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diff --git a/old/67828-h/67828-h.htm b/old/67828-h/67828-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index fe3e785..0000000 --- a/old/67828-h/67828-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7435 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - Life of Mozart, by Louis Nohl—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - -.tdl {text-align: left; padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;} -.tdr {text-align: right; width: 15%;} -.tdc {text-align: center;} -.tde {text-align: right;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} - -.gap {padding-left: 5em;} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 5%; -} -.blockquot2 { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .blockquot2 { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 5%; -} - -.hangingindent {text-indent: -2em; margin-bottom: 2em; } - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;} - -.indentleft {margin-left: 5em;} -.indentleft2 {margin-left: 10em;} - - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - - -.caption {font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} - -.xlarge {font-size: 150%;} -.large {font-size: 125%;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - - -.footnote {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 75%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .hide {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .first {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .indent {text-indent: 10em;} -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; - padding: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Life of Mozart, by Louis Nohl</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Life of Mozart</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Biographies of Musicians</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Louis Nohl</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: John J. Lalor</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 13, 2022 [eBook #67828]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF MOZART ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/coversmall.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><i>BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<h1><span class="smcap">Life of Mozart</span></h1> - -<p>BY<br /> -<span class="large">LOUIS NOHL</span></p> - -<p>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN</p> - -<p>BY<br /> -<span class="large">JOHN J. LALOR.</span></p> - -<p>“<i>Man’s title to nobility is the heart.</i>”</p> - -<p>CHICAGO:<br /> -<span class="large">JANSEN, McCLURG, & COMPANY.</span><br /> -1880.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -COPYRIGHT,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Jansen, McClurg</span> & <span class="smcap">Company</span>.<br /> -A. D. 1880.<br /> -<br /> -STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED<br /> -BY<br /> -THE CHICAGO LEGAL NEWS COMPANY.<br /> -</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Louis Nohl</span>, the author of the present little -volume, has merited for himself in Germany a high -reputation as a writer of the biographies of musicians, -and some of his larger works have appeared -in English on the other side of the Atlantic. The -present is the first translation into our language of -his shorter Life of Mozart. It will, we trust, prove -acceptable to those who desire to learn the chief -events in the life of the great composer, to see how -his life influenced his compositions, and how his -great works are, in many instances at least, the expression -of his own joys and sorrows, the picture -of his own soul in tones.</p> - -<p>The translator’s grateful acknowledgments are -due to Mr. A. W. Dohn, of Chicago, who was kind -enough to compare the entire translation with the -original. His thorough knowledge of music and -German, no less than his rare familiarity with the -English language, have largely contributed to the -fidelity of this translation.</p> - -<p class="right"> -J. J. L.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span></p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="large">CHAPTER I.</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHILDHOOD AND EARLY TRAVELS.</td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl">Mozart’s Parentage—Early Development of his Genius—Character as a -Child—Travels at the Age of Six—Received by Maria Theresa and -Marie Antoinette—Mozart and Goethe—Meeting with Madame de -Pompadour—The London Bach’s Opinion of Young Mozart—Asked -to Write an Opera by Joseph II—Assailed by Envy—Padre Martini—Notes -Down the Celebrated Miserere from Ear—The Pope Confers on -him the Order of the Golden Spurs—A Member of the Philharmonic -Society of Bologna—First Love—Personal Appearance—Troubles -with the Archbishop,</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_7"> 7-41</a></td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="large">CHAPTER II.</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE GREAT PARISIAN ARTISTIC JOURNEY.</td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl">Disgusted with Salzburg—In Vienna Again—Salzburg Society—Character -of Musicians in the Last Century—Jerome Colloredo, Archbishop of -Salzburg—Mozart’s Letter to Him—The Father’s Solicitude for His -Son—Paternal Advice—New Compositions—Incidents of his Journey—Meets -with Opposition—Secret Enemies—His Ambition to Elevate -the Character of the German Opera—Disappointments—His Description -of German “Free City” Life—Meeting with Stein—In his Uncle’s -Family—“Baesle”—Meeting with the Cannabichs—Attachment -for Rosa Cannabich—Influence of this Attachment on his Music—The -Weber Family—The <i>Non so d’Onde Viene</i>—Circumstances of its -Composition,</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_42"> 42-82</a></td></tr> - - - - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="large">CHAPTER III.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2">IDOMENEO.</td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Disappointments—Opposition of the Abbe Vogler—Mozart and the -Poet Wieland—Wieland’s Impressions of Mozart—German Opera and -Joseph II—The Weber Family—Aloysia Weber—Mozart’s Plans—His -Father Opposes them and his Attachment for Aloysia—Mozart’s Music -and Heart-trials—In Paris—Disappointments there—Contrast Between -Parisian and German Life—New Intrigues Against Him—Invited -Back to Salzburg—“Faithless” Aloysia—Meeting of Father -and Son—Reception in Salzburg—“King Thamos”—Character of -Mozart’s Music Composed at this time—Invitation to Compose the -Idomeneo—Its Success—Effect on the Italian Opera,</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_83"> 83-117</a></td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="large">CHAPTER IV.</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2">ELOPEMENT FROM THE SERAGLIO—FIGARO—DON GIOVANNI.</td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl">Opinions on the Idomeneo—Tired of Salzburg—Goes to Vienna—The -Archbishop Again—Mozart Treated by Him with Indignity—Paternal -Reproaches—Assailed by Slander—He Leaves Salzburg—Experiences -in Vienna—Austrian Society—The German Stage—The Emperor Expresses -a Wish that Mozart might Write a New Opera—Mozart’s Love -for Constance Weber—Description of Constance—The New Opera—Mozart’s -Marriage—The Emperor’s Opinion of Mozart’s Music—Mozart’s -Interest In the Figaro—Its Composition—Its Success—Mozart’s -Poverty—In Bohemia—His Popularity in Prague—Meaning of the -Don Giovanni—Richard Wagner on Mozart,</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_118"> 118-180</a></td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="large">CHAPTER V.</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE MAGIC FLUTE—TITUS—THE REQUIEM.</td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl">Haydn’s Opinion of Mozart—Made Court Composer by Joseph II—Don -Giovanni in Vienna—Mozart’s Extreme Poverty—His Cheerfulness -under Adverse Circumstances—“The Song of the Swan”—Other -Compositions—Mozart’s Opinion of Handel—Acquaintance with Sebastian -Bach—Mozart’s Opinion of Church Music—Mozart’s Characteristics—Audience -with the Emperor—Petition to His Imperial Majesty—His -Religious Feelings—Joins the Free Masons—History of the -Magic Flute—The Mysterious Stranger—The Requiem—Success of -the Magic Flute—Mozart as Reflected in his Music—His Industry—Last -Illness—Strange Fancies—His Last Days—His Death,</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_181"> 181-236</a></td></tr> - -</table> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> - -<p class="ph2">THE LIFE OF MOZART.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">1756-1777.</p> - -<p class="ph1">CHILDHOOD AND EARLY TRAVELS.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> - -<p>Mozart’s Parentage—Early Development of his Genius—Character -as a Child—Travels at the age of Six—Received -by Maria Theresa and Marie Antoinette—Mozart and -Goethe—Meeting with Madame de Pompadour—The London -Bach’s Opinion of Young Mozart—Asked to Write an -Opera by Joseph II—Assailed by Envy—Padre Martini—Notes -Down the Celebrated Miserere from Ear—The Pope -Confers on him the Order of the Golden Spurs—A Member -of the Philharmonic Society of Bologna—First Love—Personal -Appearance—Troubles with the Archbishop.</p> -</div></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</span> was born in -the city of Salzburg, on the 27th of January, -1756. His father, Leopold, was descended -from a family of the middle class of the -then free imperial city of Augsburg, and had -come to Salzburg, the domicile of a prince-bishop -and the seat of an excellent university, -to study law. But as he had to support himself -by teaching music, even while pursuing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -his legal studies, he was soon compelled to enter -entirely into the service of others. He became -<i>valet de chambre</i> to a canon of the -Roman church, Count Thurm; afterwards -court-musician and then <i>capellmeister</i><a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> to the -archbishop. He had married in 1747 a young -girl, educated in a neighboring convent. -Himself and wife were considered the handsomest -couple in Salzburg in their day. -Of seven children born to them, they lost all -but two, Maria Anna, known by the pet-name -of Nannerl, and our Wolfgang, most frequently -called Wolferl. Anna was about five years -older than Wolfgang, and both gave evidence, -from the time they were little children, of an -extraordinary talent for music.</p> - -<p>An old friend of the family tells us how, -from the moment young Mozart had begun to -give himself to music, he cared neither to see -nor hear anything else. Even his childish -games and plays did not interest him unless -accompanied by music. “Whenever,” says -our informant, “we carried our toys from one -room to another, the one of us who had nothing -to carry was always required to play, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -sing a march,” ... and further: “He -[Mozart] grew so extremely attached to me -because I kept him company and entered into -his childish humors, that he frequently asked -me ten times in a day, if I loved him; and -when I sometimes said no, only in fun, the -tears instantly glistened his eyes, his little heart -was so kind and tender.”</p> - -<p>We learn from the same source that he manifested -no pride or awe, yet he never wished -to play except before great connoisseurs in music; -and to induce him to do so it was sometimes -necessary to deceive him as to the musical -acquirements of his hearers. He learned -every task that his father gave him, and put -his soul so entirely into whatever he was doing -that he forgot all else for the time being, -not excepting even his music. Even as a child, -he was full of fire and vivacity, and were it -not for the excellent training he received from -his father, who was very strict with him, and -of a serious turn of mind, he might have become -one of the wildest of youths, so sensitive -was he to the allurements of pleasure of every -kind, the innocence or danger of which he was -not yet able to discover.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>When only five years of age he wrote some -music in his <i>Uebungsbuch</i> or Exercise-book, -which is yet to be seen in the Mozarteum<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> -in Salzburg; also some little minuets; and, -on one occasion, his father and the friend of -the family mentioned above, surprised him -engaged on the composition of a concerto so -difficult that no one in the world could have -played it. His ear was so acute, and his -memory for music so good from the time -he was a child, that once when playing -his little violin, he remembered that the -<i>Buttergeige</i>, the “butter-violin,” so-called -from the extreme smoothness of its tones, was -tuned one-eighth of a tone lower than his own. -On account of this great acuteness of hearing, -he could not, at that age, bear the sound of the -trumpet; and when notwithstanding his father -once put his endurance of it to the test, he was -taken with violent spasms.</p> - -<p>His readiness and skill in music soon became -so great that he was able to play almost -everything at sight. His little sister also had -made very extraordinary progress in music at -a very early age, and the father in 1762, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -the children were respectively six and ten -years of age, began to travel with them, to -show, as he said, these “wonders of God” to -the world.</p> - -<p>The first place they went to was Munich, -then as now the real capital of Southern Germany, -and after that to Vienna. Maria Theresa -and her consort were very fond of music. -They received the children with genuine German -cordiality, and little Wolfgang without -any more ado, leaped into the lap of the Empress -and kissed her; just as he had told the -unfortunate Marie Antoinette, who had helped -him from the slippery floor: “You are good -and I’ll marry you.” The youngest son of -Maria Theresa, the handsome and amiable -grand-duke, Maximilian, was of the same age -as young Mozart, and always remained his -friend, as he was, subsequently, the patron of -Beethoven. The picture of Mozart and his -little sister dressed in the clothes of the imperial -children hangs on the walls of the Mozarteum; -his animated eyes and her budding -beauty have an incomparable charm.</p> - -<p>He now, in his sixth year, learned to play -the violin, and his father neglected nothing to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -give him, in every way, the best musical instruction. -For he was himself an excellent -composer, and had written a “violin method” -which had a great reputation in its day, and -was honored with translation. Mozart’s education -in music continued even during the -journey. Instruction in playing the organ -was soon added to instruction in the use of the -violin. The next scene of the marvels of the -little ones was Southern Germany. This was -in the summer of 1763. In Heidelberg, Mozart’s -little feet flew about on the pedals with -such rapidity that the clergyman in charge -made a record of it in writing on the organ -itself. Goethe heard him in Frankfort, and -thus obtained a standard by which to measure -all subsequent men of musical genius whom he -chanced to meet. In his declining years, Goethe -listened to a child similarly gifted, Felix -Mendelssohn. In Paris, also, the court was -very gracious to the children; but when little -Wolfgang, with the ingenuousness of childhood, -tried to put his arms about the neck of -the painted Madame de Pompadour as he had -about that of Maria Theresa, he was met with -a rebuff, and, wounded to the quick, he cried:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -“Who is that person there that won’t kiss -me? The empress kissed me.” He always -thought a great deal of Maria Theresa, and -his heart, through life, had a nook in it for her, -and was ever loyal to the imperial family, as -we shall see further on.</p> - -<p>The princesses were all the more amiable in -consequence, and did not trouble themselves -about etiquette. Every one wondered to hear -so young a child tell every note the moment -he heard it; compose without the aid of a piano, -and play accompaniments to songs by ear -only. No wonder that he was greeted everywhere -with the loudest applause, and that the -receipts were so flatteringly large.</p> - -<p>The reception extended to them in London -in 1764, was still kinder; for the royal couple -themselves were German, and Handel had already -laid a lasting foundation there for good -music; while the French music of the time -seemed to our travelers to be exceedingly cold -and empty—“a continual and wearisome bawling.” -Their stay in England was, on this -account, a very long one, and the father made -use of the opportunity he found there to give -an excellent Italian singer as an instructor to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -Wolfgang, who soon mastered the Italian style -of melody, which was then the prevailing one. -It was in London that Mozart wrote his first -symphonies.</p> - -<p>Their journey back in 1765, led them over -Holland, where both children were taken very -dangerously ill, and the father’s strength for -the difficult task of preserving and educating -such a boy as Wolfgang, was put to the severest -test. Even during the Lenten season, he -was allowed, in Amsterdam, to exhibit “for -the glory of God” the wonderful gifts of his -son, and he finally returned in the fall of -1766, after an absence of more than two years, -to Salzburg, laden not so much with money as -with the fame of his little ones.</p> - -<p>The journey taken thus early in life was of -great advantage to Mozart himself. He learned -to understand men—for his father drew -his attention to everything; he even made -the boy keep a diary—he got rid of the shyness -natural to children, and acquired a knowledge -of life. He had listened to the music of -the different nations, and thus discovered the -manner in which each heart understands that -language of the human soul called melody.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> -The refined tone of the higher classes at this -time was also of great advantage to his art. -The magnificent landscape scenery of his native -place had awakened his natural sense of -the beautiful; its beautiful situation, its numerous -churches and palaces, had further developed -that same aesthetic sense; and now the -varied impressions received from life and art -during these travels, so extensive for one so -young, were one of the principal causes why -Mozart’s music acquired so early that something -so directly attractive, so harmoniously -beautiful and so universally intelligible, which -characterizes it. But this phase of his music -was fully developed only by his repeated long -sojourns in that land of beauty itself, in which -Mozart spent his incipient youth, in Italy.</p> - -<p>Mozart’s father, indeed, did not remain long -in Salzburg. Salzburg was no place for him. -And must not the boy always have felt keenly -the impulse to display his artistic power before -the world? Had not the London Bach, -a son of the great Leipzig cantor, Sebastian -Bach, whose influence on Mozart we shall hear -of further on, said of him that many a <i>capellmeister</i> -had died without knowing what this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -boy knew even now? The marriage of an -archduke brought the family, in 1768, to -Vienna once more, the first place they lived -in after leaving Salzburg. Here the father -saw clearly, for the first time, that Italy -and Italy alone was the proper training-school -for this young genius. The Emperor -Joseph had, indeed, confided to him the -task of writing an Italian opera—it was -the <i>La Finta Semplice</i>, “Simulated Simplicity”—and -the twelve-year-old boy himself directed -a solemn mass at the consecration of a -church, a performance which made so deep an -impression on his mind, that twenty years after -he used to tell of the sublime effect of his -church on his mind. A German operetta, -<i>Bastien and Bastienne</i>, was honored with -a private performance. But this first Italian -opera was the occasion of Mozart’s experiencing -the malicious envy of his fellow-musicians, -which, it is said, contributed so much, later, to -make his life wretched and to bring it to an -early close.</p> - -<p>His father writes:</p> - -<p>“Thus, indeed, have people to scuffle their -way through. If a man has no talent, his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span> -condition is unfortunate enough; if he has talent, -he is persecuted by envy, and that in proportion -to his skill.” Young Mozart’s enemies -and enviers had cunning enough to prevent -the performance of his work, and the -father was now doubly intent on exhibiting -his son’s talent where, as the latter himself -admitted, he felt that he was best understood, -and where he had won the highest fame in his -youth.</p> - -<p>Italy is the mother country of music and was, -besides, at this time, the Eldorado of composers. -The Church had nurtured music. With the -Church it came into Germany. From Germany -it subsequently returned enriched. It -reached its first memorable and classical expression -in the Roman Palestrina. After his -day, a worldly and even theatrical character -invaded the music of the Catholic Church, of -which Palestrina is the great ideal. The cause -of this change was the introduction of the -opera, which was due to the revival of the -study of the antique, and especially of Greek -tragedy.</p> - -<p>The pure style of vocal composition was -founded on the Protestant choral, and reached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> -its highest classical expression, in modern -times, in the German Sebastian Bach. His -contemporary and countryman, Handel, on -the other hand, remained, by way of preference, -in the region of opera; and, after he had -achieved great triumphs in it in foreign countries, -he rose to the summit of his greatness, -in the spiritual drama, the oratorio. The -world at this time loved the theatrical; and its -chief seat, so far as the opera was concerned, -was the country which had given birth to music. -As, in its day, Italy had the greatest composers, -it had now, to say the least, the greatest -and most celebrated singers, and with a -single victory here one entered the lists with -all educated Europe. “Then up and go -there,” the father must have said to himself, -when he saw that his son’s talent for composition -was not recognized in Germany as much -as it deserved to be recognized even then, and -the superior excellence of his performances denied -there when it was admitted everywhere -else.</p> - -<p>We need not here enter into the details of -this journey. The youthful artist continued -to work wonders similar to those which we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -have already related. And on one occasion, -in Naples, the boy was even obliged to remove -a ring from his finger, because his wizard-like -art was ascribed by the people to his -wearing it. We must here confine ourselves -to tracing the course of development of this -extraordinary genius, and to showing what -were the influences that made him such.</p> - -<p>At the end of the year 1769, that is, when -Mozart was nearly fourteen years of age, -we find him and his father journeying through -the Tyrol to the land of milder breezes and -sweet melodies. Everywhere the same unbounded -admiration of his talent. In Vienna, -the two—who now traveled unaccompanied by -the mother and sister—were obliged to elbow -themselves through the crowd to the choir, so -great was the concourse of people. In Milan, -such was the impression made by our hero, -that Wolfgang was asked to compose an opera. -In Italy new operas were introduced twice a -year; and he was given the first opportunity -to display his talent during the season preceding -Christmas. The honorarium paid him -was, as usual, one hundred ducats and lodging -free. He received no more at a later period<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -for his <i>Don Giovanni</i>. But such an amount -was a large remuneration, at that time, for the -young beginner.</p> - -<p>In the execution of his task, however, he -showed himself by no means a mere beginner. -For when, continuing their journey—to which -they could give themselves up with all the -more composure as the libretto was to be sent -after them—they came to Bologna and there -called upon the most learned musician of his -age, Padre Martini, even he could do nothing -but lose himself in wonder at the power of -achievement of our young master, who, as -Martini said, solved problems and overcame -difficulties which gave evidence both of innate -genius and of the most comprehensive knowledge. -Wolfgang here became acquainted with -the greatest singer of his time, the sopranist, -Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, and received -from him as a last legacy the Italian art -of <i>bel canto</i>; for, said he, only he who understands -the art of song in its highest sense, can, -in turn, properly write for song. And yet -this vocalist was already in the sixties.</p> - -<p>Florence was still governed by the Hapsburgs, -and hence the best of receptions was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -given to our travelers there. Of the magnificent -works of art in the place, the letters -to his mother and sister do not say anything. -But we can scarcely suppose that the <i>Venus -Anathusia</i> and the <i>Madonna della Sedia</i> remained -unknown to him who was alone destined -to give life to Raphael and the antique, -even in tones. Mozart’s own letters from -Rome do not leave us in the dark on this point. -He writes to his sister: “Yesterday we were -in the Capitol and saw many beautiful things, -and there are, indeed, many beautiful things -there and elsewhere in Rome”—Laocoon and -Ariadne, the Apollo Belvedere and the head -of Olympian Jove. And then the many -churches, and among them a St. Peter’s! But -naturally enough, the music remained the most -remarkable thing of all to the two musicians; -and then there was the Sistine Chapel, in which -alone something of the art of the great Romans -still lived and ruled. Of Palestrina we hear -nothing in this connection, but Wolfgang went -so far as to make a copy of Allegri. “You -know,” the father writes, “that the Miserere -sung here is esteemed so highly that the musicians -of the chapel are forbidden, under pain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -of excommunication, to copy any part of it, or -to give a part of it to anybody. But we have -it. Wolfgang has written it down from ear. -However, we do not wish this secret to come -into anyone’s else possession, lest we should -incur the censure of the Church directly or -indirectly.” The Mozarts, indeed, attached -some importance to their faith in the Catholic -Church. To them it was intrinsic truth. -And thus Wolfgang’s youthful soul was forever -consecrated, for the reception of the highest -feelings of the human breast, by the peculiarly -sacred songs sung during this holy week -in Rome—feelings which, even in compositions -not religious, he, in the course of his life, -clothed in sounds so beautiful and enrapturing. -In after years, he was wont to tell of the -deep impression made on him by these incidents -in his religious experience. “How I -felt there! how I felt there!” he exclaimed, -over and over again, in speaking of them.</p> - -<p>We have heard already of Naples. The -father had written from Rome that the further -they got into Italy the greater was the wonder -of the people. The intoxicating beauty -of nature mirrored in the Bay of Naples, could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -not but make a deep impression on the artist, -who was himself destined one day to give expression -in so magical a manner and in sounds -so entrancing, to the charm and intoxication -of the serenest joys of life. “Naples is beautiful,” -he writes curtly but characteristically to -his sister. Yet it may be that the immense -solemnity of Rome was more in harmony with -Mozart’s German nature. They were there -soon again, and this time they had an opportunity -to see what can be seen only in Rome—the -Pope. Delighted with young Wolfgang’s -playing, the Holy Father—it was the -great Ganganelli, Clement XIV—granted him -a private audience, and conferred on him the -order of the Golden Spurs, that same order -which afterwards gave us a chevalier Gluck. -Mozart did not, at first, make much of this -honor, and his father wrote: “You may imagine -how I laugh to hear him called all the -time <i>Signor Cavaliere</i>.” Later, however, they -knew when a proper occasion presented itself, -how to turn such a distinction to advantage.</p> - -<p>The end now aimed at by young Mozart -and his father was fame and success. A step -towards the attainment of these was Wolfgang’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -nomination as a member of the celebrated -Philharmonic Society of Bologna, -which invested him, in Italy, with the title -of <i>Cavaliere Filarmonico</i>. And when father -and son came to Milan again in 1770, he had, -so far as his rank as an artist and his position -in life were concerned, attained success. At -fourteen, he was <i>Signor Cavaliere</i>—Chevalier -Mozart. The journey itself had done much -to bring his artistic views to maturity. His -technical ability was very plainly now supplemented -by the pure sense of the beautiful, -the result of the highest intellectual labor. -He had surmounted all difficulties, and especially -those purely natural ones by which the -rough, lack-lustre north, with its inhospitable -climate, only too frequently keeps Germans -back in art. From this time forward the -divine rays of ideal beauty beam brightly from -Mozart’s melody, and they never became extinct. -In Mozart’s art there was now no room -for perfection of form. His art could be -added to only by adding to the life that was -in it; and we shall soon again meet with -traces of that personal contact with life which -matures man’s capabilities and develops them.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -Let us first look at the earliest decided successes -of the composer, successes which, for a long -time, bound him to the “land where the citron -blooms.”</p> - -<p>The Italian opera which then ruled supreme -everywhere, was far from being such a dramatic -performance on the stage as rivets the -attention. The taste of the Italians which -revelled in beautiful songs, soon made these -the chief feature in the entire opera. Interesting -or thrilling incidents from history, and still -more the great myths of antiquity and of the -middle ages, were so adapted for the occasion -that a love affair always played the principal -part in them, and the whole culminated in the -effusions of happy or heart-broken lovers. -There was here, certainly, a rich opportunity -for an art like music. As it was, almost the -entire opera was made up of arias, and the -person who wrote the prettiest arias, of course, -carried off the palm. These arias had like a -garment to be made to order, so to speak, for -the several singers, and to fit them exactly, if -they were to produce their full effect: the -finest note of the prima donna, or a tenor, -had to be at the same time the finest part of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> -the air, and <i>vice versa</i>. Thus prepared, the -opera was sung, and went the round of one-half -of Europe. We have seen this, in this -century, in the case of Rossini, Bellini and -Donizetti, and we see it in our own day, in -the case of Verdi.</p> - -<p>It was at this point that Mozart modestly -entered on the musical inheritance from the -past. A youth of fourteen will certainly not -change or attack what more than a century -and the whole educated world has approved -and admired. But how he took up into his -work the several features of the “fabulous -history” of the old, unfortunate king of Pontus, -Mithridates, and united them into glowing -music, we learn from the critic of the day, -after the performance of the piece on the 26th -of December, 1770, in the following words: -“The young <i>Capellmeister</i> studies the beautiful -in nature, and then gives us back that -beauty adorned with the rarest musical grace.” -Envy and intrigue were, indeed, not wanting -here, either. But Wolfgang was equal to the -task of taking care of himself, and even of -adapting himself to the whims of the singers. -“If this duet does not give satisfaction, he can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> -re-arrange it,” the first sopranist exclaimed; -and people were very much surprised to see -the tone of the home opera, its <i>chiaroscuro</i>, -as they called the beautiful discordance of the -different pieces with one another, so accurately -hit by a young beginner. Cries of <i>Evviva il -maestro! Evviva il maestrino!</i> were heard on -every side; the work had to be repeated twenty -times, and it was immediately ordered for five -other stages, among them that of Mozart’s own -beloved capital—all of which, however, according -to the custom of the time, turned only to -the advantage of the copyist.</p> - -<p>The object of the first trip to Rome, in -1770, was thus attained. Wolfgang had not -spared himself, and his father had to keep a -watchful eye on him. Uninterrupted labor -and earnest occupation had given so serious a -turn to his mind—and he was always naturally -reflective—that his father thought well -to invite some friends to his home while Wolfgang -was composing. He asked others to write -him jocose letters, in order to divert him. The -musical genius and the inner man were ripening -side by side. At the age of fifteen he had -the maturity of a full-grown youth.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>Even now the chords of his nature, which -lent to his melodies that most fervid of tones -which we think we hear even when only Mozart’s -name is mentioned, those tender feelings -of the heart which made him above all the -minstrel of love, are heard in the soft vibrations -of his music. In his hearty attachment -to his mother and sister, we see the development -of what the family-friend already mentioned -has told us of his innate craving for affection -when only four years old. His little -postscripts to his father’s letters about this -journey are delightful reading. He never forgets -the dear ones at home. He inquires about -each one in turn; and even the “weighty and -lofty thoughts of Italy,” where he was frequently -“distracted by mere business,” do not keep -him from doing so. He tells his mamma he -kisses her hands a billion times, and Nannerl -that he kisses her “cheek, nose, mouth and -neck.” On post-days, he goes on, “everything -tastes better,” and only the abundance of his -bantering in these notes preserved in the Mozarteum -can give any idea of his overflowing -tenderness for his sweet sister.</p> - -<p>But it was not long before he discovered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> -beauty in others than his sister. His young -eye caught sight of the <i>prime donne</i> and -pretty ballet-dancers of Italy; but, with the fair -ones, he had formed a more intimate personal -acquaintance in Salzburg, where his sister had -friends of her own sex. “I had a great deal -to say to my sister, but what I had to say is -known only to God and myself,” he wrote -from Italy; and shortly after, still more suggestively: -“What you have promised me, my -dear (—— you know you are my dear one), -don’t fail to do, I pray you. I shall surely -be obliged to you.” This was during his second -journey to Rome, when his short and restful -stay in his beautiful home allowed his heart, -so to speak, repose, and afforded him leisure -to busy himself with other matters than music. -“I implore thee, let me know about the other -one, <i>where there is no other one</i>; you understand -me, and I need say no more,” he adds, -evidently desiring to cover something up, and -what could there be for him to cover up but a -tender feeling of the heart? Later he adds: -“I hope that you have been to see the young -lady; you know which one I mean. I beg of -you when you see her to pay her a compliment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> -for me.” There certainly is nothing more -easy of explanation than that the young artist -was attracted by the fair sex, whose admiration -for him was so unbounded. Nothing so -charms woman as fame and greatness, especially -when fame and greatness have an intellectual -foundation; and was not the young -<i>cavaliere filarmonico</i> famed beyond all men -living? His mere appearance, indeed, made -no very powerful impression at the first sight. -He was small of stature. According to the -account given of himself, in one of his letters, -he was “brought up on water.” His head -seemed to be too large for his body, the result -of an abundance of beautiful flaxen hair; and -only his natural ease and grace of movement -made him—especially in the costume of -the past century—irresistibly charming, an -effect which was heightened by the thoughtful -expression of his beautiful greyish-blue eyes. -But when this excitable young man, in his velvet -coat, knee-breeches, silk stockings, buckled -shoes, galoon-hat and sword, was thought -of as the celebrated <i>maestro</i>, whose fame was -only beginning; or when he was heard play -and seen producing his own compositions, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -impression was changed, and the place of mere -physical attraction was taken by the unspeakable -charm of the mind and heart, by the -spell-binding, mysterious force of creative genius. -But woman loves the power of genius, -and surrenders her entire self to it. A kiss -from pretty lips when he had written a new -minuet, he considered a beautiful “present,” -and kisses do not come singly.