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WOLFGANG'S father expected that he would perform his homeward journey
without any unnecessary delay, and his anxiety became serious when day
after day passed and he received no tidings of his son's approach to
Strasburg.
"I confessed and communicated together with your sister," he writes
(October 19, 1778), "and earnestly prayed for your preservation; good
old Bullinger prayed for you daily in the holy mass." The fact was, that
instead of providing Mozart with means to travel by the diligence, which
accomplished the journey to Strasburg in a week, Grimm had satisfied
himself with an ordinary conveyance, which occupied twelve days on the
road. Mozart's patience was tired out in a week, and he halted at Nancy.
Here he met with a German merchant, the best man in the world, who at
once conceived a paternal attachment for him, and wept at the idea of
their parting. With this new friend Wolfgang, determined to travel to
Strasburg as soon as an opportunity of doing so cheaply should occur.
They were obliged to wait a considerable time, and it was the middle of
October before they reached Strasburg:--
Things are not promising here; but the day after to-morrow (Saturday,
October 17) I intend, _quite alone_ (to avoid expense), to give a
subscription concert to certain friends and connoisseurs; if I had
engaged any other instruments it would, with the lighting, have cost me
more than three louis-d'or; and who knows if it will bring in so much?
It was a shrewd guess, for his next letter had to announce three
louis-d'or as the exact sum made by this "little model of a concert":--
But the principal receipts were in "bravos" and "bravissimos," which
resounded from all sides. Prince Max of Zweibrücken, too, honoured
the concert with his presence. I need scarcely say that every one was
pleased. I should have left Strasburg immediately after this, but I was
advised to stay until the following Saturday, and give a grand concert
in the theatre. At this I made the identical same sum, to the amazement
and indignation and shame of all Strasburg. I must say, however, that
my ears ached as much from the applauding and hand-clapping as if the
theatre had been crammed full. Every one present openly and loudly
denounced the conduct of their fellow-townsmen; and I told them all
that if I could have imagined that I should have so small an audience,
I would gladly have given the concert gratis, for the pleasure of seeing
the theatre full. Indeed, I should have preferred it; for nothing can
be more dismal than to lay a table for eighty guests and receive only
three--and then it was so cold! But I soon grew warm; and in order to
show my gentlemen of Strasburg that I was not put out, I played a great
deal for my own entertainment; I gave them a concerto more than I had
promised, and improvised for a long time at the end. Well, it is over
and done with, and at least I have gained the reputation and honour.
Besides the concerts, he played publicly on the two best of Silbermann's
organs in the Neue Kirche and the Thomas Kirche, and the roads being
flooded and his departure for the present impossible, he resolved to
give another concert on his fête-day, October 31. This he did at the
solicitation and for the gratification of his friends Frank, De Beyer,
&c., and the result was--_one_ louis-d'or. No wonder that he was
obliged to raise money in order to continue his journey, a fact which he
remembered years after with indignation.
By the advice of friends who had made the journey he continued his
way by diligence via Mannheim; the better roads and more comfortable
carriage amply compensating for the _détour_. At Mannheim he alighted
on November 6, and was welcomed with acclamations by his friends.
The journey viä Mannheim seemed to Leopold Mozart a most senseless
proceeding on Wolfgang's part; the Weber family and all his best friends
had migrated to Munich, and there was nothing to be gained by the visit.
{MANNHEIM, 1778.}
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He stayed with Madame Cannabich, who had not yet left, and who was never
tired of hearing about himself; all his acquaintance tore him in pieces,
for "as I love Mannheim, so Mannheim loves me." The old associations
woke in him the old hopes and wishes. The Mannheim people were anxious
to believe that the Elector could not stand the coarse manners of the
Bavarians, and would soon be tired of Munich. It was reported that
Madame Toscani and Madame Urban had been so hissed that the Elector had
leant over his box and cried "Hush!" As this had no effect, Count Seeau
had begged some officers not to make so much noise, since it displeased
the Elector; but they answered, that they had paid for their admission
to the theatre, and no one had any right to give them orders there.
