MOZART'S unsatisfactory position in Vienna, both from a pecuniary and a
professional point of view,[1] doubtless inclined him for a professional
tour, to which the immediate inducement was an invitation from Prince
Karl Lichnowsky, husband of the Countess Thun, a zealous musical
connoisseur and a pupil and ardent admirer of Mozart. His estates
in Schleswig and his position in the Prussian army necessitated his
residence from time to time in Berlin; and, being on the point of
repairing thither in the spring of 1789, he invited Mozart to accompany
him. The musical taste and liberality of Frederick William II. augured
well for the expedition, and Lichnowsky's support was likely to prove a
valuable aid. Accordingly on April 8, 1789, they set out.[2] At Prague,
where they remained only one day, a contract with Guardasoni for an
opera to be written in the autumn was "almost settled"; unfortunately
only _almost_, for it does not appear to have gone further. Mozart was
especially delighted with the news brought to him from Berlin by his old
friend Ramm, that the King, having been informed of his intended visit,
had asked repeatedly if the plan was likely to be carried out.
At Dresden, where they arrived on April 12, Mozart's first care was to
seek out his friend Madame Duschek, who was visiting the Neumann family;
he was soon quite at home with these "charming people." Joh. Leop.
Neumann, Secretary to the Military Council, was highly esteemed for his
literary and musical activity. He translated for his intimate friend
Naumann the operas "Cora" and
{DRESDEN, 1789.}
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"Amphion," and in 1777 he founded a musical academy;[3] his wife was
considered a first-rate pianoforte-player.[4] Through them Mozart was
introduced to the musical world of Dresden--among others to Körner,
an interesting proof of whose friendship remains in a crayon sketch
of Mozart drawn by Komer's sister-in-law, Dora Stock, in 1789.
Kapellmeister Naumann--a Mass composed by whom he heard and thought very
"mediocre"--inspired him with instantaneous dislike; and the feeling
appears to have been mutual, if, as tradition reports, Naumann used to
call Mozart a musical _sans culotte_.[5]
A summons to play before the court on April 14 was regarded as an
unusual honour, and was followed by a present of 100 ducats.[6]
Elsewhere he played with his usual readiness and good nature; and the
interest which was felt in him was increased by a competition in which
he came off with flying colours. His rival was Hàssler of Erfurt,[7] who
happened to be in Dresden at the time, and was considered a pianoforte
and organ-player of the first rank. Much was said in praise of his
astonishing executive powers, of his brilliant and fiery delivery,[8]
of his singular gift "of putting expression into the most rapid
prestissimo--so that in softness and pathos it was equal to an
adagio"[9]--and of his wonderful memory, enabling him to play the
most difficult compositions without the notes. As an organ-player his
dexterity with the pedal was specially admired.[10] He had an
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excellent opinion of himself; and when in the summer of 1788 he was in
Dresden, "exciting the liveliest astonishment in all who heard him
by his inexpressibly affecting playing," he let it be known that he
intended to proceed to Vienna, "in order to prove to the Vienna public
in competition with the great Mozart, that strong as the latter may be
upon the pianoforte, he cannot play the clavichord."[11] To Mozart he
appeared no formidable antagonist; he gave him credit for his dexterity
in the use of the pedal, but placed him below Albrechtsberger as an
organ-player, and compared him to Aurnhammer as a pianist.
Mozart's visit to Leipzig left behind a strong and pleasant impression.
