The Cavalier of Music
After six months’ stay in Paris, the Mozart family left France, going
first to England,[18] and thence to Holland. Wolfgang was very ill at
the Hague,[19] but speedily recovered, thanks to the careful nursing of
his parents, and resumed his studies with renewed zeal. Paris was also
revisited, and about the close of 1766, crowned with the laurels of
fame, he returned to Salzburg.
Wolfgang spent a few years there in quiet seclusion, interrupted only by
a visit to Vienna, where he distinguished himself on several occasions,
and won the esteem and approbation of the famous Chapelmaster Hasse.[20]
He also received at home a distinguished honor for a boy of twelve, from
the Archbishop of Salzburg, who appointed him concert master of his
chapel after repeated tests of his ability.
Everything conspired to increase his fame. His artistic skill was
admired and appreciated wherever he went. There was but one thing
lacking in his effort to reach the summit of his art—the approbation of
Italy.
Italy was at this time the home of art. The greatest musicians and
composers lived there, and it was Wolfgang’s highest ambition to secure
their recognition and to win honors at their hands. “To Italy,” was his
watchword. Although his father fully appreciated the risk of the
experiment, he at last yielded to his son’s solicitations. The Italian
journey took place in 1769. This time father and son went alone. Nannie
remained at home with her mother.
There was at that time a Philharmonic Academy in Bologna, which was
recognized throughout the world as the final authority in all musical
matters. Musicians considered it the highest honor to be a member of
this Academy, and with good reason, for those only were admitted who had
passed the severest tests. Padre Martini,[21] universally recognized as
the most learned of musical scholars, and his faithful friend, the
renowned singer, Farinelli,[22] who had retired after receiving most
extraordinary honors, and was living at a charming villa near Bologna,
were at the head of this famous institution. They were acquainted with
the reputation of Wolfgang Mozart, and they were not surprised,
therefore, that when he reached Bologna he expressed the desire to
become a member of the Academy.
Padre Martini, as well as Farinelli, welcomed Wolfgang with sincere
cordiality, and his agreeable and unaffected demeanor soon commended him
to the good-will of these renowned men. His extraordinary endowments
were quickly recognized and appreciated by them, and yet Padre Martini
doubted whether the boy could pass the severe examination necessary for
admission to the Academy. He did not conceal his doubts from his friend
Farinelli.
One day, after Wolfgang had called upon them, Padre Martini said to
Farinelli: “This boy certainly is a wonder child and a rare flower of
our beautiful art, but it is my duty to assign him the severest of
tests, and I fear he is not skilful enough to succeed. ‘I fear,’ I
repeat, for the lad has won my heart, and I shall be deeply grieved if
he fail.”
“I do not share your apprehensions,” replied Farinelli. “His career
abroad, as well as the proofs of his ability at home, speaks for him.
Paris, London, Holland, and Vienna have been captivated by this wonder
child.”
“Yes, ‘by this child,’” answered Padre Martini; “but Wolfgang is now
leaving childhood. Although a boy, he is no longer a child, and he must
now establish his claim as an artist. Though all the world may recognize
him as such, he must first of all demonstrate it here. If our decision
should elevate him to the rank of Cavaliere Filarmonico, his fame will
be established. His piano, violin, and organ record cannot help him
here. He must prove that he is a scientifically educated musician, and
thoroughly grounded in counterpoint. It is this that makes me doubt.”
“Well, we shall see,” replied Farinelli, who had greater confidence in
the young man. “What test will you assign him?”
“The most difficult one I know,” replied Padre Martini. “He must set an
antiphon from the Antiphonarium, in four parts.”[23]
It was Farinelli’s turn to be anxious, for the test was so hard that its
accomplishment required an absolute and perfect knowledge of musical
science.
“You ought not to require that of him,” he said, with some emotion.
“I must do it. He must submit to the most difficult test. The boy is yet
very young, and the honor of the Academy is at stake,” replied Padre
Martini, unmoved by his friend’s protest. “If he do not succeed it will
be no disgrace for one so young, and he will have the consolation of
knowing that older musicians have failed in like manner; but should he
succeed in this hard contest, then, Farinelli, his fame will be as lofty
and enduring as the stars.”
“Manage this matter according to your best judgment,” replied Farinelli,
for he realized that nothing could induce the resolute old master to
change his purpose. “For my part I wish the boy success.”
“Not more than I,” said Padre Martini, with emotion. “I love this child
with my whole heart, and for that very reason I would have him
accomplish something great.”
