Far more important both as to compass and substance is the concerto for clarinet in A major (622 K.), which Mozart wrote or adapted for Stadler, towards the close of his life (between September 28 and November 15, 1791). There exist six pages of a draft score of the first movement, composed much earlier for the basset-horn, in G major, and available for the clarinet with a few alterations in the deeper notes. It has not been ascertained whether this concerto was ever finished, but it is scarcely probable.
It was to be expected that Mozart, who was the first to do justice to the capabilities of the clarinet as a solo instrument, would deal with it with peculiar partiality; the more so, as he had so distinguished a performer to work for.57The brilliant qualities of this splendid instrument are in point of fact thrown into the strongest relief. The contrasts of tone-colouring are made use of in every sort of way, especially in the low notes, here much employed in the accompaniment passages, whose wonderful effect Mozart was, as far as I know, the first to discover.
MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
The capacity of the clarinet for melodious expression, tunefulness, and brilliant fluency, and for the union of force with melting tenderness, is skilfully taken into account; and as Mozart invariably brings the external into harmony with the internal, we find in this work that the grander and broader forms and the greater execution are the natural outcome of brilliant and original ideas. It is not too much to say that this concerto is the basis of modern clarinet-playing.
Mozart composed on September 29, 1789, for the same fickle friend, the "Stadlersquintett" for clarinet and strings (582 K.), which was first performed at the concert for the Musicians' Charitable Fund on December 22, 1789.
The distinct and frequently overpowering effect of the clarinet, in conjunction with stringed instruments, would necessitate its treatment as a solo instrument; and Mozart's loving efforts to display to the full its singular beauties and rich powers serve to isolate it still more completely. Although he avoids with equal taste and skill the danger of treating the stringed instruments as mere accompaniment, or of emphasising the clarinet unduly, and combines them to a whole often with touches of surprising delicacy, yet the heterogeneous elements are not so completely incorporated as are the stringed instruments when they are alone. The whole mechanism is therefore loose and easy, the subjects are more graceful than important, and their development less serious and profound than usual. This quintet therefore, cast as it is in the most beautiful forms, and possessed of the most charming sound effects—fully justifying the praise bestowed upon it by Ambros ("Limits of Music and Poetry") in Goethe's words, "its whole being floats in sensuous wealth and sweetness"—yet falls below the high level of the stringed quintets.
The Andante in A major to a violin concerto, dated in the Thematic Catalogue April 1, 1785 (470 K.), must certainly have been written for a virtuoso; perhaps for Janiewicz, who was then in Vienna.
Mozart sometimes bestowed improvised compositions in the form of alms. One day a beggar accosted him in theMOZART'S CRITICISM ON FELLOW-ARTISTS.street and claimed a distant relationship with him. Mozart, having no money, went into the nearest coffee-house, wrote a minuet and trio, and sent the beggar with it to his publisher, who paid him what it was considered worth.58
His ever-ready good-nature must have made Mozart a great favourite among his fellow-artists, and yet he had only too often to complain of the ingratitude to which his very good-nature subjected him. Between him and the majority of Italian opera-singers there existed, nevertheless, an innate antagonism; they complained of his compositions as being far too difficult and not telling enough. There can be no doubt that he made many concessions to display of execution, but these were not considered extensive enough at the time, and Mozart, scorning so cheap and easy a way of gaining the applause of the public, sought to attain his end by other and better means.59It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the Italians in Vienna for the most part objected to singing in Mozart's operas, the more so as their disinclination was fostered by outsiders; Mozart, on his part, disliked the then prevalent style of singing: "They rush at it, and shake and make flourishes," he said, "because they have not studied, and cannot sustain a note."60
He was fond of mocking in his sarcastic style at this kind of composition and performance, and used to imitate off-hand at the piano grand operatic scenas in the style of well-known masters, with the most telling effect.61Such exhibitions would not tend to increase the number of his friends. Mozart was "cutting" (schlimm), as we know, and took no pains to restrain his jesting moods, which were doubtless often taken in far worse part than they were meant. But he also pronounced many a sharp censure in earnest upon artists who felt the more bitter as his ownMOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.superiority made itself incontestably felt.62Soon after his settlement in Vienna his father was informed that his boasting and criticisms were making him enemies among musicians and others, but this accusation Wolfgang indignantly repelled (July 31, 1782).
Nevertheless, we find him writing not long afterwards (December 23, 1782): "I should like to write a book—a short musical criticism with examples; but of course not in my own name." There was a rage at Vienna for the discussion and criticism of all imaginable subjects by means of pamphlets and brochures.63That which tempted Mozart to take pen in hand was the downfall of German opera, which was a serious blow to him. He was conscious of what he as a German might have accomplished for German art, and it pained him to see the universal preference for Italian art and artists.
From early youth he had been aware of the unworthy devices often employed in Italian music, and his aversion to "all Italians" continually betrays itself, but very seldom to the extent of making him unjust towards individual persons or performances. His healthy judgment and inexhaustible flow of human kindness preserved him from this danger. Jos. Frank relates64that, finding Mozart continually engaged on the study of French opera scores, he once asked him if he would not do better to devote himself to Italian music, which was then the fashion of the day in Vienna. Mozart answered: "As regards the melodies, yes; but as regards the dramatic effects, no; besides which, the scores that youCRITICISM ON FELLOW-ARTISTS.see here are by Gluck, Piccinni, Salieri, and, with the exception of those by Grétry, have nothing French in them but the words."65This was true, and we may allow that Mozart did not require to learn melody from the Italians. His judgments of various composers might offend at the time, but we are now ready to endorse them as not only striking but fair. We have already learnt his opinion of Righini (Vol. II., p. 251). Of Martin, the universal favourite, he said: "Much in his works is really very pretty, but ten years hence he will be quite forgotten."66How ready he was to acknowledge merit in any performance "which had something in it" is plainly shown in a letter to his father (April 24,1784):—
Some quartets have just appeared by a man named Pleyel; he is a pupil of Jos. Haydn. If you do not already know them, try to get them, it is worth your while. They are very well and pleasantly written, and give evidence of his master. Well and happy will it be for music if Pleyel is ready in due time to take Haydn's place for us.
