CHAPTER I. -- CHILDHOOD

LIFE OF MOZART

By Otto Jahn.

Translated From The German By Pauline D. Townsend.

With A Preface By George Grove, Esq., D.C.L.

In Three Volumes. Vol. I.

London:

1882.

CONTENTS.

Preface to the English Edition.

Introduction............

Introduction to the Second Edition Translator's Note.........

I.--Childhood.........

II.--Early Journeys.....

III.--Study in Salzburg......

IV.--The First Opera in Vienna

V.--The Italian Tour.....

VI.---Works in Germany.....

VII.--Opera Sbria........

VIII.--Mozart's Early Operas

IX.--Oratorio........

X.--Opera Buffa........

XI.--Mozart's "Re Pastore"..

XII.--Sonos ...........

XIII.--Church Music........

XIV.--Instrumental Music.....

XV.--Early Manhood.....

XVI.--Munich and Augsburg

XVII.--Mannheim

VOLUME I.

{PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.}

I HAVE been asked to say a few words by way of welcome to the

translation of Jahn's Life of Mozart, and I do so with pleasure. The

book has been long familiar to me, and I regard its appearance in an

English dress as an event in our musical history. It will be a great

boon to students and lovers of music, and it shows how much the study

of music has advanced among us when so large and serious a work is

sufficiently appreciated to repay the heavy expense attendant on its

translation and publication. The book itself is what the Germans call an

"epoch-making work." The old biographies of musicians, such as Forkel's

Life of Bach (1802) and Dies's of Haydn (1810), are pleasant gossipy

accounts of the outward life of the composers; but they concern

themselves mainly with the exterior both of the man and his productions,

and there is a sort of tacit understanding throughout that if the reader

is a professional musician he will know all about the music, if he is

an amateur it is altogether out of his reach. Characteristic traits and

anecdotes there are in plenty, but as to how the music was made or came

into being, what connection existed between it and the circumstances

or surroundings of the composer, what relation it had to that of his

predecessors or contemporaries, how far the art was advanced by the

labours of this particular composer or player--all that is outside the

province of the book. Schindler's Life of Beethoven (Münster, 1840--a

much smaller book than it afterwards became) was hardly more

{PREFACE.}

than this, and in addition is so deformed by want of method and by

faults of style as to be very uninviting to the reader. A step in the

right direction was taken in Moscheles' English translation (or rather

adaptation) of Schindler (1841). Moscheles' residence in London had

shown him that there was even then a public outside the professional

musician to whom such works would be interesting, and he accordingly

took pains, by inserting musical examples and other means, to make

his edition attractive to this class. But the inherent defects of the

original work prevented more than a moderate success.

The first real attempt at a biography of a composer that should interest

all classes was the work of an Englishman. Edward Holmes was not only a

musician, but a cultivated man with a good literary style, and his Life

of Mozart, including his Correspondence (1845), was very nearly all that

such a book should be. It was derived from original sources, it was full

and yet condensed, it blended admirably the portrait of the man with

the portrait of the musician, it contained for that time a considerable

amount of musical illustrations, and lists of the works; and in addition

to this it was written in a style attractive to the amateur, and even to

the ordinary reader. It was largely read, and has long since been out

of print.* More than this, it extorted praise from a German writer, and

that a German should praise any English work on a musical subject is

indeed an event. The terms of warm commendation in which Jahn mentions

it in his introduction are in striking contrast to

* A new edition, with notes by Ebenezer Prout, B.A., was

published in 1878 by Novello, Ewer & Co.

{PREFACE.}

those which he employs over some other German works. He calls it an

"interesting and readable biography," "a trustworthy and, as far as

was then possible, exhaustive account... the most trustworthy and

serviceable that could be produced by skilful use of the materials

generally accessible" (pp. ix., x.). In fact, it has been said with

truth that whole pages may be found in which the two works are so

closely alike that the one might be thought to be a translation of the

other, the probability being that both Holmes and Jahn were borrowing

from the same sources.

Jahn himself enjoyed even higher advantages for his task than Holmes

had done. He was not only a thorough practical musician, a careful and

sympathetic critic, and a learned musical bibliographer, but he was a

skilled _littérateur_; an adept in philology and archaeology and in

the history of art and literature; the author of many original works on

these subjects, and of innumerable editions of the classics, ancient

and modern; and imbued with the true spirit of patient investigation

and accurate research. His position, and the esteem in which he was held

throughout Germany, gave him command of all the materials necessary for

his work, even of the most private kind. How he entered on his task,

with what true modesty and determination he pursued it, from its first

suggestion, during the funeral of Mendelssohn in 1847, down to

its completion in 1855,* may be seen from his own interesting and

characteristic introduction (pp. i.-xxiv), as well as the pains which he

took to revise his work for the second edition,** twelve years later,

* W. A. Mozart, von Otto Jahn (Leipzig, 1856-59). 4 vols.,

8vo.

** Zwcite durchaos umgearbeitete Auflage (Leipzig, 1867). 2

vols., royal 8vo.

{PREFACE.}

and utilise the additional information acquired in the interval (pp.

xxv.-xxviii.).

The book which is the result of this combination of toil, intelligence,

ability, knowledge, and affectionate devotion, could only have been

successful by the addition to these qualities of a remarkable amount of

literary tact and skill. The plan of the work is one which few English

authors could by any possibility adopt. It is immense; at first sight

its plan is bewildering. The book is not a Life of Mozart so much as

an Encyclopaedia of musical art and biography. It opens with a minute

account of Mozart's father, and of his method and his works, amounting

to sixteen pages. Not only have we the narrative of the life of Mozart

himself from his cradle to his grave in the smallest particulars, with

a detailed examination of each work--in the case of the operas, both

text and music, amounting in single operas to forty, fifty, and even

ninety pages--but we have the history of the rise and progress of each

branch of music that Mozart touched--and he touched them all--up to the

date of his life. Witness the long notices of the Opera, the Oratorio,

and Church music, and the chapter on Instrumental music in Vol. I.; the

account of the French Opera, and of Lully, Rameau, Gluck, and Piccinni,

in Vol. II. We have also full accounts of the social and musical

condition of the various cities visited by Mozart, such as Paris,

Mannheim, Salzburg, Munich, and Vienna; and biographical notices,

longer or shorter, of every person with whom Mozart came into contact,

or whom his biographer has occasion to mention.

Such a work may well be called an Encyclopaedia; and to have steered

through this ocean of material as Jahn has

{PREFACE.}

done, never losing the thread of the narrative, and maintaining the

interest in the hero throughout, implies no ordinary tact and skill; for

the book is remarkably readable, and there are few pages which are not

enlivened by some anecdote or lifelike touch. Nor is it less remarkable

for accuracy than for the other qualities already mentioned. The writer

has used it constantly for many years, and has never yet discovered

a mistake of any moment. Perhaps it would have been better if the

secondary treatises of which we have spoken had been relegated to

Appendixes; but this is directly opposed to the German method, and we

must accept the work as we have it. There are indeed already nineteen

Appendixes to the original work, as follows i. Family documents. 2.

Marianne Mozart. 3. Testimonials, eulogistic poems, articles, &c. 4.

Dedications. 5. Mozart's letters on his journeys. 6. Text of his church

music. 7. Arrangements and adaptations of ditto. 8. His cousins. 9.

Mozart as a comic poet. 10. Mozart and Vogler. 11. A letter of Leopold

Mozart's. 12. Mozart's letters on the death of his mother. 13. The

choruses for "King Thamos." 14. The text of "Idomeneo." 15. Alterations

in that opera. 16. Mozart's letters to his wife. 17. The Requiem. 18.

Mozart's residences in Vienna. 19. Portraits. Of these it has been

considered necessary to retain only Nos. 2, 7, and 19, which form

Appendixes 1, 2, and 3 of the present edition. Another has been added:

namely, a classified list of the whole of his works, according to the

complete edition now in course of publication, with the references to

the invaluable Catalogue of Köchel. With these exceptions the English

translation is exactly in accordance with the German original.

{PREFACE.}

A word of special praise is due to Miss Townsend, the translator, who

has performed her laborious task with great accuracy and intelligence,

and has established an additional claim on the gratitude of the student

by her exhaustive Index, in which the original work is very deficient.

The new branch of musical literature, founded by Holmes and Jahn,

already shows some considerable monuments. Passing by the voluminous and

accurate thematic catalogues of Mozart by the Ritter von Köchel (1862),

of Weber by Jahns (1871), and of Beethoven and Schubert by Nottebohm

(1868 and 1874), works which properly belong to a separate department of

the subject--we already possess the Life of Handel by Chrysander (vol.

i., 1858; II., 1860; III., 1867), that of Beethoven by A. W. Thayer

(vol. i., 1866; II., 1872; III., 1879), that of Haydn by C. F. Pohl

(vol. i., 1875; II., 1882)--all three still in progress--and that of

Bach by Spitta (vol. i., 1873; II., 1880). But these laborious and

conscientious works, while they rival and even surpass Jahn in their

wide range and the manner in which they embalm every minute particular

relating to the subject, are far behind him in lucidity, and in the ease

with which he handles his vast materials. In these respects, as might

be expected from his literary position, Otto Jahn stands hitherto quite

alone.

GEORGE GROVE.

February 23, 1882.

{INTRODUCTION.}

To Professor Gustav Hartenstein.

MY DEAR FRIEND,--I have little doubt that the afternoon of November 7,

1847, is as fresh in your memory as in my own. We had assembled in the

Johan-niskirche to accompany the remains of Mendelssohn on their last

sad journey, and by chance (for I had not been long in Leipzig, and my

acquaintance with you was slight) we walked side by side in the long

line of mourners. From grief at the early loss of a master, whose

cultivation, self-discipline, and endeavours after the good and the

beautiful had exercised a truly beneficial influence over the art of our

age, our grave talk turned to the more particular consideration of music

in itself, and to the great masters of the past! This led us to the

interchange of many ideas, and to a conviction of our unanimity of

principle and sentiment on most subjects. Thus, for instance, we

coincided in our experience that at a certain period of our mental

development Mozart's music had seemed cold and unintelligible to our

restless spirits, ever soaring into the unknown, and incapable of

appreciating a master whose passions in their workings are not laid bare

to view, but who offers us perfect beauty victorious over turbulence and

impurity. Turning to him again in later years, we are amazed alike at

the wondrous wealth of his art, and at our former insensibility to it.

For my own part, I confided to you how, after severe illness, which had

debarred me from music for many years, it was Mozart who first gave me

courage and interest to turn to it again. We agreed, also, that minds

which are able to receive and appreciate art for its own sake, must

yield themselves captive to Mozart, but without sacrificing their

freedom to recognise all that is grand and beautiful elsewhere.

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(ii)

This conversation was the beginning of a more constant intercourse,

leading to a friendship founded on such close agreement of principle

in all matters of importance as to render it indissoluble: I have

ever since, in joy or sorrow, been assured of your hearty sympathy and

support.

I should be perfectly justified in offering you this book as a testimony

of my love and gratitude, even if its contents concerned you less. But

music has ever played so important a part in our intercourse, whether I

sat beside you at the piano, or stood behind your chair, or we wandered

into talk; so great a share in the book belongs to you, who have ever

urged me forward with the work, sometimes (I may acknowledge it now)

even unmercifully, that I can offer it in its completed form to none

with more pleasure and confidence than to yourself.

And now you must give me leave to lay before you much that is on my mind

concerning it. Let me imagine that I have come as of old to you and your

wife for comfort and encouragement, and prepare for a long talk.

You are aware, my dear friend, how this biography originated, and how

it has gradually increased to an extent which has alarmed even myself.

Occupied at first only with the biography of Beethoven, I soon saw that

it would be impossible to do full justice to his great and original

creations without a clear survey of the life and works of Mozart, the

pioneer of the musical future, as whose natural heir Beethoven attained

his pre-eminent position in the history of music. The exposition would

have been too comprehensive for an introduction, and I determined to

arrange the ill-digested and unreadable mass of biographical material

which Nissen had collected into a readable treatise on the life of

Mozart, to serve as a foundation for the observations which I meant to

deduce therefrom. With this end in view, I gradually amassed so large a

store of materials for the story of his life and the appreciation of his

works, that there rose before me the duty of erecting a new structure

upon a new foundation. But before I proceed to specify the sources

whence I have drawn my materials,

{INTRODUCTION.}

(iii)

allow me to glance over all the biographies of Mozart hitherto

published, so far as they are known to me.

