(Mozart's ejaculation when he heard Bach's motet for double
chorus, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied," at Leipsic in 1789.
Rochlitz relates: "Scarcely had the choir sung a couple of
measures when Mozart started. After a few more measures he cried
out: 'What is that?' and now his whole soul seemed to be in his
ears.")
98. "Melt us two together, and we will fall far short of making a
Haydn."
(Said to the pianist Leopold Kozeluch who had triumphantly
pointed out a few slips due to carelessness in Haydn's
compositions.)
99. "It was a duty that I owed to Haydn to dedicate my quartets
to him; for it was from him that I learned how to write
quartets."
(Reported by Nissen. Joseph Haydn once said, when the worth of
"Don Giovanni" was under discussion: "This I do know, that Mozart
is the greatest composer in the world today.")
100. "Nobody can do everything,--jest and terrify, cause laughter
or move profoundly,--like Joseph Haydn."
(Reported by Nissen [the biographer who married Mozart's widow.
H.E.K.].)
101. "Keep your eyes on him; he'll make the world talk of himself
some day!"
(A remark made by Mozart in reference to Beethoven in the spring
of 1787. It was the only meeting between the two composers. [The
prophetic observation was called out by Beethoven's improvisation
on a theme from "Le Nozze di Figaro." H.E.K.])
102. "Attwood is a young man for whom I have a sincere affection
and esteem; he conducts himself with great propriety, and I feel
much pleasure in telling you that he partakes more of my style
than any scholar I ever had, and I predict that he will prove a
sound musician."
(Remarked in 1786 to Michael Kelly, who was a friend of Attwood
and a pupil of Mozart at the time. [Thomas Attwood was an English
musician, born in 1765. He was chorister of the Chapel Royal at
the age of nine, and at sixteen attracted the attention of the
Prince of Wales, afterward George IV., who sent him to Italy to
study. He studied two years in Naples and one year in Vienna with
Mozart. Returned to London he first composed for the theatre and
afterward largely for the church. He and Mendelssohn were devoted
friends. H.E.K.])
103. "If the oboist Fischer did not play better when we heard him
in Holland (1766) than he plays now, he certainly does not
deserve the reputation which he has. Yet, between ourselves, I
was too young at the time to pronounce a judgment; I remember
that he pleased me exceedingly, and the whole world. It is
explained easily enough if one but realizes that tastes have
changed mightily since then. You would think that he plays
according to the old school; but no! he plays like a wretched
pupil....And then his concertos, his compositions! Every
ritornello lasts a quarter of an hour; then the hero appears,
lifts one leaden foot after the other and plumps them down
alternately. His tone is all nasal, and his tenuto sounds like an
organ tremulant."
(Vienna, April 4, 1787, to his father. Johann Christian
Fischer--1733-1800--was a famous oboist and composer for his
instrument. [Fischer was probably the original of the many artists
of whom the story is told that, having been invited by a nobleman
to dinner, he was asked if he had brought his instrument with him,
replied that he had not, for that his instrument never ate. Kelly
tells the story in his "Reminiscences" and makes Fischer the hero.
H.E.K.])
104. "I know nothing new except that Gellert has died in Leipsic
and since then has written no more poetry."
(Milan, January 26, 1770. Wolfgang was on a concert tour with his
father who admired Gellert's writings and had once exchanged
letters with him. The lad seems to have felt ironical.)
105. "Now I am also acquainted with Herr Wieland; but he doesn't
know me as well as I know him, for he has not heard anything of
mine. I never imagined him to be as he is. He seems to me to be a
little affected in speech, has a rather childish voice, a fixed
stare, a certain learned rudeness, yet, at times, a stupid
condescension. I am not surprised that he behaves as he does here
(and as he would not dare do in Weimar or elsewhere), for the
people look at him as if he had fallen direct from heaven. All
stand in awe, no one talks, everyone is silent, every word is
listened to when he speaks. It is a pity that he keeps people in
suspense so long, for he has a defect of speech which compels him
to speak very slowly and pause after every six words. Otherwise
his is, as we all know, an admirable brain. His face is very
ugly, pockmarked, and his nose rather long. He is a little taller
than papa."
(Mannheim, December 27, 1777, to his father. On November 22,
Mozart had reported: "In the coming carnival 'Rosamunde' will be
performed--new poetry by Herr Wieland, new music by Herr
Schweitzer." On January 10, 1778, he writes: "'Rosamunde' was
rehearsed in the theatre today; it is--good, but nothing more. If
it were bad you could not perform it at all; just as you can't
sleep without going to bed!")
106. "Now that Herr Wieland has seen me twice he is entirely
enchanted. The last time we met, after lauding me as highly as
possible, he said, 'It is truly a piece of good fortune for me to
have met you here,' and pressed my hand."
(Mannheim, January 10, 1778.)
107. "Now I give you a piece of news which perhaps you know
already; that godless fellow and arch-rascal, Voltaire, is
dead--died like a dog, like a beast. That is his reward!"
(Paris, July 3, 1778, to his father, who, like the son, was a man
of sincere piety and abhorred Voltaire's atheism.)
108. "When God gives a man an office he also gives him sense;
that's the case with the Archduke. Before he was a priest he was
much wittier and intelligent; spoke less but more sensibly. You
ought to see him now! Stupidity looks out of his eyes, he talks
and chatters eternally and always in falsetto. His neck is
swollen,--in short he has been completely transformed."
(Vienna, November 17, 1781, to his father. The person spoken of
was Archduke Maximilian, who afterward became Archbishop of
Cologne, and was the patron of Beethoven. [The ambiguity of the
opening statement is probably due to carelessness in writing, or
Mozart's habit of using double negatives. H.E.K.])