Fr. Rochlitz, then a young man, became intimate with him at the house
of their common friend Doles,[12] and preserved a number of interesting
traits, characteristic both of the man and the artist. He was cheerful
and amiable in society, outspoken in his judgments of art and artists,
and responsive to any display of interest in music; "not niggardly of
his art, as so many musicians are." Almost every evening during his stay
in Leipzig he took part in musical entertainments at different houses,
and when quartets were played he took the piano or tenor part. The
violinist Berger, who was generally of the party, used, as an old man,
when any of these pieces were brought forward, to whisper to a friend
with tender emotion, "Ah, I had once the honour of accompanying the
great Mozart himself in that piece."[13] An ear-witness gave the
following account:--
On April 22 he played the organ of the Thomaskirche, without previous
notice, and gratuitously. He played very finely for an hour to a large
audience. The then organist, Gorner, and the cantor, Doles, sat near
him and pulled the stops. I saw him well; a young, well-dressed man
of middle height. Doles was quite delighted with the performance, and
declared that his old master, Sebastian Bach, had
{LEIPZIG--POTSDAM, 1789.}
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risen again. Mozart brought to bear all the arts of harmony with the
greatest ease and discrimination, and improvised magnificently on every
theme given--among others on the chorale, "Jesu meine Zuversicht."[14]
Doles in return made his Thomaner scholars sing for Mozart Bach's
motett, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied," and we have already seen
how intensely delighted he was, and how eagerly he at once set about
studying Bach's other motetts (Vol. II., p. 416). Shortly after this,
and apparently without having given a concert, Mozart continued his
journey to Berlin, and thence immediately proceeded to Potsdam, where
Lichnowsky presented him to the King. Frederick William II. possessed
remarkable talent and love for music. He played the violoncello
well, not only as a soloist, but frequently also in the orchestra
at rehearsals.[15] Even before his accession to the throne he had
maintained a well-appointed and excellent Kapelle under the leadership
of the violoncellist Duport senior (1741-1818); concerts were regularly
performed before him, and he was fond of hearing foreign virtuosi.[16]
Reichardt credits him with great universality of taste,[17] which was
of special advantage to music after Frederick the Great's bigoted
prejudice. It was at the King's instigation that Reichardt organised his
Concerts Spirituels, at which the older Italian music was principally
performed; he esteemed highly both Handel and Gluck, and both at his
concerts and on the stage showed equal favour to Italian, French, and
German music; the improved instrumental music called into being by Haydn
found a sympathetic patron in him. After his accession, in 1786, musical
enterprise had still more cause to rejoice in the royal favour.
He united his own with the royal Kapelle and placed Reichardt as
Kapellmeister at their head. The grand Italian opera given at the
Carnival was brilliantly appointed, and Naumann's services as a composer
were retained, together with those of Alessandri
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and Reichardt. The hitherto little-esteemed German drama was elevated to
the rank of a national theatre, and a regular support was secured to it,
which had great weight in the elevation of German opera. Nor were opera
buffa or the French opera neglected; on one evening, during a court
festival, in the summer of 1789, Cimarosa's "Falegname," Dalayrac's
"Nina," and Reichardt's "Claudine von Villa-bella" were performed. The
King's concerts were conducted in the same manner as before, remaining
under Duport's leadership.