Soon after Mozart's death there appeared a biographical article upon him

in Schlichtegrolls Nekrolog for 1791. This is precise and trustworthy

so far as it relates to the period of his childhood, and rests on

the testimony of his sister; but the notices of his later years are

superficial; and the judgment passed upon him as a man rests upon a

preconceived and unfavourable opinion which then prevailed in Vienna

partly on professional grounds, and which took such deep root that even

at the present day I know not if I shall succeed in establishing the

truth. It was not surprising that Mozart's widow, in order to stop

the circulation of such injurious representations, should buy up an

impression of this article which appeared under the title of Mozart's

Life (Jos. Georg Hubeck: Gratz, 1794).

A biography which appeared the same year in Sonnleithner's Vienna

Theater-Almanach (p. 94) is only an abridgment of the article in the

Nekrolog; and a French translation was made by Beyle, under the _noms de

plume_ of Bombet and Stendhal, as "Lettres sur Haydn suivies d'une vie

de Mozart" (Paris, 1814). An English translation of the article appeared

in London, 1817, and a revised French version in Paris, 1817.

A "Life of the Imperial Kapellmeister Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart, compiled

from original sources by Franz Niemet-schek" (Prague, 1798), is founded

partly on communications by the family, especially the widow, partly on

personal acquaintance with Mozart: I have made use of the second edition

of this work (1808). Unfortunately it does not enter into details so

much as might be wished, particularly in its later portions; but all

that this excellent, well-informed, and devoted friend records of Mozart

is trustworthy and accurate.

Something more was to be expected from Friedrich Rochlitz, who busied

himself for a considerable time in writing a biography of Mozart. He

had become acquainted with him during his stay in Leipzig in 1789, and

moving much in musical circles with Doles and Hiller, he was so charmed

with the genius and amiability of the master,

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(iv)

that he even then carefully noted whatever appeared remarkable in their

interviews.

When he afterwards proposed to prepare a life of Mozart, both the widow

and the sister supplied him with anecdotes and traits of character, and

the widow further (as I gather from their letters) allowed him to make

use of Mozart's correspondence.

Some of the anecdotes and particulars supplied by the widow and sister

or resulting from his own observation were published in the "Allgemeine

Musikalische Zeitung" (A.M.Z., Vol. I., pp. 17,49,81,113,145,177,480;

Vol. II., pp. 450, 493, 590), and Rochlitz often alluded in later issues

to his acquaintance with Mozart; but there it remained, and I have

failed to discover why he abandoned his idea of a biography. When

Nissen's biography appeared he complained that he had not been called

into counsel by Mosel, and was of opinion that "the widow must have

changed very much in her old age, if she was not proved to have acted

shabbily in this affair" (Vienna, A.M.Z., 1848, p. 209). I set on foot

investigations as to whether Rochlitz had left behind any records or

communications which, springing from now exhausted sources, might be of

service to me in my work. This led to a discovery which, painful as it

is to me to cast a slur on the memory of an otherwise deserving man, I

must yet, in the interests of truth, reveal; I could not fail to observe

that those particulars of Mozart's life which Rochlitz gives as the

result of his own observation or as narrated to him by Mozart, are

peculiar to himself in form and colouring, and that many of the

circumstances which he relates with absolute certainty are manifestly

untrue. I sought to account for these facts as slips of memory or

the result of that kind of self-deception which confounds a logical

inference with a fact springing from it. But my search led to the

further discovery of a parallel (also printed in the A.M.Z.) between

Mozart and Raphael, giving a detailed account of the circumstances of

Mozart's marriage, and with express reference to Mozart's own narrative

of the affair which Rochlitz was supposed to have written down the same

night. Now for the period which is here treated of, that

{INTRODUCTION.}

(v)

is, between 1780 and 1783, Mozart's entire correspondence is preserved,

and any error upon essential points is, as you will readily grant,

impossible. All the statements of Rochlitz as to time, place, persons,

and events are completely false. You will remember my consternation

at this unwelcome discovery; no poetical license could account for it;

unpleasant as it is, I consider it my duty to expose the affair,

partly that it may teach caution, and partly that tedious and vexatious

discussion may be avoided, should the narrative in question ever be

printed.

These anecdotes from the A.M.Z., together with the information of

Schlichtegroll and Niemetschek have formed the chief material for the

more or less complete accounts of Mozart which afterwards appeared; what

was added consisted partly of anecdotes, generally badly authenticated

and often ill-turned, such as gain currency among artists, and partly of

phrases, or turns of speech which, as Zelter says, every one makes for

himself. I must not spare you the enumeration of some of the works of

this class.

Cramer's "Anecdotes sur Mozart" (Paris, 1801), is a mere translation of

the anecdotes; some of them, together with a general account, are also

given by J. B. A. Suard,

"Anecdotes sur Mozart," in his "Mélanges de Littérature", (Paris, 1804),

Vol. II., p. 337, as well as by Guattani, in the "Memorie Enciclopediche

Romane" (Rome, 1806) Vol. I., pp. 107, 134. A work of more pretension is

"Mozarts Geist. Seine kurze Biographie und äthetische Darstellung seiner

Werke. Ein Bildungsbuch für junge Tonkünstler" (Erfurt, 1803). Zelter

asked Goethe to tell him who was the author of this "short biography

half dedicated to Goethe," which was "neither short nor aesthetic, nor a

good likeness of the man," and was not a little surprised to learn that

Goethe knew nothing either of the work or its author ("Correspondence,"

Vol. I., pp. 56, 67,65). It was, however, by J. E. F. Arnold, of

Erfurt, whose subsequent publication, "Mozart und Haydn. Versuch einer

Parallele" (Erfurt, 1810), was scarcely calculated to draw a more

favourable expression of opinion from Zelter.

Of no greater intrinsic value are Hormayr's statements:

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(vi)

in the "Austrian Plutarch" (VII., 2, 15; Vienna, 1807), or Lichtenthal's

"Cenni biografici intorno al celebre Maestro Wolfgango Amadeo Mozart"

(Milan, 1816). I have not been able to procure the "Elogio' storico

di Mozart del Conte Schizzi" (Cremona, 1817). The articles in Gerber's

"Tonkünstlerlexicon" are carefully compiled, but not complete; and

"Mozarts Biographie," by J. A. Schlosser (Prague, 1828; third edition,

1844), is a compilation altogether wanting in judgment.

An unsuspected wealth of fresh resources was brought to light by the

"Biographie W. A. Mozarts," by G. N. v. Nissen. Leipzig, 1828 (with an

appendix). In order to estimate this book justly, and to make a right

use of it, it is necessary to ascertain how and whence it proceeded, a

task of considerably more difficulty than merely mocking and railing at

it.

Nissen, who came to Vienna, after Mozart's death, as a Danish

diplomatist, became acquainted with his widow, and interested himself in

her unprotected condition. He had a great turn for business matters, and

was fond of arranging papers, writing letters, and even copying, without

understanding what it was that he was occupied about. He therefore

willingly undertook to put Mozart's effects in order, to assist

the widow in all her business arrangements, and to carry on her

correspondence. A long series of letters which he wrote in her name

show him to have been a well-meaning, sensible man, somewhat

over-circumstantial in his style of writing. After his marriage with

Mozart's widow he felt it his duty to labour with the same conscientious

care for his memory as he had formerly done for his property, and

he employed the leisure of his remaining years, which were spent at

Salzburg, in carrying out this design.

We ought to own ourselves deeply indebted to him, for without his care

the most important documents and traditions would have been hopelessly

lost. Mozart's sister was then living at Salzburg; her recollections,

and those of his wife, afforded an abundance of characteristic traits,

and the carefully preserved papers and family correspondence, were a

rich mine of authentic documents.

INTRODUCTION.

(vii)

Besides a number of separate deeds, letters, and memoranda, he had at

his disposal: Leopold Mozart's letters to Hagenauer during the journey

to Vienna (September, 1762, to January, 1763); during the great

journey (from June, 1763, to November, 1766); during the Vienna journey

(September, 1767, to December, 1768); letters both of the father and son

to their family during the Italian journey (December, 1769, to March,

1771; from August 13, 1771, to December, 1771; from October, 1772, to

March, 1773); from Vienna (July, 1773, to September, 1773); from Munich

(December, 1774, to March, 1775); Wolfgang's and his mother's letters

home, together with the answers of Leopold and his daughter during

the journey to Paris (September, 1777, to January, 1779); Wolfgang's

correspondence with his father and sister during his journey to Munich

and residence in Vienna. Wolfgang's letters come down to 1784, his

father's to 1781.

Nissen possessed both the industry and the goodwill to turn these

treasures to account; unhappily these qualities do not suffice for such

an undertaking. Not to mention that he has no idea of adaptation or of

description, he had neither taste nor cultivation in music, nor tact to

distinguish what was trivial from what was important; nor was he capable

of accurately conveying an idea. Having had at my service a portion of

the documents made use of by him, I have been able to check him, and

to form an idea of his mode of proceeding. He is never dishonest, never

alters with intent to deceive; but he deals with his documents in the

most summary manner possible. He seldom gives them entire, but only so

much of them as he considers of interest. Unfortunately he is no judge

either of what is musically important nor psychologically interesting,

and thus his selection is often singularly unhappy. He was influenced,

too, by consideration for distinguished living personages, and by the

prejudices of his wife, who naturally wished many family circumstances

to remain untouched; his sins, however, are always those of omission.

But silence, by obscuring the connection of events, and by concealing

the motives of actions, may be as prejudicial as actual

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(viii)

misstatement to historical accuracy, and the sufferer by a too tender

consideration for the feelings of others is invariably the person whose

character it is attempted to depict. Fortunately, for the most important

years of Mozart's life from 1777 onwards, I have been able myself to

make use of the family correspondence; you will see what a different

conception I have thereby been enabled to form of this period. It is of

less importance, but nevertheless a drawback, that Nissen has thought

good to alter the details of style and expression in many of the

letters. Neither father nor son were in need of such emendations, both

writing clearly and shrewdly, and with an individuality all their own;

but even were this not the case, and Nissen the man (which he was not)

to correct their defects, such an effacement of individual character

would remain altogether inexcusable.

Had Nissen confined himself to the publication of the letters and

extracts, together with such information as he could gather from

Mozart's wife and sister, or from other credible witnesses, he would

have done posterity important service. But in attempting more than this

he verified the saying of Hesiod that "the whole is less than the

part." Many manuscripts, newspapers, journals, &c., treating of Mozart's

professional doings, had been preserved among the family archives;

not content with these, Nissen has taken incredible pains to collect

whatever else had been written concerning Mozart; he has then copied

out all that appeared to him important, and has arranged these extracts

categorically as seemed to him good, putting together, for instance, all

that related to one particular work; finally, he has huddled

together these heterogeneous fragments without design, connection, or

explanation. If this confused and ill-proportioned mass is to be made

use of at all, it must be separated into its component parts, and these

must be restored to their proper place and connection; it may fairly be

taken for granted that where any idea or judgment is expressed, Nissen

is not speaking in his own person. He has, however, simplified the task

of restoring each fragment to its proper position by a catalogue of the

{INTRODUCTION.}

(ix)

writings in which Mozart is mentioned; and although some documents made

use of by him have since disappeared,

I have been able in almost every case to discover his authorities. In

most cases these are of little value; but among much that is worthless,

there are here and there communications resting on family traditions,

which Nissen has tacitly appropriated with but slight alterations; it

is undoubtedly desirable to be able to appeal to the original in such

cases, but for the most part they speak for themselves, and are seldom

of importance.

The statements I have made were necessary for the proper use of Nissen's

work; but you must not, therefore, imagine that I am unjust towards

him. True the mass of printed matter is enough to drive one to absolute

despair; but when it is remembered that a large proportion of the

documents he embodies have since dissappeared, we must be grateful to

the man who has enabled us to take so comprehensive a glance into

an artist's life, and who has laboured with unselfish reverence for

Mozart's memory, while a succeeding generation did not think it worth

while even to preserve the documents which Nissen made use of.

It must not be lost sight of either, that Nissen did not see his work

through the press; he died on March 24, 1826, before it was put in hand,

and it is quite possible that he would have improved it in many ways

upon final revision.

It is significant that although all were agreed that Nissen's book

was unreadable without alteration and adaptation, no writer in Germany

undertook the task, and that it was left to foreigners to turn the

treasure to account. Fétis undertook

it in his "Biographie Universelle des Musiciens," IV., p. 432 (Brussels,

1840), VI., p. 222 (2nd edit., Brussels, 1864), so far as it could be

done within the narrow limits of a general work of the kind.

