Mozart's love for his father made him dependent on the latter to
the end of his days. He was a model son and must have loved his
wife devotedly, since, for her sake, he once in his life
disobeyed his father. The majority of his letters which have been
preserved are addressed to his father, to whom he reported all
his happenings and whose advice he is forever seeking. Similar
were his relations with his sister Marianne (Nannerl), whom he
loved with great tenderness. The letters to his wife are unique;
all of them, even the last, seem to be the letters of a lover.
They were a pair of turtle-doves.
Mozart was an ideal friend, ready to sacrifice to the uttermost
on the altar of friendship. It was this trait of character which
made him throw himself with enthusiasm into Freemasonry, whose
affiliations he sought to widen by drafting the constitution of a
community which he called "The Grotto." He probably hated only
one man in the world,--the Archbishop of Salzburg, his tormentor.
185. "The moment you do not trust me I shall distrust myself.
The time is past, it is true, when I used to stand on the settle,
sing oragna fiagata fa and kiss the tip end of your nose; but
have I therefore shown laxity in respect, love and obedience?
I say no more."
(Mannheim, February 19, 1779, to his father, who was vexed
because Mozart was showing a disposition to stay in Mannheim,
because of a love affair, instead of going to Paris. "Off with
you to Paris, and soon!" wrote the father. The Italian words are
meaningless and but a bit of child's play, the nature of which
can be gathered from Mozart's remark.)
186. "Pray do not let your mind often harbor the thought that I
shall ever forget you! It is intolerable to me. My chief aim in
life has been, is, and will be to strive so that we may soon be
reunited and happy....Reflect that you have a son who will never
consciously forget his filial duty toward you, and who will labor
ever to grow more worthy of so good a father."
(Mannheim, February 28, 1778, to his father.)
187. "The first thing I did after reading your letter was to go
on my knees, and, out of a full heart, thank my dear God for this
mercy. Now I am again at peace, since I know that I need no
longer be concerned about the two persons who are the dearest
things on earth to me."
(Paris, July 31, 1778, to his father, who had written that he and
Nannerl had comforted each other on the death of his mother.)
188. "Dearest, best of fathers! I wish you all conceivable good;
whatever can be wished, that I wish you,--but no, I wish you
nothing, but myself everything. For myself, then, I wish that you
remain well and live innumerable years to my great happiness and
pleasure; I wish that everything that I undertake may agree with
your desire and liking,--or, rather, that I may undertake nothing
which might not turn out to your joy. This also I hope, for
whatever adds to the happiness of your son must naturally be
agreeable also to you."
(Vienna, November 16, 1781, to his father, congratulating him on
his name-day. On March 17, 1778, Mozart had written from
Mannheim: "Your accuracy extends to all things. 'Papa comes
directly after God' was my maxim as a child and I shall stick to
it.")
189. "Our little cousin is pretty, sensible, amiable, clever and
merry, all because she has been in society; she visited Munich
for a while. You are right, we suit each other admirably, for
she, too, is a bit naughty. We play great pranks on the people
hereabouts."
(Augsburg, October 17, 1777, to his father. The "little cousin"
was two years younger than Mozart. Her father was a master
bookbinder in Augsburg. The maiden seems later to have had
serious designs on the composer.)
190. "I shall be right glad when I meet a place in which there is
a court. I tell you that if I did not have so fine a Mr. Cousin
and Miss Cousin and so dear a little cousin, my regrets that I am
in Augsburg would be as numerous as the hairs of my head."
(Augsburg, October 17, 1777, to his father, whose birthplace he
was visiting on a concert tour. Mozart was vexed at the insolence
of the patricians.)
191. "In the case of Frau Lange I was a fool,--that's certain;
but what is a fellow not when he's in love? I did really love
her, and am not indifferent toward her even now. It's lucky for
me that her husband is a jealous fool and never permits her to go
anywhere, so that I seldom see her."
(Vienna, May 12, 1781, to his father, at the time when he was
being outrageously treated by the Archbishop. Frau Lange was
Aloysia Weber, sister of Constanze, to whom Mozart transferred
his love and whom he made his wife. Aloysia married an actor at
the Court Theatre, Josef Lange, with whom she lived unhappily.)
192. "I will not say that when at the house of the Mademoiselle
to whom I seem already to have been married off, I am morose and
silent; but neither am I in love. I jest with her and amuse her
when I have time (which is only evenings when I sup at home, for
in the forenoons I write in my room and in the afternoons I am
seldom at home); only that and nothing more. If I were obliged to
marry all the girls with whom I have jested I should have at
least 200 wives."
(Vienna, July 25, 1781, to his father, who had heard all manner
of tales concerning the relations of Mozart and Constanze Weber.)
193. "My good, dear Constanze is the martyr, and, perhaps for
that very reason, the best hearted, cleverest, and (in a word)
the best of them all. She assumes all the cares of the house, and
yet does not seem able to accomplish anything. O, best of
fathers, I could write pages if I were to tell you all the scenes
that have taken place in this house because of us
two....Constanze is not ugly, but anything but beautiful; all her
beauty consists of two little black eyes and a handsome figure.
She is not witty but has enough common sense to be able to
perform her duties as wife and mother. She is not inclined to
finery,--that is utterly false; on the contrary, she is generally
ill clad, for the little that the mother was able to do for her
children was done for the other two--nothing for her. True she
likes to be neatly and cleanly, though not extravagantly,
dressed, and she can herself make most of the clothes that a
woman needs; she also dresses her own hair every day, understands
housekeeping, has the best heart in the world,--tell me, could I
wish a better wife?"
(Vienna, December 15, 1781, to his father. Constanze seems to
have been made for Mozart; they went through the years of their
brief wedded life like two children.)