Every one was convinced that the Elector would soon bring the court back
to Mannheim, and Wolfgang was only too ready to believe the assurances
of his friends that when this took place, a fixed appointment would
certainly be offered to him. Between Mannheim and Salzburg--what a
difference! "The Archbishop," he wrote to his father (November 12,
1778), "cannot give me an equivalent for the slavery in Salzburg. I
should feel nothing but delight were I only going to pay you a visit:
but the idea of settling myself for good within that beggarly court
is pain and grief to me." At Mannheim there were already prospects
of immediate employment, besides--and what did he want more?--the
opportunity for dramatic composition. Amid the universal desolation
which was spread over Mannheim by the removal of the electoral court
to Munich, patriotic men were not wanting who strove to resuscitate the
intellectual and material prosperity of the town. Heribert von Dalberg
failed indeed in his project for removing Heidelberg University to
Mannheim, but he gained the express support of the Elector to the
establishment of a theatre for carrying out the idea of an established
national drama (Vol. I., p. 369).[1] Dalberg undertook the management
with zeal and
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intelligence, and both the choice of pieces and the manner of
representation were considered entirely from an artistic point of view.
The Mannheim theatre first attained its peculiar importance and
celebrity in the autumn of 1779, when the principal members of the Gotha
Court company, with Iffland among them, were engaged at Mannheim.[2]
When Mozart was on his way back from Paris, Seyler was there with his
company, which was only available for operetta and vaudeville. But
higher notions were in the air; the idea of a German national opera had
never been abandoned, and to enlist in its service such a composer
as Mozart was a prospect not to be despised. How ready he was for the
service we know. He had not been in Mannheim a week when he wrote, full
of enthusiasm, to his father (November 12, 1778):--
I have a chance of earning forty louis-d'or here! I should be obliged
to stay six weeks or, at the longest, two months. The Seyler troupe are
here; no doubt you know them by reputation. Herr Dalberg is manager, and
refuses to let me go until I have composed a duodrama for him. I have
made no objection, for I have always wished to write a drama of this
kind. I do not remember if I told you anything about these duodramas
when I was here before. I have been present at the performance of one
of them twice with the greatest pleasure. In fact, I never was more
surprised! for I had always imagined such a piece would have no effect.
You know that the performers do not sing, but declaim, and the music
is like an obbligato recitative. Sometimes speaking is interposed with
first-rate effect. What I saw was "Medea," by Benda. He wrote another,
"Ariadne on Naxos," both excellent. You know that Benda was always my
favourite among the Lutheran kapellmeisters. I like these two works
so much that I carry them about with me. Now you may imagine my joy at
having to do just what I wished. Do you know what I should like? To have
recitatives of this kind in opera, and only sometimes, when the words
are readily expressible in music, to have them sung.
The duodrama which he was thus burning to compose was "Semiramis," and
the poet was his friend and patron, Herr von Gemmingen (Vol. I.,
p. 429). It was he probably who wished Mozart to remain to compose
"Semiramis," for Dalberg
{A MONODRAMA OR AN OPERA.}
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had other views for him. He had written an opera ("Cora")[3] which he
much wished to have composed. He had already applied to Gluck and to
Schweitzer,[4] but not feeling sure of either of them, he now sought to
secure Mozart. The latter wrote to him (Mannheim, November 24, 1778):--
Monsieur le Baron,--I have already waited upon you twice without having
had the honour of finding you at liberty; yesterday I believe you were
at home, but I was not able to speak with you. I must therefore ask
you to pardon me for troubling you with a few lines, for it is very
important to me that I should explain myself fully to you. Monsieur
le Baron, you know that I am not mercenary, especially when I am in a
position to be of service to so great a lover and so true a connoisseur
of music as yourself. On the other hand, I feel certain that you would
not desire that I should be in any way injured by the transaction; I am
therefore bold enough to make my final proposition on the matter,
since I cannot possibly remain longer in uncertainty. I undertake, for
twenty-five louis-d'or, to write a monodrama, to remain here two months
longer, to arrange everything, attend the rehearsals, &c.; but with
this proviso, that, let what will happen, I shall be paid by the end of
January. That I shall be free of the theatre is a matter of course.[5]
This, Monsieur le Baron, is the utmost I can offer; if you consider it,
I think you will see that I am acting very moderately. As far as your
opera is concerned, I assure you that I should like above all things
to set it to music. That I could not undertake such a work as that for
twenty-five louis-d'or, you will readily allow; for it would contain at
the most moderate computation quite as much work again as a monodrama;
the only thing that would make me hesitate to undertake it is that,
as you tell me, Gluck and Schweitzer are already writing it. But even
supposing that you offered me fifty louis-d'or for it, I would as an
honest man dissuade you from it. What is to become of an opera without
singers, either male or female? At the same time, if there were any
prospect of its being well produced I would not refuse to undertake the
work from regard for you; and it would be no trifle, I give you my word
of honour. Now I have told you my ideas clearly and straightforwardly,
and I must beg for a speedy decision. If I could have an answer to-day
I should be all the better pleased, for I have heard that some one is
going to travel alone to Munich next Thursday, and I would gladly profit
by the opportunity.