</p> - -<p>But now little time remained to him for -the half-innocent, half-sensuous idyls of the -eighteenth century. He was again engaged -for the first season of the year, 1773, in Milan, -this time for a consideration of one hundred -and thirty ducats, and in the meantime, he -received another commission, probably in consequence -of the reputation of “Mithridates,” -to help celebrate the marriage of a son of the -Empress Maria Theresa, in Milan, by means -of a <i>serenata</i>, <i>i. e.</i>, a kind of little opera. -This was in the summer of 1771, and in August -both father and son were in Milan again. -The subject-matter was <i>Ascanius in Alba</i>. -But flattery for the noble couple chiefly filled -this theatrical sketch, a fact which by no means -kept Wolfgang from doing his best. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> -writes: “Over us is a violinist, under us another, -next us a singing master, and in the -only remaining room a hautboyist, all of which -makes composing very pleasant, and suggests -many ideas to one.” These ideas must have -been of great consequence to him at this time, -because his rival, the composer of the principal -opera, was Hasse, the then most celebrated -composer in Italy, the “dear Saxon,” as the -Italians called him, a man who had presented -them with so many hundred operas that he -could not count them himself. The libretto -did not reach him until the end of August, -and the festivities were to take place in October. -“And then my fingers pain me so from -writing,” he says, in an exculpatory way, after -four weeks, to Nannerl. There were now -wanting only two arias. Thanks to the elasticity -of his nature, he preserved his health; -but the fact that he “was always sleepy” -shows how very hard he had worked, nay, that -he had worked too hard.</p> - -<p>He did not fail of success. The noble couple -set an example to the public by their approbation, -and the father writes: “I am sorry; -Wolfgang’s <i>serenata</i> has so badly beaten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> -Hasse’s opera that I cannot describe it.” And -it is said that the latter, with a delightful absence -of envy, exclaimed: “That boy will send -us all to oblivion.” How true was the prophecy, -and how many, in all ages will not this -same Mozart eclipse by his refulgence!</p> - -<p>The play was, contrary to custom, repeated -several times, and on this occasion a diamond -snuff-box from the archduke was added to -the honorarium usually paid.</p> - -<p>In December, 1771, we find the Mozarts at -home once more, but enjoying the pleasant -prospect of new laurels in Italy. It was well -that there was such a prospect before them; -for the death of Archbishop Sigismund placed -a new master over them. His successor, Jerome, -whose election was received with feelings -anything but joyful, was destined to leave -a sad page in Mozart’s life.</p> - -<p>The citizens of Salzburg entrusted their celebrated -young fellow-townsman with the composition -of the music for the occasion of their -demonstration of respect to the new archbishop. -It was the “Dream of Scipio.” Besides this, -there was little in Salzburg to be done. In -the capacity of <i>concertmeister</i> to the archbishop,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -to which position he was appointed -after his success in Italy, he had to write the -music for the court and for the cathedral. In -those days people were ever craving for something -new in their favorite art; and while Mozart’s -masses, yielding to the theatrical tendency -of the time, like those of Haydn, have more -of a pleasant play in them than of church gravity, -and are therefore of less importance to -posterity, the composition of symphonies carried -him into a department which, created by -Haydn, was destined, through Mozart, to -lead to that mighty phenomenon, Beethoven.</p> - -<p>The form of the sonata, which is the basis -of the symphony, also had originated in consequence -of a more and more poetico-musical -development from the suite which introduced -a series of dances, the allemande being the -first. And as the dance itself is a direct imitation -of natural human movement and passion, -the sonata and symphony, together with -the quartette, became more and more, the expression -of the personal experience and feelings -of the composer, who, the more deeply and -grandly he conceived the world, was able to -give of it, in his music, a more beautiful and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -ravishing picture—an art which afterwards -reached in Beethoven’s symphonies a height -unsurpassed as yet.</p> - -<p>What poetry and prose were for the opera, -the joy and the sorrow of life felt by the composer -himself were for the piano and the -orchestra—the impulse and poetical bait to -musical composition. We shall soon find -Mozart’s life reflected in his art, and it is this -that makes the biography of the man so peculiarly -attractive and so full of meaning.</p> - -<p>In November, 1772, we find our two travelers -in Italy again. The opera of Silla had to -be written for Milan. And now, what the -father desired above all, was to see his son anchored -there in a permanent position. He -first made some arrangements in Florence. -He could not feel at home in Salzburg after -the appointment of the new archbishop. The -latter was, indeed, friendly to intellectual progress, -and opposed to the gloomy rule of the -priesthood, but, at the same time, he was himself -too much of a tyrant to be able to bless -his people by diffusing prosperity among them, -or to win their love. His mode of government -could not be acceptable to the independent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -spirit of the father any more than to the liberty-loving -genius of the son; and this all the -more, as he had no real feeling for, or understanding -of art, or of the sovereign rule of -genius. And so it happened, that the father, -even during his journey, found it hard to banish -what he called his “Salzburg thoughts” -from his mind. He was disappointed because -he accomplished nothing in Florence, and this -added to his trouble.</p> - -<p>But he now met with compensation in Milan. -In his letters, Wolfgang says: “It is impossible -for me to write much, because, in the first -place, I know nothing to write about, and in -the second place, I do not know what I am -writing; for all my thoughts are with my -opera, and I am in danger of writing a whole -aria to you instead of a letter.” The performers -were very well satisfied this time too, -and what an effect the work must have produced -is attested by a mishap which occurred -to the principal male voice. He had unwittingly -provoked the prima donna to a fit of -laughter, which confused him so much that he -began to gesticulate himself in a most unmannerly -way. The audience, whose patience had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -been taxed to the utmost by being obliged to -wait for the archduke, who lived in the city, -caught the contagion, and began to laugh likewise. -Spite of this, the opera proved victoriously -successful the first time it was performed, -and was repeated more than twenty times.</p> - -<p>This closed Mozart’s real work for the Italians. -He would certainly have been called -upon to do much more in that country, but -the Archbishop of Salzburg refused him leave -of absence, saying that he “did not want to -see his people going begging about the country.” -And yet Mozart himself said subsequently: -“When I think it all over, I have -nowhere received so many honors, and nowhere -been so highly esteemed as in Italy. A -man has good credit indeed when he has written -operas in Italy.” And, in reality, it was -due to his success in Italy that Mozart was, -two years after this, called to Munich to write -the music for another Italian opera. This was -the charming <i>opera buffa</i> (comic opera), the -<i>La finta giardiniera</i>; and here Jerome -could not refuse his permission; his relations, -personal and official with the neighboring -elector’s court, did not allow him to do so.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>The elector Maximilian III. was a kindly, -good-hearted gentleman, and very fond of -music himself. He had long before manifested -a great deal of interest in Mozart, and -knew as well as anybody what success the -young composer had met with in the world. -Mozart saw himself loved and honored, and -the excellence of the opera in Munich was a -great incentive to induce him to do his very -best in the performance of the task now given -him. In it we find early traces of those living -streams of pleasant feelings which flowed -from Mozart’s heart. The words of the opera -had been frequently set to music; but the people -said that no more beautiful music had ever -been heard than that of Mozart’s opera, in -which all the arias, without exception, were -beautiful. “Thank God,” he wrote on the -14th of January, “my opera was put upon the -stage yesterday, and came off so well that I -find it impossible to describe the bustle to -mamma. In the first place, the theater was -so very crowded that a great many people had -to go back home. Every aria was followed by -a frightful hubbub and cries of <i>viva maestro!</i> -Her highness the electoress and the electoress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> -dowager, who were just opposite me, saluted -me with a <i>bravo!</i> When the opera was out, -there was nothing to be heard but the clapping -of hands and cries of <i>bravo!</i> interrupted by -pauses of silence, only to be taken up again, -and again. After this, I went with papa into -a room, through which the elector had to go, -where I kissed the hands of his highness, of -the electoress and of the nobility, all of whom -were very gracious to me. Early this morning -his grace, the prince-bishop of Chiemsee, -sent a special messenger here to congratulate -me on the fact that the opera had proved so -unprecedently successful.” The prince-bishop, -who had been a canon of the cathedral in Salzburg, -and loved Mozart very much, had, it is -very likely, procured for him the commission -from Munich, and hence his enhanced interest -in Mozart, and the peculiar satisfaction he felt -in his great success.</p> - -<p>Even the archbishop himself was an unwilling -witness of the triumph of his <i>concertmeister</i>, -to whom he showed so little respect. He -had not, indeed, seen the opera himself, because -it was not performed during his visit, -which was a mere visit on business connected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> -with his office; but, as the father writes, he -could not help hearing Mozart’s praise, and -accepting many solemn congratulations on -having secured the services of so great a genius, -from all the elector’s household and from -the nobility. This confused him so much -that he could answer only with a nod of the -head and a shrug of the shoulders. We shall -soon see that all this did not redound to Mozart’s -welfare and advantage.</p> - -<p>An operetta, the <i>Il Re Pastore</i>, “The Royal -Shepherd,” written in honor of the sojourn of -the Archduke Maximilian Francis in Salzburg, -in the same year, 1775, must also be -classed among the youthful works of our artist. -He had now passed his twentieth year. He -had learned all there was to be learned, and -proved it in many ways by what he had achieved -in practice. His feelings urged him to -display his powers before the world. He felt -himself a man with</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Muth sich in die Welt zu wagen,</div> -<div class="verse">Der Erde Weh, der Erde Glück zu tragen.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>His boyhood was over; the youth was growing -into the man, and the man craves to try -his strength—craves action.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>This craving brought our artist, for the first -time, into a personal struggle with life; and as -he was compelled henceforth to carry on that -struggle alone, experience quickly strengthened -his moral power; and we find him no -longer simply the divinely favored artist, but -the strong, noble-minded man as well.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">1777-1779.</p> - -<p class="ph1">THE GREAT PARISIAN ARTISTIC JOURNEY.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> -<p>Disgusted With Salzburg—In Vienna Again—Salzburg Society—Character -of Musicians in the Last Century—Jerome -Colloredo, Archbishop of Salzburg—Mozart’s Letter to -Him—The Father’s Solicitude for His Son—Paternal Advice—New -Compositions—Incidents of his Journey—Meets -With Opposition—Secret Enemies—His Ambition -to Elevate the Character of the German Opera—Disappointments—His -Description of German “Free City” -Life—Meeting With Stein—In His Uncle’s Family—“Baesle”—Meeting -With the Cannabichs—Attachment -for Rosa Cannabich—Influence of this Attachment on His -Music—The Weber Family—The <i>Non so d’onde viene</i>—Circumstances -of its Composition.</p> -</div></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> a letter written in the year 1776, Wolfgang -complained to Father Martini, of Bologna, -that he was living in a city in which musicians -met with little success; that the theater -there had no persons of good ability, because -persons of good ability wished good pay; and -he adds: “Generosity is a fault of which we -cannot be accused.” He informs the reverend -father that he was engaged writing Church -music and chamber music, but that the pieces<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> -had to be always very short, because such was -the desire of the archbishop, and he closes -thus: “Alas, that we are so far away from -you, dearest master. Were we nearer to each -other, how much I would have to say to you.”</p> - -<p>It is easy to see that the young <i>maestro</i> felt -impelled to go where he might breathe a freer -air, and prove by his deeds the power that was -in him. As early as in the summer of 1773, -the father and son were again together in Vienna, -but not even the shrewdness of the -father, with all his experience, could devise -any way to the success he desired there, and -Wolfgang himself wrote from Munich to his -mother that she should not wish for their immediate -return, for she knew well enough how -much he needed a breathing spell, and he -says: “We shall be soon enough with ——.”</p> - -<p>They lived at home, father, son and daughter, -a happy family in their own narrow circle. -They had, we are glad to say, some true -and trusted friends with whom they employed -the little leisure which they could afford to -take, in the parlor games customary at the -time, and other simple pleasures. And this -leisure was small indeed, for they had to try<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -to make both ends meet by writing musical -compositions and giving instruction in music. -The father’s salary amounted to only forty -marks, and the son’s to only twenty-five marks -a month. No wonder he wrote: “generosity -is not our fault.” But their sense of refinement -was offended yet more by the rude manner -and the coarse tone prevalent in the place. -The Salzburgian was looked upon as a fool, -and the merry Andrews of Vienna mimicked -his dialect. The mode of life and the views -of the higher and lower “noblesse” were of a -nature still less agreeable and refined. Mozart, -who much preferred even the manners -of the “boorish Bavarians,” as they were then -universally called, to that of the Salzburg nobility, -relates, in his letters, how one of the latter -expressed so much surprise and crossed -himself so frequently at the Munich opera, -that they were greatly ashamed of him.</p> - -<p>It is notorious that Mozart’s real colleagues, -the musicians, had a well-merited reputation -during the last century, as “drunkards, gamesters -and dissipated, good-for-nothing fellows.” -This was one of the reasons which inspired -him with so great a hatred for Salzburg. “No<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -decent man,” he writes, “could live in such -company.” He was ashamed of them, and of -the coarse and dissolute music of the court. -Michael Haydn himself, Joseph Haydn’s -brother, a very clever composer, was not free -from at least one of these vices. There was -no one in Salzburg but knew Haydn’s little -drinking room in the <i>Stiftskeller</i> (monastery -wine-cellar). On one occasion, when the organist -of one of the city churches, drunk on the -organ-seat, was struck with apoplexy, Wolfgang’s -father wrote to him asking him to -divine who had been appointed his successor. -And he proceeds: “Herr Haydn—all laughed. -He is, indeed, an expensive organist. He -drinks a quart of wine after every part of the -mass. He sends Lipp (another organist) to -attend the other services—another man,” he -adds forcibly enough, “who wants a drink.”</p> - -<p>How now could it be said that here, in his -own real province, the young artist found a -reward worthy of his fiery spirit and of his -already tested powers?</p> - -<p>We have heard himself complain of the -theatre, the parlor, and the orchestra. A -wandering troupe performed in the theatre<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> -during the winter. The court-concerts were -limited to, at most, an hour, during which several -pieces had to be performed. Masses, even -the most solemn, were not allowed to be longer -than three-quarters of an hour. Moreover, -the orchestra was a small one, without as much -as even a clarionet. That, notwithstanding -all this; that thus confined and narrowed, and -with means thus limited, Mozart was able to -produce works such as we possess in his masses, -symphonies, and chamber music—works which -far surpass those of his contemporaries, and -find a worthy place by the side of the music -of the same kind by Joseph Haydn, is a triumph -which bears eloquent testimony to his -industry and genius. But he could never be -satisfied in Salzburg. That same genius urged -him out into a purer atmosphere, in which -action such as he was capable of, becomes possible, -in which he might come in contact with -men of culture. His resolve was made. The -world was before him, and he said to himself: -Go forth!</p> - -<p>But in his way stood, bold and dark, the -“—— ——” to whom they had, as Mozart -writes, returned soon enough, the “Mufti,” as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -he called the man “with the keen glance from -his grey eyes, the left of which was scarcely ever -entirely open, and the rigid lines about the -mouth”—Archbishop Jerome Colloredo. This -man really could not appreciate how much he -possessed in Mozart. “Let them only ask -the archbishop, he will put them immediately -on the right path,” Wolfgang writes, on one -occasion, referring to him concerning a concert -which had met with unusual success in Mannheim. -The principal cause of complaint, however, -was the archbishop’s niggardliness. He -was thus rigorous with those in his employ, lest -they should make any claims upon him. Mozart -wrote, at a later period: “I did not venture -on contradiction, because I came straight from -Salzburg, where the faculty of contradiction -has been lost by long abstinence from using it.” -Whatever he composed was wrong, found fault -with, and unsparingly. On one occasion, the -archbishop had the face to tell Mozart that he -did not understand anything of his art, and that -he should first go to the Conservatory at Naples -to learn something about music, and this to -Mozart, the Academician of Bologna and Verona, -the far-famed composer of operas! We<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -are informed that he never flattered Mozart -except when he wanted something; and Leopold -told Padre Martini that, otherwise, the -archbishop never paid Wolfgang a farthing -for his compositions.</p> - -<p>Suffering from the mania of the time, Jerome -preferred the Italians in matters of music, -and had surrounded himself with Italian -musicians. The Mozarts were, in consequence, -set back in every way and made the victims -of “persecution and contempt.” All the elements -of variance were here. A breach was -inevitable; for on the one side were the father -and son, both very frank, clear-headed and -witty; Wolfgang, with something in him of -the impetuosity of youth, conscious of his -power and of the opinion which the world had -of him, a consciousness which he took no -trouble to conceal; on the other the archbishop, -whose peculiarity it was to allow himself -to be impressed by persons of fine, handsome -figure, but not to respect little, insignificant-looking -people like the slender, twenty-year-old -Mozart.</p> - -<p>We have Mozart’s letter to the archbishop. -It saw the light—being found among the official<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -papers of the archbishopric—just one -hundred years after it was written. It gives -us a great deal of information concerning a -circumstance which had a great influence on -Mozart’s life, and which was finally the cause -of the most decided catastrophes to him. It -shows us, at the same time, what was the entire -tone of the period, and especially of Salzburg -subserviency. Mozart writes:</p> - -<div class="blockquot2"> -<p> -“<span class="smcap">To His Illustrious Grace, Most Reverend -Prince of the Holy Roman Empire</span>:</p> - -<p><i>Most Gracious Liege-Lord and Herr Herr!</i></p> - -<p>I dare not trouble your illustrious grace with any -minute description of our pitiful circumstances. My -father has most humbly, upon his honor and conscience, -and with all truth, called the attention of your illustrious -grace to those circumstances in his most humble -petition presented to your grace on the 14th of March -of this year. But as your illustrious grace’s most gracious -and propitious decision, which was hoped for, did -not come to him, my father would have most humbly -begged your illustrious grace, as long ago as the month -of June, most graciously to allow us to make a journey -of a few months, to the end that we might in this way -do something to help ourselves in our necessity, were -it not that your illustrious grace most graciously ordered -that all your grace’s musicians should keep themselves -in readiness for the occasion of his imperial -majesty’s [Joseph II] passage through your grace’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -city. After this, my father most humbly asked this -same permission, but your illustrious grace refused it -to him, and most graciously expressed a conviction that -I, who am only half engaged in your grace’s service, -might travel alone. Our circumstances are those of -urgent need. My father resolved to send me on my -way alone. But here also your illustrious grace interposed -some most gracious objections. Most gracious -liege-lord and <i>Herr Herr</i>, parents laboriously -strive to put their children in a position such that they -may earn their own daily bread; and this is a duty -which they owe to themselves and to the state.</p> - -<p>The more talents children have received from God, -the greater are their obligations to make use of those -talents for the amelioration of their own and their parents’ -circumstances, to assist their parents and to take -heed for their own advancement and for the future. -The gospels teach us thus to put our talents out at interest. -I therefore, in conscience, owe it to God to be -grateful to my father who spends untiringly his every -hour on my education; to lighten his burthen; and to -care for my sister; for it would pain me greatly if, after -spending so many hours at the piano, she should -not be able to turn what she has so laboriously learned -to account.</p> - -<p>Your illustrious grace will, therefore, most graciously -allow me to ask most humbly for my dismissal from -your grace’s service, as I am forced to make use of the -month of September this fall which is just beginning, -so that I may not be exposed to the inclemency of the -severe weather of the cold months which follow so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -soon upon it. Your illustrious grace will not take this -most humble petition of mine ungraciously, as your -grace most graciously pronounced against me three -years ago, when I asked leave to travel to Vienna, told -me that I had nothing to hope for, and that I would do -better to seek my fortune in some other place. Most -humbly do I thank your illustrious grace for all the -high favors I have received from your grace, and with -the flattering hope of being able to serve your illustrious -grace with greater approval when I shall have -reached man’s estate, I commend myself to the favor -and grace of</p> - -<p> -Your most illustrious Grace,<br /> - -<span class="indentleft">My most gracious liege-lord and <i>Herr Herr</i>.</span><br /> -<span class="indentleft2">Most humbly and obediently,</span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</span>.</p> - -<p>[<i>Addressed</i>]<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">To His Illustrious Grace<br /> -<span class="indentleft">The Archbishop of Salzburg</span>, etc., etc.;</span><br /> -<br /> -The most humble and obedient petition of Wolfgang -Amadeus Mozart.”</p> -</div> - -<p>It is no easy matter to imagine all that must -have occurred before the father resolved to -permit his son to take a step which might possibly -cost himself both his position and his -livelihood, but it may all be very readily divined -from the following passages in the Mozart -letters. The son writes: “I hope that -you meet with less vexation now than when I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -was in Salzburg, for I must confess that I was -its sole cause.” And again: “I was badly -treated, I did not deserve it. You naturally -sympathized with me, but too much. That -was the principal reason why I hastened away -from Salzburg.” And the father: “You are, -indeed, right, my dear son. I felt the greatest -vexation at the contemptible treatment which -you received. It was that that preyed on my -heart so, that kept me from sleeping, that was -ever in my thoughts, and which would have -surely ended by consuming me entirely.” -And here follows an outburst characteristic of -the feelings of the Mozarts: “My dear son, -when you are happy, so am I, so is your -mother, so is your sister, so are we all. And -that you will be happy I hope from God’s -grace, and through the confidence I place in -your sensible behavior.”</p> - -<p>And, indeed, this last was the only cause of -solicitude the father had when his son started -on his journey. Not that he had any doubt -as to the young man’s character or goodness -of heart. He had as much faith in both as in -the “superiority of his son’s talents.” What -alarmed him was Wolfgang’s want of experience.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -Wolfgang had never traveled alone. -And who had better opportunity to know the -extent of this inexperience than the faithful -mentor who, as the son himself confesses, had -always served him like a friend, nay like a -servant? The father’s utterances here are full -of beauty. They show us many a trait characteristic -of the whole life of the yet youthful but -immortal prodigy of art.</p> - -<p>The father writes: “You know, my son, -that you will have to do everything for yourself, -and that you are not accustomed to get -along entirely without the help of others; that -you are not very familiar with the different -kinds of coin, and that you have not the least -idea how to pack your things, or to do much -else which must be done.” He continues: “I -would also remind you, that a young man, -even if he had dropped down from heaven and -stood head and shoulders above all the masters -of art, will never get the consideration due him. -To win this, he must have reached a certain -age, and so long as a person is under twenty, -enviers, enemies and persecutors will find matter -for blame in his youth, in the little importance -attached to him and his small experience.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -And later: “My son, in all your affairs, you -are hasty and headlong. Your whole character -has changed since your childhood and boyhood -years. As a child, you were rather serious -than childish. Now, as it seems to me, -you are too quick to answer every one in a -jesting way at the very first provocation; and -that is the first step towards familiarity which -one must avoid in this world, if he cares to be -respected. It is your good heart’s fault that -you can see no defect in the person who pays -you a clever compliment, who professes esteem -for you and lauds you to the heavens, and that -you take him into your confidence and give -him your love.”</p> - -<p>Even if all this paternal chiding was provoked -only by the one special cause of which -we shall soon have something to say, it is, nevertheless, -true that the father here touches -upon some of Mozart’s characteristic traits, -especially his confiding goodness of heart, his -wit and jocoseness in everything, which were -led into wrong channels by the quickness of -his mind. The parting of father and son was -heart-rending indeed. We are sure that the -words in which Leopold Mozart describes his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -feelings, when Wolfgang, in company with his -mother, started out on his travels in September, -1777, came from the very bottom of a -father’s heart. “After you had gone,” he -writes, “I went, very tired, up the steps and -threw myself in a chair. I tried hard to restrain -myself on the occasion of our leave-taking, -that I might not make our separation -still more painful, and in my excitement I -forgot to give my son a father’s blessing. I -ran to the window and begged a blessing upon -both of you, but I did not see you go out -through the gate, and we could not but think -that you had already passed it, because I sat -there a long time without thinking of anything.” -Nannerl cried so much that she was -taken sick, and it was evening before either -she or her father had so far recovered from -the shock as to be able to distract themselves -by attending to some little home duties, and -enjoying what remained to them of domestic -bliss. “Thus did this sad day pass—a sadder -day than I believed life could ever bring me,” -says the father, in his account of it, when answering -the first letter he received from his -son after his departure.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>Wolfgang himself was very cheerful. He -was out again in the bracing atmosphere of -freedom. His confidence in human nature, -the result of inexperience, hid from his eyes -the thorns of life which were destined henceforth -to sting him till he died. Trusting in -his talents and his good will, he thought that -his pathway would be strewn with roses. His -father, in a somewhat gloomy excess of zeal -writes him: “Cling to God, I beg you; you must -do it, my dear son, for men are all knaves.”... -“The older you get and the more -you have to do with men, the more will you -learn this bitter truth. Think only of the -many promises, all the sycophancy and the -hundred other things we have met with, and -then draw your own conclusions as to how -much you can build on human aid.” All -Salzburg wondered and revolted at the course -pursued by the archbishop, for young Mozart -got his dismissal immediately and in a very -unkind and ungracious way. The father, indeed, -was allowed to retain his position, but -the dissatisfaction of the court at the loss was -very great, for strangers found nothing to admire -but Wolfgang. One of the cathedral<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -canons afterwards admitted this to Mozart himself, -and the steward of the household, Count -Firmian, who was very fond of Mozart, gives -the following account of a conversation overheard -by him while waiting on the court:</p> - -<p>“We have now one musician less. Your -illustrious grace has lost a great performer.”</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“He is the greatest piano-player I ever -heard in my life. As a violinist he served -your illustrious grace exceedingly well, and he -was besides a very good composer.”</p> - -<p>The archbishop was silent.</p> - -<p>All this was a rich source of satisfaction to -Wolfgang, but it did not lessen his father’s -cares. The preparations for his journey were -of course very carefully made, even in the minutest -details, especially in what related to his -compositions, that he might “be able to show -what he could do in everything:” in concertos -for the piano and violin, sonatas, airs and ensemble -pieces of the most various kind. The -sonatas for the piano alone—as we would remark -here to the lovers of music—known as -Nos. 279-284 in L. Kœchel’s “<i>Chron. themat. -Verzeichniss</i>,” are, as to their form, perfectly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -full of beauty, and the matter of them frequently -interests us by the distinctness of its almost -speaking pictures of life. More significant and -important yet is the sonata in C major. Its -<i>Andante cantabile</i>, in F major (3/4), is a dramatic -scene which, although on a small scale, -clearly bespoke the hand of the future composer -of <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i>. And the variations -with which the sonata in A major (6/8) -begins were hardly equaled by Beethoven in his -Op. 26. The trio in the minuet, on the other -hand, was a full scene from life, taken from the -Carnival to which the closing <i>Alla Turca</i> alludes. -Compared with these youthful works of -Mozart—for they belong to the end of the year -1770—what are the sonatas of Ph. E. Bach, -and even of Joseph Haydn?</p> - -<p>The travelers had also, with the assistance -of the father, made every other preparation for -their journey. The boot-tree or stretcher, -even, which was, at the time, a necessary part -of a traveler’s outfit, was not forgotten. And -yet their first stopping-place was near enough. -The father had once before knocked at the -doors of Munich. Now the son went to seek -his fortune by calling personally on the good-hearted -elector.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>We can here, of course, touch only on the -principal incidents of Mozart’s journey, on -those which influenced his subsequent life, -and must refer the reader for more detailed -information to his letters. We find in them -the clearest and most charming descriptions of -his life. They appeal to our deepest feelings; -for they are addressed, almost without exception, -to the father. The father’s answers had -to be very explicit, for there was ample room -for advice and timely precaution, much to deter -from or to make good again, as occasion -required, and not a little place for admonition. -In every one of them, we find the reflection of -the solid worth of these two faithful souls, a -worth which was destined to find a really ideal -and transfigured echo in Mozart’s music. This -journey had for effect the development of Mozart’s -inmost nature. It gave his artistic creations -that sovereign and catholic character -for which they are so remarkable.</p> - -<p>Wolfgang wrote some letters home, when he -reached the first station. In one of them we -read: “We live like princes. There is nothing -wanting to complete our happiness but papa. -But, please God, all will be well with us.”...