Sqoz/.RC BOUGHT WITH THE INCO FROM THE - SAGE ENDOWMENT THE GIFT OF Sienrs W. Sage 1891 ME FUND /{,'^/^^X. < Music Cornell University Library ML 410.M93G31 Mozart. 3 1924 017 094 115 Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924017094115 MOZAET. LOWDOir: PRINTED BT GILBEKT AWD EIVINGTON, tl>,, ST. JOHir's HOtTSE, CL£BEXKW£LL, B.C. .Edited by Fkancis Hueffer MOZAET By Dk. F. GEHRTNG THIRD EDITION LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY Idimited git. ^nstan'0 ^cnse Fettek Lake, Tlbet Street, E.G. \Ml rights reserved'] Uniform with this Volume, price 3s. each, THE GEE AT MUSICIANS A SERIES OF BIOGRAPHIES ■WAGNEB. "WEBEB. SCHUBEET. EOSSINI. PTJKCELIi. HAYDN. EDITED BY '^ FEANCIS HUBFFBR. MOZABT. HAKTDEIfc MENDELSSOHU. SCHirMAlTir. BEELIOZ. BEBTHOVEM". CHEBTJBIIiri. ENGLISH CHURCH COMPOSEBS. CONTENTS. PAGE Origin of the Hozart femily • • . ^ ^ . . 1 Leopold Mozart • • . . . 2 Compositions of Leopold mozart 3 Mozart's mother 5 Birth of Mozart 6 Early evidences of musical genius 6 First appearance in public 8 First visit to Munich 8 First visit to Vienna 8 The Empress Maria Theresa . 9 Return to Salzburg 10 Mozart's third tour — Wasserburg, Munich, Augsburg, Ludwigs- burg, Schwetziugen, Heidelberg, Mayence, Frankfort, Coblence, Bonn, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Brussels . . . . 11 Goethe . . . . .' 12 Arrival in Paris — Baron Grimm 13 Beception at Versailles . 14 Concerts given by Mozart and his sister — Portraits painted of Mozart . . . J^ First compositions ^6' Visit to London — Reception by George III. and his queen . . 17 First concert in London . , 18 Instruction in singing 19 Departure from England — Mozart's illness 21 Compositions for the coming of age of the Prince of Orange at the Hague 21 Second visit to Paris 22 Return journey through Dijon, Lyons, Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, and Zurich 24 Voltaire 24 Donaneschingen — Prince Josef Wenceslaus ..... 24 Third visit to Munich — The Elector 24 Home-life at Salzburg 26 Instruction in counterpoiut ........ ^S Sacred compositions . .27 VI CONTENTS. PAOB Second visit to Vienna ....••••29 Mozart and his sister attacked by small-pox ... .29 Jealousies of musicians at Vienna 30 The opera "I/a Finta Seniplice " — Intrigues against its repre- ^ sentation 31 Composition of Mozart's first mass 32 Mozart's first German opera, " Bastien und Bastienne" . . 33 Journey to Italy 34 Verona 34 Portrait of Mozart . 35 Success at Milan — Commission to write an opera ... 35 First string quartet 37 Bologna— The Padre Martini 37 Florence — Thomas Linley . 38 Rome— The Sistine Chapel — Miserere written out by Mozart from memory 89 Cardinal Pallaviciui . < 39 Naples— Sir W. Hamilton 40 Eeturn to Rome — Audience of the Pope — Mozart's portrait painted by Pompeo Battoni 41 Bologna — The Academia Filarmonica 42-43 Second visit to Milan — The opera " Mitridate " .... 44 Venice, Padua, Vieenza, Verona 46 Return to Salzburg 47 Third visit to Milan — Marriage of the Archduke Ferdinand . 47 " Ascanio in Alba " . ' 48 Death of Archbishop Sigism und — His successor .... 49 Fourth visit to Milan — The opera " Lucio Silla " ... 49 Third visit to Vienna Compositions of 1773-74 (5j Fourth visit to Munich — " La Finta Giardiniera " . . .52 The " Misericordias Domini " 63 First violin concerto 54 The Salzburg eapelle 55 Mozart's relations with the new archbishop ..... 56 Mozart's departure from Salzburg with his mother ... 59 Fifth visit to Munich 59 Visit to Augsburg — Georg Andreas Stein 61 Mozart's cousin 63 Visit to Prince Oetting-Wallerstein — Beecke , . . .64 First visit to Mannheim— Musical life there . . . .65 The Capellmeister Cannabich 66 Aloysia Weber 71 Mozart's third visit to Paris . . . - . . . .74 Compositions of 1778 at Paris 76 Illness and death of Mozart's mother ...... 77 Departure from Paris ......... 83 Second visit to Mannheim 83 Sixth visit to Munich 84 Return to Salzburg 85 CONTENTS. VU PAQE "Zaidd" 85 " Idomeneo " 86 Seventh visit to Munich ....,,.. 87 SamiDons from the archbishop to Vienna ..... 90 Embittered relations and break with the archbishop ... 91 The Weber Family at Vienna 93 Constance Weber 94 The " Entfuhrung ans dem Serail " 95 First performance 96 Marriage 98 Madame Mozart's character 99 Pecuniary embarrassments ICO Concerts at the " Mehlgrube " . . , , . . .101 Visit to Salzburg 102 " Lo Sposo Deluso " 103 Visit of Leopold Mozart ........ 104 Freemasonry , . . .105 "Der Schauspiel- Director " ... ... inS Da Ponte—" LeNozze di Figaro" . . ... 108 First performance 109 Intended journey to England 110 " Le Kozze " at Prague Ill " Don Giovanni " 112 The physician Bariaani . . . ... . . .113 Attack of fever in 1787 ........ 113 Duschek's vineyard in the suburbs of Prague, where Mozart wrote " Don Giovanni " 113 Performance of " Figaro " before Maria Theresa at Prague . . 113 First performance of " Don Giovanni," 1787 .... 114 Story of " Don Giovanni "......,. 115 Mozart appointed chamber musician to the Emperor Joseph . 117 First performance of " Don Giovauui " at Vienna, 1788 . . 118 The symphonies in C major and G minor 118 Baron Van Swieten 1 18 Visit to Leipsic 119 Visit to Berlin 120 Mozart's reception by Frederick William II 120 Second visit to Leipsic 121 Return to Berlin — Performance of the " Entfiihrung " . . 121 Commission from the Emperor Joseph to write an opera . . 122 Death of the Emperor Joseph 122 Delicate health of Mozart's wife — Pecuniary difficulties , . 122 Journey to Frankfort for the coronation of Leopold II, . . 122 Visit to Munich 123 Return to Vienna — Parting from Joseph Haydn .... 123 Compositions of 1791 — " Ave verum " ..... 123 Last appearance in public 123 Schikancder— « Die ZauberHote " 121 Count Walsegg— The " Requiem " 124 "LaClemenzadiTito" 125 VUl CONTENTS. PA OB Siissmayer 125 Success of " Die ZaubeiflOte "—The story of " Die Zauberfiote " 126-7 Mozart's melancholy and ill-health ..... 128-9 Last illness and death . 129 His widow and the "Kequiem " 129-30 Mozart's funeral 130 Monuments to Mozart 131 MOZAET. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the descendant of a family ■which, towards the close of the sixteenth century, we find settled in Augsburg, where its members earned their liveli- hood as artists and mechanics. In P. v. Stetten's " History of the Art, Commerce, and Industries of the Imperial Town, of Augsburg," mention is made of an Anton Mozart, who painted landscapes with figures in the style of Breughel, selected the costumes of Albrecht Diirer as his models, and was celebrated for the force and durability of his colour. He may be regarded as the founder of the family of Mozart, which, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, had trans- ferred its allegiance from art to the more lucrative pursuit of trade. On the 7th of October, 1708, Johann Georg Mozart, a bookbinder, married Anna Maria Peterin, the widow of Au- gustin Banneger, whose business Johann Georg had probably carried on for some time. The supporter of the bridegroom and witness of the ceremony was also a Johann Oeorg Mozart, described as a master mason, and, from the identity of the Christian names, it may be reasonably concluded that he was either the father or uncle of the bridegroom. Three sons were bom of this marriage, two of whom, Franz Joseph Ignaz and Franz Alois, followed their father's trade; whUe the third, Johann Georg Leopold, born November lith, 1719, became the father of the celebrated Mozart. From his earliest years, Johann Georg Leopold gave proofs of a quick intellect and remarkable strength of purpose in developing his mental capabilities. So imbued was he with the earnest desire of making important progress in his artistic pursuits, that he thought of nothing else, and, in consequence, on his father's death, his brothers, profiting by their mother's feebleness, B 2 MOZART. easily defrauded him of his rights. The Benedictines of the Convent of St. Ulrieh in Augsburg, however, took a special interest in him. Here he learned music, and soon became known and esteemed as an organist. A Herr von Freisinger told Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Munich that he " knew his papa very well, and had heard him when in Wessobrunn, near Augsburg, play upon the organ with un- rivalled skill." He added, " It was wonderful to see how his feet and hands worked away, and certainly unparalleled — ah ! he was indeed a man. My father held him in great esteem. And how he worried the priests about becoming an ecclesiastic ! " It is evident from this that Leopold Mozart was destined for the Church by his teachers, the Benedictines, but he disappointed their intentions. The convent of St. Ulrieh was one of a number of convents founded and partly maintained by the University of Salzburg. It was probably on this account that the young man, who was :i^ow anxious to study, went to Salzburg to learn jurisprudence. Here he had to live with great economy, and, in order to maintaia himself, he was obliged to enter the service of Count Thurn, a canon of Salzburg Cathedral, as valets Whilst in this occupation, he seems to have laid aside his study of jurisprudence, and to have devoted himself exclusively to music. He acquired such renown as a violinist, that the Archbishop Leopold Eirmian took him into his orchestra, and made him court musician. In this orchestra an active part was taken in the course of time by such distinguished artists as Eberlin, Michael Haydn, and Adlgasser. Later on Leo- pold Mozart became court composer and conductor of the orchestra, and in 1762 the Archbishop Sigismund (Count Schrattenbach) appointed him vice-capellmeister. The mu- sicians were very badly paid by the archbishop j their chief inducements to serve him all their lives for little money seem to have been the provision made for their widows, the surroundings of the court, and the cheapness of living at Salzburg. Nearly every day the members of the orchestra had to play together in church or at court. Leopold Mozart was one of the most indefatigable. Through his exertions, accordiug to D. F. Schubart, music was estab- lished on an excellent basis. "His style," says Schubart, " is somewhat antiquated, but profound and rich in contra- MOZAET. 3 puntal device." His church music was of more value than his chamber music. Indeed, his son declared it to be masterly, even when he had himself become famous for sacred com- position. He wished to have some of the pieces performed at Vienna, but his father dissuaded him from the attempt, for he was well aware how tastes had altered in church music. There are stiU preserved three complete masses, a fragment of a gloria, an offertory, and four litanies, all written for chorus, soli, and orchestra. More numerous by far, how- ever, are his instrumental compositions ; a list published by Marpurg includes thirty serenades alone, besides many symphonies, to one of which his son's name is attached. There are also some occasional pieces, for instance, a pastoral symphony, introducing shepherds' pipes ; military, Turkish, Chinese, and peasant music. In the latter the lyre, the bag- pipe, and the " hackbrett " were to play together. And at in- tervals in the march, a good Salzburg " Juchzer " was to be shouted, and a pistol let off, just as was the custom at the pea- sants' weddings. The " Musikalische Schlittenfahrt" (Musical sledge-drive), with a long programme drawn up by Leopold Mozart, and written for the " College of Music " in Augsburg, obtained some celebrity. But it drew forth an anonymous and disparaging letter, which deeply wounded the author. In con- junction with his colleague Eberlin, he composed various pieces for a kind of organ which overlooked the town of Salzburg from the castle hiU. These pieces were published in 1759, under the title of ' ' Morning and Evening melodiously and har- moniously announced to the inhabitants of the princely town of Salzburg. " Leopold Mozart's activity as a composer was, however, by no means exhausted by the compositions already mentioned. He wrote music for all imaginable instruments. A competent authority says of his pianoforte sonatas, that in listening to them we seem to hear his great son, so strong is the resemblance in form and spirit. Always eager for work in earlier years, he had himself engraved a few of his sonatas in copper. In later times (1778) he tried once more to exercise his old skill, and engraved some " Variations " of his son's. It is a remarkable coincidence that in the very year when the son afterwards to be so famous was born to him, Leopold Mozart had printed at Augsburg, at his own cost, the work which has carried his own name far and wide : the " Versuch B 2 4 MOZAET. einer grundliclien Violinschule." For a long time this was the only instruction book for the violin ■which went through numerous editions, and was translated into several languages. To thoroughly appreciate the elder Mozart we mnst read this hook. It displays the greatest thoroughness and variety of ideas, and it abounds in treasures of pedagogic lore. All through he insists on the necessity of the student's becoming thoroughly acquainted with every detail of his art. He must gain an insight into its principles, not trust to chance and accidental taste, but to the laws of nature and art. However highly gifted a man may be by nature, he must study and work hard. Extraordinary natural gifts, no doubt, frequently compensate for the absence of study, but such cases do not affect the universal rule, and by no means lessen the justice of the demands which one makes on every violinist. It was in such principles that he afterwards traiaed his son. With the publication of this work Leopold Mozart worthily closed his artistic career. But he continued his onerous duties at church and court just long enough to watch care- fully over his children's education, and when his son soon afterwards came out as a composer, he very wisely avoided any rivalry with him. Contemporary critics of the " Violin- • schule " praise the good German in which it is written. The style is clear ; it borders a little on sarcasm and polemics ; of hypocrisy, which one might very weU have expected from a musician who had so much to do with church dignitaries, there is no trace. Leopold Mozart was indeed a God-fearing man, one who kept God and honour continually before his eyes, but he was free from all bigotry. It is characteristic of him that he was so pleased with the religious poems of Gellert, the Protestant poet, as to write him a letter full of admiration. The poet answered in a long epistle, which has been handed down to us by Nissen, the husband of Wolfgang Mozart's widow, and from which we quote the following passages as being especially worthy of note. " So you read my writiQgs with pleasure, my dear sir, and encourage your friends to read them also ? Such a reward, I may tell you candidly, I had scarcely dared to hope for, coming as it does from a source whence I cannot accept it without feelings of vanity. How fortunate I am if I may believe that I have contributed, in some measure, towards the preservation of good MOZART. 