hissed that the Elector had +leant over his box and cried "Hush!" As this had no effect, Count Seeau +had begged some officers not to make so much noise, since it displeased +the Elector; but they answered, that they had paid for their admission +to the theatre, and no one had any right to give them orders there. +Every one was convinced that the Elector would soon bring the court back +to Mannheim, and Wolfgang was only too ready to believe the assurances +of his friends that when this took place, a fixed appointment would +certainly be offered to him. Between Mannheim and Salzburg--what a +difference! "The Archbishop," he wrote to his father (November 12, +1778), "cannot give me an equivalent for the slavery in Salzburg. I +should feel nothing but delight were I only going to pay you a visit: +but the idea of settling myself for good within that beggarly court +is pain and grief to me." At Mannheim there were already prospects +of immediate employment, besides--and what did he want more?--the +opportunity for dramatic composition. Amid the universal desolation +which was spread over Mannheim by the removal of the electoral court +to Munich, patriotic men were not wanting who strove to resuscitate the +intellectual and material prosperity of the town. Heribert von Dalberg +failed indeed in his project for removing Heidelberg University to +Mannheim, but he gained the express support of the Elector to the +establishment of a theatre for carrying out the idea of an established +national drama (Vol. I., p. 369).[1] Dalberg undertook the management +with zeal and + + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(74) + +intelligence, and both the choice of pieces and the manner of +representation were considered entirely from an artistic point of view. + +The Mannheim theatre first attained its peculiar importance and +celebrity in the autumn of 1779, when the principal members of the Gotha +Court company, with Iffland among them, were engaged at Mannheim.[2] +When Mozart was on his way back from Paris, Seyler was there with his +company, which was only available for operetta and vaudeville. But +higher notions were in the air; the idea of a German national opera had +never been abandoned, and to enlist in its service such a composer +as Mozart was a prospect not to be despised. How ready he was for the +service we know. He had not been in Mannheim a week when he wrote, full +of enthusiasm, to his father (November 12, 1778):-- + +I have a chance of earning forty louis-d'or here! I should be obliged +to stay six weeks or, at the longest, two months. The Seyler troupe are +here; no doubt you know them by reputation. Herr Dalberg is manager, and +refuses to let me go until I have composed a duodrama for him. I have +made no objection, for I have always wished to write a drama of this +kind. I do not remember if I told you anything about these duodramas +when I was here before. I have been present at the performance of one +of them twice with the greatest pleasure. In fact, I never was more +surprised! for I had always imagined such a piece would have no effect. +You know that the performers do not sing, but declaim, and the music +is like an obbligato recitative. Sometimes speaking is interposed with +first-rate effect. What I saw was "Medea," by Benda. He wrote another, +"Ariadne on Naxos," both excellent. You know that Benda was always my +favourite among the Lutheran kapellmeisters. I like these two works +so much that I carry them about with me. Now you may imagine my joy at +having to do just what I wished. Do you know what I should like? To have +recitatives of this kind in opera, and only sometimes, when the words +are readily expressible in music, to have them sung. + +The duodrama which he was thus burning to compose was "Semiramis," and +the poet was his friend and patron, Herr von Gemmingen (Vol. I., +p. 429). It was he probably who wished Mozart to remain to compose +"Semiramis," for Dalberg + + +{A MONODRAMA OR AN OPERA.} + +(75) + +had other views for him. He had written an opera ("Cora")[3] which he +much wished to have composed. He had already applied to Gluck and to +Schweitzer,[4] but not feeling sure of either of them, he now sought to +secure Mozart. The latter wrote to him (Mannheim, November 24, 1778):-- + +Monsieur le Baron,--I have already waited upon you twice without having +had the honour of finding you at liberty; yesterday I believe you were +at home, but I was not able to speak with you. I must therefore ask +you to pardon me for troubling you with a few lines, for it is very +important to me that I should explain myself fully to you. Monsieur +le Baron, you know that I am not mercenary, especially when I am in a +position to be of service to so great a lover and so true a connoisseur +of music as yourself. On the other hand, I feel certain that you would +not desire that I should be in any way injured by the transaction; I am +therefore bold enough to make my final proposition on the matter, +since I cannot possibly remain longer in uncertainty. I undertake, for +twenty-five louis-d'or, to write a monodrama, to remain here two months +longer, to arrange everything, attend the rehearsals, &c.; but with +this proviso, that, let what will happen, I shall be paid by the end of +January. That I shall be free of the theatre is a matter of course.[5] +This, Monsieur le Baron, is the utmost I can offer; if you consider it, +I think you will see that I am acting very moderately. As far as your +opera is concerned, I assure you that I should like above all things +to set it to music. That I could not undertake such a work as that for +twenty-five louis-d'or, you will readily allow; for it would contain at +the most moderate computation quite as much work again as a monodrama; +the only thing that would make me hesitate to undertake it is that, +as you tell me, Gluck and Schweitzer are already writing it. But even +supposing that you offered me fifty louis-d'or for it, I would as an +honest man dissuade you from it. What is to become of an opera without +singers, either male or female? At the same time, if there were any +prospect of its being well produced I would not refuse to undertake the +work from regard for you; and it would be no trifle, I give you my word +of honour. Now I have told you my ideas clearly and straightforwardly, +and I must beg for a speedy decision. If I could have an answer to-day +I should be all the better pleased, for I have heard that some one is +going to travel alone to Munich next Thursday, and I would gladly profit +by the opportunity. + + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(76) + +Mozart would hardly have left Mannheim as long as a glimmer of hope +remained--he, who was so overjoyed at finding employment there that he +wrote to his father (November 12, 1778): "They are arranging an Académie +des Amateurs here, like the one in Paris. Herr Franzl is to lead the +violins, and I am writing them a concerto for clavier and violin."[6] +But his father, who was very dissatisfied with the "foolish fancy" +for remaining in Mannheim, came to the point, and represented to him +(November 19, 1778) how impossible it would be for the Elector to return +to Mannheim. It was especially undesirable now to seek a post in the +Bavarian service, since the death of Karl Theodor had "let loose on the +world a whole army of artists, who are in Mannheim and Munich seeking a +mode of livelihood. The Duke of Zweibrücken himself had an orchestra of +thirty-six performers, and the former Mannheim establishment cost 80,000 +florins." He cares nothing for the "possible earning of 40 louis-d'or," +but emphatically orders: "Set off as soon as you receive this!" And to +meet any conceivable remonstrance, he once more sets plainly forth the +true position of affairs (November 23, 1778):-- + +There are two things of which your head is full and which obscure your +true judgment. The first and principal is your love for Mdlle. Weber, to +which I am not altogether opposed. I was not formerly, when her father +was poor, and why should I be so now when she may make your fortune +instead of you hers? I conjecture that her father is aware of your love, +since all Mannheim knows it, since Herr Fiala (oboist in Salzburg) has +heard it, since Herr Bullinger, who teaches at Count Lodron's, told me +of it. He travelled with some Mannheim musicians from Ellwang (where +he was in the vacation), and they could talk of nothing but your +cleverness, compositions, and love for Mdlle. Weber. + +In Salzburg, the father goes on, he would be so near Munich that he +could easily go there, or Mdlle. Weber could come to Salzburg, where she +might stay with them. Opportunities would not be wanting. Fiala had told +the Archbishop a great deal about Mdlle. Weber's singing and + + +{MOZART LEAVES MANNHEIM, 1778.} + +(77) + +Wolfgang's good prospects in Mannheim. He might also invite his +other friends--Cannabich, Wendling, Ritter, Ramm. They would all find +hospitable welcome in his father's house + +Most especially will your acceptance of the present office (which is +the second subject of which your head is full) be your only certain +opportunity for revisiting Italy, which is what I have more at heart +than anything else. And your acceptance is indispensably necessary, +unless you have the abominable and unfilial desire to bring scorn and +derision on your anxious father--on that father who has sacrificed every +hour of his life to his children to bring them credit and honour. I +am not in a position to pay my debts, which now amount in all to one +thousand florins, unless you lighten the payment by the receipt of your +salary. I can then certainly pay off four hundred florins a year, and +live comfortably with you two. I should like, if it is the will of God, +to live a few years more, and to pay my debts, and then you may, if you +choose, run your head against the wall at once. But no! your heart is +good. You are not wicked, only thoughtless--it will all come! + +This was not to be withstood. Wolfgang wrote that he would set off on +December 9, but he still declined to travel the shortest way (December +3, 1778): "I must tell you what a good opportunity I have for a +travelling companion next Wednesday--no other than the Bishop of +Kaysersheim. One of my friends mentioned me to him; he remembered my +name, and expressed great pleasure at the idea of travelling with me; he +is a thoroughly kind, good man, although he is a priest and a prelate. +So that I shall go viä Kaysersheim, instead of Stuttgart." + +The farewell to Mannheim was a sad one, both to Mozart and his friends. +Madame Cannabich, who had earned the right to be considered as his +best and truest friend, and who placed implicit confidence in him, +was specially sorrowful; she refused to rise for his early departure, +feeling unequal to the leave-taking, and he crept silently away that he +might not add to her distress. + +He was loth to give up his monodrama: "I am now writing," he says +(December 3, 1778), "to please Herr von Gemmingen and myself, the first +act of the declamatory opera which I was to have finished here; as it +is, I shall + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(78) + +take it with me, and go on with it at home; my eagerness for this kind +of composition is uncontrollable."[7] + +The Bishop took such an "extraordinary liking" for him that he was +persuaded to stay at Kaysersheim, and to make an expedition with his +host to Munich, where he arrived on December 25. Here he looked forward +to some pleasant days in the society of all his Mannheim friends, and +above all to reunion with his beloved Aloysia. In order that nothing +might be wanting to his pleasure he begged his cousin to come to Munich, +and hinted that she might have an important part to play there: he had +no doubt of the success of his suit. But he almost immediately after +received a letter from his father, ordering him in the most positive +manner to set out by the first diligence in January, and not on any +account to be persuaded by Cannabich to make a further postponement. +L. Mozart foresaw that Wolfgang would make another effort to escape the +slavery in Salzburg, and that his friends would encourage him to hope +for a place under the Court at Munich. In anticipation of this he once +more laid plainly before him that the settlement in Salzburg would +afford the only possibility of putting their affairs in order. This +representation arrived very inopportunely for Wolfgang. Cannabich and +Raaff were, in point of fact, working "hand and foot" for him. By their +advice he had already undertaken to write a mass for the Elector, and +the sonatas (Vol. I., p. 415; II., p. 70) which he had dedicated to the +Electress had arrived just in time to be presented by him in person; and +in the midst of + + +{MUNICH, 1778--BECKE.} + +(79) + +all this his father's letter dashed his hopes to the ground, and added +to his gloomy anticipations of life in Salzburg the fear that he would +not be kindly received. He opened his heart to their old friend the +flautist Becke (Vol. I., p. 228), who moved him still further by his +account of the kindness and indulgence of his father. "I have never +written so badly before," he writes to his father (December 29, 1778); +"I cannot do it; my heart is too much inclined for weeping. I hope you +will soon write and console me." + +Becke also wrote on behalf of Wolfgang:-- + +He burns with desire to embrace his dearest and best-beloved father, as +soon as his present circumstances will allow of it; he almost makes me +lose my composure, for I was an hour or more in quieting his tears. He +has the best heart in the world! I have never seen a child with a more +loving and tender affection for his father than your son. He has a +little misgiving lest your reception of him should not be as tender as +he could wish; but I hope quite otherwise from your fatherly heart. His +heart is so pure, so childlike, so open to me; how much more so will +it not be to his father! No one can hear him speak without doing him +justice as the best-intentioned, most earnest, and most honourable of +men. + +L. Mozart answered at once that his son might rely on the most loving +welcome, and that everything would be done to entertain him; the autumn +festivities and quoit prize-meetings had been postponed on his account. +But he bids him observe that his long delay, the appointment being +already four months old, is beginning to make the Archbishop impatient, +and it must not go so far as to cause him to draw back in his turn. + +To this Wolfgang answered (January 8,1779):-- + +I assure you, my dear father, that I feel only pleasure in coming to +you (not to Salzburg) now that I see by your last letter that you have +learnt to know me better. There has been no other cause for this last +postponement of my journey home than the doubt I felt (which, when I +could no longer contain myself, I confided to my friend Becke) as to my +reception. What other cause could there be? I know that I am not guilty +of anything that should make me feel your reproaches. I have committed +no fault (for I call that only a fault which is not becoming to an +honourable man and a Christian). I look forward with delight to many +pleasant and happy days, but only in the society of you and my dear +sister. I give you my honour that I cannot endure Salzburg and its +inhabitants (that is, natives of Salzburg). Their speech and their way +of living are thoroughly distasteful to me. + + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(80) + +Mozart had other causes than this for despondency; before he left Munich +he was destined to be painfully undeceived. He had been kindly welcomed +by the Webers, who insisted on his staying with them; Aloysia had made +striking progress as a vocalist, and Mozart, as might well be expected +from him, rendered anew his musical homage to her by writing for her (li +8 di Gennaio, 1779) a grand aria (316 K.). He had designedly chosen as +a subject the recitative and air with which Alceste first enters in +Gluck's Italian opera; Schweitzer's "Alceste" had been performed in +Munich, so that Mozart entered the lists with both composers. In order +to provide his friends, Ramm and Ritter, with a piece of brilliant +execution, he made the oboe and bassoon accompany obbligato, and emulate +the voice part. The song is admirably adapted for a bravura piece, +affording to the singer an opportunity for the display of varied powers +and great compass, together with artistic cultivation of the voice. The +recitative may be considered as an attempt at dramatic delivery of a +grand and dignified kind; the song itself affords in both its parts, +Andante sostenuto e cantabile, and Allegro assai, the most charming +instances of sustained singing and brilliant execution. It is written +for a high soprano, seldom going so low as [See Page Image] generally +upwards from What is expected of the singer in the way of compass and +volubility may be judged by passages such as--[See Page Image] + + +{AIR FOR ALOYSIA WEBER.} + +(81) + +in the Allegro. But the importance of this song does not depend alone on +the brilliancy of its passages. + +The recitative, undeniably the most important section of the +composition, is second to none of Mozart's later recitatives in depth +and truth of expression and noble beauty, and is richly provided with +unexpected harmonic changes, such as he used more sparingly in later +songs. The very first entry of the voice is striking and beautiful, with +a long and pathetic prelude:--[See Page Image] + + +{THE RETURN HOME.} + +(82) + +and the close of the recitative is equally effective:--[See Page Image] + + +If this carefully and minutely elaborated recitative be compared with +Gluck's simple secco recitative there can be no doubt that Mozart's +is far superior, both in fertility of invention and marked +characterisation. But it must not be left out of account that if Mozart, +treating the recitative and air as one independent whole, was right to +emphasise and + + +{SONG FOR ALOYSIA WEBER, 1778.} + +(83) + +elaborate details, Gluck had to consider the situation in its connection +with a greater whole; in which respect his simple but expressive +recitative is quite in its right place. The song itself in depth of +tragic pathos is not altogether on a level with the recitative. It +consists of two movements, an Andantino and an Allegro, very nearly +equal in length and compass, and each of them independently arranged and +elaborated. The motifs in both are simple and expressive (especially the +passionate middle part of the Allegro in C minor), but in performance +the attention to bravura, necessitated by the emulation of the wind +instruments, detracts from the intensity and earnestness of tone. +The treatment is masterly, both of the voice and the two instruments, +whether considered singly or in relation to each other; it is equally so +of the orchestra (quartet and horns), which forms a foundation for the +free movement of the solo parts. In the hands of a first-rate performer +the song could not fail to have a brilliant and striking effect. But the +exclusive reference to individual talents and executive powers detracted +of necessity from the dramatic effect, and if the composer had given +full sway to his passions the harmony he calculated on between his +work and the performer would have been lost. As far as we can judge of +Aloysia Weber as a singer from the songs composed for her by Mozart, the +powerful rendering of violent and fiery passion was not her forte. Her +delivery cannot be said to have been wanting in depth of feeling, and +yet a certain moderation seems to have been peculiar to her, which +Mozart turned to account as an element of artistic harmony.[8] This song +was a parting salutation to Aloysia Weber. A touching memorial of the +parting is preserved in the voice part of a song ("Ah se in ciel") +written by Mozart's hand in 1788 (538 K.). At the close of it she has +written the words: "Nei giomi tuoi felici pensa qualche volta al Popoli +di Tessaglia." + +L. Mozart, with his custom of reckoning on the + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(84) + +selfishness of mankind, had already expressed apprehension lest Weber, +now that he no longer required Wolfgang's good offices, should cease +to desire his friendship. This was not indeed the case, but he found +a great change in Aloysia's sentiments. "She appeared no longer to +recognise him for whom she had once wept. So Mozart sat down to +the clavier and sang loud: 'Ich lass das Mädel gern, das mich nicht +will.'"[9] This renunciation might satisfy his pride, but not his heart; +his love was too true and deep to evaporate as lightly as the whim of +a woman whose true character he learnt to know later. And yet he wrote +from Vienna to his father (May 16, 1781): "I was a fool about Lange's +wife, that is certain; but who is not when he is in love? I loved her +in very deed, and I feel that she is not yet indifferent to me. A good +thing for me that her husband is a jealous fool and never lets her out +of his sight, so that I seldom see her!" On January 7, 1779, Mozart was +presented to the Electress by Cannabich, and handed her the sonatas he +had composed for her; she conversed with him very graciously for a good +half-hour. A few days after, he saw Schweitzer's "Alceste," which was +the Carnival opera, and at last, after repeated injunctions from his +father, he set out for Salzburg in the comfortable carriage of his +fellow-traveller, a Salzburg merchant named Gschwendner. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XX. + + +[Footnote 1: Dalberg's papers are preserved in the Royal Library at Munich. +Koffka, Iffland u. Dalberg, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 2: Devrient, Gesch. d. deutsch. Schauspielkunst, III., p. 3.] + +[Footnote 3: "Cora, a Musical Drama," appeared to a contributor to the Pfalz. +"Schaubuhne" unsuited for composition and representation.] + +[Footnote 4: Gluck's letters in reference to this are printed in the Süddeutschen +Musik-zeitung, 1854, p. 174. Dalberg's Correspondenz for 1778 also +mentions that Schweitzer was occupied with the composition of "Cora."] + +[Footnote 5: Brandes affirms that the actors, when not performing, had to pay +entrance-money (Selbstbiogr., II., p. 277).] + +[Footnote 6: It does not appear to have been finished; the autograph of the first +117 bars is in the possession of M. Dubrunfeut, in Paris.] + +[Footnote 7: Gemmingen's "Serairamis" was not, as far as I am aware, printed; and +I know nothing further of Mozart's composition. We find on p. 137 of the +Theaterkalender for 1779: "Mozart... Kapellmeister zu Salzburg; _setzt_ +an 'Semiramis,' einem musikalischen Drama des Frh. von Gemmingen"; which +must be a private communication. In following years it is regularly +included among Mozart's finished compositions, but I have found no +notice of its performance nor any other mention of it except that Gerber +includes it among Leopold Mozart's posthumous works, with "Bastien +and Bastienne" and the "Verstellte Gärtnerin." I mention this only to +illustrate the fact that many of Mozart's earlier works were ascribed to +L. Mozart after his death. But "Semiramis" was undoubtedly Mozart's own +composition. How it happened that it did not remain in his hands, and +pass into André's possession with his papers, I cannot explain] + +[Footnote 8: A somewhat extraordinary musical enthusiast, Frh. von Boecldin, +writes of Aloysia that she "performed marvels with her delicate throat," +and that her voice resembled a Cremona violin, and her singing was more +expressive and affecting than that of Mara (Beitr. zur Geschichte der +Musik, p. 18).] + +[Footnote 9: So Nissen narrates (p. 415), and further informs us that Mozart came +to Munich with black buttons on his red coat, after the French fashion +of showing mourning. Aloysia does not seem to have liked this.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG. + +MOZART was welcomed to the paternal roof with open arms; everything was +prepared for his reception; "a convenient cupboard and the clavichord +were placed in his room," the cook Theresa had cooked capons without +number, the high steward Count von Firmian (Vol. I., p. 345) offered him +his horses, and Dr. Prexl also placed his "beautiful + + +{MOZART'S DISTASTE TO SALZBURG.} + +(85) + +bay mare" at his disposal; in short, Mozart's return home was a happy +and triumphant event to all the good friends of his youth. We know the +feelings with which he returned. Disappointed in his hopes of rapid and +brilliant success, he returned to the old condition of things, and +the yoke must have pressed on him all the more heavily now that his +illusions were dispelled and he no longer saw a prospect of shaking it +off. He had buried his mother in a foreign land, and his warm true +heart had been deceived in its first love; in poverty he returned to his +father's house. He was not in a position to see as clearly as we do +how powerfully his added experience of life and manifold artistic +impressions had contributed to his moral and mental development, and he +could scarcely be expected to look to this development for the strength +and courage necessary to face the future. + +The commencement of his residence in Salzburg was cheered by the +presence of his lively young cousin; she had followed him from Munich +on his entreaties, to pay a visit of some weeks to her uncle. Mozart's +amiability and cordial manners renewed many pleasant intimacies, but the +actual cause of his distaste to Salzburg, viz., the want of cultivation +and of a disinterested love of art among its inhabitants, remained as +before, and his long absence was likely to make him feel it all the +more sensibly. The Archbishop, compelled by circumstances and his +surroundings to recall Mozart, had not by any means forgiven his +voluntary resignation of his former office, and the disinclination +to return which Mozart had so evidently displayed, was certainly not +calculated to appease his ill-will. We shall soon learn the kind of +treatment which Mozart had to expect from him. The Salzburg public are +described by Wolfgang in a letter to his father (May 26, 1781): "When +I play in Salzburg, or when any of my compositions are performed, the +audience might just as well be chairs or tables." He declares that, +although he actually loves work far better than idleness, the want of +congenial intercourse and inspiring surroundings make it often almost +impossible for him to set to work at composition. "And why? Because my +mind is not at ease." Again, he says (April 8, 1781): "To dawdle away +one's + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(86) + +youth in such a wretched hole is sad enough, and harmful besides." +This and similar expressions might lead one to suppose that Mozart had +neglected composition during these years, but a survey of the works +which are known to us suffices to dispel this idea. + +His musical activity took as a matter of course, in all essential +points, the same direction as formerly; his official position as +concertmeister and as court and cathedral organist (for so he was +entered in the Salzburg Court Calendar), gave occasion for instrumental +and church compositions, the style and materials of which were as +restricted as before. + +The first instrumental composition, in G major (318 K.), dated April +26, 1779, seems to have been written for some very special occasion. +The orchestra is strongly appointed (besides the quartet there are two +flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, four horns in G and D, and two trumpets +in C, and used for effects which must have startled the Salzburgers. +It is in the form now usual for overtures, but out of date for concert +symphonies, viz.: three connected movements, Allegro spiritoso 4-4, +which contains, besides the principal energetic motif with which it +begins, and which constantly recurs in different ways, two independent, +quieter motifs in succession: Andante 3-8, gentle and soft, somewhat +longer than is usual for middle movements, but simple and without +thematic elaboration; it leads back to the first Allegro, shortened +(by the omission of the second subordinate subject) and modified in the +elaboration. The individual and dramatic character of this composition, +expressed most particularly in the commencement and the close of it, +makes it probable that it was written as an introduction to a drama. +We shall see that there was no lack of occasion for such works. +Also belonging to this period are two symphonies in the usual three +movements.[1] The earlier, in B major (319 K., + + +{SYMPHONIES--SERENADE, 1779.} + +(87) + +part II), composed in the summer (July 9) of 1779, was evidently +the results of "a pleased frame of mind"; it is a genuine product of +Mozart's humour, lively, cheerful and full of grace and feeling. The +second, a year later (August 29, 1780), in C major (338 K., part 10), +is grander in conception and more serious in tone. This is particularly +noticeable in the first movement; a constant propensity to fall into the +minor key blends strength and decision with an expression not so much +of melancholy as of consolation. In perfect harmony of conception, the +simple and fervent Andante di molto combines exceeding tenderness with +a quiet depth of tone. The contrasting instrumentation is very effective +in this work; the first movement is powerful and brilliant, but in the +second only stringed instruments (with doubled tenors) are employed. +The last movement is animated throughout, and sometimes the orchestral +treatment is rapid and impetuous. + +A Serenade in D major (320 K.) belongs also to 1779, composed probably +for some special festival, and (except that the march is omitted) quite +in the style of the early already-noticed serenades[2] (Vol. I., p. +301). A short Adagio serves as introduction to a brilliant Allegro, +arranged exactly like the first movement of a symphony, and worked out +at considerable length; to this follows a minuet. Then there is inserted +a concertante, described as such in the title, consisting of two +movements, an Andante grazioso 3-4, and a rondo, Allegro ma non troppo +2-4, both in G major.[3] In earlier days, when Mozart figured as a +violin-player, a violin solo played the chief part in such compositions; +but now the wind instruments, two flutes, two oboes, and two bassoons +are employed concertante; the stringed instruments and horns form the +accompaniment proper. These two pieces are elaborated with great care +and accuracy, and are clear and perspicuous as well as tender and +graceful; + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(88) + +the rondo is somewhat lighter in tone than the first movement. Of +bravura, properly so called, there is none to be found, and the +ornamental passages are confined to moderate amplifications of the +melodies. The instruments are solo in that they bear the principal part +throughout, concertante in that they emulate each other in manifold and +changing combinations; their strife is playful, with sometimes almost a +mischievous tone. + +The Andantino which follows offers a strong contrast to both movements +of the concertante. This is marked at once by the fact that the stringed +instruments are here put forward as the exponents of the musical idea, +while the very sparely used wind instruments only emphasise certain +sharp points of detail. But the contrast is deeper than this; the light +and sunshiny mood of the two previous movements accentuates the serious +melancholy of the Andantino, which seems to tell not of the pain of an +existing passion, but of the inner peace of a sorrow overcome. After +a less noticeable minuet[4] the serenade closes with a long elaborate +Presto, an important movement full of life and force; the most emphatic +contrapuntal arrangement of the principal theme is in the middle +passage; it is lively and original, as well as technically correct. + +The melodies and subjects of these works show unmistakable progress; +they are of maturer invention, have more musical substance, if the +expression may be allowed, more delicacy and nobility of apprehension. +Technical progress is visible in the greater freedom of the contrapuntal +treatment, which had already been fully developed in Mozart's vocal +compositions. This is most obviously apparent in those parts where +thematic elaboration predominates, which are richer and freer than +hitherto. There are also many motifs which owe their importance mainly +to their contrapuntal treatment. But, above all, we recognise Mozart's +sure tact in preserving the limits that prevent the interest in the + + +{PROGRESS IN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(89) + +different combinations of counterpoint to which a motive can be +subjected from becoming essentially technical, and losing its artistic +character. + +Equally surely has his genius preserved him from the mistake of +ascribing any absolute value to the contrapuntal method, or favouring +the logical element which lies in it to the disadvantage of sensuous +beauty. He makes use of the forms of counterpoint only to arrest the +attention and to heighten the interest, without wearying the mind, +intruding a foreign element into the original essence of the work, +or neglecting beauty of form; Mozart never forgets that music must be +melodious. Therefore a receptive although uncultivated hearer receives +a pleasing impression from artistic and even intricate passages, without +at all suspecting the difficulties which he enjoys. + +But the influence of the contrapuntal method reaches far deeper than +well-defined and scholastic forms, just as a well-considered discourse +does not consist merely in the observance of syllogistic forms. The +principle of the free movement of the separate members of one whole +penetrates the minutest divisions; + +and the combined effects of creative ability and artistic cultivation +are nowhere so well displayed as in the independent construction of the +separate elements which go to form the whole work. We admire Mozart's +art in devising his plan, in accurately distributing his principal +parts, and in disposing his lights and shades; but where he is in +truth inexhaustible is in his power of strewing round a wealth of small +touches which assist the characterisation and give to each part +its peculiar effect and, in some respect, the justification of its +existence. This power, which always seems to have something at command +beyond the necessities of the case (although, in fact, every detail +which seems to be the chance expression of individual vigour is +conditioned of necessity by the whole conception), is the prerogative +of genuine creative genius. It approaches the eternal power of nature, +whose apparent prodigality is revealed to the deeper view as the wisest +economy, or rather as the unruffled harmony of a great whole. So a +statue by Phidias suggests to the spectator the impression of animated + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(90) + +nature, because it not merely puts before his eyes in general features +a representation of the bodily form of man, but suggests to him the +totality of the muscular movements which are in a living body in +incessant activity. It is in art as in nature: the further we penetrate +the fewer and less complex become the governing forces and impulses. +Many details may be considered as trifling until it is asked whether +they, in their place, have the required effect as part of the whole. +When a work of art gives an effect of an artistic whole, in a way which +cannot be explained by a consideration of its apparently insignificant +parts, this may be taken as the surest proof that the artist worked +downwards from his conception of a great whole to the minutest details +of his work. We must not undervalue, on the other hand, Mozart's more +exact knowledge and freer use than formerly of external means. His +residence in Mannheim had given him an altogether new conception of the +performance of a good orchestra, both as to sound-effects and execution. +The result is present in these compositions, although Salzburg +surroundings and customs limited him greatly in his choice of means. +It may be that for these reasons his instrumental combinations show no +marked progress on former works, but the skilful use of the forces at +his command become all the more apparent. + +It is remarkable how, without any alteration in the instrumentation as +a whole, the body of sound has become richer and fuller, the result of a +more careful consideration of the particular nature of each instrument. +This is most striking in the management of the wind instruments. The +bassoons predominate throughout, independently treated, whereas formerly +they only strengthened the bass; and the use of the horns, with their +long-sustained notes, shows marked progress. The combination of the +wind instruments, sometimes in opposition to the stringed instruments, +sometimes in unison with them, is another advance. Effective as are the +wind instruments in combination, they are still more so in the delicacy +of their individual features, and the perfection of their treatment +could not fail to influence that of the stringed instruments, which show +the same higher conception of what orchestral performances ought to be. + + +{MOZART AS A CONDUCTOR.} + +(91) + +The Mannheim experiences were not without result either in respect +to the executive delivery of the orchestra. Mozart must have been +particularly impressed with the effect of _crescendo_, for almost in +every passage we meet with phrases built upon a long-drawn _crescendo_. +The contrast between _piano_ and _forte_ is also made the most of. +Regular alternations of long passages _forte_ and _piano_ were formerly +the custom, but now we have a rapid succession of very varied shades, +_fortissimo_ and _pianissimo_ being also brought into use. But all these +are only the outward signs of a higher intellectual apprehension, +for which it was necessary also to give credit to the performers; the +composer, far from relying only on external effect, makes it the +mere expression of the deeper meaning and intrinsic value of his +compositions; it is from this point of view that the progress made by +Mozart in the manipulation of his artistic materials acquires its true +worth in the eyes of a musical critic. + +We may imagine that Mozart found it no easy task to substitute a +completely new style of execution for the time-honoured customs of the +Salzburg band. The energy with which he was able at a later date to +inspire the Leipzig orchestra, wedded as it was to its own traditions, +gives some indication of his way of proceeding as a young man at +Salzburg. His cousin used to hold forth later on Mozart's eccentric +behaviour when conducting, and we may imagine that she witnessed some +of the extraordinary scenes she describes during her present visit to +Salzburg. + +Mozart never appeared again as a violin-player, and we therefore find +no compositions for the violin belonging to this period. After such +an expression of opinion concerning the Salzburg public as that noted +above, we cannot wonder that he was not over-anxious to appear before +them as a clavier-player. We doubtless owe the Concerto for two claviers +with orchestral accompaniment in E flat major (365 K., part 17) to his +wish to play a duet with his sister.[5] + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(92) + +In design and treatment it is essentially similar to the earlier triple +concerto. There is no intention apparent of making the two instruments +independent; the players emulate each other in the delivery of the +melodies and passages, sometimes together, sometimes in succession, +often breaking off in rapid changes and interruptions; the melodies are +sometimes simply repeated, sometimes with variations so divided between +the two instruments that neither can be said to have the advantage over +the other. There are somewhat greater difficulties of execution than +have been usual hitherto, a few passages, for instance, in octaves and +thirds, but very modest ones; the passages generally have more variety +and elegance. The orchestra is simply and judiciously, but very +delicately treated, the wind instruments in sustained chords, as a +foundation for the clavier passages; the effect of the _crescendo_ and +a greater attention to light and shade show the influence of Mannheim. +Altogether the concerto is a well-arranged composition, clear and +melodious, as well as accurately constructed, with a free, cheerful +expression, which is most strikingly shown in the fresh gaiety of the +last movement. + +As organist, Mozart was under the necessity of playing the organ at +festivals, but as a rule only for accompaniments and for interludes at +set places, which gave him opportunities for improvising--his special +delight. We have some organ sonatas with orchestral accompaniments +belonging to this time (328, 329, 336, K.), quite in the style of those +already noticed (Vol. I., p. 286); compositions after the fashion of the +first movement of a sonata, without a trace of ecclesiastical severity, +either in the technical construction, which is very light, or in the +style, which is brilliant and cheerful. The organ occurs as an obbligato +instrument only in one of these sonatas (329 K.), which is the most +elaborated, but still very moderate in style, and without any florid +passages. + + +{MASSES, 1779, 1780.} + +(93) + +Of more important church compositions there belong to this period two +Masses in C major, of which the earlier (317 K.) is one of Mozart's +best-known works of the kind, bearing date March 23, 1779, and the +later (337 K.) was written in March, 1780.[6] They are quite after the +prescribed manner, not too long, not too serious, and yet not light; in +no respect difficult or important, and closely allied in substance and +treatment to the earlier works which have already been analysed (Vol. +I., pp. 263 et seq.). The easy invention, never at a loss for fitting +expression, the talent for organisation which arranges the parts into +a connected and coherent whole, the technical sureness which gives to +every detail its due share of interest--above all, the inexhaustible +gift of melody and symmetry: all these qualities are here to be found, +and it is by their aid that, in spite of hampering circumstances, such +great and healthy work was done. + +Nevertheless, these Masses show more plainly even than earlier works of +the same kind how the fetters of outward control check the impulses of +inner strength and feeling. We see Mozart as it were in court dress; +he is expert enough to move in it with tolerable freedom, but he is +disguised rather than clothed. Conventional influence is most apparent +in the instrumentation, which, as a whole, is little different from +that of the earlier works. Some passages are remarkable even in their +instrumentation; for instance, the Et incarnatus and Crucifixus of the +first Mass have an expressive violin passage, and in the second the +treatment of the wind instruments in the Crucifixus and Resurrexit, and +the organ, oboe, and bassoon in emulation with the voice in the Agnus +Dei, remind us of Mannheim. + +But these are details, and in its general features the tone-colouring +of the orchestra is the same as formerly; rapid violin passages +predominate, the trombone follows the voice regularly and _forte_, and +so on. But in other respects original features are not wanting, nor +even passages of surprising beauty, to which belongs, for instance, the +unusually melodious close of the first Mass, in which the Benedictus, + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(94) + +contrary to custom in a serious choral movement, is in strict +counterpoint. These are signs of a great genius, which make us regret +all the more that the whole work is not dictated and inspired by the +same spirit. To this period also, according to the handwriting, belongs +a Kyrie sketched by Mozart and not preserved quite complete (323 K.), +which has been completed and printed as a Regina coeli by Stadler. It is +characterised by a rapid sextole passage which is distributed among the +wind instruments in uninterrupted movement. The voices take their own +independent course throughout. Among other unfinished attempts by Mozart +preserved in the Mozarteum at Salzburg, and both by the handwriting and +instrumentation, as well as from other reasons, to be referred to this +time, we may particularise the beginning of a Mass with obbligato organ +(Anh., 13 K.) and the beginning (two pages) of a Kyrie (Anh., 16 K.), +which is in such strict counterpoint that the Mass, if it had been +finished, would have been among the most elaborate of them all. +But Mozart had neither inducement nor the means for producing such +compositions in Salzburg. + +Two Vespers by Mozart (321, 339, K.), of the years 1779 and 1780, +have much the same resemblance in substance and compass to masses +that litanies had at an earlier period, but they stand higher in many +respects. + +Five psalms and the Virgin's hymn of praise form the part of the Vespers +which is in varied chant; every division ends with the doxology, and is +complete in itself. In the Litany the principal part is framed in, as +it were, by two equally original and characteristic movements, the +Kyrie and Agnus; the Vespers, on the other hand consist of six separate +movements which have no connection, either actual or artistic. More +striking differences of key are therefore permissible than is generally +the case with the movements of one composition,[7] and it was possible +to put together at pleasure + + +{VESPERS, 1779, 1780.} + +(95) + +psalms belonging to different compositions, sometimes even by different +composers. The Dixit and Magnificat, as the two corner-posts, were +considered the principal parts; they were generally specially composed, +and: others inserted between them. As the words of the doxology (Gloria +Patri) recur at the close of each movement, it would have been natural +that the idea should arise of giving them the same musical rendering, +and suggesting a relation between the different movements by this kind +of refrain. But they are, on the contrary, in close connection with the +words to which they serve as a conclusion, so as to characterise the use +of the general formula as dependent on the special nature of each case. +For the most part, therefore, a principal subject of the piece which it +concludes is utilised for the doxology, and it is astonishing of what a +variety of appropriate and expressive musical renderings these words are +capable. + +A settled custom became established, both as to the general conception +and the distinguishing characteristics of these compositions, which +was closely followed even by Mozart. In the main, the conception and +treatment resembled those of the litanies; the effort is evident to +reconcile the requirements of Divine service with the prevailing and +somewhat trivial musical taste of the times. But the vespers preserved +the dignity and solemnity of church music more strictly than the +litanies. There is no sign of a leaning to operatic style, concessions +to bravura are sparely and exceptionally made, the orchestra preserves +the simplicity of the traditional church orchestra,[8] and limited +scope is allowed even to grace and pleasing fancies. Nevertheless, the +expression of dignity and solemnity shows the influence of a time which +did not exact from sacred art the absorption of the inner man in the +sacred and the divine, but was satisfied with a decent + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(96) + +observance of the forms of external homage. It was left to the artist, +who had a deeper spiritual craving, and such a delicate artistic sense +as forbade the use of form without substance, to give a higher tone to +his work. In this sense we may include by far the larger portions of +these vespers among Mozart's great works. + +As concerns the musical construction in detail, a narrow mode of +treatment resulted throughout from the conditions of worship; the words +had to be composed straight through, just as in short Masses. A broader +rendering of separate portions which might seem to lend themselves to +musical expression was not admitted, and the endeavour after a dramatic +characterisation of certain points did not come within the artistic +usages of the time. The important point, therefore, was not to render +the words in music, so as to give a new and fitting expression to each +detail, but to invent characteristic motifs for the important points +which should be suitable for further elaboration, and which, in spite of +individual distinction, should spring from the fundamental conception of +the whole work. The task of the composer is not made easier by the words +of the psalms; they do not offer a good basis for musical construction, +nor are the ideas conveyed in them generally such as would incite +to musical production. The composer must therefore be original in no +ordinary degree, and it is excusable if he now and then handles the +rules and forms of his art with a certain amount of abruptness, and even +makes verbal expression subservient to them, so far as it can be done +without harmful pressure. + +In order to introduce variety among these closely allied compositions +a certain type had been formed, which was not exactly the inevitable +consequence of the effort to satisfy the rules of art and of good taste, +but, as in the litanies, exercised considerable influence over the +treatment of the text. The two vespers we are considering are very +similar in form and workmanship. Various parts are treated in both with +marked preference, and it is scarcely possible to place one before the +other in merit, except that perhaps the earlier one is the more serious. + +The first psalm, Dixit Dominus, is formed into an + + +{VESPERS, 1779, 1780.} + +(97) + +animated, restless movement, full of strength and dignity; while the +same tone predominates in both, there is more fire and brilliancy in +the first composition, more mildness and tranquillity in the second. The +kind of treatment may be compared to that of the Gloria and Credo of +the Mass. Without any sustained thematic elaboration, certain principal +motifs are maintained and emphasised in different ways. The animated +string passages are not only in varied harmonic combinations, but often +in counterpoint, either imitative or a combination of the different +subjects. The voices are free and independent, but with a few trifling +exceptions they are treated harmonically; solo voices sometimes +alternate with the chorus, but without any special prominence. + +The second psalm, Confitebor tibi, Domine, is in the earlier Vesper (321 +K.), a chorale with solo intermixed, accompanied only by the organ +and stringed instruments (E minor 3-4). This mature and beautiful +composition approaches the Mass in F major (Vol. I., p. 257) both in +tender and fervent sentiment and in simplicity and purity of form. But +there the treatment is contrapuntal throughout, here it is essentially +harmonic. The independent progress of the voices displays a succession +of rich and startling harmonies in animated but natural development; +notwithstanding many suspensions and unexpected turns, they are always +clear and melodious, and always the true and natural expression of the +sentiment to be conveyed.[9] The frame of mind represented is not one of +fanatical remorse, but rather of a soul penetrated with the feeling +of guilt, and impelled to acknowledge it with shame and anguish. The +moderate expression of such a mood, which might easily pass over into +the sentimental, coincides with the symmetry of form observable in the +main features as well as in the details of the work. The corresponding +movement of the second Vesper (339 K.) is not to be placed on the same +level as this. It maintains on the whole the tone of the first movement, +with an increase of earnestness, + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(98) + +and is a clever and melodious composition, with good effect in its +place; but the poetical beauty of the other is altogether wanting. + +The third psalm, Beatus vir, has least original colouring. It is in both +Vespers a lively, powerful, one might almost say, cheerful movement, +suggestive of the Gloria or Credo of more than one mass, but without +the solemnity which characterises them. Here, too, solo voices alternate +with the chorus[10] without interrupting the steady flow of the +composition. In the earlier work there are some beautiful harmonic +effects; in the later, contrapuntal phrases sometimes occur; an animated +rapid accompaniment by the violins is common to both. + +As in the Litany, the Pignus futuræ gloriæ, so in the Vesper the fourth +psalm, Laudate pueri, was treated in severe counterpoint, and here it +was that a thoroughly trained church composer made good his claim to +the title. In the first of the Vespers that we are considering this +psalm[11] is a clever piece of counterpoint, original in form, and +deviating from the strict regularity which usually characterises Mozart. + +It begins with an infinite canon. The twelve bars melody for the +soprano--[See Page Image] + +is imitated three bars later by the alto in unison. Then follows +the tenor an octave higher, and then the bass in unison. After the +completion of the melody the soprano again takes it up, alto and tenor +follow. The regular progress of the canon is then broken by a complete +final cadenza, in which all the voices unite on the last note of the +bass melody. A short theme introduced by the bass--[See Page Image] + + +{LAUDATE PUERI.} + +(99) + +is imitated by the other parts in similar or in contrary motion, and +soon passes over into a short passage ending in D minor. Hereupon the +soprano interposes with a new and characteristic melody--[See Page +Image] + +the first bars of which are taken up by the other voices; but instead of +a further elaboration, a new theme is introduced by the alto, followed +by a counter-theme, which are both imitated together-- + +whereupon the alto raises a new melody, which is figured by the other +parts in imitation as Cantus firmus, and closes in A minor. Then the +alto begins with the previous soprano subject, but now in F major; the +soprano follows with the second, but the imitative figuring soon gives +place to a fine harmonic elaboration, followed by the third passage; +the imitative parts maintain the same character, and the alto has now +another Cantus firmus. To this at last is appended a long coda, formed +of detachments of previous subjects, variously elaborated in stretto and +contrary motion, ending in organ point on the dominant. It cannot +fail to be remarked how tuneful and melodious, as well as independent, +characteristic, and striking in their effect are the different parts. +The melodies which compose the Cantus firmus may have been, in part +at least, borrowed from church tones. Far more ambitious is the +contrapuntal work in the second Vesper,[12] which consists of a close +succession of + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(100) + +difficult problems solved after the severest and most rigorous rules. +After the first regular enunciation of the theme--[See Page Images] +there occurs a second motif--which is at first treated freely, and +issues into a short harmonic passage, which is afterwards used again as +an interlude. Then the two motifs are combined--[See Page Image] and +elaborated together, after which this section closes on the chord of the +dominant in a stretto arrangement of the chief subject, while the +violins take up the subordinate motif. When the chief subject has again +asserted itself, there follows its inversion as a counter-subject--and +regular elaboration, ending in the above interlude, after which the +subject and its inversion appear together as an organ point on the +fundamental tone, while the violins proceed with an independent +accompaniment:--[See Page Images] + +After the previous stretto has again occurred on the chord of the +dominant the two first subjects reappear in new + + +{LAUDATE DOMINUM AND MAGNIFICAT.} + +(101) + +original climacteric treatment, divided between the voices and the +accompaniment;--[See Page Image] + +A free conclusion brings the artistic and forcible work to an end. + +As if for refreshment after this effort, the fifth psalm, Lau-date +Dominum, is treated as a solo movement of a pleasing character. In the +earlier vesper it is a soprano solo with organ obbligato, not certainly +set in prescribed aria form, but in its brilliant passages and easy +grouping of the melodies more akin to secular music than any other of +Mozart's church compositions of this period. In the second vesper the +psalm has a more solemn character, but even here it is a mild and +tender soprano solo, somewhat pastoral in tone, and supported by a solo +bassoon; simple throughout, and with a fine climax at the close, the +doxology being sung by the chorus. + +The Virgin's hymn of praise, "Magnificat anima mea," which forms the +conclusion of the Vespers, is by its form the part best fitted for +musical rendering. But the connection in which it here stands with the +preceding psalms obliges a corresponding treatment both as to extent +and conception. We must not therefore look either for a comprehensive +treatment giving free development to the details of the separate +sentences, such as is to be found in the Magnificats of some great +masters, or for such an amount of dramatic characterisation as the words +give scope for. The text is tersely and precisely treated, with the +avowed intention of concluding the work with a movement in contrast to +the + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(102) + +first psalm. This is evident not only in the external arrangement, which +introduces trumpets and drums, and returns to the original key, but in +the technical treatment and the closely allied tone of expression. The +expression of firm and cheerful confidence, which is common to both, is +naturally accentuated in the Magnificat in accordance with the text, +and the lively expectation of the first psalm is now turned into +thanksgiving for its fulfilment. The technical treatment of the +Magnificat is consistently more important and animated, especially in +the extended use of the forms of counterpoint; but in the main the two +compositions have the same tone and colour, and the same condensed and +impulsive style. The words "Magnificat anima mea Dominum" form a solemn +introduction as a short slow movement; "Et exultavit" is in quicker +tempo, which is maintained to the end, chorus and solo alternating in +the usual way. Here again it is to be noticed that different points are +accentuated in the earlier Magnificat chiefly by harmonic means, in the +second chiefly by counterpoint. + +Having in these works followed Mozart's steady upward progress along the +path which he had previously entered on, a progress maintained against +most unfavourable surroundings, let us now turn to his attempts in +the new province of music as an adjunct to the drama. Remembering his +intense desire to write for the stage, a desire which had been increased +by the manifold influences of his travels, we shall not be surprised +that even theatrical undertakings in Salzburg offered him the +opportunity he sought. When he returned home a theatrical company was +performing under Böhm's management; in 1780 we find Shikaneder there +with his travelling _troupe_, a friend of the Mozart family, joining in +their quoit contests and quite ready to turn Wolfgang's talents to +his own advantage.[13] Two great works owe their origin to these +performances, although the exact time of their production cannot now be +ascertained. + + +{KÖNIG THAMOS.} + +(103) + +The first is the music to "Thamos, King of Egypt" (345 K.), an heroic +drama, by Baron Tob. Phil, von Gebler, who, in spite of his exalted +position, had devoted himself zealously since 1769 to the reform of the +Vienna theatre.[14] The contents of the piece need be given but briefly, +since it is as good as lost:[15]-- + +Menes, King of Egypt, has been deposed by a usurper, Rameses, and as it +is thought, assassinated; but he is living under the name of Sethos as +high priest of the Temple of the Sun, the secret being known only to the +priest Hammon and the general Phanes. After the death of Rameses his +son Thamos is heir to the throne. The day arrives when Thamos attains +majority, is to be invested with the diadem, and to select a bride. The +friends of Menes seek in vain to persuade him to dispute the throne. He +will not oppose the noble youth whom he loves and esteems. But Pheron, a +prince and confidant of Thamos has, in conjunction with Mirza, the chief +of the virgins of the sun, organised a conspiracy against Thamos, and +won over a portion of the army. Tharsis, daughter of Menes, who is +believed by all, even her father, to be dead, has been brought up +by Mirza under the name of Sais. It is arranged that she shall be +proclaimed rightful heir to the throne, and as she will then have +the right to choose her consort, Mirza will secure her beforehand for +Pheron. When she discovers that Sais loves Thamos, and he her, she +induces Sais to believe that Thamos prefers her playmate Myris, and Sais +is generous enough to sacrifice her love and her hopes of the throne to +her friend. Equally nobly Thamos rejects all suspicions against Pheron, +and awards him supreme command. As the time for action draws near, +Pheron discloses to Sethos, whom he takes for a devoted follower of +Menes, and consequently for an enemy to Thamos, the secret of Sais' +existence and his own plans. Sethos prepares secretly to save Thamos. +Sais also, after being pledged to silence by an oath, is initiated +into the secret by Mirza and Pheron, and directed to choose Pheron. She +declines to give a decided answer, and Pheron announces to Mirza his +determination to seize the throne by force in case of extremity. Sais, +who believes herself not loved by Thamos, and will not therefore choose +him as consort, but will not deprive him of the throne, takes the solemn +and irrevocable oath as virgin of the sun. Thamos enters, and they +discover to their sorrow their mutual love. Sethos, entering, enlightens +Thamos as to the treachery of Pheron, without disclosing the parentage +of Sais. Pheron, disturbed by the report that Menes is + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(104) + +still living, comes to take council of Sethos, and adheres to his +treacherous design. In solemn assembly Thamos is about to be declared +king, when Mirza reveals the fact that Sais is the lost Tharsis, and +heiress to the throne. Thamos is the first to offer her his homage. +When she is constrained to choose between Thamos and Pheron she declares +herself bound by her oath, and announces Thamos as the possessor of +the throne. Then Pheron calls his followers to arms, but Sethos steps +forward and discloses himself as Menes; whereupon all fall at his feet +in joyful emotion. Pheron is disarmed and led off, Mirza stabs herself, +Menes, as father and ruler, releases Sais from her oath, unites her with +Thamos, and places the pair on the throne. A message arrives that Pheron +has been struck with lightning by Divine judgment, and the piece ends. + +Mozart wrote music to this drama at Salzburg in 1779 or 1780, according +to the evidence of the handwriting and paper of the score, as well as +of the treatment of the orchestra.[16] It consisted at first of four +instrumental movements which were played between the acts, and one +which formed the conclusion of the whole piece. It was not a new idea to +compose appropriate music to a drama of importance instead of the usual +indifferent or inappropriate instrumental movements. Joh. Ad. Scheibe +(1708-1776) wrote music for "Polyeucte" and "Mithridate" in 1738, and +afterwards wrote an article on this kind of music in the "Kritischen +Musicus." He maintained that the overture should be composed with +reference to the whole piece, and should lead up to its commencement; +that the symphonies between the acts should be connected both with the +act which preceded and that which followed, so as to lead the audience +insensibly from the one frame of mind to the other. The closing symphony +should be in close relationship to the end of the piece, so as to +intensify the impression made by the _denouement_ upon the audience. He + + +{ENTR'ACTES.} + +(105) + +considered a change of instruments particularly necessary, in order to +keep up the attention of the audience; but care must be taken to select +the most appropriate instruments for each movement, so as to express +what had to be expressed in the most effective manner possible. + +Scheibe was followed by Joh. Christ. Hertel (1726-1789) with the music +to Cronegk's "Olint and Sophronia,"[17] and by others (among them +Agricola) with the music to "Semi-ramis" (after Voltaire), which +Lessing thought worthy of an analysis, and declared his opinion that +the entr'actes should have no reference to the following act, but should +only amplify and conclude what had gone before.[18] Vogler's overture +and entr'actes to "Hamlet" were given in Mannheim in 1779.[19] Even in +Salzburg M. Haydn had composed in 1777 special music for the performance +of Voltaire's "Zaire" by French actors, which was received with great +applause.[20] + +The music to "King Thamos" has, curiously enough, no overture, which is +perhaps accounted for by the fact that the play begins with a chorus, +and so is opened by music.[21] Each _entr'acte_ is in connection with +the last scene of the preceding act, and seeks to express the same set +of emotions by means of music; Mozart has each time noted down what +seemed to him the prevailing idea to be represented. Thus, he +writes concerning the first movement: "The first act ends with the +determination of Mirza and Pheron to place the latter + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(106) + +on the throne." Upon the last words of Mirza--"Mirza, a woman, trembles +not. Thou art a man; conquer, or die!"--the orchestra strikes in with +three solemn chords, the effect heightened by long pauses; then begins +a restless and agitated Allegro (in C minor). The prevailing tone is one +of excitement, and those who were in the theatre might well receive the +suggestion of Mirza, as an eager passionate woman, inciting Pheron +to action; but the characterisation is not very striking. It is only +noticeable that the separate phrases of the subject are shorter and in +greater contrast than is usual with Mozart; otherwise we have before us +a movement in two parts, with a coda arranged in the ordinary manner, +but not elaborated. + +The second act has, if possible, a still more general application: "The +noble nature of Thamos is displayed at the end of the second act; the +third act opens with Thamos and the traitor Pheron," and the dialogue +wherein Thamos declares his belief in Pheron's fidelity, and resigns +Sais to him, while Pheron continues to dissemble. Here, too, Mozart has +written an ordinary movement in two parts (Andante, E flat major); but +he has resorted to the expedient of denoting the character of the +two personages by means of distinct subjects, which he indicates by +superscriptions:--[See page images] + + +{ENTR'ACTES TO KÔNIG THAMOS.} + +(107) + +It is easy to be seen here that musical contrast is the main point, and +that the characterisation is very general, quite apart from the fact +that integrity and hypocrisy cannot be expressed in music, as Mozart +was well aware, in spite of his naïve superscriptions. The inadequacy of +such + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(108) + +characterisation is shown in the second part, where both characters +occur together:--[See Page Image] + +Here the expression has become still more general, and we have only the +musical development of a given subject, not the progress of a dramatic +situation; more than this it is out of the province of the musician to +give. + +The suggestions for the music of the third _entr'acte_ are more +promising. The music is connected in the first place with the last +scene: 44 The third act closes with the treacherous dialogue between +Mirza and Pheron,,, expressed by means of an agitated, strongly accented +Allegro, which, however, soon breaks off, and dies away. Thereupon the +music turns to the fourth act, which begins with the vow of the deluded +Sais. Here the influence of the melodrama upon Mozart becomes apparent, +for he follows with his music every turn in the monologue of Sais, +indicating each by a superscription. We may, indeed, doubt whether he +had not some idea of a melodramatic delivery of the music, although +there are no pauses left for spoken sentences, and the flow of the +music, notwithstanding frequent changes of time is uninterrupted. This +movement would be most open to the adverse criticism of Lessing, for it +anticipates the whole of the following scene. In itself it is the +most expressive and the most successful; in spite of its division into +separate points it preserves connection and + + +{ENTR'ACTES TO KÖNIG THAMOS.} + +(109) + +unity, and a tone of tender grace such as becomes a bashful maiden. + +The fourth _entr'acte_ is again an animated movement (Allegro vivace +assai) which is to depict "the universal confusion" with which the +fourth act concludes. We can recognise in the wild, restless subject, in +opposition to which is placed another full of dignity and reserve, +the intended contrast between the conspirators and Thamos with his +followers; but we need, of course, to be told what it is that the music +means to represent. + +Since the spectators were in a position to transfer the factitious +presumption from the stage to the music, a general characterisation +would suffice for them. The music therefore fulfils its primary aim, but +it has undertaken a task which lies beyond its province, and a +previous knowledge of the subject treated is indispensable to the due +appreciation of it; in this way the music is as dependent as though +it were a setting to words without the advantage of the direct +intelligibleness given to it by words. + +The closing movement describes "Pheron's despair, blasphemy, and death." +As this situation coincides with a fearful thunderstorm, the musical +characterisation is confined to a representation of it without any +dramatic detail; it is a wildly forcible movement, and the effect +accords well with the suggested idea.[22] + +It is unquestionable that Mozart, excited by the melodrama, has set +himself eagerly to express dramatic details in music, and yet in almost +every case the exigencies of musical construction have been too much +for him. The impressions he has received from the drama become only +impulses, leading him to accent more sharply and set in stronger +contrast the various points of his composition; the special points of +the dramatic situations are not fully brought out in the music. This is +in great measure the fault of the play, which affords few powerful or +effective suggestions to the composer either through its characters or +its situations; + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(110) + +great poetical or dramatic power would no doubt have called forth other +music. That such a play should have been received with interest and +applause,[23] that it should have incited Mozart to composition, is a +speaking proof of the taste of the time. Shakespeare and Goethe had not +yet penetrated the intellectual atmosphere in which Mozart had grown up; +before poetry could assert its sway in the province of music it had to +express and realise the demand for a characterisation bringing to view +the most individual traits of human character. + +Gebler had sought to invest his drama with peculiar dignity by providing +it with choruses, for which Racine's "Athalie" may have furnished him +with an example. The play begins with a solemn sacrifice in the Temple +of the Sun, the priests and virgins singing hymns to the Godhead; in the +same way, at the beginning of the fifth act, the coronation of the king +is introduced by a sacrifice, the priests and virgins again singing a +hymn.[24] These choruses gave Mozart opportunity for a magnificent style +of composition, with all the brilliancy that external support could +give. + +The hymns were well-known ones with Latin words inserted later, for +which, however, a German translation was again substituted. Our judgment +as to style and conception + + +{CHORUSES TO KONIG THAMOS.} + +(111) + +will naturally be affected by the fact that the hymns were written for +the theatre, and not as church music proper; and yet these very hymns +have been widely circulated by countless performances in churches, and +are made to serve as the principal evidence of Mozart's style of church +music. There is no question that their whole conception is grander, +freer, and more imposing than that of any of his masses belonging +to that period, but this is because he felt himself unfettered by +conventional restrictions. A solemn act of worship was represented +on the stage, the expression of reverence to the Supreme Being was +heightened in effect by the Egyptian surroundings; and Mozart's +endeavour was to render the consequent emotions with all possible +truth and force. But he was fully conscious that the expression must be +_dramatic_. Therefore everything was avoided that directly suggested the +church, and an impression of splendour and brilliancy was given which in +this fashion was foreign to the church; above all the subjective points +of sentiment are thrown into strong relief, and forcibly expressed. But +although there is an essential difference between these choruses and +Mozart's contemporary church music, yet we cannot fail to perceive a +certain amount of resemblance in the manner in which the solemnity +and importance of religious ceremony is rendered both here and in +the "Zauberflöte." The drama itself has some resemblance to the +"Zauberflöte," both in its deistic-humani-tarian tendency and its +Egyptian costume and sun-worship. Freemasonry may have exerted some +influence over Gebler's mind[25]--it could have had none at that time +over Mozart. + +In the music to the "Zauberflöte" everything, more especially the power +of concentrating ideas in the strictest forms, shows mature development, +while here we are aware of the youthful genius, rejoiced at the +opportunity of pouring forth his best in full measure, and thereby +satisfying his nature to the utmost. The consideration of these choruses +explains his joy at finding the chorus in Paris strong and good, + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(112) + +(Vol. I., p. 429), and choruses, his "most favourite compositions," well +performed and much thought of; we can imagine what he would have made +of the choruses if he had written a grand opera in Paris. They leave +Gebler's words (out of which, according to Wieland, Gluck could have +made something excellent) so far behind that the music and the poetry, +considered from an artistic point of view, seem to belong to different +periods. For actual representation they are no doubt too grandly and +broadly conceived and executed; they overpower the whole drama with +their weight. The impression of solemnity and grandeur produced on the +mind by symbolic ceremonies is rendered with dignity, and at the same +time with fire and energy. The chorus and orchestra unite to give the +effect of splendour and magnificence, and startling harmonies are borne +along as if on an irresistible stream; the lighter subordinate subjects +(divided between male and female chorus as well as solo voices) are +less marked. The style and treatment of the choruses have afforded a +precedent for many similar works in later days; so also has the way +in which the choruses and a full orchestra are united so as to give a +massive effect, both of arrangement and construction. Mozart himself had +no opportunity of again uniting chorus and orchestra on a large scale, +and proceeding further in the same direction; Haydn in his oratorios +inherited this portion of Mozart's genius, and numerous efforts have +since been made to accomplish what Mozart began. + +The orchestra is provided with all the external advantages that Salzburg +could offer; no instruments employed at a later date are wanting, except +the clarinet, which Mozart missed so sensibly. It is organised +and constructed exactly as we find it at the present day; the wind +instruments of wood and brass and the stringed instruments are united in +definite groups, but in perfect freedom of treatment. Most striking +is Mozart's progress in his treatment of the brass instruments. The +trombones are no longer with the voices, and where they support them +they do it in an independent manner, generally by sustained chords. But +they also take their own place in the orchestra, the horns and trumpets +united with them, and + + +{CHORUSES TO KÖNIG THAMOS.} + +(113) + +then again the horns combine with the wood-wind instruments; while the +trumpets, with the drums, occasionally assert their peculiar character. +In the same way, the other wind instruments are combined among +themselves, as well as with the other instruments; it is in accordance +with their nature that the rendering of the more delicate details should +fall to their share. Such an extended employment of the wind instruments +must naturally have influenced the treatment of the strings. These are +independently and forcibly placed in contrast with the wind instruments, +so that, while the latter heighten the colouring, the former determine +the fundamental character of the work and maintain unity of tone. +In short, all important effects which can be produced by different +combinations of the instruments are here brought into use, not merely as +sound effects produced by changes of tone colouring, but as the means of +giving due expression to musical ideas. + +The chorus also takes a different position in conjunction with an +orchestra such as this. It is no longer the principal object in +the sense of making everything else subservient to itself; but the +independence of the instruments renders it freer in its own motion. +Since so much was left to be rendered by the orchestra, the chorus +was able to characterise what belonged essentially to it all the more +sharply and strongly; and the powerful and effective orchestra called +forth all the strength of the chorus that they might keep pace with each +other. For this there was requisite, besides an intensified meaning in +the subjects, a free and melodious treatment, which made the separate +voices the foundation for the display of natural and forcible effects of +sound. To satisfy these varied conditions in detail, and to unite +them harmoniously into combined effect, has been Mozart's successfully +executed task. Let any one place those earlier works, in which the +voices supply the harmonies to a continuous violin passage and a _basso +continuo_ side by side with these hymns where an independent chorus, +complete in itself, is united with an equally independent and carefully +arranged orchestra, so as to form a compact and solid whole, and what an +extraordinary progress is apparent! + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(114) + +Mozart, who executed this work with loving care, composed both choruses +twice over. The first chorus, in the earlier and completely carried-out +attempt, has essentially the same features as the later, only the solo +parts are simpler and without the delicate accompaniment which gives +them their chief charm. The voices are only altered in the details of +the main portions of the chorus, but the orchestra is subjected to a +thorough elaboration. At first there were no flutes, and the addition +of these has given to the oboes a different position and in many ways +caused a different grouping of the instruments. But, apart from +this, there are so many improvements in detail that this work may be +considered as a regular study in instrumentation. The difference between +the two versions of the second chorus are more essential. Only the +beginning and the fundamental ideas of some of the subjects in the first +attempt are identical with the later elaboration. The working-out is +quite different, not only much shorter, but in every respect scantier +and less important; and more especially are the orchestral parts far +removed from their present rich perfection. Mozart did not even finish +this first attempt; it breaks off in the middle of the last passage, +although only a few bars are wanting. The difference in the elaboration +proves once more that the true gift of an artist consists in the +unerring judgment with which, after no matter how many experiments in +the process of his work, he seizes in the end on what is best for his +purpose. It is instructive to follow the progress of development from +the earlier ideas and attempts--in the second chorus the main features +are more carefully perfected, in the first the details. + +The magnificent effect of these two choruses seems to have suggested the +idea of bringing the drama to an impressive close by means of another +chorus. In the place of the instrumental movement which represented +Pheron's death, there was introduced a short exhortation by the High +Priest to fear the Divine wrath, which is taken up by the chorus, and +passes into joyful trust in the protection of the Almighty. + +Mozart's composition (to words provided by a Salzburg + + +{ZAIDE, 1780 (1779-Einstein:"Mozart")} + +(115) + +local poet--perhaps by Schachtner)[26] is altogether worthy of the +two first hymns. The bass solo of the High Priest foreshadows the +Commendatore in "Don Giovanni." The chorus which follows gives the right +expression of humble reverence on the part of the bystanders; and the +cheerful dignity of the conclusion is quite appropriate when we take +into account that the chorus was intended for the stage and not for the +church. + +Another composition falling within Mozart's present residence at +Salzburg is a German operetta, for which honest Schachtner provided the +libretto. It was almost finished when Mozart went to Munich in November, +1780. + +His father wrote (December 11, 1780) that nothing could then be done +with "Schachtner's play" on account of the public mourning at Vienna. +This was all the better, since "the music was not quite ready." But +Wolfgang begs him (January 18, 1781) to bring with him "Schachtner's +operetta." "People come to see Cannabich, with whom the hearing of such +things does not come _mal ä propos_." Later on the father revived the +idea of producing the operetta in Vienna, but Wolfgang answered (April +18,1781): "Nothing can be done with Schachtner's operetta, for the same +reason that I have often given before. I could not contradict Stephanie; +I could only say that the piece--except the long dialogues, which could +easily be altered--was very good, but not suited for Vienna, where they +only care for comic pieces." + +There can be no doubt that this is the opera[27] in two acts, without +a title, preserved in Mozart's carefully executed original score, and +complete all but the overture and the conclusion (344 K.), which was +published by André, with the + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(116) + +suitable title of "Zaide."[28] The handwriting, style, and +instrumentation, as well as some special circumstances to be presently +noted, prove this beyond a doubt. The plot may be conjectured in its +general features by the songs and music: [29]-- + +Gomaz has been betrayed into the power of the Sultan Soliman and set to +servile tasks. He has won the love of Zaide, who is in the seraglio of +the Sultan, but the passion of the latter for her affords little hope to +the lovers. Finding Gomaz, overcome with toil, asleep in the garden, +she leaves him her likeness. This leads to a declaration of their mutual +love. To them attaches himself Alazim, the Sultan's favourite, and +apparently the overseer of the slaves, who represents the humane +and enlightened Mussulman. He procures for them Turkish dresses, and +accompanies them in their flight. At the beginning of the second act +we find the Sultan in violent wrath at the treachery he has just +discovered. He rages against the fugitives, whom Zaram undertakes to +pursue and capture. They are, in fact, soon brought back, and Soliman is +not moved to clemency either by the prayers and constancy of Zaide, or +by the exhortations of Alazim. In what way a happy _denouement_ is at +last brought about cannot be conjectured.[30] + +This serious operetta is written in the manner and after the scale of +the vaudeville of the time; it does not depend upon the executive powers +of the performers nor upon large expedients, and the standard throughout +is a modest one. The orchestral combinations prove that it was intended +for performance in Salzburg, and the treatment of the separate parts may +have had reference to the available _personnel_. + + +{ZAIDE--AIRS.} + +(117) + +Zaide lays no claim to anything but a certain amount of fluency. The +part of the Sultan requires a strong penetrating voice, but for the rest +the requirements of the music are well within the compass of ordinary +theatrical singers; musical feeling, and a natural, correct judgment +Mozart always displays, because they were in fact a part of himself +which could not be laid aside. + +In the construction of the songs the traditional arrangement of the +Italian aria is not closely adhered to. An effort is evident to make use +of the fundamental law requiring contrasting motifs to be compacted into +a whole, in developing the individuality of the characters and of the +dramatic situations. Nevertheless, the influence of the old tradition +is visible in many phenomena, such as the change of tempo, the long +ritomelli, the division of the different motifs by regular rests, +and their amplification. Yet it is no longer servile obedience to an +external type, but an evident determination to evolve the form out of +the given situation. + +Every artist, no matter how many-sided his genius, feels his nature +impelled in a certain direction in which his creative strength works +freely and independently, while other paths remain strange to him or +are altogether closed. Experience and cultivation go far to equalise +his powers, but they are powerless to alter the original impulse. +Now dramatic representation makes demands upon the artist for the +satisfaction of which he must not indeed overstep the bounds of his +individuality--that no man can do with impunity--but he must stretch +them to their extremest limits. Here it is that he seeks aid from the +poet. The latter can elevate the musician by the strength and vividness +of his situation and characters, by the style and vigour of his +language, while it needs but little to stimulate his musical production +to activity. This aid was denied to Mozart when as a young man he first +sought to write dramatic music in its true sense. The first act of the +opera before us has no events except the love passages between Gomaz +and Zaide, which take their peculiar tone from the mixture of pity for +suffering innocence and from the danger threatening in the background. +Here Mozart is quite in his element. The + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(118) + +tendency and fervour of his own sentiments are involuntarily expressed; +but, graceful and interesting as is this first act, the poetical +expression of the words discovers nothing of the more delicate features +of the music. Again, in the second act, the Sultan raging in jealousy, +Zaide at first beseeching, then also furious, Alazim moralising--these +are elements in the treatment of which Mozart might well look for aid +from the poet. And here it was that the poet left him in the lurch +altogether. We fancy ourselves in a marionette-show when the Sultan +sings:-- + + Ich bin so bos als gut, + Ich lohne die Verdienste + Mit reichlichem Gewinnste; + Doch reizt man meine Wuth, + So hah' ich auch wohl + Waffen Das Laster zu bestrafen, + Und diese fordern Blut. + +And Zaide:-- + + Tiger! wetze deine Klauen, + Freu' dich der erschlichnen Beut'! + Straf ein thörichtes Vertrauen + Auf verstellte Zartlichkeit! + Komm nur schneli und tödt' uns beide, + Saug' der Unschuld warmes Blut, + Reiss' das Herz vom Eingeweide + Und ersättge deine Wuth + +The music totters under the weight of such words as these. The songs, +which follow one after the other, are indeed well conceived and +carefully executed, and even for the most part characteristic; but +their characterisation is all external, and when suggested by different +touches in the text it is rarely happy. There is a want of harmony and +balance, as well as of impulse and warmth, so that the really beautiful +separate ideas have no proportionate effect. It is remarkable that these +songs are all too long, and their cadenzas are especially tedious, as if +quantity was to make up for quality. Further adherence to the +antiquated aria form is particularly noticeable; as if, when the musical +construction no longer proceeded directly from the impulse + + +{ZAIDE--QUARTET.} + +(119) + +of the dramatic situation, the old forms involuntarily asserted their +sway. The quartet (16) in which the musical and dramatic interest is, +as it were, concentrated, contrasts very favourably with the solo +songs. The _dramatis personæ_ are all happily characterised; the Sultan, +implacable in his anger, Gomaz seeking to console Zaide, who, in her +turn, strives to purchase his life by the sacrifice of her own, and +Aiazim, overcome with grief at being unable to see a way out of the +complications that he himself has brought about. Here too we have a +conflict of opposing emotions faithfully and accurately delineated, and +all directed to one central point; it is, in fact, a situation which +fulfils all the essential conditions of musical representation. Here +then Mozart is in his element. The different characters are drawn with +a steady hand, every emotion is definitely and accurately expressed, and +the elements thus gained are employed as materials for a construction +which is as faithful to the laws of musical organisation as to the +requirements of the dramatic situation. The quartet thus fulfils the +two essential conditions of dramatic music, and reveals itself as a +consistent and harmonious piece of work, the separate motifs of which +are beautiful and expressive, while the interest is kept alive by +alternation and climax, and a vivid dramatic picture is produced by +the artistic treatment of musical forms. The grouping of the voices +in manifold variety of combination displays, as if on a ground plan, a +symmetrical, well-disposed musical edifice. As they proceed they develop +out of the simplest situations the most varied shades of sentiment, so +that the music carries into the innermost recesses of the mind and heart +what the words have merely hinted at. Even the actual musical formulas, +such as the entry of the voices in imitation, produce, in the right +place, such a direct and vivid effect that they appear to have been +invented for the special case. As to the main conception on which the +construction of the quartet rests, it might, if the violent rage of +the Sultan were considered as the chief point, have been made more +passionate and agitated without overstepping truth of expression; but +Mozart has in preference emphasised the more fervid and reserved + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(120) + +emotions of the other characters, to which the expression of anger +must be subordinated. This conception has perhaps been suggested by the +greater ease which it afforded for the introduction of the necessary +reconciliation of the characters; partly, also, a more quiet and +contained piece might appear to be of better effect after so many lively +and agitated songs; it is certain, however, that it was the conception +most in accordance with Mozart's nature as an artist. + +Equally in accord with the situation, but not by any means so deep +and expressive, is the terzet (8) which brings the first act to a +conclusion. In this there is no conflict of sentiment; Zaide, Gomaz and +Alazim are happy in the feeling of mutual love and friendship, and in +the hope of a speedy deliverance; the fear lest their plan of escape +should fail casts only a passing shadow on their cheerful frame of +mind.[31] The music therefore expresses content and happiness with great +tenderness and the purest melody, especially in the first movement. The +duet between Zaide and Gomaz (5), whose love is not a stormy passion, +but the devotion of two noble beings, expresses in the most delightful +manner the purity and openness of a happy affection. + +There are not wanting, either such delicate features of detail as +characterise the genuine musical dramatist. For instance, in Gomaz' song +(6), when he is divided between gratitude to Alazim and impatience to +hasten to Zaide, there is charming humour in his confusion, particularly +at the words "doch ich muss dich schnell verlassen," and "lass dich +küssen, lass dich drücken," which in no way interferes with the more +serious sentiment of the song as a whole. The union of humour and +sentiment at the close is excellent. While the accompaniment continues +the last subject, Gomaz, who had rushed off in hot haste, turns back, +and sings once more with heartfelt emotion: "Herr und Freund, wie dank' +ich dir!" There is a pretty touch in Osmin's air (11) where the purely +musical return to the theme is used to express recurring bursts of +hearty laughter. + +The workmanship of the opera, both as regards the + + +{ZAIDE--ORCHESTRA.} + +(121) + +treatment of the voices and of the orchestra, is, as might be expected, +thorough and sure. The orchestra deserves special notice. We find +only the instruments in use at Salzburg, and the wind instruments are +sparingly employed. The flutes and oboes generally alternate, but +they are together and in conjunction with bassoons and horns in the +quartet(16) and in one of the Sultan's airs (12); trumpets and drums are +only used in the Sultan's raging scene (9). Many songs (1, 11, 13) +are accompanied by stringed instruments alone. The hand of a master is +recognisable throughout, in the life and movement which we follow with +unflagging interest, in the force and beauty of the sound effects, and +in the delicacy of the lights and shades. Many touches recall later +works of Mozart; but these for the most part consist in turns of +expression, in the treatment of the accompaniment, &c. One decided +reminiscence is not without interest. The quartet is introduced by a +short passage for the wind instruments, which recurs several times in +the course of the piece, whereupon the voices enter as follows:--[See +Page Image] + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(122) + +where it appears in the song of Constanze, "Traurigkeit ward mir zum +Loose" (10) in the following form:--[See Page Imge] + +The alternate rendering of the subject by the voices and accompaniment, +and the alternation between the wind instruments, give it a new charm; +and it is not without intention that the instrumentation here is less +full than in the former case. + +One peculiarity of this operetta is the introduction of melodrama. J. J. +Rousseau, in his production of "Pygmalion" at Lyons in 1770 and Paris +in 1775, gave the first example of a dramatic piece in which spoken +dialogue was interspersed with music in the nature of obbligato +recitatives.[32] The attempt thus to render music effective as a means +of dramatic expression was successful, although the critics raised +objections to the union of music and speech.[33] + + +{ZAIDE MELODRAMA.} + +(123) + +Independently of Rousseau's experiment, it had occurred to Brandes in +1772 at Weimar to adapt Gerstenberg's cantate "Ariadne" as a melodrama +for his wife, who was an excellent actress, but no musician. Schweitzer +undertook the composition, but owing to the interruption caused by his +"Alceste" he did not finish it.[34] When Brandes removed to Gotha in +1775, he transferred "Ariadne" to Georg Benda, with whose music it was +then produced.[35] The extraordinary success it met with suggested to +Gotter the idea of writing the melodrama "Medea" for Madame Seyler, +the rival of Madame Brandes; this also was composed by Benda.[36] The +success of the melodramas was universal and extraordinary.[37] Critics +might object to the principle as they pleased,[38] the public was not +to be reasoned out of its enthusiasm, which was shared even by many +connoisseurs.[39] That the success wras mainly due to Benda's expressive +music, which all joined in praising, admits of no doubt, and none of his +successors have been able to produce a similar effect.[40] + +Mozart's idea of substituting melodrama for accompanied recitative in +German opera was a kindred one (Vol. II., p. 74), and the same idea is +evident in other directions.[41] It is put into practice in "Zaide." Two +important monologues are melodramatically treated; one by Gomaz at the +beginning of the first, and another by Soliman at the beginning of + + +{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.} + +(124) + +the second act.[42] Benda's composition has evidently been taken as +a model; the music in short periods, often only in detached chords, +follows each turn of the monologue, and seeks to give expression to +the lightest shades of sentiment. The musical treatment is essentially +different from that of obbligato recitative, where the independent +instrumental passages are connected partly by the recitative itself, +which is always sung, partly by the harmonies of the accompaniment; in +the melodrama, on the other hand, every passage, even the smallest, is +treated as distinctly apart. In the recitatives, again, which are sung, +the lighter shades of sentiment may be rendered by cadence, rhythm, or +harmony, without the intervention of any instrumental passages. In the +melodrama this is impossible, and in order to accentuate details, the +continuity of the dialogue must be sacrificed; another decided +and almost inevitable drawback is the dependence upon details for +characterisation, which is thereby often out of proportion. In this way, +spoken dialogue loses its chief means of effect--that is, its continuity +of idea--while nothing is gained for musical unity, which ought to make +up for all deficiencies by the steady maintenance of a sustained mood. +For, impelled as Mozart might be by his nature to gather into a whole +the shattered members of this musical representation by means of +rhythmical combinations and harmonic progressions, this was only +possible to a limited degree, and musical construction in its proper +sense can only exist in those few places where the music is independent +of the melodrama. The main point, however, cannot be denied, which is +that the words and the music are not here so blended that each part is +richly repaid for what it sacrifices by its union with the other, but +that each is continually asserting itself in opposition to the other, so +that both are in fact the losers. To + +[42] It is particularly to be regretted that the original words for +these melodramatic scenes have not been printed. The alterations in +Soliman's monologue are not so essential, but Gomaz's monologue is +entirely transformed. In the original text he was absorbed by his +unpleasant position; when he prays for refreshing slumber, and the music +represents his repeated starting up from rest, the altered version puts +love-ravings for Zaide into his mouth. + + +{ZAIDE--MELODRAMA.} + +(125) + +this may be added the great difficulty of satisfying the requirements +of music, together with those of declamatory speech, and of filling the +pauses with suitable gestures and movements, the amount of histrionic +art necessary being rarely possessed by singers. Benda's melodramas +were written for distinguished actresses, whose forte lay in their +declamation and action; the situations were selected with this view, the +dialogue was constructed in accordance with it; in fact, each scene was +self-contained, not incorporated as a component part of a greater whole. +Objections of this kind must have acted upon Mozart at a later time; +at all events, he never again employed melodrama, not even in the +"Zauberflote," when the occasion seemed ready to hand. It was +nevertheless often introduced into operas--and partially also into +plays--with very good effect. But the effect relies chiefly either on +the material impressions of sound or upon the delicate and intellectual +treatment of the musical interludes, suggesting familiar ideas, +sentiments, or fancies, which exist in the minds of the speakers, though +they are incapable of expression in speech.[43] These are certainly +admirable points in their place, but they can scarcely serve as +organising principles in a work of art; the melodrama must be content to +take its place as a subordinate and connecting member if it is to have +its true effect. + +Mozart never took up this opera again, and he was right. It could only +have been rendered fit for the stage by complete reconstruction. The +first act, however graceful the music may be, has too little variety in +its treatment and tone to gain favour on the stage; the second is, as we +have seen, barely tolerable. After the composition of the "Entführung," +"Zaide" was heard of no more, partly on account of the similarity of +subject and accessories, partly because it was so far surpassed in every +respect that it could not fail to fall henceforth into oblivion.[44] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXI. + +[Footnote 1: The minuet movement in symphonies was not liked in Salzburg. The +minuet of the Symphony in B flat major was written later (to judge by +the handwriting) for a performance in Vienna, and appended on a separate +leaf. Mozart began a minuet to the C major symphony, but only finished +the first part, and crossed it out in the score. The effort not to +make the symphony too long is evident throughout, and especially in +the non-repetition of the first movement, although it is completely +detached.] + +[Footnote 2: The first movement (Adagio, Allegro con spirito), the Andantino and +the Finale are (not quite correctly) printed as an independent symphony. +(Breit-kopf and Härtel, 7.)] + +[Footnote 3: André possessed a careful copy of these two pieces, inscribed by +Mozart "Sinfonia Concertante," as if for their special performance at a +concert in Vienna, March 20,1783.] + +[Footnote 4: The customary attempt to give a peculiar charm to the trio of the +minuet by means of unusual instrumentation is here apparent in the +solos for the flute in the first trio and for the horn in the second. In +Mozart's autograph score the flute part is left blank: was the player to +improvise?] + +[Footnote 5: I do not know André's authority for his assertion that it was +composed in 1780, but it appears to me to be justified. Mozart sends +from Vienna (June 27, 1781) for "The Sonata ä quatre mains in B, and +the two Concertos for two claviers," and he writes later on that he had +played the Concerto ä duo with Frl. Auemhammer at a concert (November +24, 1781). Two clarinets were added to the original accompaniment, on a +flyleaf, for this performance. The second concerto which is mentioned is +no doubt that originally written for three claviers, and afterwards for +two (p. 331).] + +[Footnote 6: The Credo as far as the "Et in spiritum" was afterwards laid +aside; it was in 3-4, with the doubtful superscription, "Tempo di +ciacconna."] + +[Footnote 7: The Dixit and Magnificat of the first vesper is in C major, +Confitebor in E minor, Beatus vir in B flat major, Laudate pueri in F +major, Laudate Dominum in A flat major. The Dixit and Magnificat of the +second vesper are also in C major, Confitebor in E flat major, Beatus +vir in G major, Laudate pueri in D minor, Laudate Dominum in F major.] + +[Footnote 8: The accompaniment consists, besides the organ (which is only once +obbligato), of two violins and bass, trumpets and drums (these last only +in the Dixit and Magnificat), and trombones in unison with the choir. +The tenors invariably go with the bass; but, a rare occurrence, the +violoncello is frequently distinct from the double-bass. Once a very +simple solo for the bassoon, _ad libitum_, occurs.] + +[Footnote 9: The simple but sometimes independent accompaniment, especially of +the violins, is very beautiful, and heightens the effect, as it does in +the Mass.] + +[Footnote 10: In the second vesper a long triplet passage is given to the solo +soprano at the words "Cornu eius exaltabitur," but nothing further comes +of it.] + +[Footnote 11: Printed as an offertory, "Amavit eus Dominus" (Vienna: Diabelli).] + +[Footnote 12: Printed as an offertory, "Sancti et justi" (Vienna: Diabelli).] + +[Footnote 13: Wolfgang had promised to compose an aria for him, but had not +done so when he was summoned to Munich for "Idomeneo", reproached by his +father, he found time in the full swing of his work at "Idomeneo" to +write this aria and send it to Salzburg (November 22,1780).] + +[Footnote 14: The Wien. Ztg. (1786, No. 31) contains an obituary notice. Cf. +Gervinus, Gesch. d. Poet. Nat. Litt., IV., p. 590.] + +[Footnote 15: Published in Vienna, 1774, Frankfort, 1775, and in Freih. von +Gebler's Theatralischen Werken (Prague and Dresden 1772), III., p. 305.] + +[Footnote 16: Confirmed by an expression of Mozart to his father, written from +Vienna (February 15, 1783): "I am really sorry that I cannot make use of +the music to "Thamos." The piece, having failed here, is destined to be +never again performed. If it were, it would be solely on account of the +music, and that is scarcely likely. It is certainly a pity!" Mozart gave +his music, in 1786, to the needy theatrical manager Bulla, who made a +good profit by it (Nissen, p. 685); "König Thamos" was given the same +year in Berlin (Teichmann's Litt. Nachl., p. 40). The whole composition +was successfully performed at Frankfort in the winter of 1865, with a +connecting poem by Gisb. von Vincke.] + +[Footnote 17: Cf. Schmid, Nekrolog, 1., p. 363.] + +[Footnote 18: Lessing, Hamb. Dramat. St., 26 (Werke, VI., p. 115).] + +[Footnote 19: Betracht. d. Mannh. Tonsch., I., p. 313; III., p. 253.] + +[Footnote 20: "Haydn's _entr'actes_ (to 'Zaire') are really fine," writes L. +Mozart (October 6, 1777). "One of them was an arioso with variations for +violon-celli, flutes, oboe, &c., and next after a _piano_ variation came +one with Turkish music so suddenly and unexpectedly that all the women +started, and there was a general titter. Between the fourth and fifth +acts was a cantabile with recitatives for the English horn, and then the +arioso again, which accorded very well with the sadness of the preceding +scene and with the following act."] + +[Footnote 21: It might be supposed that the overture before mentioned (Vol. +II., p. 86) was intended for this play, and the date of the composition +agrees with this supposition. But the paper differs from that of the +other instrumental movements, and Mozart was exact and careful in these +matters. Something also of the solemn dignity characteristic of the +choruses might be looked for in an overture to "König Thamos"; in other +respects it is not unsuitable.] + +[Footnote 22: The usual Salzburg orchestra is kept in view for these movements: +strings, oboes, bassoons, and horns; and for the three entr'actes (I., +IV., V.), trumpets and drums.] + +[Footnote 23: Wieland enthusiastically praises the completed drama (Auswahl, +Denkw., Briefe, II., pp. 14, 26). Soon afterwards (p. 27) he wished the +conclusion altered, and complained that the virtuous people were unreal, +and the wicked ones veritable demons. Ramier, Sulzer, Thümmel, also +spoke highly in praise of "König Thamos" (Schlegel, Deutsch. Mus., IV., +pp. 139, 153, 159). It was at once translated into French (Wieland, +Auswahl. Denkw. Briefe, II., p. 30), and into Italian in 1780, by J. S. +von Berghoff, secretary to Prince Colloredo. A handsomely bound copy of +this translation is preserved with Mozart's score; it was probably sent +to the Archbishop, and Mozart may have thought of adapting his choruses +to the Italian version.] + +[Footnote 24: Schweitzer professed to discern in the composer to the choruses +which Gebler sent to Ramier and Wieland a beginner of great promise. +That this talented beginner was not Mozart (although he was in Vienna in +the summer of 1773) no one who casts a glance over the choruses will for +a moment doubt. "Two choruses to the play of 'Thamos' by Mozart, scored +for the piano by C. Zulehner," were published by Simrock, in Bonn, +and are certainly not genuine. The fact that Mozart was known to have +written an anonymous composition for the stage no doubt caused this one +to be attributed to him.] + +[Footnote 25: Gebler was Grand Master of the district lodge, "zum neuen Bund," in +1784 (Lewis, Gesch. d. Freimaurerei in Oesterreich, p. 162).] + +[Footnote 26: This concluding chorus is wanting in Gebler's works, and in the +Italian translation thus proving its Salzburg origin.] + +[Footnote 27: As early as 1799 the following inquiry was made in the +Intelligenz-Blatt of the A. M. Z., II., p. 21: "Among Mozart's +posthumous works has been found a German vaudeville, written apparently +in 1778 or 1779; it is without a title, and contains the following +characters: Gomaz, Zaide, Sultan, Zaram, Soliman, Osmin, &c. Any person +acquainted with the title of this work, or with the fact of its having +been printed, is requested to communicate with the editor of this +paper." The inquiry appears to have remained unanswered.] + +[Footnote 28: "Zaide," Oper in zwei Acten von W. A. Mozart. Score (and pianoforte +arrangement). Offenbach: Joh. André. André has added an overture and a +closing chorus for the purpose of performance, to which there can be no +objection. Mozart's composition is given intact, but the text has been +altered by C. Gollmick. Schachtner's libretto is truly insufferable, but +it is indispensable to the critical examination of Mozart's music.] + +[Footnote 29: Schachtner has evidently imitated a French original, but I have +not been able to discover it. I have failed to procure an opera entitled +"Zaide," in three acts, by La Mare, composed by Royer (1739).] + +[Footnote 30: The resemblance of some situations to the "Entfuhrung" is as +striking as the difference of the two works on the whole. An Osmin +appears as a secondary character, and sings a comic aria in the second +act, which seems to have no immediate connection with the action. The +disclosure of the flight was made in the original by Zaram, not by +Osmin.] + +[Footnote 31: This part did not satisfy Mozart, and he composed it again.] + +[Footnote 32: Castil-Blaze, Molière Musicien, II., p. 423.] + +[Footnote 33: La Harpe, Corr. Litt., I., p. 280.] + +[Footnote 34: Brandes Lebensgesch., II., pp. 140, 157.] + +[Footnote 35: Brande's Lebensgesch;, II., pp. 173, 184. Reichardt says +(Kunstmag., I., p. 86; Mus. Alman., 1796, G. Benda) that Benda was the +first to propose it; but this seems incorrect.] + +[Footnote 36: Brande's Lebensgesch., II., p. 193. Teutsch. Mercur, 1775, III., p. +276.] + +[Footnote 37: Brande's "Ariadne" was successfully performed in Paris in 1781 +(Grimm, Corr. Litt., X., p. 450).] + +[Footnote 38: Eberhard, Neue Verm. Schr. (Halle, 1788), p. 1. N. Bibl. d. Schön +Wiss., XXXVII., p. 177. Forkel, Krit. Bibl., III., p. 250. Tagebuch d. +Mannheim, Schaub., I., p. 327. Nachtr. zu Sulzer's Theorie., Ill, p. +318. Herder was of opinion that music and declamation met at evety +point; they could not unite (Böttiger, Litt. Zust., I., p. 126).] + +[Footnote 39: Reichardt, Kunstmag., I., p. 86. Rintel, Zelter, p. 100. Cf. Huber, +Tamira, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 40: A list of melodramas is given by Schletterer, Das Deutsche +Singspiel, p.225.] + +[Footnote 41: Reichardt, Geist des Musik. Kunstmag., p. 102. Knigge, Ephemer. f. +Theat. u. Litt. (1785, II., p. 100).] + +[Footnote 42: It is particularly to be regretted that the original words for +these melodramatic scenes have not been printed. The alterations in +Soliman's monologue are not so essential, but Gomaz's monologue is +entirely transformed. In the original text he was absorbed by his +unpleasant position; when he prays for refreshing slumber, and the music +represents his repeated starting up from rest, the altered version puts +love-ravings for Zaide into his mouth.] + +[Footnote 43: It will suffice to remind the reader of the fine melodrama in +"Fidelio."] + +[Footnote 44: "Zaide" was performed in Frankfort on January 27, 1866, and though +naturally not a stage success, it was a most welcome instruction to +those who brought historical interest to bear upon it.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. "IDOMENEO." + + +ALTHOUGH in his earlier years Mozart's career had, as we have seen, +been hindered by the circumstances + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(126) + +to which he was forced to succumb at +Salzburg, yet the severe discipline to which he was subjected must have +been in many respects useful during his period of education. Since his +return from his travels, however, his Salzburg surroundings were utterly +oppressive and distasteful to him. His time of training was over; what +he now required was freedom, work worthy of his powers, and the means of +producing all that he was able and willing to produce. But of all this +Salzburg could give nothing, and want of appreciation and mistrust, in +addition to external obstacles, almost caused Mozart to lose heart and +spirit, and throw up his post. His longing looks were naturally turned +in whatever direction deliverance might seem to lie, and he considered +it a fortunate circumstance when he was commissioned to write the opera +for the Carnival of 1781 at Munich. The interest he had excited in Karl +Theodor and his consort rendered it comparatively easy for Mozart's +friends among the court singers and musicians to direct the choice so +that it should fall on him; the Archbishop had promised leave of absence +too distinctly to be able to draw back, nor would his many obligations +to the Bavarian court have rendered a refusal possible. An entirely new +opera was desired on this occasion, and the Abbot Giambatt. Varesco, +who had been court chaplain at Salzburg since 1766, was commissioned +to write the libretto; he could take counsel with Mozart, who knew the +Munich company well, and by obeying his suggestions make the text quite +according to his mind, so that a work not unworthy of the brilliant fame +of the Munich Opera might be expected. When a translation of the text +was called for later, Mozart proposed his old friend Schachtner, who was + + +{CHARACTERS AND PLOT.} + +(127) + +employed to do it; and Leopold Mozart could write with some pride to +Breitkopf (August 10,1781): "It is remarkable that every part of +the work is by persons residing in Salzburg: the poetry by the +court chaplain, Abbate Varesco, the music by my son, and the German +translation by Herr Schachtner." + +Varesco's "Idomeneo" was modelled on the opera "Idomenée," written by +Danchet and composed by Campra, first performed in 1712 and revived in +1731.[1] + +The _dramatis personæ_ are as follows:--[See Page Images] + +The plot is briefly as follows:-- + +Idomeneo, King of Crete, after the siege of Troy, has wandered a long +way from his home, where his son, Idamante, grown to man's estate during +his absence, awaits him in filial love. Electra, daughter of Agamemnon, +banished by the people of Argus on account of the matricide of Orestes, +has taken refuge with Idamante, and becomes deeply enamoured of him. But +Ilia, daughter of Priam, who, with other Trojan captives, has been sent +to Crete by Idomeneo, has conceived a passion for Idamante, which he +returns. At the opening of the opera we find Ilia struggling with her +love for the enemy of her fatherland (aria, 2). Idamante approaches her +joyfully. He has received tidings that his father's fleet is in +sight, and has sent his old confidant, Arbace, to bring more exact +intelligence. On this joyful day he gives freedom to all the Trojan +captives, and declares his love for Ilia, which she, although +reluctantly, rejects; whereupon he bewails himself in an aria (3). The +captive Trojans are led in and loosed from their fetters, + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(128) + +giving occasion for a joyful chorus. Electra comes and expresses +dissatisfaction at the liberation of so many enemies. Then follows +Arbace with intelligence (which is mistaken) of the shipwreck of +Idomeneo. Idamante departs overwhelmed with grief. Electra remains +behind and gives vent to her jealousy and despair in a song (aria, 5). +The scene changes to the sea-coast, and the fleet of Idomeneo is +seen threatened by a storm, and driven on to the rocks, the mariners +lamenting and beseeching aid. Neptune appears and commands the winds +to depart. Idomeneo prays for his help, but the god casts threatening +glances on him, and disappears. The sea being calmed, Idomeneo lands and +declares that, during the storm, he has vowed to sacrifice to Neptune +the first person who shall meet him on shore. He trembles at the +rashness of his vow, and anxiously looks for the sacrifice he is to make +(aria, 6). Idamante enters, having sought solitude as ease to his grief. +He offers shelter to the stranger, whom he fails to recognise. In the +course of conversation it transpires that he is mourning for his father +Idomeneo. Whereupon Idomeneo makes himself known, but overcome by the +horror of his situation, he departs, forbidding Idamante to follow +him. The latter, ignorant of the cause, is inconsolable at his father's +rejection of his proffered love and services (aria, 8). An intermezzo +of suitable character follows the first act. The warriors of Idomeneo +disembark to a march (9), are welcomed by their wives and children, and +"express their joy in a grand figure-dance, ending with a chorus (10)." + +At the beginning of the second act Idomeneo is in conversation with +Arbace. He communicates to him his fearful vow, from the fulfilment +of which he wishes to escape. Arbace represents to him that this is +impossible. But when he hears that Idamante is to be the sacrifice, +he counsels his being sent to a distant country, and that during his +banishment they should seek to appease the wrath of Neptune. Idomeneo +decides upon commanding Idamante to accompany Electra to Argos, and +there ascend the throne, and commissions Arbace to bid him prepare for +the journey. Arbace promises obedience (aria, 11), and departs. Ilia now +appears, expresses delight at Idomeneo's safety, and, while extolling +Idamante's goodness, declares her own gratitude and submission (aria, +12). Her warmth causes Idomeneo to suspect their love, and his grief and +confusion are thereby augmented (aria, 13). Electra, entering, thanks +him for his care. He leaves her alone, and she expresses her joy at the +fulfilment of her dearest wishes (aria, 14). The warriors assemble +in the harbour to the sound of a march (15). Electra appears with her +followers, the sea is calm, and all look forward to a fortunate voyage +(chorus, 16). Idomeneo dismisses Idamante, who sees in this command a +fresh proof of his father's inexplicable displeasure. They express +their opposing sentiments in a terzet (17). As they prepare to embark, a +terrific storm arises, and a huge sea-monster rises from the waves. This +convinces Idomeneo that his + + +{IDOMENEO--PLOT.