Wolfgang in the meantime awaited his hard task with a serenity which
would have appeared foolhardy had he not been sure of his ability to
overcome the greatest difficulties without much exertion. The gifted boy
had not passed his leisure days at Salzburg in idleness. He had
resolutely and industriously devoted them to the study of his art, both
practically and theoretically. He had thoroughly analyzed the
compositions of such great masters as Stradella, Scarlatti, Durante,
Hasse, Bach, Handel, and others, and counterpoint had no difficulties
for him. Knowing that he was well equipped, he eagerly awaited his test,
anticipating it with impatience rather than with anxiety. It was the
height of his ambition to show the world that he was a recognized master
of music, and thus secure the friendship and esteem of Padre Martini,
whom the Italians almost worshipped, and whose judgment on all musical
questions was all-important because it was absolutely decisive.
On the day fixed for the test the cultivated people of Bologna were all
astir. A great crowd gathered in front of the large and elegant building
where the Accademia Filarmonica held its sessions, and waited with
intense eagerness for the result of the test. The public were not
allowed to enter the building, but awaited the news of the victory or
defeat of a candidate, which was announced from a balcony. This was the
old-time custom. The people already knew and admired young Mozart, for
he had roused their enthusiasm by his wonderful playing in his concerts,
and when he made his appearance about one o’clock that afternoon at the
hall, an enthusiastic “Evviva” welcomed him on all sides. His frank,
handsome face showed no trace of anxiety or doubt; on the contrary, he
mingled with the people as freely and with as much unconcern as if the
coming hours did not affect his interests, his honor, his fame, and his
future, all of which were at stake. Should he fail, his artistic career
would be at an end, and the laurels he had won would be of no more value
than heaps of dust and ashes. He might be assigned a fair place in the
ranks of artists, but no one would concede him any higher position.
Knowing all this, Wolfgang was calm when he appeared with his father,
whose face wore an anxious look, in the hall of the Academy. Padre
Martini, Farinelli, and all the other members at that time in Bologna,
most of them old and famous chapelmasters and composers, were already
assembled there. They received the boy in a dignified manner. It was a
solemn moment. Father Mozart’s heart beat with secret fear and his limbs
trembled, as he stood before the stern and stately judges of his son.
Wolfgang, however, was undisturbed as he looked at their array, but he
displayed no sign of overconfidence.
After the formal greeting Father Mozart was conducted outside into the
library. Wolfgang was requested to approach. After a few instructions
the judges arose and handed him the paper containing the test. It was,
as Padre Martini had said, the arrangement for four voices of an
antiphon from the “Antiphonarium Romanum,” which Wolfgang must
accomplish in a closed room, three hours being allowed for its
completion.
Wolfgang took the paper, made a low bow of reverence, and with quick
step and confident manner followed an official, who conducted him to an
apartment and locked him in. Anxiously and with secret misgivings Padre
Martini and Farinelli watched the exit of this boy so full of life,
animation, and courage. They had ample reasons for their anxiety, for
they knew of course the difficulty of the test. They also remembered
that many clever musicians had been wrecked by it, and that others had
labored the entire three hours, exerting their utmost ability to arrange
an antiphon of even fewer parts. The members watched him go in silence.
Here and there they whispered together. Padre Martini and his friend
Farinelli walked quietly up and down the hall. All were deeply moved.
The majority of the judges wished the young candidate good luck, but
there were some who were envious of the young artist’s ability and
secretly cherished the hope that he would not accomplish his task. Eager
expectation was visible on every face. Some were anxious and hopeful,
others were jealous and envious.
Thus a half hour passed. No one dreamed that the painful waiting was so
nearly over, when the door of the hall was suddenly thrown open, and the
official who such a short time before had locked Wolfgang in his room,
entered. He looked pale and uneasy, and was evidently overcome with
astonishment. “What is it? What has happened?” asked Padre Martini,
breathlessly.
“Signor, I am almost afraid to tell you,” replied the official. “I can
hardly trust my own ears. The young Mozart has given the signal that he
has completed his task.”
“Impossible! In so short a time? Impossible!” exclaimed Padre Martini,
his face growing somewhat pale.
“Impossible!” repeated several other members, who were amazed at the
official’s announcement. “The young man is either foolhardy or out of
his head.”
“We shall soon see,” said Padre Martini, calmly. “Nothing is impossible
to a great genius, and Mozart’s genius is far above the ordinary.”