5 taste aad good manners even beyond my own country. Has ' Der Christ,' one of my last poems, your approval also 1 I think I may answer the question myself with 'Yes.' Its subject and your own noble character, which you have uncon- sciously revealed in your letter, appear to me to warrant this conclusion. I would willingly talk longer with you if I were not on the point of starting for Carlsbad. Commend me to all your friends if they are like you, and how should they be otherwise if they are your friends? You I thank once again for the beautiful, eloquent, and feeling letter with which you have gladdened me." Leopold Mozart certainly had friends, and real friends, as, for instance, the merchant Hagenauer, in whose house he Hved some time, and the court trumpeter, Schachtner, from whom we possess the remarkable account of the youthful years of the great Mozart, of which we shall speak more particularly ; but such friends form the exception. He must have felt somewhat isolated in Salzburg society from the circumstances of his birth and education. He was unable to associate with the great, although highly esteemed bj' them as a teacher and musician, and among his equals his strict views of the seriousness of life met with little sympathy. It is observable that the poet who puts the comic figure of Hanswurst (Punch) on the Vienna stage makes him talk in the Salzburg dialect. From time immemorial the Salzburgers have had a taste for low comedy. With them naturally the serious and dignified Leopold Mozart could have nothing in common. Such was the father of Mozart. He married on the 21st of November, 1747, Maria Anna Pertl, the daughter of Nicolaus Pertl, a subordinate official in Hildenstein, and of Eva Eosina Altmann. Their attachment, according to Leopold Mozart's own confession, was of long standing. " Good things take their time," he adds. An old account informs us that both were so handsome as to be con- sidered in their day the finest couple in Salzburg, and a portrait of Mozart's mother now lying before me quite justifies this admiration as far as she is concerned. An expression of good humour makes it plain to the be- holder that Marianne Pertl must have been good tem- pered, and inclined to take things easily. Indeed a little movs energy of character would have been no disadvantage 6 MOZART. to her. However, Leopold was always at hand if energy were needed. Of seven children which she brought her husband, two only survived, Maria Anne (Nannerl), born July 30th, 1751, and a son born January 27, 1756, at eight o'clock in the evening, who received in baptism on January 28th, at ten o'clock in the morning, the names of Johannes, Chrysostomus, Wolfgangus, Theophilus. The confirmation name of Sigismundus was added later. But Mozart always called himself in after-years Wolfgang Amad^. Johann Theophilus Pergmayr, a tradesman and town-councillor, stood godfather, and the ceremony was performed by the chaplain to the town, Leopold Lamprecht. Wolfgang's birth nearly cost his mother her life, and it was only after a long time that she recovered from the state of prostration which succeeded. As the daughter showed signs of musical talent, her father began to teach her the harpsichord when she was in her seventh year. Wolfgang, too, then scarcely three years old, used to seat himself at the instrument and amuse himself with striking consecutive thirds. He would also try to imitate what he had heard his sister play. When only in his fourth year, his father tried to teach him a few miauets, which he played after him in the most astonish- ing manner, not merely striking the notes correctly, but also marking the rhythm with firmness and precision. Tor this information we are indebted to the obituary notice of SchlichtegroU, who had it from the sister Marianne. For each minuet little Wolfgang required half an hour. In his fifth year he attempted the composition of little pieces, which his father wrote down in the same music-hook out of which the boy had learnt the minuets. The book is now in the Mozart collection at Salzburg, where it is preserved as the gift of the Princess Helena of Russia. Unfortunately a few pages are missing. At the end of the eighth minuet Mozart's father has written, " The preceding minuets were learnt by Wolf- gangerl in his fourth year." Further on we read, " This minuet and trio Wolfgang learned in half an hour on the 26th of January, 1761, the day before his fifth birthday, at half-past nine at night." Against Wolfgang's first composi- tion his father has written, "By Wolfgang Mozart, 11th of May, 1762, and 16th of July, 1762." The sense of perfect form is even here apparent to a remarkable degree. The MOZAET. 7 book accompanied the family in its travels ; Wolfgang also wrote down in it his first more important compositions, the sonatas published in the year 1763. Concerning Mozart's childhood there is no more reliable document than a letter which the court trumpeter, Job. Andr. Schachtner, wrote soon after Mozart's death to Marianne Mozart, who had married in 1784 the Baron Johann Baptist von Berchthold of Sonnenburg. Schachtner died in 1795, after having filled the post of court trumpeter at Salzburg since 1754. He was a man of considerable literary cultivation, and was even praised by Gottsched for his good German style and his verse. He was very intimate in Mozart's home, and the truth and vividness of the recol- lections he communicates impress us forcibly in his letter. We read :— " To your first question, ' What was your late brother's favourite amusement in his childhood apart from his occupation of music ? ' nothing can be answered, for so soon as he began to occupy himself with music, all in- clination for other things was as dead in him." This accords with a letter written by Leopold to his son on the 16th of February, 1778, in which he says: — "As a boy you were rather earnest than childlike, and when you sat at the harpsichord, or were otherwise busy with music, no one ventured to jest with you in the smallest degree. Tour coimtenance even was so grave that many intelligent persons, seeing your talent so early developed, and your face always serious and thoughtful, were concerned for the length of your life." " Even childish amusements and games to be interesting to him had to be accompanied by music," writes Schachtner, " and if he and I carried playthings for a game from one room to another, the one who went empty-handed must sing and play on the violin a march all the time." Schachtner's reply to a second question of Marianne's as to how Mozart, when a child, behaved to the great people who admired his talent and skill in music, quite accords with the following passage in Leopold's letter of the 16th of February, 1778 : — " When a boy you were so exces- sively modest that you cried when you were much praised." To Marianne's third question, " What intellectual occupa- tion did he most prefer?" Schachtner replied, "In this respect he allowed himself to be guided ; it was all the same 8 MOZART. to liim whatever they gave him to learn. He was simply willing to learn, but left the choice of subjects to his dearly loved papa." " jSText to God comes papa," Mozart used to say when a child. He used to take great delight in the rudiments of mathematics. The somewhat loquacious friend of the family relates a number of anecdotes, all of which tend to show how acutely developed was the boy's sense of sound, and how easily he overcame every technical difficulty. Meanwhile he had also learnt to play the violin. It is related that he could tell when one violin was an eighth of a tone lower than another. According to Hammerle, an historian of Salzburg, little Mozart made his first appearances in public on the 1st and 3rd of September, 1761, in a Latin comedy "Sigismundus HungarisB Eex," set to music by Eberlin, the court organist. The school year of the Gymnasium usually closed with these Latin representations. It is interesting to know that little Mozart was chosen for the part of chorister. Nearly a hundred and fifty young people were engaged in the per- formance as actors and singers. In 1762 Leopold Mozart made his first experiment of a musical tour with both his children. On the 12th of January they travelled to Munich, where they remained three weeks. The children played before the elector, but jiothing further is known of this journey. Encouraged by his success, Leopold Mozart asked for leave till Advent, and started on a second tour, the 19th of September, 1762, his destination being Vienna. The whole family travelled first to Passau, where the bishop detained them for five days, as he desired to hear the won- derful child, and then dealt out " a whole ducat," as a mark of gratitude. In company with a canon of the cathedral, Count Herberstein, afterwards Bishop of Passau, they next went to Linz, on the 26th of September. The canon recollected, when many years later he conversed with Leopold Mozart about that time, how Wolfgang had behaved when he saw an old beggar fall into the water. In Linz they gave a concert under the patronage of the governor, Count Schlick. Prom Linz they went with the so-called " Wasser Ordinaire" passenger-boat down the Danube. When they made a halt at Ybbs, Wolfgang played on the organ in the Franciscan church, and so charmed the fathers that they could not find MOZART. 9 words of praise enough for him. At the Custom- House at Vienna Wolfgang immediately made up to the official, and played to him on the violin, so much to his delight" that the family got through the tedious examination of their luggage in ■very little time. The court and aristocracy of Vienna had had their curiosity excited with regard to the child prodigy hy the Counts Herberstein, Schlick, and Palfy. The imperial family were extraordinarily fond of music. The Empress Maria Theresa, even during the lifetime of her father, Charles VI., himself a talented musician, had studied singing so diligently that she could jokingly say to Faustina Hasse, "she believed herself to be the first of living vocalists." Her daughters were also carefuUy instructed in singing, and the Emperor Joseph sang well, and played both the harpsichord and violoncello. With a court so favour- ably disposed towards music, it is not surprising that Leopold, a few days only after his arrival, should have received a command to bring his children on the 13th of October to Schoenbrunn, an imperial palace near Vienna, and this without any solicitation on his part. The children remained three hours with the court, and were then obliged to repeat their performance. The Emperor Francis I., the husband of Maria Theresa, took a peculiar interest in the little " sorcerer." He made the little fellow play with only one finger, in which he perfectly succeeded. An attempt, which little Mozart made at the special request of the emperor, to play with the keys covered by a piece of cloth, was also a brilliant success. It was, perhaps, owing to the imperial fancy that this species of artistic trick obtained consider- able celebrity, and played a not unimportant part in the little sorcerer's repertoire on all his long journeys. Wolf- gang entered readily into any joke that was made with him, but sometimes he could be very serious, as, for instance, when he called for the court composer, Georg Christoph Wagenseil, a thorough connoisseur of the harpsichord, and himself a performer. The Emperor stepped back, and made Wagenseil come forward, to whom Mozart said, quite seriously, "I play a concerto by you; you must turn over the pages for me." The Emperor ordered a hundred ducats to be paid to the father. The Empress was very 10 MOZAET. kind to the Mozarts, and sent them costly dresses. " Would you like to know," writes Leopold to Hagenauer, his host at Salzburg, "what Wolferl's (a pet name for Wolfgang) dress is like ? It is of the finest cloth, lilac-coloured, the vest of moire of the same colour. Coat and top-coat with a double broad border of gold. It was made for the Hereditary Duke Maximilian Franz." In the picture, which is preserved in the Mozart collection at Salzburg, Mozart is painted in this dress. Wolfgang never showed the least embarrassment in the society of the great. He sprang on to the lap of the Empress Maria Theresa, put his arms round her, and kissed her. The princesses he treated as sisters. He was particu- larly attached to Marie Antoinette, who once helped him up when he feU on the polished floor, for which he thanked her with the words, " You are good ; I will marry you." Nor was he shy with the Crown Prince Joseph ; and later, when the latter became Emperor, he reminded Mozart how he had greeted his violin-playing first with " Fie ! " then with "That was false ! " and at last with "Bravo ! " The great world went mad about the children. No musical entertain- ment could be given without them ; they appeared in company with the most celebrated performers. In the midst of this unclouded happiness, Wolfgang was seized with scarlet fever, and for fourteen days was obliged to keep his bed. All passed over happily. Only the great folks held back somewhat for fear of infection. An early return to Salzburg was no longer to be thought of. So on the 11th of December, at the invitation of a Hungarian magnate, the family made an excursion to Pressburg, whence they returned on the 29th of December, in order to be pre- sent at a festival which the Countess Kinksy gave in honour of Field-Marshal Daun. In the first days of the year 1763 the journey back to Salzburg was undertaken, and happily terminated. The Vienna successes encouraged Leopold Mozart to make further plans for similar travels. He had set his mind on reaching Paris and London. In both capitals that great musical movement had already begun which in Germany was de- veloped much later. A great deal has been said about the difficulties which the Archbishop Sigismuud threw in the way of the Mozart famUy. But it deserves to be acknow- MOZART. 