But the obvious task of compiling an interesting and readable biography

by means of an orderly arrangement of the really interesting portions of

Nissen's materials was first undertaken by Edward Holmes, in his "Life

of Mozart, including his Correspondence" (London, 1845).

Holmes has arranged the essential portions of the

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(x)

correspondence with intelligence and discrimination, and has connected them

by a narrative built upon previous notices; he has thus produced a

trustworthy and, as far as was possible, an exhaustive account of

Mozart's life. Holmes has, moreover, made use of André's published

Catalogue of Mozart's Works, and the indications there given of their

date of appearance. He undertook a journey through Germany to inspect

the original manuscripts in André's possession, and to collect stray

oral traditions. He took care to make himself acquainted with musical

literature, and the result is a work which must be considered as the

most trustworthy and serviceable biography that could be produced by a

skilful employment of the materials generally accessible. Holmes has not

attempted to draw from hitherto unknown sources; he neither carries

his researches to any depth, nor offers any original opinions or

explanations.

The letters of both Mozarts, father and son, were edited by J. Goschler

in a spirit which is indicated clearly enough by the title of his book,

"Mozart; Vie d'un Artiste Chrétien au XVIII. siècle." Paris, 1857.

Alexander Ulibichefï proceeded from quite another point of view in his

work, "Nouvelle Biographie de Mozart, suivie d'un aperçu sur l'histoire

générale de la musique, et de l'analyse des principales ouvres de

Mozart" (Moscow, 1843), in three parts, which is generally known in

Germany in the translations of A. Schraishuon (Stuttgart, 1847), and of

L. Gantte (Stuttgart, 1859). The enthusiastic reverence of the author

for Mozart speaks from every page, and involved many years of study and

many real sacrifices; but this must not blind our judgment as to the

intrinsic value of his work. I do not fear your reproaching me in

the words of the old proverb about the kettle reproving the pot, if

I express myself freely as to what I consider the weak points of this

book. Ulibicheffs main object has been a critical and aesthetic analysis

of Mozart's later works, on which his fame mainly rests, and which

bear the most perfect impress of his genius. The author's

observations, therefore, are confined to a definite portion of Mozart's

compositions--the best known, because the greatest--and any idea of

extending

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xi)

them does not seem to have occurred to him. Anything further in his

works is meant to serve only as a foundation for those observations.

He does not fail to perceive that the greatness of perfected genius

can only be apprehended by a knowledge of the gradual stages of its

achievement, and that, since Mozart takes his place in the history of

music by something more than mere chance, the whole process of musical

development is necessarily incorporated in his progress.

Ulibicheff is content to extract all that seems to point to his

conclusions from Nissen's account of Mozart's development. He makes up

for his reticence in this direction by expatiating freely on the general

history of the art. In fact, his review of the whole history of music

results only in the observation that since any exceptional phenomenon is

the sum and crown of all that has gone before, therefore the development

of modern music in every direction, from Guido of Arezzo, onwards, has

its _raison d'etre_ in the production of Mozart, who is to be considered

as its perfect expression.

No one knows better than yourself, my friend, the false conclusions to

which this exaggeration of an idea, true and suggestive in itself, has

led. The partiality of enthusiasm and dilettantism join issue here. It

needs no great penetration to discover that Ulibicheffs epitome of

the history of music is not the result of impartial research, or of a

practical knowledge of even the more important works of past ages, but

that it is compiled from a few easily recognised works with the express

object of demonstrating that all that has gone before has its end and

consummation in Mozart. An author who can seriously maintain that the

great masters of counterpoint, Palestrina, Bach, and Handel were only

called into being in order that the Requiem might be produced, an author

who can only grasp and develop the idea of natural progress up to a

certain point and no further--that author has surely mastered neither

the idea of progress, nor the nature of the art, nor the work of

the master whom he seeks to honour. Such a partial and exclusive

appreciation of any artist may satisfy individual taste, for which it is

proverbially impossible to account; but scientific investigation,

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xii)

which can always be accounted for, seeing that it proceeds from a

rational basis, rejects it at once and altogether. You will, I know,

agree with me that the critic who, like Ulibicheff, depreciates

Beethoven in order to maintain Mozart on his pedestal, does not

understand Mozart. The distortion and exaggeration of such an idea

leads further to the neglect of those clues to a right understanding of

Mozart's development which exist in the circumstances of his life, in

his youthful works, and in the conditions of his age and surroundings.

These had all direct effect upon his genius, and, in so far as they are

disregarded, our conception of the man and the artist will be defective.

I am, of course, far from denying that Uübicheff has brought to the

performance of his task considerable power of delicate aesthetic

analysis, together with much spirit and ingenuity. But his analysis of

particular works does not start from artistic form, the specific basis

of all works of art; he never seeks to demonstrate how the universal

laws of art, under certain conditions, govern all concrete forms

according to the individuality of the artist (a difficult task in music,

but still essential to its true understanding); instead of this he

contents himself with giving us his own reflections on the various

compositions he analyses, and the feelings and ideas which they suggest

to himself. Such reflections are pleasant and entertaining when they

proceed from a clever and cultivated mind; but they are usually more

characteristic of the author than of his subject, and are mainly

satisfactory to those who fail to grasp the substance of a work of art,

and are fain to content themselves with its shadow.

Uübicheff invariably displays both intellect and cultivation, but it is

the cultivation of a man of the world, not that of a musician, which has

no bias of enthusiasm or dilettantism; his remarks seldom reach the

root of the matter, and are often deceptive in their brilliancy, thus

accomplishing little for a better appreciation of his subject.

Do not be alarmed, my dear friend, at the invidious position in which I

place myself and my work by my want of reserve as to others. My cause

is that of knowledge, and I must have a clear understanding as to my

powers,

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xiii)

and the means at my disposal, for accomplishing the task before me;

least of all would I appear to deprecate censure on my own work by

sparing it to that of others. You are aware that music has, from my

youth up, occupied a large share of my time and thoughts, so much so,

that my elders were in the habit of shaking their heads and auguring

ill for my philological studies. They may have been right; I must at any

rate acknowledge that music has ever been to me quite as serious a study

as philology, and that I have striven to acquire such a thorough and

scientific knowledge as should give me an insight into its nature and

mechanism.

I considered it therefore as a duty to myself to turn to account the

labour that had occupied a good share of my life, and I embraced with

eagerness the opportunity of dedicating my researches to the great

masters, to whom I owed so much. I believed myself justified in

considering that a representation of the life and works of a great

master offers so many sides, and makes so many demands, that only united

forces can prove themselves fully equal to the task. If, therefore, I

was obliged, perforce, to leave much that was essential to the musician

by profession, my greater practice in scientific method might advance

the undertaking in other and not less important directions. Consoled by

these reflections, I set to work.

The task I proposed to myself was a thorough investigation of the

sources available for a trustworthy and exhaustive account of Mozart's

life, with special reference to all that was calculated to affect his

moral and musical development in the general conditions of his time, and

in the local and personal circumstances which influenced him; and,

in addition, a history of his development as an artist, and a

characterisation of his artistic performances as comprehensive as a

thorough study and appreciation of his compositions could make it. No

side of this task could be treated altogether independently, both the

researches and the remarks resulting from them, touching now one, now

the other; in the biography as in the individual, the artist and the man

are indissolubly united

I soon became painfully aware of the insufficiency of my

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xiv)

materials, and the scattered additions to Nissen's collection which

came in from time to time were but scanty gleanings; it was essential to

reach the original sources. My journey to Vienna in 1852 was undertaken,

as you know, chiefly with the object of collecting such traditions of

Beethoven as might remain there; I did not hope to find much which might

lead to a closer knowledge of Mozart.

Living testimony as to his life, person, or circumstances was almost

extinct, little of what I learnt was from impressions at first hand, and

it was generally necessary to guard against such communications as the

result of book knowledge distorted by verbal transmission.

Nevertheless, my visit was an instructive one even as concerned Mozart.

Widely different as was the Vienna of 1852 from the Vienna of 1780 to

1790, yet much was gained by actual observation and impressions, which

could not be given by books, and which operates more in the colour and

tone of the whole representation that in any precise details.

Intercourse, also, with accomplished friends led to much which would

otherwise have remained untouched.

My valued friend Karajan in particular, with his musical knowledge and

his intimate acquaintance with Vienna, rendered my stay in that city

as instructive as it was agreeable. He had a good opportunity of

experiencing how much trouble one is capable of giving to a friend who

is always ready with explanations, and willing to enter on the driest

search into matters of detail, if he can thereby help forward another.

At the Imperial Library I found not only the different manuscripts of

the Requiem which serve as the surest testimony on the much debated

question of its authorship, but many other important manuscripts and

rich material of all kinds, my access to which I owe to the unfailing

courtesy of the custodian, A. Schmid.

But the most important aid came from Aloys Fuchs. With extraordinary

perseverance he had collected every writing that in any way related to

Mozart, and with a disinterested liberality, rare among collectors, he

placed at my service all that he possessed and all that he knew.

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xv)

His chronological catalogue of all Mozart's works, published and

unpublished, was of the greatest service to me, as well as the long list

of documents, newspapers, journals, and pamphlets, which he had either

in the original or copies.

I sometimes regretted, however, that the collection was made more in

the spirit of a collector than in the interests of science; so that, for

example, he has scarcely ever noted the source of his extracts; but much

was brought to my notice which would scarcely otherwise have occurred to

me, much trouble was spared, and a number of Mozart's letters were

made known to me for the first time. I was unfortunately prevented

from thoroughly examining Fuchs's valuable collection of Mozart's

compositions in their different editions and copies; my time was short,

and I hoped to be able to avail myself of a future opportunity for doing

so. This hope was frustrated by the death of Aloys Fuchs a few months

after I left Vienna. It has been a painful feeling to me not to be able

to express my gratitude for so much friendly service by offering to him

the book in which I know he would have taken pleasure.

The greatest service which he rendered me, however, was the intelligence

that all that were preserved of Mozart's letters had been presented to

the Mozarteum in Salzburg by the Frau Baroni-Cavalcabo, to whom they

were bequeathed by Mozart's son Wolfgang. In November of the same year I

repaired, therefore, to Salzburg. I here found the only remains of

that complete correspondence which Nissen had edited, viz., the letters

between 1777 and 1784, just as he had made use of them; fortunately they

embraced the most important period of the biography. A cursory glance

convinced me that Nissen had been not only inexact and arbitrary in his

selections in matters of detail, but that he had altogether suppressed

the most important events affecting the proper understanding of the

period. Here, then was much to be done; but it was richly worth the

trouble. Through the kind assistance of the secretary of the Mozarteum,

Dr. v. Hilleprandt, and of the custodian, Jelinek, I was enabled to

give my whole attention to the work. I collated the letters printed by

Nissen, like an

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xvi)

old schoolman, copying them entire or making voluminous extracts. One

may boast of one's industry, and I can offer an unimpeachable witness of

mine in old Theresa at the Golden Ox, who afterwards forgot my name, but

remembered me as the professor who sat in his room for more than three

weeks writing from morning to night. Fortunately, it was bad weather, or

it would have been too hard a trial, even for a professor, to sit in his

room all day at Salzburg. But the usually hateful task of transcription

was on this occasion a real enjoyment. I could fancy myself in

intercourse with the man himself as I lived his life again letter by

letter.

I could realise the emotions of joy or sorrow which had prompted his

words, the impressions which they had made on the recipients, and even

the variations in the handwriting grew to have their own significance.

It is my most earnest wish that some breath of this feeling may have

passed into my own performance, but it would scarcely be possible

to' reproduce the inspiration which contact with the letters awoke in

myself.

On the completion of this task, I made researches for any of Mozart's

compositions which might still remain in Salzburg; I failed, however,

to discover any. Although Mozart's sister, his widow, and her sister had

lived in Salzburg within the last ten years, it had occurred to no one

to make inquiries concerning their great countryman, or to preserve to

posterity the rich treasures of family tradition which encircled

his whole life; I found, when I inquired, that all was as completely

forgotten, as irrecoverably lost as his grave. Nor had anything further

been preserved in the way of family papers and documents. (After

the death of Mozart's eldest son Carl, all that he possessed of

letters--written during the journeys of 1762 to 1775--and other

documents, were placed in the Mozarteum.)