<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -“I hope that papa will be cheerful and as well -satisfied as I am. I can put up very well with -my lot. I am a second papa. I look after -everything. I have undertaken to pay the -postillion, too, for I can talk to the fellows -better than mamma can. Papa should take -care of his health, and remember that the mufti -J. C. [Jerome Colloredo] is a mean fellow, but -that God is compassionate, merciful and kind.” -No sooner, however, had they reached their -first stopping-place than things began to wear -a different aspect. Mozart received, indeed, -a warm reception. There was no lack of admiration -for, or of recognition of, his genius. -But he met with no success. His receipts were -small, and employment hard to find. The innkeeper, -Albert, of the sign of the “Black Eagle” -(the hotel Detzer of the present), received -them. Albert was known as the “learned -host,” and took no small interest in art. Mozart -first called on the manager of the theatre, -count Seeau. He thought that if he had only -one more opera, all would be well with him. -He next visited the bishop of Chiemsee, to -whom he owed it that he had the opportunity to -compose the <i>Verstellte Gaertnerin</i>. Everybody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> -knew of his arrival, and advised him to go direct -to the elector, who was a patron of the fine arts, -and esteemed Mozart himself very highly. -But many days did not pass before Wolfgang -discovered that the bishop had had a private -conversation at table, in Nymphenburg, -from which he gathered that he could accomplish -very little in Munich. The bishop -said: “It is too soon yet. He must go; he -must take a trip to Italy and become famous. -I refuse him nothing; but it is too soon yet.” -The father was right; the want of good will -hides itself too frequently behind the mask of -“youth and too little experience.” And yet, -we must ask, who was so much more celebrated -than this young <i>Cavaliere filarmonico</i>? The -electoress, too, shrugged her shoulders, but -promised to do her best.</p> - -<p>Mozart, however, insisted on going to Nymphenburg. -The elector wanted to bear mass -just before going to hunt. Mozart thus dramatizes -the scene in one of his letters:</p> - -<p>“With your electoral highness’s permission, -I would fain most humbly cast myself at your -highness’s feet and offer my services to your -highness.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>“Well, have you left Salzburg for good?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, for good, your electoral highness.”</p> - -<p>“But why for good? Have you quarreled?”</p> - -<p>“Well, please your electoral highness, I only -asked leave to take a trip. This was refused -me, and hence I was compelled to take -this step, although I had long contemplated -leaving, for Salzburg is no place for me.”</p> - -<p>“My God, and you a young man!”</p> - -<p>“I have been in Italy three times. I have -written three operas, am a member of the -Academy of Bologna, and have been obliged -to undergo an examination on which many a -master has been obliged to work and to sweat -over for four or five hours. I got through it -in an hour. This may prove to your highness -that I am able to be of service at any court. -My only wish is to serve your electoral highness, -who is himself a great....”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear child, but I am sorry to say -that there is not a place vacant. If there was -only a vacancy.”</p> - -<p>“I assure your highness that I would certainly -do honor to Munich.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s of no use to talk that way, -there’s not a place vacant.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>We have here given the whole dialogue. -It is a typical example of the way in which -princes and magnates treated Mozart through -the whole of his short life. There never was -“a vacancy” for him. Real genius finds no -place to lay its head. It would seem as if its -god-given nature were fated to find nothing -earthly to cling to.</p> - -<p>But, to continue. Spite of this positive declaration, -Mozart was not deterred from trying -it again at court, and this spite of the fact that -his father had written to him that the elector -could not create a new place without any more -ado, and that, besides, there were always secret -enemies in such cases, who prevented a thing -of that kind out of anxiety to save their own -skin. Yet friends, true and false, found -means to flatter him. First of all, there was -count Seeau, who had a pecuniary interest in -the theater, and understood what advantage a -fertile mind like that of Mozart might be to -him. He knew how to amuse Mozart, whom, -on the occasion of the performance of his first -opera, he saw to be all fire and flame, with fair -hopes: Mozart was to write a German opera -of the heroic kind, and this appealed powerfully<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> -to his patriotic feelings. He himself -next stirred up his own friends. A number -of those interested in him, it was proposed, -should club together, and enable him, by a -regular monthly contribution, to remain in -Munich until he had written such a work, -and thus obtained a foothold. Seeau had, indeed, -expressed himself to the effect that he -would like to retain Mozart, if he had only -“a little assistance from home.” Mozart -wanted to pledge himself to write four German -operas a year, partly comic and partly -serious, and estimated that his profits from -them would be at least eight hundred and fifty -marks, or about two hundred dollars; that -count Seeau would give at least five hundred, -and would be always invited—and how much -there was to be gained here! And he adds: -“I am very much liked here even now; but -how popular I should be if I could only elevate -the German opera! and this I certainly would -be able to do, for I felt the greatest desire to -write when I heard the German vaudeville.”</p> - -<p>“Wolfgang’s first castles in the air!” the -father must have said to himself when he read -these lines. The “learned host” who had taken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> -the matter of contributions in hand with -honest zeal and with a true interest in young -Mozart, could not find so many as ten persons -to give a trifle over a ducat a month to aid in -the good cause. Yet it must be remembered -that the German national taste for art was fast -awakening together with the freedom of German -national, intellectual life—the result of -many causes, but especially of the deeds and -exploits of Old Fritz (Frederick the Great); -and, that a German national opera was among -the ideals both of princes and artists—at least -of those of them who shared in the broader and -nobler thought of the period. We shall have -something to say on this point further on.</p> - -<p>Thus are we able to understand Wolfgang’s -warm attachment for the German opera—and, -indeed, had not the prima donna Kaiser “drawn -many and many a tear from him”—as well as -his arduous endeavor to obtain a firm and -permanent foothold in Munich. But Wolfgang’s -success as a virtuoso made the father -believe in him completely, and inspired him -with confidence, spite of this first want of success. -The son writes: “At the very last, I -played my own <i>cassation</i> in B major. Every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -one wondered. I played as if I were the greatest -fiddler in Europe.” To which the father -answered: “You don’t know yourself, my son, -how well you play the violin when you only -do yourself justice and care to play with heart -and spirit, just as if you were the first violinist -in Europe.” A <i>cassation</i> is a piece of music -in the form of Beethoven’s septett, but intended -for a solo-instrument, and especially for serenades.</p> - -<p>But he was doomed to disappointment. To -see how the father watched over the credit of -his son who, in his first endeavors to attain -success, had fallen into a condition of dependence -entirely unworthy of him, and thus become -a laughing-stock for the archbishop; and -how the son excused his inconsiderate and inordinate -zeal by pleading his passion for the -opera, we must consult the letters of both. -Wolfgang, with his characteristic amiability, -says: “I speak from my heart, and just as I -feel. If papa convinces me that I am in the -wrong, I shall submit, however reluctantly; -for I am out of myself the moment I even -hear an opera spoken of.”</p> - -<p>They left Munich on the 11th of October,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -1777—that is, a full fortnight after their arrival. -The father reminds them that neither -“fair words, compliments nor <i>bravissimos</i> pay -the postmaster or the host.” “Do all you -can to earn some money, and be as careful as -possible about your expenses. The object of -your journey is, and must be, either to obtain -employment or to earn money.” This last, -however, was not their object in the rich and -free imperial city of Augsburg, whither they -first directed their steps, because it was their -father’s birthplace. They received a warm -welcome there from the father’s brother, like -Wolfgang’s grandfather, a book-binder. Mozart’s -playing and composition, as well as himself, -here as everywhere else, met with the -greatest recognition, both in public and private, -but he did not succeed in giving a concert. -The “patricians” were not in funds. And -when the Protestant patricians invited them -to their boorish academy (to the <i>vornehmen -Bauernstub Akademie</i>), the total amount of -the present made was—two ducats. “I’m very -sure,” the father says, “they would scarcely -have gotten me into their beggarly academy;” -and, we may add: “The prophet is without -honor in his own country.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>But he has erected the best possible monument -to those Gothamites, so foolishly proud of -their old imperial-city denizenship. In Mozart’s -letters to his father, we get an exquisitely -faithful picture of “free city” life and “free -city” men, with the exaggerated self-consciousness -and self-satisfaction of inherited -possession and honor, so frequently met with -in them that even mere youths seemed almost -in their dotage. One cannot but grow merry -at the expense of that narrow little world. -“His grace,” the chamberlain to the exchequer -of the town, Herr von Langenmantel the “my -lords,” his sons, and his “gracious” young -wife, fare all the worse under the lash of the -Mozart’s well-known “wicked tongue,” because -Mozart might reasonably have hoped to -find a becoming welcome in his father’s birthplace. -Even the golden spur given Mozart -by Pope Ganganelli did more to charm these -“free citizens” than it did to remind them of -the honors so young an artist had already won, -and that he was, in consequence, the peer of -any one of them. One officer of the imperial -army, especially, who ignored this fact, was -very properly snubbed, and taught the lesson<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -that Mozart was not to be made sport of. We -read in one of the father’s letters, “Whenever -I thought of your journey to Augsburg, I -could not help thinking of Wieland’s Abderites; -a man should get an opportunity to -see <i>in natura</i> what in reading he considers a -pure ideal.” But Mozart had here the best -of opportunities to pursue those studies which -the artist needs, in order to paint from life. -We are reminded of his experiences, like -those in Augsburg, by the brutal, self-destructive, -ridiculous haughtiness of Osmin in the -“Elopement from the Seraglio.”</p> - -<p>Mozart’s meeting with the celebrated piano -manufacturer Stein, to whom he left it to -guess who he was, was a very cheerful meeting, -and the manner of it such as Mozart delighted -in. He again characterizes as “bad” -the playing of Stein’s eight-year-old little -girl, afterwards Frau Streicher, who played -so honorable and womanly a part in Beethoven’s -life. His intercourse with his uncle’s -family, in which the presence of his niece, -(<i>das Baesle</i>), a young girl of eighteen, served -somewhat to exercise his affections, and was -the occasion, afterwards, of a series of jocose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> -letters between them. He writes: “I can -assure you, that, were it not that it holds a clever -uncle and aunt and a charming ‘Baesle,’ I -should regret exceedingly having come to -Augsburg.” “Baesle” and he seemed made -for one another, he thought; “for,” as he said, -“she, too, has a little badness in her. The -two of us banter the people, and we have very -amusing times.”</p> - -<p>Their separation was of such a nature that -the father had the “sad parting of the two -persons, melting into tears, Wolfgang and -Baesle,” painted on a panel in their room. -All else concerning this sojourn in Augsburg -must be looked for in the letters themselves, -where the reader will find some exquisite -genre painting.</p> - -<p>“How I like Mannheim? As well as I -can like any place where ‘Baesle’ is not,” -we soon hear him answer; for Mannheim, -the home of the elector, Karl Theodore, who -was as fond of reveling as he was of art, was -the next nearest destination our travelers had -in view in order to attain Wolfgang’s main -object. True, he did not attain his object here -either, but he had there that first genuine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -heart-experience which helped to mature his -character as much as his mind was already developed -beyond his years.</p> - -<p>His next meeting was with the electoral -<i>Capellmeister</i>, Cannabich, who knew him when -he (Mozart) was a child. He was “extraordinarily -polite,” but the orchestra stared at -him. As he writes: “They think that because -I am so little and young, I have not -much that is great in me; but they will soon -see.” And the mother, soon after: “You -cannot imagine how highly Wolfgang is esteemed -here, both by musicians and others. -They all say that he has no equal. They fairly -deify his compositions.” And yet, so far, -he had composed nothing here that could be -called really great, no opera; and to write one -was the chief reason why Mozart protracted -his stay in Mannheim so long. Karl Theodore -was, above all, the promoter and protector -of those who endeavored to create a German -national operatic stage, and his orchestra, under -the leadership of Cannabich, was so exquisitely -good that it and old Fritz’s tactics -were considered the most significant and noteworthy -phenomena in Europe at the time.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -Moreover, the elector was very affable with -his musicians, who were everywhere looked -upon as “decent people”—a complete contrast -with those of Salzburg.</p> - -<p>The pleasure-seeking tone of the court had, -indeed, invaded the middle classes of society, -also; but what did Mozart’s pure heart know -of that? On the contrary, he was destined to -find, even in voluptuous Mannheim, a love as -beautiful as it was pure.</p> - -<p>His heart was now completely open to that -irresistible impulse of the human breast. -Even when in Munich composing, his <i>Gaertnerin -aus Liebe</i>, he once said to his “dearest -sister”: “I implore you, dearest sister, do -not forget your promise; that is, to make the -visit, you know, ... for I have my reasons. -I beg of you to make my compliments -there, ... but most emphatically ... and -most tenderly ... and ... O ... well, -I should not trouble myself about it. I know -my sister too well; she is tenderness itself.” -His trifling with “Baesle” had left no impression -on his heart of hearts. She was -both in mind and culture too much of the -<i>bourgeoise</i>, too immature to captivate him.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -His jocose correspondence with her affords -sufficient proof of this. But now we see that -Cupid himself directed his pencil.</p> - -<p>Young Mozart next informs us of the merry -times he had at the houses of the musicians -of a city, in which, as a writer of the times -says, “the ladies,” were beautiful, sweet and -charming. We soon find him again, “as -usual,” at Cannabich’s, for supper. Of an -evening of this kind, spent there, he writes: -“I, John Chrysostome Amadeus Wolfgang -Sigismund Mozart, plead guilty, that, day before -yesterday and yesterday, as I have done -frequently, I did not come home until midnight, -and that from ten o’clock, in the -presence and society of Cannabich, his wife -and daughter, of Messrs. Ramm and Lang -[two members of the orchestra], I have made -rhymes, and not of the most exalted nature, -in words and thoughts but not in deeds. I -would not have acted in so godless a way were -it not that Lisel had excited me to it, and I -must confess that I found real pleasure in it.” -On one occasion, at the house of the flute-player, -Wendling, he was in such excellent -humor, and played so well, that when he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> -finished, he had to kiss the ladies. He tells -us that, in the case of the daughter, he found -this a very easy and pleasant task. She had -been the elector’s sweetheart, and, as Schubart -says, in his <i>Aesthetik der Tonkunst</i>, the -“greatest beauty in the orchestra.”</p> - -<p>But Rosa Cannabich “a very sweet and -beautiful girl,” as he writes of her himself, fettered -him with the complete irresistibleness of -her innocent charms more than could even -this blooming flower. And this was the beginning -of those sweet love-songs which now -flowed in pure tones from his poet-heart; and, -hence, this event marks a period in our artist’s -life. He writes, shortly after his arrival in -Mannheim: “She plays the piano very sweetly, -and to make him (the father) a fast friend, -I am writing a sonata for mademoiselle, his -daughter.” When the first <i>allegro</i> was finished, -a young musician asked him how he -intended to write the <i>andante</i>. “I shall -fashion it after mademoiselle Rosa’s character,” -he answered; and he informs us further: -“When I played it, it gave extraordinary satisfaction. -It is even so. The <i>andante</i> is just -like her.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>What was she like? A painter subsequently -wrote of her thus: “How many such beautiful, -priceless hours did heaven grant me in -sweet intercourse with Rosa Cannabich. Her -memory is an Eden to my heart;” and Wolfgang -now wrote of her that, for her age, she -was a girl of much mind, and of demure and -serious disposition, one who said little, but that -little in an affable, nay, charming manner. -In Naples stands Psyche, a rose just opening. -Mozart possessed the same refined, antique -feeling for the soul-statue of man. Here, before -his clear-seeing artist eye, the bud that in -it lay was fully blown. This fruitful heart-life -was destined soon to sow deeper germs in -his own soul, and to cause his own art to bloom -fully forth.</p> - -<p>Here, accordingly, we discover one of those -turning points in the development of Mozart’s -inner nature, which had much to do with his -intellectual growth, inasmuch as his passion -disclosed to him for the first time the meaning -of the homely truth, that both life and art are -serious things. We proceed to show how this -effect was produced.</p> - -<p>The court had heard him in the very first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -week of his stay in Mannheim. “You play -incomparably well,” said the elector to him. -Shortly after Mozart spoke to the elector as -“his good friend,” and the latter began: “I -have heard that you wrote an opera in Munich.” -“Yes, your highness,” Mozart replied, -“I commend myself as your grace’s obedient -servant. My highest wish is to write an opera -I beg your highness not to forget me quite -I know German also, and may God be praised -and thanked for it.” “That is not at all impossible,” -answered his most serene highness, -and so Mozart made his arrangements for a -longer sojourn in Mannheim. He took some -pupils, and as we saw when speaking of the -pretty Rosa Cannabich, he wrote sonatas, or -variations for them. For this he needed a -copyist But copying was, as he once complained -to his father, very dear in Mannheim, -and he was, therefore, overjoyed, copying being -to himself a real torment, after a while—it -was at the beginning of 1778—to find a man -who performed that task for him, in consideration -of his instructing his daughter in -music.</p> - -<p>This man was Fridolin von Weber, brother<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> -of the father of C. M. von Weber, and at that -time, a prompter and a copyist in the Mannheim -theater. The daughter’s name was -Aloysia, later the celebrated singer, Madame -Lange.</p> - -<p>The family had seen better days, but the -father’s passion for the stage had led him into -these straits, where he had for years to support -a family of six children on an annual -salary of three hundred and fifty marks. But -he made such good use of his knowledge of -music that his second daughter, who was at -this time—she was in her fifteenth year—an -excellent singer, cooperated with him at the -theater, and thus doubled her father’s salary. -Mozart as a musician felt at home in the family—for -the eldest daughter, Josepha became -afterwards Frau Hofer, for whom the “Queen -of the Night” in the <i>Magic Flute</i> was written—and -so the sympathy of his good heart was -soon awakened. “She needs nothing but action, -and then she will make a good prima -donna on any stage. Her father is a thoroughly -honorable son of our German fatherland. -He brings his children up well, and -that is the very cause why the girl is persecuted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -here.” Thus did he sum up the chief points -in this affair in the first news he sent home. -Subsequently he wrote <i>a propos</i> of a performance -at the house of the princess of Orange: -“I may pass over her singing with a single -word—it was superb!” And at the close of his -letter: “I have the inexpressible pleasure to -have formed the acquaintance of thoroughly -honest and really Christian people. I only -regret that I did not know them long ago.”</p> - -<p>This tells the whole story. He henceforth -devoted nearly all his leisure to the family, -rehearsed with the young vocalist all her arias, -procured her opportunities to have her music -heard, and had the satisfaction to know that -Raaff himself, the most celebrated tenor in -Mannheim, and even in Germany, declared -that she sang not like a pupil, but like an -adept in the vocal art.</p> - -<p>One incident here deserves to be specially -mentioned, for it had a decided, far-reaching -and direct influence on Mozart’s action, and on -his development as an artist. He had set -about writing an aria for the great tenor already -mentioned, in order to win him over for -his contemplated opera. “But,” he writes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -with the utmost frankness, “the beginning of -it seemed to me too high for Raaff, and I liked -it too well to change it. I therefore resolved -to write the aria for Miss Weber. I laid it -aside, and resolved on other words for Raaff. -But to no purpose. I found it impossible to -write. The first aria haunted my mind and -would not away, and then I decided to write -it out to suit Miss Weber exactly.”</p> - -<p>What was the import of those words which -he selected simply because an air to the same -words, composed by the London Bach, had -pleased him so much and kept forever ringing -in his ears, and because he wanted to try -whether, spite of everything, he was not able -to write an aria entirely unlike Bach’s? What -were the words?</p> - -<p>A king orders a youth who has made an attempt -upon his life to be led to execution. -But when he sees the young culprit, he immediately -exclaims: “What is this strange power -that agitates and moves me? His face, his -eye, his voice! My heart palpitates; every -fibre of my body quivers! Through all my -feelings I look for the cause of this strange -effect, and cannot find it. What is it, O God,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -what is it that I feel?” And hereupon follows -that very aria, <i>Non so d’onde viene</i>: -“I know not whence this tender feeling. -Mere pity cannot produce a change so sudden!” -Was not this the condition of Mozart’s -own heart? He imagined that pity, -and pity only, for the condition of the Weber -family, and, at most, an interest in the -“beautiful, pure voice,” and wonder at the -combination of so much ability with such extreme -youth, bound his heart to their home; -but it was not that; it was the undivined -depths which the first feeling of love opens -before us; the wonder, the charm, the trembling, -glowing exultation, the heart-felt, floating, -exquisite bliss which with a longing foreboding -discovers us to ourselves for the first -time, and which, in the throes of our heart of -hearts, seems to give a new birth to every drop -of blood in our veins. In such a state, we may -imagine, it was that he sang this: <i>Non so d’onde -viene</i>—not as a musician, not as an artist, but -urged thereto by that powerful, irresistible impulse -of the heart which, in the last instance, -begets in us all our truest life. And as Pygmalion, -in a fit of such fiery ardor, moved the marble<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> -so Mozart melted in this first fire of the fullest -and most human of feelings, the elemental substances -of all music, and gave it what it hitherto -had possessed only in isolated cases and accidentally, -an impression full of soul, a meaning -to its every tone.</p> - -<p>It is hard to find before Mozart, except it be -in national melodies, anything of this living, -animated, thoroughly personal expression of -feeling, such as we possess in this <i>Non so d’onde -viene</i>. It is like Aloysia’s picture itself. Here -we find a language plainer and more universally -intelligible than words. It charms and -enchants us; looks us in the face; speaks to us -with an expression as if we alone were addressed. -This is the highest, the very highest effect -of art, and this the time when it becomes a -second, an ideal, a transfigured life. The language -which Mozart thus acquired for his art, -he never forgot or dropped. He embellished -it, amplified it, deepened it, until he reached -that expression of the soul in which, like the -melody in the <i>Magic Flute</i>, the soul itself -stands face to face with its Creator, and in the -calmness of its bliss, feels that it is “the image -of God,” and His portion forever.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>We here close the account of Mozart’s inner -awakening. We may now compare with his -first heart-trials his first intellectual exploits, -the very beginning of which was this aria, <i>Non -so d’onde viene</i>, to write which he was inspired -by his love for Aloysia Weber.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">1779-1781.</p> - -<p class="ph1">IDOMENEO.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> -<p>New Disappointments—Opposition of the Abbe Vogler—Mozart -and the Poet Wieland—Wieland’s Impressions of -Mozart—German Opera and Joseph II.—The Weber Family—Aloysia -Weber—Mozart’s Plans—His Father Opposes -them and his Attachment for Aloysia—Mozart’s Music and -Heart-trials—In Paris—Disappointments there—Contrast -Between Parisian and German Life at this Time—New Intrigues -Against Him—Invited Back to Salzburg—“Faithless” -Aloysia—Meeting of Father and Son—Reception in -Salzburg—“King Thamos”—Character of Mozart’s Music -Composed at this Time—Invitation to Compose the Idomeneo—Success -of that Opera—Effect of the Idomeneo -on the Italian Opera.</p> -</div></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart’s</span> way is henceforth through the tortuous -paths of life. Disappointment after disappointment -meets him. He becomes familiar -with suffering and sorrow, but they point him -to a higher goal than that of mere immediate -success. The severest trials of his affections -broaden his heart and make room in it for interests -other than his own—an effect which -unveils the real worth of the artist.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>It would be a great mistake to suppose that -Mozart, at this time, was completely entangled -in the meshes of love. He did not forget his -high vocation, and even in this affair of the -heart, his art had no small influence. He -writes to his father: “My dear miss Weber -has done herself and me credit beyond expression, -by this aria. All said that they were -never moved by an aria as they were by that -one. But then she sang it as it should be sung.” -And yet she “had learned the aria by herself,” -and sang it “in accordance with her own taste.” -How well that taste must have been already -cultivated, and what a good teacher the young -composer must have been! But does not Platen -sing:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first"> -“Mein Herz und deine Stimme</div> -<div class="verse">Verstehn sich gar zu gut!”<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></div> -</div></div> - -<p>Aloysia, in later years, contributed more -than any other vocalist to make the world acquainted -with Mozart’s music and to teach people -to understand it. And this was necessary. -For, even Mozart’s melodies, which seem to us -now so easily and so universally intelligible, -found it, in their own day, and this not unfrequently,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -no easy matter to hold their own; and -it was only very gradually that they were given -the preference over the incomparably more -languid melodies of the time, especially over -the florid style of the Italians.</p> - -<p>Even now, he had in this successful effort, -the hoped-for opera in Mannheim, mainly in -view; which would thus and through his own -efforts have a <i>prima donna</i> as well as a first -tenor. But even here his hopes were destined -to disappointment. We cannot now enter into -details, but must refer the reader to Mozart’s -letters to his father. They afford us a true -picture of the culture, musical and other, of a -small German court of that period, which had -a very decisive influence on German art.</p> - -<p>From these letters we learn, first of all, that -the real object of his visit was kept steadily in -view. They tell us of his plans, and give us -detailed accounts of his industry in his art, -with here and there an outburst of the unknown -feeling that animated him. Mozart, -who was so fond of doing nothing but “speculating -and studying”: that is, who loved to -live only for art and in art, diligently endeavors -to find scholars to instruct and tasks in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -composition of every description, even for the -flute, for which he had so little liking. He -has still a firm faith in the intention of the elector -to charge him with the composition of at -least one German opera. He had heard an -opera of that kind—“Guenther von Schwarzburg,” -by Holzbauer—here in Mannheim, and -what would he not have been able himself to -produce with artists like Raaff, his own Weber, -and the celebrated Mesdames Wendling, under -the leadership of a Cannabich! At all events -he here learned what might be expected of a -good orchestra, just as he had previously learned -in Italy how to write for song.</p> - -<p>When, now, Mozart’s prospects for an opera -were becoming obscured—we have no certain -information as to the causes of this, but may -safely assume that the well-known abbe Vogler, -<i>Capellmeister</i>, in Mannheim, Mozart’s life-long -opponent and even enemy, was not without -influence here—and there was little promise -of the realization of his hopes, it would -have been very natural that he should think of -pursuing his journey further, especially as Paris -was now not so far away. Some of the musicians -of the orchestra, Wendling, Ramm and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -Lang proposed to him to go there with him in -the Lenten season and give a concert with him. -They thought that their influence would help -him to get orders for all kinds of composition, -and even for an opera. And, to keep him, for -the time being, in Mannheim, spite of his having -himself written to his father that the elector -did nothing for him, they endeavored to -procure pupils and compositions for him. -Added to this was an event which strongly engaged -him to stay, the rehearsal of another -German opera, “Rosamunde,” by Wieland; -and it is of interest to learn what Mozart, with -that frankness which characterized him, had -to say of other celebrated men of that period. -His description of Wieland can scarcely be -called flattering. He describes him a man, -“with a rather child-like voice, looking steadily -through his glasses, with a certain learned -coarseness, and occasionally stupid condescension.” -Yet he excuses the poet because the -people of Mannheim looked upon him as upon -an angel dropped down from heaven. Besides, -Wieland did not yet know the artist himself, -and may, therefore, not have treated him in a -becoming manner. For, soon afterwards, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -read in one of his letters: “When Herr Wieland -had heard me twice, he was charmed. -The last time, after paying me all possible -kinds of compliments, he said: ‘It is a -real good fortune for one to have seen you!’—and -he pressed my hand.”</p> - -<p>Wieland had, by his appeal in the “Essay -on the German opera,” in the <i>Deutsche Merkur</i> -in 1775, become the principal representative -of those who were endeavoring to create -a German national opera, and thus Mozart’s -meeting with him was of the utmost importance, -and had a great influence in promoting -the end contemplated. The performance of -“Rosamunde” was, however, prevented by the -sudden death of the elector, Maximilian III. of -Bavaria, as Karl Theodore had to go to Munich -about New Year’s. Still, the idea of -a German opera continued a motive power in -Mozart’s soul. He even now writes about the -intention of the Emperor Joseph II. to establish -such an opera in Vienna, and of his -looking seriously about for a young <i>Capellmeister</i> -with a knowledge of the German language, -one possessed of genius, and able to -produce something entirely new. The man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> -who was one day to compose the “Elopement -from the Seraglio,” and the “Magic Flute,” -exclaims: “I think that there is there a task -for me.”</p> - -<p>At first, nothing came of this, much as Mozart, -in his present circumstances, might have -desired such a position. But it had the effect -of changing his plans entirely, and this change -of plans is worthy of more than passing mention, -since it was attended by a powerful agitation -and perturbation of his whole mind and -heart. Besides, it throws a new light on his -relations to his “dear Weber.”</p> - -<p>The father, who confidently believed that -Wolfgang had gone to Paris, and who had given -him excellent advice on every point, telling -him among other things that he would do best -to bring his mother back to Augsburg, suddenly -received the information that Wolfgang -was not going to Paris. The Wendlings’ way -of living did not please him, he said; they -had “no religion;” besides, he added, he did -not see what he was going to do in Paris; he -was not made to give lessons in music. “I -am,” he goes on, “a composer and born to be a -<i>Capellmeister</i>. I must not bury the talent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -with which God has so richly gifted me—I -think I may speak of myself in this way without -pride—and I would be burying it by taking -so many scholars.”</p> - -<p>What was it that he craved? Why does -he lay so much stress on the talent he possessed? -He wanted to go to Italy with the -Webers and write operas there, in which the -daughter was to act as prima donna.</p> - -<p>He writes: “The thought of being able to -help a poor family without having to do any -injustice to myself is a genuine pleasure,” and, -in these few words, he lays his whole soul -open before us. Possessed by this honest, -benevolent feeling, he is only half conscious of -the wish to be able to remain with the charming -girl and to make her his own at last, by -his ability and his profitable productions as a -composer of Italian operas. Some weeks previously, -he had written to a friend in Salzburg: -“That is another mercenary marriage, a marriage -for money. I would not marry in that -way. I want to make my wife happy, and not -to make a fortune by her.” At first they only -intended to give concerts. He tells his father: -“When I travel with him [Weber] I feel just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -as I used to when I traveled with you. And -that is the reason I am so fond of him; because, -with the exception of his external appearance, -he is just like you. He has your -character and your way of thinking. I did -not need to trouble myself about anything. -Even the mending of my clothes was seen to. -In a word, I was served like a prince. I am -so fond of this distressed family, that I desire -nothing so much as to be able to make them -happy, and perhaps I may be able to do it.”</p> - -<p>It was in memory of his triumph in Italy -that he himself counseled going there, and -advised his father that the sooner he renewed -his connections with it the better, so that he -might get a commission for an opera that season. -He would pledge his life that her (Aloysia’s) -singing would be a credit to him. They -would next visit his home, and Nannerl would -find a companion and friend in Aloysia; for -she had in Mannheim a reputation like that of -Nannerl in Salzburg, her father like his own, -and the whole Weber family a reputation like -the Mozart family’s. “You know,” he concludes, -“my greatest and most ardent desire -to write operas. I am jealous, to the extent of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -vexation, of every person who writes one, and -I could cry my eyes out whenever I hear or -see an aria. I have now written to you about -everything just as I feel in my heart. I kiss -your hands a thousand times, and until death -I remain your most obedient son. W. A. Mozart.”