After much serious study at home, Mozart went to Italy. His father
thought that it would benefit him to visit that country. Musicians and
artists from all over Europe went there to study. The finest musicians
played in the large cathedrals. No better music could be heard in the
world than in that country. It was worth a journey of many miles to hear
one of the organs, when played by a master.
Leopold Mozart wished his son to hear this music and to become
acquainted with the great Italian musicians. He hoped that he could
talk with the composers. He told him to visit the art galleries and
study the paintings. All this Wolfgang did and more, too.
He spent much time in the art galleries. He listened to much beautiful
music and became acquainted with musicians and composers. Besides all
this, he practiced regularly, and he studied French. He spent several
hours each day composing.
In a letter to his mother, Wolfgang wrote: "To-day I had the pleasure of
riding on a donkey. Every one in Italy rides a donkey, and I thought I
must try it too." In the same letter he asked: "Does my little canary
still sing in the key of G? Is there any one to pet my dog, now that I
am so far away? Take good care of him."
Wolfgang and his father visited many Italian cities. There were no
railroads in those days, so the father and son journeyed from place to
place in a carriage. That is a slow and very tiresome way to travel, and
Wolfgang sometimes became weary and impatient. Then he would jump from
the carriage and race with the horses.
Often they stopped at some quaint old inn for lunch. The meal was
occasionally served out of doors. How good the honey and fresh milk
tasted after the long dusty ride! How sweet were the figs and how juicy
the melons!
After visiting Florence, Verona, and other cities, Leopold Mozart and
his son arrived in Rome. It was the week before Easter. Wolfgang liked
to attend the services held each day in the magnificent cathedrals. He
liked to watch the priests moving softly about the altar. He liked the
faint odor of the incense and the glimmer of the candles.
When the great organ pealed forth, he forgot all these things. He forgot
even his father, seated at his side. He had never heard such music
before. It seemed to him like music from heaven.
In some of the churches there was singing as well as organ music. One
day, while in Rome, Wolfgang visited the Sistine Chapel. He heard some
singing that he never forgot. A choir of about thirty voices sang a very
beautiful, yet very mournful, piece of music.
When the music began, all the candles were burning brightly. As the
singing went on, the candles were extinguished one by one. The chapel
became more and more dim. The choir sang softly and still more softly.
At last not one candle was left burning. No sound could be heard but the
sad, sad music and the sobs of the people.
Throughout the whole service, the child Mozart sat with clasped hands
and bended head. When the music died away, he arose and walked home in
silence. He went to his own room and wrote from memory the music which
he had heard.
It is a rule of the Sistine Chapel that only the members of the choir
shall have copies of this music. Many others had asked permission to
copy it. They had always been refused. Many had tried to write it from
memory; but they had always failed. So it was a wonderful thing that
this youth had written the difficult music from memory. When Wolfgang
showed the music to his friends, they could not believe that he had
written it correctly.
"Let us have a concert," they said. "Let the lad sing the chapel music
for us. We shall hear whether or not he has remembered it correctly."
The concert was held. Young Mozart sang the music from his own copy. It
was perfect from beginning to end.
While Wolfgang was in Rome, the Pope bestowed a great honor upon him. He
made him a Knight of the Golden Spur. That was one of the greatest
honors that he could have received in Italy. Wolfgang was very proud to
wear the beautiful golden cross.
From Rome, the Mozarts went to Naples. There Wolfgang gave a concert
before a large audience. When he was in the middle of a sonata, the
people became uneasy. They whispered to one another; they pointed to the
hands of the young musician; they became more and more excited.
Young Mozart wondered at the noise, yet he went on with the sonata. At
last his father learned the cause of the disturbance and explained it to
his son. He told him that the people believed there was a charm in the
diamond ring which he wore upon his left hand. "If the ring is not a
charm," they said, "how can he play so rapidly with the left hand?"
When Wolfgang heard this, he laughed merrily and took the ring from his
finger. When he began to play again, the audience thought the music was
even more wonderful than before.
In 1771 Mozart made a second trip to Italy, and wrote the music for a
royal wedding. The empress was so pleased that she presented him with a
gold watch set with diamonds. On one side of the watch was a beautiful
portrait of the empress. Can you not imagine how proud he was to be the
owner of such a treasure? Do you not fancy that he always kept it?