Treasure such as that correspondence I could scarcely expect to excavate

elsewhere; but through the kindness of friends and well-wishers

many letters have been placed at my disposal which have added to the

interest, more particularly of Mozart's later years. I have no doubt

that many

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xvii)

documents are still hidden in autograph collections and elsewhere;

perchance my book may open the eyes of the possessors to the true value

of their treasures, and I shall consider it as a rich reward of my

labours if they aid in bringing to light any such relics of Mozart.

Assistance of another kind, not less important than the foregoing,

came from André's collection. It is well known; that the Hofrath André

purchased from Mozart's widow the entire collection of Mozart's original

manuscripts, of printed and unprinted works, and this collection,

with the exception of a few pieces disposed of at an earlier date, was

preserved in Frankfort entire, in the possession of André's heirs, as

denoted by a "Thematic Catalogue of the original manuscripts by Mozart

in the possession of Hofrath André" (Offenbach, 1841). Leopold Mozart

carefully preserved all Wolfgang's youthful works, and at his death they

came into the son's possession: although not by any means so careless

about his compositions as he has been represented, he, nevertheless,

lost or gave away a considerable number. After his death, however, it

was found that his works previous to his residence in Vienna had been

preserved almost entire, and by far the greater number of those of later

years. André's collection contains further the enumeration, in Mozart's

own handwriting, of his works from his earliest years in almost unbroken

succession to his death. The more important and greater number of his

compositions previous to 1780 are still unprinted, and many of the

printed ones are so carelessly edited that a comparison with the

original is indispensable. The importance of André's collection is

manifest, and it is probable that none of equal value, historical

and artistic, exists for any other great master, whatever be his art.

(Unhappily, the apprehension that Germany could conceive no worthier or

more lasting way of honouring Mozart than by the erection of statues and

busts has been fulfilled, and Mozart's manuscripts have already been in

great measure dispersed.)

Convinced that a review of Mozart's musical development would be

impossible without an exhaustive knowledge of his youthful works, I

repaired to Frankfort in the summer

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xviii)

of 1853, in order to examine this remarkable collection. The brothers

Carl and Julius André granted me ready access to it, and kindly prepared

me an apartment in their house, where I had full liberty to study the

MSS. and make what notes and extracts I pleased; a task which occupied

five weeks. As it proceeded, I could not but feel that the most accurate

notices could not give the fresh impression of the actual work. Here

again, the brothers André came to my aid, displaying throughout a warmth

of interest in my work, and a liberality which I could not have ventured

to expect; they provided me, as my work progressed, with each particular

manuscript on which I was engaged, so that my remarks could be grounded

on the actual examination of every composition. Without the confidence

and aid of these gentlemen, my book could not have succeeded in

attaining that wherein I place its essential value. It is owing to

their courtesy and kindness that I may boast, not only of a perfect

acquaintance with all Mozart's works, with few and unimportant

exceptions, but also of having enjoyed the singular happiness and

advantage of studying the greater number of them in his own handwriting.

You will perceive, my dear friend, that all this led, of necessity, to

fresh disclosures, to a fuller and more accurate insight into that which

had hitherto been only partially known; and you will further take for

granted that I, as a "philolog," would not neglect such researches into

the literature of my subject as should bring together the scattered

materials available for my task. But you must keep in mind that

musical literature is not so accessible as philological; and that many

expedients, which lighten our labours in the latter path, are wholly

wanting in the former. I am, therefore, far from flattering myself that

I have even approached a complete study of the literature of my subject.

I only aimed at such a study so far as it concerned main principles; for

to become acquainted with, or even to quote, everything that has been

thought, dreamt, or raved concerning Mozart's music was as far from my

intention as from my desire. I was more than satisfied with what came in

my way of this kind in the course of my reading, and my

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xix)

readers will be more than satisfied with what I offer them of it by way

of example.

My first aim, then, was the verification and authentication of facts,

and their unbiassed statement, so far as this was of interest. The

written or authentic verbal traditions of Mozart and his family were

here my chief dependence, and, except where some special authority is

adduced, Nissen's correspondence forms the basis of my narrative. But

since it was my wish to bring together all that appeared of lasting

interest, and to dispense with Nissen's collection, for all readers who

do not desire to search and prove for themselves, I have, therefore,

quoted verbally from the letters wherever it was feasible, and have

not hesitated to displace them where it answered my purpose in the

narrative. I have in every case indicated the letters by their date,

without mentioning whether they have been printed by Nissen or not.

(They may be readily referred to in the careful collection of L. Nohl,

"Mozarts Briefe": Salzburg, 1865.)

I must remark, by the way, that my version cannot be verified by Nissen,

since his is neither accurate nor entire; and in order to avoid any

misunderstanding, I may also mention, that besides the collections

referred to above, many single letters of Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart

have come to hand, to which I was able to make more exact reference. As

a matter of course, I have made use of originals whenever they were to

be had, and of Nissen's version only when they were wanting. From you,

my dear friend, I need only request confidence in my scrupulous honesty

as to these matters, and I have hope that my book may inspire the reader

with a belief in the accuracy of my rendering. It need scarcely be

said that I have not made the slightest alteration in the style and

expressions of the letters. I have only taken a few liberties with

the orthography in order not to distract the reader's attention

unnecessarily from the characterisation. I have accurately indicated any

reference to authorities other than the letters.

It has been my aim to represent, not only what immediately concerns

Mozart, but also the time in which he lived, his circumstances, and the

persons with whom he came in

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xx)

contact, so far as all these affected the development of his genius. And

here again I found the need of trustworthy information. Well informed

as we may be on the history of literature and culture during the latter

half of the eighteenth century, yet our information as to musical events

and persons is meagre and obscure, and we know least of those regions

which are of the greatest interest in the history of music. I doubt not

that an historian, occupied with the study of this age, would discover

much that has escaped me of interest, although I have heard even such

complain of the poverty of material.

I have striven with a certain amount of zeal to bring together all that

appeared to render my narrative more graphic and lifelike, and have not

refrained from adducing my authorities, partly for the sake of accuracy,

partly to point the way to those who find the subject of interest. I

have gone even further than this, and have added to the names of many

persons, principally musicians, of whom mention had to be made, a short

notice of their life and sometimes an epitome of their performances. It

is probable that the minority of my readers will already have such facts

in their minds, and they are essential to a clear perception of the

whole work: I have been anxious to spare them the trouble of continual

reference to a biographical dictionary.

I have confined myself to the accessible and, of its kind, excellent

Dictionary of Musicians by Gerber and Fétis, but my own investigations,

leading me into the detailed history of this time, have not seldom

supplied additional data for such notices; I remark this not to

depreciate the merit of those works, but that it may not be supposed

that my statements can always be verified by a reference to accessible

authorities.

You may perhaps smile at the zeal of the "philolog" betraying itself in

such minute particulars. Be it so. I hold to my craft, and occasionally

you will not find it amiss that I do so.

I may remark besides, not to you, but to those who hold in horror notes,

digressions, quotations, and references as the merciless weapons of

pedantry, that they need not for this

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xxi)

reason at once reject my book. I have striven so to write that the text

is complete in itself and requires no notes for its comprehension; and

those who do not desire the information they contain, may contentedly

pass them over. On the other hand, I hope that you will uphold my

opinion that the application of the scientific method even to these

researches, cannot but be to their advantage. This is perhaps most

strikingly evident in the chronological notification of each separate

work.

We are well supplied with chronological information as to Mozart's

compositions. From 1784 onwards we possess his own carefully compiled

thematic catalogue which André has edited (Offenbach, 1805 and 1828).

On earlier compositions the data is generally correctly given with the

autograph signature, and the list of authentically dated works comprises

by far their greater number. But not quite all; the autograph is wanting

to many, and they are not all dated. It thus becomes necessary to

resort to classification resting on the external evidence of paper and

handwriting, and the internal evidence of style and technical treatment,

as well as on the testimony of witnesses.

Hofrath André compiled for his own use a chronological catalogue coming

down to the year 1784, of which I have made use. It contains many

suggestive remarks, and did me good service, although, of course, it

could not spare me my own investigations, by means of which I have, in

most cases, come to a solution of my difficulties. The catalogue which I

have compiled with considerable pains will, I hope, recommend itself by

its brevity, clearness, and trustworthiness. I was obliged to give up

the idea of noting what had been already printed, where, and how often;

to do this with completeness and exactitude would require an amount of

time and study which it was out of my power to bestow.

The treatment of historical facts, both in detail and as a whole, has

its own secure and beaten path. Its final object is truth, and my sole

concern has been to discover and set forth the truth. No consideration

for others has led me to conceal what was essential or important for the

due understanding of Mozart as a man and an artist; neither have I

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xxii)

been tempted to silence on points which were to his disadvantage.

Public opinion on his achievements as a fully developed artist is firmly

established, and is perhaps only susceptible of modifications of detail

and degree; but my work is the first attempt that has been made towards

a correct judgment of Mozart as a student and as a man. It has been a

pleasure to me to find that as I proceeded, my admiration, esteem, and

love for Mozart were constantly on the increase; but not on any account

would I have my representation of his character considered in the light

of an apology. It is my firm conviction that injustice is done to great

men by concealing or slurring over their failings; we serve them best by

seeking to make them understood just as they were.

An attempt to lay Mozart's individuality before the reader seemed hardly

complete without some presentation of his outward appearance. You will

find, therefore, in this book, the charming picture of Mozart as a boy,

engraved from the portrait in oils, painted in Verona in 1770; also

the characteristic portrait from the family group in the Mo-zarteum at

Salzburg, which was painted in 1780, and an engraving of Tischbein's

portrait, painted at Mayence in 1790. I have thought it right, further,

in a work which is intended to transmit traditions, to preserve the

well-known profile of Posch's medallion, which served as a model for

all early portraits, more and more unlike in every copy, and yet always

like. Various fac-similes of Mozart's handwriting are also given, and

I do not fear that you will find out of place a portrait of his father,

also taken from the Salzburg family picture.

May I add one word on the musical criticism contained in my work? I am

quite aware that it must stand on its own merits, and I am only anxious

to express my full consciousness of the difficulty of my undertaking.

That the substance of a musical work cannot be verbally represented,

and that its effect on the hearer is incapable of being reproduced

by description, least of all by a climax of high-sounding adjectives,

admits of no dispute. Properly speaking, as Schumann once wished for the

musical critic, when a

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xxiii)

composition is discussed, there should be singers and instrumentalists

ready at hand to perform it. But this being scarcely feasible, we are

driven to a verbal attempt at reproducing the essence of the work. Such

an attempt can only succeed by starting from artistic form, and

showing how its laws and types, its technical conditions, its manifold

application and development, are all represented in the most individual

modifications. A general idea of the work, however, is all that can be

arrived at by this means; the immediate impressions made upon the mind

by its performance cannot be reproduced; neither can the attempt to

express in words the artistic frame of mind which finds its expression

in the forms of the work be altogether successful, and it is impossible

to apprehend the degree in which the artistic mood imbues the artistic

form otherwise than by observation of the work itself.

Descriptions of musical works, therefore, since music cannot, like

painting, borrow analogies from visible nature, must remain mere

approximations of the original; they become more definite in proportion

as they fall in with the reader's own experiences, and find in these

analogies and, as it were, precedents for the new ideas it is sought

to convey. The main difficulty consists in the fact that among a large

circle of readers (which I know you wish for me) the degrees of musical

cultivation to which appeal may be made are necessarily very varied. It

would be impossible, on this account, to treat the subject in the purely

technical manner which would be the shortest and most convenient were

musicians only addressed; neither can every separate point be treated

from its very beginning, without a presupposition of some knowledge and

comprehension on the part of the reader. There only remains then, as it

seems to me, such a consideration of musical form from varied points of

view, and proceeding in varied directions, yet always with reference

to some particular case, as shall bring into play the reader's special

musical experiences and assist him to a true understanding of the

subject. If he should be struck with only one particular point and

should feel it become a reality for

{LIFE OF MOZART.}

(xxiv)

him, he will henceforward have a clue to the mastery of the rest. To

this end I hope that my historical survey of the development of musical

forms, and my general observations concerning the laws of the art, may

tend. And here I must remark that I have had no intention of providing

the technical musician with a theoretical analysis of separate works,

but that my characterisation has been limited by the position of its

object in the whole representation. I leave you to judge, my dear

friend, how far, under these difficult circumstances, I have succeeded

in expressing myself clearly and forcibly; I can only affirm with

confidence that all that I have said has been realised and experienced

by myself.