This was just at the time when he was busy with his own quartets, where he showed how one master learns from another. When he found nothing original in any work he put it aside with the words, "Nothing in it," or vented his mocking humour on it. Rochlitz relates that once at Doles, he made them sing the Mass of a composer "who had evident talent for comic opera, but was out of place as a composer of sacred music," parodying the words in a very entertaining manner.67
The description which Mozart gives to his father of the celebrated oboist, J. Chr. Fischer (1733-1800), is characteristic of his sharp and involuntarily comic criticism. Fischer had come to Vienna from London, where he enjoyed an extraordinary reputation (April 4, 1787):68—
MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
If the oboist Fischer did not play better when we heard him in Holland (1766) than he plays now, he certainly does not deserve the reputation which he has. But, between ourselves, I was then at an age incapable of forming a judgment. I can only remember that he pleased me, as he pleased all the world. It would be quite reasonable to contend that taste has altered since then to a remarkable degree, and that he plays after the old school—but no! he plays, in fact, like a miserable learner; young André, who used to learn from Fiala, plays a thousand times better. And then his concertos of his own composition! Every ritornello lasts a quarter of an hour—then enter the hero—lifts up one leaden foot after another, and plumps them down on the ground alternately. His tone is all through his nose, and his tenuto is like the tremulant stop on the organ. Could you have supposed all this? and yet it is nothing but the truth, the real truth, which I tell you.
Mozart's amiability and good-nature prevailed in his personal intercourse with fellow-artists, even where reserve or irritated feeling would have been excusable. When the Italian Opera was reopened, from which Mozart had been purposely excluded, he did not withdraw his friendship from the composers, whom he might justifiably have considered as interlopers. When Paesiello came to Vienna from St. Petersburg in 1784 he was treated with a distinction never bestowed upon German masters. His "Barbiere di Seviglia" was at once put upon the stage, and the Emperor lost no time in commissioning him to compose an opera, for which Casti, as the most distinguished comic poet, was to provide the libretto. The opera was "Il Re Teodoro," for which Joseph himself suggested the subject as a satire, it was said, on the visit of Gustavus III. of Sweden to Venice in the year 1783.69Such active participation from the Emperor assured the maestro a brilliant position, both pecuniary and social, during his stay in Vienna. Mozart, whose judgment of Paesiello's light music was very favourable,70made friendly advances towards him. Kelly was present at their introduction, and testifies to their mutual courtesy and esteem;71and we have already seenINTERCOURSE WITH FELLOW-ARTISTS.(Vol. II., p. 279) how pleased Mozart was to have his compositions performed before Paesiello by a talented pupil. Paesiello, on his part, begged for the score of "Idomeneo" for his own study.72Mozart was equally complaisant to Sarti, who was in Vienna at the same time, on his way to St. Petersburg. "If Maestro Sarti had not been obliged to set out to-day for Russia," he writes to his father (June 9, 1784), "he would have gone out with me. Sarti is a straightforward, honest man. I have played a great deal to him, ending with variations on one of his airs (460 K.),73which gave him great pleasure."
The "honest" man afterwards wrote a most malicious criticism on some passages in Mozart's quartets, concerning which, indignant that "barbarians, without any sense of hearing should presume to think they can compose music," he exclaims, "Can more be done to put performers out of tune?" ("Si puö far di più per far stonar i professori?"). He points out error after error "which could only be made by a clavier-player, who can see no difference between D sharp and E flat"; and concludes with a flourish, "This is, in the words of the immortal Rousseau, 'De la musique pour faire boucher ses oreilles!'"74
A charming instance of Mozart's benevolence towards younger artists is supplied by Gyrowetz. He relates in his autobiography, how he was introduced to the most distinguished artists of Vienna, at some grand soirée:—
Mozart appeared to be the most good-natured of them all. He observed the youthful Gyrowetz with an expression of sympathy which seemed to say: "Poor young fellow, you have just embarked on the ocean of the great world, and you are anxiously looking forward to what fate may have in store for you." Encouraged by so much affability and sympathy the young artist entreated the master to cast a glance over his compositions, which consisted of six symphonies, and to give hisMOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.opinion of them. With true benevolence, Mozart granted the petition, went through the works, commended them, and promised the young artist to have one of his symphonies performed at his concert in the hall at the Mehlgrube, where Mozart gave subscription concerts during that year (1785). This took place on a Thursday. The symphony was performed with great applause. Mozart, with his native courtesy and kindness, took the young composer by the hand, and introduced him to the public as the author of the symphonies.
Beethoven made his appearance in Vienna as a youthful musician of promise in the spring of 1787, but was only able to remain there a short time;75he was introduced to Mozart, and played to him at his request. Mozart, considering the piece he performed to be a studied show-piece, was somewhat cold in his expressions of admiration. Beethoven remarking this, begged for a theme for improvisation, and, inspired by the presence of the master he reverenced so highly, played in such a manner as gradually to engross Mozart's whole attention; turning quietly to the bystanders, he said emphatically, "Mark that young man; he will make himself a name in the world!"76
Mozart does not appear to have become intimately acquainted with Dittersdorf, who at that time was paying only passing visits to Vienna; but his way of mentioning Mozart shows appreciation and esteem. The same may be said of Gluck, who, as we have seen, showed himself on several occasions well disposed towards Mozart (Vol. II., pp. 212, 285); but the difference of their natures—perhaps also Salieri's close connection with Gluck—prevented anything like intimacy between them.
