After his return to Vienna Mozart's embarrassments became more pressing than ever. The ill-health of his wife involved him in constant expense, and his income was at all times precarious. By the advice of his friends he informed the Emperor of the offer that had been made him by the King of Prussia. The Emperor asked if he were really going to leave him, and Mozart replied: "Your Majesty, I throw myself upon your kindness; I remain." No improvement, however, resulted in his position, though it was at the suggestion of the Emperor that he was commissioned to write a new opera for Vienna. This was the two-act opera buffaCosi fan tutte, the libretto of which was again from the pen of Da Ponte, and which was produced on January 26, 1790. The first performances appear to have been successful; but the death of the Emperor in the following month caused the theatre to be closed for some time; in all it was given ten times, and then fell out of the repertoire. The plot of the opera is weak and improbable, and the indifferent quality of the libretto is without doubt the chief reason why the music is as a whole inferior to that ofDon GiovanniandFigaro.Cosi fan tutte, nevertheless, contains some of its composer's best work, especially in the concerted movements, such as the trio "Soave sia il vento," the quintett and sextett in the first act, and the two finales. The orchestral colouring also is almost richer and more varied than in any of Mozart's preceding operas.
The accession of Leopold II. to the throne of Austria brought no improvement in the composer's circumstances, for the new Emperor's tastes differed widely from those of Joseph, and it soon became evident that those who had enjoyed the favour of the latter had but little to hope from his successor. Mozart applied for the post of second kapellmeister, and also asked to be allowed to teach the young Princes; but both requests were refused. Thinking that the coronation of the Emperor at Frankfort might afford him a favourable opportunity for an artistic tour, Mozart, who was obliged to pawn his plate in order to procure the necessary funds, started for that city on September 26, and gave a concert of his own compositions in the Stadt-Theatre on October 14. But neither here nor at Mannheim and Munich, which he visited on his return journey, did he make much profit, and he returned to Vienna with little or no improvement in his circumstances. Here he had the pain of parting with one of his dearest friends, Joseph Haydn, who was just leaving for London with Salomon, who had engaged him for a series of concerts.* Salomon also entered into negotiations with Mozart for a similar series in the following year, but before that time the composer was no more. He and Haydn never met again.
* It was for these concerts that Haydn composed his best-known and finest symphonies—those called in this country the "Salomon Set."
In May, 1791, an old acquaintance of Mozart's, Emanuel Schickaneder, the manager of a small theatre at Vienna, being in embarrassed circumstances, proposed to Mozart to write an opera on a magic subject, of which he, Schickaneder, would prepare the libretto. Mozart, always ready to help a friend, agreed, though with some little hesitation, saying that he had never written a magic opera. The work wasDie Zauberflöte, and Mozart began its composition at once. Various causes interfered with its rapid progress. It was while working at it that the first signs of the breaking up of his vital powers showed themselves. He suffered from fainting fits, and in June he was obliged to suspend work on the opera and go to Baden, a suburb of Vienna, to recruit his health.
It was while engaged on the composition ofDie Zauberflötethat Mozart received from a mysterious stranger the commission to write aRequiemMass. He was asked to name his own terms, but was enjoined to make no effort to discover who it was that had ordered the work. Mozart, who had written no church music since his Mass in C minor eight years before, eagerly accepted the commission, and began work at once. It is now ascertained beyond a doubt that the individual who visited Mozart was the steward of a certain Count Walsegg, an amateur musician who desired to be thought a great composer, and who actually copied the score of theRequiemand had it performed as his own work.
Mozart's work on theZauberflöteand the Requiem were alike interrupted in August by a commission which it was needful to execute at once. This was the composition of an opera for Prague, to be performed there on the occasion of the coronation of the Emperor Leopold II. as King of Bohemia. The libretto selected was Metastasio'sLa Clemenza di Tito, which had been already set to music by several eminent composers. As the coronation was to take place in the following month, Mozart had but little time for composition; according to Jahn, the opera was completed in eighteen days. Its first performance took place on September 6, and was not a success. Mozart, who was in bad health when he arrived in Prague, and who had become still worse through his arduous exertions in getting the work ready in time for the performance, was greatly depressed at its failure.