The sympathy and assistance of my honoured friend Hauptmann has been a

source of great gratification to me during the publication of my book.

I do not desire to impose upon him any share of responsibility in it,

by thanking him for the care with which he has overlooked the author

as well as the compositor; but you will understand how I have been

encouraged and refreshed during my labours by continual proofs of

his friendly sympathy, and how sorely I miss my pleasant personal

intercourse with him.

The hour is late, my dear friend, later than it was our wont to separate

after our musical revels, which, in the opinion of your amiable wife,

often lasted far too long.

Farewell, and accept my book with the same cordial sympathy and

indulgence which I have hitherto found so invaluable.

OTTO JAHN.

Bonn, November 30, 1855.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION.

MY DEAR FRIEND,--I can scarcely describe to you the depression of

spirits with which I laid aside my pen at the close of my foregoing

letter to you. When I looked at the thick volume before me, which had

grown so wonderfully under my hands, and reflected that several others

were to follow, I felt a misgiving amounting to certainty that my work

was ill-planned, badly executed, or altogether out of place. I should

not have believed any one who had prophesied the result that was

actually to follow. The gradual conviction that I had been mistaken,

that the book was a success beyond anything I had dared to expect, the

many proofs I received of acknowledgment and sympathy, were my best

encouragement to apply my whole energies to the completion of my arduous

task.

When it became necessary to prepare a second edition, I rejoiced at

the prospect of revising the whole work in the light of my acquired

experience, and hoped that this labour of love would recompense me

for all my pains. In this expectation I was, however, deceived; the

revision, which I now lay before you, assumed the proportions of a heavy

task, requiring the exertions of all my powers for its accomplishment.

The gloom of the last few years cast its shadows even over my work, as

you, who seek and recognise the living author behind his words, will

not fail to discover; I trust that you will also find traces of the

conscientiousness with which I have striven to perform my appointed

task.

You will agree with me in thinking that it would have been unadvisable

to subvert the whole design of the book in substance and form, and that

I must content myself with such improvements in matters of detail as

would bring me

{LIFE OF MOZART,}

(xxvi)

somewhat nearer to the end I had in view. It was, of course, my first

endeavour to rectify such errors and remove such blemishes as had been

observed either by myself or others, and I then proceeded to turn to

account all the materials that had come to hand for the completion or

enrichment of my narrative. I had become the fortunate possessor of

copies of Mozart's complete correspondence, so far as I know it to

exist. If, as I trust was the case, the extracts already before the

public had been found useful and trustworthy, there could be no doubt

that the completed version would render my narrative more accurate and

lifelike. In addition, I had now Mozart's entire compositions, either

autograph or copied, so that I could confirm my account and my criticism

of each work by direct reference.

Besides these efficient materials for the confirmation of my main

authorities, I had received numerous separate communications, partly

from friends to whom I owe much gratitude, partly from publications of

the last ten years bearing upon my subject, some of which have been of

great service to me.

The most important aid, both to myself and to the readers of this

edition, has been afforded by Ludwig v. Köchel's "Chronologischthematisches

Verzeichniss sammtlicher Tonwerke W. A. Mozarts" (Leipzig,

1862). The necessity for such a catalogue had so strongly impressed me

that I had resolved on compiling it myself, when I fortunately learned

that Köchel was at work upon it. I was speedily convinced that it was in

far better hands than mine, and it gave me genuine pleasure to afford

it such assistance as was in my power. Unexampled assiduity, sparing

neither sacrifice nor exertion, has produced a work which, from the

completeness of its research and the accuracy of its execution, may

serve as a model. A few addenda and corrections were indeed unavoidable:

Kochel has himself indicated some (Allg. Mus. Ztg., 1864, p. 493),

and you will find two or three trifling ones in my book. The fact that

Köchel's catalogue contains a complete chronological and biographical

account of all Mozart's compositions freed my book from all the notices

and references found necessary

{INTRODUCTION.}

(xxvii)

in corroboration of my statements. A reference to the number in Köchel's

catalogue became, in most cases, sufficient; and I was able also to omit

notices of errors in the published works which Köchel had remarked upon.

These, as far as the great operas are concerned, will soon be rendered

still more superfluous by the projected new edition of the scores from

the autograph originals. Köche's friendship, which I regard as the

greatest gain of our common labours, has aided and supported me

throughout the preparation of this edition. I will not attempt to

enumerate all that he has communicated, verified, and brought into

agreement for me: he knows the amount of his aid and of my gratitude.

Sonnleithner, Karajan, Pohl, Jul. André, have been equally obliging in

satisfying my demands and inquiries. Special thanks are due to them

if my book attains that accuracy of detail, wherein I place its chief

value. I may claim to have made tolerably exhaustive use of all that has

been published concerning Mozart during the last ten years, but you will

scarcely expect me to enumerate all my corrections and improvements.

It has been my aim to retain all that had been proved good in my work,

while making such additions as served to place my subject more clearly

and fully before my readers.

If a perusal of my second edition should leave you with the impression

that the task of revision and correction has been an easy one, I shall,

whatever my convictions to the contrary, congratulate myself on having

approached the object which I have kept steadily in view.

Accept my book, then, in its new dress, with the old spirit of

friendship, and gladden the heart of its author once more by the

sympathy he has never yet found wanting.

OTTO JAHN.

Bonn, March 6, 1867.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.

CONSIDERABLE doubt has existed in the mind of the translator as to the

proper English equivalent for the word "clavier" throughout this work.

Clavier is a generic term in German, and is used to denote any keyed

instrument, whether harpsichord, clavichord, or pianoforte. Mozart's

compositions for the clavier are equally available for all these

instruments, and in his early years he performed indifferently on the

harpsichord or clavichord. His first introduction to the pianoforte was

at Augsburg, in 1777, and he did not become familiar with the instrument

until after his settlement in Vienna in 1781. It has been thought best,

therefore, to leave the word _clavier_ untranslated up to this date,

after which it is translated _pianoforte_, whether it is applied to

Mozart's performances or to his compositions.

It has not been thought advisable to give in the English edition of the

work all the Appendixes which appear in the German. Many of them are of

interest only in the original, others have already been translated

among Mozart's correspondence. Those which seemed likely to interest

the English reader have been translated. The musical Appendixes have all

been omitted as bulky and unnecessary.

The only part of Herr Jahn's work against which the charge of

incompleteness can fairly be brought is the Index; an entirely new one

has therefore been made for the English edition, and will, it is hoped,

be found minute and accurate.

LIFE OF MOZART.

CHAPTER I. -- CHILDHOOD

WOLFGANG AMADE MOZART came of a family belonging originally to the

artisan class. We find his ancestors settled in Augsburg early in the

seventeenth century, and following their calling there without any great

success.[1001] His grandfather, Johann Georg Mozart, a bookbinder, married,

October 7, 1708, Anna Maria Peterin, the widow of another bookbinder,

Augustin Banneger.2 From this union sprang two daughters and three sons,

viz.: Fr. Joseph Ignaz, Franz Alois (who carried on his father's trade

in his native town), and Johann Georg Leopold Mozart, born on November

14, 1719, the father of the Mozart of our biography.8 Gifted with a

keen intellect and firm will he early formed the resolution of raising

himself to a higher position in the world than that hitherto occupied by

his family; and in his later years he could point with just elation to

his own arduous efforts, and the success which had crowned them, when he

was urging his son to the same steady perseverance.

When Wolfgang visited Augsburg in 1777, he gathered many particulars of

his father's youth which refreshed the recollections of Leopold himself.

We find him writing to his son (October 10, 1777) how, as a boy, he had

sung a cantata at the monastery of St. Ulrich, for the wedding of the

Hofrath Oefele, and how he had often climbed the broken steps to the

organ loft, to sing treble at the Feast

{CHILDHOOD.}

(4)

of the Holy Cross (November 29, 1777). He afterwards became an excellent

organist: a certain Herr von Freisinger, of Munich, told Wolfgang

(October 10, 1777) that he knew his father well, he had studied with

him, and "had the liveliest recollections of Wessobrunn where my father

(this was news to me) played the organ remarkably well. He said: 'It

was wonderful, to see his hands and feet going together, but exceedingly

fine--yes, he was an extraordinary man. My father thought very highly

of him. And how he used to jeer at the priests, when they wanted him to

turn monk.'" This last must have been of peculiar interest to Wolfgang,

who knew his father only as a devout and strict observer of the Catholic

religion. But Leopold remembered the days of his youth, and wrote to

his wife (December 15, 1777): "Let me ask, if Wolfgang has not of late

neglected to go to confession? God should ever be first in our thoughts!

to Him alone must we look for earthly happiness, and we should ever keep

eternity in view; young people, I know, are averse to hearing of these

things; I was young myself once; but God be thanked, I always came to

myself after my youthful follies, fled from all dangers to my soul, and

kept steadily in view God, and my honour, and the dangerous consequences

of indulgence in sin."

Long-continued exertions and self-denial laid the foundation of Leopold

Mozart's character in a conscientious earnestness and devotion to duty

in great things as in small; they had the effect also of rendering his

judgment of others somewhat hard and uncompromising. This is observable

in his relations as an official, and as a teacher, and in his dealings

on matters of religion. He was a strict Catholic, and feared nothing

so much for his children as the influence which a prolonged stay in

Protestant countries might exert on their faith; he remarked with

surprise that his travelling companions, Baron Hopfgarten and Baron

Bose, had often edified him with their discourse, although they were

Lutherans (Paris, April 1, 1764).

When in London, he became acquainted with the excellent violoncellist

Siprutini, son of a Dutch Jew, who had broken loose from Judaism and

"was content to believe in

{L. MOZART'S CHARACTER.}

(5)

one God, to love Him first, and his neighbour as himself, and to live

an honest life"; L. Mozart gained an acknowledgment from him that of all

the Christian creeds the Catholic was the best, and was not without hope

of converting him altogether (September 13, 1764).

He fulfilled all the duties which the Church requires of her children

with conscientiousness and zeal; we find him ordering masses to be said,

buying relics, &c., whenever occasion offers.

The strictly orthodox, almost ascetic, rules of life which the reigning

archbishop, Sigismund, followed and enforced in his court and in all

Salzburg must have had the effect of deepening this side of L. Mozart's

character; while the greater freedom in church matters enjoyed under

Sigis-mund's successor, Hieronymus, was not without its influence,

evinced by his becoming late in life a freemason. There can be no doubt

that L. Mozart was a man of genuine piety, which stood firm amid strong

temptations and the most trying circumstances. It was in accordance

with his education and position in life that this piety found no better

justification and expression than those provided by his Church. His

performance of his duties to God and the Church was undertaken in the

same rigorous spirit which characterised him in all the relations of

life. But he was too sensible not to remonstrate with his daughter when

she chose rather to endanger her health than to be absent from mass

(July 28, 1786). He was entirely free from superstition, and when some

one wrote to him of a ghost-story he declared that "it must be only

an hysterical illusion of the maid-servant." Again, he had "invariably

found that begging sisterhoods were the signs of much moral degradation

concealed under the cloak of hypocrisy" (December 16, 1785). It would be

a great mistake to consider the elder Mozart as a narrow-minded bigot.

United to a shrewd, clear intellect, for the cultivation of which he

made extraordinary efforts, he possessed a decided turn for raillery

and sarcasm. His painful endeavours to work himself free of his petty

surroundings, his habit of looking beyond the narrow horizon which

encircled him, encouraged in him a cynical

{CHILDHOOD.}

(6)

turn of mind. It grew to be a settled conviction with him that

selfishness is the only motive of human action on which we can safely

reckon, and which, therefore, we must strive to turn to account: a

belief in disinterested philanthropy or friendship is a folly which

seldom goes unpunished. Nor should we have any faith in an innate love

of truth. "Take it as an universal truth," he writes (October 6, 1785),

"all men tell lies, and add to the truth, or take away from it, just

as it suits their purpose. Especially must we believe nothing which,

if known, would add to the reputation of the speaker or flatter his

interlocutor, for that is sure to be false." This distrust of mankind he

sought to implant in his son, but with very little success. Nor did his

gloomy views of life stifle, even in himself, all emotion and sentiment.

His theory, as so often happens, went farther than his practice. When

Leopold Mozart analysed the conduct of men, his criticism was sharp and

cutting, but he was always ready with counsel and assistance when they

were needed. Notwithstanding his piety he expressed bitter contempt for

the priesthood and priestcraft: he had occasion to know both intimately.