11 ledged that he gave the father permission for the journey extending over many years, on which the whole family started on the 9th of June, 1763, notwithstanding that in the year previous Leopold had been appointed vice-court- capellmeister. Paris was to be the next headquarters of the tra- vellers, and on the way thither the father intended to intro- duce his children at the small German courts. As it was summer our travellers avoided the towns, and generally sought only the country seats, to which the courts removed during the hot season of the year. The journey began with a slight mishap. When in Wasserburg the travelling car- riage broke down, enforcing an involuntary day of rest, which, as the father writes to Salzburg, the travellers made good use of by going to the organ, where he instructed his son in the use of the pedal. The child understood it directly, " preferred etandiag, and used the pedal just as if he had practised it for several months. Every one was lost in astonishment, and this is a new grace of God, which many only receive after much trouble." During this tour Wolfgang was generally no less admired for his organ -playing than for his performances on the harpsichord. On the 12 th of June the travellers entered Munich, and went straight to the Residence Nym- phenburg, where they were presented to the Elector by the Prince of Zweibriicken. The Elector received them very graciously, and dismissed them with presents. In Augsburg they remaiued with their relatives a fortnight, and gave three concerts, on the 28th and 30th of June and the 4th of July. " Those who came to the concerts were almost aU Lutherans," Leopold writes heme. On the 6th of July they left Augsburg, directing their steps through Ulm to Stuttgart. At Plochingen they learnt that the duke was intending to- go to his hunting-seat, and they travelled straight by Canstatt to Ludwigsburg in order to meet him there. But in this they were disappointed. Leopold Mozart writes that it was owing to the influence of JomeUi, who was engaged by the dxike as capellmeibter with brUliant emoluments, that they were obliged to depart without doing anything. " JomeUi is an enemy to aU Germans," he observes, "and he has given out that it is scarcely to be credited that a child of German birth should be such a 12 MOZAET. musical genius, and possess so mucli fire and spirit." Mean- while it is known of Jomelli that he could appreciate people who were not Italians, — even Germans. From Ludwigsburg the Mozart family went with introduc". tions from the Prince of Zweibriicken and Duke Clement of Bavaria to the electoral Court at Schwetzingen. "My children have put the whole of Schwetzingen in a ferment. The nobility of the electorate were indescribably pleased, and every one was lost in astonishment." Such was the result of this visit according to Leopold's report. An excursion to Heidelberg was also made. Wolfgang played upon the organ in the Church of the Holy Ghost, and the Dean in remembrance caused his name to be written on the organ. Unfortunately every trace of this monument is lost. At Mayence the children could not play at court on account of the illness of the elector, but they gave three concerts, which brought in two hundred florins. In Frankfort they made such a sensation that they had to supplement the con- cert given on the 18th of August by three more. On this occasion Goethe, as he in after-years told Eckermann, heard Mozart play : — " I myself was about fourteen, and I can still recollect the little man in his wig and sword quite distinctly." At Coblence tliey played before the Elector of Treves, and remained some time in the beautiful town, where they found friends in the very musical family of Baron Kerpen. " What will you say when I tell you," writes Leopold Mozart to Hagenauer, " that since we left Salzburg we have already spent one thousand and sixty-eight gulden? But this ex'penditure has paid in other ways. Besides, for the sake of our health and my genteel reputation we must travel in good style. On the other hand we hold no intercourse with any but noble and distinguished persons, and meet with exceeding politeness and respect." The old man's satisfac- tion with his success is evident in these words. It was his chief idea to create a kind of position in the world by his children. At Bonn they found the elector absent, and in consequence, after a short stay at Cologne, they con- tinued their journey to Aix-la-Chapelle, where the sister of Frederick the- Great, Princess Amalie, received them most graciously. " Only she has no money," writes Leopold. " If the kisses which she gave my children, especially Master MOZAET. 13 WolfgRng, had been louis-d'ors, we might have been joyful." At Aix people tried to induce the family to go to Berlin instead of Paris, but Leopold woiild not let himself be per- suaded out of his resolve, although he was obliged from Brussels to apply to his friend Hagenauer in Salzburg for a new letter of credit. After having given a brilliantly suc- cessful concert at Brussels under the patronage of Prince Charles of Lorraine, brother of Mozart's patron, the Emperor Francis L, they started on their way to Paris, which they entered on the 18th of November. Here they found a dwelling in the Hotel Beauvais, Kue St. Antoine, the residence of the Bavarian Ambassador, Count von Eyek, whose wife was a daughter of the High Chamberlain of Salzburg, Count Arco. The territory of Salzburg was, at that time, under Bavarian sovereignty, and on this account also the Mozart family put themselves under the direct protection of their ambassador. Eichly provided with letters of recommendation they hoped for the best. "But all the letters came to nothing." Only one solitary introduction, which the wife of a merchant at Frank- fort-on-Maine had given Leopold Mozart, brought the family substantial benefit. It was addressed to the well-known encyclopaedist, Frederick Melchior Grimm, who had lived in Paris since 1749, as secretary, first to Count Friesen, and afterwards to the Duke of Orleans, and had access to the most influential circles. His opinion in musical matters carried weight. At that time he was neither baron nor ambassador, but he held it a point of honour to use his political and literary influence in favour of the Mozarts. Leopold joyfully writes home: — "He has done everything j he has introduced the matter at court, and arranged the first concert (9th of May, 1764). He alone paid me eighty louis-d'ors, then sold three hundred and twenty tickets, and, moreover, bore the expense of lighting with wax. We burnt more than sixty candles. It was he who obtained permission for the concert, and now he is getting up a second, for which a hundred tickets have abeady been distributed. Tou see what one man can do who possesses sense and a kind heart. He is a native of Eatisbon, but has been more than fifteen years in Paris, and knows how to guide everything in the right direction, so that aU must happen as he intends." 14 MOZAET. Unfortunately the original account by Leopold Mozart of tlie family's reception at the Court of Versailles is missing. Marianne Mozart could only recollect in after-years that the Marquise de Pompadour made her brother stand upon a table, that he wanted to kiss her, and when she kept him off, said, " Who is she that she will not let me kiss her ? Yet the Empress kissed me." The king's daughters, espe- cially the Princess Viotoire, were very kind to the children, and talked to them, not merely in their own apartments, but also in public. On New Year's Day, 1764, the Mozart family were con- ducted to the royal table. Wolfgang stood next the queen, who gave him dainty bits to taste from the table, and talked to him in German, translating the conversation to Louis XV. Near Wolfgang stood his father ; his mother and Marianne were on the other side of the king, where the Dauphin and Madame Adelaide sat. After having played at Versailles, every circle was open to the brother and sister. Gtiadually Wolfgang's genius became popular. In the " Avantcoureur " of the 5th of March, 1764, we find the following criticism and encomium on Mozart's gifts. It is re-published here for the first time. "M. Mozart, directeur de la musique de S. A. le prince-archeveque de Salzburg est en cette capitale depuis quelques mois avec deux enfans de la plus aimable figure. Sa fiUe, kgee de onze ans, joue du clavessin d'une maniere dis- tinguee, on ne S9aurait avoir une execution plus exacte et plus brillante. Son fils, qui a en ce mois-ci sept ans accom- plis, est un vrai prodige. II a tons les talens et toute la science d'un maitre de chapeUe. Non seulement il execute d'une maniere surprenante les concerts dfes maitres les plus celSbres de I'Europe, mais il compose lui-meme. II joue de t6te pen- dant des heures entieres, et se livrant a I'inspiration de son genie, il associe les idees les plus precieuses a la science de I'harmonie la plus profonde. Tous ceux qui S9avent ce que c'est la musique sont restes dans la demiere surprise a voir faire a un enfant ce qu'ils auraient admire dans le maitre de chapeUe le plus consomme. On pent mettre cet enfant eton- nant h, toutes les epreuves. Qu'on lui donne un morceau sans basse, et" qu'on exige qu'il ecrive la basse dessous, il le fera sans avoir besoin de clavessin ni de violon, dont peu de compositeurs se peuvent passer en ecrivant. Qu'on lui MOZART. • 15 donne une partie de violon, il la jouera sur le clavessin et y mettra tout de suite la basse qu'il lui faudra. Souvent il fera meme entendre les parties intermediaires. II accom- pagnera d'oreUIe des airs qu'on chantera devant lui, et il les variera roeme sur le champ d'une infinite de manieres. II a une si grande habitude du clavier qu'on pent etendre une serviette dessus sans que cela TempSche de jouer avec la meme exactitude et la m&me vitesse. Ces enfans ont eu I'honneur de jouer plusieurs jours de suite devant monseigneur le Dauphin, madame la Dauphine, et mesdames de France, ainsi que devant un grand nombre de personnes de distinction de la cour et de la vUle. Le jeune Mozart a aussi eu I'honneur de jouer des orgues dans la chapelle du Eoi a Versailles pendant une heure et demie en presence de cette auguste assemblee." On the 10th of March, soon after the appearance of this article, which gives us an exact idea of Wolfgang's skill, the family, with Grimm's assistance, gave a concert in the theatre of M. Felix, Eue St. Honore, at which they took a hundred and twelve louis-d'ors. A second concert on the 9th of AprU, a kind of farewell performance, brought in still more. " The permission to give both these concerts," writes Leopold, " is something quite unusual, and ia direct opposition to the privileges granted to the Opera, to the ' Concert spirituel,' and to the French and Italian theatres." The per- mission was only obtained from M. de Sartines, Lieutenant- general of Police, by embassies and private letters from the Due de Chartres, the Due de Durat, Count Tesse, and many great ladies. Marianne, too, met with warm approbation at these concerts. She played the compositions of two masters then popular ia Paris, Schobert of Strasburg, and Eckart of Augsburg, with as much clearness and precision as those masters themselves. Both brother and sister were naturally loaded with presents and commendations. A talented amateur, Count de CarmonteUe, paiuted the gifted family. Wolf- gang is seated in a portico playing on the harpsichord ; his father stands behind him leaning against his chair, and ac- companying him on the violin ; his sister stands on the other side of the harpsichord, turning towards him, and singing from a music-book. The picture has been made generally known by a well-preserved engraving of De la Fosse. There 16 MOZART. is anotlier picture of Mozart which represents him in the midst of a brilliant company. It is a small oil-painting which formerly belonged to the Due de Eohan-Chabot, and now hangs in the gaUery of Versailles. During the sojourn of the family in Paris, Wolfgang's first compositions were published by his father. They were two sonatas (K"os. 6 and 7 in Kochel's catalogue) dedicated to the Princess Victoire ; and two others (8 and 9 in Kochel) dedicated to the Countess de Tesse, maid of honour to the Dauphiaess. "We can per- fectly agree even nowadays with the father's opinion that these sonatas were good, and not merely so because a child had composed them. They are remarkable for their novelty of ideas and ingenuity of form. If France had hitherto rendered considerably more homage and enthusiasm to Wolfgang's youthful and aspiring genius than his fatherland, it was reserved to England, whither the family now turned their steps, to enter still more deeply into the true spirit of this young master. Leopold was right when he observed in letters written from England, " It passes all imagination. What he knew when we left Salzburg is a mere shadow compared with what he now knows." Wolfgang had indeed learnt much, even during his Paris sojourn, and certain circumstances in England con- tributed still more to develop his talent. On the 10th of April, the day following the second concert at the theatre of M. Felix, the family left Paris. They made a stay at Calais, where they were iavited to dine with the Procureur du Eoi et de I'Amiraut^, and where they left their travelling-carriage. They greatly enjoyed watching the tides : — " How the sea runs away and grows agaia ! " writes Mari- anne in her journal. As the packet-boat was overcrowded, Leopold hired a private vessel for five louis-d'ors, on which, besides his own family and servants, he was able to take four other passengers, who each contributed half a louis. Two servants accompanied the family, one of whom, an Italian, named Porta, acted as courier, and made the best arrange- ments he could for them on their travels. The passage was good. " We are happily across the brook of Maxglan " (a little river near Salzburg). Old Leopold suffered most from sea-sickness. On nearing the cliffs of Dover, they found it necessary to go on board a smaller vessel in order to land MOZAET. 