} + +(129) + +disobedience has offended Neptune, and he determines to die himself, and +not to sacrifice the innocent. "The storm continues to rage, the Cretans +fly, and the act closes with the expression of their fear and horror by +singing and pantomimic dancing." + +Ilia opens the third act, bewailing her unhappy love (aria, 19). +Idamante surprises her, and declares his resolve to seek death in +combat with the monster who is laying waste the land; this leads to a +disclosure of her love, and the two express their happiness in a duet +(20). Idomeneo, entering with Electra, discovers them; he cannot bring +himself to acknowledge to Idamante the true cause of his mysterious +behaviour, but commands him anew to leave Crete at once, and seek an +asylum in a distant land. The various emotions of those present are +expressed in a quartet (21). Idamante having departed, Arbace enters +and announces that the people are hurrying with the high priest at their +head to demand deliverance from the monster; Idomeneo goes to meet them, +and Arbace expresses his earnest wish for the happiness of his ruler +(aria, 22). On an open space in front of the castle the high priest +appears with the multitude; he describes the ravages of the monster, +which can only be terminated by the fulfilment of Idomeneo's vow, and +demands to know the name of the promised victim (23). When Idomeneo +names his son as the sacrifice, horror seizes the people (chorus, 24). +During a march (25) Idomeneo with his subjects enters the temple of +Neptune, and while the priests prepare for the sacrifice they offer +their solemn prayers to the god (26); cries of joy are heard from afar, +and Arbace hastens in and announces that Idamante has slain the +monster in heroic combat. Idamante is presently borne in by priests and +warriors, crowned and in white robes; he now knows his father's vow, and +satisfied as to his feelings towards him, he is ready to fall a joyful +sacrifice to the angry god (aria, 27). As Idomeneo is in the act of +striking the fatal blow, Ilia hastens in and restrains him; she insists +upon taking the place of her lover, and a tender strife arises between +them, which Idomeneo listens to with emotion, Electra with rage and +jealousy. As Ilia kneels before the altar, "a great subterranean +disturbance is heard, the statue of Neptune totters, the high priest +stands entranced before the altar, all are amazed and motionless from +fear, while a deep and majestic voice declares the will of the gods": +Idomeneo is to renounce the throne, which Idamante is to ascend, and to +be united to Ilia (28). At this unexpected issue, Electra breaks into +violent anger, and "goes off raging"; Idomeneo arranges everything +according to the divine will (30), and expresses his grateful joy (aria, +31); Idamante is crowned in a pantomimic ballet, during which the chorus +sing a joyful conclusion to the opera (32).[2] + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(130) + +Varesco omitted the prologue of his original, and reduced the five acts +to the customary three. He also left out altogether the divinities and +allegorical personages, which were somewhat prominent in the French +text; and of three confidants he retained only Arbace. For the rest +he follows the progress of the plot pretty closely, only judiciously +omitting the love of Idomeneo for Ilia, and altering the conclusion. In +the original, Idomeneo, after voluntarily raising his son to the throne, +and bestowing on him the hand of Ilia, is stricken with madness by +Nemesis, and slays Idamante with the sacrificial axe. He is then +prevented from committing suicide, but Ilia falls by her own hand. +Metastasio had weaned Italian opera from such horrors. Varesco naturally +looked to opera seria as the foundation of his adaptation,[3] but he +endeavoured at the same time to make use of the distinctive features +of French opera. This is evident in his care for variety of scenery and +machinery, in the marches and processions which occur in every act, +and in the pantomimic dances which are made subservient to the plot. +Further, the frequent introduction of the chorus was evidently suggested +by French opera, and a marked progress displayed in the fact that the +chorus was not employed merely to heighten the pomp of the piece, but +took part in the action at critical moments, and expressed important +dramatic situations. The ensembles, too, are not placed in regular +succession at the end of the acts, without reference to the plot; they +occur naturally as the piece proceeds, and have a dramatic signification +of their own. Such movements are indeed rarely introduced, and not all +the suitable points are made use of for them; no attempt is made either +to unite the several connected points of the plot into a musical +whole in the finale, but rather each separate situation has its own +independent musical treatment.[4] On the other hand, there + + +{VARESCO'S LIBRETTO.} + +(131) + +is an evident intention to give the piece a tragic tone rather than +that of the then prevalent effeminate tenderness, and to invest the +characters with a psychological interest, and the plot with natural +development and climax. It must be admitted that the success is but +partial. Varesco was no poet, and the spirit of French tragedy was not +calculated to raise him to a higher sphere than that of Italian opera. +Conventionality predominates, passion and emotion find but unnatural +expression, pedantry and exaggeration, both alike untrue, jostle each +other; and the plot hangs on such slender threads that, in spite of the +strong passions which are set in motion, it awakens no lively interest. +The weak points both of French and Italian opera are here combined; but +there are other faults belonging more especially to the latter. Such, +for example, is the giving of the part of Idamante to a male soprano, +and employing the bass voice only for the subordinate part of the +Oracle. Idomeneo is tenor, according to traditional usage, and stands +almost alone against three soprano voices, for Arbaces as second tenor +acts only as a stop-gap, and the high priest only appears once in +an obbligato recitative. Generally speaking the airs do not form the +culminating point of a dramatic situation, but only close it with a +kind of point. Frequently they have only a commonplace phrase or an +elaborated image for their subject, and all their individuality is +bestowed upon them by the music. Varesco is nevertheless a practised +verse-maker, who has employed, not without skill, the materials he found +ready to hand, but is far removed from Metastasio's delicacy and grace. + +With all its drawbacks the advantage of a settled tradition is very +visible, the external arrangements, such as the distribution among +the characters of the different pieces being carefully carried out. +In short, if "Idomeneo" is compared with Mozart's earlier operas, the +progress in the choice and treatment of material is very marked. Such an +absolute blending of the essential features of French and Italian opera +as is aimed at does not indeed take place; a compromise between the two +had first to be made. It can scarcely be doubted that Mozart had a share +in the construction of the libretto in its more important parts, and +that + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(132) + +his experiences in Mannheim and Paris had qualified him for the task; +but his influence was not felt in the details of the work. + +When the libretto was ready, and part of the music composed, Mozart +repaired to Munich, according to custom, to finish the opera on the +spot. After a journey in the postcarriage, "which shook the soul out of +one's body," and gave him not an instant's sleep, he wrote to his father +(November 8, 1780), "Joyful and glad was my arrival!" There was plenty +to be done: the opera was to be rehearsed, to be put on the stage, and +the greater part of it was still unwritten. How much of it he took with +him ready to Munich is not precisely known; probably the majority of +the recitatives, the first act, and perhaps part of the second; at all +events his first letters mention some of the songs as already composed. + +He was able to set to work with a good heart, for he was met with +goodwill on all sides. Count Seeau was altogether at his service; and +when they sometimes fell out, and Mozart was provoked to be rude, it was +always the Count who gave way. The Elector received him very graciously. +"I had almost forgotten the best!" he writes (November 15, 1780); "Count +Seeau presented me _en passant_ to the Elector last Sunday, after mass; +he was very gracious, and said, 'I am glad to see you here again.' And +when I said that I would endeavour to deserve the approbation of his +highness, he patted me on the shoulder and said, 'Oh, I have no doubt +it will all go very well indeed.' _A piano piano si va lontano!_" +The nobility, too, were favourably disposed towards him. Cannabich +introduced him to the Countess Baumgarten, who was then the favourite +of the Elector. "My friend is everything in this house," he writes +(November 13, 1780), "and I, too, now; it is the best and most useful +house here for me, and so far all has gone, and by God's help will go, +well with me." He was able, therefore, to satisfy his father as to the +success of the opera (November 24, 1780): "Have no care as to my opera, +dear father; I hope there will be no hitch. A little cabal is opposed +to it, but it will certainly come to grief, for all the best and most +powerful houses + + +{THE MUNICH SINGERS.} + +(133) + +of the nobility are in my favour, as well as the principal musicians, +especially Cannabich."[5] + +There was, at all events, no opposition to be feared on the part of +the singers or the orchestra; they and Mozart were mutually anxious to +satisfy each other. But their joint labours and the requirements of the +stage showed many alterations in the text to be necessary, and Varesco +must have been often appealed to to undertake these, or to sanction +proposed changes. Among the performers for whom he wrote, Dal Prato +gave him some real trouble. Soon after his arrival he had "a piece of +roguery" to narrate (November 8, 1780): "I have not indeed the honour +of knowing the heroic Dal Prato, but according to the description +Ceccarelli must be better than he; for sometimes his breath fails in the +middle of a song, and, _nota bene_, he was never on the stage, and Raaff +is like a statue. Now, you may imagine the scene in the first act, the +meeting of Idomeneo and Idamante." Further acquaintance with Dal Prato +justified the reports concerning him. "My _molto amato Castrato dal +Prato_," he writes (November 15,1780), "requires teaching the whole +opera"; "he has to learn his part like a child, and has not a pennyworth +of method" (November 22, 1780). He was the stumbling block also in the +quartet, which had to be rehearsed six times before it went right. + +"The fellow can do nothing," complains Mozart (December 30, 1780); "his +voice would not be so bad if he did not sing in his throat and head, but +he is absolutely without intonation or method or sentiment, and sings +like the best among the boys who come to be heard when they seek +admission to a choir." + +He had trouble of quite another kind with his "dear old friend" Raaff. +He was exceedingly fanciful, and Mozart made many alterations out of +love for him and consideration for his gray hairs (December 27, 1780):-- + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(134) + +Let me tell you that Raaff is the best and honestest man in the world, +but so wedded to his old jog-trot ideas that it is enough to drive one +crazy. Consequently it is very difficult to write for him; very easy, +too, I grant you, if one is content to write songs such as, for example, +the first, "Vedrommi intorno," &c. If you could only hear it--it is +good, and it is pretty; but if I had written it for Zonca I should have +made it much better fitted to the words. I had a good deal of trouble +with him about the quartet. The oftener I hear this quartet the more +effective it appears to me, and every one that has heard it likes it. +Only Raaff thinks it will be wanting in effect; he said to me, "Non c' +è da spianar la voce." As if there should not be more speaking than +singing in a quartet! But he knows nothing about these things. I only +said, "My dear friend! if there was only one note in this quartet that I +thought should be altered, I would do it; but I am better satisfied with +it than with any other piece in the opera, and when you have once heard +it together, you will alter your mind. I have done my best to please you +with your two songs, and so I will with the third, with good hopes of +succeeding; but as far as regards the terzets and quartets, the composer +should be allowed his own way." That satisfied him. + +After the rehearsal Raaff "gladly acknowledged himself in the wrong, and +had no more doubt as to the good effect of the quartet" (December 30, +1780). When Mozart had "shown him the paces" of his first air, he was +quite satisfied with it (November 15, 1780); and equally so with the air +in the second act (December 1, 1780):-- + +He is as much in love with his song as a younger man might be with his +fair lady: he sings it at night before he goes to sleep, and in the +morning as soon as he wakes. He said to Baron Viereck and Herr von +Castel, "I have always been used to have a hand in my own part, in the +recitatives as well as the songs; but I have left this just as it was. +There is not a note that does not suit me exactly." _Enfin_, he is as +happy as a king over it. + +Some ill-natured speeches were made in spite of all this, as Mozart +writes to his father (December 27, 1780):-- + +_À propos!_ Becke tells me that he wrote to you again after the last +rehearsal but one, and told you among other things that Raaffs song in +the second act is not written for the words. "They tell me," he said, +"that you know too little of Italian. Is it so?" "You should have asked +me, and then written! I can assure you that he who told you this knows +very little Italian himself." The song goes exceedingly well with the +words. One hears the "mare" and the "mare funesto;" and the + +{THE MUNICH SINGERS.} + +(135) + +passages lead up to "minacciar" in a way that thoroughly expresses +"minacciar"--a threatening; in fact, it is the finest song in the opera, +and meets with universal approval. + +The two other male vocalists belonged to the old Munich opera. "Honest +old Panzacchi" had been an excellent singer and a good actor in +his time, but his best days were over; and Valesi, too, who had a +well-deserved reputation as a tenor, had almost given up the stage, and +devoted himself to teaching. L. Mozart had reason, therefore, to write +(November 11,1780): "What you tell me of your vocalists is sad, and +shows that everything must depend on the composition." + +There were no difficulties this time with the female vocalists. Both the +Wendlings were friendly and amenable--they went Mozart's way, and +were contented with everything he did. "Madame Dorothea Wendling is +_arci-contentissima_ with her scena, and wanted to hear it three times +over,', he wrote home (November 8,1780), and they were quite in accord +about the second song. "Lisel Wendling," he wrote soon after (November +15, 1780), "sang her two songs half-a-dozen times; she is thoroughly +pleased; I have it from a third person that both the Wendlings have +praised their songs very highly." + +Mozart kept up with great industry the work of rehearsing and composing +(a song for Schikaneder was composed meanwhile, Vol. II., p. 102), +although he was suffering from a severe cold. The homely remedies +which his father ordered brought some alleviation of it, but, as he was +obliged to continue writing, the cure was a slow one. + +At Munich he fell in with Mara, who had not long left Berlin. "She is +not so fortunate as to please me," he writes (November 13, 1780); "she +does too little to come up to the Bastardina (Vol. I., p. 112), which is +her ambition, and she does too much to touch the heart like a Weber, or +an expressive singer." He was even less edified by the behaviour of the +husband and wife than by Madame Mara's singing, and writes at a later +date (November 24,1780) of the "pride, insolence, and effrontery which +were visible in their countenances." When Mara was to sing at a court +concert, after the first symphony "i saw her lord and master creep +behind her with a violoncello in his hand; I thought it was going to be + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(136) + +a song with obbligato violoncello. Old Danzi, a very good accompanist, +is first violoncellist here; all at once old Toeschi--conductor when +Cannabich is not there--said to Danzi, who is his son-in-law, by the +way, 'Stand up, and let Mara take your place.' But Cannabich heard him, +and cried, 'Danzi, stay where you are! The Elector likes his own people +to play.' And the song proceeded. Herr Mara stood meekly with his +violoncello in his hand behind his wife." The song which Mara was +singing had a second part, but she went out during the ritornello +without acquainting the orchestra, "with her native air of effrontery," +and afterwards complained to the Elector.[6] He answered: "Madame, you +sang like an angel, although your husband did not accompany you," and +referred her to Count Seeau. + +The first act was rehearsed at the end of November, and Mozart was able +to report to his father such success as raised the general expectation +to a still higher pitch (December 1, 1780):-- + +The rehearsal went off remarkably well. There were only six violins in +all, but the proper wind instruments. No spectators were admitted +but Seeau s sister and young Count Seinsheim. I cannot tell you how +delighted and astonished every one was. It was only what I expected, for +I assure you I went to this rehearsal with as light a heart as if it +had been a banquet. Count Seinsheim said to me: "I assure you I expected +much from you, but this I did not expect." The Cannabich family and all +who know them are true friends of mine. I went home with Cannabich after +the rehearsal. Madame Cannabich met us and embraced me, full of pleasure +that the rehearsal had gone off so well; then came Ramm and Lang half +out of their minds with delight. The good lady, my true friend, being +alone in the house with her sick Rose, had been full of anxiety for me. +Ramm said to me (if you knew him you would call him a true German, for +he says to your face exactly what he thinks): "You may believe me when +I say that no music ever made such an impression on me; and I thought +fifty times what a pleasure it will be to your father to hear this +opera." But enough of this! My cold was made rather worse by the +rehearsal. One cannot help getting overheated when fame and honour are +at stake, however cold-blooded one may naturally be. + + +{REHEARSALS.} + +(137) + +Wolfgang's father received other confirmation of the success, which he +did not withhold from his son:-- + +Fiala showed me a letter from Becke which is very eulogistic of the +music of your first act. He writes that tears of joy and pleasure came +to his eyes when he heard the music, and that every one declared it was +the finest music they had ever heard--all so new and beautiful, &c. He +says that the second act is about to be rehearsed, that he will write to +me himself, &c. Well, God be thanked, this all looks well. + +L. Mozart, who had been wont to exhort Wolfgang not to procrastinate, +as indeed he often did at Salzburg, was now concerned to hear of his +obstinate cold, the more so as his sister was suffering from a chest +complaint, and he begs him to take care of himself; he was not to hurry +over the third act, it would be ready quite in good time. Ready, as he +always was, with good advice, he warns him to remember that an opera +should not only please connoisseurs (December 11, 1780): "I recommend +you not to think in your work only of the musical public, but also of +the unmusical. You know that there are a hundred ignorant people for +every ten true connoisseurs, so do not forget what is called _popular_, +and tickle the long ears." But Wolfgang will not listen to this. "As +to what is called popular," he answers (December 16, 1780), "do not be +afraid, there is music in my opera for all sorts of people--only none +for long-ears." Meantime the work of rehearsing went steadily forward. +On December 16, in the afternoon, the first and second acts were +rehearsed at Count Seeau's, the parts being doubled, so that there +were twelve violins. All went well, as Wolfgang reported (December 19, +1780):-- + +The orchestra and all the audience gladly acknowledged that, contrary +to their expectations, the second act was superior both in novelty and +expression to the first. Next Saturday the second act is to be rehearsed +again, but in a large room in the palace, which I have long desired, +for the room at Count Seeau's is far too small. The Elector is to listen +_incognito_ in an adjoining apartment. "We must rehearse for dear life +then," said Cannabich to me. At the last rehearsal he was bathed in +perspiration. You will judge from my letters that I am well and hearty. +It is a great thing to come to the end of a great and laborious work, +and to feel that one leaves it with honour and fame; this I have almost +done, for now nothing is wanting but three songs, and the last chorus of +the third act, the overture and the ballet--"et adieu partie!" + + +{IDOMENEO.} (138) + +The next rehearsal gave even greater satisfaction (December 27, 1780):-- + +The last rehearsal was splendid; it was in a large room in the palace, +and the Elector was present. This time we had the whole orchestra (that +belongs to the opera-house, of course). After the first act the Elector +said "Bravo!" out loud; and when I went to pay my respects to him, he +said, "This opera will be charming--it will certainly do you honour." As +he was not sure of being able to remain to the end, we let him hear the +concerted song, and the storm at the beginning of the second act. These +he also approved of in the most kindly manner, and said, laughing, "No +one would imagine that such great things could come out of such a little +head." The other day at his early reception, too, he praised my opera +very much. + +In the evening at court the Elector again spoke in high praise of the +music, and Mozart learnt from a sure source that he had said after the +rehearsal, "I was quite taken by surprise--no music ever had such an +effect on me--it is truly magnificent." + +The news of this success reached Salzburg bit by bit. "All the town is +talking of the excellence of your opera," his father tells him (December +25, 1780). "Baron Lerbach set it going; the chancellor s wife told me +that she had heard from him that the opera was wonderfully well spoken +of everywhere. Then came Becke's letter to Fiala, which he gave to +be read everywhere." Becke wrote to L. Mozart himself that "the storm +chorus in the second act is so powerful that none could hear it, even +in the greatest heat of summer, without turning as cold as ice;" and +he praises Dorothea Wendling's concerted song very much. The violinist +Esser from Mayence, who had given concerts in Salzburg, wrote from +Augsburg concerning the two acts of the opera which he had heard: +"Che abbia sentito una musica ottima e particolare, universalmente +applaudita." "In short," writes the father, "it would be tedious to tell +you all the compliments paid to you. I hope that the third act will have +as good an effect, and I do so the more confidently, since all the best +situations are here, and the subterranean voices must be startling and +terrifying.[7] I hope to be able to say, 'Finis coronat opus.'" + + +{REHEARSALS.} + +(139) + +To this his son answers, over head and ears in work (December 30, 1780): +"The third act will be thought _at least_ as good as the other two: +I like it infinitely better, and you may justly say, 'Finis coronat +opus.'" But there was plenty to do meantime. "Head and hands," he writes +(January 3,1781), "are full of the third act, so that I should not be +surprised if I were to turn into a third act myself; It alone has cost +me more trouble than the whole opera, for there is not a scene in it +that has not peculiar interest." He had the satisfaction of finding +after the rehearsal that it really was considered to surpass the other +two acts. + +Mozart's anxious father strove to draw his attention to every point that +might contribute to success, and particularly cautioned him to keep +on good terms with the orchestra (December 25, 1780). Experience of +Salzburg must necessarily have shown him the importance of this:-- + +Try to keep your orchestra in good humour--flatter them, and make them +devoted to you by praising them; I know your way of writing, and the +unceasing and close attention it exacts from all the instruments; it is +no joke for the orchestra to be kept on the stretch of their attention +for three hours and more. Every one, even the worst fiddler, is touched +by being praised _tête-ä-tête_, and becomes more and more attentive and +zealous; and these courtesies cost you nothing but a few words. But +you know it all yourself; I only tell you because such things are often +forgotten at rehearsal, and you will need the friendship and zeal of +the whole orchestra when the opera is in scena. The position is then +altered, and the player's attention must be much more intent. You know +that they cannot all be friendly towards you. There is always a _but_ +and an _if_ to be met with. You say people doubted whether the second +act would come up to the first. This doubt being relieved, few will have +misgivings for the third act. But I will wager my head that there will +be some who will doubt whether the music will be as effective in the +theatre as in a room; and in that case the greatest zeal and goodwill +are necessary on the part of the orchestra. + +But the opera was not ready yet; there was to be no ballet, only +a divertissement fitting into the plot, and this Mozart was, as he +expressed it, to have the honour of composing (December 30, 1780). "I am +very glad of it," he adds, "for then the music will be by _one_ master." +He was + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(140) + +hard at work at the "cursed dances" until the middle of January, and had +no time to think of anything else, not even of his own health. It was +not until January 18 that he could write: Laus Deo, at last I have +come to an end of it!" Amid rehearsals and anxious labours, the day of +representation drew near. L. Mozart had been concerned lest the death of +the Empress Maria Theresa on November 29, 1780, should put a stop to it, +but Wolfgang reassured him by saying that none of the theatres had been +closed on this account. Soon after he was terrified by a rumour that +the Electress was dangerously ill, but discovered this to be a "lie +from beginning to end." At first January 20, 1781, was fixed for the +performance, then the 22nd, and finally January 29; the last rehearsal +was to be on the 27th, Wolfgang's birthday; he was pleased at the +postponements: "The opera can be oftener and more carefully rehearsed." +The fame of "Idomeneo," which had reached Salzburg even before its +performance, was a great source of satisfaction to Mozart's friends; +Dr. Prexl, for instance (Vol. II., p. 84), wrote to him of the +"inexpressible satisfaction" with which he had learnt the honour done by +Wolfgang to Salzburg, and more than one friend undertook the journey +to Munich in order to be present; among these were Frau Robini and her +family, two Fräulein Barisani, and Fiala, from the Kapelle. L. Mozart, +who was "as pleased as a child about the excellence of the orchestra," +intended to go to Munich with his daughter as soon as he could arrange +to be absent. But as he dared not risk a refusal from the Archbishop, +and it was rumoured that the latter meditated a journey to Vienna, he +waited his time. It suited him very well that the first performance was +postponed until Hieronymus had actually left Salzburg. This being so, +he set out on January 26 to be present at the last rehearsal and the +performance. Wolfgang had arranged that his father and sister should +find accommodation at his own lodging (in the Burggasse), if they would +be contented to live for the time "like gipsies or soldiers." + +The arrival of Mozart's father and sister at Munich brings us to a +detailed account of the performance of "Idomeneo" + + +{PERFORMANCE, JANUARY 29, 1781.} + +(141) + +and its success. The "Munich Literary and Miscellaneous News" (February +1, 1781, No. XIX., p. 76) announced it briefly as follows:-- + +On the 29th ult. the opera of "Idomeneo" was performed for the first +time in the new opera-house. The adaptation, music, and translation all +proceed from Salzburg. The scenery, including a view of the harbour +and Neptune's temple, are among the masterpieces of our well-known +theatrical architect, the Herr Councillor Lorenz Quaglio.[8] + +All that we read, however, of the success of the opera in rehearsal +leaves us no doubt that it met with a very favourable reception. + +As to the sum received by Mozart in payment for "Idomeneo" we know +nothing; but it cannot have been a large one, or L. Mozart would not +have written (December 11, 1780): "How about the score? will it not be +copied? You must be careful as to this, for _with such a payment the +score cannot be given up_." To which Wolfgang answered (December 16, +1780): "I made no ceremony as to the copying of the score, but spoke +openly on the subject to the Count. It was always the custom in Mannheim +(where the kapellmeister was well paid besides) to give up the score +to the composer." The original score, in three volumes, is written in a +very neat but rapid hand, with scarcely any alterations except a few in +the recitatives. As usual, the different numbers are written separately +and then put together; the double-bass part was written larger, as in +other scores, for the convenience of the bass-player at the clavier. The +score was to have been printed at the time, as appears from a letter of +L. Mozart to Breitkopf (August 10, 1781): "We were advised to publish +the opera, printed or engraved, either in full score or clavier score. +Subscribers were promised for some thirty copies, among whom was his +highness Prince Max of Zweibrücken, but my son's journey to Vienna and +the intervening events caused us to postpone the whole affair." The +music for the ballet which was given with "Idomeneo" has not yet been +printed (367 K.). + +Mozart seems to have set great value on "Idomeneo" + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(142) + +(366 K.), even in later years;[9] it is certain that soon after he had +made good his footing in Vienna he exerted himself to have it placed +on the stage, for which purpose he intended entirely to remodel it. +Unfortunately this project fell through, and when in 1786 a company of +distinguished amateurs performed the opera at the residence of Prince +Karl Auersperg, Mozart contented himself with several alterations, but +did not attempt a complete remodelling. Later, and more especially +quite recently, "Idomeneo" has been given from time to time on different +stages, without exciting as much interest in the general public as the +better-known works of Mozart; the judgment of connoisseurs, on the other +hand, has always distinguished it.[10] Both phenomena are comprehensible +on a close examination of the distinctive features of the work. + +Ulibicheff remarks with great justice that it is easy to distinguish +in "Idomeneo" where Mozart has still clung to the formulas of the opera +seria, where he strives to imitate Gluck and the French opera, and where +he gives free play to his own independent impulses as an artist. These +indications are, of course, not to be met with accurately marked out in +the different pieces, Mozart's individuality, in the perfection to which +it had now attained, being throughout the very pith of the work. + +We have seen that the libretto unites the characteristics of Italian +and French opera as far as style is concerned, but that the determining +element is the Italian style. We have seen further that the singers, +with the exception of the two female characters, belonged to the Italian +school, which fact tended to the maintenance of Italian form. + +It might therefore be expected that Mozart, especially in the songs, +should set out from the traditional forms, and only + + +{ITALIAN CHARACTER OF THE MUSIC.} + +(143) + +attempt to modify them as far as was possible. But the influence of the +French original on the opera lay deeper than this, and was impressed +on its poetry, language, and nationality, Italian as these all were in +external form. Let us consider the songs. The effort is evident to give +a more individual expression to the sentiment arising from the dramatic +situation than was usual even with Metastasio; but the form and +construction are only modified, and have retained the specific character +of Italian poetry. The rhetoric differs altogether from the rhetoric +of French poetry. Indirectly, too, language by its rhythm and accent +affects musical construction, and the distinctions between the +Italian and French language are strikingly apparent, not only in +the recitatives, which are governed by the musical character of the +language, but in the formation of the melodies, where language must be +taken into account as an essential element. But deepest of all lies the +difference in the conceptions and ideas of the two nations. The emotions +and passions of different nations vary not only in intensity but in mode +of expression, and where a truly national art has developed itself +this special character is stamped on all its productions. The Italians +express their feelings vividly and accent them strongly, and not only +so, but their instinctive love of formula calls forth sharply defined +characterisation and favours typical developments, as is shown, +for instance, in their singularly perfect talent for pantomimic +representations. This tendency has had a marked influence on the +development of music, particularly of dramatic music, in Italy. It still +bears a national character, which is not only stamped on it in certain +forms and turns of expression, but which is the artistic expression of +emotions springing from the very nature of the people. Whoever has heard +Italian music performed both by Italian and German singers will readily +be convinced that the difference rests not only on style and method, +but still more essentially on the peculiarities of the Italian national +character. It should not therefore be matter for surprise that music +which to Germans appears false or unnatural should make a much deeper +impression on Italians than the merely sensual one which strikes the +ear. + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(144) + +Mozart's "Idomeneo" bears this distinctive Italian colouring, as do all +his Italian operas, not only in the employment of Italian technicalities +and mechanism, but in the living breath and fragrance which nothing but +an absorption into the national spirit could bestow. Even as a boy he +displayed a delicate sense of national distinctions, when in "Bastien +und Baitienne" and the "Finta Semplice" he defined so sharply the limits +of German vaudeville and of opera buffa. If "Zaide" is compared with +"Idomeneo," the fundamental distinctions of conception and style are +not less definitely marked; and the same was the case later in the +"Entführung" and the "Zauberflote," in "Figaro," "Don Giovanni," "Cosi +fan Tutte," and "Tito." To give only one example: one of the most +beautiful and affecting scenes that Mozart ever wrote is that in which +Idomeneo, at the request of the high priest, indicates his son as +the sacrifice demanded by the gods, and all the people break out into +lamentations; and yet this chorus (24) is a most unmistakable instance +of the Italian form and style. Places like "Giä régna la morte" appear +typical of similar modes of expression which occur so frequently in +Italian operas. But the Italian mould in which Mozart's work is cast, +and on which the harmony of the whole depends, is not consciously put +forward as a national colouring. It proceeds from such an intimate +acquaintance with the Italian style as was then considered the proper +foundation for musical studies, and was only possible so long as Italian +music bore actual sway in German churches and theatres, and found no +contradiction in the national consciousness. This sway was undisputed in +South Germany during Mozart's youth and period of artistic development. +The musical atmosphere in which he grew up, the elements of culture +which were offered to him, were thoroughly Italian; and Italian +conceptions and fashions had become second nature to him as to all other +German artists who took part in the development of Italian opera during +the last century. The relation in which an artistic genius stands to his +time and nation is difficult to grasp. Far from shunning the influences +of either, his genius displays itself in his power of representing their +significant + + +{MOZART'S USE OF ITALIAN FORMS.} + +(145) + +features and tendencies with force and vigour, amounting even to +one-sidedness; and then again it sets itself in opposition to them, and +struggles until it rules and determines them anew. It would be a hard +task indeed to fathom the nature of an artist to that point where +the threads of his personal powers and proclivities, and those of the +cultivation of his time and nation, are so interwoven that they appear +as the root of his artistic individuality; we must be content with +tracing onward the path of his development. + +Although Mozart's training had so imbued him with the spirit of Italian +music that its essence appeared to him as the essence of music itself, +yet he transformed the elements which he had so absorbed with the +whole force of his individuality. He did not consciously adopt them as +national, neither did he oppose them from motives of patriotism, and +seek to substitute a German style. His individuality joined issue with +the elements of an art ready to hand in full development, and produced +works of art which were genuinely Italian, and also genuinely Mozart. +The fresh new life which had awakened in German poetry, and which first +caused a consciousness of national existence to show itself in the realm +of art, touched Mozart at a time when his musical education was already +firmly grounded. He could therefore without self-contradiction continue +along the trodden path, and carry on the development of the Italian +opera as a settled form of art, which he had made his own in the truest +sense. But the impulse of German art laid hold, as we shall see, of his +innermost being, and gave him clear consciousness of his capabilities +as a German artist. Granted that the German element of his nature--with +which he could never dispense--remained latent and inactive while he +appropriated Italian art as his own, yet all that he so took was treated +as his own free property and turned to account with German thought +and feeling. While thus the German school of music was partly founded, +partly endued with new life by him, he brought Italian opera to a climax +as far as its universal application was concerned; after Mozart it +becomes more exclusively national. Like every genius who has made his +mark in the history of art, he casts his + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(146) + +glance over the past as well as into the future. To him it was given to +concentrate the living elements of Italian music into works of mature +perfection in art, and, setting to work with freshly tempered force, +to turn to account the youthful impulses of German music, and lead them +towards the goal of artistic freedom and beauty. + +Thus, in Idomeneo we recognise the genuinely Italian character of the +opera seria, brought to its highest perfection by the force of Mozart's +perfectly cultivated individuality; but in details we still perceive +the ascendency of traditional form, to which the artist was obliged to +yield. + +It is most unmistakably present in the two songs allotted to Arbace. +The part of confidant was intended both musically and dramatically as a +stop-gap; it served as a foil for the more important characters, and was +a principal adjunct in the production of that _chiaroscuro_ which was +considered as essential to scenic effect. On this account Arbace's two +songs (11, 22) are not woven into the dramatic web of the opera either +in words or music. Some concessions were doubtless made to Panzacchi, a +clever and accomplished singer of the old school, and there is no lack +of runs, jumps, and similar feats for display of execution. The songs +follow the old fashion in other ways also (except that they have only +one tempo, and a structure modified accordingly), as, for instance, in +the introduction of cadenzas; a very long ritornello of the second song +is afterwards shortened at both ends. But in order to give them some +musical interest, the accompaniment, although weak in instrumentation, +is carefully worked out in counterpoint, especially in the second song. +The preceding accompanied recitative, in composing which Mozart plainly +had Panzacchi in view, is fine and expressive. + +Dal Prato also, for whom the part of Idamante was intended, had only +the knowledge of an Italian singer, and that in no considerable degree. +Mozart was again, therefore, fettered by tradition, and could venture +little to render the song more original and lifelike. In all the three +songs for this character (3, 8, 27), the old type is clearly to be +recognised. The first, if the singer had had a powerful execution, + + +{MUSIC FOR DAL PRATO AND RAAFF.} + +(147) + +which he avowedly had not, would probably have been an ordinary bravura +song; it has the general plan of one, but is without bravura passages. +The emphasis is laid on the accompaniment, which is independent and +interesting throughout; the constant use of the wind instruments +supplies it with fine sound effects. The frequent changes of time, the +construction of the song being in all other respects very regular, is +intended to give animation to the expression. The second air is shorter, +to suit the situation, more lively and energetic in expression, but +equally dependent on the accompaniment for originality and interest. +The third adheres to the old form by the introduction of a slow middle +movement (Larghetto 3-4) and the accompaniment is simpler; but the song +as a whole is conciser than was the fashion formerly. + +Raaff's advanced age would have prevented his satisfying any very great +expectations; but he was also, as Mozart complained, "so wedded to +his old jog-trot ideas that it was enough to drive one crazy." He was +obliged therefore in the very important part of Idomeneo to submit to +much that was against his convictions and inclinations. But Raaff was an +accomplished and sensible singer, from whom much could be looked for in +respect of delivery and expression. His first air (6) vividly expresses +deep and painful feeling in two tolerably short and precise movements, +an andantino sostenuto 3-4, and allegro di molto (5); it is dramatically +quite in its place, and gives opportunity to the singer to display a +well-trained voice. The detached, sharply defined motifs, united by +interludes, remind us of the old style, but they are very cleverly +arranged and carried out, and the treatment of the wind instruments +gives a splendidly sonorous and yet subdued effect to the orchestra, +which was then quite novel, and must have been remarkably impressive. +The second air (13) is a long bravura song in one movement (allegro +maestoso) in the grand style. Mozart calls it "the most splendid song" +of the opera; and protests vigorously against the idea that it was not +written "for the words"; but more was demanded from the singer than +Raaff was able to give. It has the proper heroic character of the opera +seria, and affords opportunity for the display of vocal art in + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(148) + +sustained passages, long notes, and bravura passages. The last are +completely obsolete; but Mozart was right to think well of the song; it +is full of expression and character, interesting through its rich +and brilliant accompaniment, and containing, especially in the middle +movement, surprising beauties of harmony. How striking and expressive +is, for instance, this harmonic transition:--[See Page Image] + +The third air (30), which Mozart endeavoured to write to please his +old friend, is on that very account quite after the old pattern; it has +great resemblance to the song which Mozart had so accurately fitted to +Raaff at Mannheim (p. 408). The chief movement is a broadly sustained +adagio, simple and noble in tone, and giving opportunity to the singer +to display sustained singing, the effect of which is enhanced by +a figured accompaniment, shared between the strings and the wind +instruments; the middle movement, allegretto 3-8, is of less importance. +A sketch which has been preserved of this song affords a good example of +Mozart's method of work; the ritornellos, the voice and the bass are + + +{ILIA--ELECTRA.} + +(149) + +all fully noted. Probably he submitted the sketch to Raaff before +elaborating the song; it coincides in all but a few unimportant +alterations with the later elaboration. He wished at first to compose +the words of the middle movement in the same time and measure as the +first movement; after four bars, however, which he erased, he wrote the +middle movement as it at present stands. + +In spite of the restrictions laid upon him in this far from +inconsiderable part of the opera, Mozart's progress since the "Re +Pastore" is very marked. What we now find is not the struggle of +youthful genius against obsolete and hampering forms, but a conscious +compliance with them, on definite grounds, by means of which the +composer strives to extract all the good possible from his unfavourable +circumstances, and knows exactly how far he can go. It is difficult, +however, now that the tradition of these forms is wholly lost, to decide +with certainty how much is due to the insensible effect of custom, and +how much to the conscious labour of the artist. Those pieces in which +Mozart could act without control make an entirely different impression. + +To these belong the parts of Ilia and Electra. Bravura has a decided +place in the conception of the latter, but with an individual colouring +of passion which Mozart has made free use of as the characterising +element. The two great airs (5, 29) are the vivid expression of a +glowing impulsive nature, which is raised by an admixture of haughty +dignity above that vulgarity into which violent outbreaks of jealousy +and revenge so readily fall. In spite of the text, which puts the +traditional bombastic pathos into the mouth of Electra (29)-- + + D' Oreste, d' Ajace Ho in seno i tormenti, + D' Aletto la face Giä morte mi dä. + Squarciatemi il core Ceraste, serpenti! + +the composer has succeeded in infusing character and individuality into +the song. + +The two songs are allied in subject, but their treatment is + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(150) + +different. While in the first passion ferments, as it were, and breaks +forth in separate bursts, the second is a continuous stream of wild +rage, and calls for the more particular employment of the higher notes +of the voice. Purely executive display is not sought after, with the +exception of one passage going up to C in alt, and very expressive, +if well sung, but a passionate, well-declaimed delivery is taken for +granted throughout. Occasionally the voice part is more declamatory +than melodious, and the effect is provided for by a rapid succession +of striking harmonies. How wonderfully affecting, for instance, is the +passionate outcry:--[See Page Image] + +The orchestra has an altogether novel function as a means of musical +characterisation. It goes its independent way + + +{ELECTRA--ILIA.} + +(151) + +side by side with the voice, interesting by virtue of the singular +vitality of its accompanying passages and its own motifs, and its +masterly tone-colouring gives body and force to the whole composition. +In the first air all is restless motion--we have the flutes in broken +chords, flashes of sound like lightning from the wind instruments, +and only at certain points are the forces united into a concentrated +expression of emotion. How striking, again, is the effect in the last +song when, after the long torturing shake passage for the violins,[11] +the united orchestra bursts forth into a very transport of revengeful +feeling.[12] + +Electra's middle song (14) is in strong contrast to the passionate +outbursts of the other two; here her happy love seems to fill her very +being. She breathes forth a calm serenity and tender sweetness, as if +there could be no place in her heart for jealousy and revenge. The voice +part with the exception of one ornamental passage resembling the string +quartet accompaniment, is very simple; rightly delivered the expression +of satisfied affection will be found quite in accord with Electra's +character. + +In the character of Ilia, Mozart has followed his natural bent; it is +full of sentiment, tender and graceful, without any violent passion. It +was played by the excellent actress and singer, Dorothea Wendling; here +Mozart had free scope, and in her songs (2, 12, 19) we find the finest +expression of his manner as an artist. In the first air (2) we find the +simplest means lying ready to hand employed to give dramatic effect; +such, for instance, is the alternation of major and minor key for the +principal subject, the climax produced by its repetition, the different +ways in which the exclamation "Grecia!" is treated, &c. Not only are +we affected by the charm of beautiful and graceful ideas, but the +expedients of formal construction become the natural + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(152) + +expression of the innermost feelings of the heart. The second air (12) +is a cavatina, having two verses repeated with trifling alterations, and +accompanied by four obbligato wind instruments, viz.: flute, oboe, horn, +and bassoon, Besides the string quartet. Mozart's old Mannheim friends, +wendling, Ramm, Lang, and Ritter were together again, and he was +delighted to write a piece that should do honour to them and to him. + +There can be no question as to his success. The first impression is +one of the purest melody, filling the musical listener with perfect +satisfaction. A nearer examination shows as much to admire in the +simplicity of the artistic structure (the symmetry of which in reading +the score is displayed as it were on a ground plan) and in the delicate +use of sound effects, as in the tenderness and grace of the conception. +Let us consider the situation. Ilia comes to thank Idomeneo for +the kindness which she, as a captive, has received in Crete. She is +embarrassed by the remembrance that she has lost her father and her +fatherland, that Idomeneo is her ruler, and the father of Idamante, and, +more than all, by the consciousness of her love for Idamante; and yet +this very love sheds for her a rosy light on all around. + +She begins, then, with a composed, almost reverential address, and as +her feelings grow more intense, the remembrance of her sorrows returns; +but all gives way to the one feeling: "or gioja e contento," in which +she altogether loses herself. Such a combination of different elements +into a harmonious whole constitutes a true work of art, and it must +needs be found beautiful as long as the principles of music remain what +they are. The situation of the last air (19) is less striking; it is +the longing sigh of a deserted lover; but the main features of Ilia's +character have already been so clearly defined that her singular charm +is as indelibly impressed here as elsewhere. It is only necessary to +compare the air (14), in which Electra expresses her tenderest feelings, +to perceive how the essential distinctions between the two women are +characterised by the music. + +The duet for the two lovers (20 b) is interesting and pleasing, but not +very striking; in form and change of tempo, + + +{ENSEMBLES.} + +(153) + +as well as in conception and treatment, it adheres to the +old-established custom of making a love duet light and graceful. It +proceeds in unbroken movement and precise form throughout, and there is +no true bravura. + +The terzet (17) is more striking, noble, and simple, and of fine musical +effect, but the dramatic situation is not brought to expression in the +full energy of which it is capable. It is certainly placed with design +between a succession of pleasing situations and of more agitated ones; +its calm and earnest mood fitly concludes what has gone before and +prepares the mind for what is to follow, without unduly diminishing +the effect of surprise. In the situation, as here presented, the three +characters are all in a depressed and anxious mood, which restrains any +lively outburst of emotion, and justifies the moderation of the musical +rendering. + +The quartet (21) takes a higher place as regards invention and +characterisation; Mozart himself preferred it, and rejected any +interference from the singers in its composition as decidedly as he gave +way to them in the songs. It is not an easy task to write a quartet +for three sopranos and a tenor, but Mozart's accurate knowledge of the +capabilities of the voices, and his skilful combinations, enabled him to +command the most original and beautiful sound effects. We must admire, +too, his genius in marking out a distinct plan, within the limits of +which he moves at his ease, and in giving sharp touches of character +without disturbing the unity of the piece. + +Ilia and Idamante stand in natural contrast to Idomeneo and Electra, and +each individual is accurately characterised. This is most apparent where +they all sing together, and gives life and significance to the music. +Besides the independent treatment of the voices, the quartet is +especially distinguished by harmonic beauties of an uncommon kind, and +undeniably belongs to Mozart's finest performances. His wife relates +that once, when singing in this quartet, he was so deeply affected that +he was obliged to desist, and for a long time would not look at the +composition again.[13] The + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(154) + +conclusion is original and appropriate. Idamante's commencement is that +of a man who has made up his mind: "André ramingo e solo," however, dies +away with the words "morte cercando" into gloomy meditations. At the +close he again announces, "Andrò ramingo e solo," and leaves the scene +while the orchestra continues to express gloom and sadness, dying away +gradually into silence.[14] + +The chorus forms a principal feature of "Idomeneo." There is an +important difference, however, between those choruses which actually +belong to the plot and express the meaning of the situation with +emphasis, and those which are only superficially connected with the +plot, and serve principally for ornament. These last are mostly in +connection with the ballet, and should be placed side by side with the +ballet music. Such are the first chorus (4), during which the Trojan +captives are loosed from their fetters, the closing chorus during +Idamante's coronation, and most especially the chorus at the end of the +first act (10), in which we should not fail to recognise dance music, +even without the superscription "Ciaconna" and the express indication of +the libretto. The orchestra has a more independent part here than in the +two other choruses. The character of them all is fresh and cheerful; +as with a man rejoicing in the fulness of his health and strength, +everything is stirring and full of sound and bustle, so it is with +these choruses, which, without any striking qualities, are thoroughly +effective where they stand. The charming chorus previous to the +embarkation of Electra and Idamante is more characteristic, and seems +to mirror the cheerful heavens and the calm sea, together with Electra's +happy frame of mind. Very happy in expression are the verses which +Electra sings between the choruses--simple, clear, and full of grace and +delicacy. + + +{CHORUSES.} + +(155) + +But the remaining choruses, which are more properly dramatic, are +incomparably more important, grand, and earnest. The first (5), +representing the shipwreck of "Idomeneo," is a double chorus for male +voices. One chorus in the distance is in four parts--the other, nearer, +is in two parts; the former is mostly in unison, the latter imitative; +each chorus is complete in itself, and quite independent of the other, +but the two together form an artistic, clearly apprehended whole. The +orchestra contrasts with it as a solid mass, the stringed instruments +belonging more especially to the second, and the wind instruments to the +first chorus. It falls to the orchestra to depict the storm, and there +are plenty of chromatic scales for the purpose, but the effect depends +chiefly on bold and forcible harmonies. How little Mozart shunned +difficulties and obstacles may be proved by several parts of this scene, +the following passage among others:--[See Page Image] + +Still more powerful are the choruses which close the second act. Again +there arises a storm, the sea-monster appears, and horror seizes +the people. While the orchestra is in constant agitation, the chorus +interposes _en masse_, partly in full chords, partly in effective +unison. The succession of striking harmonies reaches its height in the +four-times repeated + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(156) + +question "il reo quai è?" which closes with a pause on a dissonant chord, +repeated, like an echo, by all the wind instruments. Such a magnificent +and agitating effect as is attained by this concentration into one point +of every musical expedient, without overstepping the boundaries of the +beautiful, had scarcely been heard in any opera, and Mozart himself +never surpassed it. The concluding chorus, which follows an accompanied +recitative for Idomeneo, is of an entirely different character, +expressive of a flight, winged by fear and horror. The 12-8 time, seldom +used by Mozart, is suited to the expression of haste and agitation, and +so also is the generally independent and partially imitative treatment +of the voices. They only unite sometimes into an outcry of horror, +otherwise they make detached exclamations, and each goes his way in +hurried confusion until all are dispersed. + +The chorus in the third act (24) expresses a totally different sentiment +in equally grand style. When, after the effective appeal of the High +Priest, Idomeneo discloses his obligation to sacrifice his son, the +people, still discontented and murmuring, are struck with grief and +horror. The intensity and almost over-wealth of beauty with which these +emotions are expressed give the music, as we have already remarked, the +national stamp of the Italian opera. We may learn from this chorus how +in a true work of art the universal emotions of the human heart may +be blended with the peculiarities of national and individual life and +transported into the realm of pure art. The effect of unison at the +words "giä régna la morte," expressing the depressed murmur of the +people, is wonderfully fine; the chromatic triplet passage of the +accompaniment seeks meanwhile in vain to raise the fainting spirits +higher. This motif passes finely into the calm confidence of the High +Priest's prayer, and the touchingly beautiful orchestral conclusion lets +a ray of light on to this dispirited mood. But the climax has not yet +reached its highest point. After a simple but wonderfully effective +march, there follows a prayer for Idomeneo and the Priest which is a +complete masterpiece, whether we consider its truthful expression +of emotion, its rich and original orchestral accompaniment, or the +combination in it of the various elements which produce the + + +{CHORUSES--RECITATIVE.} + +(157) + +total effect. We can here merely indicate the short chorus of priests, +which remains in unison in the one key of C, while the instruments (the +strings _pizzicato_ in a harplike movement, the wind instruments in +characteristic passages) proceed in varied harmonies from C minor to +F major, whereupon the voices sink to F and keep this key, while the +orchestra gives out the solemn and quieting chords of the so-called +church ending (B minor, F major). + +It is much to be regretted that after this chorus the opera follows the +usual course of opera seria, and leaves important dramatic situations +unused for the purposes of musical representation. If, according to +the original design, the remaining chief situations had been wrought +together into a duet for Ilia and Idamante and a quartet, we should then +possess masterpieces of grand dramatic music at the close of the opera; +instead of this separate songs have been detached from their context in +order to satisfy the singers. + +The grandiose and free treatment of the choruses, both in the voice +parts and the accompaniments, places them almost on a level with those +of "König Thamos"; but a more condensed and pregnant style of music was +required in the opera than in "König Thamos," where the connection with +the drama was loose and superficial. Mindful of this consideration, +Mozart, while giving the choruses free scope for musical execution, +never allows them to stand independent of and apart from the words. + +A reminiscence of French opera is evident in the treatment of the +recitatives as well as in the important part allotted to the chorus. +The groundwork of the dialogue is, as usual, in secco recitative, but +accompanied recitative is more often employed as introductory to the +songs than formerly, and it is also made use of as the most fitting +vehicle for passionate or agitated soliloquies, such as that of Idomeneo +after the appearance of the monster (18), or for solemn and pathetic +appeals, such as that of the High Priest (22); also at different points +of the dialogue where the sentiment rises above the tone of ordinary +speech, the accompanied recitative interrupts the secco for a longer or +shorter interval, and gives the dialogue increased power and + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(158) + +animation. The treatment of this kind of recitative is always free. It +passes from sharply accented declamation into more or less elaborate +melodious song. In the same way the orchestra sometimes serves simply as +supporting accompaniment, sometimes suggests in an interlude or carries +out more fully the expression of feeling excited by the words. A +truly inexhaustible wealth of striking and, from many points of view, +interesting features and beautiful motifs displays itself in these +recitatives. Very fine, for instance, is the anticipation in Electra's +recitative (p. 171, score) of the principal subject of the following +song. How suggestive it is when Idomeneo, Ilia having just left him, +expresses the conviction that she loves Idamante, in the characteristic +motif of her song, by which doubtless she has betrayed her love, weaving +it in the most striking manner into the interlude of his soliloquy! (p. +146, score). The variety and wealth of harmonic transitions in these +recitatives is astonishing. Mozart's originality is displayed by the way +in which he gathers to a point the scattered and fugitive emotions of +the various parts, so as to form a consistent whole. There is not a +note which stands alone, every separate touch becomes for him a motif, +capable of further development, and each in its own measure contributes +to express the situation; the subjects are not strung upon a thread, +they are moulded into a homogeneous entity. The effect of the melodrama +lingers in the dramatic character of the instrumental interludes, which +is sharply emphasised by the great variety of orchestral tone-colouring. +An example of such character-painting is afforded by the prelude to the +High Priest's recitative (23), which is in close connection with the +scene which is being enacted on the stage. It begins maestoso, with a +rapid flourish of trumpets, drums, and horns--the King enters with his +followers; then a largo (of two bars length), stringed instruments +and bassoons; the priests enter; finally an agitated passage for the +violins; the people throng tumultuously upon the stage. Then also we +have not only the stringed quartet, with occasional use of one or other +wind instrument, in the recitatives, but, wherever it seems advisable +the whole orchestra + + +{ORCHESTRA.} + +(159) + +is employed; the wind instruments serving to accent and light up the +most varied combinations. + +This brings us to one of the most remarkable features of "Idomeneo," +which at the time rendered the work a true phenomenon, and which even +now excites admiration and appears worthy of study: the treatment of the +orchestra. It was to be expected that Mozart, having at his disposal +a well-appointed and excellently trained orchestra, would develop with +partiality the instrumental side of his great work. In point of fact, +the orchestral portions of "Idomeneo" are richer, more brilliant, and +more carefully carried out, even to the smallest details, than was ever +again the case in his later works. The composition of the orchestra is +quite the same as that which he employed in after-times, except that he +occasionally has four horns, as on some former occasions (Vol. I., +p. 304; II., p. 86), but not in Vienna. He disposed freely of all +the forces at his command, not contenting himself any longer with +accentuating different parts by means of richer instrumentation, but +maintaining throughout a more brilliant and forcible instrumental +colouring, and allowing the choice and use of means to be determined +only by the particular subject which was to be represented. In this +manner he kept himself within the bounds of moderation, and reserved +certain resources for definite effects; for instance, flutes are +employed only in the storm (18), trombones only for the oracle (28). In +the choruses to "König Thamos," on the contrary, the trombones are +in frequent use, as they were later with similar effect in the +"Zauberflöte." So decidedly had Mozart even at that time fixed the +character of this instrument. But he was particularly careful so to +distribute his effects that the ear should never be either over-excited +or over-fatigued. For instance, in the two storm scenes (5, 18) there +are no trumpets and drums; they first occur in the flight scene, which +is quite different in character; and again in the dance choruses (10, +32), when festive brilliancy is required; also in the mourning chorus, +where they are muffled, which modifies the effect in a very original +manner. These observations might advantageously be carried into detail; +but it will suffice here to point out that Mozart's + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(160) + +moderation in the use of his instrumental forces, any unusual enrichment +being more easily perceived in this quarter than in any other, arises +neither from meagreness of invention nor from a calculated singularity, +but that he adopts it with clear views and firm control of his own +powers. Mozart has in "Idomeneo" laid the foundation of all modern +instrumentation, which has since only been developed in detail, +unhappily over-developed and perverted. But the most delicate perception +of material sound effect can only produce superficial results; it should +serve merely as a cooperating element in true artistic production.[15] +The instruments in the hands of an artist are only transmitters of the +musical idea in its fixed construction and embodiment, and the same +loving care which the master displays over harmonious and thematic +elaboration or characteristic expression appears in his efforts to work +on the senses of his hearers by means of beautiful orchestral effects. +But, although the orchestra is perfectly independent, it must not +be forgotten that it works side by side with the voices, serving as +foreground and background for them, and never made so prominent as to +cause the voices to appear only like the accessories in a landscape. + +Three marches are characteristic, each in its own way. The first (9) is +a brilliant festival march, belonging by its style to the ballet which +follows; the second (15), which is introduced in the charming way +already noticed, is mainly effective by its gradual approach, new +instruments falling in at each repetition and adding to its force and +tone-colouring. At first the trumpets and drums are muted, as in the +concluding chorus in "König Thamos." The simplest and most + + +{BALLET,} + +(161) + +beautiful of the marches is the third (25), which fills a necessary +pause in the scenic arrangements, but which is full of beautiful +expression. The employment of the violoncellos is very original; they go +for the most part with the double-basses, but two octaves higher, which +produces an excellent effect. + +The music to the ballet may most fitly be noticed here. It consists of +the following numbers:-- + +1. Chaconne (D major), "Pas de deux de Madame Hartig et M. Antoine," +"Pas de seul de Madame Falgera," an elaborate movement, with which is +connected an equally elaborate Larghetto (B flat major). "Pas de seul +pour Madame Hartig." To a tolerably long Annonce succeeds the Chaconne +"pour le Ballet," partly repeated, and concluding with a _crescendo_. + +2. "Pas de seul de M. Le Grand" (D major). This begins with a pathetic +Intrade (Largo) leading to a neat and compact Allegretto, which was +omitted in performance. This is followed by a very animated Più +allegro, and concluded by another Più allegro "pour le Ballet," with +a twice-repeated triplet passage in long-drawn _crescendo_ rising from +_pp_ to _ff_. intensified by suspensions, and which is enough to make +one giddy. + +3. Passepied (B flat major) "pour Madame Redwen," short and simple, but +very neat and graceful, and quite in dance form. + +4. Gavotte (G major), not elaborated, delicate and graceful; a very good +effect is produced by the simple imitation of the violoncello, which is +carried out in harmony in the third part. + +5. Passecaille (E flat major). This piece was intended for further +elaboration with a Pas de seul "for M. Antoine," and a Pas de deux +(Madame Falgera et M. Le Grand), but it was considered too long. +Mozart only planned two longer portions without completing them, and in +performance the whole Pas de deux was omitted. + +The traditional style of the different dances, as they are known to +us from the suites of Handel and Bach, has been preserved in their +rhythmical structure, and also in other + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(162) + +characteristics; the Passepied, for instance, would have its own place +in every suite, and so also would the Gavotte. + +Besides this, the whole of the ballet music in "Idomeneo" is similar to +corresponding movements in the opera, fresh, melodious, and appropriate +throughout. But it is easy to see that Mozart was aware that the +delicate details and the orchestral treatment that are present +throughout the opera would not be in place here. It is true that he has +done justice to himself in the free and flowing arrangement of parts and +the animated grouping of the instruments, and true also that delicate +harmonious transitions constantly betray the hand of a master; but he +was well aware that he must depend chiefly for light and shade on sharp +pregnant rhythm and strong emphasis. With this view, trumpets and drums +are not spared, but the orchestra, with the exception of some separate +strong strokes, is seldom used en masse; there are few attempts after +peculiar effects through unusual instrumental combinations, and only +in the Gavotte does a solo violoncello occur, and that in very modest +fashion. The influence of the ballet-master is apparent from the fact +that there are many more erasures and alterations in this than in any +other part of the opera. + +In the overture, a magnificent piece, Mozart altogether abandoned the +old forms. It is in one lively movement, and maintains its character +as an introduction by not coming to a proper conclusion, but passing +immediately into the first scene. A certain typical tone of heroic +solemnity is heard in the first bars, and reiterated more than once +afterwards; but the whole is governed by a severe earnestness, expressed +by the frequent occurrence of the minor key, and by the strong but +beautiful dissonances. The middle subject, on the contrary, begins +a gentle plaint in A minor, which is calmed and relieved by the +wonderfully beautiful introduction of the key of C major, enhanced in +effect by variety of tone-colouring. + +If we gather together the results of our observations of "Idomeneo," we +cannot fail to discern in it the work of a master who has arrived at the +maturity of his powers while still in the full bloom of youth. It was +only his + + +{GLUCK'S INFLUENCE.} + +(163) + +submission to those restraints which seemed unavoidable, which prevented +his freeing the opera seria from the conventionalities which formed, +indeed, no essential part of its being. Even had he succeeded in doing +so, it would have involved no renunciation of its national character, +which, as we have seen, in no way fettered Mozart's individuality. But, +since in the improvements he made he was indebted to French opera, and +especially to Gluck, the question arises how much, and in what way, +Mozart had learnt from the great Parisian master. It is not merely +unquestionable that Gluck exerted a general influence over Mozart's +opinions and tendencies, but the traces of a close study of his works, +and especially of "Alceste," may be easily discovered. He had been +present as a boy at the first representation of "Alceste." Its influence +is apparent in many details, such as the harmonic treatment of the +oracle, and the use of sustained chords for the horns and trombones +in the accompaniment to the appeal of the High Priest. The march in +"Alceste" has served as a model for the style, if not for the execution, +of the last march in "Idomeneo." The High Priest's soliloquy is +altogether analogous in plan and treatment to that of Gluck's High +Priest; again, the recurring subject of the interlude--[See Page Image] +reminds us of the corresponding one in "Alceste"--and other similarities +may be detected. More important is the similarity of dramatic style, +which is especially evident in the treatment of the recitatives, and +in the share taken by the orchestra in the characterisation. But that +Mozart learnt from Gluck only as one master learns from another, and +that he turned his borrowed pound to rich account, it needs but a closer +consideration of these details, as well as + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(164) + +of the whole work, to make plain. We must not underrate the wholesome +and powerful effect which grand and important works must have made upon +him, and the enlightenment and correction of his views as to the nature +of the opera thereby obtained. But we must also remember that +Mozart received these impressions and this instruction into a nature +self-dependent and productive, and that his artistic cultivation enabled +him to appropriate only what was in accordance with his nature. +Gluck sets aside the fixed expressions of operatic form as far as +is practicable, in order to gain perfect freedom of dramatic action; +Mozart, on the other hand, strives to spare these forms, and so to mould +and develop them that they may themselves serve as vehicles for dramatic +expression. This he does not because he clings to what is old and +established, but with the just perception that these forms contain +an essential element of artistic construction which is capable of +development. Mozart never seeks, as Gluck did, to forget that he is +a musician; on the contrary, he remembers it at every point of his +artistic production, and could not ignore the fact if he would. In +opposition to the one-sided requirements of dramatic characterisation, +he falls back upon the principles of musical construction, which are far +from contradicting such requirements, and are in fact the higher power +which establishes them. On these grounds we assert that Mozart's +creative power in music (to which we must first turn our glance in +judging an artist) was more universal and deeper than that of Gluck; +that he surpassed him in artistic cultivation and discipline will be +doubted by no one who compares the technical work, the disposition of +the orchestra, &c., in "Idomeneo" with Gluck's operas. This judgment +does not exclude the fact that some of Gluck's performances as an artist +are not only grand and striking, but surpass kindred works by Mozart. +But if the laws and nature of art are once perceived, a more certain +rule is provided for the judgment of the work of art as well as of the +artist; and here Mozart may bear away the palm. + +Mozart's leave of absence was not extorted from the Archbishop without +difficulty, and it was limited to six weeks. + + +{DREAD OF RECALL.} + +(165) + +The better satisfied he became with his life in Munich, where he found +friends, appreciation, and enlightenment, the more appalling grew +the prospect of returning to Salzburg, and he was in terror lest the +Archbishop should recall him even before the performance of the opera. +With this idea he writes to his father (December 16, 1780):-- + +_À propos!_ how about the Archbishop? Next Monday I shall have been +absent from Salzburg for six weeks. You know, my dear father, that it +is only for love of you that I remain in Salzburg, for, by heaven! if +it rested with me I would have torn up the agreement and resigned my +appointment before I left home this time. It is not Salzburg, but the +prince and the proud nobility who become more insupportable to me every +day. I should hail with delight a letter informing me that he no longer +needed my services. The patronage I have here would assure me of present +and future means of support, without taking into account the chances by +death, which none ought to count upon, but which is no bad friend to +a man in search of employment. But anything in the world to please +you--and it would come all the easier to me if I could get away now and +then for a little to take breath. You know how hard it was to get away +this time, and that without some great cause there is no possibility +of it again. Come to Munich and hear my opera, and then tell me if I am +wrong to feel unhappy when I think of Salzburg. + +His father seeks to reassure him as to the leave of absence (December +25, 1780):-- + +As regards the six weeks, I have decided not to take any steps in the +matter, but if I hear anything on the subject I shall certainly answer +that we understood you were to remain in Munich six weeks after the +composition of the opera, for its rehearsal and production, but that +I could not imagine that his highness would suppose that such an opera +could be composed, copied, and performed in six weeks, &c. + +It would not, however, have been a matter of regret to L. Mozart if +Wolfgang could have met with a good situation in Munich. Wolfgang +himself had been rendered full of hope from the gracious reception of +the Elector, and wrote to his father that if he succeeded in settling +in Munich, he (the father) must not long remain in Salzburg, but must +follow him thither. He was very anxious to demonstrate in Munich that he +could write other things besides operas, and he turned his church +music to account. With this object he wrote to his father (November 13, +1780):-- + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(166) + +Be so kind as to send me the scores of the two Masses that I have at +home, and also the Mass in B flat major (275 K.), for Count Seeau has +promised to speak of them to the Elector. I should like to make myself +known in this style. I have just heard a Mass by Grua (kapellmeister in +1779, died 1826); it would be easy to compose half-a-dozen a day of that +kind of thing. + +Mozart also appears to have tried to win favour with the Elector by +a new church composition; at least a grand Kyrie in D minor (341 K.), +judging by the character of the composition and the distribution of the +orchestra, can only have been written during this stay in Munich. The +orchestra consists of the usual string quartet, and in addition two +flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns (in D and F), +two trumpets, and drums; there is no grouping of the kind that is found +in "Idomeneo." Whether this is a fragment of a Mass which was never +completed, or whether it was intended for insertion in another work, +cannot now be decided. It is tolerably long, but elaborated without much +thematic treatment, the elements of the construction and flow being +more rhythmical and harmonic, and taking their principal charm from +the independent and richly elaborated orchestral accompaniment. Among +Mozart's sacred compositions his Kyries are specially distinguished by +an originality of tone-colouring and peculiarly melodious treatment, +which are extremely well suited to the melancholy tone of the movement +before us. Much of it points to the Requiem, and opens the door to +conjecture as to the path which Mozart would have pursued had he devoted +himself specially to church music. + +Another great work, apparently written for the Munich Kapelle, is a +grand serenata for wind instruments (361 K.),[16] with the date 1780, +which he must have taken with him, since he would hardly have undertaken +so important a work while engaged on "Idomeneo." The serenata is for two +oboes, two clarinets, two viols, four horns, two bassoons, violoncello, +and double-bass. The instruments, and the task appointed for them, point +rather to the Munich orchestra + + +{SERENATA, 1780.} + +(167) + +than to that of Salzburg. Compositions for wind instruments alone, +called Harmonie-Musik, were then much in favour, and Mozart may have +wished to recommend himself by producing an important piece of the kind, +which would place the performances of the band in a brilliant light.[17] + +In form the serenata resembles those written for the complete orchestra. +It begins with a solemn Largo, which serves as introduction to a Molto +allegro, worked out very like the first movement of a symphony. This is +followed by a Minuet with two trios, than a broadly planned Adagio, and +again a Minuet with three trios. To this is joined a Romanze (adagio), +simple and lyrical, in two parts, interrupted by an Allegretto leading +again to the Adagio, which is repeated and concluded by a coda. Then +comes an Andante with six variations, and the finale, consisting of a +cheerful Rondo. It is no easy task to write such a succession of pieces +for wind instruments, for the tone-colouring, although striking and +agreeable, must be moderately and carefully treated. People were +certainly more accustomed to this kind of music at the time, but even at +the present day the serenata does not produce a sense of fatigue. It has +an interest as a proof of the minute study which Mozart bestowed on all +instrumental forces, whereby he acquired that complete mastery of the +orchestra which is displayed in "Idomeneo." + +But the work has a higher significance than that of a mere study of +instrumentation, as is shown by the admiration it has excited in many +places quite recently. The charm of the composition depends greatly upon +the certainty with which the peculiar style of each instrument is made +use of; but this forms only one side of the artistic construction of the +idea, and the full force and beauty of the instrumental effects are only +perceived when they are considered as a means of representing each part +of the whole work in its due proportion. + + +{IDOMENEO.} + +(168) + +Great delicacy and diversity are shown in the grouping and treatment +of the different instruments. The first players naturally undertake the +chief parts, the accompaniment falling to the secondary players, but the +disposition of parts is so free and independent that the difference +is not always apparent.[18] All the movements are well planned and +constructed, rich in delicate and interesting touches of harmonic or +thematic elaboration, and in general fresh and tuneful. + +The crown of them is the Adagio,[19] in which the musical expression +of deep and earnest feeling rises to a purity and height which is +impossible to the specified representations of certain frames of mind +now in fashion. We here attain, by means of artistic catharsis, as +Aristotle calls it (_purging, purifying_), to an absolute freedom and +satisfaction, which it is granted to man to feel only in the perfect +harmony and beauty of art. The means by which this highest of all +effects is reached are so simple that a dissection of them would only +be a confirmation of the old scripture that the letter killeth and the +spirit giveth life.[20] + +As long as Mozart was engaged on the composition and study of his opera +he had no time for recreation, and his visits were confined to the +Cannabich family. After the performance he refreshed himself by entering +with his father and sister into the Carnival gaieties, and by cheerful +intercourse with his friends. But the latter did not allow him to remain +long in idleness. To please his good friend Ramm he wrote a quartet for +oboe, violin, tenor, and violoncello (370 K.), obbligato throughout for +the oboe, but otherwise easy and light in design and execution. For his +patroness the Countess Baumgarten (Vol. II., p. 132) he composed, on +March 8, + + +{PROLONGED STAY IN MUNICH.} + +(169) + +1781, a concert aria (369 K.), "Misera dove son" (from Metastasio's +"Ezio," III., 12), which gives a favourable idea of the vocal +performances of this lady. It makes no great demands on the compass of +the voice or execution, but the recitative and air are both earnest +and serious, and require in every respect an excellent delivery. The +instrumentation is simple, only flutes and horns being added to the +quartet. + +Mozart's longer stay in Munich was rendered possible by the Archbishop's +journey to Vienna, which was probably occasioned by the death of the +Empress. He wished to appear with all the pomp of a spiritual prince, +and took with him a considerable retinue of courtiers and servants, as +well as some of his most distinguished musicians. Wolfgang rejoiced at +this fortunate circumstance, and enjoyed himself so much in Munich that +he confessed later to his father (May 26, 1781):-- + +In Munich, it is true, I was a little too gay, but I can assure you on +my honour that before the opera was on the boards I went to no theatre +and visited no one but Cannabich. I exceeded a little afterwards, I own, +but it was through youthful folly. I thought to myself, "Where are you +to go to? To Salzburg. Well, then, enjoy yourself while you can!" + +His father was full of thought for him even now; he wrote from Munich to +Breitkopf (February 12, 1781):-- + +I have long desired that you should publish some work by my son. You +will not, I am sure, judge of him now by the clavier sonatas which he +wrote while still a child. You cannot have seen a note of what he +has written for some years past, unless it may be the six sonatas for +clavier and violin which were engraved at Paris (Vol. I., p. 415). We +have allowed very little to appear. You might make the experiment with +a couple of symphonies or clavier sonatas, or else with quartets, trios, +&c. You should only give us a few copies in return, as I am anxious that +you should see my son's manner of work. But do not imagine that I wish +to over-persuade you. The thought has frequently occurred to me, because +I see so much published and in print that moves me to pity. + +Wolfgang did not return to Salzburg. His gay life in Munich was +interrupted by a summons from the Archbishop to Vienna. There he +accordingly arrived on March 12, and there his destiny was to be +fulfilled. + + + +FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER XXII. + +[Footnote 1: Diet, des Théätres, III., p. 126. An edition by Christoph Balard +appeared in 1712, and the text is printed (Rec. des Opéras, XII., 1).] + +[Footnote 2: Idomeneus's vow, his unwillingness to sacrifice his son, the +consequent pestilence, and his dethronement by the people, are found in +ancient writers; the rest is modern.] + +[Footnote 3: I owe to the courtesy of Herr Reg. Lenz, of Munich, the original +libretto with the dialogues in full, not abbreviated as they afterwards +were for composition: "Idomeneo, dramma per musica, da rappresentarsi +nel teatro nuovo di corte per comando di S. A. S. E. Carlo Teodoro, nel +Carnovale, 1781" (Munich: Frz. Jos. Thuille.).] + +[Footnote 4: A regular finale to an opera seria was first introduced by Giov. +Gammerra in his "Pirro" (1787); so says Manfiredini (Reg. Armon., p. +121), who disliked this mixture of styles.] + +[Footnote 5: ALoysia Weber was no longer in Munich; she had removed with her +family to Vienna, where the good offices of the imperial ambassador, +Count Hardeck, had procured her an engagement as prima donna. It is an +error to suppose that this visit of Mozart to Munich had anything to do +with his relations to Aloysia.] + +[Footnote 6: Similar stories were told elsewhere of the Maras (Cf. Forkel's +Musik. Alman., 1789, p. 122; and the account of Mara in Zelter's Briefw. +mit Goethe, III., p. 418; VI., p. 149).] + +[Footnote 7: "The accompaniment to the subterranean voices," writes Wolfgang +(January 3, 1781), "is in only five parts, namely, three trombones +and two horns, which proceed from the same place as the voices. The +orchestra is silent at this place." This arrangement was not carried out +without opposition from Count Seeau.] + +[Footnote 8: The notice was also published in the Augsburgischen +Ordinari-Postzeitung February 5, 1781, No. 31), Rudhart, Gesch. d. Oper +zu München, I., p. 168.] + +[Footnote 9: So says Rochlitz (A. M. Z., I., p. 51). His authorities, however, +are on the main points untrustworthy.] + +[Footnote 10: Reichardt, who was usually rather inclined to depreciate Mozart, +gives an appreciative criticism of "Idomeneo," and speaks of it as the +purest work of art which Mozart ever completed (Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1806, +p. 11). Seyfried's criticism of the opera is insignificant (Cäcilia, +XX., p. 178), but Ulibicheffs remarks are often striking, and show much +delicate perception (Nouv. Biogr., II., p. 94).] + +[Footnote 11: I should not like to assert that this tremolo passage was not +suggested by the words; just as in Idomeneo's aria (13) the words "fuor +del mar ho un mar in seno" have suggested the billowy motif of the +accompaniment.] + +[Footnote 12: The recitative preceding this aria was originally (as the libretto +shows) much longer and more fully composed; many pages were cut out for +performance and some small alterations were made.] + +[Footnote 13: Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 198.] + +[Footnote 14: Another musical surprise at the close of Electra's second aria is +expressive of the dramatic situation. The last note of the voice passes +into a march heard in the distance, and beginning with the second part, +so that the audience is at once transported into the midst of it. Mozart +has employed the same musical expedient in the march in "Figaro," and +Spohr in the minuet at the beginning of "Faust."] + +[Footnote 15: As one example among many, I may quote Idomeneo's prayer (26). The +_pizzicato_ violin accompaniment, imitating the harp, is enlivened by +the division of the passage among the strings; then comes an independent +fully appointed passage for the wind instruments, with an harmonic +movement increasing to a climax, which has an original colouring by +means of its peculiar sound effects. And the repetition shows us a new +development of the previously given elements. A partiality for certain +passages for the wind instruments, mostly in thirds and sixths, is +apparent both in "Idomeneo" and in the choruses to "König Thamos"; it is +observable elsewhere, but in moderation.] + +[Footnote 16: For the quintet on which it was founded see p. 94. The serenata was +afterwards made use of in many combinations.] + +[Footnote 17: Schinck (Litterar. Fragm., II., p. 286) describes a concert of +Stadler's in Vienna, 1784: "I have heard a piece for wind instruments by +Herr Mozart to-day. Magnificent! It consisted of thirteen instruments, +and at every instrument a master! The effect was grand and magnificent, +beyond description!"] + +[Footnote 18: The violoncello and double-bass have, properly speaking, no +independent part; they only strengthen the fundamental bass, which would +not be sufficiently prominent with the second bassoons alone.] + +[Footnote 19: This Adagio has been arranged to an offertory, "Quis te +comprehendat" (Coblenz: Falkenberg).] + +[Footnote 20: It has already been remarked that a relationship exists between the +melodies of Mozart's instrumental works, and those of his German--never +of his Italian--operas; there are in this serenata suggestions here and +there of the "Entfuhrung," which was composed soon after.] + + + + +{RELEASE.} + +(170) + +CHAPTER XXIII. RELEASE. + + +THE summons to Vienna appeared like the fulfilment of Mozart's ardent +and long-deferred wish; but his relation to the Archbishop, among +whose followers he was obliged to consider himself, was only too well +calculated to turn his delight into disappointment. He had apparently +the best opportunity of gaining admission to the most distinguished +society, and of earning fame and money in a city where music was the +prevailing means of entertainment. But the Archbishop, desirous as he +was to shine by virtue of the extraordinary performers and composers who +were in his service, found equal satisfaction in keeping them constantly +in mind that they _were_ in his service. It was the custom for princes +when they were invited out to be attended by the members of their +suite;[1] and the musicians were summoned also to provide music in +strange houses. The Archbishop did not hesitate to show off Mozart, +as well as Ceccarelli and Brunetti, in this way, as his own private +performers; but as often as Mozart found an advantageous opportunity for +being heard independently, he refused him permission and treated him in +all respects like a servant in his house. It can be imagined how Mozart +felt himself aggrieved by such undignified treatment, after the full +freedom and recognition of his talents which he had enjoyed in Munich, +and within reach of such brilliant successes as he might have had in +Vienna. His letters to his father show how he must have longed to throw +off his galling chains, and give us a lively picture of his position and +feelings:-- + +Yesterday, March 16 (1781), I arrived, God be praised, quite alone, in +a post-chaise, at nine o'clock in the morning.... Now about the +Archbishop. I have a charming room in the same house as the Archbishop. +Brunetti and Ceccarelli are lodged in another house. _Che_ + + +{THE ARCHBISHOP IN VIENNA, 1781} + +(171) + +_distinzione!_ My neighbour, Herr von Kleinmayern (Director of the +Council), overwhelmed me with civilities on my arrival. He is really a +very pleasant fellow. We dine at twelve midday, a little too early for +me, unfortunately. The two valets in attendance, the controller (E. M. +Kölnberger), Herr Zezi (the court quartermaster), the confectioner, two +cooks, Ceccarelli, Brunetti, and _my littleness_ all dine together. The +two valets sit at the head of the table, and I have the honour to be +placed above the cooks. I can imagine myself in Salzburg. During dinner +there is a good deal of coarse silly joking, but not with me, for I +do not speak a word but what I am obliged, and that with the greatest +circumspection. When I have had my dinner I go my way. There is no +evening meal provided, but we each receive three ducats, and that you +know goes a long way! The Archbishop is glad enough to glorify himself +with his people--takes their services and gives them nothing in return. +Yesterday we had music at four o'clock, when at least twenty persons of +the high nobility were present. Ceccarelli has already sung at Palfy's +(the Archbishop's brother-in-law). To-day we are to go to Prince +Gallitzin (the Russian ambassador), who was present yesterday. I shall +wait to see if I am paid anything; if not I shall go to the Archbishop +and tell him straight out that if he will not allow me to earn anything +for myself he must pay me, for that I cannot live on my own money. + +L. Mozart, who saw the storm coming, sought to pacify his son by telling +him that as the Archbishop had summoned him to Vienna in order to +glorify himself by his performances, he would certainly take care to +give him opportunities for display; but Wolfgang answers (March 24, +1781):-- + +You say that the Archbishop's vanity is tickled by having me in his +possession; this may be true, but of what use is it to me? It is not a +thing to live by. And believe me that he only stands in the way of +my preferment. How does he treat me? Herr von Kleinmayern and Boenike +(secretary and councillor) have a special table with the illustrious +Count Arco; it would be a distinction to sit at this table, instead of +being with the valets--who, when they are not taking the first places +at table, light the candles, shut the doors, and remain in the +antechambers--and with the cooks! And when we go to a concert anywhere, +the valet waits outside until the Salzburgers arrive, and then lets them +know by a footman that they have permission to enter. Brunetti told me +all this, and I thought as I listened, "Only wait till I come!" + +The other day when we went to Prince Gallitzin, Brunetti said to me in +his nice way, "Mind you are here at six o'clock this evening, and we +will go together to Prince Gallitzin's: Angelbauer will conduct you. I +replied, "Very well; but if I am not here at six punctually, do not wait +for me; we shall be sure to meet there. So I purposely went + + +{RELEASE.} + +(172) + +alone, and when I arrived, there stood Monsieur Angelbauer ready to +inform Monsieur the footman that he might show me in. But I took not +the least notice either of the valet or the footman, but went straight +through into the music-room, all the doors being open, and up to the +Prince, to whom, after paying my respects, I stood talking for some +time. I had quite forgotten Brunetti and Ceccarelli, for they kept +out of sight behind the orchestra, and stood leaning against the wall, +without venturing a step forward. + +The Archbishop also made his musicians play for old Prince Rudolf +Colloredo, his father, for which they received five ducats, and the +demands he made on Mozart for his own concerts are shown by a letter to +the father (April 8, 1781):-- + +To-day we had a concert (for I am writing at eleven o'clock at night) at +which three pieces by me were performed (new ones, of course)--a rondo +to a concerto for Brunetti,[2] a sonata with violin accompaniment for +myself, which I composed last night between eleven and twelve o'clock; +but I had only time to write the accompaniment part for Brunetti, and I +played my own part out of my head;[3] and then a rondo for Ceccarelli, +which was encored.[4] + +For all this he received from the Archbishop, who had at least paid him +four ducats for the first concert, nothing at all. This might pass, +but shortly afterwards he writes (April 11, 1781): "What makes me half +desperate is that the same evening that we had that confounded concert +the Countess Thun invited me. Of course I could not go, and who do you +think was there? The Emperor! Adamberger + + +{VIENNA, 1781.} + +(173) + +and Madame Weigl[5] were there, and each had fifty ducats--and what an +opportunity!" + +He was right, certainly, in saying that the Archbishop stood in the way +of his preferment, for he had very few opportunities for winning fame +or success. He renewed his old acquaintance with the Messmer family (pp. +86, 145), with Herr von Auerhammer and his fat daughter, and with +the old kapellmeister, Bono. Bono allowed a symphony by Mozart to be +rehearsed in his house, which, as he reports (April 11, 1781), went +splendidly and was a great success. + +"Forty violins played; the wind instruments were all doubled." + +He had no difficulty, either, in gaining admission to the most +distinguished musical circles:-- + +I go this evening (March 24) with Herr von Kleinmayem to one of his +friends--the Councillor Braun--who, every one tells me, is a great +amateur of the clavier.[6] I have already dined twice with the Countess +Thun, and go there almost every day. She is the most charming and +amiable woman that I have ever seen, and she thinks a great deal of me. +I have also dined with Count Cobenzl (court and state vice-chancellor). +My principal object now is to make myself favourably known to the +Emperor, for I am determined that he shall know me. + +I should like to play through my opera to him, and then some good +fugues--that is what he has most taste for. Oh! if I had only known +that I was to be in Vienna during Lent, I would have written a little +oratorio, and performed it for my own benefit, as is the custom here. + +I could easily have written it beforehand, for I know all the voices +here. How I should like to give a public concert! but it would not be +allowed, + +I know for certain; for, just imagine! you know that there is a Society +here which gives concerts for the benefit of the widows of musicians, +and every one at all connected with music plays there gratis. The +orchestra is 180 strong.[7] No one who pretends to any philanthropy +refuses to play when the Society calls upon him to do so; it is a sure +way also to the favour of the Emperor and of the public. Starzer was + + +{RELEASE.} + +(174) + +commissioned to request me to play, and I willingly agreed, subject to +the consent of my Prince, of which I had little doubt, seeing that it +was a religious kind of performance, and gratuitous. He refused his +permission, however, and all the nobility have taken it ill of him. I am +only sorry on this account: the Emperor is to be in the proscenium box, +and I should have preluded quite alone, and then played a fugue and the +variations, "Je suis Lindor." The Countess Thun would have lent me her +beautiful pianoforte by Stein for the purpose. Whenever I have played +the variations in public they have been greatly applauded. They are +easily understood, and every one finds something to his taste. + +In this instance, however, the Archbishop was obliged to give way. The +institution for the widows and orphans of Vienna musicians, founded +by the kapellmeister Florian Gassmann, in 1771, enjoyed the highest +patronage; and the four concerts given annually for its benefit--two +during Advent, and two in Passion week--were as well supported by +celebrated composers and performers as by the public. Starzer went to +the concert at Prince Gallitzin's, and he and all the nobility teased +the Archbishop so long for his consent that he could not withhold it. +"I am so glad!" exclaims Mozart, when he informs his father of this.[8] The +programme of the thirty-fourth concert for the benefit of the Society of +Musicians at Vienna, on April 3, 1781, contained the following:[9]-- + +The Herr Ritter W. A. Mozart will then perform alone on the pianoforte. +He visited Vienna as a child of seven years old, and then excited the +universal admiration of the public by his compositions, his insight into +the art of music, and his extraordinary facility of touch and execution. + +His success was all that could be desired. "After yesterday," he writes +(April 4), "I may well say that I am satisfied with the Vienna public. +I played at the concert for the widows' institution, and was obliged to +begin twice over, because there was no end to the applause." He refers +to it again in his next letter (April 8): "That which most pleased and +surprised me was the total silence, and then in + + +{ORDER TO RETURN TO SALZBURG.} + +(175) + +the middle of my playing bursts of applause and bravos. For Vienna, +where there are so many and such good clavier-players; it has been +really a wonderful success." + +After this, his prospects, if he could succeed in giving a concert on +his own account, were sufficiently brilliant; and ladies of rank offered +themselves to dispose of the tickets for him. "What should I not make +if I were to give a concert for myself, now that the Vienna public knows +me! But the Archbishop will not allow it; he wishes his people to have +loss rather than profit in his service." He contemplated shortly sending +his musicians back to Salzburg; if Mozart were to be obliged to leave +Vienna before he had established himself in the favour of the public, +and to find himself in Salzburg again, with no hope of any further leave +of absence, there would be an end to all his future prospects. Brunetti +had told him that Count Arco had communicated to him the Archbishop's +directions that they were to receive their travelling money, and to set +out on the following Sunday; if any wished to remain longer he might do +so, but he must live on his own means. Mozart declared that until Count +Arco himself told him that he was to go he would entirely ignore it, +and then he would tell him his mind on the subject. He would certainly +remain in Vienna; he thought that if he could find only two pupils (he +had one already in the Countess Rumbeck), he should be better off than +in Salzburg; with a successful concert, and some profitable invitations +into society, it could not be but that he should send money home, while +his father would be drawing pay for them both, and would be relieved +from his support. "Oh! I will turn the tables on the Archbishop in the +most delightful manner, and as politely as possible, for he cannot do me +any harm." + +The father was horrified at this news. He had a well-founded distrust +of Wolfgang's financial plans, which were always built upon an uncertain +future, and he feared that a complete rupture with the Archbishop would +be the consequence of such a step, that he would lose his situation and +be liable for the expenses of the journey to the capital; he earnestly +begged his son to reflect well on the feasibility + + +{RELEASE.} + +(176) + +of his project. "Dear father," runs the answer, "I love you very dearly, +as you may see from my renouncing for your sake my dearest wishes and +desires; for if it were not for you, I declare on my honour I would not +delay an instant, but would quit my service, give a grand concert, set +to work with pupils, and in a year I should be succeeding so well in +Vienna that I should be earning at least a thousand dollars per annum. I +assure you it is very hard for me so to set aside my hopes of fortune. +I am young, as you say--true, but to dawdle away one's youth in such a +miserable hole is sad enough, and hurtful besides." + +The threatened departure was postponed for a time, for the Archbishop +required his performers in Vienna; then it was said that they were to +return home on April 22. "When I think," wrote Wolfgang (April 11, 1781) +"of leaving Vienna without at least a thousand florins in my pocket, my +heart sinks within me. Am I to throw away a thousand gulden because of +a malicious prince who does what he likes with me for a miserable four +hundred florins? I should make quite that by a concert." And now he was +to come to the knowledge that not only had he laboured in vain for the +Archbishop, but that he had thereby lost the opportunity of introducing +himself to the notice of the Emperor. "I cannot quite say to the Emperor +that if he wants to hear me he must make haste about it, for that I am +going away on such a day--one has to wait for these things. And here I +cannot and must not stay, unless I give a concert, for although I should +be better off here than at home, if I had only two pupils, it helps one +along to have a thousand or twelve hundred florins in one's purse. And +he will not allow it, the misanthrope--I must call him so, for so he is, +as the whole of the nobility say." There were favourable prospects, +too, of a permanent settlement in Vienna at no very distant date. The +kapellmeister, Bono, was very old; after his death Salieri would succeed +him, and Starzer would take Salieri's place--for Starzer there was as +yet no successor--could a better be found than Mozart? + +Again his father warned him not to make uncertain plans, but to hold +fast to what was secure, and to bear what was + + +{PROSPECTS IN VIENNA, 1781.} + +(177) + +unavoidable; he warned him also against incautious expressions "which +could only do harm." Wolfgang could only answer that his father was +partly right and partly wrong; "but that in which you are right far +outweighs that in which you are wrong, therefore I will certainly come, +and with the greatest pleasure, since I am fully convinced that you +would never come in the way of my advancement" (April 18, 1781). But +it was hard to submit to the will of his father, and the Archbishop's +continual insults did not make it any easier. He writes (April 28, +1781):-- + +You are expecting me with pleasure, my dearest father! That is in fact +the one consideration which has brought me to the point of leaving +Vienna, for the whole world may know that the Archbishop of Salzburg has +only to thank you, my best of fathers, that he did not lose me yesterday +for ever (I mean, of course, from his suite). Yesterday we had a +concert, probably the last. The concert went very well, and, in spite +of all the hindrances put in my way by his archiepiscopal grace, I had +a better orchestra than Brunetti, as Ceccarelli can tell you; but +the worry and trouble I had to arrange it all can be told better than +written. But if, as I hope will not be the case, the same thing should +happen again, I should certainly lose patience, and you would as +certainly forgive me. And I must beg for your permission, my dear +father, to return to Vienna next Lent. It depends upon you, not on the +Archbishop; for even if he refuses permission I shall go: it will do me +no harm, not a bit! Oh, if he could read this, how glad I should be! But +you must give your consent in your next letter, for it is only on this +condition that I return to Salzburg--and I must keep my word to the +ladies here. Stephanie will give me a German opera to write. I shall +expect your answer to this. When and how I shall set out I cannot tell +you at present. It is lamentable that we are so kept in the dark by our +lord and master. All at once it will be, "Allons! weg!" First we are +told that a carriage is being made in which the controller Ceccarelli +and I are to travel; then that we are to go by the diligence; then that +we are to have the money for the diligence, and travel as we choose +(which, indeed, I should like best of all); first we are to go in a +week, then in a fortnight; then in three weeks, then again sooner. Good +heavens! one does not know where one is with it all, and there is no +help for it. Yesterday the ladies kept me quite an hour at the clavier, +after the concert; I believe I should be sitting there still if I had +not managed to steal away. + +Again he writes later (June 13, 1781):-- + +At the last concert, when it was all over, I played variations for a +whole hour (the Archbishop gave me the subject), and the applause was + + +{RELEASE.} + +(178) + +so great that, if the Archbishop has ever so little of a human heart, +he must have been pleased; and instead of showing me approbation and +content--or at least taking no notice of me--he treats me like a beggar, +and tells me to my face that I must take more pains, that he could get a +hundred who would serve him better than I do. + +Mozart's passionate excitement had risen to such a pitch that a drop +was sufficient to overflow the cup of his wrath; the Archbishop paid +no heed, and affairs came to an inevitable crisis. The following letter +(May 9, 1781) shows how far Hieronymus thought he might go with his +dependents:-- + +I am still overflowing with gall, and you, my best and very dear father, +will certainly sympathise with me. My patience has been tried for a long +time; at last it has given way. I have no longer the misfortune to be +in the Salzburg service. To-day was the happy one of my release. Now +listen. Twice already the -------- I do not know what to call him--has +used the most impertinent and coarsest language to my face, which I +refrained from writing to you that I might not distress you, and which +nothing but my love and duty to you prevented me from chastising on the +spot. He called me a scoundrel--a miserable fellow--told me he would +send me packing--and I bore it all; allowed not my own honour alone, but +yours, to be so affronted because you wished it. + +So I was silent. Well, listen. A week ago the courier came up on a +sudden and told me I was to leave immediately. The others all had the +day fixed, but I had not. So I packed up my things as quickly as I +could, and old Madame Weber was so kind as to offer me her house. There +I have a pretty room, and I am with obliging people who are ready to +provide me with everything that I require, but could not get if I were +living alone. I appointed my journey for Wednesday (that is to-day, the +9th), by stage-coach, but I could not collect the money owing to me in +time, so I postponed my journey until Saturday. Being seen about to-day +one of the valets told me that the Archbishop had a parcel to give me. I +asked if there was any hurry, and he replied that it was of the greatest +importance. "Then I am sorry not to be able to oblige his grace, for +(owing to the above reasons) I cannot set out before Saturday. I am out +of the house, living on my own means, and it is therefore quite evident +that I cannot go until I am ready, for no one will care to collect my +debts for me." Kleinmayern, Moll, Boeneke, and the two valets thought +I was right. When I went in to him (I must tell you that Schlaucka had +advised me to excuse myself by saying I had already taken my seat in +the coach--that would have most weight with him)--when I went into him, +then, he began at once:--Archbishop: "Well, when are you going, fellow?" +Mozart: "I wished to go to-night, but I could not secure a seat." Then +out it came, all in a breath--that I was the most miserable fellow he +knew--no one served him so badly as + + +{MOZART RESIGNS HIS POST.