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Mozart would hardly have left Mannheim as long as a glimmer of hope
remained--he, who was so overjoyed at finding employment there that he
wrote to his father (November 12, 1778): "They are arranging an Académie
des Amateurs here, like the one in Paris. Herr Franzl is to lead the
violins, and I am writing them a concerto for clavier and violin."[6]
But his father, who was very dissatisfied with the "foolish fancy"
for remaining in Mannheim, came to the point, and represented to him
(November 19, 1778) how impossible it would be for the Elector to return
to Mannheim. It was especially undesirable now to seek a post in the
Bavarian service, since the death of Karl Theodor had "let loose on the
world a whole army of artists, who are in Mannheim and Munich seeking a
mode of livelihood. The Duke of Zweibrücken himself had an orchestra of
thirty-six performers, and the former Mannheim establishment cost 80,000
florins." He cares nothing for the "possible earning of 40 louis-d'or,"
but emphatically orders: "Set off as soon as you receive this!" And to
meet any conceivable remonstrance, he once more sets plainly forth the
true position of affairs (November 23, 1778):--
There are two things of which your head is full and which obscure your
true judgment. The first and principal is your love for Mdlle. Weber, to
which I am not altogether opposed. I was not formerly, when her father
was poor, and why should I be so now when she may make your fortune
instead of you hers? I conjecture that her father is aware of your love,
since all Mannheim knows it, since Herr Fiala (oboist in Salzburg) has
heard it, since Herr Bullinger, who teaches at Count Lodron's, told me
of it. He travelled with some Mannheim musicians from Ellwang (where
he was in the vacation), and they could talk of nothing but your
cleverness, compositions, and love for Mdlle. Weber.
In Salzburg, the father goes on, he would be so near Munich that he
could easily go there, or Mdlle. Weber could come to Salzburg, where she
might stay with them. Opportunities would not be wanting. Fiala had told
the Archbishop a great deal about Mdlle. Weber's singing and
{MOZART LEAVES MANNHEIM, 1778.}
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Wolfgang's good prospects in Mannheim. He might also invite his
other friends--Cannabich, Wendling, Ritter, Ramm. They would all find
hospitable welcome in his father's house
Most especially will your acceptance of the present office (which is
the second subject of which your head is full) be your only certain
opportunity for revisiting Italy, which is what I have more at heart
than anything else. And your acceptance is indispensably necessary,
unless you have the abominable and unfilial desire to bring scorn and
derision on your anxious father--on that father who has sacrificed every
hour of his life to his children to bring them credit and honour. I
am not in a position to pay my debts, which now amount in all to one
thousand florins, unless you lighten the payment by the receipt of your
salary. I can then certainly pay off four hundred florins a year, and
live comfortably with you two. I should like, if it is the will of God,
to live a few years more, and to pay my debts, and then you may, if you
choose, run your head against the wall at once. But no! your heart is
good. You are not wicked, only thoughtless--it will all come!