That, notwithstanding so much goodwill, Mozart shouldKOZELÜCH.have met with envious critics and detractors77among the artists of Vienna is scarcely to be wondered at. We have already noticed one of his most determined opponents, Kreibich (Vol. II., p. 203); another, equally implacable, was Leopold Kozeluch, a pianist of some brilliancy, and a fashionable teacher, especially after he gave lessons at court; he had a passing reputation, too, as a composer, but vanity and stupidity were his chief claims to distinction. He was fond of magnifying his own merits by paltry criticism of his fellow-artists, especially of Haydn. Once, when a new quartet of Haydn's was being performed in a large company, Kozeluch, standing by Mozart, found fault, first with one thing and then with another, exclaiming at length, with impudent assurance, "I should never have done it in that way!" "Nor should I," answered Mozart; "but do you know why? Because neither you nor I would have had so good an idea."78Henceforth Kozeluch became Mozart's avowed and determined opponent; and what better revenge could be taken by the man "who never praised any one but himself," than to pronounce the overture to "Don Giovanni" "good, but full of faults";79and to exclaim condescendingly, after hearing the full rehearsal of the overture to the "Zauberflöte," "Ah, our good friend Mozart is trying to be learned this time!,,80When they were both at Prague, at the coronation of Leopold, Kozeluch expressed his enmity to Mozart so obtrusively, that he forfeited a great share of the interest "with which hitherto every Bohemian had been proud to own him as a fellow-countryman."81
MOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
The most charming instance of Mozart's reverence and love for Joseph Haydn is the dedicatory epistle wherein he offers him his six quartets as the fruit of long and painful study inspired by his example, as a father intrusts his children to a tried and valued friend, confident of his protection and indulgence towards them. These expressions of reverence came from the very depths of Mozart's heart: to a friend who made some remark on the dedication he answered: "It was due from me, for it was from Haydn that I learned how quartets should be written."82"It was quite affecting," says Niemetschek" (p. 94) "to hear him speak of the two Haydns or any other of the great masters; one would have imagined him to be one of their enthusiastic pupils rather than the all-powerful Mozart." The Haydn so honoured of Mozart was not by any means the "Father Haydn" of a later time, reverenced and loved by all. It was not until after his residence in London that Haydn met with general admiration and veneration in the Austrian capital; in earlier years the opposition to his originality was nowhere stronger than in Vienna. His very position in the service of Prince Esterhazy, and his residence in Hungary, prejudiced the musicians of the capital against him. The music-loving public enjoyed his fresh and jovial creations with unrestrained delight, but the artists and connoisseurs took grave exception to them. Humour in music was as yet unrecognised, and the dispute as to whether and in what degree it could be justified had just begun; the freedom, well considered as it was, with which Haydn treated traditional rules, was looked upon as a grave fault. At the head of his opponents stood the Emperor Joseph;83he would have nothing to say to his playful oddities, and we can scarcely wonder that the royal example was widely followed, and that Haydn had good cause to complain of his critics and enemies.84It requiredHAYDN AND MOZART.an artist as genial and as incapable of envy as Mozart fully to understand and appreciate him. And Haydn was equally prompt to discover the greatness of Mozart, and to accord him his full share of admiration and esteem. We have seen the testimony which he bore of Mozart to his father (Vol. II., p. 321); and he lost no opportunity of expressing his conviction of Mozart's artistic greatness.85When it was proposed to produce an opera by Haydn at Prague, together with Mozart's "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," Haydn wrote to the Commissary Roth:86—
You wish an opera buffa from me. With all my heart, if it will give you any pleasure to possess some of my vocal compositions. But if it is your intention to place the opera on the stage in Prague I am sorry that I cannot oblige you. My operas are inseparable from the company for whom I wrote them, and would never produce their calculated effect apart from their native surroundings. It would be quite another matter if I had the honour of being commissioned to write a new opera for the theatre in question. Even then, however, it would be a risk to put myself in competition with the great Mozart. If I could only inspire every lover of music, especially among the great, with feelings as deep, and comprehension as clear as my own, in listening to the inimitable works of Mozart, then surely the nations would contend for the possession of such a jewel within their borders. Prague must strive to retain the treasure within her grasp—but not without fitting reward. The want of this too often saddens the life of a great genius, and offers small encouragement for further efforts in future times. I feel indignant that Mozart has not yet been engaged at any imperial or royal court. Pardon my wandering from the subject—Mozart is a man very dear to me.
This letter was written in December, 1787, and the news of Mozart's appointment as Imperial private composer had not yet reached Haydn in Esterhaz; the uncertain position of his friend evidently affected him greatly. In the year following, when controversy was rife in Vienna on the subject of "Don Giovanni," Haydn found himself one evening in the midst of a company discussing the faults of omissionMOZART'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.and commission of the new opera; at last he was asked for his opinion. "I cannot decide the questions in dispute," said he; "but this I know, that Mozart is the greatest composer in the world."87It must not be imagined that because Haydn set so high a value on Mozart's operatic compositions, he had by any means a small opinion of his own. Forgotten as they now are, he himself was not inclined to rank them below the performances of the majority of his contemporaries. He writes to Artaria (May 27, 1781):—
Mons. Le Gros, directeur of the Concert spirituel, writes me many compliments on my "Stabat Mater," which has been performed four times with great success. The management were surprised at this revelation of my powers as a vocal composer; but they had had no previous opportunity of judging of them. If they would only hear my operetta "L'Isola Disabitata," and my last opera "La Fedeltä Premiata"! I assure you, such works have never yet been heard in Paris, and perhaps not in Vienna; but it is my misfortune to live retired in the country.
