WHEN Mozart's withdrawal from the service of the Archbishop had become
an established fact, the latter was anxious to show the world that
it lay in his power to attract equally distinguished artists to his
service, and he offered a salary of one thousand gulden to Leop.
Kozeluch, who was considered the first clavier-player in Vienna, if he
would come to Salzburg. Kozeluch refused, as Mozart wrote to his father
(July 4, 1781), because he was better off in Vienna, and he had said to
his friends: "The affair with Mozart is what chiefly alarms me; if he
could let such a man as that leave him, what would become of me?"
L. Mozart, much against his will, was obliged to reconcile himself to
the step his son had taken.[1] He was full of
{WORK IN VIENNA, 1781.}
(187)
anxiety, caused by his conviction of Wolfgang's incapacity in matters
relating to his own advancement, by his fear lest he should not be able
to withstand the seductions of the pleasure-loving capital, and also,
perhaps, by an unconscious feeling of annoyance at his son's independent
demeanour. This caused him to express his affectionate and really
justifiable concern in so perverse a manner that, instead of lightening
Wolfgang's difficult position, he embittered his life with reproaches
and objections, which were generally exaggerated, and often entirely
unreasonable; for he was weak enough to place easy faith in rumours
and gossip. He had so long been accustomed to undertake the care of all
Wolfgang's affairs that he could not bring himself quietly to resign all
interference in them. Mozart did not allow himself to be over-persuaded;
he held fast to his independence, as well as to his reverence and love
for his father, whose reproofs and accusations he repeatedly disclaimed.
At first, indeed, the father's gloomy forebodings seemed more likely
to be verified than the brilliant hopes of the son. Summer had arrived,
most of the nobility had gone to their country seats, and there was
little to be done in the way of lessons or concerts. The Countess
Rumbeck (_née_ Cobenzl), who was afterwards considered a first-rate
clavier-player,[2] remained his only pupil, since he would not abate
his price of six ducats; but he managed to exist in spite of all. He
consoled himself by the reflection that it was the dull season, and
that he must employ his leisure by preparing for the winter. He worked
diligently at six sonatas for the clavier, which were to be published
by subscription; the Countess Thun and other ladies of rank undertook
to collect subscriptions. They secured seventeen during the summer, and
hoped for more in the autumn. He set to work to arrange a concert to be
given during Advent; Rossi wrote the words for an Italian cantata which
was to be composed for the occasion. But what lay nearest his heart was
the composition of an opera in Vienna; his conviction of his vocation as
a dramatic composer having been strengthened
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(188)
by the performances at the Vienna theatre, and the lively interest taken
in them by the public. "My only entertainment," he writes to his sister
(July 4, 1781), "consists in the theatre. I wish you could see a tragedy
performed here! I know no other theatre where every kind of play is
given to perfection. Every part, even the smallest and the worst, is
well filled." The performances of the Vienna stage had, in point of
fact, reached the highest level of excellence known at that time.[3]
Since the time when the stage had joined in the struggle which ended
in the triumph of German literature and art over buffoonery and
extemporised pieces, the theatre had remained the gathering-point of
literary interests. The best authors of the day wrote for the stage with
the avowed object of improving taste and aiding the spread of culture;
such were Klemm, Heufeld, Ayrenhoff, and Gebler, and their efforts were
ably seconded by such actors as Müller and the brothers Stephanie.[4]
The new and difficult task appointed for them spurred the actors to
extraordinary efforts. A general feeling of sympathy and esteem began
to replace the contempt in which the dramatic art had been held, and
the stage was soon looked upon as the gauge of a nation's moral and
intellectual cultivation. This elevation of the art as a whole benefited
the artists as individuals, the interdict which society had laid upon
them was removed, and actors became favoured members of the best and
most cultivated circles.[5] The Vienna theatre in especial, since
Joseph II. in the year 1776 had saved it from the weakening influence
of variable private patronage, and had constituted it the court and
national theatre, had rapidly reached to an unprecedented height of
excellence. This monarch looked upon the theatre as an important means
of national cultivation, took a lively interest in it, and shared
himself in its practical management; he also watched over the talents
and the destinies
{THE VIENNA STAGE.}
(189)
of his actors with shrewd penetration and warm sympathy.[6] He was
careful, by lowering the prices of admission,[7] to make attendance
at the theatre more general than it had hitherto been; and an
entertainment, which had borne almost exclusively the character of a
court festival or an assembly of persons of rank, was thus placed within
the reach of the citizen class.[8] Literary criticism too, let loose by
the introduction of the liberty of the press, turned its attention to
the drama, and enlightened the general reader on the quality of the
entertainment afforded to him by the author and by the actor. In this
way a public was educated without reference to rank or class, to whom
the poet and musician could appeal as an independent artist, instead
of ministering as heretofore exclusively to the entertainment of his
patrons--a state of affairs which must have had important influence on
the position of artists, more especially of musicians.
The theatrical public of Vienna at the time of which we are speaking had
the reputation of being attentive, discerning, and appreciative, ready
and liberal in its acknowledgment of what was good.[9] And in truth it
had cause. Shortly before Mozart came to Vienna, Schroder and his wife
had set the crown on admirable acting; and associated with them were
Müller, Lange, Weidman, Brockmann, Jacquet, Bergopzoomer, the brothers
Stephanie, Mesdames Weidner, Adamberger, Jacquet, Sacco, Stierle,
Rouseul--affording proof that Mozart did not overrate the talent of his
contemporaries.[10]
In the same spirit in which he had founded the national theatre Joseph
II. abolished the costly spectacular ballet and the Italian opera. In
the place of the latter he instituted a "national vaudeville," as he
called the German
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(190)
opera.[11] In December, 1777, he resolved to make a modest beginning
with the forces which he had at his command. Umlauf, tenorist in the
orchestra, had written the little operetta of "Die Bergknappen," in
which only four characters appeared. The principal part was intended for
Mdlle. Cavalieri, the second for Madame Stierle; the male parts were to
be undertaken by Ruprecht, the tenor singer, and Fuchs, the bass;
the chorus was composed of church choristers, and the management was
entrusted to Müller, the actor. The rehearsals were very carefully made,
and the Emperor having expressed his satisfaction at a dress rehearsal,
the German opera was opened with "Die Bergknappen" on February 18. 1778.
The performance was highly successful,[12] and in the course of the
following year fourteen operas or vaudevilles were performed, partly
translations, with Italian or French music, such as "Robert und
Kalliste" ("La Sposa Fedele"), by Guglielmi; "Röschen und Colas," by
Monsigny; "Lucile," "Silvain," "Der Hausfreund," by Grétry; "Anton und
Antonette," by Gossec; and partly original pieces composed in
Vienna, such as "Die Apotheke," by Umlauf; "Die Kinder der Natur," by
Aspelmeyer; "Frühling und Liebe," by Ulbrich; and "Diesmal hat der Mann
den Willen," by Ordonnez.