This was not to be withstood. Wolfgang wrote that he would set off on
December 9, but he still declined to travel the shortest way (December
3, 1778): "I must tell you what a good opportunity I have for a
travelling companion next Wednesday--no other than the Bishop of
Kaysersheim. One of my friends mentioned me to him; he remembered my
name, and expressed great pleasure at the idea of travelling with me; he
is a thoroughly kind, good man, although he is a priest and a prelate.
So that I shall go viä Kaysersheim, instead of Stuttgart."
The farewell to Mannheim was a sad one, both to Mozart and his friends.
Madame Cannabich, who had earned the right to be considered as his
best and truest friend, and who placed implicit confidence in him,
was specially sorrowful; she refused to rise for his early departure,
feeling unequal to the leave-taking, and he crept silently away that he
might not add to her distress.
He was loth to give up his monodrama: "I am now writing," he says
(December 3, 1778), "to please Herr von Gemmingen and myself, the first
act of the declamatory opera which I was to have finished here; as it
is, I shall
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take it with me, and go on with it at home; my eagerness for this kind
of composition is uncontrollable."[7]
The Bishop took such an "extraordinary liking" for him that he was
persuaded to stay at Kaysersheim, and to make an expedition with his
host to Munich, where he arrived on December 25. Here he looked forward
to some pleasant days in the society of all his Mannheim friends, and
above all to reunion with his beloved Aloysia. In order that nothing
might be wanting to his pleasure he begged his cousin to come to Munich,
and hinted that she might have an important part to play there: he had
no doubt of the success of his suit. But he almost immediately after
received a letter from his father, ordering him in the most positive
manner to set out by the first diligence in January, and not on any
account to be persuaded by Cannabich to make a further postponement.
L. Mozart foresaw that Wolfgang would make another effort to escape the
slavery in Salzburg, and that his friends would encourage him to hope
for a place under the Court at Munich. In anticipation of this he once
more laid plainly before him that the settlement in Salzburg would
afford the only possibility of putting their affairs in order. This
representation arrived very inopportunely for Wolfgang. Cannabich and
Raaff were, in point of fact, working "hand and foot" for him. By their
advice he had already undertaken to write a mass for the Elector, and
the sonatas (Vol. I., p. 415; II., p. 70) which he had dedicated to the
Electress had arrived just in time to be presented by him in person; and
in the midst of
{MUNICH, 1778--BECKE.}
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all this his father's letter dashed his hopes to the ground, and added
to his gloomy anticipations of life in Salzburg the fear that he would
not be kindly received. He opened his heart to their old friend the
flautist Becke (Vol. I., p. 228), who moved him still further by his
account of the kindness and indulgence of his father. "I have never
written so badly before," he writes to his father (December 29, 1778);
"I cannot do it; my heart is too much inclined for weeping. I hope you
will soon write and console me."
Becke also wrote on behalf of Wolfgang:--
He burns with desire to embrace his dearest and best-beloved father, as
soon as his present circumstances will allow of it; he almost makes me
lose my composure, for I was an hour or more in quieting his tears. He
has the best heart in the world! I have never seen a child with a more
loving and tender affection for his father than your son. He has a
little misgiving lest your reception of him should not be as tender as
he could wish; but I hope quite otherwise from your fatherly heart. His
heart is so pure, so childlike, so open to me; how much more so will
it not be to his father! No one can hear him speak without doing him
justice as the best-intentioned, most earnest, and most honourable of
men.
L. Mozart answered at once that his son might rely on the most loving
welcome, and that everything would be done to entertain him; the autumn
festivities and quoit prize-meetings had been postponed on his account.
But he bids him observe that his long delay, the appointment being
already four months old, is beginning to make the Archbishop impatient,
and it must not go so far as to cause him to draw back in his turn.