He says of the "Armida," in March, 1874, that it has been produced with signal success, and is considered his best work.88It is doubly significant, therefore, that Haydn should have acknowledged himself so completely overshadowed by Mozart as an operatic composer. And not in this branch of their art alone did he accord him superiority; he gave way even where they might justly be considered as rivals, and declared that, if Mozart had written nothing but his violin quartets and the "Requiem," he would have sufficient claim to immortality.89He assured a friend, with tears in his eyes, that he could never forget Mozart's clavier-playing; "It came from the heart!"90To the end of his life he missed no occasion of hearing Mozart's music, and used to assert that he had never heard one of his compositions without learning something from it.91In 1790, when he had returned to his solitude at "Estoras," he writes howHAYDN AND MOZART.the north wind had waked him from a dream of listening to the "Nozze di Figaro."92
The personal intercourse between the two was simple and hearty. Mozart used to call Haydn "Papa," and both Sophie Haibl and Griesinger mention their use of the pronounduto each other, a habit less frequent in those days than at present between friends of such difference in age. But while Mozart lived in Vienna, Haydn had his fixed residence at Eisenstadt or Esterhaz, and only came to Vienna for a few months at a time with his princely patron, who was not fond of the capital, and shortened his stay there as far as was practicable; Haydn sometimes obtained leave of absence for a flying visit to Vienna, but the Prince always gave it unwillingly.93
It was not until the Kapelle was broken up, on the death of Prince Nicolaus in 1790, that Haydn took up his abode in Vienna; and in December of the same year Salomon persuaded him to undertake the journey to London. Mozart agreed with others of Haydn's friends in considering this expedition a great risk, and drew his attention to the difficulties he was sure to encounter as an elderly man, unused to the world, amidst a strange people whose language he did not understand. Haydn replied that he was old, certainly, (he was then fifty-nine), but strong and of good courage, and his language was understood by all the world.94Mozart spent the day of Haydn's departure with him, and as they took leave he was moved to tears and exclaimed: "We are taking our last farewell in this world!" Haydn himself was deeply moved, thinking of his own death, and sought to console and calm Mozart.95
A letter from Haydn to Frau von Gennzinger (October 13, 1791) shows that calumniators sought to sow enmity between the friends in their separation: "My friends write, what I cannot however believe, that Mozart is doing all he can todisparage me. I forgive him. Mozart must go to Count von Fries to inquire about the payment."96When the news of Mozart's death reached London, Haydn lamented his loss with bitter tears.97
The sight of these two great and noble men extending to each other the hand of brotherhood, and remaining true to the end, untouched by professional envy or intrigue, is as pleasant as it was rare in the Vienna of those days. Each understood and appreciated the other, each freely acknowledged his indebtedness to the other from a musical point of view, and each, in his own consciousness of power and independence, found the standard for estimating the worth of his brother-artist.
Those who strove to raise the dust of dissension between them are, for the most part, forgotten or relegated to their due position in the background of musical history: Mozart and Haydn stand side by side on the heights, witnessing for ever to the truth that the greatness of a genuinely artistic nature attracts and does not repel its like.
FIRST among the group of friends inintercourse with whom Mozart found entertainment and refreshment of the highest kind, must be named the Countess Thun,néeUhlefeld. She was one of the musical ladies who took him under their protection from the first, and it was she more especially who introduced him in Vienna, and furthered his advancement by every means in her power. The prominent position which was hers more in virtue of her cultivation and amiability than of her rank and wealth, pointed her out asCOUNTESS THUN.a fitting protectress for genius. She was one of the few ladies with whom the Emperor Joseph continued in later years on a footing of intimacy, and he took leave of her in a touching letter from his death-bed.1Music had the place of honour in her entertainments. She played the pianoforte herself with "that grace, lightness, anddélicatesseto which no fingers but a woman's can aspire," as Burney says;2he was delighted with her gay, natural manners, her witty sallies, and her pleasant irony, as well as with her taste, knowledge, and serious interest in all things musical.3Her favourite composer at that time (1772) was Beecké (Vol. I., p. 367), who mentions to Dalberg having composed in 1785 a sonata for three pianofortes for the Countess Thun and her daughters.
Reichardt also, whom she took under her protection on his arrival in Vienna in 1783, extols her as the most intellectual and most charming woman in Vienna, and adds that her musical receptions were frequented both by the Emperor and the Archduke Maximilian.4Georg Forster became her enthusiastic admirer during his stay in Vienna in, 1784. He enumerates in a letter to Heyne5the distinguished men whose favour and patronage he enjoyed, and we recognise among them many of Mozart's friends and patrons. Such were the good old Counsellor von Born, Baron Otto von Gemmingen—the intimate friend of Van Swieten, who had come to Vienna in the summer of 17826—the old Councillor von Spielmann7—a man of learning and at the same timeSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.more deeply versed in the affairs of the department of Prince Kaunitz than any other statesman—the great minister Kaunitz himself (Vol. II., p. 212), good, simple Count Cobenzl (Vol. II., p. 173), Field-Marshal Haddik, "a splendid old soldier, plain and plump,"8and to this list Forster adds the name of the Countess Thun, "the most virtuous and enlightened woman of Vienna." He gives a more particular account of his intercourse with her to Thérèse Heyne:—
You cannot imagine how condescending and friendly every one is. One scarcely remembers that one is among persons of high rank, and one feels quite on the footing of an intimate friend. This is especially my case with the Countess Thun, the most charming woman in the world, and her three graces of daughters, each of them an angel in her own way. The Countess is the best mother that I know; the children are all innocence, joyful as the morning light, and full of natural sense and wit, at which I wonder in silence, just as I wonder at the sense and wit of a certain maid on the Leine. This charming family combine the most refined discourse, and the most extensive reading and liberal knowledge, with a pure, heartfelt religion, free from all superstition, the religion of gentle and innocent hearts familiar with the secrets of nature and creation. Almost every evening between nine and ten, these [above-named] people assemble at the Countess Thun's, and enjoy brilliant conversation or music, either clavier-playing, or German or Italian singing; sometimes, when the humour seizes them, they dance.