The only singer of lasting reputation who took part in the first opera
was Katharina Cavalieri (1761-1801). Daughter of a poor schoolmaster
named Cavalier in Währing, her talent was perceived and cultivated by
Salieri, and she appeared in Italian opera as early as 1775. She soon
became a bravura singer of the first rank.[13] It was clearly necessary
that she should be well supported if the opera was to compete with the
drama proper. The first wife of the
{GERMAN OPERETTA.}
(191)
actor Lange, Mariane Schindler, was secured; but after having achieved
great success in Grétr's "Hausfreund" and "Lucile," and bidding fair to
become a main support of the opera, both by her singing and acting,
she died in the winter of 1779.[14] The following summer, through
the intervention of the ambassador, Count Hardeck, Aloysia Weber was
summoned from Munich, and took her place, not only on the stage, but
in the affections of Lange, who shortly after made her his second
wife. Aloysia Weber made her _début_ in the part of the Rosenmädchen of
Salency, and was received with general approbation.[15] It was evident,
therefore, that Mozart was not blinded by youthful inclination when,
he declared her one of the first singers of her time, a judgment which
posterity has ratified. The second parts had been allotted before her
arrival to Theresa Teyber, afterwards Madame Arnold, who pleased by her
fresh, youthful voice, while that of Madame Fischer (_née_ Strasser),
from Mannheim, a clever singer and good actress, was already somewhat
past. In the summer of 1781 they had been joined by Madame Bernasconi
(p. 130), by the desire, as it was said, of Gluck, who had used the
influence of Count Dietrichstein to press her on the Emperor; but the
position was not well suited to her talent. Mozart gives his opinion as
follows (August 29, 1781):--
In the great parts of tragedy Bernasconi remains inimitable. But small
operettas are not in her style at all; and then (as she acknowledges
herself) she is more Italian than German, speaks on the stage with the
same Viennese accent as in common life (just imagine!), and when she
occasionally makes an effort it is as if one heard a princess declaim in
a marionette theatre. And she sings so badly that no one will consent to
compose for her.
And even before this (June 27, 1781) he had written derisively:--
She has three hundred ducats salary because she sings all her songs a
division higher than they are written. It is really a great art, for
she keeps well in tune. She has now promised to sing them half a tone
higher, and then of course she will be paid more.
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(192)
There were male singers also, who were quite on an equality with these
female vocalists. Soon after the opening of the opera the tenors Souter
and Dauer, a whimsical actor with a fine voice,[16] were engaged, and at
a later date Adamberger, one of the most admirable tenors, a singer
of artistic style and cultivation, and a "very respectable" actor of
lovers' parts. Fischer was secured as a bass; the compass, strength, and
beauty of his voice and his artistic cultivation, both as a singer
and an actor, placed him in the very first rank among the singers of
Germany. With him were associated Günther and Schmidt as bass singers,
and Saal as a baritone.[17] There were thus all the materials required for
the production of German operas, except a composer who could write them.
Umlauf and some others who imitated him were not the men for such an
undertaking. Gluck had composed nothing since his "Iphigenia in Taurus,"
and contented himself with putting on the stage, in 1780, "Die Pilgrimme
von Mekka," a comic opera which had been written for Vienna with French
words ("La Rencontre Imprévue") in 1764, and which was often played in
its German adaptation.[18] In the following year, by the express
command of the Emperor Joseph, Salieri wrote a German comic opera, "Der
Rauchfangkehrer"[19] ("The Chimney-Sweep"), the text of which, by
Dr. Auembrugger, was unusually bad;[20] but Salieri was too much of an
Italian to have
{GERMAN OPERA.}
(193)
much effect on German opera. The operetta was assiduously cultivated
in North Germany, and a long list of those which were produced might
be given. But the contrast between North and South Germany, founded
on their political and religious differences, was visible unpleasantly
enough in literature and art, and had a marked influence on their
musical sympathies and antipathies.[21] Nicolai relates that he had
heard in Vienna many genuine and accomplished musical connoisseurs speak
of Ph. Em. Bach not only with indifference, but with absolute dislike,
and place Kozeluch and Steffan before all other clavier-players.[22]
Adamberger, when asked his opinion concerning a celebrated singer from
North Germany, answered that she sang like a Lutheran; and on being
pressed for an explanation, replied, "I call it singing like a Lutheran
to have a beautiful voice as the gift of nature, and even to have
received a good musical education, as is frequently the case in North
Germany, but to show no signs of study in the Italian school of music,
through which alone the true art of singing can be learnt."[23]
There was little demand in Vienna, therefore, for the compositions which
Hiller's successful enterprise with German opera had brought into being;
the works of men such as Benda, Schweitzer, Wolf, Neefe, André, and
Reichard; their operas were not performed, and still less was there any
prospect of a field for their future labours in Vienna. Schweitzer was
not summoned, in spite of Wieland's pressing recommendation (Vol. I.,
p. 406). G. Benda had shown himself not disinclined to remove to
Vienna,[24] and report had pointed to him as probable kapellmeister
in 1778,[25] but he had never been seriously thought of. It appeared,
therefore, that a most fitting career stood open for Mozart, and he
himself wished nothing more than to prove his powers in this branch of
his art. He had brought with him his operetta
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(194)
"Zaide," in the hope of having it performed. The libretto, as he had
feared, proved a stumbling-block (Vol. II.,p. 115); but the younger
Stephanie, at that time inspector of the opera, formed so favourable
an opinion of the music, that he promised to give Mozart a new and good
piece, which he was to compose for the Vienna stage. His father warned
him that Stephanie was not to be depended upon; and he was right.
Stephanie the younger was an arrogant, selfish man, who had made himself
hated everywhere by his intrigues and pretensions. Mozart knew that he
was in ill repute, and was upon his guard. He resolved to write no opera
without the express commission of Count Rosenberg, who had had supreme
direction of the theatre since 1776; but Stephanie continued friendly,
and there seemed no actual cause for personal distrust. Count Rosenberg
had received Mozart well whenever he had waited upon him, and had
joined in the applause of other connoisseurs upon the occasion of the
performance of "Idomeneo" at the house of Countess Thun, Van Swieten and
Sonnenfels being also among the audience. It was not long, therefore,
before Mozart was able to announce to his father the good news (June 9,
1781) that Count Rosenberg had commissioned Schroder, the distinguished
actor, to look out a good libretto, which was to be given to Mozart for
composition. A few days afterwards Stephanie told him of a piece he had
found in four acts, of which the first was excellent, but the others
fell off, so that it was doubtful whether Schroder would undertake the
adaptation of it. "They may settle that between them," wrote Wolfgang
(June 16, 1781). The book was rejected, but the matter did not rest; the
Emperor was evidently anxious to give Mozart an opportunity of trying
his powers as a German operatic composer; and at the end of July the
latter found himself at the goal of his wishes, and able to inform his
father (August 1, 1781):--
Yesterday young Stephanie gave me a book for composition. It is very
good; the subject is Turkish, and it is called "Belmont und Constance,"
or "Die Entführung aus dem Serail." The overture, the chorus in the
first act, and the concluding chorus I shall compose in Turkish music.
Mdlle. Cavalieri, Mdlle. Teyber, M. Fischer,
{THE "ENTFÜHRUNG.}
(195)
M. Adamberger, M. pauer, and M. Walter are to sing in the opera. I am so
delighted at having it to compose that the first songs for Cavalieri
and Adamberger and the terzet at the close of the first act are already
finished. The time given is short, certainly, for it is to be performed
in the middle of September, but the attendant circumstances will be all
the more favourable. And indeed everything combines to raise my spirits,
so that I hasten to my writing-table with the greatest eagerness, and it
is with difficulty I tear myself away.
The favourable circumstances which made Mozart so hopeful chiefly
consisted in the expected visit of the Grand Duke Paul and his wife; the
opera was to be among the festivities given in their honour, and it
was safely to be expected that the Emperor and Count Rosenberg would
consider it to his credit if he prepared the work in such haste for
them; but all this was to be a secret. It was now very convenient to him
to be in a house with good friends who would provide him with dinner and
supper, and so enable him to sit writing all day. "You know of old
how hungry I get when I am composing." He continued in this whirl of
excitement, and was able to write on August 8:--
I have just finished the chorus of Janizaries. Adamberger, Cavalieri,
and Fischer are thoroughly pleased with their songs. I let the Countess
Thun hear as much as is ready. She told me afterwards that she was ready
to stake her life on it that what I had written so far would please.
On this point, however, I listen to no man's praise or blame before
the whole has been heard or seen, but I follow entirely my own
feelings--only you may see from it how greatly she was pleased with the
music herself.