To this Wolfgang answered (January 8,1779):--
I assure you, my dear father, that I feel only pleasure in coming to
you (not to Salzburg) now that I see by your last letter that you have
learnt to know me better. There has been no other cause for this last
postponement of my journey home than the doubt I felt (which, when I
could no longer contain myself, I confided to my friend Becke) as to my
reception. What other cause could there be? I know that I am not guilty
of anything that should make me feel your reproaches. I have committed
no fault (for I call that only a fault which is not becoming to an
honourable man and a Christian). I look forward with delight to many
pleasant and happy days, but only in the society of you and my dear
sister. I give you my honour that I cannot endure Salzburg and its
inhabitants (that is, natives of Salzburg). Their speech and their way
of living are thoroughly distasteful to me.
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Mozart had other causes than this for despondency; before he left Munich
he was destined to be painfully undeceived. He had been kindly welcomed
by the Webers, who insisted on his staying with them; Aloysia had made
striking progress as a vocalist, and Mozart, as might well be expected
from him, rendered anew his musical homage to her by writing for her (li
8 di Gennaio, 1779) a grand aria (316 K.). He had designedly chosen as
a subject the recitative and air with which Alceste first enters in
Gluck's Italian opera; Schweitzer's "Alceste" had been performed in
Munich, so that Mozart entered the lists with both composers. In order
to provide his friends, Ramm and Ritter, with a piece of brilliant
execution, he made the oboe and bassoon accompany obbligato, and emulate
the voice part. The song is admirably adapted for a bravura piece,
affording to the singer an opportunity for the display of varied powers
and great compass, together with artistic cultivation of the voice. The
recitative may be considered as an attempt at dramatic delivery of a
grand and dignified kind; the song itself affords in both its parts,
Andante sostenuto e cantabile, and Allegro assai, the most charming
instances of sustained singing and brilliant execution. It is written
for a high soprano, seldom going so low as [See Page Image] generally
upwards from What is expected of the singer in the way of compass and
volubility may be judged by passages such as--[See Page Image]
{AIR FOR ALOYSIA WEBER.}
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in the Allegro. But the importance of this song does not depend alone on
the brilliancy of its passages.
The recitative, undeniably the most important section of the
composition, is second to none of Mozart's later recitatives in depth
and truth of expression and noble beauty, and is richly provided with
unexpected harmonic changes, such as he used more sparingly in later
songs. The very first entry of the voice is striking and beautiful, with
a long and pathetic prelude:--[See Page Image]
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and the close of the recitative is equally effective:--[See Page Image]
If this carefully and minutely elaborated recitative be compared with
Gluck's simple secco recitative there can be no doubt that Mozart's
is far superior, both in fertility of invention and marked
characterisation. But it must not be left out of account that if Mozart,
treating the recitative and air as one independent whole, was right to
emphasise and
{SONG FOR ALOYSIA WEBER, 1778.}
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elaborate details, Gluck had to consider the situation in its connection
with a greater whole; in which respect his simple but expressive
recitative is quite in its right place. The song itself in depth of
tragic pathos is not altogether on a level with the recitative. It
consists of two movements, an Andantino and an Allegro, very nearly
equal in length and compass, and each of them independently arranged and
elaborated. The motifs in both are simple and expressive (especially the
passionate middle part of the Allegro in C minor), but in performance
the attention to bravura, necessitated by the emulation of the wind
instruments, detracts from the intensity and earnestness of tone.
The treatment is masterly, both of the voice and the two instruments,
whether considered singly or in relation to each other; it is equally so
of the orchestra (quartet and horns), which forms a foundation for the
free movement of the solo parts. In the hands of a first-rate performer
the song could not fail to have a brilliant and striking effect. But the
exclusive reference to individual talents and executive powers detracted
of necessity from the dramatic effect, and if the composer had given
full sway to his passions the harmony he calculated on between his
work and the performer would have been lost. As far as we can judge of
Aloysia Weber as a singer from the songs composed for her by Mozart, the
powerful rendering of violent and fiery passion was not her forte. Her
delivery cannot be said to have been wanting in depth of feeling, and
yet a certain moderation seems to have been peculiar to her, which
Mozart turned to account as an element of artistic harmony.[8] This song
was a parting salutation to Aloysia Weber. A touching memorial of the
parting is preserved in the voice part of a song ("Ah se in ciel")
written by Mozart's hand in 1788 (538 K.). At the close of it she has
written the words: "Nei giomi tuoi felici pensa qualche volta al Popoli
di Tessaglia."