We can well imagine how completely Mozart felt himself at home in this circle; Prince Karl Lichnowsky, his friend and pupil, was the Countess Thun's son-in-law.
Greiner's house was another in which learning was honoured and cherished, and which formed a meeting-point for all celebrities. Greiner's daughter, Caroline Pichler, an admirable pianiste,9thus describes it:10—
Besides the poets Denis, Leon, Haschka, Alxinger, Blumauer, &c., whose names were then famous, our house was frequented by men of severer science. No foreign scholar or artist visited Vienna without bringing introductions to Haschka or to my parents themselves. Thus we entertained the celebrated traveller Georg Forster, Professors Meiners and Spittler, Becker, Gögking, the actor Schroder, and manyMARIANNE MARTINEZ.musicians and composers such as Paesiello and Cimarosa; I need not say that our native artists, Mozart, Haydn, Salieri, the brothers Hickl, Füger, and others were frequent guests.
The house of the Martinez brother and sister, which has become by association a true temple of the muses for the Viennese, was another rendezvous for musicians, Metastasio, on his arrival at Vienna in 1730, took up his residence with Nicolai Martinez, Master of the Ceremonies to the Apostolic Nuncio, and remained with him until his death in 1782. He became the intimate friend of the family, and carefully superintended the education of the children. One of the daughters, Marianne (born about 1740), by reason of her talent, and her lively, pleasant manners, attracted his special attention.11Through his instruction she became well versed in the Italian, French, and English languages and literature, and in all the branches of a liberal education. Nor was this all; Metastasio perceived that she possessed considerable musical talent, and took care that she should receive a thorough musical education. Joseph Haydn, who, on being dismissed from the Kapellhaus a penniless young man, had taken a miserable garret in the same house, was engaged to give Marianne lessons in playing and singing, for which he was boarded free for three years by way of payment,12a more important result for him being that he thus became acquainted with Porpora, who interested himself in Marianne's education out of friendship for Metastasio. Afterwards, under the careful guidance of Bono and of Metastasio himself, she developed gifts as a singer, player, and composer which excited general admiration,13and won applause from Hasse.14In 1773 she was made a member of the Philharmonic Academy at Bologna,15and afterwards received a "Dictor-diplom" both from Bologna and Pavia; in 1782 her oratorio "Isaaco" was performed at the "Societätsconcert."16SheSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.lived with her brother (Imperial librarian) after the death of Metastasio, whose property she inherited;17she gave receptions, which were frequented by all the intellectual and musical celebrities of the day.18Kelly, who brought an introduction to her, declared that, in spite of her advanced age, she retained all the animation and cheerfulness of youth, and was pleasant and talkative. He says that Mozart (who had been warmly received by Metastasio on his early visits to Vienna) was very intimate with her, and that he had heard them play duets of her composition at her musical parties.19
One of the most distinguished musical dilettanti of the day at Vienna was the Geheimrath Bernh. von Keess (d. 1795). This "well-known lover of music and patron of musicians" took the amateur concerts in the Augarten (Vol. II., p. 284, note 47) under his protection, and possessed a rare and costly collection of musical objects.20He gave private concerts twice a week in his own house, as Gyrowetz relates:21—
The best virtuosi in Vienna, and the first composers, such as Jos. Haydn, Mozart, Dittersdorf, Hoffmeister, Albrechtsberger, Giamovichi, Ac., assembled at these concerts. Haydn's symphonies were performed there, Mozart used generally to play the pianoforte, and Giamovichi, the most celebrated violin virtuoso of the day,22usually played a concerto; the lady of the house sang. It happened one evening that Mozart was late in arriving, and they waited for him to begin, because he had promised to bring with him a song for the lady of the house. One servant after another was sent to find him, and at last he was discovered in a tavern; the messenger begged him to come at once, as all the company was waiting to hear the new song. Mozart thereupon recollected that he had not written a note of it. He sent the messenger for a sheet of music paper, and set to work in the tavern to compose the song. When it was finished he went his way to the concert, where the company were waiting for him with great impatience. After a little gentle reproach for his delay he was most affectionately received; the lady of the house sang the new song, a little nervously, it is true, but it was enthusiastically received and applauded.
MOZART AS A VIRTUOSO.
Mozart's boyish fancy of only playing before connoisseurs naturally disappeared as he grew older and more sensible. He took pleasure in playing to all who took pleasure in hearing him, and was so far from the affectation of requiring to be pressed, that many persons of rank in Vienna reproached him with being too ready to play to anybody who asked him. One requirement, indeed, he made which seems difficult of attainment in musical society, viz., the silence and attention of his audience. "Nothing irritated him so much," says Niemetschek (p. 88), "as restlessness, noise, or talking over music. On such occasions the usually gentle, courteous man completely lost patience, and expressed his annoyance without reserve. He has been known to rise in the middle of his playing, and leave an inattentive audience." In some cases his satirical humour led him to show his disgust in other ways.23When he was playing to real musicians and connoisseurs he was indefatigable.24After his concert in Leipzig, where he had alternately played and conducted, he said to the good old violin-player Berger: "I have only just got warm. Come home with me, and I will play you something worthy of an artist's ears." And after a hasty supper, his ideas and imaginations streamed from the instrument till close on midnight. Then suddenly springing up, as his manner was, he cried: "Now, what do you think of that? You have heard Mozart after his own fashion; something less will do for the others."25
The family with whom Mozart appeared most completely at home in Vienna was that of the celebrated botanist Freih. von Jacquin. We have an attractive description of it (1844) from Caroline Pichler, who was intimate there from her youth:26—
This family had for sixty or seventy years been a shining light in the scientific world, both in and out of Vienna, and their house was visited by many for the sake of the pleasant social intercourse there to be enjoyed. While the learned, or would-be learned, paid their respects toSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.the famous father and his worthy son, Jos. Frz. v. Jacquin,27the more youthful assembled round the younger son Gottfried, whose lively intellect, striking talent for music, and charming voice made him the centre of the gay circle, together with his sister Franziska, the still-surviving Frau von Lagusius. On Wednesday evenings—which from time immemorial, were dedicated by the family to society, even in winter when the Jacquins lived in the Botanic Gardens28—learned talk went on in the father's room, while we young people chattered, joked, made music, played games, and entertained ourselves entirely to our satisfaction.