The King welcomed foreign artists not only liberally in point
of payment, but with the utmost kindness and freedom of personal
intercourse, so that it is not surprising that they should have held
him in great reverence, and approached him with large expectations.[18]
Mozart's best introductions to the King's favour were his instrumental
compositions, especially his quartets, and the very successful
performance of his "Entführung" which had taken place in Berlin; there
can be little doubt that he confirmed the good opinion conceived of him
by his accomplishments as a virtuoso and by his general demeanour. But
he found a powerful opponent in the haughty and intriguing Duport.[19]
At Mozart's first visit he insisted on speaking French, which Mozart,
although familiar with the language, decidedly declined doing. "The
grinning mounseer," said he, "has been long enough making German money,
and eating German bread, to be able to speak the German language, or to
murder it as best he may, with his French grimaces."[20] Duport did not
forgive him, and did all he could to prejudice the King against him,
although Mozart paid him the compliment of composing variations (573
K.) to a charming minuet of Duport's (April 29, 1789), and of performing
them himself. But the King was proof against
{OFFER OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA.}
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Duport's ill-nature, invited Mozart regularly to his concerts, and
was fond of hearing him play. When he asked him what he thought of the
Berlin Kapelle, Mozart answered frankly, that it contained the best
performers in the world, but that if the gentlemen would play together
it would be an improvement.[21] This implied disapprobation of the
Kapellmeister Reichardt, whose direction had indeed been found fault
with by others.[22] We hear of no intercourse between the two artists;
perhaps some such sharp expressions as the above were the cause of
the grudging notices of Mozart by Reichardt and the journals under his
influence, which we cannot fail to remark.[23] No two natures could well
be more dissimilar. Reichardt was undoubtedly a distinguished man; he
had musical talent, a keen intellect, varied cultivation, and great
energy; but ambition, vanity, and a passionate temper seldom allowed him
to arrive at a calm judgment, and he was in continual search of some new
way in which to bring himself forward. The journalist and the musician,
the critic and the composer, trod close on each other's heels; and while
always seeking to gain credit for originality of style, his greater
compositions are in truth uncertain and unequal, and seldom produce the
desired effect. No wonder that he failed to understand a nature such as
Mozart's, which, undisturbed by external considerations, followed its
creative impulses from sheer inner necessity; no wonder, either, that so
failing, he should have sought to justify his aversion to his rival on
polemical grounds.[24] Mozart's remark must have made some impression
on the King, since he soon after offered him the post of Kapellmeister,
with a salary of 3,000 dollars. This offer, however, consideration for
the Emperor Joseph induced Mozart to decline.[25]
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During his stay in Potsdam, Mozart resided in the house of the
well-known hom-player Thùrschmidt, with whom he had become acquainted in
Paris; he was a constant guest also of the hospitable and music-loving
Sartory, an artist of architectural ornament, who had been much in
Italy, and welcomed all who took interest in his favourite art; Mozart's
playing and sociability made him, as may be imagined, the centre of this
cheerful society.[26] Another of his friends was the charming singer
Sophie Niclas, sister to the Kammer-musikus Semler, who had made a very
successful appearance as Constanze in the "Entführung" in 1784:[27]--
On one occasion, at her house, he was asked to improvise something.
Readily, as his custom was, he complied, and seated himself at the
piano, having first been provided with two themes by the musicians who
were present. Madame Niclas stood near his chair to watch him playing.
Mozart, who loved a joke with her, looked up and said, "Come! haven't
you a theme on your mind for me too?" She sang him one, and he began the
most charming fantasia, now on the one subject, now on the other,
ending by bringing them all three together, to the intense delight and
amazement of all who were present.[28]
Arrangements were made during Mozart's stay in Berlin for a return visit
to Leipzig, where in the meantime a concert for his benefit was being
organised; he arrived there on May 8. At the rehearsal for this concert
he took the tempo of the first allegro of his symphony so fast that the
orchestra was very soon in inextricable confusion. Mozart stopped, told
the players what was wrong, and began again as fast as before, doing all
he could to keep the orchestra together, and stamping the time with his
foot so energetically that his steel shoe-buckle snapped in two.[29] He
laughed at this, and as they still dragged, he began a third time; the
musicians,
{CONCERT IN LEIPZIG, 1789.}
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grown impatient, worked in desperation, and at last it went right. "It
was not caprice," he said afterwards to some musical friends, whom he
had lectured only a short time before on the subject of too rapid tempo,
"but I saw at once that most of the players were men advanced in years;
there would have been no end to the dragging if I had not worked them up
into a rage, so that they did their best out of pure spite." The rest
of the symphony he took in moderate time, and after the song had been
rehearsed he praised the accompaniment of the orchestra, and said
that it would be unnecessary to rehearse his concerto: "The parts are
correctly written out, you play accurately, and so do I"; and the result