</p> - -<p>But the mother secretly added a post-script -to this letter, saying that Wolfgang would sacrifice -everything for the Webers; that it was -true Aloysia sang incomparably well, and that -the Wendlings had never treated her exactly -right, but that the moment he had become -acquainted with the Webers, he changed his -mind about Paris.</p> - -<p>Although the prudent father was “almost -beside himself” when he heard of Wolfgang’s -plan of roving about the world with strangers, -he begins by laying before him as clearly and -distinctly as possible, how almost entirely useless -his course had been since he started on -his journey, and by a thousand reasons endeavoring -to make him see plainly the impossibility -of carrying out his design. His letter -is throughout replete with love for his -child, with moderation and discretion, but he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> -nevertheless makes full use of his right as a -father, and does not even hesitate to employ -the incisive irony of his nature. He begins -by telling him that he now recognizes his son -only by his goodness of heart and his easy -credulity—one must read this beautiful, long -letter and bear in mind the time and place of -its writing to appreciate it, for it is a monument -to the good sense that ruled in Mozart’s -family—that all else is changed, and that for -him happy moments like those he used to have -were passed; that it lay with his son alone to -decide now whether he would gradually acquire -the greatest renown ever enjoyed by a -musician—and he owed this to his talents—or -whether, ensnared by the beauty of a -woman, he would die in a room full of suffering -and hungry children. He says: “The -proposition to travel with Mr. Weber and, -mark well, with his two daughters made me -almost run mad.” Thus giddily to play with -one’s own and his parents’ honor! And how, he -asks, could a young girl suddenly attain success -in Italy where all the greatest vocalists were to -be found? Besides, just then, war was impending—on -account of the Bavarian succession.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> -Moreover, such plans were plans for -small lights, for inferior composers, for daubers -in music. And, at last, he cries out to his son -forcibly enough: “Get thee to Paris. Have -the great about thee. <i>Aut Cæsar, aut nihil!</i> -The very thought of seeing Paris should have -kept you from indulging in such foolish -whims.”</p> - -<p>When Wolfgang received this letter he became -ill, such was its effect upon him. Not -one of his most sacred feelings but was touched -by it—his love, his sense of duty, his honor, -and his pride in his art. On one point alone -his father had said nothing: his love. To -have spoken of it would have been unavailing. -And yet he reminded him of all his changing -inclinations, of his tears for the little Kaiser -girl in Munich, his little episode with “Baesle,” -and his <i>andante</i> for sweet Rosa Cannabich. -And so Wolfgang’s child-like feeling bent to -his father’s will, and his inexperience, to his -father’s tried and tested prudence. He had, -he assured his parents, done all that he had -done, out of devotion to the family, and they -might believe what they liked about him, provided -they did not believe anything bad of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -him, for he was “a Mozart and a well-minded -Mozart.” And at last, the full sun of confiding -love breaks out again: “After God, my -papa! This was my motto as a child, and I -am true to it yet.”</p> - -<p>Preparations were immediately made for his -departure, and, after a little, Mozart was in -Paris. The sonata for the piano in A minor, -which bears the date “Paris, 1778,” tells us -by its energetic rhythm and the passionate lament -of the finale, better than all else, what -was going on, at that time, in Mozart’s soul. -It is the most direct language of a heart bowed -down with sorrow, and discloses to us, just as -the aria <i>Non so d’onde viene</i> did, a short time -before, a region newly conquered to poetic expression, -in tones. And, indeed, we find that -Mozart’s character had noticeably matured after -these first struggles with his beloved father. -The sudden death of his mother in Paris contributed -largely to intensify and elevate this, -his earnestness of mind. Upon its heels followed -the painful disappointment, that his -love for the beautiful Aloysia was a mortal -one, and he had, at last, though with great -difficulty, to overcome himself and return to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -Salzburg, which he so thoroughly hated. Such -are the events and experiences which lead us to -the first real masterpiece of our artist, to his -<i>Idomeneo</i>. We shall meet again in his later -years with the traces of the trials of these -days in Mannheim, and especially of the full -recognition of the worth of a father’s controlling -love, as he then most decidedly experienced -it.</p> - -<p>To continue our narrative. His father -writes: “I have no, no not the least want of -confidence in you, my dear Wolfgang. On -the contrary, I have every confidence in your -filial love. On you I base all my hopes. -From the bottom of my heart, I give you a -father’s blessing, and remain until death your -faithful father and your surest friend.” Such -was the parting salutation he received from -home, when starting on his journey to a foreign -land. And Wolfgang himself writes: -“I must say that all who knew me parted with -me reluctantly and with regret.” Aloysia -had, “from goodness of heart,” knit a little -memento for him. They all wept when their -“best friend and benefactor departed.” He -says: “I must ask your pardon, but the tears<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> -rush to my eyes when I think of it.” Besides, -there was now “neither rhyme nor reason” -with him in anything. He had, however, -done his father’s will, and this was some -consolation to him. He soon learned that -Raaff had come to Paris; and what pleased -him more, Raaff promised to take care of his -dear Aloysia’s future.</p> - -<p>In Paris, he met scarcely anything but discomfort -and disappointment. The style of -Parisian music did not please him. The Italian -arias were distorted and the indigenous -whining in singing grated on his musical feelings -which craved above all the charm of the -beautiful. And yet it was at this time, in -Paris, that there was a decided controversy -between two schools of music; between the -disciples of Gluck and Piccini.</p> - -<p>We saw above that, in the Italian opera, -melody, the florid style (<i>Coloratur</i>) and vocal -virtuosity became predominant. But the -French had developed their opera independently. -Action and a corresponding musical -recitation in keeping with the words, were -considered by them its chief features. The -German Gluck at this point began his work in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -France. He was guided here by his own good -sense; and by theoretical demonstrations he -proved the weakness of the Italian style. He -had already turned his attention to the sublime -tragedies of the Greeks, and captivated -Paris by his <i>Iphigenia in Aulis</i>. But as the -great mass always favors trifles and the fashion, -this innovation was soon confronted by a -formidable opposition, which after all was only -a further development of the national French -opera. Contrary to the usual French custom, -and misled by Rousseau’s influence, the Italian -opera was put above the nation’s own, and a -foreigner, the Neapolitan Piccini, called to -Paris to retaliate on Gluck.</p> - -<p>We know now who came off the victor in this -struggle. Mozart’s feelings ranged him, at first, -on the Italian side—that is, on that side so far -as music alone was concerned. But his German -nature told him that the ultimate source -of music lay in that earnestness of feeling and -of intellectual life which is the creator of poetry, -and above all of tragic poetry; and here -the Italians were altogether too superficial to -satisfy him. And, then, he involuntarily favored -the earnest endeavors of the French<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> -opera, much as he disliked the French music -of the time. And, indeed, the whole mode of -the really historic life of Paris, contrasted with -the political wretchedness of Germany and -Italy, must have made a forcible impression on -his mind, spite of his many disagreeable experiences -there, and of the many inconveniences -and troubles he had to put up with. And, -more than all else, the high regard in which -the stage, at that time, was held, in France, -did not escape his observation. It made a decided -and lasting impression on his mind. In -his letters, he subsequently made particular -mention of the fact that the clown was banished -even from the comic opera there. It -was not, indeed, until he was about to leave -Paris, that he became conscious of this greater, -richer, more vigorous life,—of a life such as -was evidenced ten years later by the great -Revolution. But the fact remains that he did -become conscious of it, and, as a consequence, -his artistic taste and aims acquired greater -fixedness and value. This was Mozart’s gain -from his stay in Paris at this time. It was a -gain of the mind which richly compensated -for his want of pecuniary success.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>The detailed account of this sojourn in Paris -is to be found in Mozart’s own letters. It is a -very vivid one, very clear, and the language -used is frequently very strong. The letters -themselves constitute a piece of the history of -the art, and culture of the Paris of the time. -The death of his mother, the result of a way of -living to which she was not used and of great -depression of spirits, had a very sad effect on -his mind. But when he saw that he had no -need to worry, at least about his father, he felt -greatly encouraged, and the prospect of writing -an opera for Paris infused new life into the -sluggish blood of our young artist. A cheering -evidence of this is to be found in the so-called -French symphony which he wrote just at this -time; and we can see what purely external -cause it was that gave it its peculiarly lively -tone. It was the character of the French themselves, -with their peculiar love of life and of the -external. All his hearers were carried away -by a lively passage of this kind in the very beginning, -but in the finale he took the liberty -with his ingenuous musical audience to crack -a joke like that subsequently played by Haydn -in London, by the beating of the kettle-drum<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -suddenly to attract the attention of the listeners. -Contrary to the custom usual in Paris, he had -two violins to begin to play <i>piano</i>, immediately -followed by a <i>forte</i>. When they were playing -<i>piano</i> a sound of sh-sh-sh—called for a -dead silence; but “the moment his audience -heard the <i>forte</i>, they broke out into hand-clapping -and applause.” Thus adroitly and immediately -did he employ in Paris the manner -of working up a climax which he had -noticed in Mannheim.</p> - -<p>But envy and intrigue still dogged him. -He fairly dazzled the Italian maestro, Cambini, -the very first time he met him. Mozart played -one of Cambini’s quartets from memory, and -executed it in such a manner, that the latter -exclaimed: “What a head that man has!” -Cambini, after this, took care that no more -of Mozart’s compositions should be performed -in public, and hence he had to resort once -more to the giving of lessons in music, to -make ends meet. This was exceedingly difficult -in Paris, and especially for an artist who, -as he himself wrote at the time, was, so to say, -“sunk in music—one whose thoughts it always -occupied, and who liked to speculate, study -and reflect the live-long day.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>A friend whom he had made during his previous -stay in Paris, the encyclopædist, Grimm, -was not of much use to him this time either. -Wolfgang was not the man to see his way in -such a city, or in such society. And Grimm -wrote to the father that his son was too true-hearted, -too inactive, too easily captivated, too -little versed in the arts which lead to success. -This, indeed, was Mozart’s character. He -knew little of the ways of the world, and he -remained ignorant of them through life. As -nothing came of his prospects to write an -opera, his father could not but wish that he -might leave Paris entirely, which, after his -mother’s death, he considered a dangerous -place for him.</p> - -<p>Wolfgang had turned his eyes towards Munich, -where Karl Theodor was now elector. -But the war still kept everything in a state of -stagnation there. In the meantime, a vacancy -occurred in Salzburg itself. A <i>Capellmeister</i> -was needed in that city. Many a hint -had been given the father previously, on another -occasion, when a vacancy was created by -death. Now he was appealed to again, at -first in a round-about way and then directly.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -And what was the bait he held out to his son? -Aloysia! The archbishop wanted a prima donna, -also, and Wolfgang had already urged his father -to take an interest in her welfare. He did -not, at first, agree to the arrangement, but -when it was certainly decided that he could -have the position and was sure of more becoming -treatment than he had formerly received -there, and, when he heard that Miss -Weber was very ardently desired by the -prince and by all, his hatred for Salzburg and -its hard and unjust archbishop abated. But -without the positive assurance that he would -be granted leave of absence to travel, an assurance -which he received, he would not have -been completely satisfied; for, he writes: “A -man of only ordinary talent, always remains -ordinary, whether he travel or not; a man of -superior talent, and it would be wicked in me -to deny that I possess such talent, deteriorates -by remaining always in the same place.”</p> - -<p>But, in the meantime, Aloysia found a -place in Munich. Mozart learned this fact -before his departure, and all his aversion for -Salzburg was again suddenly awakened. Paris -again stood out before him, a place in which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span> -he would certainly have “earned honor, fame -and money, and where he would have been -able to free his father from debt.” He now -thought of getting a place once more in Munich -himself, for he had recently learned -again how much the girl loved him. Rumors -of his death had been put in circulation, and -the poor child had gone to church every day -to pray for him. Writing of this incident, he -says: “You will laugh, I cannot; it touches -me, and I can’t help it.” But this was a serious -matter with the father. His own place, as -well as his daily bread, was certainly at stake -now, if Wolfgang retreated!</p> - -<p>The journey was proceeded with this time -slowly. And, indeed, what cause was there -for haste? He made a long stay in Strassburg -and Mannheim, and entered into some -negotiations there about the composition of a -melodrama. “On receipt of this you shall -take your departure,” was the positive order -sent him; and yet there was “a real scramble” -for him at Mannheim. His father consoles -him by assuring him that he is not at all opposed -to his love for Aloysia, and this all -the less, since now she was able to make his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -fortune, not he hers! While on his journey, -Mozart had invited “Baesle” also to Munich, -adding: “You will, perhaps, get a great part -to play.”</p> - -<p>But, strange!—Aloysia does not seem, when -he enters, to recognize the very man for whom -she once had wept. Mozart, therefore, seated -himself hastily at the piano, and sang aloud:</p> - -<p class="center">“Ich lass das Maedl gern, das mich nicht will!”<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>This was told by Aloysia’s younger sister, -Constance, who was afterwards Mozart’s wife, -to her second husband, and she gave as the -reason of it, the fact that Aloysia’s taste was -offended because, following the custom of the -time, he wore black buttons, in mourning for -his mother, on his red coat. It may be, however, -that the officers and gentlemen of the -court pleased the prima donna better than the -little man whose heart-tones had once entranced -her. This time also, he left the faithless one a -gift, a composition of his own, not, however, -one which sprung from his heart, but one -which showed his power as an artist. The -aria which he now wrote for her, <i>Popopoli di -Tessaglia</i>, discovers to us completely the full<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> -meaning of his <i>Non so d’onde viene</i>, in his own -life.</p> - -<p>Aloysia was not happy. We shall have -more to say of this hereafter. Mozart did not, -at this time, weep away his grief in tones. -His pride vanquished his love. But his letters -depict the state of his mind all the more -truly, now that the hopes he had entertained -of obtaining a position in Munich turned to -smoke. Still, his present sojourn in Munich -was destined to lead soon to a very important -event in his life as an artist. He regrets that -he cannot write, because his heart is attuned to -weeping. A friend told the father that -Wolfgang cried for a whole hour, spite of all -efforts to dry his tears. And, writing of -Mozart’s beautiful inner self, he says: “I -never saw a child with more tenderness and -love for his father than your son. His heart -is so pure, so child-like to me, how much -more pure and tender must it be for his father! -Only, one must hear him; and who is there -that would not do him justice as the best of -characters, the most upright and most ardent -of men!” We think we hear the sounds of -the well-spring from which the tones of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> -<i>Idomeneo</i> and the aria of the <i>Ilia</i> were soon to -flow.</p> - -<p>The meeting of father and son could not -fail to be a very touching sight. To form an -idea of their feelings on that occasion, one -must read the letter written by the father, after -he received the news of the mother’s illness. -Wolfgang came home immediately, but -he came without her, the dearly beloved wife -and mother. Every one received him with -open arms; but he had already written: -“Upon my oath and upon my honor, I say I -cannot endure Salzburg or its people; their -language and their whole mode of life is unbearable -to me;” and the chief cause of his -feeling thus lay in his art. He said later: -“When I play in Salzburg, or when one of my -compositions is produced there, I feel as if -only chairs and tables were my listeners.” -After this, it is easy to understand why Salzburg -was not to his taste. He says: “When -one has trifled away his young years in such -a beggarly place, in inaction, it is sad enough, -and besides, a great loss.”</p> - -<p>“Baesle’s” merriness helped him to while -away the first week of his second stay in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -dull native city, in the beginning of 1779. But -her simple ways could not now make her what -she was to him, when he was less matured in -mind and heart. His work was his most agreeable -pastime, and, spite of everything, productions -of the most varied nature written during -his sojourn in Salzburg, afford very abundant -proof of this. The symphonies he now wrote -were, indeed, greatly excelled by others which -he subsequently composed, and the masses -eclipsed by his great requiem. But the music -to a tragedy, “King Thamos,” has a sound so -full and so appeals to the soul, that we feel the -presence in it of the greater life-trials he had -experienced. And hence it is that Mozart was -subsequently able to adapt its choruses to other -words, and to introduce them to the world as -“hymns.” Their tone reminds us of the solemn, -serious choruses of the “Magic Flute,” the drift -of which was followed also in the matter of the -drama. The composition of these works was -due to Schikaneder, of whom we shall have -something more to say when speaking of the -“Magic Flute.” He was, at this time, director -of the theater at Salzburg, and Mozart received -an order to write a comic opera for him.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -This was the “Zaide” and the plot embraced a -tale of abduction. Its composition was fast -drawing to a close when, at last—it was in the -fall of 1780—he saw signs of redemption from -his captivity. He received an invitation to -compose an opera for Munich. It was the -<i>Idomeneo</i>, and its success sealed Mozart’s fate -for all subsequent time. With the exception -of a short visit paid there, he never saw -Salzburg again.</p> - -<p>The subject of this work is the old story of -Jephtha’s vow. The scene, however, is transferred -to Crete, whither its king Idomeneus, -returns after the destruction of Troy. In a -frightful storm which occurred during his -journey, he vows to Neptune the first human -being he shall meet. The victim is his own -son, Idamante. Idomeneus wishes to send -him away into a foreign country. But Neptune -causes a still greater storm to rage and -the whole country to be devastated by a monster. -The people meet and hear of the vow that -Idomeneus has made. When Idamante himself -who, in the meantime, had slain the monster, -is informed of his fate, he is ready to appease -the anger of the god. Whereupon,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> -Ilia, who loves him, throws herself between him -and his father, and asks that she may suffer -death in his place. But just as she casts herself -on her knees, “a great subterraneous noise is -heard, Neptune’s statue trembles on its base. -The high priest is transported out of himself, -all stand motionless with fear, and a deep majestic -voice proclaims the will of the god:” that -Idomeneus shall abdicate the throne, and that -Idamante and Ilia happily united shall ascend -it.</p> - -<p>It is easy to see that we have here great and -grave situations in the life of human creatures. -Mozart knew how to do them justice. He -grasped their very kernel and allowed that -which was only of secondary importance to -remain secondary. The whole, although taken -from a French libretto, had been, according to -the custom of the Italian opera of the time, -broken up into a great many fragments for the -purposes of music, and among them we find, -especially, a large number of arias; and hence -it did not satisfy true dramatic taste. But -even these disjointed pieces,—it mattered not -whether they gave expression to sorrow, terror, -tenderness or joy, united to or mixed with one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> -another—were always full of what they were -intended to express, and were, not unfrequently, -overflowing with musical beauty. It was -only when he conceded, too much to the incompetence -or narrowness of singers, that -any sacrifice was made to the traditional -form and sing-song of the Italians. But -there were in the plot, and they were -its chief part, some powerful scenes, susceptible -of really dramatic presentation; and here -Mozart demonstrated that he was a great master -of the stage, and that he had adopted -Gluck’s innovations not to allow the singers -and their florid style, but the music to govern, -and the music as the highest expression of the -poetry, that is of the dramatic scene which is -performing. Mozart’s own letters give us -many details of great interest in this connection.</p> - -<p>He again met his Mannheim artists, singers -as well as the orchestra—all but Aloysia, who -had been called a short time previously, to -the national operatic theatre in Vienna—in -Munich, and he was therefore well prepared -to go to work. And he was anxious to do so, -for it was a long time since he had an opportunity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -to show his full powers on the stage. -He felt happy, nay, delighted, since his arrival. -He lived in the <i>Burggasse</i>. A bronze tablet -bearing his portrait has since been placed on -the house in which he lived. The elector -greeted him most graciously, and when Mozart -gave expression to the peculiar ardor he -felt, he tapped him on the shoulder and said: -“I have no doubt whatever; everything will -be well.” Every one was delighted and astonished -at the rehearsal of the first act. Much -had been expected of him, but the performance -surpassed all expectation. Frau Cannabich, -who had been obliged to remain at -home with her sick daughter, Rose, embraced -him, so overjoyed was she at his success; and -the musicians went home almost crazed with -delight. The hautboyist Ramm, with whom -Beethoven played his quintet op. 16, in -1804, told him on his word as a true son of -the fatherland, that no music had ever made -such an impression on him—referring to the -double choruses during Idomeneus’s shipwreck—and -what joy would it bring to his father -when he heard of it!</p> - -<p>The latter cautioned him from home to take<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> -care of himself. He knew his son. And, indeed, -Wolfgang had a slight attack of illness -at this time. He writes ingenuously enough: -“A man gets easily over-heated when honor -or fame is at stake.” But he was soon well -again, and able to write: “A person is indeed -glad when he is at last done with so great and -so toilsome a piece of work; and I am almost -done with it; for, all that is wanting now is -two arias, the final chorus, the overture, the -ballet—and <i>adieu partie</i>.” The father had -reminded him not to forget to make his music -popular. It was the “popular” in music that -tickled the long-eared. Wolfgang replied -that there was music in his opera for all kinds -of people, the long-eared excepted. And indeed -the work contained ballet-interludes, -and besides the most popular of all kinds of -music, the dance. Mozart’s genius permitted -him, as we have seen, to make many a concession -to the peculiarities of the singers, spite -of the gravity of the subject. But where this -same gravity was paramount, as in the quartet -of the third act, he had trouble enough. -The oftener he put it on the stage, the greater -was the effect it produced on himself, and it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> -was liked by all, even when only played on -the piano. Raaff alone found it too long, and -not easy enough to sing.</p> - -<p>Mozart replied to his objections: “If I only -knew a single note that could be changed! But -I have not been as well satisfied with anything -in this opera as with the quartet;” and Raaff -was himself afterwards, as he said, “agreeably -disappointed;” and just as delighted were the -four musicians: Wendling, Ramm, Ritter and -Lang, who had an <i>obligato</i> accompaniment to -the aria of Ilia, in the first act, and who were -thus given an opportunity to appreciate Mozart’s -skill; for it was the profound rapture -that comes from joy and love which was here -to be expressed in music. And as Mozart -had once given expression to that rapture in -his <i>Non so d’onde viene</i>, he again gave it a -voice in the premature evening of his life in -the aria:</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Dies Bildniss ist bezaubernd schoen.</i><a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>The aria of Ilia reminds us of both. But the -quartet is the crowning glory of Gluck’s endeavor -to allow each singer to express himself, at -every moment, as far as possible, in accordance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> -with his own individuality. Even in Mozart’s -works, we find little like it; and at that time -such musical wealth was entirely new and unheard -of.</p> - -<p>The elector said laughingly, after the thunder-storm -in the second act: “One would not -think that that small head could carry so -much.” And then the choruses, when the -people, during the storm, utter their cry of -horror! The members of the orchestra said -that this chorus could not but freeze the blood -in one’s veins. And yet the third act was incomparably -richer. Mozart himself says: -“There is scarcely a scene which is not exceedingly -interesting,” and that “his head -and hands were so full of it that it would be -no wonder if he were to become the third act -himself.” He thinks, however, that it would -prove as good as the first two. He says: “but -I believe infinitely better, and that it may be -said: <i>Finis coronat opus</i> (the end crowns the -work).” For the address of the high priest on -the sufferings of the people, caused by the -sea monster, the solemn march, and the oracle -itself, Gluck’s Alceste may have served as a -model. The magnitude of these tragic elements<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -at least were well understood; and no -one can, even to-day, remain unmoved by -these tones. But it became also a school of -the genuine dramatic style in music; and the -orchestration was the best that Mozart had -produced. From it, all who followed him -learned the best they knew.</p> - -<p>Of the presentation of the opera itself on -the stage, in January, 1781, we have no detailed -information. But the impression made -by it must have been in keeping with that -created by the rehearsals. That the <i>Idomeneo</i> -lives now only in the concert hall, is due to the -Italian words, which interrupt the acting at -almost every step. Mozart put an end to the -absolute rule of the Italian opera by his <i>Idomeneo</i>. -It henceforth had only a national -character. Mozart compelled the composers -of opera, from this time forward, to take -another course, and to comply with Gluck’s -demands, which have lifted the opera of our -age to the height of the genuine drama.</p> - -<p>But the first and fully decisive steps in this -direction, were the <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i>. -We now turn to them. The <i>Idomeneo</i>, as it -was Mozart’s first masterpiece, monumental<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> -in its style, constituted, together with the operas -which followed it, the transition to an entirely -new epoch in his life, to the period of -his complete independence, both as an artist -and as a man.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">1781-1787.</p> - -<p class="ph1">THE ELOPEMENT FROM THE SERAGLIO—FIGARO—DON -GIOVANNI.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> -<p>Opinions on the Idomeneo—Tired of Salzburg—Goes to Vienna—The -Archbishop Again—Mozart Treated by him with -Indignity—Paternal Reproaches—Assailed by Slander—He -Leaves Salzburg—Experiences in Vienna—Austrian -Society—The German Stage—The Emperor Expresses a -wish that Mozart might Write a New Opera—Mozart’s -Love for Constance Weber—Description of Constance—Performance -of the New Opera—Mozart’s Marriage—The -Emperor’s Opinion of Mozart’s Music—Mozart’s Interest -in the Figaro—Particulars Relating to its Composition—Its -Success—Mozart’s Poverty—Mozart in Bohemia—His -Popularity in Prague—Meaning of the Don -Giovanni—Richard Wagner on Mozart.</p> -</div></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> are told that Mozart, even in his later -years, prized the <i>Idomeneo</i> very greatly, and -it is certain that connoisseurs have always -entertained a very high opinion of its music. -It combines the freshness of youth, great -force and vitality, with a great variety in invention, -and has all the characteristics of art. -It is easy to conceive that the consciousness of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> -being the possessor of so much power, especially -while he was engaged on the work itself, -made Mozart’s bosom swell, and that in such -moments the memory of the narrowness and -“chicanery” of Salzburg must have been exceedingly -mortifying to him. “Out! out into -the wide world and into the air of freedom!”—he -must have heard now ringing in -his ears as he had four years before. And -had not Vienna, at that time the capital of -Germany, intellectually advanced, and had -not the Emperor Joseph, established a national -opera there?</p> - -<p>As early as in December 1780, he had written -to inquire how it stood about his leave of -absence. He told his father that he was in -Salzburg only to please him, and that, most assuredly, -if it depended on him, he would have -scorned the place; for, he adds, “upon my -honor, the prince and the proud nobility become -more intolerable to me every day.” It -would now, he said, be easy for him to get on -in Munich without the protection of the great, -and it brought the tears to his eyes when he -thought of the state of things in Salzburg. Yet -he could stay longer than his leave of absence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> -allowed him; for the archbishop remained -some time in Vienna on business, and thus -Mozart found leisure, after the opera was completed, -to rest in Munich and to participate in -the pleasures of the carnival, while otherwise -his greatest diversion would have been to be -with his beloved Rose and the Cannabichs.</p> - -<p>In the midst of this youthful jollity, which -seems very natural after the great strain upon -the minds of all during many months, he received -the archbishop’s order to repair to -Vienna. This was in the middle of March, -1781. Jerome was witness of the ostentation -of the princes in that city; and what reason -was there why his “illustrious grace” should -not cut a figure also? His eight handsome -roan horses were there already. The members -of his household followed him, and who was -there who, in the music at a feast, had a Mozart -to show? Thus did our artist unexpectedly -realize his wish to come to Vienna; and -circumstances so had it, that he remained -there.</p> - -<p>His reception was a good one. He had indeed, -as was the custom of the time, to sit at -table with cooks and <i>valets de chambre</i>, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -these he kept at a proper distance by “great -gravity” and silence. Yet even now we hear -that the archbishop was only giving himself -airs with his attendants; for when an opportunity -presented itself for Mozart to show his -powers, in other noble houses, the archbishop -refused him permission to do so; and still, it -was only in such houses, that he could expect -to meet the Emperor Joseph—a circumstance -on which everything now depended. Rather -did this domineering ecclesiastic do all in his -power to make Mozart feel his dependence -more keenly. The father did all he could to -appease him, but Wolfgang felt that the archbishop -used him only to tickle his own ambition; -that, in all other respects, that worthy -served only to hide his light. Besides he -had to stand about the room like a servant. -Yet Mozart tells us how, at a performance at -prince Galizin’s, he had left the other musicians -entirely, and how he had gone directly -up to the host in the music room, and remained -with him. Nothing was paid him for his -compositions for the archbishop’s <i>soirées</i>. -Mozart, indeed, helped to lend <i>éclat</i> to a concert -for the widows of deceased musicians in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> -the Haydn Society, because “all the nobility -of Vienna had tormented the archbishop to -permit him to do so.” But his grace would -not allow him to give a concert for his own -benefit, spite of the fact that he had been received -so well. The hardest blow of all to -our artist was the news that he would have -to go back to Salzburg with the rest. He -at first paid no attention to intimations of this -nature, for he wanted to give a concert before -he left. He had, besides, a prospect of a position -in the imperial city itself. But his father -at home would agree to nothing.</p> - -<p>Mozart now writes “in natural German, -because all the world should know it,” that -the archbishop owed it entirely to his father -that he did not lose him yesterday, for all time. -He had been annoyed altogether too much at -the concert yesterday. After a little, dissension -broke out in earnest. “I am out of myself. -My patience has been tried so long that -it is at an end.” The archbishop had, even -before this, called him “a low fellow,” and -told him to go his way. Mozart bore it for -his father’s sake. Then he was ordered suddenly -to leave the house, and he went to old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> -Madame Weber’s, and had to live at his own -expense. He, therefore, did not want to go -until this outlay at least was made up for.</p> - -<p>“Well, fellow, when do you go?” snarlingly -asked this prince spiritual, and he then -proceeded, in a single breath, to tell him that -he was a dissipated fellow, that no one used -him so badly, and that he would stop his pay. -We scarcely believe our ears when we hear a -prince-bishop call our artist a scamp, a young -blackguard, an idiot! Wolfgang’s blood became -too hot at last, and he asked whether his -illustrious grace was not satisfied with him.