} + +(179) + +I did. He advised me to be off to-day, or he would write home to stop my +pay. There was no getting in a word, it went on like a flood. I listened +to it all calmly. He lied to my face by saying that I had five hundred +florins salary[10]--called me the most opprobrious names--oh, I really +cannot bring myself to write you all! At last, when my blood was +boiling, I could hold out no longer, and said: "Then your Serene +Highness is not satisfied with me?" "What! do you mean to threaten me, +you rascal, you villain? There is the door; I will have nothing more to +do with such a wretched fellow!" At last I said, "Neither will I with +you." "Then be off!" As I went I said, "Let it be so then; to-morrow you +shall hear from me by letter." Tell me now, dear father, should I not +have had to say this sooner or later? Now listen. My honour comes before +everything to me, and I know that it is so with you also. Have no care +for me. I am so certain of success here that I might have resigned even +without a cause. As I have had very good cause, and that three times, it +is no fault of mine; _au contraire_, I was a cowardly rascal twice, and +the third time I could not be so again. As long as the Archbishop is +here I will give no concert. Your idea that I shall lower myself in +the opinion of the Emperor or of the nobility is entirely mistaken. The +Archbishop is hated here, and most of all by the Emperor. That is his +real grievance, that the Emperor has not invited him to Laxenburg. I +will send you some calculations as to money by the next post to convince +you that I shall not starve here. For the rest I entreat you to keep up +your spirits, for I consider that my good fortune is beginning now, and +I hope that it will be yours also. Write to me privately that you are +pleased--for indeed you may be so--and find fault heartily with me in +public, so that no blame may attach to you. But if the Archbishop offers +you the least impertinence come to me at once in Vienna. We can all +three live on my earnings, I assure you on my word, but I would rather +you held out a year longer. Do not write to me any more at the Residence +or by the mail. I want to hear nothing more of Salzburg. I hate the +Archbishop to frenzy. But write to me here, and tell me you are pleased, +for only that is now wanting to make my happiness complete. + +He carried out His determination, and writes to his father again on May +12:-- + +You know by my last letter that I sent in my resignation to the Prince +on May 9, because he himself ordered it: for in two previous audiences +he had said to me, "Take yourself off, if you will not serve me +properly!" He will certainly deny it, but it is as true as the heavens +above us. What wonder, then, that after being abused and vilified till I +was quite + + +{RELEASE.} + +(180) + +beside myself, I ended by taking him at his word. The following day I +gave Count Arco a petition to be presented to His Grace the Archbishop, +asking for the money for the journey--fifteen florins ten kreutzers for +the diligence, and two ducats for current expenses. He refused to take +either, and assured me I could not resign without obtaining the consent +of my father. "That is your duty," said he. I assured him that I knew my +duty to my father as well as he and perhaps better, and that I should +be sorry if it were necessary to learn it from him at this time of day. +"Very well, then," said he, "if he is satisfied you may demand +your dismissal, and if not--you may also demand it." A fine +distinction, truly! All that the Archbishop said to me in the three +audiences--especially in the last--and the language used by this truly +worthy man of God, had so strong a physical effect on me that I was +obliged to leave the opera at the end of the first act, and go home +to bed; for I was quite feverish, trembled in every limb, and tottered +along the street like a drunkard. I remained the next day (yesterday) +in the house, and kept my bed in the morning because I had taken the +tamarind-water. + +My lord Count has had the kindness to write some fine things of me to +his father (High Chamberlain), which you have doubtless had to swallow +by this time. There will be some fabulous accounts, but when one writes +a comedy one must turn and twist things so as to gain applause, +without sticking to the truth of the affair, and you must take the +obsequiousness of the Count into account. I will tell you without +getting warm about it (for I have no wish to injure my health, and I am +sorry enough when I am forced to be angry), I will tell you plainly the +principal reproach made to me on account of my service. I did not know +that I was to be a valet, and that undid me. I should have dawdled away +a couple of hours every morning in the antechamber; I was in fact often +told that I ought to show myself, but I could never remember that this +was part of my duty, and contented myself with coming punctually when +I was summoned by the Archbishop. Now I will briefly convey to you my +unalterable determination, so that the whole world may hear it. If I was +offered two thousand florins by the Archbishop of Salzburg, and only one +thousand florins in any other place, I would go to the other place; +for instead of the other one thousand florins I should enjoy health and +contentment of mind. I pray you, therefore--by all the fatherly love +that you have shown me in so rich a measure from my childhood, and for +which I can never be sufficiently grateful--not to write to me on this +matter, but to bury it in the deepest oblivion if you want to see your +son cheerful and well; a word would be quite enough to rekindle my +anger--and yours, if you were in my place, as I am sure you will +acknowledge. + +The same day on which Mozart sent this letter through the post he wrote +another to his father by a safe opportunity, in which he once more seeks +to persuade him of the justice + + +{JUSTIFICATION.} + +(181) + +of his fixed resolve to leave the Archbishop's service, and of his own +good prospects in Vienna:-- + +In the letter which you will have received by post I spoke as though we +were in the presence of the Archbishop; now I speak to you quite alone, +my dear father. We will be silent once for all on the subject of the +Archbishop's conduct to me from the beginning of his reign--of the +unceasing abuse, the impertinence and bad language which he has +addressed to my face, of the unquestionable right I have to forsake his +service--not a word can be said against all this. I will only speak now +of what has really induced me to leave him, laying aside all personal +grounds of offence. + +I have made the highest and most valuable acquaintances here that can +be. I am treated with favour and distinction in the best houses of the +nobility, and I am paid for it into the bargain; and shall I sacrifice +all this for four hundred florins in Salzburg, without prospects, +without encouragement, and unable to help you in any way, as I certainly +shall hope to do here? What would be the end of it? It would come to the +same thing. I should either fret myself to death or leave the service. +I need say no more, you know it all yourself; I will only add that my +story is known to the whole of Vienna, and all the nobility advise me +not to suffer myself to be led about any longer. He will try to get over +you with good words, my dear father--they are serpents, vipers! It is +always so with such despicable creatures, they are so haughty and proud +as to disgust one, and then they cringe and fawn--horrible. The two +valets-de-chambre understand the whole villainy of the affair. Schlaucka +said to somebody: "I cannot say I think Mozart at all in the wrong: he +is quite right. I would have done just the same myself! He treated him +like a beggar; I heard it myself. Shameful!" The Archbishop acknowledges +to being in the wrong now; but had he not opportunities enough for +acknowledging it before? And did he alter his conduct? Not a bit. Then +away with all that! If I had not been afraid of doing you some harm I +would have brought it to an end long ago. But, after all, what harm can +he do you? None. If you know that I am doing well you can dispense with +the Archbishop's favour. He cannot deprive you of your salary as long as +you perform your duties, and I will answer for it that I shall do well, +otherwise I should not have taken this step. Nevertheless I acknowledge +that after this insult I should have resigned, if I had had to beg my +bread. If you are at all afraid, make a show of anger against me--blame +me as much as you like in your letters, if only we two know how the +matter really stands. But do not be deceived by flattery. Be upon your +guard! + +But L. Mozart did not see the affair in this light, and was far from +"strengthening his decision instead of dissuading him from it," as +Wolfgang hoped. He considered the + + +{RELEASE.} + +(182) + +renunciation of the Salzburg situation as the first step to ruin, and +hoped to check the passionate indignation of his son and bring him back +to the path of reason, as he considered it. But he had not calculated on +the fact that Wolfgang was no longer an inexperienced youth, leaving his +father's house for the first time. The oppressive circumstances of his +late residence in Salzburg, and the clear insight into his own powers +and capabilities which he had acquired in Munich, had given him a +consciousness of the necessity of judging for himself, which had been +strengthened by the contrast between the unworthy treatment of the +Archbishop and the brilliant reception he had met with on the part of +the musical public of Vienna. He saw clearly that the time had arrived +when he must hold his own, even in opposition to his father. His comfort +and convenience he was ready and willing to sacrifice to his father's +wishes, but his honour and the credit of his whole existence were now at +stake, and these he must save at all risks. He withstood, therefore, all +his father's remonstrances and reproaches without betraying his wounded +feelings. To his father's objection that he had never understood how to +take care of his money, Wolfgang answers (May 21, 1781):-- + +Believe me, I have quite changed in that respect. Next to health, I know +of nothing more necessary than money. I am indeed no niggard--I should +find it very hard to be niggardly--and yet people consider me more +inclined to thrift than extravagance, which is surely enough for a +beginning. Thanks be to my pupils, I have as much as I want; but I will +not have many pupils, I prefer few, and to be better paid than other +teachers. + +He was more affected by the allusion to the obligation he was under to +his father, by reason of the debts incurred by the latter on his behalf, +especially since his father added that he would soon forget his family +in Vienna, as his Aloysia had done. He answered (June 9, 1781):-- + +Your comparison of me to Madame Lange amazed me, and I was troubled by +it the whole day. This girl lived dependent on her parents while she +could earn nothing, and as soon as the time arrived when she might have +shown her gratitude (her father died before she had received a kreutzer) +she left her poor mother, took up with an actor, married + + +{L. MOZART S FEARS FOR HIS SON} + +(183) + +him, and her mother has not a farthing from them.[11] Good heavens! my +one anxiety, God knows, is to help you and us all; how often must + +I write that I can do it better here than in Salzburg? I beseech you, +my dear, good father, write me no more such letters, for they serve no +purpose but to annoy and trouble me; and if I am to go on composing as I +do, I must keep a cool head and a calm mind. + +He sent his father at the same time thirty ducats, with an apology for +not being able to spare more at present, and in following years we find +repeated mention of money sent home. + +It had been reported to L. Mozart that Wolfgang was living a somewhat +dissipated life in Vienna; Herr von Moll, in particular, "made a wry +face, and said he hoped he would soon come to himself and return +to Salzburg, for he only remained in Vienna for the sake of bad +connections." It was reported to his father that Wolfgang had had +dealings with a person of bad reputation, but he was able to reassure +his father on this point. L. Mozart had been rendered uneasy, too, on +the subject of his son's attention to religious duties. Wolfgang begs +him to be under no apprehension, he is, no doubt, "a foolish young +fellow," but he would wish for his consolation that no one was more +so than he. Eating meat on fast-days he thought no sin, "for fasting +I consider to be abstaining--eating less than at other times," but he +never made a boast of this; he heard mass every Sunday and holy-day, and +as often as possible on ordinary days. "Altogether you may rest assured +that I have not deserted my religion. You, perhaps, believe things of me +that are not true, for my chief fault is that I cannot always act _in_ + + +{RELEASE.} + +(184) + +_appearance_ as I ought to act" (June 13, 1781). Wolfgang's renewed +intercourse with the Weber family appeared to his father of ill omen; +he dreaded another love affair. This also his son repudiates (May 16, +1781):-- + +What you write concerning the Weber family is, I assure you, without +foundation. I was a fool about Madame Lange, that is true; but who is +not when he is in love? I loved her in very deed, and I still feel that +she is not altogether indifferent to me. Luckily for me her husband is +a jealous fool, and never leaves her alone, so that I rarely see her. +Believe me also that old Madame Weber is a very obliging person, and +that I only fail in showing her the attention her obligingness deserves; +I have not time for it. + +When finally his father went so far as to demand that Wolfgang should +sacrifice his honour by recalling his resignation, he answered in the +full consciousness of the justice of his position (May 19, 1781):-- + +I scarcely know how to write to you, my dear father, for I cannot +recover from my astonishment, and I shall never be able to do so as +long as you continue so to write and to think. I must acknowledge that I +scarcely recognise my father in some of the passages of your letter! It +is a father who writes, certainly, but not the best, most loving father, +the one most anxious for his own honour and that of his children--in a +word, not _my_ father. But it must have been a dream. You are awake +by this time, and need no reply from me on the various points of your +letter in order to be convinced that I cannot, now less than ever, +depart from my resolution. You say the only way to preserve my honour +is to renounce my intention. How can you utter such a contradiction? You +could not have realised, in writing this, that such a renunciation would +turn me into one of the most cowardly fellows in the world. All Vienna +knows that I have left the Archbishop, knows the reason to be my injured +honour, knows of the thrice-repeated insults of the Archbishop; and am I +all at once to retract my word and belie myself? Shall I announce myself +as a scoundrel, and the Archbishop as a worthy prince? The first no man +shall ever do, and I least of all; and the second no one can do but God +himself, if He should deign to enlighten him. To please you, my dear +father, I would renounce my happiness, my health, and life itself, but +my honour comes before all with me, and so it must with you. My dearest, +best of fathers, demand of me what you will, only not that--anything but +that. The very thought makes me tremble with rage. + +The Archbishop was not a little taken aback by the firmness with which +Mozart held to his resolve, but which he + + +{COUNT ARCO INSULTS MOZART.} + +(185) + +only strengthened by his continual abuse, without bringing the Viennese +round to his side. They all looked upon him as a "haughty, ill-bred +priest, despised by everybody," while Mozart was "an agreeable fellow." +The Archbishop imagined that Mozart's father would bring his son to a +sense of his duty; Count Arco, who had received a letter from the +elder Mozart, proposed an interview, in the hope of persuading him in +a friendly way. Mozart remained all the firmer when he had convinced +himself that his father in Salzburg had nothing to fear. He begged for +an audience to take leave, but this was three times refused, because it +was feared to irritate the Archbishop, and Mozart's submission was +still hoped for. The latter was beside himself when he heard that the +Archbishop was to leave next day, and that he had not been informed +of it. He drew up a fresh memorial, in which he explained that he had +waited four weeks for a final audience; as this had been postponed so +long from reasons unknown to him, he had no resource but to beg for it +himself at the last moment. When he found himself in the antechamber, in +pursuance of this intention (June 8), and prayed for an audience, Count +Arco put the finishing touch to the brutalities suffered by Mozart. +After loading him with abusive epithets, _he pushed him towards the door +with his foot!_ "This happened in the antechamber--there was therefore +nothing for it but to make my escape, for I did not wish to forget the +respect due to the Prince's apartments, although Arco had done so." +Whether this affront was offered by command of the Archbishop, Mozart +did not know certainly; but, in any case, the servant was worthy of his +master, and neither of them could foresee the ineffaceable stigma that +would thereby be attached to their names. Mozart boiled over with rage; +he answered his father that he should return the insult in kind the next +time he met Count Arco, even if it were in the public streets:-- + +I shall demand no satisfaction at the hands of the Archbishop, for he +would not be in a position to offer it me in the way that I shall take +it; but I shall at once write to the Count what he has to expect from +me the first time I am so fortunate as to meet him, wherever it may be, +unless it should be some place to which I owe respect. + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(186) + +The father was alarmed at such threats addressed to a nobleman; but +Wolfgang answered (July 20, 1781):-- + +The heart shows the true nobleman, and, although I am no Count, I am +more honourable perhaps than many a Count; and whether it be a footman +or a Count, whoever insults me is a scoundrel. I shall begin by +representing to him how low and ungentlemanly his conduct was; but I +shall conclude by telling him that he may certainly expect a thrashing +from me the first time I meet him. + +His father having remarked that the matter might perhaps be arranged +by the intervention of a lady or of some other person of rank, Mozart +answered that this was not necessary: "I shall take counsel only of my +good sense and my heart, and shall do what is right and proper." It was +only with reluctance, and because he saw no other way of pacifying his +father, that he consented to forego the threatening letter to Count +Arco. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXIII. + + +[Footnote 1: Nicolai, Reise, V., p. 231.] + +[Footnote 2: This rondo (373 K.) was composed, according to the autograph, on +April 2, 1781, for Brunetti; it is in C major (allegretto grazioso 2-4,) +accompanied by the quartet, two oboes, and two horns, and is simple and +graceful without much demand of execution.] + +[Footnote 3: The unfinished allegro movement in B flat major (372 K.), begun +on March 24, 1781, probably belongs to this sonata, which was not +afterwards written down.] + +[Footnote 4: The words of the rondo (374 K., Concertarien, No. 5), "A questo +seno," appear to have been taken from an opera called "Zeira." A short +recitative introduces the rondo, of which the theme is thrice repeated +and closes with a coda. The song is simple throughout, without any +passages, and for a voice of moderate compass; the accompaniment +(the quartet, two oboes and two horns) is also easy. It is plain that +Ceccarelli was a singer of no pretensions. The cantilene, however, is +expressive, and there are some original harmonic touches.] + +[Footnote 5: The mother of the composer, at that time prima donna at the German +Theatre (Jahrb. d. Tonkunst, 1796, p. 69).] + +[Footnote 6: "The Imperial Councillor, Von Braun, is one of our greatest musical +connoisseurs. He thinks very highly of the compositions of the great Ph. +Emanuel Bach; and here he is opposed by the majority of the public in +Vienna." (Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 556.)] + +[Footnote 7: There was a chorus of 200 voices for Dittersdorf s "Esther," 1772 +(Selbst-biogr., p. 203). K. R[isbeck] speaks of 400 assistants (Briefe, +I., p. 276).] + +[Footnote 8: At his concert in Leipzig he played these variations again after an +improvised fantasia (354 K.).] + +[Footnote 9: Neue Wien. Musikzeitg., 1852, No. 35.] + +[Footnote 10: So it had been promised (Vol. II., p. 65); but Mozart asserts +repeatedly that he only had a salary of 400 florins (Vol. II., pp. 176, +181).] + +[Footnote 11: The representations of Aloysia's mother, which Mozart afterwards +learned to receive with caution, may have had some influence on his +judgment of Aloysia. The account given by her husband, Jos. Lange, is +very different. He narrates in his autobiography (p. 116) that they +conceived an attachment for each other soon after Aloysia's arrival in +Vienna: "She had the misfortune to lose her father by a fit of apoplexy. +Her inconsolable grief, and my care for her family, drew us closer +together; my sympathy lightened her sorrowing heart, and she consented +to marry me, hoping to find in her husband the friend she had lost in +her father. As she had contributed to the support of her family by +the exercise of her talent, she continued to make her mother an annual +allowance of 700 gulden, and paid her an advance of 900 gulden which had +been made to the family by the court."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA. + +WHEN Mozart's withdrawal from the service of the Archbishop had become +an established fact, the latter was anxious to show the world that +it lay in his power to attract equally distinguished artists to his +service, and he offered a salary of one thousand gulden to Leop. +Kozeluch, who was considered the first clavier-player in Vienna, if he +would come to Salzburg. Kozeluch refused, as Mozart wrote to his father +(July 4, 1781), because he was better off in Vienna, and he had said to +his friends: "The affair with Mozart is what chiefly alarms me; if he +could let such a man as that leave him, what would become of me?" + +L. Mozart, much against his will, was obliged to reconcile himself to +the step his son had taken.[1] He was full of + + +{WORK IN VIENNA, 1781.} + +(187) + +anxiety, caused by his conviction of Wolfgang's incapacity in matters +relating to his own advancement, by his fear lest he should not be able +to withstand the seductions of the pleasure-loving capital, and also, +perhaps, by an unconscious feeling of annoyance at his son's independent +demeanour. This caused him to express his affectionate and really +justifiable concern in so perverse a manner that, instead of lightening +Wolfgang's difficult position, he embittered his life with reproaches +and objections, which were generally exaggerated, and often entirely +unreasonable; for he was weak enough to place easy faith in rumours +and gossip. He had so long been accustomed to undertake the care of all +Wolfgang's affairs that he could not bring himself quietly to resign all +interference in them. Mozart did not allow himself to be over-persuaded; +he held fast to his independence, as well as to his reverence and love +for his father, whose reproofs and accusations he repeatedly disclaimed. + +At first, indeed, the father's gloomy forebodings seemed more likely +to be verified than the brilliant hopes of the son. Summer had arrived, +most of the nobility had gone to their country seats, and there was +little to be done in the way of lessons or concerts. The Countess +Rumbeck (_née_ Cobenzl), who was afterwards considered a first-rate +clavier-player,[2] remained his only pupil, since he would not abate +his price of six ducats; but he managed to exist in spite of all. He +consoled himself by the reflection that it was the dull season, and +that he must employ his leisure by preparing for the winter. He worked +diligently at six sonatas for the clavier, which were to be published +by subscription; the Countess Thun and other ladies of rank undertook +to collect subscriptions. They secured seventeen during the summer, and +hoped for more in the autumn. He set to work to arrange a concert to be +given during Advent; Rossi wrote the words for an Italian cantata which +was to be composed for the occasion. But what lay nearest his heart was +the composition of an opera in Vienna; his conviction of his vocation as +a dramatic composer having been strengthened + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(188) + +by the performances at the Vienna theatre, and the lively interest taken +in them by the public. "My only entertainment," he writes to his sister +(July 4, 1781), "consists in the theatre. I wish you could see a tragedy +performed here! I know no other theatre where every kind of play is +given to perfection. Every part, even the smallest and the worst, is +well filled." The performances of the Vienna stage had, in point of +fact, reached the highest level of excellence known at that time.[3] + +Since the time when the stage had joined in the struggle which ended +in the triumph of German literature and art over buffoonery and +extemporised pieces, the theatre had remained the gathering-point of +literary interests. The best authors of the day wrote for the stage with +the avowed object of improving taste and aiding the spread of culture; +such were Klemm, Heufeld, Ayrenhoff, and Gebler, and their efforts were +ably seconded by such actors as Müller and the brothers Stephanie.[4] + +The new and difficult task appointed for them spurred the actors to +extraordinary efforts. A general feeling of sympathy and esteem began +to replace the contempt in which the dramatic art had been held, and +the stage was soon looked upon as the gauge of a nation's moral and +intellectual cultivation. This elevation of the art as a whole benefited +the artists as individuals, the interdict which society had laid upon +them was removed, and actors became favoured members of the best and +most cultivated circles.[5] The Vienna theatre in especial, since +Joseph II. in the year 1776 had saved it from the weakening influence +of variable private patronage, and had constituted it the court and +national theatre, had rapidly reached to an unprecedented height of +excellence. This monarch looked upon the theatre as an important means +of national cultivation, took a lively interest in it, and shared +himself in its practical management; he also watched over the talents +and the destinies + + +{THE VIENNA STAGE.} + +(189) + +of his actors with shrewd penetration and warm sympathy.[6] He was +careful, by lowering the prices of admission,[7] to make attendance +at the theatre more general than it had hitherto been; and an +entertainment, which had borne almost exclusively the character of a +court festival or an assembly of persons of rank, was thus placed within +the reach of the citizen class.[8] Literary criticism too, let loose by +the introduction of the liberty of the press, turned its attention to +the drama, and enlightened the general reader on the quality of the +entertainment afforded to him by the author and by the actor. In this +way a public was educated without reference to rank or class, to whom +the poet and musician could appeal as an independent artist, instead +of ministering as heretofore exclusively to the entertainment of his +patrons--a state of affairs which must have had important influence on +the position of artists, more especially of musicians. + +The theatrical public of Vienna at the time of which we are speaking had +the reputation of being attentive, discerning, and appreciative, ready +and liberal in its acknowledgment of what was good.[9] And in truth it +had cause. Shortly before Mozart came to Vienna, Schroder and his wife +had set the crown on admirable acting; and associated with them were +Müller, Lange, Weidman, Brockmann, Jacquet, Bergopzoomer, the brothers +Stephanie, Mesdames Weidner, Adamberger, Jacquet, Sacco, Stierle, +Rouseul--affording proof that Mozart did not overrate the talent of his +contemporaries.[10] + +In the same spirit in which he had founded the national theatre Joseph +II. abolished the costly spectacular ballet and the Italian opera. In +the place of the latter he instituted a "national vaudeville," as he +called the German + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(190) + +opera.[11] In December, 1777, he resolved to make a modest beginning +with the forces which he had at his command. Umlauf, tenorist in the +orchestra, had written the little operetta of "Die Bergknappen," in +which only four characters appeared. The principal part was intended for +Mdlle. Cavalieri, the second for Madame Stierle; the male parts were to +be undertaken by Ruprecht, the tenor singer, and Fuchs, the bass; +the chorus was composed of church choristers, and the management was +entrusted to Müller, the actor. The rehearsals were very carefully made, +and the Emperor having expressed his satisfaction at a dress rehearsal, +the German opera was opened with "Die Bergknappen" on February 18. 1778. +The performance was highly successful,[12] and in the course of the +following year fourteen operas or vaudevilles were performed, partly +translations, with Italian or French music, such as "Robert und +Kalliste" ("La Sposa Fedele"), by Guglielmi; "Röschen und Colas," by +Monsigny; "Lucile," "Silvain," "Der Hausfreund," by Grétry; "Anton und +Antonette," by Gossec; and partly original pieces composed in +Vienna, such as "Die Apotheke," by Umlauf; "Die Kinder der Natur," by +Aspelmeyer; "Frühling und Liebe," by Ulbrich; and "Diesmal hat der Mann +den Willen," by Ordonnez. + +The only singer of lasting reputation who took part in the first opera +was Katharina Cavalieri (1761-1801). Daughter of a poor schoolmaster +named Cavalier in Währing, her talent was perceived and cultivated by +Salieri, and she appeared in Italian opera as early as 1775. She soon +became a bravura singer of the first rank.[13] It was clearly necessary +that she should be well supported if the opera was to compete with the +drama proper. The first wife of the + + +{GERMAN OPERETTA.} + +(191) + +actor Lange, Mariane Schindler, was secured; but after having achieved +great success in Grétr's "Hausfreund" and "Lucile," and bidding fair to +become a main support of the opera, both by her singing and acting, +she died in the winter of 1779.[14] The following summer, through +the intervention of the ambassador, Count Hardeck, Aloysia Weber was +summoned from Munich, and took her place, not only on the stage, but +in the affections of Lange, who shortly after made her his second +wife. Aloysia Weber made her _début_ in the part of the Rosenmädchen of +Salency, and was received with general approbation.[15] It was evident, +therefore, that Mozart was not blinded by youthful inclination when, +he declared her one of the first singers of her time, a judgment which +posterity has ratified. The second parts had been allotted before her +arrival to Theresa Teyber, afterwards Madame Arnold, who pleased by her +fresh, youthful voice, while that of Madame Fischer (_née_ Strasser), +from Mannheim, a clever singer and good actress, was already somewhat +past. In the summer of 1781 they had been joined by Madame Bernasconi +(p. 130), by the desire, as it was said, of Gluck, who had used the +influence of Count Dietrichstein to press her on the Emperor; but the +position was not well suited to her talent. Mozart gives his opinion as +follows (August 29, 1781):-- + +In the great parts of tragedy Bernasconi remains inimitable. But small +operettas are not in her style at all; and then (as she acknowledges +herself) she is more Italian than German, speaks on the stage with the +same Viennese accent as in common life (just imagine!), and when she +occasionally makes an effort it is as if one heard a princess declaim in +a marionette theatre. And she sings so badly that no one will consent to +compose for her. + +And even before this (June 27, 1781) he had written derisively:-- + +She has three hundred ducats salary because she sings all her songs a +division higher than they are written. It is really a great art, for +she keeps well in tune. She has now promised to sing them half a tone +higher, and then of course she will be paid more. + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(192) + +There were male singers also, who were quite on an equality with these +female vocalists. Soon after the opening of the opera the tenors Souter +and Dauer, a whimsical actor with a fine voice,[16] were engaged, and at +a later date Adamberger, one of the most admirable tenors, a singer +of artistic style and cultivation, and a "very respectable" actor of +lovers' parts. Fischer was secured as a bass; the compass, strength, and +beauty of his voice and his artistic cultivation, both as a singer +and an actor, placed him in the very first rank among the singers of +Germany. With him were associated Günther and Schmidt as bass singers, +and Saal as a baritone.[17] There were thus all the materials required for +the production of German operas, except a composer who could write them. +Umlauf and some others who imitated him were not the men for such an +undertaking. Gluck had composed nothing since his "Iphigenia in Taurus," +and contented himself with putting on the stage, in 1780, "Die Pilgrimme +von Mekka," a comic opera which had been written for Vienna with French +words ("La Rencontre Imprévue") in 1764, and which was often played in +its German adaptation.[18] In the following year, by the express +command of the Emperor Joseph, Salieri wrote a German comic opera, "Der +Rauchfangkehrer"[19] ("The Chimney-Sweep"), the text of which, by +Dr. Auembrugger, was unusually bad;[20] but Salieri was too much of an +Italian to have + + +{GERMAN OPERA.} + +(193) + +much effect on German opera. The operetta was assiduously cultivated +in North Germany, and a long list of those which were produced might +be given. But the contrast between North and South Germany, founded +on their political and religious differences, was visible unpleasantly +enough in literature and art, and had a marked influence on their +musical sympathies and antipathies.[21] Nicolai relates that he had +heard in Vienna many genuine and accomplished musical connoisseurs speak +of Ph. Em. Bach not only with indifference, but with absolute dislike, +and place Kozeluch and Steffan before all other clavier-players.[22] +Adamberger, when asked his opinion concerning a celebrated singer from +North Germany, answered that she sang like a Lutheran; and on being +pressed for an explanation, replied, "I call it singing like a Lutheran +to have a beautiful voice as the gift of nature, and even to have +received a good musical education, as is frequently the case in North +Germany, but to show no signs of study in the Italian school of music, +through which alone the true art of singing can be learnt."[23] + +There was little demand in Vienna, therefore, for the compositions which +Hiller's successful enterprise with German opera had brought into being; +the works of men such as Benda, Schweitzer, Wolf, Neefe, André, and +Reichard; their operas were not performed, and still less was there any +prospect of a field for their future labours in Vienna. Schweitzer was +not summoned, in spite of Wieland's pressing recommendation (Vol. I., +p. 406). G. Benda had shown himself not disinclined to remove to +Vienna,[24] and report had pointed to him as probable kapellmeister +in 1778,[25] but he had never been seriously thought of. It appeared, +therefore, that a most fitting career stood open for Mozart, and he +himself wished nothing more than to prove his powers in this branch of +his art. He had brought with him his operetta + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(194) + +"Zaide," in the hope of having it performed. The libretto, as he had +feared, proved a stumbling-block (Vol. II.,p. 115); but the younger +Stephanie, at that time inspector of the opera, formed so favourable +an opinion of the music, that he promised to give Mozart a new and good +piece, which he was to compose for the Vienna stage. His father warned +him that Stephanie was not to be depended upon; and he was right. +Stephanie the younger was an arrogant, selfish man, who had made himself +hated everywhere by his intrigues and pretensions. Mozart knew that he +was in ill repute, and was upon his guard. He resolved to write no opera +without the express commission of Count Rosenberg, who had had supreme +direction of the theatre since 1776; but Stephanie continued friendly, +and there seemed no actual cause for personal distrust. Count Rosenberg +had received Mozart well whenever he had waited upon him, and had +joined in the applause of other connoisseurs upon the occasion of the +performance of "Idomeneo" at the house of Countess Thun, Van Swieten and +Sonnenfels being also among the audience. It was not long, therefore, +before Mozart was able to announce to his father the good news (June 9, +1781) that Count Rosenberg had commissioned Schroder, the distinguished +actor, to look out a good libretto, which was to be given to Mozart for +composition. A few days afterwards Stephanie told him of a piece he had +found in four acts, of which the first was excellent, but the others +fell off, so that it was doubtful whether Schroder would undertake the +adaptation of it. "They may settle that between them," wrote Wolfgang +(June 16, 1781). The book was rejected, but the matter did not rest; the +Emperor was evidently anxious to give Mozart an opportunity of trying +his powers as a German operatic composer; and at the end of July the +latter found himself at the goal of his wishes, and able to inform his +father (August 1, 1781):-- + +Yesterday young Stephanie gave me a book for composition. It is very +good; the subject is Turkish, and it is called "Belmont und Constance," +or "Die Entführung aus dem Serail." The overture, the chorus in the +first act, and the concluding chorus I shall compose in Turkish music. +Mdlle. Cavalieri, Mdlle. Teyber, M. Fischer, + + +{THE "ENTFÜHRUNG.} + +(195) + +M. Adamberger, M. pauer, and M. Walter are to sing in the opera. I am so +delighted at having it to compose that the first songs for Cavalieri +and Adamberger and the terzet at the close of the first act are already +finished. The time given is short, certainly, for it is to be performed +in the middle of September, but the attendant circumstances will be all +the more favourable. And indeed everything combines to raise my spirits, +so that I hasten to my writing-table with the greatest eagerness, and it +is with difficulty I tear myself away. + +The favourable circumstances which made Mozart so hopeful chiefly +consisted in the expected visit of the Grand Duke Paul and his wife; the +opera was to be among the festivities given in their honour, and it +was safely to be expected that the Emperor and Count Rosenberg would +consider it to his credit if he prepared the work in such haste for +them; but all this was to be a secret. It was now very convenient to him +to be in a house with good friends who would provide him with dinner and +supper, and so enable him to sit writing all day. "You know of old +how hungry I get when I am composing." He continued in this whirl of +excitement, and was able to write on August 8:-- + +I have just finished the chorus of Janizaries. Adamberger, Cavalieri, +and Fischer are thoroughly pleased with their songs. I let the Countess +Thun hear as much as is ready. She told me afterwards that she was ready +to stake her life on it that what I had written so far would please. +On this point, however, I listen to no man's praise or blame before +the whole has been heard or seen, but I follow entirely my own +feelings--only you may see from it how greatly she was pleased with the +music herself. + +On August 22 he wrote that the first act was finished; soon after +he learnt, to his relief, that the Grand Duke was not coming until +November, so that he could write his opera "with greater deliberation" +(September 5, 1781). Shortly afterwards he informs his father (September +26, 1781):-- + +The first act was ready three weeks ago, and an aria in the second act +and the drinking duet, which consists of nothing but my Turkish tattoo; +but I cannot do any more at present, the whole thing being upset, and +by my own desire. At the beginning of the third act there is a charming +quintet, or rather finale, and this I mean to transfer to the end of +the second act. But it will necessitate considerable alterations and the +introduction of a fresh intrigue, and Stephanie is over head and ears in +work. + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(196) + +Another circumstance also interfered with the completion of Mozart's +opera. It was proposed in honour of the distinguished visitors to +perform two of Gluck's operas, viz.: "Iphigenia" in a German adaptation, +and "Alceste" in Italian, "in order," as a contemporary announcement +puts it, "to show what we Germans are able to accomplish."[26] Certainly +the choice was well made with this object in view, although it was said +in Vienna, as Mozart wrote to his father (August 29,1781), that it had +been difficult to persuade the Emperor into it, for he was at heart as +little partial to Gluck as to Gluck's favourite singer, Bernasconi.[27] +The projected performance of these operas disturbed all Mozart's +calculations. The applause which had been bestowed on his "Idomeneo" +by capable and influential judges, and the readiness of the singers to +appear in it, had raised the hope of producing it on this occasion in +a German adaptation, which would have involved alterations in the +composition; but a third grand opera would have been too much, and it +could not have been studied together with Gluck's. Even the comic +opera had to be temporarily laid aside until Gluck's two operas were +ready--"and there is plenty of study to be got through still," he wrote +to his father (October 6, 1781). He was at work at it again in the +middle of November; but the original intention of having it completed +by the arrival of the Grand Duke was no longer feasible. On November 21 +"that grand animal, the Grand Duke," arrived under the name of Count von +Narden, and on the 25th a brilliant festival was given at Schonbrunn. +"Tomorrow 'Alceste' is given at Schonbrunn,"[28] writes Mozart, + + +{ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN.} + +(197) + +sorrowfully (November 24, 1781). "I have been looking up Russian popular +songs, in order to play variations on them." + +Shortly before the arrival of the Grand Duke, the Duke of Würtemberg, +with his consort, the Princess Elizabeth, intended bride of the Archduke +Franz, and her brother, Prince Ferdinand, had entered Vienna. "The Duke +is a charming man, and the Duchess and Princess also; but the Prince +is an octogenarian stick, and a real blockhead," was Mozart's concise +description (November 17, 1781); but the arrival of the trio opened +a favourable prospect for him. The Princess, who had come to have the +finishing touches put to her education in Vienna, required a teacher of +music, and this position, which, besides making a welcome addition to +his income, would bring him into contact with very influential persons, +Mozart hoped to obtain. His chief supporter was the Emperor's youngest +brother, the Archduke Maximilian, at that time Coadjutor of the Elector +of Cologne. The Archduke was musical, and had an excellent band of wind +instruments in his pay;[29] he had a favourable remembrance of Mozart +from his visit to Salzburg in 1775, and proved a very warm patron. +Mozart wrote to his father (November 1781):-- + +Yesterday at three o'clock I was summoned by the Archduke. When I went +in he was standing in the first room by the stove, and he came straight +up to me and asked if I had anything to do to-day? "No, your royal +highness, nothing at all; but even were it otherwise, I should be +delighted to place my time at the disposal of your Royal Highness." "No, +no; I do not want to disturb anybody." Then he said that he had a mind +to give a concert in the evening at the Würtemberg court, and would +like me to play something and to accompany the songs; I was to go to him +again at six o'clock. I played there last evening accordingly. + +At the same time, Mozart could not conceal from himself that the +Archduke had changed very much to his disadvantage:-- + +Before he was a priest he was much wittier and more intellectual, and +spoke less but more sensibly. You should see him now! Stupidity stares +out of his eyes, he talks and chatters without stopping, and all in a +sort of falsetto voice; he has a swollen neck; in short, the whole man +is transformed! + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(198) + +Nevertheless he continued to patronise Mozart, drew him out on every +occasion, and if he had only been Elector of Cologne, Mozart would have +been kapellmeister by this time, as he told his father. He had used +his influence with the Princess to take Mozart as her music-master, but +received for answer that if it depended on herself she would certainly +have chosen him, but the Emperor--"he cares for no one but Salieri," +cries Mozart in disgust--had recommended Salieri to her on account of +his singing, and she felt obliged to engage him, to her great regret. + +It was quite true that Salieri stood high in the favour of Joseph II. He +had been pupil of the Emperor's special favourite Gassmann, and had in a +sense grown up under the royal eye;[30] he was regularly engaged at +the imperial private concerts, and retained possession of his patron's +favour by means both of his music and his personal demeanour. It was +plain, therefore, that the preference for Salieri shown by the Emperor +on this occasion did not arise from any ill-will towards Mozart; he was +in close personal intercourse with Salieri, and esteemed him highly as a +vocal composer, while Mozart was only known to him as a clavier-player. +As such he had great admiration for him, and Mozart informed his father +(December 26, 1781) that the Emperor had lately "passed the greatest +_éloge_ on him in the words 'C'est un talent décidé.'" + +He had also (on December 14) commanded Mozart to play at court, and +had arranged for him a contest of skill with Clementi, who had come to +Vienna with the reputation of a clavier-player of unheard-of excellence. +Clementi relates the encounter to his pupil L. Berger:[31]-- + +I had only been a few days in Vienna when I received an invitation to +play before the Emperor on the pianoforte. On entering the music-room I +beheld an individual whose elegant attire led me to mistake him for +an imperial valet-de-chambre. But we had no sooner entered into +conversation than it turned on musical topics, and we soon recognised in +each other with sincere pleasure brother artists--Mozart and Clementi. + + +{MOZART AND CLEMENTI, 1781.} + +(199) + +Mozart continues the description of the scene (January 16, 1782):-- + +After we had paid each other all manner of compliments, the Emperor gave +the signal that Clementi should begin. "La santa chiesa cattoüca!" said +the Emperor--Clementi being a native of Rome. He preluded, and played a +sonata. + +"It is worthy of note here," says Berger, "that Clementi was peculiarly +fond of extemporising long and very interesting and elaborate interludes +and cadenzas in the pauses of his sonatas; it was this propensity which +led him to select a sonata for performance which lent itself easily +to such treatment, although in every other respect this sonata +stands behind his earlier compositions of the same kind. It was the +following--[See Page Image] + +and we have perhaps to thank this subject for the allegro in the +overture to the 'Zauberflote,' a composition never surpassed of its +kind: [32]-- + +The Emperor then said to me: "Allons, d'rauf los!" ("Now then, +fire away!") I preluded, and played some variations. Then the Grand +Duchess[33] produced some sonatas by Paesiello (in his own miserable +manuscript),[34] of which I was to play the allegro and Clementi the +andante and rondo. Then we each took a subject and carried it out on two +pianofortes. By the way, I had borrowed the Countess Thun's pianoforte +for myself, but only played upon it when I played alone. The Emperor +wished it to be so. The other instrument was out of tune, and had three +of its keys sticking. "Never mind," said the Emperor. I look upon it +that the Emperor knows my musical powers and knowledge, and wishes to +do me justice in the eyes of the foreigners. I know upon very good +authority that he was thoroughly satisfied with me. + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(200) + +Dittersdorf confirms this view, and extracts the following from a +conversation with Joseph II.:[35]-- + +_Emperor_: "Have you heard Mozart?" _Myself_: "Three times already." +_Emperor_: "How do you like him?" _Myself_: "As every connoisseur _must_ +like him." _Emperor_: "Have you heard Clementi also?" _Myself_: "I have +heard him also." _Emperor_: "Some people prefer him to Mozart, which +makes Greybig wild. What is your opinion? speak out." _Myself_: "In +Clementi's playing there is merely art, but in Mozart's both art and +taste." _Emperor_: "That is just what I said myself." + +After the competition, the Emperor sent Mozart fifty ducats, "which were +very acceptable at the time." + +Clementi was delighted with Mozart's playing:-- + +I had never heard so delicate and graceful an execution. I was +especially delighted with an adagio, and with several of his +extemporised variations. The Emperor gave the subject, and we varied it, +alternately accompanying each other. + +On the other hand, Mozart's judgment of Clementi was sharp and severe:-- + +Clementi is a good player, and that is all one can say. He plays well as +far as the execution of his right hand is concerned. His forte lies in +passages in thirds. But he has not an atom of taste or feeling, in fact +he is a mere mechanist. + +When his sister in Salzburg had made acquaintance with Clementi's +sonatas, he wrote to her (June 7, 1783):-- + +Now I must say a word to my sister on the subject of Clementi's sonatas. +Every one who plays them must be aware that as compositions they +are valueless. There are no striking passages, except the sixths and +octaves, and I should strongly advise you not to be too much taken with +these, for they are the ruin of a firm and quiet hand, and would soon +deprive it of its lightness, flexibility, and flowing rapidity. For what +is the object of these passages after all? They must be executed with +the utmost rapidity (which not even Clementi himself can accomplish), +and a lamentable hash is the result--nothing else in the world, Clementi +is a charlatan, _like all the Italians!_ He writes _presto_ on a +sonata, or even _prestissimo or alia breve_, and plays it _allegro_ in +three-four time. I have heard him do it! What he does + + +{STRACK AND COURT MUSIC.} + +(201) + +really well are passages in thirds--he worked at them day and night in +London--but he can do nothing else, and he has not the least execution +or taste, and far less any sentiment in his playing.[36] + +In justification of this censure, Berger mentions Clementi having told +him that, at the time of which Mozart writes, he devoted his +attention to brilliant execution, and in particular to double runs +and extemporised passages; it was only later that he adopted a more +expressive style, which was perfected by the study of the best vocal +music of the day, and by the gradual improvements made in the instrument +known as the English pianoforte, the primitive construction of which had +been too defective to allow of an expressive legato execution. Berger +remarks further that Mozart's honourable and upright character prevents +any suspicion of underhand motives for the severity of his judgment. + +Mozart sought to gain favour with the Emperor by securing the support +of his groom of the chamber, Strack, who possessed great influence in +musical affairs. He tells his father (November 3, 1781) that on his +name-day (October 31), which he had celebrated at the house of Baroness +Waldstätten, he had been surprised by a serenade of his own composition +(375 K.), which he had composed on St. Theresa's day (October 15) for +the daughter-in-law of the court painter, Hickl. "The chief reason I +wrote it," he continues, "was to let Herr von Strack, who goes there +almost daily, hear something of mine, and I made it somewhat serious +accordingly; it was very much admired." He ventured at a later date +to count upon Strack as his friend with the Emperor, although, as he +cautiously adds, "the courtier is never to be trusted" (January 23, +1782). The report having reached Salzburg that the Emperor intended +taking Mozart into his service, he answers his father (April 10, +1782):-- + +The reason that I have not written to you about it is because I know +nothing of it myself. It is certain, however, that the whole town is +full of it, and that I am congratulated on all sides; I would fain +believe, too, that the Emperor has been spoken to on the subject, and + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(202) + +has it in his mind, but so far I have not heard a word. It has gone so +far that the Emperor is thinking of it, and that without my having moved +a step in the matter. I have been sundry times to see Herr von Strack +(who is on my side) both to keep him in mind of me, and because + +I like him; but not often enough to be tiresome or to appear to have any +motive in it; and he must acknowledge as an honest man that he has not +heard a word from me which could give him occasion to say that I wished +to remain, far less to be engaged by the Emperor. We talk of nothing +but music. It is of his own free will and quite disinterestedly that +he speaks of me to the Emperor. Since it has gone so far without my +co-operation, it may come to something. If one appears anxious, there is +less chance of a good salary, for the Emperor is certainly a niggard. If +he wants to have me, he must pay me for it; for the honour of being in +the Emperor's service does not go very far with me. + +Joseph II. was accustomed to have a concert in his own apartments every +afternoon.[37] He generally dined alone in the music-room, which did not +usually occupy more than a quarter of an hour; if there was no important +business to be transacted, the concert began as soon as the cloth was +removed, and lasted for about an hour, so that the Emperor might visit +the theatre. Three times a week there was a grand concert, at which +Gassmann,[38] and later Salieri, or sometimes Umlauf, were expected to +appear; there was no audience, and the Archduke Maximilian, when he was +present, took an active part in the performance. Joseph II. possessed a +thorough musical education,[39] and preferred the severe style (Vol. I., +p. 368); his fine bass voice had been trained in the Italian school,[40] +and he played the violoncello and viola, as well as the clavier; he also +read both vocal and instrumental music with great facility, and was a +skilful player from score. Usually separate pieces were selected from +operas and, oratorios; the Emperor accompanied from the score on +the clavier, and also took a tenor or bass part--a pathetic one by +preference.[41] The pieces chosen were + + +{KREIBICH AND THE ORCHESTRA.} + +(203) + +sometimes old favourites of the Emperor, sometimes new works with which he +thus became acquainted; the operas which were afterwards to be performed +were generally gone through in this way by the Emperor and the Archduke +Maximilian.[42] The pieces were generally played and sung at sight; +it amused the Emperor to put the executants on their trial, and he was +delighted at the confusion which often ensued; the more energetic and +distracted the conductor Kreibich became, the more heartily the Emperor +laughed.[43] + +At the ordinary concerts the Emperor only took part in the quartet. The +first violin was played by Kreibich (or Greybig), "a man who was made +for a conductor; he has a capital insight into the theory of music, but, +unfortunately for his art, affects a certain degree of charlatanry. +His timidity prevents his executing solo parts with distinctness and +elegance, and his bowing is not sufficiently round and firm." This +nervousness, joined to a pompous manner, made him the butt of the jokes +and squibs of the musical circle,[44] and though not at all ill-natured, +he was not in a position to make his opinion of value, but allowed +himself to be made the tool of others, who were willing enough to let +him appear to the Emperor and the public as the leader of all that +related to the chamber music. With him were associated the violinists +Woborzil, who led the orchestra in the German opera, Hoffmann, Ponheim, +and Krottendorfer, mediocre artists and unimportant men; of the last it +was only said that he flattered Strack, and was his marionette. Strack +was in fact the soul of these concerts; he had the direction of the +musicians, played the violoncello, and was present on every occasion, +while the others took it by turns; this, together with his personal +position, gave him overpowering influence with the Emperor. "You know +the kind of men + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(204) + +who, as Schiller says, come in as makeshifts when any one is wanted. +Strack has always been with Joseph, and has used his opportunities so +well that, in the musical line, he can do exactly as he likes." + +It was a fact that good music, especially good instrumental music, was +seldom performed in the closet. If a quartet was played it was by a +second-rate composer, and the masters who were then founding a new epoch +in this province, Haydn--for whose "tricks" the Emperor did not +care much[45]--and Mozart, together with their imitators, Pleyel and +Kozeluch, were excluded, or as good as excluded. This was considered +to be owing to Strack's influence, and it was wondered at that Salieri, +"the idol of the Emperor," who invariably took part in the private +concerts, did not assert his opinion; but he "was too politic to come +into collision with the shadow of his Emperor." + +How far, after all, was Salieri capable of influencing the music of his +day? Joseph's taste had been formed on the tradition of Italian music, +represented by Hasse and Piccinni, and his predilections retained the +same direction. His wish to develop a national school of music proceeded +from rational conviction; and, though he was intellectually capable of +appreciating the works of Gluck and Mozart, they were not really +after his own heart. He had avowedly accustomed himself to look for +entertainment in music, and was overpowered by the independent power and +fulness which Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart brought to bear upon their art. +Salieri had no reason for combating the Emperor's inclinations, since +they were also his own. He skilfully sought to turn to account the +acquisitions which music had made in various directions, and to make +Italian opera capable of satisfying the demands of a more enlightened +taste. With the exception of the operas written for Paris, in which he +consciously followed Gluck's manner, he remained throughout true to the +tradition of Italian opera, introduced no new element into it, and did +not possess + + +{SALIERI AND MOZART.} + +(205) + +originality enough to make an indelible mark on the music of the day. +But it was just this mediocrity of talent, skill, and taste which won +for him the favour of his imperial master and of the public; it would +have required the possession of a singular union of moral and artistic +greatness and magnanimity to acknowledge rising genius as superior to +his own, and to bow himself down before it--and Salieri was not capable +of this. He is described as a benevolent and good-tempered man, amiable +in his private life, and adorned with the well-deserved fame of noble +and generous actions;[46] but these good qualities did not preserve from +envy either his reputation or his position. In the year 1780 he had just +returned from a lengthened tour in Italy, which had brought him new fame +and honour, and had confirmed him in the favour of the Emperor; at this +point Mozart made his appearance as a rival, dangerous by reason of his +brilliant powers of execution, which most readily win the applause +of the multitude, as well as by his compositions. The "Entführung" +threatening to throw Salieri's "Rauch-fangkehrer" completely into +the shade, and "Idomeneo" establishing its composer as a formidable +competitor on his own ground, it was impossible that Salieri, who +instinctively felt Mozart's superiority, could long pretend indifference +to it. There was no interruption of their personal intercourse.[47] +Mozart was friendly and unconstrained in his behaviour to his +fellow-artists, "even to Salieri, who could not bear him," as Frau +Sophie Haibl, Mozart's sister-in-law, relates, and Salieri was "too +politic" to make any show of his dislike to Mozart. It was understood in +Vienna, however, that he did dislike him, and that he secretly strove to +check his progress, not only by depreciatory criticism,[48] but by every + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(206) + +sort of obstacle thrown in his way from the very first. Salieri had +been appointed maestro to the Princess Elizabeth, but he was unable to +instruct her on the clavier, and Mozart had clearly the next claim. "He +may take the trouble," writes he to his father (August 31, 1782), "to +do me harm in this matter, but the Emperor knows me; the princess would +have liked to learn from me from the first, and I know that my name +stands in the book where the list of all those appointed to her service +is kept." But Salieri was much too cautious to allow Mozart to attain +to such a position. An unknown musician named Summerer was appointed +teacher of the clavier to the Princess Elizabeth. Mozart consoled +himself, when he heard that the salary was only four hundred florins, +by the reflection that it would not leave much over when the waiting, +travelling, and other expenses contingent on such a service had been +paid for (October 12, 1782). + +Under these circumstances Salieri and Strack were naturally sworn allies +in the Emperor's music room, and resisted together the introduction +of any elements which would undermine their influence by giving the +Emperor's taste a new direction. Although, therefore, Mozart was +encouraged by the Emperor's expressions of liking for him, more +especially as "great rulers are not too fond of saying such things for +fear of a dagger-thrust from an envious rival," yet the obstacles which +he had to overcome in the surroundings of the Emperor were likely to +prove too powerful for him. The Emperor's parsimony also restrained him +from adding another kapellmeister to those who were already in receipt +of salaries from the court. + +Another chance of such a fixed situation as his father was continually +urging upon him to secure offered itself through Prince Aloys +Liechtenstein, the eldest son of the reigning prince, whose income was +estimated at 900,000 imperial + + +{CONCERTS, LESSONS, AND COMPOSITIONS.} + +(207) + +gulden.[49] He proposed enrolling a band of wind instruments in his +service, and wished to engage Mozart to arrange pieces for it. For this +he could not expect a high salary, but it would be a certain one, for he +had quite resolved to accept none but a permanent engagement. But +this hope, too, was disappointed,[50] and he continued to exist on the +uncertain proceeds of lessons, concerts, and composition. + +The state of affairs improved somewhat in the winter. He had constant +pupils in the Countess Rumbeck and Frau von Trattnem, to whom was added +later the Countess Zichy. He gave each of them a lesson daily, and +received six ducats for twelve, which sufficed for absolute necessities. +Six sonatas for clavier and violin, for which his patronesses had opened +a subscription of three ducats, were completed and printed in November, +1781.[51] + +In Lent he gave a concert, at which, following the advice of his +patrons, he played selections from "Idomeneo" and his concerto in D +major (175 K.), for which he had composed a new rondo (382 K.). The +rondo "made a great sensation," and was sent to Salzburg, with a request +that it might be treasured as a jewel. "I wrote it especially for +myself, and no one else shall play it except my dear sister" (March 2, +1782). As a conclusion he played a fantasia. He had been advised to do +this because he would be thereby most certain of outrivalling Clementi, +who was giving a concert at about the same time.[52] Mozart had plenty +of invitations to play at other people's concerts and in society, +on which occasions a new composition had generally to be written. At +Auernhammer's concert, for instance, he played with the daughter a +"sonata for two" (381 K.), which he + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(208) + +had composed on purpose, and which "was a great success" (November 24, +1781). He wrote easier pieces for his pupils. "I must close my letter" +he writes (June 20, 1781), "for I have to prepare some variations for +a pupil"; and soon after he wrote to his sister (July 4, 1781): "I have +written three airs with variations, which are not worth the trouble of +sending alone. I will wait until there is something to accompany them." + +His time was fully occupied, therefore, and he had no difficulty in +proving the injustice of his sister's reproaches to him for not writing +oftener (February 13, 1782):-- + +You must not conclude that you do not give me pleasure by writing to +me because I do not always answer you. I always look forward with great +pleasure to receiving a letter from you, my dear sister. If I were not +prevented by pressing engagements, God knows I would always answer you. +Is it true that I have never answered you? It certainly has not been +from forgetfulness nor carelessness, but from simple impossibility! Bad +enough, you will say, but do I write often, even to my father? You both +know Vienna. You ought to know that a man who has no regular income must +work day and night in such a city. Our father, when he has finished his +church service, and you, when you have dismissed your few pupils, can +do as you like all the rest of the day, and you may write letters long +enough to contain the whole litany, if you like; but I can do no such +thing. I gave my father a description of my mode of life a short time +ago. I will repeat it for you now. At six o'clock my barber comes, at +seven I am dressed, and write until nine. From nine o'clock till one +I give lessons, then I dine, if I am not invited out, in which case we +dine at two or even three o'clock, as we shall to-day and to-morrow at +the Countess Zichy's and Countess Thun's. I cannot begin to work again +till five or six o'clock, and am often even then prevented by a concert; +if not, I write. The continual concerts, and the uncertainty as to +whether I shall be called away here or there, prevent my writing in +the evening; so it is my custom (especially when I come home early) +to compose something before I go to bed. I often write on until one +o'clock, and am up again at six! My dearest sister, if you really +believe that I can forget you or my father, then--but no! God knows it, +and that is enough for me; let Him punish me if I ever forget you. + +Instances are not wanting of his affection and thought for his father +and sister. He sends his father (March 23, 1782) a snuffbox and a pair +of watch ribbons: "The snuffbox is a good one, and the picture on it is +from an English story; + + +{PERFORMANCE OF THE "ENTFÜHRUNG," JULY, 1782.} + +(209) + +the watch ribbons are not very valuable, but they are high fashion +here just now." He did not buy either of them, he adds for his father's +consolation, but was presented with them by Count Szapary. To his sister +also he sent different bits of finery, and begged her to intrust him +with any commission in Vienna; he also testified the warmest sympathy +in her love affairs. He did not forget his old Salzburg friends in +Vienna--begs for news of them from his sister, "the walking register of +Salzburg," and wished still to be considered as an active member of the +quoit club. + +During these manifold occupations the opera had still the first place +in his thoughts, but it was at a standstill owing to the production of +Gluck's two operas and the numerous alterations which were necessary +in the libretto; he hoped that it would be ready for representation, +however, directly after Easter. This was not the case, but on May 8 he +writes: "Yesterday I was with the Countess Thun, and ran over the second +act for her; she is as pleased with it as she was with the first"; and +on May 29: "Next Monday is to be the first rehearsal; I must admit that +I am delighted with this opera." + +And he had good cause to be so, for its ultimate success was assured. +But he had to fight against strong cabals, and it needed the express +command of the Emperor to bring the opera to performance on July +13. High as had been the expectations of the public, they were fully +justified by the result. "The house was crammed full, there was no end +to the applause and cheering, and performances followed one another in +quick succession."[53] After having given his father a short account +of the first performance, he reports more fully on the second (July 20, +1782):-- + +Yesterday my opera was given for the second time. Can you believe that +the opposition was even stronger than on the first evening? The whole of +the first act was drowned, but they could not prevent the bravos after +every song. My hope was in the closing terzet, but + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(210) + +Fischer had been rendered nervous, and went wrong, as did Dauer, and +Adamberger alone could not put things right; so that the whole effect +was lost; and this time it was not encored. I was beside myself with +rage, and so was Adamberger; we agreed that the opera should not be +given again without a rehearsal for the singers. In the second act the +two duets were encored, and also Belmonte's rondo, "Wenn der Freude +Thranen fliessen," &c. The theatre was almost more crowded than on the +first performance; the day before not a seat was to be had either on the +_noble parterre_ or in the third story, and not a single box. The opera +has brought twelve hundred florins in the two days. + +In the next letter (July 27, 1782), he continues:-- + +My opera was given yesterday (St. Ann's day) in honour of all Nannerls, +for the third time, and the theatre, in spite of the stifling heat, was +again crammed full. It was to have been played again next Friday, but +I have protested, for I do not want it to be run to death. People are +quite foolish about the opera, I must say. But it does one good to +receive such applause. + +Notwithstanding this, it was given again on July 30, and also on the +Friday, and the theatre "swarmed with people in every part." + +Mozart was busily employed in arranging his opera for harmony (wind) +music, when he received a commission from the Haffner family in Salzburg +(Vol. I., p. 153) to compose a new serenata. L. Mozart had first been +applied to, and he thought it becoming that Wolfgang should lighten his +father's labours by undertaking a work which cost him no exertion, and +would be of direct advantage to his father. He therefore begged him to +write a serenata without delay, for the time was approaching when it was +to be performed. Wolfgang was quite ready to consent, inconvenient as it +might be to him (July 20, 1782):-- + +I have certainly enough to do, for by Sunday week my opera must be +arranged for wind instruments, or some one else will get the start +of me, and reap the profit; and now I have to write a new symphony! I +hardly see how it will be possible. You would not believe how difficult +it is to arrange a work like this for harmony, so that it may preserve +its effects, and yet be suitable for wind instruments. Well, I must give +up my nights to it, for it cannot be done any other way; and to you, +my dear father, they shall be devoted. You shall certainly receive +something every post-day, and I will work as quickly as I can, and as +well as I can compatibly with such haste. + +{HAFFNER--SERENATA, 1782.} + +(211) + +He kept his word, although not quite so soon as he himself wished. In +his next letter he writes (July 27, 1782):-- + +You will make a wry face when you see only the first allegro; but it +could not be helped, for I was called upon to compose a serenade in +great haste--but only for wind instruments, or else I could have used +it for you. On Wednesday, the 31st, I will send the two minuets, the +andante, and the last movement: if I can I will send a march also; if +not, you must take that belonging to the Haffner music, which is very +little known (249 K.). I have written it in D, because you prefer it. + +But the serenata was not ready within the next few days, for he says in +his letter of July 31:-- + +You see that my will is good, but if one cannot do a thing--why one +cannot! I cannot slur over anything, so it will be next post-day before +I can send you the whole symphony. + +A week later he wrote (August 7, 1782):-- + +Herewith I send you a short march (probably 445 K.). I hope all will +arrive in good time, and that you will find it to your taste. The first +allegro must be fiery, and the last as quick as possible. + +Six months later, when he had this symphony sent back to him for +performance at one of his concerts, he wrote to his father (February +15,1783): "The new Haffner symphony has quite astonished me, for I did +not remember a word of it, and it must be very effective." These little +incidents show us the true Mozart, in his good-nature and readiness to +oblige his father, and in his power of productiveness and elasticity +of mind; he excuses himself for not having the symphony ready in a +fortnight--and that at a time when not only his opera, but also his +courtship and marriage were filling his head and his heart--and then +he is astonished at himself for having done the thing so well.[54] The +serenata which was thus composed is the lovely one in C minor (388 K.). + +Meanwhile the opera pursued its successful course; in the + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(212) + +course of the year it was performed sixteen times; and in the beginning +of October, when the Archduke and his wife returned to Vienna, on their +homeward journey, the "Entführung" was given in their honour, "on which +occasion I thought it as well to sit at the piano again and conduct," he +writes to his father (October 19, 1782), "partly to wake up the somewhat +slumbering energies of the orchestra, partly to show the great people +present that I am the father of my offspring." Kaiser Joseph had +attained the object of his ambition; the German opera was established; +but he scarcely seemed to appreciate the importance of the movement thus +set on foot. His criticism on the "Entführung"--"Too fine for our ears, +and an immense number of notes, my dear Mozart!" (referring, no doubt, +to the accompaniment, which was also found fault with by Dittersdorf +as overpowering the voices)[55]--is indicative of his taste. Mozart's +spirited answer, "Just as many notes, your majesty, as are necessary," +was worthy of an artist.[56] Generally speaking, the opera received +unmitigated praise. Prince Kaunitz, an accomplished amateur and +passionate friend of the theatre,[57] sent for the young composer, +received him in the most flattering manner, and remained henceforth his +friend and patron. The veteran Gluck, the most distinguished person in +the musical world, expressed a desire to hear the opera which was making +so much sensation; it was performed at his request, as Mozart writes to +his father (August 7, 1782), although it had been given only a few days +before; he paid the composer many compliments on it, and invited him to +dinner. + +The opera had decided Mozart's musical position in Vienna;[58] it +speedily caused his fame to spread throughout Germany. The Prussian +minister, Baron Riedesel--the + + +{SUCCESS OF THE ENTFÜHRUNG.} + +(213) + +well-known traveller and friend of Winckelmann--begged Mozart for a +copy of the score for performance in Berlin, for which he was to receive +suitable remuneration. This was the more flattering, since André's +version of the "Entführung" had been well received in Berlin only +the year before. Mozart had sent the original score to his father +immediately after the first performance, that he might become acquainted +with the composition before seeing the opera, which he was not to do +until the end of 1784, in Salzburg:-- + +I have just promised to have it copied. As I have not got the opera I am +obliged to borrow it from the copyist, which is very inconvenient, since +I never can keep it three days together; the Emperor continually sends +for it, as he did yesterday, and it is so often performed; it has been +performed ten times since August 16. My idea was, therefore, to have it +copied in Salzburg, where it can be done more secretly and cheaper. + +The father, who watched his son's proceedings with jealousy and +suspicion, thought he detected something underhand in the objection to +have the copying done in Vienna. He had reminded his son, _ä propos_ of +"Idomeneo," that the score should remain the property of the composer +(Vol. II., p. 141); and he now cautioned him as to whether he had the +right to dispose of the score, would it not cause unpleasantness in +Vienna, and that for the sake of an uncertain verbal promise of payment. + +To this Wolfgang answered (October 5, 1782):-- + +I waited on the Baron von Riedesel myself; he is a charming man, and I +promised him (in the belief that the opera was already in the hands of +the copyist) that he should have it at the end of this month, or at the +latest at the beginning of November. I must beg you to take care that I +have it by that time. To relieve you of all anxiety, which I thankfully +acknowledge as a proof of your fatherly love, I cannot say anything more +convincing than that I am under great obligation to the Baron for having +asked me for the opera, instead of going direct to the copyist (as is +the custom in Italy), who would have given it to him directly for ready +money; and besides this, I should have been very sorry if my talent +could be paid for in that way--especially by a hundred ducats![59] This +time (because there is no occasion) I shall say nothing + + +{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.} + +(214) + +about it; if it is performed, as it is certain to be (and that is what +pleases me most about it), it will be known soon enough, and my enemies +will have no excuse for ridiculing me, and treating me as a poor fellow: +they will be quite ready to ask me for another opera if I will write +it, but I do not know that I shall; certainly not if I am to be paid +one hundred ducats, and see the theatre make four times that sum in a +fortnight. + +I shall bring out my next opera at my own expense, make at least twelve +hundred florins in three representations, and then the management may +have it for fifty ducats. If not, I shall be paid, and can produce it +anywhere. Meanwhile I hope you will never find in me the least trace of +any evil intentions. I would fain not be a bad fellow, but I do not +want to be a stupid one who lets other people reap the advantage of his +labour and study, and gives up his rightful claim to his own works. + +The father's distrustful prudence prevented his putting the work in hand +at once, and such haste was then necessary that no copyist in Salzburg +would undertake it; Mozart had no resource but to explain the cause +of the delay to the ambassador. But in the end the score was copied in +Salzburg. The "Entführung" was performed the following year at Prague +with extraordinary success.[60] "I cannot describe the applause and +sensation which it excited at Vienna from my own observation," says +Niemetschek; "but I was a witness of the enthusiasm with which it was +received at Prague by connoisseurs and non-connoisseurs. It made what +one had hitherto heard and known appear not to be music at all! Every +one was transported--amazed at the novel harmonies, and at the original +passages for the wind instruments." It was given at Leipzig in 1783;[61] +at Mannheim,[62] Salzburg, and Schwedt in 1784;[63] at Cassel in +1785;[64] at Berlin not until 1788.[65] The applause was great on +all occasions, and very soon the smaller stages sought to master the +favourite piece. The actor Philipp Hasenhuth used to relate how the +theatrical manager + + +{PERFORMANCES OF THE "ENTFÜHRUNG".} + +(215) + +Wilhelm, at Baden,[66] in 1783 or 1784, undertook the production of the +"Entführung" with a very weak company. At the rehearsal of the quartet +there was no tenor-player; Hasenhuth, who had just begun to learn the +violin, and hardly knew one string from another, was put down to the +tenor. A little man who had come in as a spectator sat down by him, and +when he saw the deficiency, seized a viola and they played together. But +the little man soon showed his impatience of his stumbling neighbour, +and giving vent to his anger more and more plainly as the quartet +proceeded, he ended by flinging away the viola, exclaiming, "The man is +a veritable donkey!" (Der Herr ist ein wahrer Krautesel!), and running +out of the room. The opera, however, was a great success; and the +well-satisfied manager gave his company a farewell supper, to which, +hearing that Mozart was in Baden, he invited the composer. Hasenhuth was +astonished to recognise in him the tenor-player at the rehearsal, but +Mozart relieved him from all awkwardness by saying good-humouredly, "I +was somewhat impolite when we last met, but I did not know who you +were, and the devil himself could not have stood the wrong notes!" The +judgment of contemporary critics of the opera was almost unanimously of +accord with that of the public.[67] + +It is not probable that Mozart obtained any share of the rich profits +which accrued from the production of his opera on these various stages. +He was even cheated out of the production of a clavier score. "Now it +has come to pass exactly as I foretold to my son," wrote L. Mozart to +his daughter (December 16, 1785); "the 'Entführung aus dem Serail' has +appeared in clavier score at Augsburg, and has also been printed at +Mayence. Since March, when he began it, my son has not found time to +finish it. He has lost his time, and Torricella (who was to publish it +at Vienna) his profits."[68] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXIV. + + +[Footnote 1: He wrote to Breitkopf (August 10, 1781): "My son is no longer in the +service of this court. He was summoned to Vienna by our Prince, who +was there, we being in Munich. But his highness lost no opportunity of +insulting and ill-treating my son, who, on the other hand, received much +honour from all the high nobility of Vienna. My son was therefore easily +persuaded to forsake his ill-rewarded service, and to remain in Vienna."] + +[Footnote 2: Jahrb. d. Tonkunst, 1796, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 3: Devrient, Gesch. der Deutsch. Schauspielkunst, III., p. 117.] + +[Footnote 4: Cf. Sonnenfels' programme of his theatrical management in the year +1770, in Müller's Abschied von der Bühne, p. 73.] + +[Footnote 5: Muller, Abschied, p. 79. Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 25.] + +[Footnote 6: Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 65. Meyer, C. Schröder, I., p. 361.] + +[Footnote 7: Müller, Abschied, p. 95. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 253.] + +[Footnote 8: Carl Pichler, Denkwürdigkeiten, I., p. 78.] + +[Footnote 9: Meyer, I., pp. 361, 375.] + +[Footnote 10: A survey and account of the Vienna stage of the time will be found +in K. R[isbeck], Briefe über Deutschland, I., p. 258. Nicolai, Reise, +IV., p. 587. Meyer, C. Schroder, I., p. 355.] + +[Footnote 11: An accurate account of the state of German opera is given by +Muller (Abschied von der Bühne, p. 253). Cf. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 254. K. +R[isbeck] (Briefe über Deutschland, I., p. 269) says that the members +of the opera were looked down upon by those of the old comedy, and there +were almost daily ridiculous displays of jealousy and ill-nature.] + +[Footnote 12: Forkel, Musik. Krit. Bibl., II., p. 392.] + +[Footnote 13: Sonnleithner, Recensionen, 1862, No. II., p. 18.] + +[Footnote 14: Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 104. Muller, Abschied, pp. 259, 261.] + +[Footnote 15: Theaterkal., 1781, p. 183.] + +[Footnote 16: Müller, Abschied, pp. 181, 189, 194.] + +[Footnote 17: The _personnel_ of the opera from 1781 to 1783, which, with their +salaries, I have borrowed from Meyer (C. Schroder, I., p. 356), was as +fellows:--Male singers: Adamberger (2,133 fl. 30 kr.), Souter (1,200 +fl.), Dauer (?), Fischer (1,200 fl.), Gunther (1,200 fl.), Schmidt +(1,200 fl.), Ruprecht (700 fl.), Hoffmann (600 fl.), Frankenberger (400 +fl.), Saal (800 fl.). Female singers: Mdlle. Cavalieri (1,200 fl.), +Madame Lange (1,706 fl. 20 kr.), Madame Fischer (1,200 fl.), Mdlle. +Teyber (800 fl.), Mdlle. Haselbeck (600 fl.), Mdlle. Brenner (400 fl.), +Madame Saal (800 fl.),Madame Bernasconi (500 ducats). The orchestra, +under the leadership of Kapellmeister Umlauf, consisted of six first and +six second violins, four tenors, three violoncelli, three double-basses, +two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two +trumpets, and drums. The total pay amounted to 16,124 florins.] + +[Footnote 18: Schmid, Gluck, p. 107.] + +[Footnote 19: Mosel, Ant. Salieri, p. 72.] + +[Footnote 20: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 353. Auembrugger was further +known to fame as a physician, and his daughters Franziska and Mariane +were distinguished pianoforte-players.] + +[Footnote 21: In Forkel's Musik. Alman., 1784, p. 189, the question as to why the +music of Viennese composers should be liked in North Germany, but the +music of North Germany should be disliked in Vienna, is treated of in a +contribution for Vienna, showing the two different standpoints.] + +[Footnote 22: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 556.] + +[Footnote 23: Allg. Wiener Musikztg., 1821, p. 56.] + +[Footnote 24: Müller, Abschied, p. 185.] + +[Footnote 25: Forkel, Musik. Bibl., III., p. 340.] + +[Footnote 26: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 353, where it is erroneously +stated that Gluck's "Alceste," "Iphigenia in Tauris," and "Orpheus" were +given in Italian. Cf. Muller, Abschied, p. 270. A. M. Z., XIV., p. 268. +The German translation of "Iphigenia" was by Alxinger (Forkel, Musik. +Alman., 1783, p. 153.)] + +[Footnote 27: Reichardt describes his interview with Joseph II., in the summer +of 1783 (A. M. Z., XV., p. 667. Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 326): "The +Archduke Maximilian led the conversation on Gluck, whom they both +considered as a great tragedian: but now and then the Emperor was not so +much in favour of Gluck's operas as could have been wished."] + +[Footnote 28: Wien Ztg.,1731, No. 95, Anh. "Alceste" was repeated on December 13. +Ibid., No.100, December 27 (No.104); "Iphigenia" was played on December +9 (No.99), and on January 3,1782; "Orpheus" was performed in Italian., +Ibid., 1782, No. 2.] + +[Footnote 29: A. M. Z., XV., p. 668. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 327.] + +[Footnote 30: Mosel, Salieri, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 31: Ludwig Berger's narrative was taken from the lips of his teacher in +1806, and is identical with Mozart s own account (Cäcilia, X., p. 238; +A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 467). Other accounts differ somewhat, as usual in +such cases.] + +[Footnote 32: Clementi thought it advisable on the republication of this sonata +to assert his prior claims, as follows: "Cette sonate, avec la toccata +qui la suit, a été jouée par l'auteur devant Sa M. J. Joseph II., en +1781, Mozart étant présent." There can be no doubt that Mozart was +conscious of the reminiscence.] + +[Footnote 33: Bridi's account says that the Emperor had laid a wager with the +Grand Duchess that Mozart would surpass Clementi, and won it.] + +[Footnote 34: Paesiello composed sonatas and capricci for the Grand Duchess.] + +[Footnote 35: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 236.] + +[Footnote 36: This criticism belongs to the toccata rather than to the sonata; it +is marked _prestissimo_, and is a brilliant study of passages in thirds +and fourths.] + +[Footnote 37: The account which follows is founded on an accurate account of +Joseph's chamber concerts (Musik. Corresp., 1790, p. 27).] + +[Footnote 38: Mosel, Salieri, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 39: Mosel, Ibid., p. 71.] + +[Footnote 40: A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 285.] + +[Footnote 41: The A. M. Z., XV., p. 512, narrates an apocryphal anecdote to the +effect that the Emperor Joseph once wrote a song, and secretly inserted +it in a little Italian opera which he gave in his private theatre +at Schönbrunn. On his asking Mozart what he thought of the song, the +latter, "with childlike frankness and gaiety," replied, "The song is +good, but he that wrote it is better."] + +[Footnote 42: A. M. Z., XV., p. 66. Reichardt, Mus. Monatschr., 1792, p. 57.] + +[Footnote 43: A characteristic scene is related by Mosel (Salieri, p. 130).] + +[Footnote 44: Dittersdorf tells a story which illustrates this (Selbstbiogr., p. +241)] + +[Footnote 45: Reichardt, A. M. Z., XV., p. 667 (Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 325; +Griesinger Biogr. Not. übcr Jos. Haydn, p. 63).] + +[Footnote 46: Besides Mosel's Biography cf. the account by Rochlitz (Für Freunde +der Tonkunst, IV., p. 342; A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 412).] + +[Footnote 47: A. Hüttenbrenner, a pupil of Salieri, relates upon his authority +(A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 797) that Mozart often came to Salieri, +saying: "Lieber Papa (?) geben sie mir einige alte Partituren aus der +Hofbibliothek (?), ich will sie bei Ihnen durchblättem," and that he often +ate his midday meal during these studies.] + +[Footnote 48: Mosel (Salieri, p. 211) confines this to silence on the merits of +Mozart's works. But although Salieri occasionally spoke in praise of +Mozart in afteryears (Hüttenbrenner, A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 797; Rochlitz, +Für Freunde der Tonkunst, IV., p. 345), I have heard upon trustworthy +authority in Vienna, that Salieri, even in his old age, when among +confidential friends, expressed, with a passion that was painful to his +hearers, the most unjust judgments on Mozart's compositions. Thayer's +attempt to justify Salieri (A. M. Z., 1865, p. 241) led me to make a +searching examination of the facts.] + +[Footnote 49: K. R[isbeck], Briefe, I., p. 272.] + +[Footnote 50: "A cantata composed for Prince Aloys von Lichtenstein by W. A. +Mozart," of which there is a copy in the Royal Library in Berlin, is +certainly not by Mozart (242 Anh. K.).] + +[Footnote 51: The Wien. Zeit., 1781, No. 98, announces "Six sonatas for the +piano with accompaniment for the violin by the well-known and celebrated +master, Wolfgang Amade Mozart, Op. 2, 5 fl." (296, 376-380, K.). No. 2 +(in C major) was composed in Mannheim (p. 400), and No. 4 (in B flat +major) was previously known to his sister, as he writes to her (June 4, +1781).] + +[Footnote 52: Clementi left Vienna at the beginning of May, 1782.] + +[Footnote 53: "The 'Entführung,'" says a notice from Vienna in Cramer's Magazin, +I., p. 352, "is full of beauties. It surpassed public expectation, and +the delicate taste and novelty of the work were so enchanting as to call +forth loud and general applause."] + +[Footnote 54: This symphony (385 K., part 5) with the superscription, "ä Vienna +nel mese di Juglio, 1782," has only a minuet, and no march. The second +minuet was written on separate sheets, and not preserved, not being used +in Vienna. Mozart afterwards added two flutes and two clarinets to +the first and last movements for the performance in Vienna; these are +wanting in the printed score.] + +[Footnote 55: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 237.] + +[Footnote 56: The truth of this anecdote is vouched for by Niemetschek, who +narrates it (p. 34). Napoleon is said to have received a similar answer +from Cherubini, who certainly did not borrow it from Mozart (A. M. Z., +XXXVI., p. 21; cf., II. P. 735).] + +[Footnote 57: Many instances are given in Lange's Selbstbiogr., p. 98 Müller, +Abschied, p. 100; Meyer, L. Schröder, I., pp. 341, 343, 346.] + +[Footnote 58: It remained on the Vienna repertory until 1779. The German opera was +quite extinguished in 1778; it was revived on September 23, 1801.] + +[Footnote 59: Even this sum appears to have been thought excessive; at least +Schroder wrote to Dalberg (May 22, 1784): "Mozart received fifty ducats +for the 'Entführung aus dem Serail'; he would compose no opera under this +price." At a later time, one hundred ducats was the usual price for an +opera (Ditters-dorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 241).] + +[Footnote 60: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 99.] + +[Footnote 61: Raisonnirendes, Theaterjoum. von der Leipzig. Michaelmesse, 1783, +p. 32.] + +[Footnote 62: Koffka, Iffiand und Dalberg, p. 136.] + +[Footnote 63: Berl. Litt. n. Theat. Ztg., 1784, II., p. 160.] + +[Footnote 64: Lyncker, Gesch. d. Theat. u. d. Musik, in Kassel, p. 316.] + +[Footnote 65: Chronik. von Berlin, II., p. 440. Teichmann's Litt. N'achl., p. 45.] + +[Footnote 66: Ant. Hasenhuth's Leben., p. 94.] + +[Footnote 67: Cramer's Magazin f. Musik, II., 2, p. 1056, and B. A. Weber, in +Knigge's Dramaturg. Blattern, 1788, II., p. 21, give favourable notices. +Both these journals were among Mozart's little collection of books.] + +[Footnote 68: Two fragments of Mozart's pianoforte score of Constanze's and +Blond-chen's songs (11 and 12) are preserved in his handwriting. The +piano score of the first act is noticed in the Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 98.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. "DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL." + +THE gradual decline of the German festival and "spektakel" operas was +consummated in 1742, when Gottsched, + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(216) + +who had waged incessant war against them throughout his career, had the +satisfaction of chronicling the opera of "Atalanta," in Dresden, as the +last of its kind[1] but they were succeeded by a sort of aftergrowth +in the form of the operetta.[2] The theatrical managers could not +altogether dispense with similar means of attraction, and attempts were +made to introduce the musical intermezzo, together with the now fairly +well-established ballet. In 1743 Schonemann produced in Berlin Coffey's +"Devil to Pay" ("Der Teufel ist los"), adapted by Von Barck, with the +English melodies;[3] but this attempt, as well as the performance of +Schürer's vaudeville "Doris," in Dresden, in 1747,[4] remained +without result. In 1752 Koch, of Leipzig, who had had recourse to the +performance of Italian intermezzi,[5] commissioned Chr. Fel. Weisse +to make a new adaptation of Coffey's "Devil to Pay, or the Bewitched +Wives," which was set to music by Standfuss, the assistant-manager of +Koch's company.[6] Gottsched and his wife renewed the old strife against +this attempt, but were completely defeated.[7] The second part of the +opera "Der Teufel ist los"--"Der Lustige Schuster"--was produced by +Koch, in 1759, at Lubeck.[8] But not until his return to + + +{GERMAN OPERETTA.} + +(217) + +Leipzig, in 1765, did he give his serious attention to vaudeville. +Weisse revised his old opera of "Der Teufel ist los," which, with +partially new music by Hiller, was performed in 1766, and received +with fresh applause.[9] Koch found in Joh. Ad. Hiller what had always +hitherto been wanting, viz., a composer of good musical and general +education, having a decided talent for light, easy, and characteristic +music (more especially comic music), and full of zeal for the elevation +of the national art. He endeavoured to make another step in advance, +and by the composition of Schieb-ler's romantic poem of "Lisuart and +Dariolette" (performed November 25, 1766) to lay the foundation of +serious German opera.[10] Educated in the tradition of Hasse and Graun, +with the additional influence of Ph. Em. Bach, he followed with interest +the attempts to gain favour for Italian music in Paris by reconciling it +with the demands of French taste; and he wished to establish a national +German opera on the same principles. He denied that the German language +was unfitted for song, if only the poet would take the trouble of +accommodating it to the music, and if artists were trained for German +singing with as much care as for Italian. Since German taste was more +Italian than French, but the French were superior to the Italians in +dramatic treatment, a French plan in Italian form was most likely to be +approved of by Germans.[11] The insufficient appointments of the Leipzig +stage must, however, have dissuaded him from any idea of a grand opera. +To this was added his connection with Weisse, who during his residence +in Paris had taken a lively interest in the comic opera, and had exerted +himself to transplant it into Germany.[12] + +His first opera, "Lottchen am Hofe," after "Ninette ä la Cour," and "Die +Liebe auf dem Lande," after "Annette et + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(218) + +Lubin" and "La Clochette," had so great a success in 1767 and 1768 +that they prepared the way for other similar attempts.[13] These simple +dramas, which occupied the mind without exerting it, and moved the +feelings without unduly exciting them, were so much in keeping with +Weisse's own nature that he was able to give them characteristic and +appropriate form. They opened a field, too, for Hiller's simple hearty +spirit, embodied in a popular form, which made his style appeal at once +to the multitude; while an endeavour after higher things would only have +turned him into an imitator of Hasse. A rapid succession of operas by +Weisse and Hiller, which were received with unanimous approbation, and +spread with incredible rapidity, soon established a definite type of +German operetta, and raised up a host of imitators. The interest of the +public, especially in North Germany, was almost exclusively confined to +operetta,[14] so that in Berlin, for instance, during the years +1781-83, 117, 141, and 151 operettas were performed.[15] This implies an +extraordinary production. Besides translations from French operettas +by Duni, Philidor, Monsigny, Grétry, and Italian intermezzi, there +were innumerable German vaudevilles, for the most part also founded on +foreign originals.[16] Some idea may be formed of the fertility of these +composers, by the fact that between 1765 and 1785, Hiller composed 13 +operas, Wolf 18, Neefe 10, Holly 13, André 22, Schweitzer 16, Stegmann +10, G. Benda 8; to whom may be added a host of other less productive and +less celebrated composers. + +This activity had indeed drawbacks, for it was practised with great +ease, and many amateurs of very inferior musical education intruded +themselves among the operatic musicians.[17] The careless dilettantism +of the poet went hand in hand + + +{GERMAN OPERETTA.} + +(219) + +with that of the composer. A host of unskilful verse-makers allied +themselves with Weisse, Michaelis, and Gotter, and threatened to degrade +the operetta to the lower level of the opera buffa. A further drawback +consisted in the very defective performances, which in most instances +resulted from the insufficient powers of the operetta companies. + +"We must remember," says Reichardt, in his "History of the Comic Opera," +"how much Hiller was hampered by the miserable state of our operatic +companies. He was fully aware of this, and what I admire in him is that +he never lost sight of the fact that he was writing, not for singers, +but for actors, who had scarcely music enough in them to sing over their +wine." The state of things had not altered much since Hiller began to +write. The Italian operas alone were supported by the courts; the German +operettas remained in the hands of private speculators; who did not +possess the means of attracting vocalists of artistic cultivation. +No singer of any reputation would have thought it consistent with his +dignity to appear in German vaudeville. The vaudeville, therefore, +remained in the hands of actors, who had seldom any vocal powers and +still seldomer any but a superficial cultivation, but who willingly +appeared in operettas on account of the high fees[18] and great applause +they might reckon upon. Reichardt gives an appalling description of the +German opera in Berlin in 1774; he heard one of Hiller's operas "sung +by a wide-mouthed, screeching woman, and a lover with a voice like a +night-watchman," and that before an audience which had "the reputation +of very refined taste";[19] he was no better pleased at Leipzig.[20] +Müller says of a performance of Wolf's "Treuen Kohler" at Dresden in +1776: "As only two of all the performers were at all musical, you may +imagine how the opera was + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(220) + +rendered." It is conceivable, therefore, that the growing partiality for +German opera was regarded with disfavour by earnest men, as prejudicial +alike to the dramatic interests which were still struggling to assert +themselves in Germany,[21] and to the artistic development of operatic +music proper.[22] The actor Müller, during his professional tour in +1776, made himself acquainted with the views of competent judges as to +the admissibility of German operettas; the different opinions which +he collected are characteristic enough. Lessing--who held the union +of poetry and music as the most perfect in existence, "so that nature +herself appears to have destined them not so much for union as to be +considered as one and the same art"[23]--was against vaudevilles. "They +are the ruin of our stage. Such works are easily written; every comedy +affords material to the author; he scatters a few songs about, and the +thing is done. Our new dramatic poets find this a far easier task than +writing a good character piece." Gleim was even more violently +opposed to vaudeville than Lessing, and gave Müller an epigram upon +the + + "Witch":-- + + Die, schlau wie + Schlang' und Krokodill, + Sich schleicht in aller + Menschen Herzen + Und drinnen sitzt, als wie ein + Huhn Auf seinem + Nest, und lehrt: + Nur klcine Thaten thun + Und über grosse + Thaten scherzen!" + +Weisse smiled when Müller repeated the lines to him, and declared +himself, as became the founder of German opera, in its favour. He was +too modest, however, to maintain that operettas were dramatic works of +art, or to hope thereby to raise the taste of his countrymen; he could +only disclaim all intention of degrading it or of doing more than +encouraging + + +{GERMAN OPERETTA.} + +(221) + +German people to come together, and providing pleasant and popular +entertainments for them when they did so.[24] Gotter preserved a +discreet neutrality on the subject, since he had had a direct interest +in more than one operatic libretto; he would not declare for either +side, and was of opinion that variety was the root of all pleasure. +Wieland was more explicit, and declared that the national stage could +only be rendered of importance by German music; comic and serious German +vaudevilles were wanted, but good poets would soon come forward to +supply the need. He was not only able to point to his own "Alceste," +and the success it had obtained; he had developed his views on the +cultivation of German vaudeville with a lively acknowledgment of +the achievements of Schweitzer, and he possessed genuine feeling and +interest for music. Even a musician like Reichardt declared himself +against the operetta, but thought as it was there it ought at least to +be improved, and made as useful as possible.[25] + +The interest which was taken by great poets in the elevation of the +vaudeville is exemplified by Goethe; after "Erwin und Elmire" and +"Claudina von Villabella" were written, his intercourse with his +early friend Christoph Kayser[26] (b. 1736) caused him to attempt +the construction of vaudeville after the received type of the Italian +operetta. His first experiment was "Scherz, List und Rache," which he +began in 1784, and sent at once to Kayser for composition;[27] the two +first acts were ready the following year, and were well thought of in +Weimar;[28] in Rome, whither Goethe was followed by Kayser at the end of +1787, they finished the operetta together.[29] But Goethe thought that +the operetta + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(222) + +was extravagantly mounted,[30] and complains himself that a defective +conception of the intermezzo had led him to spin out the trivial subject +into innumerable musical pieces, which had been treated by Kayser quite +after the old-fashioned models. "Unhappily," says Goethe, "adherence to +the old principles caused it to suffer from poverty of parts; it never +went beyond a terzet, and one felt inclined to wish that the doctor's +medical books might be endowed with life to form a chorus. All the pains +we took, therefore, to confine ourselves within narrow and simple limits +went for nothing when Mozart appeared. The 'Entführung aus dem Serail' +threw all else into the shade, and our carefully worked-out piece was +never heard of again at any theatre."[31] + +A closer examination of Mozart's opera will make it clear to us why it +threw all others into the shade. The plot of Bretzner's[32] "Entführung +aus dem Serail," written for André in 1781, is simple and in no way +original:-- + +Constanze, the beloved of Belmont, is in the power of the Pasha Selim, +who has confined her in his seraglio, and sues in vain for her love. +Belmont has been made aware of her place of confinement by Pedrillo, +his former servant, who has also fallen into the hands of the Pasha, +and become the overseer of his gardens; Belmont hastens to liberate his +beloved. In seeking Pedrillo he stumbles upon Osmin, overseer of the +country-house in which the action takes place; and both he and Pedrillo +(who is even more obnoxious to Osmin from his known love to Blondchen, +Constanze's waiting-maid, whom Osmin seeks to win) are rudely repulsed +by Osmin. In the meantime Pedrillo succeeds in recommending Belmont +to his master as an accomplished architect; Selim takes him into +his service, and Osmin is reluctantly obliged to admit him to the +country-house. In the second act Blondchen makes short work of Osmin's +arrogant jealousy in respect of her, and Constanze remains constant +against the renewed attempts of the Pasha. Hereupon Pedrillo inveigles +Osmin into drinking with him, and renders him harmless by means of a +sleeping potion; the freedom thus obtained is employed by the lovers in +an interview at which their flight the following night is determined on. +In the third act this is put into effect. Pedrillo + + +{ALTERATIONS IN THE LIBRETTO.} + +(223) + +gives the sign, Belmont escapes with Constanze; as Pedrillois carrying +off Blondchen, Osmin enters still half asleep; they contrive to escape +but he causes them to be pursued, and both couples are brought before +the Pasha. They are condemned to death, but the Pasha, moved at last by +their self-sacrificing love and fidelity, pardons and unites them. + +The original libretto is arranged for a genuine vaudeville. All the +dramatic interest lies in the spoken dialogue; the songs are, with a few +exceptions, superfluous additions, and imply a very moderate amount of +execution. Mozart undertook to indicate to Stephanie where and how, in +the interests of the composer, alterations should be made, and only left +to him the framing of the text, with which it was not necessary to be +so particular, if only the situations were well arranged in their main +features. The principal point, next to giving to the musical element +of the piece its due prominence as the most fitting expression of lyric +sentiment, was the proper consideration of the individualities of the +performers themselves. Fortunately this task was not complicated in the +way which had so often been the case. Madame Cavalieri was certainly +more of a bravura singer than anything else, and neither her appearance +nor her acting was effective; but Adamberger and Fischer were just as +Mozart would have had them, both as singers and actors, and Fischer +especially was an extraordinarily gifted artist. The part of Osmin, +which was created for him, shows the influence of a congenial spirit on +the conceptions of the creating artist. When Mozart was fairly +embarked in the work, he wrote to his father about the libretto and the +alterations already made in it (September 26, 1781):-- + +The opera began with a soliloquy which I have begged Herr Stephanie +to turn into a little ariette, and also, instead of the two chattering +together after Osmin's song, to make a duet out of the dialogue. As +we have given the part to Fischer, who has an excellent bass voice +(although the Archbishop once told me he sang too low for a bass, and I +assured his grace that he would sing higher next time), we must give him +something to do, especially as he is such a favourite with the public. +In the original book Osmin has only one little song, and nothing else +but the terzet and finale. I have given him an aria in the first +act, and he is to have another in the second. I have trusted the aria +altogether to Stephanie, the music was ready before he knew a word about +it. + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(224) + +These alterations were of specially good dramatic effect in the first +scene, and Osmin's song called to life the first German comic aria which +deserves to be called great. In the second act the dialogue between +Blondchen and Osmin becomes a duet; on the other hand, a superfluous +duet between Constanze and Blondchen is very rightly omitted. Instead of +it Constanze has the great bravura song "Mar-tem aller Arten," chiefly +as a concession to the singer; for the repetition of the scene in +which she scornfully rejects the Sultan's proposals is in every way +superfluous. Blondchen's second song--newly inserted--is, however, quite +appropriate; in it she expresses her joy at her approaching deliverance; +so that the original duet is really embodied to a certain extent in +these two songs. + +But the chief alteration which Mozart contemplated was in the conclusion +of the second act. In Bretzner's text the abduction scene is treated as +a grand ensemble movement, with which the third act commences. A long +and elaborate duet between Belmont and Pedrillo, who are lying in +ambush, makes the beginning, and then Constanze appears and is carried +off by Belmont. After Pedrillo has climbed up to Blondchen in the +window, Osmin comes out of the house still heavy with sleep; but he sees +the fugitives and has them pursued and brought back by his guard; they +beg for mercy, seek to regain their liberty by bribery--in vain; Osmin +rages, and all the characters are in a state of excitement. + +Mozart's quick eye saw that this scene, bringing together all +the characters in a succession of rapidly varying and contrasting +situations, forms the culminating point of the opera; he wished, +therefore, that this "charming quintet, or rather finale, should +be placed at the close of the second act." He also saw that this +transposition would necessitate other important alterations. The second +act could be kept together very well by the mutual understanding of the +two lovers; but the third act, for which nothing was reserved but the +unravelling of the knot by the clemency of the Sultan, if it was to +have any substance or interest, "must be provided with an entirely new +intrigue." The difficulty + + +{ALTERATIONS IN THE LIBRETTO.} + +(225) + +of finding this seems to have put a stop to the alteration, and the +original arrangement remained. But for Bretzner's insignificant finale +to the second act there was substituted an elaborate quartet, which +expresses in music the reunion of the lovers in its various aspects of +joy and jealousy, of disputes and reconciliation. An air for Belmont +precedes this; it is well-fitted for the situation, and is intended +also as a concession to the singer, for in this act, where all the other +characters come to the front, Belmont had originally nothing to sing but +the ensemble music. + +Mozart began the composition of the ensemble movement at the +commencement of the third act. The greater part of the duet between +Belmont and Pedrillo before the romanze was sketched out by him in +his usual way, the voices and bass written in full, the accompaniment +indicated here and there. It breaks off, however, in the middle; and +Mozart appears to have purposely laid it aside, convinced that the scene +must be differently treated.[33] The ensemble was given up; Mozart saw +that it would throw the whole opera out of gear, and would concentrate +the interest and the action at the wrong place. The abduction scene was +confined to dialogue, only Pedrillo's romanze being left; in addition, +songs for Belmont and Osmin were inserted, both highly characteristic. +The duet for Belmont and Constanze, which follows, is altered only in +the words, not in the situation; the closing catastrophe it was +thought well to modify. In Bretzner's version the Pasha Selim, who is +a renegade, recognises in Belmont his son, which leads to the +_dénouement_; + +but Stephanie makes him pardon the lovers from generosity and +magnanimity, which, as a critic remarked, were the fashion of the day in +Vienna.[34] Constanze's song of gratitude at the close is very rightly +omitted, and replaced by the then customary vaudeville, in which all the +characters declare in turn: "Wer solche Huld vergessen kann, den seh man +mit Verachtung an! + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(226) + +Mozart's father had raised objections to the libretto, and the +alterations in it; he was particularly concerned that the verses +were not in regular rhyme throughout. Thereupon his son made him the +following remarkable answer (October):-- + +Now about the text of the opera. As far as Stephanie's work is +concerned, you are quite right, but the poetry is very well suited to +the character of the stupid, boorish, and malicious Osmin. I am quite +aware that the versification is not of the best; but it goes so well +with my musical thoughts (which were running in my head long before) +that I cannot but be pleased; and I would wager that no fault will be +found in performance. Belmont's aria, "O wie ängtslich," could scarcely +be written better for the music. Constanze's aria too is not bad, with +the exception of the "Hui,"[35] and the line "Sorrow reposes in my +bosom," for sorrow cannot repose. After all, in an opera, the poetry +must be the handmaid of the music. Why do Italian comic operas always +please, in spite of their wretched librettos--even in Paris, as I was +witness myself? Because the music is supreme, and everything else is +forgotten. All the more then will an opera be likely to please in which +the plan of the piece is well carried out, and the words are written +simply to suit the music; not turned and twisted so as to ruin the +composition for the sake of a miserable rhyme, which God knows does far +more harm than good in a dramatic representation.[36] Verse, indeed, is +indispensable for music, but rhyme is bad in its very nature: and poets +who go to work so pedantically will certainly come to grief, together +with the music. It would be by far the best if a good composer who +understands the theatre, and know-how to produce a piece, and a clever +poet, could be (like a veritable phoenix), united in one; there would +be no reason to be afraid as to the applause of the ignorant then. The +poets seem to me something like trumpeters, with their + + +{MUTUAL RELATIONS OF MUSIC AND VERSE.} + +(227) + +mechanical tricks--if we composers were to adhere so closely to our +rules (which were well enough as long as we knew no better) we should +soon produce music just as worthless as their worthless books."[37] + +"Now I think I have talked nonsense enough for this time"--so Mozart +concludes this interesting letter, as he was fond of doing when his +desire to justify himself had led him into general aesthetic questions, +on which he was averse to expatiating at any length. His opinion as +to the relative positions of music and poetry in operatic works is +unusually interesting. In complete opposition to Gluck, who considered +music as subordinate to poetry, Mozart requires that poetry shall be the +handmaid of music. In the sense in which the context shows him to have +meant it, he is undoubtedly right. He exacts that the plan of the piece +shall be well laid out; that is, that the plot shall be interesting, +and shall as it proceeds afford dramatic situations fitted for musical +expression. He requires further that the words shall be written merely +for the music, that is, that the poetical conceptions shall be of a kind +to stimulate the composer, to elevate and support him, while allowing +him perfect freedom of thought and action. He had mentioned Osmin's song +to Stephanie, and the music was ready before the latter had written a +word of the poetry; the words he then prepared accorded so admirably +with the musical ideas which had been running in Mozart's head, that +faults here and there in the versification did not seem to him of much +consequence. + +The impulse he required for his musical conceptions was the +representation of the dramatis persona in certain definite situations, +not the verbal framing of the poet's ideas.