showed that his confidence was not misplaced.[30]
The concert[31] was poorly attended, and scarcely paid the expenses of
Mozart's journey to Leipzig. Almost half the audience had free tickets,
which, with his usual liberality, Mozart gave away to every one he
knew. He required no chorus, and the fairly numerous chorus-singers
were therefore excluded from their usual free admission. Some of them
inquired at the ticket-office whether this was really to be the case;
and as soon as Mozart heard of the inquiry he gave orders that the
good folks should all be admitted: "Who would think of enforcing such
a rule?" The poor audience had not the effect of damping his musical
enthusiasm or good humour. His own compositions only were performed; he
conducted two symphonies, as yet unpublished, and then Madame Duschek
sang the air composed for Storace with obbligato pianoforte (505 K.); he
himself played two concertos, one of them the great C major (467 K.), as
usual without notes. He complied with ready goodwill to the request for
an improvisation at the close of the concert; and after it was over, as
though he were then just warming to
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his work, he took his friend Berger into his room and played far into
the night.[32]
Mozart returned to Berlin[33] on May 19, and his "Entführung" was
performed the same evening "by general desire."[34] He went to the
theatre, seated himself close to the orchestra, and attracted the
attention of his immediate neighbours by his _sotto voce_ remarks on
the performance. In Pedrillo's air at the words "nur ein feiger Tropf
verzaget," the second violins played D sharp instead of D, whereupon
Mozart angrily exclaimed, "Damn it, play D, will you!" Every one looked
round astonished, and the orchestra recognised him. Madame Baranius, who
was playing Blondchen, refused to make her exit until Mozart went on
to the stage, complimented her, and promised to study the part with her
himself.[35] This promise, according to old tradition in Berlin,[36]
involved him in a questionable adventure. Henriette Baranius (_née_
Husen) made her appearance at a very early age in Berlin in 1784, and
became the darling of the public, more from her remarkable beauty and
grace than from her talents as an actress and a singer, although these
were by no means inconsiderable.[37] She was much talked of, and the
theatrical critics of the time were never tired of admiring her costly
and tasteful dresses, which in defiance of all precedent she insisted
upon wearing in parts to which they were unsuited.[38] She was accused
of making the most of her attractions in private as well as in public,
and Mozart, it was said, became so deeply involved with her that it
cost his friends much trouble to extricate him. His letters to his wife
during this period make the story almost incredible.
Another and more innocent encounter took place in the
{LUDWIG TIECK AND MOZART.}
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theatre. Ludwig Tieck, as a youth, was frequently at the house of
Reichardt, and there first began "to divine the mysteries of music in
classical works":--
Led by his own inclination, and in opposition to the prevailing taste,
he addicted himself to Mozart's great compositions, uninfluenced by
contemporary critics, or even by so powerful an opinion as that of
Reichardt. Mozart's victorious rival was Dittersdorf, whose comic operas
were played in Berlin to crowded audiences. The "Doctor und Apotheker"
was preferred to "Figaro" or "Don Juan," and "Die Liebe im Narrenhause"
was in the public estimation the greatest of musical works. Ludwig's
veneration for Mozart was destined to receive an unexpected reward. One
evening during the year 1789, entering the theatre, as his custom was,
long before the performance began, and while it was still empty and
half-lighted, he perceived a strange man in the orchestra. He was
short, quick, restless, and weak-eyed--an insignificant figure in a grey
overcoat. He went from one desk to another, and appeared to be hastily
looking through the music placed on them. Ludwig at once entered into
conversation with him. They spoke of the orchestra, the theatre, the
opera, the public taste. He expressed his opinions without reserve, and
declared his enthusiastic admiration of Mozart's operas. "Do you really
hear Mozart's works often, and love them?" asked the stranger--"that is
very good of you, young sir." The conversation continued for some time
longer; the theatre began to fill, and at last the stranger was called
away from the stage. His talk had produced a singular effect upon
Ludwig, who made inquiries concerning him, and learnt that it was Mozart
himself, the great master, who had conversed with him, and expressed his
obligation to him.[39]
Hummel, who, as Mozart's pupil, had played in Dresden on March 10 with
great success,[40] was giving a concert in Berlin, without being aware
of Mozart's presence. When the boy descried him among the audience, he
could scarcely contain himself, and as soon as his piece was ended, he
pushed his way through the audience and embraced him with the tenderest
expressions of joy at seeing him.[41] During this
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second visit to Berlin, on May 26, Mozart played before the Queen, which
was considered a politic step, without any expectation of a handsome
present in return. Following the advice of his friends, he did not
attempt a public concert, seeing that there was no chance of a large
profit, and the King was averse to it. The latter, however, sent him
a present of 100 friedrichsdor, and expressed a wish that Mozart would
write some quartets for him. This was the whole result of the tour,
diminished by a loan of 100 florins which Mozart thought it incumbent on
him to make to a friend; he might well write to his wife that she must
be glad to see him, not the money he was bringing.