On August 22 he wrote that the first act was finished; soon after
he learnt, to his relief, that the Grand Duke was not coming until
November, so that he could write his opera "with greater deliberation"
(September 5, 1781). Shortly afterwards he informs his father (September
26, 1781):--
The first act was ready three weeks ago, and an aria in the second act
and the drinking duet, which consists of nothing but my Turkish tattoo;
but I cannot do any more at present, the whole thing being upset, and
by my own desire. At the beginning of the third act there is a charming
quintet, or rather finale, and this I mean to transfer to the end of
the second act. But it will necessitate considerable alterations and the
introduction of a fresh intrigue, and Stephanie is over head and ears in
work.
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(196)
Another circumstance also interfered with the completion of Mozart's
opera. It was proposed in honour of the distinguished visitors to
perform two of Gluck's operas, viz.: "Iphigenia" in a German adaptation,
and "Alceste" in Italian, "in order," as a contemporary announcement
puts it, "to show what we Germans are able to accomplish."[26] Certainly
the choice was well made with this object in view, although it was said
in Vienna, as Mozart wrote to his father (August 29,1781), that it had
been difficult to persuade the Emperor into it, for he was at heart as
little partial to Gluck as to Gluck's favourite singer, Bernasconi.[27]
The projected performance of these operas disturbed all Mozart's
calculations. The applause which had been bestowed on his "Idomeneo"
by capable and influential judges, and the readiness of the singers to
appear in it, had raised the hope of producing it on this occasion in
a German adaptation, which would have involved alterations in the
composition; but a third grand opera would have been too much, and it
could not have been studied together with Gluck's. Even the comic
opera had to be temporarily laid aside until Gluck's two operas were
ready--"and there is plenty of study to be got through still," he wrote
to his father (October 6, 1781). He was at work at it again in the
middle of November; but the original intention of having it completed
by the arrival of the Grand Duke was no longer feasible. On November 21
"that grand animal, the Grand Duke," arrived under the name of Count von
Narden, and on the 25th a brilliant festival was given at Schonbrunn.
"Tomorrow 'Alceste' is given at Schonbrunn,"[28] writes Mozart,
{ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN.}
(197)
sorrowfully (November 24, 1781). "I have been looking up Russian popular
songs, in order to play variations on them."
Shortly before the arrival of the Grand Duke, the Duke of Würtemberg,
with his consort, the Princess Elizabeth, intended bride of the Archduke
Franz, and her brother, Prince Ferdinand, had entered Vienna. "The Duke
is a charming man, and the Duchess and Princess also; but the Prince
is an octogenarian stick, and a real blockhead," was Mozart's concise
description (November 17, 1781); but the arrival of the trio opened
a favourable prospect for him. The Princess, who had come to have the
finishing touches put to her education in Vienna, required a teacher of
music, and this position, which, besides making a welcome addition to
his income, would bring him into contact with very influential persons,
Mozart hoped to obtain. His chief supporter was the Emperor's youngest
brother, the Archduke Maximilian, at that time Coadjutor of the Elector
of Cologne. The Archduke was musical, and had an excellent band of wind
instruments in his pay;[29] he had a favourable remembrance of Mozart
from his visit to Salzburg in 1775, and proved a very warm patron.
Mozart wrote to his father (November 1781):--
Yesterday at three o'clock I was summoned by the Archduke. When I went
in he was standing in the first room by the stove, and he came straight
up to me and asked if I had anything to do to-day? "No, your royal
highness, nothing at all; but even were it otherwise, I should be
delighted to place my time at the disposal of your Royal Highness." "No,
no; I do not want to disturb anybody." Then he said that he had a mind
to give a concert in the evening at the Würtemberg court, and would
like me to play something and to accompany the songs; I was to go to him
again at six o'clock. I played there last evening accordingly.
At the same time, Mozart could not conceal from himself that the
Archduke had changed very much to his disadvantage:--
Before he was a priest he was much wittier and more intellectual, and
spoke less but more sensibly. You should see him now! Stupidity stares
out of his eyes, he talks and chatters without stopping, and all in a
sort of falsetto voice; he has a swollen neck; in short, the whole man
is transformed!
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(198)
Nevertheless he continued to patronise Mozart, drew him out on every
occasion, and if he had only been Elector of Cologne, Mozart would have
been kapellmeister by this time, as he told his father. He had used
his influence with the Princess to take Mozart as her music-master, but
received for answer that if it depended on herself she would certainly
have chosen him, but the Emperor--"he cares for no one but Salieri,"
cries Mozart in disgust--had recommended Salieri to her on account of
his singing, and she felt obliged to engage him, to her great regret.
It was quite true that Salieri stood high in the favour of Joseph II. He
had been pupil of the Emperor's special favourite Gassmann, and had in a
sense grown up under the royal eye;[30] he was regularly engaged at
the imperial private concerts, and retained possession of his patron's
favour by means both of his music and his personal demeanour. It was
plain, therefore, that the preference for Salieri shown by the Emperor
on this occasion did not arise from any ill-will towards Mozart; he was
in close personal intercourse with Salieri, and esteemed him highly as a
vocal composer, while Mozart was only known to him as a clavier-player.
As such he had great admiration for him, and Mozart informed his father
(December 26, 1781) that the Emperor had lately "passed the greatest
_éloge_ on him in the words 'C'est un talent décidé.'"
He had also (on December 14) commanded Mozart to play at court, and
had arranged for him a contest of skill with Clementi, who had come to
Vienna with the reputation of a clavier-player of unheard-of excellence.
Clementi relates the encounter to his pupil L. Berger:[31]--
I had only been a few days in Vienna when I received an invitation to
play before the Emperor on the pianoforte. On entering the music-room I
beheld an individual whose elegant attire led me to mistake him for
an imperial valet-de-chambre. But we had no sooner entered into
conversation than it turned on musical topics, and we soon recognised in
each other with sincere pleasure brother artists--Mozart and Clementi.
{MOZART AND CLEMENTI, 1781.}
(199)
Mozart continues the description of the scene (January 16, 1782):--
After we had paid each other all manner of compliments, the Emperor gave
the signal that Clementi should begin. "La santa chiesa cattoüca!" said
the Emperor--Clementi being a native of Rome. He preluded, and played a
sonata.
"It is worthy of note here," says Berger, "that Clementi was peculiarly
fond of extemporising long and very interesting and elaborate interludes
and cadenzas in the pauses of his sonatas; it was this propensity which
led him to select a sonata for performance which lent itself easily
to such treatment, although in every other respect this sonata
stands behind his earlier compositions of the same kind. It was the
following--[See Page Image]
and we have perhaps to thank this subject for the allegro in the
overture to the 'Zauberflote,' a composition never surpassed of its
kind: [32]--
The Emperor then said to me: "Allons, d'rauf los!" ("Now then,
fire away!") I preluded, and played some variations. Then the Grand
Duchess[33] produced some sonatas by Paesiello (in his own miserable
manuscript),[34] of which I was to play the allegro and Clementi the
andante and rondo. Then we each took a subject and carried it out on two
pianofortes. By the way, I had borrowed the Countess Thun's pianoforte
for myself, but only played upon it when I played alone. The Emperor
wished it to be so. The other instrument was out of tune, and had three
of its keys sticking. "Never mind," said the Emperor. I look upon it
that the Emperor knows my musical powers and knowledge, and wishes to
do me justice in the eyes of the foreigners. I know upon very good
authority that he was thoroughly satisfied with me.
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(200)
Dittersdorf confirms this view, and extracts the following from a
conversation with Joseph II.:[35]--
_Emperor_: "Have you heard Mozart?" _Myself_: "Three times already."
_Emperor_: "How do you like him?" _Myself_: "As every connoisseur _must_
like him." _Emperor_: "Have you heard Clementi also?" _Myself_: "I have
heard him also." _Emperor_: "Some people prefer him to Mozart, which
makes Greybig wild. What is your opinion? speak out." _Myself_: "In
Clementi's playing there is merely art, but in Mozart's both art and
taste." _Emperor_: "That is just what I said myself."