Returning to Vienna in September, with health and spirits alike failing him, Mozart resumed work onDie Zauberflöte, which was produced on the 30th of the same month, the composition of the overture and the march which opens the second act having been only completed two days previously. Though the success of the first performance was less than had been anticipated, the public soon began to appreciate its beauties; it was given twenty-four times in the following month and reached its hundredth performance in a little more than a year.
PART OF THE SCORE OF THE "DE PROFUNDIS." (British Museum.)PART OF THE SCORE OF THE "DE PROFUNDIS." (British Museum.)
As soon as the opera was off his mind, Mozart returned to his still incompleteRequiem, a work which now engrossed all his attention and energy. In his enfeebled and depressed state he formed the idea that he was writing theRequiemfor himself, and had a firm conviction that he had been poisoned. By the advice of his doctor his wife took away the score from him, and a temporary improvement resulted, which enabled him to write a small cantata for a masonic festival—the last work which he entered in the thematic catalogue already mentioned. At his request his wife returned him the score of theRequiem, but as soon as he resumed work upon it all the unfavourable symptoms returned with increased violence, and partial paralysis set in. In the latter part of November he took to his bed, from which he was never to rise again. By a sad irony of fate, it was during his last illness that fortune smiled upon him for the first time: some of the Hungarian nobility joined to assure him of an annual income of 1,000 florins, while music publishers at Amsterdam gave him commissions for compositions which would have insured him against want for the future. But all came too late for the dying composer, and his last hours were embittered by the thought of leaving his wife and children unprovided for at the very time when he would have been able to support them in comfort. To the last his mind was full of his unfinishedRequiem, and on the afternoon before his death, he had the score laid on his bed, and the music sung by his friends, he himself taking the alto part. When they reached the opening bars of the "Lacrymosa," Mozart burst into a violent fit of weeping, and the score was laid aside. In the evening the physician told Mozart's pupil, Süssmayr, in confidence that there was nothing more to be done; but he ordered cold bandages to be applied to the head, which brought on such convulsions that Mozart lost consciousness; he never recovered it, but died at one o'clock on the morning of December 5, 1791. He was buried the next day in the churchyard of St. Marx in so violent a storm that the mourners all turned back before reaching the graveyard, where the great composer was laid, not in a grave of his own, but in that allotted to paupers. When the widow was sufficiently recovered from the first shock to be able to go to the burial-ground to look for the grave, a new sexton was there who knew nothing about the matter, and the exact spot under which Mozart's remains rest has never been identified with certainty.
In surveying Mozart's art work as a whole, one of the first things to strike the student is the comprehensiveness of his genius. There is hardly another of the great composers who has produced so many masterpieces in so many different styles. It may be at once conceded that in certain directions he has been surpassed by one or other of those who have succeeded him. Very few musicians will be found who will place him, either as a symphonist or as a writer for the piano, by the side of Beethoven; but, on the other hand, the latter is far inferior to Mozart in his treatment of the voice. Again, Mozart's songs, taken as a whole, will not compare with those of Schubert, but as an operatic composer Schubert has written nothing to approach, still less to equal,FigaroorDon Giovanni. There is hardly one department of musical composition on which the genius of Mozart has not left its mark. From this point of view, it will be scarcely too much to call him the most wonderful "all-round" musician that the world has ever yet seen.