“But the Academy has flourished a hundred years, and such a thing as
this has never occurred before,” said one member.
“That has little significance. What has never yet happened may have
happened now,” replied Padre Martini, who tried to conceal his anxiety
behind outward composure. “The signal has been given. Come, gentlemen
censors, and receive the young man’s work and test it here _in pleno_.”
They arose and followed Padre Martini, who led them with quiet dignity,
though at heart he was not so quiet as he appeared. He was really afraid
Wolfgang had underestimated the difficulty of his task and made errors.
His heart beat violently as the official unlocked the door, and his
eager eyes rested upon young Mozart, who was standing in the middle of
the room in his easy, careless manner, with uplifted head, smiling
countenance, and eyes glowing with the certainty of success. He handed
the paper to Padre Martini with a graceful bow. The latter took it and
cast a hurried, anxious glance at it. Almost instantly his face lit up
with satisfaction.
“He has succeeded,” he said to himself with a sigh of relief. “It is
greater, grander, more artistic than I had dared to think or hope.” Then
he turned in a dignified manner to the censors: “Let us return to the
hall, gentlemen. The work of the young musician must be thoroughly
analyzed and passed upon.”
With a gracious inclination of his head and a smile of delight, Padre
Martini took leave of Wolfgang, who was again locked in to await the
final announcement. Nearly an hour had passed when the boy heard some
one hurriedly approaching. The door was again opened, and Padre Martini
with tears of joy entered and embraced him. “Come with me, my son,” he
said with choking voice, as he led Wolfgang back to the hall.
When the youth entered by the side of the grand old master all the
members arose, greeted him with long-continued and enthusiastic
hand-clapping, and shouted:
“Evviva il maestro! Evviva il Cavaliere Filarmonico!”
Wolfgang was pale with joyous excitement. He had achieved his most
glorious victory. His work had been unanimously adjudged the highest
honors. He was now a member of the Academy, a recognized master, a
knight of the exalted art to which he had consecrated his whole life.
Two arms enfolded him with affectionate tenderness—the arms of his happy
father. Wolfgang shed tears of delight. There was a silence of sympathy
in the hall, broken all at once by the jubilant shouts of thousands in
the street, the acclamations of a vast multitude resounding like the
surge of the sea, and repeating the same words which had just rung
through the hall:
“Evviva il maestro! Evviva il Cavaliere Filarmonico!”
With this inspiring and exciting scene Mozart’s boyhood closed. He was
no longer a child. Though in years a boy, in deeds he was a man,—a man
in the full sense of the term, a sovereign in the empire of music, the
idol of the Italians, soon to be the favorite of the world. What the
child had promised, the man had achieved. His works bear witness to the
greatness of that achievement. They shine like brilliant stars in the
musical firmament. They assure his universal and imperishable fame.
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of the principal events in
the life of Mozart:
1756 Born at Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 27.
1762 Concert tour with his sister. Received at the Austrian
Court.
1763 Received at the Court of France.
1764 Received at the Court of England.
1765 Received at the Court of Holland.
1768 Appointed Concert-meister to Archbishop of Salzburg.
1769 Visited Italy and elected member of the Accademia
Filarmonica at Bologna.
1769 “Mitridate” produced at Milan.
1771 Second visit to Italy.
1778 Visited Paris.
1781 Composed “Idomeneo.”
1782 Married Constanze Weber, third daughter of Fridolin Weber,
a prompter and copyist.
1786 Composed “Marriage of Figaro.”
1787 Composed “Don Giovanni.”
1787 Appointed Chamber composer to the Emperor.
1787 Composed his last three symphonies.
1789 Concert tour through Germany.
1791 Composed “The Magic Flute” and “The Requiem.”
1791 Died in Vienna, Dec. 5.
1859 Monument erected on the probable site of his grave by the
city of Vienna.
Footnotes
[1]Leopold Mozart was the son of a bookbinder at Augsburg, and was born
Dec. 14, 1719. He was a skilful musician, and rose to be vice
chapelmaster at the Court of the Archbishop of Salzburg.
[2]Johannes Chrysostom Sigismund Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the great
composer, was born at Salzburg, Jan. 27, 1756.
[3]Maria Anna Pertl, Mozart’s mother, was a foster child of the convent
of St. Gilgen in Strasburg. She was a good-hearted and very handsome
woman, a faithful wife and loving mother, but not of striking
intellectual ability.
