A full and authentic edition of Mozart's Letters ought to require no
special apology; for, though their essential substance has already been
made known by quotations from biographies by Nissen, Jahn, and myself,
taken from the originals, still in these three works the letters are
necessarily not only very imperfectly given, but in some parts so
fragmentary, that the peculiar charm of this correspondence--namely, the
familiar and confidential mood in which it was written at the time--is
entirely destroyed. It was only possible to restore, and to enable
others to enjoy this charm--a charm so novel, even to those already
conversant with Mozart's life, that the most familiar incidents acquire
fresh zest from it--by an ungarbled edition of these letters. This is
what I now offer, feeling convinced that it will be welcome not only to
the mass of Mozart's admirers, but also to professional musicians; for
in them alone is strikingly set forth how Mozart lived and labored,
enjoyed and suffered, and this with a degree of vivid and graphic
reality which no biography, however complete, could ever succeed in
giving. Who does not know the varied riches of Mozart's life? All that
agitated the minds of men in that day--nay, all that now moves, and ever
will move, the heart of man--vibrated with fresh pulsation, and under
the most manifold forms, in his sensitive soul, and mirrored itself in
a series of letters, which indeed rather resemble a journal than a
correspondence.
This artist, Nature had gifted in all respects with the most clear and
vigorous intellect that ever man possessed. Even in a language which
he had not so fully mastered as to acquire the facility of giving
expression to his ideas, he contrived to relate to others all that he
saw and heard, and felt and thought, with surprising clearness and the
most charming sprightliness, combined with talent and good feeling.
Above all, in his letters to his father when travelling, we meet with
the most minute delineations of countries and people, of the progress of
the fine arts, especially in the theatres and in music; we also see
the impulses of his own heart and a hundred other things which, in
fascination, and universal as well as artistic interest, have scarcely
a parallel in our literature. The style may fail to a certain degree in
polish, that is, in definite purpose in expressing what he wished to say
in an attractive or congenial form,--an art, however, which Mozart so
thoroughly understood in his music. His mode of writing, especially in
the later letters from Vienna, is often very slovenly, evidencing how
averse the Maestro was to the task. Still these letters are manifestly
the unconstrained, natural, and simple outpourings of his heart,
delightfully recalling to our minds all the sweetness and pathos, the
spirit and grace, which have a thousand times enchanted us in the music
of Mozart. The accounts of his visit to Paris may, indeed, lay claim to
a certain aesthetic value, for they are written throughout with
visible zest in his own descriptions, and also with wit, and charm, and
characteristic energy. As these combined merits can only become apparent
by an ungarbled series of the letters, I have resolved, after many
long years of zealous research in collecting them, to undertake the
work,--that is, to publish the letters entire that have come to my
knowledge.
It now only remains for me to give some words of explanation as to the
method I have pursued in editing them.
In the first place, this edition, (being transcribed closely from the
originals,) if compared with the letters already published, will prove
that the latter are open to many corrections, both in trivial and more
important respects. I have forborne, however, attracting attention to
the deviations from the original text, either in Nissen or Jahn. I have
no wish to be punctilious about trifles, where, as in the case of Jahn,
the principal points are correct. Further, by this faithful production
of the letters, (nothing being omitted but the constant repetition of
forms of greeting and subscription,) we find many an additional feature
in the Maestro's life, and chiefly various facts with regard to the
creation and publication of his works, which may serve to complete
and to amend various statements in Dr. Ludwig Ritter von Kochel's
"Chronological Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Compositions of W. A.
Mozart," (Leipzig, Breitkopf and Hartel). This will be effected not only
by the hitherto unpublished letters, though comparatively few in number,
but also by passages being given in full, which have been hitherto
suppressed as of no consequence. I have referred to Nissen and Jahn only
when, in spite of all my inquiries, I could not discover the proprietor
of the original, or procure a correct copy.
I must also remark that all letters without a special address are
written to his father. I have only adhered to Mozart's defective
orthography in his few letters of early date, and in the rest adopted
the more modern fashion. I did so for this simple reason, that these
defects form a charm in his juvenile letters, from being in accordance
with their boyish contents, while, with regard to the others, they
only tend to distract the attention from the substance of the letters,
instead of imparting additional interest to them. Biographers can,
and ought always to render faithfully the original writing, because
quotations alternate with the text of the biographer; but in a regular
and uninterrupted series of letters this attraction must be very
sparingly used, or it will have a pernicious effect.
The explanatory remarks, and also the supplementary Lexicon, in which
I have availed myself of Jahn's catalogue, will make the letters more
intelligible to the world at large. The Index, too, has been most
carefully prepared to facilitate references.
Lastly, I return my best thanks to the keeper of the Archives of the
Mozarteum in Salzburg, to Herr Jellinck, and to all the librarians and
collectors of autographs who have assisted me in my task, either by
furnishing me with copies of their Mozart letters, or by letting me know
where I could procure them. I would also earnestly request all who may
possess any Mozart letters to send me an exact transcript of them in
the interest of Art; for those here given allude to many still unknown,
which are no doubt scattered about here and there, waiting to be brought
to light.
With respect to myself, the best reward I aspire to in return for the
many sacrifices this collection has cost me, is, that my readers may
do justice to the purpose which chiefly guided me throughout this
publication,--my desire being not merely to benefit science, and to give
a graphic description of the amiability and purity of heart which so
distinguished this attractive man, (for such was my aim in my "Life of
Mozart,") but above all to draw attention afresh to the unremitting zeal
with which Mozart did homage to every advance in Art, striving to make
music more and more the interpreter of man's innermost being. I also
wished to show how much his course was impeded by the sluggishness and
stupidity of the multitude, though partly sustained by the sympathy
of kindred souls, till the glorious victory was won over routine and
imbecility. Amidst all the fatiguing process of copying and collating
letters already so familiar to me, these considerations moved me more
vividly than ever; and no work on the Maestro can ever bring them with
such force before the intelligent reader as this connected succession of
letters, containing his own details of his unwearied artistic struggles
and productions. May these letters, then, kindle fresh zeal in
our artists of the present day, both in youthful genius and in
laurel-crowned Maestri!--especially may they have the happiest influence
on those who devote themselves to that phase of Art in which Mozart
attained the highest renown!--may they impart that energetic courage
which is derived from the experience that incessant efforts for
the progress of Art and its appliances enlarge the limits of human
intellect, and can alone insure an immortal crown!