After the competition, the Emperor sent Mozart fifty ducats, "which were
very acceptable at the time."
Clementi was delighted with Mozart's playing:--
I had never heard so delicate and graceful an execution. I was
especially delighted with an adagio, and with several of his
extemporised variations. The Emperor gave the subject, and we varied it,
alternately accompanying each other.
On the other hand, Mozart's judgment of Clementi was sharp and severe:--
Clementi is a good player, and that is all one can say. He plays well as
far as the execution of his right hand is concerned. His forte lies in
passages in thirds. But he has not an atom of taste or feeling, in fact
he is a mere mechanist.
When his sister in Salzburg had made acquaintance with Clementi's
sonatas, he wrote to her (June 7, 1783):--
Now I must say a word to my sister on the subject of Clementi's sonatas.
Every one who plays them must be aware that as compositions they
are valueless. There are no striking passages, except the sixths and
octaves, and I should strongly advise you not to be too much taken with
these, for they are the ruin of a firm and quiet hand, and would soon
deprive it of its lightness, flexibility, and flowing rapidity. For what
is the object of these passages after all? They must be executed with
the utmost rapidity (which not even Clementi himself can accomplish),
and a lamentable hash is the result--nothing else in the world, Clementi
is a charlatan, _like all the Italians!_ He writes _presto_ on a
sonata, or even _prestissimo or alia breve_, and plays it _allegro_ in
three-four time. I have heard him do it! What he does
{STRACK AND COURT MUSIC.}
(201)
really well are passages in thirds--he worked at them day and night in
London--but he can do nothing else, and he has not the least execution
or taste, and far less any sentiment in his playing.[36]
In justification of this censure, Berger mentions Clementi having told
him that, at the time of which Mozart writes, he devoted his
attention to brilliant execution, and in particular to double runs
and extemporised passages; it was only later that he adopted a more
expressive style, which was perfected by the study of the best vocal
music of the day, and by the gradual improvements made in the instrument
known as the English pianoforte, the primitive construction of which had
been too defective to allow of an expressive legato execution. Berger
remarks further that Mozart's honourable and upright character prevents
any suspicion of underhand motives for the severity of his judgment.
Mozart sought to gain favour with the Emperor by securing the support
of his groom of the chamber, Strack, who possessed great influence in
musical affairs. He tells his father (November 3, 1781) that on his
name-day (October 31), which he had celebrated at the house of Baroness
Waldstätten, he had been surprised by a serenade of his own composition
(375 K.), which he had composed on St. Theresa's day (October 15) for
the daughter-in-law of the court painter, Hickl. "The chief reason I
wrote it," he continues, "was to let Herr von Strack, who goes there
almost daily, hear something of mine, and I made it somewhat serious
accordingly; it was very much admired." He ventured at a later date
to count upon Strack as his friend with the Emperor, although, as he
cautiously adds, "the courtier is never to be trusted" (January 23,
1782). The report having reached Salzburg that the Emperor intended
taking Mozart into his service, he answers his father (April 10,
1782):--
The reason that I have not written to you about it is because I know
nothing of it myself. It is certain, however, that the whole town is
full of it, and that I am congratulated on all sides; I would fain
believe, too, that the Emperor has been spoken to on the subject, and
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(202)
has it in his mind, but so far I have not heard a word. It has gone so
far that the Emperor is thinking of it, and that without my having moved
a step in the matter. I have been sundry times to see Herr von Strack
(who is on my side) both to keep him in mind of me, and because
I like him; but not often enough to be tiresome or to appear to have any
motive in it; and he must acknowledge as an honest man that he has not
heard a word from me which could give him occasion to say that I wished
to remain, far less to be engaged by the Emperor. We talk of nothing
but music. It is of his own free will and quite disinterestedly that
he speaks of me to the Emperor. Since it has gone so far without my
co-operation, it may come to something. If one appears anxious, there is
less chance of a good salary, for the Emperor is certainly a niggard. If
he wants to have me, he must pay me for it; for the honour of being in
the Emperor's service does not go very far with me.
Joseph II. was accustomed to have a concert in his own apartments every
afternoon.[37] He generally dined alone in the music-room, which did not
usually occupy more than a quarter of an hour; if there was no important
business to be transacted, the concert began as soon as the cloth was
removed, and lasted for about an hour, so that the Emperor might visit
the theatre. Three times a week there was a grand concert, at which
Gassmann,[38] and later Salieri, or sometimes Umlauf, were expected to
appear; there was no audience, and the Archduke Maximilian, when he was
present, took an active part in the performance. Joseph II. possessed a
thorough musical education,[39] and preferred the severe style (Vol. I.,
p. 368); his fine bass voice had been trained in the Italian school,[40]
and he played the violoncello and viola, as well as the clavier; he also
read both vocal and instrumental music with great facility, and was a
skilful player from score. Usually separate pieces were selected from
operas and, oratorios; the Emperor accompanied from the score on
the clavier, and also took a tenor or bass part--a pathetic one by
preference.[41] The pieces chosen were
{KREIBICH AND THE ORCHESTRA.}
(203)
sometimes old favourites of the Emperor, sometimes new works with which he
thus became acquainted; the operas which were afterwards to be performed
were generally gone through in this way by the Emperor and the Archduke
Maximilian.[42] The pieces were generally played and sung at sight;
it amused the Emperor to put the executants on their trial, and he was
delighted at the confusion which often ensued; the more energetic and
distracted the conductor Kreibich became, the more heartily the Emperor
laughed.[43]
At the ordinary concerts the Emperor only took part in the quartet. The
first violin was played by Kreibich (or Greybig), "a man who was made
for a conductor; he has a capital insight into the theory of music, but,
unfortunately for his art, affects a certain degree of charlatanry.
His timidity prevents his executing solo parts with distinctness and
elegance, and his bowing is not sufficiently round and firm." This
nervousness, joined to a pompous manner, made him the butt of the jokes
and squibs of the musical circle,[44] and though not at all ill-natured,
he was not in a position to make his opinion of value, but allowed
himself to be made the tool of others, who were willing enough to let
him appear to the Emperor and the public as the leader of all that
related to the chamber music. With him were associated the violinists
Woborzil, who led the orchestra in the German opera, Hoffmann, Ponheim,
and Krottendorfer, mediocre artists and unimportant men; of the last it
was only said that he flattered Strack, and was his marionette. Strack
was in fact the soul of these concerts; he had the direction of the
musicians, played the violoncello, and was present on every occasion,
while the others took it by turns; this, together with his personal
position, gave him overpowering influence with the Emperor. "You know
the kind of men
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(204)
who, as Schiller says, come in as makeshifts when any one is wanted.
Strack has always been with Joseph, and has used his opportunities so
well that, in the musical line, he can do exactly as he likes."
It was a fact that good music, especially good instrumental music, was
seldom performed in the closet. If a quartet was played it was by a
second-rate composer, and the masters who were then founding a new epoch
in this province, Haydn--for whose "tricks" the Emperor did not
care much[45]--and Mozart, together with their imitators, Pleyel and
Kozeluch, were excluded, or as good as excluded. This was considered
to be owing to Strack's influence, and it was wondered at that Salieri,
"the idol of the Emperor," who invariably took part in the private
concerts, did not assert his opinion; but he "was too politic to come
into collision with the shadow of his Emperor."
How far, after all, was Salieri capable of influencing the music of his
day? Joseph's taste had been formed on the tradition of Italian music,
represented by Hasse and Piccinni, and his predilections retained the
same direction. His wish to develop a national school of music proceeded
from rational conviction; and, though he was intellectually capable of
appreciating the works of Gluck and Mozart, they were not really
after his own heart. He had avowedly accustomed himself to look for
entertainment in music, and was overpowered by the independent power and
fulness which Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart brought to bear upon their art.