1 7 conveniently, and for this accommodation they had to pay a further sum of six lauhthalers— about thirty shillings. On the 23rd of April, the Mozarts arrived in London, and took lodgings in the house of a hair-dresser named Couzins, in Cecil Court, St. Martin's Lane. The dress of the people, made a peculiar impression on the family. However, they hastened to adopt English customs. " How do yon suppose," writes Leopold to Hagcnauer, " my wife and girl look in English hats, and the great Wolfgang in English clothes ? " As early as the 27th of April, they had the honour of heing permitted to play before the king and queen at Buckingham House, from six to nine in the evening. " The kindness shown to us by both those exalted personages is beyond description," writes the father. " We could not have supposed from their friendly manner that they were the king and queen of England. We have met with extra- ordinary politeness at every court, but what we have ex- perienced here surpasses aU the rest." Eight days afterwards, as the family were walking in. St. James's Park, the king and queen came to drive there, and, although the Mozarts were all differently dressed, recognized them when they made their bow. The king opened the carriage window, put his head out, and smilingly returned the salutation, bowing and waving his hands especially to "our master Wolfgang." George IIL, like his consort, the Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was very fond of music, and par- ticularly of Handel's. He maintained his orchestra, the " King's Band," and the choir of the Chapel Eoyal. But Wolfgang was now to play for the first time in public. On the 9th of May, it was announced in the " Public Advertiser " that the violoncellist Graziani would give a concert on the 17th at Hickford's Eooms in Brewer Street, and that at this con'dert would be performed " concerts on the harpsichord by Master Mozart, who is a real prodigy of nature ; he is but seven years of age, plays anything at first sight, and composes amazingly well. He has had the honour of exhibiting before their majesties greatly to their satisfaction." The. concert, however, had to be postponed to the 22nd. In the meantime, after playing with his sister for the second time at court on the evening of the 19th, young Mozart became unwell, and Graziani's concert took place without his assistance. For 18 MOZART. each performance at court the family received the sum of twentj'-four guineas. At the second performance, the king was more delighted than ever with the " prodigy of nature ;" he had placed before him pieces by "Wagenseil, Bach, Abel, and Handel. " He played them all at sight," writes the father. " His performance on the king's organ was such that every one rates his organ-playing far higher than his playing on the harpsichord. Afterwards he accompanied the queen in an aria which she sang, and played on theflauio traverso in a solo. Lastly he took up the violin parts of Handel's arias which accidentally lay there, and over the plain bass played the most beautiful melodies, so that every one was lost in the utmost amazement." Here follows the enthusiastic comparison quoted above of the progress which Wolfgang had made in the last year since he quitted Salzburg. In announcing the first concert of the two children, Leopold Mozart says, " His father brought the boy to England nothing doubting of his success in a land where his countryman Handel enjoyed such peculiar protection during his life." The concert was fixed for the 5th of June, the day after the king's birthday. Many families of position which had already left town had returned for the royal birthday. The public holiday was celebrated with a grand illumination, and on the following day the Earl of Northumberland arranged a private fete, at which fifteen hundred guests were present, and ten thousand lamps lighted in the gardens of the palace. It was on this day that the first concert took place. The receipts amounted to nearly a hundred guineas, and the expenses gave Leopold no cause for uneasiness, for most of the musicians who assisted would accept no pay. " If I had not actually seen and heard it, I could not have believed it," exclaims the delighted father, " even all you in Salzburg can form no idea of it, for it is quite another thing now." On the 29th of June, Wolfgang performed in the saloon at Eanelagh for the benefit of a public charity, apparently the Lying-in Hospital on the Surrey side of Westminster Bridge. After this concert the family intended travelling to Tunbridge, but they must have been back again before the end of July, for on the 3rd of August Leopold writes of an illness from which he is suffering, the result of a cold caught in riding home from a concert given at the house of MOZART. 19 the Earl of Thanet. On the 6th of August, he removed with his childien to Chelsea, -where he took up his abode in the house of Dr. Bandal in Five Fields Eow, now Lower Ebury Street. Here he remained seven weeks. Out of consideration for his state of health no instrument could be touched, so Wolfgang was obliged to make up for this deprivation by composing. He began to write symphonies for orchestra. His sister, who used to sit by him, relates of that time that he said to her, "Kemind me that I give the French horn plenty to do." This instrument was then a favourite in England, and for some time we tind it a prominent feature in "Wolfgang's early works. It was thus that his first symphonies originated, and even at that early date we find them marked by an artistic sense of form and connexion. The chief advantage of these attempts, however, was that "Wolfgang remained in practice, and was able to announce that at the next concert all the instrumental works would be of his composition. "While in Chelsea Leopold Mozart made the acquaintance of the violon- cellist Siprutini. He was the son of a Dutch Jew, and his new friend sought to awaken in him an artist's interest in the Catholic Church. He succeeded in making him acknowledge that of all the Christian forms of belief the Catholic was the best, and he hoped to accomplish still more. But he got no further. "When Leopold was sufficiently recovered to remove to town, the family went to lodge at Mr. "Williamson's in Thrift Street, now Frith Street, Soho. Once again they were invited to court on the 25th of October, the anniversary of the king's accession to the throne. But the favourable time for a pecuniary success was over, especially as Leopold Mozart found himself in a measure obliged to have six sonatas of "Wolfgang's, for harpsichord and violin, printed, in order to dedicate them to the Queen. These sonatas and others of his early works have long been contemptuously overlooked, yet they are, in their way, works of art even in a higher degree than the works of many maturer artists. About this time Wolfgang received his first thorough instruction in singing. His teacher was Giovanni Manzuoli, a celebrated soprano, who made his appearance in London at the Italian opera, which opened on the 24thof November,1764. Wolfgang also derived much advantage from listening to Tenducci the celebrated soprano. When next year he 2 20 MOZAET. again visited Grimm in Paris, the latter heard Wolfgang smg, and observed that he had profited so well by studying •with Manzuoli, that, although his voice was feebler, yet he sang with as much taste and feeling as Manizuoli himself. So we see that to Mozart knowledge came easily, and that he was early familiar with tha,t experience which other com- posers only acquire late in life or perhaps never. In 1765, on the 21st of February, the brother and sister appeared again at a concert which ought to have taken place on the 15th, but had been postponed on account of Dr. Arne's oratorio "Judith." The receipts were satisfactory enough. After repeated announcements, the concert at last took place on the 13th of May, and Wolfgang played on a harpsichord with two manuals, built for the King of Prussia by Burkhard Tschudi. From this time Leopold Mozart invited the public, by frequent advertisements in the papers, to come and hear the children in private every day from twelve to three o'clock, admission from half-a-crown. These private performances were given first at their own rooms, and afterwards at the Swan and Hoop Tavern ia Cornhill. However, the visitors became scarcer and scarcer. The last anuouncement of this kind appeared in the "Public Advertiser" of the 11th of July. The talents and performances of the boy prodigy were put to repeated proofs by Danes Barrington, a feUow of the Koyal Society, who afterwards published a detailed account of them in " Philosophical Transactions of the Eoyal Society." With great conscientiousness he had first obtained Wolfgang's cer- tificate of baptism. After the usual experiments in playing at sight, he requested the boy to improvise a love-song nearly as Manzuoli would sing it. Wolfgang instantly began an introductory recitative, which was followed by an air on the word " aft'etto." The pendant was formed by a passionate song on the word "perfido." Barrington reported that these compositions were far above the average. From this we may infer that the boy observed the rules of composition with a certain freedom. It is interesting, moreover, to ' note that even at that time he knew how to give a definite form to certain dramatic motives. In this respect the air for tenor (21, Kochel), composed in London in 1765, is remark- able. During the last weeks of their stay in London the family made frequent visits to the British Museum, to which Wolf- MOZABT. 21 gang presented his printed sonatas and an autograph copy of a short madrigal for four voices, " God is our Kefuge," ap- parently on a given melody. The secretary, Mr. Maty, addressed a letter of thanks for these gifts to little Mozart on the 19th of July, 1765. On the 24th of the same month, the family left London. They spent one day in Canterbury, and the remainder of the month with Horatio Man at his estate of Bourne. On the 1st of August they left England, travelling by way of Calais to the Hague, whither they were proceeding on the invitation of the Princess Caroline of Ilfassau-Weilburg. But their journey met with an interruption at Lille, for Wolfgang became dangerously ill, and they were obliged to make a stay there of four weeks. At the end of this time they continued their journey through Ghent, and first entered the Hague in September. Here it was Marianne's turn to be ill, so iU indeed that the last sacrament was administered to her. " Had any one heard the conversations which I and my wife and daughter had, and how we convinced the latter of the vanity of the world, and of the blessed death of children, he would certainly not have been without moist eyes, while Wolfgang in another room was occupied with his music." But the skilful treatment of Professor Schwenkel, physician- in-ordinary to the Princess of Weilburg, saved Marianne. The new year, 1766, had a fresh calamity in store for them. — Wolfgang fell sick of a violent fever. To satisfy in some meastlre the boy's intellectual cravings, they had to place a board across his bed, on which he could write. An air for soprano ("Conservati fedele," 23, Kochel) was the result of these days (written at the Hague in January, 1766). This air contains curious turns of harmony. A symphony in B major was also finished here, in which are observable the elements of a thematic development. At Amsterdam, where the family remained four weeks, they were, notwithstanding its being Lent, permitted to give concerts, "because the publishing abroad of the marvellous gift of this child serves to the glory of God :" so runs the decree of the Calvinistic magistrate. They were soon called back to the Hague for the ceremonies in connexion with the coming of age of the Prince of Orange, on the 8th of March, 1766. Wolfgang was commissioned to compose six sonatas (26 — 31, Kochel) 22 MOZAET. for 'the princess, which were straightway printed with a dedication. He had also to write other trifles, amongst them variations for the harpsichord upon the hymn composed for the installation festival (24, Kochel), and upon another melody "which is sung, played, and whistled by everybody in IloUand." This is the song composed by Philipp von Marnix for the Prince of Orange, Wilhelmus van Nassau, the proper Dutch national hymn. For a concert opportunely given during the festivities, Wolfgang composed an orchestral piece, a sort of overgrown concerto, even the harpsichord obbligato appeared in it ; he called it " Galimathias musicum." Sketches for it in "Wolfgang's hand, corrected by his father, are still in existence. The horns take a prominent part in this work. It is also remarkable for an imitation of the bagpipes. The last of the thirteen very short and mostly bipartite movements is rather more extended, being partly a fugue, partly a free imitation, with the first part of the national air "Wilhelmus van Nassau" for a subject, A publisher of Haarlem brought out for the installation festival of the Prince of Orange a Dutch translation of Leopold Mozart's " Violinschule," which he dedicated to the prince. On the occasion of the presentation of this translation to Leo- pold, which took place the day after the festival, Wolfgang was invited to play on the famous Haarlem organ. Soon afterwards the family travelled through Mechlin, where they visited their friend the Archbishop Johann Heinrich, Count of Frankenberg, to Paris. It is observable that Leopold Mozart chose by no means the shortest route, for he was con- tinually on the look-out for increasing as much as possible his son's youthful reputation. On the 10th of May the Mozarts entered Paris once more, and went to live in lodgings procured for them by Grimm. In Grrimm's opinion both daughter and son had made important progress, and this view was generally shared. Meanwhile, however, the public appears to have taken a less lively interest in the wonderful children than on the occasion of their first visit to Paris. They played several times at Versailles. The daughter of the Duke of Orleans, whom Joseph II. wished to marry, and who after- wards espoused the Prince de Conde, " took the liberty " of dedicating a little rondo for harpsichord and violin of her MOZART. 