[38] The + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(228) + +points which were contained in the verse, and influenced the +construction of the musical idea, were to him co-operating but not +dominating elements. The words of an opera have a definite object; they +provide foundation and support for the musical expression, and are not +therefore absolutely independent, as in the drama,[39] but are obliged +to recognise and respect the laws of music, as well as those of poetry. +To attain this end a compromise is as indispensable as in every other +union of the sister arts. Architecture, in her highest achievements, +turns for embellishment to sculpture and painting; and no one has ever +doubted that in such co-operation each art must make some concession +to the other. The architectural plan must be so conceived as to afford +fitting space and position for the sculpture and painting; these, on the +other hand, must be introduced with a view to the essential conditions +of the building; the pediment, the arch, the metope are not freely +selected forms, but constitute the limitations which arise from the +necessities of the building. The sculptor modifies his style to suit the +character of the building, the painter knows how to give significance +to the whole design by skilful composition and combinations of colour on +the flat surface of the walls. Doubtless architecture, with her severe +laws and inflexible forms, imposes restrictions on the fancies of +the artist; but who can imagine that Phidias in the sculptures of the +Parthenon, Raphael in the Loggia of the Vatican, renounced their freedom +of design or their independence of execution in obedience to the will +of the architect? The relation between poetry and music is of the same +kind. Mozart saw the necessity for co-operation between the musician and +the poet, if the right effect was to be given in its just proportions. +The musician must be ready to "give some hints" which shall put the poet +in possession of his intentions and of the conditions necessitated +by the rules of his art; the poet must be "intelligent," clever, and +cultivated enough to fall in with the intentions of the musician, and +poet enough to retain his poetical powers in spite of these limitations. + + +{MUTUAL RELATIONS OF MUSIC AND VERSE.} + +(229) + +Mozart is quite right in asserting that co-operation of this kind is +the surest pledge for an altogether satisfactory opera; unhappily he is +quite right also in declaring such a co-opera-tion to be attainable only +by "a veritable phoenix." + +To a certain degree a mutual understanding is of course indispensable, +but it confines itself, as a rule, to an unwilling concession on this or +the other side.[40] Music finally assumes the mastery in opera, where +it is the actual medium of expression; no one could deny that good music +would make the poorest verse pass muster, whereas bad music could not be +made acceptable even when "wedded to immortal verse." But the very +fact that music appeals direct to the senses gives it an advantage when +opposed to poetry, which reaches the imagination through the intellect; +just as a poetical description of a work of art falls far short of +the effect produced directly on the mind by contemplation of the work +itself. Music works on the sense of hearing in an as yet inexplicable +manner, rousing emotions and fancies with an instantaneous power +surpassing that of poetry. Even if this be disputed, it must be allowed +that music does not appeal immediately to the intellect as language +does. Even the species of music which is said to occupy the intellect +most especially, viz., music in strict forms of counterpoint, does not +do it in such a way as to enable the hearer to discover the meaning +of the composition by means of its actual utterances; it exercises his +intellect otherwise by rousing the desire in him to grasp and hold the +artistic forms as such, and the laws upon which they depend.[41] Music +must borrow from poetry what it does not possess for itself, namely, the +ability to call forth a well-defined image which shall identify itself +with the sentiment evoked i by the music and give to this its exact +significance. This point is, of course, of special importance in opera, +although the fact must not be lost sight of that the stage accessories + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(230) + +and pantomimic representation come greatly to the aid of the music, +so that it is quite possible for an audience to follow an opera with +interest and gratification without understanding the language in which +it is written. This is a further proof that, important as the poetic +details doubtless are, the plot and situations are the really essential +points. For the paradox that a libretto if it is to be musical cannot be +poetical, but can only have certain external forms of poetic delivery, +is certainly false. The conditions of poetic delivery and musical +execution are essentially the same, and a distinction between them is +impossible. But the means of delivery which the poet has at his disposal +are manifold and varied, and not all applicable in the same place; if +the poet is master of his art, and has a clear conception of what he is +striving after, he will know what are the particular means he ought to +employ to be in accord with the musical part of the work.[42] + +Bretzner was very indignant at the proposed alterations in his libretto, +and inserted the following notice in the "Berliner Litteratur und +Theater-Zeitung" (No. 1783):-- + +It has pleased some hitherto unknown person in Vienna to take in hand my +opera, "Belmont und Constanze," or "Die Entführung aus dem Serail," +and to publish the piece in a very altered form. The alterations in the +dialogue are not considerable, and may be passed over; but the adapter +has inserted a vast number of songs, the words of which are in many +cases edifying and touching in the highest possible degree. I would not +willingly deprive the improver of the glory belonging to his work, and +I therefore take this opportunity of specifying these inserted songs as +belonging to the Vienna edition and Mozart's composition. + +In conclusion, and after giving "a specimen of the improver's work +from the quartet," Bretzner exclaims: "And this is called improvement!" +Nevertheless the text was improved, and although far from first-rate, it +had been rendered a fairly satisfactory and practicable libretto, which +has not yet been very far surpassed in the literature of German comic +opera. The plot is certainly not thrilling, but it + + +{THE "ENTFÜHRUNG," A GERMAN OPERA.} + +(231) + +allows the natural development of a succession of musical situations. It +was, as we have seen, Mozart's merit to recognise these in his musical +representation, to make them available in such a way as to distinguish +the "Entführung" from all earlier vaudevilles and operettas. + +Mozart's performance was not confined to the adoption of certain +ready-developed forms of Italian opera, pressed into the service of the +German opera, partly from necessity, partly from the narrow principle +that the songs were to be sung by personages of supposed high +position.[43] This would have been no sufficient reason for substituting +the aria for the Lied; it was done to give full scope to musical +construction, and to make the standard and measure of the execution to +consist only in the artistic conditions of the dramatic situations, and +in the nature of the musical expression.[44] + +At home as he was in Italian, French and German opera, in sacred and +instrumental music, he had obtained such a mastery over musical forms +as gave him a freedom of action which his favourable circumstances in +Vienna allowed him to make use of, and the fact that he was composing a +German opera gave him a sense of a still higher freedom. He was German +in every thought and feeling, and German music was his natural way of +expressing himself as an artist, requiring no unusual form, no special +characterisation, nothing but freedom of thought and action. In +the "Entführung," German sentiment, emotion, and disposition found +expression for the first time at the hands of a true artist. It is easy +to understand how the fulness of life and truth in such a work would +throw into the shade all who believed solely in those forms which were +borrowed from foreign + + +{DIE EXTFÜHRUXG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(232) + +sources, and only superficially remodelled.[45] This truly German and +truly Mozart-like style is nowhere more decidedly exemplified than in +the part of Belmont. It is only necessary to note the contrast between +the male sopranos of the opera seria, or the comic lovers of the opera +buffa, and this Belmont, who expresses manly love in all its force and +intensity. It is plain that his love is not the wild and transitory +gleam of passion, but an emotion having its roots deep in the heart, +sanctified by sorrow, and held with the constancy of a true moral +nature. Manliness is the ground-tone of all his agitated sentiments; the +steady glow of a well-balanced mind penetrates every" expression of his +feelings. It is an easier task to portray the wild excitement of passion +than to depict a mind and character in its totality by means of each +separate expression;[46] and the conception of love, the essential +motive power of musical drama, from this point of view, marks an era in +musical representation, important alike for its national character and +its artistic construction. It was not by mere chance that Mozart +made the tenor voice, which had been virtually deprived of its proper +province in Italian opera, into the organ of manly love and tenderness. +Belmont has become a type in German opera. Adamberger, judging from +contemporary testimony was the most fitting representative of such a +character.[47] Various songs composed for him by Mozart characterise him +as a singer of noble and expressive delivery.[48] + + +{BELMONT.} + +(233) + +Belmont's character and tone of mind are drawn in firm lines in his +first cavatina (1). His state of anxious suspense is implied rather than +fully indicated by his expression of secret devotion. But this little +song, which none but a master-hand could have thrown off so lightly and +so surely, is of most significance, by reason of its connection with the +overture. Mozart makes no remark to his father on the overture except +that it was short, and that "it alternates between forte and piano, the +Turkish music being always forte, modulated by changes of key, and I do +not think any one can go to sleep over it, even if they have lain awake +all the night before" (September 26, 1781). As usual, when he speaks of +his compositions, he only indicates the means employed and the external +effect, and does not attempt any verbal description of the music itself. +It is certainly true that a lively and incessant suspense is kept up by +the constant modulatory changes, especially from major to minor, and +by sharp contrasts of _forte_ and _piano_. But this is not all; the +character of the overture is so singularly fanciful that a few bars +suffice to place the hearer in an imaginative mood. The most varied +emotions of joy and sorrow are lightly touched, but never held, the tone +of the whole is so fresh and cheerful that the listener involuntarily +yields to the spell; and the impressions of the new world in which he +finds himself are heightened by the highly original tone-colouring. Then +comes a slower movement, expressing longing desires in the tenderest, +most appealing tones. It has scarcely died away before we are again +whirled along our fantastic course, which ends in an appealing cry, +followed without a pause by Belmont's cavatina, "Hier soli ich dich denn +sehen, Constanze!" We recognise at + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(234) + +once the middle movement of the overture, but changed from the minor to +the major key. This change, and the difference of shading between +the arrangement for the voice and that for the orchestra, give to the +charming little movement two distinct expressions, just as the same +landscape has two different aspects seen at noon or in the moonlight. +The overture renders us free to receive the effect of the work of art +as such, prepared by what forms the starting-point of the work; and the +first song sets the crown on the overture, while it transports us at +once into the frame of mind which predominates throughout the opera. +Still more important in its climax and composition is Belmont's second +song (4). The situation is more definitely developed; Belmont knows now +that Constanze is there, that he will soon see her, and this certainty +condenses all the emotions roused by the memory of a sorrowful past, and +the prospect of a perilous future, into the one feeling of their speedy +reunion. Mozart was so taken with this song that he wrote it down as +soon as he received the libretto. "This is the favourite song of all who +have heard it--myself included," he wrote to his father (September +26, 1781), "and is exactly calculated for Adamberger's voice. 'Fo wie +ängstlich, o wie feurigl' You can imagine how it is expressed, with +the very beating of the heart--the violins in octaves. One can see the +trembling, the hesitation, the very swelling of the breast is expressed +by a crescendo, one can hear the sighs, the whispers, rendered by the +violins muted, with one flute in unison." + +It would be doing Mozart an injustice to consider this sound-painting +as his first object; it is in reality but a subordinate, although a very +effective and useful element of the whole musical conception. Belmont's +two other songs--one in the second act, before the meeting with +Constanze (15),[49] and the other at the beginning of the third act, +before the + + +{CONSTANZE.} + +(235) + +abduction (17)[50]--are much quieter in tone, and are characterised +by manly composure combined with warm sensibility. These qualities are +visible also in the musical construction of the broad and expressive +cantilene, which allows free scope for the display of a full tenor +voice in its best position. The structure of the melodies diverges in +a remarkable degree from that which predominates in Mozart's Italian +operas, and approaches nearer to that employed in his instrumental +music. And yet the national character of the melodies is not so +pronounced in the "Entführung" as in the "Zauber-flöte," nor are the +songs in their whole design so completely absolved from Italian forms. + +The part of Constanze, so far as musical characterisation is concerned, +is not nearly so well thought out as that of Belmont. "I have been +obliged," writes Mozart to his father (September 26, 1781), "to +sacrifice Constanze's song (6) in some degree to the voluble organ of +Mdlle. Cavalieri. But I have sought to express 'Trennung war mein banges +Loos und nun schwimmt mein Aug' in Thranen' as far as is compatible with +an Italian bravura song."[51] We shall readily allow that he has been so +far successful; and that, apart from the inserted bravura passages, the +song is not only fine from a musical point of view, but appropriate +to the situation. But in the great bravura song of the second act +everything has been sacrificed to Mdlle. Cavalieri's voluble organ, and, +as Gluck would have said, it _smells of music_,[52] It is, as we have +seen, inserted without reference to the plot, and this may have led +to the further consequence of treating it altogether as an extraneous +piece. As regards length and difficulty, it is one of the greatest of +bravura songs, and is accompanied by four obbligato instruments--flute, +oboe, violin, and + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(236) + +violoncello.[53] Considered as a concert piece it is of importance by +reason of the plan, artistic in design and execution, which permits +the treatment of the five obbligato parts as integral divisions of +the whole, while making due provision for sound effects and musical +interest. The song is still often sung, although the glitter surrounding +mere execution has passed away. But it does not belong to the +"Entführung." Together with the brilliant execution there is a certain +heroic tone in the song which is quite out of keeping with the opera and +with the character of Constanze in it. The true Con-stanze, as Mozart +imagined her, is found in the second air (10), which expresses with much +truth and intensity the ardent longing of the maiden sorrowing for +her lover. Firmness and assurance are manly attributes, but a dreamy +resigned absorption in the contemplation of vanished happiness is proper +to a woman, and to this maidenly sentiment Mozart has given beautiful +expression. This feminine tone gives the song a certain resemblance to +that of Ilia in "Idomeneo" (Vol. II., p. 151); but the latter is, as the +situation requires, drawn in darker lines, and takes more hold on the +mind. Here as elsewhere the same point is noticeable, viz., that when +Mozart works outward from the heart of an individual situation, the +separate elements of the musical construction are more striking, and the +form is freer and more lifelike than it would otherwise be.[54] + +The instrumentation also is peculiarly effective, especially by the +employment of the wind instruments, which shed a gentle glow over the +whole. Mozart, against his custom, + + +{OSMIN.} + +(237) + +makes use of the basset-horn instead of the clarinet in this song. +In the part of Belmont, too, the instrumentation is modified to +some extent. The second song (4) is very delicate and tender in its +instrumentation, the wind instruments being treated as solos, although +not concertante; in the others there is a very pithy forcible tone, +which in the last (16) becomes almost brilliant. + +The duet (20), owing to the singularity of the situation, differs +materially in character from an ordinary love duet. Within sight of +death each of the lovers has the painful consciousness of having led the +other to destruction; and their mutual endeavour to console one another +with the certainty of their love, which death may consummate but cannot +destroy, raises them to the height of enthusiastic inspiration. This +sentiment is excellently well expressed in the first calm movement with +fervour and clearness, and a perceptible blending of painful emotion and +loving consolation; the second movement does not quite reach the same +high level. Not only do some of the passages, and the very tedious +conclusion, make concessions to passing effect, but the expression does +not rise to the ecstatic strain which is implied in the situation.[55] + +The noble forms of the two lovers stand in the sharpest contrast to that +of Osmin, which is altogether Mozart's creation, and certainly one of +the most original characters of dramatic music. The very way in which +he is introduced is masterly. After Belmont has sung his cavatina, which +breathes the noblest love and constancy, Osmin comes out of the house to +gather figs; he sings a song for his pastime; it is a love song, but one +suggested by painful jealousy. The minor key of Osmin's song gives it a +wild, desolate expression, in strong contrast to the cheerful candour of +the cavatina; many popular songs have this expression, and Osmin's song +is successfully imitated from the popular style. The phrasing is clumsy +in spite of the marked rhythm, but the effect is quite startling when +Osmin in a complacent hum + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(238) + +repeats the last words an octave lower, and then at once breaks out +into a wild "Trallalera!" The uncouth fellow lolls and stretches so +completely at his ease that there cannot be a moment's doubt of how +unamiable he will prove to be if any one should venture to cross +his path.[56] This is soon put to the proof. He refuses with assumed +indifference to answer Belmont's repeated inquiries, and on the latter +interrupting him (involuntarily, as it were, with the melody of his own +song, which has so irritated Belmont), the unabashed rudeness of Osmin +breaks out in speech. It is as interesting as instructive to note how in +this duet the simplest and easiest means of musical representation +are used to produce a continuous climax and the most lively +characterisation. While it is still in full train Pedrillo enters, and +Osmin turns upon him with a fresh outbreak of rage in the song which +Mozart had spoken of to his father (3). Again changing his tactics, he +endeavours to repress his opponent with all the weight of his dignity +and cleverness. Gravity and importance, expressed by the rhythm, +the pompous intervals, the syncopated accompaniment, alternate +with impatience and haste, when the singer becomes irritated. Very +characteristic is the demeanour of Osmin as he complacently nurses the +thought: "I have my wits about me!" ("Ich hab' auch Ver-stand!"). He +works himself gradually up into a rage, and the threats which he pours +forth in a breath fall like blows on the head of the hapless Pedrillo. +The effect is produced by the accentuation given to the rapid flow of +words; the first fourth of every bar is forcibly given by the orchestra, +and the second is taken up by the voice in fifths, and then in octaves. +At last he comes to a triumphant close, and one thinks it is all over. +But he has only stopped to take breath, and at once resuming his furious +course, he ends by completely overpowering his opponent. Mozart writes +to his father on the conclusion of this song (September 26, 1781): "The +'Drum beim Barte des Propheten' is in the same time, but the notes are +more rapid, and as his anger grows one imagines the climax must be close +at hand; the allegro assai + + +{OSMIN--TURKISH MUSIC.} + +(239) + +follows in quite a different time and key, and has an excellent effect. +A man in such violent rage oversteps all bounds of moderation, and +loses all command over himself, and so must the music. But since," he +continues, expressing in simple words that wherein lies the charm of all +true art, "since the passions, violent or not, must never be carried to +the point of producing disgust, and the music, however thrilling, must +never fail to satisfy the ear, consequently must always remain music, I +have not chosen a distant key to follow the F (the key of the song) but +an allied one; not the nearest key of all, D minor, but the farther +one of A minor." In point of fact, the effect of the minor key is +extraordinary, both here and in other places where it is only cursorily +touched. It adds to the frenzied wildness of the character in which lust +and cruelty are blended, and it is emphasised by the strongly marked +though monotonous rhythm. And how wonderfully all these characteristics +are enhanced by the instrumentation! + +"Osmin's rage," writes Mozart, "acquires a comic element by the +introduction of the Turkish music." The effect is enhanced by the +simplicity which has hitherto characterised the instrumentation. The +oboes (with bassoons and horns) predominate until, in the last verse: +"Sonderlich beim Monden-scheine," a flute insinuates itself with very +good effect. There are many characteristic touches in spite of the +scanty means at disposal, as for instance, the mocking entry of the oboe +at the words, "Ich hab' auch Verstand." + +The Turkish music serves for far more than local colour and +characterisation. The expression of fanaticism is coloured as well as +heightened by the shrill sound of the piccolo flute, the blows of the +drum and cymbals, and the tingle of the triangles.[57] The bewilderment +produced by these + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(240) + +instruments, the breathless rapidity of the movement, and the monotony +of the rhythm make one feel that giddiness must ensue if it goes on +much longer. But Mozart never makes us giddy, he makes use of the most +forcible means for characterisation, but never to the point of becoming +painful, and all with so much cheerfulness and humour that the total +effect is decidedly pleasing. + +We make acquaintance with Osmin's boorish character in many different +situations; he is true to himself in them all. The second great song +(19) contrasts in some measure with the first. He is triumphant, he +has his enemies in his power, and he is beside himself with joy; but he +retains the same savage nature, and in the midst of all his rejoicing +the main point for him is that he can now loll and stretch himself +comfortably, which he proceeds to do to his heart's content on the +long-sustained A and D, to which he easily carries his scale. Especially +characteristic is the middle movement of this song. One seems to see a +wild beast, now yawning and stretching, now crouching for a spring; +grim cruelty and lustful indolence are wonderfully characterised by the +alternation of octaves and dissonant suspensions in the accompaniment, +as well as by the triplet passages which are given by the orchestra in +unison, as if there could be no harmony here; the expression of joy is +mingled with unspeakable brutality, and comes to a climax in the shrill +note of exultation at the close.[58] But Osmin shows himself a true +poltroon in the duet with Blondchen (9)--her snappish impudence +completely gets the better of him, and although he endeavours to overawe +her with the deepest notes of his deep bass voice, her persiflage drives +her unwieldy antagonist quite out of the field. The lament which he +thereupon sings: "Ihr Englander, seid ihrnicht Thoren, ihr lasst euren +Weibem den Willen!" ("You Englishmen, what fools you are, to leave your +wives their freedom!") is in contrast to his love song, and completes +the conception of it. Here there is nothing of + + +{OSMIN.} + +(241) + +the barbarous nature which showed itself in lust and jealousy, but only +the pitiful whining of a slavish soul which trembles before a resolute +woman's will. The characterisation of the last movement--when Osmin +gives up all appearance of superiority and yields upon every point--is +charming, and produced by the simplest musical means. He displays +another side of his character in the duet (14) in which Pedrillo induces +him to drink.[59] His senses are soon overcome, and he endeavours +to outvie Pedrillo. It is of advantage to the situation that the +personality of the singers required that even here Osmin must be +considered the chief person; one only needs to hear the arrogance with +which he delivers the principal subject in order to feel sure on whom +the wine will take strongest effect,[60] and even when the rapidly +concluded entente cordiale is expressed in unison, Osmin's low-pitched +octaves keep the upper hand. But here, too, Mozart keeps within bounds, +and never goes beyond a joke; Osmin's drunken sleep is excluded from his +representation. Osmin's character is least strongly characterised in the +terzet (7), of which Mozart writes to his father as follows (September +26, 1781):-- + +Now for the terzet which concludes the first act. Pedrillo has +represented his master as an architect, which affords him an opportunity +of meeting his Constanze in the garden. The Pasha has taken him into +his service; and Osmin, as overseer, and knowing nothing of this, is +insolent to him as a stranger, being himself an unmannerly churl and +the arch-enemy of all strangers, and refuses to allow him to enter the +garden. The first movement is short, and as the words allowed of it I + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(242) + +have kept the three voices fairly well together; but then begins the +major _pianissimo_, which must go very fast, and the conclusion will +draw many tears, which is just what the conclusion of a first act should +do; the more tears the better--but the shorter the better, so that the +audience may not forget the applause. + +We see from this that Mozart thought more in this instance of a vivid +expression of the situation than of minute characterisation, and all +the three characters are alike in their urging and scolding. The +advisability, therefore, of keeping the three voices "fairly well" +together, their imitative arrangement keeping up the impression of +great excitement, is indicated by the situation, although, owing to +the necessity for stricter attention to form, the individual +characterisation is thereby limited. + +Osmin's last appearance in the finale is very amusing. While all the +other characters are expressing their gratitude, in the favourite form +of a round, Osmin tries in vain to keep in the same track; but the +round sticks in his throat, and his angry spite will have vent; the +hunting-song of the first act with the obbligato janizaries' music +rushes once more past our ears. Although some elements borrowed from the +conventional forms of the Italian bass buffo are discernible in the part +of Osmin, yet Mozart has made use of them in such an entirely original +manner that they are closely interwoven in his own creation. It is, +however, the consistency of the individual characterisation which +distinguishes the part of Osmin and raises it far above the ordinary +buffo parts, causing it to afford a striking instance of Mozart's +eminent talent for dramatic construction. + +The part requires a performer such as Fischer, of whom Reichardt +writes: "He is an excellent bass singer; his voice has the depth of a +violoncello, and the height of an ordinary tenor; its compass is--[See +Page Image] + +so that his deep notes are never harsh, nor his high ones shrill; his +voice flows with ease and certainty, and is full of charm. In praise of +his style I need only say that he is a + + +{FISCHER.} + +(243) + +worthy pupil of the great tenor Raaff, who was, and still is considered, +the best tenor in all Europe. Fischer has a more flexible organ than +perhaps any other bass singer, and his acting is as good in serious +drama as in comic." + +Such materials as this are calculated to bring forth good effects. Among +them may be noted the original sense of climax which Mozart produces +by repeating a passage an octave lower; this is done in the Lied and +in both of Osmin's airs at the words "Ich hab' auch Verstand" (3), and +"Denn nun hab ich vor euch Ruh!" (19). The same effect occurs in the +beautiful song "Non sö d'onde viene," composed also for Fischer; an +expressive and sustained passage is repeated an octave lower, and the +effect is very beautiful. + +In order to give an adequate idea of Fischer's powers, the two serious +songs composed for him by Mozart must be considered along with this +decidedly comic part. The above-mentioned, "Non sò d'onde viene" (512 +K.), broad in conception and style, displays the whole compass and +wealth of Fischer's organ in the most favourable light. The other, +"Aspri rimorsi atroce" (432 K.), composed in 1783, is remarkable for +the expression of a gloomy, agitated mood, not illumined by any ray of +light. + +An expressive recitative is followed by a single movement (allegro, F +minor) in incessant agitation, the almost uninterrupted triplets of the +stringed instruments giving it the character of trembling unrest. The +voice part is very striking by reason of its decided rhythm and frequent +dissonant intervals; but it is mostly declamatory, and there is no +appearance of a cantilene proper; the wind instruments give effect +to the strong accents. The whole song pursues its rapid course like +a gloomy nocturne, and dies away at last in a dull moan. This song is +distinguished among all that Mozart has written by its uninterrupted +expression of gloomy passion, and it would be almost inconceivable that +he intended it for concert singing, did we not know that Fischer was to +sing it: he was unsurpassed in every species of delivery. + +The parts of Blondchen and Pedrillo are not by any + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(244) + +means so important in their characterisation as those of the principal +personages, neither have they much influence on the development of +the plot. Blondchen, besides her share in the duet with Osmin, has two +songs, of which the first (8) is in no way remarkable, written evidently +for a seconda donna. The only point to be noted is a passage going up +to--[See Page Image] + +which gives proof of Mdlle. Teyber's vocal powers.[61] The second song +(12) is far fresher and more original, and expresses heartfelt joy in so +lively and charming a manner, without ever overstepping the province +of a good-humoured soubrette, that the hearer is involuntarily beguiled +into the same cheerful frame of mind. A German element is unmistakably +present (we are reminded of the "Zauberflote"), and we may note the +first appearance of those naïve girl-parts common to German opera.[62] + +Mozart has given to Pedrillo's song (15) somewhat of a military tone, +suggested perhaps by the opening words "Frisch zum Kampfe!" and although +his servile nature is indicated here and there in the accompaniment, the +effect of the whole is too forcible and brilliant for the character.[63] +On the other hand, the romanze (18) which he sings in the third act to +the guitar is a jewel of delicate characterisation. Not, however, with +any reference to Pedrillo himself, for he sings the song, not from +personal impulse, but as something he has heard and learnt; but the +strange effects of harmony and rhythm, the mixture of bold + + +{PEDRILLO--QUARTET.} + +(245) + +knightly impulse with timid dismay, is so fantastic, so unreal, that we +seem to be ourselves in Moorish lands, and are readily persuaded that we +are listening to genuine Moorish music. But we are listening, in fact, +to no music but Mozart's, whose own mind evolved the music which the +situation demanded, without any previous philological study of Moorish +national melodies. The two choruses of janizaries (so Mozart calls them +in the score[64] ) are not only characterised by the Turkish airs they +embody, but by original harmonies and rhythm which give them a foreign +and national character, without any special regard as to whether it is +actually Turkish or not.[65] + +We have already had occasion to remark how the ensemble movements +proceed naturally from the exigencies of the situation, and are +therefore essential to the musical characterisation of the work. This is +especially true of the quartet (16), which forms the conclusion of the +second act. Belmont and Constanze meet for the first time in the Pasha's +garden, where are also Blondchen and Pedrillo. The meeting of the +lovers is the more significant, since it is in anticipation of their +approaching flight. An unusually elevated tone of sentiment is therefore +common to them all; but the particular circumstances produce many +different shades of feeling, and each character has its own distinct +peculiarities. It is the task of the composer to combine this +multifariousness into an artistic whole. The scenic accessories come +very happily to his aid. The two pairs of lovers wander about the garden +in close converse, so that they are heard sometimes apart, sometimes one +after the other, sometimes together, according to the requirements of +the situation and of the musical grouping. The beginning is a simple +matter. Constanze and Belmont + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(246) + +express their feelings in a short duet-like movement, full of heart, such +as Mozart has made proper to lovers. When they turn aside Pedrillo and +Blondchen advance, deep in consultation on the flight, so that the music +assumes a lighter and more cheerful tone. But their thoughts are also +occupied with the approaching happy turn in their fortunes, and when +Belmont and Constance draw near, they all spontaneously join in the +expression of joyful emotion. Small touches betray the master. The +consultation between Pedrillo and Blondchen is in A major, and closes +with an easy phrase on the words: "Wär der Augenblick schon da!" ("O, +that the moment had come!"), very expressive of the girl's character. +The orchestra at once takes up this phrase with great emphasis, produced +both by the sudden change to the key of D major and by the forcible +unison of the instruments, as if they were exclaiming, "It has come!" +and then leads back simply and expressively to the leading motif, which +now for the first time asserts its full significance:--[See Page Image] + +But now the tone grows troubled. Belmont cannot repress a feeling of +jealousy, and, embarrassed and confused, he seeks to express his doubts +to Constanze, who does not understand him. Pedrillo follows in the +same direction to Blondchen, who is far more ready in apprehending his +meaning. The oboe gives charming expression to the feelings which +the jealous lovers scarcely dare to clothe in words. Then Belmont and +Constanze came forward again. The two men speak together, each after +his manner--Belmont noble and open, Pedrillo with chattering haste. +Constanze bursts into tears, Blondchen answers Pedrillo with a box on +the ears; the women lament together, and the men are aware that they +have gone too far. After the lively expression of these contrasting +emotions in rapid alternation, + + +{QUARTET.} + +(247) + +the lovers emerge from the confusion, explain themselves as to their +true feelings, and so prepare for the reconciliation. The short ensemble +movement in which Mozart consummates this dénouement (andante 6-8) is +one of those passages of which a friend used to say that "der liebe +Gott" himself could not have done it better; the purest beauty and +a truly holy expression of satisfaction penetrates the simple and +unpretending phrase. The magic of such conceptions cannot be rendered in +words, nor can it be satisfactorily indicated by what actual means the +effect is attained, and yet it is always of interest to see the master +in his workshop. + +It is easy to see in this case that the key selected (A major) combines +with the rhythm and the harmonic treatment to produce the wished-for +effect. It gives the voices a pitch allowing of the clearest and most +melodious tones, heightened in their effect by the deeper pitch of the +accompanying stringed instruments, and it also, although in fact the +nearest key to the principal one, produces an impression of surprise as +great as though it were a more distant one. This is due to what precedes +the adoption of the A major key. The first movement in D major is +followed by one in G minor, which leads to E flat major, B minor, F +major; D minor is just touched, but only to pass again through C minor +and B flat major into G minor, with a rapid transition into E major. +After this restless change of key, the passage into A major has +a wonderfully tranquillising effect, and the adherence to the +key throughout the movement gives it a peculiar charm. But the +reconciliation has not yet taken place; the lovers sue for pardon, +but the two women allow them first to feel their injustice, and here +Blondchen assumes the lead by virtue of her fluent tongue, while the men +supplicate more and more earnestly, until at last peace is concluded. +This movement is a model of dramatic characterisation. An excellent +effect is produced by Blondchen's singing throughout in triplets (12-8 +against 4-4), in contrast to the calm flowing melodies for the other +voices. The movement only acquires its full significance by contrast +with what has preceded it. + + +{DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.} + +(248) + +When pardon has been granted, every trace of past sorrow is obliterated +by the feeling of complete satisfaction. After so much mental strain a +complete relaxation is necessary from a musical point of view. The last +movement is therefore very simple, although appropriately brilliant and +fiery. It seldom departs from the principal key, and is frequently in +canon form; very light passages for the voices, rapid instrumentation, +and an unusually effective _crescendo_ at the close, give it an +impulsive and quickening effect. This was the first really dramatic +ensemble movement in a German opera, and in it we find concentrated all +Mozart's services to the German opera--a full and free employment of all +the means afforded by song and orchestra to give musical expression to +emotion, without subservience to any more binding forms than those laws +which are founded on the nature of music. + +The masterly treatment of the orchestra in the "Entführung has been +repeatedly pointed out, and there is no need to repeat that Mozart +turned to account all the advantages offered to him by the Vienna +orchestra. In comparison with "Idomeneo" the instrumentation is not +exactly scantier, but it is clearer and simpler; the tendency to employ +the different instruments independently, to bring forward subordinate +subjects, &c., is held in check, and the details are more lightly +treated on account of stage effects. "I think I may venture to +lay down," says Weber, "that in the 'Entführung' Mozart's _artist +experience_ came to maturity, and that his _experience of the world_ +alone was to lead him to further efforts. The world might look for +several operas from him like 'Figaro' and 'Don Juan,' but with the best +will possible he could only write one 'Entführung.' I seem to perceive +in it what the happy years of youth are to every man; their bloom never +returns, and the extirpation of their defects carries with it some +charms which can never be recovered."[66] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXV. + +[Footnote 1: Gottsched, Nothiger Vorrath, p. 314.] + +[Footnote 2: Schletterer, Das Deutsche Singspiel, p. 110.] + +[Footnote 3: Chronologie des Deutschen Theaters, p. 109. Plümicke, Entwurf e. +Theatergesch. von Berlin, p. 193.] + +[Footnote 4: Furstenau, Zur Gesch. der Musik zu Dresden, II., p. 246.] + +[Footnote 5: Chronol., p. 159; Cäcilia, VIII., p. 277.] + +[Footnote 6: Weisse, Selbstbiogr., pp. 25, 41; Blümner, Gesch. d. Theat. in +Leipzig, p. 98.] + +[Footnote 7: Blümner, ibid. Danzel, Gottsched, p. 172.] + +[Footnote 8: Chronol., p. 202] + +[Footnote 9: Chronol., p. 247.] + +[Footnote 10: Blumner, Gesch. d. Theat. in Leipzig, p. 159. Hiller, Wochentl. +Nachr., I., p. 219; II., pp. 135, 150. N. Bibl. d. Schön. Wiss., 1767, +IV., p. 178. [Reichardt] Briefe e. Aufm. Reia., II., p. 23. Meyer, L. +Schroder, I., p. 131. Goethe, Werke, XVII., p. 295.] + +[Footnote 11: Hiller, Wöch. Nachr., I., p. 253; III., p. 59.] + +[Footnote 12: Weisse, Selbstbiogr., p. 102.] + +[Footnote 13: Hiller, Lebensbeschr. beruhmter Musikgelehrten, p. 311.] + +[Footnote 14: Cf. Deutsch. Museum, 1779, II., p.268. Plümicke, Entwurf e. +Theatergesch. von Berlin, p. 205. The contrary is reported of Cassel as +a rare exception (Berl. Litt. u. Theat.-Ztg., 1783, II., p. 409).] + +[Footnote 15: L. Schneider, Gesch. d. Oper in Berlin, p. 209.] + +[Footnote 16: The constitution of the operatic repertory of the time is shown +in the review of the operettas performed in Berlin from 1771-1787 by +Schneider (Ibid., p. 206.).] + +[Footnote 17: Reichardt, Ueb. d. Com. Oper., p. 20.] + +[Footnote 18: "Operettas are the favourite pieces in Berlin, and cost a great +deal of money," wrote Ramier to Knebel, in 1772 (Litt Nachl., II., p. +36). He paid the actors of the first parts one louis-d'or, of the second +one ducat, and the rest two gulden for a first performance (Plümicke, +Entwurf e. Theatergesch. von Berlin, p. 274).] + +[Footnote 19: Briefe e. Aufmerks. Reisenden, I., p. 147.] + +[Footnote 20: Briefe e. Aufmerks. Reisenden, II., p. 94. Burney, Reise, III., p. +46.] + +[Footnote 21: "Comic operas push out all tragedies and legitimate drama," +complained Ramier in 1771 (Knebel, Litt. Nachl., II., p. 33). Boie +writes to Knebel to the same effect in 1771 (Litt. Nachl., II., p. 108): +"I do not like operettas. The taste which our public is developing for +them threatens to extinguish all hope of the revival of true comedy." So +also Schubart, Teutsche Chronik, 1774, pp. 349. 478; Knigge, Ephemer. d. +Litt. u. d. Theat., 1785, II., p. 98.] + +[Footnote 22: A. M. Z., III., p. 327.] + +[Footnote 23: Lessing's Werke, XI., p. 152.] + +[Footnote 24: Weissc, Selbstbiogr., p. 103. Engel says the same in the preface to +the "Apotheke," p. viII. Cf. Schmid, Das Parterr, p. 155.] + +[Footnote 25: Briefe eines Aufmerks. Reisenden, I., p. 141. Ueb. d. Com. Opera, +p. 6. Cf. Mus. Kunstmag., I., p. 161. Geist des Mus. Kunstmag,, p. 94.] + +[Footnote 26: Riemer, Mitth., II., p. 111.] + +[Footnote 27: Riemer, Mitth., II., p. 194.] + +[Footnote 28: Goethe, Br. an Frau von Stein, III., pp. 181,191. Knebel, Litt. +Nachl., I., P 149.] + +[Footnote 29: Riemer, Mitth., II., p. 192. Briefw. m. Zelter, II., p. 121.] + +[Footnote 30: Goethe, Werke, XXI., p. 6. Cf. Br. an Frau von Stein, III., p. 235.] + +[Footnote 31: Cf. Goethe, Briefw. mit Zelter, II., p. 121. Riemer, Mittheil., +II., p. 292.] + +[Footnote 32: "Belmont und Constanze, oder die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail." Eine +Operette. in drei Akten von C. F. Bretzner (Leipzig, 1781). A French +adaptation, "L'Enlèvement" was made by Ch. Destrais, Strasburg, 1857.] + +[Footnote 33: Jul. André has lately published this interesting relic: duet, +"Welch ängst-liches Beben," zur Oper "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail " +von Mozart. Offenbach: André (389 K.).] + +[Footnote 34: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, II., p. 1057.] + +[Footnote 35: In Constanze's aria the words run:-- Mozart had previously written +to his father (September 26, 1781): "! have altered Hui into schnell, +thus: 'Doch wie schnell schwand meine Freude.' I do not know what our +German poets are thinking of. Even if they do not trouble themselves to +understand what is best fitted for dramatic or operatic treatment, they +need not make human beings converse like pigs."] + +[Footnote 36: Reichardt finds special fault with the rhyming in his Briefe über +die musikalische Poesie, p. 115 (an appendix to his pamphlet on the +German Comic Opera, Leipzig, 1774).] + + "Doch im Hui schwand meine + Freude Trennung war mein banges; + Und nun schwimmt mein Aug' in + Thränen Kummer ruht in meinem Schooss."] + +[Footnote 37: It must be kept in mind that German operatic poets confined +themselves to imitating Italian opera libretti, which were all cast in +the same mould. Krause's pamphlet, highly esteemed by contemporaries, +Von der musikalischen Poesie (Berlin, 1752) takes this for granted; +Hiller (Ueber Metastasio, 1786, p.6) refers the German librettists to +Metastatio; even Goethe, although in another way, endeavoured to form +German vaudeville after an Italian type. Views of the subject, similar +to those of Mozart and Reichardt, are carried out in detail in Cramer's +Magazin der Musik, II., p. 1061.] + +[Footnote 38: Gluck's intentions were unquestionably the same. He warred against +the mechanical formalism of musicians, and strove to free the composer +from the fetters of form and make him a poet. But he was in some danger +of going too far, and making the musician merely the interpreter of the +poet.] + +[Footnote 39: Cf. Hanslick, Vom Musikalisch-Schönen, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 40: The same difficulty has led composers of the present day to write +their own libretti. But it is not in nature that the highest aims can +thus be attained. Burney quotes Metastatio's utterances on this point +(Reise, II., p. 222). Cf. O. Jahn, Ges. Aufs. üb. Musik, p. 70.] + +[Footnote 41: Cf. Hanslik Vom Musikalisch-Schönen, p. 78.] + +[Footnote 42: Lessing has some excellent observations on the relations of music +to poetry in the continuation of his Laokoon (Werke, XI., p. 153).] + +[Footnote 43: Hiller, Wochentl. Nachr., I., p. 256. Lebensbeschreibungen, I., p. +312. Reichardt, Ueb. d. Com. Oper, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 44: He was perfectly aware that comic opera must follow its own laws. +"You cannot imagine,'' he wrote to his father (June 16,1781), "that I +should write an opéra comique in the same style as an opera seria. Just +as in an opera seria there must be a display of much learning and good +sense, and very little playfulness, so in an opera buffa there must be +very little display of learning and a great deal of playful merriment. +It cannot be helped if people will have comic music in an opera seria; +but there is a great difference. I believe that buffoonery is not quite +rooted out of music yet; and in this case the French are right."] + +[Footnote 45: The autograph score of the "Entfùhrung" (384 K.), in three volumes +(453 pages), was presented by Mozart to his sister-in-law, Madame Hofer, +one evening when she had especially gratified him by her singing; it is +now in the possession of Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdv. of Berlin. Some of +the odd sheets are in Andre's collection. Wolfgang writes to his father +July 20, 1782: "You will find many erasures, because I knew that the +score would be copied at once; so I let my ideas have free play, and +made my alterations and abbreviations before sending it to the copyist."] + +[Footnote 46: The ancients indicated this distinction by the terms _pathos_ and +_ethos_.] + +[Footnote 47: Meyer II. Schroder. I., p. 368 speaks of his nasal tones in the +high notes.] + +[Footnote 48: These are the beautiful air, "Per pietä non ricercate" 420 K.. +part Si; the air written in 1785 for the oratorio "Davide Penitente " +(469 K.. 61. "A te fra tanti attanni" and a grand air belonging to +1783 (431 K. part 3.) which is one of the most beautiful. It supposes +a faithful lover awaking to find himself in prison, and expressing his +surprise and anger in an agitated recitative, "Misero! O sogno!" In the +andante, "Aura che intomo spin," his thoughts turn to his beloved one, +for whom he is suffering; a simple and dignified cantilene, full of +warm, deep feeling. The allegro, expressive of his horror at his +position, is full of wild excitement and anguish. The whole song is +simple and full of manly dignity without bravura, which seems to have +been Adam-berger's peculiar style. The musical treatment is rich in +interesting detail; the wind instruments--flutes, bassoons, and +horns--are employed to give individual colouring.] + +[Footnote 49: This air was considerably abbreviated by Mozart. In the adagio +there was originally a distinct middle movement following the second +occurrence of the subject; it passed into the key of E flat major, and +at the seventeenth bar closed in D minor, whereupon the first subject +recurred. The allegro was also shortened.] + +[Footnote 50: This air also was considerably altered by Mozart.] + +[Footnote 51: The same may almost be said of the air "Tra le oscure ombre +funeste," which Mozart composed in 1785 for Mdlle. Cavalieri in the +oratorio, "Davide Penitente" (469 K., 8). The first movement is +expressive of earnest feeling; the second has more of bravura.] + +[Footnote 52: Salieri narrates that Gluck was dissatisfied with one part of his +"Danaides" without knowing the reason why; after many repetitions he +exclaimed at last, "I have it! the passage _smells of music!_" (Mosel, +Salieri, p. 79).] + +[Footnote 53: The bravura part was originally extended into eleven bars (from bar +5, p. 153)f with the voices and instruments contending; the close was +also longer, fifteen bars being inserted at p. 175, bar 7. Rochlitz +asserts (A. M. Z., I., p. 145) that in later years Mozart undertook a +searching revision of the "Entfuhrung," making numerous alterations, +especially abbreviations. "I heard him play one of Constanze s principal +airs, after twofold revision, and deplored some of the omitted passages. +'They may do for the piano,' said he, 'but not on the stage.' When I +wrote that I was too fond of hearing myself, and did not know when to +leave off." This is the only instance known of such hypercriticism on +Mozart's part.] + +[Footnote 54: It has already been remarked that Mozart made use of a motif from +"Zaide" for this air (Vol. II., p. 121).] + +[Footnote 55: Tieck, Dramaturg. Blatter, II., p. 315: "The duet is one which +may draw tears from the eyes of the most insensible." Even Berlioz (X +Travers Chants, p. 243) thought highly of it.] + +[Footnote 56: Cf. Lobe, A. M. Z., XLVIII., p. 537.] + +[Footnote 57: A singular effect is given by the sustained notes of the oboes and +bassoons with the appoggiatura:--[See Page Image] +Mozart has made a similar use of them in the Wedding March in "Figaro," +where he was equally desirous of imparting peculiarity of colouring.] + +[Footnote 58: Mozart has used only the piccolo flute here, as specially adapted +for the tattoo-like principal subject, and its wild, shrill conclusion. +The clarinets are very originally treated, particularly in those places +where they are apart from the other wind instruments and support the +voice with sustained notes.] + +[Footnote 59: Mozart's expression, in his letter to his father (September 26, +1781), "The drinking duet, which consists entirely of my Turkish tattoo +(Zapfenstreich)," leads to the conclusion that he has here made use +of an earlier composition, with which I am not acquainted. The Turkish +music, in conjunction with trumpets (no drums), is admirably suggestive +of Osmin's excited, half-tipsy state.] + +[Footnote 60: This motif was evidently composed just as Osmin sings it. Fischer's +flexible and melodious voice made it doubly effective in contrast to the +less voluble tenor, so characteristic of the insignificant Pedrillo. At +the outset, an admirable effect is produced by the violins, strengthened +by piccolo and ordinary flutes, which gently accentuate the melody +detached from its simple but agitated accompaniment. There is something +peculiarly seductive in this melodious rippling sound, of which there is +another instance in the Moor's song in the "Zauberflöte."] + +[Footnote 61: In its first design this air was considerably longer; the second +part began at p. mt bar 9, instead of p. 109, bar 19; it was in D major, +instead of A major, and led back into the first subject, bringing the +whole to a conclusion after twenty-nine interpolated bars.] + +[Footnote 62: The instrumentation of this air in full, and the orchestral parts +carefully worked out; the accompaniment at the words "ohne Aufschub +will ich eilen" is unusually charming and animated. It also has been +shortened by Mozart.] + +[Footnote 63: Arnold (Mozart's Geist, p. 375) interprets the words as though +Pedrillo was trying to assume a courage which he did not possess.] + +[Footnote 64: He writes to his father of the first (September 26, 1781): "The +janizary chorus is all that can be desired, short and merry, and very +well suited for the Viennese public."] + +[Footnote 65: Ulibicheff, who makes some striking observations on this chorus, +notices its many points of resemblance (such as the alternation of +relative major and minor keys) to Russian national melodies, with which +Mozart may have become acquainted at Prince Gallitzin's (II., p. 375).] + +[Footnote 66: C. M. von Weber, Lebensbild, III., p. 191. Cf. A. Wendt, Leipzig +Kunstbl., 1817, p. 189. (Heinse, Reise- und Lebensskizzen, I., p. 298.)] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. COURTSHIP. + +IT has often been pointed out that Mozart wrote the "Entführung" as an +accepted lover; and many analogies have been drawn + + +{THE WEBERS.} + +(249) + +between his own love affairs and those represented in the opera, with +the view of accounting for the depth and truth of his expression of the +tenderest of passions. It is true that Mozart could not have rendered +love so truly without having felt it in its full intensity. But if we +stop to realise the difficulties and vexations with which Mozart had to +struggle as a lover, we shall rather wonder that he could compose at all +under such circumstances, and the Entführung" becomes a striking proof +that creative genius sets the artist free from the pressure of life, and +raises him into the region of beauty in which true art is begotten. + +We have already seen the relief it was to Mozart, when obliged to quit +the house of the Archbishop, to find a lodging with Madame Weber, his +old Mannheim friend. After Aloysia's marriage to the actor Lange, the +mother lived in somewhat reduced circumstances with her other three +daughters, and was glad to let her spare rooms; it was a comfort to +Mozart to be relieved by friendly hands of the little housekeeping cares +which he was ill-fitted to attend to himself. But his father was averse +to the arrangement; he feared that the Webers would make a tool of him, +as they had, in his opinion, in Mannheim. He was not at all satisfied +with Wolfgang's reassurances on the subject, and pressed him to take +another lodging; Wolfgang declared himself quite willing if he could +find one equally comfortable. As this did not seem likely, and a report +reached Salzburg that Mozart was engaged to be married to one of Madame +Weber's daughters, his father insisted on compliance with his desire. +Wolfgang answered (July 25, 1781):-- + +I repeat that I have long wished to take another lodging, if only to +stop people's chatter; and it annoys me to have to do it for the sake of + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(250) + +absurd gossip, in which there is not a word of truth. I should like to +know what pleasure it can be to certain people to spread such baseless +reports. Because I am living with the family I must, forsooth, marry +the daughter! There is no talk of affection--they jump over all that; I +simply go to the house, and then get married. If ever in my life I was +far from thinking of marriage, it is at this moment. I wish for nothing +less than a rich wife; and even if I could make a good marriage now +I must perforce wait, for I have other things in my head. God has not +given me my talent that I might cripple it with a wife, and waste my +prime in inactivity. Shall I embitter my life at its very opening? I +have nothing to say against matrimony, but for me at present it would be +an unmitigated evil. Well, if there is no other way, false as it all is, +I must avoid even the appearance of it, although the appearance has no +foundation except my lodging in the house. No one who does not live in +the house can imagine how very little intercourse I have with them; +for the children seldom go out--never except to the play--and I cannot +accompany them because I am seldom at home at that hour. We have been on +the Prater once or twice, but the mother was with us; being in the house +I could not avoid going, and I heard no such foolish gossip then. I +must tell you, too, that I paid only _my own_ share;[1] and the mother, +having become aware of the gossip from others as well as from myself, +objects to our going anywhere together again, and has herself advised me +to move my quarters to avoid further annoyance, for she says she would +not willingly injure me, however innocently. This is my only reason +for leaving, and this is no valid reason; but people's mouths must +be stopped. It would not be difficult to find a better room, but very +difficult to meet with such kind and obliging people. I will not say +that I am uncivil and never speak to the young lady to whom report has +wedded me, but I am not in love with her; I chat and joke with her when +I have time--that is in the evenings, when I sup at home; in the morning +I write in my own room, and in the afternoon I am nearly always out--and +so that is really all about it. If I am to marry all the girls I have +made fun with, I shall have at least a hundred wives. Now farewell, +my dear father, and trust your son, who has really the best intentions +towards all honest people! Trust him, and believe him sooner than +certain people who have nothing better to do than to calumniate honest +folk. + +An unfinished allegro to a clavier sonata (400 K.) remains as a curious +and amusing instance of the influence exerted on a composer by his +immediate surroundings. After a very + + +{THE MESSMERS--RIGHINI.} + +(251) + +cheerful first part, a plaintive tone is struck in the second, and a +very strongly accentuated musical dialogue occurs. The names of the +two sisters Weber are written against the characterising phrases of the +music:--[See Page Image] + +The Messmer family had offered Mozart apartments in their house in the +suburbs, but he could not make up his mind to accept the offer: "The +house is not what it was," he writes to his sister (December 15, 1781). +Messmer had staying with him at the time Vine. Righini (1756-1812), +formerly an opera-buffa singer and then a composer; they were on very +intimate terms, and Madame Messmer was especially friendly to Righini. +The latter, as Mozart informs his father in answer to his inquiries, +makes a great deal of money by giving lessons, and his cantata (probably +"Il Natale d' Apollo") had been given twice during Lent with great +success. "He writes _prettily_; is not superficial, but a great thief. +He gives back his stolen goods so unblushingly and in such overflowing +abundance that people can hardly digest them" (August 29, 1781).[2] + +Another musical family would have been glad to receive him as an inmate, +and his father appears to have been not unwilling that he should form +a closer connection in this case. Wolfgang had been introduced to Herr +Aurnhammer, whose "fat lady-daughter" Josephine was considered one of +the first clavier-players of the day. They received him kindly, and +often invited him, as he informs his father (June 27, 1781): "I dine +almost daily with Herr Aurnhammer; the young lady is a horror--but she +plays divinely; she seems + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(252) + +to lose her really refined taste in singing, however, and drags +everything."[3] + +It would have been convenient to them that Mozart should be in their +immediate neighbourhood. But he was far from satisfied with the quarters +which they offered him; it was a room "for rats and mice, but not for +human beings. The stairs need a lantern to light them at noonday; and +the room might be called a _cell._ The wife herself called the house +a rat's nest--in fact it was really dreadful." Nor did he feel any +inclination for closer intercourse with this family, whose motives in +wishing for him he believed that he saw through. Seeing that his father +had set his mind upon his going, he felt constrained to set the two +sides of the question before him. The description which follows is +somewhat "schlimm" certainly, but too characteristic of the writer to be +omitted:-- + +He is the best-natured man in the world; too much so, indeed, for his +wife--a stupid, silly chatterer--has quite the upper hand, so that when +she speaks he has not a word to say. Whenever we go for a walk together +he begs me not to mention in his wife's presence that we took a fiacre +or drank some beer. Now I cannot possibly have confidence in such a man. +He is a good fellow and my very good friend, and I can dine with him +when I please, but I am not used to be paid for _my civilities_; indeed +a dinner would scarcely be fitting payment, but people like these think +so much of what they do. I will not attempt to describe the mother to +you; one has enough to do at table to refrain from laughing at her. You +know Frau Adlgasser? This creature is worse, for she is ill-natured as +well as stupid. As for the daughter, if a painter wanted a model for +the evil one he might have recourse to her face. She is as fat as a +peasant-girl, and once seeing her is enough to make one wretched for the +whole day. _Pfui Teufel!_ + +I wrote to you how she plays the clavier, and why she begged me to +assist her.[4] She is not content that I should pass two hours every day + + +{JOSEPHINE AURNHAMMER.} + +(253) + +with her, she would like me to spend the whole day there, and then she +makes herself agreeable! or rather, worse than that, she is seriously +in love with me. I thought it was a joke, but I know it for certain now. +When I first observed it (for she took liberties, reproaching me for +coming later than usual, or not staying long enough, and other such +things) I felt constrained to tell her the truth politely, for fear she +should make a fool of herself. But it was of no use, she became more +deeply in love. Then I tried being very polite until she began her +nonsense, when I turned cross. Then she took me by the hand and said, +"Dear Mozart, do not be so angry, and you may say what you like, I am so +fond of you." It was the talk of the whole town that we were going +to be married, and people wondered at my choice. She told me that when +anything of the kind was said to her, she laughed at it; but I know from +a certain person that she acknowledged it, with the addition that we +should set out on our travels together as soon as we were married. That +made me really angry. I gave her my true opinion on the subject, and +reproached her with abusing my kindness. I have left off going there +every day, and only go every other day, so as to break it off by +degrees. She is an infatuated fool. Before she knew me, she said when +she heard me at the theatre, "He is coming to me to-morrow, and I shall +play him his variations in the same style." For this very reason I did +not go. It was a conceited speech, and an untrue one, for I had had no +intention of going there the following day. + +All this did not prevent Mozart from assisting Fraulein Aurnhammer in +his usual amiable manner. At a concert at Aurnhammer's (November 24, +1781) he played the Concerto a due (365 K.) with her, and a sonata which +was composed expressly, and "went remarkably well" (381 K.). + +A few months later he played a duet with her at one of his own concerts +(May 25,1782), and postponed a journey to Salzburg because he had +promised to play at her concert in the theatre (October 26, 1782). He +also dedicated to her the sonatas for piano and violin which appeared in +1781 (376-380 K.). + +In September he actually found a new lodging, but he was far from +comfortable there; "it was like travelling in a post-chaise instead of +one's own carriage." He had made + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(254) + +the sacrifice for his father's sake, and he now took occasion to beg the +latter not to listen to gossip, but to believe that he meant "to remain +the same honest fellow as ever" (September 5, 1781). But the discomfort +of his domestic circumstances in the midst of incessant work only +increased his desire to set up an establishment of his own. The gossip +of the town and his father's exhortations had produced a contrary effect +to that intended, and his liking for Constanze Weber grew more decided +day by day. He felt persuaded that she would make him happy, and, since +she returned his affection, they became betrothed lovers. He could not +disguise from himself that his father would certainly disapprove of this +step, and he laid before him with great candour all that had led to it. +After setting forth his prospects of an assured position, and the steps +which he had taken towards obtaining it, he continues (December 15, +1781):-- + +My desire is to have something certain to fall back upon, and then one +can live very well on chance here--and to get married. Nature speaks +as loud in me as in any other, perhaps louder than in a great heavy +blockhead. I have no inclination to live like most young men of the +present day. In the first place I have too much love for religion, and +in the second too much love for my neighbour, and too much good feeling +to lead astray an innocent girl. I can take my oath I have never done +so. But I know that this reason, strong as it is, is not elevated +enough. But my temperament, which is inclined for a quiet domestic life +--my want of habit of attending to my clothing, washing, and other such +things--make a wife indispensable to me. I am quite persuaded that I +could live better on the same income with a wife than as I am now. And +how many unnecessary expenses would be done away with, others +would arise; but one knows them and can calculate on them--in fact, one +leads a regular life. An unmarried man only half lives, in my opinion. +That is my opinion--I cannot help it; I have reflected and considered +enough, and have quite made up my mind. But who, you will ask, is the +object of my love? Do not be horrified, I beg. What! not a Weber! Yes, +a Weber; not Josepha, nor Sophia, but Constanze, the middle one. I have +never seen such dissimilarity of mind in any family as in this. +The eldest, Josepha, is lazy and cross; Aloysia Lange is a false, +unprincipled woman and a coquette; the youngest, Sophie, is too young to +be anything yet but the good thoughtless creature she is. God keep her +from temptation! But the middle one, my dear good Constanze, is +the martyr of the family, and on that very account, perhaps, the +best-natured, the cleverest--in a word, the best of them all. She looks +after everything in the house, and yet can never + + +{BETROTHAL WITH CONSTANZE WEBER.} + +(255) + +do right. She is not ugly, but she is far from being beautiful. Her +whole beauty consists in her dark eyes and good figure. She is not +intellectual, but has common sense enough to fulfil her duties as a wife +and mother. She is not inclined to extravagance, that is quite untrue; +on the contrary, she is always badly dressed, for the little her mother +can do is done for the two others, never for her. True, she likes to be +neat and clean, but not smart; and almost all that a woman needs she can +make for herself; she understands housekeeping, has the best heart in +the world--she loves me and I love her--tell me if I could wish for +a better wife? I must tell you that when I wrote before love was not +there, but was born of her tender care and attention when I was living +in the house. My earnest wish now is to get something settled to do (of +which, God be praised, I have great hope), and I shall then hasten +to beg your permission to rescue my poor darling, and make her and +myself--indeed, I may say, all of us--happy, for does not my being happy +render you so? + +This confirmation of the news which had already reached him from other +quarters was a heavy blow to L. Mozart. The perspective of "dying on a +sack of straw in a room full of starving brats" which he had once +before held out to his son (Vol. I., p. 426) opened itself to him anew; +marriage without a certain and sufficient income was, in his opinion, +and knowing his son as he did, the first step to certain ruin. And then +the Weber family! The description which Wolf-gang gave of them was not +calculated to inspire confidence; if he had been so completely deceived +in Aloysia, who could answer for his better judgment with respect to +Constanze? But his father knew more than he had learnt from Wolfgang; he +knew that the latter had given a written promise of marriage, and, from +all the communications he received, he could not but believe that both +mother and daughter had been playing upon the young man's inexperience +and sense of honour to entice him into their net. L. Mozart sought by +every means in his power to influence his son; he demanded information +as to the written agreement, that he might be satisfied that it did not +exist, and that Wolfgang was bound only by his word. But Wolfgang showed +himself firmer and more independent at this juncture than ever before; +he had made up his mind, and it was not to be shaken. + +He did not hesitate to explain the circumstances of the + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(256) + +marriage contract (December 22, 1781). After the death of their father, +the Weber children had been placed under the guardianship of Johann +Thorwarth, court manager and inspector of the theatrical wardrobe, a man +of considerable influence in matters theatrical, and well thought of by +Count Rosenberg and Baron Kienmayer--"a sworn enemy of the Italians."[5] +This man had been prejudiced against Mozart by calumniators, who +represented that he had no certain income, and that he did not mean +honestly by Constanze; this so disturbed the mother that she did not +rest until she had induced Mozart to request an interview with the +guardian. The interview took place, but the guardian was so little +satisfied that he insisted on all intercourse with Mozart being broken +off unless he would agree to a written contract. Madame Weber declared +that this could not be; that all the intercourse consisted in Mozart's +coming daily to their house, and that she could not possibly put a stop +to it, seeing that she was under much obligation to him as a friend, +and that she placed every confidence in his truth and honour; if the +guardian thought such a step necessary, he must undertake it himself. +Hereupon Thorwarth prohibited all intercourse unless Mozart would give +a written agreement. He must make his choice. Having no intention of +giving up Constanze or affording ground for suspicion to her friends, +he signed an agreement by virtue of which he bound himself to espouse +Mdlle. Constanze Weber within three years, or "in case of such an +impossibility as his changing his mind," he was to pay her three hundred +florins a year. He assured his father that there was no sort of risk in +this, as he was finally resolved never to forsake her; but if such an +unheard-of event were to occur, he would think himself easily bought off +with three hundred florins; besides that his Constanze would, he knew, +be far too proud to accept a price. "And what did the devoted girl do?" +he continues; "as soon as the guardian had gone, she took the agreement +from her mother, tore it up, and said: 'Dear Mozart, I need no written +assurance + + +{SLANDEROUS REPORTS IN SALZBURG.} + +(257) + +from you; I can believe your simple word!'" It was thought best by them +all to keep this transaction secret; but it gradually oozed out, until +all Vienna knew of it. It might be wrong, and this part of the affair +was blameable--thus much he acknowledged to his father; but neither the +guardian nor the mother deserved to be branded as misleaders of youthful +innocence; it was a falsehood that they had made him free of the house +and then bound him in spite of himself--it was quite the contrary, and +he would have known better than to give in to such conduct. + +His indignation was raised to the highest pitch when he heard from his +father that the most disgraceful falsehoods as to his dealings with +Constanze had reached Salzburg by way of Munich, and were attributable +to "that scoundrel" Winter, who had always hated him on Vogler's +account.[6] Winter had been staying in Vienna with the bassoonist +Reiner, and Mozart had sought him out as an old acquaintance. It was +all the more infamous, since this very Winter, who "deserved the name +neither of a man nor a human being," and to whose "infamous lies" Mozart +would not condescend to oppose "infamous truths," had once said to him: +"You will be foolish to marry; you can earn enough--why should you +not keep a mistress? What prevents you? Is it your d----d religion?" +(December 22, 1781). + +But against such calumnies he was powerless. "My maxim is," he says +(January 9, 1782), "that what does not concern me is not worth the +trouble of talking about; I am ashamed to defend myself from false +accusations, for I always think that the truth is sure to come to +light." He therefore refused to stir in the matter, and left free course +to all the falsehood and misrepresentation. + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(258) + +L. Mozart was naturally not much reassured by this explanation. He +called his son's attention to Madame Weber's failings, which rendered +a good education of her daughters very unlikely, and Wolfgang could not +deny (April 10, 1782) that "she is fond of drink, and takes more than +a woman should. But I have never seen her intoxicated; I can quite deny +that. The children drink nothing but water." His father further pointed +out that she would certainly be a burden on him after his marriage, +and that she made no secret of her intentions in this respect. Wolfgang +could not but perceive for himself that the mother was seeking her own +advantage in the marriage of her daughter (January 30, 1782), "but +she will find herself very much mistaken. She wished us (when we were +married) to lodge with her--but that will come to nothing, for I would +never agree to it, and Constanze still less. _Au contraire_, she intends +to see very little of her mother, and I shall do my utmost to prevent +it--we know her." But Wolfgang was deeply wounded at his father's +depreciation of Constanze herself (January 30,1782):-- + +Only one thing more (and without saying it I could not sleep quietly) +--do not ascribe such motives to my dear Constanze; believe me, I could +not love her as I do if she deserved your censure. My dear, good father, +I only wish that we may soon meet; for that you will love her, as you +love all true hearts, I know for certain. + +He remained proof against all his father's remonstrances (January 9, +1782):-- + +I cannot be happy without my beloved Constanze, and I should be only +half happy without your consent; make me quite happy then, my dearest, +best of fathers! + +He confided to his sister (whom he had befriended in her own need) what +he and Constanze had to suffer from her mother's temper. He used to work +until nine o'clock in the evening, he writes (February 13, 1782):-- + +And then I go to my beloved Constanze; but our pleasure in being +together is often embittered by her mother's angry tongue, as I shall +explain to my father in my next letter, and make it the ground of +my wish to liberate and rescue her as soon as possible. I go home at +half-past ten or eleven; it depends upon her mother's powers of holding +out, or mine of resisting. + + +{HOPES OF MARRIAGE.} + +(259) + +Constanze, at Wolfgang's instigation, sought to gain his sister's +affection by many little acts of attention; she sent her caps made +by herself after the latest Vienna fashion, and on another occasion a +little cross of no great value, but of a kind very much worn in Vienna; +and again, a heart with an arrow that Wolfgang thought particularly +appropriate to his sister (March 23, 1782). She "took courage at last" +in a letter (April 20,1782), "to petition for her friendship as sister +of her very worthy brother;" she felt that "she half deserved it +already, and would try to deserve it altogether," as well as to gain the +good opinion of the father of them both. Both the lovers were delighted +at the favourable reception of these overtures, although the father's +views were not thereby anywise altered. He was especially against any +idea of marriage before Wolfgang had some secure means of livelihood, +and in spite of many attempts and tedious negotiations there did not +seem much likelihood of this at present. "If I could only have it in +writing from 'der liebe Gott," he writes to his father (January 23, +1782), "that I should continue in good health and never be ill, oh, +would I not marry my dear, faithful sweetheart this very day!" His three +pupils brought him eighteen ducats a month; if he could only get one +more it would make 102 florins 24 kreutzers, on which he and his wife +could maintain themselves "quietly and plainly, as we wish to live." +In case of sickness, indeed, his income would cease altogether; but +he could write an opera once a year, give a concert, publish some +compositions, or raise subscriptions for them; accidents could not +always be taken into account. "But," he concludes, "if we cannot succeed +we must just fail, and I would rather we did so together than wait any +longer. I cannot be worse off--things must improve with me. My reasons +for not waiting any longer are not so much on my own account, as on +hers. I must release her as soon as possible." The father did not grant +the urgent necessity, and seeing in Wolfgang's calculations on the +possibilities of an uncertain future a sure proof that he had not yet +learnt what the foundation of a well-ordered household should be, he +persisted in his refusal to consent to an immediate marriage. + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(260) + +Difficult as Mozart's position was rendered by the displeasure of his +father and the ill-temper of Frau Weber, his beloved Constanze herself +did not always improve matters; the violence of her feelings sometimes +put his constancy to the trial, and added to his perplexities. The +lovers' quarrels soon blew over, but Mozart's position became daily +more insupportable as his affairs became known and talked of. Even the +Emperor, who felt a warm interest in the family affairs of the artists +who had access to him,[7] had expressed himself graciously as to +Mozart's marriage when the latter played before him with Clementi; his +condescension raised hopes which were not destined to be fulfilled. + +When the success of his opera had directed public attention towards +him, the curiosity as to his relations with Constanze became still more +general. "What are we to do?" he writes mournfully to his father (July +27, 1782). "Most people believe that we are married already: the mother +is wild about it, and the poor girl and myself are tormented to death." +The earnest tone of mind in which he passed through this time of trial +is illustrated in a later letter to his father (August 17, 1782), where +he says that he has long since heard mass and confessed with Constanze, +"and I found that I never prayed so heartily or confessed and +communicated so devoutly as by her side. She felt the same, and it would +really seem that we are made for each other, and that God, who orders +all things, has ordained our union also, and will not forsake us." + +At this juncture a distinguished musical patroness espoused the cause of +the lovers. The Baroness von Waldstädten, famous as a clavier-player as +early as the year 1766,[8] was one of the ladies who had taken Mozart +under their protection from his first arrival, and interesting herself, +womanlike, as much in his affairs of the heart as in his musical +performances, she sought by every means in her power to bring his +relations with Constanze to a happy + + +{FRIENDSHIP OF THE BARONESS V. WALDSTÄDTEN} + +(261) + +conclusion. In order to withdraw Constanze from the tyranny of her +mother, and to facilitate Wolfgang's intercourse with his betrothed, +she took the latter more than once for a considerable time into her own +house in the Leopold Strasse. There were, indeed, reasons which rendered +this intimacy undesirable. The Baroness had led an unhappy life, and +sought to indemnify herself for it by indulgence in the frivolous habits +then only too frequent among the higher ranks of society; her reputation +was not of the best. Mozart knew this, as all Vienna knew it; he had +reason to dread the influence of such a friendship for Constanze, but +he was convinced that the Baroness meant well by them both, and he felt +that he had no resource but to accept her help, and to be very grateful +for it. But Constanze's mother had at least some show of right in +forbidding her daughter to continue in communication with the Baroness, +and, fearful lest she should be taken altogether out of her power, she +endeavoured to force her to return home. An undated letter, addressed in +great tribulation to the Baroness, gives us full insight into Mozart's +trying circumstances:-- + +Most honoured Baroness,--I received my music by the hands of Madame +Weber's maid, and was obliged to give a written receipt for it. The +servant confided to me what, if true, is a lasting disgrace to the +whole family; I can only believe it from my knowledge of Madame Weber's +character, and it afflicts me greatly. Sophie had come out weeping, and +when her maid asked her the cause of her tears, she said: "Tell Mozart +in secret that Constanze had better return home, for my mother insists +upon sending the police for her." But surely the police would not dare +thus to enter any house. Perhaps it is only a ruse to get her home +again. If this threat is really fulfilled, I see nothing for it but to +marry my Constanze early to-morrow, or, if it can be done, to-day; for +I would not allow of this affront to my beloved, and it could not happen +to my wife. Another thing: Thorwarth was appointed to his place to-day. +I beg your ladyship to give me your kind advice, and to render us +poor creatures all the assistance you can. I am always at home. In +the greatest haste. Constanze knows nothing of all this. Has Herr von +Thorwarth waited on your ladyship already? Is it necessary that we +should both go to him after dinner to-day? + +Under these circumstances Mozart was ready to espouse his Constanze +without a moment's delay; he reiterates his entreaties for his father's +consent (July 31, 1782):-- + + +{COURTSHIP.} + +(262) + +You will have received my last letter by this time, and I have no +doubt that your next will bring your consent to our union. You can have +nothing really to object to in it, and your letters show that you have +not; for she is a good honest girl, and I am in a position to provide +her with bread. We love each other and wish for each other, so there is +no reason for delay. + +But his father still withheld his consent. He was so deeply affected by +the affair that he scarcely took proper interest in the success of the +"Entführung," and Wolfgang complained of the coolness with which his +father received his opera. The latter retorted that he was making +himself detested in Vienna by his arrogant manners. Wolfgang answered +(July 31, 1782):-- + +And so the whole world declares that my boasting and criticising have +made enemies for me of all the professors of music and others. What +world? Presumably the Salzburg world; for whoever was here would hear +and see enough to the contrary: and that shall be my answer to the +charge. + +The Baroness Waldstädten had in the meantime (by what means we know not) +smoothed away all difficulties, and the wedding was celebrated on August +4, before the arrival of the father's formal consent, for which they had +waited two post-days. Wolfgang's conviction that the consent could +not now be withheld was justified;[9] on the day after the wedding the +longed-for letters from the father and sister arrived, and Wolfgang +answered in his overflowing happiness (August 7, 1782):-- + +I kiss your hand, and thank you with all the tenderness which a son can +feel for his father for your very kind consent and paternal blessing. My +dear wife will write by the next post to beg our best of fathers for +his blessing, and our beloved sister for the continuance of her valued +friendship. There was no one present at the ceremony except the mother +and the youngest sister, Herr von Thorwarth as guardian and supporter +(Beistand) to us both, Herr Landrath von Cetto supporting, the bride, +and Gilowsky supporting me. When we were actually united + + +{MOZART'S MARRIAGE.} + +(263) + +my wife and I both began to weep. Every one, including the officiating +priest, was moved to tears by the sight of our happiness. Our wedding +festivities consisted solely in a supper given us by the Baroness von +Waldstädten, which was rather princely than baronial.[10] Now my dearest +Constanze is rejoicing in the thought of a journey to Salzburg, and I +wager--yes--I will wager that you will be happy in my happiness when you +have learnt to know her, as I do, for the most upright, virtuous, and +loving wife that ever made the happiness of a man. + +The father considered it necessary to draw attention to the fact that +he could no longer expect Wolfgang to assist in extricating him from the +debts he had incurred on his son's behalf; on the other hand, Wolfgang +must neither now nor at any future time reckon upon him for support; and +he begged him to make his bride fully aware of this circumstance. Mozart +answered (August 7, 1782):-- + +My dear Constanze--now, thank God, my own lawful wife--has long known my +circumstances and all that I have to expect from you. But her friendship +and her love for me were so great that she willingly sacrificed her +whole future life to my destinies. + +Such was Mozart's courtship, such was his "Entführung aus dem Auge +Gottes," as he used jokingly to call his marriage, because the house +in which Madame Weber lived on the Petersplatz was called "Zum Auge +Gottes." Truly this time brought him none of the peaceful happiness +which the certainty of mutual love bestows under more prosperous +circumstances, but it afforded him abundant opportunity for the display +of his freedom as an artist, and of his inflexible constancy to what he +thought true and right. Unaffected by the vulgarity from the atmosphere +of which he had resolved upon rescuing his Constanze, unchanged by the +violence and hastiness of his beloved herself, unmoved by the hard and +often unjust judgment of his father, he preserved both the firmness of +his conviction and will, and the tender susceptibility and charm of +his affectionate heart. The mental and moral development of every man +depends in no small degree upon whether his course of life has been +smooth and his happiness easy of attainment, or whether he has obtained +the conditions of his existence only after a long and severe struggle. +We must not, therefore, turn aside our glance from the trials and +troubles which have beset the lives of great artists and noble men; it +was through adversity that they became what they were. + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXVI. + + +[Footnote 1: K. R[isbeck] says (Briefe über Deutschland, I., p. 193) it was +considered proper in Vienna to treat the ladies of the party, even +when they were in no way related to their escort. Mozart must have been +thinking of his former liberality to the Webers, so severely blamed by +his father (Vol. I., p. 418).] + +[Footnote 2: Zelter says that Righini's position in Berlin was almost identical +with that of Salieri in Vienna; "he may have been of a rather more +lively disposition, but he was of about the same height and breadth" +(Briefw. m. Goethe, II., p. 29). Cf. A. M. Z., XVI., p. 875.] + +[Footnote 3: She used to give a concert every year "as a proof of her existence +and industry," according to the notice for 1799 (A. M. Z., I., p. 523); +"the latter quality is all that she can now truthfully boast of" (Cf. A. +M. Z., VI., p. 471; VII., p. 469. Reichardt, Mus. Ztg., I., p. 128). As +late as 1813 she ("who had once reigned supreme as a pianoforte-player +in Vienna") appeared in public, and was pronounced "an accomplished and +correct player, but cold and old-fashioned" (A. M. Z., XV., p. 300).] + +[Footnote 4: She wished to perfect herself in playing for some years longer, and +then go to Paris and "make her fortune." Cramers Magazin der Musik says +(1787, II., p. 1274), "Madame Aurnhammer is an excellent teacher of the +piano, on which she gives lessons; I have not heard her play for long. +It is she who superintended the engraving by Herr Artaria of many of +Mozart's sonatas and varied airs." She attempted variations herself, +which she used to play at her concerts and to have printed (Mus. +Corresp., 1791, p. 362; 1792, p. 195). She had arrived at Opus 63 in +1799 (A. M. Z., II., p. 90).] + +[Footnote 5: Da Ponte, Mem., II., p. 104.] + +[Footnote 6: Cf. I., p. 389. Winter was avowedly hostile to Mozart (Biedenfeld, +Kom. Oper, p. 86); he used to reproach him with stealing from Handel +(A. M. Z., XXVIII., p. 468), with forcing up soprano voices (Biedenfeld, +Kom. Oper, p. 212); and his scorn at piano-playing opera composers (A. +M. Z., XXVIII., p. 467) was especially directed against Mozart. It is +generally acknowledged that Winter was not the simple, unsophisticated +being that he appeared (cf. Biedenfeld, p. 212), and I have been +assured by those who knew him well that he was quite capable of spiteful +intrigue.] + +[Footnote 7: A striking instance is Salieri's account of how Joseph II. assisted +him to marry (Mosel, Salieri, p. 57).] + +[Footnote 8: Hiller, Wochentl. Nachr., I., p. 100.] + +[Footnote 9: L. Mozart writes to the Baroness (September 13, 1782): "I am +heartily glad that his wife does not take after the Webers, as otherwise +he would be miserable; your ladyship assures me that she is a deserving +person, and that suffices me" (Hamburg. Litter, u. Krit. Blatter, 1856, +No. 72, p. 563).] + +[Footnote 10: During the supper, according to Nissen, a "sixteen-part harmony" of +his own composition was performed as a surprise to him. This must be a +mistake, for even the great serenata (361 K.) is only in thirteen parts.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. MARRIED LIFE. + +THE newly married couple began their housekeeping upon an uncertain and +barely sufficing income, + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(264) + +and so it remained to the end. Limited means, sometimes even actual +want, failed either to increase the carefulness or to damp the spirits +of husband or wife. + +Mozart's sincere and upright love for his wife has been clearly +demonstrated already; it was the talk of Vienna. One day, soon after his +marriage, as he and his wife were walking in the public gardens, they +amused themselves by playing with her little pet dog. Constanze told +Mozart to make believe to beat her, in order to see the indignation of +the dog. As he was doing so, the Emperor came out of his summerhouse +and said, "What! only three weeks married, and come to blows already!" +whereupon Mozart laughingly explained the joke. Later, in 1785, when +there was much talk, even in the newspapers, of the unhappy relations +between Aloysia Lange and her husband,[1] the Emperor met Constanze +Mozart, and said, after some remark on the sad position of her sister: +"What a difference it makes, to have a good husband!"[2] At about the +same time the English tenor, Kelly, was introduced at a musical party +to Mozart and his wife, "whom he loved passionately."[3] His affection +betrays itself in many amiable + + +{CONSTANZE MOZART.} + +(265) + +traits, and most clearly in the letters addressed to his wife on his +later journeys, to which she herself expressly appeals as proofs of his +"rare affection and excessive tenderness for her."[4] An expression of +Nissen's that Constanze cared "perhaps more for his talent than himself" +might lead to a belief that his love was not returned in full measure; +but against this view we have the testimony of worthy Niemet-schek, who +knew them both, and says: "Mozart was happy in his union with Constanze +Weber. She made him a good, loving wife, who accommodated herself +admirably to his ways, and gained his full confidence and a power over +him which she often used to restrain him from rash actions. He loved her +sincerely, confided all to her, even his faults, and she rewarded him +with tenderness and faithful care. All Vienna knew of their mutual +affection, and the widow can never think without emotion of her days +of wedded life." Constanze had, as Mozart had written before their +marriage, "not much intellect, but enough common sense to fulfil +her duties as a wife and mother." It can, indeed, be gathered from +contemporary letters and notices[5] that she had neither + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(266) + +natural capacity nor what we call education enough to render her on an +equality with Mozart, or to elevate him by her intellectual influence; +nay, rather, she failed fully to appreciate or understand him. Like all +the Weber family, she had musical talent, which had been cultivated up +to a certain point. "She played the clavier and sang nicely."[6] At the +Mozarteum, in Salzburg, there is the commencement of a "Sonata ä deux +Cembali," unfinished, with the superscription "Per la Signora Constanza +Weber--ah!" A sonata for pianoforte and violin, in C major, which only +wants the concluding bars of the last movement (403 K.), belonging to +the year 1782, is inscribed "Sonate Première, par moi, W. A. Mozart, +pour ma très chère épouse." In a letter to Härtel (February 25, 1799), +the widow mentions a march for the piano which her husband had composed +for her. Although her voice was not so fine as those of her sisters +Aloysia and Josepha, she sang very well, especially by sight, so that +Mozart used to try his compositions with her. Solfeggi by Mozart are +preserved, with the inscription--"Per la mia cara Constanze," or "Per +la mia cara consorte" (393 K.), some of them exercises of a few bars' +length, others elaborate passages in varied tempo and style, which give +abundant practice for execution and delivery. There is a song also--"In +te spero o sposo amato," (Metastasio, "Demofoonte"), mentioned by the +widow in a letter to Härtel (February 25, 1799), as composed "per la +cara mia consorte," which implies a compass and volubility reminding us +of her sister Aloysia. It was natural, therefore, that Constanze should +take the soprano parts in any private performances among their friends, +and we know that she once sang the soprano soli of the Mass in C minor +(427 K.) at Salzburg, which require a first-rate singer. + +We must also give her credit for more than ordinary musical taste and +cultivation, from her partiality for fugues, of which Mozart writes to +his sister (April 20, 1782), when he sent her a prelude and fugue (394 +K.), which he had composed for her:-- + + +{CONSTANZE'S SYMPATHY.} + +(267) + +The cause of this fugue coming into the world is in reality my dear +Constanze. Baron van Swieten, to whom I go every Sunday, allowed me to +take home all the works of Handel and Sebastian Bach, after I had played +them to him. When Constanze heard the fugues, she quite fell in love +with them; she cares for nothing but fugues now, especially those of +Handel and Bach. Having often heard me play fugues out of my head, +she asked me if I had never written any down? and when I said no, she +scolded me roundly for not writing the most artistic and beautiful +things in music; she would not leave me any peace until I had written +down a fugue, and so it came to pass. + +Mozart would hardly have been happy with a wife who possessed neither +taste nor understanding for music. But neither would his creative power +have been strengthened by an intellectually excitable and exciting +wife; it was far more beneficial for him to find womanly sympathy in +his household affairs, and to be soothed rather than urged to greater +efforts. She patiently bore his abstraction when his mind was intent +upon musical ideas, and gave in to many little whims, which in Mozart +seldom proceeded from ill-temper. He was never disturbed by the +conversation and noise going on around him when he was writing down his +compositions; it was rather agreeable to him to have his attention so +far occupied in other directions that his excessive productivity was +held, as it were, in check. His wife would sit by him and tell him +stories and nursery tales, over which he would laugh heartily, working +all the time; the more ludicrous they were the better he was pleased.[7] +She was always ready to cut up his meat for him at table, an operation +which he tried to avoid, lest in his abstraction he should do himself +an injury[8]--an oddity which is only mentioned as a proof how much of a +child Mozart always remained in many of the ways of life. + +He was severely tried by his wife's delicacy; her health was undermined +by frequent and often dangerous confinements, and she was often, +especially in the year 1789, for many months in a critical condition. He +bestowed the tenderest care upon her, and spared nothing that was likely +to benefit + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(268) + +her, even when the remedy proposed (as for instance, repeated visits +to Baden for some years) was a severe tax upon his slender resources. +Instances of liberality like that displayed to him on one occasion of +his wife's illness by a comparative stranger were few and far between. A +certain honest tripe-boiler, Rindum by name, who knew nothing of +Mozart personally, but who delighted in his musiç, heard that his wife, +suffering from lameness, had been ordered footbaths of the water in +which tripe had been cooked; he begged her to go to his house for them +as often as she pleased, and at the termination of the cure he could +not be induced to accept any payment either for them or for board and +lodging during a considerable time.[9] As for Mozart himself, the care +that he bestowed upon her was tender and loving to an uncommon degree. +He used to ride every morning at five o'clock, but he never went without +leaving a paper in the form of a prescription upon his wife's bed, with +some directions of this kind:-- + +Good morning, my darling wife, I hope that you have slept well, and that +nothing has disturbed you; I desire you not to get up too early, not to +take cold, not to stoop, not to stretch, not to scold the servants, not +to fall over the doorstep. Do not be vexed at anything until I return. +May nothing happen to you! I shall be back at ---- o'clock.[10] + +The tenderest anxiety for his wife's health is expressed in his letters, +and he especially cautions her to spare her weak foot. Frau Haibl +(Sophie Weber) narrates:[11]-- + +How troubled Mozart was when anything ailed his dear little wife! On one +occasion she had been ill for fully eight months, and I had nursed her. +I was sitting by her bed, and so was Mozart. He was composing, and I was +watching the sleep into which she had at last fallen; we were as quiet +as the grave for fear of disturbing her. A rough maidservant came +suddenly into the room. Mozart, fearing that his wife would be awakened, +wished to beckon for silence, and pushed his chair backwards with an +open knife in his hand. The knife struck between his chair and his +thigh, and went almost up to the handle in his flesh. Mozart was usually +very susceptible of pain, but now he controlled + + +{ILLNESS OF MOZART'S WIFE.} + +(269) + +himself, and made no sign of pain, but beckoned me to follow him out +of the room. We went into another room, in which our good mother was +concealed, because we did not wish Mozart to know how ill his wife was, +and yet the mother's presence was necessary in case of emergency. She +bound the wound and cured it with healing oil. He went lame for some +time, but took care that his wife should know nothing of it. + +He became so accustomed during this long illness to receive every +visitor with his finger on his lip, and the low exclamation "Chut!" that +even some time after her recovery, when he saw an acquaintance in the +street, he would walk on tiptoe, and whisper "Chut!" with his finger +on his lip.[12] The contemplation of such deep-seated affection as this +causes us to be more surprised to hear that Mozart, whose unmarried life +had been without a blemish, was, nevertheless, unfaithful to his wife. +She told herself how Mozart acknowledged his indiscretions to her, and +how she forgave him: "He was so good, it was impossible to be angry with +him; one was obliged to forgive him." Her sister, however, betrays that +Constanze was not always so patient, and that there were occasional +violent outbreaks, which is quite conceivable; but it is also abundantly +evident (and Mozart's letters to his wife fully confirm the fact) that +the close and tender relations of each to the other were not seriously +disturbed by these failings.[13] They might on this account alone be +lightly dismissed, and in addition it must be remembered that rumour was +busy among the public and in the press, and magnified solitary instances +of weakness on Mozart's part into distinguishing features of his +character. He was credited with intrigues with every pupil he had, and +every singer for whom he wrote a song; it was considered a witty remark +to designate him as the actual prototype of his Don Juan; and his +dissipated life was even considered as the proper confirmation of his +artistic genius. Exceptional gifts and accomplishments cannot do away +with the equality of all men before the moral law; transgressions of the +moral law may be judged leniently or severely, as the case may be, + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(270) + +but weaknesses, which in ordinary men are judged lightly, or passed over +altogether, must not be measured by another standard, or made the sign +of complete moral degradation when they are committed by an artist and a +genius whose very faults interest us more than the virtues of other men. +Nor should implicit confidence be placed in the gossip and chatter which +surround this side of a great man's private life, and turn errors into +crimes. The free and easy manners and ideas of the day, which found +special favour in Vienna,[14] the peculiar temptations to which an +artist's temperament and mode of life expose him, make Mozart's failings +conceivable. If it be remembered further how imprudently Mozart behaved, +how professional envy and meanness designedly tarnished his fame, it +will be readily conceded that better grounds for a fair estimate of +Mozart's character are to be found in numerous well-authenticated and +consistent instances of his true nobility of mind than in idle and +malicious gossip. The earnest spirit in which he looked upon these +things is well displayed in a letter to his best and dearest friend, +Gottfried von Jacquin (Prague, November 4,1787):-- + +Now, my dear friend, how are you? I hope that you are all as hale and +hearty as we are; you cannot but be content, dear friend, since you +possess all that you can desire at your age and in your position; +especially since you seem altogether to have renounced your former +somewhat unsettled life. Do you not daily grow more convinced of +the truth of my little lecture? Is not the pleasure of a fickle +and capricious love a thousand times removed from the blessedness +accompanying a sincere and rational affection? I am sure you often +thank me in your heart for my advice! You will make me quite proud! But +without a joke--you owe me a little gratitude if you have really made +yourself worthy of Fräulein N., for I played no unimportant part in your +improvement or reformation. + + +{MOZART'S MORAL CHARACTER.} + +(271) + +Hummel, who was received into Mozart's house as his pupil, wrote in +1831, when he lay dying at Kissingen: "I declare it to be untrue that +Mozart abandoned himself to excess, except on those rare occasions on +which he was enticed by Schikaneder, which had chiefly to do with +the "Zauberflote."[15] His intimacy with the notorious profligate +Schikaneder during the summer of 1791, when his wife was an invalid at +Baden, and the excesses to which he then gave way, have been magnified +by report, and made the foundation of the exaggerated representation of +Mozart's thoughtless life.[16] The further reproach brought against him +of extravagance and bad management of his household must not be left +altogether unnoticed, illiberal as it may seem to hold up for the +examination of posterity the trivial cares of housekeeping and +money-getting which, when ordinary mortals are concerned, are kept +sacred within the four walls of the home. But this part of Mozart's life +has been intruded so often into the foreground, that a concise +statement of the facts belonging to it seems indispensable. By some his +contemporaries have been condemned for allowing his mind to be hampered +by unworthy cares, by others he has himself been reproved for having +brought himself to poverty by thoughtless extravagance; both these views +are exaggerated and in this sense unjust. + +It is true that Mozart was not so highly esteemed in Vienna during his +life as after his death. The general public admired him chiefly as +a pianoforte-player, the downfall of German opera prevented his +continuance along the successful path which his "Entführung" had opened +to him, and his Italian operas did not obtain so great a measure of + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(272) + +applause as the lighter ones of his contemporaries; when the +"Zauberflöte" made its effect it was too late. It is scarcely +surprising, therefore, that he failed to reach the position before the +world which should by right have been his. But though it is easy for +posterity to decide that Mozart had just claims to a place by the side +of Gluck and above Bono, Salieri and Starzer, it must not be forgotten +that his contemporaries had before them a young and struggling +artist, and that those veterans had long been in possession of their +distinguished places. Without laying too much stress upon the intrigues +of opponents, or the Emperor's parsimony, it is plain that Mozart could +not readily attain a position which had first to be created for him. He +himself was encouraged by the brilliant success of the "Entführung" +and the universal applause which he received as a pianist to hope for a +secure and respectable position, and he was bitterly disappointed that +his good recommendations failed to procure him the post of teacher to +the Princess Elizabeth. In his usual impulsive style he resolved on +quitting Vienna at once, and wrote to his father (August 17, 1782):-- + +The Vienna gentlemen (among whom the Emperor comes foremost) shall not +imagine that I have nothing to do in the world outside Vienna. It is +true that I would rather serve the Emperor than any other monarch, but +I will never stoop to beg for any service. I believe myself to be in a +position to do honour to any court. If Germany, my beloved fatherland, +of which, as you know, I am proud, refuses me, then must France or +England be the richer for a clever German--to the disgrace of the German +nation. I need not tell you that the Germans have excelled other nations +in almost every art--but where did the artists make their fortunes or +their fame? Certainly not in Germany! Even Gluck--did Germany make him +the great man he is? Alas, no! The Countess Thun, Count Zichy, Baron +van Swieten, and Prince Kaunitz are all vexed with the Emperor for not +encouraging men of talent to remain in his service. Prince Kaunitz said +to the Archduke Maximilian, speaking of me, that such men only came into +the world once in a hundred years, and ought not to be driven out of +Germany, especially when the monarch is so fortunate as to possess them +in his capital. You cannot think how kind and polite Prince Kaunitz +was in an interview I had with him; he said when I took leave: "I am +indebted to you, my dear Mozart, for taking the trouble of calling on +me, &c." You would not believe either how + + +{PLANS FOR SEEKING FORTUNE ABROAD.} + +(273) + +anxious the Countess Thun, Baron van Swieten, and other great people +are to retain me here; but I cannot wait long, and _will_ not wait on +charity, as it were. Emperor though he be, I would rather dispense with +his favours than accept them in such a way. + +His idea, as he let fall now and then in conversation, was to go to +Paris for the following Lent. He wrote on the subject to Le Gros, and +was of opinion that if he could only obtain engagements for the "Concert +spirituel" and the "Concert des amateurs," he would have no lack of +pupils, and could also do something in the way of composition; his main +object would of course be an opera.[17] With this end in view he had +been for some time studying the French language, and had also taken +lessons in English, in the further expectation of making a tour in +England; he thought he should understand the language fairly well in +three months.[18] His father was not a little disturbed by this new +idea; he opposed it with every argument he could find to his son, and +even wrote on the subject to the Baroness von Waldstädten (August 23, +1782):[19]-- + +I should be quite reconciled (to the marriage), if I did not discover +a great fault in my son: he is too indolent and easy-going, perhaps +occasionally too proud, and all these qualities united make a man +inactive; or else he grows impatient and cannot wait for anything. He is +altogether ruled by opposite extremes--too much, or too little, and no +medium. When he is in no pressing need he is quite content, and becomes +indolent and inactive. Once set going, he is all on fire, and thinks he +is going to make his fortune all at once. Nothing is allowed to stand +in his way, and unfortunately it is just the cleverest people, the +exceptional men of genius, who find continual obstacles in their path. +What is there to prevent his having a prosperous career in Vienna, if he +only has a little patience? Kapellmeister Bono is an aged man. Salieri +will be promoted at his death, and will leave another place vacant. And +is not Gluck also an old man? Honoured madam, exhort him to patience, +and pardon me for asking the favour of your ladyship's opinion on the +matter. + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(274) + +His remonstrances had the desired effect upon Wolfgang; he was obliged +to acknowledge to his father (August 24, 1782) that it would be better +to prolong his stay at Vienna; that he could go to France or England +at any time. L. Mozart, reassured, wrote to the Baroness (September +13, 1782): "My son has relinquished his intention of leaving Vienna at +present, in consequence of my letters; and as he now intends to visit +me in Salzburg, I shall be able to make the strongest and most necessary +representations to him on the subject." + +These representations were all the more effective since Mozart had +at this juncture every reason to be satisfied with the sympathy and +applause of the Vienna public. It is true that on the revival of Italian +opera his works were excluded from the theatre; but in the year 1786 +the Emperor proved that he had not forgotten him by commissioning him +to compose the "Schauspieldirector" and "Figaro." But when Mozart, +nevertheless, failed to obtain a permanent post, the idea again +seriously presented itself of leaving Vienna and going to England. + +An Englishman named Thomas Attwood (1767-1838) had come from Italy +to Vienna in the year 1785, and become Mozart's pupil. By a singular +coincidence also the English tenor, Michael Kelly, and the English +prima donna, Nancy Storace, were engaged at the Italian Opera. Stephen +Storace, the brother, was also resident in Vienna as a composer for a +considerable time. Mozart was on very friendly terms with them, and his +design was thereby strengthened. At the beginning of November, 1786, he +wrote to his father that he intended in the latter part of the Carnival +to undertake a journey through Germany to England if his father would +consent to receive and take charge of his two children and the servants. +Constanze was to accompany him. + +"I have written pretty strongly," L. Mozart informs his daughter +(November 17, 1786), "and promised to send him the continuation of my +letter by the next post. It is not a bad idea, in truth. They may go +away quietly--they may die--they may stay in England. Then I may run +after them with the children; and as to the payment which he is to give + + +{L. MOZART'S DISAPPROBATION.} + +(275) + +me for the children and servants, &c., Basta! My refusal is explicit +and instructive, if he chooses to take it so." We see how prejudiced +the once tender father had become against his son and his son's wife; +whereas his daughter, who had married in 1784, came to his house to be +confined, and he afterwards took entire charge of her son Leopold, a +fact which he concealed from Wolfgang. Wolfgang's plan was given up +immediately on receipt of this letter from his father. But when his +English friend left Vienna at the beginning of February, 1787, and +returned to England, the wish to accompany him rose strong in Mozart. He +had become more prudent meanwhile. Attwood was to prepare a settled post +for him in London, and to procure him a commission to write an opera or +subscriptions for a concert, and then only he would come. He hoped that +his father would in this case relieve him of the care of his children +until he should have decided whether he would remain there permanently +or return to Germany. The English travellers passed through Salzburg, +and made L. Mozart's acquaintance, to their mutual satisfaction;[20] but +his objections against Wolfgang's journey were not by any means removed. +He wrote to him in a fatherly way, as he informs his daughter (March 1, +1787), "that he would make nothing by a journey in summer, and would go +to England at a wrong time; he would spend about two thousand florins, +and would certainly come to want, for Storace is sure to write the first +opera. Wolfgang would lose heart very soon." + +Mozart again abandoned his intention, but not before rumours of it +had reached the public ear,[21] rumours which showed the Emperor the +necessity for giving him a + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(276) + +permanent post, in order to keep him in Vienna.[22] Unhappily, Mozart's +father did not live to see this end to all his anxieties. He died on May +28, 1787. + +As there was no kapellmeister's place vacant, the Emperor appointed +Mozart his "private musician," (Kammermusicus) with a salary of eight +hundred florins. The smallness of the sum was ascribed to the influence +of Strack; he was, as usual, appealed to for advice, and humoured the +Emperor's inclination to parsimony. The appointment was made on December +7, 1787; in August, 1788, Mozart assures his sister that he is really +appointed, and that his name appears on the official theatrical list as +"kapellmeister in the actual service of his imperial majesty." Gluck, +who had been appointed "private composer" (Kammercompositeur) by Maria +Theresa on the 7th of October, 1774, with a salary of two thousand +florins, died on November 15, 1787. Mozart naturally took his place; but +it does not seem to have occurred to the court that a corresponding rise +of salary would have been no undeserved distinction. + +Mozart himself was not dissatisfied with his pay, since none of the +musicians attached to the imperial household received more; but he was +justly annoyed, at a later date, when he was suffered to draw his pay +without having the opportunity given him of producing any important +work. He looked upon it as an alms doled out to him, while the +opportunity of distinguishing himself as a composer was denied, and +wrote bitterly after the customary entry of his income on the official +return: "Too much for what I do; too little for what I could do."[23] +This was not the right way to remind those in authority that a promise +of "promotion" on the first seasonable opportunity had been held out to +him. The cares which beset the closing years of the Emperor Joseph are +explanation sufficient of the decline of his interest in music and the +drama and his care for the great composer; this, however, the latter +failed to perceive. It was clear also that he did not know how to turn +his + + +{OFFERS AND HOPES OF PROMOTION.