Salieri had no reason for combating the Emperor's inclinations, since
they were also his own. He skilfully sought to turn to account the
acquisitions which music had made in various directions, and to make
Italian opera capable of satisfying the demands of a more enlightened
taste. With the exception of the operas written for Paris, in which he
consciously followed Gluck's manner, he remained throughout true to the
tradition of Italian opera, introduced no new element into it, and did
not possess
{SALIERI AND MOZART.}
(205)
originality enough to make an indelible mark on the music of the day.
But it was just this mediocrity of talent, skill, and taste which won
for him the favour of his imperial master and of the public; it would
have required the possession of a singular union of moral and artistic
greatness and magnanimity to acknowledge rising genius as superior to
his own, and to bow himself down before it--and Salieri was not capable
of this. He is described as a benevolent and good-tempered man, amiable
in his private life, and adorned with the well-deserved fame of noble
and generous actions;[46] but these good qualities did not preserve from
envy either his reputation or his position. In the year 1780 he had just
returned from a lengthened tour in Italy, which had brought him new fame
and honour, and had confirmed him in the favour of the Emperor; at this
point Mozart made his appearance as a rival, dangerous by reason of his
brilliant powers of execution, which most readily win the applause
of the multitude, as well as by his compositions. The "Entführung"
threatening to throw Salieri's "Rauch-fangkehrer" completely into
the shade, and "Idomeneo" establishing its composer as a formidable
competitor on his own ground, it was impossible that Salieri, who
instinctively felt Mozart's superiority, could long pretend indifference
to it. There was no interruption of their personal intercourse.[47]
Mozart was friendly and unconstrained in his behaviour to his
fellow-artists, "even to Salieri, who could not bear him," as Frau
Sophie Haibl, Mozart's sister-in-law, relates, and Salieri was "too
politic" to make any show of his dislike to Mozart. It was understood in
Vienna, however, that he did dislike him, and that he secretly strove to
check his progress, not only by depreciatory criticism,[48] but by every
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(206)
sort of obstacle thrown in his way from the very first. Salieri had
been appointed maestro to the Princess Elizabeth, but he was unable to
instruct her on the clavier, and Mozart had clearly the next claim. "He
may take the trouble," writes he to his father (August 31, 1782), "to
do me harm in this matter, but the Emperor knows me; the princess would
have liked to learn from me from the first, and I know that my name
stands in the book where the list of all those appointed to her service
is kept." But Salieri was much too cautious to allow Mozart to attain
to such a position. An unknown musician named Summerer was appointed
teacher of the clavier to the Princess Elizabeth. Mozart consoled
himself, when he heard that the salary was only four hundred florins,
by the reflection that it would not leave much over when the waiting,
travelling, and other expenses contingent on such a service had been
paid for (October 12, 1782).
Under these circumstances Salieri and Strack were naturally sworn allies
in the Emperor's music room, and resisted together the introduction
of any elements which would undermine their influence by giving the
Emperor's taste a new direction. Although, therefore, Mozart was
encouraged by the Emperor's expressions of liking for him, more
especially as "great rulers are not too fond of saying such things for
fear of a dagger-thrust from an envious rival," yet the obstacles which
he had to overcome in the surroundings of the Emperor were likely to
prove too powerful for him. The Emperor's parsimony also restrained him
from adding another kapellmeister to those who were already in receipt
of salaries from the court.
Another chance of such a fixed situation as his father was continually
urging upon him to secure offered itself through Prince Aloys
Liechtenstein, the eldest son of the reigning prince, whose income was
estimated at 900,000 imperial
{CONCERTS, LESSONS, AND COMPOSITIONS.}
(207)
gulden.[49] He proposed enrolling a band of wind instruments in his
service, and wished to engage Mozart to arrange pieces for it. For this
he could not expect a high salary, but it would be a certain one, for he
had quite resolved to accept none but a permanent engagement. But
this hope, too, was disappointed,[50] and he continued to exist on the
uncertain proceeds of lessons, concerts, and composition.
The state of affairs improved somewhat in the winter. He had constant
pupils in the Countess Rumbeck and Frau von Trattnem, to whom was added
later the Countess Zichy. He gave each of them a lesson daily, and
received six ducats for twelve, which sufficed for absolute necessities.
Six sonatas for clavier and violin, for which his patronesses had opened
a subscription of three ducats, were completed and printed in November,
1781.[51]
In Lent he gave a concert, at which, following the advice of his
patrons, he played selections from "Idomeneo" and his concerto in D
major (175 K.), for which he had composed a new rondo (382 K.). The
rondo "made a great sensation," and was sent to Salzburg, with a request
that it might be treasured as a jewel. "I wrote it especially for
myself, and no one else shall play it except my dear sister" (March 2,
1782). As a conclusion he played a fantasia. He had been advised to do
this because he would be thereby most certain of outrivalling Clementi,
who was giving a concert at about the same time.[52] Mozart had plenty
of invitations to play at other people's concerts and in society,
on which occasions a new composition had generally to be written. At
Auernhammer's concert, for instance, he played with the daughter a
"sonata for two" (381 K.), which he
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(208)
had composed on purpose, and which "was a great success" (November 24,
1781). He wrote easier pieces for his pupils. "I must close my letter"
he writes (June 20, 1781), "for I have to prepare some variations for
a pupil"; and soon after he wrote to his sister (July 4, 1781): "I have
written three airs with variations, which are not worth the trouble of
sending alone. I will wait until there is something to accompany them."
His time was fully occupied, therefore, and he had no difficulty in
proving the injustice of his sister's reproaches to him for not writing
oftener (February 13, 1782):--
You must not conclude that you do not give me pleasure by writing to
me because I do not always answer you. I always look forward with great
pleasure to receiving a letter from you, my dear sister. If I were not
prevented by pressing engagements, God knows I would always answer you.
Is it true that I have never answered you? It certainly has not been
from forgetfulness nor carelessness, but from simple impossibility! Bad
enough, you will say, but do I write often, even to my father? You both
know Vienna. You ought to know that a man who has no regular income must
work day and night in such a city. Our father, when he has finished his
church service, and you, when you have dismissed your few pupils, can
do as you like all the rest of the day, and you may write letters long
enough to contain the whole litany, if you like; but I can do no such
thing. I gave my father a description of my mode of life a short time
ago. I will repeat it for you now. At six o'clock my barber comes, at
seven I am dressed, and write until nine. From nine o'clock till one
I give lessons, then I dine, if I am not invited out, in which case we
dine at two or even three o'clock, as we shall to-day and to-morrow at
the Countess Zichy's and Countess Thun's. I cannot begin to work again
till five or six o'clock, and am often even then prevented by a concert;
if not, I write. The continual concerts, and the uncertainty as to
whether I shall be called away here or there, prevent my writing in
the evening; so it is my custom (especially when I come home early)
to compose something before I go to bed. I often write on until one
o'clock, and am up again at six! My dearest sister, if you really
believe that I can forget you or my father, then--but no! God knows it,
and that is enough for me; let Him punish me if I ever forget you.
Instances are not wanting of his affection and thought for his father
and sister. He sends his father (March 23, 1782) a snuffbox and a pair
of watch ribbons: "The snuffbox is a good one, and the picture on it is
from an English story;
{PERFORMANCE OF THE "ENTFÜHRUNG," JULY, 1782.}
(209)
the watch ribbons are not very valuable, but they are high fashion
here just now." He did not buy either of them, he adds for his father's
consolation, but was presented with them by Count Szapary. To his sister
also he sent different bits of finery, and begged her to intrust him
with any commission in Vienna; he also testified the warmest sympathy
in her love affairs. He did not forget his old Salzburg friends in
Vienna--begs for news of them from his sister, "the walking register of
Salzburg," and wished still to be considered as an active member of the
quoit club.