How thoroughly happy and at home Mozart was with this family may be seen from a letter to Gottr. von Jacquin, written in the full glow of his happiness at the brilliant reception he had met with in Prague (January 14,1787):29—
At last I am fortunate enough to find a moment in which to inquire after your dear parents, and all the Jacquin family. I can only hope and pray that you are all as well and happy as we two are. I can assure you, however, that (although we have been received here with extreme politeness and all possible honour, and Prague is really a handsome, pleasant city) I long very much for Vienna, and most particularly foryourhouse. When I reflect that after my return I shall enjoy the pleasure of your society again for a short time, and then perhaps lose it for ever, I feel to its full extent the friendship and esteem which I bear to your whole family. Now farewell! Present my respects to your revered parents, and embrace your brother for me. I kiss your sister's hand a thousand times. But now it is time I close, is it not? Long ago, you will think. Write to me soon, very soon; if you are too lazy to do it yourself, send for Salmann, and dictate a letter to him; but it never comes straight from the heart unless you write yourself. Well—I shall see whether you are as much my friend as I am, and always shall be, yours.
During his second stay in Prague Mozart acquaints his friend with the good reception of "Don Giovanni" (November 4, 1787),30and adds:—
GOTTFR. V. JACQUIN—BRIDI.
I wish that all my friends (especially Bridi and you) could be here just for one evening to participate in my pleasure.
And then he ends in his mocking way:—
My great grandfather used to say to his wife, my great grandmother, and she to her daughter my grandmother, and she again to her daughter, my mother, and she finally to her daughter, my dear sister, that it was a great art to be able to speak well and fully, but that it was perhaps a still greater art to know when to leave off speaking. I will, therefore, now follow the advice of my sister due to our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and bring my moral reflections and my letter to a close together.
And when, to his "delighted surprise," he received a second letter from Jacquin, he answers in a postscript:—
Can it be that neither your dear parents, nor your sisters and brother keep me in remembrance? That is incredible! I put it down to your forgetfulness, my friend, and I flatter myself that I may safely do so.
Gius. Ant. Bridi, of whom Mozart speaks in the above letter, was a young merchant of Roveredo, who was a favourite in musical circles31alike for his fine, well-trained tenor voice, and for his amiable character.32On the production of "Idomeneo" at the Auersperg theatre, he took a part, probably that of Idomeneo.33He too enjoyed, as he afterwards gratefully recorded, Mozart's friendship and confidence.34Gottfried von Jacquin wrote the following characteristic words in Mozart's album (April n, 1787):—
Genius without heart is a chimera—for it is not intellect alone, not imagination, not even the two combined which make genius—love! love! love! is the soul of genius.
He was endeared to Mozart by his musical talent and sympathy. A memorial of their friendship exists in the song composed for Jacquin on March 23, 1787: "Mentre di lascio, o figlia," from Paesiello's "Disfatta di Dario" (513 K., part 9). A comparison of this with the song composedSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.for Fischer shows how well Mozart understood the art of adapting himself to given conditions. There is no presupposition here of such a compass and flexibility of voice, nor of such force of passion as give the earlier song its original stamp; all that is required is a bass voice of moderate compass and no great depth, a certain volubility of voice, and a considerable amount of feeling and cultivation. The situation excludes any expression of violent emotion, and moderates the sentiment without rendering it less hearty; we are called on to sympathise with the sorrow of a father taking leave of his daughter at a moment pregnant with fate, not with that of a youth parting from his beloved. Here again external conditions have been utilised in the production of a song which is worthy by its beauty of form and grace of expression to take a high rank among others of its class.35Mozart composed other songs for his friend and his friend's family; ballads, for instance, for particular occasions and friends. Concerning one of these, he writes: "If the songen questionis to be a test of my friendship, have no more doubt on the subject, here it is. But I hope that you do not need the song to convince you of my friendship" (Prague, November 4, 1787). Another, "Erzeugt von heisser Phantasie" (520 K.) is inscribed: "Den 26 Mai, 1787, in Hrn. Gottfried von Jacquin's Zimmer, Landstrasse." Several charming little canzonetti for two sopranos and a bass, with Italian words, were also written for this circle, Mozart indicates one of them, "Più non si trovano" (549 K.), under date July 16, 1788, and there are five other nottumi of the kind existing in autograph, viz.: "Luci cari luci belle" (346 K.); "Ecco quel fiero istante," by Metastasio (436 K.); "Mi lagnero tacendo," by Metastasio (437 K.); "Se lontanGOTTFR. V. JACQUIN AND MOZART.ben mio tu sei" (438 K.), "Due pupille amabili" (439 K.). To these exists in Mozart's handwriting wind-instrument accompaniment, for two clarinets and a basset-horn, or three basset-homs, a combination often employed by Mozart, apparently without any special reason. The accompaniment may be dispensed with, the canzonetti being properly intended for the voices alone. They are extremely simple, but full of grace and charm, and betray the master in their harmonic turns and disposition of parts. It may be inferred that these compositions were primarily intended for the Jacquin family, from the fact that several of them passed as the composition of Gottfr. von Jacquin in Vienna, as was the case with more than one solo song concerning whose authenticity there can be no doubt. Mozart set little store by such occasional compositions; they passed from hand to hand, and as Jacquin himself composed songs, which were put in circulation from his house, some of Mozart's might easily, without any fault on his part, be ascribed to him. As a set-off to these, the bass song, "Io ti lascio, o cara, addio" (245 K. Anh.), composed by Jacquin, is to this day included among Mozart's works. In the "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung," where it was first printed, it was expressly stated that the original was in Mozart's handwriting, and was written by him in a few minutes, as he took leave of a lady friend; the scene was afterwards variously laid at Prague and Mayence, and elaborated into a love episode. But in a letter to Hartel (May 25, 1799), Mozart's widow protested against the genuineness both of the song and of the story, and emphatically asserted, supported by the Abbé Stadler, that the song was composed by Gottfr. von Jacquin as a farewell to the Countess Hatzfeld, and that Mozart put the accompaniment to it. The song contains Mozart-like phrases, but no characteristic touches of his genius.