} + +(277) + +opportunities to advantage, when, in May, 1789, he refused the offer +of Frederick William II. to make him kapellmeister in Berlin with three +thousand florins salary. With unselfish emotion Mozart exclaimed: "How +can I desert my good Emperor?" The King wished him to reconsider the +proposal, and promised to hold to his word for an indefinite period if +Mozart would consent to come.[24] + +Once returned to Vienna, Mozart thought no more of the matter, and only +after much persuasion from his friends was induced to lay it before the +Emperor and tender his resignation. In unpleased surprise Joseph asked: +"What, do you mean to forsake me, Mozart?" Whereupon Mozart answered +with emotion: "May it please your majesty, I will stay." Upon the +question of a friend as to whether he had not taken the opportunity of +demanding some compensation, he exclaimed angrily: "Who the devil would +have thought of that at such a time?" + +At the end of 1789 he received the commission to write the opera +of "Cosi fan Tutte," but Joseph II. died (February 20, 1790) before +Mozart's position had been permanently provided for. After the accession +of Leopold II. he appears to have made an attempt to obtain the post +of second kapellmeister under Salieri (old Bono had died in 1788, +and Salieri had been promoted to his place),[25] but this also was +unsuccessful. Convinced that he must now, for the present at least, +renounce all hope of promotion at court, he applied to the civic +authorities for the post of assistant to the Kapellmeister Hofmann at +the Stephans-kirche. The application was granted, with the promise of +Hofmann's lucrative post in case of his death; but the old man survived +Mozart, and this hope of an independence fell through with the rest.[26] +Under these circumstances Mozart + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(278) + +was thrown back for a means of livelihood upon lessons, concerts, and +composition. We know how much he disliked lesson-giving (Vol. I., p. +411), and his dislike was more likely to increase than diminish, and +yet he was obliged to lay himself out to give lessons. In May, 1790, he +wrote to his friend Puchberg: "I have two pupils now, and should like +to make the number up to eight; try to spread it about that I give +lessons." Mozart was never a fashionable and well-paid music-master in +Vienna, such as Steffan, Kozeluch, or Righini. This may excite surprise, +since he was so distinguished as a pianist, but he was wanting in the +patience and pliability necessary, and perhaps also in steadiness +and regularity. When he met with talent or enthusiasm, or when he was +personally attracted, he was fond of giving lessons; as, for instance, +to Franziska (afterwards Frau von Lagusius), the sister of his friend +Gottfried von Jacquin, to whom he writes from Prague (January 14, +1787):-- + +I kiss your sister's hand a thousand times, and beg her to practise +industriously on her new pianoforte--but the recommendation is +unnecessary, for I must own that I never had so industrious and zealous +a pupil as herself--and I rejoice in the expectation of giving her +further instruction, according to my poor ability. + +She was considered an excellent pianiste, and one of Mozart's best +pupils; he wrote the trio with clarinet and tenor (498 K.) for her +(August 5, 1786).[27] He also sent her the grand Sonata for four hands +in C major (521 K.) as soon as it was finished (May 29, 1787), with a +message through her brother that "she must set about it at once, for +it was somewhat difficult." They were mostly ladies to whom he gave +lessons, for the ladies of high rank in Vienna were cultivated enough to +be considered as leaders of fashion, + + +{LESSONS AND PUPILS.} + +(279) + +more especially in music.[28] Among them were students in the genuine +sense of the word, such as Frau von Trattnern, to whom Mozart addressed +elaborate written communications on the execution of his clavier +compositions, more especially on his Fantasia in C minor, composed for +her.[29] For Barbara Ployer he composed (February 9, 1784) the Concerto +in E flat major (449 K.), which he did not consider as among his great +ones, and the more difficult one in G Major (453 K.); and he writes to +his father (June 9, 1784):-- + +To-morrow there is to be a concert at Herr Ployer's country-house +in Dobling; Fräulein Babette is to play her new concerto in G, I the +quintet [with wind instruments, in E flat major, 452 K.], and then both +of us the grand sonata for two pianos [in D major, composed early in +1784, 448 K.]. I am to take Paesiello, who has been here since May on +his return journey from St. Petersburg, in order that he may hear my +compositions and my pupils. + +No doubt the greater number of his pupils either--like Fräulein +Aumhammer--cared more for social intercourse with Mozart than for actual +instruction, or took lessons for a short time only that they might be +able to speak of the great performer as their teacher. The celebrated +physician, Jos. Frank, relates that he took twelve lessons from him in +1790:[30]-- + +I found Mozart a little man with a large head and plump hand, and was +somewhat coldly received by him. "Now," said he, "play me something." +I played a fantasia of his own composition. "Not bad," said he, to my +great astonishment; "but now listen to me play it." It was a miracle! +The piano became another instrument under his hands. It was strengthened +by a second piano, which served him as a pedal.[31] Mozart then made +some remarks as to the way in which I should perform the fantasia. I was +fortunate enough to understand him. "Do + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(280) + +you play any other pieces of my composition?" "Yes," answered I; "your +variations on the theme 'Unser dummer Pobel meint' (455 K.), and a +sonata with accompaniments for violin and violoncello." "Good! + +I will play you that piece; you will profit more by hearing me than by +playing them yourself." + +It is plain that he had the tact and skill to manage even such pupils +as these. He treated those who had the power and the wish to become true +artists under his guidance in quite another fashion, and they profited +not only by his regular instruction, but still more by his encouragement +and incitement to exertion. + +Johann Nepomuk Hummel came to Vienna in 1785, with his father, who +afterwards undertook the conductorship of the opera, under Schikaneder; +at seven years of age the young Hummel already created great +expectations by his clavier-playing. A pupil of Mozart's, named +Freystädter, brought Hummel to him in 1797; the boy played one of the +easier sonatas (with which Mozart had no fault to find, except as to +the hurried _tempo_), and then one of his newest concertos by heart.[32] +Thereupon Mozart decided to undertake Hummel's instruction, but only +on condition that he resided with them altogether. We are not told how +often or with what regularity he received lessons; but he heard Mozart +play, and had to play over to him any clavier music that came into the +house. One evening Mozart returned late from some entertainment with +his wife, and found a piece of music which he was curious to hear. Young +Hummel, who had been awaiting their return, had lain down on a couple +of chairs and fallen asleep. "Stanzerl," said Mozart, to his wife; "wake +Hans, and give him a glass of wine." No sooner said than done; and the +boy played the new piece of music, late at night as it was.[33] + +Mozart's musical instruction was sure to be desultory. Freystädter +relates that he generally received Mozart's directions and corrections +of his musical exercises sitting at a side-table, while a game of bowls +was going on.[34] Attwood + + +{MOZART'S LESSONS IN THEORY.} + +(28l) + +also tells us that Mozart sometimes persuaded him to join in a game of +billiards instead of taking a lesson.[35] The pupils did not consider +their master guilty of caprice and neglect; but felt themselves spurred +to activity by their intercourse with him. + +Mozart took young Hummel everywhere with him, made him play, played +duets with him, and declared that the boy would soon excel himself as +a pianist. Hummel was greatly attached to Mozart, both then and ever +after; he remained in his house for two years, until in November, 1788, +his father set out with him on a professional tour. + +Mozart also gave lessons in the theory of music, sometimes even to +ladies; we hear of a cousin of the Abbé Stadler as Mozart's pupil +in thorough-bass. The exercise-book which he used for instruction in +thorough-bass in 1784 is now in the Imperial library at Vienna.[36] +Mozart wrote down a very characteristic melody, or a bass, or both, +which the pupil was to arrange in several parts; then Mozart corrected +the passage with short remarks on the various mistakes, alternately +Italian or German, sometimes of a comic nature--for instance: "Ho l' +onore di dirla, che lei ha fatta la scioc-cagine (da par Suo) di far due +ottave tra il 2do Violino ed il Basso"; or in German: "This E is very +forced here; it shows that it has only been put in to prevent too rapid +a passage from one consonance to another--just as bad poets often do +stupid things for the sake of rhyme. You might have gone gradually from +C to D very prettily by inserting thirds." These remarks are purely +grammatical; and it is evident that Mozart's teaching was of the good +old-fashioned kind, which strives first to give the pupil a thorough +knowledge of the grammar of his art. From exercise-books of this kind, +of which Zelter saw one in Vienna,[37] a little + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(282) + +handbook of thorough-bass was afterwards printed under Mozart's name, +and was much in use for some time.[38] With more advanced pupils he +naturally proceeded differently. Attwood preserved an exercise-book with +compositions, which he had submitted to Mozart shortly after his arrival +in Vienna. Mozart had crossed out whole passages, and rewritten them +with the remark, "I should have done this so."[39] When Kelly, the +tenor, who made pretty little songs which Mozart admired, imagined that +he could make himself into a serious composer by means of studies in +counterpoint, Mozart said to him, "If you had studied counterpoint long +ago in Naples, you would have done well; now that you have to give +your mind to your education as a singer, you will make nothing of it. +Remember that half-knowledge is a dangerous thing. You have considerable +talent in the invention of melodies; a smattering of theory would ruin +that, and you can always find some musician who can help you when +you want it. Melody is the essence of music. I should compare one who +invents melodies to a noble racehorse, and a mere contrapuntist to a +hired post hack. So let it alone; and remember the old Italian proverb +'Chi sa più, meno sa.'"[40] + +Lesson-giving might fail greatly to increase either Mozart's fame or +his income, but his success as a virtuoso was brilliant and lasting. +His father warned him, when he talked of settling in Vienna, of the +fickleness of the public, but Wolfgang answered cheerfully (June 2, +1781):-- + +The Viennese certainly love change--_but only at the theatre_, and +my line is too popular not to be supported. This is, in truth, +_Clavierland!_ and, even supposing they were to tire of me, it would not +be for several years, and in the meantime I should have made both money +and reputation. + +In this expectation he was not disappointed; the applause which greeted +him on his first appearance was repeated as often as he appeared in +Vienna. + + +{CONCERTS IN THE AUGARTEN, 1782.} + +(283) + +The proper season for concerts, and also for private musical parties, +was Lent, when the theatres were closed; the concerts were generally +given in the theatre.[41] Mozart invariably gave a concert in Lent. +After the success of the first (1782) he used to make a common +undertaking every spring with a certain Phil. Jac. Martin. He was a +native of Regensburg, who had studied with good old Bullinger at the +Jesuit College in Munich, and supported himself with difficulty: "quite +a young man, who tries hard to get on in the world by his music, his +beautiful handwriting, and especially by his clever head and strong +intellect" (May 29, 1782). Martin had established an amateur musical +society, which gave concerts every Friday during the winter.[42] Mozart +writes to his father (May 8, 1782):-- + +You know that there are a number of amateurs here, and very good ones, +both male and female; hitherto there has been no organisation among +them. This Martin has now received permission from the Emperor, with +expressions of the highest approbation, to give twelve concerts in the +Augarten and four grand evening concerts on the finest open spaces in +the city.[43] The subscription for the whole summer is two ducats. You +can well imagine that we shall get subscribers enough, all the more +for my being associated with him. Even supposing that we only get one +hundred subscribers, and that the expenses amount to two hundred florins +(an outside sum), that means three hundred florins profit for each of +us. Baron van Swieten and the Countess Thun are taking it up warmly. +The orchestra is entirely amateur, with the exception of the bassoons, +trumpets, and drums. + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(284) + +The Imperial Augarten replaced the old "Favorite" established by Joseph +I. in the Leopold Vorstadt of Vienna. It was laid out by Joseph II., +and opened to the public for their free use in 1775, with the well-known +inscription over the entrance: "Public place of recreation dedicated to +all men, by one who esteems them."[44] The principal building was used +as an hotel, and the Emperor built for himself a simple little house, +surrounded by wooden palings, where he sometimes spent several days, and +amused himself by walking freely among his people. On Sunday afternoons +in especial, all the fashionable population of Vienna strolled +there,[45] so that the speculation promised to be a successful one. + +It provided plenty of occupation for its promoters. Mozart writes (May +25, 1782):-- + +To-morrow is our first entertainment in the Augarten. At half-past eight +Martin is to call for me in a hackney-coach, and we have six visits to +make; I must be ready by eleven o'clock to go to Rumbeck; then I dine +with the Countess Thun; we are to rehearse the music in her garden in +the evening. There is to be a symphony by Van Swieten, and another by +me; Mdlle. Berger, an amateur, is to sing; a boy named Türk[46] is +to play a violin concerto, and Fräulein von Aurnhammer and I the duet +concerto in E flat (365 K.). + +The first concert went off well; among the audience were the Archduke +Maximilian, the Countess Thun, Wallenstein, Baron van Swieten, and +many other musical connoisseurs, but we hear nothing further of the +undertaking, which cannot have been so brilliant a success as had been +hoped.[47] There was no doubt, however, as to the success which Mozart +achieved during the Lenten concerts of 1783. He contributed greatly +towards the success of a concert given by his sister-in-law, Aloysia +Lange, at the theatre on + + +{CONCERT FOR ALOYSIA LANGE.} + +(285) + +March 11. His Parisian symphony for the Concert spirituel (297 K., Vol. +II., p. 49) was performed on this occasion, after which Madame Lange +sang the song which he had composed for her in Mannheim: "Non sò d'onde +viene" (294 K., Vol. I., p. 419), with new variations for the voice. +How many memories it must have awakened in them both! "Gluck had the box +next to the Langes," he informed his father (March 12, 1783), "in which +was also my wife. He could not praise enough either the symphony or the +song, and he invited us all to dinner next Sunday." In addition Mozart +played a concerto of his own composition. "The theatre was very full; +and I was so well received by the public, that I could but feel happy +and content. After I had gone away the clapping was so persistent that +I was obliged to return and repeat the rondo. It was a perfect storm of +applause." For his own concert on March 22 every box was taken, and the +theatre "could not have been fuller." The programme of this concert, +which he copied for his father, gives us an idea of what Mozart's +concerts were. There were performed:-- + +1. The new Hafner symphony, composed the previous summer (385 K., Vol. +II., p. 210). + +2. Air from "Idomeneo," "Se il padre perdei" (366 K.), sung by Madame +Lange. + +3. The third subscription concerto, then just published, in C major (415 +K., No. 5). + +4. The Countess Baumgarten's scena (369 K., Vol. II., p. 168), sung by +Adamberger. + +5. The short Sinfonia-concertante of the last "Final-musik" (320 K., +Vol. II., p. 87). + +6. The favourite concerto in D (175, 382 K., Vol. I., p. 324). + +7. Scena, "Parto, m' affretto," from "Lucio Silla" (135 K., Vol. I., p. +180), sung by Mdlle. Teyber. + +8. Impromptu fantasia by Mozart, beginning with a short fugue, "because +the Emperor was there" (Vol. II., p. 173), followed by variations on an +air from the opera of "Der eingebildete Philosoph" by Paesiello ("Salve +Tu, Domine"), and when the thunder of applause obliged him to play +again, he chose the air "Unser dummer Pöbel meint," from Gluck's +"Pilgrims of Mecca," as a theme for variations. + +9. A new rondo, composed for Madame Lange, and performed by her (416 +K.). + +10. The last movement of the first symphony. + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(286) + +This programme makes it evident that the demands on a concert-giver were +far greater then than now, and the public were undoubtedly more patient +listeners. "What pleased me most," wrote Wolfgang to his father (March +29, 1783), "was the sight of the Emperor, and how pleased he was, and +how he applauded me. It is always his custom to send the money for his +box to the pay-place before he comes to the theatre; otherwise I might +certainly have expected more (than twenty-five ducats), for his delight +was beyond all bounds." A short time after Mozart played a concerto at +Mdlle. Teyber's concert.[48] Again the rondo was encored, but when +he sat down to the piano again, he had the desk removed in order to +improvise. "This little surprise delighted the audience immensely; they +clapped, and cried 'Bravo, bravissimo!'" The Emperor did not leave this +concert until Mozart had quite finished playing. So the latter in high +glee informs his father (April 12,1783). In Lent, 1784,[49] besides a +concert in the theatre, which took place in April, Mozart proposed to +give six subscription concerts, and he begs his father to send him the +score of "Idomeneo," because he intended to produce it (December 6, +1783). + +The pianoforte teacher Richter had established Saturday concerts, which +were attended by the nobility only upon the understanding that Mozart +was to play; after playing at three of them he raised subscriptions (six +florins) for three concerts of his own, which took place on the three +last Wednesdays in Lent (March 17, 24, and 31), in a fine hall belonging +to Trattnern, a bookseller.[50] The list of subscribers + + +{LENTEN CONCERTS, 1784.} + +(287) + +numbered 174 names,[51] thirty more than were procured by the partners, +Richter and Fischer; the latter was a violin-player, married to Storace, +the singer.[52]. + +"The first concert, on the 17th," Mozart writes (March 20, 1784), +"went off well; the hall was crammed full, and the new concerto, which I +played, was very well received; every one is talking about the concert." +The succeeding performances were equally successful, so that he was able +to assure his father that they had been of considerable service to him. +Besides the subscription concerts, he gave two others in the theatre, +which also went off well. "To-morrow should have been my first +concert in the theatre," he writes (March 20, 1784), "but Prince Louis +Liechtenstein has an operatic performance which would have taken half +the nobility from my audience, besides some of the chief members of the +orchestra. So I have postponed it, in a printed advertisement, to April 1. +He wrote two great concertos[53] and the quintet for piano and wind +instruments, which was enthusiastically applauded. "I myself," he adds, +"consider it the best thing I ever wrote in my life. I do wish you could +have heard it! And how beautifully it was performed! To tell the truth, +I grew tired of the mere playing towards the end, and it reflects no +small credit on me that my audience did not in any degree share the +fatigue." + +In the following year Leopold Mozart visited his son in Vienna, and was +an eye-witness of his popularity. He + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(288) + +writes to his daughter (January 22, 1785): "I have this moment received +a line from your brother, saying that his concerts begin on February 11, +and are to continue every Friday." He arranged to be in Vienna for this +concert, which was given on the Mehlgrube, with a subscription list of +over one hundred and fifty at three ducats each. He wrote to Marianne at +the conclusion of the concert (February 11, 1784): "Wolfgang played an +admirable new concerto, which was in the copyist's hands when we arrived +yesterday; your brother had not even time to try over the rondo. The +concerto is in D minor" (466 K., No. 8). The second concert, too, "was +splendid"; and at a benefit concert in the theatre for which Wolfgang +wrote the Concerto in C major (467 K., No. 1) he made 559 florins, +"which we had not expected, as the list for his subscription concerts +numbers one hundred and fifty persons, and he has often played at other +people's concerts for nothing," as L. Mozart writes (March 12, 1785). +He played at Madame Laschi's concert on February 12, 1785, a splendid +concerto which he had composed for the blind pianiste in Paris, Marie +Thérèse Paradies (1759-1824); this is probably the Concerto in B major +(456 K., No. 11) dated September 30, 1784. "When your brother made his +exit," writes the father, "the Emperor bowed to him, hat in hand, and +called: 'Bravo, Mozart!' He was very much applauded on his entrance." +During the Lent of 1786 Mozart had, as he wrote to his father (December +28,1785), three subscription concerts, with one hundred and twenty +subscribers; for these he wrote three new concertos. One in E flat major +(482 K., No. 6) on December 26, 1785, another in A major (488 K., No. +2) on March 2, 1786, and the third in C minor on March 24, 1786, the +andante of which he was obliged to repeat at the concert of April 7, the +last given in the theatre.[54] In Advent of the same year, as he informs +his father (December 8, 1786), he gave four concerts at the Casino, +for which he composed a new Concerto in C major (503 K., No. 16), dated +December 4, 1786; in January of the same year he + + +{PRIVATE CONCERTS.} + +(289) + +journeyed to Pragüe, where he was received with enthusiasm as the +composer of "Figaro." In obedience to the general desire, he played at a +great concert in the Opera-House, to a very crowded audience; Mozart was +recalled three times, and when at last he improvised variations on +"Non più andrai" there was no end to the applause; a second concert +was attended with eqally brilliant results. Madame Storace informed +L. Mozart, who wrote the news to his daughter (March 1, 1787), that +Wolfgang had made one thousand florins in Prague. + +Even if it be granted that the honour and profit of these concerts +did not equal that which was accorded to celebrated vocalists of +the day,[55] yet it would be unjust to maintain that Mozart was not +appreciated by the public, and that they failed to express their +appreciation in hard cash. Any comparison with the unexampled success +attained by great performers of a later day ought not to leave out of +sight that the concert-visiting public has enormously increased since +that time, when this enjoyment was the exclusive privilege of the higher +ranks. + +The growing interest for literature and art was then just beginning to +awaken in the citizen class some desire for participation in theatrical +performances and concerts; but still the concert public of that time +had very little resemblance to that which we now expect to find. The +difference shows itself in the private concerts. During the winter, and +particularly during Lent, musical performances were the chief means +of entertainment among the nobility and wealthy citizens. Amateur +theatricals were also very fashionable, and even operas were often given +in private.[56] An opera by Prince Liechtenstein has been mentioned +before (Vol. II., p. 287); Mozart's "Idomeneo" was given in 1786 at the +private theatre of Prince Auersperg, where in 1782 an Italian opera had +been given in honour of the Grand + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(290) + +Duke;[57] Kelly had heard the Countéss Hatzfeld[58] sing Gluck's +"Alceste" there incomparably well.[59] + +Noblemen of high rank often maintained their own musical establishments; +and though this did not often consist, as in the case of Prince +Esterhazy or the Prince von Hildburghausen,[60] of a complete orchestra, +yet the retinue of most of the nobility (especially in Bohemia) were +capable of taking part in orchestral music,[61] or there was at least a +band of wind instruments to play during meals or in serenades.[62] But +for the private performances of which we have just spoken a complete +orchestra was always employed,[63] which was an easier matter then than +it would be now that orchestras are so much more fully appointed. This +arrangement was of the greatest importance for the musical profession. +The frequent concerts gave opportunity for a large number of musicians +to educate themselves into good orchestral players, and the composers +found constant employment in every branch of their art. Patrons vied +with each other in the production of new works by distinguished masters, +and above all in the acquisition of celebrated performers. The expense +of musical soirées was very great, but custom made it a point of honour +among the aristocracy to patronise the art which then surpassed all +others in public estimation. + +Mozart's popularity as a pianist would, as a matter of course, render +him much in request at these private concerts. As early as the winter of +1782 he was engaged for all the concerts given by Prince Gallitzin, the +Russian ambassador, who "placed his carriage at my disposal both going +and returning, and treated me in the handsomest + + +{PRIVATE CONCERTS--NOBLE PATRONS.} + +(291) + +manner possible' (December 21,1782). During the following winter he +again played regularly for Prince Gallitzin, also for Count Johann +Esterhazy, Count Zichy, &c. He calculates for his father's benefit that, +from February 26 till April 3, he would have to play five times for +Gallitzin, and nine times for Esterhazy, to which might be added three +of Richter's concerts and five of his own, besides chance invitations. +"Have I not enough to do?" he asks. "I do not think I shall be allowed +to get out of practice." When his father was in Vienna in 1785, he wrote +to his daughter that Wolfgang's harpsichord had been to the theatre and +to different private houses quite twelve times between February 11 and +March 12.[64] What amount of fee Mozart received for his performances +in private we have no means of ascertaining; in general, however, the +aristocracy were accustomed to reward distinguished artists according +to their deserts, and the exceptional position of the Viennese nobility +enabled the artists to accept their liberality without loss of dignity; +the more so as it was usually founded on sentiments of esteem and +consideration. That the friendly demeanour of persons of high rank was +highly prized by the artists themselves, there can be no doubt; nor +would there be wanting some who sought to merit it by servile adulation. +From any tinge of this Mozart was absolutely free; not only was he +unfettered by the forms of social class distinctions, but he moved in +society with all the independence of a distinguished man, without +laying claim to the license usually accorded to artists of genius. +The etiquette of rank was no bar to his intimacy with Prince Karl +Lichnowsky; and another of his true friends was Count August Hatzfeld, +who had carefully cultivated a considerable musical talent, and was a +first-rate quartet violinist. He became so imbued with the spirit of +Mozart's quartets, that the latter was said to have declared that he +liked nobody's execution of them so well as Count + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(292) + +Hatzfeld's.[65] The song in "Idomeneo" with obbligato violin was +composed for him. His noble character won for him universal esteem, +which was intensified by the calmness with which he met death in his +thirty-first year (Bonn, 1787). Mozart wrote to his father in a very +serious letter (April 4, 1787):-- + +On this subject (death and dying) I have already expressed my mind +to you on the occasion of the melancholy death of my best and dearest +friend, Count von Hatzfeld. He was thirty-one--just my age. I do not +mourn for _him_, but for myself and for all those who knew him as I did. + +Mozart also gave regular musical performances every Sunday morning in +his own house; he used to invite his friends, and musical amateurs +were admitted on payment. Kelly relates[66] that he never missed one of +these. I find them mentioned elsewhere also, and have heard of them from +old people who took part in them during the last years of Mozart's life. +They were always well attended; but whether Mozart's public concerts +were continued with unabated success after the year 1788, or whether +the time had come when he was to experience "the fickleness" of the +Viennese, I have no means of determining with exactitude. He wrote three +symphonies in June, July, and August of 1788, whence it may be +concluded that he was giving concerts during that time; and, by the same +reasoning, the absence of any symphonies or concertos composed during +the years immediately following would prove that no concerts were then +given. His pecuniary embarrassments during those years tell the same +tale; and the cutting off of this important contribution to his income +seems to have occasioned his journeys to Berlin and Frankfort. Not until +January, 1791, do we meet with another pianoforte concerto in B flat +major (595 K., No. 15) that was no doubt intended for a Lenten concert. + +The publication of his compositions, which in the present day would have +been Mozart's chief dependence, was by no means profitable, as matters +then stood. The music trade + + +{PUBLICATION OF COMPOSITIONS.} + +(293) + +of the day was small and insignificant; indeed, the first impulse was +given to it by the publication of an edition of all Mozart's works soon +after his death. During his life, however, compositions were more often +copied than printed;[67] and the composer was obliged to keep careful +watch lest copies should be distributed which were not ordered from him, +and which in consequence he was never paid for. It need scarcely be said +that caution such as this was not in Mozart's nature, and that copies of +his works were frequently made and sold without his knowledge. Different +musical firms (Joh. Traeg, Lausch, Torricella, &c.) advertised copies +of his compositions for sale under his very eyes; nor was this conduct, +however undesirable, thought unworthy of a respectable tradesmen. He +was careful only of his concertos; too much depended on his keeping +possession of them, and not allowing any one to play them who chose. +His three first concertos, indeed, he thought it advisable to publish +himself by a subscription of six ducats (December 23, 1782). He offered +them afterwards to the "highly respectable public" for four ducats, +"beautifully copied and revised by himself."[68] Even this his father +thought too dear; but Mozart thought that the concertos were worth the +money, and could not be copied for it. + +When sending his father those composed in the following year, he wrote +(May 24, 1784): "I can wait patiently until you send them back, so +long as they do not fall into any one else's hands; I might have had +twenty-four ducats for one of them to-day; but I think it will be to my +advantage to keep them a couple of years by me, and then to have them +printed." He used to take only the orchestral parts with him on his +journeys, and to play himself from a clavier part of most extraordinary +appearance, according to Rochlitz.[69] It consisted of only the figured +bass and the principal + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(294) + +motifs, with hints for the passages, runs, &c.; he depended on his +memory, which never by any chance failed him. In 1788 he advertised +copies of three quintets for four ducats.[70] + +As far, then, as concertos and symphonies were concerned, the composer +made his principal profit by his own performance of them; but he was +also called upon to write different things for other people. Mozart +wrote many compositions for his pupils, an extraordinary number for +his friends and acquaintance, and not a few to order on particular +occasions. Among the latter class are the quartets written for Frederick +William II., in 1789 and 1790 (575, 589, 590, K.), for which he was +doubtless well paid; it was said that he received for the first a +valuable gold snuff-box and a hundred friedrichs-d'or.[71] It is well +known that one hundred ducats were paid in advance for the Requiem, and +something may have come in for the adaptation of Handel's oratorios, +ordered by Van Swieten in 1788 and 1789, as well as for here and there +a commission or dedication. But a closer examination of the long list of +Mozart's compositions of this class makes it probable that they were +not for the most part profitable to him. A characteristic anecdote is +related of him by his widow, which bears out this supposition.[72] At +one of Mozart's Sunday matinées there was present a Polish Count, +who was very much delighted with the new (composed March 30, 1784) +pianoforte quintet with wind instruments. He commissioned Mozart to +write a trio with obbligato flute, which the latter promised to do. As +soon as he arrived at home, the Count sent Mozart a hundred half-louis +with a very polite note, repeating his thanks for the pleasure the music +had given him. The terms of the note left Mozart no doubt that the money +was a generous gift, and he returned the politest acknowledgment, at the +same time sending the Count, contrary to his custom, the original score +of the quintet he had so much admired. A year after the Count came again +to Mozart and inquired after the trio. Mozart excused himself by saying +he had not yet found himself in the humour to + + +{PUBLICATION OF COMPOSITIONS.} + +(295) + +write anything worthy of the Count's acceptance. "Then, no doubt," +answered the Count, "you will find yourself still less in the humour +to return me the hundred half-louis which I paid you for it." Mozart +returned the money, but the Count kept the score of the quintet, which +was soon after printed in Vienna without Mozart's permission. Against +such persons and such behaviour Mozart had no weapons but a shrug of +the shoulders, and a--"The rascal!" It may well be supposed that others +besides this Polish Count took advantage of such easy-going good-nature. +But the publishers must not be credited with more than their share of +blame.[73] Variations and similar trifles were doubtless often printed +without the composer's consent, and brought in considerable profits +in which he had no share. But the more important of his works which +appeared during his lifetime were either printed by subscription or +trusted for publication to Torricella, Artaria, and Hoffmeister. I have +only in one case been able to discover the amount paid to him; he wrote +to his father, who communicated it to his daughter (January 22, 1785) +that he had sold his quartets dedicated to Jos. Haydn to Artaria for +one hundred ducats. This was a considerable sum for those days, and the +reception given to the quartets on their appearance might well cause the +publisher to fear he had paid too dear for them. It is said that the +two beautiful pianoforte quartets in G minor (478 K., composed in July, +1785) and in E flat major (493 K., composed in June, 1786), were only +the commencement of a series bespoken by Hoffmeister; but the public +finding them too difficult, and refraining from buying them, he allowed +Mozart to retain the money he had paid in advance, and gave up the +continuation.[74] The popularity gained by Mozart's greater works must +always have been of gradual growth, since they were considered in every +respect too difficult, and it is quite credible that Hoffmeister said, +as was reported of him:[75] "Write more popularly, or else I can neither +print nor pay for anything more of yours!" + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(296) + +nor is it less credible that Mozart should have answered: "Then I will +write nothing more, and go hungry, or may the devil take me!" + +A note written to Hoffmeister on November 20, 1785, is indeed in quite +another tone:[76]-- + +Dear Hoffmeister,--I have recourse to you, and beg you to assist me +with a little money, of which I am much in want at present. I earnestly +entreat you to send me what I require as soon as possible. Pardon my +troubling you so much, but you know me, and are aware how much I have +your affairs at heart, so that I am convinced that you will not be +offended at my importunities, but will be as ready to show yourself my +friend as I am yours. + +A very enterprising publisher, Commerzienrath Hummel, of Berlin, +maintained that, though not musical, he could tell by the look of a +composition whether it would suit him. He had a poor opinion of Mozart, +and used to boast of having sent him back various works.[77] + +Rochlitz relates, as an instance of Mozart's ill-treatment at the +hands of theatrical managers,[78] that Schikaneder paid nothing for +the "Zauberflöte," and even, contrary to the agreement, sold the score +without his knowledge. Seyfried,[79] on the other hand, maintains that +Schikaneder paid Mozart a hundred ducats, and resigned the net profits +of the sale of the score to his widow. Be this as it may, Schikaneder's +treatment of Mozart must not be considered illustrative of that which he +usually received from his managers. A hundred ducats was then the +usual payment in Vienna for an opera. This sum Mozart received for the +"Entführung," for "Figaro," and no doubt also for "Cosi fan Tutte." +For "Don Giovanni" he had 225 florins. To this were usually added the +proceeds of a benefit performance (and another for the poet), which +of course depended on the popularity of the composer with the public. +Mozart does not mention the benefit performance of the + + +{PROFITS ON OPERAS.} + +(297) + +"Entführung"; but both in this case and that of "Figaro" it must have +had considerable results.[80] Bondini paid a hundred ducats for "Don +Giovanni." The Bohemian States, who ordered the "Clemenza di Tito" +for their coronation festival, can scarcely have offered him less +remuneration; even the manager Guardasoni, who was famous for his +parsimony, "almost agreed" in the year 1785 to give Mozart "two hundred +ducats for an opera and fifty ducats travelling expenses," as he informs +his wife--an agreement, however, which was never carried out.[81] + +In this respect, therefore, Mozart was not behind contemporary +composers. With regard to performances on foreign stages, we have no +definite information as to whether his permission was asked or paid +for,[82] but we may gather something from the ordinary usages of the +time. It was the traditional custom in Italy that whoever ordered +the opera should pay for it; what became of the score afterwards was +generally left to chance. The impresario remained in possession of it, +and usually allowed the copyist to make what profit he could out of the +sale of it (Vol. I., p. 131); but the composer also kept the score, and +seems to have distributed it wherever he thought he might gain honour or +profit by it. In Germany the case was altered, since there the composer +had generally to do with a court theatre. In Mannheim and Munich he +retained undivided possession of the score (Vol. II., p. 141).[83] +Mozart rejoiced that Baron Riedesel had asked him for the "Entführung" +and not the copyist (Vol. II., p. 213). As a matter of course foreign +theatres took the easiest course open to them to obtain possession of +the score. When they applied to the composer it was only because they +saw no other way of getting it, or for some special reason. Any question +of + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(298) + +the composer's rights or the theatrical manager's obligations seems +never to have occurred to either party. A careful hold of the score and +watchful supervision of the copyist were the only means of protection. +These did not go far, nor was Mozart the man to make use of them. +When, therefore, his operas appeared on foreign boards without any +compensation to himself, he only shared the fate of most of his +contemporaries, nor does he seem to have complained of it. He is glad +to write to his father (December 6, 1783) that his "Entführung" had been +well and successfully performed in Prague and Leipzig; and he rejoiced +again when "Figaro" was given in Prague and "Don Giovanni" in Vienna; +but there is no mention of payment. + +If we summarise these financial remarks, we shall arrive at the +conclusion that in view of the importance of his works, and the profits +afterwards made on them both by the theatres and the publishers, Mozart +was very inadequately paid; but this standard cannot be unreservedly +applied to them. The conditions and fluctuations of profit to which +even artists are subject are ruled by the prevalent type of living among +citizens and the higher classes; the close-fisted organisation of a +community of merchants and traders cares little for the comet-like +course of an artistic genius, and is only too likely to give it an +altogether wrong direction or to ruin it at the outset. From a pecuniary +point of view we must acknowledge that Mozart was on the whole as well +treated as the majority of his fellow-artists; that both as a composer +and a performer he was sometimes no worse, sometimes better, paid than +others; that he had no lack of opportunities for earning money, and that +in point of fact he had a very good income. If Mozart had possessed the +same capacity for business as his father or Joseph Haydn, he would no +doubt have reaped far greater advantages from his position in Vienna; +but even on what he actually earned he might have lived in ease and +plenty. Without ourselves going into calculations on the subject, we +have a trustworthy witness for it in Leopold Mozart. During his visit to +Vienna, in 1785, he had a watchful eye on the earnings and expenditure +of his son, and wrote to his + + +{PECUNIARY EMBARRASSMENT.} + +(299) + +daughter (March 19, 1785): "I believe that, _if he has no debts to +pay_, my son can now lay by two thousand florins; the money is certainly +there, and the household expenses, so far as eating and drinking are +concerned, could not be more economical." How far removed was Mozart +from such providence! From the time of his marriage we find him in +constantly recurring money difficulties; a long list of melancholy +documents lets us into the vexations, cares, and humiliations which were +the inevitable consequences of his improvidence. Scarcely six months +after their marriage the wedded couple were obliged to apply to the +Baroness von Waldstädten in the following note, in order to avert a +threatened action-at-law by one of their creditors:-- + +Most honoured Baroness,--I find myself in a fine position, truly! We +agreed with Herr von Tranner lately that we should have a fortnight's +grace. As this is customary with every merchant, unless he be the most +disobliging fellow in the world, I thought nothing more of it, and +hoped, if I could not pay the amount myself, at least to be able to +borrow it. Now Herr von Tranner sends me word that he positively refuses +to wait, and if I do not pay him between to-day and to-morrow he will +bring an action against me! I cannot pay him even the half of it. If I +had had any idea that the subscriptions for my concert would come in +so slowly, I would have fixed the payment for a later date. I pray your +ladyship, for Heaven's sake, to help me to preserve my honour and my +good name! My poor little wife is feeling poorly, and I cannot leave +her, or else I would come myself and beg this favour of you by word of +mouth..We kiss your ladyship's hand a thousand times, and beg to remain +your ladyship's obedient children, + +February 15, 1783. + +W. A. and C. Mozart. + +In July of the same year, when he was setting out for Salzburg, and +actually in the act of entering his carriage, he was stopped by an +importunate creditor for the paltry claim of thirty florins, which, +nevertheless, he found it difficult to satisfy.[84] And not long after +his return to Vienna he was disagreeably surprised by a demand for +twelve louis-d'or, which he had borrowed at Strasburg in 1778. He was +obliged to write to his father:-- + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(300) + +You will remember that when you came to Munich, where I was writing the +great opera, you reproached me for having borrowed twelve louis-d'ors +from Herr Scherz, at Strasburg, with the words, "Your want of confidence +in me disappoints me--but enough; I suppose I shall have the honour of +paying the twelve louis-d'or." I travelled to Vienna, you to Salzburg. +What could I suppose from your words but that I need think no more of +the debt--or at least, that you would write to me if you did not pay it, +or speak about it when I saw you in Salzburg? I ask nothing further of +you, my dear father, than that you will be my security for a month. Had +he demanded payment during the first year I could have done it at once +and with pleasure; and I will pay him as it is, only I am not in a +position to do so at this moment. + +In the very same year that his father boasts of his finances, we find +him in a difficulty which necessitated his applying to his publisher, +Hoffmeister, who put him off with a couple of ducats. But the saddest +insight into the embarrassed and humiliating position in which Mozart +found himself after the year 1788 is afforded by his letters to his +friend, Michael Puchberg, a wealthy merchant,[85] musical himself, +and with two daughters, one of whom distinguished herself as a +clavier-player. He was a Freemason, and it seems to have been through +the lodge that an intimacy was founded close enough to warrant Mozart's +constant application to him for assistance. His wish to borrow a sum +sufficiently large to be of permanent benefit to him, either from +Puchberg himself or by his instrumentality, was not granted. So that +when his rent became due, or his wife's doctor's bill, or a stay in +the country had to be provided for, he was constantly obliged to claim +assistance from his friend. Whenever it was possible Mozart strove to +meet his household embarrassments in a joking mood. In the winter of +1790 Joseph Deiner, the landlord of the "Silver Serpent," who was of use +to Mozart in many of his household affairs, called upon him one day +and found him in his workroom dancing about with his wife. On Deiner's +asking him if he was giving his wife dancing lessons, Mozart answered, +laughing, "We are + + +{PECUNIARY EMBARRASSMENT.} + +(301) + +warming ourselves, because we are very cold, and have no money to buy +fuel." Thereupon Deiner ran home and brought them some wood, which +Mozart accepted and promised to pay him for as soon as he made any +money.[86] But dancing will not satisfy every need, and the faithful +Puchberg was never weary of assisting Mozart. He sent him larger or +smaller sums, which Mozart was never in a position to repay, so that +after his death his liabilities amounted to one thousand florins. +Puchberg, who was of great service to Mozart's widow in the ordering of +her affairs, postponed his claims for several years, so as to give +her the opportunity of paying him by degrees, as her circumstances +improved.[87] Mozart had recourse to other friends besides Puchberg; +in April, 1789, he borrowed one hundred florins from an aspirant to +Freemasonry, named Hofdemel, as is testified by the existing letter and +note of hand.[88] It was not likely that assistance of this kind would +materially improve Mozart's position. In 1790, when he undertook the +journey to Frankfort, in the result of which he had placed great hopes, +he was obliged to raise his travelling expenses by pawning plate and +ornaments;[89] and the financial transaction of which he speaks in his +letters to his wife, whereby somebody was to hand him over one thousand +florins on Hoffmeister's endorsement, shows clearly enough that he had +fallen into the hands of usurers, from whom he had striven in vain to +free himself by Puchberg's intervention. These facts prove only too +clearly that from the time of his marriage Mozart became gradually +entangled in a net of embarrassments, without any hope of permanent +extrication. His letters show how deeply he felt the cares and +humiliations of his position. The circumstances of so public a character +could not remain long concealed in Vienna, even had he been less +injudiciously open than he was; after his death ill-natured gossip +exaggerated his debts to a sum of thirty thousand florins, and the +rumour reached the ear of the Emperor Leopold. The widow, informed of +this by a + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(302) + +friend of high rank, explained the calumny to the Emperor, and assured +him that three thousand florins would cover all Mozart's debts. +The Emperor gave her generous assistance as soon as the facts and +extenuating circumstances had been made known to him,[90] but he refused +a pension. + +The same charitable dispositions which settled the amount of Mozart's +debts were also busy in accounting for the fact of their existence. How +could they have been contracted but by dissipation, irregular living, +and extravagance?[91] Against such accusations we must listen to Mozart +himself, who would hardly have had the face to appeal to his manner of +life and well-known habits in applying for help to his intimate friend +Puchberg, if he had been conscious of such improprieties as those with +which he was charged. Leopold Mozart's testimony is unimpeachable as to +the economy of the housekeeping in the matter of eating and drinking, +and it was confirmed by Sophie Haibl. It may be thought that the father +purposely limits his praise of Wolfgang's economy to matters of eating +and drinking, and this is no doubt quite possible. Mozart was very neat +and particular in his dress, and fond of lace and watch-chains.[92] +Clementi + + +{EXTRAVAGANCE AND LOVE OF PLEASURE.} + +(303) + +took him for a valet-de-chambre on account of his elegant appearance, +and his handsome attire is referred to on various occasions. His father +writes mockingly to his daughter from Vienna (April 16, 1785) that +Wolfgang and Madame Lange had intended going with him to Munich, but +nothing was likely to come of it, "although each of them have had six +pairs of shoes made, which are all standing there now." It may well be +then that Mozart was not over-economical in his dress; at the same time +there is no reason to accuse him of extravagant foppery. + +The excess of which Mozart was mainly accused, however, was not of this +kind at all, but lay more in the direction of sensual indulgence. He +had always been extremely fond of cheerful society and the manifold +distractions it brought with it; nay, it was quite a necessity to him, +as a refreshment after long-sustained mental efforts. Mozart gave +no parties at home, but his wife used to organise little musical +performances on family festivals or to amuse her husband; few friends +were present on such occasions, and Haydn's music was generally +preferred by Mozart himself.[93] + +There can have been no lack of opportunities for intercourse with his +fellow-artists and with the numerous accomplished and wealthy amateurs +then in Vienna, and we can well imagine that Mozart's social impulses +found constant and lively exercise. Music was the principal object of +meeting, and Mozart brought his tribute to the entertainment in the +form of improvisation, both grave and gay; he was a lively and cheerful +companion, too, in other respects, always ready for a joke, and fond of +exercising his gift for improvising comic doggerel verses.[94] + +Of all amusements, Mozart was fondest of dancing, and + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(304) + +found ample opportunity for indulging his passion in Vienna, where +dancing was at that time an absolute rage.[95] His wife confided to +Kelly, who saw Mozart dance on the occasion of their first meeting, +that her husband was an enthusiastic dancer, and thought more of his +performances in that line than in music; he was said to dance the +minuet very beautifully.[96] His letters have many indications of this +partiality, and he gives his father a merry and complacent account of a +ball at his own house (January 22, 1783):-- + +Last week I gave a ball in my own house; but of course the gentlemen +paid two florins each. We began at six o'clock in the evening and left +off at seven. What! only one hour? No, no; seven o'clock in the morning! +You will scarcely believe that I could find room for it. + +He had lately moved, and had taken apartments with Herr von Wezlar, a +rich Jew:-- + +There I have a room a thousand paces long, and a bedroom, then an +anteroom, and then a fine large kitchen; there are two fine large rooms +next to ours, which stand empty at present, and these I made use of for +the ball. Baron Wezlar and his wife were there, so were the Baroness +Waldstädten, Herr von Edelbach, Gilowsky the boaster, young Stephanie, +Adamberger and his wife, the Langes, &c. + +Still more exciting entertainments were the masked balls; and we have +already seen (Vol. I.,p. 337) that Mozart possessed both inclination +and talent for disporting himself in assumed characters. He writes +from Vienna (January 22, 1788), begging his father to send him his +harlequin's dress, because he would like to go on the Redoute as +harlequin: "but so that nobody should know it; there are so many here +(chiefly great asses) who go on the Redoute." Several good friends +associated themselves into a "compagnie-masque," and performed a +pantomime on Whit Monday, which filled up the half-hour before dancing +began. Mozart was Harlequin, Madame Lange Columbine, Lange played +Pierrot, an old dancing-master named Merk, who "drilled" the company, +took Pantaloon, and the painter Grassi the Doctor. + +The plot and music were by Mozart, the doggerel verses + + +{AMUSEMENTS--ILLNESS} + +(305) + +with which the pantomime was introduced by the actor Müller; it might +have been better, Mozart thought, but he was satisfied with the acting: +"I assure you we played very well," he informs his father (March +12,1783). Of the music for this pantomime thirteen numbers for stringed +instruments in parts are preserved, the first violin written by Mozart +(446 K.) It is, as may be imagined, very unpretending, as are also the +briefly indicated situations; for instance: "Columbine is sad--Pantaloon +makes love to her--she is angry--he is gay--she angry--he angry too." + +Another passion of Mozart's was billiard-playing; Kelly relates that +he often played with Mozart, but never won a game.[97] He had a +billiard-table in his own house, and played with his wife in case of +need,[98] or even quite alone. This was certainly a luxury, though far +from an unusual one in Vienna at that time, and it was occasioned not +solely from love of the game,[99] but, as Holmes rightly remarks, from +the care of the physicians for Mozart's health. + +In the spring of 1783 he was seized with cholera, which was raging as an +epidemic,[100] and in the following summer he was again seriously ill, +as Leopold Mozart informs his daughter (September 14, 1784):-- + +My son has been very ill in Vienna. He was very much overheated at +Paesiello's new opera, "Il Reteodoro," and was obliged to go into the +open air to look for the servant who had charge of his overcoat, because +orders had been given that no servants should be admitted to the theatre +by the ordinary entrance. This brought on rheumatic fever, which without +careful attention might have turned to typhus. Wolfgang writes: "I have +had raging colic every day for a fortnight at the same hour, accompanied +by violent vomiting. My doctor, Herr Sigmund Barisani, was in the habit +of visiting me almost daily even before this illness; he is very clever, +and you will see that he will soon make himself a name." + +Barisani was the son of the Archbishop's physician at Salzburg, an +intimate friend of the Mozart family. He was of it!" + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(306) + +distinguished in his profession, becoming later chief physician at the +general hospital, and a warm friend and admirer of Mozart. A charming +memorial of their friendship is preserved at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, +in the form of some affectionate verses addressed to Mozart by Barisani, +bearing date April 14, 1787. Underneath Mozart has written the following +lines:-- + +To-day, September 3 of this same year, I was so unfortunate as to +lose by death this noble-natured man, my dearest, best friend, and the +saviour of my life. It is well with him! but with me--us--and all who +knew him--it can never be well again, until we are so happy as to meet +him in another world _never to part again._ + +Barisani, seeing the impossibility of altogether weaning Mozart from the +habit of writing far into the night, and very often as he lay in bed in +the morning, endeavoured to avert the hurtful consequences in another +way. He recommended him not to sit so long at the clavier, but at all +events to compose standing, and to take as much bodily exercise as +he could.[101] His love of billiard-playing gave the doctor a welcome +pretext for turning this motive into a regular one; Mozart was equally +fond of bowls, and he was the more ready to follow the doctor's +directions with regard to both games since they did not interfere with +his intellectual activity. It happened one day in Prague that Mozart, +while he was playing billiards, hummed an air, and looked from time to +time into a book which he had with him; it appeared afterwards that he +had been occupied with the first quintet of the "Zauberflote."[102] When +he was writing down the score of "Don Giovanni" in Duschek's garden, +he took part at the same time in a game of quoits; he stood up when +his turn came round, and sat down again to his writing after he had +thrown.[103] + +But what of Mozart's inclination for strong drink, so often talked of? +There can be no doubt that he was very fond of punch; Kelly speaks of +it,[104] and Sophie Haibl does not + + +{MOZART'S LOVE OF WINE.} + +(307) + +disguise that her brother-in-law loved a "punscherl," but she also +asserts that he had never taken it immoderately, and that she had +never seen him intoxicated.[105] That he was capable of wild excess is +contradicted by his whole nature and by his conduct through life; but +these make it probable that he did not disdain the _poculum hilaritatis_ +in cheerful society, and that he gave vent to his spirits in a manner +more unrestrained than it should have been.[106] + +But Mozart also fortified himself with a glass of wine or punch when he +was in the throes of composition. In one of his apartments his immediate +neighbour was Joh. Mart. Loibl, who was musical and a Freemason, +consequently intimate with Mozart; he had a well-filled wine-cellar, of +the contents of which he was never sparing in entertaining his friends. +The partition wall between the houses was so thin, that Mozart had only +to knock when he wished to attract Loibl's attention; whenever Loibl +heard the clavier going and taps at his wall between the pauses, he used +to send his servant into the cellar, and say to his family, "Mozart +is composing again; I must send him some wine."[107] His wife made him +punch, too, when he was writing the overture to "Don Giovanni" the night +before its performance. Whoever casts a glance over Mozart's scores will +see that they could not have been written in the excitement caused by +wine, so neat and orderly are they even to the smallest details, and in +spite of the most rapid execution; and those who are in a position to +examine any one of his compositions will not need to be told that no +intellect overstrained and excited by artificial means could possibly +have produced such perfect clearness and beauty. Whether Mozart was +right in providing a bodily stimulus in the form of strong drink during +a continuous intellectual strain may well be doubted; experience and +opinions differ widely on this point. Goethe advised that there should +be no forcing an + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(308) + +unproductive mood into activity by external means of any kind; but he +answered Eckermann's remark that a couple of glasses of wine were often +of great service in clearing the mental vision, and bringing difficult +subjects to a solution, as follows: "You know my Divan so well that you +will remember that I said myself-- + + Wenn man getrunken hat, + Weiss man das Rechte, + +and that I entirely agree with you. There exist in wine inspiring forces +of a very important kind; but all depends upon circumstances and times +and places, and what is useful to one does harm to another."[108] + +Let us now gather into one the separate traits which we have been +constrained to discuss, owing to the wide dissemination of those +injurious reports against which Niemetschek has already rightly +protested. + +We have before us the picture of a cheerful, pleasure-loving man, +capable of such exertions of productive power and such intellectual +industry as have seldom been surpassed in the history of art, and +seeking his necessary recreation in social intercourse and the pleasures +of the senses to a degree which was equalled by the majority of his +contemporaries in Vienna without exciting any attention at all. He +was not by any means a thoughtless, dissipated spendthrift. But a +spendthrift he was, if the word be taken to signify one who fails to +control his wants and luxuries, so that they may be in proportion to +the actual state of his finances. His most dangerous qualities were a +good-natured soft-heartedness, and a spontaneous generosity. He gave, as +it were, involuntarily, from inner necessity. Rochlitz relates that he +not only gave free admissions to the chorus-singers at Leipzig, to which +they had no claim, but that he privately pressed a considerable present +into the hands of one of the bass singers who had specially pleased him. +When a poor old piano-tuner, stammering with embarrassment, begged for a +thaler, Mozart pressed a couple of ducats into his hand and + + +{MOZART'S THOUGHTLESS LIBERALITY.} + +(309) + +hurried from the room.[109] When he was in a position to give help, he +could not see any one in want without offering relief, even though +it entailed future difficulties on himself and his family; repeated +experiences made him no more prudent in this respect. That he was often +imposed upon there can be no doubt. Whoever came to him at meal-time was +his guest, all the more welcome if he could make or understand a joke, +and Mozart was happy if only his guests enjoyed their fare. Among +them were doubtless, as Sophie Haibl relates, "false friends, secret +blood-suckers, and worthless people, who served only to amuse him at +table, and intercourse with whom injured his reputation."[110] One of +the worst of this set was Albert Stadler, who may serve as an example +of the way in which Mozart was sometimes treated. He was an excellent +clarinet-player, and a Freemason; he was full of jokes and nonsense, +and contrived so to ingratiate himself with Mozart that the latter +constantly invited him to his house and composed many things for him. +Once, having learnt that Mozart had just received fifty ducats, he +represented himself as undone if he could not succeed in borrowing that +very sum. Mozart, who wanted the money himself, gave him two valuable +repeater watches to put in pawn upon condition that he should bring him +the tickets and redeem them in due time; as he did not do this, Mozart +gave him fifty ducats, besides the interest, in order not to lose his +watches. Stadler kept the money, and allowed the watches to remain at +the pawnbroker's. Nowise profiting by this experience, Mozart, on his +return from Frankfort, in + +1790, commissioned Stadler to redeem from pawn a portion of the silver +plate which had been pledged for the expenses of the journey and +to renew the agreement for the remainder. In spite of a very strong +suspicion that Stadler had purloined this pawn-ticket from Mozart's open +cashbox, the latter was not deterred from assisting him in the following +year towards a professional tour, both with money and recommendations, +in Prague, and from presenting him with + + +{MARRIED LIFE.} + +(310) + +a concerto (622 K.), composed only a few months before Mozart's +death.[111] + +No doubt all this shows culpable weakness on Mozart's part--weakness +incompatible with his duty to himself and his family. His household +burdens were increased by many misfortunes, especially by the repeated +and long-continued illnesses of his wife, necessitating an expensive +sojourn in Baden for many successive summers. Her delicacy doubtless +prevented such personal supervision of the household as was essential +to its economical management. She failed also to acquire such an +intellectual influence over her husband as to strengthen his capacity +for the proper conduct of his affairs, and she had not strength of mind +or energy to take the management of the household entirely into her own +hands. She felt the discomfort keenly, saw the causes of it, but could +not strive against them for any length of time. Without wishing to +reproach her, we may say at least that had Constanze been as good a +housekeeper as Mozart was a composer, things would have gone well with +him. + +It must not be supposed that Mozart was blind to the advantages of good +household management or wanting in the will to effect it; from time +to time he made earnest endeavours after economic reform. In February, +1784, he began an exact catalogue of his compositions, in which he +carefully entered every one of his works, until a short time before his +death, with suggestions of the theme;[112] at the same time he began to +keep an account book of his income and expenditure. André observes as to +this account, which unhappily I have not been able to see, that Mozart +entered his receipts--which included the profits on some concerts, +on lessons to different persons of rank, and on a few of his +compositions--on a long piece of paper. His expenditure he noted in a +little quarto book, which he afterwards used + + +{MOZART'S ACCOUNT-KEEPING.} + +(311) + +for writing English exercises and translations. His entries, while they +lasted, were exact and minute. For instance, on one page we find:-- + +May 1, 1784. Two lilies of the valley... 1 kreutzer. + +May 27, 1784. A starling.........34 kreutzers. + +Then comes the following melody--[See Page Image] + +with the remark, "Das war schön!" It is easy to discover what so +delighted him. On April 12 he had composed his pianoforte concerto in G +major (453 K.), and soon after played it in public. The subject of the +rondo is:--[See Page Image] + +The pleasure he felt at hearing it piped so comically altered induced +him to buy the bird. He grew very much attached to his "Vogel Stahrl," +as indeed he was to all animals, especially birds, and when it died he +erected a gravestone to its memory in his garden, with an epitaph in +verse.[113] + +The excessive neatness of the account-books leads us to fear that they +were not persevered with for any very long time, and indeed it is almost +surprising that Mozart should have kept them for a whole year, from +March, 1784, to February, 1785. After that he handed them over to his +wife, and the entries soon cease. + +Certainly Niemetschek is right in saying that "even if the same +indulgence be granted to Mozart that we must all wish to see extended +to ourselves, he cannot be put forward as an example of carefulness and +economy." Whoever, like Mozart, begins his housekeeping with nothing +at all, or even with debts, and is dependent upon an uncertain and +fluctuating income, has need of the strictest economy and regularity, +amounting even to parsimony, if he is to extricate himself from his +difficulties or attain to competence; otherwise occasional strokes of +good fortune are seldom of use--indeed are sometimes positive +hindrances." Regularity and economy were, as we have seen, qualities not +in Mozart's nature, and he never acquired them. Their absence +sufficiently accounts for his constant financial embarrassments. He +atoned for his errors and weakness by poverty and want, by sorrow and +care, by shame and humiliation; he was spared none of the punishment +which life ruthlessly inflicts on those who do not conform to the laws +of her iron necessity. But death has wiped out the stain, and the +misrepresentations of envious detractors and petty fault-finders have no +power to touch that which is immortal. + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER 27 + + +[Footnote 1: Cf. Friedel, Briefe aus Wien (1784), p. 409.] + +[Footnote 2: Mozart himself wrote this to his father, who communicates it to +Marianne (September 17, 1785).] + +[Footnote 3: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 225.] + +[Footnote 4: A. M. z., I., p. 855.] + +[Footnote 5: I cannot undertake to give anything like a comprehensive description +of Mozart's wife, although I have received many communications from +trustworthy persons who have known her personally. Their knowledge is +of her later years only, and their accounts are often inconsistent. This +inconsistency arises from the conflict in the widow's mind between pride +in the fame of the husband, of whose greatness she was fully aware only +after his death, and a painful remembrance of the hardships of their +married life. These hardships she was inclined to ascribe solely to his +want of capacity for practical affairs, and an injured feeling was often +mingled with her unbounded pride in Mozart's artistic achievements and +her belief in his love for her. The peculiarities of her second husband, +Nissen, a business man, painfully accurate and precise, tended no +doubt to intensify the contrast. Nissen's was an honourable, although a +commonplace nature, and he had earned Constanze's gratitude by his care +for her in her widowed and destitute condition, and by placing her in +a good worldly position as his wife; so that it is not surprising +that Mozart's memory should have passed into the background, with the +exception of his musical fame, which Nissen could not rival. At any +rate, we find Constanze continually posing as the patient martyr, +suffering from the thoughtlessness of a man of genius, who remained a +child to the end of his days. This is unjust to Mozart, but it would +be equally unjust to Constanze to make her mainly responsible for the +family difficulties.] + +[Footnote 6: Jahrb. d. Tonkunst. (1796), p. 43.] + +[Footnote 7: Nissen, p. 689.] + +[Footnote 8: Shlichtegrolls Nekrolog. Cf. Zelter, Briefw. mit Goethe, VI., p. 61.] + +[Footnote 9: Niemetschek, p. 97. Nissen, p. 686.] + +[Footnote 10: A. M. Z., I., p. 291. Nissen, p. 687.] + +[Footnote 11: This letter was made use of by Nissen. I obtained it from Köchel.] + +[Footnote 12: A. M. Z., I., p. 291. Nissen, p. 687.] + +[Footnote 13: "On this point I have accepted the verbal testimony of trustworthy +Salzburg friends, confirmed by Niemetschek, p. 98 (Nissen, p. 690).] + +[Footnote 14: Forster, Sämmtl. Schr., VII., p. 268. The French traveller [K. +Risbeck] says a great deal about the dissoluteness of the Viennese. "All +the great towns are alike in this respect. The courts are more or less +corrupt, and the nobility universally so; those who can do as they like +abuse their privileges, and act unworthily. But it is not always fair +to consider freedom of manner as a sign of licentiousness, as those who +live in small towns are apt to do. If a pretty girl permits a kiss on +her hand, or even her lips--if, when she loves a man, she is not ashamed +to say so--these are not deadly sins, and the shame rests with those who +take advantage of her openness."] + +[Footnote 15: From a MS. biographical notice of Hummel, by M. J. Seidel, +communicated by Preller.] + +[Footnote 16: The length to which the calumny went is shown by Suard (Mél. de +Litt., II., p. 339): "J'ai entendu dire qu'il n'avait fait Ja 'Flute +Enchantée' que pour plaire ä une femme de théätre dont il était devenu +amoureux, et qui avait mis ses faveurs ä ce prix. On ajoute que son +triomphe eut des suites bien cruelles, et qu'il en contracta une maladie +incurable dont il mourut peu de temps après. Ce fait me parait peu +vraisemblable: la 'Flûte Enchantée' n'est pas le dernier de ses opéras, +et lorsqu'il l'a composée sa santé était déjä fort altérée."] + +[Footnote 17: Salieri was recommended by Gluck as a composer for the Grand-Opéra +in Paris, in 1784, when he had himself refused to undertake the +composition of "Les Danaides" (Mosel, Salieri, p. 77).] + +[Footnote 18: A book of exercises and letters in English was used by Mozart as an +account book in 1784 (André, Vorr. zu Mozart's Themat.-Catalog., p. 3).] + +[Footnote 19: Hamburg. Litt. u. Krit. Blätt, 1856, No. 72, p. 563.] + +[Footnote 20: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 277. L. Mozart gives his daughter a long +account of the English visitors who were invited to a State concert by +the Archbishop, and very well received.] + +[Footnote 21: A Viennese correspondent of January 25, 1787, says (Cramer's +Musik. Magaz., II., p. 1273): "Mozart left Vienna some weeks ago on a +professional tour to Prague, Berlin, and, it is even said, to London. I +hope that it will be productive both of pleasure and profit to him." +And Leopold Mozart wrote to his daughter (January 12, 1787): "The report +that your brother intends going to England is confirmed from Vienna, +Prague, and Munich."] + +[Footnote 22: Niemetschek, p. 44. Rochlitz's account, founded on information from +Mozart's widow (A. M. Z., I., p. 22), is confirmed by Nissen (p. 535).] + +[Footnote 23: A. M. Z., I., p. 291.] + +[Footnote 24: Rochlitz expressly states that the King repeated this conversation +to various persons, among others to Mozart's widow, during her stay in +Berlin, in February, 1796.] + +[Footnote 25: Mosel, Salieri, p. 132.] + +[Footnote 26: The story that after his return from Prague (September, 1791), +as Nie-metschek has it (p. 36), or on his death-bed,as it is usually +embellished, Mozart received his appointment as actual kapellmeister, +with all its emoluments, is evidently unfounded. In the widow's +petition for a pension (in the Mozarteum at Salzburg) only "the expected +appointment to the post of cathedral kapellmeister" is mentioned, and +in a magistrate's order of December 12,1791 (in the collection of Al. +Fuchs), "Joh. Georg. Albrechtsberger, imperial court organist, appointed +to the post of assistant kapellmeister at the metropolitan church of St. +Stephan, as successor to the late Herr Mozart." Hoffman died in 1792, +and then Albrechtsberger succeeded him.] + +[Footnote 27: Caroline Pichler, Denkwürd, I., p. 180.] + +[Footnote 28: K. R[isbeck], Briefe, I., p. 292. G. Forster, Sämmtl. Schr., VII., +p. 268. Meyer, L. Schroder, I., p. 360, Schink, Dramaturg. Monate, II., +p. 542.] + +[Footnote 29: Niemetschek, p. 92. According to a letter of Nissen's to Härtel +(November 27, 1799), they were in the possession of Gelinek, and are +apparently lost. Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Mod., 1808, II., p. 802.] + +[Footnote 30: Prutz, Deutsch. Museum, II., p. 27. Frank was well known as a +"great musician." Briefw. Carl Augusts mit Goethe, I., p. 302.] + +[Footnote 31: L. Mozart wrote to his daughter from Vienna (March 12, 1785): +"He has had a great _fortepiano pedal_ made, which stands under the +harpsichord, three spans long, and fearfully heavy."] + +[Footnote 32: Allgem. Wiener Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 489. Seidel, Handschr. Notiz.] + +[Footnote 33: Holmes tells the story on trustworthy family authority (p. 258).] + +[Footnote 34: Allgem. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 489.] + +[Footnote 35: Holmes, p. 259. Cf. Fétis, Curios. Hist, de la Mus., p. 212.] + +[Footnote 36: Stadler (Vertheidig. der Echtheit des Req., p. 13) says: "When I +turn over these leaves, I never fail to remember the great master, and +rejoice in observing his manner of working."] + +[Footnote 37: Zelter, Briefw. mit Goethe, V., p. 85. In the Wiener Zeitung, 1796, +p. 1038, Jos. Haydenreich advertises for sale at a price of 4 fl. 30 +kr., "Ein noch unbekanntes geschriebenes Fundament zur erlernung des +Generalbasses von Mozart."] + +[Footnote 38: It has been published several times in Vienna by Steiner & Co. with +the title of "Kurzgefasste Generalbass-schule von W. A. Mozart,'' and +as "Fundament des Generalbasses von W. A. Mozart," by J. G. Siegmeyer +(Berlin, 1822).] + +[Footnote 39: Holmes, p. 316.] + +[Footnote 40: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 228.] + +[Footnote 41: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 552. C. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 127.] + +[Footnote 42: Nicolai (Reise, IV., p. 552) dilates upon the announcement of these +great amateur concerts, and especially upon paragraph 6, which runs: +"Card-tables will be placed in the ante-rooms, and money for play +provided at discretion; the company will also be provided with every +kind of refreshment." He asserts that this was not so at the private +concerts of true connoisseurs, at which he had been present.] + +[Footnote 43: Wien. Ztg., 1782, No. 44. K. R[isbeck], Briefe, I., p. 276. "The +entertainments I most enjoyed during the nights of last summer, were +the so-called 'lemonade-tents.' Great tents were erected on one of the +largest open spaces in the city, and there lemonade was dispensed at +night; several hundred seats were occupied by ladies and gentlemen. A +band of music was placed at a little distance, and the perfect silence +which was maintained by the numerous assembly had an indescribable +effect. The charming music, the solemn silence, the confidential mood +engendered by the night, all combined to give the scene a peculiar +charm" (Jahrb. d. Tenk., 1796, p. 78).] + +[Footnote 44: Hormayr, Wien., V., I., pp. 41, 50.] + +[Footnote 45: Nicolai, Reise., III., p. 12.] + +[Footnote 46: Franz Türke is mentioned later as a distinguished amateur (Jahrb. +d. Tonk., 1796, p. 63).] + +[Footnote 47: In 1791, Martin, "directeur des concerts d'amateurs," announced his +great concerts in the Imperial Augarten in the Prater, and at court, +in a somewhat doleful manner (Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 45 Anh.). They were +afterwards continued under the conductorship of the vice-president, Von +Keess (Jahr. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 74. A. M. Z., III., p. 46).] + +[Footnote 48: Cramer, Magazin d. Musik, I., p. 578: "A concert was given this +after-noon in the National Theatre for the benefit of the celebrated +Herr Chevalier Mozart, the performance including several pieces of his +own composition. The concert was attended by a very numerous audience, +and the two new concertos and various fantasias, which Herr Mozart +performed on the pianoforte, were received with loud and general +applause. Our gracious Emperor, contrary to custom, remained through +the whole performance, and joined in the unprecedented applause of the +public. The receipts are said to amount to 1,600 florins."] + +[Footnote 49: Wien. Ztg., 1784, No. 28, Anh.] + +[Footnote 50: Nicolai, Reise, II., p. 636.] + + +[Footnote 51: This imposing list includes not only the names of Mozart's avowed +patrons, Countess Thun, Baroness Waldstädten, Count Zichy, Van Swieten, +but also of the Duke of Würtemburg, the Prince of Mecklenburg, the +Princes C. Liechtenstein, Augsperg, Kaunitz, Lichnowsky, Lobkowitz, +Paar, Palm, Schwarzenberg, and the famous names of Bathiany, +Dietrichstein, Erdödy, Esterhazy, Harrach, Herberstein, Keglewicz, +Nostiz, Palfy, Schaffgotsch, Stahremberg, Waldstein; besides the +Ambassadors of Russia, Spain, Sardinia, Holland, Denmark, the great +bankers, Fries, Henikstein, Arenfeld, Bienenfeld, Ployer, Wetzlar, high +officers of state and scholars, such as Isdenczy, Bedekovich, Nevery, +Braun, Greiner, Keess, Puffendorf, Bom, Martini, Sonnenfels--in very +truth the most distinguished society of Vienna.] + +[Footnote 52: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 231. Pohl, Mozart in London, p. 169.] + +[Footnote 53: At the same time Mozart wrote the two concertos for Barb, von +Ployer (Vol.II., p. 279), a concerto in Bflat major (No. 4., 450 K.)on +March 15, aconcerto in D major (No. 13., 451 K.) on March 22, and the +quintet (452 K.) on March 30.] + +[Footnote 54: Wien. Ztg., 1786, No. 28, Anh.] + +[Footnote 55: Storace and Coltellini had a salary of 1,000 ducats, besides free +quarters and travelling expenses; and to this was added the profit +accruing from benefits, concerts, and other sources. Marchesi received +600 ducats and a valuable ring for six performances (Müller, Abschied, +p. 8).] + +[Footnote 56: Theaterkal., 1787, p. 95. C. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 124.] + +[Footnote 57: Wien. Ztg., 1782, No. 82.] + +[Footnote 58: Jahrb. Tonk., 1796, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 59: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 201. A performance of "Axur" is mentioned +(Jahrb. f. Tonk., 1796, p. 38). According to the Thematic Catalogue, +Mozart wrote a concluding chorus "fur Dilettanti," to Sarti's opera, "Le +Gelosie Vil-lane," on April 20, 1791.] + +[Footnote 60: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., pp. 7, 49.] + +[Footnote 61: Gyrowetz, Selbstbiogr., p. 8.] + +[Footnote 62: Cf. pp. 307, 627.] + +[Footnote 63: C. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 45.] + +[Footnote 64: Mozart's concert harpsichord is now in the Mozarteum at Salzburg, +a little instrument by Anton Welter, in a walnut-wood case with black +naturals and white flats and sharps. It has five octaves, is light in +touch, and tolerably powerful in tone.] + +[Footnote 65: Cramer's Mag. d. Musik, II., p. 1380.] + +[Footnote 66: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 226.] + +[Footnote 67: Mozart's printed composition only extended during his lifetime to +Op. 18 (Klavierconcert, 451 K., No. 13), without counting variations and +songs.] + +[Footnote 68: Wien. Zeit., 1783, No. 5, Anh. These three concertos in A major +(414 K., No 10), F major (413 K., No. 12), and C major (414 K., No. 5), +were then printed in Vienna as Ouvre IV.] + +[Footnote 69: A. M. Z., I., p. 113.] + +[Footnote 70: Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 27, Anh.] + +[Footnote 71: N. Berl. Musikzeitg., 1856, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 72: A. M. Z., I., p. 289.] + +[Footnote 73: Rochlitz's account (A. M. Z., IM p. 83) does not tally.] + +[Footnote 74: Cf. Nissen, p. 633.] + +[Footnote 75: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., XV., p. 313. Für Freunde der Tonkunst, I., p. +148.] + +[Footnote 76: Endorsed by Hoffmeister: "Den 20 Nov., 1785, mit 2 Duka ten." +N.Ztschr. Mus., IX., p. 164.] + +[Footnote 77: A. M. Z., I., p. 547.] + +[Footnote 78: A. M. Z., I., p. 83; cf. p. 147. Nissen, p. 548.] + +[Footnote 79: Neue Zeitschr. Mus., XII., p. 180.] + +[Footnote 80: Dittersdorf says that the profits from his benefit performance +of the "Doktor and Apotheker" amounted to 200 ducats (Selbstbiogr., p. +243).] + +[Footnote 81: Rochlitz's account is confused and uncertain. (Für Freunde d. +Tonk., II., p. 258., II).] + +[Footnote 82: He expected a gift from the Prussian Ambassador; whether he +received it, or what it was, is not known.] + +[Footnote 83: Count Seeau must have sold for his own profit the pieces which were +only purchased for representation; Schroder and Beecké complain of this +in unpublished letters to Dalberg.] + +[Footnote 84: Nissen, p. 475.] + +[Footnote 85: He was called a "Niederlagsverwandter," that is, he belonged to the +privileged society of merchants, for the most part Protestants, who had +the right, subject to certain restrictions, of keeping warehouses and +trading wholesale (Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 447).] + +[Footnote 86: Wiener Morgenpost, 1856, No. 28.] + +[Footnote 87: Nissen, p. 686.] + +[Footnote 88: O. Jahn, Aufs. üb. Musik., p. 234.] + +[Footnote 89: Nissen, p. 683.] + +[Footnote 90: Niemetschek, p. 57. Nissen, p. 580.] + +[Footnote 91: How far Mozart was misjudged in this respect is shown by such +expressions as those in Schlichtegroirs Nekrolog: "In Vienna he married +Constanze Weber, who made a good mother to his two children and a +careful wife, striving to restrain his folly and extravagance. His +income was considerable, but his excesses and want of economy in +household affairs caused him to leave nothing to his family but the fame +of his genius and the observation of the world." It is not surprising +that Mozart's widow should have bought up a whole impression of this +notice in 1794. Rochlitz warmly condemns such shameless calumny. Arnold +is much coarser (Mozart's Geist, p. 65), accounting for his premature +death by saying: "Besides this [excessive work] he was a husband, +brought up two children, and had many intrigues with lively actresses +and other women, which his wife good-naturedly overlooked. He must often +have starved with his wife and children, if the threats of impatient +creditors had been carried into effect. But when a few louis-d'or made +their appearance the scene changed at once. All went merrily, Mozart +got tipsy on champagne and tokay, spent freely, and in a few days was as +badly off as ever. The liberties he took with his health are well known; +how he used to drink champagne with Schikaneder all morning, and punch +all night, and go to work again after midnight, without any thought of +his bodily health."] + +[Footnote 92: Nissen, p. 692.] + +[Footnote 93: Niemetschek, p. 99.] + +[Footnote 94: Niemetschek, p. 93. Mozart was very accessible to the pleasures of +society and friendship. "Among his friends he was as open as a child, +and full of merriment, which found vent in the drollest tricks. His +friends in Prague have a pleasant remembrance of the hours passed in his +company, and are never weary of praising his good, innocent heart; when +he was present, one forgot the artist in the man" (Cf. Rochlitz, A. M. +Z., III., p. 494). His brother-in-law, Jos. Lange, remarked that Mozart +was generally in most jesting mood when he was busy with some great work +(Selbstbiogr., p. 171).] + +[Footnote 95: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 204.] + +[Footnote 96: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 226. Nissen, p. 692.] + +[Footnote 97: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 226.] + +[Footnote 98: Niemetschek, p. 100.] + +[Footnote 99: Nicolai, Reise, V., p. 219.] + +[Footnote 100: He wrote to his father (June 7, 1783): "God be praised, I am quite +well again, only my illness has left a cold in the head behind as a +remembrance--very good. ] + +[Footnote 101: Giesinger, Biogr. Not. üb. J. Haydn, p. 30.] + +[Footnote 102: Nissen, p. 559.] + +[Footnote 103: Bohemia, 1856, pp. 118, 122.] + +[Footnote 104: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 226.] + +[Footnote 105: Nissen, p. 672.] + +[Footnote 106: Rochlitz suggests that Mozart sought forgetfulness of anxious +thoughts in wine (A. M. Z., III., p. 495).] + +[Footnote 107: Frau Klein, of Vienna, Loibl's daughter, related this and many +other characteristic traits from her childish remembrances to my friend +Karajan.] + +[Footnote 108: Eckermann, Gespräche mit Goethe, III., p. 234, &c., especially p. +239.] + +[Footnote 109: a. M. z., I., p. 81.] + +[Footnote 110: Nissen, p. 673.] + +[Footnote 111: Nissen, p. 683.] + +[Footnote 112: This document, invaluable for the history of Mozart's +compositions, leaving no doubt as to important points from the year 1784 +onwards, has been published by André under the title, "W. A. Mozart's +thematischer Catalog" (Offenbach, 1805, 1828). It is my authority for +all assertions as to the date of his works, except where otherwise +specified.] + +[Footnote 113: Niemetschek, p. 91. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS. + +MOZART'S relations to his father, which had hitherto, one may say, +filled his whole mental life to a most uncommon degree, + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(312) + +had been seriously affected by his marriage. It was not till after long +opposition that Leopold Mozart voluntarily, although most unwillingly, +gave his consent, and how deeply he was wounded will appear from the +answer he made to a conciliatory letter addressed to him by the Baroness +Waldstädten (August 23, 1783):-- + +I thank your ladyship most heartily for the interest you are pleased +to take in my affairs, and more especially for your ladyship's +extraordinary kindness in celebrating so handsomely my son's +wedding-day.[1] When I was a young fellow I imagined that those were +philosophers who spoke little, laughed seldom, and maintained a surly +demeanour towards all the rest of mankind. But my own experience has now +fully convinced me that I am myself a philosopher without knowing it; +I have done my duty as a father--have made the clearest and most +comprehensible statements in many letters--and I am convinced that he +knows my painful circumstances, made doubly so by my advanced age and +unworthy position in Salzburg--he knows that I am sacrificed + + +{L. MOZART'S DISAPPOINTED HOPES.} + +(313) + +morally and physically by his behaviour--and there now remains no +resource to me but to leave him (as he has so willed it) to himself, and +to pray the Almighty to bestow my paternal blessing on him, and not to +withdraw His Divine mercy. As to myself, I will endeavour to preserve +what remains of my native cheerfulness, and still to hope for the +best.[2] + +Putting ourselves in the place of Leopold Mozart, we must acknowledge +that his reproaches and misgivings were in some respects well founded; +but, nevertheless, he went too far in that he could not make up his mind +to recognise his son's independence, and gave way to a bitterness of +feeling which made him hard and unjust, and which, unhappily, was never +altogether effaced from his heart. Wolfgang, on the contrary, betrayed +no shadow of resentment--his love and reverence for his father +remained the same to the end, unabated by unsparing and often unjust +fault-finding. If his letters were less frequent or shorter than +formerly he had ample excuses to offer, either of illness or the +numerous occupations and distractions which were unavoidable in his +position.[3] When, for any of these reasons, customary congratulations +were neglected, an apology was sure to follow--for instance (January +4, 1783): "We both thank you heartily for your New Year's wishes, and +willingly acknowledge ourselves stupid blockheads for having forgotten +our duty in this respect; being so far behindhand, we will dispense +altogether with a New Year's wish, only offering you our general +every-day wish, and so let it pass." Being quite convinced that his +Constanze could not fail to impress his father and sister favourably, +and that personal acquaintance would efface all unpleasant feeling, he +was very anxious to + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(314) + +take her to Salzburg as soon as possible. But many difficulties came in +the way, for which his father did not always make due allowance. Mozart +was particularly desirous of passing his father's fête-day in Salzburg +(November 15,1782), but the time was too short for him. He had promised +to play at a concert for Fraulein Aurnhammer on November 3, and he must +be in Vienna again at the beginning of December, that being the best +season for lessons and concerts; to these objections might be added +the impassable state of the roads, and such severe cold as rendered +it undesirable to travel with his wife. In short, the journey must +be postponed until the spring; in spring, however, the approaching +confinement of his wife again put it out of the question. At the last +moment Mozart invited his father to stand godfather (June 7, 1783):-- + +I had no idea that the joke would so soon turn into earnest, and +therefore postponed falling on my knees, clasping my hands and humbly +begging you, my dearest father, to stand godfather to my child. But as +there may still be time for it, I do so now. Nevertheless, in sure hope +that you will not refuse my request, I have taken care that in case of +need somebody shall stand at the font in your name. Whether the child +shall be _generis masculini or feminini!_ it is to be called Leopold or +Leopoldine. + +Soon after the birth of the child,[4] however, at the end of July, 1783, +they actually set out. Mozart and some of his friends had misgivings +lest the Archbishop should seek to detain him in Salzburg, because he +had never received any formal dismissal from service--"for a priest is +capable of anything." With this idea, he proposed a meeting in Munich, +but his father appears to have reassured him.[5] + +Before Mozart was married, he had "made a vow in his heart" that, if he +succeeded in bringing Constanze to Salzburg, he would compose a mass to +be performed there. "A proof of the sincerity of this vow," he wrote to +his father (January 4, 1783), "is afforded by the score of the half of + + +{VISIT TO SALZBURG, 1783.} + +(315) + +my mass, which is laying before me in full hope of completion." He took +with him to Salzburg only the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Benedictus, +composed on a scale of great splendour (427 K.). The missing movements +were probably supplied from an older mass, and the whole was rehearsed +at the Kapellhaus on August 23, and performed at St. Peter's church +(the Archbishop having apparently refused the cathedral) on August 25, +Mozart's wife taking the soprano part.[6] + +Mozart was not by any means idle during this visit to Salzburg. The +revival of Italian opera had suggested to him to look about for a +libretto for an opera buffa, and even before he came to Salzburg he +had entered into negotiations with Varesco through his father. Varesco +declaring himself quite ready, it only needed the visit to Salzburg to +concert the plan of the opera, "L'Oca del Cairo." Varesco prepared a +detailed account of the plot, and carried out the first act in full; +Mozart set himself with equal zeal to its composition, and took back to +Vienna a sketch of part of the act. We shall have to do later with the +fate of this opera. + +At the same time he found leisure for a service of love to Michael +Haydn. Hadyn had been ordered by the Archbishop to compose some duets +for violin and tenor, perhaps for his special use, but owing to a +violent illness, which incapacitated him for work during a lengthened +period, he was unable to finish them at the time appointed; the +Archbishop thereupon threatened to deprive him of his salary. When +Mozart heard of the difficulty he at once undertook the work, and, +visiting Haydn daily, wrote by his bedside to such good purpose that the +duets were soon completed and handed over to the Archbishop in Hadyn's +name.[7] + +These two duets (423, 424, K.) show no signs of hasty composition, but +are worked out with evident affection, partly no doubt from desire to +do credit to himself and his friend, but partly also from the interest +which the difficulties of the + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(316) + +task presented. There is no small amount of art required to give the +clear-cut outline and well-defined divisions which are essential in +works of this kind, and yet to bestow full attention on light and shade +and delicate touches of detail. The art consists chiefly in the free +disposition of parts, which is partly imitative (where independent +movement is necessary) and so managed as also to bestow an original and +striking character on the passages which form the accompaniment. This +is all the more striking because the limited number of parts only +occasionally gives scope for full harmonies, the effect of which must be +attained by means of skilful adjustment. It is a task requiring all +the resources of art and genius to employ the stiff monotony of broken +chords, and at the same time to gratify the sense of hearing by such a +sense of harmony as can only be given by the absolutely free play of the +different parts. This task is here accomplished with as much ease as +was compatible with the limited means at disposal. Variety in form +is carefully provided for. The first Duet in G major consists of a +broadly-designed allegro, a short, beautiful adagio, and an animated, +but more than usually serious rondo; in the second, in B flat major, a +light allegro is introduced by a short adagio; then follows an adagio +in the form of a Siciliana, and the conclusion is made by very graceful +variations. The melodies and harmonies are free and original, the +composition is broad, fresh and lively, and a multitude of delicate +touches betray the master's hand. Michael Haydn treasured the original +as a memorial both of artist and friend, and Mozart himself set +considerable store by the work. + +Mozart found several new inmates in his father's house. "My son is in +Vienna, and intends to remain there," writes L. Mozart to Breitkopf +(April 29, 1782); "I have therefore arranged that two pupils shall +reside with me for their education, viz., the son, twelve years of age, +and the daughter, fourteen, of Herr Marchand, theatrical manager in +Munich. I hope to make a great violinist and pianist of the boy, and +a great singer and pianiste of the girl." These pupils were joined by +another of nine years old, Johanna Brochard, daughter of the celebrated +actress, who profited by L. + + +{VISIT TO SALZBURG, 1783.} + +(317) + +Mozart's instruction during 1783 and 1784.[8] Wolfgang took a lively +interest in all this youthful talent. He says of Margarethe Marchand, +whom he met afterwards in Munich as Frau Danzi (October 31, 1783): "Her +grimaces and affectations are not always pleasant. Only blockheads would +be taken in by them. I myself would rather have the most boorish manners +than such exaggeration of coquetry." According to what we hear of her +performances afterwards, she must have followed good advice and altered +her style.[9] + +Wolfgang took great interest in her brother Heinrich, and sent him word +(December 6, 1783) that he had spoken in his favour both at Linz and +Vienna. "Tell him to rely chiefly on his staccato; for that is the only +way in which he can avoid comparison with La Motte at Vienna." There +was also in Salzburg at that time the blind pianiste, Marie Thérèse +Paradies, who was an acquaintance of L. Mozart, and now became known +also to Wolfgang,[10] who afterwards wrote a concerto for her (Vol. II., +p. 288). But the object of Mozart's visit, which lay nearest his heart, +was the establishment of friendly relations between his wife and his +father and sister; and this unfortunately in great measure failed. A +superficial friendship seems to have resulted from the visit; but there +are many indications that neither the father nor sister felt attracted +by Constanze. Mozart appears to have been aggrieved that his wife was +not presented with any of the trinkets that had been given him in his +youth.[11] This trait is characteristic as a proof that Leopold Mozart +thought himself justified in showing in the plainest manner disapproval +of his son's marriage, and of the wife he had chosen; and it can +scarcely be wondered at that Constanze, conscious of the want of +anything like sympathy in her husband's family, should not have +encouraged his sense of dependence on their advice and opinions. But +this sense was too deeply implanted in his heart to be ever altogether +eradicated; and his letters, though not so + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(318) + +frequent as formerly, continued to the end to breathe the same spirit +of childlike love and reverence. After a stay of almost three months +the young couple returned home. Mozart sends his father the following +account of their journey from Linz:-- + +We arrived here safely yesterday, October 30, at nine o'clock in the +morning. We passed the first night at Böcklbruck. The following forenoon +we arrived at Lambach, and I was just in time to accompany the Agnus Dei +of the office on the organ. The "Herr Prälat" [who had received Mozart +kindly in 1767] was very delighted at seeing me again. We remained there +the whole day, and I played on the organ and a clavichord. I heard that +at Ebersperg, on the following day, Herr Steurer was to give an operatic +performance at which all Linz would be present, so I determined to +proceed there at once. Young Count Thun (brother to the Thun at Vienna) +called on me, and said that his father had been expecting me for the +last fortnight, and that I was to stay with him. The next day, when we +arrived at the gate of Linz, we were met by a servant to conduct us to +the residence of old Count Thun. I cannot say enough of the politeness +with which we are overwhelmed. On Tuesday, November 4, I shall give a +concert in the theatre here, and as I have not a single symphony with +me, I am writing one for dear life to be ready in time. My wife and I +kiss your hands, and beg your forgiveness for having troubled you during +so long a time; once more we thank you heartily for all the favours we +received from you.[12] + +What symphony it was which Mozart composed at Linz cannot be exactly +ascertained. Holmes conjectures that it may be a Symphony in C major +(425 K., score 6), which, according to Niemetschek, was dedicated to +Count Thun; this fact would support the conjecture. André, however, +believes that the unprinted Symphony in G major (444 K.) may be the one +composed in Linz, the more so as the score is in Mozart's handwriting +only as far as the first half of the andante, and has then been +completed by a copyist; this is very probable because Mozart, in order +to gain time, only wrote out the parts of the last half, as was +his custom when in haste. The smaller orchestra also, the narrower +dimensions and the lighter character of this symphony, all point to it +as the one in question; that in C major is more + + +{SYMPHONY COMPOSED FOR LINZ, 1783.} + +(319) + +striking and important both in style and treatment. Nevertheless the +two symphonies both belong to the same time and style, and indicate in +a curious way a transition in Mozart's instrumental music; the positive +influence of Haydn's symphonies is nowhere so clearly apparent as +in these two works. The very fact that in both cases the allegro is +preceded by a pathetic, somewhat lengthy adagio is very significant; +this is a well-known arrangement of Haydn's, but was only exceptionally +made use of by Mozart. The same influence is visible everywhere; in the +lively, rapid, and brilliant character of the whole, in the effort to +please and amuse by humorous turns and unexpected contrasts of every +kind in the harmonies, in the alternations of _f_ and _p_, and in the +instrumental effects. A remarkable instance of this is the andante of +the Symphony in G major. The very theme, the simple bass, the triplet +passage for the second violin, then the minor with the figure in +the bass, and the sharp accentuation, are all completely Haydn-like +features. The counterpoint of the finale of both symphonies reminds us +of Haydn's manner.[13] It need scarcely be said, however, that there +is no trace of servile imitation in either work, and that Mozart's +originality asserts itself here as elsewhere. A comparison of the +Symphony in E flat major (543 K., composed June 26, 1788) shows also +many more points of resemblance to Haydn's style than other works of the +same date; but Mozart's individuality is here so overpowering as to have +given its distinguishing stamp to these very features. + +The fact that Mozart wrote a symphony within the course of a few days +will excite no surprise; it is worthy of note that during his stay in +Linz he copied an "Ecce Homo" which made a great impression on him, for +his wife, with the inscription "Dessiné par W. A. Mozart, Linz, ce 13 +Novembre, 1783; dédié ä Madame Mozart son épouse"; she + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(320) + +preserved it as a proof "that he had some talent for drawing," as she +wrote to Härtel (July 21, 1800). + +In the year 1785 Leopold Mozart returned the visit of his son and +daughter-in-law, and remained their guest from February 10 to April 25. +He convinced himself that their income ought to be more than sufficient +for the support of the household, and took great delight in his second +grandchild Carl, now six months old, "a healthy, lively, merry child." + +But on the whole he appears to have been dissatisfied with his visit, +and very little inclined to accede to Wolfgang's wish that he should +take up his residence with them in Vienna.[14] His pleasure in his son's +performance and admiration of his genius were as great as they had +ever been. During the whole of his visit, one concert followed close on +another, and Wolfgang was engaged almost as a matter of course for them +all; his father took equal pride in his playing and his compositions. +At one concert Wolfgang played the splendid concerto he had composed +for Paradies (456 K.). "I had a very good box," writes his father +to Marianne, "and could hear every gradation of the instruments so +perfectly, that the tears came to my eyes for very joy"--so thoroughly +did the old man appreciate and relish artistic beauty. The day after his +father's arrival, Mozart invited Haydn to a quartet party at his house. +On such occasions Mozart, who in later years discontinued his practice +of the violin, usually took the tenor part. Kelly tells of a quartet +party at Storace's, when Haydn took the first violin, Dittersdorf the +second, Mozart tenor, and Van-hall violoncello--a cast unique of its +kind.[15] L. Mozart writes to his daughter:-- + +They played three of the new quartets, those in B flat, A, and C major +(458, 464,465 K.). They are perhaps a little easier than the other +three, + + +{L. MOZART'S VISIT TO VIENNA, 1785.} + +(321) + +but admirable compositions. Herr Haydn said to me: "_I assure you +solemnly and as an honest man, that I consider your son to be the +greatest composer of whom I have ever heard; he has taste, and possesses +a thorough knowledge of composition._" + +L. Mozart knew the value of such an opinion from such a man; it afforded +him a confirmation of his faith, and of the conviction to which he had +sacrificed the best powers of his life. Such a testimony to his son's +genius was the father's best reward, and one of the brightest spots of +his life. L. Mozart obtained much credit also through his pupil Heinrich +Marchand, who accompanied him, and played with great success at several +concerts. + +Nor were other entertainments and enjoyments altogether wanting. He +heard Aloysia Lange, whose beautiful voice had once been a source of +anxiety to him, in Gluck's "Pilgrims of Mecca" and in Grétry's "Zemire +and Azor" (her favourite part): "She sang and played admirably on both +occasions." He visited the Baroness Waldstädten, whose acquaintance had +gratified him so much, in the convent of Neuburg, where she was then +staying; but we do not hear anything of the future course of their +friendship. + +It is an important fact, and one of grave significance in the case of +a man of L. Mozart's tone of mind and thought, that he was led by his +son's influence to enter the order of Freemasonry. The strong national +feeling which existed in him, side by side with devotion to the +tenets of his church, regulating his conception of moral duties, and +influencing all his critical judgments, makes it conceivable that he +should seek for enlightenment through an association which numbered +among its members some of the most considerable and highly esteemed of +his friends. I am not aware how far he was satisfied by the disclosures +made to him, nor whether he remained an active member of the order after +his return to Salzburg; his daughter saw grounds for believing that +his subsequent correspondence with Wolfgang turned mainly on topics +connected with Freemasonry. From Vienna Leopold Mozart travelled by way +of Munich, where he had a pleasant visit, back to Salzburg. There he +found awaiting him an announcement from his gracious master + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(322) + +that, as he had already exceeded his six weeks' leave of absence, if he +did not report himself before the middle of May, "no salary should be +paid to him until further notice." We can enter into the complaints he +made to his daughter of the dulness of his life in Salzburg. He never +saw his son again. A faint hope, expressed to Marianne (September 16, +1785), that Wolfgang, not having written for a considerable time, meant +to surprise him with a visit, was not fulfilled; he himself, accompanied +by Heinrich Marchand, paid a flying visit to Munich in February, 1787, +but did not go on to Vienna. His paternal pride was gratified by the +intelligence of Wolfgang's brilliant success in Prague; and he did not +neglect to inform his daughter when Pater Edmund, who had been on a +visit to Vienna, declared on his return that Wolfgang had the reputation +of being the first of living musicians (February 3, 1786). He watched +with anxious sympathy over the course of his son's worldly affairs, but +refused with consistent severity any substantial support, the right +to which Wolfgang had clearly forfeited by his independent attitude; +paternal advice, in its most unsparing form, was always at his service. +Leopold Mozart transferred to his daughter the tenderness and active +participation which was now denied to him in his intercourse with his +distant son. Thus he remained to the end true to his principles, but not +untouched by the weakness and suffering of old age; he answers one of +Marianne's anxious inquiries after his health (February 24, 1787):-- + +An old man must not expect anything like perfect health; he is always +failing, and loses strength just as a young man gains it. One must +just patch oneself up as long as one can. We may hope for a little +improvement from the better weather now. You will, of course, find me +very much thinner, but, after all, that is of no consequence. + +He had still a pleasure to come in the visit of the Storaces and Kelly; +Mdlle. Storace had packed up Wolfgang's letter intrusted to her so +carefully, that she could not get at it, but verbal intercourse with +such intimate friends of his son must have been ample compensation for +this. Soon afterwards he fell ill, on hearing which Wolfgang wrote as +follows (April 4, 1787):-- + + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH OF L. MOZART, 1787.} + +(323) + +I have this moment heard what has quite overwhelmed me--all the more +since your last letter allowed me to imagine that you were quite +well--and now I hear that you are really ill! How earnestly I long for +reassuring news from your own hand, I do not need to tell you, and I +confidently hope for it, although I have learnt to make it my custom to +imagine the worst of everything. Since death (properly speaking) is the +true end of life, I have accustomed myself during the last two years to +so close a contemplation of this, our best and truest friend, that he +possesses no more terrors for me; nothing but peace and consolation! and +I thank God for enabling me to discern in death the _key_ to our true +blessedness. I never lie down in bed without remembering that perhaps, +young as I am, I may never see another day; and yet no one who knows me +can say that I am melancholy or fanciful. For this blessing I thank God +daily, and desire nothing more than to share it with my fellow men. I +wrote to you on this point in the letter which Mdlle. Storace failed to +deliver _ä propos_ of the death of my dearest friend Count von Hatzfeld; +he was thirty-one--just my own age; I do not mourn for him, but for +myself, and all those who knew him as I did. I hope and pray that even +as I write this you may be already better; but if, contrary to all +expectation, this should not be the case, I conjure you by all that we +hold most sacred, not to hide the truth from me, but to write at once, +in order that I may be in your arms with the least possible delay. But +I hope soon to receive a reassuring letter from yourself, and in this +hope, + +I, with my wife and Carl, kiss your hands a thousand times, and am +ever,--Your most dutiful son. + +This letter puts the seal on the beautiful, genuinely human relations +existing between the father and son; in the presence of death, they +stand face to face like men, calm in the assurance that true love and +earnest efforts after truth and goodness reach beyond the limits of our +earthly existence. Leopold Mozart apparently recovered from this attack, +and wrote to his daughter on May 26, that he should expect her and her +family to spend Whitsuntide with him; but this pleasure was denied to +him. On May 28, 1787, a sudden death[16] ended the career of a man +who had accomplished, by means of a singular union of shrewdness and +industry, of love and severity, the difficult task of educating a child +of genius into an artist. + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(324) + +The personal relationships which resulted from Mozart's marriage not +only affected his mental and social condition, but had also considerable +influence on him as a composer; it is indispensable therefore to take +them into account in any consideration of his artistic career. + +His relations with his mother-in-law were, as might have been expected, +unfavourable enough at first. She did not indeed live in the same house +with them, as Mozart writes for his father's consolation (August 31, +1782);[17] but even at the second visit which he paid her with his wife, +she scolded and disputed until Constanze was reduced to tears, and they +resolved in consequence only to visit her on family fête-days. This +state of affairs was afterwards improved, since we can well understand +that it was impossible for a man of Mozart's genial and loving nature +to keep up offence. "Mozart and our late mother became more and more +attached to each other," writes Sophie Haibl. "He used often to come +running to our house with little packets of coffee and sugar, saying as +he handed them out: 'Here, mamma dear, take a little _Jause_' (afternoon +coffee). He never came to us empty-handed." Constanze's youngest +sister, Sophie, was in very frequent intercourse with them; her sister's +constant illness rendered her help in nursing, which she was always most +willing to bestow, quite invaluable; and during Mozart's last illness +we find her constant in attendance at his bedside. Mozart's intercourse +with Aloysia Lange and her husband[18] seems to have been friendly and +unembarrassed. The Langes did not live happily together, and though +Lange himself laid the blame upon backbiters,[19] it was notorious that +their disunion arose from his unreasonable jealousy, a jealousy for +which his wife had + + +{MOZART AND MADAME LANGE.} + +(325) + +far more cause than he.[20] But as far as Mozart was concerned Lange's +jealousy must have been unprovoked, or he would hardly have taken the +part of Pierrot in the pantomime already noticed (Vol. II., p. +304), allowing his wife to play Columbine to Mozart's Harlequin. She +acknowledged later that, as a young girl, she had under-estimated +Mozart's genius, and she learnt to look upon his music with admiration +and reverence, and upon himself with friendship and esteem.[21] We find +many indications in the letters of friendly intercourse between the +Mozarts and the Langes. It was natural, therefore, that they should have +afforded each other professional help whenever opportunity arose. +On April 10, 1782, Mozart composed a song (383 K.)