L. Mozart, with his custom of reckoning on the
{COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG.}
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selfishness of mankind, had already expressed apprehension lest Weber,
now that he no longer required Wolfgang's good offices, should cease
to desire his friendship. This was not indeed the case, but he found
a great change in Aloysia's sentiments. "She appeared no longer to
recognise him for whom she had once wept. So Mozart sat down to
the clavier and sang loud: 'Ich lass das Mädel gern, das mich nicht
will.'"[9] This renunciation might satisfy his pride, but not his heart;
his love was too true and deep to evaporate as lightly as the whim of
a woman whose true character he learnt to know later. And yet he wrote
from Vienna to his father (May 16, 1781): "I was a fool about Lange's
wife, that is certain; but who is not when he is in love? I loved her
in very deed, and I feel that she is not yet indifferent to me. A good
thing for me that her husband is a jealous fool and never lets her out
of his sight, so that I seldom see her!" On January 7, 1779, Mozart was
presented to the Electress by Cannabich, and handed her the sonatas he
had composed for her; she conversed with him very graciously for a good
half-hour. A few days after, he saw Schweitzer's "Alceste," which was
the Carnival opera, and at last, after repeated injunctions from his
father, he set out for Salzburg in the comfortable carriage of his
fellow-traveller, a Salzburg merchant named Gschwendner.
FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XX.
[Footnote 1: Dalberg's papers are preserved in the Royal Library at Munich.
Koffka, Iffland u. Dalberg, p. 8.]
[Footnote 2: Devrient, Gesch. d. deutsch. Schauspielkunst, III., p. 3.]
[Footnote 3: "Cora, a Musical Drama," appeared to a contributor to the Pfalz.
"Schaubuhne" unsuited for composition and representation.]
[Footnote 4: Gluck's letters in reference to this are printed in the Süddeutschen
Musik-zeitung, 1854, p. 174. Dalberg's Correspondenz for 1778 also
mentions that Schweitzer was occupied with the composition of "Cora."]
[Footnote 5: Brandes affirms that the actors, when not performing, had to pay
entrance-money (Selbstbiogr., II., p. 277).]
[Footnote 6: It does not appear to have been finished; the autograph of the first
117 bars is in the possession of M. Dubrunfeut, in Paris.]
[Footnote 7: Gemmingen's "Serairamis" was not, as far as I am aware, printed; and
I know nothing further of Mozart's composition. We find on p. 137 of the
Theaterkalender for 1779: "Mozart... Kapellmeister zu Salzburg; _setzt_
an 'Semiramis,' einem musikalischen Drama des Frh. von Gemmingen"; which
must be a private communication. In following years it is regularly
included among Mozart's finished compositions, but I have found no
notice of its performance nor any other mention of it except that Gerber
includes it among Leopold Mozart's posthumous works, with "Bastien
and Bastienne" and the "Verstellte Gärtnerin." I mention this only to
illustrate the fact that many of Mozart's earlier works were ascribed to
L. Mozart after his death. But "Semiramis" was undoubtedly Mozart's own
composition. How it happened that it did not remain in his hands, and
pass into André's possession with his papers, I cannot explain]
[Footnote 8: A somewhat extraordinary musical enthusiast, Frh. von Boecldin,
writes of Aloysia that she "performed marvels with her delicate throat,"
and that her voice resembled a Cremona violin, and her singing was more
expressive and affecting than that of Mara (Beitr. zur Geschichte der
Musik, p. 18).]
[Footnote 9: So Nissen narrates (p. 415), and further informs us that Mozart came
to Munich with black buttons on his red coat, after the French fashion
of showing mourning. Aloysia does not seem to have liked this.]