Very different was the career of Dittersdorf, who came to Berlin in July
of the same year. He had chosen the time when the visit of the Governess
of the Netherlands occasioned festivities of every kind, and he
refreshed the memory of the King, who had seen and invited him at
Breslau, by the presentation of six new symphonies. Immediately upon
his arrival he managed to ingratiate himself with Reichardt, was by him
presented to Madame Rietz, afterwards Countess Lichtenau, and was
very soon commanded by the King to put his "Doctor und Apotheker" in
rehearsal, and to conduct it at a court festival at Charlottenburg;
he also received permission to produce his oratorio of "Job" in the
opera-house (hitherto only used by the court), with the resources of the
royal Kapelle at his disposal. This, with additions from other sources,
increased his _personnel_ to 200, and the performance was highly
successful, Dittersdorf quitting Berlin rich in money and honours.[42]
On May 28 Mozart set out on his homeward journey by way of Dresden and
Prague, where he made a stay of a few days.
FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XL.
[Footnote 1: A proof of this is a note of hand for 100 florins, dated April 2,
1789. Cf. O. Jahn, Ges. Aufs., p. 234.]
[Footnote 2: The principal sources of information for this journey are Mozart's
letters to his wife.]
[Footnote 3: Heymann, Dresden's Schriftsteller u. Kunstler, p. 280. Meissner,
Biqgr. Naumanns, II., p. 267.]
[Footnote 4: Cf. Goethe's Br. an Frau v. Stein, II., p. 280.]
[Footnote 5: And yet Mannstein says (Gesch. Geist u. Ausübung des Gesanges, p.
89) that when Naumann heard the passage "Tu sospiri, o duol funesto" in
the air composed for Storace (505 K.), he exclaimed: "That is a divine
idea I Who has taught this man to express sympathy with the sorrows of
others as well as those of his own heart in these few notes?"]
[Footnote 6: Wien. Abendpost, 1866, p. 835. Cf. Mus. Real-Ztg., 1789, p. 191.]
[Footnote 7: Joh. Wilh. Hassler (1747-1822) has prefixed his autobiography to the
second part of his six easy sonatas (Erfurt, 1786).]
[Footnote 8: Cramer, Mag. f. Mus., II., p. 404. Schiller, Briefw. m. Körner, I.,
p. 154. Car. v. Wolzogen, Litt. Nachl., I., p. 203.]
[Footnote 9: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1., p. 360.]
[Footnote 10: Musik. Wochenbl., p. 71.]
[Footnote 11: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1788, p. 56.]
[Footnote 12: Doles dedicated his cantata "Ich komme vor dein Angesicht" (1790),
"to two of his most esteemed patrons and friends, Herr Mozart and Herr
Naumann, as a token of his distinguished regard."]
[Footnote 13: Rochlitz, Fur Freunde der Tonk., III., p. 222..]
[Footnote 14: Reichardt, Mus. Ztg., I., p. 132.]