He was never dazzled by the distinctions of birth and position. He

judged those nearest and dearest to him, not excepting his beloved son,

as severely as the rest of the world. It had the most wholesome effect

on the development of Mozart's character and genius that his father, who

loved him as only a father can love, who justly estimated and admired

his artistic genius, was never dazzled by it, never ignored nor

concealed his weaknesses, but warned and blamed him, and strove to bring

him up with a conscientious fidelity to duty.

Leopold Mozart was aware that the education of his son was the highest

and greatest task of his life; but this absorbing care did not narrow

his breadth of sympathy, nor lessen his consideration for others bound

to him by natural ties; he proved himself always a devoted friend as

well as, for one of his means, a liberal benefactor.

The exertions which it had cost him to attain to even a moderate

position, the unceasing thought which he was obliged to take for the

supply of his daily needs gave him

{L. MOZART'S EARLY LIFE.}

(7)

a high appreciation of the value of a secured worldly position, and as

he became gradually convinced that his son was not likely to attach the

same importance to this, he strove the more by his wisdom and experience

to help to secure it for him. This care for economical details has been

unjustly condemned. We may grant that a somewhat exaggerated anxiety

increased by the hypochondria of old age was the natural result of the

struggle with narrow circumstances which he had carried on all his

life; but this is far more than counterbalanced by the singular union of

general and of musical culture, of love and severity, of just judgment

and earnest devotion to duty, which Leopold Mozart developed in the

education of his son. Without them, Wolfgang would certainly not have

been the man he became by their help.

We have no detailed information of L. Mozart's youthful life. His

recollections of his position at Augsburg are bitter and sarcastic.

Even with his brothers and sisters, whom he accused of having turned

the weakness of their mother to his disadvantage, he had no close or

intimate connection, although they had never any scruples in applying

for his support.

"When I thought of your journey to Augsburg," he writes to Wolfgang

(October 18, 1777), "Wieland's 'Abderiten' always occurred to me. One

ought to have the opportunity of seeing in its naked reality that of

which one has formed an ideal conception."

After passing through school life in his native town, he went to

Salzburg to study jurisprudence. The monastery of St. Ulrich belonged

to the community of the Benedictines, which had founded and still partly

maintained the university of Salzburg;[1004] this connection may have

given Leopold a reason for going thither. But as he did not obtain

employment, he was constrained to enter the service of Count Thurn,

Canon of Salzburg. From his youth up, he had cultivated his musical

talent with assiduity, and was a

{CHILDHOOD.}

(8)

thoroughly practical and well-informed musician. He had chiefly

maintained himself in early youth by his singing, and afterwards by

giving lessons, and had gained considerable reputation as a violinist,

so much so that Archbishop Leopold took him into his service in the year

1743. He afterwards became court composer and leader of the orchestra,

and in 1762 was appointed Vice-Kapellmeister by Archbishop Sigismund.

The pay of the choir was scanty, though their duties were heavy. Leopold

Mozart submitted to these demands with his accustomed conscientiousness,

and Schubart points him out as the man whose exertions had placed music

in Salzburg on its then excellent footing.[1005] His official position

necessitated his appearing as a composer; in this respect, too, he was

indefatigable, and won for himself an honourable reputation.

A list of his compositions compiled in 1757, no doubt by himself, gives

an idea of his industry as a composer.[1006] We find a large proportion

of church music. A Mass in C major is in the library at Munich, Julius

André possesses a Mass in F major, the Credo of a "Missa brevis" in F

major lies before me; a "Missa brevis" in A major is preserved in

the cathedral of Salzburg, together with the Offertory, "Parasti in

conspectu meo," three Loretto Litanies (in G, F, and E flat major),

and a Litany "De venerabili" in D major, composed in 1762. This last,

a carefully finished work, was sent by L. Mozart in December, 1774,

to Munich, together with a grand Litany by his son. It is written for

solos, chorus, and the usual small church orchestra of the day, and

shows throughout the learning of a musician skilled in the use of

traditional forms. The harmony is correct, the disposition of the parts

skilful, and the contrapuntal forms are handled boldly; nor does the

composer fail to introduce regular, well-worked-out fugues in the proper

places; "Cum Sancto Spiritu," and "Et

{L. MOZART'S COMPOSITIONS.}

(9)

vitam venturi sæculi" in the Mass, "Pignus futuræ gloriæ" in the Litany.

But there is no originality or inventive power either in the

compositions as a whole, or in isolated passages. Leopold Mozart's

sacred music gives him a right to an honourable place among contemporary

composers, but to no higher rank. Schubart, who prefers his church music

to his chamber music, says justly, that his style was thorough, and

showed great knowledge of counterpoint, but that he was somewhat

old-fashioned.[1007] When Wolfgang was busy composing church music with

Van Swieten at Vienna, he wrote to his father (March 29, 1783): "Some of

your best church music would be very useful to us; we like to study

all masters, ancient and modern, so please send us some as soon as

possible." But to Wolfgang's regret this request was refused, for his

father was quite aware of the change of taste in such music that had

taken place since his day.

Nothing certain is known of twelve oratorios composed according to

custom for Lent,[1008] nor of "a host of theatrical pieces, as well as

pantomimes."[1009]

L. Mozart was an industrious instrumental composer. He enumerates

upwards of thirty serenades, "containing instrumental solos," and a

long list of symphonies, "some only quartets, others for all the usual

instruments"; of

{CHILDHOOD.}

(10)

these, eighteen are thematically catalogued,[10010] and one in G major

is by mistake attributed to Wolfgang, and printed in score. Very curious

are the "Occasional Pieces" which are characteristic of the times, in

their odd instrumental effects, and somewhat heavy touches of fun. Among

these are a pastoral symphony with shepherds' horns and two obbligato

flutes; a military piece with trumpets, drums, kettle-drums, and fifes;

a Turkish and a Chinese piece; a pastoral, representing a rural wedding,

and introducing lyres, bagpipes, and dulcimers; during the march, after

each huzza, there was a pistol-shot, after the custom of rural weddings,

and L. Mozart directed that whoever could whistle well on his fingers,

was to whistle during the huzzas.

But the musical "Sledge Drive" seems to have gained most applause;

a pianoforte arrangement was afterwards printed, the effect being

heightened by the accompaniment of five differently toned harness-bells.

The following programme was printed by L. Mozart, for a performance of

the Collegium Musicum in Augsburg, December 29, 1755:--

MUSICAL SLEDGE DRIVE.

Introduced by a prelude, consisting of a pleasing andante and a splendid

allegro.

Then follows:

A prelude, with trumpets and drums.

After this:

The Sledge Drive, with the sledge-bells and all the other instruments.

After the Sledge Drive:

The horses are heard rattling their harness.

And then:

The trumpets and drums alternate agreeably with the oboes, French horns,

and bassoons, the first representing the cavalcade, the second the

march.

After this:

The trumpets and drums have another prelude, and

The Sledge Drive begins again, but stops suddenly, for all the party

dismount, and enter the ball-room.

Then comes an adagio, representing the ladies trembling with cold.

{L. MOZART'S COMPOSITIONS.}

(11)

The ball is opened with a minuet and trio.

The company endeavour to warm themselves by country-dances.

Then follows the departure, and, finally:

During a flourish of trumpets and drums, the whole party mount their

sledges and drive homewards.

In consequence of the performance of these occasional pieces in

Augsburg, L. Mozart received the following anonymous letter:

"Monsieur et très cher ami!

"May it please you to compose no more absurdities, such as Chinese and

Turkish music, sledge drives, and peasant weddings, for they reflect

more shame and contempt on you than honour, which is regretted by the

individual who herewith warns you and remains,

"Your sincere Friend.

"Datum in domo verae amicitice."

Leopold Mozart was not a little annoyed by this act of friendship,

which he was inclined to ascribe to the Kapellmeister Schmidt or to the

organist Seyffert. It need scarcely be said that this "programme-music"

is innocent either of originality or of instrumental colouring. Short

characteristic pieces, such as Couperin and Rameau wrote, were composed

by L. Mozart, in common with Eberlin, for a kind of organ with a

horn stop, which had been erected by Joh. Roch. Egedacher on the

fortifications above the town. Once a month, morning and evening, a

piece was played on this instrument; in February it was the Carnival, in

September a hunting song, in December a cradle song.[10011]

Besides all this, L. Mozart wrote many concertos, particularly for

the flute, oboe, bassoon, French horn, or trumpet (one of these is in

Munich), innumerable trios (he offered a flautist, named Zinner, in

Augsburg, fourteen trios for flute, violin, and violoncello), and

divertimenti for various instruments,[10012] marches, minuets,

opera-dances, &c. Three clavier

{CHILDHOOD.}

(12)

sonatas are printed,[10013] of which Faiszt remarks that they might well

be the work of Leopold's great son, so strong is their similarity in

form and spirit.[10014] is compositions were for the most part only in

manuscript, as was almost all the music of that day.[10015] By way of

practice in engraving, he engraved three trio sonatas himself in 1740,

and revived the old accomplishment in 1778, when he engraved some

variations for his son.

In later years he composed little or nothing; his position in Salzburg

was so little to his mind that he did not feel himself called on to

do more than his duty required; besides, the education of his children

engrossed his whole time, and when his son had come forward as a

composer, he would on no account have entered into competition with

him.[10016] L. Mozart was proud of the estimation in which his works

were held abroad, as the following extract from a letter to his friend

Lotter shows:

November 24, 1755.

I may tell you in strict confidence that I have received a letter from

a distant place inviting me to become a member ------ don't be

alarmed--or--don't laugh ---- a member of the Corresponding Society of

Musical Science.[10017] Potz Plunder! say I. But do not tell tales out

of school, for it may be only talk. I never dreamt of such a thing in my

life; that I can honestly say.

But the elder Mozart acquired his chief reputation as a musician by the

publication in 1756 of his "Attempt towards a Fundamental Method for the

Violin."[10018] This work was

{L. MOZART'S VIOLIN METHOD.}

(13)

spread abroad in numerous editions and translations, and was for many

years the only published instruction on the art of violin-playing;

proof enough that it rendered important service in its day, as far as

technical knowledge was concerned. What makes the book still interesting

to us is the earnest, intelligent spirit which speaks from it, and

shows us the man as he was. He sought to impart to his pupils a sound,

practical musical education; they were not only to practise their

fingers, but were always clearly to, understand _what_ they had to

execute and _why_: "It is dispiriting to go on playing at random,

without knowing what you are about" (p. 245); a good violinist should

even be practised in rhetoric and poetry to be able to execute with

intelligence (p. 107). He insists strongly that the pupil should not

advance until he is quite able for what he has to learn: "In this

consists the gravest error that either master or pupil can fall into.

The former often lack patience to wait for the right time; or they let

themselves be carried away by the pupil, who thinks he has done wonders

when he can scrape out a minuet or two. Often, too, the parents or

guardians of the beginner are anxious to hear him play some of these

imperfect tunes, and think, with satisfaction how well their money has

been spent on the lessons. How greatly they are mistaken!" (p.57,

cf. 121.)

The study is not to be made too easy or simple; the learner must exert

himself and work hard. Thus he writes at the beginning of the exercises

(p. 90): "These are the passages for practice. The more distasteful they

are, the better I shall be pleased; I have striven to make them so";

that is, to guard against their being played from memory.

The same ability is displayed in his principles of taste.

He exacts above all a "straightforward, manly tone"; "nothing can be

more absurd than to seem afraid even to grasp the violin firmly; or just

to touch the strings with the bow (held perhaps with two fingers), and

to attempt such an artistic up-bow to the very nut of the violin that

only a note here and there is heard in a whisper, without any idea what

it means, it is all so like a dream" (p. 101).

{CHILDHOOD.}

(14)

Simple, natural expression is the highest aim of the violinist, so that

the instrument may imitate as far as possible the art of song (p. 50);

"who does not grant that to _sing_ their music has been the aim of all

instrumentalists, because they have ever striven after nature?" (p.

107.)[10019] He is severe on performers who "tremble upon every long

note, or cannot play a couple of bars simply without introducing their

senseless and ridiculous tricks and fancies" (p. 50). They are blamed

the more as they are for the most part wanting in the necessary

knowledge where to bring in their ornamentation without involving errors

in the composition (pp. 209, 195). Other faults of the virtuoso are

equally severely dealt with, such as the _tremolo_ of the player "who

shakes away on every note as if he had the ague" (p. 238), or the

constant introduction of the so-called "flageolet tones" (p. 107), or

the alternate hurrying and dragging of the "virtuoso of imagination."