Without underestimating his remarkable natural gifts, it can hardly be doubted that Mozart's surroundings conduced not a little to the versatility of his genius. Both in Salzburg and in Vienna Italian music was in the ascendant; and in this the vocal element was of far more importance than the instrumental. With his extraordinary power of assimilating all that was best in whatever he heard, and the almost supernatural facility in composition which seems to have come to him instinctively, it is not surprising that his earliest works show strong traces of Italian influence. This was no doubt to some extent modified by the journeys which, as a child, he made with his father to Paris and London, in which cities he learned to know much of both French and German music; but nearly to the end of his life his style, especially in his vocal music, was rather Italian than distinctively German.
One of the most striking features of Mozart's music is the perfect command of form seen in even his earliest works. He was never a great innovator in the sense in which that word may be applied to Haydn, Beethoven, or Schumann; he worked on lines that had been already laid down by others, contenting himself with improving as far as possible on his models. If his earlier operas be compared with the works of his Italian contemporaries, it will be found that the form of the songs and concerted pieces differs in no material respect from that to be seen in the operas of Cimarosa, Paisiello, or Sarti; that which distinguishes Mozart's work is its wonderful flow of melody, its perfect feeling for euphony, and the true dramatic instinct displayed wherever the libretto affords an opportunity. But his later operas, beginning withIdomeneo, stand upon an altogether higher footing. Mozart had at this time come under the influence of Gluck, whose works he had learned to know in Paris.
If we compare the score ofIdomeneowith that of Gluck'sAlceste, we cannot but see the similarity of style. True, Mozart's flow of melody is more abundant—we might even say more spontaneous; it is in the more dramatic treatment of the orchestra, and especially in the large amount of accompanied recitative (as distinguished fromrecitativo secco) that we note the resemblance. Yet while the influence of the older master is clearly to be traced, there is an essential difference in the method of the two composers. Gluck sometimes sacrifices his musical forms for dramatic effect; Mozart treats the accepted forms in such a way as to make them capable of expressing the emotions of the drama.
An important point, in which Mozart surpassed not only Gluck, but all other composers of his day, was his treatment of the orchestra. In his earlier works his employment of the instruments was somewhat conventional; but he soon freed himself from the trammels of tradition, and tried experiments in tone combination that were as new as they were striking. These novelties are to be seen less in his operas and symphonies than in his serenades and divertimenti.* It was not till his visit to Paris in 1779 that his command of orchestration reached its highest development. In his works from this time forward, whether purely instrumental, or vocal with orchestral accompaniment, are seen a richness and a feeling for beauty of colouring in advance of anything previously heard. It was the elaborate accompaniments of his operas, as compared with those of other composers of his day, that caused Gretry to reproach him with having placed the pedestal on the stage and the statue in the orchestra. At the present time we are so accustomed to the rich instrumentation of the modern school that Mozart's scores seem comparatively thin.
* As examples, may be named the serenade for two orchestras, one consisting of two violins, viola, and double-bass, and the other of string quartett and kettle-drums, and the very curious little pieces for two flutes, five trumpets, and four drums.
If we compare Mozart's instrumental works with those of Haydn, it will be seen that the difference between them is one of spirit rather than of form. Haydn's music flows on in a clear stream, of no great depth in general, but always pleasing, always intelligible, and most logical and coherent in its thematic developments. In Mozart's music the lyrical element predominates. His slow movements are in general more emotional than those of Haydn, both melody and harmony are richer, and the workmanship more finished. This statement must be taken only as a generalization, for in the later years of Haydn's life the influence of Mozart on his style is clearly to be seen, and some of the slow movements in the Salomon symphonies or the later quartetts are not unworthy to be placed by the side of Mozart's best. On the other hand, we find in Haydn's minuets and finales an element of humour, sometimes even of broad fun, which is rarely seen in Mozart's instrumental music, though abundant enough in the lighter scenes of his operas.