[Footnote 15: Naumann's Leben, p. 183. Meissner, Biogr. Naumanns, II., p. 199;
cf. 212.]
[Footnote 16: Wolf, Auch eine Reise, Weim., 1784, p. 10.]
[Footnote 17: Reichardt, Musik. Monatsschr., p. 70. Mus Ztg., I., p. 2. Cf.
Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 453. Schneider, Gesch. der Oper, p. 52.]
[Footnote 18: The accounts of Dittersdorfs (Selbstbiogr., p. 248) and Naumann's
(Meissner's Biogr., II., p. 189; Naumann's Leben, p. 267) personal
intercourse with Frederick William II. are very interesting.]
[Footnote 19: Mus. Monatsschr., p. 20. Cf. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 457.
Schneider, Gesch. der Oper Beil., XXXVI., pp. 15, 16.]
[Footnote 20: So says the Berlin musical Veteran (Neue Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, p.
35).]
[Footnote 21: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., IM p. 22.]
[Footnote 22: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 267.]
[Footnote 23: Cf. Rochlitz, A. M. Z., XXX., p. 491.]
[Footnote 24: Cf. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 638.]
[Footnote 25: My researches in the Royal Library and archives for some trace
of négociations accompanying this offer have proved fruitless. It must
therefore have been at once refused at Mozart's personal interview with
the King; the way in which Mozart writes to his wife, that she has cause
to be satisfied with the favour in which he stands with the King, seems
to refer to some definite proposal.]
[Footnote 26: So ways the Veteran. The tradition, according to which Mozart wrote
the "Ave verum" in Potsdam, is quite untrustworthy.]
[Footnote 27: Berl. Litt. u. Theal.-Ztg., 1784, II., p. 160.]
[Footnote 28: So says Semler, Voss. Ztg., 1857, March xi; Beil., p. 7.]
[Footnote 29: The scene made such an impression that a viola-player marked the
place on his part where Mozart stamped the time till his shoe-buckle
snapped. Griel, the old orchestra attendant at Leipzig, had picked it up
and showed it as a token.]
[Footnote 30: A. M. Z., I., pp. 85, 179.]
[Footnote 31: The notice in the Leipz. Ztg., 1789, Nos. 91 and 93 runs; "Heute
als den Mai wird Herr Capellmeister Mozart, in wirklichen. Diensten Sr.
K. K. Maj. eine musikalische Akademie in dem grossen Conzertsaale zu
seinem Vortheil geben. Die Billets sind fur 1 Gulden bei Hrn. Rost in
Auerbachs Hofe und bei dem Einlasse des Saales zu bekommen. Der Anfang
ist um 6 Uhr."]
[Footnote 32: On May 17, at Leipzig, he composed the charming little Gigue (574
K.) for the court-organist, Engel.]
[Footnote 33: He stayed in the house at the Gensdarmenmarkt with Moser, to whom
he presented an elegant copy of the six quartets (421 K.).]
[Footnote 34: Journ. d. Moden, 1789, p. 394.]
[Footnote 35: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 20.]
[Footnote 36: N. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, p. 36.]
[Footnote 37: An enthusiastic description of her beauty is given by Rahel (I., p.
62).]
[Footnote 38: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1, p. 93. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p.
511.]
[Footnote 39: Köpke, L. Tieck, I., p. 86. It is well known that in 1789 the
"Entfuh-rung," alone of Mozart's operas, was given in Berlin, "Figaro"
and "Don Giovanni" not appearing on the stage there until November and
December, 1790. This is a fresh proof of how youthful memories are
confounded with later reminiscences.]
[Footnote 40: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1789, p. 156.]
[Footnote 41: So Hummel's widow told me at Weimar, in 1855.]
[Footnote 42: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 253. Cf. Mus. Monatsschr., p. 41.]
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MOZART 41
BY DAVID WIDGER