</p> - -<p>“What? Threats? You idiot! There’s -the door! I will have nothing more to do -with such a miserable villain.”</p> - -<p>“Nor I with you.”</p> - -<p>“Then go!”</p> - -<p>Such was the dialogue between a prince and -an artist of the past century! It tells us -something of its culture and civilization. Mozart’s -account of this scene concludes: “I -will hear no more of Salzburg. I hate the -archbishop even to madness.”</p> - -<p>But this was not the worst. “I did not -know,” says Mozart, “that I was a <i>valet de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -chambre</i>; that overcame me entirely; and -my father should be glad that he has not a -man dishonored for his son.” But now sycophantic -flunkies began to busy themselves -with the affair. They knew that the archbishop -did not like to lose an artist whom -such efforts had been made, before his eyes, to -retain in Vienna. The master of the household, -Count Arco, therefore, did everything -that in him lay to quiet the matter. He refused, -“from lack of courage and a love of -adulation,” to accept Mozart’s petition for dismissal. -But when the latter insisted on it, -with a brutality not unworthy of his master, -Arco threw the noble artist out the door—with -a kick!</p> - -<p>After his personal audience with the archbishop, -Mozart’s blood boiled; he trembled -from head to foot and reeled on the street like a -drunken man. Now he assures us that, when -he meets the count, he will pay him back the -compliment he received from him. In the -ante-chamber he did not, like Arco himself, -wish “to lose his respect for the prince’s apartments,” -but then he was determined that “the -hungry donkey should get an answer from him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> -that he would feel,” even if it were twenty -years before a suitable occasion presented itself -to give it. And when his father recoiled -at the boldness of such an attempt, our young -artist gave expression to a sentiment which -lifted him high above all that environed him, -and stamps him one of the noblest representatives -of human nature. We have chosen that -sentiment as the motto of this his biography: -“The heart is man’s title to nobility!”</p> - -<p>More painful than all these insults to the -manly honor of our young artist were the heart-aches -caused him by the very person who -should have understood him best, by his own -father.</p> - -<p>The latter had been obliged to write to him: -“Do not allow yourself to be misled by flattery. -Be on your guard.” Now reproach -was added to mistrust, and Wolfgang was accused -of endangering his father’s subsistence, -in his old age. He compared Wolfgang to -Aloysia, who had scarcely secured a good position -in life than she joined her fortunes to -those of a comedian—the celebrated Joseph -Lange—and neglected her own people. He -even went so far as to demand that his son<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span> -should withdraw his petition, adding that he -was in honor bound to do so. There was not -in all of this a single trait by which Mozart -could recognize his father. He could, indeed, -he said, recognize “a father, but not the best, -the most loving of fathers, the father solicitous -for his own honor and the honor of his -children,—in a word, not my father.” And -he concludes: “Ask me to do anything you -want, anything but that. The very thought -of it makes me tremble with rage.” What -he had achieved made Mozart, as an artist, -manful and sure of himself; and these sufferings -had a similar effect on him as a man; -but, compared with the latter troubles, all -that he had previously undergone was light -indeed. We know how deeply and fully Wolfgang -loved his father; but to understand his -state of mind at this trying time, one must -read the father’s own letters. He reproaches -his son, even with a want of love, with being -a pleasure-seeker in the great city, and with -keeping company with the frivolous! The -slanders of strangers and the father’s own suspicions -conspired to make things worse; and -in the circulation of these slanders, a pupil of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -the abbe Vogler, J. P. Winter, subsequently -known by his <i>Unterbrochenes Opferfest</i>, played -a leading part. The way in which Mozart -repelled these slanders, lays his whole heart -open before us. It was what might have -been expected of one whose art was so thoroughly -pure and peaceful. He says, with the -utmost modesty and simplicity: “My chief -fault is that, apparently, I do not act as I -should act;” and in answer to all other slanders, -he replies, with the most charming consciousness -of self: “I need only consult my -reason and my heart to do what is right and -just.”</p> - -<p>Thus was Mozart’s relations with Salzburg, -which had never brought him much happiness -or honor, dissolved for all time. He lost, it is -true, by this dissolution, the loving confidence -of his father; but painful as this loss was to -him, it was not without compensation. He -obtained personal freedom and conquered for -himself a place in which his already highly developed -individuality as an artist was at liberty -to act, room for the workings of his creative -genius. This and his love and marriage, which -put him in possession of something which he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> -could permanently call his own, are further decisive -events in our artist’s life. We shall see -their effects on his art, and, in the creation of -such magnificent works as the “Elopement -from the Seraglio,” “Figaro” and “Don Giovanni.” -His recent personal experience had -given him that insight and that inward freedom -without which his towering, life-experienced -style and his supreme power of depicting -character are impossible.</p> - -<p>The time and place were favorable to the -production of such works. And it was not -simply the oppressive feeling of the humiliating -and narrowing circumstances of his position -hitherto, but the joyful consciousness that, as -his genius soon perceived, he was at last in the -place in the world best suited to his taste, in -Vienna, that this time caused him to conceive -and hold fast to his desire. <i>Und wenn die -Welt voll Teufel waer!</i>—“And though the -world were full of devils!”—we may discover -something of the desperate resolution which -these words imply, in his struggle at this time -with his dearest of fathers; a resolution generated, -doubtless, by the circumstances in which -he now saw himself suddenly and accidentally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> -placed, and which were so favorable to his art, -and to a becoming mode of living. He felt -that he had come here to grow to his full stature; -and the instinct of artistic creation, like -the instinct of love, is involuntary and irresistible. -The father did not understand this. He -had to be won over by prospects of material -success, and this success Wolfgang was able -confidently to promise himself and his father. -Nor was he wanting here. And if we are -obliged to confess that Mozart, even in the -rich city of Vienna, almost starved, and that -he died before his time, the cause was, in the -first place, that his genius was too great to be -fully appreciated by his contemporaries and -his environment, and then that he was so -wrapped up in his sublime task, that the world -gradually receded from him, and it became an -easy matter for the envious and his enemies to -rob him of the visible fruits of his success, and -to limit him to the joys and sunshine of his -art. His art, indeed, throve even in Vienna, -far beyond what he had hoped. It was more -than his contemporaries could appreciate or -understand. And, indeed, where would we be -to-day without Mozart? As well as Goethe,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> -he touched the purest, the ultimate feeling of -beauty in art, and opened to our view the innermost -and deepest depths of the human -soul. It was more than all else, Vienna and -Austria that helped him to do this.</p> - -<p>During the period, beginning with 1780, -Austria had recovered from the effects of the -wounds it received in the Seven Years’ War. -The people were well-to-do, and the rich nobles -of the eastern provinces, the Esterhazys, -Schwarzenbergs, Thuns and Kinskys left immense -amounts of money in the capital. The -state of society was not yet disturbed. The -nobility and middle class lived in harmony -with one another. Above all and dearly loved -by all, sat throned, the Emperor Joseph II., an -ideal Austrian, whose like had not been seen -since the time of Maximilian I. The emperor -Joseph was, so to speak, the counterpart, -both in disposition and education, of old Fritz -(Frederick the Great), who was the ablest representative -at that time of practical German -energy and intelligence. This it was that gave -the Austrian, and above all the Viennese, disposition -that peculiar character from which -sprang a style of art which had no predecessor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span> -and no counterpart that could be called its -equal save in Raphael and the antique—German -chamber music. Haydn’s, Mozart’s and -Beethoven’s quartets alone sufficed to make -this Viennese period, from 1775 to 1825, a -stretch of fifty years, forever memorable. But -besides, there was the instrumental music of -this brilliant musical triad whom Gluck had -preceded.</p> - -<p>Life at this time in Vienna was overflowing -with a warm sensuousness, unpolluted by the -coarseness of vice. Men gave themselves up -unconstrained to their emotions. This itself -is the most natural and most fertile soil for -productions of the mind, intended, primarily, -to operate on the senses, and through the -senses to speak to our heart of hearts and to -our mind of minds. It is the most fitting soil -for art. And hence, we find here the first and -most indispensable of all conditions precedent -to the full bloom of music. Life in the Austrian -capital, sunk apparently in sensuousness, -had, like a reflection of the ever brightening -and warming sun, in its depths, that German, -joyous good-nature, that <i>deutsche Gemueth</i>, -that leveling peace, and that beautiful disposition<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> -which allow every living creature to do -what pleases him best and go his own way. -Added to this was the high degree of education -which distinguished Vienna at the time, -and which was influenced, in part, by direct -contact with the period of the highest Italian -culture, the renaissance. It had noble houses, -wealthy and refined families of the middle -class and of the learned, and above all, its -emperor—if not in music, in all else the most -nobly cultured! We have only to think of -the other capitals at the time, Paris, London, -and even Berlin, to be convinced that a Gluck, -a Haydn, a Mozart, or a Beethoven, could -never have thrived in any of them. They -thrived in Vienna; and the last two artists -asserted that it was in Vienna only that they -could have thrived, that is developed that -art, the germ’s of which they felt themselves -to possess as a talent confided to them.</p> - -<p>We may inquire, more particularly now, how -it stood with music and the theatre in those -days. Many of the great houses had music of -their own; the wealthiest princes had not unfrequently -their private orchestra; other families -string-quartets or the piano; and the latter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> -was, as Ph. E. Bach says, intended for music -that went direct to the heart, and not simply -for children to practice on. No such golden -age of music had been seen since the days of -the North German School for organists, which -had produced that eighth wonder of the world, -Sebastian Bach; and Beethoven recalled it, -with a feeling of melancholy, when, with the -great wars of the Revolution a desolate period -began, in which men’s souls and with them music, -the soul’s own art, were struck dumb. Philip -Emanuel Bach, the younger son of John Sebastian -Bach, it was, who had led music out -of the stage which had religion for its center, -and opened to it by his sonatas <i>fuer Kenner -und Liebhaber</i>, the domain of purely human -thought and feeling. “He is the parent, we -the children,” said Mozart, speaking of himself, -and J. Haydn. Haydn also made a similar -admission.</p> - -<p>It was these two men indeed, who, so to -speak, gave expression to the whole of human -life in this unrestrained language of music, -and who, together with Beethoven, opened the -hearts of their age and of humanity, by their -sonatas, symphonies, and quartets. This explains<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> -why Mozart was able to write that the -ladies detained him at the piano a whole hour -after the concert, adding: “I think I should -be sitting there still, if I had not stolen -away!”</p> - -<p>Again, he writes to his sister: “My only -entertainment is the theater. I wish you -could see a tragedy played here. I know no -theater in which all kinds of plays are very -well produced, unless it be here.” Shroeder -no doubt contributed largely to produce this -effect. Then Shakespeare’s plays had begun -to attract attention in Germany, and German -dramatic literature to blossom forth in Lessing -and Goethe. No wonder that “Figaro” and -“Don Giovanni,” now began to engage his attention. -We have already spoken of a national -German theater. It is not to be supposed that -the Emperor Joseph II. sympathized with the -Germans in music. His early impressions -caused him to favor the Italian school, and, -cultivated as was his talent for music, it was -not great enough to enable him to overcome -them. But he was compelled to assist the nation -in its endeavors in this sphere, since Frederick -the Great had anticipated him in almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -every other. Thus Vienna, together with -Mannheim and Weimar, constituted the glorious -triad, the creators of German music and -of a German stage; and the full significance -of German endeavors, in this direction, may -be inferred from the path of light beginning -with Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” followed by Beethoven’s -Symphonies, and ending with the -“Ring of the Niebelungen” in Bayreuth in -1876. Verily a cycle of art, of which Germany -may well be proud!</p> - -<p>Mozart came just in time for the German -operatic stage. Gluck had stopped composing; -his victory was a decided one; he had almost -reached his zenith; he was approaching his -seventieth year. True, his pupil, Salieri, was -the “idol of the emperor;” but he was an Italian, -and the remaining Viennese composers of -the time were of little or no importance. Haydn, -properly speaking, did not busy himself in -this sphere of the drama, and besides, he lived -the greatest part of the time in Eisenstadt with -prince Esterhazy. Northern Germany had no -longer anything to show of those things which -mark an epoch in history; and, what is more -its preponderantly “learned” or formal music<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> -would not have pleased the taste of the Viennese. -What then could be more natural than -that they should open their arms to the young -<i>maestro</i> who, in a new field, had just given -evidence of his transcendent power? And, indeed, -shortly after Mozart’s arrival in Vienna, -the Emperor himself had given expression to a -wish that he might write a German opera of -this kind; and we are informed that after -Count Rosenberg, the manager of the theatre, -had heard the <i>Idomeneo</i> at a private rehearsal, -he ordered the writing of a libretto for Mozart. -This was “Belmonte and Constance,” or the -“Elopement from the Seraglio.” Mozart tells -how he was so cheered by this, that he hastened -to his writing table with the greatest eagerness -and sat at it with the greatest pleasure. -He finished, at this first sitting, one of the -arias of the Belmonte, and that the most beautiful -of them all—the <i>O wie aengstlich, o wie -feurig!</i></p> - -<p>The whole matter was postponed for a time, -but to no disadvantage; for, in the meanwhile, -Mozart experienced things which gave him -that wonderful depth of coloring and that -golden, mature sweetness which, besides himself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> -and Raphael, scarcely another possesses—love -moved him to the innermost depths of his -soul. This love had as much influence on his -life as on his music. It led to that most decided -union of human hearts, marriage; and hence -we have here to consider this important bit -of the life of our artist, in his case as in all -others, made up of anguish and bliss.</p> - -<p>We have seen already that when Mozart was -compelled to leave the archbishop’s palace, he -hastened to the house of the Webers. Of his -removal thither he wrote: “There I have my -pretty room, am with obliging people ready to -assist me in everything, when necessary.” After -the death of her husband, Madame Weber supported -herself by renting rooms, so that her -daughters might remain with her. She lived -in the <i>Auge Gottes</i>, which is still standing in -the <i>Petersplatz</i>. The father’s suspicions were -immediately awakened; and Mozart writes in -answer to his expression of them: “In the case -of Aloysia [Lange] I was a fool, but what may -not a man become when he is in love!” For -the present, Mozart was concerned only with -finding comfortable lodging quarters and people -who might take a personal interest in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> -father and in the devouring anger and sorrow -which possessed him, on account of the course -pursued towards him by the archbishop; and -this interest he found here. And, indeed, now -that he had to compose incessantly in order to -eke out a livelihood, he needed a “clear head -and a quiet mind.” His father, however, insisted -on his leaving the Webers, and in the -fall, he finally consented to quit them. But -he greatly deceived himself when he said that -he left them only on account of “the gossip of -the people,” and wanted to know why he should -be so recklessly taken to task, because he had -moved into the house of the Webers, as if that -meant that he was going to marry the daughter. -The tender care which the third daughter -Constance took of him and the disposition she -manifested to do him every service in her power, -generated in him the desire to care for and -serve her, in like manner.</p> - -<p>We cannot here enter into the minute details -of the origin and tenacity of this beautiful -affair of the heart; and we, therefore, confine -ourselves to that which is most essential.</p> - -<p>Constance Weber was born in 1764. She -was now in her eighteenth year, and eight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -years younger than Mozart. She had been -one of his pupils in Munich. He gave her -lessons on the piano then, and now he was -teaching her vocal music as well. Thus Mozart -had, on both occasions, an inducement -other than his feelings, to bring him to the -house of the Webers. Music at first threw -him and Constance involuntarily together; -but the language of the soul was destined -sooner or later to create a more intimate bond -between them. In the evening they had their -little chats; they were joined by friends of -Constance’s own sex; and Mozart, in a letter -written long after he was married, tells how -they played “hide and seek” with them. -Then again, a great many circumstances conspired -to decide him to make choice of a partner -for life. There were his years, and his temperament -which inclined him to a quiet mode -of life. From his earliest youth, he had never -been taught economy, and as a consequence -now had many unnecessary expenses. He -felt lonely and desolate, when, tired by the -exhausting labors of the day, he was not with -the Webers. When he left their house in September, -he was like a man who has left his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -own comfortable carriage for a stage-coach. -And when, with that instinct which belongs -only to our deepest feelings, he became gradually -conscious that she was “the right one,” -he frankly laid before his father the necessity of -his marrying and his settled purpose to marry.</p> - -<p>He writes in December, 1781: “But who is -the object of my love? Do not be horrified, I -pray you. Surely, not one of the Weber girls? -Yes, one of the Weber girls, but not Josepha, -not Sophia but Constance, the middle one.” -And then he gives us a description which -must have been somewhat exaggerated and -colored by his feeling at the time. In no family, -he tells us, had he found such inequality. -The eldest daughter was lazy and coarse, and -a little too knowing. Her tall sister was false -and a coquette; and yet he had written in the -spring that he had some liking for her. The -youngest, Sophia, of whom we shall have something -to say further on, was still too young to -be much. She was nothing more than a good -but giddy creature. He adds concerning her: -“May God preserve her from temptation!” -Next comes a description of his dear Constance. -He says of her: “The middle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> -daughter, my dear good Constance, is a martyr -among them, and, on that very account, perhaps, -the best-hearted, cleverest, in a word, -the best in every way, among them. She -takes care of everything in the house, and yet -can please nobody.” He could if he desired, -write whole pages of the ugly scenes in that -house. It was these very scenes which had -made the two so dear to one another. They -tested their mutual affection.</p> - -<p>And now he describes Constance herself. -She was not ugly, but then she was far from -being beautiful. All her beauty consisted in -two small black eyes, and a fine figure. She -had no wit, but common sense enough to enable -her to fulfill her duties as a wife and -mother. That she was not inclined to be -lavish in her expenditures, was by no means -true; but she was accustomed to being plain; -for the mother used the little she had on the -other two. She could make all her own -things, understood housekeeping, and had the -best heart in the world. “I love her,” he -says, “and she loves me with all her heart. -Tell me now, could I desire a better wife?” -The best commentary to these words is furnished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> -by the pieces which were already finished -for “Belmonte and Constance,” but -above all by the <i>O wie aengstlich, o wie feurig</i>,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -which dates from the summer of 1781, -and the aria <i>Ach ich liebte, war so gluecklich</i>,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -the text of which is extant in Constance’s own -handwriting.</p> - -<p>But the painful lot of separation was destined -at least to threaten him. First the -father, next the daughters’ guardian, then the -mother, and lastly his loved one’s own stubborn -willfulness—the willfulness of youth—menaced -him with the destruction of his happiness. -His life’s happiness was indeed at -stake here. This is very evident from Mozart’s -letters written during this time of trouble; -and no one can know Mozart thoroughly who -does not follow him through this his heart -trial.</p> - -<p>Turn we now to the artistic results of this -new existence in Vienna. Of course much -piano and chamber music had been produced. -The craving for something new continued -great in all Viennese circles. And who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span> -was better prepared to satisfy that craving -than Mozart whose fame and even support -now depended on the reception he met with -in the imperial city? Everything turned -on the opera given him to compose, and -fortunately its composition was resumed in -the following spring, that of 1782. And -spite of all the vexation he had to endure -from his own father and the mother of -his betrothed, he was ready with it, in time. -To accomplish his task, he had frequently to -write until one o’clock at night and to be up -again at six in the morning. And although -he could not devote to it all his time, all his -strength, all his mind, all the powers of his -fancy nor such minute labor as he had to the -<i>Idomeneo</i>, he was able to tell his father that -he felt exceedingly well pleased with his opera. -He generally followed only his own -feelings, but on this occasion he had as much -regard as possible for the taste of the Viennese -people; and their taste in such matters inclined -to subdued hilarity and to the comic. -These therefore, are the prevailing characteristics -of the work. Of Belmonte’s <i>O wie aengstlich</i> -he writes himself: You can see the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -trembling, the shaking. You can see how -the swelling bosom heaves. It is expressed by -a <i>crescendo</i>. You can hear the whispering -and sobbing in the first violins with sordines -and a flute in unison. The <i>O wie der -aengstlich</i> was everybody’s favorite aria as -well as his own. And yet the rondo <i>Wenn -der Freude Thraenen fliessen</i>,<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> was still more -enrapturing. It contains also that celebrated -passage:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Ach Constanze dich zu sehen</div> -<div class="verse">Dich voll Wonne und Entzuecken</div> -<div class="verse">An dies treue Herz zu druecken.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>in which German music for the first time fully -learned the language of manly love and devotion, -just as it first had found the musical -sublimity of religious feeling in the chorale. -Through Belmonte, the character of the “German -youth,” was, so to speak, fixed in music -for all time. Think only of Beethoven’s <i>Florestan</i>, -and Wagner’s <i>Walther von Stolzing</i>.</p> - -<p>But the character of the stupid, coarse and -wicked master of the Harem, Osmin, thus -comically and powerfully drawn, but with all -the nobility of style as to its form, was new -also. He is no other than the “starched<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> -stripling,” the son of a puffed-up Augsburg -bourgeois. We have here a picture of the -brutal haughtiness of the Salzburg harem, -with its model steward of the kitchen. But -the vengeance of the artist is noble, and produces -an ennobling effect on whole generations. -We must read his letters to see how -fully he was conscious of the comic even in -Osmin’s aria: <i>Drum beim Barte des Propheten</i>, -and that all folly and excess are their -own punishment, and become an object of derision. -We find here in this sketch the entire -material from which, two generations later, -the “Dragon” of the <i>Niebelungenring</i> was -built. The heavy rhythm in the very first -song, the rudeness of the entire movement, -the almost roaring “trallalara”—are the expression -of the untamed savagery of brute nature, -the grandeur of coarseness in miniature.</p> - -<p>We now turn to the performance. This -took place on the 12th of July, 1782. It -seemed as if the applause of the crowded house -would never cease. The audience was surprised, -charmed, and carried away by the -beauty and euphony of the music—music full -to overflowing with life, and which did not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> -sacrifice nobility of form to truth of portraiture, -nor depend for its seductive power on -glittering dialogue. Performance followed -performance in quick succession, and this -spite of the fact that intrigue in theatrical -circles labored strenuously to prevent its repetition. -The Italians, with Salieri at their -head, looked with displeasure at the rise of -the German operatic stage. It disturbed them, -and threatened to do away with their exclusive -rule. They went so far even as to entice the -performers away so that the presentation of -the opera became very difficult; whereupon -Mozart writes: “I was in such a rage that I -did not know myself.” But they could not -prevent the audience’s crying bravo! and -Mozart himself says: “It does one good to -get such applause.” The “Elopement” is the -first link in the unbroken chain of effects and -triumphs which ends in the dramatic production -of our days, confined to no one nation—a -production destined, in a generation, to rule -Europe more powerfully than did the Italian -opera in those days, and which even now succeeded -in impeding the success of this first German -opera and banishing it from the stage.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>This actually happened, and the emperor -Joseph was weak enough to allow the Italian -school to obtain the upperhand to such an extent -that Mozart himself could not help joining -in the chorus of those priests of Bacchus; -but then he gave that chorus a beauty and fullness -which it had not possessed before. This -result was attained in the <i>Figaro</i>, of which we -shall speak next.</p> - -<p>The first thing that occupied his mind after -the completion of his great task was, of course—and -it was very natural that it should be so—his -union with Constance. And, indeed, -after the success he had met with, what -reason was there why he should not venture to -get married and to found a home of his own? -Speaking of the work, Joseph II. had said: -“Too pretty for our ears, and an infinity of -notes, my dear Mozart!” To which the latter -with noble frankness replied: “Just as -many notes as are necessary, your majesty!” -But Gluck, who was by far the highest authority -in Vienna on theatrical matters, had the -opera performed for himself specially, although -it had been given only a few days before, -and he complimented the composer very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span> -highly and invited him to dinner. This augured -better for Mozart’s future than all else. -He had, however, other patrons. Prince Kaunitz, -known as the “Kutscher von Europa,” -the <i>Coachman of Europe</i>, expressed great -dissatisfaction with the emperor because he -did not value men of talent more, and allowed -them to leave the country. Among other -things he told the archduke Maximilian, on -one occasion when the conversation turned on -Mozart, that men like him appeared in the -world only once in a century, and that for -that reason some effort should be made to keep -them.</p> - -<p>Mozart now brought every influence he -could to bear on his father. The vexation already -caused him by the girl’s mother brought -it to such a pass, that he was forced to take her -to his friend and patroness Frau von Waldstaedten. -He writes about this time: “My -heart is troubled, my brain is crazed! How can -a man think or work under such circumstances?” -But the father looked upon the marriage -as a misfortune to him, and instead of -his consent to it, he gave “only well-meant advice.” -Mozart, therefore, made short work of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -it, and, with the assistance of his patroness, -he acted the <i>Elopement from the Auge -Gottes</i>, as he afterwards jocosely called his -marriage. The baroness herself wrote to the -father, smoothed over the difficulties in the way -as best she could, even procured the money -necessary to have the marriage contract drawn -and dispensation from having the bans called -in the church. The two who loved each other -so well, were married on the 4th of August -1782. We must turn to Mozart himself for -an account of it.</p> - -<p>He tells us that, shortly after, the father’s -consent was received. There was no one -present at the marriage ceremony but the -mother, the youngest sister, the guardian and -two witnesses. And he adds: “The moment we -were made one, my wife as well as myself began -to weep, which touched every one, even -the priest; and they all cried when they witnessed -how our hearts were moved.” The -marriage feast consisted of a supper at Frau -von Waldstaedten’s, of which Mozart writes: -“It was more like a prince’s than a baron’s.” -A few days later, he writes: “For a considerable -length of time, while we were yet single,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -we went together both to mass and communion, -and I find that I never confessed and communicated -as devoutly as by her side; and the -same was the case with her. In a word, we -are made for one another, and God who ordains -all things, and who therefore has brought -about all that has passed with us will not forsake -us.” And He did not forsake them. -Their marriage was blessed, truly blessed; for -it had its foundation in love; and even leaving -his music out of consideration, we shall hear -this sweetest echo of life, the joyful notes of -pure, tender love, echo as clearly through the -world as the name of Mozart, himself a minstrel -of love.</p> - -<p>For an account of the cheering and touching -tenacity of the love of our artist, we must -refer the reader to our large work on Mozart, -in which we have endeavored to give a picture -or rather a history of a part of his life of -which the world has entertained an entirely -false idea. There is no reason why a single -trait in Mozart’s character should be concealed. -Its every feature is human, and even -his weaknesses are amiable and readily excusable. -If that highest of all moral precepts:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, -be applicable anywhere, it is here. We shall -have something more to say on this subject -below. We now turn to Mozart’s subsequent -achievements.</p> - -<p>The emperor, indeed, valued Mozart’s <i>talent -decidé</i> very highly, and one day summoned -him to meet Clement, in single combat, that -his majesty might enjoy his immense superiority -over the more formal talent of that renowned -Roman. But the emperor did not -recognize the full value of the <i>Elopement from -the Seraglio</i>, which he once characterized by -saying of it: <i>non era gran cosa</i>—“it did not -amount to a great deal.” This grieved Mozart -sorely. He even thought of leaving Vienna -in consequence of it, and of going first to -France and then to England. In the meantime, -the Italian musicians in Vienna, probably -because of the steady and great success -of the <i>Elopement from the Seraglio</i>, had induced -the emperor to order a new and excellent -<i>opera buffa</i>, which gave great satisfaction. -Mozart wrote of it: “The <i>basso buffo</i> is remarkably -good; his name is Benucci.” Lorenzo -da Ponte, known to-day as the poet of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> -the two greatest <i>opere buffe</i> of the world—our -<i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i> had been in -Vienna for some time, and was there now. -He had promised Mozart, who of course had -an eye on this Italian opera, a new subject as -soon as he had finished one for Salieri. Two -years passed away, but Da Ponte’s word was -kept at length. In the meantime, Mozart had, -on the occasion of his visit to Salzburg, in the -fall of 1783, begun a comic opera, “Die Gans -von Cairo”—“The Goose of Cairo.” It was, -however, never completed. The libretto was -too bad and the goose-story too “stupid.”</p> - -<p>To this epoch, ending with the <i>Figaro</i>, belongs -a large abundance of purely instrumental -music. The quartet for the piano with -wind-instruments was ready on the 24th of -March, 1784; the fantasy in C major, which -was never surpassed even by Beethoven, and -the <i>Veilchen</i>, in the spring of 1785; the piano -quartet in G minor, which Mozart called the -best he had written in his whole life, in July -of the same year; and the six quartets, dedicated -to Joseph Haydn, the creator of that -species of music, in the fall of that year (1785), -a year which must be considered among the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span> -most fertile of his life. And yet, even at this -time, Mozart was engaged on the comic opera -above named, and had begun another, the -<i>Il Sposo deluso</i>, “The derided Bridegroom,” -which he dropped, to work on the <i>Figaro</i>. -Scarcely had this last subject begun to occupy -his mind, than it took possession of it entirely. -Not even to the <i>Idomeneo</i> and the <i>Elopement -from the Seraglio</i> did he devote himself so entirely -as to the <i>Figaro</i>. Into this last he put -all his individuality. It was the first subject -which occupied all his mind and soul, and, at -the same time, afforded him an opportunity to -show the real brilliancy of his wit and of his -musical capacity. In this work, we have a -perfect whole, a gem which shines with dazzling -brightness. A few weaknesses due to its -derivation from the Italian opera are cancelled -by its excellences. It is a picture of life which -seems indeed to belong to one particular period, -but which, after all, shows us human nature -itself with all its weaknesses, the butt of ridicule -or the object of pity.