"Many," says he (p. 262), "who have no conception of taste, disdain to

keep uniform time in the accompaniment of a concerted part, and strive

to follow the principal part. That is accompanying like a bungler, not

like an artist. It is true that in accompanying some Italian singers,

who learn everything by heart and never adhere to time or measure, one

has often to pass over whole bars to save them from open shame. But

in accompanying a true artist, worthy of the name, not a note must be

delayed or anticipated, there must be neither hurry nor dragging, so

that every note may have proper expression, otherwise the accompaniment

would destroy the effect of the composition. A clever accompanist should

also be able to judge of the performer. He must not spoil the _tempo

rubato_ of an experienced artist by waiting to follow him. It is not

easy to describe this 'stolen time.' A 'virtuoso of imagination' often

gives to a semiquaver in an adagio cantabile the time of half a bar,

before recovering

{L. MOZART'S VIOLIN METHOD.}

(15)

from his paroxysm of feeling; and he cares nothing at all for the time:

he plays in recitative."

Technical instruction and skill are to him only the means to a higher

end. The performer must be capable of expressing all the pathos of the

piece before him, so as to penetrate to the souls and stir the passions

of the audience (pp. 52, 253).[10020] As the most important requisite to

the violinist for attaining this, he indicates the stroke of the bow

(p. 122) as "the medium by the judicious use of which we are able to

communicate the pathos of the music to the audience." "I consider," he

adds "that a composer attains his highest aim when he finds a suitable

melody for every sentiment, and knows how to give it its right

expression." "Many a second-rate composer," he says (p. 252), "is full

of delight, and thinks more than ever of himself when he hears his

nonsensical music executed by good artists, by whose artistic expression

even such miserable trash is made intelligible to the audience."

It is plain that he was a sworn enemy to smatterers and pretenders.

Thorough technical study and an intellect trained to clear and rational

thought he considered absolutely indispensable to a true artist. He

grants, indeed, that genius may atone for the want of learning, and that

a man highly gifted by nature may lack the opportunity of studying his

art scientifically. But this does not detract from the main proposition

nor make his demands less just.

The extracts given above illustrate the principles and the views with

which L. Mozart undertook the musical education of his son, and these

being united to a correct appreciation of the freedom and indulgence

due to great natural powers, it must be acknowledged that no genius

could have been trained under happier auspices!

This work, so remarkable for the age, met with suitable recognition.

Marpurg, to whose judgment L. Mozart had

{CHILDHOOD.}

(16)

submitted it in his preface, speaks of it as follows: [10021] "The

want of a work of this kind has been long felt, but hitherto in vain.

A thorough and skilled performer, a sensible and methodical teacher,

a learned musician, a man possessing all those qualities which singly

command our respect, are here to be found united in one individual--the

author. What Geminiani did for the English nation, Mozart has

accomplished for the German, and their works are worthy to live side by

side in universal approbation."

After this it is not surprising that the first of the critical letters

on music which were published under Marpurg's direction at Berlin in

1759 and 1760 should be addressed to L. Mozart, with the declaration

that the society which proposed to address each letter to some person

of distinction, could not make a fitter commencement than with him.

Schubart says,[10022] "He gained great reputation through his 'Method,'

which is written in good German, and with admirable judgment. The

examples are well chosen, and the system of fingering not in the least

pedantic; the author doubtless inclines to the school of Tartini, but he

permits greater freedom in the management of the bow." Zelter expresses

himself in the same spirit:[10023] "His 'Violin Method' is a work

which will be of use as long as the violin is an instrument. It is well

written, too."

The praise of the author's style of writing is characteristic and well

deserved; it was then a far rarer distinction among artists than at

present. L. Mozart's style is sharp and clear; his sarcastic turn of

mind is so prominent that he apologises for it in the preface, although

it is not unusual in the musical literature of the time. Both in

this book and in his letters he proves himself a man who has not only

acquired cultivation by intercourse with the world and by travel,

but who is well acquainted with literature, has read with taste and

discernment, and has well-defined and judicious opinions

{L. MOZART'S POSITION IN SALZBURG.}

(17)

both on aesthetic and moral subjects. He addressed to the poet Gellert a

letter so full of veneration that Gellert replied in the warmest terms,

as the following extract will show:--

I should be insensible, indeed, if the extraordinary kindness with which

you honoured me had left me unmoved, and I should be the most ungrateful

of men if I could have received your letter without acknowledgment. I

accept your love and friendship, my dear sir, with the same frankness

with which they are offered. Do you, indeed, read my works and encourage

your friends to do the same? Such approbation, I can truly say, was more

than I could have dared to hope from such a quarter. Does my last poem,

"Der Christ," meet with your approval? I venture to answer myself in the

affirmative. To this I am encouraged by the subject of the poem, your

own noble spirit, as unwittingly you display it in your letters, and by

my consciousness of honest endeavour.

Baron von Bose presented "the little Orpheus of seven years old,"

when in Paris, with Gellert's songs, recommending him to borrow their

irresistible harmonies, "so that the hardened atheist may read and mark

them, may hear them and fall down and worship God." Perhaps this gift

gave occasion to the letter. Wolfgang informs his sister at a later

date, from Milan, of the death of Gellert, which took place there.

With this amount of cultivation, and the pretensions consequent on

it, it is not surprising that Leopold Mozart felt himself isolated

at Salzburg. He had his duties to perform at court, and the more

contemptible their remuneration was, the more he and the other officials

were made to feel their dependent position. He was employed as a teacher

in most of the families of rank at Salzburg, for his instruction was

justly considered as the best that could be had; but this did not imply

any degree of friendly intimacy. He was too proud to ingratiate himself

with them by flattery or obsequiousness, although, as a man of the

world, he knew how to moderate his satirical humour, and was always

affable and well-bred. He seems to have had little intercourse with his

colleagues. This was partly owing to circumstances, but partly also to

their want of musical proficiency or mental cultivation, joined to their

looser, less earnest mode of life.

{CHILDHOOD.}

(18)

The social relations of the Mozart family were, however, cheerful and

unconstrained; their intercourse with their friends had more of innocent

merriment than of intellectual enjoyment. "The Salzburg mind," says

Schubart,[10024] "is tuned to low comedy. Their popular songs are

so drolly burlesque that one cannot listen to them without dying of

laughter. The clownish spirit[10025] shines through them all, though

the melodies are often fine and beautiful." This tendency would scarcely

please so serious and critical a man as L. Mozart, whose humour was

caustic, but not broad, and who appears to have entered with constraint

into the ordinary tone of conversation.

On November 21, 1747, Leopold Mozart married Anna Maria Pertlin (or

Bertlin), daughter of the steward of the Convent of St. Gilgen. "To-day

is the anniversary of our wedding," wrote L. Mozart (November 21, 1772);

"it is, I believe, exactly twenty-five years since we were struck with

the good idea of getting married, or rather it had occurred to us many

years before. But good things take time."

They were reputed the handsomest pair of their time in Salzburg, and

their existing portraits do not contradict this. Frau Mozart was, as

far as she can be represented by letters and descriptions, a very

good-tempered woman, full of love for her family, but in no way

distinguished; and the often verified experience that great men owe

their gifts and their culture principally to their mothers was not

proved to be true in the case of Mozart. She submitted willingly to the

superiority of her husband, and left to his care and management with

absolute confidence all that lay outside the sphere of the actual

housekeeping. The possession by

{WOLFGANG'S MOTHER AND SISTER--HIS BIRTH.}

(19)

each of those qualities necessary for the happiness of the other lay at

the root of the heartfelt love and affection which bound them to each

other and to their children, and the latter were provided with the

surest foundation for their moral culture in the influence of a pure

and harmonious family life. They were deeply attached to their cheerful,

happy-tempered mother; but that she failed in authority was clear when

she accompanied her son in his ill-considered visit to Paris. In spite

of her better judgment she was unable either to control his impetuosity

or to withstand his endearments.

Though far inferior to her husband in cultivation, she was not without

understanding, and had a turn for the humorous, which characterised her

as a native of Salzburg. In this respect Wolfgang was her true son.

Of seven children resulting from this union, only two survived: a

daughter, Maria Anna (called Marianne or Nannerl in the family), born

July 30, 1751, and a son Wolfgang, born January 27, 1756.[10026] His

birth almost cost his mother her life, and her lingering recovery

occasioned much anxiety to her friends.

The daughter showed so decided a talent for music, that her father early

began to give her lessons on the clavier. This made a great impression

on her brother, then but three years old; he perched himself at the

clavier, and amused himself by finding out thirds, which he struck

with much demonstration of delight; he also retained the more prominent

passages in the pieces which he heard. In his fourth year his father

began, in play, to teach him minuets and other pieces on the clavier;

in a very short time he could play them with perfect correctness and in

exact time. The impulse to produce something next awoke in him, and in

his fifth year he composed and played little pieces,

{CHILDHOOD.}

(20)

which his father then wrote down.[10027] A music-book which was intended

for Marianne's exercises, and preserved by her as a precious relic,

was in 1864 presented by the Grand Duchess Helene to the Mozarteum

in Salzburg.[10028] It contains minuets and other little pieces, and

further on longer ones, such as an air with twelve variations, and is

partly filled with passages by the composers Agrell, Fischer, Wagenseil,

&c., of increasing difficulty, for the purpose of instruction, in the

handwriting of the father and his musical friends. Wolfgang learned from

this book. The following note is appended by his father to the eighth

minuet: "Wolfgangerl learned this minuet in his fourth year." Similar

remarks occur repeatedly; e.g., "This minuet and trio were learned by

Wolfgangerl in half-an-hour, at half-past nine at night, on January 26,

1761, one day before his fifth year." They are simple, easy pieces in

two parts, but requiring an independence of the hands, not possible

without a degree of musicial comprehension which is surprising in so

young a child.

The first of Wolfgang's compositions have his father's superscription:

"Di Wolfgango Mozart, May 11, 1762, and July 16, 1762," little pieces

modelled on those he had practised, in which of course originality

of invention cannot be looked for; but the sense of simple melody and

rounded form so peculiar to Mozart are there already, without any trace

of childish nonsense.

The book went with them on their travels, and Mozart used the blank

pages to write down pieces, which afterwards appeared in the first

published sonatas (1763).

Most of the anecdotes of Mozart's childhood which testify to his

wonderful genius, are contained in a letter from

{SCHACHTNER.}

(21)

Schachtner, which is here given entire, as the direct testimony of a

contemporary.

Joh. André Schachtner (died 1795) had been court trumpeter at Salzburg

from 1754, for which post a higher degree of musical attainment was

necessary then than at the present day. He was not only a skilled

musician, but displayed considerable literary cultivation, which he

had obtained at the Jesuit school of Ingolstadt. The translation of a

religious drama, "The Conversion of St. Augustine" from the Latin of

Father Franz Neumayer, gained him the somewhat ambiguous praise of

Gottsched, who writes: "We may even say that he wrote good German, nay,

almost that he wrote good German poetry."[10029] We shall find him later

acting as librettist to Mozart.

He was intimate in Mozart's home, and his warm attachment is proved by

the following interesting letter, written soon after Mozart's death to

his sister.[10030]

Dear and honoured Madam,--

Your very welcome letter reached me, not at Salzburg, but at Hammerau,

where I was visiting my son, who is coadjutor in the office of

Oberwesamtmann there.

You may judge from my habitual desire to oblige every one, more

especially those of the Mozart family, how much distressed I was at the

delay in discharging your commission. To the point therefore!

Your first question is: "What were the favourite amusements of your

late lamented brother in his childhood, apart from his passion for his

music?" To this question no reply can be made, for as soon as he began

to give himself up to music, his mind was as good as dead to all

other concerns,[10031] and even his childish games and toys had to be

accompanied by music. When we, that is, he and I, carried his toys from

one room into another, the one of us who went empty-handed had always to

sing a march and play the fiddle. But before he began to

{CHILDHOOD.}

(22)

study music he was so keenly alive to any childish fun that contained a

spice of mischief, that even his meals would be forgotten for it. He was

so excessively fond of me--I, as you know, being devoted to him--that he

used to ask me over and over again whether I loved him; and when in joke

I sometimes said "No," great tears would come into his eyes, so tender

and affectionate was his dear little heart.