23 own composition to "Wolfgang. The hereditary Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig, who had won great laurels in the Seven Years' War, sought out the family. " He is a very pleasant, handsome, friendly gentleman, and, on entering, questioned me instantly whether I were the author of the ' Violinschule,' " writes Leopold Mozart. Grimm relates that the hereditary prince, speaking of Wolfgang, said that many a finished capellmeister in the profession might die without having learnt what this boy of nine years old knew. Wolfgang had again to enter into competition with the most distinguished performers on the harpsichord and the organ. He always acquitted himself honourably on these occasions, and sometimes triumphantly. There is an in- teresting composition of the time of this Paris visit — a Kyrie, the earliest of Wolfgang's sacred works — which has been preserved. The vocal parts proceed equally throughout ; still the piece is interesting on account of its beautiful sound, and a few rare modulations. It gives us a glimpse, too, of the great talent of the composer in this particular direction. On the 16th of August Leopold writes home from Lyons that the family had left Paris on the 9th of July, and had then proceeded to Dijon, where the Due de Conde had invited them in order that they might appear before the persons of quality there assembled. At Dijon they remained fourteen days. At Lyons they made a longer stay, lasting four weeks, principally on account of a merchant and amateur Meurikofer. Wolfgang took the greatest delight in hearing this gentleman sing an Italian song, with spectacles on his nose. The journey was then continued by way of Geneva to Lausanne. It is not likely that the Mozarts sought admittance to Voltaire in Ferney, as is pre- sumed by Edmond von der Straeten, and by the author of the article on Mozart in Grove's Dictionary. But it is very possible that Voltaire's friends in Lausanne, where the Mozarts spent five days, made inquiries at Ferney as to whether such a visit would be welcome. Among Leo- pold's patrons in Lausanne, besides Prince Ludwig von Wiirtemberg, were Madame d'Autbonne, Madame d'Her- menche, and M. de Severy. " The prince was still with us," writes Leopold, "when we were already in the carriage, and I had to promise him, with a shake of the hand, 24 MOZAET. that I would -write to him often and give him news of our circumstances." In Berne a stay of eight, and in Zurich of fourteen days was made. As early as the beginning of Octoher, the family left Zurich, and for the first time, in November, Voltaire mentions in a letter " a young player on the harpsi- chord whom he had not been able to hear on account of illness." Can this have been Mozart, the same Mozart who afterwards in such a remarljably unsympathetic manner expressed himself on the subject of Voltaire's death ? The Mozarts must have passed by Ferney in the first days of September, and Voltaire first refers to the subject in Novem- ber ! At Zurich the Mozarts formed an, intimacy with Salomon Gesner, who gave them his works, with a particu- larly cordial inscription as a remembrance. From Zurich they travelled by way of Winterthur and Schafhausen, where they remained four days, to Donaueschingen. Here they were expected by Prince Josef Wenceslaus of Fiirsten- berg. The director of music. Councillor Martelli, came immediately with compliments and invitations. For twelve days there were musical performances every evening from five till nine o'clock. " We perform something special each time," writes Leopold. The family repertoire, at this rate, must have been tolerably extensive. " If the year were not so far advanced," he continues, " they would not let us go. The prince gave me twenty-four louis-d'or, and each of "my children a diamond ring. The tears ran down his cheeks when we took leave ; we, too, all wept. He begged me to write to him often." The next stage of the journey was through Mosskirch to Biberach. Here Count Fugger von Babenhausen made Wolfgang enter the lists of organ- playing with Sixtus Bachmann, a boy only two years older than himself. " Each did his utmost to dispute the other's superiority, and both came honourably out of the competi- tion," such is the report of a contemporary. ' Travelling through Ulm, Giinzburg, and Dillingen, the Mozarts entered Munich on the 8th of November. Next day the elector desired the children to appear before him, and was much pleased when Wolfgang composed, during dinner, a little piece for which he had himself given the motive. At this time Wolfgang was once more attacked by illness, MOZART. 25 and an intended visit to Prince Thurn and Taxis at Eegens- burg had to be given up. The last letter written by Leopold to Salzburg during this journey is dated the 22nd of No- vember. He writes : " It is very important that there should be a home-life for me specially devoted to my chil- dren. God (who is only too good to me, miserable wretch that I am) has given my children such talents as, setting aside my obligations as a father, would incite me to sacrifice every- thing to their good education. Every moment that I lose is lost for ever, and if I ever knew how valuable time is in youth I know it now. You know that my children are used to work. If they were to get into idle habits on the pretext that one thing or another, for ins*-ance, in the home and its concerns, hindered them, my whole structure would fall to the ground. Habit is an iron path, and you know yourself how much my Wolfgang has still to learn. But who knows what is in store for us at Salzburg 1 Perhaps we shall be received in such a manner that we shall most gladly throw our bundles over our shoulders again. At any rate I am bringing my children back to their fatherland, God willing. If they are not welcome, it is not my fault. But they cannot be had for nothing." This letter indicates the position of Leopold Mozart and his two children on their return from the tour which had lasted three years and a half, in the most striking manner. The archbishop's capellmeister might well feel somewhat uneasy at the thought of returning home after having more than once exceeded his leave of absence. The man who had been naturalized, as it were, in the society of the great ones of this earth, might well possess a, certain pride in the accomplish- ments of his children as in his own work, and we can under- stand the effort it would cost him to accommodate himself once again to the simple circumstances of his life at Salzburg. But, on the other hand, we cannot help admiring the sound, common sense which saw so plainly into the future, and which recognized that the children's education had yet to be begun, and to what an extent it must be 'carried in order to bring their remarkable talents to fuU development and maturity. At the end of November the family came home. Besides numerous presents and not inconsiderable gains, the parents had the great good-fortune to bring the children back in ex- 26 MOZAET. cellent health and spirits, notwithstanding the severe illnesses they had had. It is no less satisfactory to know that Wolfgang had preserved a childlike mind. As Marianne in after-years related, he rode merrily about the room on his father's stick, and played just as in the old days with his favourite cat, which Frau Hagenauer had taken care of during the absence of the family. While travelling about he had created for himself an imaginary kingdom, which he called " Eiicken." It was to be iidiabited by children, of whom he was to be the king. His idea of this kingdom was so distinct, that a ser- vant had to draw him a map of the places to which he gave the names. During the absence of the Mozarts, their landlord's son, Dominicus Hagenauer, had turned monk. When Wolfgang heard of it, he was so grieved that he cried bitterly, because he thought he should never see him again. He was quieted at last, and formed the design of going im- mediately upon his return home to the monastery of St. Peter, to let Dominicus catch him some flies and shoot with the cross-bow. His droll fancies were many, and his presence of mind in giving appropriate answers was astonish- ing. A great man (perhaps the archbishop himself) once said to him, " We have been to France and England, we have been presented at court, we have gained honour." Suddenly Wolfang interrupted him with, " But I don't remember, sir, having seen you anywhere but here in Salzburg." As soon as they were a little settled, Leopold began to instruct his son thoroughly in counterpoint, taking Fux's " Gradus ad Parnassum " as the groundwork of his teaching. He possessed a copy of the original Latin edition of this celebrated work, and as the boy doubtless became acquainted with this copy, he must also have learned in this way the rudiments of Latin. In the Mozarteum at Salzburg there is preserved a copy-book with exercises in thorough bass and counterpoint, in which the old chorales chosen as canto fermo are borrowed from the " &radus adPamassum." Soon Wolfgang had an opportunity of making practical use of his know- ledge. As Barrington relates, in his article which appeared in " Philosophical Transactions," and which has been already referred to in these pages, the Archbishop of Salzburg was somewhat incredulous concerning the boy's marvellous gifts, and, in order to test them, had him. shut up alone for a week, MOZAET. 27 with orders to compose an oratorio, the text for which he gave him. Wolfgang passed the ordeal brilliantly. This was towards the end of 1766. The text of the oratorio, which was destined for Lent 1767, was printed at Salzburg by Johann Josef Mayrs, " Court and University printer and publisher, 1767," and is entitled, " The obligation of the first and chief commandment. Mark xii. 30. ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with aU thy strength,' expounded by J. A. W. First part set to music by Herr Wolfgang Motzard (sic) aged ten. Second part by Herr Joh. Mich. Heiden (sic) the eminent concertmeister. Third part by Herr Anton Cajetan Adlgasser, the eminent composer of chamber-music and organist. Scene : A beautiful country, with a garden and little wood. Voices : A secret, but after- wards zealous, Christian ; the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the World, Divine Charity, Divine Justice." The intro- duction begins in the following manner : — " Divine truth assures us in the mysterious revelation of John, that there is no more dangerous condition of the soul than that of luke- warmness in the concerns of salvation, &c. This is taken as the motive of the musical representation, a representation which seeks not merely to charm the senses, but also usefully to entertain the mind." Mozart's original manuscript bears the title in his father's handwriting : " Oratorium di Wolfgango Mozart composto nel mese di Marzo 1766." " March " is an error, for at that time the family were still travelling in the Netherlands. It must refer to the date of the perform- ance, which took place in the Avla of the University of Salzburg on the 12th of March, 1767, at half-past six in the evening. This circumstance makes it probable that the oratorio, which was intended for the Lent of 1767, was com- posed in the last weeks of 1766, soon after the return of the Mozarts to Salzburg. A repetition of the performance took place on the 2nd of April, 1767. We should, perhaps, have known nothing further of the work than the title, if the Prince Consort had not bought the original score of this, the first dramatic attempt of Mozart, from Andre's collection, and deposited it in the Eoyal Library, Windsor. The manu- script was copied by C, F. Pohl at Windsor, and the work 28 MOZAET. is now included in the complete edition of Mozart's ■works published by Breitkopf and Hartel. One of the first-fruits of Mozart's genius, it is noticeable for his efforts to make it characteristic ; the chromatic scale plays a very considerable part ia it, and we cannot but admire the way in which the boy has illustrated by the music the resurrection at the day of judgment. The recitativo seceo no longer satisfies him ; his obbligato recitative already assumes larger proportions. Among the seven arias which occur in it, there is one for tenor, which may be regarded as a work of art, so finished is the melody, so refined and expressive the instrumentation. It would seem, too, that Mozart himself placed a high value on this aria, for in the following year he introduced it into his first opera — the only instance known in which Mozart has borrowed from himself, although the habit of borrowing was very common among -other composers. There is a little "Passion" cantata for two voices (Kochel, 42), also written for the Lent of 1767, which shows us that "young Orpheus " was quite familiar with the chord of the minor seventh. How much Mozart was liked wherever he went, his inter- course with the monks of the monastery of Seeon tends to prove. Soon after his return from Paris he made an ex- cursion there. The monastery can be reached in an hour from the northern shore of the Chiem lake ; it lies on the shores of a smaU lake, and is now the property of the Empress of Brazil. One day at table the prelate observed that an offertory was wanted for the Peast of Benediction, the 21st of March. A little while after Wolfgang left the refectory, and in a few minutes wrote down on a window-siU the offertory, " Scande coeli limina," the calm, soft, gliding melody of which is continued through a long passage for the violin. Wolfgang was very friendly with Father Johannes (a Herr von Haasy). He had a special melody for the words, " Mein Hanserl (a diminutive of Johannes) lieb's Hanserl erfordern," with which he always greeted the father when he met him. Wolfgang's talent was in request for another public festival in Salzburg, during the year 1767. As has been already mentioned, when referring to the "first appearance of Mozart," it was customary for the school year to close with a Latin play acted by the students. The tragedy, "dementia Croesi," MOZART. 