</p> - -<p>Count Almaviva, who, with the assistance -of Figaro, the barber of Seville, had won his -beautiful countess, is enamoured of her more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> -charming waiting-maid, Susanna; and the latter -is in love with Figaro. An effort must be -made to cure the count of his folly. His -jealousy is first excited against the page. To -accomplish this, the help of a great many other -persons becomes necessary; and thus we get a -whole series of exquisite scenes ending in the total -bewilderment of the count. The second part—the -<i>opera buffa</i> has generally only two parts, -having been originally nothing more than an -“intermezzo,” between the three acts of the -grave opera, <i>opera seria</i>—finds Susanna at -the count’s, arranging a secret rendezvous -with him for the evening, in the garden. The -ladies had so arranged it that the countess -herself, disguised as Susanna, should be in -the garden at the time of the rendezvous, and -that Susanna should play the countess and -surprise the two by her sudden appearance on -the scene. The page arrived too. The count -gives him a box on the ear for his dainty attentions -to the disguised countess. The page -carries his grievance to the jealous Figaro, -who, warned of the infidelity of his Susanna, -had approached too near, notwithstanding the -darkness. He makes a passionate declaration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span> -of love to the supposed countess, although she -had given him to understand who she was, in -the presence of the count. This of course, -brought matters to a crisis. The count orders -lights to be brought. Covered with shame -at the discovery he makes, and lovingly forgiven -by the countess, he is, as we may reasonably -assume, cured of his wicked weakness for -all time.</p> - -<p>Such was the course of Mozart’s opera. It -was attractive and cheerful, and for the time, -not too daring. Mozart invested the female -characters of the piece with the utmost goodness -of heart and purity of soul. Even from -the haughty giddiness of the count, he took -the sting in such a way that we leave the presentation -of this piece of human weakness entirely -satisfied.</p> - -<p>It was otherwise with the original work, the -<i>Le Mariage de Figaro ou la folle Journée</i>, -of the same Beaumarchais from whom Goethe -borrowed his Clavigo. In it we find the vices -and above all the high-handed violence of the -nobility scourged with such a regardlessness of -consequences, that the piece must be looked -upon as a species of prelude to that historic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> -night in August, 1789, on which every privilege -of the nobility was wiped out with a stroke -of the pen. It shows us at the same time the -cordial gentleness and dignity of the man, -Mozart, who had himself personally experienced -the brutal pride of the privileged -classes, and this in the most revolting manner. -He, however, solved the whole problem in the -kindest of humor, with a sympathy which -may be seen shining through tears; explaining -it by the limitations and weaknesses of human -nature. This work was Mozart’s own even -from the ordering of the libretto; and he it -was that made choice of it.</p> - -<p>The following are the particulars relating -to its composition. Lorenzo da Ponte, of whom -we made mention above, and who was at first -so completely on the side of Salieri and the -Italians, now turned to Mozart, in order to -save his place, as libretto-poet, which he was -in danger of losing. Paisiello, at this time a -man of world-wide reputation, had come to -Vienna, and achieved the greatest success with -an opera—“King Theodore.” In order to -supplant the poet of the opera, Casti, Da Ponte -composed a libretto for Salieri, with which,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> -however, Salieri made so complete a failure, -that he swore he would rather have his fingers -cut off, than set another verse written by Da -Ponte to music. Salieri now turned to Casti -and met with great success in his “Grotto of -Trophonius.” Da Ponte who saw his position -as poet for the theater in peril, in consequence -of this, had recourse to Mozart. Thus it was -the intrigue and jealousy of the Italians which -eventually helped Mozart to the place which -he was born to fill; and thus Salieri’s blow -recoiled upon himself, for Mozart proposed -Beaumarchais’ piece which had been given in -Paris, in the spring of 1784, and had produced -an immense sensation there. But the king had -forbidden the piece in Vienna because of its -“immoral style.” Besides, he had some doubts -as to Mozart’s capacity. Mozart, he said, was -a good composer of instrumental music, but -had written an opera which did not amount to -much. On this account, Mozart went quietly -to work. He first composed a part of his opera, -and Da Ponte then took occasion to have the -emperor hear the part thus composed. His -imperial majesty immediately ordered the completion -of the work, and subsequently its performance.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>Such is the story as it is to be gathered from -the memoirs of the writer of the libretto and -of one of the singers, O’Kelley, an Englishman. -Both prove that the Italians now moved -heaven and earth to shut Mozart out from the -stage, and that, as a matter of fact, the emperor -was obliged personally to interfere in his behalf, -in the case of the <i>Figaro</i>. Moreover, just -at this time he gave Mozart a token of his favor -by commissioning him to write an opera -called the <i>Shauspieldirector</i>, or “The Manager -of the Theater,” for a garden-festival at -Schœnbrunn. The subject of this opera is the -competitive trial of two prima donnas before -the manager—a comic piece which his enemies -subsequently endeavored to interpret as a picture -of scenes in his own life.</p> - -<p>The Italians, indeed, had reason enough for -fear. Salieri subsequently gave expression -to their feelings when he said, it was well -that Mozart was dead, since, if he had lived, -it would soon have come to such a pass that -not one of them would get as much as a mouthful -of bread for his compositions. These compositions -are, indeed, valueless to-day, while -Mozart’s work is immortal, and while arias<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span> -like <i>Will der Herr Graf ein Taenzlein wagen</i>, -<i>Neue Freuden neue Schmerzen</i> and <i>Ihr die -ihr Triebe</i>, will live as long as music lives.</p> - -<p>We shall now hear what an effect the actual -performance of the opera which took place on -the first of May, 1786, had on him. The following -account, which has in it something of a -Mozart-like amiability, is by the singer Kelley:</p> - -<p>“Of all the performers of the opera at that -time, there is only one still living—myself. -[He sang the parts of Basilio and the stuttering -judge.] It must be granted that no opera was -ever better performed. I have seen it at different -times and in all countries, and well performed; -and yet the very first performance of -it compared with all others is like light to -darkness. All the original players had the -advantage of being instructed by the composer -himself, who endeavored to transfer his -own way of looking at it, and his own enthusiasm -to their minds. I shall never forget his -little, vivacious face glowing with the fire of -genius. It is just as impossible to describe it -as to paint the sunbeam.</p> - -<p>“One evening, when I visited him, he said to -me: ‘I have just finished a little duet for my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span> -opera, and you must hear it.’ He seated himself -at the piano and sang it. I was carried -away, and the musical world will understand -my transport—when I say that it was the duet -of the countess, Ulmaviva with Susanna: <i>So -lang hab’ ich geschmachtet</i>. Nothing more -exquisite had ever before been written by human -being. It has often been a source of -pleasure to me to think that I was the first who -heard it. I can still see Mozart in his red fur -hat trimmed with gold, standing on the stage -with the orchestra, at the first rehearsal, beating -time for the music. Benucci sang Figaro’s -<i>Dort vergiss leises Fleh’n, suesses Wimmern</i>, -with the greatest enthusiasm and all -the power of his voice. I stood beside Mozart, -who repeatedly cried ‘bravo! bravo! Benucci!’ -in subdued tones. When Benucci came to -the beautiful passage: <i>Bei dem Donner der -Karthaner</i>, he allowed his stentorian voice to -resound with all his might. The players on -the stage and in the orchestra were electrified. -Intoxicated with pleasure, they cried again -and again, and each time louder than the preceding -one, ‘bravo! bravo! maestro! Long -live the great Mozart!’ Those in the orchestra<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span> -beat the music stands incessantly with the -bows of their violins, thus expressing their enthusiasm. -It seemed as if this storm of applause -would never cease. The little man returned -thanks for the homage paid him by -bowing repeatedly. The finale at the end of -the first act was received with similar delight. -Had Mozart written nothing but this piece of -music, it alone would, in my humble opinion, -have stamped him the greatest master of his -art. Never was there a greater triumph than -that of Mozart and his <i>Figaro</i>.”</p> - -<p>This is the only detailed account which we -possess. The father had heard enough of the -astonishingly powerful intrigues caused by his -son’s great talent and the respect in which he -was held. Now he was able to write to his -daughter, that five and even seven parts of the -opera had been repeated, and that one duet -had to be sung three times. The Italians induced -the emperor to forbid these repetitions. -But when he spoke to the singers of “this -favor he had done them,” the person playing -the part of Susanna frankly replied: “Do not -believe that, your Majesty. They all wish to -hear <i>dacapo</i> cried. I at least can assert that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> -of myself.” Whereupon the emperor laughed.</p> - -<p>But we may ask, was Mozart’s fortune now -made? He was, indeed, at this time, in such -pinching circumstances that he had to apply -to his publisher, Hofmeister, for such petty -advances as a few ducats.</p> - -<p>The house was always full to overflowing, -and the public never tired of applauding Mozart -and calling him out. But care was now -taken that the performances should not follow -one another too frequently or too rapidly, the -effect of which would soon have been an improvement -in the taste of the public. Moreover, -the success of a new opera, <i>Una Cosa -rara</i>—it serves in the <i>Don Giovanni</i> as table-music—by -Martin, the Spaniard, was enough -to throw the <i>Figaro</i> into the shade both with -the emperor and with the people, and then to -displace it entirely. The success of that opera -was incredible, and such as might have been -expected from a public whose noblest representative, -the emperor Joseph himself, told -Dittersdorf the composer of <i>Doctor and -Apotheker</i>, that he liked Martin’s light, pleasant -melodies better than Mozart’s style, who -drowned the voice of the singers with the noise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span> -of the accompaniment. “Happy man,” said -Mozart to the young composer Gyrowetz, who -went to Italy in the fall of 1785, “if I could only -travel with you, how glad I would be! I -must give a lesson now in order to earn a pittance.” -He thought again of going to England, -but no inducement to go there offered.</p> - -<p>And yet the <i>Figaro</i> was attended by very -immediate success even to its composer. It -gave occasion to the writing of the <i>Don Giovanni</i>; -and this leads us to the conclusion of -a chapter in Mozart’s life descriptive of a -portion of that life as important as it was -replete with action.</p> - -<p>The love of the Bohemians for music and -their skill in the art are well known. After -Mozart had made his first appearance in -Vienna, the people of Prague appropriated -him just as they have Richard Wagner in our -own day, and the <i>Figaro</i> which followed the -<i>Elopement from the Seraglio</i> was received -with an amount of applause which can be -compared only with that subsequently accorded -to the <i>Magic Flute</i>. It was given almost -without interruption during the whole of the -winter 1786-87. The enthusiasm of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span> -audiences was unparalleled. They never tired -of hearing it. Arrangements for the piano, -for wind-instruments, quartets, dances, etc., -were made from it. <i>Figaro</i> was re-echoed -in the streets, in gardens, and even the harper -had to play its <i>Dort Vergiss</i> if he wished to -be heard.</p> - -<p>It was the orchestra and a society of “great” -connoisseurs and amateurs that invited him to -Prague. Nothing could have been more agreeable -to Mozart than to be able to show his -enemies in Vienna that he was not yet without -friends in the world. His wife accompanied -him. It was in January, 1787. Count Thun, -one of the first chevaliers and musical connoisseurs -of Prague, was his host. He gave every -day a musical entertainment at his own home. -He found great delight in the intercourse of -loving friends of his art, friends who recognized -his genius. The very first evening, a ball was -given by a well-known society in Prague—the -“elite of the beauties of Prague.” Writing of -it himself, Mozart says: “I was delighted to -see all these people moving about so truly -happy, to the music of the <i>Figaro</i> transformed -into counter dances and waltzes. Nothing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -is talked of here but the <i>Figaro</i>. The people -visit no opera but the <i>Figaro</i>. It is nothing -but <i>Figaro</i>!”</p> - -<p>He was to direct the work in person, to the -infinite delight of all. He himself paid a high -compliment to the execution of the orchestra. -They always played with great spirit. Two -concerts followed. An eye-witness writes: -“The theatre was never seen so full of human -beings. Never was delight more universal. -We did not, indeed, know what most to admire, -the extraordinary composition or the extraordinary -playing. The two together produced -an impression that was sweet enchantment. -But when Mozart, towards the close, -played a number of fantasias alone, this condition -was resolved into one of overflowing -expressions of approval.” Mozart appeared, -his countenance radiant with genuine satisfaction. -He began with an enthusiasm that kept -increasing from the first, and had accomplished -greater things than had ever before been -heard, when a loud voice cried out: “From -Figaro!” whereupon Mozart played the favorite -aria, <i>Dort vergiss</i>, improvised a dozen of -the most interesting and artistic variations and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> -closed this remarkable production amid thunders -of applause.</p> - -<p>This was certainly one of the brightest days -in Mozart’s life. He had reached the climax of -success. In the applause of the multitude, he -saw a reflection of his own intellectual features -which called that applause forth. Strange -thoughts now possessed his soul. Feelings -never felt before stirred within him. When a -person has reached a height like that now obtained -by Mozart, he is in a position to embrace -in his horizon all that lies below and -around him. It was the first time that his -life-sparkling mind did this, but we shall see -that it did so now. The incessant intrigues of -his opponents and enemies—intrigues so violent -and great, that, when he died, it was rumored -he had been poisoned—devoured his -life like a vulture, and ended it before his time. -The consciousness of this first came to him -with all its melancholy amid the infinite jubilation -we have just described, in the midst -of all this joy and recognition of his genius. -He now, for the first time, had a perception of -life’s close, of life’s tragic play, as reflected in -<i>Don Giovanni</i>; and this was the result of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> -journey to Prague. For when, in the overflowing -joy of his heart, Mozart said that he would -like to write an opera expressly for such a public, -the director of the theatre, Bondini, took -him at his word, and closed the contract with -him for the following autumn, at one hundred -ducats.</p> - -<p>Da Ponte relates that, on this occasion, he -proposed the subject-matter himself. He had -perceived that Mozart’s genius required a -sublime and many-sided poem. And, indeed, -this, like <i>Faust</i>, was a subject-matter on which -writers of all nations had long labored. <i>Don -Giovanni</i> represents the indestructible instinct -of life, as <i>Faust</i> does the instinct of -knowledge, showing how that instinct is ever -annihilating and reproducing itself. The hero -is given up to the fullest enjoyment of life -regardless of consequences. Cheerfully and -freely he surrenders himself to it. No -shackles bind him. Opposition only adds to -his strength. But this very wantonness is, -at last, the cause of his ruin. This was the -conclusion of the whole, extended, original -Spanish play chosen by the poet of the -libretto.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>Don Giovanni rushes into the apartment of -Donna Anna, who is waiting for the arrival of -her beloved Don Octavio. Her cry for help -calls out her father. A duel puts an end to -his aged life. On the street, Don Giovanni -and his servant Leporello, are met by the forsaken -Elvira. She complains, gives expression -to her grief and loads him with reproaches. -He hastens on his way in the search -after pleasure. Zerline, the bride of the young -Marsetto is next snatched away from him by -Elvira’s jealousy. But he has invited the -whole company to the castle. He is again met, -(everything even now foreshadows the catastrophe) -by Donna Anna with Octavio. They -seek his assistance on account of the murdered -father. But Donna Anna, whose suspicions -had been already awakened by Elvira, recognizes -him as the murderer. They next appear -masquerading in black at the banquet, and just -as Don Giovanni is on the point of carrying -away the rustic beauty, they come up to him; -a struggle ensues, and master and servant are -saved only by the most masculine boldness. -This is the first act of this opera, which is also -considered an <i>opera buffa</i>.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>The second act finds Don Giovanni engaged -in a quarrel with Leporello. Leporello -does not want to serve so dangerous a master -any longer. But money atones for the anxiety -he endures. Elvira appears on the balcony. -Don Giovanni changes clothes with Leporello -and swears love to her anew. She -comes down and at an artificial noise, made -by Don Giovanni, flees with Leporello into -the darkness. This is followed by a serenade -to her waiting-maid, Leporello’s beloved. -Marsetto and his peasants, armed with guns, -now appear. But Don Giovanni, dressed as -Leporello, succeeds in getting his friends -away, and in coaxing the weapons from Marsetto -himself. He then cudgels him soundly, -whereupon Zerline consoles him with her -promises. Elvira now looks in the dark for -the supposed lover. The anxious Leporello -endeavors to escape. Don Octavio and Donna -Anna suddenly appear with torches and see -that this time they have the servant instead of -his master. The former escapes and according -to agreement meets Don Giovanni in the -churchyard. Their godless conversation is -suddenly interrupted by a voice which says:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span> -“Presumptuous man, let those rest who have -gone to sleep!” It is the statue of the Comthur. -Don Giovanni haughtily forces Leporello to -invite him to dinner. In the midst of the -revels of the table—for which Martin’s <i>Cosa -rara</i> furnished a part of the music, as, in -Prague, did the <i>Dort vergiss</i>—in the midst of -the most luxurious joys of life, which not -even the warning voice of the loving Elvira -could dispel, the stony guest approaches him, -and announces his sentence to him:</p> - -<p>“Down into the dust and pray!”</p> - -<p>“Tell women to pray!”</p> - -<p>“Be converted!”</p> - -<p>“No!”</p> - -<p>“Yes!”</p> - -<p>“No!”</p> - -<p>“Now thy end has come!”</p> - -<p>Yawning abysses open, and spirits of hell -drag the dastard into the dismal grave, alive.</p> - -<p>We know what the cheerful phase of the -life of the past century was. It has found a -more fiery expression in <i>Don Giovanni</i> than -even in the <i>Figaro</i>. The Renaissance had introduced -anew the free enjoyment of life of -the ancient world. Think only what the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> -Borgias were! From Italy and Spain it had -made its way to France, when people there, for -the first time, became conscious that they were -“dancing on a volcano.” The feeling that -there hangs a necessary and tragic sentence -over the mere sensuousness of life, which is, -after all, but a powerful picture of the -transitoriness of all things earthly—a transitoriness -which will always remain a dark -enigma to the living themselves, and which -therefore fills the proudest life with a certain -melancholy—this feeling, which constitutes -the poetic nucleus of the whole story of <i>Don -Giovanni</i>, no one of all who have treated the -subject, in an artistic manner, has fathomed -or shown the power of, even in a remote -degree, as did Mozart. The music, on the appearance -of the stony guest, springs from -the same fountain as Faust’s most beautiful -and profound monologues. It is the consciousness, -the heart-felt knowledge of the permanent -duration of human life; and we have -seen how life itself led Mozart, the artist and -the man, to this heart-felt knowledge and to -the feeling of something really eternal in the -changes that surround us.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>The following further details as to the -origin of <i>Don Giovanni</i> are not devoid of -interest.</p> - -<p>Da Ponte’s boasting in his memoirs is indeed -exquisite, and shows that, after all, he -had no idea what the value of the material of -<i>Don Giovanni</i> was. He had the three distinguished -opera composers of Vienna at the -time to write for, and he quieted the doubts of -the emperor as to the success of such a task, by -telling him that he would write during the -night for Mozart and keep thinking of Dante’s -Hell, in the morning for Martin, and read -Petrarca, in the evening for Salieri, when -Tasso should be his companion. With a -bottle of tokai and some Spanish tobacco before -him, and the sixteen-year-old daughter of -his hostess, as his muse beside him, he says he -began his work, and in two months the whole -was finished.</p> - -<p>And how about Mozart? When at the beginning -of April, the libretto of this poetical -judgment on human life had come into his -hands, his soul was directed with redoubled -energy to its serious meaning. He received -at that time, the news of the grave illness of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span> -his father, which led him to give expression -to some remarkable sayings about death as -the “true goal of our life—man’s true, best -friend.” We shall yet see what suggested -this. Besides, he had shortly before lost his -“best and dearest” friend, Count Hatzfeld, and -now, on the 28th of May 1787, he lost his beloved -father also. The quintet in G minor -dates from this time. The depths of his soul -open up before us here. This quintet is a -prelude to <i>Don Giovanni</i>. At this time, too, -it was that the court organist, Ludwig Beethoven -of Bonn, now in his sixteenth year, -paid him a visit. Mozart paid no attention -to Beethoven beyond predicting his world-wide -fame, so entirely was he pre-occupied -with his new work. The following September, -his friend Dr. Barisoni, who had attended -him two years before, when he was very dangerously -sick, died; and Mozart wrote under -some of his verses in his album: “It is well -with him!—but it will never be well with me, -with us and with all who knew him so well, -until we are happy enough to see him in a -better world, never to part again!” His -thoughts went beyond the grave and endeavored<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span> -to fathom the eternal relations of things. -This was the mood in which he wrote <i>Don -Giovanni</i>. Even into the brightest light of -life, creep at last the dark shadows of annihilation!</p> - -<p>In the beginning of September 1787, composer -and poet were in Prague. Constance -also had traveled with them. She had to see -that no disturbance from without interfered -with the workings of our artist’s laborious -mind. Personal intercourse with the singers -increased his intellectual activity. The first -singer who took the part of Don Giovanni -was lauded to the deaf Beethoven, almost forty -years later, as a “fiery Italian.” The female -singers were not by any means remarkable. -Yet it was said that our artist had been guilty, -during this sojourn in Prague, of all kinds of -gay adventures; and this while he was writing -himself to a friend in Vienna: “Is there not -an infinite difference between the pleasure of -a fickle, whimsical love and the bliss of a -really rational one?” In after years, his acquaintances -remembered the happy hours they -had spent with him in Prague. He played at -nine-pins with them in a wine-garden, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span> -is now adorned with his bust, while at the -same time he wrote out his score at the table -in the place. And in the evening before the -performance he was exceedingly cheerful and -full of jokes. Finally, Constance told him it -was eleven o’clock, that the overture was not -yet written. At his home, with his glass of -punch, such as he liked, he proceeded to perform -the task which was so irksome to him. -He had the work long since finished in his -head. He had even already played it as well -as two other drafts of it for his friends. On -this account, Constance, in order to keep his -thoughts flowing, was obliged to tell stories -to him. These were fairy tales, like Aladdin’s -Wonderful Lamp, and Cinderella. Mozart -frequently laughed over them until the tears -came. Fatigue, however, overpowered him at -last, and his wife allowed him to sleep a few -hours. Yet the copyists received their work -in the early morning. He had, moreover, according -to his own confession to the director of -the orchestra, never allowed himself to be prevented -from producing something excellent -for Prague, and at the same time assured him, -that he had not acquired his art easily. No<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> -one, he said, had been more industrious to acquire -it than he, and it would be hard to find -a celebrated master whom he had not diligently -studied.</p> - -<p>It is said that he set the celebrated <i>Reich -mir die Hand</i> to music five times for <i>Don -Giovanni</i>. He made the singers rehearse to -him separately. He danced the minuet for -them himself; for, strange to say, he once told -Kelly that his achievements in dancing were -more remarkable than his achievements in -music. Hence, the players were full of good -will and enthusiasm, the consequence of which -was, that the performance this time, also, was -a very good one. It took place on the 29th -of October, 1787. The house was full to overflowing, -and Mozart was received with a flourish -of trumpets, repeated three times, and applause -which it seemed would never cease. -Such was the reception accorded the opera itself, -that the director of the theatre wrote to -the composer of the libretto, who, in the meantime -had returned to Vienna: “Long live Da -Ponte! Long live Mozart! Praise them, all -ye directors and all ye singers! So long as -they live theatres cannot fail to do a thriving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -business.” As usual, Mozart himself speaks -modestly of “the loudest kind of applause,” -and remarks to his friend in Vienna, mentioned -above: “I could wish that my friends were -here a single evening to share my pleasure. -But probably the opera will not be performed -in Vienna. I wish so. People are doing all -in their power to prevail upon me to remain -here a few months and write another opera; -but, flattering as the invitation is, I cannot accept -it.”</p> - -<p>And now, as to the work itself. Schiller -wrote to Goethe on the 29th of December, 1797, -that he had always entertained the confidence -that out of the opera as out of the choruses of -the old feasts of Dionysos, tragedy would develop -a nobler form. By the power of music, -it attuned the heart to a finer susceptibility, -and, in this way, it might happen that, at last, -even the ideal might stealthily make its way -to the stage. Goethe answered curtly: “You -might have seen your hopes recently realized -to a great extent in <i>Don Giovanni</i>. But in -this respect, that piece stands entirely alone, -and Mozart’s death has rendered all hope of -anything like it, idle.” We owe it to <i>Figaro</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> -and <i>Don Giovanni</i>, more than to anything else, -that we are able to-day, to assert the contrary, -and that we witness the real dramatic art which -was attained to by Italy in the revival of antiquity -in a truly flourishing condition about -us. What Gluck required should be the characteristic -points of dramatic composition is here -complied with to the fullest extent; to an extent -which, in many particulars, has not been -yet surpassed. This perfection Mozart owed -to his more accurate acquaintance with the -exigencies of the drama and his supreme command -of all the capabilities of music. The -separate and distinct pieces of music, indeed, -with their pitiful, recurring cadences, remind -us continually that it is with a musician we -have to do, and one whose style was a development -from the Italian school. But then such -is the poetical intuition of this musician that -the poetical material helps him always to some -new invention in his own art. And while this -art seems to demand that it should be necessarily -confined to its own sphere and possess -definite forms, genius is able to so arrange it -that the dramatic action may lose nothing -that properly belongs to it, and yet that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> -music may not become simply “the obedient -daughter of poetry.”</p> - -<p>Richard Wagner, the great master, who, in -this sphere, is Mozart’s only real successor, -says: “Mozart in his operas demonstrated the -inexhaustible resources of music most fully -to meet every demand of the poet on its -power of expression; and considering his -completely original course, this glorious musician -did a great deal more to discover this -power of music, both in respect to truth of -expression, and in the endless varieties of its -causes, than Gluck and all his successors.” -And in this dramatic respect, the <i>Figaro</i>, and -<i>Don Giovanni</i>, unquestionably occupy the -first place. Who is there that does not recognize -in <i>Keine Ruh’ bei Tag und Nacht</i>, -<i>Wenn du fein artig bist</i>, <i>Treibt der Champagner</i>, -a new language in tones? We here -again witness the noblest acquisitions of the -<i>Idomeneo</i> and the <i>Elopement from the Seraglio</i>, -in the highest possible perfection concentrated -in all their energy. It is a miracle of -strength and grace, of spirit and euphony, -of buoyant force, of nobleness, and at the -same time, of truest, deepest feeling.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>Thus the <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i>, together -with Germany’s classic poetry, occupy a -place at the beginning of a great dramatic -epoch which commenced one hundred years -ago. They are a part of the life of modern -humanity in general. In them Mozart first -fully developed his inexhaustible genius. -And thus it is that these works, like the antique -and the art of the Renaissance, belong to -the whole cultured world.</p> - -<p>Mozart’s concluding labors are a condensation -of all the impressions of his life, and of -all the perceptions of his mind, in their very -depths. The <i>Magic Flute</i>, especially by its -purely human and ethico-religious tendency, -became the starting point of the efforts of an -art which was peculiarly German, but of -which the universal art-creations of the present -day were born. This leads us to the fifth -and last chapter of our biography.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">1787-1791.</p> - -<p class="ph1">THE MAGIC FLUTE—TITUS—THE REQUIEM.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> -<p>Haydn’s Opinion of Mozart—Made Court Composer by Joseph -II.—Don Giovanni in Vienna—Mozart’s Extreme Poverty—His -Cheerfulness under Adverse Circumstances—“The -Song of the Swan”—Other Compositions—Mozart’s Opinion -of Handel—He becomes Acquainted with Sebastian -Bach—Mozart’s Opinion of Church Music—Traveling -Again—Some of Mozart’s Characteristics—Audience with -the Emperor—Petition to his Imperial Majesty—His Religious -Feelings—Joins the Free Masons—History of the -Composition of the Magic Flute—The Mysterious Stranger—The -Requiem—Success of the Magic Flute—Mozart -as Reflected in his Music—His Industry—Last Illness—Strange -Fancies—Incidents of his Last Days—His Death.</p> -</div></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> composer of <i>Figaro</i>, Mozart himself, -writes in 1785: “If there were only a single -German patriot in a position of influence, with -him things would wear a different aspect. -But, then, perhaps, our national theatre, now -only in bud, would come to full bloom; and, -of course, it would be an everlasting shame -for Germany, if we should seriously begin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> -to think German, act German, speak German, -and even to sing German!” Chance -would have it, that, towards the close of his -days he was able to give his pen and not -merely his tongue, as he did here, free rein -on this point. And the very fact that his -circumstances became poorer, and that the -parties, which prevailed at the time, succeeded -in relegating him to an inferior social position, -was here of decisive influence.</p> - -<p>Haydn now writes to Prague, where Mozart -had declined the composition of another -opera: “You ask me for another opera. -With all my heart, if you wish to have something -for yourself alone.” But he would -have had too much to risk in writing for the -theatre there, inasmuch as scarcely any one -could be compared with the great Mozart. -The noble master continues: “For if I could -impress on the souls of all lovers of music, but -above all on the great, the inimitable works of -Mozart; could I endow them with a proper -comprehension of music, and impart to them -the feeling with which I understand and feel -them, the nations would emulate one another -for the possession of that jewel.” Prague, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span> -said, should keep such a man, but at the same -time, it should remunerate him properly, for -when not properly remunerated the history of -genius is sad indeed. And he concludes: “It -grieves me sorely that Mozart, who has no -equal, has not yet been engaged at some royal -or imperial court.... Pardon me for not -keeping to my subject, but I am so fond of the -man.”</p> - -<p>Schwind, the painter, who, during his youth -in Vienna, knew very many of Mozart’s -friends, writes: “People spoke of him as one -speaks of the person he loves. Why was it -that ‘the great’ did nothing for him?”</p> - -<p>The success of the <i>Don Giovanni</i> in Prague -had a good effect in Vienna, and when it was -learned that Mozart was going to leave that -city for England, Joseph II. named him—it -was on the 7th of December, 1787—his court composer -with a salary of 800 guldens in all; -of which Mozart once wrote on his tax-returns: -“too much for what I do, too little for what I -might do.” In his position, he had no duties -but to write the dancing music for the imperial -masquerades! And yet, the position -which Gluck held from the emperor with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span> -salary of two thousand guldens had just become -vacant by that composer’s death! Mozart -must have had wicked enemies and enviers -and only half friends, at this court. His patron, -Maximilian Francis, elector of Cologne, -was now in Bonn, where he had found young -Beethoven, and the emperor himself liked the -lighter music better than Mozart’s. Thus -Salieri again gained the advantage; and before -the opera <i>Azur</i>, which had been ordered -by the emperor, was given, <i>Don Giovanni</i> was -not to be thought of.