[22] for his +sister-in-law, the words of which show it to have been intended for a +benefit performance by way of farewell:-- + + Nehmt meinen + Dank, ihr holden Gonner + So feurig als mein + Herz ihn spricht. + +Whether Madame Lange was about to leave Vienna on a tour, or had merely +come to the end of an engagement, I cannot say. The composition (in G +major) takes the form of a ballad in two verses, and is very simple, +easy and pleasing. Original features are not wanting, as for instance, +suspensions and transition notes on an organ point, which even modern +musicians would find piquant. The accompaniment is easy, but delicate; +the stringed instruments play _pizzicato_ throughout, a device not often +employed by Mozart; the flutes, oboe, and bassoon, employed as solo +instruments, but without any bravura, enliven the simple design. In the +following year (January 8) he composed a Rondo (416 K., part 1), "Mia +speranza adorata," which she first sang at a concert at the Mehlgrube; +the distinguishing qualities of this song are delicacy and tenderness; +it depends for effect more upon a sympathetic delivery than on the +compass and + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(326) + +executive powers of the singer. In March of the same year, Madame Lange +and Mozart mutually supported each other at their concerts. + +After the revival of the Italian opera, it often happened that Mozart +was requested to compose detached pieces for insertion. When, in 1783, +Anfossi's opera of "Il Curioso Indiscreto," composed in 1778, was +represented, Madame Lange and Adamberger, who, as German singers, had to +contend with much opposition, knew that they could not fail to make an +effect in music of Mozart's composition, and begged him to write two +songs for their _début_. He was, as ever, quite ready to grant their +request; but he had yet to learn that even in Italian opera he could +not assert his claims without opposition. We have his own account in a +letter to his father (July 2, 1783):-- + +The opera was given the day before yesterday, Monday; none of it pleased +except my two songs, and the second, a bravura song, was encored. But +you must know that my enemies were ill-natured enough to spread about +beforehand that Mozart had undertaken to correct Anfossi's opera. I +heard of this, and sent word to Count Rosenberg that + +I would not produce the songs unless the following notice in German and +Italian was printed in the opera-book: "Notice.--The two songs, page 36 +and page 102, are composed, not by Signor Anfossi, but by Herr Mozart, +at the desire of Madame Lange. This announcement is made out of respect +and consideration for the fame of the celebrated Neapolitan composer." +This was done, and I handed over the songs, which did as much credit to +myself as to my sister-in-law.[23] So my enemies are caught in their own +trap! Now I must tell you of one of Salieri's tricks, which did not hurt +me so much as poor Adamberger. I think I wrote to you that I had also +composed a rondo for Adamberger. At one of the early rehearsals, before +the rondo was ready, Salieri called Adamberger aside, and told him that +Count Rosenberg was not pleased at the idea of his inserting a song, and +he should advise him as a friend to abandon it. Adamberger, exasperated +against Rosenberg, answered with a stupid display of ill-timed pride: "I +flatter myself that Adamberger's fame is so well established in Vienna +that he has no need to seek the favour of the public by songs written on +purpose for him; I shall sing what is in the + + +{ARIE FOR ALOYSIA LANGE.} + +(327) + +opera, and never insert any song as long as I live." And what was the +consequence? Why, that he made no effect at all, and now repents, but +too late; for, if he were to come to me to-day for the rondo, I would +not give it to him. I can use it very well in one of my own operas. +But what most provokes him is that my prophecy and his wife's turns out +correct, viz., that neither Count Rosenberg nor the manager knew a word +of the affair, so that he was simply tricked by Salieri. + +Adamberger might certainly have made a brilliant display of his powers +in the song (420 K., part 8) "Per pietä non ricercata."[24] It is broad +in design, and affords the singer opportunities for a display of +voice, delivery, and execution; it maintains a certain dignity of tone +throughout. A very effective use is made of the wind instruments; and +a comparison of their full satisfying sound with that of the wind +instruments in the song quoted (Vol. II., pp. 232, 233) will show how +closely connected in a true work of art are the tone-colouring of the +instruments and the nature and development of the motifs. + +The first of Madame Lange's two songs, "Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!" (418 +K.), was composed on June 20, and is broad in outline, the first slow +movement in especial being delicately elaborated in detail. It expresses +the painful hesitatation of a mourner who would fain express her grief, +but dares not; and this idea is well expressed by the broken phrases of +the voice part, leaving the thread of the music to be carried on by the +accompanying orchestra. A simple accompaniment, delivered pizzicato by +the second violins and tenors, forms the canvas for the design, in which +the oboe supports the principal motif, sometimes accompanying the voice, +sometimes relieving it; an easy figure twines round the chief subject, +sustained throughout by the first violins muted; while the horns and +bassoons in sustained chords give consistency and shading to the whole. +The situation and subject of the song necessitate restless and varied +modulation; and this opening movement affords an example of Mozart's art +in projecting a design and maintaining it + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(328) + +throughout with the utmost delicacy and variety of detail. The allegro +which follows is more directly suggestive of opera buffa in its +impulsive haste and in its dramatic characterisation; but the skill is +worthy of note with which the elevated tone of the first movement is +preserved and the bravura of the singer is placed in the most favourable +light.[25] The second song, "No che non sei capace" (419 K.), which is +allotted to the same character, Clorinda, is a bravura song, in the very +fullest acceptation of the term. The passages of two allegro movements +mount to the highest heights like rockets, bursting from a ground-work +of declamatory and dignified melody. The orchestra, too, is tolerably +noisy, but so managed as always to spare the voice. + +Mozart was very much gratified when the Langes selected his "Entführung +aus dem Serail" for their benefit performance prior to a month's leave +of absence, and he takes care to acquaint his father with the fact +(December 10, 1783).[26] The choice was of course made chiefly in +their own interests, since the opera was a favourite, and the part of +Constanze might have been written for Madame Lange. Kelly, who admired +her as one of the first vocalists of the day, and repeats Stephen +Storace's comparison of her voice and execution to those of the +Bastardella, was of opinion that the part of Constanze was of "the exact +compass" for her voice.[27] When she reappeared, after a severe +illness, in the same opera, on the 25th of November, 1785,[28] she was +"deservedly well received,"[29] and the part was one which she + + +{ARIE FOR ALOYSIA LANGE.} + +(329) + +frequently played later with the greatest applause, bestowed especially +on the bravura songs.[30] + +Mozart wrote another song for her on March 14, 1788 (538 K.), "Ah se in +ciel benigne stelle" (from Metastasio's "Eroe Cinese,") apparently as +a concert-piece. It is long and elaborate, well calculated to display +great compass of voice, and more of bravura than the previous songs; +but, as regards invention and mechanism, it is of less importance than +those already noticed. It is not wanting in interesting harmonic details +nor in expressive passages, but they stand apart, and are not blended +into a harmonious whole in Mozart's usual manner. + +A very favourable idea of Aloysia's vocal powers may be formed from the +songs composed for her in Vienna; the promise of the young girl had been +amply fulfilled.[31] The fabulous height of her voice, which reached +with ease to--[See Page Images] + +was moderated in the second song to-- + +but the low notes appear to greater advantage, and we are surprised by +intervals such as-- + +The flexibility of the voice appears to have been cultivated to an +astonishing degree in every direction, and though the merit was chiefly +Mozart's that these passages were interesting, expressive, and in +good taste, yet their execution required a cultivated and accomplished +singer. Hufeland wrote in 1783 that Madame Lange's voice was one of the +finest he + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIEND.} + +(330) + +had ever heard, unusually pleasing and sympathetic, although somewhat +weak for the stage,[32] and in this judgment Cramer concurs.[33] It was +no doubt from consideration for the distinctive tone-colouring of +the voice that Mozart did not make use of the whole body of wind +instruments, particularly not of the clarinets, but allowed the gentler +oboe to predominate in the accompaniment. + +Mozart's eldest sister-in-law, Josepha, made her first appearance as a +singer at Schikaneder's theatre, after her marriage with the violinist +Hofer. With the exception of a high and flexible voice (a common +inheritance, apparently, of all the Webers), she had no special gifts +nor musical cultivation, and Mozart seems to have taken great pains +in practising her parts with her. He wrote a bravura song for her on +September 17, 1789 (580 K.), "Schon lacht der holde Frühling," which +she, as Rosina, was to insert in the German adaptation of Paesiello's +"Barber of Seville"; only portions of the score remain. It has no +special significance, and reminds us in its embellishments of the +Queen of Night's songs, which it resembles in other respects. Mozart +interested himself also in his brother-in-law Hofer, studying his +quartets with him, although Hofer was an indifferent musician; he took +him with him on his last professional journey to Frankfort, that the +name of Mozart might facilitate his public appearance, and be of use to +him in his very narrow circumstances. + +Mozart was always ready to lend a helping hand, even where family +considerations had no influence. When Nancy Storace, the original +Susanna, in "Figaro," was leaving Vienna, he composed for her the +beautiful song with obbligato pianoforte (505 K., part 6), which he +played himself at her concert.[34] He selected the words of the song +which had been composed for Idamante in the Vienna performance of +"Idomeneo," "Non temer amato bene." The circumstance that Idamante +addresses laments and endearments to Ilia, who is + + +{OCCASIONAL COMPOSITIONS.} + +(331) + +present, perhaps suggested the appropriateness of an obbligato +accompaniment, and, in point of fact, the piano part represents the +lover in the most charming and expressive manner, appearing now to +assent, now to reply to the expressions of the singer. In this respect, +as well as in its tone and sentiment, this song is far in advance of the +earlier one with obbligato violin; the spirit of "Figaro" moves over +it, and we seem to recognise the depth of feeling and the tinge of +sentimentality which characterise the Countess. + +Mozart's comparative failure in his attempt to insert songs in Anfossi's +"Curioso Indiscreto" did not prevent his coming forward as soon as +another opportunity of the same kind offered itself. On November 28, +1785, Bianchi's "Villanella Rapita" was produced for the first time, +and Mozart was induced to give the opera the support of some ensemble +movements of his composition.[35] The beautiful Celestine Coltellini +(second daughter of the poet Coltellini, who had written the libretto +of Mozart's first opera) was engaged in 1783 by the Emperor Joseph II. +himself at Naples, where she had been singing with great success since +1779.[36] She first appeared on April 6, 1785, in Cimarosa's "Conta-dina +di Spirito,"[37] and took the place of Mdlle. Storace (who had +temporarily lost her voice)[38] in the first performance of Storace's +opera, "Gli Sposi Malcontenti," on June 1,1785.[39] Her voice was not +first-rate, and her compass only moderate, but she had been thoroughly +well trained, sang with ravishing expression, and fascinated her +audience by her acting, especially in comic parts.[40]These qualities +were made + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(332) + +prominent in Mozart's charming terzet and quartet; her part is that of +a peasant-girl, simple even to silliness, who receives presents from a +Count, without being in the least aware of his intentions, nor of the +rage and jealousy of her betrothed and her father. In the terzet (450 +K.--(Probably 480 K. DW)) "Mandina amabile" (composed November 21, 1785), the +delight with which she accepts the money, and, at the request of the +Count, gives him her hand with the words, "Ecco servitevi!" is not given +with any particular refinement by the poet; but Mozart has thrown so +much grace and roguery into the action that it becomes an excellent +point for a clever actress. The opening has a certain resemblance to +the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina, although the latter stands +several degrees higher, in accordance with the different characters +of the personages; a comparison of the two pieces affords a proof of +Mozart's skill in basing his characterisation on the conditions of +the dramatic situation. Even when the lover interferes with jealous +violence, and the Count seeks to excuse himself with as good a grace as +possible, she fails to perceive what is passing before her; and Mozart +does not neglect the opportunity of combining these opposing elements +into a well-proportioned animated whole. The effect is excellent when +the key, after the duet has pursued its rollicking course in A major +and the nearly related keys, passes into A minor, and then with rapid +transition into C major; even when it has reverted into A major the +minor key constantly recurs in discords suggestive of jealousy. The +quartet (479 K.) "Dite almeno, in che mancai" (composed November 15, +1785), has a less strongly marked situation. Mandina confronts her +indignant lover and father with innocent simplicity; when the Count +enters, a violent altercation arises between the men, of which she +cannot understand the cause, but, anxious at any sacrifice to +restore peace, she begs with really touching earnestness for pity and +forgiveness. Her calmness, in opposition to the voluble excitement of +the men, gives the movement its distinguishing character, which it was +the task of the performer to throw into relief; her part, especially in +the tender and beseeching passages, is full of feeling and charm. As to + + +{MUSIC FOR THE "VILLANELLA RAPITA," 1785.} + +(333) + +the other parts, the ever-increasing tumult of an animated dispute is +represented with very simple, well-calculated expedients in a manner +which is thoroughly Italian; a striking instance of this is the joining +in of the orchestra when the wrangling is at its height, with the +preservation of all the delicate comic effects. The masterly treatment +of the orchestra, both in detail and in effects of grouping, would alone +suffice to raise these two pieces far above similar movements of the +then commonly received opera buffa type. More excellent even than +the brilliant and characteristic sound effects is the independent and +copious construction of the instrumental parts, which nevertheless are +kept within their proper provinces as foils to the voices. Of the +voice parts it need scarcely be said that they are delicately and +characteristically treated, and move freely and with animation side +by side, producing at the same time an effective whole. There is no +bravura, and the treatment of the voices indicates moderate capabilities +on the part of the singers. Coltellini's part never goes above--[See +Page Image] + +rarely so high, and calls for no great amount of execution. Among the +male singers Mandini was by far the most important; the part of Almaviva +was afterwards written for him, and the passionate expressions of the +lover Pippo in the terzet remind us of that part. The tenor Calvesi +(Count) and the second bass Bussani (Biaggio) were of less account. +These ensemble pieces were the mature and graceful products of Mozart's +fully developed genius, and nothing but their simplicity of design +and construction points them out as pieces inserted in an opera, and +dependent upon it for their peculiar character. + +We can well believe that Mozart composed songs to please the singers, +male and female, who appeared in his operas. He was not only ready +to write additional pieces for them in his own operas, but frequently +offered songs as an acknowledgment to the performers who sang for him. +Louise Villeneuve appeared on June 27, 1789, as a new performer + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(334) + +in Martin's "Arbore di Diana," and was received with well-deserved and +genuine applause on account of her pleasing appearance, her expressive +acting, and her artistically beautiful singing.[41] When she was about +to appear as Dorabella in "Cosi fan tutte," in August, 1789, Mozart +wrote for her an aria to Cimarosa's opera, "I Due Baroni" (578 K.), +"Alma grande e nobil cuore," of forcible expression without making any +great demands on the voice.[42] More original, although not very deep, +are the two songs composed for the same singer in October, 1789, for +insertion in Martin's "Burbero di Buon Cuore." The first (582 K.), "Chi +sa, chi sa quai sia," is a single andante movement very moderate +in tone. The second (583 K.), "Vado, ma dove," begins with a short, +passionate allegro, with which is connected an andante simple in design +and construction, but with a wonderfully beautiful and expressive +cantilene, the effect of which is much heightened by the splendid +instrumentation. + +A bass song, composed for Signor Franc. Albertarelli in Anfossi's "Le +Gelosie Fortunate" (May,1788), was occasioned by the singer's connection +with the performance of "Don Giovanni." It is a cheerful, thoroughly +buffo aria, and the principal melody--[See Page Image] +has been employed again by Mozart, with a slight but expressive +alteration, in the first movement of the C major 1 symphony, the +only instance of the kind known to me. Similar demands were made upon +Mozart's generosity when he came into connection with Schikaneder's +theatre. He composed (March 8,1791) for the bass singer, Gerl, who +sang Sarastro in the "Zauberflote," an aria (612 K.), "Per questa bella +mano," with an obbligato double-bass accompaniment, + + +{OCCASIONAL COMPOSITIONS, 1788.} + +(335) + +which was played by Pischlberger with extraordinary execution. The +combination reminds us of other similar Schikaneder-like effects, and +the interest of the song depends mainly on the executive powers of +the double-bass player, which are nevertheless confined within narrow +limits. The limitation has in some degree influenced the treatment +of the voice part, and this pleasing and, for a powerful bass voice, +effective song can only be regarded as a curious occasional piece. +Another occasional composition is Gleim's German war song, "Ich +möchte wohl der Kaiser sein"[43] (539 K.), composed March 5, 1788, for +performance by the favourite comedian, Friedrich Baumann, jun., at +a concert in the Leopoldstädter Theatre on March 7, with special +reference, no doubt, to the Turkish war which had just broken out.[44] +This accounts for the running accompaniment of Turkish music to an +otherwise simple and popular song.[45] To sum up: it would appear that +during Mozart's residence in Vienna, from 1781 to 1791, he completed +five ensemble movements of different kinds, besides at least thirty +separate songs for various occasions,[46] among which there is not one +which does not possess artistic interest, and a great number which may +be placed in the first rank of works of the sort. + +His genius was at the service of others besides vocalists. We have +already seen that he wrote a pianoforte concerto for the blind performer +Mdlle. Paradies (Vol. II., p. 288). An artist similarly afflicted +from early youth was Marianne Kirchgassner (b. 1770), who had attained +extraordinary proficiency on the harmonica under Schmittbauer's +instruction.[47] When, in the course of a grand professional tour, she +came to Vienna (May, 1791) she excited Mozart's interest so greatly + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(336) + +by her playing, that he composed a quintet for her, which she frequently +afterwards performed with great success.[48] The combination +of instruments--flute, oboe, tenor, and violoncello, with the +harmonica--produces an originality of sound effect which is seriously +impaired when, as usually happens, the piano is substituted for the +harmonica. The latter instrument is limited in compass, having no bass +notes,[49] and requires for its due effect a melodious and expressive +style of execution. Mozart has given the adagio a sentimental, love-sick +tone, which is sometimes a good deal overdrawn, but the second movement +is cheerful and pleasing, and, without forming too strong a contrast, it +leads to a sound and agreeable conclusion. With just discrimination he +has given the piece a very well-defined and firmly constructed +form, relying for original effect on the tone-colouring and harmonic +transitions, which are often extremely bold. + +Mozart gave his support to another young artist, who had no such claim +to pity as the two just mentioned. Regina Strinasacchi, of Ostiglia +(1764-1839), was a pretty, amiable girl, and an accomplished +violin-player, who came to Vienna in 1784. Mozart extols her taste +and feeling to his father, who confirmed the praise when Strinasacchi +appeared at Salzburg in December, 1785: "Every note is played with +expression, even in symphonies, and I have never heard a more moving +adagio than hers; her whole heart and soul is in the melody which she +delivers, and her power and beauty of tone are equally remarkable.[50] +I believe, as a rule, that a woman of genius plays with more expression +than a man." + + +{REGINA STRINASACCHI--LEUTGEB.} + +(337) + +"I am just writing," continues Wolfgang, "a sonata (454 K.)[51] which we +shall play together at her concert on Thursday" (April 24, 1784). But +the sonata was not ready in time, and Strinasacchi with difficulty +extorted her own part from Mozart the evening before the concert, and +practised it without him on the following morning; they only met at the +concert. Both played excellently, and the sonata was much applauded.[52] +The Emperor Joseph, who was present, thought he could distinguish +through his glass that Mozart had no music before him; he had him +summoned and requested him to bring the sonata. It was blank music paper +divided into bars, Mozart having had no time to write out the clavier +part, which he thus played from memory, without even having heard the +sonata.[53] + +Mozart found an old Salzburg acquaintance at Vienna in the person of the +horn-player Joseph Leutgeb. He had settled in Vienna, as Leopold Mozart +writes (December 1, 1777), and bought a "snail-shell of a house" in one +of the suburbs, upon credit; here he set up business as a cheesemonger, +from the profits of which he promised to repay a loan, which, however, +was still owing when Wolfgang came to Vienna; he begs his father's +indulgence for Leutgeb, who was then wretchedly poor (May 8, 1782). He +was a capital solo-player on the French horn,[54] but was wanting +in higher cultivation. Mozart was always ready to help him, but he +frequently made him the butt of his exuberant sprits. Whenever he +composed a solo for him, Leutgeb was obliged to submit to some mock +penance. Once, for instance, Mozart threw all the parts of his concertos +and symphonies about the room, and Leutgeb had to collect them on all +fours and put them in order; as long as this lasted Mozart sat at his + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(338) + +writing-table composing. Another time, Leutgeb had to kneel down behind +the stove while Mozart wrote.[55] The manuscripts themselves bear traces +of good-humoured banter. One (417 K.) has the superscription: "Wolfgang +Amadé Mozart takes pity on Leutgeb, ass, ox, and simpleton, at Vienna, +March 27, 1783"; another (495 K.) is written alternately with black, +red, blue, and green ink. While he is writing down a rondo he amusingly +imagines the player before him, and keeps up a running commentary on the +supposed performance. The tempo, too, is jokingly indicated as adagio +for the horn part, while the accompaniment is allegro; Leutgeb's +inclination to drag is alluded to in the remark at the close of the +ritornello: "A lei Signor Asino"--in the ejaculations on the theme: +"Animo--presto--sù via--da bravo--coraggio--e finisci giä" (at +the conclusion). He goes on the same strain: "Bestia--oh che +stonatura--chi--oimè (at a repeatedly recurring F sharp)--bravo +poveretto! --Oh seccatura di coglioni! (when the subject recurs)--ah +che mi fai ridere!--ajuto (at a repeated E flat)--respira un poco! (at +a pause)--avanti, avanti!--questo poi va al meglio (when the theme +reappears)--e non finisci nemmeno?--ah porco infame! Oh come sei +grazioso!--Carino! Asinino! hahaha--respira!--Ma intoni almeno una, +cazzo! (at a repeated C sharp)--bravo, ewiva!--e vieni ä seccarmi per +la quarta, e Dio sia benedetto per l' ultima volta (at the fourth +repetition of the theme)--ah termina, ti prego! ah maledetto +--anche bravura? (at a short run) bravo--ah! trillo di pecore (at a +shake)--finisci? grazie al ciel!--basta, basta!" Leutgeb was quite +willing to submit to his friend's banter as the price of four concertos +(412, 417, 447, 495, cf. also 514 K.). They are rapidly put together and +easy of execution, without any great originality. Their brevity enables +the instrument to preserve its true character as one unsuited for +display of execution; in the last movement, which is the regulation +rondo in 6-8 time, the original nature of the horn as a hunting +instrument is made apparent, which at that + + +{CLARINET CONCERTO, 1791.} + +(339) + +time, when hunting music was thought more of than at present, was no +doubt found very entertaining. In other respects, the customary concerto +form is preserved. The first movement is an allegro in sonata form, kept +within narrow limits, the second is a simple romanza, followed by the +rondo. The accompaniment is simple, to allow due prominence to the horn +as the solo instrument, but Mozart seldom refrains from adding touches +of life and character to the whole by means of a freer movement in the +accompaniment. The quintet for the horn, violin, two tenors, and bass +(407 K.), was also written for Leutgeb, who possessed the autograph.[56] +The horn part is throughout concertante, the stringed instruments serve +only as accompaniment, but are very independent and characteristic, +so that the whole has some approach to the quartet style. The piece is +altogether more important and finer than the concertos. + +Far more important both as to compass and substance is the concerto for +clarinet in A major (622 K.), which Mozart wrote or adapted for Stadler, +towards the close of his life (between September 28 and November 15, +1791). There exist six pages of a draft score of the first movement, +composed much earlier for the basset-horn, in G major, and available for +the clarinet with a few alterations in the deeper notes. It has not been +ascertained whether this concerto was ever finished, but it is scarcely +probable. + +It was to be expected that Mozart, who was the first to do justice to +the capabilities of the clarinet as a solo instrument, would deal with +it with peculiar partiality; the more so, as he had so distinguished +a performer to work for.[57] The brilliant qualities of this splendid +instrument are in point of fact thrown into the strongest relief. +The contrasts of tone-colouring are made use of in every sort of way, +especially in the low notes, here much employed in the accompaniment +passages, whose wonderful effect Mozart was, as far as I know, the first +to discover. + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(340) + +The capacity of the clarinet for melodious expression, tunefulness, and +brilliant fluency, and for the union of force with melting tenderness, +is skilfully taken into account; and as Mozart invariably brings the +external into harmony with the internal, we find in this work that the +grander and broader forms and the greater execution are the natural +outcome of brilliant and original ideas. It is not too much to say that +this concerto is the basis of modern clarinet-playing. + +Mozart composed on September 29, 1789, for the same fickle friend, the +"Stadlersquintett" for clarinet and strings (582 K.), which was first +performed at the concert for the Musicians' Charitable Fund on December +22, 1789. + +The distinct and frequently overpowering effect of the clarinet, in +conjunction with stringed instruments, would necessitate its treatment +as a solo instrument; and Mozart's loving efforts to display to the full +its singular beauties and rich powers serve to isolate it still more +completely. Although he avoids with equal taste and skill the danger +of treating the stringed instruments as mere accompaniment, or of +emphasising the clarinet unduly, and combines them to a whole often with +touches of surprising delicacy, yet the heterogeneous elements are not +so completely incorporated as are the stringed instruments when they are +alone. The whole mechanism is therefore loose and easy, the subjects +are more graceful than important, and their development less serious and +profound than usual. This quintet therefore, cast as it is in the most +beautiful forms, and possessed of the most charming sound effects--fully +justifying the praise bestowed upon it by Ambros ("Limits of Music and +Poetry") in Goethe's words, "its whole being floats in sensuous wealth +and sweetness"--yet falls below the high level of the stringed quintets. + +The Andante in A major to a violin concerto, dated in the Thematic +Catalogue April 1, 1785 (470 K.), must certainly have been written for a +virtuoso; perhaps for Janiewicz, who was then in Vienna. + +Mozart sometimes bestowed improvised compositions in the form of alms. +One day a beggar accosted him in the + + +{MOZART'S CRITICISM ON FELLOW-ARTISTS.} + +(341) + +street and claimed a distant relationship with him. Mozart, having no +money, went into the nearest coffee-house, wrote a minuet and trio, +and sent the beggar with it to his publisher, who paid him what it was +considered worth.[58] + +His ever-ready good-nature must have made Mozart a great favourite among +his fellow-artists, and yet he had only too often to complain of the +ingratitude to which his very good-nature subjected him. Between him and +the majority of Italian opera-singers there existed, nevertheless, an +innate antagonism; they complained of his compositions as being far too +difficult and not telling enough. There can be no doubt that he made +many concessions to display of execution, but these were not considered +extensive enough at the time, and Mozart, scorning so cheap and easy a +way of gaining the applause of the public, sought to attain his end by +other and better means.[59] It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that +the Italians in Vienna for the most part objected to singing in Mozart's +operas, the more so as their disinclination was fostered by outsiders; +Mozart, on his part, disliked the then prevalent style of singing: "They +rush at it, and shake and make flourishes," he said, "because they have +not studied, and cannot sustain a note."[60] + +He was fond of mocking in his sarcastic style at this kind of +composition and performance, and used to imitate off-hand at the piano +grand operatic scenas in the style of well-known masters, with the most +telling effect.[61] Such exhibitions would not tend to increase the +number of his friends. Mozart was "cutting" (_schlimm_), as we know, and +took no pains to restrain his jesting moods, which were doubtless often +taken in far worse part than they were meant. But he also pronounced +many a sharp censure in earnest upon artists who felt the more bitter as +his own + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(342) + +superiority made itself incontestably felt.[62] Soon after his +settlement in Vienna his father was informed that his boasting and +criticisms were making him enemies among musicians and others, but this +accusation Wolfgang indignantly repelled (July 31, 1782). + +Nevertheless, we find him writing not long afterwards (December 23, +1782): "I should like to write a book--a short musical criticism with +examples; but of course not in my own name." There was a rage at Vienna +for the discussion and criticism of all imaginable subjects by means of +pamphlets and brochures.[63] That which tempted Mozart to take pen in +hand was the downfall of German opera, which was a serious blow to him. +He was conscious of what he as a German might have accomplished for +German art, and it pained him to see the universal preference for +Italian art and artists. + +From early youth he had been aware of the unworthy devices often +employed in Italian music, and his aversion to "all Italians" +continually betrays itself, but very seldom to the extent of making him +unjust towards individual persons or performances. His healthy judgment +and inexhaustible flow of human kindness preserved him from this danger. +Jos. Frank relates[64] that, finding Mozart continually engaged on +the study of French opera scores, he once asked him if he would not do +better to devote himself to Italian music, which was then the fashion of +the day in Vienna. Mozart answered: "As regards the melodies, yes; but +as regards the dramatic effects, no; besides which, the scores that you + + +{CRITICISM ON FELLOW-ARTISTS.} + +(343) + +see here are by Gluck, Piccinni, Salieri, and, with the exception of +those by Grétry, have nothing French in them but the words."[65] This +was true, and we may allow that Mozart did not require to learn melody +from the Italians. His judgments of various composers might offend at +the time, but we are now ready to endorse them as not only striking but +fair. We have already learnt his opinion of Righini (Vol. II., p. 251). +Of Martin, the universal favourite, he said: "Much in his works is +really very pretty, but ten years hence he will be quite forgotten."[66] +How ready he was to acknowledge merit in any performance "which had +something in it" is plainly shown in a letter to his father (April +24,1784):-- + +Some quartets have just appeared by a man named Pleyel; he is a pupil +of Jos. Haydn. If you do not already know them, try to get them, it is +worth your while. They are very well and pleasantly written, and give +evidence of his master. Well and happy will it be for music if Pleyel is +ready in due time to take Haydn's place for us. + +This was just at the time when he was busy with his own quartets, where +he showed how one master learns from another. When he found nothing +original in any work he put it aside with the words, "Nothing in it," or +vented his mocking humour on it. Rochlitz relates that once at Doles, he +made them sing the Mass of a composer "who had evident talent for comic +opera, but was out of place as a composer of sacred music," parodying +the words in a very entertaining manner.[67] + +The description which Mozart gives to his father of the celebrated +oboist, J. Chr. Fischer (1733-1800), is characteristic of his sharp and +involuntarily comic criticism. Fischer had come to Vienna from London, +where he enjoyed an extraordinary reputation (April 4, 1787):[68]-- + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(344) + +If the oboist Fischer did not play better when we heard him in Holland +(1766) than he plays now, he certainly does not deserve the reputation +which he has. But, between ourselves, I was then at an age incapable +of forming a judgment. I can only remember that he pleased me, as he +pleased all the world. It would be quite reasonable to contend that +taste has altered since then to a remarkable degree, and that he plays +after the old school--but no! he plays, in fact, like a miserable +learner; young André, who used to learn from Fiala, plays a thousand +times better. And then his concertos of his own composition! Every +ritornello lasts a quarter of an hour--then enter the hero--lifts up +one leaden foot after another, and plumps them down on the ground +alternately. His tone is all through his nose, and his tenuto is like +the tremulant stop on the organ. Could you have supposed all this? and +yet it is nothing but the truth, the real truth, which I tell you. + +Mozart's amiability and good-nature prevailed in his personal +intercourse with fellow-artists, even where reserve or irritated feeling +would have been excusable. When the Italian Opera was reopened, from +which Mozart had been purposely excluded, he did not withdraw his +friendship from the composers, whom he might justifiably have considered +as interlopers. When Paesiello came to Vienna from St. Petersburg +in 1784 he was treated with a distinction never bestowed upon German +masters. His "Barbiere di Seviglia" was at once put upon the stage, and +the Emperor lost no time in commissioning him to compose an opera, for +which Casti, as the most distinguished comic poet, was to provide +the libretto. The opera was "Il Re Teodoro," for which Joseph himself +suggested the subject as a satire, it was said, on the visit of Gustavus +III. of Sweden to Venice in the year 1783.[69] Such active participation +from the Emperor assured the maestro a brilliant position, both +pecuniary and social, during his stay in Vienna. Mozart, whose judgment +of Paesiello's light music was very favourable,[70] made friendly +advances towards him. Kelly was present at their introduction, and +testifies to their mutual courtesy and esteem;[71] and we have already +seen + + +{INTERCOURSE WITH FELLOW-ARTISTS.} + +(345) + +(Vol. II., p. 279) how pleased Mozart was to have his compositions +performed before Paesiello by a talented pupil. Paesiello, on his part, +begged for the score of "Idomeneo" for his own study.[72] Mozart was +equally complaisant to Sarti, who was in Vienna at the same time, on his +way to St. Petersburg. "If Maestro Sarti had not been obliged to set out +to-day for Russia," he writes to his father (June 9, 1784), "he would +have gone out with me. Sarti is a straightforward, honest man. I have +played a great deal to him, ending with variations on one of his airs +(460 K.),[73] which gave him great pleasure." + +The "honest" man afterwards wrote a most malicious criticism on +some passages in Mozart's quartets, concerning which, indignant that +"barbarians, without any sense of hearing should presume to think they +can compose music," he exclaims, "Can more be done to put performers out +of tune?" ("Si puö far di più per far stonar i professori?"). He points +out error after error "which could only be made by a clavier-player, who +can see no difference between D sharp and E flat"; and concludes with +a flourish, "This is, in the words of the immortal Rousseau, 'De la +musique pour faire boucher ses oreilles!'"[74] + +A charming instance of Mozart's benevolence towards younger artists +is supplied by Gyrowetz. He relates in his autobiography, how he was +introduced to the most distinguished artists of Vienna, at some grand +soirée:-- + +Mozart appeared to be the most good-natured of them all. He observed the +youthful Gyrowetz with an expression of sympathy which seemed to say: +"Poor young fellow, you have just embarked on the ocean of the great +world, and you are anxiously looking forward to what fate may have in +store for you." Encouraged by so much affability and sympathy the young +artist entreated the master to cast a glance over his compositions, +which consisted of six symphonies, and to give his + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(346) + +opinion of them. With true benevolence, Mozart granted the petition, +went through the works, commended them, and promised the young artist to +have one of his symphonies performed at his concert in the hall at the +Mehlgrube, where Mozart gave subscription concerts during that year +(1785). This took place on a Thursday. The symphony was performed with +great applause. Mozart, with his native courtesy and kindness, took +the young composer by the hand, and introduced him to the public as the +author of the symphonies. + +Beethoven made his appearance in Vienna as a youthful musician of +promise in the spring of 1787, but was only able to remain there a short +time;[75] he was introduced to Mozart, and played to him at his request. +Mozart, considering the piece he performed to be a studied show-piece, +was somewhat cold in his expressions of admiration. Beethoven remarking +this, begged for a theme for improvisation, and, inspired by the +presence of the master he reverenced so highly, played in such a manner +as gradually to engross Mozart's whole attention; turning quietly to +the bystanders, he said emphatically, "Mark that young man; he will make +himself a name in the world!"[76] + +Mozart does not appear to have become intimately acquainted with +Dittersdorf, who at that time was paying only passing visits to Vienna; +but his way of mentioning Mozart shows appreciation and esteem. The same +may be said of Gluck, who, as we have seen, showed himself on several +occasions well disposed towards Mozart (Vol. II., pp. 212, 285); but +the difference of their natures--perhaps also Salieri's close connection +with Gluck--prevented anything like intimacy between them. + +That, notwithstanding so much goodwill, Mozart should + + +{KOZELÜCH.} + +(347) + +have met with envious critics and detractors[77] among the artists of +Vienna is scarcely to be wondered at. We have already noticed one of his +most determined opponents, Kreibich (Vol. II., p. 203); another, equally +implacable, was Leopold Kozeluch, a pianist of some brilliancy, and a +fashionable teacher, especially after he gave lessons at court; he had +a passing reputation, too, as a composer, but vanity and stupidity +were his chief claims to distinction. He was fond of magnifying his own +merits by paltry criticism of his fellow-artists, especially of Haydn. +Once, when a new quartet of Haydn's was being performed in a large +company, Kozeluch, standing by Mozart, found fault, first with one thing +and then with another, exclaiming at length, with impudent assurance, "I +should never have done it in that way!" "Nor should I," answered Mozart; +"but do you know why? Because neither you nor I would have had so good +an idea."[78] Henceforth Kozeluch became Mozart's avowed and determined +opponent; and what better revenge could be taken by the man "who never +praised any one but himself," than to pronounce the overture to +"Don Giovanni" "good, but full of faults";[79] and to exclaim +condescendingly, after hearing the full rehearsal of the overture to the +"Zauberflöte," "Ah, our good friend Mozart is trying to be learned this +time!,,[80] When they were both at Prague, at the coronation of +Leopold, Kozeluch expressed his enmity to Mozart so obtrusively, that +he forfeited a great share of the interest "with which hitherto every +Bohemian had been proud to own him as a fellow-countryman."[81] + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(348) + +The most charming instance of Mozart's reverence and love for Joseph +Haydn is the dedicatory epistle wherein he offers him his six quartets +as the fruit of long and painful study inspired by his example, as a +father intrusts his children to a tried and valued friend, confident +of his protection and indulgence towards them. These expressions of +reverence came from the very depths of Mozart's heart: to a friend who +made some remark on the dedication he answered: "It was due from me, for +it was from Haydn that I learned how quartets should be written."[82] +"It was quite affecting," says Niemetschek" (p. 94) "to hear him speak +of the two Haydns or any other of the great masters; one would have +imagined him to be one of their enthusiastic pupils rather than the +all-powerful Mozart." The Haydn so honoured of Mozart was not by any +means the "Father Haydn" of a later time, reverenced and loved by all. +It was not until after his residence in London that Haydn met with +general admiration and veneration in the Austrian capital; in earlier +years the opposition to his originality was nowhere stronger than in +Vienna. His very position in the service of Prince Esterhazy, and his +residence in Hungary, prejudiced the musicians of the capital against +him. The music-loving public enjoyed his fresh and jovial creations +with unrestrained delight, but the artists and connoisseurs took grave +exception to them. Humour in music was as yet unrecognised, and the +dispute as to whether and in what degree it could be justified had just +begun; the freedom, well considered as it was, with which Haydn treated +traditional rules, was looked upon as a grave fault. At the head of his +opponents stood the Emperor Joseph;[83] he would have nothing to say to +his playful oddities, and we can scarcely wonder that the royal example +was widely followed, and that Haydn had good cause to complain of his +critics and enemies.[84] It required + + +{HAYDN AND MOZART.} + +(349) + +an artist as genial and as incapable of envy as Mozart fully to +understand and appreciate him. And Haydn was equally prompt to discover +the greatness of Mozart, and to accord him his full share of admiration +and esteem. We have seen the testimony which he bore of Mozart to his +father (Vol. II., p. 321); and he lost no opportunity of expressing his +conviction of Mozart's artistic greatness.[85] When it was proposed to +produce an opera by Haydn at Prague, together with Mozart's "Figaro" and +"Don Giovanni," Haydn wrote to the Commissary Roth:[86]-- + +You wish an opera buffa from me. With all my heart, if it will give you +any pleasure to possess some of my vocal compositions. But if it is your +intention to place the opera on the stage in Prague I am sorry that I +cannot oblige you. My operas are inseparable from the company for whom +I wrote them, and would never produce their calculated effect apart from +their native surroundings. It would be quite another matter if I had +the honour of being commissioned to write a new opera for the theatre +in question. Even then, however, it would be a risk to put myself in +competition with the great Mozart. If I could only inspire every +lover of music, especially among the great, with feelings as deep, and +comprehension as clear as my own, in listening to the inimitable works +of Mozart, then surely the nations would contend for the possession +of such a jewel within their borders. Prague must strive to retain the +treasure within her grasp--but not without fitting reward. The want +of this too often saddens the life of a great genius, and offers small +encouragement for further efforts in future times. I feel indignant that +Mozart has not yet been engaged at any imperial or royal court. Pardon +my wandering from the subject--Mozart is a man very dear to me. + +This letter was written in December, 1787, and the news of Mozart's +appointment as Imperial private composer had not yet reached Haydn in +Esterhaz; the uncertain position of his friend evidently affected him +greatly. In the year following, when controversy was rife in Vienna on +the subject of "Don Giovanni," Haydn found himself one evening in the +midst of a company discussing the faults of omission + + +{MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.} + +(350) + +and commission of the new opera; at last he was asked for his opinion. +"I cannot decide the questions in dispute," said he; "but this I know, +that Mozart is the greatest composer in the world."[87] It must not be +imagined that because Haydn set so high a value on Mozart's operatic +compositions, he had by any means a small opinion of his own. Forgotten +as they now are, he himself was not inclined to rank them below the +performances of the majority of his contemporaries. He writes to Artaria +(May 27, 1781):-- + +Mons. Le Gros, directeur of the Concert spirituel, writes me many +compliments on my "Stabat Mater," which has been performed four times +with great success. The management were surprised at this revelation of +my powers as a vocal composer; but they had had no previous opportunity +of judging of them. If they would only hear my operetta "L'Isola +Disabitata," and my last opera "La Fedeltä Premiata"! I assure you, such +works have never yet been heard in Paris, and perhaps not in Vienna; but +it is my misfortune to live retired in the country. + +He says of the "Armida," in March, 1874, that it has been produced +with signal success, and is considered his best work.[88] It is doubly +significant, therefore, that Haydn should have acknowledged himself so +completely overshadowed by Mozart as an operatic composer. And not in +this branch of their art alone did he accord him superiority; he gave +way even where they might justly be considered as rivals, and declared +that, if Mozart had written nothing but his violin quartets and the +"Requiem," he would have sufficient claim to immortality.[89] He assured +a friend, with tears in his eyes, that he could never forget Mozart's +clavier-playing; "It came from the heart!"[90] To the end of his life he +missed no occasion of hearing Mozart's music, and used to assert that he +had never heard one of his compositions without learning something from +it.[91] In 1790, when he had returned to his solitude at "Estoras," he +writes how + + +{HAYDN AND MOZART.} + +(351) + +the north wind had waked him from a dream of listening to the "Nozze di +Figaro."[92] + +The personal intercourse between the two was simple and hearty. Mozart +used to call Haydn "Papa," and both Sophie Haibl and Griesinger mention +their use of the pronoun _du_ to each other, a habit less frequent in +those days than at present between friends of such difference in age. +But while Mozart lived in Vienna, Haydn had his fixed residence at +Eisenstadt or Esterhaz, and only came to Vienna for a few months at +a time with his princely patron, who was not fond of the capital, and +shortened his stay there as far as was practicable; Haydn sometimes +obtained leave of absence for a flying visit to Vienna, but the Prince +always gave it unwillingly.[93] + +It was not until the Kapelle was broken up, on the death of Prince +Nicolaus in 1790, that Haydn took up his abode in Vienna; and in +December of the same year Salomon persuaded him to undertake the journey +to London. Mozart agreed with others of Haydn's friends in considering +this expedition a great risk, and drew his attention to the difficulties +he was sure to encounter as an elderly man, unused to the world, amidst +a strange people whose language he did not understand. Haydn replied +that he was old, certainly, (he was then fifty-nine), but strong and +of good courage, and his language was understood by all the world.[94] +Mozart spent the day of Haydn's departure with him, and as they took +leave he was moved to tears and exclaimed: "We are taking our last +farewell in this world!" Haydn himself was deeply moved, thinking of his +own death, and sought to console and calm Mozart.[95] + +A letter from Haydn to Frau von Gennzinger (October 13, 1791) shows +that calumniators sought to sow enmity between the friends in their +separation: "My friends write, what I cannot however believe, that +Mozart is doing all he can to + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(352) + +disparage me. I forgive him. Mozart must go to Count von Fries to +inquire about the payment."[96] When the news of Mozart's death reached +London, Haydn lamented his loss with bitter tears.[97] + +The sight of these two great and noble men extending to each other +the hand of brotherhood, and remaining true to the end, untouched by +professional envy or intrigue, is as pleasant as it was rare in the +Vienna of those days. Each understood and appreciated the other, each +freely acknowledged his indebtedness to the other from a musical point +of view, and each, in his own consciousness of power and independence, +found the standard for estimating the worth of his brother-artist. + +Those who strove to raise the dust of dissension between them are, +for the most part, forgotten or relegated to their due position in the +background of musical history: Mozart and Haydn stand side by side on +the heights, witnessing for ever to the truth that the greatness of a +genuinely artistic nature attracts and does not repel its like. + + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPER 28 + + + + +[Footnote 1: At Wolfgang's request he sent the Baroness a couple of Salzburg +tongues, which were esteemed a delicacy.] + +[Footnote 2: Hamburger Litt. u. Krit. Blatter, 1856, No. 72, p. 563.] + +[Footnote 3: Unfortunately Wolfgang's letters to his father are only preserved +in anything like completeness up to his visit to Salzburg (July, 1783); +after that we have only detached ones. His sister believed, so Nissen +says (Vorr., p. XVI.), that the later letters were destroyed by the +father, on account of containing allusions to Freemasonry, which is +probable enough. There is no sort of evidence that Mozart ever actually +neglected his father's correspondence; but it was not in his power to +continue to keep a journal such as he had been in the habit of writing +while travelling, or such as the daughter kept up after her marriage.] + +[Footnote 4: The firstborn son, Leopold, "der arme dicke fette and liebe Buberl," +as he is called in a letter (December 10, 1783), died in the same year.] + +[Footnote 5: On January 19, 1786, L. Mozart wrote to his daughter that the +Archbishop had opened a letter of Wolfgang's, but without finding +anything in it.] + +[Footnote 6: Nissen, p. 476.] + +[Footnote 7: A. M. Z., I., p. 291. Biograph. Skizze von Mich. Haydn (Salzburg, +1808), p. 38.] + +[Footnote 8: Lipowsky, Bayersch. Mus. Lex., p. 36.] + +[Footnote 9: Rochlitz, Für Freunde d. Tonk., üI., p. 179.] + +[Footnote 10: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1817, p. 289.] + +[Footnote 11: Nissen, Vorr., p. 18.] + +[Footnote 12: On L. Mozart's return from Vienna in 1785, he stopped at Linz, as +the guest of Count Thun; here he met the new Bishop, Count Herberstein +(I., p. 25).] + +[Footnote 13: Instances might be multiplied on closer examination; I content +myself with quoting from the C major symphony the unexpected entry of E +minor (p. 6, bar 8) and C major (p. 6, bar 12), the loud notes for the +wind instruments (p. 25, bars 3,4), the original theme with which +the basses interpose (p. 28, bar 5), and most especially the mocking +conclusion of the minuet (p. 36, bars 12-16).] + +[Footnote 14: Nissen asserts (Vorr., p. 18) that L. Mozart's letters from Vienna +to his daughter (of which I have unfortunately only seen a few), betray +considerable coldness towards his son.] + +[Footnote 15: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 240. Holmes conjectures that as Haydn +was a good violinist, but no solo-player, Kelly has substituted him +for Mozart by a slip of memory (p. 267); it is more probable that +Dittersdorf, the most celebrated violin-player of the day, played first +violin, and Haydn second.] + +[Footnote 16: Mozart lost no time in communicating the sorrowful news to his +friend, Gottfried von Jacquin: "I must inform you that on my return home +to-day I received the sad intelligence of the death of my dear father. +You can imagine the state I am in."] + +[Footnote 17: "My son wrote to me some time ago," writes L. Mozart to the +Baroness Waldstädten (August 23, 1782), "that as soon as he was married +he would cease to live with the mother. I hope he has already actually +left the house; if not, it will be a misfortune both for him and his +wife."] + +[Footnote 18: Prefixed to the first volume of the "Ephemeriden der Literatur und +des Theaters" (Berlin, 1785), are the portraits of Lange and his wife in +a medallion. Her features are regular and good, but, probably owing to +her delicate health, less youthful than one might have expected.] + +[Footnote 19: Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 118.] + +[Footnote 20: Friedel, Briefe aus Wien, p. 409.] + +[Footnote 21: A. M. Z., üI., p. 659.] + +[Footnote 22: On the same day Mozart writes to his father full of anxiety about +his own circumstances, thus proving again that the true artist can +divest himself during his hours of production of the cares and anxieties +of his ordinary life.] + +[Footnote 23: The Berl. Litt. u. Theat. Ztg., 1783, p. 559, announces from +Vienna: "June 30, 1783, 'Il Curioso Indiscreto' was performed for the +first time. Madame Lange sang to-day for the first time in the Italian +opera, and the public, in spite of all cabals, showed their appreciation +of her talents." Cf. Lange's Selbstbiogr., p. 119.] + +[Footnote 24: Written on the autograph is (June 21, 1783): "All the parts are to +be extracted and augmented--the _parte cantante_ to be done at once, and +returned to Herr Adamberger."] + +[Footnote 25: The completely written-out melody of a soprano air (178 K.) is +preserved, the words of which, "Ah spiegarti, oh Dio vorrei," differ +very little from the above; it is probably a first attempt abandoned. +The voice part of Adamberger's air sketched in the same way still +exists, and the bravura air is on the same leaf.] + +[Footnote 26: The performance took place on January 25, 1784, and was repeated on +February 1 (Wien. Ztg., 1784, No. 7, Anh., No. g, Anh.).] + +[Footnote 27: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 253.] + +[Footnote 28: The notices of her professional tour in the year 1784, from Berlin, +Dresden, Leipzig, Schwedt, and Hamburg, are full of admiration (Berl. +Litt. II. Theat. Ztg., 1784, I., p. 160; II., p. 138).] + +[Footnote 29: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 97.] + +[Footnote 30: It was so in Amsterdam in 1798 (A. M. Z., üI., p. 659), and in +Paris in 1802 (A. M. Z., IV., p. 322).] + +[Footnote 31: Cf. Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 32: Alsatia, 1853, p. 92.] + +[Footnote 33: Magaz. d. Mus., II., p. 185.] + +[Footnote 34: The autograph has on the title-page "Composta per la Sgra. Storace +dal suo servo ed amico W. A. Mozart, 26 di Dec., 1786."] + +[Footnote 35: Wien. Ztg., 1785, Nr. 97, Anh. I do not know whether Bianchi wrote +his opera for Vienna or Venice. The statement (A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 485) +that the Emperor Joseph II. caused it to be composed in the form of a +pasticcio is incorrect. The overture, which was given in Leipzig (A. +M. Z. XIII., p. 168) and Vienna (A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 485) as having +been composed by Mozart for this opera, is the one which was written in +Salzburg in 1779 (319 K.; Cf., I., p. 516).] + +[Footnote 36: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 48.] + +[Footnote 37: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 29, Anh.] + +[Footnote 38: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 46, Anh.] + +[Footnote 39: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 234.] + +[Footnote 40: Cramer, Mag. d. Mus., II., p. 62. Reichardt, Musik. Monatsschr., p. +38. Scudo, Mus. Ane. et Mod., p. 18.] + +[Footnote 41: Wien. Ztg., 1789, No. 52, Anh.] + +[Footnote 42: It is only known to me in an old copy among Mozart's remains.] + +[Footnote 43: Müller, Abschied, p. 156.] + +[Footnote 44: It was just noticed in the Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 23, Anh.] + +[Footnote 45: The song: "Beim Auszug in das Feld," dated August 11, 1788, in the +Thematic Catalogue, was probably written for a similar use; but I am not +acquainted with it.] + +[Footnote 46: A German air, "Ohne Zwang aus eigenem Triebe" (569 K.), noted by +Mozart, under date "Jenner, 1789," has quite disappeared.] + +[Footnote 47: Mus. Corr., 1790, p. 170; 1791, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 48: She announced (Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 66, Anh.) that in her +concert on June 19, she would play "an entirely new and beautiful +'Konzertantquintet,' with wind instruments, accompanied by Herr +Kapellmeister Mozart." CL Mus. Correspondenz, 1792, p. 146. A. M. Z., +üI., p. 127. Among the sketches in the Mozarteum at Salzburg is the +commencement of another quintet for the same instruments in C major.] + +[Footnote 49: Both in Berlin and Leipzig complaints were made that Mar. +Kirchgassner had sought to attract admiration by a rapidity and an +affected manner quite out of keeping with the character of the harmonica +(Reichardt, Mus. Monatsschr., p. 25. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 150. A. +M. Z., II., p. 254).] + +[Footnote 50: Cf. Schink, Litt. Fragm., II., p. 286.] + +[Footnote 51: It is entered in the Thematic Catalogue under April 21, 1784.] + +[Footnote 52: In the Wiener Zeitung (1784, No. 54, p. 1560), Torricella announces +the composition by the celebrated Kapellmeister Mozart of three new +clavier sonatas, the third of which, with a violin accompaniment, had a +short time before been played with great success in the theatre by the +celebrated Mdlle. Strinasacchi and Herr Mozart, which is sufficient +recommendation in itself.] + +[Footnote 53: The story is told by the widow (A. M. Z., I., p. 290), and more in +detail by Rochlitz (Für Freunde der Tonk., üI., p. 285).] + +[Footnote 54: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 50.] + +[Footnote 55: According to a communication of Sonnleithner's, who also asserts +that Leutgeb died in good circumstances on February 27, 1811.] + +[Footnote 56: Cäcilie, IV., p. 306; VI., p. 203.] + +[Footnote 57: Schink, Litt. Fragm., II., p. 236. Musik. Wochenbl., p. 118.] + +[Footnote 58: So Parker asserts, Mus. Mem., II., p. 179, "from authentic +sources."] + +[Footnote 59: Cf. Niemetschek, p. 75. Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 115.] + +[Footnote 60: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., üI., p. 591. Compare Mozart's remarks on +Gabrielli and Aloysia Weber, I., p. 427.] + +[Footnote 61: Rochlitz, whose opinions were identical, describes a bravura scena +for a prima donna, which Mozart has also recorded (A. M. Z., üI., p. +591).] + +[Footnote 62: "Deceit and flattery were alike foreign to his artless character," +says Niemetschek (p. 96), "and any restraint upon his intellect was +insupportable to him. Free and unreserved in his expressions and +answers, he frequently wounded the susceptibilities of self-love, and +made many enemies." An article upon him after his death contains the +following passage (Reichardt, Musik. Wochenbl., p. 94): "Now that he is +dead, the Viennese will know what they have lost in him. During his life +he was much harassed by cabals, whose hostility he sometimes provoked by +his _sans-souci_ manner."] + +[Footnote 63: Blumauer, who mentions this characteristic in his observations +on the culture and literature of Austria, asserts that within eighteen +months 1,172 publications of this kind appeared at Vienna (Pros. Schr., +I., p. 72).] + +[Footnote 64: Prutz, Deutsch. Museum, II., p. 28.] + +[Footnote 65: The few opera scores found among Mozart's remains are Gluck's +"Arbre Enchanté," "Le Diable ä Quatre," Grétry's "Zemire et Azor," +"Bamevelt," Mich. Haydn's "Endimione."] + +[Footnote 66: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 116. Cf. Siever's Mozart u. Süssmayer, +p. 22.] + +[Footnote 67: A. M. Z., iiI., p. 493. He did not think highly of Jomelli as a +church composer, although he admired his operas (A. M. Z., I., p. 116), +while of Gass-mann he formed an exactly opposite opinion (A. M. Z., XX., +p. 247).] + +[Footnote 68: Burney, Reise, I., p. 22. Busky, Gesch. d. Mus., II., p. 584.] + +[Footnote 69: So Jos. Frank asserts in Prutz, Deutsch. Museum, II., p. 24. There +are interesting notices in Kelly's Reminisc., I., p, 238.] + +[Footnote 70: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 185.] + +[Footnote 71: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 238.] + +[Footnote 72: Bridi, Brevi Notiz., p. 47.] + +[Footnote 73: The theme "Come un agnello" is from Sarti's opera, "Fra i Due +Litiganti Il Terzo Gode," which was then the rage in Vienna, and is the +same which is made use of in the second finale of "Don Giovanni."] + +[Footnote 74: Sarti's "Esame acustico fatto sopra due frammenti di Mozart" has, +as far as I know, never been printed; an extract was given in A. M. Z., +XXXIV., p. 373 (cf. XXVI., p. 540).] + +[Footnote 75: According to a letter from Bonn of April 8, 1787 (Cramer's Magaz., +II., p. 1,386) he was still in Bonn at that time, and returned home just +before the death of his mother, on July 17, 1787.] + +[Footnote 76: Schindler (Biogr. Beethoven, I., p. 15) apparently did not know +of this interview, which Beethoven was fond of alluding to; the above +account was communicated to me in Vienna on good authority. The anecdote +is embellished in Beethoven's Studien (Anh., p. 4), and alludes +to studies in counterpoint and theory which Beethoven had not even +attempted at the time. According to Ries (Biogr. Not., p. 86) he +received a few lessons from Mozart, but never heard him play.] + +[Footnote 77: "Mozart willingly listened to criticism, even when it was adverse," +says Rochlitz (A. M. Z., I., p. 145); "he was susceptible only to blame +of one kind, and that was the kind which he most often received--that +is, blame for his too fiery imagination and intellect. This +sensitiveness was but natural; for if the blame were justifiable, +then all that was most original and characteristic in his music was +valueless."] + +[Footnote 78: The anecdote is given by Niemetschek, p. 94; Rochlitz (A. M. Z., +I., p. 53); Griesinger (Biogr. Notizen uber J. Haydn, p. 105); Nissen, +p. 681, who names Kozeluch.] + +[Footnote 79: Bohemia, 1856, p. 127.] + +[Footnote 80: This remark was communicated to me by Neukomm, who heard it from +Haydn.] + +[Footnote 81: A. M. Z., II., p. 516.] + +[Footnote 82: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 53; cf. p. 116.] + +[Footnote 83: So Reichardt asserts, A. M. Z., XV., p. 667 (Schletterer, +Reichardt, I., p. 325). Reise nach Wien, II., p. 91, and Dittersdorf +(Selbstbiogr., p. 238).] + +[Footnote 84: Sending a sonata to Artaria, he writes (February 8,1780): "I hope +at least to gain credit for this work with people of cultivation; it +is sure to be criticised by the envious (who are very numerous)"; and +similar remarks frequently occur.] + +[Footnote 85: Parke, Mus. Mem., I., p. 170.] + +[Footnote 86: Niemetschek, p. 78 (A. M. Z., I., p. 182; XI., p. 780. Nissen, +p. 643. Wien. Musikzeitg., 1817, p. 288. Nohl, Musikerbr., p. xoi). +Griesinger asserts by mistake (Biogr. Notizen, p. 104), followed by +Carpani (Le Haydine, p. 202), that in 1791, Haydn (who was then in +London) was summoned to Prague for the coronation of Leopold II., but +refused the invitation in the words, "Where Mozart is, Haydn cannot show +himself."] + +[Footnote 87: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 52.] + +[Footnote 88: Nohl, Musikerbr., pp. 84, 93. Cf. Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 25.] + +[Footnote 89: Stadler, Vertheidigung der Echtheit des Mozartschen Requiem, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 90: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 104.] + +[Footnote 91: Carpani, Le Haydine, p. 201.] + +[Footnote 92: Karajan, Haydn in London, p. 66. Nohl, Musikerbr., p. 114.] + +[Footnote 93: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 23.] + +[Footnote 94: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 35. Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 75.] + +[Footnote 95: Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 77.] + +[Footnote 96: Karajan, J. Haydn in London, p. 97. Nohl, Musikerbr., p. 135.] + +[Footnote 97: I have heard from Neukomm that Haydn spoke of it with emotion (Cf. +Wien. Ztg. fur Theat., 1808, üI., p. 107). "I am childishly glad to be +at home," he wrote (December 20, 1791), "and welcomed by my old friends. +I only regret to miss the greeting of the great Mozart, whose death +I deplore. Posterity will not see such talent for a century to come" +(Karajan, p. 102; Nohl, Musikerbr., p. 140).] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. + + +FIRST among the group of friends in intercourse with whom Mozart found +entertainment and refreshment of the highest kind, must be named the +Countess Thun, _née_ Uhlefeld. She was one of the musical ladies who +took him under their protection from the first, and it was she more +especially who introduced him in Vienna, and furthered his advancement +by every means in her power. The prominent position which was hers more +in virtue of her cultivation and amiability than of her rank and wealth, +pointed her out as + + +{COUNTESS THUN.} + +(353) + +a fitting protectress for genius. She was one of the few ladies with +whom the Emperor Joseph continued in later years on a footing of +intimacy, and he took leave of her in a touching letter from his +death-bed.[1] Music had the place of honour in her entertainments. +She played the pianoforte herself with "that grace, lightness, and +_délicatesse_ to which no fingers but a woman's can aspire," as Burney +says;[2] he was delighted with her gay, natural manners, her witty +sallies, and her pleasant irony, as well as with her taste, knowledge, +and serious interest in all things musical.[3] Her favourite composer at +that time (1772) was Beecké (Vol. I., p. 367), who mentions to Dalberg +having composed in 1785 a sonata for three pianofortes for the Countess +Thun and her daughters. + +Reichardt also, whom she took under her protection on his arrival in +Vienna in 1783, extols her as the most intellectual and most charming +woman in Vienna, and adds that her musical receptions were frequented +both by the Emperor and the Archduke Maximilian.[4] Georg Forster +became her enthusiastic admirer during his stay in Vienna in, 1784. He +enumerates in a letter to Heyne[5] the distinguished men whose favour +and patronage he enjoyed, and we recognise among them many of Mozart's +friends and patrons. Such were the good old Counsellor von Born, Baron +Otto von Gemmingen--the intimate friend of Van Swieten, who had come to +Vienna in the summer of 1782[6]--the old Councillor von Spielmann[7]--a +man of learning and at the same time + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(354) + +more deeply versed in the affairs of the department of Prince Kaunitz +than any other statesman--the great minister Kaunitz himself (Vol. II., +p. 212), good, simple Count Cobenzl (Vol. II., p. 173), Field-Marshal +Haddik, "a splendid old soldier, plain and plump,"[8] and to this list +Forster adds the name of the Countess Thun, "the most virtuous and +enlightened woman of Vienna." He gives a more particular account of his +intercourse with her to Thérèse Heyne:-- + +You cannot imagine how condescending and friendly every one is. One +scarcely remembers that one is among persons of high rank, and one feels +quite on the footing of an intimate friend. This is especially my case +with the Countess Thun, the most charming woman in the world, and her +three graces of daughters, each of them an angel in her own way. The +Countess is the best mother that I know; the children are all innocence, +joyful as the morning light, and full of natural sense and wit, at which +I wonder in silence, just as I wonder at the sense and wit of a certain +maid on the Leine. This charming family combine the most refined +discourse, and the most extensive reading and liberal knowledge, with +a pure, heartfelt religion, free from all superstition, the religion +of gentle and innocent hearts familiar with the secrets of nature and +creation. Almost every evening between nine and ten, these [above-named] +people assemble at the Countess Thun's, and enjoy brilliant conversation +or music, either clavier-playing, or German or Italian singing; +sometimes, when the humour seizes them, they dance. + +We can well imagine how completely Mozart felt himself at home in this +circle; Prince Karl Lichnowsky, his friend and pupil, was the Countess +Thun's son-in-law. + +Greiner's house was another in which learning was honoured and +cherished, and which formed a meeting-point for all celebrities. +Greiner's daughter, Caroline Pichler, an admirable pianiste,[9] thus +describes it:[10]-- + +Besides the poets Denis, Leon, Haschka, Alxinger, Blumauer, &c., whose +names were then famous, our house was frequented by men of severer +science. No foreign scholar or artist visited Vienna without bringing +introductions to Haschka or to my parents themselves. Thus we +entertained the celebrated traveller Georg Forster, Professors Meiners +and Spittler, Becker, Gögking, the actor Schroder, and many + + +{MARIANNE MARTINEZ.} + +(355) + +musicians and composers such as Paesiello and Cimarosa; I need not say +that our native artists, Mozart, Haydn, Salieri, the brothers Hickl, +Füger, and others were frequent guests. + +The house of the Martinez brother and sister, which has become by +association a true temple of the muses for the Viennese, was another +rendezvous for musicians, Metastasio, on his arrival at Vienna in 1730, +took up his residence with Nicolai Martinez, Master of the Ceremonies to +the Apostolic Nuncio, and remained with him until his death in 1782. He +became the intimate friend of the family, and carefully superintended +the education of the children. One of the daughters, Marianne (born +about 1740), by reason of her talent, and her lively, pleasant manners, +attracted his special attention.[11] Through his instruction she +became well versed in the Italian, French, and English languages and +literature, and in all the branches of a liberal education. Nor was +this all; Metastasio perceived that she possessed considerable musical +talent, and took care that she should receive a thorough musical +education. Joseph Haydn, who, on being dismissed from the Kapellhaus a +penniless young man, had taken a miserable garret in the same house, was +engaged to give Marianne lessons in playing and singing, for which he +was boarded free for three years by way of payment,[12] a more important +result for him being that he thus became acquainted with Porpora, +who interested himself in Marianne's education out of friendship for +Metastasio. Afterwards, under the careful guidance of Bono and of +Metastasio himself, she developed gifts as a singer, player, and +composer which excited general admiration,[13] and won applause from +Hasse.[14] In 1773 she was made a member of the Philharmonic Academy at +Bologna,[15] and afterwards received a "Dictor-diplom" both from +Bologna and Pavia; in 1782 her oratorio "Isaaco" was performed at the +"Societätsconcert."[16] She + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(356) + +lived with her brother (Imperial librarian) after the death of +Metastasio, whose property she inherited;[17] she gave receptions, which +were frequented by all the intellectual and musical celebrities of the +day.[18] Kelly, who brought an introduction to her, declared that, +in spite of her advanced age, she retained all the animation and +cheerfulness of youth, and was pleasant and talkative. He says that +Mozart (who had been warmly received by Metastasio on his early visits +to Vienna) was very intimate with her, and that he had heard them play +duets of her composition at her musical parties.[19] + +One of the most distinguished musical dilettanti of the day at Vienna +was the Geheimrath Bernh. von Keess (d. 1795). This "well-known lover of +music and patron of musicians" took the amateur concerts in the Augarten +(Vol. II., p. 284, note 47) under his protection, and possessed a rare +and costly collection of musical objects.[20] He gave private concerts +twice a week in his own house, as Gyrowetz relates:[21]-- + +The best virtuosi in Vienna, and the first composers, such as Jos. +Haydn, Mozart, Dittersdorf, Hoffmeister, Albrechtsberger, Giamovichi, +Ac., assembled at these concerts. Haydn's symphonies were performed +there, Mozart used generally to play the pianoforte, and Giamovichi, +the most celebrated violin virtuoso of the day,[22] usually played +a concerto; the lady of the house sang. It happened one evening that +Mozart was late in arriving, and they waited for him to begin, because +he had promised to bring with him a song for the lady of the house. +One servant after another was sent to find him, and at last he was +discovered in a tavern; the messenger begged him to come at once, as +all the company was waiting to hear the new song. Mozart thereupon +recollected that he had not written a note of it. He sent the messenger +for a sheet of music paper, and set to work in the tavern to compose +the song. When it was finished he went his way to the concert, where +the company were waiting for him with great impatience. After a little +gentle reproach for his delay he was most affectionately received; the +lady of the house sang the new song, a little nervously, it is true, but +it was enthusiastically received and applauded. + + +{MOZART AS A VIRTUOSO.} + +(357) + +Mozart's boyish fancy of only playing before connoisseurs naturally +disappeared as he grew older and more sensible. He took pleasure in +playing to all who took pleasure in hearing him, and was so far from +the affectation of requiring to be pressed, that many persons of rank in +Vienna reproached him with being too ready to play to anybody who +asked him. One requirement, indeed, he made which seems difficult of +attainment in musical society, viz., the silence and attention of his +audience. "Nothing irritated him so much," says Niemetschek (p. 88), +"as restlessness, noise, or talking over music. On such occasions the +usually gentle, courteous man completely lost patience, and expressed +his annoyance without reserve. He has been known to rise in the middle +of his playing, and leave an inattentive audience." In some cases his +satirical humour led him to show his disgust in other ways.[23] When he +was playing to real musicians and connoisseurs he was indefatigable.[24] +After his concert in Leipzig, where he had alternately played and +conducted, he said to the good old violin-player Berger: "I have only +just got warm. Come home with me, and I will play you something +worthy of an artist's ears." And after a hasty supper, his ideas and +imaginations streamed from the instrument till close on midnight. Then +suddenly springing up, as his manner was, he cried: "Now, what do you +think of that? You have heard Mozart after his own fashion; something +less will do for the others."[25] + +The family with whom Mozart appeared most completely at home in Vienna +was that of the celebrated botanist Freih. von Jacquin. We have an +attractive description of it (1844) from Caroline Pichler, who was +intimate there from her youth:[26]-- + +This family had for sixty or seventy years been a shining light in the +scientific world, both in and out of Vienna, and their house was visited +by many for the sake of the pleasant social intercourse there to be +enjoyed. While the learned, or would-be learned, paid their respects to + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(358) + +the famous father and his worthy son, Jos. Frz. v. Jacquin,[27] the +more youthful assembled round the younger son Gottfried, whose lively +intellect, striking talent for music, and charming voice made him +the centre of the gay circle, together with his sister Franziska, the +still-surviving Frau von Lagusius. On Wednesday evenings--which from +time immemorial, were dedicated by the family to society, even in winter +when the Jacquins lived in the Botanic Gardens[28]--learned talk went +on in the father's room, while we young people chattered, joked, +made music, played games, and entertained ourselves entirely to our +satisfaction. + +How thoroughly happy and at home Mozart was with this family may be seen +from a letter to Gottr. von Jacquin, written in the full glow of his +happiness at the brilliant reception he had met with in Prague (January +14,1787):[29]-- + +At last I am fortunate enough to find a moment in which to inquire after +your dear parents, and all the Jacquin family. I can only hope and pray +that you are all as well and happy as we two are. I can assure you, +however, that (although we have been received here with extreme +politeness and all possible honour, and Prague is really a handsome, +pleasant city) I long very much for Vienna, and most particularly for +_your_ house. When I reflect that after my return I shall enjoy the +pleasure of your society again for a short time, and then perhaps lose +it for ever, I feel to its full extent the friendship and esteem which +I bear to your whole family. Now farewell! Present my respects to your +revered parents, and embrace your brother for me. I kiss your sister's +hand a thousand times. But now it is time I close, is it not? Long ago, +you will think. Write to me soon, very soon; if you are too lazy to do +it yourself, send for Salmann, and dictate a letter to him; but it never +comes straight from the heart unless you write yourself. Well--I shall +see whether you are as much my friend as I am, and always shall be, +yours. + +During his second stay in Prague Mozart acquaints his friend with the +good reception of "Don Giovanni" (November 4, 1787),[30] and adds:-- + + +{GOTTFR. V. JACQUIN--BRIDI.} + +(359) + +I wish that all my friends (especially Bridi and you) could be here just +for one evening to participate in my pleasure. + +And then he ends in his mocking way:-- + +My great grandfather used to say to his wife, my great grandmother, and +she to her daughter my grandmother, and she again to her daughter, my +mother, and she finally to her daughter, my dear sister, that it was a +great art to be able to speak well and fully, but that it was perhaps a +still greater art to know when to leave off speaking. I will, therefore, +now follow the advice of my sister due to our mother, grandmother, and +great grandmother, and bring my moral reflections and my letter to a +close together. + +And when, to his "delighted surprise," he received a second letter from +Jacquin, he answers in a postscript:-- + +Can it be that neither your dear parents, nor your sisters and brother +keep me in remembrance? That is incredible! I put it down to your +forgetfulness, my friend, and I flatter myself that I may safely do so. + +Gius. Ant. Bridi, of whom Mozart speaks in the above letter, was a young +merchant of Roveredo, who was a favourite in musical circles[31] +alike for his fine, well-trained tenor voice, and for his amiable +character.[32] On the production of "Idomeneo" at the Auersperg theatre, +he took a part, probably that of Idomeneo.[33] He too enjoyed, as he +afterwards gratefully recorded, Mozart's friendship and confidence.[34] +Gottfried von Jacquin wrote the following characteristic words in +Mozart's album (April n, 1787):-- + +Genius without heart is a chimera--for it is not intellect alone, not +imagination, not even the two combined which make genius--love! love! +love! is the soul of genius. + +He was endeared to Mozart by his musical talent and sympathy. A memorial +of their friendship exists in the song composed for Jacquin on March 23, +1787: "Mentre di lascio, o figlia," from Paesiello's "Disfatta di Dario" +(513 K., part 9). A comparison of this with the song composed + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(360) + +for Fischer shows how well Mozart understood the art of adapting himself +to given conditions. There is no presupposition here of such a compass +and flexibility of voice, nor of such force of passion as give the +earlier song its original stamp; all that is required is a bass voice of +moderate compass and no great depth, a certain volubility of voice, and +a considerable amount of feeling and cultivation. The situation excludes +any expression of violent emotion, and moderates the sentiment without +rendering it less hearty; we are called on to sympathise with the sorrow +of a father taking leave of his daughter at a moment pregnant with fate, +not with that of a youth parting from his beloved. Here again external +conditions have been utilised in the production of a song which is +worthy by its beauty of form and grace of expression to take a high +rank among others of its class.[35] Mozart composed other songs for his +friend and his friend's family; ballads, for instance, for particular +occasions and friends. Concerning one of these, he writes: "If the song +_en question_ is to be a test of my friendship, have no more doubt on +the subject, here it is. But I hope that you do not need the song to +convince you of my friendship" (Prague, November 4, 1787). Another, +"Erzeugt von heisser Phantasie" (520 K.) is inscribed: "Den 26 Mai, +1787, in Hrn. Gottfried von Jacquin's Zimmer, Landstrasse." Several +charming little canzonetti for two sopranos and a bass, with Italian +words, were also written for this circle, Mozart indicates one of them, +"Più non si trovano" (549 K.), under date July 16, 1788, and there are +five other nottumi of the kind existing in autograph, viz.: "Luci cari +luci belle" (346 K.); "Ecco quel fiero istante," by Metastasio (436 K.); +"Mi lagnero tacendo," by Metastasio (437 K.); "Se lontan + + +{GOTTFR. V. JACQUIN AND MOZART.} + +(361) + +ben mio tu sei" (438 K.), "Due pupille amabili" (439 K.). To these +exists in Mozart's handwriting wind-instrument accompaniment, for two +clarinets and a basset-horn, or three basset-homs, a combination +often employed by Mozart, apparently without any special reason. The +accompaniment may be dispensed with, the canzonetti being properly +intended for the voices alone. They are extremely simple, but full +of grace and charm, and betray the master in their harmonic turns and +disposition of parts. It may be inferred that these compositions were +primarily intended for the Jacquin family, from the fact that several of +them passed as the composition of Gottfr. von Jacquin in Vienna, as +was the case with more than one solo song concerning whose authenticity +there can be no doubt. Mozart set little store by such occasional +compositions; they passed from hand to hand, and as Jacquin himself +composed songs, which were put in circulation from his house, some of +Mozart's might easily, without any fault on his part, be ascribed to +him. As a set-off to these, the bass song, "Io ti lascio, o cara, +addio" (245 K. Anh.), composed by Jacquin, is to this day included among +Mozart's works. In the "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung," where it was +first printed, it was expressly stated that the original was in Mozart's +handwriting, and was written by him in a few minutes, as he took leave +of a lady friend; the scene was afterwards variously laid at Prague and +Mayence, and elaborated into a love episode. But in a letter to Hartel +(May 25, 1799), Mozart's widow protested against the genuineness both of +the song and of the story, and emphatically asserted, supported by the +Abbé Stadler, that the song was composed by Gottfr. von Jacquin as a +farewell to the Countess Hatzfeld, and that Mozart put the accompaniment +to it. The song contains Mozart-like phrases, but no characteristic +touches of his genius. + +Kelly relates that he composed Metastasio's "Grazie agi' inganni tuoi," +that Mozart was pleased with the simple melody, and wrote variations +upon it.[36] These do not exist, but we have a sketch by Mozart in which +Kelly's melody, + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(362) + +with some slight improvements, and a new middle phrase, is arranged +for two soprano voices and a bass, with a wind instrument accompaniment +(flute, two clarinets, horns and bassoons) no doubt for some special +occasion (532 K.). + +Concerted songs of this kind were then a favourite pastime in musical +circles; they were often comic, and sometimes coarse. No one will doubt +that Mozart was always ready for this species of fun, and his comic +"Bandl-Terzett" (441 K.) was known, not only among his Vienna friends,[37] +but far and wide among lovers of music and fun. Mozart had made his wife +a present of a new belt ribbon which she wished to wear one day when +she was going for a walk with Jacquin. Not finding it she called to her +husband: "Liebes Mandl, wo ists Bandl?" (Where is the belt, my dear?) +They both looked for it in vain till Jacquin joined them and found it. +But he refused to give it up, held it high in the air, and being a +very tall man, the Mozarts, both little, strove in vain to reach it. +Entreaties, laughter, scolding, were all in vain, till at last the dog +ran barking between Jacquin's legs. Then he gave up the ribbon, and +declared that the scene would make a good comic terzet. Mozart took the +hint, wrote the words in the Vienna dialect (which is essential for the +comic effect), and sent the terzet to Jacquin.[38] Well sung, it never +fails of its effect. A four-part pendant to the terzet "Caro mio Druck +und Schluck," was in the possession of Mozart's widow, as she informed +Hartel (May 25, 1799); it seems to have been a canon with a comic bass +part (Anh. 5 K.). + +Canons were in special favour at the social gatherings of + + +{CANONS.} + +(363) + +which we have been speaking. It may always be taken for granted that +children and persons of slight musical cultivation will take peculiar +pleasure in this severest form of musical mechanism, if the persistent +regularity with which each part pursues its independent course is +combined with a general effect of harmony and satisfaction. For the +enlightened few, the interest arises from such a skilful handling +of forms confined within the strictest rules as shall emphasise +epigrammatic points in the most vivid and telling manner. So in poetry, +the sonnet, the triolet, and other similar forms serve by their very +limitations to emphasise the conceits which they express. The same sort +of contrast, produced without departing from a strict adherence to rule, +forms the chief effect of the canon. The sharp definition of its various +parts gives it abundance of means for accentuating particular points, +aided by their constant recurrence in different positions and different +lights. The canon, therefore, is the _epigrammatic_ form of music, the +most suitable vehicle for a moral sentence or a witty phrase, and it is +capable of expressing alike the most serious and the most comic ideas. +It requires, indeed, the firm hand of a master so to triumph over +the difficulties of the form as to produce not only a masterpiece of +counterpoint for the satisfaction of the learned, but also a melodious +self-sufficing vocal piece, whose most studied difficulties shall leave +the impression of lucky accidents. The greatest masters seem to have +turned for recreation to the composition of canons,[39] and even grave +men like Padre Martini[40] and Michael Haydn[41] did not disdain to +write comic canons. Mozart cultivated the style, and a long list may be +placed under his name. In the "Oeuvres" (XV., XVI.) two two-part, nine +three-part, nine four-part, and one six-part. + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(364) + +canons are printed; but they are certainly not all genuine. In the +Thematic Catalogue, the following are noted as composed by Mozart:-- + +XV. + +1. Difficile Iectu [Nimm ists gleich warm] three-part (559 K.). + +2. Caro bell' idol, three-part (562 K.). + +5. Ave Maria, four-part (554 K.). + +6. Lacrimoso son io, four-part (555 K.). XVI. + +1. O du eselhafter [Gähnst du Fauler], four-part (560 K.). + +2. Alleluja, four-part (553 K.). + +3. Grechtelseng [Allés Fleisch], four-part (556 K.). + +4. Gemma in Prater [Allés ist eitel], four-part (558 K.). + +6. Bona nox [Gute Nacht], four-part (561 K.).!!! + +Besides these there must have been four more published from Mozart's +autograph, for the widow writes (November 30, 1799) that she has +sent thirteen canons in the original. But of these one (XV. 12) "O +wunderschon" (227 K.) was by W. Byrd (d. 1623), published by Mattheson +(Vollk. Kapellm. p. 409), and only copied by Mozart, and the same may +have been the case with others. We recognise Mozart with some certainty +in:-- + +XV. 4. L. m. d. A. r. s. [Nichts labt. mich mehr.], four-part (233 K.). + +XVI. 5. Lieber Freistadler, lieber Gaulimauli [Wer nicht liebt], four-part +(232 K.). + +7. L. m. i. A. [Lasst uns froh sein], six-part (231 K.). + +9. [Lass immer] two-part (410 K.). But this canon exists in Mozart's +handwriting as an adagio for two basset-homs with a bassoon, perhaps as +an accompaniment to a vocal piece. + +Concerning the others I can speak with no certainty; but those which are +well authenticated seem to me by far the finest. Some genuine canons by +Mozart are omitted from this collection, such as the four-part +canon, called in the Thematic Catalogue "Nascoso" (557 K.), which is +particularly fine.[42] There are serious canons,[43] cheerful canons,[44] +and an overwhelming majority of comic canons. The words + + +{CANONS.} + +(365) + +to these last were generally his own; they are almost always in the +Vienna dialect, and not a few of them are too coarse for publication, +although they are preserved in verbal tradition. The original words of +two of the most authentic may serve as an example of the rest:-- + +Grechtelseng, grechtelseng, wir gehn in Prater. In Prater? itzt, lass +nach, i lass mi nit stimma. Ei bei Leib. Ei ja wohl. Mi bringst nit +aussi! Was blauscht der? was blauscht der? Itzt halts Maul, i gieb dir a +Tetschen! (556 K.). + +Gemma in Proda, gemma in d' Hetz, gemma in Kasperl. Der Kasperl ist +krank, der Bar ist verreckt, was that ma in der Hetz drausst, in Prater +giebts Gelsen und Haufen von Dreck (558 K.). + +The fun consisted essentially in the dialogue form and colloquial +expressions of the text--as will be evident to all who compare the newly +substituted versions, which, unexceptionable and correct as they are, +neutralise the whole comic effect--of the canons. Mozart's mastery of +form and his wonderful power of transforming everything he attempted +into a complete and well-rounded work of art, are displayed in all the +canons without exception; each one contains the clear expression of +a particular mood, together with a melodious beauty, so thoroughly +consistent with the form in which they are embodied as to appear +inseparable from it. Finding eight four-part and two three-part canons +under one date (September 2, 1788) in the Thematic Catalogue, we may +be inclined to imagine that Mozart was seized with a sort of periodical +canon-fever; but it is more probable that some circumstance led to his +noting on that day all the works of the kind that he had either in hand +or in prospect. No doubt most of them were composed on the spur of +the moment, as we know was the case with two among the list. The +tenor singer, Joh. Nepomuk Peierl, "a man of refinement," according +to Schroder,[45] who had sung with his wife for several years at the +Salzburg theatre, paid a short visit to Vienna in 1785, and became +acquainted with Mozart. He had a peculiar pronunciation which often made +him the subject of raillery, and Mozart made it the + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(366) + +text for a three-part canon of wonderfully comic effect.[46] This was +scarcely ended when the singers turned over the leaf, and began another +four-part canon (560 K.) on the words: "O du eselhafter Peierl! o du +peirlischer Esel! du bist so faul als wie ein Gaul, der weder Kopf +noch Haxen hat, mit dir ist gar nichts anzufangen, ich seh dich noch am +Galgen hangen; du dummer Gaul! du bist so faul! du dummer + +Peierl bist so faul als wie ein Gaul; O lieber Freundverzeihe mir! +Nepomuk! Peierl! verzeihe mir!"[47] There is nothing particularly +refined or amusing about the jest except the very excellent and +effective canon. This was so highly applauded that it was employed +on other occasions with more emphatic invectives, addressed to other +individuals.[48] Mozart's marvellous gift of improvisation, showing +itself in this form among others, is illustrated by an anecdote vouched +for by Rochlitz. The evening before Mozart left Leipzig for Berlin, +whence he intended to return in a few days, he supped with the Precentor +Doles, with whom he was very intimate. His entertainers, melancholy at +the prospect of parting, begged for a few lines of his writing by way of +remembrance. Mozart was in a merry mood, laughed at their "whining," and +declared he would rather go to bed than write music. At last he took a +sheet of note-paper, tore it in half, sat down and wrote--at the most +for five or six minutes. Then he handed one-half to the son, the other +to the father. On one page was a three-part canon in long notes without +words, and when sung very melancholy and melodious. On the second page +was also a three-part canon without words, but in quavers, and full of +drollery. When they had discovered + + +{THE MUSIKALISCHE SPASS.} + +(367) + +that the two might be sung together, Mozart wrote to the first the +words, "Lebet wohl, wir sehn uns wieder!" To the second, "Heult noch gar +wie alte Weiber"--and so they were sung.[49] Unhappily this double canon +is not preserved. + +Many comic compositions of this kind are ascribed to Mozart wrongly or +on insufficient grounds.[50] One most diverting example of his love of +humour exists in the "Musikalische Spass," as he calls it himself--the +"Bauem-symphonie," as it is sometimes designated--which was probably +written for a special occasion on June 11, 1787; owing, no doubt, to +pressure of time it was only partially scored. Ignorant composers and +unskilful performers are ridiculed together in this piece, which is +in the form of a divertimento (Vol. I., p. 303) in four movements for +string quartet and two horns. The ridicule of the players is very broad, +as, for instance, when the horns, where they should come in solo in the +minuet, play actual wrong notes, or when the first violin at the close +of a long cadenza, consisting of a number of trivial disconnected +passages, finishes off with an ascending scale, and goes at least half a +tone too high. But the most amazing confusion occurs at the end, +where, in the midst of a fanfare in F major for the horns, the stringed +instruments strike in one after another, each in a different key. A +semitone higher or lower is treated as a matter of small importance, +thirds are carried on even where they are out of place; but sometimes, +when a part seems to come in too soon, or when nothing but accompaniment +is heard for several bars, as if the principal parts were pausing +too long, or when at a particular point a note occurs which sounds +excruciatingly false, it is only by the context that we can be assured +that no actual mistake has happened, and that the composer does not +deserve to be hissed on his own + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(368) + +account. This is repeatedly the case also in the plan and treatment of +the movements as a whole; they are after the usual pattern, turns and +passages occur of the customary kind, with here and there a striking +modulation, but there is a complete lack of power to grasp or carry out +an idea; two or three bars bring each effort to an end, and there is a +constant recurrence to the traditional formula of the closing cadence. +The attempt after thematic elaboration in the finale is very ludicrous; +it is as though the composer had heard of such a thing, and strove to +imitate it in a few phrases, greatly to his own satisfaction. The art is +most remarkable whereby the pretended ignorance never becomes wearisome, +and the audience is kept in suspense throughout. The effect rests partly +on the shrewd conception of what is truly comic in ignorant pretension +(for nowhere is irony more dangerous than in music, the impression of +discord being one difficult of control), partly on the perfect mastery +of the instruments displayed by the composer.[51] + +Among the compositions resulting mainly at least from friendship or +social circumstances may be included the songs or ballads (Lieder) of +which we have already noticed some examples.[52] In Vienna and South +Germany the "Lied" was far from having attained, at that time, the +importance it afterwards possessed. Even in social circles, classical +and, therefore so far as song was concerned, Italian music predominated, +and aspiring dilettanti sought exclusively for songs which should +display their artistic cultivation. Dilettantism was then just beginning +to bear sway, especially over the pianoforte, and its dominion speedily +extended to vocal music, where the "Lied" became its peculiar form +of expression. In North Germany the state of affairs was somewhat +different. Italian opera in Dresden and Berlin was too isolated to + + +{LIEDER.} + +(369) + +have much influence; the want of practised singers had caused the +cultivation of the operetta, which fell back on the confined form and +simple expression of the "Lied," and in its turn raised the "Lied," +which had lingered only in taverns[53] and the domestic circle, to +higher significance and cultivation. Weisse expressly declared that +his operas were intended to incite the Germans to social song. Nor had +earlier and greater composers, such as Telemann, Graun, Ph. Em. Bach, +and others, disdained to compose ballads, or odes as they were then +called, for domestic practice. In Berlin this tendency was especially +active, and Marpurg, in his "Critical Letters," treats of the musical +ode ("Chanson, Strophenlied") historically and aesthetically, and +appends a long list of examples. The influence of the operetta upon the +development of the 44 Lied" is unmistakable. It was something more than +chance which caused the simultaneous rise of German lyric poetry in many +parts of North Germany, which produced such lyric poets as Weisse, Uz, +Gleim, Hagedom, Jacobi, &c., and the "Dichterbund" of Gottingen, with +Hiller as their special composer. Klopstock had little to do with the +movement. His odes have found composers, especially (not to mention +Reefe) Gluck, who followed his principles in keeping close to the words +of the poet, and aiming at declamatory effect.[54] He was followed by +Reichardt, a warm admirer of Klopstock,[55] who wrote an essay on the +composition of Klopstock's odes.[56] But they had little influence, and +the musical treatment of lyrical poetry received its chief impulse when +Herder awoke the taste for national songs, and Goethe produced genuine +German lyric poems: Reichardt[57] and Schulz[58] were the two composers +who felt + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(370) + +this impulse most strongly, and mainly strove for the development of the +German ballad in its own simple popular style. + +But this phase of musical influence had, in Mozart's day, hardly +penetrated to Vienna. Hofmann, Steffan, Beecké, Haydn, and others had +indeed composed Lieder, but they laid claim to nothing higher than the +amusement of social circles; the words are generally of mediocre merit, +and the music so simple as to make it evident that the song did not +intend to intrude into good society. Mozart only occasionally composed +Lieder.[59] He was in the habit, as his wife writes to Hartel, of +writing down in a book kept for the purpose any poem which he admired, +or which incited him to composition; but his reading was not extensive, +and there was little to attract him in Vienna at that time. He had his +own opinions on this subject as on others, and we are struck with his +remarks in a letter to his father (December 23,1782):-- + +I am at work upon a very difficult matter, viz., the setting of an ode +on Gibraltar, by Denis.[60] But it is a secret, for a Hungarian lady +wishes to surprise Denis with it. The ode is dignified--fine, if you +like--but too pompous and exaggerated for my taste. How can it be +otherwise? Truth and moderation are hardly known and never valued +nowadays. If a thing is to succeed it must either be so easy that a +hackney-coach-man could imitate it, or so incomprehensible that, just +because they do not understand it, everybody is ready to praise it. + +Every competent critic will endorse Mozart's opinion on Denis's ode;[61] +but how many then in Vienna were as independent and candid in their +judgment on the favourite poet as the young composer? A facsimile of +Mozart's hasty sketch of part of this ode is taken from the archives of +the Mozarteum at Salzburg. Whether the ode was ever finished I do not +know. + + +{LIEDER.} + +(371) + +We may gather that Mozart's Lieder were the result of occasional +impulses, from the fact that they occur at long intervals, and that he +usually wrote several at one time. On May 7, 1785, he composed three +poems by Weisse; on the autograph (472-474, K.) is noted, "Weisse, +erster Band, p. 18,14,29"; Weisse's lyrical poems (Leipzig, 1772) +formed part of Mozart's modest library. The year 1787, however, was most +fruitful, owing doubtless to his constant intercourse with Jacquin; we +find four in May (517-520, K.), two on June 24 (523, 524, K.), two at +Prague on November 6 (529, 530, K.), and another on December 11 (531 +K.). Then there is a pause until January 14, 1791, when three ballads +(596-598, K.) were composed, according to Nissen, for a children's +publication.[62] Mozart published but few of these compositions;[63] +they generally remained in the possession of those for whom they were +written, and were circulated in MS. copies, which explains why many +were attributed to him which he never wrote, while some of his own +composition were attributed to others.[64] The greater number of them + + +{SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.} + +(372) + +are true "Strophenlieder," such as the ballads from Campe's +"Kinderbibliothek" (595, 598, K.), to which also belongs the ballad for +little Fritz's birthday (529 K.), to which very unsuitable words have +been adapted. These are all manifestly easy and simple, and possess the +same charm from the mouths of children as "Komm lieber Mai." Hagedom's +little song, "Zu meiner Zeit bestand noch Recht und Bil-ligkeit" (517 +K.), is jestingly treated; Mozart himself has written over it, "A little +through the nose," to emphasise the proper comic delivery. The +quality which distinguishes these songs from the majority of those +contemporary with them is not so much their perfect form and finish, +their attractive melodies, or their harmonious delicacy (though these +exist in full measure) as their vivid expression of a poetic mood, be it +cheerful, earnest, or passionate. The poems of Hagedorn, Weisse, Jacobi, +Overbeck, Hölty, Miller, Claudius, and others whose names are unknown, +seem to us little calculated to stir the poetical productivity of the +composer; and the passionate expression and forcible accentuation of +some of the songs strike us as being almost in opposition to the words +of the poem. Look only at the close of the second song, "Zufriedenheit" + +(473 K.), "Und angenehm ist selbst mein Schmerz, wenn ich vor Liebe +weine"; or the words in the "Betragenen Welt" (474 K.), "Eswird ein +prachtig Fest vollzogen, bald hinkt die Reue hinterdrein." We must +not leave out of account, however, that the standpoint of literary +cultivation accepted by Mozart and his contemporaries had its own +conceptions and standard of poetic representation;[65] a perhaps not +very distant future will doubtless feel equal wonder at some of the +poems set to music in our own day. It is more important to note Mozart's +exposition of his own poetic nature, which led him to grasp and embody, +not so much the words and the form, as the animating idea of the poem +before him. Therefore + + +{LIEDER.} + +(373) + +it is that he gives us in his music a depth and truth of emotion which +are wanting in the words. Take, for example, the first song by Weisse, +"Der Zauberer." Divest it of the pastoral costume, which is strange +to us, and of the tame, somewhat clumsy expression, and retain the +situation of a young girl awaking to her first consciousness of love +with timid amazement. This we shall find in Mozart's composition; +certainly not in Weisse's shepherdess. + +In one song of passionate and sorrowful expression--"Trennung und +Wiedervereinigung," by Jacobi--two verses, in which the sentiment is +considerably modified, have a fresh setting, and the first melody recurs +only at the close. Others have each verse the same. One of these is +the song "An Chloë" (524 K.), perhaps the best known and liked of all +Mozart's pleasant, easy melodies; but it is the least significant and +song-like of any, being formed after the manner of Italian canzonetti. +"Abendempfindung" (523 K.) is more original and finer in its expression +of emotion and in its form, which appears to yield to its changing +moods, but is in reality both finished and well defined; "Unglückliche +Liebe" (520 K.) is passionate and almost dramatic, a definite situation +being indicated by the poet in the superscription: "Als Louise die +Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte." + +But the crown of all the songs, by virtue of its touching expression of +emotion and its charming perfection of form, is unquestionably Goethe's +"Veilchen" (476 K.).[66] In other songs we discern musical genius +divining and bringing to light the poetic germ which lies hidden in the +words; here we have the impression made upon Mozart by true poetry. +It may seem remarkable that so simple a lyrical poem should have been +treated by Mozart as a romance, giving a certain amount of dramatic +detail to the little story; and yet it must not be overlooked that the +masterly touch which repeats the closing words: "Das arme Veilchen! es +war ein herzigs + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(374) + +Veilchen!" fully reasserts a genuine lyric element.[67] A tendency +to dramatic effect was inherent in Mozart's nature as an artist, and +Goethe's clear and plastic presentation of a simple image, true in every +feature, could not fail to impress him deeply. The poem must have fallen +into his hands by some accident; had he known others of them, he would +certainly have preferred them to Weisse's. Why did he not seek them out? +He does not seem to have sought out any poems for composition, but took +what came, and Goethe had scarcely penetrated to the circle in which he +lived. Had the springtime of German poetry been opened before his day, +what inspirations might he not have drawn from its source! + +Mozart's labours as a song composer are not by any means on a level with +those in the other branches of his art, although even here his artistic +nature could not fail to make itself felt. Beethoven followed him +closely in his manner of song-writing, and walked steadily to the last +in the path indicated by Mozart. + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXIX. + +[Footnote 1: Besides the Countess Thun, these were the Princesses Liechtenstein, +Schwarzenburg, Lobkowitz. Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 209. Car. Pichler, +Denk-würd., I., p. 141. Hormayr, Gesch. Wiens., V., p. 94. Vehse, Gesch. +des Osterr. Hofes, VIII., p. 304.] + +[Footnote 2: Burney, Reise, II., p. 160. She told him that she had formerly +played much better, but that she had borne six children, each of whom +had carried away something of her musical power.] + +[Footnote 3: Burney, pp. 188, 215.] + +[Footnote 4: A. M. Z., XV., p. 668. Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 327.] + +[Footnote 5: G. Forster, Sämm. Schr., VII., p. 272.] + +[Footnote 6: Meyer, L. Schroder, I., p. 380.] + +[Footnote 7: He possessed a house with a beautiful garden, on the high road. At a +concert there given, Nicolai admired the promising pianoforte-playing +of Spielmann's little daughter, who had been instructed by her talented +mother (Reise, IV., p. 554; cf. üI., p. 37, 291).] + +[Footnote 8: G. Forster, Sämmtl. Schr., VII., p. 269.] + +[Footnote 9: Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, pp. 19, 70.] + +[Footnote 10: Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 92.] + +[Footnote 11: Cristini, Vita di Metastasio, p. 206.] + +[Footnote 12: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 13. Carpani, Le Haydine, p. 86.] + +[Footnote 13: Barney, Reise, II., pp. 181, 227, 254. Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. +41.] + +[Footnote 14: Barney, Reise, II., p. 260.] + +[Footnote 15: Mancini, Rifl. Prat, sul Canto Fig., p. 229.] + +[Footnote 16: Wiener Musikzeitg., 1842, p. 70.] + +[Footnote 17: Cristini, Vita di Metastasio, p. 211.] + +[Footnote 18: Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 71.] + +[Footnote 19: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 252.] + +[Footnote 20: Wien. Ztg., 1796, No. 29.] + +[Footnote 21: Gyrowetz, Selbtsbiogr., p. 9. Cf. Nohl, Musikerbr., pp. +116,136,145.] + +[Footnote 22: Dittersdorf (Selbstbiogr., p. 233) is of this opinion.] + +[Footnote 23: Rochlitz gives a comical example (A. M. Z., I., p. 49).] + +[Footnote 24: Niemetschek, p. 95.] + +[Footnote 25: Rochlitz, A. M. ft, XIV., p. 106. Fur Freunde der Tonkunst, üI., p. +222.] + +[Footnote 26: Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 179.] + +[Footnote 27: On April 24,1787, he wrote in Mozart's album: "Tibi qui +possis blandus auritas fidibus canons, ducere quercus in amicitiæ +tesseram.--Jos. Franc, a Jacquin."] + +[Footnote 28: The Botanic Garden was laid out by Maria Theresa, in the suburbs +(Nicolai, Reise, III., p. 34); Mozart lived in the neighbourhood, which +facilitated his intercourse with the Jacquins.] + +[Footnote 29: Wien. Zeitschr., 1842, No. 79, p. 627.] + +[Footnote 30: Wien. Zeitschr., 1842, No. 79, p. 625.] + +[Footnote 31: Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p..10. Reichardt, Reise n. Wien, I., p. 466.] + +[Footnote 32: He was Kelly's companion on a visit to Haydn (Reminisc., I., p. +221).] + +[Footnote 33: A. M. Z., XXVI., p. 92.] + +[Footnote 34: Brevi Notizie int. ad ale. compositori di musica (Rover., 1827), p. +51.] + +[Footnote 35: It is illustrative of Mozart's way of working that at the place +where a very bold and striking harmony occurs in the otherwise simple +air, the bass is figured in the transcription--[See Page Image] as if he +wished to assure himself of the effect of the harmonic succession.] + +[Footnote 36: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 226.] + +[Footnote 37: Mozart writes to Gottfr. von Jacquin (Prague, February 14,1787): +"You may be sure that we managed to get up a little quatuor in +_caritatis camera_, and the 'schöne Bandl hammera." Allusions are also +made to it in his letters to his wife.] + +[Footnote 38: I was informed in Vienna that Mozart's widow related the +circumstance in this way, only Van Swieten was erroneously substituted +for Jacquin. A fragment of the original score (with quartet +accompaniment) gives the names of Constanze, Mozart and Jacquin as +singers. In the short preliminary notice to the published "Terzett" +(Ouvres, V., 8), the detail was omitted as unnecessary to be made +public. A quintet which appeared in Vienna in 1856, as Canto a 5 voci +di Mozart, "Oh, come lieto in seno" (244 Anh. K.), is from Ant. +Cartellieri's opera, "Il Segreto," composed in 1804 (Bohemia, 1860, No. +50, p. 448).] + +[Footnote 39: Jos. Haydn hung his rooms round with forty-six canons of his own +composition, framed and glazed (Griesinger, Biogr. Notizen, p. 97. +Carpani, Le Haydine, p. 121. Cf. Biogr. Skizze von Mich. Haydn, p. 29).] + +[Footnote 40: His _canoni bernesche_ were, according to Carpani (Le Haydine, p. +113), widely disseminated.] + +[Footnote 41: Neukomm informed me that a canon by Mich. Haydn, ascribed to +Mozart, was composed in Salzburg with reference to a particular person; +another of his comic canons, suggested by the joking rhymes of the +organ-builder Egedacher in Salzburg, is given in facsimile in the +Cäcilia (XVI., p. 212).] + +[Footnote 42: One, known as "Im grab ists finster," is very doubtful, and one +mentioned by Zelter (Briefw., II., p. 128); "Hätts nit gedacht das +Fischgraten so stechen thaten," is by Wenzel Müller.] + +[Footnote 43: Especially 553, 554 K.] + +[Footnote 44: Especially 555, 562 K., and the above-mentioned "Nascoso" (557 K.).] + +[Footnote 45: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1, p. 81.] + +[Footnote 46: 559 K.: "Décile lectu mihi Mars et jonicu" (the last word is so +managed that it becomes cujoni in singing).] + +[Footnote 47: The leaf on which Mozart has hurriedly written down the two canons +is given in facsimile in the Cäcilia (I., p. 179), where a more detailed +account of them is also to be found. The time may be conjectured from +the information which Lipowsky (Baiersches Musik-Lexicon, p. 239) gives +about Peierl.] + +[Footnote 48: It appears in the Thematic Catalogue as: "O du eselhafter Martin," +and is generally known as such. André, and afterwards Prof. Dehn, of +Berlin, possessed this canon in Mozart's handwriting, but with _Jacob, +Jacobisch_ substituted throughout for Martin, Martinsch; and in this way +the quizzing may have been extended to several persons.] + +[Footnote 49: A. M. Z., üI., p. 450.] + +[Footnote 50: I will only mention the three-part comic or "schoolmaster" mass +which goes under Mozart's and also under Haydn's name; Carpani asserts +(Le Haydine, p. 112) that it is by Aumann, an Augustine monk of St. +Florian, and a learned musician. He also says that it was formerly +customary in Vienna to perform this kind of comic music on St. Cecilia's +Day, at musical parties.] + +[Footnote 51: An anonymous quartet "for people who know their notes, and who, +without moving their fingers, only move their bows up and down the +open strings," published with the title "Neugebornes musikalisches +Gleichheitskind" (Prague: Haas), and ascribed to Mozart by the Breslauer +Zeitung (1855 No. 170, p. 1090), with a very unlikely anecdote, is but a +dull affair.] + +[Footnote 52: Reissmann, Das deutsche Lied in seiner histor. entwickelung, p. +77. K. E. Schneider, Das musikalische Lied in geschichtl. Entwickelung, +III., p. 195.] + +[Footnote 53: Sacred songs do not come within the scope of this observation.] + +[Footnote 54: W. H. Riehl, Gluck als Liedercomponist (Augsb. Ahg. Ztg., 1861. +Beil. Echo, 1862, No. 1-3).] + +[Footnote 55: A. M. Z., XVI., p. 22. Schletterer, Reichardt, pp. 157, 164.] + +[Footnote 56: Musik. Kunstmagazin, I., p. 22.] + +[Footnote 57: Reichardt drew attention in 1782 (Musik. Kunstmagazin, I., p. 3) +to the national songs, to which the composer ought to turn for materials +(Cf. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 408).] + +[Footnote 58: The first collection of national songs by J. A. P. Schulz appeared +in Berlin, 1782. The character indicated by the title is more definitely +stated in the preface.] + +[Footnote 59: Schneider gives a criticism of Mozart as a song-writer (Das +musikal. Lied, III., p. 282).] + +[Footnote 60: The news of the repulse of the Spaniards by the English at the +siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, excited the greatest enthusiasm in Vienna, +where sympathy was entirely on the side of the English. Mozart wrote to +his father (October 19, 1782): "I have, indeed, heard the news of +the English victory, to my great delight, for you know that I am an +arch-Englishman!"] + +[Footnote 61: Wiener Realzeitg., 1782, p. 765. Retzer, Nachlese zu Sineds Liedern +(Wien, 1784), p. 84.] + +[Footnote 62: Three songs (390-392 K.), date unknown, were, judging by the +handwriting, composed early in the Vienna period, if not before Mozart +left Salzburg.] + +[Footnote 63: Das Lied der Freiheit (506 K.) appeared in the Wiener Musenalmanach +for 1786. Besides this, so far as I am aware, no songs of Mozart +appeared in his lifetime, except the "Veilchen" (476 K.) and "Trennung +und Wieder-vereinigung" (519 K.), with the title, "Zwei Deutsche Arien +zum Singen beim Klavier in Musik gesetzt von Herr Kapellmeister Mozart" +(Wien bei Artaria, 1790); perhaps, also, "An Chloë" (524 K.) and +"Abendempfindung" (523 K.) (with the same title).] + +[Footnote 64: Soon after Mozart's death, many songs, genuine and unauthentic, +appeared singly or in collections. A professedly complete collection, +entitled: "Sämmt-liche Lieder und Gesänge beim Fortepiano von Kapellm. +W. A. Mozart" (Berlin: Rellstab), contains thirty-three songs, of which +only five are genuine (Cf. A. M. Z., I., p. 744). The collection in the +fifth volume of the "Oeuvres" (Breit-kopf and Härtel) is supported +by the authority of the widow, and is thoroughly to be relied on; +it contains, exclusive of compositions not strictly belonging to +our category, twenty-one songs, properly so-called. Of these, the +"Gesellen-reise" (468 K.) and two other Freemasons' songs (483, 484, K.) +were originally written with organ accompaniments: the "Zufriedenheit" +(349 K.), and an unpublished "Komm liebe Zitter" (351 K., composed "1780 +fur Herr Lang") with accompaniment for the mandoline. A "Wiegenlied" +with pianoforte accompaniment, "Schlafe mein Prinzchen" (350 K.), was +published subsequently by Nissen (Nachtrag).] + +[Footnote 65: Reichardt regrets that his "Lieder geselliger Freude " (1796) can +include none of the compositions of "men so highly esteemed as Haydn, +Mozart, and Dittersdorf," on account of the coarseness of the words +(Vol. I., p. vüi.).] + +[Footnote 66: The facsimile of the song, after the original in the possession of +my friend Wilh. Speyer, of Frankfort, is appended to this work.] + +[Footnote 67: A reviewer in the Musik Realzeitung (1790, p. 1), extolling the +"Trennungslied," and the "Veilchen," remarks on the taste and delicate +feeling they display, and adds: "Very striking is the treatment of the +words at the close of the song, the pathetic repetition of 'Das arme +Veilchen! es war ein herzigs Veilchen I Cf. Reissmann, "Das deutsche +Lied," p. 146.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC. + + +OTTFRIED, Baron van Swieten, was a man who exercised, in more than one +respect, an important influence on Mozart's career. He was born in +1734, the son of the Empress Maria Theresa's celebrated and influential +physician Gerhard van Swieten, who had removed with his family from +Leyden to Vienna in 1745. Gottfried devoted himself to the study of the +law, and pursued a diplomatic career,[1] but from his youth up he had +been passionately fond of music, and had turned his studies in the art +to practical, + + +{MUSIC IN BERLIN.} + +(375) + +though not very successful account. In 1769 Favart's "Rosière de +Salency" was produced in Paris with music by different composers; Van +Swieten wrote several of the songs, but they failed to attract much +praise.[2] He also composed eight symphonies "as stiff as himself," as +Haydn said.[3] In 1771 Joseph II. appointed him ambassador to the Court +of Prussia,[4] and there Nicolai made his acquaintance, and speaks +of him as "an enthusiastic amateur and connoisseur, and even a +composer."[5] His residence in Berlin was important for the development +of his musical taste and the ideas which he afterwards undertook to +introduce in Vienna. + +In 1740, Frederick the Great had erected the Berlin Opera House, and +produced the Italian opera seria of the time with all the brilliancy +of first-rate performers and scenic accessories.[6] Grand operas +(interrupted, however, by the Seven Years War) were regularly given; the +King used to sit in the pit immediately behind the conductor, so as +to be able to look over his score.[7] He held firm to his original +principles of taste; would admit nothing but opera seria, and no new +works except those of Hasse and Graun. The Kapellmeister Carl Heinrich +Graun (1709-1759) was obliged to compose the operas (to which the King +furnished libretti in French, to be turned into Italian[8]), and hurried +over his uncongenial task; they were always submitted to the King, +and what he disapproved of had to be altered.[9] He preferred Hasse's +composition on account of his greater fire and passion, while Graun +(highly prized as a singer by his royal master)[10] heard little but +blame for his shortcomings as a composer. + +Notwithstanding this, he had to produce his opera year + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(376) + +after year, and matters continued unchanged.[11] Johann Friedrich +Agricola (1720-1774), who succeeded Graun in 1760, wrote little himself, +except some pieces for insertion in old operas, which are kept in the +same style. The King would have nothing to say to any other composers, +and received Reichardt with the advice: "Have a care of the new +Italians; the fellows write like pigs."[12] + +Reichardt, in applying for Agricola's post after the death of the latter +in 1775, was obliged to support his claims by the production of +an opera, "modelled on the pattern of Graun and Hasse";[13] as +kapellmeister, he must not dream of striking out in any other direction. +For the last ten years of his life the King took little interest in +musical matters; Italian opera lingered on with the pieces of Graun and +Hasse, but it sank lower and lower.[14] + +Side by side with the opera, however, which followed so closely the +Italian tradition, there arose in Berlin a peculiar form of instrumental +music founded on the Saxon school. The King, as is well known, gave +a private concert every evening, and performed on the flute pieces +composed by himself or his master Quanz, who wrote over three hundred +such for Frederick.[15] Johann Joachim Quanz (1697-1773)[16] to whom the +King had been much attached from his earliest years, was supreme in all +matters musical, and was nicknamed the "Pope of the Berlin music."[17] +He was the only man who presumed to cry "Bravo!" to the King's +playing.[18] Next after Quanz in Frederick's favour stood Franz Benda +(1709-1786),[19] an artist of originality and a first-rate + + +{THE BACH SCHOOL IN BERLIN.} + +(377) + +violin-player; his manner of execution was peculiar to himself, and rested +mainly on a pure and expressive delivery. His brother Joseph (1724-1804) +and the sons of both followed in his footsteps, and the Concertmeister +J. Gottlieb Graun (1698-1771) highly esteemed as a violin-player and +instrumental composer, may be said to have belonged to the same school. +By these distinguished artists the Berlin orchestra was formed and +trained to a degree of excellence second only to that of Dresden, and +not until later surpassed by Mannheim and Vienna. + +The highest rank among the artists of Berlin must be accorded to Philipp +Emanuel Bach (1714-1788).[20] He was summoned to the Prussian capital in +1738 as accompanist to the then Crown Prince, and after 1756 he shared +the office with Fasch. He was an accomplished and tasteful accompanist, +but the wearisome monotony of the royal concerts disgusted him, and as +an artist he could not but be annoyed at the King's narrow prejudices. +He revenged himself by refusing to comply when Frederick, who liked to +play in "various times" required his accompanist to give way to him. +This led to a dislike on the King's part, which prevented him from duly +appreciating Bach;[21] and the latter willingly obeyed a summons to +Hamburg in 1767, to fill Telemann's place. His technical studies, +founded on J. Sebastian Bach's system of fingering, and his +clavier sonatas entitle him to be considered as the father of modem +pianoforte-playing, and Haydn acknowledged him alone as his model.[22] +He was held in unbounded reverence as a creative and original artist, +especially in Berlin and Hamburg,[23] and deserved equal respect as +a man of cultivation and good-breeding. Nicolai declares that what +Quintilian says of Cicero may be applied + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(378) + +with equal truth to Bach: that those who have learnt to appreciate his +works above all others have made a marked advance along the path of +knowledge.[24] The school of Joh. Sebastian Bach was represented in all +its severity and scholarly learning by his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach +(1710-1784), who passed the later years of his life in Berlin, as much +admired as an artist of genius and scholarship[25] as he was dreaded and +disliked by reason of his overbearing egotism and eccentric fancies.[26] +Agricola was also a pupil, and like all his pupils, an enthusiastic +admirer of Seb. Bach, but Kirnberger was undoubtedly his greatest +apostle. It was he who represented the school of Bach in Berlin, side +by side with the operatic school of Hasse and Graun, and he was mainly, +though far from exclusively,[27] active in developing the instrumental +style, which determined the taste of the Berlin musical world.[28] + +The position of music in Berlin was peculiar in that it had gained +recognition for itself, even in respect of its literature. Not a few +musicians were cultivated and scientific men, ready with their pen and +anxious to employ it in the + + +{KIRN BERGER--MARPURG.} + +(379) + +musical cause. Quanz's "Course of Flute-Playing" (1752) was followed +by Ph. Em. Bach's "True Art of Playing the Clavier" (1753, 1761) and +Agricola's "Introduction to the Art of Song" (1757); and together +with these may be noted Marpurg's "Art of Playing the Clavier" (1750), +"Introduction to Clavier-Playing" (1755, 1765), and "Introduction to +Music and Singing" (1763); it was no small honour for Leop. Mozart's +"Violin Method" to find recognition in this circle (Vol. I., p. 16). The +writings of the advocate Krause on musical poetry (1752), of Nichelmann +on melody (1755), and Marpurg's "Introduction to Vocal Composition" +(1758) must not be omitted from the list. + +The theory of harmony and counterpoint was studied with equal zeal, and +Kimberger and Marpurg have earned for themselves a place of honour in +the history of music. + +Joh. Phil. Kimberger (1721-1783), Kammermusicus to the Princess Amalie, +a pupil of Seb. Bach, was of small merit as a composer, but, being a +sagacious man, and fond of research, he busied himself in tracing the +principles and maxims of composition through the works of his revered +master.[29] The gift of literary expression was denied to him by his +education and manner of life; and unless he were assisted by friends +such as Agricola, Sulzer, or his pupil Schulz, he found it difficult +to express his views with clearness.[30] His intellect, knowledge, and +study were considerable, his character open and estimable;[31] but he +was embittered by the want of the recognition which he believed to be +his due. Want of refinement led him to turn his critical acumen into +a weapon of attack, which he often used in a manner both spiteful and +unjust.[32] Quanz had maintained that a + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(380) + +genuine duet admitted of no bass, and published some duets to prove his +point; Kimberger played the duets on the church organ while Quanz was +receiving the communion, with a bass added.[33] + +Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1718-1795) thereupon took up the cudgels, and +endeavoured to prove from Kimberger's fugues that he was the last man +who had a right to make himself conspicuous as a critic. This gave rise +to a feud, which was carried on with great bitterness on both sides, +respecting various principles of musical theory. Marpurg had the +advantage of a thorough school and university education. As private +secretary to General Bodenberg he had enjoyed intercourse with Voltaire, +D'Alembert, and Maupertuis, and a lengthened stay in Paris in 1746 had +made him familiar with the French cultivation of the time. After 1749 he +lived in Berlin. In his youth he had been the friend of Winckelmann[34] +and the companion of Lessing, in his jovial hours as well as in his +studies and controversies.[35] Shrewd and thorough in matters of +research, and of passionate temper, he could neither brook contradiction +nor control his violence;[36] and superior as he was to Kirnberger +in powers of expression, he yielded nothing to him in coarseness and +virulence of attack.[37] + +Yet another influence on musical affairs in Berlin remains to be noted, +viz., the musical journals edited by Marpurg and the musicians and +scholars associated with him--"The Musical Critic on the River Spree" +(1749-1750), "Critical and Historical Contributions to the Study of +Music" (1754-1762), and "Critical Letters on Music" (1760-1764). + +Music was treated also by literary men from a more general point of +view. Sulzer included music in his + + +{LIBBHABERCONCERT IN BERLIN} + +(381) + +"Treatise on the Fine Arts" (1771-1774), and sought counsel of +professional men better versed in the art than himself. He selected +Kirnberger as the fittest man for his purpose, and after him his +pupil J. A. P. Schulz, who was inferior to his master in scholarly +acquirements, but far superior to him in clearness and facility.[38] +The great influence which Sulzer's work exercised in Germany caused his +views upon music therein expressed to be appealed to as a sort of final +authority. Fr. Nicolai was exceedingly fond of music, and made it a +practical study.[39] He was personally acquainted with all the great +musicians, especially Agricola, Marpurg, and Reichardt, and he +set himself seriously to form musical opinions founded on his own +observation. When he undertook the German Universal Cyclopedia in 1765, +he included music in the list of subjects treated. Nicolai's influence +in Berlin was great,[40] and a literary organ of so much importance +could not fail to give weight and consideration to musical criticism. + +The practical result of these musical efforts, so far as they did +not proceed immediately from the King, consisted mainly in the +"Liebhaberconcert," founded in 1770, and held every Friday evening under +Nicolai's direction.[41] All available forces were assembled on these +occasions; orchestral works, native or foreign, were performed, +vocal and instrumental virtuosi found an audience, and great vocal +compositions were frequently produced, such as Graun's and Ph. Eman. +Bach's sacred music, and what is more noteworthy, Handel's oratorios, +especially "Judas Maccabæus," the "Feast of Alexander," and the +"Messiah."[42] Earnest and + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(382) + +upright intention, and efforts after intellectual comprehension in art, +deserve all recognition, even when united with partiality, pedantry, and +quarrelsomeness. The supremacy claimed by Frederick the Great's capital, +even in music, extended to South Germany, and especially to Vienna. +Wagenseil and Steffan, at that time men of considerable note in Vienna, +are complacently taken to task by Marpurg.[43] Nicolai openly says[44] +that after Fux's death Vienna had various good composers, but no +extraordinary genius worthy to rank with Seb. and Ph. Em. Bach, +Telemann, Graun, or Hasse, men who had determined the course of musical +progress in North Germany until Haydn appeared. The Viennese, on the +other hand, were entirely ignorant of all that concerned music in North +Germany, and especially in Berlin.[45] + +Youthful impulses could not altogether fail, however, to stir the +musical world of Berlin. The French operetta, conducted for a long time +by Schulz,[46] and still more the German opera after 1771,[47] had the +effect of gradually reforming the taste of the general public. Prince +Henry, who had an excellent band in his pay, was by no means so devoted +to old music and the old composers as the King.[48] His concertmeister +Joh. Pet. Salomon (1745-1815), whom Reichardt heard perform Bach's +violin solos without accompaniment exceedingly well,[49] produced +Haydn's symphonies and quartets + + +{HAYDN'S MUSIC IN BERLIN.} + +(383) + +with zeal and energy.[50] His successor, J. A. P. Schulz (1747-1800), +a pupil of Kirnberger's, who had made a lengthened tour in Italy, +and become personally acquainted with Haydn,[51] followed his natural +inclination--to the great dissatisfaction of his master--in composing +after the new style,[52] and wishing to produce not only Haydn's but +Gluck's music. His attempts were unsuccessful, but Haydn's music was +admired by others besides the more youthful of the public. There were, +it is true, supporters of the old music, who made a noisy exit whenever +Haydn's music was performed; but others, such as Marpurg, laughed at +such folly, and did not withhold their recognition of his genius;[53] +Nicolai speaks of him with frank and enlightened approbation.[54] +Reichardt, as kapellmeister to the king, could not afford an independent +judgment;[55] but he endeavoured, by the "Concert spirituel''[56] which +he set on foot, and by his compositions and writings,[57] to turn the +interest of the public in new directions.[58] + +It was into this peculiar musical atmosphere, so different from that +of Vienna, that Van Swieten entered at Berlin. His turn of mind being +essentially rational and methodical,[59] disposed him to sympathy with +the severe Berlin school, and to a partiality for a concise style; he +was enchanted with the music of Handel and Bach, which he brought back +with him to Vienna, and turned to account by means of his personal + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(384) + +friendship with Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He commissioned Ph. Em. +Bach to compose, in 1774, six grand orchestral symphonies, with the +express wish that he would allow his genius full play, without any +regard to difficulty of execution.[60] In Berlin also Van Swieten became +better acquainted with Haydn than was possible in Vienna, and like +Mozart and the youthful Beethoven, he' loved and reverenced him next to +Handel and Bach. "As far as music is concerned," he writes (December, +1798), "I have gone back to the times when it was thought necessary +before practising an art to study it thoroughly and systematically. In +such study I find nourishment for my mind and heart, and support when +any fresh proof of the degeneracy of the art threatens to cast me down. +My chief comforters are Handel and the Bachs, and with them the few +masters of our own day who tread firmly in the footsteps of the truly +great and good, and either give promise of reaching the same goal, or +have already attained to it. In this there can be no doubt that Mozart, +had he been spared to us, would have succeeded; Joseph Haydn stands +actually at the goal."[61] On his return to Vienna (which took place +about 1778) he at once assumed a position of great importance. He +succeeded to his father's office as Prefect of the Imperial Library, was +appointed President of the Education Commission in 1781, and intrusted +with the conduct of the educational scheme which was introduced +throughout the Empire in 1783. Knowledge, intelligence, and zeal he +certainly possessed;[62] but he was wanting in the energy and decision +necessary to carry out the projects he conceived.[63] His influential +position, rank, and wealth, the hereditary fame of his family, and the +importance of his mission at the court of Frederick the Great, gave him +the right to a place among the most distinguished society. He exerted +all his influence in the cause of music, even for so subordinate an + + +{VAN SWIETEN'S PERSONAL INFLUENCE.} + +(385) + +end as to enforce silence and attention during musical performances. +Whenever a whispered conversation arose among the audience, his +excellency would rise from his seat in the first row, draw himself up +to his full majestic height, measure the offenders with a long, serious +look, and then very slowly resume his seat. The proceeding never failed +of its effect.[64] Van Swieten was not liberal in money matters; he +always had it in his power to collect money among his friends of high +rank for musical purposes, and he did not fail on such occasions to +contribute his own quota;[65] but he was not by any means generous for +a wealthy and childless man. Haydn's experience supported this view,[66] +and the eulogies pronounced on Van Swieten's benevolence to Mozart's +family after his death[67] have no foundation; in fact, he did nothing +worth mentioning for them. In his intercourse with artists, however +highly he might estimate them and their works, his demeanour was always +that of a grand seigneur, and he enforced his own views with an air of +somewhat overbearing superiority. This was again Haydn's experience,[68] +and Mozart can scarcely have escaped some measure of annoyance from the +same source. + +But such personal failings as these are cast into the shade by the merit +which is due to Van Swieten as the man who awoke interest in Vienna for +severe and classical music. His influence upon Mozart is unmistakable. +At the beginning of 1782 we find them in constant intercourse, and +Mozart habitually present at Van Swieten's musical Sunday mornings, at +which music in the severe style only was performed. He had, as Mozart +writes to his sister (April 20, 1782), "a stock of music good in point +of value, but small in quantity"; and in order to add to it, Mozart +requests his father to send him both his own church compositions, and + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(386) + +some select works of Michael Haydn and Eberlin, which he had formerly +copied (Vol. I., p. 238); they were performed with great applause in +the little circle, These performances were clearly not intended for +an audience; for Van Swieten sang tenor, Mozart alto (at the same time +playing the pianoforte), Starzer[69] tenor, and young Tebery,[70] who +had just returned from Italy, bass (Märch 12, 1783). But in this +way they became familiar with the best works of masters who had been +hitherto unheard in Vienna. "It is a fact," writes Mozart (April +12,1783), "that the change of taste has extended even to church music, +which is much to be regretted; so it comes that the best church music +lies worm-eaten in the garret."[71] + +Clavier music of the same school also found a place in Van Swieten's +musical meetings. Mozart writes to his father (April 10, 1782):-- + +I wish you would send me Handel's six fugues and the toccata and fugues +by Eberlin. I go every Sunday morning to the Baron van Swieten, and +nothing is played there but Handel and Bach. I am making a collection of +the Bach fugues, Sebastian's as well as Emanuel's and Friedemann's, and +also of Handel's, and I want just these six. Also, I should like to let +the Baron hear Eberlin's. + +Concerning the latter, however, he writes soon after to his sister +(April 20, 1782):-- + +If my father has not yet had Eberlin's works copied, pray countermand +them. I have found them here, and see (now that I refresh my memory of +them) that they are very trivial and unworthy of a place with Handel +and Bach. His four-part movement deserves all respect, but his clavier +fugues are simply _versetti_ spun out to great length. + + +{PIANOFORTE FUGUES.} + +(387) + +We have seen already how Mozart's interest in the study of these masters +was still further kindled by the pleasure his wife took in fugues (Vol. +II., p. 267). When he sent his sister a three-part fugue with a prelude, +he wrote to her (April 20, 1782) that if time and opportunity served, +he meant to write five more fugues, and present them all to Van Swieten; +she must therefore keep this one to herself, learn it by heart, and play +it; "it is not so easy to play fugues." A second (39 Anh. K.) has only +the theme with one answer written down:--[See Page Images] + +A third is rather more finished (40 Anh. K.), and its very original +subject promises an interesting elaboration-- + +which causes the more regret that it should have stopped short of +completion. + +Mozart twice projected arranging Frohberger's "Phantasia supra Ut, +re, mi, fa, sol, la" for the pianoforte,[72] but neither time did he +accomplish his intention (292 Anh. K.). The three-part fugue in C major, +which has been published (394 K.), probably the same that Mozart sent to +his sister with a prelude, gives an idea of his intentions. A four-part +fugue in G minor, wanting only a few bars, was finished and published by +Stadler (401 K.). Only sketches remain of other clavier fugues. The most +finished (26 bars) is a fugue in G major (23 Anh. K.):--[See Page Images +(next page)] + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(388) + +To the same time and school belongs the great fugue for two pianofortes +in C minor, composed on December 29,1783 (426 K.). The beginning is +preserved of another fugue for two pianofortes in G major of a totally +different character (45 Anh. K.):--[See Page Image] + +We may judge of the manner in which Mozart wished his fugues to be +played from an expression to his sister, when he sent her the first of +them (April 20, 1782):-- + +I have taken care to write "andante maestoso" on it, that it may not +be played too fast; for, if a fugue is not played slowly, the recurring +subject is not distinctly and clearly heard, and so loses its effect. + +Afterwards (in June, 1788) Mozart arranged the C minor fugue for his +string quartet, and wrote "a short adagio" as an introduction (546 K.), +probably for Van Swieten, with whom he was then in closer intercourse +than ever, in consequence of the instrumentation and performance of +Handel's oratorios. + +The ease and distinctness with which four-part movements of this +metrical style could thus be executed, had already suggested to Mozart +the arrangement of five fugues from Bach's "Wohltemperirte Klavier," for +stringed instruments (405 K.). The handwriting points to 1782 or 1783, +when Van Swieten's influence was at its highest. The fugues selected, +doubtless with a view to their suitability for the purpose, were (in +Breitkopf and Härtel's edition): + + +{KLAVIERSUITE, 1782-1783.} + +(389) + +No. 2, in C minor; No. 7, in E fiat major; No. 9, in E major; No. 8, +transposed from D sharp major to D major; and No. 5, in D major. + +An interesting illustration of the pleasure with which Mozart sought to +follow in the steps of Handel and Bach, is afforded by the unfinished +"Klaviersuite" (399 K.) belonging to 1782 or 1783. It begins, according +to rule, with an overture (C major) consisting of two movements, a slow +introduction in imitation, and a fugued Allegro closing on the dominant. +Then follows, after traditional usage, an Allemande (C minor), a +Courante (E flat major), and a Sarabande (G minor); of this last, +however, only six bars are written. The imitation of the older masters +is unmistakable in the design and many of the details of the movements, +the only novelty being the changes of key. They may, in this sense, +be considered as studies; but Mozart's originality constantly asserts +itself, and the Courante in especial is completely imbued with it. +Still more original and free is the "Short Gigue for the Klavier," +which Mozart wrote on May 17, 1789, "in the album of Herr Engel, court +organist in Leipzig" (574 K.), no doubt in remembrance of Bach, whose +motetts he had there heard for the first time with unbounded delight. +The light and flexible gigue had been transformed by Bach's freer, and +at the same time severer, treatment into a fantastic, almost humorous +movement, which took the same place in the suite that was afterwards +given to the scherzo in the sonata. Mozart selected the severer +style, and the intellectual skill with which the strictest forms of +counterpoint, harmony, and rhythm are so freely and archly treated, +as to make both player and listener hold their breath from surprise, +renders this little composition a masterpiece. It causes regret that the +suite, containing as it did so many elements capable of development, was +not seriously taken up and carried to perfection by Mozart. + +It must not be supposed that Mozart's study of Bach and Handel had no +result but to teach him to write fugues; his earlier compositions show +him to have been no novice in the art of counterpoint. What he found +most admirable in + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(390) + +these masters was their power of making forms strict even to rigidity +the medium of a natural expression of their musical ideas and emotions; +their use of all the available wealth of contrapuntal combinations was +no mere trick of barren speculation, but a deliberate selection of a +means of expression from the inexhaustible fund of their productive +powers. That this was the sense in which Mozart reverenced his masters +is proved by his criticism of Eberlin and of Hassler, who had learnt +Bach's harmonies and modulations by heart, but was unable to work out +an original fugue; and it is proved more satisfactorily still by his own +works. + +Even in compositions avowedly written as studies, Mozart's originality +appears, and in his later works there is no trace of any attempt at +servile imitation of Bach or Handel.[73] He imitated, not their work, +but their way of working, drew from the sources to which they had given +him access, and employed that which he received from them in accordance +with his own nature and the task before him.[74] + +Master-strokes of genius in many pieces of his chamber music--as also +in the last movement of the C major symphony, and in the overture to +the "Zauberflote," where art reaches its highest pitch in the union of +strictest form with freest fancy--may be ascribed in no small degree +to the impulses arising from his study of Bach and Handel. But their +influence reaches beyond his compositions in the severe style. The +perfection of _polyphonic_ composition which characterises all Mozart's +works, and wherein consists one of his chief merits, rests, even in its +broadest and freest development, upon the foundations laid by those + + +{PIANOFORTE FUGUES.} + +(391) + +masters. So, too, the fertility and boldness of Mozart's harmonic +treatment may be traced back to the same source. Harmonic beauties, +novel and striking transitions and turns, are frequent enough in his +earlier works, but they are simply harmonic combinations, whereas in his +later works they appear as a free and intellectual development of the +polyphonic principle. + +Again, the influence of the older masters and their works is observable +in a certain harshness occasioned by independence in the disposition of +parts, which Mozart does not by any means seek to avoid. In this respect +he makes demands upon his audience as great and greater than those, for +instance, of Bach and Beethoven, and may be compared to Sophocles, who, +admired as he justly was by the ancients for his sweetness and charm, +did not hesitate upon occasion to startle his hearers with his harsh +severity. Mozart's severity is never the result of clumsy workmanship, +but is a conscious and deliberate choice of means; neither is it +employed as a stimulant, but rather as an incentive to a better +appreciation of passages of perfect beauty. The sense of deliverance +from conflict and obscurity, and passage into calmness and light, is +so striking that it cannot be wondered at if the means whereby it is +attained are little analysed.[75] + +Among the compositions in precise or metrical style special interest +attaches to the three-part pianoforte fugue in C major (394 K.). It +opens with an introduction, more elaborate than a prelude, and entitled, +therefore, a "fantasia." Such introductions, not always in free form +(sometimes called "toc-cate"), were usually prefixed to a fugue or +other composition in order to give it the character of an improvisation; +several others by Mozart exist. The one in question, after a few slow +bars, is a lively movement, varies its key continually, and does not +carry out fully any motif or passage; this agitated unrest gives it +a pathetic character, and excites expectation; the whole movement is +brilliant and effective. + +It closes on the dominant, thus announcing its nature as an + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(392) + +introduction. The fugue which follows is in striking contrast, firm and +quiet, yet full of life and latent emotion:--[See Page Image] + +The two first bars, with their intervals of fourths, announce a more +serviceable than individually expressive subject, but the agitated motif +which follows has a very original character, heightened by its auxiliary +notes and by its rapid succession of sharp dissonants. A gentle, almost +melancholy, tone pervades the whole fugue, and is expressed also by its +frequent passage into a minor key. Apart from its interesting technical +elaboration, it is important by reason of its characteristic expression, +and may serve as an illustration of Mozart's complete mastery of the +fugue form. To this it may be added that the fugue we are considering +is essentially adapted for the pianoforte both in conception and +composition. This is not the case in the same degree with the G minor +Fugue (401 K.), which is artistically worked out, but not equal to the +C major either in breadth of expression or adaptation to the nature of > +the instrument. The same may be said of the three-part fugue in D major, +of which Mozart has written thirty-seven bars (443 Anh., 67 K.). The +effect of the C minor fugue (426 K), also, rests neither on the sound +effects of the pianoforte nor on those of the stringed instruments. It +is so broadly conceived, so earnestly and with such ruthless severity +carried out, that the external means of expression fall into the +background before the energetic enunciation of the laws of form, obeyed +consciously, but without servility.[76] Quite otherwise is the + + +{FUGUE FOR STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.} + +(393) + +case with the introduction, which, written originally for strings, is +expressly adapted to their peculiarities of sound effect. The +harmonic treatment, and more especially the enharmonic changes, are +of extraordinary beauty and depth, and occasion remarkable effects of +suspense and climax. Most admirable is the art with which the character +of the movement as an introduction is maintained, and the defiant style +of the following fugue clearly indicated, at the same time that the mind +is tuned to a pitch of longing and melancholy which makes the entry of +the categorical fugue a positive relief and stimulant. + +A fugue for four stringed instruments in D minor, of which the first +elaboration is indicated in the sketch (76 Anh. K.)--[See Page Image] + +appears well suited to the instruments. Whether it was to form a +movement in a quartet or an independent piece we have no means of +ascertaining. + +It appears fitting to cast a glance in this place on two works belonging +to a later time, but falling within the same school of composition. +These are the two "Pieces for an + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(394) + +organ in a clock," in F minor,[77] which have been published, and are +well known as Fantasia and Sonata for the Pianoforte, for four hands. +They both consist of a slow movement and another in lively, metrical +style; their design is similar, but not identical. The first, composed +in December, 1790 (594 K), opens with a solemn Adagio, whose impression +of great gentleness is not disturbed by some harmonic harshness; it +keeps strictly within the limits of an introduction. The Allegro in +F major, formed by the imitative treatment of an agitated motif, is +divided sonata-like into two parts, and returns through an harmonic +transition to the Adagio, which is modified in a masterly way, and leads +to a calm conclusion. The whole piece is marvellously rounded off; and +the restlessness of the Allegro contrasts with, but does not oppose, the +gentle expression of the Adagio. Each forms the fitting complement to +the other. + +The second piece (608 K.), composed on March 3, 1791, is more broadly +planned, and has a greater depth of feeling. It begins with the Allegro, +the first bars of which serve to introduce a fugue, admirably disposed +and full of lovely melody, with a general tone of serious contemplation. +When the fugue has been brought to a close by a stretto with the subject +inverted, a striking harmonic transition leads back to the opening +motif, which passes into the Andante in A flat major. Its treatment as +a middle movement is more weighty and elaborate. A well-developed motif +recurs again and again in varied figuration, connected by different +interludes, and gives a general impression of pure and satisfied +grace, touched with a breath of melancholy recollection, the natural +development of the powerful feeling and contemplative spirit of the +Allegro. But this happy calm is of short duration. The first movement +returns; the fugue recommences, rendered more animated than before by a +countersubject, and breaks off with a passionate conclusion. + + +{CHURCH MUSIC IN VIENNA, 1782.} + +(395) + +These two compositions are a fresh proof of Mozart's deep insight into +the nature of the forms of counterpoint, which gave him power to use +them as the free expression of his individual nature; he is entitled to +the praise of having brought these forms to their fullest perfection, +an incalculable gain to the development of music, which has proceeded in +other directions since his time. It is sometimes regretted that Mozart +should have wasted his genius and his labour upon compositions for a toy +clock.[78] We may rather remark how like a true artist he set himself to +perform the task before him, and produced a work which, keeping within +its given conditions, forms, nevertheless, a great and harmonious whole. + +Mozart, having become acquainted through Van Swieten with the vocal +compositions of Handel, Bach, and other masters of the church style, +turned, as might be expected, with renewed zeal to this branch of +musical art. Unfortunately, upon the introduction of the new regulations +in church matters in 1783, the Emperor Joseph prohibited the performance +of figured or instrumental church music in the churches of Vienna, and +it was only at the court chapel or St. Stephen's cathedral, when the +Archbishop celebrated, that musical masses could be performed. German +congregational singing was substituted in other cases;[79] it was not +liked, and many complaints were made that the total abolition of church +music should have been deemed the only remedy for its abuses.[80] Thus +Mozart was deprived of all hope of success in this direction. But he +had undertaken in 1782, in performance of a vow, to compose a Mass for +Salzburg; and this work bears distinct traces of the studies which were +occupying him at the time. Mozart completed the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, +and Benedictus of this Mass in C minor (427 K.); the first movement of +the Credo is + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(396) + +complete as to the choir parts and bass, and the essential points of the +accompaniment are indicated; in the same way the voices, obbligato wind +instruments, and bass of the Incarnatus are fully written out, the rest +of the accompaniment being only indicated. The whole plan and treatment +of the Mass differ from those of the earlier ones. In the latter, +limitation to a narrow standard and the subservience of the parts to the +whole are the prevailing principles, while in the former the effort +is evident to give as wide a signification as possible to each part +in itself. With this object each section of the text is treated as an +independent movement; the Gloria consists of seven completely detached +pieces. The mechanism corresponds to its external divisions, and the +treatment throughout is thematic and elaborate, for the most part in +strict form. A wealth of resource is displayed in the means employed to +give the desired effect; several of the choruses are five-part, one is +eight-part, and then again four solo voices are introduced in various +ways. The orchestra necessarily complies with the usual Salzburg +conditions; the brass instruments are completely appointed, but neither +flutes nor clarinets are used with the oboes and bassoons--all the +effect of independence possible is given, chiefly by the skilful +introduction and treatment of obbligato instruments. It cannot be said, +however, that the instrumental part of this work is as brilliant and +full of colour as others composed at the same period; the tone-colouring +is on the whole monotonous; but there are not wanting some original +instrumental effects, principally of the wind instruments. Such is the +employment of the trombones (usually only a support to the voices), with +independent effect in several parts of the Kyrie and Sanctus. The effect +of the whole accompaniment consists mainly in the independence with +which it contrasts with the voices, and is produced partly by effective +passages and partly by skilful contrapuntal elaboration. That which most +strikes us on a careful examination of this Mass is the dissimilarity of +the movements in many respects, suggesting that it was undertaken as +a study. The solo movements are the most important, more especially by +reason of their bravura + + +{THE C MINOR MASS, 1782.} + +(397) + +treatment. Bravura was not considered by any means out of place in +church music, and even the classical masters of the last century--such +as Handel and Bach--did not exclude it from their sacred works. But it +is curious that Mozart, who only introduced bravura into his dramatic +music from complaisance to the singers, should have made concessions +to the taste for it in this Mass. The first grand soprano solo is quite +after the pattern of an old bravura aria, and displays little or nothing +of Mozart's originality. It is so suggestive of the style of Graun or +Hasse that we are inclined to suspect the influence of these masters +through Van Swieten. More of Mozart's own character is given to the +Incarnatus est, accompanied by the wind instruments, and containing +touches of delicacy and grace; but the bravura goes beyond all bounds, +especially in the twenty-two bars of cadenza for the voice and wind +instruments. The duet for two sopranos, Domine Deus, and the terzet for +two sopranos and tenor, Quoniam tu solus, are written in stricter form, +both for voice and accompaniment, and are simpler and more dignified in +expression. + +But the inflexibility of form has something in it of pedantry; the +work seems to be done as an exercise, and we seek in vain for the fresh +wellings-up of inspiration which delight us even in less important +compositions of Mozart. The same remark holds good of the choruses. The +first five-part choral movement of the Credo accords most in design with +the style of the earlier Masses. A lively subject shared between the +strings and wind instruments forms, as it proceeds, the thread which +binds the choral passages together; the latter are contrapuntally +treated, and the whole movement is more solemn in tone than was usual in +earlier works. The long fugue "Cum Sancto Spiritu" is admirably worked +out, and, in spite of its difficulty, very clear. Notwithstanding all +this, the nervous force of individual life is wanting to the work, +and cannot be replaced by the artistic workmanship displayed in the +different parts, even when these have force and character of their own, +as for instance in the magnificent ending, when the voices in unison +maintain the theme against a florid accompaniment. + + +{VAN SWIETEN AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.} + +(398) + +The Osanna has more of independent life; it is a long, elaborately +fugued movement, the technical interest of which has engrossed the +composer longer than was necessary.[81] The Benedictus in four parts, +and worked out at length, is remarkable on account of its earnest, +somewhat dry tone, which effectually distinguishes it from the same +movement in other masses, to which a soft and pleasing character was +given. The Kyrie, Gloria, and Sanctus are very fine movements, in +which the skilful rendering of strictest form does not overpower the +expression of feeling and the truly musical proportions of the work. The +varied expression of the different passages is so suitable, so clear and +telling, that we may see at once how firm a grasp Mozart had taken of +the true spirit of church music. The crown of the composition, however, +is the five-part Gratias with the eight-part Qui tollis, which are +planned and executed in masterly fashion, and are penetrated with +Mozart's spirit and life. Their earnestness, severe even to harshness, +their breadth of outline and massive effects, are worthy of the great +examples who were vividly present to his mind; and we cannot fail to +discern the master who was stimulated by these very examples to draw +more deeply on the resources of his own creative genius, and to soar to +higher realms of art by the exertion of his own powers. + +After the first performance of the Mass in its unfinished state at +Salzburg, in 1783, Mozart laid it aside for more pressing work. But when +in 1785 he was commissioned to write an oratorio for the concert for the +Musical Fund + + +{DAVIDE PENITENTE," 1785.} + +(399) + +(March 13 and 14; Vol. II., p. 174), he determined to make use of the +Kyrie and Gloria to which, with slight alterations, the Italian words of +the "Davide Penitente" (469 K.) were adapted. He added (on March 6 and +11) two new arie for Mdlle. Cavalieri and Adamberger.[82] The work +lost in unity of style more than it gained by the addition of these two +songs, of which the orchestral accompaniment is in Mozart's later style, +and the design and treatment are different from those of the other +movements. They are both in the style of the concert arie of the time, +and are quite equal to the best in expression and treatment of the +voice. The Mozart-like character is more marked than in the rest of the +work, but it does not reach its fullest development; and the arie +are too florid for an oratorio. But the mixture of styles was then +customary, and indeed brilliant solos were looked for by the public as a +relief to the more serious choral movements. + +At the present day there cannot be two opinions as to the impropriety +of such a mixture.[83] The important point to be noted, however, is +that just at the time when the instrumental and operatic music of Vienna +threatened to banish altogether the severer and more classical style, +Mozart + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(400) + +became familiar through Van Swieten with the works of the classical +masters. They laid deep hold on his imagination and intellect, giving +him a powerful impulse to classical studies, without which his genius +would not have arrived at a full mastery of his art; these studies, +combined with his ever-growing powers of production, have impressed +their indelible stamp upon the works of this period.[84] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXX. + + +[Footnote 1: He travelled with the Duke of Braganza, in 1768 (Zimmermann, Briefe, +p. 96).] + +[Footnote 2: Grimm, Corr. Litt., VI., pp. 263, 314.] + +[Footnote 3: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 66. One was performed by Mozart (Vol. +II., p. 284).] + +[Footnote 4: Müller praises the liberal support which he received from him in +Berlin, in 1776 (Abschied, p. 116).] + +[Footnote 5: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 556.] + +[Footnote 6: Schneider, Gesch. d. Oper in Berlin, p. 14.] + +[Footnote 7: Burney, Reise, III., p. 67.] + +[Footnote 8: N. Ztschr. für Mus., IX., p. 130.] + +[Footnote 9: Zelter, Fasch, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 10: Reichardt, Kunstmagaz., I., p. 158.] + +[Footnote 11: Zelter, Fasch, p. 49. The parallel which Reichardt (Briefe cine» +aufmerks. Reisenden, I., p. 15) institutes between Hasse and Graun well +expresses the general views.] + +[Footnote 12: Rtlchardi, Mus. Monatsschr., p. 69. A. M. Z., XV., p. 680. +Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 261, where detailed and interesting +information is given.] + +[Footnote 13: A. M. Z., XV., p. 605. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 257.] + +[Footnote 14: Reichardt, Mu. Zeitg., I., p. 74.] + +[Footnote 15: Burney, Reise, III., p. 116.] + +[Footnote 16: Autobiographische Mittheilungens. in Marpurg's Histor. Kril +Beitr., I., p 197.] + +[Footnote 17: Burney, Reise, III., p. 111. Zelter, Fasch, p. 47.] + +[Footnote 18: A. M. Z., III., p. 171. Reichardt, Mus. Wochenblatt. p. 70.] + +[Footnote 19: His autobiography is given in N. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, No. 32.] + +[Footnote 20: His autobiography; s. Burney, Reise, III., p. 199. Cf. Rochlitz, Für +Freunde der Tonkunst, IV., p. 273.] + +[Footnote 21: Zelter, Fasch, pp. 14, 47.] + +[Footnote 22: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 15. Rochlitz, Für Freunde der Tonkunst, +IV.', p. 274. Bach told him once that he was the only man who had ever +quite understood his works (Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 38).] + +[Footnote 23: Compare, for instance, Burney's account (Reise, III., p. 209) with +Reichardt's opinions expressed at different times (Briefe e. aufmerks. +Reisenden, I., p. m; II., p. 7. Kunstmagaz., I., p. 24. Musik. Alman., +1796. A. M. Z., XVI., p. 28. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 163).] + +[Footnote 24: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 558.] + +[Footnote 25: Zelter, Briefw. m. Goethe, V., p. 210: "His extemporising, +especially when he was in the vein, was the admiration of men such +as Marpurg, Kirnberger, Benda, Agrikola, Bertuch, Ring--most of them +excellent organ-players, who all felt how far he surpassed them." He +used to say of his brother, Ph. Emanuel, with a compassionate air: "Mein +Bruder, der Hamburger, hat einige artige Sächelchen gemacht"; and the +latter made use of the same family expression in speaking of the London +brother (Reichardt, Musik. Zeitg., II., p. 159).] + +[Footnote 26: Forkel, Musik. Alman., 1784, p. 201. Reichardt, Musik. Alman., +1796. Zelter, Briefw., V., p. 209.] + +[Footnote 27: I need only allude to the vocal compositions of Ph. Em. Bach; and +the union of both schools in Graun's "Tod Jesu" is very apparent.] + +[Footnote 28: A. M. Z., II., p. 585: "Berlin is perhaps the only place in Germany +where the most ardent enthusiasm for modern music is still (1800) +combined with a zealous defence of the older school. Joh. Seb. Bach and +his celebrated sons still strive for pre-eminence with Mozart, Haydn, +and Clementi." Zelter writes (Briefw. m. Goethe, V., p. 208): "I have +been accustomed to honour the Bach genius for the last fifty years. +Friedemann died here, Emanuel Bach was royal chamber musician here, +Kirnberger and Agrikola were pupils of old Bach; Ring, Bertuch, Schmalz, +&c., performed scarcely anything but the old Bach pieces, and I myself +have taught here for the last thirty years, and have pupils who play all +Bach's music well."] + +[Footnote 29: A characteristic instance of this reverence is given by Zelter +(Briefw., V., p. 163).] + +[Footnote 30: A. M. Z., III., p. 598. Zelter, Briefw., III., p. 17.] + +[Footnote 31: This testimony is afforded by his grateful pupil, Schulz, and also +by Eberhardt (A. M. Z., II., p. 872) and Z[elter] (Berlin Mus. Ztg., +1793, p. 129. Cf. Zelter, Fasch, p. 59. Rintel, Zelter, p. 116).] + +[Footnote 32: Reichardt was badly received by Kimberger (Schletterer, I., p. 98), +who retaliated by a highly coloured picture of a theoretical critic +in his "Briefen eines aufmerks- Reisenden" (I., p. 128), which was +recognised as Kimberger (A.M. Z., II., p. 597). But in after-times he +did him honourable justice (A. M. Z., III., p. 169),] + +[Footnote 33: Thus Reichardt relates (A. M. Z., III., p. 17a) what is alluded to +in the critical letters (I., pp. 15, 23, 41, 175, 231).] + +[Footnote 34: Justi, Winckelmann, I., p. 48.] + +[Footnote 35: Spazier, A. M. Z., II., pp. 569, 593.] + +[Footnote 36: The anecdotes which he published with the title of "Legende +einiger Musikheiligen von Simeon Metaphrastes d. j." (Cölln, 1786), are +characteristic of his bitterness and his cynicism.] + +[Footnote 37: He spared Ph. Em. Bach as little as the latter spared him (Zelter, +Briefw. m. Goethe, VI., p. 321).] + +[Footnote 38: Schulz gives an account of this himself, which does not altogether +agree in details with Reichardt's story (A. M. Z., II., p. 276; III., p. +597).] + +[Footnote 39: Glocking, Fr. Nicolai's Leben, p. 95 (cf. 29). Schletterer, +Reichardt, I., pp. 97,140.] + +[Footnote 40: Burney, Reise, III., pp. 58, 74.] + +[Footnote 41: Reichardt, Brief, e. aufmerks. Reis., I., p. 32. Schletterer, +Reichardt, I., p. 139. Muller, Abschied, p. 117. It existed, together +with other similar institutions, until the beginning of this century +(Cramer, Mag. d. Mus., I., p. 565. A. M. Z., II., p. 586).] + +[Footnote 42: Nicolai mentions these three oratorios as well known to him in 1781 +(Reise, IV., p. 534). An enthusiastic account of "Judas Maccabæus" after +a performance at a Liebhaberconcert in 1774, was given by Reichardt in +Briefe e. aufmerks. Reis., I., p. 82. Zelter describes the great effect +which a performance of the "Messiah" in 1783 made upon him (Rintel, +Zelter, p. 137). The "Messiah" had been performed in Hamburg as early as +1775 (Joh. Heinr. Voss, Briefe, I., p. 295).] + +[Footnote 43: Marpurg, Krit. Briefe, II., p. 141.] + +[Footnote 44: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 525.] + +[Footnote 45: Reichardt, A. M. Z., XV., p. 666 (Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. +325).] + +[Footnote 46: A. M. Z., III., p. 601. It was certainly not to the taste of +Frederick the Great. When it was proposed to sing the choruses in +Racine's "Athalie," the King put a stop to it with the remark (January +10,1774): "La musique française ne vaut rien, il faut faire déclamer le +chour, alors cela revient au même (Preuss, Friedrich der Grosse, III., +p. 310).] + +[Footnote 47: L. Schnieder, Gesch. der Oper in Berlin, p. 49.] + +[Footnote 48: Burney, Riese, III., p. 149.] + +[Footnote 49: Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 140.] + +[Footnote 50: Rochlitz, Fur Freunde der Tonkunst, III., p. 191.] + +[Footnote 51: A. M. Z., III., p. 176.] + +[Footnote 52: A. M. Z., III., p. 605. Even the Princess Amalie expressed to +Schulz her dislike to his choruses to "Athalie" (A. M. Z., III., p. 614) +in two very emphatic letters (Echo, 1857, Nos. 10, 14).] + +[Footnote 53: A. M. Z., II., p. 575. Cf. Nohl, Musikerbr., p. 76.] + +[Footnote 54: Nicolai, Reise, IV., pp. 526, 534.] + +[Footnote 55: He has given some interesting particulars as to his position to +Frederick (A. M. Z., XV., pp. 601, 633. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. +260).] + +[Footnote 56: Cramer, Mag. d. Mus., I., p. 565. Schletterer, I., p. 357.] + +[Footnote 57: At the same time he published the Musical Magazine (1-4, 1782), +and was concerned in Nicolai's "Allgemeiner Deutscher Bibliothek." Cf. +Schletterer, I., P. 432.] + +[Footnote 58: The influence exerted by the Crown Prince, afterwards King +Frederick William III. upon the musical taste of Berlin, belongs to a +later time than that under consideration.] + +[Footnote 59: Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 69.] + +[Footnote 60: Reichardt, A. M. Z., XVI., p. 28 (Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. +163).] + +[Footnote 61: A. M. Z., I., p. 252.] + +[Footnote 62: Nicolai, Reise, III., pp. 358, 363.] + +[Footnote 63: G. Forster, Sämmtl. Schr., VII., p. 273. Van Swieten's activity and +influence are very differently estimated by R. Kink (Gesch. d. Univers, +in Wien, I., p. 539).] + +[Footnote 64: So Neukomm informed me. G. Forster was affronted by Van Swieten's +stiff, cold manner (Sämmtl. Schr., VII., p. 270). Cf. Jahrb. d. Tonk., +1796, p. 72.] + +[Footnote 65: Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 158.] + +[Footnote 66: Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 210. Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 66.] + +[Footnote 67: Musik. Corresp., 1792, p. 4) Niemetschek, who had called him the +father of Mozart's orphan children, omitted this in the second edition.] + +[Footnote 68: Dies, Biogr. Nachr., p. 180.] + +[Footnote 69: He often played at Van Swieten's with the famous lute-player Kohaut +(Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 66).] + +[Footnote 70: I cannot say whether Anton Teyber (b. 1754), whom Mozart met +at Dresden in 1789, or Franz Teyber (b. 1756) is intended. Both were +natives of Vienna, probably brothers of the two female singers of the +same name (Vol. I., p. 69), and they both died at Vienna--Anton as court +chamber composer in 1822, and Franz as kapellmeister and court organist +in 1810.] + +[Footnote 71: Nicolai's opinion is in accordance with this; he speaks of the +church music in Vienna, in 1781, as inferior both in composition and +performance (Reise, IV., p. 544).] + +[Footnote 72: Kircher, Musurgia, I., p. 466. Weitzmann, Gesch. d. Klavierspiels, +p. 214.] + +[Footnote 73: Rochlitz's assertion (A. M. Z., I., p. 115) that Mozart wrote a +great deal in Handel's style that he did not publish, is unfounded.] + +[Footnote 74: It is observed in Reichardt's Musik. Zeitg., I., p. 200, that J. S. +Bach was in advance of his age, and that long after his death his mantle +had descended upon Mozart, who was the first thoroughly to admire and +reverence the spirit of his art, and to reproduce it in his own works. +Zelter also declares that Mozart is a truer successor of Seb. Bach +than his son Philipp Emanuel or Joseph Haydn (Briefw., IV., p. 188); he +recalls how the music of Seb. and Eman. Bach was at first unintelligible +to him; how Haydn was blamed for having travestied what was intense +earnest to them; and, finally, how Mozart appeared and gave the proper +interpretation to all three (Briefw., II., p. 103). + +[Footnote 75: Rochlitz is mistaken in trying to discover a mixture of Bach's +gloominess with Mozart's youthful fire in the latter's Salzburg +compositions (A. M. Z., II., p. 642).] + +[Footnote 76: Beethoven wrote out this fugue in score; the autograph is in the +possession of A. Artaria.] + +[Footnote 77: Muller, proprietor of the art museum on the Stockameisenplatz, +announces (Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 66, Anh.) that he has on view +there "the magnificent mausoleum erected to the memory of the great +Field-Marshal Laudon. There will be performed also funeral music +composed by the famous Kapellm. Mozart, which is very well suited for +the occasion which has called it forth."] + +[Footnote 78: The Andante composed on May 4, 1791, "for a waltz on a little +organ" (616 K.), is a graceful little piece, with no pretence alter +anything deeper, either in execution or expression.] + +[Footnote 79: Nicolai, who notices this reformation (Reise, IV., p. 550), has +adduced proofs of it (Beil., X., z, 2).] + +[Footnote 80: Forkel, Musik. Alman., 1784, p. 187.] + +[Footnote 81: A four-part vocal fugue, "In Te Domine speravi," of which Mozart +has written thirty-four bars (23 Anh., K.), appears to belong to this +time, and is very fresh and forcible:--[See Page Image]] + +[Footnote 82: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., III., p. 230; cf. XXVII., p. 447. The parts of +the Mass are made use of in the following manner:--[See Page Image]] + +[Footnote 83: Reichardt criticises favourably on the whole a cantata composed of +the last numbers (8, 9, zo) of the oratorio arranged by Hiller (Musik. +Zeitg., I., p. 368; cf. 382); another cantata borrowed from it is +mentioned (A. M. Z., IX., p. 479).] + +[Footnote 84: Gerber's assertion in the Tonkünstlerlexicon, I., p. 976: "Lucky +for him that he was moulded into perfect form while still young by the +pleasing and playful muses of Vienna; otherwise he could hardly have +escaped the fate of Friedemann Bach, whose soaring flight could be +followed by few mortals," is only half true, for Mozart's deepest +studies were made not in Salzburg, but in Vienna.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. MOZART AND FREEMASONRY. + + +AN account of the circumstances which affected Mozart's social and +artistic position in Vienna, as well as his moral and intellectual +development, would be incomplete without some notice of his connection +with Freemasonry.[1] + +It is well known[2] that a propensity for secret associations and +brotherhoods, having for their object the furtherance of intellectual, +moral, and political ideas, was very prevalent in Germany during the +latter half of the eighteenth century. These associations were all more +or less closely allied to Freemasonry, and the traces of their influence +are most apparent in the impulse which they gave to the national +literature.[3] Be the degree great or small in which Free-masonry has +advanced the cause of humanity, and granting that its good effects have +often been obscured by the follies, crimes, and impostures which +have hidden themselves behind the secrecy of its vows; it is still an +undoubted fact that + + +{FREEMASONRY IN VIENNA, 1781.} + +(401) + +princes like Frederick the Great, great and good men like Lessin, +Herder, Wieland, and Gofethe, have looked upon Freemasonry as a means of +attaining their highest endeavours after universal good. It will suffice +for our present purpose to quote a passage from Goethe's funeral oration +upon Wieland:[4]-- + +If any testimony were desired in favour of an association which has +existed from very ancient days, and has survived many vicissitudes, it +would be found in the spectacle of a man of genius--intelligent, shrewd, +cautious, experienced, and moderate--seeking his equals among the +members of our association, feeling himself at one with us, and, +fastidious as he was, acknowledging our fellowship to be the perfect +satisfaction of his earthly and social desires. + +Wieland himself declared that[5] the "intellectual temple-building" +had for its chief and highest object "the earnest, energetic, and +persevering efforts of every true and honest mason to approach nearer +himself, and to lead his brethren nearer, to the ideal of humanity, and +to prove that man is fashioned and appointed to be a living stone in the +eternal temple of the Almighty."[6] It was natural that in Vienna, where +there was more intellectual life than elsewhere, the form of secret +association should have been utilised in the furtherance of these high +aims:[7]-- + +In the year 1781 was formed a society of the most distinguished leaders +of thought in Vienna, under the presidency of the noble and intellectual +Ignaz von Born. The aim of the society was to give effect to that +freedom of conscience and thought so happily fostered by the government, +and to combat superstition and fanaticism in the persons of the monkish +orders, the main supports of both these evils. Reinhold and the friends +of his youth, Alxinger, Blumauer, Haschka, Leon and Ratschky, were the +most zealous members of this association. They + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(402) + +adopted the forms of Freemasonry as an outward expression of their +mental and spiritual union. Their lodge was entitled "True Harmony,"[8] +and, supported indirectly by the favour of the Emperor Joseph, they +laboured for a considerable time with energy and success to carry out +their preconceived designs. Their weapons were learning and eloquence, +and in their use of these, whether in earnest severity or in jesting +irony, they were more than a match for their opponents.[9] + +From this circle, which contained other distinguished men, such as +Sonnenfels, Retzer, and Gemmingen, proceeded the satires of Born and +Blumauer against monasticism, which had so extraordinary an effect +at the time. The scientific organ of the Freemasons was the Vienna +"Real-zeitung," edited by Blumauer, which endeavoured to drive +superstition and prejudice from the domain of science in the same +insidious way in which they had entered it--Blumauer's principle[10] +being that the work of enlightenment is a very gradual one, and that a +far harder task than that of learning is the unlearning of what has been +once hammered into the heads of ordinary mortals. As might have been +expected, Freemasonry became after a time an affair of fashion in +Vienna, and many abuses crept in:-- + +The order of Freemasonry pursued its course with an amount of publicity +and ostentation almost ludicrous. Freemasons' songs were composed, +published, and sung everywhere. Their symbols were hung as charms upon +watch-chains; ladies were presented with white gloves by novices and +associates, and various articles of fashion were christened _à la +franc-maçon_. Many members joined the order from curiosity, or in order +to enjoy the pleasures of the table. Others had still more interested +views. It might be of material advantage to belong to a brotherhood +which had members in every rank, and had made a special point of gaining +the adhesion of powerful officials, presidents, and members of the +government. One brother was bound to help another; and those who did +not belong to the brotherhood were often at a serious disadvantage; this +fact enticed many to join. Others again, more + + +{FREEMASONRY IN VIENNA, 1785.} + +(403) + +sincere or more ignorant, thought they had found a key to higher +mysteries--such as the philosopher's stone, or intercourse with +disembodied spirits. The Freemasons were unquestionably very benevolent; +collections for the poor brethren were often made at their meetings.[11] + +The proceedings against the Illuminati in 1785 led to a commencement of +persecution of the Freemasons, but on December 11 of the same year the +Emperor Joseph issued a decree in which, while disclaiming any knowledge +of the secret vows of the order, or any approval of its juggleries, he +gave it his countenance upon condition of certain reforms, and placed it +under the protection of the state.[12] This decree, which was extolled +by some as a proof of the highest wisdom and clemency, and bewailed +by others as the ruin of genuine Freemasonry, gave occasion to violent +disputes, intensified by the carrying out of the Emperor's order for the +reduction of the existing eight lodges to three. Born, who disapproved +of the reform, had, in spite of his previous popularity, to suffer +numerous personal attacks: An unpleasant encounter with Jos. Kratter, +nicknamed the "freemason's auto-da-fé," called forth a multitude +of malignant pamphlets, and in 1786 Bom retired altogether from the +lodge.[13] His loss was a serious one for its intellectual influence, +and his example was followed by others. The imperial recognition of the +lodge did not preserve it from increasing attacks and suspicions, which +afterwards proceeded to publicly expressed disapproval on all sides. But +many steadfast spirits still held out. Loibl, for instance, placed his +dwelling at the disposal of the lodge for their meetings. His daughter +still remembers (1867) how her father spent hours clothed in his robes, +sitting before a crucifix with lighted tapers, reading the Bible in +preparation for the sittings, at which the children, peeping through the +keyhole, wondered to see the gentlemen seated round the table conversing +with earnest mien. Mozart was among these enthusiasts, and maintained +his connection with the + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(404) + +lodge until his death; he even conceived the idea of founding a +secret society of his own--"The Grotto"--and drew up rules for its +guidance.[14] + +It can scarcely have occurred to Mozart to consider his connection with +Freemasonry as a means of worldly advancement; such calculations were +foreign to his nature, and would have been in no degree realised. His +connection with the order was of no practical advantage to him. The high +standing of the order when Mozart came to Vienna--the fact that the +most distinguished and cultivated men, moving in the best society, +were counted among its members, renders it natural that he should have +desired to attach himself to it. His need for intercourse with earnest +and far-seeing intellects would lead him to the same conclusion. So, +too, in a still greater degree, would his genuine love for mankind, his +warm sympathies both in joy and sorrow, his sincere desire to help +and benefit others, which amounted even to a weakness; and perhaps +the greatest attraction of all would be the satisfaction of his truly +exceptional longing for friendship. Even his boyish years are full of +instances of enthusiastic devotion and attachment--to young Hagenauer +(Vol. I., p. 50), to Father Johannes at Seeon (Vol. I., p. 58), to +Thomas Linley (Vol. I., p. 119), and others; and as a man his loving, +sympathetic friendship was accorded to many, among whom I may remind the +reader of Bullinger (Vol. I., p. 335)> of Barisani (Vol. I., p. 305), of +Gottfried von Jacquin (Vol. II., p. 357), of Count Hatzfeld (Vol. II., +p. 291). An order which made the brotherhood of its members the chief +reason of its existence was sure to have strong attractions for him, +the more so that the spirit of independence which he possessed in common +with all other gifted natures was gratified by the equality of every +brother within the circle of his + + +{INFLUENCE OF FREEMASONRY ON MOZART.} + +(405) + +order. Again, the position which he had at that time assumed in relation +to the priestly and monkish orders gave him a powerful impulse towards +Freemasonry. Notwithstanding his strict religious training, he had +inherited from his father a decided aversion to these institutions. L. +Mozart writes to his daughter (October 14, 1785):-- + +There is an appalling difference between these sisterhoods and true +Christianity. It would be an undoubted gain if the nunneries were +dissolved. They exist neither by virtue of true vocation, nor +supernatural calling, nor spiritual zeal, nor as the true discipline of +devotion and abnegation of desires, but are the result of compulsion, +hypocrisy, dissimulation, and childish folly, leading in the end to +confirmed wickedness. + +The effects of his connection with Freemasonry upon Mozart are as +plainly discernible as his reasons for joining the order. Carefully and +well as his early training laid the foundation of his after-development, +it was impossible but that the narrow circumstances of his Salzburg life +should cramp his intellectual energies; and his visits to great +cities, important as they were in inciting him to fresh efforts for +self-improvement, were too transitory to have much practical effect. +Earnest endeavours after freedom of moral and intellectual development +were at that time the special characteristic of Freemasonry in Vienna, +and the effect must needs have been a salutary one which followed the +entrance of a young man into a circle which busied itself in solving, +both theoretically and practically, the highest problems of the +universe. It would be difficult to say how far the secrecy and mystery +of the order worked on his imagination and attracted him; but some such +influence is quite conceivable in a nature so artistic and excitable as +his. + +That Mozart was quite in earnest in his fidelity to his order is proved +by the pains he took to induce his father to become a Freemason. The +letter, already quoted (Vol. II., p. 323), in which, anticipating his +father's speedy death, he speaks of the true meaning of death from a +mason's point of view, bears ample testimony to his earnestness. His +lodge + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(406) + +recognised it in the oration pronounced after his death,[15] of which +the passages immediately relating to him may here be quoted:-- + +It has pleased the Almighty Architect of the Universe to take from among +us our best-beloved and most estimable member. Who did not know, who +did not respect, who did not love our worthy brother, Mozart? Only a few +weeks ago he was in our midst celebrating the dedication of our masonic +temple with entrancing tones. Who of us that saw him then, my brethren, +would have supposed his days to be numbered? Who would have thought that +in three weeks we should be mourning his loss? How true it is that man's +sad destiny often cuts short his career in the very prime of life! Kings +perish in the midst of their ambitious plans, which go down to posterity +incomplete. Artists die, after devoting all that was granted them of +life to the glorification of their art. The admiration of all mankind +follows them to the grave, nations mourn for them, and yet the universal +fate of these great men is--to be forgotten of their admirers. It shall +not be so with us, my brethren! Mozart's early death is an irreparable +loss to art. His genius, displayed in earliest childhood, rendered him +the wonder of his age--half Europe was at his feet--the great ones of +the earth called him their darling--and we called him--brother. Fitting +as it is, however, to call to our remembrance his abilities in his art, +we must not forget to give our strongest testimony to his excellent +heart. He was a zealous supporter of our order. The main features of his +character were brotherly love, devotion to the good cause, benevolence +and genuine satisfaction in using his talents for the good of his +fellows. He was estimable alike as husband, father, friend of his +friends, brother of his brothers; he wanted only wealth to make hundreds +happy after his own heart. + +Mozart owed many of his impulses as a composer to his connection with +Freemasonry. We shall see later that the "Zauberflote" came directly +under its influence; in this place it will be fitting only to mention +those compositions which he composed for particular festivities within +the lodge; they are, of course, exclusively for male voices, and betray +in other ways enforced compliance with certain conditions. + +The "Gesellenreise" (468 K.), composed on March 26, 1785, is a social +song, elevated and pleasing in tone; two others are intended for the +opening and closing of a lodge (483, 484,K.):[16] + + +{MASONIC COMPOSITIONS.} + +(407) + +all three have organ accompaniments. The two last conclude with a +chorus for two tenors and a bass voice. Similar three-part choruses +are introduced in other Freemason cantatas, and are easy and popular, +suitable to amateurs. The tenor solos, on the other hand, are adapted to +a trained singer, Adamberger, who was a member of the lodge. + +An unfinished cantata (429 K.) was probably intended for some masonic +purpose. The first chorus, "Dir Seele des Weltalls, Sonne, sei heute +das erste der festlichen Lieder geweiht," for two tenors and bass, with +accompaniment for the quartet and flute, clarinet, two oboes and two +horns, is written out in full for the voices with a figured bass, and +the accompaniment is sketched in Mozart's usual way. The same is the +case with the long-drawn-out tenor aria which follows, "Dir danken wir +die Freude." Only seventeen bars of a second duet for tenor voices, +intended as a conclusion, are written out. The three-part male chorus, +the solos exclusively for tenor voices, and the limited orchestra, all +suggest masonic influence; I will not attempt to give an opinion on +the symbolism of the words. The first chorus is fine, spirited and +solemn.[17] Two other cantatas certainly fall within this category. The +first of these is the Maurerfreude (471 K.) composed on April 20, 1785, +shortly before the departure of his father, in whose presence it was +first performed. The lodge were giving a banquet in honour of Born, who +had been highly complimented by the Emperor for his invention of a new +kind of amalgam.[18] The cantata, with words by Petran, was afterwards +published in score, with a title-page engraved by Mansfeld, representing +"Wisdom and Virtue," as the text says, "addressing themselves to +their disciple"; it was sold for the benefit of the poor.[19] The main +substance of the work consists of a long + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(408) + +tenor solo worked out in free form for Adamberger, the first and greater +part being after the fashion of the allegro of a concert aria. There +is nothing of the Italian form in it, but deep and genuine feeling is +expressed in Mozart's familiar and purely German manner. The animation +of the expression reaches its climax in a recitative leading to a +serious and rhythmical song of two verses, the concluding lines of which +are repeated by the chorus. In the accompaniment to this cantata, a +clarinet is introduced in addition to the quartet, two oboes and two +horns, and treated with evident partiality, the deeper notes being +employed in Mozart's favourite triplet passages; Stadler had no doubt +something to do with this.[20] The second, "Kleine Freimaurercantate" +(623 K.), with words by Schikaneder,[21] was composed on November 15, +1791, and performed a few days afterwards at the consecration of a new +masonic temple: it is the last work which Mozart completed. There is +somewhat more of variety in its conception; a short chorus interrupted +by solos is followed by a recitative and aria for the tenor, which leads +to another recitative divided between tenor and bass; then follows a +duet, after which the first chorus is repeated. It is very pleasing +and popular in tone, but not equal to the previous cantata in depth +and energy of expression.[22] The cantata, "Die ihr des unermesslichen +Weltalls Schopfer + + +{ZIEGENHAGEN'S CANTATA, 1791.} + +(409) + +ehrt" (619 K.), composed in July, 1791, is not certainly the immediate +result of Mozart's connection with Freemasonry, but it is evidently an +expression of the state of mind which it was the object of Freemasonry +to produce.[23] Frz. Hein. Ziegenhagen, a wealthy merchant of Hamburg, +incited by the study of the Encyclopedists, especially of Rousseau, felt +himself called upon to take part in the various attempts which were made +towards the close of the last century to abolish the pedantry of the +schools; and his efforts to bring education back to a state of natural +simplicity were more energetic and daring than those of less ardent +reformers. He published, out of love for humanity and paternal +tenderness, as he said, an elaborate treatise in which he sought to +prove,[24] by a criticism of the biblical tradition, that existing +religions could not satisfy the inquirer into the nature of things, +and then laid down rules for the theoretical and practical education of +human beings. He hoped, in all seriousness, "to induce wise princes +and enlightened universities to introduce the study of the relations +of things to each other, which is so unmistakably superior to ordinary +religious teaching; and he hoped also to make the acquaintance of +such parents as wished to devote their children to husbandry and the +management of a colony which he proposed to found, in accordance with +his views, in the neighbourhood of Strasburg." In order to render +his book attractive from every point of view he adorned it with eight +copperplate engravings by Chodowiecki, and requested Mozart to compose +a song to be sung with orchestral accompaniment in the meeting-houses of +his colony. + +Mozart was certainly not acquainted with the entire + + +{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.} + +(410) + +contents of this eccentric, almost crazy work; Ziegenhagen gave him +a few general hints of his Utopian scheme, in which he was doubtless +perfectly sincere, and sent him the words of the hymn. These words +emphatically express the effort after truth, brotherhood, and happiness +which was the final object of Freemasonry, and Mozart could not but +treat them after the same manner that he treated similar poems avowedly +masonic. Ziegenhagen's lines are so deficient in poetic spirit, and even +in poetic metre, that it required a more than ordinary amount of genius +and cultivation to give them the impress of a musical work of art. A +work of art this cantata undoubtedly is; it is more free in conception +than usual, the arie, and especially the recitatives, being allowed +considerable scope, in order to fall in with the unequal and rhetorical +words. The union of such an accentuation as was necessary to the +sense of the words with the full expression of warm emotion and the +subservience of both to appointed musical forms, are the essential +features of this composition, and are the more likely to strike us, who +are so entirely out of sympathy with the ideas suggesting the work. +A style of music specifically belonging to Freemasonry is of course +inconceivable; but in the finest passages of works such as this, and in +the "Zauberflöte," something is expressed of the essence of the masonic +character, of _moral convictions_ (I had almost said of _virtue_, but +fear to be misunderstood), which appears outside the province of +music, but which has sometimes been made very effective, especially by +Beethoven. The "Maurerische Trauermusik bei dem Todesfalle der Br. +Br. Meklenburg und Esterhazy" (477 K.), composed in July, 1785, is +an orchestral composition of wonderful beauty and originality. The +combination of instruments is unusual; besides the stringed instruments +there are two oboes, one clarinet (only one again), three basset-horns, +one horn in E flat, one horn in C, and a double bassoon.[25] The deep +tones of the wind + + +{MASONIC FUNERAL MUSIC, 1785.} + +(411) + +instruments give a peculiarly solemn expression to the work. After a +few introductory chords they are joined by the strings, and the first +violins maintain throughout the same character, contrasting with the +wind instruments in free rhapsodic passages, expressive of grief in all +its varied shades. This is most striking when a Cantus firmus, following +the introduction[26]--[See Page Image] + +is first delivered _piano_ by the oboes and clarinet, and at the sixth +bar is taken up by the full force of the wind instruments. The violins +in the meantime have graceful passages, expressive of gentle sorrow, +which rise to a gradual climax of passionate regret. As this storm +abates, we are led back to the introductory motif, which prepares the +way in another climax for the conclusion, preceded by a singularly bold +harmonic transition of deeply sorrowful expression:--[See Page Image] + +If we compare the contrapuntal treatment of this Cantus firmus with +similar works of earlier date, such as the + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(412) + +"Betulia Liberata,"[27] we are struck with its development of technical +mastery as well as of depth of sentiment and freedom of expression; the +same is the case also with the "Zauberflote" and the "Requiem." Mozart +has written nothing finer than this short adagio in technical treatment, +sound effects, earnest feeling, and psychological truth. It is the +musical expression of that manly calm which gives sorrow its due, and no +more than its due, in the presence of death, and which was expressed by +Mozart in another form in the letter to his father already quoted (Vol. +II., p. 323). + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXI. + + +[Footnote 1: The initiated will see at once that an outsider is speaking, and +that the expressions used are on that account additionally cautious.] + +[Footnote 2: A survey of the most important phenomena attendant on this movement +is given by Schlosser (Geschichte des Achtzehnten Jahrh., III.; I., p. +278).] + +[Footnote 3: Gervinus, Gesch. d. Deutschen Nationality, V., p. 274.] + +[Footnote 4: Goethe, Werke, XXI., p. 329.] + +[Footnote 5: Wieland, Werke, LIII., p. 435.] + +[Footnote 6: "To do good, to lighten the burden of mankind, to assist in the +enlightenment of his comrades, to cause enmity to decrease among men, +and to do all this with indefatigable zeal, is the duty of the mason +and the true secret of his order. The ceremonies are minor mysteries, +by means of which a man becomes a Freemason outwardly. The part taken by +the order in the spread of toleration, especially among Christian sects, +has been too plainly demonstrated to need mention here" [Kessler von +Sprengseisen] (Anti-Saint-Nicaise, p. 62).] + +[Footnote 7: L. Lewis, Gesch. d. Freimaurerei in Oesterreich: Wien, 1861.] + +[Footnote 8: There were eight lodges in Vienna in 1785. The oldest of them, "Zur +gekrönten Hoffnung," was the one to which Mozart belonged; it contained +many rich and noble members, and was said to lay great stress on +gorgeous banquets (Briefe eines Biedermanns üb. d. Freimäurer in Wien: +Münch., 1786, p. 40).] + +[Footnote 9: K. L. Reinhold's Leben, p. 18.] + +[Footnote 10: Blumauer, Pros. Schr., I., p. 69.] + +[Footnote 11: Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 105.] + +[Footnote 12: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 102.] + +[Footnote 13: Cf. Voigt an Hufeland (Aus Weimars Glanzzeit, p. 46. Baggesen'e +Briefw., I., p. 304).] + +[Footnote 14: Mozart's widow, who communicated his plan for this order to Härtel +(November 27, 1799; July 21, 1800), stated that Stadler, with whom +Mozart had discussed the whole subject, could give more information, +but hesitated to reveal the circumstances connected with it. Although it +says little for Mozart's knowledge of mankind that he should have chosen +such a man for a confidant, the general interest taken in all matters +relating to secret societies may serve to explain Mozart's partiality +for them.] + +[Footnote 15: Maurer rede auf Mozart's Tod. Vorgelesen bei einer Meisteraufnahme +in der sehr ehrw. St. Joh. zur gekrönten Hoffnung im Orient von Wien vom +Bdr. H.... r. Wien, gedruckt beym Br. Ignaz Alberti, 1792, 8.] + +[Footnote 16: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freim. in Oesterreich, p. 162.] + +[Footnote 17: In the Salzburg Mozarteum there is a complete autograph score of +the first chorus and part of the first air; but the chorus is in four +parts, for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and the wind instruments are +limited to two oboes and two horns; no doubt a subsequent arrangement.] + +[Footnote 18: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 32.] + +[Footnote 19: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freim. in Oesterreich, p. 119.] + +[Footnote 20: In the library of the Munich Conservatoire there is a manuscript +score of this cantata, in which the original words, "Sehen, wie dem +starren Forscherauge," are changed into "Sehen jenes Irrthums Nacht +verschwinden," for use in church services; also the final chorus +is arranged in four parts, for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and +strengthened by trumpets and drums.] + +[Footnote 21: Lewis, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 22: Wien. Ztg., January 25, 1792, No. 7, p. 217: "Reverence and +gratitude for the departed Mozart caused a number of his admirers to +announce the performance of one of his works for the benefit of his +necessitous widow and children; the work may be termed his _swan's +song_, composed in his own inspired manner, and performed by a circle of +his friends under his own direction two days before his last illness. It +is a cantata upon the dedication of a Freemasons' lodge in Vienna, +with words by one of the members." The score, with the original words, +appeared at Vienna, with the title, "Mozarts letztes Meisterstuck eine +Cantata gebeben vor seinem Tode im Kreise vertrauter Freunde." Appended +to the cantata is a song, "Lasst uns mit verschlungnen Händen," which +may also be by Mozart. The cantata was published later, with other +words, and the title, "Das Lob der Freundschaft."] + +[Footnote 23: The inducement to this composition was briefly hinted at in the +A. M. Z. I., p. 745, and afterwards given at greater length by G. Weber +(Cäcilia, XVIII., p. 210).] + +[Footnote 24: This book of 633 pages bears the title: "Lehre vom richtigen +Verhältnisse zu den Schopfungswerken und die durch öffentliche +Einfurung derselben allein zu bewürkende allgemeine Menschenbeglückung +herausgegeben von F. H. Ziegenhagen. Hamburg, 1792, 8." Mozart's +composition is appended, printed on four pages. Ziegenhagen was born in +1753, at Salzburg; late in life he fell into bad circumstances, and put +an end to his life at Steinthal, near Strasburg, in 1806.] + +[Footnote 25: The employment of three basset-horns, as in the vocal terzet (Vol. +II., p. 361) and in an adagio for two clarinets and three basset-horns +(411 K.), is no doubt the result of circumstances. The beginning of an +adagio and allegro for these instruments exists among the fragments (93, +95 Anh., K.).] + +[Footnote 26: Mozart has jotted this melody hastily down upon an extra leaf, in +order to make no mistake in the working-out. According to my colleague +Heimsoeth the first six bars render the first psalm-tune with the first +difference (from the Cologne Antiphonary); what follows is very probably +a local compilation of several psalm-tunes for the penitential psalm +"Miserere mei Deus," different tunes being customary in different +places. The melody of the first phrase is from the beginning of the +first psalm-tune, the melody of the second phrase occurs in the seventh +tune.] + +[Footnote 27: Vol. I., p. 197; c£. also pp. 272, 277.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. MOZART AS AN ARTIST. + + +OF those who realise the excitement and want of repose of Mozart's life +in Vienna, and the variety of occupations and distractions which beset +him, it must appear matter of wonder that he was able to produce so +large a number of compositions, each bearing an individual character of +maturity and finish. The wonder increases as the conviction grows that +not only was he ready as each occasion arose to prove, as Goethe says +every artist should, that his art came at his command, but that he had +the power of bringing forth at will his deepest, best conceptions, so +that the external impulse appeared only as the momentum given to an +artistic inspiration. It must at the same time be remembered that Mozart +was not fond of writing, and generally waited until the last moment to +give shape to his ideas. He was occasionally, therefore, late with his +compositions, as with the sonata for Strinasacchi (Vol. II., p. 337), or +had only time to write the parts without scoring them (Vol. II., pp.318, +366), or scarcely allowed the copyist time to finish his work (Vol. II., +p. 327); it is only necessary to look through his Thematic Catalogue +to see that most of his compositions were written as short a time as +possible before they were actually wanted. His + + +{DISTASTE TO WRITING.} + +(413) + +father, who, as a man of business, considered the proper disposition of +time as a matter of vital importance, often called his son's attention +to this failing. "If you will examine your conscience closely," he +writes (December 11, 1777), "you will find that procrastination is your +besetting sin and when Wolfgang was at work on "Idomeneo" in Munich, he +warned him "not to procrastinate" (November 18, 1781). After his stay +in Vienna, convinced that his son was in this respect unchanged for the +better, he writes to Marianne, on hearing from Wolfgang that he was over +head and ears at work on the "Nozze di Figaro" (November 11, 1785), "He +has procrastinated and thrown away his time after his usual habit, until +now he is forced to set to work in earnest, in compliance with Count +Rosenberg's commands." + +It cannot be denied that Leopold Mozart was right, and that a judicious +and methodical distribution of time is as desirable in an artist or a +genius as in any one else; it is true also that perseverance and +care may enable even an artist to overcome his inclination to +procrastination. + +But a glance at the extraordinary fertility of Mozart's genius, at the +burning zeal and intensity with which he worked, will suffice to show +the injustice of accusing him of idleness, or of never working unless he +was actually driven to it. He was perfectly justified in writing to his +father from Vienna (May 26, 1781): "Believe me, I do not love idleness, +but rather work." The father's injustice was the result of a want of +comprehension of the peculiar creative process of his son's genius. He +did not appreciate the activity and industry of his mind, because it +made no show, and, indeed, often hid itself behind a careless demeanour; +he failed to perceive that the disinclination to write generally arose +from the feeling that the workings of the mind were not yet in a shape +to be expressed by the pen. + +A conception of Mozart's work, almost equally mistaken, is that which +takes as a measure of his genius his wonderfully rapid production, which +often made his grasp of an artistic idea coincident with his embodiment +of it in music. The overture to "Don Giovanni" is most often quoted as +an example of this extraordinary speed. Niemetschek says (p. 84):-- + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(414) + +Mozart wrote "Don Juan" at Prague in 1787; it was finished, rehearsed, +and announced for performance in two days' time, before the overture was +begun to be written. The anxiety of his friends, increasing every hour, +appeared to entertain him; the more apprehensive they became, the less +he would consent to hurry himself. It was not until the night before +the performance, after spending the merriest evening imaginable, that +he went to his room at near midnight, began to write, and completed the +admirable masterpiece in a few hours. + +This very credible account is corroborated by Mozart's wife:[1]-- + +The evening before the performance of "Don Juan" at Prague, the dress +rehearsal having already taken place, he said to his wife that he would +write the overture at night, if she would sit with him and make him some +punch to keep his spirits up. This she did, and told him tales about +Aladdin's Lamp, Cinderella, &c., which made him laugh till the tears +came. But the punch made him sleepy, so that he dozed when she left off, +and only worked as long as she told tales. At last, the excitement, the +sleepiness, and the frequent efforts not to doze off, were too much for +him, and his wife persuaded him to go to sleep on the sofa, promising to +wake him in an hour. But he slept so soundly that she could not find it +in her heart to wake him until two hours had passed. It was then five +o'clock; at seven o'clock the overture was finished and in the hands of +the copyist. + +This musical myth has received a stronger colouring in the account of +the elder Genast, then a young actor at Prague. According to him, Mozart +partook so freely of the hospitalities of a certain gentleman on the +evening in question that Genast and a friend brought him home, laid +him senseless on his bed, and themselves went to sleep on the sofa. +On awakening, they heard Mozart lustily singing, as he composed his +overture, and "listened in reverential silence as the immortal +ideas developed themselves."[2] A good instance, this, of the way to +manufacture an anecdote. + +Niemetschek, who had previously remarked with justice that Mozart's work +was always ready in his head before he sat down to his writing-table, +was no doubt of the correct opinion that the overture was only written +down in this haste, not composed. Whether the wife believed this or not + + + +{CONSCIENTIOUS INDUSTRY.} + +(415) + +is doubtful, since she adds ingenuously: "Some will recognise the +dozings and rousings in the music of the overture." An evident +repetition of some one else's words, and a very ingenious idea. One can +only say with Hoffman: "Some people are fools!"[3] + +An unprejudiced examination soon disposes of the not only foolish but +detrimental idea[4] that rapidity of workmanship is a sign of true +genius; but it is not by any means so easy a task to gain a clear +and comprehensive insight into the workings of an artist's nature.[5] +Fortunately for our purpose, however, averse as Mozart was to talk much +of himself or his compositions, he has left us characteristic traits and +expressions sufficient to enable us to realise his individualities in +this respect.[6] + +It is a matter of universal experience that the great men of every art +and science, who have left any enduring proofs of their genius, have +worked the more zealously and the more earnestly in proportion as their +genius surpassed that of other men. That this holds true of Mozart no +one who has studied his life and works will wish to deny. In his youth, +as long as he remained under the direct control of his father, his +studies were regular and severe. And as a man and a fully developed +artist he had no ambition to be considered one who threw off his +compositions with the carelessness of genius, or who was ashamed of +his honest efforts and labours. His dedication of his quartets to +Haydn speaks of them as the fruit of long and painful labour, and in a +conversation with the orchestral conductor Kucharz, at Prague, + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(416) + +before the performance of "Don Giovanni," he expressed himself as +follows: "I have spared neither labour nor pains to produce something +worthy of the reputation of Prague. It would be a great mistake to +imagine that my art is an easy matter to me. I assure you, my dear +friend, no one has given more trouble to the study of composition than +myself. It would not be easy to find a celebrated musician whose works +I have not often and laboriously studied." And in point of fact, the +narrator continues, even when he had attained to classical perfection, +the works of great masters were always to be seen lying on his desk.[7] +We have already seen how eagerly and with what good result he studied +Bach and Handel, when once Van Swieten had given him the impetus. +Rochlitz[8] declares that he was as familiar with the works of Handel as +if he had been all his life director of the Ancient Concerts in London. +He had arrived in Leipzig just after arranging "Acis and Galatea" and +the "Messiah" for Van Swieten, and the impressions of these works were +fresh upon him. "Handel," Rochlitz heard him say, "knows better than +any of us what will make an effect; when he chooses he strikes like a +thunderbolt."[9] He admired not only Handel's choruses, but many of his +arie and solos, which were not thought much of at that time. "Although +he is often prosy, after the fashion of his time," said he, "there is +always something in his music."[10] + +At Leipzig Mozart became acquainted with the vocal compositions of +Sebastian Bach. Doles made the St. Thomas choir sing him the wonderful +eight-part motett, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied." His surprise at +the flow of melody, wave upon wave, passed all bounds; he listened with +rapt attention, and exclaimed with delight: "That is indeed + + +{METHOD OF WORKING.} + +(417) + +something to take a lesson from!" When he heard that the St. Thomas +school possessed several other motetts by Bach, he begged to see them, +and no score being accessible he surrounded himself with the parts, and +was buried in study until he had worked them all out; then he asked for +copies of the motetts.[11] His interest in Benda's monodramas (Vol. II., +p. 74) and his expressions on the importance of French opera, prove +that he had profited by the study of living masters; all his works bear +traces of the kind of influence which is exercised upon a genial and +receptive nature by the great performances of others. + +Of a different kind to these general preparatory studies, is that which +may be properly be called the labour of production: such a technical +skill and perfection as enables an artist to clothe his ideas in +form. It is impossible in any art (and more especially so in music) +to separate absolutely form and substance, and to treat each as a +self-sufficing element, and equally impossible to divide at any given +point the creative, inventive force of an artistic production from its +formative, executive force. The process of production, whether physical +or mental, is a mystery to mankind; whence and how the artist is +inspired as by a lightning flash with an idea, he knows himself as +little as he can trace in his completed work the actual momentum of its +conception. + +The characteristics of the gradual formation and perfection of artistic +ideas vary greatly in different artists; even in great and highly +organised natures the mental powers are variously endowed and developed. +Statements as to the easy or painful, rapid or deliberate, methods of +working of different artists, vague and unsatisfactory in themselves, +are for the most part the result of superficial observation and +knowledge. It is of little consequence whether an artist at his work +is easily distracted by external impressions, or whether he pursues his +train of thought undisturbed by what is going on around him. It is of +little consequence whether an artist feels necessitated or has made it +his habit, to regulate his intellectual labours, and to give a written + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(418) + +form to every creative impulse, or whether he renounces external aids, +and shapes, proves, elaborates and connects his ideas in his own +mind only. That which is of consequence, that which no true artist is +without, is the power to carry on a train of thought from its earliest +germs to its full development, unhindered by interruptions and +distractions; and the further power to realise the idea of the whole at +every point, as the determining element of the details of conception and +form. It is difficult to know whether to admire more the steady flow +of invention and form as it proceeds from some minds, or the gradual +evolution of a unique self-contained whole out of an apparent waste of +disconnected ideas which is characteristic of others. Mozart displayed +from every point of view an exceptionally happy organisation. His +copious and easily excited productive power was supported by a delicate +sense of form, which was developed to such perfection by thorough and +varied study that he employed the technicalities of musical form as if +by a natural instinct. In addition to this he possessed the gift of so +detaching his mind from what was going on around him that he could work +out his ideas even to the minutest detail; his wonderful memory +enabling him to retain in its completeness whatever he had thus inwardly +elaborated, and to reproduce it at any moment in a tangible form. + +The impulse which drives an artist to production is seldom consciously +felt by himself and is never capable of definition. In most cases this +signifies but little, for external impulse usually furnishes only the +occasion for a work of art, and even when the impulse happens to be a +visible one our attention is concentrated on the creation which it +has called forth. This is especially true of music, which draws its +immediate inspiration neither from nature nor from the world of thought. +It would be of the highest interest to follow the process by means of +which impressions made on the artist's mind produce well-defined +musical ideas. This, however, is impossible; the idea and its musical +development are simultaneous efforts of the mind; the work of art thus +called into being cannot be immediately referred to any impulse from +without. + + +{METHOD OF WORKING.) + +(419) + +Nor is it by any means essential that it should. It is of far greater +psychological interest to consider those characteristics of the artist +which give a clearer insight into his disposition and ways of feeling, +although it may not be possible to trace them in the details of his +works. Thus we are told that the sight of beautiful nature stirred +Mozart's productive powers to activity. Rochlitz writes on Con-stanze's +authority:[12]-- + +When he was travelling with his wife through beautiful scenery, he used +to gaze earnestly and in silence on the scene before him; his usually +absent and thoughtful expression would brighten by degrees, and he would +begin to sing, or rather to hum, finally breaking out with: "If I could +only put the subject down on paper!" And, when I sometimes said that he +could do so if he pleased, he went on: "Yes, of course, all in proper +form! What a pity it is that one's work must all be hatched in one's own +room!" + +He always endeavoured to pass the summer in the country or where there +was a garden; it is well known that it was chiefly in a garden that he +wrote "Don Juan" in Prague and the "Zauberflöte" in Vienna; and in 1758, +having taken a country residence for the summer, he wrote to Puchberg +(June 27): "I have done more in the ten days that I have been here than +I should have done in two months anywhere else." This love of nature is +not surprising in a man of Mozart's healthy tone of mind, who had been +brought up amid the beautiful surroundings of Salzburg. But he was by no +means wedded to these, or to any other influences from without. Wherever +he was he was incessantly occupied with musical thoughts and labours. +"You know," he writes to his father (Vol. II., p. 43), "that I am, so to +speak, steeped in music--that it is in my mind the whole day, and that +I love to dream, to study, to reflect upon it." Those who knew him well +could not fail to be aware of this. His sister-in-law Sophie describes +him well:[13]-- + +He was always good-humoured, but thoughtful even in his best moods, +looking one straight in the face, and always speaking with reflection, +whether the talk was grave or gay; and yet he seemed always to be +carrying on a deeper train of thought. Even when he was washing his + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(420) + +hands in the morning, he never stood still, but walked up and down the +room humming, and buried in thought. At table he would often twist up +a corner of the table-cloth, and rub his upper lip with it, without +appearing in the least to know what he was doing, and he sometimes +made extraordinary grimaces with his mouth. His hands and feet were in +continual motion, and he was always strumming on something--his hat, his +watch-fob, the table, the chairs, as if they were the clavier. + +Karajan tells me that his barber used to relate in after-years how +difficult it was to dress his hair, since he never would sit still; +every moment an idea would occur to him, and he would run to the +clavier, the barber after him, hair-ribbon in hand. We have already +observed that musical ideas occupied him during all bodily exercises, +such as riding, bowls, and billiard-playing; his timidity in riding +may have arisen from the frequent distraction of his attention from the +management of his horse. General conversation, as Frau Haibl says, +did not disturb his mental labours, and his brother-in-law Lange was +particularly struck by the fact that when he was engaged on his most +important works he took more than his usual share in any light or +jesting talk that was going on; this resulted from an involuntary +impulse to find a counterpoise for his intellectual activity. Even when +music was going on, provided it did not particularly interest him, he +had the power of carrying on his own musical thoughts, and of ignoring +the music he heard, as completely as any other disturbance. His elder +sister-in-law, Frau Hofer, told Neukomm that sometimes at the opera +Mozart's friends could tell by the restless movements of his hands, +by his look, and the way in which he moved his lips, as if singing +or whistling, that he was entirely engrossed by his internal musical +activity. + +The abstraction and absorption of men of genius appears natural and +comprehensible, and is respected even by those whose intellectual +activity is not concentrated in the same way. But few are able to enter +into the workings of a mind which is ever conceiving and shaping ideas +in its hidden recesses, without severing its connection with what is +going on around; such a mind has a sort of double existence, and appears +able to follow two paths leading in different + + +{MENTAL LABOUR AND PREOCCUPATION.} + +(421) + +directions at the same time. If, as sometimes happens, the outer +activity fails to keep pace with the inner, a superficial observer +possesses himself of this fact, and makes it the basis of his judgments, +leaving out of account the inner and true activity of which the outer +is but a manifestation. Even Mozart's father failed to comprehend his +peculiar organisation, and refused to recognise any results of his +labour but those which were written down, and which had thus, after a +long and uninterrupted chain of intellectual exertions, received the +seal of their artistic completion. To Mozart himself, on the contrary, +this part of his labour seemed unimportant and even burdensome, his +productive powers having little share in it. He postponed it as long as +possible, not only because he wished to retain his power over the work +which occupied him, until it was fully matured in his own mind, but also +because he took far more pleasure in creating than in transcribing. It +cannot be denied that he sometimes postponed this least congenial part +of his task too long. To the methodical man of business this appears +all the more blamable, since Mozart was always able at need to execute +commissions accurately and punctually; to speak of idleness, or of +forced industry, shows complete ignorance of the man. It is true that +Mozart laid himself open to the imputation by the speed at which he +wrote when he actually set to work; those who observed this could not +conceive why a man with such "gifts of Providence" did not "compose," as +people say, from morning to night. His wife said truly:[14] "The greater +industry of his later years was merely apparent, because he wrote +down more. He was always working in his head, his mind was in constant +motion, and one may say that he never ceased composing." Although his +wife was constantly called on by his admirers to urge him to work, +she considered it her duty far oftener to restrain and moderate his +activity. + +The wonderful harmony of different artistic qualities in Mozart, which +Rossini expressed so finely by saying that Mozart was the only musician +who had as much genius as + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(422) + +knowledge and as much knowledge as genius, may be traced in many +particulars. The more subordinate power of grasping the idea of a +strange composition at a glance, and of executing it on the spot, he +possessed as a matter of course. His playing at sight has already been +noted many times (Vol. I., pp. 37, log, 363, 365), and his criticism of +Sterkel and Vogler show his own view of the matter (Vol. I., p. 387). +"It must be," Umlauf said, as Mozart writes to his father (October 6, +1782), "that Mozart has the devil in his head and his fingers--he played +my opera, which is so badly written that even I cannot read it, as if +he had composed it himself." To this power of seeing at a glance the +details and whole conception of a musical work was added a marvellous +memory, capable of retaining all that was so seen. As a boy he gave +proof of this by his transcription of the Miserere (Vol. I., p. 119); +in later years he used to play his concertos by heart when he was +travelling; not merely one or another that he had practised, but any or +all; he was known to play a concerto from memory that he had not seen +for long, because he had forgotten to bring the principal part.[15] At +Prague he wrote the trumpet and drum parts of the second finale in "Don +Juan" without a score, brought them himself into the orchestra, and +showed the performers a place where there would certainly be a mistake, +only he could not say whether there would be four bars too much or too +little; the mistake was found just as he had said.[16] But this proves +only the power of remembering what was finished and impressed on the +mind. A more remarkable instance of musical memory was his writing +only the violin part of a sonata for piano and violin to perform with +Strinasacchi (Vol. II., p. 337), and playing the piano part from his +head without ever having heard the piece; or writing a composition +at once in parts, without having scored it (Vol. II., p. 366). This +displays the astonishing clearness and precision with which he grasped +and retained compositions he + + +{MENTAL POWERS AND METHOD.} + +(423) + +had once thought out, even in their minutest details, and we can now +account for the rapidity of his transcription from the fact of its being +mere transcription. External distractions, so far from annoying him, +served to divert his mind during the mechanical labour with his pen.[17] +He made Constanze tell him stories, or played bowls; his wife tells us +herself how she was confined of her first child while he was composing +the second of his quartets, dedicated to Haydn (421 K.). This was in +the summer of 1783, and he sat at work in the same room where she lay; +indeed, he generally worked in her room during her frequent illnesses. +When she complained of pain, he would come to her to cheer and console, +resuming his writing as soon as she was calm. This is a striking proof +how unshackled Mozart's musical activity was by external circumstances; +it is not given to many to remain so completely master of their +ideas and powers during an event which would naturally appeal to the +ten-derest feelings of the heart. Still more striking is his expression +to his sister when he sends her the prelude and fugue before mentioned +(Vol. II., p. 321). He apologises for the prelude being placed +improperly after the fugue: "The reason was," he says, "that I had +already composed the fugue, and wrote it down while I was thinking out +the prelude." + +Such mental powers as these reduced the mere writing to an almost +mechanical operation; nevertheless, he did not rely so completely as he +might have done on his memory, but made occasional notes for his better +convenience and certainty. Rochlitz tells us, no doubt on Constanze's +authority:[18]-- + +Mozart, when in company with his wife or those who put no restraint on +him, and especially during his frequent carriage journeys, used not only +to exercise his fancy by the invention of new melodies, but occupied his +intellect and feeling in arranging and elaborating such melodies, often +humming or singing aloud, growing red in the face and suffering no +interruption. The briefest indications in black and white sufficed to +preserve these studies in his memory; his easily kindled imagination, +his complete mastery of the resources of his art, and his extraordinary + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(424) + +musical memory needed little aid; he used to keep scraps of music paper +at hand (when travelling, in the side-pocket of the carriage) for such +fragmentary notes and reminders;[19] these scraps,carefully preserved +in a case, were a sort of journal of his travels to him, and the whole +proceeding had a sort of sacredness to his mind which made him very +averse to any interference with it. + +These notes, having served their purpose, seem to have been thought +unworthy of preservation; the few that remain are interesting and +suggestive. The sketch which is given in facsimile of Denis's ode (Vol. +II., p. 370) gives an outline of the whole work in writing so hasty as +scarcely to be recognised for Mozart's. The voice part is written entire +as well as the bass of the accompaniment, and the other parts have all +their characteristics so clearly noted that there could be no doubt as +to their further elaboration. It is evident that the composition was +finished in Mozart's brain when the sketch was written, so that it does +not appear as one attempt among several to give shape to his conception, +but as an aid to the memory when it should be necessary to write down +the whole in detail. Similar, but still slighter, is the sketch for one +of the songs in "L' Oca del Cairo," which is given in facsimile in Jul. +André's edition in pianoforte score. Here again the voice part is given +from beginning to end, but the bass is not shown, and the accompaniment +only here and there (once with the direction that the clarinets are to +be used). The piece was simple enough to require very slight reminders +for its elaboration. It would not be easy to decide whether such a +sketch should be considered as the result of much previous reflection +and study, or whether it was the immediate fruit of a moment of +inspiration. + +These two sketches never having been elaborated, so far as we are aware, +we can make no comparison which will show how far such sketches were +modified before the completion of the work. There is considerable +difference between the first hasty sketch of the terzet (5) from the +"Sposo Deluso" (430 K.), which Jul. André has given in the + + +{SKETCHES.