During these manifold occupations the opera had still the first place
in his thoughts, but it was at a standstill owing to the production of
Gluck's two operas and the numerous alterations which were necessary
in the libretto; he hoped that it would be ready for representation,
however, directly after Easter. This was not the case, but on May 8 he
writes: "Yesterday I was with the Countess Thun, and ran over the second
act for her; she is as pleased with it as she was with the first"; and
on May 29: "Next Monday is to be the first rehearsal; I must admit that
I am delighted with this opera."
And he had good cause to be so, for its ultimate success was assured.
But he had to fight against strong cabals, and it needed the express
command of the Emperor to bring the opera to performance on July
13. High as had been the expectations of the public, they were fully
justified by the result. "The house was crammed full, there was no end
to the applause and cheering, and performances followed one another in
quick succession."[53] After having given his father a short account
of the first performance, he reports more fully on the second (July 20,
1782):--
Yesterday my opera was given for the second time. Can you believe that
the opposition was even stronger than on the first evening? The whole of
the first act was drowned, but they could not prevent the bravos after
every song. My hope was in the closing terzet, but
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(210)
Fischer had been rendered nervous, and went wrong, as did Dauer, and
Adamberger alone could not put things right; so that the whole effect
was lost; and this time it was not encored. I was beside myself with
rage, and so was Adamberger; we agreed that the opera should not be
given again without a rehearsal for the singers. In the second act the
two duets were encored, and also Belmonte's rondo, "Wenn der Freude
Thranen fliessen," &c. The theatre was almost more crowded than on the
first performance; the day before not a seat was to be had either on the
_noble parterre_ or in the third story, and not a single box. The opera
has brought twelve hundred florins in the two days.
In the next letter (July 27, 1782), he continues:--
My opera was given yesterday (St. Ann's day) in honour of all Nannerls,
for the third time, and the theatre, in spite of the stifling heat, was
again crammed full. It was to have been played again next Friday, but
I have protested, for I do not want it to be run to death. People are
quite foolish about the opera, I must say. But it does one good to
receive such applause.
Notwithstanding this, it was given again on July 30, and also on the
Friday, and the theatre "swarmed with people in every part."
Mozart was busily employed in arranging his opera for harmony (wind)
music, when he received a commission from the Haffner family in Salzburg
(Vol. I., p. 153) to compose a new serenata. L. Mozart had first been
applied to, and he thought it becoming that Wolfgang should lighten his
father's labours by undertaking a work which cost him no exertion, and
would be of direct advantage to his father. He therefore begged him to
write a serenata without delay, for the time was approaching when it was
to be performed. Wolfgang was quite ready to consent, inconvenient as it
might be to him (July 20, 1782):--
I have certainly enough to do, for by Sunday week my opera must be
arranged for wind instruments, or some one else will get the start
of me, and reap the profit; and now I have to write a new symphony! I
hardly see how it will be possible. You would not believe how difficult
it is to arrange a work like this for harmony, so that it may preserve
its effects, and yet be suitable for wind instruments. Well, I must give
up my nights to it, for it cannot be done any other way; and to you,
my dear father, they shall be devoted. You shall certainly receive
something every post-day, and I will work as quickly as I can, and as
well as I can compatibly with such haste.
{HAFFNER--SERENATA, 1782.}
(211)
He kept his word, although not quite so soon as he himself wished. In
his next letter he writes (July 27, 1782):--
You will make a wry face when you see only the first allegro; but it
could not be helped, for I was called upon to compose a serenade in
great haste--but only for wind instruments, or else I could have used
it for you. On Wednesday, the 31st, I will send the two minuets, the
andante, and the last movement: if I can I will send a march also; if
not, you must take that belonging to the Haffner music, which is very
little known (249 K.). I have written it in D, because you prefer it.
But the serenata was not ready within the next few days, for he says in
his letter of July 31:--
You see that my will is good, but if one cannot do a thing--why one
cannot! I cannot slur over anything, so it will be next post-day before
I can send you the whole symphony.
A week later he wrote (August 7, 1782):--
Herewith I send you a short march (probably 445 K.). I hope all will
arrive in good time, and that you will find it to your taste. The first
allegro must be fiery, and the last as quick as possible.
Six months later, when he had this symphony sent back to him for
performance at one of his concerts, he wrote to his father (February
15,1783): "The new Haffner symphony has quite astonished me, for I did
not remember a word of it, and it must be very effective." These little
incidents show us the true Mozart, in his good-nature and readiness to
oblige his father, and in his power of productiveness and elasticity
of mind; he excuses himself for not having the symphony ready in a
fortnight--and that at a time when not only his opera, but also his
courtship and marriage were filling his head and his heart--and then
he is astonished at himself for having done the thing so well.[54] The
serenata which was thus composed is the lovely one in C minor (388 K.).
Meanwhile the opera pursued its successful course; in the
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(212)
course of the year it was performed sixteen times; and in the beginning
of October, when the Archduke and his wife returned to Vienna, on their
homeward journey, the "Entführung" was given in their honour, "on which
occasion I thought it as well to sit at the piano again and conduct," he
writes to his father (October 19, 1782), "partly to wake up the somewhat
slumbering energies of the orchestra, partly to show the great people
present that I am the father of my offspring." Kaiser Joseph had
attained the object of his ambition; the German opera was established;
but he scarcely seemed to appreciate the importance of the movement thus
set on foot. His criticism on the "Entführung"--"Too fine for our ears,
and an immense number of notes, my dear Mozart!" (referring, no doubt,
to the accompaniment, which was also found fault with by Dittersdorf
as overpowering the voices)[55]--is indicative of his taste. Mozart's
spirited answer, "Just as many notes, your majesty, as are necessary,"
was worthy of an artist.[56] Generally speaking, the opera received
unmitigated praise. Prince Kaunitz, an accomplished amateur and
passionate friend of the theatre,[57] sent for the young composer,
received him in the most flattering manner, and remained henceforth his
friend and patron. The veteran Gluck, the most distinguished person in
the musical world, expressed a desire to hear the opera which was making
so much sensation; it was performed at his request, as Mozart writes to
his father (August 7, 1782), although it had been given only a few days
before; he paid the composer many compliments on it, and invited him to
dinner.
The opera had decided Mozart's musical position in Vienna;[58] it
speedily caused his fame to spread throughout Germany. The Prussian
minister, Baron Riedesel--the
{SUCCESS OF THE ENTFÜHRUNG.}
(213)
well-known traveller and friend of Winckelmann--begged Mozart for a
copy of the score for performance in Berlin, for which he was to receive
suitable remuneration. This was the more flattering, since André's
version of the "Entführung" had been well received in Berlin only
the year before. Mozart had sent the original score to his father
immediately after the first performance, that he might become acquainted
with the composition before seeing the opera, which he was not to do
until the end of 1784, in Salzburg:--
I have just promised to have it copied. As I have not got the opera I am
obliged to borrow it from the copyist, which is very inconvenient, since
I never can keep it three days together; the Emperor continually sends
for it, as he did yesterday, and it is so often performed; it has been
performed ten times since August 16. My idea was, therefore, to have it
copied in Salzburg, where it can be done more secretly and cheaper.
The father, who watched his son's proceedings with jealousy and
suspicion, thought he detected something underhand in the objection to
have the copying done in Vienna. He had reminded his son, _ä propos_ of
"Idomeneo," that the score should remain the property of the composer
(Vol. II., p. 141); and he now cautioned him as to whether he had the
right to dispose of the score, would it not cause unpleasantness in
Vienna, and that for the sake of an uncertain verbal promise of payment.