</p> - -<p>Yet, the emperor finally ordered its performance -also. It took place on the 7th of -May, 1788; but the opera did not give satisfaction. -Da Ponte writes: “Everybody, Mozart -alone excepted, was of opinion that the -piece would have to be re-written. We made -additions to it, changed pieces in it, and yet, -a second time, <i>Don Giovanni</i> did not give satisfaction.” -According to Da Ponte, however, -this did not keep the emperor from saying, -that the “work was magnificent, more beautiful -than <i>Figaro</i>, but no morsel for the Viennese.” -Mozart, to whom this saying of the emperor had -been carried, replied: “Only give them time to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span> -taste it;” and, indeed, every performance of the -opera added to its success. Haydn said, in a -company at the house of Count Rosenberg, -which was no rendezvous for Mozart’s friends, -that he could not settle their dispute about the -faults of the work, but he knew that Mozart -was the greatest composer which the world -then had.</p> - -<p>And yet, at this very time, Mozart was suffering -from want, actual want! The first of -those mournful letters to his friend Puchberg, -the merchant, is dated the 17th of June of -this year. These letters afford us a picture of -his condition during the last years of his life. -They even foreshadow the sad, premature end -of our artist. He received from <i>Don Giovanni</i>, -in Vienna, altogether two hundred and twenty-five -guldens. His compositions were in contents -and execution too difficult for the dilettanti, -and his feeling and views on art did not -allow him to write otherwise; so that the publishers -were not able to pay him much. Besides, -those parts of his compositions which were -really popular, were everywhere republished. -Concerts could not be given all the time, and -his receipts from all sources were too irregular.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> -His household expenses, spite of his simple -way of living, were great. He had several -children, in quick succession, and Constance -was taken, repeatedly, very seriously ill—in one -instance, for eight whole months. He closes -one of his letters, asking for, and imploring -a little “momentary assistance,” according to -his friend’s pleasure, as follows: “My wife -was sick again yesterday. To-day, thank God, -she is better: yet I am very unhappy, always -wavering between worry and hope.”</p> - -<p>This affliction of body and mind was a constant -trial of his better nature. His letters -next to his music afford us the most beautiful -proof of the purity of his soul and the -depth of his feelings. Yet the last years of -Mozart’s life disclose to us a mournful picture -of the existence of a German artist; and it is -only Mozart’s own spirit that can lift us high -above the sadness and acrimony which we are -disposed to feel here.</p> - -<p>His mind did not grow gloomy. Like the -phœnix, he always rose out of the ashes of -the want that consumed him—more brilliantly -arrayed and fitted for a grander flight. And -it is truer of scarcely any artist than of him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> -that his last note was like the dying strains -of the swan, an echo from another and higher -world, a sound at once joyful and melancholy -such as had never been heard before.</p> - -<p>The symphony in E major which was -finished in these summer days of 1788, has in -fact, been called the Song of the Swan. Of it -Hoffman, in his celebrated <i>Phantasiestuecken</i>, -beautifully says: “The language of love and -melancholy are heard in the sweet voices of -spirits. The night breaks into a bright purple -light, and, with an unspeakable longing, we -follow the forms which invite us with friendly -glances into their ranks as they fly through -the clouds to the eternal music of the spheres.” -Immediately following this came the exceedingly -powerful and life-like symphony in G -minor, and the Jupiter symphony. Did -mortal ever before hear the quiet jubilation -of all beings as it is heard in the <i>andante</i> of -this last? The man who can write such works -has higher joys than the world can give or -take away. His eye full of the truest happiness, -is directed towards an eternal ideal -which refreshes, preserves and blesses him. -The grave little <i>adagio</i> in H minor for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span> -piano was also written in this same year, -1788.</p> - -<p>At this time, Handel, with his vigorous -and manly nature entered Mozart’s domain. -He was preparing for a friend and patron, the -former ambassador to Berlin, Baron von Swieten, -<i>Acis and Galatea</i> and the <i>Messias</i>. -Mozart’s opinion of Handel was, that he understood -better than any one else the power of -music, and that when he chose, he could use -chorus and orchestra with overwhelming effect; -even his airs in the Italian style always -betokened the composer of the Messias. But -he was destined soon to become acquainted -with a greater genius, a man all imposing to -him—Sebastian Bach. Handel’s freer form -and his dramatic characterization were not -new to him; and we may judge from the -<i>Idomeneo</i> that Mozart possessed a power not -unlike that which was peculiar to Handel. -Yet Bach opened to him, both as an artist and -a man, a new world, but one which he had -long half suspected and half known—that -ocean of polyphony governed with such sovereign -power. And yet the matter lay deeper.</p> - -<p>Some one in Leipzig itself—he probably had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> -reference to Bach—had, in a conversation, -called it a burning shame, that it was with so -many great musicians as it had been with the -old painters: they were compelled to employ -their immense powers on the fruitless and -mind-destroying subjects of the church. Mozart -was highly displeased at the remark, and -said in a very sad manner, that that was some -more art-twaddle. And he continued in some -such strain as this: “With you, enlightened -Protestants, as you call yourselves, when all -your religion is the religion of the head, there -may be some truth in this. But with us, it is -otherwise. You do not at all feel the meaning -of the words, <i>Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata -mundi, dona nobis pacem</i>. [Lamb of God -who takest away the sins of the world; grant -us peace.] But when one has, from his earliest -childhood, been introduced into the sanctuary -of our religion, and attended its service -with fervor, and called those happy who knelt -at the touching strains of the <i>Agnus Dei</i> and -received the communion, while the music -gushing in tender joy from the hearts of the -faithful, said, <i>Benedictus qui venit</i>, [Blessed -is he who comes in the name of the Lord,] it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span> -is very different; and, when now, these words, -heard a thousand times, are placed before one -to be set to music, it all returns and stirs the -soul within him.” On this occasion, he recalled -that first composition for the consecration -of a church in his childhood, in Vienna, -and the religious impressions he carried away -from Italy of which we spoke above.</p> - -<p>He was now in Leipzig and became acquainted -with Sebastian Bach in his church -compositions. Necessity had again started -him on an artistic journey. His friend and -pupil, prince Charles Lichnowsky, who was -soon destined to play an important part in -Beethoven’s life also, had asked Mozart to -travel with him to Berlin where he might -probably be of some use to him with the music-loving -Frederick William II. Our information -concerning this journey and one that followed -it, is to be found in those letters to his -wife, of which she herself subsequently wrote -that these unstudied epistles were the best indication -of his way of thinking, of his peculiar -nature and of his culture. She says: “The rare -love for me which these letters breathe is supremely -characteristic of him. Those written<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> -in his later years are just as tender as those -which he must have written during the first -years of our married life, are they not?” In -those letters, indeed, we have the man, Mozart -as he really was, and what he had gone through -in life, before us.</p> - -<p>In Prague, the director of the theatre had -almost so arranged it that he was to get two -hundred ducats for a new opera, and fifty -ducats for traveling expenses. This gave him -new life. One of his old Munich friends, the -hautboyist Ramm, who had come from Berlin, -had also told him, in Prague, that the king -had asked him “very often and very anxiously” -if it was sure that Mozart was coming, and -when he saw that he had not come, said: “I -am afraid that he is not going to come.” -“Judging from this,” says Mozart, “my affairs -will not go ill.” In Dresden, he formed the -acquaintance of Schiller’s friend, Koerner, the -father of the poet, whose sister-in-law, Doris -Stock, made a drawing of his picture. But -all the affection he met with only turned his -thoughts more lovingly to his wife and child -at home. He writes, on the 13th of April, -1789: “My dearest wife, if I only had a letter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span> -from you.... If I could only tell you all I -have to say to your dear picture!... And -when I put it away I let it slide from me -gradually, while I say: Well! well! well! -and, at the last, good night, pet, pleasant -dreams!” The same complete ingenuousness -of a really child-like soul, of which his friends -in Prague were wont to speak. One of them, -Professor Niemetschek, to whom we are indebted -for the first biography of Mozart, says -of him: “Brimming over with the pleasantest -humor, he would surrender himself to the -drollest fancies, so that people forgot entirely -that they had the wonderful artist, Mozart, -before them.” Closing the letter to his wife, -above referred to, he says: “Now, I think I -have written something which the world at -least will think very stupid; but it is not -stupid to us who love one another so tenderly.” -We shall yet see what a treasure for his art -was this heart of his, which always loved, as it -did, the day he was married. Only genius -can manifest so much innocence and, at the -same time, such depth of feeling.</p> - -<p>In Dresden he played at court and was presented -with “a very pretty” snuff-box. Here,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> -too, was one Haessler, a pupil of Sebastian -Bach, whose forte was the piano and the organ. -This served to stimulate Mozart’s ability to a -higher pitch. He had already become acquainted, -through Van Swieten, with a number -of Bach’s and Handel’s fugues. He also -had frequently improvised such fugues himself, -or noted them down at the request of his -wife. The man who understands polyphony -as Mozart shows he did in the ensembles of -<i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i>—which testify to -the magnitude of his technic powers chiefly -by the fact that it is only the connoisseur that -notices these marvels—must really insist on -perfect art in this point, also. Mozart writes: -“Now, the people here think that because I -come from Vienna I know nothing whatever -of this kind of music or this manner of playing. -I, therefore, seated myself at the organ -and played. Prince Lichnowsky, who knew -Haessler well, persuaded him, after a great -deal of trouble, to play, too.” It then appeared -that Haessler had simply learned harmony -and some modulations by rote from old -Sebastian Bach, and was not able to execute a -harmony properly; that, as Mozart expresses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> -himself, he was, by no means, an Albrechtsberger—a -man well known as one of Beethoven’s -thorough-bass teachers. But, when -Haessler sat down at the piano, he fared worse -yet.</p> - -<p>Mozart now went to Leipzig, itself, and the -successor of the great Sebastian, the cantor -Doles, master of the choir in the church of -Saint Thomas, was very friendly to him. He -first displayed his powers at the organ here. -Says an eye-witness: “Doles was charmed -with the artist’s playing, and imagined Sebastian -Bach returned to life.” “With the greatest -facility,” Mozart had put all the arts of -harmony in operation, and improvised the -chorale, “Jesus my trust,” in a masterly manner. -This way of working up a chorale was -the peculiar art of the North German school -of artists. As a token of gratitude, Doles -caused Bach’s motetto for eight voices, <i>Singet -dem Herrn ein neues Lied</i>, to be sung for him. -Our artist was overjoyed, and exclaimed: “That -is something full of suggestion!” When Beethoven -heard this same motetto with all its elemental -power and magnitude, he exclaimed, -referring to its composer: “His name should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span> -not be Bach (<i>brook</i>), but Meer (<i>the sea</i>).” A -similar expression of opinion is ascribed to -Wagner, who performed the same motetto, in -1848, in Dresden.</p> - -<p>When Mozart heard that the church of -Saint Thomas had several other such motettoes, -he asked for them all, and laid the several -parts on his knees—there being no score—and -on the chairs about him, and gave his whole -soul to their study until he had thoroughly -mastered them. At his request Doles gave -him a copy of them.</p> - -<p>Can we imagine what now passed in Mozart’s -soul? The artist recognized the artist. Of -predecessors, with like creative powers, he -could have named only Palestrina. But what -moved him still more, and stirred him to the -very depths of his heart, was the sublimity of -the religious feeling which lives in this spirit, -and which laid hold of and lifted Mozart, the -Catholic, up all the more because Bach was a -Protestant. “Then he grew suddenly quiet, -turned bitter, drank a great deal of strong -wine, and spoke not another rational word,” -writes Rochlitz, who became acquainted with -him at this time, and who subsequently distinguished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> -himself as a writer on Mozart. The -opera here afforded him no opportunity to display -his power, and writing for his own church -had little attraction, since, through the reforms -of Joseph II., the expenses allowed for music, -even for a divine service, the very exigencies of -which had created the art, were curtailed to the -very utmost. But we shall soon see from his -own compositions that he was deeply affected -by the sublime peace of this great choir-master. -And here, in Leipzig, we notice that he -did not allow melancholy, at least externally, -to lord it over him. He dined the last -evening he spent there at Doles’ house. His -host and hostess were very sad, and begged for -a memento from his hand. He wrote, in at -the most from five to six minutes, on two small -leaves of paper, a canon or round for each, one -in long notes and very melancholy, the other -exceedingly droll. “When it was noticed,” -says Rochlitz, “that they could be sung together, -he wrote under the one: ‘Farewell, we -shall meet again,’ and under the other, ‘Wail -away like women old.’ It is impossible to describe -what a ridiculous and yet profound, not -to say angry and cutting effect this made upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span> -us all, and if I do not mistake, upon himself, -for, in a somewhat wild voice, he suddenly -exclaimed, ‘Good-bye, children,’ and vanished.”</p> - -<p>A closer acquaintance with “old Bach,” was -the only lasting gain of this long-extended -journey. Frederick William I. had, after the -frank opinion Mozart had given of his private -band, of which J. F. Reichardt was the leader, -tendered him that position, at a yearly salary -of three thousand thalers. But Mozart asked -himself: “Shall I forsake my emperor?” This -was the expression of the home-feeling he had -for Austria—a feeling the fruitful and fostering -soil of which would certainly have been -lost in the sands of a margrave. One hundred -Frederick sd’or, in a golden snuff-box, and a -commission for three quartets—the king, who -himself played the cello, was very fond of this -kind of music—were, however, a moderate -remuneration.</p> - -<p>His friends at home urged him at least to -lay the case before the emperor; for the king -of Prussia had left his offer open a whole year. -Mozart had an audience with his imperial -majesty. The emperor said: “How, do you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span> -want to leave me?” To which Mozart replied: -“I beg your majesty’s pardon; I shall remain.” -And this was the only result of the audience. -To a friend, who alluded to a possible increase -of salary, he gave the characteristic reply: -“Who on earth would think of that at such -a time?” Mozart was an Austrian and idealized -his emperor, especially at this time, when -Joseph’s best intentions were misunderstood in -his own country, and Turkey and Belgium -caused him equal anxiety. Was he, who now -felt himself forsaken by his own, to see himself -separated from one of the very best of his -subjects? That was more than Mozart’s feelings -could stand. However, the emperor now -ordered that <i>Figaro</i> should be put on the stage -again. Mozart had added to it the great aria -of the countess in F major, and the renewed -success of the work determined the emperor to -charge him with the writing of a new opera, the -words of which were suggested by the thoughtless -bet of two officers. It was the <i>Cosi fan -tutte</i> (So They All Do, or The Lover’s School.)</p> - -<p>Two officers and a bachelor make a wager as -to the fidelity of their intended wives, and actually -succeed, with the assistance of the waiting-maid,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span> -and by desperately intimidating them, in -rendering them faithless, each to the other, -whereupon they take refuge in the sorry consolation: -<i>Cosi fan tutte</i>—so they all do.</p> - -<p>It is hard to imagine a subject more frivolous. -But, leaving out of consideration the -tone of the time—a time when it was palpably -evident that the <i>deluge</i> was impending, and -when people thoughtlessly enjoyed all that was -to be enjoyed—Mozart did not treat it seriously. -He rather illustrated by it the masquerade -character of the <i>opera buffa</i>, made of -it a species of magic-lantern performance, the -excuse for, and the basis, so to speak, of his -dream-like music. And, indeed, that music is -wonderfully balmy, like a half-veiled sunny-cloudy -morning, on which every object is still -concealed, or only duskily seen shining through -the air—such music as only a Mozart could -write. But the words were so trifling and -frivolous that it was soon all over with this -opera, and all efforts to resuscitate it have -proved vain. It was not until life, which had -become a deceptive play to the profoundly -thoughtful mind of our artist, arose before him -like a picture of fairy-land, that he was able<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> -to infuse into that picture the full breath of -the higher truth, which is not to be found in -such a coarse, hollow-eyed and worm-eaten -reality as the wager of those two officers. This -brings us to the <i>Magic Flute</i>, and to the final -perfection and full concentration of Mozart’s -purposes and powers.</p> - -<p><i>Cosi fan tutte</i> was given on the 26th of -January, 1790, and was very successful. The -work was written entirely in the light style of -Italian music, so popular at the time. But -the man who had prompted it never saw it. -The emperor Joseph was sick at the time it -was given, and fell a victim to the grief and -worry of the last years of his reign, in February, -1790, without having done anything further -for Mozart. In no year of his life did -Mozart write fewer musical compositions. He -ascribes this fact himself to his extreme pecuniary -distress. To his shame, and still more -to ours, who have come after him, he was -obliged to write, just at this time, to his “dearest -friend,” Puchberg: “You are right in not -deigning to answer me. My importunity is -too great.... I can only beg you to consider -my circumstances in all their bearings, to pity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> -and forgive my warm friendship and my trust -in you.” Even his industry did not avail him. -His compositions found no purchasers. They -were above the comprehension of the people -of his time, and thus he was soon left entirely -without the means of support. The keeper of -a neighboring inn surprised him one morning -early, waltzing about his room with Constance. -They were without fuel, and took this strange -way of protecting themselves against the cold. -O the mortal pilgrimage of genius!</p> - -<p>A petition to the new emperor, Leopold I., -and a memorial to an archduke, were drawn up, -the draft of each of which is still extant. The -court had its own orchestra in the court chapel -of Saint Augustine; and, mindful of the -church of Saint Thomas, in Leipzig, Mozart -says, in his petition to the emperor: “A desire -for fame, love of action, and a conviction -of my abilities, embolden me to petition for a -second place as <i>Capellmeister</i>, especially, as the -very able <i>Capellmeister</i>, Salieri, never devoted -himself to the church style of music, while I -have made that style a favorite study from my -youth.” He also requested to be allowed to -instruct the royal family “because of the little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> -fame the world had accorded him for his skill -at the piano.” He had great hopes because -the emperor retained his petition. But Gluck’s -former patron was not friendly to Mozart, and, -besides, it was scarcely to be expected that any -one who had stood in close relations with Joseph -I. would find favor in his eyes.</p> - -<p>On the 17th of May, 1790, the composer -of <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i> was obliged to -write: “I have now two scholars. I would -like to bring the number up to eight. Try to -spread it abroad that I am giving lessons.” -In the meantime, he finished at least three -quartets for Frederick William I., and, -through Swieten, received Handel’s <i>Alexander’s -Feast</i>, and the <i>Ode for Saint Cecilia’s day</i>, -to re-arrange. When Mozart saw that, on the -occasion of the presence of the King of Naples, -in September, 1790, he was passed over entirely, -and that Salieri, as well as his pupil, Weigl, -were preferred to him, he became convinced -that he would have to seek his fortune in foreign -parts. The emperor was to be crowned -in Frankfurt, in October. Mozart decided on -going there. He took his eldest sister-in-law’s -husband, the violin player, Hofer, with him;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span> -for he had no doubt of his success on this occasion. -It was not vouchsafed to him, however, -to attach himself to the court as its composer -of chamber music, and his silver-ware -had to go to the pawn-shop, that he might -procure as much as a vehicle to travel in. -This journey for the purposes of his art—it -was destined to be his last—is described in -his letters to his “best and dearest wife of my -heart.” They breathe the deepest melancholy. -In reading them, we cannot fail to -see that the shadows of death were even now -playing about his head.</p> - -<p>As if he had not been the most industrious -of workers, he writes to his wife at this time: -“I am now firmly resolved to do my very best -here, and then I shall be heartily glad to be -with you again. What a glorious life we shall -live after this! I shall work—O how I shall -work! that I may never again get into such -a fatal state in consequence of unexpected contingencies.” -He was, indeed, literally “immersed” -in music. His application had so -distracted him, and his mind was so unhinged -in consequence, that he did not dare even to -cut his own meat in eating, lest he might injure<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> -himself. His strange contortions of -countenance and his strange gestures showed -that his thoughts were far from being in the -world about him. He had fallen into the -hands of usurers, and that “un-christian class -of people,” as he called them, succeeded in involving -him completely in their meshes.</p> - -<p>But, unfortunately, he was soon forced to -the conviction, that, even in Frankfort, there -was not much for him to do. In a letter of -the 30th of September, 1790, to his wife, he -says: “I am exceedingly glad to go back to -you again. If people could only look into -my heart I would be almost forced to blush. -I am so cold, so icy cold to everything. If -you were with me, perhaps I would find more -pleasure in the kind treatment I receive from -people; but, as it is, my heart is empty.” On -his journey home, he visited Mayence where -Tischbein, Goethe’s friend, painted his picture. -He was going to Mannheim. “O the golden -days of a heart’s first love!” What thoughts -must have possessed him at this time! For, -did not all Vienna know how happily he lived -with his Constance, while the unhappy relations -of Aloysia with her husband were matter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span> -of discussion in the public press? But why -was it that the man who, at that time, gave -promise of such a career of happiness, was -now obliged to travel about the world in search -of his daily bread? The thought of this filled -his soul with bitterness, at the very time that -he was invited to Munich, on account of the -King of Naples, to a concert at court. He -writes: “A pretty honor for the court of Vienna -that the King has to hear me in a strange country!” -And, indeed, the court’s neglect of him -was the chief cause of the sad plight he was in.</p> - -<p>His journey had cheered and strengthened -him, but it had not improved his -pecuniary condition. He could, in consequence, -redeem only a portion of the silver-ware -he had pledged, and the rest of it was -lost entirely through his too great confidence -in a Masonic friend. At this time, one of the -directors of a London concert company, J. -P. Salomon, had come to Vienna to take -Haydn—his old patron prince Esterhazy having -died—to London. Mozart was to follow -after. His parting with the “old papa” was -touching in the extreme. We saw above how -deep his feeling of affection was for Mozart.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span> -The latter, with tears in his eyes, and at a time -when he might well have thought rather of his -own death, said to Haydn who was so much -older: “This is probably our last good-bye, in -this life.” He divined only too well. Haydn -shed bitter tears of sorrow when he heard of -Mozart’s premature death a year later, in London. -He now wrote: “Posterity will have to -wait a hundred years for another like him;” -and again, many years afterwards: “Pardon -me, but I must always weep when I hear my -dear Mozart’s name.”</p> - -<p>Mozart’s soul was deeply affected. But his -mind soared into regions beyond this life, -where compensation for its inequalities would -be found. The debt that weighed upon him -now was light in comparison with the wealth -he had labored so industriously and devotedly -to give the world, and which he was still bestowing -on it. And hence it has genuine melancholy, -not pain nor plaintive sighs that -filled his soul. The golden light of consolation -tinged all his work. A friend had once -written in his album. “Love! love! love! is the -soul of genius.” He now interpreted these -words in the sense of eternal love and merciful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> -goodness. A spirit of wonderful sweetness -and reconciliation henceforth animates -all his music. We need only remind the -reader of the two “fantasias” for four hands in F -minor. They were written in the winter of -1790-91 “at the urgent solicitation of a friend, -a great lover of music,” for an orchestration, in -which one Count Dehm produced, for the benefit -of his countrymen, a number of distinguished -historical characters in wax; and which -was intended for the “mausoleum” of the celebrated -Field-marshal Laudon. In it we reach -the sunny heights of Mozart’s genius, and see -how he dived down into, and was absorbed by, -his own hard and chequered life, and how he -was again lifted up to that eternal spring from -which his own as well as Bach’s sublime -religious art proceeded; the union of -sanctified personal feeling to the sensible presentation -of the Eternal itself, to which the -human soul looks up in silent, earnest faith -and resignation. It was time that another -opportunity were offered to Mozart to give -complete expression to this final and highest -feeling of the human breast; and it was -afforded him. Mere accident led to what he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span> -aimed at. We are thus brought face to face -with his <i>Magic Flute</i> and <i>Requiem</i>; works -ushered in by those fantasias, like bright morning -stars, just as the quintet in G minor had -preceded his <i>Don Giovanni</i>.</p> - -<p>In order fully to appreciate the place these -two works fill in Mozart’s own life, we must -turn our gaze backwards, for a time.</p> - -<p>We know what Mozart’s heart-felt religious -feeling was. He disclosed it in the frankest -way whenever a proper occasion offered. He -was just as honestly attached to his Church. -When he was starting on his great Parisian -journey, in the interest of his art, his father -wrote him: “May the grace of God attend you -everywhere, may it never forsake you, and it -never will forsake you, if you are industrious -to fulfill the duties of a really good Catholic.” -But at this time, the necessity of examining -the great questions of life, death and immortality, -and of disclosing to each other, in earnest -conversation, the questions of the soul, was -very generally felt, by people even outside the -Church. And this all the more, because -neither the Protestant nor the Catholic service -seemed able to satisfy the spiritual cravings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span> -of the educated. The Protestant Church was -divided into the opposing parties of orthodoxy -and rationalism. The Catholic Church had -grown torpid, stereotyped in dogma, and its -worship had sunk almost to the level of mere -theatrical mummery. Oneness of spirit soon -led to leagues or unions and orders of which the -order of Free Masons attained the greatest importance. -Of the men who constantly bore in -mind the intellectual life and elevation of the -German people, Lessing, Wieland, Herder and -Goethe belonged to this order. And since it -was its aim to realize the highest virtues of -Christianity, the purification of the mind and -heart by the sacrifice of self, and the assistance -of all men, it was impossible that a man like -Mozart should not have felt drawn to it.</p> - -<p>He joined the order in Vienna, and so true -did the doctrine of the sanctifying nature of -death as the real “object and aim of life,” -and as the symbol of the self-sacrifice we should -be ever ready to make of ourselves, seem to him -that he did not rest until he had induced his -father to join it also. They, indeed, destroyed -the correspondence with one another, on this -subject. But the <i>Magic Flute</i> bears witness to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span> -the earnestness with which Mozart held to these -sublime truths of Christianity, even outside the -Church. Its history is as follows:</p> - -<p>Schikaneder who, as far back as 1780, had -known how to make use of young Mozart in -Salzburg, had been some years in Vienna, and -had a small wooden theatre in the Stahremberg -<i>Freihaus</i>.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> His inexhaustible good humor -made him very good company, and Mozart -had long enjoyed himself in the circle of his -theatrical friends. Schikaneder had frequently, -when acting as theatrical director, alternately -reveled in superfluity, and almost starved. -Now, in consequence of the competition of the -theatre in the Leopoldstadt, he was brought -to the very brink of ruin. This was in the -spring of 1791. He applied to Mozart for a -“piece that would attract.” He said that -he had a proper subject, a <i>Magic Opera</i>, and that -Mozart was the man to write the music for it. -It was an unparalleled piece of impudence, and -one which discloses Schikaneder’s whole character, -to ask the emperor’s composer, the author -of <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i> to write a <i>Magic</i> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span><i>Opera</i> for a board booth in the suburbs. But -Schikaneder knew the world and knew Mozart. -And then he was linked to him by the -ties of brotherhood in the order of Free Masons. -To that brotherhood, Mozart himself -owed the steady assistance he received -from Puchberg. And hence his objections -were soon overcome by the description the sly -director gave of his extreme poverty. “If we -are unfortunate in the matter, it will not be -my fault,” Mozart replied; “for I never yet -composed a ‘magic opera,’” and with these -words, he went immediately to work.</p> - -<p>To the clown, Schikaneder, the bird-catcher, -Papageno—who understood so well how to describe -the good natured, rather timid, fanciful, -easy-going nature of the average Viennese—was -of more consequence than the other -nobler characters of the opera. But to the -composer, the chosen play was a reflection of -life such as he had seen it in his own soul for -years, and above all, as it was in the heart of -the loving pair who, separated by adverse fate, -were destined to meet again in more intimate -union; and in the <i>Dies Bildniss ist bezaubernd -schoen</i>, we hear once more the first heart-felt love<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span> -notes of his youth, more beautiful and more -full of soul than ever. But we would call attention -also to the ideal charm and transformation -of all the other powers that appear in -this magic play. Mozart really felt the existence -of higher powers, and that they preside -over our lives. The rehearsals of the -first act began as early as July; for Schikaneder -had the tact to win Mozart over to himself completely. -He had even given up the summer -house in the garden to him, and endeavored -to provide him with the most cheerful society. -The accounts that have come down to us -representing Mozart as a frivolous pleasure-seeker -originated about this time. But we -need only read the letters which he wrote -during this same time to his wife, who was not -far away,—she was in Baden on account of -sickness,—to see that his soul was not in these -outer pleasures. Yet after all, what remained -to him whom the great world disdained but the -little world about him? He was now literally -at the bottom round of the ladder, socially. -The fact that he had, besides, to strain every -nerve to eke out a mere existence for his wife -and child, had an effect upon his entire system,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span> -which could be removed only by good-fellowship -and wine. The increased action -and concentration of all the powers of his mind -and body, naturally called for in artistic and -above all in musical invention, necessarily leads -to the craving for enhanced enjoyment, if only -for a few moments. And that Schikaneder -knew how to procure such moments of enjoyment -for Mozart, that he might own him entirely, -and make the composer serve his purposes, -we may infer from the story, that after -Mozart’s death, which followed so soon on this, -Schikaneder went about crying out: “His -ghost pursues me wherever I go. He is always -before my eyes!”</p> - -<p>But more important than the question, how -much of a pleasure-seeker Mozart was, is the -fact that his somewhat irregular mode of life, -at this time had a bad influence on him -mentally. Two causes cooperated to produce -this effect.</p> - -<p>In May, 1791, he had solicited the position -of assistant musician in the church of St. Stephen, -for the reason that “he could consider -himself more competent than others for the position, -because of his more thorough knowledge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> -of the church style of music.” He had long -wished to find something to do in this sphere -again, especially since the new emperor had -removed the narrow limits put to it by the emperor, -Joseph. Now he was asked to write a -requiem, the most solemn music in the worship -of his church; and the request came to -him under the strangest, nay under mysterious -circumstances. A long, lean man, dressed in -gray, with a very serious expression of countenance, -handed him the commission for the requiem -in a very flattering letter. Mozart communicated -the matter to his wife, saying, at the -same time, that he longed to write some music -of that kind once more, and to produce a work -which friends and foes alike might study after -his death. He took the commission and -asked, as the entire price of the work, fifty ducats, -without however, fixing the time when -the work should be delivered. The messenger -came once more, paid the money and promised -an additional sum, the composer to write -precisely as he felt, and only when he felt -like writing, but to make no effort to discover -the person who gave the commission, since any -effort of the kind would be in vain.