Kelly relates that he composed Metastasio's "Grazie agi' inganni tuoi," that Mozart was pleased with the simple melody, and wrote variations upon it.36These do not exist, but we have a sketch by Mozart in which Kelly's melody,SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.with some slight improvements, and a new middle phrase, is arranged for two soprano voices and a bass, with a wind instrument accompaniment (flute, two clarinets, horns and bassoons) no doubt for some special occasion (532 K.).
Concerted songs of this kind were then a favourite pastime in musical circles; they were often comic, and sometimes coarse. No one will doubt that Mozart was always ready for this species of fun, and his comic "Bandl-Terzett" (441 K.) was known, not only among his Vienna friends,37but far and wide among lovers of music and fun. Mozart had made his wife a present of a new belt ribbon which she wished to wear one day when she was going for a walk with Jacquin. Not finding it she called to her husband: "Liebes Mandl, wo ists Bandl?" (Where is the belt, my dear?) They both looked for it in vain till Jacquin joined them and found it. But he refused to give it up, held it high in the air, and being a very tall man, the Mozarts, both little, strove in vain to reach it. Entreaties, laughter, scolding, were all in vain, till at last the dog ran barking between Jacquin's legs. Then he gave up the ribbon, and declared that the scene would make a good comic terzet. Mozart took the hint, wrote the words in the Vienna dialect (which is essential for the comic effect), and sent the terzet to Jacquin.38Well sung, it never fails of its effect. A four-part pendant to the terzet "Caro mio Druck und Schluck," was in the possession of Mozart's widow, as she informed Hartel (May 25, 1799); it seems to have been a canon with a comic bass part (Anh. 5 K.).
Canons were in special favour at the social gatherings ofCANONS.which we have been speaking. It may always be taken for granted that children and persons of slight musical cultivation will take peculiar pleasure in this severest form of musical mechanism, if the persistent regularity with which each part pursues its independent course is combined with a general effect of harmony and satisfaction. For the enlightened few, the interest arises from such a skilful handling of forms confined within the strictest rules as shall emphasise epigrammatic points in the most vivid and telling manner. So in poetry, the sonnet, the triolet, and other similar forms serve by their very limitations to emphasise the conceits which they express. The same sort of contrast, produced without departing from a strict adherence to rule, forms the chief effect of the canon. The sharp definition of its various parts gives it abundance of means for accentuating particular points, aided by their constant recurrence in different positions and different lights. The canon, therefore, is theepigrammaticform of music, the most suitable vehicle for a moral sentence or a witty phrase, and it is capable of expressing alike the most serious and the most comic ideas. It requires, indeed, the firm hand of a master so to triumph over the difficulties of the form as to produce not only a masterpiece of counterpoint for the satisfaction of the learned, but also a melodious self-sufficing vocal piece, whose most studied difficulties shall leave the impression of lucky accidents. The greatest masters seem to have turned for recreation to the composition of canons,39and even grave men like Padre Martini40and Michael Haydn41did not disdain to write comic canons. Mozart cultivated the style, and a long list may be placed under his name. In the "Oeuvres" (XV., XVI.) two two-part, nine three-part, nine four-part, and one six-partSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.canons are printed; but they are certainly not all genuine. In the Thematic Catalogue, the following are noted as composed by Mozart:—
XV.
1. Difficile Iectu [Nimm ists gleich warm] three-part (559 K.).
2. Caro bell' idol, three-part (562 K.).
5. Ave Maria, four-part (554 K.).
6. Lacrimoso son io, four-part (555 K.).
XVI.
1. O du eselhafter [Gähnst du Fauler], four-part (560 K.).
2. Alleluja, four-part (553 K.).
3. Grechtelseng [Allés Fleisch], four-part (556 K.).
4. Gemma in Prater [Allés ist eitel], four-part (558 K.).
6. Bona nox [Gute Nacht], four-part (561 K.).!!!
Besides these there must have been four more published from Mozart's autograph, for the widow writes (November 30, 1799) that she has sent thirteen canons in the original. But of these one (XV. 12) "O wunderschon" (227 K.) was by W. Byrd (d. 1623), published by Mattheson (Vollk. Kapellm. p. 409), and only copied by Mozart, and the same may have been the case with others. We recognise Mozart with some certainty in:—
XVI.
4. L. m. d. A. r. s. [Nichts labt. mich mehr.], four-part (233 K.).
5. Lieber Freistadler, lieber Gaulimauli [Wer nicht liebt], four-part (232 K.).
7. L. m. i. A. [Lasst uns froh sein], six-part (231 K.).
9. [Lass immer] two-part (410 K.). But this canon exists in Mozart's handwriting as an adagio for two basset-homs with a bassoon, perhaps as an accompaniment to a vocal piece.