29 was fixed upon for the 13th of May, 1767. It was to be pre- ceded by a musical prologue, " Apollo and Hyacintbus," or " The Transformation of Hyaciath," the composition of which was undertaken by the " nobUis dominus, Wolfgangus Mozart, undecennis." We gather from this work that Wolfgang was still struggling with his Latin. It displays far less originality than the oratorio, still it is curious to observe in it the facility with which Wolfgang mastered the conventional form of Italian opera, on which this Latin sohool comedy was modelled.^ In the summer of 1767 the Mozarts started on a new tour. Wolfgang composed for this tour four pianoforte concerti, which are interesting on account of the efforts observable in them to blend into an hannonious whole the orchestra and the solo part. The motive which prompted the new toui, having Vienna for its destination, was the approaching marriage of the Archduchess Maria Josepha with Bang Ferdinand of Naples. This occasion Leopold hoped might prove an opportunity for adding to his chil- dren's fame, and for bringing them into notice at the court. On the 11th of September they set out, Frau Mozart also accompanying them, and made only short stays at Lambach and Melk. At Vienna misfortune befell them, for the Princess-bride was seized with smaU-pox in the begin- ning of October, and. died on the 15th, the "name-day" of the Empress. The smaU-pox became an epidemic, and Leopold Mozart fled with his children to Ollmuetz. But in vain, for both Wolfgang and Marianne were attacked by the fearful disease. Fortunately for them the kindly-disposed and brave Dean of Ollmuetz, Count Leopold Anton von Podstatzky (also a canon of Salzburg), received the family into the deanery, where the children were carefully tended. The disease took a very violent form. Wolfgang lay for nine days blind. Every day the archbishop's chaplain, Hay, visited the famUy, and, when they began to recover, amused the children with card-tricks, which Wolfgang learned from him. As convalescence advanced Wolfgang learned to fence. On the journey back to Vienna, the Mozarts stayed a fort- night with Count Schrattenbach, brother of the Archbishop > At the representation Wolfgang himself accompanied on the haTpBicbord. 30 MOZART, of Salzburg, and were treated with much distinction by the nobility of Briinn. At the beginning of January, 1768, the family reached Vienna once more. But here they found things greatly altered. Maria Theresa, it is true, received them very gra- ciously, and made Frau Mozart tell her all about the chil- dren's Ulness, entering into every detail; the Emperor Francis I., too, was most courteous, but he had established a system of such economy that no commands were issued for the Mozarts to play at court. Whilst in former times no aristocratic gathering took place at which artists and per- formers were not in the greatest request, now the only pleasure seemed to be in balls which were arranged on a system of miitual contribution. At that time, in Vienna no one seemed to care particularly for music. In Wolfgang, the child prodigy, the public had indeed shown some interest ; to Wolfgang, the budding artist, they were, alas, indifferent. Leopold Mozart complained bitterly of this state of things in his letters to Salzburg. Moreover the jealousy displayed by other musicians towards the Mozarts was well-nigh into- lerable. Life became a burden to them. Intrigues and envious calumnies were abundant. Meanwhile the Emperor sided with the Mozarts, and proposed that Wolfgang should write an opera ; he desired, too, that the youthful com- poser should himseH direct his work at the harpsichord. Naturally father and son assented willingly to this proposi- tion. " But what quarrels broke out among the composers ! " writes Leopold. " What ! shall we see to-day a Grluck, and to-morrow a boy of twelve seated at the harpsichord and direct his opera himself 1 Yes, in spite of all jealousies ! I have even brought Gluck himself over to our side, so far that, if he does not enter into it quite heartily, he will not let it be perceived, for our protectors are also his." Unfortunately the Emperor had no final voice in the concerns of the opera, for it was leased to the impresario Affligio. Still the impe- rial wish went for something, especially as Affligio's singers supported it. Leopold Mozart, therefore, concluded an agreement for his son with Affligio, by which the former was to compose an opera for a hundred ducats. Serious opera was not much affected by the society of Vienna. At the representation of Gluck's " Alceste," angry words MOZAET, 31 were to be heard among the audience: "This is edifying ! Nine days without a play, and on the tenth a ' De Profundis.' What ! I fancy this is iatended for tears. Possibly I may shed some through being bored. No ! it is throwing money away ! a delightful spectacle ! a fool who dies for her husband ! " Then, too, the singers of serious opera were not satisfactory, while on the other hand those of opera-buffa were superior. So that Wolfgang was to have an opera-buffa. The dramatic poet of the day in "Vienna was Marco Cottellini He had written libretti for Grassmann, Hasse, and Salieri, and for Mozart he now wrote "La Finta Semplice." Wolfgang instantly set to work, for he and his father hoped that the opera might be given by Easter. Meanwhile the work progressed more slowly than he had counted upon. The librettist caused delays by fre- quent alterations in the text. Still Wolfgang spared no pains, and had soon completed a considerable score of six hundred and fourteen pages. For the overture a symphony was chosen which Mozart had composed on the 16th of January, soon after his return from OUmuetz to Vienna. It was now that the iatrigues began against the representation of the work. It was even asserted that the opera was not composed by Wolfgang, but by his father, and Leopold found it necessary to resort to drastic measures to refute this suggestion of envy. In the presence of Prince Kaunitz, the Duke of Braganza, Metastasio, and Hasse, and a distin- guished company, Leopold caused the first volume of Metas- tasio's works which came to hand to be opened, and the first aria which presented itself to be placed before Wolfgang. "He seized the pen, and wrote, without hesitation, in the presence of many persons of distinction, the music to the aria for several instruments with the most astonishing swift- ness," writes Leopold. But the struggle against Wolfgang grew more bitter ; the performers, too, were insincere, and Affligio began to entertain doubts as to the result. Affligio had begun life as an adventurer and gambler, then became an impresario, and ended his career on the galleys. He was Mozart's first impresario. He postponed the perform- ance of the opera from Easter to Whitsuntide, then to the return of the Emperor from Hungary. "Now you will 32 MOZAET. wonder," writes Leopold, " why Prince Kaunitz and other grand people, or even the Emperor himself, do not order the opera to he performed." The explanation lay, according to him, in the fact that Affligio had engaged Prench come- dians at a yearly cost of over seventy thousand florins, which the Emperor could not be prevailed upon to pay, as Prince Kaunitz, behind tlie Emperor's back, had promised Affligio he should. So that for fear of the seventy thousand florins, no one would speak to Affligio with authority and decision. Meanwhile enemies in Salzburg had circulated the report that Wolfgang had received two thousand florins for his opera. Two months before— it was now about the end of July — the archbishop had sent word to Leopold that he had nothing to say against extending his leave, but that during his absence from Salzburg he should pay him no salary. Thus misfortunes accumulated ; and when Affligio declared to Leopold that he would willingly give the opera, only he feared it might be hissed off the stage, there was no other .course open to the Mozarts than an honourable retreat. On the 21st of September, Leopold presented a complaint against Affligio to the Emperor. The court musical director, Count Spork, was commissioned to inquire into the matter, and Affligio received a summons to answer the charge. But all was in vain ; the opera was not given. Undeceived at last, Leopold began to turn his thoughts to Italy, especially Elo- rence and Naples, as a means of compensation for Wolfgang. On the 7th of December the consecration of a church for the orphan asylum, newly organized by Father Parhammer, took place in presence of the imperial court. Wolfgang had received a commission to write a mass and a few sacred pieces for the occasion, among them a trumpet concerto, which one of the orphan boys was to play. This last-named piece is not in existence, but the mass, the first which Mozart wrote, has been preserved. In this branch of music the boy felt, and intelligibly so, least sure of himself ; for the traditional form of this kind of composition was very strictly and closely defined. Besides Wolfgang, lately busy with a cheerful opera, could scarcely have felt real pleasure in sacred composition. However, the performance of the mass had the effect of convincing all the world of the malice of Mozart's adversaries. Mozart remembered, even in later MOZAET. 33 life, the solemn impression he received when, for the first time in public, he -wiulded the conductor's baton. As to the artistic value of the opera which was not per- formed in Vienna, " La Finta Semplice," the score, which is still extant, proves that it not only stands high among tlie comic operas of that time, but even surpasses them. It has been already mentioned that Mozart introduced into it one of the arias for tenor out of his first oratorio. Mozart's first German opera was performed at the private theatre of Dr. Anton Meszmer, a rich citizen of Vienna. It was called "Bastien und Bastienne," and the libretto was an imitation of Madame Favart's parody of Eousseau's "Devin du Villag>-." In the music Mozart preserves the pastoral character ; he has also introduced an imitation of the bagpipes, and indulges in the joke of mimicking certain sounds produced by the wind instruments when played without artistic skill. He had made use of such clever tricks in art previously, as we have seen in the " Galimathias," composed at the Hague for the Prince of Orange. The style in this first attempt of Mozart's at German opera is remarkably different ; he follows closely in the steps of J. A. Hiller's German operettas. It is interesting, too, to observe that the arias have no da capo after their second part, as the form of the Italian aria pre- scribes. But, above all, we are struck with admiration for this boy of twelve years old, who was equally at home in Italian opera-buffa, with its traditional and strictly-defined limits, and iu this German opera, his own independent ven- ture, developed by him with such certainty and aptitude. A popular Vienna journal of the year 1768, prints an air from " Bastien," with the words " Dafne, deine Eosen- wangen," amd another song of Wolfgang's, " Freude Koni- gin der "Weisen " — a proof that his popularity was already firmly established and on the increase. With disappointed hopes the family returned to Salzburg towards the end of December, 1768. In the following year the archbishop tried to make up to the Mozarts for their disappointment at Vienna. He had " L i Finta Semplice " performed, and Wolfgang received a further mark of dis- tinction by being appointed concertmeister. The year 1769 was spent by the new concertmeister in his studies at Salz- burg. The few compositions of this year indicate the nature D 34 MOZART. of these studies, in particular, two masses, which prove that Leopold Mozart educated his son in a strict school. Meanwhile the project of a journey to Italy was ap- proaching fulfilment. In the last century Italy was the musician's Eldorado. To study there, to win his first laurels there, was the ambition of every aspirant for musical fame. Leopold Mozart's chief object in view was to remove his son from his narrow provincial surroundings at Salzburg. His attempt at Vienna in the previous year having been unsuc- cessful, Italy seemed now to be naturally the next place in which to repeat the experiment. Concerning this memo- rable tour we have the interesting accounts contained in the letters of Leopold and of Wolfgang Mozart. "Wolfgang's letters mostly breathe a natural, cheerful, and child-like spirit ; he indulges in aU manner of little jokes with his sister, to whom his correspondence is chiefly addressed. Only if music is his theme, his tone becomes more earnest ; his frankness vies with the goodnature and amia- bility he always displays in describing his exciting musical adventures. In the beginning of December, 1769, father and son started on their journey. Their first halting-place was Innsbruck, where they were well received by Count Spaur, brother to the Dean of Salzburg. On the 14th of December, in an "academy" (concert) presided over by Count Kiinigl, Mozart played at sight a new concerto which was laid before him. He received the concerto as a present, and besides a reward of twelve ducats. At Eoveredo Leopold Mozart came across an old pupil, the Kreishauptmann Chris- tani. Christani observed that Wolfgang greatly resembled his mother, whom he could well remember. They also met with other old acquaintances. At this place a concert was arranged for them by the nobility, to take place at the house of Baron Todeschi, When on the day of the concert Wolfgang wanted to play the organ in the church, he and his father on arriving found it so crowded, that it was only by dint of much assistance that they could make their way to the organ. The new year, 1770, found the travellers at Verona, Here they had to wait a week before the nobility could get up a concert, on account of the opera. Wolfgang had a symphony played before an assembly of connoisseurs, and an aria composed to a given text, which he himself sang, and MOZAET. 