Second question: "How did he behave to great people when they admired

his talent and proficiency in music?" In truth he betrayed very little

pride or veneration for rank,[10032] for, though he could best have

shown both by playing before great people who understood little

or nothing of music, he would never play unless there were musical

connoisseurs among his audience, or unless he could be deceived into

thinking that there were.

Third question: "What was his favourite study?" Answer: In this he

submitted to the guidance of others. It was much the same to him what

he had to learn; he only wanted to learn, and left the choice of a

field for his labours to his beloved father.[10033] It appeared as if

he understood that he could not in all the world find a guide and

instructor like his ever memorable father.

Whatever he had to learn he applied himself so earnestly to, that he

laid aside everything else, even his music. For instance, when he was

learning arithmetic, tables, stools, walls, and even the floor were

chalked over with figures.[10034]

Fourth question: "What particular qualities, maxims, rules of life,

singularities, good or evil propensities had he?" Answer: He was full

of fire; his inclinations were easily swayed: I believe that had he been

without the advantage of the good education which he received, he might

have become a profligate scoundrel--he was so ready to yield to every

attraction which offered.

Let me add some trustworthy and astonishing facts relating to his fourth

and fifth years, for the accuracy of which I can vouch.

Once I went with your father after the Thursday service to your house,

where we found Wolfgangerl, then four years old, busy with his pen.

{SCHACHTNER'S LETTER.}

(23)

Father: What are you doing?

Wolfg.: Writing a concerto for the clavier; it will soon be done.

Father: Let me see it.

Wolfg.: It is not finished yet.

Father: Never mind; let me see it. It must be something very fine.

Your father took it from him and showed me a daub of notes, for the most

part written over ink-blots. (The little fellow dipped his pen every

time down to the very bottom of the ink-bottle, so that as soon as it

reached the paper, down fell a blot; but that did not disturb him in the

least, he rubbed the palm of his hand over it, wiped it off, and went

on with his writing.) We laughed at first at this apparent nonsense, but

then your father began to note the theme, the notes, the composition;

his contemplation of the page became more earnest, and at last tears of

wonder and delight fell from his eyes.

"Look, Herr Schachtner," said he, "how correct and how orderly it

is; only it could never be of any use, for it is so extraordinarily

difficult that no one in the world could play it."

Then Wolfgangerl struck in: "That is why it is a concerto; it must be

practised till it is perfect; look! this is how it goes."

He began to play, but could only bring out enough to show us what

he meant by it. He had at that time a firm conviction that playing

concertos and working miracles were the same thing.

Once more, honoured madam! You will doubtless remember that I have

a very good violin which Wolfgangerl used in old times to call

"Butter-fiddle," on account of its soft, full tone. One day, soon after

you came back from Vienna (early in 1763), he played on it, and could

not praise my violin enough; a day or two after, I came to see him

again, and found him amusing himself with his own little violin. He

said directly: "What is your butter-fiddle about?" and went on playing

according to his fancy; then he thought a little and said:

"Herr Schachtner, your violin is half a quarter of a tone lower than

mine, that is, if it is tuned as it was, when I played on it last."

I laughed at this, but your father, who knew the wonderful ear and

memory of the child, begged me to fetch the violin, and see if he was

right. I did, and right he was, sure enough!

Some time before this, immediately after your return from Vienna,

Wolfgang having brought home with him a little violin which some one in

Vienna had given him, there came in one day our then excellent violinist

the late Herr Wentzl, who was a dabbler in composition.

He brought six trios with him, composed during the absence of your

father, whose opinion on them he came to ask. We played these trios,

your father taking the bass part, Wentzl playing first violin, and I

second.

Wolfgangerl begged to be allowed to play second violin, but your father

reproved him for so silly a request, since he had never had any

{CHILDHOOD.}

(24)

instruction on the violin, and your father thought he was not in the

least able for it.

Wolfgang said, "One need not have learnt, in order to play second

violin," whereupon his father told him to go away at once, and not

interrupt us any longer.

Wolfgang began to cry bitterly, and slunk away with his little violin. I

interceded for him to be allowed to play with me, and at last his father

said: "Play with Herr Schachtner then, but not so as to be heard, or you

must go away at once." So it was settled, and Wolfgang played with me.

I soon remarked with astonishment that I was quite superfluous; I put my

violin quietly down, and looked at your father, down whose cheeks tears

of wonder and delight were running; and so he played all the six trios.

When we had finished, Wolfgang grew so bold from our applause that he

declared he could play first violin. We let him try for the sake of the

joke, and almost died of laughter to hear him play, with incorrect and

uncertain execution, certainly, but never sticking fast altogether.

In conclusion: Of the delicacy and refinement of his ear.

Until he was almost ten years old, he had an insurmountable horror of

the horn, when it was sounded alone, without other instruments; merely

holding a horn towards him terrified him as much as if it had been a

loaded pistol. His father wished to overcome this childish alarm, and

ordered me once, in spite of his entreaties, to blow towards him; but,

O! that I had not been induced to do it. Wolfgang no sooner heard

the clanging sound than he turned pale, and would have fallen into

convulsions, had I not instantly desisted.

This is, I think, all I can say in answer to your questions. Forgive my

scrawl, I am too much cast down to do better.

I am, honoured Madam,

With the greatest esteem and affection,

Your most obedient Servant,

Andreas Schachtner,

Court Trumpeter.

Salzburg,

24 April 1792

NOTES TO CHAPTER I.

[Footnote 1001: An artist named Anton Mozart is mentioned by P. v. Stetten as

settled in Augsburg, in the seventeenth century (Kunstgesch d. Stadt

Augsburg, p. 283).]

[Footnote 1002: An oil portrait, preserved in the Mozarteum at Salzburg, shows

him to have been a tall, handsome man, but with no resemblance either to

his son or grandson.]

[Footnote 1003: A description of Leopold Mozart is given by Hamberger

(Christenthum u. moderne Cultur, p. 25).]

[Footnote 1004: R. P. Hist. Univ. Salisb., pp. 29, 90 (s. Meyer d. ehem. Univ.

Salzburg.)]

[Footnote 1005: Schubart's Aesthetik der Tonkunst, p. 157.]

[Footnote 1006: Marpurg, Hist. krit. Beitr., III., p. 183.]

[Footnote 1007: Schubart's Aesthetik d. Tonk., p. 157.]

[Footnote 1008: "Have you a good subject for an oratorio?" writes L. Mozart to

Lotter (December 29, 1755). "If I had it in time I would compose

another for Lent. Have you the one which I composed last year, Christus

begraben? We have to produce two Oratoria every Lent, and where are

we to find subjects enough? It must not be de passions Christi, but it

might be some penitential story. Last year, for instance, we produced

one on Peter's Repentance, and another is now being composed on David

in the Wilderness." He must have composed the above-mentioned oratorio

twice, for as early as 1741 it had been printed in Salzburg as "Christus

begraben; Cantata for three voices: Magdalena, Nicode-mus, Joseph von

Arimathaea. Chorus of disciples and friends of our Lord. Words by S. A.

Wieland. Music by J. G. L. Mozart]."]

[Footnote 1009: Gerber includes among these "Semiramis," "Die verstellte

Gartnerin," "Bastien und Bastienne," compositions of Wolfgang's, of

which the scores were left in his father's possession. "La Cantatrice ed

il Poeta," an intermezzo mentioned by Gerber, is quite unknown to me.]

[Footnote 10010: Catalogo delle sinfonie che si trovano in manuscritto nella

officina musica di G. G. J. Breitkopf in Lipsia, P. I. (1762), p. 22.

Suppl. I. (1766), p. 14. Suppl. X. (1775),p. 3.]

[Footnote 10011: Mozart published it in 1759 with the title "Der Morgen und

Abend den Inwohnern der hochfurstl. Residenzstadt Salzburg melodisch

und harmonisch angekündigt." A notice of it is to be found in Marpurg's

Histor. krit. Beitr., IV., p. 403.]

[Footnote 10012: A "Divertimento à 4 instr. conc., Viol., Violone., 2 Co.," is

included in Breitkopfs Cat., Suppl. II. (1767), p. zi.]

[Footnote 10013: Haffner's Ouvres mêlées (Würzb.), V. 4, VI. 5, IX. 4.]

[Footnote 10014: Cacilia, XXVI., p. 82.]

[Footnote 10015: A Max d'or (about thirteen shillings) was paid to him for copies

of four flute concertos, a ducat for a pastoral symphony, and a florin

for two shorter ones.]

[Footnote 10016: A. M. Z., XXIII., p. 685.]

[Footnote 10017: This was the Society of Musical Science, founded at Leipzig

in 1738 by Mag. Lor. Mitzler; s. Mitzler's Musik Bibl., III., p. 346;

Musik. Almanach, 1782, p. 184. In his Violin Method, p. 7, L. Mozart

praises this Society, and hopes that it will direct its scientific

researches to questions of practical interest in music]

[Footnote 10018: A long series of letters to his friendly publisher J. J. Lotter,

at Augsburg, written during 1755 and 1756, when his work was in

the press, testify to L. Mozart's care for accuracy of expression,

orthography, and printing.]

[Footnote 10019: Ph. Era. Bach advises clavier-players to hear as much good

singing as possible; "it gives the habit of thinking in song, and it

is well always to sing a new idea aloud to oneself, so as to catch the

right delivery" (Versuch über die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen, I.,

p. 90).]

[Footnote 10020: "Wherein consists good execution?" says Ph. Em. Bach (Versuch

über die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen, I., p. 86). "In the power

of expressing musical ideas to the ear correctly and with full effect,

whether singing or playing."]

[Footnote 10021: Marpurg's Hist. krit. Beitr., III., p. 160.]

[Footnote 10022: Schubart's Aesth. d. Tonk., p. 157.]

[Footnote 10023: Briefw. m. Goethe, V., p. 191.]

[Footnote 10024: Schubart's Aesth. d. Tonk., p. 158.]

[Footnote 10025: Stranitzky, who introduced the buffoon (Hanswurst) on the Vienna

stage, gave him the Salzburg dialect (Sonnenfels ges. Schriften, VI.,

p. 372), and the buffoon was ever afterwards a native of Salzburg. The

people of Salzburg were credited not only with boorish manners, but with

a dulness of intellect amounting to stupidity. Mozart complains of it,

and there was a proverb in Salzburg itself: "He who comes to Salzburg

becomes in the first year stupid, in the second idiotic, and in the

third a true Salzburger."]

[Footnote 10026: The full name in the Church Register is Joannes Chrysostomus

Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb, the father writes), and in his earlier

letters he adds his "Confirmation name" Sigismundus. On several of his

early works and on the Parisian engraving of 1764 his signature is J. G.

Wolfgang, but afterwards he always signed Wolfgang Amade.]

[Footnote 10027: I have taken this account from Schlichtegroll's Nekrolog, which

is founded on communications from Wolfgang's sister.]

[Footnote 10028: Recensionen, 1864.x., p. 512. The exercise-book is a square

folio, with the title "Pour le Clavecin. Ce livre appartient à Marie

Anne Mozart. 1759." It was perfect when Fröhlich saw it (A. M. Z., XIX.,

p. 96); now, unfortunately, a number of leaves are wanting. Nissen has

given specimens from this book, some of the earliest compositions.]

[Footnote 10029: Das Neueste aus der anmuth. Gelehrs., 1761, p. 60.]

[Footnote 10030: The original is in the possession of Aloys Fuchs, who

communicated it to me. Schlichtegroll and Nissen have both made use of

it.]

[Footnote 10031: "Both as a child and a boy you were serious rather than

childish," writes L. Mozart, February 16, 1778, "and when you were at

the clavier, or otherwise engaged with music, you would not suffer the

least joking to go on with you. Your very countenance was so serious

that many observant persons prophesied your early death on the grounds

of your precocious talent and serious expression."]

[Footnote 10032: "As a boy, your modesty was so excessive that you used to weep

when you were overpraised," writes L. Mozart (February 16, 1778).]

[Footnote 10033: He was so docile, even in trifles, that he never received

corporal punishment. He loved his father with unusual tenderness. The

latter reminds him (February 12, 1778) how, every evening at bedtime, he

used to make him sit on a stool by his side and sing with him a melody

of his own finding with nonsensical words, Oragnia figa taxa, &c., after

which he kissed his father on the tip of his nose, promised to put him

in a glass case when he grew old, and give him all honour, and went

contentedly to bed.]

[Footnote 10034: Upon a separate scrap of paper.]

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{EARLY JOURNEYS}

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