Concerning the others I can speak with no certainty; but those which are well authenticated seem to me by far the finest. Some genuine canons by Mozart are omitted from this collection, such as the four-part canon, called in the Thematic Catalogue "Nascoso" (557 K.), which is particularly fine.42There are serious canons,43cheerful canons,44and an overwhelming majority of comic canons. The wordsCANONS.to these last were generally his own; they are almost always in the Vienna dialect, and not a few of them are too coarse for publication, although they are preserved in verbal tradition. The original words of two of the most authentic may serve as an example of the rest:—
Grechtelseng, grechtelseng, wir gehn in Prater. In Prater? itzt, lass nach, i lass mi nit stimma. Ei bei Leib. Ei ja wohl. Mi bringst nit aussi! Was blauscht der? was blauscht der? Itzt halts Maul, i gieb dir a Tetschen! (556 K.).
Gemma in Proda, gemma in d' Hetz, gemma in Kasperl. Der Kasperl ist krank, der Bar ist verreckt, was that ma in der Hetz drausst, in Prater giebts Gelsen und Haufen von Dreck (558 K.).
The fun consisted essentially in the dialogue form and colloquial expressions of the text—as will be evident to all who compare the newly substituted versions, which, unexceptionable and correct as they are, neutralise the whole comic effect—of the canons. Mozart's mastery of form and his wonderful power of transforming everything he attempted into a complete and well-rounded work of art, are displayed in all the canons without exception; each one contains the clear expression of a particular mood, together with a melodious beauty, so thoroughly consistent with the form in which they are embodied as to appear inseparable from it. Finding eight four-part and two three-part canons under one date (September 2, 1788) in the Thematic Catalogue, we may be inclined to imagine that Mozart was seized with a sort of periodical canon-fever; but it is more probable that some circumstance led to his noting on that day all the works of the kind that he had either in hand or in prospect. No doubt most of them were composed on the spur of the moment, as we know was the case with two among the list. The tenor singer, Joh. Nepomuk Peierl, "a man of refinement," according to Schroder,45who had sung with his wife for several years at the Salzburg theatre, paid a short visit to Vienna in 1785, and became acquainted with Mozart. He had a peculiar pronunciation which often made him the subject of raillery, and Mozart made it theSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.text for a three-part canon of wonderfully comic effect.46This was scarcely ended when the singers turned over the leaf, and began another four-part canon (560 K.) on the words: "O du eselhafter Peierl! o du peirlischer Esel! du bist so faul als wie ein Gaul, der weder Kopf noch Haxen hat, mit dir ist gar nichts anzufangen, ich seh dich noch am Galgen hangen; du dummer Gaul! du bist so faul! du dummer
Peierl bist so faul als wie ein Gaul; O lieber Freundverzeihe mir! Nepomuk! Peierl! verzeihe mir!"47There is nothing particularly refined or amusing about the jest except the very excellent and effective canon. This was so highly applauded that it was employed on other occasions with more emphatic invectives, addressed to other individuals.48Mozart's marvellous gift of improvisation, showing itself in this form among others, is illustrated by an anecdote vouched for by Rochlitz. The evening before Mozart left Leipzig for Berlin, whence he intended to return in a few days, he supped with the Precentor Doles, with whom he was very intimate. His entertainers, melancholy at the prospect of parting, begged for a few lines of his writing by way of remembrance. Mozart was in a merry mood, laughed at their "whining," and declared he would rather go to bed than write music. At last he took a sheet of note-paper, tore it in half, sat down and wrote—at the most for five or six minutes. Then he handed one-half to the son, the other to the father. On one page was a three-part canon in long notes without words, and when sung very melancholy and melodious. On the second page was also a three-part canon without words, but in quavers, and full of drollery. When they had discoveredTHE MUSIKALISCHE SPASS.that the two might be sung together, Mozart wrote to the first the words, "Lebet wohl, wir sehn uns wieder!" To the second, "Heult noch gar wie alte Weiber"—and so they were sung.49Unhappily this double canon is not preserved.
Many comic compositions of this kind are ascribed to Mozart wrongly or on insufficient grounds.50One most diverting example of his love of humour exists in the "Musikalische Spass," as he calls it himself—the "Bauem-symphonie," as it is sometimes designated—which was probably written for a special occasion on June 11, 1787; owing, no doubt, to pressure of time it was only partially scored. Ignorant composers and unskilful performers are ridiculed together in this piece, which is in the form of a divertimento (Vol. I., p. 303) in four movements for string quartet and two horns. The ridicule of the players is very broad, as, for instance, when the horns, where they should come in solo in the minuet, play actual wrong notes, or when the first violin at the close of a long cadenza, consisting of a number of trivial disconnected passages, finishes off with an ascending scale, and goes at least half a tone too high. But the most amazing confusion occurs at the end, where, in the midst of a fanfare in F major for the horns, the stringed instruments strike in one after another, each in a different key. A semitone higher or lower is treated as a matter of small importance, thirds are carried on even where they are out of place; but sometimes, when a part seems to come in too soon, or when nothing but accompaniment is heard for several bars, as if the principal parts were pausing too long, or when at a particular point a note occurs which sounds excruciatingly false, it is only by the context that we can be assured that no actual mistake has happened, and that the composer does not deserve to be hissed on his ownSOCIAL INTERCOURSE.account. This is repeatedly the case also in the plan and treatment of the movements as a whole; they are after the usual pattern, turns and passages occur of the customary kind, with here and there a striking modulation, but there is a complete lack of power to grasp or carry out an idea; two or three bars bring each effort to an end, and there is a constant recurrence to the traditional formula of the closing cadence. The attempt after thematic elaboration in the finale is very ludicrous; it is as though the composer had heard of such a thing, and strove to imitate it in a few phrases, greatly to his own satisfaction. The art is most remarkable whereby the pretended ignorance never becomes wearisome, and the audience is kept in suspense throughout. The effect rests partly on the shrewd conception of what is truly comic in ignorant pretension (for nowhere is irony more dangerous than in music, the impression of discord being one difficult of control), partly on the perfect mastery of the instruments displayed by the composer.51