35 improvised on given themes. At the church of St. Tommaso the scenes of Roveredo were repeated. At the order of the comptroller-general, Lugiati, a life-size picture of Wolfgang was painted, for which he sat twice, on the 7th and 8th of January. " La dolce sua efiBgie mi e di conforto ed altresi di eccitamento a riprendere qualche fiata la musica," writes Leo- pold to his wife. Mozart is seated somewhat to the left in the picture, in a carved armchair. He is playiag on the harpsi- chord, his youthful, cheerful countenance turtied towards the spectator. He wears a red gold-embroidered coat, and on the little finger of the right hand a diamond ring. The words " Molto Allegro G major f " are clearly visible on the open music-book. Lugiati himself wrote to Frau Mozart about the " raro e portentoso giovane." The winter of 1769-70 was by no means an Italian one, and the Mozarts sufifered much from the cold. On the 10th of January they arrived in Mantua, where they also met with much politeness from distinguished amateurs. Fashionable ladies overwhelmed Wolfgang with attentions and costly gifts. On the 1 6th of January there was a concert of the Philharmonic Society, to which Wolfgang actively contributed. Of the sixteen num- bers which the concert comprised, there were nine in which he took part The result was brilliant. The musicians said that this boy seemed bom to put to shame experienced masters of the art. Towards the end of January we find father and son again in Milan, and dwelling with the Augustine fathers of St. Marco. Their life there, as Leopold Mozart expressly states, was not " free," but comfortable and safe. Moreover, they were near to Count Carl Joseph Firmian, the Grovemor-General of Milan, who was a warm and sincere patron of Mozart. The count had begun his studies at Salzburg, where his elder brother was archbishop, till 1740, but, on account of his liberal tendencies, had been sent away shortly afterwards to Leyden, there to continue his education. He had since travelled through Italy and France, and was altogether a man of great cultivation. The celebrated Winckehnann, who had made his acquaintance when the count was Austrian am- bassador at Naples, looked upon him as one of the greatest, and most learned men of his time. As Governor-General D 2 36 MOZAET. Le stood at the head of the first society in Milan, to which he introduced both the Mozarts. Father and son entered into all the amusements of the carnival, but were prudent enough to take care of their health, so that Leopold could satisfy his wife's motherly anxiety about Wolfgang with a clear conscience. He writes: "I can assure you that I have never yet seen him so careful of his health as in this country. "Whatever does not seem good for him he lets alone, and many days he eats very little, but he is fat and well and gay and happy aU day long." They had to conform to the Milanese carnival costume, which consisted of a cloak and hood covering the head up to the^ chin, and falling down over the shoulders. The dress was remarkably becoming to Wolfgang, as Leopold relates, while the careful father of a family adds, " As we have been obliged to go to this foolish expense, I comfort myself with the reflection that we can use it for aU sorts of other things, and at least it will come in for coat-linings, neckties, &c." At the opera Piccini was at that time in vogue, and Mozart praises his " Cesare in Egitto." The Mozarts became personally acquainted with Piccini and- his wife. Wolfgang's performances were admired on all sides. The musicians, too, among them Giambattista Sammartini, who, at the time, had a great reputation in Milan, meted out applause to him with no niggard hand. But the young artist's best friend was Count Pirmian. On the 12th of March he presented the youthful maestro to a brilliant assembly, headed by the Duke of Modena, with the princess and the cardinal-archbishop. For this occasion Wolfgang had composed three arias from Metas- tasio, in order to prove that he had perfect command of the serious dramatic style. His success was brilliant in the extreme. He received from the count a snufif-box contain- ing twenty ducats, and a beautiful edition of Metastasio's works. It was then and there decided that he was to write the next opera, provided permission could be obtained from the Archbishop of Salzburg, who was immediately written to on the subject. The libretto was to be sent after the young maestro, who was travelling next to Eome and Naples. An honorarium of a hundred ducats {gigliati), was settled upon, with lodgings free during his residence in Milan. By November the opera was to be ready, and then MOZART. 37 to be put on the stage as speedily as possible. Furnished by Count Krmian with numerous letters of introduction, on the 15th of March the Mozarts travelled as far as Lodi, where Wolfgang composed the same evening, at seven o'clock, just after arriving, his first string quartet. At Parma they met with a friendly reception from the singer Lucrezia Agujari, called "La Bastardella," who possessed a voice of almost incredible compass. Wolfgang has noted in his letters a string of passages which she sang to him. In it the high C (ut acuta) occurs. Leopold confirms this, and adds, " She has, besides, an excellent contralto range down to G. She is not handsome, but neither is she ugly, has at times a wild look in her eyes like people who are subject to convulsions, and limps with one foot. Otherwise she is of good conduct, and therefore has a good character and a good name." To make the acquaintance of such stars of song was by no means unimportant for young Mozart. On the 24th of March the travellers entered Bologna. Field- Marshal Count PaUavicini got up in honour of them an "academy" in his house, at which a hundred and fifty persons of the nobility, with the Koman cardinal-legate, Antonio Colonna Branciforte, at their head, were present, whilst among the connoisseurs was the celebrated Padre Martini. The concert began at half-past seven, and was not over till midnight. Besides Wolfgang, the singers Aprili and Cicognani assisted at it. Leopold expresses his delight at their extraordinary popularity in Bologna, and in the fact that Wolfgang was more admired here than in any other town of Italy, " for it is the dwelling-place of many masters, artists, and learned men." " Here," he continues, "he has been put to the severest test, and this increases his fame throughout Italy, for the Padre Martini is the idol of the Italians, and he speaks of Wolfgang with much admiration, and makes him submit to every test." The Padre Martini was undoubtedly the first musical authority of the day ; he was looked upon as an oracle in all important musical questions, and not in Italy alone. Dr. Burney devoted special attention to him in his travels. To be commended by Padre Martini was a guarantee of an auspicious future. We can therefore understand how Leopold rejoiced as the Padre again and again expressed himself pleased with each new 38 MOZAET. fugue that he made "Wolfgang compose on a given theme. It was a great thing for the travellers, as regards Wolf- gang's acquaintance with the peculiarities and exigencies oft he art of singing, that they were favourably received by the celebrated singer FarineUi (Carlo Broschi), a pupil of Porpora. Fariaelli, loaded in the course of time with honours and riches, was resting on his laurels, and dwelt on a beautiful estate in the neighbourhood of Bologna. Burney, too, had the good fortune to hear FarineUi sing. Wolfgang was able to improve in his singing ; it is significant that here, when a boy, he should have had the opportunity of perceiving for himself the power and difficulty of vocal art. Curiosity, too, kept the travellers some time at Bologna, and the collections at the " Istituto " prompted Leopold to an interesting comparison with the British Museum. On the 30th of March father and son entered Florence^ where, through the good offices of the Austrian ambassador, Count Eosenberg, they were introduced to the Grand Duke Leopold, who recollected their meeting in Vienna, and even asked after "Nannerl" (Marianne). On the 2ncl of April Wolfgang played at court, accompanied by the renowned violinist Nardini and the director of music at the grand ducal court, the Marchese di Ligniville. The latter put before Wolf- gang a fugue to play, and gave him the most difficult themes to treat. " Wolfgang played, and did it all as one eats a piece of bread." The Marchese di Ligniville was accounted one of the most thorough of Italian contrapuntists. Wolf- gang learned many of the canons which occur in the Mar- chese's " Stabat Mater " for three voices. At Florence the Mozarts met an old London acquaintance, the singer Man- zuoli. A very intimate friendship grew up here between Wolfgang and a young Englishman of the same age, Thomas Linley, born at Bath in 1756, who was studying the violin with Nardini, and had already attained so much excellence that he was considered equal to his teacher. The two boys were so fond of each other that they never separated without tears. Burney, who was travelling in Italy about this time, says that throughout Italy people spoke of Tommasino and little Mozart as two geniuses destined to fulfil the greatest expectations. Thomas Linley was drowned when quite a young man, in 1778, during an excursion on the water. The MOZAET. 39 singer Kelly relates how Wolfgang grieved wlten he heard the news afterwards in Vienna. Meanwhile, delightful as Florence was to them, and to Leopold particularly, the Mozarts had to say farewell to the beautiful city, in order to reach Eome in time for the musical solemnities of Passion week at the Sistine Chapel. After a journey signalized by the worst possible weather, they entered Eome on Wednesday in Passion week amidst a storm of thunder and lightning, "received like great men with the firing of heavy guns." They went straight to the Sistine Chapel to hear the famous " Miserere " of Allegri, which was held in such esteem that the musicians of the chapel were forbidden, on pain of excommunication, to take home or to copy any portion of it out of the chapel. " But we have it all the same," writes Leopold triumphantly. Wolf- gang had written it out from memory, and at its repetition on Good Friday corrected those passages in which his memory had failed him. This feat became known, and excited the wonder and admiration of the Papal singer Christofori. People in Salzburg said that Wolfgang had committed a sin. Leopold therefore positively wrote, " All Rome knows it, and even the Pope is aware that Wolfgang has written out the ' Miserere.' There is no cause for apprehension. It has brought him honour. You must absolutely have the letter read everywhere, and make it known to his Princely High- ness the Archbishop." With peculiar satisfaction Leopold relates how politely every one made room for them, and how Wolfgang was treated as a German prince, and himself as his tutor. At the cardinals' table Wolfgang was placed close to the seat of Cardinal Pallavicini, who, after looking attentively at the boy's intelligent countenance, nodded to him, and said, " Will you be so good as to tell me in confidence who you are 1 " Wolfgang told him. The cardinal replied in great astonish- ment, " What ! are you the famous boy of whom so much has been written to me 1" Thereupon Wolfgang asked, " Are you not Cardinal Pallavicini?" The cardinal answered, "I am. Why?" Wolfgang then told him that his father had letters of introduction to his Eminence, and that they would wait upon him. The cardinal expressed great plea- sure at this. He said that Wolfgang spoke good Italian, and added, "Ick kan auk ein benig deutsch sprekken." It is 40 MOZAET. interesting that in the midst of so many new impressions, which must to some extent have deeply engaged his attention, Wolfgang still thought so much of home that he sent thither a newly composed country-dance, and made his father write how he wished he could step to it. At the request of a Herr von Moelck, from Salzburg, who was studying at the " Collegio dell' Anima," Wolfgang played them a few of his own compositions. It was not without apprehension, on account of the in- security of travelling by the so-called Procaccio-carriage — a sort of diligence — ^that the Mozarts on the 8th of May began the journey from Eome to Naples. They were glad to find companions in four Augustine friars, whose good offices pro- cured them a hospitsble reception at the convents lying on the route. On the 13th of May they were present at Capua at the ceremony of the taking of the veil by a nun of rank. "Exci'pting the nearest relatives, no one was invited to the midday repast at the nunnery but ourselves." The Mozarts obtained an introduction to the court of Naples through the mediation of the all-powerful minister Tanucci. Queen Caroline was very friendly, but there was no playing at court, for the king took no interest in music. Tanucci placed his major-domo at the disposal of the travellers, where- upon the whole of the nobility vied with each other in their attentions to the Mozarts. Very kindly disposed towards them was Metastasio's protectress, the old Princess Bel- monti. They met with rare hospitality too from the English ambassador, Sir WiUiam Hamilton, who had made their