With a few important exceptions, Mozart's pianoforte works do not rank among his greatest achievements. Many of his sonatas, variations, etc., were written for his pupils, and possess little more than historical interest. Mozart lived at the transitional period in which the harpsichord was giving place to the piano, and in his earlier sonatas, etc., the style of harpsichord music is often to be seen. Yet some of his later works for the piano, such as the two fantasias in C minor, the sonatas in B flat and C minor, the rondo in A minor, and the adagio in B minor, though now, owing to the changes in popular taste, seldom heard, are far from deserving the neglect into which they have fallen. The same may be said of the best sonatas for piano and violin, and of many of the concertos. It is hardly a generation since the latter were often to be heard in public; the modern love of sensationalism and of display for its own sake seems to have banished them—it is to be hoped not permanently—from the concert room.
In estimating Mozart's Church music, it is needful to bear in mind that much of it, more especially the Masses composed at Salzburg, was written under special and in some respects arbitrary restrictions.
In a letter written in 1776 to Padre Martini, Mozart tells him that a Mass, including the regular five sections, besides an offertory or motett and a sonata at the epistle, was not allowed to last longer than three-quarters of an hour; for this reason most of his Masses are very concise in their form as compared with the later masses of Haydn or with Beethoven's Mass in C. Besides this, the Archbishop of Salzburg loved a showy and brilliant style of music, and Mozart was bound, to some extent, to make concessions to his taste. Yet it is going too far to say, as some German critics have done, that these masses are their composer's weakest works. Some of them, especially those in F and D major, both of which were written at Salzburg in 1774, are in every way worthy of Mozart, while there are but few of the others which do not contain movements of the greatest beauty. The same may be said of his litanies, vespers, and smaller sacred works. But his power as a composer of Church music is best shown in portions of the great Mass in C minor, which he began at Vienna in 1783, but never completed, and most of all in theRequiem, in which his genius rises to a greater height than in any of his other sacred compositions. There is little reason to doubt that, had he been allowed free scope, his works in this field of art would have been little, if at all, inferior to those on which his fame most securely rests.
As a contrapuntist Mozart undoubtedly ranks second only to J. Sebastian Bach, of whom, indeed, his astounding facility in solving the most complex musical problems at times reminds us. Nowhere is thears celare artemmore perfectly exemplified than in the best specimens of Mozart's fugal and canonic writing. The example most frequently referred to as an illustration is the finale of the "Jupiter" symphony, but such pieces as the "Rex tremendæ" of theRequiem, with its quadruple canon, the final fugue in theDavidde penitente, or the "Laudate pueri" of the second Vespers, are scarcely less remarkable. The large number of canons for unaccompanied voices which he wrote show his preference, no less than his aptitude, for the stricter forms; yet, however elaborate, in his hands they never become dry, but are always full of melodic beauty. With Mozart technique is always the means, never the end.
The influence of Mozart on the music of the first half of the last century can hardly be fully estimated. It is clearly to be seen in the earlier works of Beethoven. By this it is not meant that the younger master borrowed, or even imitated, the actual themes of his predecessor; his individuality was from the first too strongly marked. But many of the works of what is known as Beethoven's "first manner" are clearly modelled upon corresponding works by Mozart. Thus, his trio for strings in E flat, Op. 3, was evidently suggested by Mozart's trio in the same key, while the septett and the quintett for piano and wind instruments clearly show traces of Mozart's manner. The same may be said of the adagio of the first piano sonata, and of the whole of the sonata in D for piano and violin—to name but a few examples of many. Not the least disparagement of Beethoven is intended in saying this: every great composer has begun his career by imitating more or less closely the works of his predecessors, and it was inevitable that Mozart should have influenced one who had so many points of affinity with him. In Beethoven's later works the similarity of style is no longer to be noticed.
MOZART. (From a portrait by Jäger.)MOZART.(From a portrait by Jäger.)
Passing over with a mere word of mention such composers of the second rank as Andreas Romberg and Hummel, we find two composers of marked individuality—Schubert and Mendelssohn—in whose earlier works the influence of Mozart is more or less traceable. As a song-writer, Schubert was original from the first; even in his instrumental works it is only occasionally that one is reminded of other composers. The suggestions of Mozart are chiefly to be found in Schubert's earlier symphonies. The variations which form the slow movement of the symphony in B flat might be inserted in one of Mozart's serenades without seeming out of place. In the works of Mendelssohn's youth the Mozart influence is more distinct,* though, like Schubert, he soon emancipated himself.