To this Wolfgang answered (October 5, 1782):--
I waited on the Baron von Riedesel myself; he is a charming man, and I
promised him (in the belief that the opera was already in the hands of
the copyist) that he should have it at the end of this month, or at the
latest at the beginning of November. I must beg you to take care that I
have it by that time. To relieve you of all anxiety, which I thankfully
acknowledge as a proof of your fatherly love, I cannot say anything more
convincing than that I am under great obligation to the Baron for having
asked me for the opera, instead of going direct to the copyist (as is
the custom in Italy), who would have given it to him directly for ready
money; and besides this, I should have been very sorry if my talent
could be paid for in that way--especially by a hundred ducats![59] This
time (because there is no occasion) I shall say nothing
{FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA.}
(214)
about it; if it is performed, as it is certain to be (and that is what
pleases me most about it), it will be known soon enough, and my enemies
will have no excuse for ridiculing me, and treating me as a poor fellow:
they will be quite ready to ask me for another opera if I will write
it, but I do not know that I shall; certainly not if I am to be paid
one hundred ducats, and see the theatre make four times that sum in a
fortnight.
I shall bring out my next opera at my own expense, make at least twelve
hundred florins in three representations, and then the management may
have it for fifty ducats. If not, I shall be paid, and can produce it
anywhere. Meanwhile I hope you will never find in me the least trace of
any evil intentions. I would fain not be a bad fellow, but I do not
want to be a stupid one who lets other people reap the advantage of his
labour and study, and gives up his rightful claim to his own works.
The father's distrustful prudence prevented his putting the work in hand
at once, and such haste was then necessary that no copyist in Salzburg
would undertake it; Mozart had no resource but to explain the cause
of the delay to the ambassador. But in the end the score was copied in
Salzburg. The "Entführung" was performed the following year at Prague
with extraordinary success.[60] "I cannot describe the applause and
sensation which it excited at Vienna from my own observation," says
Niemetschek; "but I was a witness of the enthusiasm with which it was
received at Prague by connoisseurs and non-connoisseurs. It made what
one had hitherto heard and known appear not to be music at all! Every
one was transported--amazed at the novel harmonies, and at the original
passages for the wind instruments." It was given at Leipzig in 1783;[61]
at Mannheim,[62] Salzburg, and Schwedt in 1784;[63] at Cassel in
1785;[64] at Berlin not until 1788.[65] The applause was great on
all occasions, and very soon the smaller stages sought to master the
favourite piece. The actor Philipp Hasenhuth used to relate how the
theatrical manager
{PERFORMANCES OF THE "ENTFÜHRUNG".}
(215)
Wilhelm, at Baden,[66] in 1783 or 1784, undertook the production of the
"Entführung" with a very weak company. At the rehearsal of the quartet
there was no tenor-player; Hasenhuth, who had just begun to learn the
violin, and hardly knew one string from another, was put down to the
tenor. A little man who had come in as a spectator sat down by him, and
when he saw the deficiency, seized a viola and they played together. But
the little man soon showed his impatience of his stumbling neighbour,
and giving vent to his anger more and more plainly as the quartet
proceeded, he ended by flinging away the viola, exclaiming, "The man is
a veritable donkey!" (Der Herr ist ein wahrer Krautesel!), and running
out of the room. The opera, however, was a great success; and the
well-satisfied manager gave his company a farewell supper, to which,
hearing that Mozart was in Baden, he invited the composer. Hasenhuth was
astonished to recognise in him the tenor-player at the rehearsal, but
Mozart relieved him from all awkwardness by saying good-humouredly, "I
was somewhat impolite when we last met, but I did not know who you
were, and the devil himself could not have stood the wrong notes!" The
judgment of contemporary critics of the opera was almost unanimously of
accord with that of the public.[67]
It is not probable that Mozart obtained any share of the rich profits
which accrued from the production of his opera on these various stages.
He was even cheated out of the production of a clavier score. "Now it
has come to pass exactly as I foretold to my son," wrote L. Mozart to
his daughter (December 16, 1785); "the 'Entführung aus dem Serail' has
appeared in clavier score at Augsburg, and has also been printed at
Mayence. Since March, when he began it, my son has not found time to
finish it. He has lost his time, and Torricella (who was to publish it
at Vienna) his profits."[68]
FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXIV.
[Footnote 1: He wrote to Breitkopf (August 10, 1781): "My son is no longer in the
service of this court. He was summoned to Vienna by our Prince, who
was there, we being in Munich. But his highness lost no opportunity of
insulting and ill-treating my son, who, on the other hand, received much
honour from all the high nobility of Vienna. My son was therefore easily
persuaded to forsake his ill-rewarded service, and to remain in Vienna."]
[Footnote 2: Jahrb. d. Tonkunst, 1796, p. 51.]
[Footnote 3: Devrient, Gesch. der Deutsch. Schauspielkunst, III., p. 117.]
[Footnote 4: Cf. Sonnenfels' programme of his theatrical management in the year
1770, in Müller's Abschied von der Bühne, p. 73.]
[Footnote 5: Muller, Abschied, p. 79. Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 25.]
[Footnote 6: Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 65. Meyer, C. Schröder, I., p. 361.]
[Footnote 7: Müller, Abschied, p. 95. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 253.]
[Footnote 8: Carl Pichler, Denkwürdigkeiten, I., p. 78.]
[Footnote 9: Meyer, I., pp. 361, 375.]
[Footnote 10: A survey and account of the Vienna stage of the time will be found
in K. R[isbeck], Briefe über Deutschland, I., p. 258. Nicolai, Reise,
IV., p. 587. Meyer, C. Schroder, I., p. 355.]
[Footnote 11: An accurate account of the state of German opera is given by
Muller (Abschied von der Bühne, p. 253). Cf. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 254. K.
R[isbeck] (Briefe über Deutschland, I., p. 269) says that the members
of the opera were looked down upon by those of the old comedy, and there
were almost daily ridiculous displays of jealousy and ill-nature.]
[Footnote 12: Forkel, Musik. Krit. Bibl., II., p. 392.]
[Footnote 13: Sonnleithner, Recensionen, 1862, No. II., p. 18.]
[Footnote 14: Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 104. Muller, Abschied, pp. 259, 261.]
[Footnote 15: Theaterkal., 1781, p. 183.]
[Footnote 16: Müller, Abschied, pp. 181, 189, 194.]
[Footnote 17: The _personnel_ of the opera from 1781 to 1783, which, with their
salaries, I have borrowed from Meyer (C. Schroder, I., p. 356), was as
fellows:--Male singers: Adamberger (2,133 fl. 30 kr.), Souter (1,200
fl.), Dauer (?), Fischer (1,200 fl.), Gunther (1,200 fl.), Schmidt
(1,200 fl.), Ruprecht (700 fl.), Hoffmann (600 fl.), Frankenberger (400
fl.), Saal (800 fl.). Female singers: Mdlle. Cavalieri (1,200 fl.),
Madame Lange (1,706 fl. 20 kr.), Madame Fischer (1,200 fl.), Mdlle.
Teyber (800 fl.), Mdlle. Haselbeck (600 fl.), Mdlle. Brenner (400 fl.),
Madame Saal (800 fl.),Madame Bernasconi (500 ducats). The orchestra,
under the leadership of Kapellmeister Umlauf, consisted of six first and
six second violins, four tenors, three violoncelli, three double-basses,
two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two
trumpets, and drums. The total pay amounted to 16,124 florins.]
[Footnote 18: Schmid, Gluck, p. 107.]
[Footnote 19: Mosel, Ant. Salieri, p. 72.]
[Footnote 20: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 353. Auembrugger was further
known to fame as a physician, and his daughters Franziska and Mariane
were distinguished pianoforte-players.]
[Footnote 21: In Forkel's Musik. Alman., 1784, p. 189, the question as to why the
music of Viennese composers should be liked in North Germany, but the
music of North Germany should be disliked in Vienna, is treated of in a
contribution for Vienna, showing the two different standpoints.]
[Footnote 22: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 556.]
[Footnote 23: Allg. Wiener Musikztg., 1821, p. 56.]
[Footnote 24: Müller, Abschied, p. 185.]
[Footnote 25: Forkel, Musik. Bibl., III., p. 340.]