acquaintance in London. Sir William's first wife was held to be the finest performer on the harpsichord in Naples. Burney and Kelly both praise her pathetic and expressive playing. But she trembled when about to play before Wolf- gang. Other old friends whom the Mozarts met here were the Swiss Tschudy and Morikofer and the Dutchman Doncker. On the 28th of May they gave a concert, which was bril- liantly attended, and which brought them in rich profits. When Wolfgang played at the Conservatorio della Pieta, the agility of his left hand roused the audience to great excite-- ment. They declared that there was witchcraft in his ring, and it was only upon his drawing it off that they became quiet again, and admired his execution anew. aiOZA.BT. 41 The opera began at San Carlo on tho 30th of May with a distinguished list of performers ; amongst them the A minis and the singer Aprili. The operas of Jomelli, who in 176» had left Stuttgard and settled in Naples, met with no ap- plause. In "Wolfgang's opinion the " Armida abbandonata " was a fine work, but too learned and too old-fashioned for the theatre. Before they left, an offer was made to "Wolfgang to write an opera for San Carlo, which, however, he was obliged to decline, as he was abeady bound to write one for Milan. After witnessing an eruption of Vesuvius, and therewith the greatest wonder of Naples, the Mozarts travelled post to Eome in twenty-seven hours. In the last stage, owing to the brutal lashing of the horses by the postilion, one of them became frightened and upset the carriage. Leopold was wounded on the shin in trying to protect his son. The wound, though not dangerous, was severe, and he was obliged to keep his bed some days. "Wolfgang, too, was so tired out that on his arrival in Eome he went fast asleep on a chair, and his father had to put him to bed asleep as he was. "When he awoke the next morning at nine o'clock, he had no idea where he was, nor how he had got into bed. At Eome they had the opportunity of seeing and admiring the famous girandola, the lighting up of the dome of St. Peter's, and other splendours. They had an audience of the Pope on the 8th of July, when his Holine.ss bestowed upon "Wolfgang the Cross of the Order of the Golden Spur, "the same that Gluck has, and which is called ' Te creamus auratse militise equitem.' He has to wear a beautiful golden cross, and you can picture to yourself how I laugh every time I hear him called Signor Cavaliere," writes the happy father. During the next year he insisted upon putting on the title-pages of com- positions " Del Sign. Cavaliere "W. A. Mozart." "Wolfgang only wore the cross on his visit to Paris ; afterwards he thought no more about it, and we never hear of " Eitter Mozart." It is one of the finest traits in the character of the great musician that he cared nothing for external marks of distinction. Outwardly and inwardly his art was to him the badge of honour he most prized. Before the Mozarts left Eome, Pompeo Battoni painted a life-size portrait of the young master. The picture, one of the finest of Mozart, came to England in the possession of Mr. Haydon. Some 42 MOZAET. time ago it was placed in the Kensington Museum by its then owner, John Ella. An engraving, executed, by Adlard, which, appeared in"Eecordsof the Musical Union, 1865," is a faithful reproduction of the original. The picture has lately been sold. On the 10th of July the Mozarts left Eome, and, travelling by way of Civita Castellana, Loretto, and Sinigaglia, reached Bologna on the 20th, where they purposed to remain until Wolfgang's presence in Milan for the stagione (season) should be required. "Wolfgang had gained much in height while in Naples. He now began to grow so fast that his father declared he would be nearly grown up by the time he reached home. The injured leg still gave Leopold much trouble, and he com- plains more than once of the increased expense it caused him. An invitation, therefore, from Cotint Pallavicini to spend the hot season at a country-seat, rented by him in the neighbourhood of Bologna, was very welcome. On the 27th of July the libretto for the new opera, with the names of the singers, arrived. The title of the opera was " Mitri- date, Ee di Ponto," and the author, Vittorio Amadeo Cigna- Santi, a poet of Turin, where the work, with music by Quirino Gasparini, had already been represented. The chief performers were to be the tenor Ettore, the prima donna Antonia Bernasconi, and the soprano Santorini. In the beginning of August the Mozarts went to the count's country seat, " Alia croce del Biacco." The young Count Pal- lavicini became Wolfgang's greatest friend. At this time Leopold's health was a source of anxiety to the whole family. The receipt of a letter from Wolfgang bearing testimony to his well-being must, therefore, have been a great satisfaction to them. He says : " I am still alive, and very jolly indeed. To-day I had the pleasure of riding on a donkey. Eor in Italy this is the custom, and so I thought I must at any rate try it too. We have the honour to associate with a certain Dominican, who is looked upon as a saint. I, indeed, do not quite believe in it, for he often takes for breakfast a cup of chocolate, and directly after that a good glass of strong Spanish wine, and I have even had the honour to dine with this saint, and he took his wine at table like a man, and at the last a whole glassful of strong wine, two good slices of melon, peaches, pears, five cups of coffee, MOZAET. 43- a -whole plateful of cloves, and two platefuls of milk and lemons. This, however, he may have done on purpose, though I believe not, for it would be too much, but ho tafces many things in the afternoon." These are Wolf- gang's childish impressions; his father writes further that the Dominican "is a German-Bohemian." Of Wolfgang he says: "Everything is too small for him; all his limbs have grown bigger and stronger. He has no voice for singing. It is completely gone ; he has neither high notes nor low, and not five pure tones. This is very vexing to him, for he cannot siug his own things, which he would often like to do," so that towards the end of August, 1770, Wolfgang's voice was beginning to break. On the 30th of this month they heard in Bologna the high mass and vespers of the "Academia filarmonica," which were composed by ten different masters. Burney was also present at this solemnity, and expressly mentions in his journal that the Mozarts were there, father and son. The society resolved to admit Wolfgang in accordance with his supplication, as " compositore." Leopold writes : " He had to appear in the hall of the Academy at four o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th of October. There the ' Princeps Academise,' and the two censors, all of whom are old capellmeisters, gave him, in presence of all the members, an Antiphon from the Antipho- narium, which he had to set for four voices in an adjoining room to which he was led by the beadle, who shut the door. When he had done, it was examined by the censors and all the capellmeisters and composers, and put to the vote by means of black and white balls. As all the balls were white, he was called. On his entrance they all clapped their hands, and after the ' Princeps ' in the name of the society had declared him elected, they wished him good luck. He returned thanks, and then it was over. Meanwhile I and my companion were shut up on the other side of the hall in the library of the Academy. Every one was astonished that he had done it so quickly, for many had spent three hours over an Antiphon of three lines. N.B. You must know, how- ever, tha,t it is not easy, for this kind of composition excludes many things which one may not use in it, and this he had been told beforehand. He did it in a good half-hour. The beadle brought us the diploma to our house. Among others 44 MOZART. these worcis are in it: — 'Testamur Domimim W. A. Mozart inter Academiee nostrse M.igistros Compositores adscriptum fuisse.' It does him all the more honoiw, as the Academy is more than a hundred years old, and besides, Padre Martini and other Italians of note, distinguished men of other nations are members of the Academia bononiensis." Wolfgang had practised the particular form of composition spoken of under the guidance of Padre Martini. The original of his " trial- piece" has been published by Gaspari in his book "La Musica in Bologna." In the Mozarteum at Salzburg there is a second version of the same Antiphon in Wolfgang's hand, which, in all likelihood, is an exercise set him by Padre Martini after the first piece. The chief advantage of Wolf- gang's election was that he could caU himself, with perfect justice, an " Academico filarmonico." On the 18th of October the travellers entered Milan, where the opera " Mitridate " was energetically commenced. , Wolfgang had begun the recitatives at Bologna. The more important portions of the music had in a manner to be completed with the assistance of the singers concerned, for upon them depended almost entirely the success of the opera. Unfortunately the singers were very late in arriving at Milan, and but little time remained to Wolfgang for com- posing. A greater seriousness is observable in his letters of this time. He writes to his mother on the 20th of October : "I cannot work much, for my fingers ache with writing so much recitative. I beg mamma to pray for me, that it may go well with the opera, and that we may be happy again together." He also asks "his heart's little sister Marianne" to pray to God that the opera may go well. Leopold was anxious not to overtask Wolfgang's strength. He never allowed him to write after dinner, but took him out for a walk. Wolfgang generally had plenty of self-confidence. " With God's help we shall fight our way successfully through the unavoidable vexations which every capellmeister must endure from the virtuoso canaille." It was lucky for the Mozarts that instead of the prima donna originally chosen — Gabrielli — Antonia Bemasconi, a liative of Wiirtemberg, was fixed upon. Aided by her " the first battle " was happily fought. An unknown adversary of Wolfgang tried to persuade her to send back MOZAKT. 45 his arias, and in their stead to study the compositions of Gas- parini, which he had brought her. " But she refused this •wicked man," writes Leopold, " and she is quite beside her- self with delight over the arias which Wolfgang has written for her according to her will and pleasure. So, too, is her master Lampugnani, who goes through her part with her, and who cannot have enough of Wolfgang's arias." _ Another storm was looming in the theatrical sky, roused by the tenor, Cavaliere Gruglielmo d'Ettore. The particulars are not known, but it must have been serious, for Leopold reminds his son of it during his visit to Paris. Santorini, the soprano, did not arrive tiU the 1st of December, and the first representation of the opera was fixed for the 26th. But, on the other hand, miich went on prosperously. The copyist did his work so well, that at the rehearsal only one mistake was found in the recitatives. " I only wish it may be as well with the copy of the instrumental parts," writes Leopold." " As far as I can say without fatherly partiality, it seems to me that Wolfgang has written the opera well, and with much spirit. The singers are good. It is only a question now of the orchestra, and lastly of the caprice of the audience. Consequently much depends on good luck, just as in a lottery." The orchestra numbered some sixty performers, among them fourteen first, and an equal number of second, violins. At first there was no lack of persons to cry out that it was impossible so young a boy — a German too — could write an Italian opera, or that he could make use of the chiaroscuro indispensable in dramatic music. But, after the first rehearsal, these voices were silenced. The singers — men and women — were full of confidence. The instrumentalists praised the music, and said it was bright, clear, and easy to play. Sammartiai, too, declared himself in favour of the music. On the 26th of December, the day appointed, the first representation of the opera, at which Wolfgang con- ducted, took place. The whole audience shouted " Evviva 11 Maestro ! Evviva il Maestrino ! " Contrary to all custom, at this first performance an aria of the prima donna was encored, and at the second, on the 27th of December, two of her arias had to be repeated. "Just as Hasse was called 'il Sassone/ Galuppi ' il Buranello,' so our son is called ' il Cava- 46 MOZART. Here filarmonico,' " Leopold writes home to his wife. With the addition of the ballets, each performance lasted a good six hours, so that it was desirable to be cautious in the matter of encores. The enthusiasm increased with every represen- tation. The Milan Gazette of the 2nd of January, 1771, said: " The opera has obtained the approbation of the public, no less through the good taste with which it has been put upon the stage, than through the excellence of the music and the art of the performers. Several of the arias for the prima donna express the emotions in a most lively manner, and stir the soul. The young capellmeister, who is not yet fifteen years of age, has studied the beautiful in nature, and decked it with rare musical charms." This critique confirms Leo- pold's report : " As the Italians say, the new opera is ' dalle stelle ' (from the stars)." The opera was given twenty times to full houses. Of the further fate of " Mitridate " we learn that the copyist obtained commissions for five com- plete scores— two for Vienjia, one for the Duchess of Parma, one for the manager of the theatre, and one for the Court of Lisbon. On the 5th of January, 1771, the "Academica filarmo- nica " of Verona received Wolfgang as capellmeister among its members. The same day he gave an " Acadeniy " at the house of Count Firmian. Soon afterwards an excursion was made to Turin, and then the return journey, of which Venice was to be the next stage, began. The Mozarts reached Venice on Carnival Monday. Here they found a magnificent recep- tion at the house of the merchant Wi