} + +(425) + +preface to his pianoforte edition, and the later elaboration of it. +Nothing remains but the first motif--[See Page Image] + +but so differently applied that this sketch cannot have been taken as +the point of departure for the working-out, but must be considered as an +earlier and rejected conception. On the other hand, the sketches for a +song from "Idomeneo" (Vol. II., p. 148) and for a tenor song (420 K.) +are almost identical in the voice part with the score as it stands. + +Peculiar interest attaches to Sketch I., given in facsimile. The three +first lines are noted for a clavier composition; then follows the sketch +of a terzet (434 K.) for two bass voices and a tenor, from an opera +buffa, on which Mozart was apparently at work in 1783. A fair copy of +the work is partially preserved, and gives an idea of the way in which +Mozart arranged his scores. The sketch contains only the voice parts, +with slight hints for the accompaniment, showing how in one place the +first idea was rejected and then again resumed. It is evident from +the way in which the space is employed that the notes were made very +hastily. + +The score, on the contrary, is a fair copy of the work accidentally +left unfinished. It has the proper number of parts for the voices and +orchestra, with the corresponding title before each. The ritornello is +first given, which is long, because it serves as an introduction to the +first scene of the opera. It is formed of motifs which recur later, and +it is plain that this independent introduction was written after the +completion of the terzet, in which the motifs have each their special +signification. The principal parts (first violin and bass), are written +in full, but only those parts of the wind instruments in which they have +independent motifs; all that was intended to give colouring and shading +to this simple outline is omitted. The voice parts are all inserted in +proper order, and the bass is given in full; but there are few hints for +the accompaniment. It is all written firmly and neatly, showing +plainly enough that it was finished. The deviations from the sketch are +unimportant + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(426) + +in the bass voice, more striking in the tenor, where the primary +design of the melody remains, but the elaboration is modified and the +conclusion lengthened. Where the voices are together nothing has been +altered, so far as we can discover. The first sketch breaks off a +few bars sooner than the score, which itself is a comparatively small +fragment of the whole terzet. + +It is evident, therefore, that the true artistic work was done before +the first sketch was made, and that the elaboration of the latter into +the score was no mere mechanical adoption of the motif (which seems to +have been rejected upon critical revision and, so to speak, bom +again), but the final reduction to form of what was already complete +in conception. This is still more the case in the elaboration of the +accompaniment in detail; the well-defined outline which is given keeps +it within certain limits without imposing on it any hampering restraint. + +Further instances may be found in those works of which the plans of the +scores, generally unelaborated, are preserved. Particularly instructive +are the unelaborated movements of the Mass in C minor (427 K.) and of +the "Requiem" (626 K.) in André's edition; also the pianoforte score of +the duet (384 K.) from the "Entführung" and the unfinished opera "L' Oca +del Cairo," edited by Jul. André, are examples of similar sketches. +They possess peculiar interest to students, since they show those points +which Mozart considered as containing the germ of the whole conception. +The different stages of the elaboration can be traced in most of +Mozart's autograph scores. The voices and bass are invariably written +first, and enough of the accompaniment to show its characteristic +points; this fact can be recognised, even in scores afterwards fully +elaborated, by the differences in ink and handwriting, which is +generally more hasty in the elaboration than in the earlier sketch. When +once this was made, the elaboration was often long deferred; the whole +of the first act of "L' Oca del Cairo" was thus projected, and, the +design of the opera being abandoned, was never elaborated; so, too, all +the movements of the "Requiem," from the Dies irse to the Quam olim were +written entire for the voices with a figured bass, while the + + +{ALTERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.} + +(427) + +instrumentation was only suggested. He waited for time and inclination +to continue the work thus begun, and needed more urging to it than to +any other, for once having fixed the outline of his design, it required +a mere mechanical effort to reproduce it in his mind with details of +form and colour. A striking example is that mentioned on p. 360 (Vol. +II.), where, by the figuring of the bass, he supplied an aid to his +memory of a peculiar harmonic succession which perhaps flashed across +him at the moment of transcription in his compositions. + +Important alterations were seldom made by Mozart, unless at the instance +of the singer or the instrumentalist. He sent his father the score of +the "Entführung" with the remark that there were many erasures, because +the score had to be copied at once, and he had therefore given free +play to his ideas, and then altered and curtailed them before giving +the score to be written; it is evident from this that the alterations +were almost all made with reference to external circumstances. The +improvements made as the work proceeded were usually only trifling, +such as modifications in pianoforte passages, or unimportant turns of +expression in vocal parts. Thus, for instance, the close of the Count's +song in "Figaro" was originally simpler--[See Page Image] + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(428) + +In the duet for the two girls in "Cosi fan Tutte" (4), Dorabella's part +had the bars--[See Page Images] + +The decided heroic style of the first version, which would be fitting +enough for Fiordiligi, is thus toned down, and an expression of greater +elegance given to the passage. + +It is worth remarking that the characteristic motif of Donna Anna's song +in "Don Giovanni"-- + +Or sai chi l' o-no- re ra - pi - re a me vol-se, chi fu il tra - di - to +-re, was originally-- + +Or sai chi l'o-no-re ra - pi - re a me vol-se, chi fu il tra - di - to - +re, and every one must feel how greatly it has gained by the alteration. +In every case Mozart's self-criticism has been founded on true feeling +and discrimination, even when it has not been called for on definite +technical grounds. In the Countess's song in "Figaro" (19) the +first division of the allegro, from bar eight, concluded originally +thus:--[See Page Image] + +The phrase as it is now known was written underneath and the bass +scratched out. In the further course of the allegro the three bars-- + + +{ALTERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.} + +(429) + +were originally simply repeated after the interlude, and then went +on:--[See Page Images] + +Mozart appears to have felt when he surveyed the whole song that such +an untroubled expression of a fresh joyous impulse was not altogether +appropriate to the character of the Countess, and he therefore inserted +seven bars on the repetition of the motif, which give the passage an +altogether different colour:-- + +The strongly accented change to C minor expresses such a depth of sorrow +and yearning pathos that the lively tone of the allegro seems to be +covered with a veil, and the whole emphasis of the song falls upon this +place. Certainly, none would have suspected this passage of being +an interpolation. The concluding bars of the Andante of the C major +symphony (551 K.) originally ran thus:-- + +How beautifully this passage is replaced by the eleven closing bars, +which now lead back to the chief theme, and give emphasis and dignity +to the close! In the terzet from "Tito" (14) the andantino originally +closed with a simple passage for the strings:-- + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(430) + +This is now replaced by a passage divided among all the +instruments--[See Page Images] + +which, with its agitated motion, is more sharply characteristic of the +situation. All these are examples, not of improvements to a finished +work, but of a free act of production giving a new disposition to the +passages in their relation to the whole work. But Mozart sometimes +hesitated at the moment of decision, and made repeated experiments +before he was satisfied, as in the case of the conclusion of Susanna's +charming song in "Figaro," which seems to belong so naturally to its +position that one cannot imagine it other than it is; yet the sketches +and alterations of the original show that many earlier experiments +were made. Worthy of note also are the two bars in the overture to the +"Zauberflote" (p. 10, André), in which the clarinet leads the repetition +of the second subject-- + +and which Mozart, with just discrimination, has struck out of the +finished work. + +It is a curious fact that Mozart was sometimes uncertain as to his +rhythm. The quartet in "Cosi fan Tutte" (21) was originally written:-- + +At the eighth bar Mozart saw that this was incorrect, and altered the +first bars-- + +and continued it so. There is an exactly similar case in the duet in the +"Zauberflote" (8) which Mozart wrote at first thus-- + + +{ALTERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.} + +(431) + +and did not find out his mistake until quite the end, when he carefully +scratched out all the bar lines and put in the correct ones:--[See Page +Images] + +Again, in Sesto's air in "Tito" (19), the adagio originally began-- + +but the bar lines were afterwards erased and fresh ones supplied in red +chalk, making the first bar full. Another very singular mistake in the +duet in the "Zauberflöte" consists in the omission in the second and +third bars of the two chords for clarinets and horns, which Mozart has +evidently merely forgotten to transcribe. Now and then, but very rarely, +important alterations are made in the instrumentation of his works. +One instance occurs in the introduction to the "Zauberflöte," at the +beginning of which the trumpets and drums were in C, and were so carried +on to the entrance of the three ladies; then Mozart seems to +have thought that trumpets and drums could be used with effect as +accompaniment, and he has struck through all that he had previously +written, and noted the trumpets and drums upon a loose sheet in E flat; +he has then continued them for seven bars as an accompaniment to the +opening trio. At the beginning of Leporello's great songs in "Don +Giovanni" (1,4) trumpets and drums were indicated, but they were +afterwards struck out when it came to be performed. In a long comic air, +which was intended for "Cosi fan Tutte" (584 K.), he has struck out the +horn part, after writing the whole of it. In Dorabella's air (28) the +fundamental bass of those parts where only wind instruments are now +employed was intrusted to the double-bass; Mozart afterwards struck this +out, and expressly noted "senza basso." In the second finale + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(432) + +of the "Zauberflöte" the _piano_ chords which follow Pamina's words, +"Ich muss ihn sehen" were first given by the strings, but flutes and +clarinets were afterwards substituted. In the G minor symphony he at +first intended to have four horns, but after a few bars he struck them +out, and limited himself to two. In the terzet in the "Zauberflöte" +(20), the first bar of the accompaniment was given to the violins, +thus--[See Page Image] + +which was afterwards erased, and a single crotchet used on the +unaccented part of the bar, with great gain to the effect. But these are +solitary instances. The individual tone-colouring of the instruments +is an essential element of musical construction, which cannot be added +afterwards, but is contemporaneous with the conception, and has its +own share in the working-out of the musical idea. When, therefore, the +composer develops his work in his own mind, he hears not only certain +abstract sounds, but definite individual tones embodied in the voices +and instruments; the whole image glows with vivid colouring in his +mind, and only needs to receive its outward form. Besides, it must be +remembered that Mozart himself created the orchestra as it was employed +with increasing effect from "Idomeneo" onwards; the full use of wind +instruments, their combination with each other and with the strings; +the consequent radical change of colouring in the instrumentation as +a whole, and the wealth of charming detail in the blending of the +tone-colours, are all due to Mozart.[20] He had never heard the effects +he strove to produce; they existed in the orchestra, it is true, as the +statue exists in the marble; but just as the sculptor must have seen +with his spiritual eye what he strives to reproduce in the stone, so +Mozart can have heard only with his spiritual ear the sounds which he +drew from his orchestra.[21] + + +{SKETCHES.} + +(433) + +The alterations which have been mentioned are not to be considered as +selected from among many similar instances, they are the only ones of +any consequence with which my researches have acquainted me. In forming +our idea of Mozart's method of writing his score, we may remark further, +that he did not content himself with such hasty outlines beforehand as +might suggest the course of the whole by a few touches, but sketched out +fully those parts where he thought well to give particular attention +to the details. Canons, fugues, passages in counterpoint, with a +complicated disposition of parts or some other difficulty, were worked +out upon scraps of music paper or sheets which had been previously used +but not quite filled, and then transferred to the score. An accurate +sketch for the first finale in "Don Giovanni," for instance, where the +three dance melodies occur together in different measures, was shown to +me by Al. Fuchs, who had procured one such sketch from each of Mozart's +great operas. There was another also of the three-part canon in the +second finale of "Cosi fan Tutte," in which only the canon, not the +voice part belonging to it, was noted. There exists also, in addition +to the rough draft of the score of "L' Oca del Cairo," sketches of +those parts of the quartet (6) and finale (7) which demand particular +attention on account of the contrapuntal disposition of the parts. +Unfortunately but few of these sketches have been preserved, but those +few show Mozart's method very clearly, and leave no doubt that they were +made in order that his conception might be fully developed and arranged +in his own mind before its final reduction to writing. They testify, +too, of the thoughtfulness and deliberation with which he worked, of +the severe demands which he made upon himself, and the conscientiousness +which prevented his trusting to the lucky inspiration of the moment or +to his own well-tried readiness of resource. Our idea of Mozart as +an artist is no longer that which has been so commonly received and +admired, and which shows us a spendthrift of his artistic powers, who +was only driven by dire necessity to collect the fruits which his +genius cast unbidden into his lap. The prerogative of genius is not a +dispensation from labour and painful exertion, but + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(434) + +the power of attaining the highest aims of such labour, and of +obliterating every trace of effort in the perfection of the work. + +The external characteristics of Mozart's scores show also great care for +order and clearness. His handwriting was small, but though often rapid, +and sometimes hasty, always clear, decided, and individual.[22] The +smaller details, in which copyist's errors might easily creep in, are +specially cared for; all the instructions for delivery are carefully +given in each part. In short, Mozart's scores leave an impression, not +of pedantry, which magnifies what is unimportant and loses time in an +exaggerated regard for method and uniformity, but of a well-considered +order and careful arrangement of details in their due relation to the +whole work. + +Admirably illustrative of Mozart's method, as we have endeavoured to +portray it, are the numerous unfinished compositions of which frequent +mention has been made; many of these were found after his death,[23] +and some are preserved in the Mozarteum at Salzburg. Among these rough +draughts of scores are several beginnings of masses belonging to his +Salzburg days, as also some songs and many unfinished instrumental +compositions, but by far the greater part were written in Vienna. Among +them we may note:-- + +6 fragments of string quintets. + +2 quintets for clarinet and strings. + +1 quartet for English horn and strings. + +9 drafts of violin quartets. + +9 drafts of pianoforte concertos. + +1 pianoforte quartet. + +2 drafts of pianoforte trios. + +1 sonata for pianoforte and violoncello. + +2 sonatas for pianoforte and violin. + +4 movements for two pianofortes. + +9 movements for the pianoforte.!!! + +These are none of them roughly sketched drafts, but fair copies of +unfinished scores, the completion of which was prevented by outward +circumstances. Again we meet with + + +{UNFINISHED COMPOSITIONS.} + +(435) + +confirmation of the fact that Mozart never began to write until his +composition was in all essential points completed in his own mind. When +only a few bars are written they offer a perfected melody, a motif only +requiring its further development. When the sketches are longer they +form a well-rounded, continuous whole, that is evidently interrupted, +not because the continuation is not ready to hand, but because some +chance has prevented its further transcription. It may be plainly +discerned also that not only are detached ideas put into shape, but the +different characteristic traits of execution are indicated in the usual +way, so that the chief effects and capabilities of the motifs may be +clearly inferred. + +It appears as if Mozart, when once interrupted in the transcription of +a composition, was very loth to return to it again. That he might have +done so cannot for a moment be doubted. His memory was infallible; but +his interest was concentrated on the work with which he was concerned +at the moment. He was easily impelled to write what he had already +completed in his head, and this led him naturally to the next piece of +work; to return to what he considered as over and done with was contrary +to his nature and habit. There is no reason whatever to suppose that any +of these sketches, preliminary notes, or unfinished compositions were +ever subsequently made use of. This not only testifies of the wealth and +ease of his productivity, which scorned to borrow even from himself, +but it proves that his creations proceeded immediately from spontaneous +impulses, each having independent birth, and owing its development to +the singular fecundity of his artistic nature. The individual truth +and fresh life of Mozart's works are founded in this natural spring of +ever-welling spontaneity. Their artistic perfection rests on the +skill with which the conception is developed; but in what consists the +peculiar charm and beauty which is acknowledged and enjoyed by us all +as inseparable from Mozart's music is, and will ever remain, an unsolved +mystery. + +However carefully Mozart, as a rule, prepared his compositions before +writing them, we, who are acquainted with his nature and education, can +scarcely doubt that he was + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(436) + +able on occasion to compose as he wrote. Such a song as that which he +wrote in the tavern for Frau von Keess cannot well have been ready in +his head. When he was in Prague at the beginning of 1787 he promised +Count Joh. Pachta to write a country dance for a public ball, but failed +to produce it. At last the Count invited him to dinner an hour earlier +than his usual time, and when Mozart appeared placed all the requisite +materials before him, and entreated him to compose the dance on the +spot, seeing that it was required for the following day. Mozart set to +work, and before dinner had composed nine country dances, scored +for full orchestra (510 K), which he certainly had not prepared +beforehand.[24] These and similar instances refer to easy pieces in +free form; but we have already seen (Vol. II., p. 366), that he could +improvise canons and double canons of an unusual kind; and what further +proof can be required than reference to his marvellous gift of executive +improvisation? + +In composing Mozart never had recourse to improvisation. "He never came +to the clavier when he was writing." says Niemetschek (p. 82); "his +imagination pictured the whole work when he had once conceived it." +His wife also says naïvely, but graphically: "He never composed at the +clavier, but wrote music like letters, and never tried a movement until +it was finished."[25] When his compositions were completed he used to +rehearse them, singing or playing, with his wife or any one else who +happened to come in. Kelly narrates that Mozart greeted him one evening +with, "I have just written a little duet for 'Figaro.' You shall hear +it." He sat down at the pianoforte, and they sang it together; it was +the duet (16) "Crudel perché finora"; and Kelly often remembered +with keen delight how he had first heard and sung this charming +composition.[26] + + +{IMPROVISATION.} + +(437) + +In one sense, it is true, Mozart felt the necessity for an external vent +to his musical ideas; and for this he had frequent recourse to his +own special instrument, the clavier or pianoforte. "Even in his later +years," says Niemetschek (p. 83), "he often spent half the night at the +piano'[27] these were the hours that witnessed the birth of his divinest +melodies. In the silent calm of night, when there was nothing to +distract the mind, his imagination was kindled into supernatural +activity, and revealed the wealth of melodious sound which lay dormant +in his nature. At such times Mozart was all emotion and music, and +unearthly harmonies flowed from his fingers! Only those who heard him +then could know the depth and extent of his musical genius; his spirit, +freed from every impediment, spread its bold pinions, and soared into +the regions of art." It could scarcely fail to be the case that in such +hours as these the subject of his improvisation should often be the work +of which his mind was full at the time; but it would be a mistake to +consider the improvisation as an express preparation for a subsequent +work, or as the actual source from which it sprang. The improvisation +was the embodiment of the mood of the moment, its form and extent were +limited by the conditions of the instrument on which it was played, and +it could by no means serve as an immediate foundation to a work to +be performed under entirely different conditions and with a definite +object. + +Mozart carefully separated his time for writing and his time for +improvising. To the end of his life he kept to his early habit of +writing in the morning (Vol. II., p. 208), and even when he had been out +the evening before, or had played far into the night, he was accustomed +to begin work at six or seven o'clock; in later days, however, he +indulged himself by writing in bed. After ten he usually gave lessons, +and never returned to the writing-table unless there were urgent +occasion. Such occasion arose often enough, it is + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(438) + +true. When he was composing "Figaro," his father tells Marianne +(November 11, 1785) how he postponed all his pupils until the afternoon, +so as to have the whole morning free for writing, and we have already +seen that he sometimes wrote in the evening, and even at night. Mozart's +marvellous improvisations were not confined to hours of solitude and +calm, nor to the satisfaction of his inner cravings; he showed himself +equally master of the art when the impulse came from without, as was +frequently the case, for people loved to hear him improvise. There is a +peculiar charm in this accomplishment which, while it at once identifies +the artist with his creation, requires the highest concentration of +artistic energy to satisfy the varied conditions on which the production +of a work of art depends. The improvising musician and his audience act +and react upon each other; the latter receive the direct impression of +the artist's individuality and power, and feel themselves, as it were, +let into the secret of his method of producing the works which delight +them, while the former is inspired to fresh efforts of genius by his +consciousness of possessing the sympathy of his hearers. Mozart was +always ready to play when he thought he should give pleasure, but he +improvised in his best vein only "when he spied out among the crowd +surrounding him one or more of the privileged few who were capable +of following the flights of his genius; oblivious of all others, he +addressed the elect in the hieroglyphics of his art, and poured +forth for them alone his richest streams of melody."[28] We have +much contemporary testimony as to the impression made by Mozart's +improvising. Ambros Rieder, who died in 1851 at eighty years of age in +Perch-tolsdorf--an enthusiastic musician and a worthy man--writes in his +"Recollections";[29]-- + + +{IMPROVISATION.} + +(439) + +In my youth I had opportunities of hearing and admiring many +distinguished virtuosi, both on the violin and the harpsichord; but +I cannot describe my amazement and delight in hearing the great and +immortal W. A. Mozart play variations and improvise on the pianoforte +before a numerous and aristocratic audience. It was to me like the gift +of new senses of sight and hearing. The bold flights of his imagination +into the highest regions, and again down to the very depths of the +abyss, caused the greatest masters of music to be lost in amazement and +delight. I still, in my old age, seem to hear the echo of these heavenly +harmonies, and I go to my grave with the full conviction that there can +never be another Mozart.[30] + +And Niemetschek, when an old man, said to Al. Fuchs: "If I dared to pray +the Almighty to grant me one more earthly joy it would be that I might +once again hear Mozart improvise; those who have not heard him can form +no idea of his extraordinary performances."[31] Repeated mention has +already been made of Mozart's readiness and skill in playing "out of +his head," as he used to call it (Vol. I., pp. 385-386). He avoided +the common error of improvising virtuosi in the introduction of long +cadenzas, "making a hash in the cadenza of what had sounded well enough +in the concerto," as Dittersdorf says (Selbstbiogr., p. 47). A new +fashion came into vogue about this time; instead of a long cadenza, a +simple theme was delivered, and then varied according to every rule of +the art; but Mozart used also frequently to improvise a free fantasia in +his concertos (Vol. II., p. 285). Rochlitz narrates[32] how at Leipzig +the audience wished to hear him alone at the close of one of his +concerts, and though he had already played two concertos and an +obbligato scena, and accompanied for nearly two hours-- + +He sat down at once, and played to the delight of all. He began simply +and seriously in C minor--but it is absurd to attempt to describe it. +As he was playing with special reference to the connoisseurs who were +present, he brought the flights of his fancy lower and lower, and closed +with the published variations on "Je suis Lindor." (Vol. II., p. 174). + + +{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.} + +(440) + +Stiepanek, writing of the concert which Mozart gave in Prague (February, +1787), says:-- + +At the close of the concert Mozart improvised on the pianoforte for a +good half-hour, and raised the enthusiasm of the delighted Bohemians +to its highest pitch, so that he was obliged to resume his place at the +instrument in compliance with their storm of applause. His second stream +of improvisation had a still more powerful effect, and the audience +again tumultuously recalled him. Their enthusiasm seemed to inspire +him, and he played as he had never played before, till all at once the +deathlike silence of the listeners was broken by a voice from among them +exclaiming, "Aus 'Figaro'!" whereupon Mozart dashed into the favourite +air, "Non più andrai," and improvised a dozen of the most interesting +and artistic variations upon it, ending his wonderful performance amid a +deafening storm of applause.[33] + +Niemetschek also speaks of this concert (p. 40):-- + +A sweet enchantment seized upon us in listening to Mozart's +improvisation on the pianoforte, which he continued for more than half +an hour, and we gave vent to our delight in a perfect storm of applause. +His playing surpassed anything that could be imagined, uniting all the +qualities of first-rate composition and perfect ease of execution. + +Such moments of inspiration as this gave his countenance an expression +which betrayed the artist within him.[34] At other times, his appearance +was in no way striking or distinguished. His head was somewhat too large +in proportion to his body; his face was pale, though not unpleasing, +but in no way uncommon, and the Mozart family nose asserted itself very +plainly as long as he continued to be thin. His eyes were tolerably +large and well shaped, with good eyelashes and bushy brows, but they +were not bright, and his look was absent and restless. He had a great +dislike to hearing his appearance commented on as insignificant (Vol. +I., p. 381), and was seriously angry once when the Prussian ambassador +gave him a letter of introduction, in which he said that he hoped +Mozart's insignificant personal appearance would cause no prejudice +against him.[35] "This absent creature," says the notice in +Schlichtegroll's "Nekrolog," "became another being as soon as he sat +down to the piano. + + +{MANUAL DEXTERITY.} + +(441) + +His spirit seemed to soar upwards, and his whole mind was absorbed in +what seemed the proper object of his being, the harmony of sound." "His +whole countenance would change," says Niemetschek, "his eye became calm +and collected; emotion spoke from every movement of his muscles, and was +communicated by a sort of intuitive sympathy to his audience." + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXII. + + +[Footnote 1: A. M. Z., I., p. 290; cf. p. 52. Nissen, p. 520.] + +[Footnote 2: Genast, Aus d. Tageb. e. alten Schausp, I., p. 3.] + +[Footnote 3: Hoffmann, Fantasiestücke (Ges. Schr., VII., p. 68). The story has +lately been discussed (cf. Signale, 1862, p. 531).] + +[Footnote 4: C. M. von Weber deduces from his own experience "the ill results +upon the student's youthful mind of these marvellous anecdotes +concerning the masters whom he reverences and strives to follow." +(Lebensb., I., p. 177.)] + +[Footnote 5: Rochlitz has frequently expressed correct views as to Mozart's +method of working, especially in the article "Ein guter Rath Mozarts" +(A. M. Z., XXII., p. 297. Für Freunde der Tonk., II., p. 281).] + +[Footnote 6: A letter from Mozart to a certain Baron von P. upon this subject, +first printed by Rochlitz (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 561), and often +subsequently, is incontestably a fabrication as it stands. As it is +impossible to determine how far it is founded upon truth, it must remain +entirely out of the question.] + +[Footnote 7: Niemetschek, p. 84.] + +[Footnote 8: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 115. Für Freunde der Tonkunst, IV., p. +239.] + +[Footnote 9: Beethoven's expression is well known: "Handel is the unrivalled +master of masters; go and learn from him how with limited resources to +produce such grand results!" (Studien, Anhang, p. 22). Gluck took +Kelly (Reminisc., I., p. 255) into his bedroom, and showed him Handel's +portrait hanging near his bed, which he used reverently to greet each +morning on awaking.] + +[Footnote 10: Haydn declared that Handel was grand in his choruses, but mediocre +in vocal solos (Griesinger, Biog. Not., p. 115).] + +[Footnote 11: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 117.] + +[Footnote 12: A. M. Z., I., p. 147.] + +[Footnote 13: Nissen, p. 627.] + +[Footnote 14: Nissen, p. 694.] + +[Footnote 15: Niemetschek, p. 85. Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 113. Fur Freunde der +Tonkunst, II., p. 287.] + +[Footnote 16: Nissen, p. 560.] + +[Footnote 17: Niemetschek, p. 82.] + +[Footnote 18: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., XXII. p. 298. Für Freunde der Tonkunst, üI., p. +283.] + +[Footnote 19: An old leather case which was used for the purpose was jokingly +called by him his portfolio, for the preservation of his valuable +documents.] + +[Footnote 20: Cf. Niemetschek, p. 73.] + +[Footnote 21: When Stadler once complained to him of an awkward passage, and +wished it altered, Mozart said: "Have you the notes in your instrument?" +"Yes," said he. "Then," answered Mozart, "it is your business to bring +them out." Neukomm told me this anecdote.] + +[Footnote 22: The facsimile of the "Veilchen" affords an instance of Mozart's +handwriting during the time of the Vienna visit.] + +[Footnote 23: The list compiled by Abbé Stadler (Rechtf. der Echth. d. Req., +is given by Nissen (Anh., p. 18), and carefully revised by Köchel +(Anh., 12-109).] + +[Footnote 24: Nissen, p. 561. Bohemia, 1856, No. 22, p. 118. There are four +quadrilles, each with a country dance; some of them are specially named, +"La Favorite," "La Fenice," "La Piramide." In one of them a theme is +delivered by the piccolo and big drum, which Weber has employed as an +Austrian grenadier march in "Kampf und Sieg" (Schr., üI., p. 97). He had +probably heard it in Prague.] + +[Footnote 25: A. M. Z., I., p. 855; Nissen, p. 473.] + +[Footnote 26: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 258,] + +[Footnote 27: "From his childhood," says the article in Schlichtegroll's +Nekrolog, "he preferred playing at night; he seated himself at the +clavier at nine o'clock in the evening, and would remain at it until +midnight, having to be forced away even then; otherwise he would have +played through the whole night."] + +[Footnote 28: So a contemporary asserts (Wien. Allg. Mus. Ztg., 1818, No. 3, +p. 62). Rochlitz speaks of Mozart's humour as one of his special +characteristics (A. M. Z., III., p. 590): "I have heard most of the +distinguished performers on this instrument since Mozart, except +Beethoven; the playing of many of them was admirable, but the +inexhaustible _wit_ of Mozart was never approached by any."] + +[Footnote 29: N. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1856, No. 25.] + +[Footnote 30: Cf. Schink, Litt. Fragm., II., p. 288. An article on Beethoven +says (A. M. Z., I., p. 525): "He shows to the utmost advantage in +improvisation. Since Mozart's death, _who will always remain to my mind +the non plus ultra in this respect_, I have never had so much enjoyment +as from Beethoven."] + +[Footnote 31: Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1861, p. 322.] + +[Footnote 32: A. M. Z., I., p. 113.] + +[Footnote 33: Nissen, p. 517.] + +[Footnote 34: Cf. Nissen, p. 622. Niemetschek, p. 66.] + +[Footnote 35: Nissen, p. 692.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC. + + +THERE can be no reason to doubt what has often been asserted and +maintained with proof, that Mozart was the greatest pianoforte-player +of his time. Although, however, the fame of a virtuoso among his +contemporaries is more brilliant and universal than that of a composer, +yet posterity can form but a vague idea of the performances which were +so enchanting to the hearers. It is impossible to give an accurate +or very intelligible account of Mozart's playing, but it will not be +without interest to note such of its characteristic features as are +still within our grasp. + +"He had small, well-shaped hands," says Niemetschek (p. 66), "and moved +them so gently and naturally over the keys, that the eyes of his hearers +were charmed no less than their ears." Like most pianoforte-players, his +hands used involuntarily to assume the position they would have had in +playing. The notice in Schlichtegroll's "Nekrolog" even observes that +constant practising had rendered his hands awkward in ordinary use, and +that it was only with extreme difficulty that he could cut up his meat +at table! + +"It was wonderful that he could do so much with them, particularly in +left-hand stretches. A great deal of his perfection must be ascribed to +the admirable fingering, which according to his own acknowledgment he +owed to a diligent study of Bach's works."[1] Mozart certainly appears +to have played Bach's clavier music from a very early age (in his + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(442) + +letters to Breitkopf the father frequently orders Bach's last +compositions); and once at a party at Doles', when the conversation +fell upon Bach's playing, Mozart declared: "He is the father; we are the +lads. Those of us who can do anything owe it to him; and whoever does +not admit that is a ------."[2] + +Mozart's criticisms on the playing of Nanette Stein (Vol. I., p. +361) and Vogler (Vol. I., p. 387) prove the value he attached to good +fingering as the foundation of firm and expressive execution. It is +well known that Ph. Em. Bach's[3] practical development of his father's +principles[4] laid the foundation of the present system of the art of +fingering, and it is equally certain that Mozart, and with and after +him Clementi, were the first to tread in the path so marked out.[5] He +insisted mainly that the player should have a "quiet, steady hand," the +natural ease, flexibility, and smooth rapidity of which should be so +cultivated that the passages should "flow like oil" (Vol. I., p. 361); +he did not counsel the practice of _tours de force_ which might be +prejudicial to these qualities. His first requirements were the delivery +of "every note, turn, &c., correctly and decidedly, and with appropriate +expression and taste" (Vol. I., p. 387). He cautions players against +over-rapidity of execution, not only of passages where the harmony is +strictly connected, but also of those where offences against strict time +seem more allowable. He was strongly opposed to violations of time.[6]He +believed (Vol. I., + + +{MOZART AS A VIRTUOSO.} + +(443) + +p. 361) that Nanette Stein would never acquire the power of playing in +time, because she had not been accustomed to it from childhood. His own +playing always excited admiration from his accurate time, never giving +way to a _tempo rubato_ in the left hand, while at the same time playing +with perfect expression and deep feeling--and without making grimaces, +to which he had a great aversion (Vol. I., p. 361). + +He placed correctness first in the list of qualities essential to +first-rate playing, and included among them ease and certainty in the +execution of unusual technical difficulties, delicacy and good taste in +delivery, and, above all, that power of breathing life and emotion into +the music and of so expressing its meaning as to place the performer for +the moment on a level with the creator of the work before him. We +must be content to accept the enthusiastic testimony of the public, of +connoisseurs, and of accomplished fellow-artists,[7] who all agreed +that Mozart indisputably ranked highest among virtuosi, by virtue of his +fulfilment of all these conditions.[8] When we find Clementi declaring +that he never heard any one play so intellectually and gracefully as +Mozart, Dittersdorf finding art and fine taste united in his playing, +and Haydn asserting with tears in his eyes that he could never forget +Mozart's playing, because it came "from the heart" (Vol. II., p. 350), +the simple expressions of such men are more eloquent than the most +emphatic hyperbole. + +The union in Mozart of the virtuoso and the composer caused his +performances as a virtuoso to be more directly influenced by his +compositions than was usually the case. His pianoforte compositions +have left us only an imperfect image of these combined accomplishments, +partly because + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(444) + +the living breath of genius cannot be reproduced, partly because the +greater number of these works were written under the influence of +external circumstances, which denied free scope both to the composer and +the performer.[9] + +Variations upon a well-known theme were at that time a favourite form of +improvisation, so much so that varying and improvising were terms often +used synonymously.[10] It is easy to understand the interest which +even a less educated public took in this form. A simple theme, either +familiar or of a kind to be easily understood, gives the hearers +something to be laid hold of, and it amuses them to recognise and +follow the air in its manifold disguises. The regular development and +elaboration of a motif, obliging constant attention from the hearers in +order to trace the connection of its different parts, was not expected +in these fashionable variations. What was looked for was such a +prominence given to some characteristic elements of the subject (whether +in the harmonic succession, in the rhythm or the melody) as should serve +constantly to suggest it to the mind, while affording a basis for a free +play of musical fancy. Such variations on a given subject may be in +some measure compared with arabesque and similar ornamentations in +architecture, which display complex and fantastic varieties of animal +and vegetable forms, but behind their apparent irregularities maintain a +constant reference to the constructive design. + +Mozart never cultivated any other than this easy style of variation; and +we find a contemporary critic expressing the wish that he would write, +"not only these florid variations, but others in the style of the +two Bachs, with scientific inversions and imitations, and in +counterpoint."[11] But amateurs were fond of the easier form, and he +found frequent occasion to write variations for his pupils or other +friends. He did not care about them himself, and took no pains to have +them published. But finding favour with + + +{PIANOFORTE VARIATIONS.} + +(445) + +the public, they were eagerly sought after and published,[12] often with +many inaccuracies; nor were all genuine that appeared under the name of +Mozart.[13] The following variations belong to the Vienna period, and +probably to the year 1784: + +1. "Unser dummer Pöbel," from Gluck's "Pilgrims of Mecca" (Vol. II., p. +285, 455 K.) + +2. "Come un agnello," from Sarti's "Fra Due Litiganti" (Vol. II., p. 345, +460 K.). + +In 1785 were composed:-- + +3. September 12 (500 K.) + +4. Duet, November 4 (501 K.) + +Then follow:-- + +5. "Upon a Minuet by Dupont," composed April 9, 1789 (573 K.) + +6. "Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding," from the second part of the "Two +Antonios," by Schikaneder, composed March 8, 1791 (613 K.) + +The following were announced in 1785, but some of them certainly belong +to an earlier date:[14]-- + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(446) + +7. "Lison dormoit" (264 K.). + +8. "La Belle Françoise" (353 K.). + +9. "Salve tu Domine," from Paesiello's "Eingebildete Philosoph" (398 +K.). + +10. "La Bergère Silimène," with violin (359 K.). + +11. "Hèlas, j'ai perdu mon amant," with violin (360 K.). + +In 1786:-- + +12. "Marche des Manages Samnites," by Grétry (352 K.). + +In 1787:-- + +13. "Ah, vous dirais-je maman?" (265 K.). + +In all these, even the more pretentious of them, there is no appearance +of a higher object than passing amusement, secured by means of the +contrast of the different variations in time and measure, major and +minor, prominence of the right hand or the left, with all of which +devices we are now so over-familiar. It never occurred to Mozart to give +a deeper meaning to his variations by the grouping of the movements, nor +still less to torture a simple theme into all sorts of fantastic forms. +He confined himself to a tasteful embellishment of the subject; harmonic +and contrapuntal treatment was not altogether absent, but it was little +more than suggested as a sort of seasoning to the music. In many of +the earlier variations mechanical difficulties are brought into the +foreground. Certain favourite difficulties, such as the passing over of +the hands, long shakes or chains of shakes in one hand, while the other +has the subject, were always to be found; passages which now offer +neither novelty nor difficulty display nevertheless, upon closer +inspection, both elegance and originality. The equal use made of the +two hands is worthy of remark; a considerable amount of execution in the +left hand is presupposed in these as in most of Mozart's compositions. +In the later variations (3, 5, 6, 17) there is little or no bravura. The +theme is easily and gracefully treated; and no attempt is made to invest +with undue dignity what is merely a light and passing expression of +fancy. As one of the most interesting and successful compositions of +this kind may be mentioned the four-handed variations (4), which are +both graceful and amusing. + + +{SHORT PIANOFORTE PIECES.} + +(447) + +Sometimes variations form a component part (the middle or last movement) +of a sonata, either with[15] or without accompaniment (284, 331, K.). +This has caused no essential difference in their treatment; they +are neither wider in conception nor freer in execution, nor are they +connected by intermediate passages so as to form one whole--a device +often and successfully employed by Haydn and Beethoven. + +Mozart's original themes are, for the most part, fresher and more +graceful than those he has borrowed. The accompanied sonatas give +greater scope for originality by the multiplication of the parts; and +very often the simple enunciation of the theme by one of the parts +allows a better defined expression of free contrapuntal treatment to +be given to it by the other parts. But, as we have said, these +modifications are unimportant; the form of the variation is here, as +elsewhere, simply light and entertaining.[16] + +Various short pianoforte pieces, for particular occasions and persons, +were written during Mozart's Vienna period, as, for instance, the three +rondos:-- + +1. In D major, composed January 10, 1786 (485 K.). + +2. In F major, composed June 10, 1786 (494 K.).[17] + +3. In A minor, composed March 11, 1787 (511 K.).[18] + +The two in F and D major are easy of comprehension and +execution--cheerful, but not striking music; the latter is peculiar in +that the oft-repeated theme recurs in different keys, thus necessitating +changing modulations in the episodes.[19] The third, in A minor, is very +original and beautiful.[20] The theme is somewhat piquant in its rhythm +and harmonic treatment, and suggestive of a national melody-- + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(448) + +a mode of characterisation not often used either by Mozart or Beethoven. +Its original modifications cause fresh surprise each time that it +recurs. The second theme, effective by contrast with the first, is in +itself both fine and expressive, and gives occasion for much appropriate +and interesting treatment. The short middle movement, in A major, is +lighter in style, but accords well with the chief theme, and leads +back to it by a striking modulation. The whole piece is original +in character; and the tone of melancholy which runs through it and +constantly asserts itself forms a most attractive contrast to the +restless movement of some of its parts. + +The short Adagio in B minor (540 K.) (composed March 9, 1788) is also +very beautiful, serious and even sad in tone, and otherwise interesting +by reason of its harmonic inflections. Although this piece is written in +perfectly regular form, in two parts with a coda, it reminds us in its +whole style of an improvisation. This is still more the case with the +so-called fantasias. It has already been remarked that preludes or +fantasias were often prefixed as introductions to various kinds of +compositions, either in the form of free improvisations or elaborate +pieces that could be used on different occasions. A fantasia of this +kind, prefixed to the beautiful fugue in C major, has already (Vol. II., +p. 391) been noticed. + +Mozart sent to his sister from Paris (July 20,1778) a short prelude, +"not a prelude to lead from one key to another, but a sort of capriccio, +to try the clavier," leaving the style of playing to her own judgment. +"She received it at four o'clock," writes the father (August 13, 1778), +"and at five, when I came home, she said she had thought of something, +and if I liked it, she would write it down. She then began to play the +prelude by heart. I rubbed my eyes and said: 'Where the deuce did you +get that idea?' She laughed and drew your letter from her pocket." This +is, no doubt, the unpublished prelude in C major (395 K.) which was in +the possession of Mozart's sister. The essential character of this, as +of the prelude in C minor (396 K.), is modulatory. There is no delivery +of a regular melody, or working out of a definite motif, but the whole +consists of varied and + + +{FANTASIAS.} + +(449) + +skilfully grouped passages and arpeggios, keeping both hands in equal +activity, and displaying an abundance of rapid and often curious and +striking changes of harmony. But even in this apparently unfettered +straying through harmonies we cannot fail to be aware of organisation +in the succession of the modulations, in the connection of the passages, +and in the whole conception. The C major is in several detached +contrasting movements, the C minor is founded on the definite form of a +two-part sonata movement, but very freely treated. + +The fantasia in D minor(337 K.-->(397 K. DW)) is of somewhat different +design, in so far that the melodic element is more prominent, but at +first only in oft-repeated phrases, which are continually prevented from +developing into a perfect cantilene by the occurrence of a contrasting +motif, or the outbreak of a quick stormy passage. The character of a +gradual concentration of force is very clearly expressed. The tender and +graceful theme which is at last allowed to assume its due proportions, +can, however, be in no way considered as the proper result of such +a preparation; it is not worked out, but first interrupted, and then +brought to a rapid but not a satisfying conclusion, so maintaining the +character of the piece as an announcement of something greater which was +to come. + +The well-known fantasia in C minor (475 K.), Mozart's performance of +which so surprised Jos. Frank (Vol. II., p. 279),[21] is better worked +out, and in every respect a more important work. Five movements, in +various keys and tempos, are closely bound together into a whole by +connecting passages or harmonic inflections. Each movement, though not +completely separate, has yet a certain independence, with melodies of +its own rounded into a simple song-like form; there is no attempt at the +elaboration, or even the full development, of a motif, but everything +presses onwards, each section leading as of necessity to the next, which +is intended to form a lively contrast to what has preceded it. In spite +of the + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(450) + +predominance of a slow tempo, the whole work has a restless character, +and the recurrence at the end of the serious and sustained commencement +leads only to a provisional and unsatisfying conclusion. Here again, +the essence of the fantasia is modulatory. The changes of harmony are +frequent--often bar by bar--rapid and striking; the passages and even +the melodies are so constructed as to lend themselves to this method. +In spite of its length the fantasia preserves the character of an +introduction, though not of necessity to the sonata with which it is +printed. The mood which is so distinctly expressed in the two first +bars of the adagio is preserved throughout the fantasia; it is a sad and +sorrowful mood of doubting and questioning, of struggling and striving, +of longing for deliverance from a heavy burden, for freedom from doubt +and care; disheartened by failure, unrefreshed by consolation, it sinks +at last into itself, and is heard no more. But there is no hopeless +despair, no cynical irony in this music. It is expressive throughout +of the composure of a man who even in combat never loses command over +himself. The boldness of its harmonies, and the consistency of its tone +were of unusual significance at the time of its composition. It is much +to be regretted that the letter concerning it, which Mozart addressed to +Frau von Trattnern (Vol. II., p. 279), has not been preserved.[22] + +Above and beyond such detached movements as these, the form of +pianoforte composition chiefly cultivated by Mozart was the sonata, +either with or without the accompaniment of one or more instruments.[23] +The foundation of the sonata proper, and of the definite form in which +the chief movement of the sonata, at least, was cast--was laid by +Kuhnau and Dom. Scarlatti, the latter of whom brought his extraordinary +technical knowledge to bear with effect on the treatment and style of +pianoforte music. From the middle of the last century the piano as +a solo instrument has been increasing in favour, especially among +amateurs, and it + + +{THE PIANOFORTE SONATA.} + +(451) + +naturally followed that this species of composition should be cultivated +with corresponding attention. Ph. Em. Bach and his disciple Jos. Haydn +fixed the form of the sonata in all essential respects, and by the +intrinsic worth of their compositions, and the charm of their execution, +brought the germ of perfection therein contained to the point of vital +development. To them succeeded Mozart, carrying on their work in his own +original manner. + +It has already been demonstrated (Vol. I., p. 292) that the clavier +sonata in its free development forms the basis of independent +instrumental composition, and that every advance in the one direction +acts favourably in the other; it will suffice here, therefore, to touch +briefly on the main points of this species of composition. + +The sonata now signifies a composition for a solo instrument, consisting +of several movements, differing in time, measure, and key, but +sufficiently allied in design and grouping to form a coherent whole. In +its earlier stage two movements often composed a sonata, but afterwards +three or four became the rule. One of the movements is in slow time, and +forms the appropriate expression of a calm, serious, or tender mood. +It soon became usual to place this movement in the middle, with the +instinctive feeling that a composed and self-concentrated mood ought +to succeeed to a demonstrative or passionate one. If the more animated +movement were preceded by the slow one, the latter would lose its +independent character, and become a mere introduction to the former. +The second of the lively movements served as a conclusion, and was +invariably cheerful, sometimes even merry in tone. The music being +principally intended for social entertainment, was so constructed as to +leave a pleasant, cheerful impression. When a fourth movement was added +it was generally in the same tone, and sometimes preceded, but more +often followed, the slow movement. During his Vienna period Mozart's +sonatas, both solo and accompanied, have but three movements, while his +symphonies, quintets, and quartets are always furnished with minuets. + +The three movements of the sonata have only gradually + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(452) + +assumed their present form. One of Mozart's earlier sonatas, in A major +(331 K), consists of an andante with variations, a minuet, and rondo; +another, in D major (284 K.), has a middle movement, consisting of a +rondo _en polonaise_, followed by a theme with variations. Afterwards, +however, he adhered to the regular sonata form, with the first movement +as its most characteristic part, forming the point of departure for +the development of all modern instrumental music. It has already been +remarked that the essential elements of the sonata movement consist +in the treatment of the principal motif in the first part, and in its +working out in the second. + +The contrapuntal elaboration of a theme in strict form was the +groundwork of the first part, and was followed by the characteristic +treatment of well-defined motifs, side by side with a free use of +figures and passages. An important point was the delivery of a second +theme, independent of the first and sharply distinguished from it. +This was always in the dominant of the principal major key (C major--G +major), or in the relative major of the principal minor key (C minor--E +flat major). These are the two main pillars of the movement. Their +further development, their connection by means of interludes, and the +conclusion of the part, are not further hampered by rule, except that +the part must close in the dominant. The province of the second part +was the working out of one or more motifs employed in the first part, +or altogether new. The treatment was either mainly harmonic or mainly +thematic, and had for its object the organic development of the given +elements, the enhancing of the interest, and the effective return to the +first part. Upon this elaboration, and leading back to the first theme, +were concentrated all the power and genius of the master. The repetition +of the first part entailed many modifications, partly because the second +theme was obliged to appear in the principal key in which the movement +closed; it allowed also of alterations in grouping the different +phrases, of amplifications or curtailments, and especially of such a +long-drawn climax at the close as should almost entitle the repeated +second part to be considered as a third part. + +{MOZART'S SONATAS.} + +(453) + +Mozart found these elements ready to hand, and gave them the stamp of +his own individual nature. In his hands the second subject, distinctly +enunciated, became not only an independent but a counter-subject rising +in characteristic relief from the body of the part. But his originality +is principally displayed in the formation of the themes. Their +predominant characteristic is songlike melody, which Nägeli (Vorlesungen +üh. Musik, p. 156), with a mistaken view of the nature of instrumental +music, considered to be the degradation and ruin of pianoforte-playing. +With truer judgment Mozart has followed the injunctions of Ph. Em. Bach, +and after him Haydn, and has striven to write melodiously. Mozart's +musical training was founded on song--and his inclinations led him to +song--in a greater degree than was the case with his two predecessors. +When once' the pianoforte composer had renounced the severe polyphonic +method--when once he had come to regard his theme not as material for +pedantic elaboration, but as a free melody capable of giving expression +to his artistic perceptions, then song became the point of departure +for all his melodies. A transference to the instrument of the forms +expressly constructed for the voice was impracticable; they could only +be employed by analogy, in conformity with the nature of the instrument. +Mozart never employed the form of the Italian cantilene in his +pianoforte compositions, nor in his instrumental works generally; a +glance at his Italian operas will show the difference in the treatment +of the melodies. Wherever a comparison of instrumental with vocal works +is possible, it must be made with the German operas, especially with the +"Zauberflöte." In his instrumental works Mozart gave his emotions their +natural expression without binding himself to any such set forms as +those of Italian opera; with equal freedom he treated song in his German +operas as the immediate outcome of his feelings. The developed forms +of German instrumental music suggested this treatment. The essential +conditions of a beautiful melody, founded on the relations of intervals, +rhythm and harmonies, were perfectly fulfilled in Mozart's pianoforte +compositions. Each melody is complete, uniform and full of his own charm +of grace and + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(454) + +euphony. The delivery of such melodies must have given special +prominence to those qualities in Mozart's playing which Haydn declared +came from his heart; we are sometimes surprised in the concertos, for +instance, to find the chief effect depending on a long, simply sustained +melody, which he must have played in masterly fashion. This songlike +and expressive treatment of the separate melodies was accompanied by an +extraordinary wealth of melody. Instead of the connecting phrases +which generally led out of the principal motif or were formed by free +passages, Mozart introduced new melodies. This was made an occasion +of reproach to him, as Dittersdorf says ("Selbstbiographie," p. 237): +"Mozart is unquestionably a great original genius, and I know of no +composer who possesses such an astonishing wealth of ideas. I only wish +he were a little less prodigal of them. He gives his hearers no time to +breathe; as soon as one beautiful idea is grasped, it is succeeded by +another and a finer one, which drives the first from the mind; and so +it goes on, until at the end not one of these beauties remains in +the memory." We shall certainly not echo this complaint of Mozart's +prodigality of ideas; but it cannot be denied that though the formation +of independent melodies is an important and necessary step in advance, +it does not reach the last stage of development. Mozart's melodies are +not strung together without connection, both external and internal; but, +in the shorter sonatas especially, where they are not worked out, they +strike us as the indicated points in a design wanting as yet the detail +of which it is capable.[24] + +The gain was important in two respects. The close juxtaposition of +melodies excluded, or greatly limited, the employment of connecting +passages without sense or meaning. Of these Mozart makes comparatively +little use. He used figures and passages chiefly as ornaments, and +not as independent members of the movement. But where this form of +transition seemed inevitable, he used it without ceremony, just as in +architecture supports are worked into the artistic design, + + +{SONATAS.} + +(455) + +without any disguise of their structional importance. We may instance +the broad and expressive treatment of his closes and half-closes, +which are now so striking as to appear to many a special peculiarity of +Mozart's style. This, however, they are not; they were then in general +use, and proceeded from the desire to maintain the key with firmness and +decision. + +The greater freedom of modern music in this respect, and the +substitution of graceful and original transition phrases for dry +commonplaces is an undoubted progress. Mozart's transition phrases +were, however, often elegant and interesting, as may be proved from a +reference to his returns to the theme in the second parts, and to the +varied development which he gives to the simple ground form of the organ +point. + +The second respect in which Mozart's method was a gain to music was in +the clearness which it gave to his designs. + +This clearness is an inseparable adjunct of Mozart's art; by means of +it the main points of his structure were as clearly defined as an +architectural ground-plan, and became the supports for elaboration and +development. Mozart himself was far from exhausting the resources of +the method which he founded; others have followed in his footsteps, and +Beethoven, his intellectual heir, has displayed all the depth and wealth +of that which he has inherited. + +In the choice and arrangement of his melodies Mozart invariably +displays delicate taste and discrimination. He is particularly happy in +surprising his hearers with a new melody when they least expect it--at +the close of the first theme, for instance, which generally brings with +it a certain sense of satisfied completeness. But his most inimitable +effect is produced when, just as the movement is drawing to a close, a +perfect melody starts up in all its charm of fresh sweetness, reviving +the interest of the hearers, and often giving an entirely new turn to +the whole. As a striking example, + +I may remind my readers of the first movement of the Symphony in C major +(551 K.). Who has not been charmed again and again by the last melody, +which, like a shining meteor, sheds light and cheerfulness around? +Similar, though not perhaps equally brilliant, effects are of constant +occurrence; they have not been achieved, have scarcely even + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(456) + +been attempted by any other musician. On the other hand, however, +the partiality with which Mozart has treated the close and other less +prominent points of his movements has been prejudicial to the so-called +second subject; this is usually the weakest part. It should have a +light and tender character, in contrast to the principal subject; it is +frequently, however, insignificant in comparison to the other motifs, +and gives the impression of having been neglected. + +The further development of the fundamental scheme was accomplished by +means not of the insertion of phrases connecting its principal members, +but of the thematic treatment of these members themselves. Mozart's +study of Bach and Handel led him in this direction, as was particularly +shown in his later pianoforte works; an interesting example is afforded +by the two movements in the Allegro and Andante in F major (553 K.), +which are throughout in counterpoint. This work must not be considered +as a relapse into the strict forms of counterpoint, such as the +canon and the fugue, but as the free development of the laws to which +polyphonic and contrapuntal forms are alike subject. Instrumental and +especially pianoforte music, freed from the fetters of strict form, +was in danger of advancing exclusively in the direction of homophonie +development, and so becoming insipid. It is Mozart's merit to have +brought polyphonic and thematic treatment, modified according to the +altered character of the music and the nature of the instrument, to its +freest and most beautiful expression. This is particularly noticeable in +the "working-out" divisions of the movements, on which the main emphasis +must necessarily fall, and which can only attain their full significance +by means of this treatment. Mozart does not indeed develop them in +length and breadth as Beethoven does, but he makes them, even when they +are so condensed as to appear mere transition movements, the culminating +point of the whole movement, the concentration of all its force and +action. The mode of treatment is as free as the choice of subject; but +the effect generally depends upon a thematic treatment which is often +very artistically designed and woven together. + +Not that the harmonic element is neglected--the boldest + + +{SONATAS.} + +(457) + +and most original modulations occur in the very places where close +examination discloses the thematic as the vivifying element, the +true impulse of the work. This free and intellectual treatment of the +polyphonic method was distasteful to many of Mozart's contemporaries, +who only accepted the traditional forms of counterpoint. Thus, a critic +expresses himself as follows concerning the E flat sonata for violin and +piano (481 K.):-- + +The pleasing style of this sonata by Herr M. will cause it to find +favour with all lovers of the art. It is to be wished, however, that +Herr M. would attach himself less closely to the passing taste of the +day; his works would thereby gain a more universal and lasting worth. +That Herr Mozart is not wanting either in the knowledge of harmony or +the wealth of imagination which would enable him to offer us stronger +meats is sufficiently vouched for by this and many other of his +well-known works. + +The same critic considered the working-out movement far too long:-- + +Although musical science has no actual rule in such cases, yet a +difference of three pages is out of all reason.[25] + +The slow middle movement and the last movement have not the accurate and +well-defined form of the first. Two essentially easier forms are mainly +employed, with many modifications, namely, variations and the rondo. +The slow movement is, as a rule, founded upon the song form, and is +therefore often designed in two parts; but the design is only very +seldom developed as broadly and fully as in the first movement; +the repetition of the theme more than once, with the then customary +additions and embellishments,[26] led naturally to the adoption of +variations. But in every case the first requirement was the composition +of a movement melodious in form and substance, and owing its expression +not to its connection with any other, but to its own intrinsic + + +{MOZART S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(458) + +feeling. The tone of sentiment then existing was favourable to the +production of just such movements, and they therefore undoubtedly belong +to Mozart's finest creations. These simple and expressive melodies, +exquisitely formed and firmly handled, full of warm and deep emotion or +of sentimental tenderness, seem to be the precious legacy of the time to +which we also owe the purest strains of our lyric poetry. The calm with +which they are for the most part permeated expresses in a rare degree +the enjoyment and satisfaction of artistic activity. The very ease with +which these movements are constructed, by means of the development +of the main idea of variations on it and of freely treated and often +contrasting secondary parts, shows how freely and naturally they +proceeded from the heart of the musician. As an instance of detail we +need only mention the delicacy and grace with which Mozart leads up +to the conclusion, and leaves his hearers with a parting impression of +perfect satisfaction. + +The last movements are not by any means of equal merit with the other +two. A large majority are in the easy rondo or variation form. The +incredible ease with which Mozart poured forth melodies is more than +ever apparent in these movements, but they are often loosely strung +together without development, and sometimes trivial in character. The +original intention of the movement, of enlivening the audience by a +cheerful dance or something similar, is generally kept in view; the tone +is one of more or less excited merriment, without depth or true humour. +Mozart's enjoyment of dances, games, and jests of all kinds found +expression in such performances as these. Their purity and grace of form +shows however that, like a true artist, he lifts every manifestation +of his nature into a higher sphere. Many of his last movements form +exceptions to what has been said above, both by reason of their stricter +form and of their more elevated tone. + +The list of sonatas for pianoforte alone which Mozart composed in Vienna +is not a very long one.[27] Of the first which appeared-- + + +{SONATAS--DUETS.} + +(459) + +Three sonatas, Op. 6 (330-332, K.), in C, A, F major. + +Three sonatas, Op. 7 (333, 284, K.), dedicated to the Countess Therese +Cobenzl, in B flat and C major; the third is with the violin (454 K.)-- + +some must certainly have been composed earlier; then follow:-- + +C minor, composed October 14, 1784 (457 K.), with the fantasia (475 K.) +published in 1785 as Op. 11. + +F major, composed January 3, 1788, in two movements (533 K.). + +"A Short Pianoforte Sonata for Beginners," in C major (545 K.), composed +June, 1788. + +B flat major, "for pianoforte alone," composed February, 1789 (570 K.). + +B flat major (_D major--DW_) composed July, 1789 (576 K.). + +Most, if not all, of these appear to have been composed for special +occasions. The most important is unquestionably the celebrated one in C +minor, the fire and passion of which, especially in the last movement, +surpass all previous efforts, and point to what Beethoven was to achieve +in the piano-forte sonata. The second, in B flat major, is pleasing and +gay; the working out of the first movement is free and full. The third, +in D major, is easy and cheerful, with more passages than usual. + +Three four-handed sonatas[29] are also preserved:-- + +D major, composed November, 1781, for Aurnhammer's Soirée (381 K.). + +F major, composed August 1,1786 (497 K.). + +C major, composed May 29, 1787 (521 K.). + +Pianoforte music for two performers was then far from having attained +the popularity which it now possesses, especially among amateurs. Those +who wished to play for the sake of playing, and to give full effect +to their performance, would not readily shackle themselves with a +fellow-performer, and lose their absolute sway over the instrument. +Duets were considered an exceptional kind of amusement, not without +its peculiar charm. This charm consisted in the richer elaboration of +material which they allowed, and in such a division and alternation of +the parts as should set the + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(460) + +two players in competition. Mozart, who excelled in this kind of +treatment, often employed it, and even transfers entire cantilene with +their accompaniments to the bass part, not always, as Marx rightly +observes ("Lehre von der Musikalischen Composition," III., p. 601), with +a good sound effect. Of the two great sonatas, that in F major is by +far the most striking; the emphasis is not here laid upon the +first movement. The adagio, and still more the rondo, are specially +interesting from their beautiful motifs and the seriousness--even to +grandeur--of their treatment. The other Sonata in C major is not trivial +in conception, but depends more upon brilliant execution, and leaves a +cheerful, pleasant impression. + +Compositions for two pianofortes were more popular, as affording more +scope for display to the performer, but the inconvenience attending +their performance has prevented the cultivation of this branch of +composition. It appears at one time to have been a favourite one with +Mozart, owing, no doubt, to some special circumstances. The Fugue in C +minor (426 K., Vol. II., p. 392) was composed on December 29,1783, and +the Sonata in D major (448 K.) at the beginning of 1784; the latter is +a capital bravura piece for the time at which it was written, effective +even now, and interesting from the interweaving of the two parts. The +first movement is the best, the working-out forcible and effective, +though not elaborate; the andante is somewhat tedious, owing to the +repetition of the entire first part. Several commencements now among the +sketches in the Salzburg Mozarteum fall within this perio.d. A second +fugue, in G major (45 Anh. K.), has already been noticed (Vol. II., +p.388); the commencements of an Allegro in C minor (44 Anh. K.) and of +an Adagio in D minor (35 Anh. K.) are so grand and forcible as to cause +regret that they were not continued; a last movement in B flat major (43 +Anh. K.) is calmer and more cheerful in character. It is remarkable how +these few bars confirm the observation that the choice of a minor key +was with Mozart an invariable sign of a special effort of his productive +powers. + +The sonatas with violin accompaniment composed by Mozart in Vienna were +few in number. The first collection + + +{SONATAS FOR PIANOFORTE AND VIOLIN.} + +(461) + +which appeared in November, 1781 (Vol. II., p. 187), Six Sonatas, Op. 2 +(376, 296, 377-380, K.), in F, C, F, B flat, G, E flat major, comprise +some sonatas written at an earlier date--those in C and B flat major +undoubtedly were, both upon external and internal evidence. That they +were all intended for one collection is evidenced by the differences in +their designs, probably for the sake of variety. Thus, the Sonata in +C major begins with an elaborate Adagio leading into the Allegro in G +minor (in depth of feeling these are the finest movements in the set); +the last movement is in variations. In the Sonata in F major, variations +are placed in the middle, and the last movement is a tempo di minuetto, +treated rondo fashion. The first movement is especially prominent in the +Sonatas in F major and E flat major. A Sonata in C major begun in 1782, +"Pour ma très chère épouse" (404 K.), is unfinished. The fragment of a +Sonata in A major, with an introductory Andante, followed by a Fugue +in A minor (402 K.), only half worked-out, and completed by Stadler, +belongs unquestionably to the period of Mozart's intercourse with Van +Swieten. These were followed by:-- + +B flat major, composed April 21,1784, for Strinasacchi (Vol. II., p. +336), (454 K.). + +E flat major, composed December 12, 1785 (481 K.). + +A major, composed August 24, 1787 (525 K.). + +F major, "Short Violin Sonata for Beginners," composed July 10, 1788 +(547 K.). + +The greater number of these were composed for pupils. The majority +of amateur pianists were then ladies, and it was usual for them to be +accompanied on the violin by their teachers or other friends; this +kind of music found favour also in social reunions.[30] It follows, +therefore, that these sonatas have no great depth of passion or +scholarly treatment, but are well supplied with beautiful melodies and +startling harmonic inflections, and are made interesting, sometimes even +brilliant, to please the performers. A notice of the first six sonatas +soon after their appearance says:--[31] + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(462) + +These sonatas are unique of their kind; rich in new ideas and signs +of the genius of their author, very brilliant and well suited to the +instrument. Besides this, the violin accompaniment is so artistically +combined with the pianoforte part that both instruments are kept in +constant activity, and the sonatas require a violin-player of equal +skill with the pianist. But it is impossible to give a full description +of this very original work. The connoisseur must play it through for +himself, and he will then be ready to acknowledge that we have not +exaggerated its merits. + +It appears from this that the violin part was usually treated as +subordinate, exclusively intended for accompaniment; but not so with +Mozart: his violin parts are completely independent, on an equality with +the piano, and composed with special reference to the idiosyncrasies +of the instrument. Indeed, the whole design of these sonatas avoids any +interweaving of the parts, which are generally in strict counterpoint; +even the simple form of imitation is comparatively seldom employed; +the parts relieve one another, exchange melodies and passages, or move +freely together. If, however, we compare the violin part so skilfully +added to the Sonata in B flat major (570 K.), we shall find that it is +no essential part of the design, but an evident addition; while in the +violin sonatas proper, simple as the violin part may be, it cannot be +subtracted without injury. The principal charm of these sonatas lies in +the rich development of their harmonies. In this respect, too, the later +sonatas are, as usual, superior to the earlier. With the exception of +the short sonata for beginners (547 K.), that in E flat major (481 K.) +is the easiest, but it is remarkably clear and pretty. The working-out +of the first movement is formed by the delicate harmonising of the +favourite subject already known to us (Vol. I., p. 259)--[See Page +Image] + +which recurs free in the second part, and is therefore judiciously used +to bring the whole movement to a close. In the B flat major sonata also +(454 K.) the interest of the working-out is essentially harmonic; the +return to the first subject is as striking to those who hear it now as +it could have + + +{PIANOFORTE TRIOS.} + +(463) + +been to Mozart's contemporaries. There are many similar touches which +suffice to convince us how great an effect of novelty and boldness these +sonatas must have produced. The first place must again be accorded to +the slow middle movements by reason of their beautiful melodies, in +the steady flow of which the art of not merely beginning well, but of +maintaining the interest, and knowing where to leave off, may be admired +and studied. In all of them a delicate and tasteful accompaniment, a +rich and bold harmonic treatment--I need only mention the effective +enharmonic changes in the andante of the B flat major sonata (454 K.), +and in the adagio of the E flat major (481 K.)--give to the simple +outlines a delicate warmth of colour. Each of these movements is fine of +its kind, but the andante of the Sonata in A major (526 K.) is specially +attractive from the earnestness of its tone. + +In the same class may be reckoned the trios, or, as Mozart called them, +terzets for piano, violin, and violoncello, which were also principally +intended for the social circle of amateurs. Their composition for +special occasions may be inferred from the fact that they all five fall +within the summer and autumn of 1786 and 1788:-- + +G major, composed July 8, 1786 (496 K.).[32] + +B flat major, composed November 18, 1786 (502 K.). + +E major, composed June 22, 1788 (542 K.).[33] + +C major, composed July 14, 1788 (548 K.). + +G major, composed October 27, 1788 (564 K.). + +In June of the latter year Mozart asked his friend Puchberg if he did +not intend to give a musical party soon, for he had written a new trio. +This was the trio in E major; and a later distinct mention of a trio +written for Puchberg probably refers to the same. There can at least +be no question as to the superiority of this trio in design and +originality, as well as in the effective treatment of the instruments. +The first movement is full of fire and energy, the imitative working-out +of the second subject being + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(464) + +wonderfully heightened in effect by a bold harmonic inflection. The +second movement, with something of the character of a national melody, +is fresh and charming, and has rhythmic and harmonic points which give +it a piquancy altogether modern. The last movement, though not devoid of +expression and delicacy, is inferior in vital energy to the first, +and seems somewhat too long, perhaps because an exclusive attention to +brilliancy loses its effect upon hearers of our day. External influences +account for the fact that the succession of the trios is not in +accordance with their merit and importance. The two last are inferior +not only to that just mentioned, but also to the two first. In these, as +usual, the middle movements stand highest; in the first movement of the +trio in B flat major (2) there is no new second subject, but the first +is employed again with some modification; the second part, therefore, +opens with an entirely new and independent melody. The trio in C +major (548 K.) is very easy, and seems to have been intended for some +particular person. The last (564 K.) was first written by Mozart as +a sonata for pianoforte alone. When he had occasion to add the two +stringed instruments, he had the original composition copied, added the +violin and violoncello parts, and altered what had to be altered for the +piano. The original sonata may be easily traced, except here and there, +where the alterations have gone deeper, and the different instruments, +except in the variations, have little independence. In contrast with the +emancipation of the violin part in the violin sonatas, the violoncello +part of the trios is always in the background. It is treated as a +bass instrument, and only exceptionally leads the melody or takes +an independent part; of bravura it has little or none, and thus the +original effects of which the combined instruments are capable seldom +occur. One remarkable instance of such an effect, however, is in the +last movement of the first trio (496 K.) at the passage in G minor, +where the violin repeats four times the melancholy bar--[See Page Image] + +and then slides on to the G, while the violoncello carries out + + +{TRIO FOR PIANOFORTE, CLARINET, AND VIOLA.} + +(465) + +an expressive bass passage in crotchets, and the piano in two parts +moves above both instruments in quavers; an effect of sound and motif +which has often been laid claim to in recent days as something new and +original. An insurmountable obstacle to the fuller development of +the trio (in which Beethoven later put forth all his creative powers) +consisted in the want of good violoncellists among the musical circles +for whom Mozart composed these works. + +A trio in E flat major, for pianoforte, clarinet, and viola (498 K.), +composed on August 5, 1786, for Franziska von Jacquin, is very original +(Vol. II., p. 278). The unusual combination of instruments necessitated +unusual treatment. The viola is not a bass instrument, and is only +available for middle parts, so that the usual violoncello part could +not be given to it; this necessitated an altogether original design and +execution, and a dependence for effect upon a peculiarly light colouring +and transparent clearness. The viola, whether accompanying or leading +the melody, is treated throughout with special partiality, and has even +a certain amount of bravura. Mozart was fond of taking the viola himself +in his later years, and Franziska von Jacquin was an excellent pianiste, +so that we can understand his providing himself with a good part to +perform with his friends. The deeper tones of the clarinet are not +used, out of consideration to the viola; its full liquid tones are +particularly well adapted for the delivery of the melody. The plan of +the movements deviates from the ordinary course. The first is not an +Allegro, but an Andante 6-8 (signifying formerly a moderately agitated +tempo) which is played straight through with no repetition of the first +part. It is in three tolerably equal divisions, in each of which the two +beautiful subjects are enlarged upon in an easy but attractive manner, +the first of them especially--[See Page Image] + +being scarcely ever lost sight of; the movement ends with a short coda. +The second movement is a minuet, the only one of the kind in Mozart's +pianoforte pieces, serious and + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(466) + +broad in tone, somewhat elaborated in the trio, the motif of which is +taken up in the coda; on the whole, a fine and characteristic movement. +The concluding rondo is full of pretty melodies and brilliant passages, +and the different parts are delicately and independently treated. + +A relatively much higher rank than that of the majority of the trios is +taken by the two quartets for pianoforte, violin, viola and violoncello, +of which the first, in G minor (478 K.), was composed on October 19, +1785; the second, in E flat major, on June 3, 1786 (493 K.). They are, +suitably to their enlarged resources, grander and broader in design, the +motifs are fuller, and thematic treatment comes to the foreground. The +details of the work are developed from within, and are made subservient +to the plan-of the whole. Notwithstanding, therefore, their more +elaborate treatment, the mode of expression is more definite, the +contents weightier, the expression more forcible and clearer. + +The inclination of the present day, since Beethoven has raised chamber +music both in substance and form to a hitherto unapproachable height, +is to make beauty of form[34] predominate over force and depth of original +expression; it will be instructive, therefore, to cast a glance over a +criticism by Rochlitz, written in the year 1800:[35]-- + +In these compositions, written for a select and limited circle, the +spirit of the artist is displayed after a rare and singular manner, with +the grandeur and sublimity of an appearance from another world; there +are moments, it is true, of melting sadness or cheerful humour, but they +are only moments, and the composer breaks forth again in the greatness, +even fierceness, of his strength, or writhes in bitter sorrow--the +struggle ending, as it were, only in victory or death. That this may not +be taken for mere empty raving, let any one hear, well-executed--(which +can only be by persons who possess, together with the requisite skill, +both a heart and an understanding for music)--Mozart's quartet for +pianoforte, violin, viola and violoncello, in E flat major. Let it be +heard, studied, and then heard again. + + +{QUARTETS.} + +(467) + +As an illustration of passionate feeling, amounting even to harshness in +the force of its expression, we should rather quote the first movement +of the quartet in G minor. The following account from Vienna of "the +latest musical novelties at grand concerts," written in 1788, will give +some idea of the reception which these quartets met with on their first +appearance, and of the difficulties they presented to contemporary +performers:[36]-- + +The favourite pianoforte composer among lady amateurs is Kozeluch, +but Pleyel is beginning to be a dangerous rival to him. Pleyel's music +contains humour and more of original invention than Kozeluch's, although +the latter possesses elegance, regularity of form, and a certain flow +of ideas. Mozart is at present residing in Vienna as imperial +kapellmeister. He is considered as a remarkable man by every philosophic +lover of music. His genius was precocious, and he both composed and +played in his eleventh year (even earlier) to the admiration of all who +heard him. But what is truly remarkable is that this precocious child +should have blossomed into maturity as an accomplished musician. We know +the usual rapid course of such a prodigy by sad experience! We look in +vain for its fruits, for its stability. Not so with Mozart! But now +a few words on a curious phenomenon which he (or his celebrity) has +brought to pass. A short time ago appeared a solitary quartet (for +piano, violin, viola, and violoncello), very artistically arranged, +requiring extreme accuracy of delivery in all the four parts, but even +under the most favourable circumstances not likely to please any but +musical connoisseurs in a _musica di camera_. The report, "Mozart has +written a new and very remarkable quartet, and such or such a princess +possesses it and plays it!" was soon spread abroad, excited curiosity, +and caused the indiscretion of the production of this original +composition at a grand noisy concert. Many pieces can sustain their +reputation even under a mediocre performance; but this work of Mozart's +in the hands of indifferent amateurs, carelessly rendered, is simply +unendurable. It was so performed innumerable times last winter; at +almost every place which I visited I was taken to a concert, and there +entered a town-bred miss, or some other conceited amateur, to play this +quartet to the noisy company who pretended to find it the _goût_. But +it gave no real pleasure; every one gaped with _ennui_ at the long +_tintamarre_ of four instruments who did not keep together for four +bars, and whose contradictory _concentu_ gave no impression of unity of +sentiment. The obstinacy with which it was forced down everywhere was +indescribable. It is not enough to stigmatise this folly as an ephemeral +_manie du jour_ for + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(463) + +it lasted throughout a whole winter, and (as far as I can learn) is +still only too often repeated. What a contrast if this masterpiece were +to be performed by four skilful musicians, in a quiet room where the +listening ear might catch the suspension of every note, in the presence +of only two or three attentive listeners! But this would give no +opportunity for display or the applause of the vulgar.[37] + +The quintet in E flat major (452 K.) for pianoforte, oboe, clarinet, +horn, and bassoon is a composition of peculiarly charming effect; it was +composed by Mozart on March 30, 1784, for a concert which he gave in +the theatre, and, being excellently performed, was received with great +applause. He himself considered it, as he tells his father (Vol. II., +p. 287), to be the best thing he had ever written, and he selected it to +play before Paesiello (Vol. II., p. 279). It must not be judged from the +various arrangements which have been made of it; it is accurately and +exclusively fitted for the instruments for which it was written. The +sound effects produced by the well-considered combinations of the wind +instruments are of surprising beauty, and the pianoforte maintains its +ground against its melodious rivals by means of its power of quicker +motion. The whole work is clear and easy in each of its multitudinous +details, and from beginning to end it is a true triumph of the art +of recognising and adapting the peculiar euphonious quality of each +instrument. This harmony of sound, combined with a somewhat strongly +accentuated harmonic treatment, constitutes the principal charm of the +work, which is not rich in thematic invention. Here and there Italian +echoes are heard in the melodies, but the German style predominates, as +it does in the quartets previously noticed.[38] Beethoven is known to +have emulated this work of Mozart's in his quintet (Op. 16); in no other +of his works, perhaps, does he so plainly appear to have set a + + +{PIANOFORTE CONCERTOS.} + +(469) + +pattern before him for imitation; for once he has not succeeded in +surpassing it.[39] + +The pianoforte concertos, of which Mozart wrote seventeen in Vienna, +must be considered from a somewhat different point of view.[40] They are +as follows:-- + +F major, composed end of 1782 A major, composed early in 1783 C major, +composed early in 1783 + +Op. 4 + +(413 K., part 12). (414 K., part 10). (415 K., part 3). + +E flat major, composed February 9, 1784, Op. 23 (449 K., part 14). + +B flat major, composed March 15, 1784, Op. 67 (450 K., part 14). + +D major, composed March 22, 1784, Op. 18 (451 K., part 13). + +G major, composed April 12, 1784, Op. 15 (453 K., part 9). + +B flat major, composed September 30, 1784, Op. 21 (456 K., part 11). + +F major, composed December 11, 1784, Op. 44 (459 K., part 10). + +D minor, composed February ro, 1785, Op. 54 (466 K., part 8). + +C major, composed March 9, 1785, Op. 82, 6 (467 K., part 1). + +E flat major, composed December 16,1785, Op. 82, 4 (482 K., part 6). + +A major, composed March 2, 1786, Op. 82, 5 (488 K., part 2). + +C minor, composed March 2, 1786, Op. 82, 5 (491 K., part 7). + +C major, composed December 4, 1786, Op. 82, 1 (503 K., part 16). + +D major, composed February 4, 1788, Op. 46 (537 K., part 20), +"Kronungsconcert." + +B flat major, composed January 5, 1791, Op. 82, 2 (595 K., part 15). + +The greater number of these were composed between 1783 and 1786, when +Mozart played much at concerts, and were intended for his own use; some +of them also for that of others (Vol. II., p. 294).[41] This accounts +for their great diversity of character and design. Of the three first +which were intended to come before the public together (Vol. II., p. +293), + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(470) + +Mozart wrote to his father, while still at work upon them (December 23, +1782):-- + +The concertos are a happy medium between too easy and too difficult; +they are very brilliant, pleasing to the ear, without, of course, +being empty. Here and there are places which appeal exclusively to +connoisseurs, but even ignoramuses will be pleased with them without +knowing why. + +It is plain that he knew what he intended. Of the later concertos he +writes (May 24, 1784):-- + +I cannot make a choice between the two concertos in B flat and D +(450, 451, K.). I consider them both tough morsels for the performers +(_Concerte die schwitzen Machen_): but the one in B flat is more +difficult than the one in D. I am very curious to hear which of the +three concertos in B flat, D, and G major (453 K.) you and my sister +like best; that in E flat does not belong to them, being quite peculiar +of its kind, and written for a small rather than a large orchestra. So +that we have only to do with the three concertos, and I am curious to +find whether your opinion agrees with the universal one here, and with +my own. They ought, it is true, to be heard with all the parts, and well +played. + +The emphasis which Mozart laid on the orchestra is very noticeable. +The essential merit and originality of his concertos consists in his +combination of the orchestra and the solo instrument into a whole, +by means of the co-operation of all their separate and independent +elements.[42] The prominence given to the orchestra (which, it must +be remembered, owed to Mozart its richer composition, both of wind and +stringed instruments) in those larger portions of the work where it +occurs independent of the piano, as in the tutti of the ritornelli, +gives a symphonic character to the concertos. Even in those places +where the pianoforte asserts itself as the solo instrument the orchestra +participates so directly in the course of the pianoforte part as to +form a not disjointed whole; in fact, the concertos have been aptly +designated as symphonies with a part for the pianoforte.[43] Mozart's +art of blending the tone-colouring of the orchestra, which drew + + +{PIANOFORTE CONCERTOS.} + +(471) + +tears from his old father at the hearing of one of his new pianoforte +concertos, shows his delicate sense of euphony and accurate knowledge +of instrumental effects. The pianoforte, with its comparative want of +sustained tone, is at a disadvantage even with solo stringed or wind +instruments, far more so with a combination of them. This was still more +the case at that time, in consequence of the defective mechanism of the +instrument; and both art and ingenuity were required to make it at all +effective. When, after an elaborate ritomello, which has given a sense +of fulness and satisfaction to the hearers, the pianoforte enters, +Mozart aims at producing such a contrast, either by means of extreme +simplicity or of a brilliant pianoforte passage, as shall gain over +the listener to the peculiar charm of the new element, and excite his +attention, which is then kept up by the competition of the rival forces. +The composer has no intention of confining the orchestra within the +narrow limits of a modest accompaniment (for in that case why should +he have appointed it so fully?); he means it to put forth its whole +strength, as well as to support and raise the pianoforte part. An +inexhaustible succession of fine effects is thus produced. The delivery +by the orchestra of the melody in sustained chords supports, as it were, +the tendrils thrown out by the pianoforte, and gives a firm basis for +figures and passages containing bold harmonic successions: But while it +thus seems subservient to the solo instrument, the intensive strength +and the tender fragrance of its sound effects are made to form +an admirable contrast to the light and brilliant versatility, the +sharpness, and clearness of the pianoforte. It seems scarcely necessary +to illustrate by an example the universal characteristics of the +species, but I may instance the wonderfully fine andante of the Concerto +in C major (467 K.) Here the orchestral part is rich in striking +harmonic detail, and in fine and original sound effects, which so +completely enchant and satisfy the ear as scarcely to allow of a climax. +In contrast to this we have a surprisingly simple pianoforte part, +displaying the distinctive properties of the instrument without effort +or difficulty, and hovering, as it were, like a higher spiritual element +over the + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(472) + +orchestral accompaniment, with which it is nevertheless inseparably +connected. Even Beethoven (who made a profound study of Mozart's +pianoforte concertos) cannot be said to have surpassed him in +this combination from within of different instrumental forces. The +superiority of his great pianoforte concertos rests upon other grounds. + +It must not be supposed, however, that Mozart had no higher qualities +than a finely cultivated sense for the blending of tone colours. The +invention, elaboration and distribution of the motifs were governed by +the nature of the resources at his command; these had to be taken into +account in the first sketch of the work, that so justice might be done +them in its completed form; the germ must contain the capacity for +development under the most varied conditions. There is scarcely +one instance in the concertos of an important motif confided to the +orchestra or the pianoforte alone; they are all shared in common. But +when a subject is broadly and elaborately treated by the orchestra, +it is naturally kept in the background by the pianoforte, while other +motifs, merely announced by the orchestra, are rendered with their full +effect and embellishments by the solo instrument. This competition of +the two forces is most evident in the alternating effects given to the +working-out of the different subjects, but even in the brilliant figures +and passages the orchestra appears like a well-proportioned edifice, +decked with a profusion of arabesque-like ornament by the pianoforte. +Thus the charm of these concertos, most rightly so called, depends upon +the active co-operation of the contrasted elements, by means of which +the whole work is richly and brilliantly grouped, as a picture is +grouped by a judicious disposition of light and shade. + +The division of the concertos into three movements, as well as the +formation of the movements after the analogy of the sonata, were found +ready to hand, and only further developed by Mozart. The first and +principal movement contains the essential ingredients of the sonata +form, namely, a second well-defined subject, and the working-out +division but it is freer, and, owing to its improved resources, more +fully appointed. A distinct first part with a repetition does not + + +{PIANOFORTE CONCERTOS.} + +(473) + +exist; in its place there appears the first ritornello, with the +solo movement belonging to it. The principal subjects, with their +working-out, are shared between the orchestra and the piano; but the +solo is no mere repetition of the orchestral part; it differs both +in the grouping and treatment of the subjects, and leads up to an +inevitable climax. A short ritornello brings this section to a close, +and introduces the working-out part, equally shared between the +pianoforte and orchestra. The severer forms of counterpoint are only +sparingly used, the harmonic element being the main support of an +animated figure treatment; the polyphonic and homophonie manner are +so blended throughout as to display the principal subjects from +ever-varying points of view, and to keep the interest alive and active +from first to last. This middle movement, on which as usual the main +interest is concentrated, leads back to the principal key and the +introductory ritornello. The latter is generally shortened, and the +first part is not literally repeated, but undergoes modifications in +arrangement and elaboration. The conclusion is formed by the customary +cadenza, which might also be introduced at other pauses, but was +invariable here. It gave opportunity for a free improvisation, +consisting of brilliant passages wrought into a sort of capriccio with +the addition of an elaborate variation on one of the subjects, or +of several subjects so condensed as to form a _resume_ of the whole +movement.[44] The cadenza thus forms the concluding coda of the +pianoforte part, and the orchestra brings the movement to an end in +similar fashion by a more or less elaborate ritornello. In this way the +first movements of the concertos are developed out of the general sonata +form, with such a regard to the relative claims of the orchestra and the +pianoforte as serves to distinguish them from corresponding movements of +the quartet and the symphony. + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(474) + +The two other movements are altogether simpler in design and execution. +The slow movement is in song-form, its working out sometimes that of a +rondo, sometimes varied, but always simple and clear, and abounding +in charming detail. Here again Mozart has displayed a fund of deep +and noble sentiment in its purest form, and the fantastic and romantic +elements, mingled with a dreamy resignation, and an earnest endeavour +after the expression of individual feeling, are more apparent in these +movements than in any other of his compositions. Startling harmonic +progressions, scattered touches of piquancy contrasting with vague +sentimentality, and rhythmical whimsicalities, give all the greater +charm that they in no way interfere with simplicity of conception or +purity of form. I need only adduce by way of illustration the simple and +beautiful romanze of the Concerto in G major (453 K.), or the pleasing +and highly original Siciliana of the Concerto in A major (488 K.). +The andante of the C major concerto already mentioned is, however, +incomparably the finest (467 K.). The emotion is so pure and lofty that +the sorrowful impulses which prompt it, harshly expressed though they +may be in places, such as the following--[See Page Image] + + +{PIANOFORTE CONCERTOS.} + +(475) + +penetrate the music like memories of a long since vanquished grief +that has no more power to trouble the pure serenity of a mind which has +mounted from resignation to holy joy. This example, among many others, +should teach us that beauty does not consist in the mere rejection of +all that is harsh or keen, but in the maturity of the conception which +gives birth to the work, and in the harmony of the conditions under +which it is represented. Such fruits as these can only be offered by an +artist who has discovered the true secret of life. + +The last movement of the concertos is always the easiest; it is +generally in rondo form, sometimes in variations, lively and cheerful +in tone; its predominant 2-4 time preserves its original character of +a dance; or sometimes it is in 6-8 time, after the fashion of a hunting +song, as in the rondo of the Concerto in B flat major (450 K.) +which closes in a long crescendo with a regular hunting flourish of +trumpets.[45] On the whole these last movements are more + + +{MOZART'S PIANOFORTE MUSIC.} + +(476) + +interesting than those of the other pianoforte compositions, and full of +graceful, even humorous, passages, of which the last movement of the +C minor Concerto (491 K.) may serve as an illustration. The peculiar +harmonic treatment gives the subject a character entirely its own, and +a new transition at the close invests it with a surprising charm. The +Concerto in D minor also (466 K.) confirms the oft-repeated observation +that Mozart's compositions in the minor keys are his deepest and most +important, for its last movement is distinguished above all others by +its fire and intensity of expression.[46] On the other hand, the middle +movements of these two symphonies (in E flat and B flat major), although +not wanting in grace, are inferior to their other two movements in force +and passion. It is true that the andante of the C minor symphony was +encored cm its first performance (Vol. II., p. 288), but the effect it +made depended not so much on its melodies, charming as they are, as on +the obbligato treatment of the wind instruments, which was an entire +novelty at that time. + +There can be no doubt that Mozart's concertos afford the best standard +for our judgment of him as a pianoforte composer. The majority of them, +written for himself in his best days, take the highest rank among his +works. The first three (413-415 K.) intended for large audiences are, +as Mozart rightly indicates, light in character; so is the Concerto in E +flat major (449 K.), written for Fräulein Ployer, and the Concerto in +B flat major, probably intended for Fraulein Paradies (456 K.); next to +these may be placed the Concertos in D major (451 K.) and F major (459 +K). They are all distinct in their main characteristics; some, such as +those in B flat major (450 K.), G major (453 K.), A major (414, 488 K.), +are cheerful and graceful; others, as the D minor (466 K.) and C +minor (491 K.), are passionately agitated; others again, serious and +self-contained, as the E flat major (452 K.) + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +[Footnote 1: Cf. A. M. Z., I., p. 157.] + +[Footnote 2: So Rochlitz says (Für Freunde der Tonk., IV., p. 309), and the +expression sounds very like Mozart. But when he speaks of a visit paid +by Mozart to Bach in Hamburg, shortly before he went to Leipzig (1789), +he forgets that Bach died in 1788, and Mozart was never in Hamburg.] + +[Footnote 3: His "Versuch über die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen" appeared +first in the year 1752; his numerous and widely known pianoforte +compositions aim principally at the enforcing of practical principles.] + +[Footnote 4: An account of J. S. Bach's scientific method is given by Forkel +(Ueb. J. S. Bach, p. 11); a notice of the system of fingering formerly +in use will be found in Becker (Hausmusik in Deutschland, p. 58).] + +[Footnote 5: A. E. Müller, in his "Anweisung zum genauen Vortrag der Mozartschen +Klavierkonzerte" (Leipzig, 1796), has applied the principles of Bach's +fingering to the more difficult passages of five concertos of Mozart.] + +[Footnote 6: "Nothing made Mozart so angry as the maltreatment of his operas +in public performances, principally by exaggerating the rate of the +tempos," says Rochlitz (A. M. Z., I., p. 84).] + +[Footnote 7: "It was his greatest and oft-lamented grievance," says Rochlitz (A. +M. Z., I., p. 49), "that he was generally expected to perform mechanical +juggling tricks and tight-rope antics on the instrument, which it amused +people to _see_."] + +[Footnote 8: "Mozart is the most finished and best pianoforte-player that I have +ever heard," writes a correspondent from Vienna in 1787 (Cramer, Mag. f. +Mus., II., p. 1273). "Never shall I forget the divine pleasure afforded +me," says Rochlitz (A. M. Z., I., p. 113), "partly by the spirituality +of his compositions, partly by the brilliancy, as well as the +heart-melting tenderness of his execution." (Cf. I., p. 387).] + +[Footnote 9: Frz. Lorenz, W. A. Mozart als Clavier-Componist (Breslau, 1866); a +fine description, rich in characteristic traits.] + +[Footnote 10: Cf. Vol. I., pp. 177, 200, 285.] + +[Footnote 11: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1788, p. 49.] + +[Footnote 12: In 1785 Torricella announced "Neueste Fantasie-Variationen von +Mozart," as follows: "The eagerness with which the works of this famous +master are everywhere looked for, and the certainty with which they +command the esteem of the connoisseur by their art and elegance, and +touch the hearts of all by their tender melodiousness, have induced me +to publish these very beautiful variations for the benefit of the most +fastidious lovers of music, to whom I offer a new work calculated to do +honour to its author. I shall endeavour from time to time to place all +the remaining variations of this admirable master in the hands of an +appreciative public." Fräulein Aurnhammer supervised the publishing of +several of Mozart's variations (Cramer, Magaz. d. Mus., II., p. 1274).] + +[Footnote 13: The variations on a theme by Dittersdorf (287 Anh., K.) are by +Eberl, according to his assertion in the Hamburg Correspondent (July 25, +1798, No. 118, Beil ), and his are also the variations so often printed +under Mozart's name on the theme, "Zu Steffen sprach im Traume" (288 +Anh., K.). The variations on a theme from Sarti's "I Finti Eredi" (289 +Anh., K.) are by Forster. Mozart's widow, in letters to Hartel (May +25, June 15, 1799), appealed to well-informed friends to support her +assertion that the variations "Une fièvre brûlante" (285 Anh., K.), +whose genuineness had already been doubted by Siebigke (Mozart, p. 68), +were not by Mozart, and she is undoubtedly right. 54 K. (after 547 K.) +and 137 Anh., K. (after 581 K.) are arrangements.] + +[Footnote 14: The following should certainly be placed earlier: 14, 15 (24, +25 K), composed in his ninth year. 16 (179 K.), on Fischer's minuet, +composed in 1774 (Vol. I., p. 323). 17. "Mio caro Adone," from +Salieri's "Fiera di Venezia" (180 K.). 18. "Je suis Lindor,"from +Beaumarchais'"Barbier" (354 K.). The two latter were published in +Paris (Vol. II., p. 70). In July, 1781, Mozart mentions three airs with +variations, without specifying them more exactly.] + +[Footnote 15: In the sonatas for piano and violin (377, 379, 481 K.), and in the +trios (496, 564 K. I.] + +[Footnote 16: Compare the remarks by Marx on Mozart's variations (Lehre von der +Musik. Kompos., III., p. 84).] + +[Footnote 17: It has been arbitrarily but not altogether unsuitably combined into +one sonata with two other movements, composed on January 8, 1788 (533 +K.).] + +[Footnote 18: The second Rondo in F major (616 K.) was originally written for a +musical box.] + +[Footnote 19: Cf. Widmann, Formenlehre, p. 111.] + +[Footnote 20: This Rondo is analysed by Marx (Lehre v. d. Mus. Kompos., III., p. +150).] + +[Footnote 21: It was composed May 20,1785, and published by Mozart, together with +the sonata in C minor (457 K.), as Op. 11.] + +[Footnote 22: A poetical exposition of this fantasia is given by Kanne (Wien. +Mus. Ztg., 1821, p. 386).] + +[Footnote 23: Cf. Im. Faiszt, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Klaviersonate bis C. P. +Em. Bach (Cäcilia, XXV., pp. 129, 201; XXVI., pp. 1, 73).] + +[Footnote 24: Cf. the excellent remarks by Marx (Lehre von der Musik. Kompos., +III., p. 588), and for a more profound criticism (Ibid., III., p. 215).] + +[Footnote 25: Musik. Real-Ztg., 1788, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 26: Ph. E. Bach says in the preface to his six sonatas for the piano +with altered repetitions (Berlin, 1759): "The alteration at the repeat +is in the present day indispensable. It is expected from every performer +that he should change every idea in repetition, without any allowance +being made for the construction of the piece or the ability of the +performer."] + +[Footnote 27: An analysis of them is given by Kanne (Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1821, Nos. +3-8, 19-30, 44-50). Cf. Lorenz, Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1861, p. 321.] + +[Footnote 29: The variations for four hands in G major (Oeuvr., VIII., 3) have +already been noticed (Vol. II., p. 446).] + +[Footnote 30: Cf. the account iû C. Pichler's Denkwürdigkeiten, I., p. 90.] + +[Footnote 31: Cramer, Magaz. d. Musik, I., p. 485.] + +[Footnote 32: Notes and alterations have been inserted by Mozart in red ink.] + +[Footnote 33: The finale is extant in a second and unfinished arrangement.] + +[Footnote 34: By way of example I may remind the reader of the tender, yearning, +almost dreamlike impression made by the wonderful harmonic progression +in the larghetto of the Quartet in E flat major.] + +[Footnote 35: A. M. Z., III., p. 27.] + +[Footnote 36: Journal des Luxus und der Moden, 1788, p. 230.] + +[Footnote 37: Forkel, who otherwise takes no notice of Mozart, says of this +article that it is evident that the author is a dilettante, without any +knowledge of art, and therefore only capable of judging from outward +appearances (Musik. Alman., 1789, p. 119).] + +[Footnote 38: A second quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, basset-horn, and +bassoon, was only commenced by Mozart (54 Anh., K.).] + +[Footnote 39: A kind of legend has grown up among reminiscence hunters, to +the effect that the few and unimportant motifs which recall Mozart, +especially in the second movement, were introduced by Beethoven as a +homage to Mozart. A comparison of the two quintets is given after his +fashion by Lenz (Beethoven, III., p. 160).] + +[Footnote 40: The most complete collection of Mozart's concertos in score, +agreeing with Breitkopf and Hartel's issue of the parts, is that +published in Paris by Richault; the collection begun in Offenbach by +André is not finished.] + +[Footnote 41: Sketches of pianoforte concertos (56-61 Anh., K.) bear further +testimony to Mozart's lively interest in this species of composition. A +Concerto Rondo in A major belonging to October 19, 1782, is completed, +with the exception of some gaps in the instrumentation (386 K.).] + +[Footnote 42: This is with justice emphasised by Rochlitz (A. M. Z., III., p. +28). Nägeli also testifies how Mozart "broke new ground for orchestral +compositions with his pianoforte concertos" (Vorles., p. 159).] + +[Footnote 43: Siebigke, Mozart, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 44: A collection of cadenzas to several concertos (175, 271,414, 435, +449, 451, 453, 456, 459, 488, 537, 595 K.) is preserved, and partially +published (624 K.). They appear to have been written down by Mozart for +pupils; they are neither difficult nor elaborate, and certainly give no +idea of his improvised cadenzas. Beethoven wrote cadenzas of his own to +the D minor concerto (466 K.) (Wien. Modeztg., 1836, Beil., 10. Werke, +70, 11, 12).] + +[Footnote 45: The last movement of the Concerto in F major (433 K.) is a +rondo-like "Tempo di menuetto," after the old style (Vol. I. p. 325), +similar to one in a violin sonata (377 K.).] + +[Footnote 46: The sketch of the beginning of a rondo first intended for this +concerto is prefixed to the Offenbach score of the Concerto in B +flat major (450 K.). Mozart rightly gave the preference to the very +dissimilar fiery theme of the present rondo.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Life Of Mozart, Vol. 2 (of 3), by Otto Jahn + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43412 *** |