[Footnote 26: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 353, where it is erroneously
stated that Gluck's "Alceste," "Iphigenia in Tauris," and "Orpheus" were
given in Italian. Cf. Muller, Abschied, p. 270. A. M. Z., XIV., p. 268.
The German translation of "Iphigenia" was by Alxinger (Forkel, Musik.
Alman., 1783, p. 153.)]
[Footnote 27: Reichardt describes his interview with Joseph II., in the summer
of 1783 (A. M. Z., XV., p. 667. Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 326): "The
Archduke Maximilian led the conversation on Gluck, whom they both
considered as a great tragedian: but now and then the Emperor was not so
much in favour of Gluck's operas as could have been wished."]
[Footnote 28: Wien Ztg.,1731, No. 95, Anh. "Alceste" was repeated on December 13.
Ibid., No.100, December 27 (No.104); "Iphigenia" was played on December
9 (No.99), and on January 3,1782; "Orpheus" was performed in Italian.,
Ibid., 1782, No. 2.]
[Footnote 29: A. M. Z., XV., p. 668. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 327.]
[Footnote 30: Mosel, Salieri, p. 22.]
[Footnote 31: Ludwig Berger's narrative was taken from the lips of his teacher in
1806, and is identical with Mozart s own account (Cäcilia, X., p. 238;
A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 467). Other accounts differ somewhat, as usual in
such cases.]
[Footnote 32: Clementi thought it advisable on the republication of this sonata
to assert his prior claims, as follows: "Cette sonate, avec la toccata
qui la suit, a été jouée par l'auteur devant Sa M. J. Joseph II., en
1781, Mozart étant présent." There can be no doubt that Mozart was
conscious of the reminiscence.]
[Footnote 33: Bridi's account says that the Emperor had laid a wager with the
Grand Duchess that Mozart would surpass Clementi, and won it.]
[Footnote 34: Paesiello composed sonatas and capricci for the Grand Duchess.]
[Footnote 35: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 236.]
[Footnote 36: This criticism belongs to the toccata rather than to the sonata; it
is marked _prestissimo_, and is a brilliant study of passages in thirds
and fourths.]
[Footnote 37: The account which follows is founded on an accurate account of
Joseph's chamber concerts (Musik. Corresp., 1790, p. 27).]
[Footnote 38: Mosel, Salieri, p. 22.]
[Footnote 39: Mosel, Ibid., p. 71.]
[Footnote 40: A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 285.]
[Footnote 41: The A. M. Z., XV., p. 512, narrates an apocryphal anecdote to the
effect that the Emperor Joseph once wrote a song, and secretly inserted
it in a little Italian opera which he gave in his private theatre
at Schönbrunn. On his asking Mozart what he thought of the song, the
latter, "with childlike frankness and gaiety," replied, "The song is
good, but he that wrote it is better."]
[Footnote 42: A. M. Z., XV., p. 66. Reichardt, Mus. Monatschr., 1792, p. 57.]
[Footnote 43: A characteristic scene is related by Mosel (Salieri, p. 130).]
[Footnote 44: Dittersdorf tells a story which illustrates this (Selbstbiogr., p.
241)]
[Footnote 45: Reichardt, A. M. Z., XV., p. 667 (Schletterer, Reichardt, p. 325;
Griesinger Biogr. Not. übcr Jos. Haydn, p. 63).]
[Footnote 46: Besides Mosel's Biography cf. the account by Rochlitz (Für Freunde
der Tonkunst, IV., p. 342; A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 412).]
[Footnote 47: A. Hüttenbrenner, a pupil of Salieri, relates upon his authority
(A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 797) that Mozart often came to Salieri,
saying: "Lieber Papa (?) geben sie mir einige alte Partituren aus der
Hofbibliothek (?), ich will sie bei Ihnen durchblättem," and that he often
ate his midday meal during these studies.]
[Footnote 48: Mosel (Salieri, p. 211) confines this to silence on the merits of
Mozart's works. But although Salieri occasionally spoke in praise of
Mozart in afteryears (Hüttenbrenner, A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 797; Rochlitz,
Für Freunde der Tonkunst, IV., p. 345), I have heard upon trustworthy
authority in Vienna, that Salieri, even in his old age, when among
confidential friends, expressed, with a passion that was painful to his
hearers, the most unjust judgments on Mozart's compositions. Thayer's
attempt to justify Salieri (A. M. Z., 1865, p. 241) led me to make a
searching examination of the facts.]
[Footnote 49: K. R[isbeck], Briefe, I., p. 272.]
[Footnote 50: "A cantata composed for Prince Aloys von Lichtenstein by W. A.
Mozart," of which there is a copy in the Royal Library in Berlin, is
certainly not by Mozart (242 Anh. K.).]
[Footnote 51: The Wien. Zeit., 1781, No. 98, announces "Six sonatas for the
piano with accompaniment for the violin by the well-known and celebrated
master, Wolfgang Amade Mozart, Op. 2, 5 fl." (296, 376-380, K.). No. 2
(in C major) was composed in Mannheim (p. 400), and No. 4 (in B flat
major) was previously known to his sister, as he writes to her (June 4,
1781).]
[Footnote 52: Clementi left Vienna at the beginning of May, 1782.]
[Footnote 53: "The 'Entführung,'" says a notice from Vienna in Cramer's Magazin,
I., p. 352, "is full of beauties. It surpassed public expectation, and
the delicate taste and novelty of the work were so enchanting as to call
forth loud and general applause."]
[Footnote 54: This symphony (385 K., part 5) with the superscription, "ä Vienna
nel mese di Juglio, 1782," has only a minuet, and no march. The second
minuet was written on separate sheets, and not preserved, not being used
in Vienna. Mozart afterwards added two flutes and two clarinets to
the first and last movements for the performance in Vienna; these are
wanting in the printed score.]
[Footnote 55: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 237.]
[Footnote 56: The truth of this anecdote is vouched for by Niemetschek, who
narrates it (p. 34). Napoleon is said to have received a similar answer
from Cherubini, who certainly did not borrow it from Mozart (A. M. Z.,
XXXVI., p. 21; cf., II. P. 735).]
[Footnote 57: Many instances are given in Lange's Selbstbiogr., p. 98 Müller,
Abschied, p. 100; Meyer, L. Schröder, I., pp. 341, 343, 346.]
[Footnote 58: It remained on the Vienna repertory until 1779. The German opera was
quite extinguished in 1778; it was revived on September 23, 1801.]
[Footnote 59: Even this sum appears to have been thought excessive; at least
Schroder wrote to Dalberg (May 22, 1784): "Mozart received fifty ducats
for the 'Entführung aus dem Serail'; he would compose no opera under this
price." At a later time, one hundred ducats was the usual price for an
opera (Ditters-dorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 241).]
[Footnote 60: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, I., p. 99.]
[Footnote 61: Raisonnirendes, Theaterjoum. von der Leipzig. Michaelmesse, 1783,
p. 32.]
[Footnote 62: Koffka, Iffiand und Dalberg, p. 136.]
[Footnote 63: Berl. Litt. n. Theat. Ztg., 1784, II., p. 160.]
[Footnote 64: Lyncker, Gesch. d. Theat. u. d. Musik, in Kassel, p. 316.]
[Footnote 65: Chronik. von Berlin, II., p. 440. Teichmann's Litt. N'achl., p. 45.]
[Footnote 66: Ant. Hasenhuth's Leben., p. 94.]
[Footnote 67: Cramer's Magazin f. Musik, II., 2, p. 1056, and B. A. Weber, in
Knigge's Dramaturg. Blattern, 1788, II., p. 21, give favourable notices.
Both these journals were among Mozart's little collection of books.]
[Footnote 68: Two fragments of Mozart's pianoforte score of Constanze's and
Blond-chen's songs (11 and 12) are preserved in his handwriting. The
piano score of the first act is noticed in the Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 98.]