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>We now know that it was one count Walsegg -who gave the commission for the work, -intending to have it performed as his own at -the death of his wife. But the mysteriousness -surrounding the commission took complete -hold of Mozart’s mind. He looked upon it as -a commandment from on high. His soul was -already filled with thoughts that lead beyond -the limits of this life. Added to this -was the other circumstance referred to above.</p> - -<p>The first act of the <i>Magic Flute</i> was finished -as far as the finale when Schikaneder was -informed, to his sorrow, that the same thing -was being played with the greatest success by -the competing theatre. But he did not despair; -it was resolved to change the point of the -play, to transform the wicked wizard who had -stolen the princess whom Tamino was to recover, -into the sage and philanthropist Sarastro, and, -instead of the disconsolate mother, to put the -evil-minded “queen of the night” with her -Moors and the three ladies in black. These -changes occasioned a noticeable disparity and -much that was contradictory in the opera as a -whole; but, on the other hand, Mozart could -now put his whole soul into it, and to this incident<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span> -we are indebted for the most earnest and -beautiful effusions of his mind and heart. -The whole work now centered about the idea -of free-masonry. By the earnest trial of their -moral power, mortals must win their higher -immortal portion, and with it their happiness. -The bonds that unite the two lovers are purified -and sanctified, transmuted into the more -powerful and lasting life-bonds of marriage, -which freed from all passion by the labors -of love and resignation, discloses the real object -and meaning of love. And, indeed, who -had ever more purely tasted the sweets of this -ever-virginal, marital love than Mozart, who -even now, so many years after he was married, -closed a letter to his wife with these words: -“Good-bye, my dear, my only one. Two thousand -nine hundred and ninety-nine and a half -kisses are flying from me through the air. -Put out your hands and catch them; they are -waiting for you. A thousand sweet kisses. -Thy Mozart forever.”</p> - -<p>And now as to the character of Sarastro. -Of all the human shapes that Mozart had met -in life, his father’s, after that of his beloved -Constance, had the firmest hold upon him, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span> -this spite of his misunderstandings of, and -even want of confidence in, his son, in his declining -years. And had not his personal experience -with men, next to his artistic experiences, -come to him, in real life and even in -public life, in the guise, so to speak, of the -rulers of his existence? Was not the emperor -Joseph and the order of Free Masons the highest -ideal of purely humanitarian aims that his -imagination could conceive? All this had -nothing whatever to do with his religious -feelings. His Church and his own personal -faith were things apart. He thought, indeed, -that their abuses, as for instance the immoderate -increase of the religious orders, might -be attacked, but that which constituted their -very core, and their truth, were sublimely -beyond the reach of doubt. But while these -last, in that which is imperishable in them, -now found their holiest expression in the -<i>Requiem</i>, it could not but be, that those parts -of the new opera descriptive of those higher -purely human aims, should participate in the -solemn sacred tones that poured from Mozart’s -soul. And hence we need not hesitate -to say that the <i>Requiem</i> and the <i>Magic Flute</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> -tell us all that Mozart’s heart knew and felt -of heaven and of earth, that it transfigured the -earthly in the light of heaven, and sought from -heaven to bring down peace to earth. We -know this both from the chorus: <i>O goldene -Ruh’ steig hernieder, Kehr in den Menschen -Herzen wieder</i>, as well as from Tamino’s -painful, longing exclamation: <i>O ew’ge Nacht, -wann wirst du schwinden? Wann wird das -Licht mein Auge finden?</i> It is the expression -of a homesickness divine, a craving for -God, the highest good for the human soul.</p> - -<p>Obstacle after obstacle was placed in the -way of the completion of both works. The -Bohemians had ordered a great opera, <i>Titus -the Mild</i>, for Leopold’s coronation. There -were only a few weeks remaining during which -it could be written. Mozart started immediately -on his journey. It was the middle of -August. Constance again accompanied him. -As they were entering the carriage, the mysterious -messenger in gray stood before them. -Mozart quieted him with the assurance that the -<i>Requiem</i> was the first task that would engage -him after his return. Yet this seemed to him -a new warning not to postpone the last work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span> -of his life; for such he considered the <i>Requiem</i> -to be. He felt unwell even now. He overworked -himself in Prague—<i>Titus</i> was written -and put in rehearsal within a fortnight—and -thus accelerated the breaking down of his -already over-taxed, vital energies. Added to -this was the want of success of the opera. -He had this time forgotten the rule “hasten -slowly,” and the quintet in great dramatic -style in the first finale, could not conceal from -his Prague audience, who were certainly indulgent, -the absence of the artist’s peculiar skill. -Titus remained an <i>opera seria</i>, a bundle of -arias, and the applause Mozart was wont to -meet with, failed him, even in Prague. He -was very much depressed in consequence. -He again, indeed, recovered his native cheerfulness, -but in leaving Prague the tears flowed -abundantly. He had a presentiment that -he would never see those friends again.</p> - -<p>In the middle of September, he was in Vienna -once more. The <i>Magic Flute</i> was to be -put on the stage, and might serve to make up -what he had lost of reputation in Prague. -Besides, it was part of his great life task. -King Leopold had abolished the order of Free<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> -Masons, and it, therefore, now seemed to Mozart, -simply a duty he owed to his order to -put its humane aims in their true light, -by every means in his power. And what a -refulgence streams from the choruses of the -second act, from the overture which, as well as -the introductory march of the same act, so suggestive -of <i>Idomeneo</i>, was only just written! -“Through night to light!”—such is the sense -in which Mozart wrote and understood the entire -work, the accidental garb of which did -not mislead him in the least. Into one of the -pieces descriptive of this earnestness of moral -trial of the heart, Mozart went as far as to -weave a Protestant chorale. It is the song of -the <i>Geharnischten Maenner</i>—the “men in -mail;” and its “figuration” shows that Mozart -had added Bach’s artistic characteristics -to his own. But he had also appropriated his -spirit of deep piety and genuine virtue! -Nothing exhibits more clearly how solemn -and high his vocation as an artist was to him, -nor proves more forcibly that, for him, there -was no secluded spot where alone the ideal and -the divine were to be taught. The ideal and -the divine should, like the sun, shed their rays<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> -everywhere, and the stage was the place where -our artist felt that he could address, from -his inmost heart, his nation and his contemporaries.</p> - -<p>And what a work we have before us here! -There never was a greater contrast between -an ideal work of art and the place and occasion -to which it owed its origin, than between the -<i>Magic Flute</i>, one of the starting-points of the -most ideal efforts of the German nation, and -the audiences of a board booth in a suburb -of Vienna!</p> - -<p>We must, indeed, leave the trivialities and -absurdities of the libretto out of consideration. -And even here, Mozart’s music succeeded in -turning deformity into ideal beauty; and this -spite of the fact that the “bird-catcher,” Schikaneder, -is said to have suggested many of the -melodies to him which have since come into -such universal favor. There is still a note of -his extant in which we read: “Dear Wolfgang! -In the meantime, I return your pa-pa-pa to -you. I find it about right. It will do. We -shall meet this evening. Yours—Schikaneder.” -A church hymn was afterwards put to -the air: <i>Bei Maennern welche Liebe fuehlen</i>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span> -How ideal must not those lines have been -when the higher moral sentiments could be -awakened by so simple an air!</p> - -<p>That best known of all solemn songs: <i>In -diesen heil’gen Hallen</i>, has this very tone of -the dignity of a heart that has mastered itself, -and wisely and lovingly thinks only of humanity. -Only the fact that it is as well -known and as familiar to us as light and air, -allows us to forget that it is as lustrous as the -one and as ethereal as the other. The -character of Sarastro personifies what Mozart -conceived to be the deeper meaning of life. -Pamina is the most beautiful expression of -pure love and tenderness. Tamino is the -ideal character of a youth who restrains his -own feelings under life’s stern rule—and thus -insures for himself and those confided to him -by fate, the happiness of life. We need only -ask the attention of the reader to the exclamation -in the conversation with the priest, <i>der -Lieb und Tugend Eigenthum!</i>—“love’s and -virtue’s prize!” With the fullest expression -of heart-felt conviction, these few tones describe -the whole moral stability of Mozart’s -nature.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>It is not hard to see in what relation these -characters stand to the heroes and female -characters of Richard Wagner, and it is not -without reason that Francz List has called -the <i>Ring of the Niebelungen</i> the <i>Magic -Flute</i> of our day. Wagner here filled out -the clear outline of the human ideals which -Mozart drew in the <i>Magic Flute</i> from his -knowledge of the German nature. All the -sublime ideal powers which move and lead us, -from the conscious emotions of our own hearts -to the elemental, primeval forces which determine -our will are here found, in the faintest -outlines, it is true, but still as the first -features of the surest characterization; and as -Osmin points to Fafner, the “three boys” who -lead Tamino point to the three daughters of -the Rhine who warn Siegfried of his death. -It was the first time that that which lives in -every human breast as the consciousness of the -most intimate knowledge of the real constitution -of the world, and fills us with the feeling -of the eternal, was portrayed with such Rafaelite, -ideal art in opera. This it is that gives -to the whole work its peculiar tone. Like -the golden light of creation’s first morning, it -plays about the opera of the <i>Magic Flute</i>.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>The reception accorded to the work, the -popularity of which is unequalled in any -nation, was in keeping with its merits. The -first representation of it took place on the 30th -of September, under Mozart’s own direction. -After the overture, the audience was perfectly -motionless: for who could have expected -such solemn, thrilling notes in a <i>Magic -opera</i>? Schenk, who afterwards composed -the <i>Dorfbarbier</i>, the teacher of Beethoven, -who still occupied a place in the orchestra, -crept up to the director’s chair, and kissed Mozart’s -hand, who, continuing to beat time with -the other, gave him a friendly look of recognition -and gently stroked his cheek. Our artist -felt that, even here, in this board booth, he -was in his own dear Vienna, in his own beloved -Austria. But, even after the close of -the first act, the applause was not great, and it -is said that Mozart went pale and perplexed -to Schikaneder, who quieted and consoled him. -During the second act, however, this motley -multitude discovered the message that this -music conveyed to the soul. It was, indeed, -with difficulty that Mozart could now be -moved to appear on the stage. It wounded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span> -him to the quick to think that the best he -could do was so little appreciated. But he -was soon able to write to his “best and dearest -wife” at Baden, that, spite of the fact that -it was mail day, the “opera was played before -a very full house and met with the usual applause.” -His feeling for the work is expressed -at the close of the letter, in the words -of the incomparable terzetto, when Sarastro -dismisses the two lovers to make proof of -their love: “The hour is striking farewell! we -shall meet again.” With the unconcern of -his own magnanimity he himself ushered in -his mortal enemy, Salieri, and the latter found -the work “worthy of being produced before -the greatest monarch at the greatest festivities.” -And how frequently this very thing has happened -since! But the people continue Mozart’s -real sovereign, the people in the most -ingenuous innocence of their every impulse and -emotion and of the most ideal view of life’s -ultimate nature. And Mozart belongs to the -people. To them, he is not dead.</p> - -<p>But the hour of our parting ourselves with -this phenomenal artist and phenomenal man -will soon strike.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>He now worked uninterruptedly on his <i>Requiem</i>, -and the theatre was left to a younger -<i>Capellmeister</i>. He frequently wrote until -two o’clock in the morning. He even refused -to give lessons in music to a lady for a very -dear Vienna friend. He had, he said, a piece -of work in hand which was very urgent and -which he had very much at heart; and, until -it was finished, he could do nothing else. -Even while engaged on the last pieces of the -<i>Magic Flute</i>, such as the march and the -chorus, “O Isis and Osiris,” he sometimes -sank exhausted in his chair, and had short -fits of fainting; for his whole heart and soul -were wrapped up in his work. But he cared -less than ever now about physical exhaustion, -since he was directly concerned with the erection -of a worthy monument to his sentiment -and feeling of the Eternal in the holy sanctuary -itself. He had an earnest feeling of the -terror of guilt, even if the feeling seemed to -him no more than a weakness. But he felt -also, and infinitely more deeply, the power of -forgiving love which was the life of his own -soul. That mighty mediæval, Christian poem, -the <i>Dies irae</i>, inspired and stimulated his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span> -fancy. He wished to show the world its own -painfully tragic meaning and its blessed reconciliation. -Certain it is that no composer ever -went to work with a more honest intention to -give a true artistic form to religious expression -in the mass for the dead. True, it is only -certain parts that are in complete keeping -with this deep, religious feeling; while his secular -compositions are throughout appropriate -to the subject treated. The explanation of -this difference is the fact, that Mozart was too -long and too exclusively engaged in writing -operatic music, and that the operatic character -had, as we have already seen, crept into the -music which was now in favor in the service -of the Catholic Church. But these parts, especially -the thrilling accords descriptive of -man’s consciousness of guilt, the <i>Gedenke -gnaedig meines Endes</i>, and the close of the -<i>Confutatis</i>, the touching prayer for loving -mercy in the <i>Lacrimosa</i>—these parts were in -entire harmony with the religious feeling of -their author and with his unsurpassed artistic -power. And this it was that made the work -so very dear to himself. It was his favorite, -his dying song. Art had subsequently to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> -take another and very different direction in -this department of music, but the language of -the heart overflowing with the feelings of its -God and of the purest confidence in his undying -love, will always be heard in this <i>Requiem</i>. -That language is its very soul.</p> - -<p>We are rapidly approaching the end. The -funeral bell is already tolling. Melancholy is -the last picture in the life of an artist who -never had an equal.</p> - -<p>Constance observed the growing infirmity -and melancholy of her beloved husband with -increasing alarm. She did all in her power to -take him away from his work and to brighten -him up by cheerful society. But Mozart, who -was wont to be so social, was turned in upon -himself, depressed, and could give only wandering -answers to the questions put to him. -She rode out into the open air with him. -Nature had always had the effect of relieving -and cheering him, so that he worked best -traveling, when he insisted on having his -“portefeuille,” as he called his leather case -filled with music paper, in the side-fob of the -carriage, at hand. They rode out in this -manner, one beautiful November day, into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span> -the <i>Prater</i>. The aspect of dying nature and -the falling of the leaves suggested to him -thoughts of the end of all things. He now -began to speak of death, and said, with tears -in his eyes: “I know very well I am writing -the <i>Requiem</i> for myself. I am too conscious -of myself. Some one must have poisoned me; -I cannot rid myself of that thought.” His -utter debility without any noticeable external -cause readily suggested that suspicion. He -could not imagine that his strength had been -exhausted by sheer intellectual labor. And -then, had not care and sorrow gnawed at his -vitals for years?</p> - -<p>Constance was exceedingly alarmed, and -succeeded in getting the score of the <i>Requiem</i> -from him. She consulted a physician, who -recommended complete rest. This had so -favorable an effect, in a short time, that Mozart -was able to write the cantate <i>Das Lob der -Freundschaft</i>—“the praise of friendship”—for -a newly established lodge, and, shortly afterwards, -to direct its production himself. The -success of the work,—which itself bears internal -evidence to a feeling of greater calmness -and cheerfulness in its author—had a refreshing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -and comforting effect upon him. He -now declared his suspicions that he had been -poisoned, the effect of his ill-health, and demanded -the <i>Requiem</i> back. But a few days -later, he again fell a victim to his melancholy -feelings, and his strength left him. “I feel -that I shall soon have done with music,” he said -one morning to the faithful person who had -once surprised him waltzing about his room -with Constance, gave him back his wine and -made an appointment to meet him next morning -on some matters of business. When the -latter reached the threshold of Mozart’s house, -on the following day, he was met by the servant -maid with the news that her master had -been taken seriously sick during the night. -Mozart himself looked at him fixedly from his -bed, and said: “Nothing to-day, Joseph. To-day -we have to do with doctors and apothecaries.”</p> - -<p>He did not leave his bed any more after -this. It was not long before worse symptoms -appeared. His consciousness did not leave him -for a moment. Neither did his loving sweetness -and kindness. But the thought of his -wife and children filled his heart with melancholy.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span> -New and better prospects were now -before him. The Hungarian nobility and -some rich Amsterdam gentlemen, lovers of -music, asked him to write compositions for -them, in consideration of a large annual honorarium. -And then there was the success of the -<i>Magic Flute</i>, in which he was deeply interested. -“Now the first act is over! Now they -have come to the place <i>Dir, grosse Koenigin -der Nacht</i>”—he was wont to say in the evening -with the watch at hand. The day before his -death, he exclaimed: “Constance, if I could -only hear my dear <i>Magic Flute</i> once more!” -And he hummed away the air of the “bird-catcher,” -in a voice that was scarcely audible.</p> - -<p>But he had the <i>Requiem</i> still more at heart, -and he had so far sketched its principal features, -that his pupil, Suessmayer who had -also written the recitative for Titus was subsequently -able to complete it. During the -afternoon that preceded the last night of his -life, he had the score of the <i>Requiem</i> brought -to him in bed. The Tamino of Schikaneder’s -troop took the soprano, Sarastro the bass, -his brother-in-law, Hofer the tenor, and Mozart, -as usual, the alto. They sang until they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> -reached the <i>Lacrimosa</i> when Mozart burst -into tears and put the score aside. The -thought of his approaching end and of God’s -all-merciful, eternal love, filled his heart with -an unspeakable feeling which made it overflow -with a melancholy joy. This is plainly -evident from the infinitely mild, conciliating -tones in which Mozart has described that day -of tears on which eternal grace and goodness -are to make compensation for the eternal guilt -of men.</p> - -<p>His sister-in-law, Sophie, came in the evening. -He said to her: “Ah, my dear, good Sophie, -how glad I am you are here! You -must stay to-night, and see me die. I have -the death-taste on my tongue. I have the -odor of death in my nostrils. And who -will then help my dear Constance?” Constance -hereupon asked her sister to go for a clergyman, -but it was no easy matter to induce one -to come. The patient was a Free Mason, and -the order of Free Masons was opposed to many -of the institutions of the Church.</p> - -<p>When she returned she found Suessmayer -at his bedside. Mozart was explaining to him -how to finish the <i>Requiem</i>, remarking as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -did so: “Did I not say that I was writing it -for myself?” In the evening, the crisis came. -Cold applications to his burning head so shattered -him that he did not regain consciousness -any more. Thirty-five years after his death, -his sister-in-law Sophie wrote: “The last thing -he did was to endeavor to imitate the -kettle-drums in the <i>Requiem</i>. I can hear him -still.” About midnight he raised himself up. -His eyes had a fixed gaze. He then turned -his head towards the wall and seemed to drop -asleep. He died at one o’clock in the morning, -on the 5th day of December, 1791.</p> - -<p>The last account we have of him says: “It -is impossible for me to describe with what an -expression of infinite wretchedness his devoted -wife cast herself on her knees and called on -the Almighty for aid.” She threw herself on -his bed, that she might die of the same sickness, -as if the cause of his death was some accidental -disease. The three medical opinions -assigned each a different cause for Mozart’s -premature death—inflammation of the brain, -purple fever and dropsy!</p> - -<p>The people walked about his house in the -<i>Rauhenstein’gasse</i> in crowds and wept. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span> -poem of the order of Free Masons on the occasion -refers, in touching terms, to the way in -which he carried assistance to many a poor -widow’s hut. The owner of the art-cabinet -for whom the two fantasias in F minor were -written, came and took an impression of his -“pale, dead face” in plaster of Paris. The -two sublime funeral odes were now made to -serve as his own mausoleum.</p> - -<p>Van Swieten took charge of his burial. -But as he left only sixty guldens, a common -grave had to be selected for his body; and -thus it happens that we do not know to-day -where Mozart’s last resting place is. When -Constance, sick and sorrowful, went to the -churchyard, some time after the grave-digger -had been replaced by another, who could -not point out where all that was mortal of our -artist lay. Not a friend followed his bier to -the cemetery. All turned back at the gate, on -account of the bad weather. Mozart’s skull, -however, was saved, and is preserved in Vienna. -The churchyard keeper’s son secretly abstracted -it from the grave.</p> - -<p>As the parting words of our great artist, who, -spite of all the sorrows he had to bear, preserved,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> -throughout a cheerful, joyous nature, -we may cite the following lines from a note of -his, written near the close of his life—lines eloquently -indicative of his sweet composure during -his last days. They run thus: “Dear sir,” -he replies to the admonitions of a friend—the -original autograph, in Italian, is preserved in -London—“willingly would I follow your advice, -but how can I do it? My brain is distracted. -It is with difficulty that I can collect -my thoughts, and I cannot dismiss the picture -of that unknown man from my mind. He is -ever before me, praying for, urging me for, -demanding that <i>Requiem</i>. I continue working -because work does not exhaust me as much -as the absence of employment. I know by my -feelings that my hour has come. It is striking -even now. I am in the region of death. I -have reached my end, without having reaped -the pleasure my talent should have brought -me. And yet life was so beautiful! My -career opened under such happy auspices; but -one cannot change his destiny. No one can -fix the number of his days. We must be resigned -and do what Providence decrees.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Wir wandeln durch des Tones Macht</div> -<div class="verse">Froh durch des Todes duestre Nacht.”</div> -</div></div> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>Thus gravely and solemnly sing the soulfull -and ideally transfigured lovers in the <i>Magic -Flute</i>—Mozart’s own confession. It is the -expression of the new and deep spring of life -given to humanity in his music; and Mozart -remained to his latest breath a consecrated -priest of the purifying and sanctifying influence -of his own melodies. His creations -will live as long as humanity clings to the life -of its own soul, and seeks higher nutriment for -that life.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p class="ph2">TALES FROM FOREIGN TONGUES,</p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">COMPRISING</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><b>MEMORIES; A STORY OF GERMAN LOVE.</b></div> -<div class="indent"><span class="smcap">By</span> MAX MÜLLER.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><b>GRAZIELLA; A STORY OF ITALIAN LOVE.</b></div> -<div class="indent"><span class="smcap">By</span> A. DE LAMARTINE.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><b>MARIE; A STORY OF RUSSIAN LOVE.</b></div> -<div class="indent"><span class="smcap">By</span> ALEX. PUSHKIN.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><b>MADELEINE; A STORY OF FRENCH LOVE.</b></div> -<div class="indent"><span class="smcap">By</span> JULES SANDEAU.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><i>In neat box, per set</i>,</td><td class="tde"> <i>Price, $6.00.</i></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><i>Sold separately, per volume</i>, </td><td class="tde"> <i>Price, $1.50.</i></td></tr> -</table> - -<p>Of “Memories” the London <i>Academy</i> says: “It is a prose poem. -* * * It is seldom that a powerful intellect produces any -work, however small, that does not bear some marks of its special bent, -and the traces of research and philosophy in this little story are apparent, -while its beauty and pathos show us a fresh phase of a many-sided -mind, to which we already owe large debts of gratitude.”</p> - -<p>Of “Graziella” the Chicago <i>Tribune</i> says: “It glows with love of the -beautiful in all nature. * * * It is pure literature, a -perfect story, couched in perfect words. The sentences have the rhythm -and flow, the sweetness and tender fancy of the original. It is uniform -with ‘Memories,’ and it should stand side by side with that on the -shelves of every lover of pure, strong thoughts, put in pure, strong -words. ‘Graziella’ is a book to be loved.”</p> - -<p>Of “Marie” the Cincinnati <i>Gazette</i> says: “This is a Russian love tale, -written by a Russian poet. It is one of the purest, sweetest little narratives -that we have read for a long time. It is a little classic, and a Russian -classic, too. That is one of its charms, that it is so distinctively Russian. -We catch the very breezes of the Steppes, and meet, face to face, the high-souled, -simple minded Russian.”</p> - -<p>Of “Madeleine” the New York <i>Evening Telegram</i> says: “More than -thirty years ago it received the honor of a prize from the French -Academy and has since almost become a French classic. It abounds -both in pathos and wit. Above all, it is a pure story, dealing with love -of the most exalted kind. It is, indeed, a wonder that a tale so fresh, so -sweet, so pure as this has not sooner been introduced to the English-speaking -public.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p class="center">“<i>It ought to be in the hands of every scholar and of every schoolboy.</i>”—<i>Saturday -Review, London.</i></p> -</div> - - -<p class="ph2">Tales of Ancient Greece.</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the REV. SIR G. W. COX, Bart., M.A.</span>,</p> - -<p class="center">Trinity College, Oxford.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>12mo., extra cloth, black and gilt</i>, <span class="gap"> <i>Price, $1.60.</i></span></p> - -<p>“Written apparently for young readers, it yet possesses a charm of -manner which will recommend it to all.”—<i>The Examiner, London.</i></p> - -<p>“It is only when we take up such a book as this, that we realize how -rich in interest is the mythology of Greece.”—<i>Inquirer, Philadelphia.</i></p> - -<p>“Admirable in style, and level with a child’s comprehension. These -versions might well find a place in every family.”—<i>The Nation, New York.</i></p> - -<p>“The author invests these stories with a charm of narrative entirely -peculiar. The book is a rich one in every way.”—<i>Standard, Chicago.</i></p> - -<p>“In Mr. Cox will be found yet another name to be enrolled among -those English writers who have vindicated for this country an honorable -rank in the investigation of Greek history.”—<i>Edinburgh Review.</i></p> - -<p>“It is doubtful if these tales, antedating history in their origin, and yet -fresh with all the charms of youth to all who read them for the first time, -were ever before presented in so chaste and popular form.”—<i>Golden Rule, -Boston.</i></p> - -<p>“The grace with which these old tales of the mythology are re-told -makes them as enchanting to the young as familiar fairy tales, or the -‘Arabian Nights.’ * * * We do not know of a Christmas book which -promises more lasting pleasures.”—<i>Publishers’ Weekly.</i></p> - -<p>“Its exterior fits it to adorn the drawing-room table, while its contents -are adapted to the entertainment of the most cultivated intelligence. * -* * The book is a scholarly production, and a welcome addition to a -department of literature that is thus far quite too scantily furnished.”—<i>Tribune, -Chicago.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">SHORT HISTORY OF FRANCE,</p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="xlarge">FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.</span></p> -</div> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> MISS E. S. KIRKLAND.</p> - -<p class="center">AUTHOR OF “SIX LITTLE COOKS,” “DORA’S HOUSEKEEPING,” ETC.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>12mo., extra cloth, black and gilt</i>, <span class="gap"> <i>Price, $1.50.</i></span></p> - - -<p>“A very ably written sketch of French history, from the earliest times -to the foundation of the existing Republic.”—<i>Cincinnati Gazette.</i></p> - -<p>“The narrative is not dry on a single page, and the little history may -be commended as the best of its kind that has yet appeared.”—<i>Bulletin, -Philadelphia.</i></p> - -<p>“A book both instructive and entertaining. It is not a dry compendium -of dates and facts, but a charmingly written history.”—<i>Christian -Union, New York.</i></p> - -<p>“After a careful examination of its contents, we are able to conscientiously -give it our heartiest commendation. We know no elementary -history of France that can at all be compared with it.”—<i>Living Church.</i></p> - -<p>“A spirited and entertaining sketch of the French people and nation—one -that will seize and hold the attention of all bright boys and girls -who have a chance to read it.”—<i>Sunday Afternoon, Springfield</i>, (<i>Mass.</i>)</p> - -<p>“We find its descriptions universally good, that it is admirably simple -and direct in style, without waste of words or timidity of opinion. The -book represents a great deal of patient labor and conscientious study.”—<i>Courant, -Hartford, Ct.</i></p> - -<p>“Miss Kirkland has composed her ‘Short History of France’ in the -way in which a history for young people ought to be written; that is, she -has aimed to present a consecutive and agreeable story, from which the -reader can not only learn the names of kings and the succession of -events, but can also receive a vivid and permanent impression as to the -characters, modes of life, and the spirit of different periods.”—<i>The -Nation, N. Y.</i></p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="center">“<i>An exceedingly interesting narrative of an extraordinary life.</i>”—The -Standard.</p> -</div> - - -<p class="ph2">LIFE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD:</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="xlarge"><span class="smcap">His Patriotism and his Treason</span>.</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Hon. I. N. ARNOLD</span>,</p> - -<p class="center">AUTHOR OF “LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Crown, 8vo., with Portrait</i>, <span class="gap"> <i>Price, $2.50.</i></span></p> - - -<p>This Life of Arnold is full of new facts, now first given to the public. -Manuscripts from the family of Arnold, in England and in Canada, and -the Shippen manuscripts, have enabled the author to make new contributions -to Revolutionary history of great interest. The unpublished -manuscripts of General Schuyler, to which the author has had access, -has thrown new light upon the expedition to Canada and the campaign -against Burgoyne. The author does not, to any extent, excuse Arnold’s -treason, but aims to do full justice to him as a soldier and patriot. For -Arnold, the traitor, he has no plea but “guilty;” for Arnold, the soldier -and patriot, he asks a hearing and justice.</p> - -<p>“The biographer discriminates fairly between Arnold’s patriotism and -baseness; and while exhibiting the former and the splendid services by -which it was illustrated, with generous earnestness, does not in any degree -extenuate the turpitude of the other.”—<i>Harper’s Monthly.</i></p> - -<p>“The public is the gainer (by this book), as additional light is thrown -on the prominent actors and events of history. * * * Bancroft erroneously -asserts that Arnold was not present at the first battle of Saratoga. -Upon this point the author has justice and right on his side, and to -Arnold, rather than to Gates, the success of this decisive campaign seems -greatly attributable.”—<i>New England Historical and Genealogical Register.</i></p> - -<p>“After a careful perusal of the work, it seems to us that Mr. Arnold has -accomplished his task wonderfully well. * * * It is rarely that one -meets in the pages of biographical literature a nobler woman than was -the devoted wife of Benedict Arnold; she mourned his fallen greatness, -but even in his ignominity was faithful to the vows by which she had -sworn to love and care for him until death.”—<i>Traveller, Boston.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="center"><i>Sold by booksellers, or mailed, postpaid, on receipt of price, by</i></p> - -<p class="center">JANSEN, McCLURG & CO., Publishers, Chicago, Ill.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES:</h2> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> A <i>capellmeister</i> is the director of a choir or band.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Mozart Museum.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a></p> - -<p> -My heart and thy sweet voice, dear,<br /> -Understand each other too well—too well.<br /> -</p> - - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> “I gladly leave the maiden who doesn’t care for me.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> “This picture is charmingly beautiful.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> “O how anxiously, O how fiery!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Ah, I loved and was so happy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> When the tears of joy are flowing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> A <i>Freihaus</i> is a house subject to a jurisdiction other than -that in which it is situated.</p> - -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - - - - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.</p> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF MOZART ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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