[4]Anton Cajetan Adlgasser was organist at the cathedral of Salzburg,
and court musician. He was also noted as a composer. He died in 1777,
while playing the organ.
[5]A mountain in the Salzburg Alps, about eight miles from that city. It
is celebrated in folk lore, and many legends of Charlemagne and
Barbarossa are connected with it.
[6]Mozart’s full name was Johann Chrysostom Sigismund Wolfgang Amadeus.
He was the youngest of seven children. In the family he was addressed
as “Wolfgang,” or “Wolfgangerl,” the termination “erl,” like “chen,”
being a diminutive, and used as a term of endearment.
[7]Mozart’s sister, Maria Anna, was born Aug. 29, 1751. Her household
name was “Nannie,” or “Nannerl.”
[8]Andreas Schachtner afterwards was the principal trumpeter in the band
of the Archbishop of Salzburg. His father was also a trumpeter.
[9]This was a work of considerable importance, entitled “An Attempt
toward a Fundamental System for the Violin,” published in Augsburg.
[10]Nissen, one of Mozart’s biographers, says this concerto was written
with a full score of accompaniments, including even trumpets and
drums. This, however, is probably incorrect, for the compositions of
his earlier period are mainly for strings, and the few wind
instruments usually found in the small orchestras of that period.
[11]The word “concerto” in this connection is probably used in its old
restricted sense, when this musical form resembled the sonata. The
modern form of the concerto was fixed by Mozart, but at a later
period in his life.
[12]The first of Mozart’s compositions catalogued by Köchel is a minuet
and trio for piano. Upon the manuscript, which is still preserved,
his sister has written: “The undersigned witnesses that this piece
was composed by her brother in his fifth year.” The original is
without title, and bears the date 1761.
[13]Linz, the capital of upper Austria, is a city of about 50,000
population, on the Danube River.
[14]In a letter written Oct. 16, 1762, Mozart’s father says: “The
following Tuesday we reached Ipo, where two Minorites and a
Benedictine, who had been our companions on the water, said mass,
between which our Wolferl rattled about on the organ, and played so
well that the Franciscan fathers, who were entertaining some guests
at dinner, quitted the table, and, together with their company,
hastened into the choir, when their astonishment was inexpressible.”
[15]Georg Christoph Wagenseil was born Jan. 15, 1715, in Vienna, and
died there March 1, 1777. He was the Court composer, organist to the
Dowager Empress Elizabeth, and music master to the Empress Maria
Theresa and the imperial princesses.
[16]Andreas Schachtner, Court trumpeter, in his recollections of Mozart,
says: “If a trumpet was held before him, it was like putting a loaded
pistol to his ear. Papa, wishing to overcome this childish dread, on
one occasion told me not to mind this aversion, but to sound the
trumpet near him. Scarcely had Wolfgang heard the shrill sound when
he turned pale and began to sink to the ground. Had I gone on he
certainly would have fallen in convulsions.”
[17]Baron von Grimm was a distinguished German-French critic and author,
and one of the most brilliant literary celebrities of this period.
[18]Mozart and his father left Paris for London, April 10, 1764, and
remained in England until August 1. The children were kindly received
at Court, and made as usual an extraordinary impression.
[19]Upon arriving at the Hague, Mozart’s sister was first taken ill, and
then Mozart himself took a violent fever, which lasted several weeks.
It was nearly two months before he could play in Holland.
[20]Johann Adolph Hasse, a distinguished dramatic composer, was born
March 25, 1699. It was Hasse who said, after hearing Mozart’s
“Ascanio in Alba,” written when he was thirteen years old, “This boy
will throw us all into the shade.”
[21]Giovanni Battista Martini, usually called Padre Martini, was born at
Bologna, April 15, 1706, and was one of the most learned musicians of
his time. He left many compositions and some important works in
musical literature.
[22]Carlo Broschi Farinelli, born at Naples, Jan. 24, 1705, was a famous
soprano singer. He created a furore all over Europe, and received
distinguished honors at many Courts.
[23]The Antiphonarium Romanum is a collection of the plain song melodies
handed down in the Roman church by tradition, and compiled by Saint
Gregory with many of his compositions added. For many centuries after
his death it was regarded as the authority in church music. The
chants adapted to the Psalms are the more important parts of plain
song.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
_Translated from the German by
George P. Upton_
Beethoven
Maid of Orleans
Mozart
William Tell
_60 cents each_
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