* The first subject of the finale of Mendelssohn's first piano quartett is a very close, though probably unconscious, imitation of the opening bars of the finale of Mozart's sonata in C minor.
Among composers of the present day one would seek in vain for any traces of Mozart's influence. Times have changed, and the classical style has been supplanted by the romantic. Whether this is altogether to the advantage of modern music is a question which cannot be discussed here; but an energetic protest may at least be entered against the superficial criticism sometimes to be heard that Mozart's works are weak and old-fashioned. That music has made much progress since Mozart's days nobody will deny; the operatic reforms of Wagner are far-reaching, while Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms—not to mention more recent composers—have enlarged the harmonic resources of the art. But on all those whose musical palates have not been vitiated by the highly-spiced viands of the ultra-modern school, Mozart's pure, natural, soulful music can never cease to exert its charm. "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever," and, in spite of the proverbial danger of prophesying, it is hardly rash to predict that Mozart's best symphonies will outlive those of Berlioz or Tschaïkowsky, and that hisDon GiovanniandFigarowill continue to be the delight and admiration of true musicians, even though changes in the popular taste should banish them from the stage. Mozart's place among the immortals is as secure as that of Bach or Beethoven.
Of all the great composers, Mozart was one of the most prolific. The chronological thematic catalogue of his works, by Kochel, published at Leipzig in 1862, contains 626 numbers, varying in length from short pieces of only a few bars to operas, the manuscripts of which fill hundreds of pages. Even a clearer idea of the enormous quantity of music written by Mozart in his short life of thirty-six years will be gained when it is said that the complete collection of his works, published by Breitkopf and Hartel, of Leipzig, fills nearly 13,000 folio pages. The following list, compiled from Kochel's catalogue, will show not only the extent, but the variety of the ground covered by the composer. A few of the works mentioned by Kochel have been lost, and are therefore not included in Breitkopf's edition.
1. VOCAL MUSIC.
1. Nineteen Masses, and theRequiem. Of the Masses three are incomplete, and the genuineness of one is doubtful.
2. Four Litanies and three Vespers.
3. Forty short pieces of sacred music (offertories, motetts, etc.).
4. Two oratorios (La Betulia LiberataandDavide Penitente) and four cantatas.
5. Twenty-three operas and other dramatic works. This list includes the incidental music to the playKönig Thamos, and the two unfinished operas,L'Oca del CairoandLo Sposo Deluso.
6. Sixty-six concert arias, trios, etc., with orchestral accompaniment. Many of these were written by Mozart for his personal friends; others were intended to be introduced, according to the custom of the time, into operas by other composers.
7. Forty songs, with accompaniment for the piano.
8. Twenty-two canons for voices without accompaniment. Of these one is for two voices, eight are for three, ten for four, two for six, and one for three four-part choirs.
2. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.
9. Forty-nine symphonies for orchestra.
10. Thirty-three serenades and divertimenti for various combinations of instruments.
11. Twenty-seven miscellaneous instrumental works of various kinds—symphony movements, minuets, marches, etc.
12. Thirty-nine collections of dances, containing 194 separate numbers.
13. Six concertos for violin, one for two violins, and one for violin and viola; also four single movements for a solo violin with orchestra.
14. Twelve concertos, or single movements, for various wind instruments with orchestra.
15. Nine string quintetts, of which one is with horn and another with clarinet.
16. Twenty-seven quartetts for strings, two for strings with flute, and one for strings with oboe.
17. One trio and three duets for strings.
18. Twenty-seven pianoforte concertos, including one for two and another for three pianos; also two rondos for piano and orchestra.
19. A quintett for piano and wind instruments; two quartetts and seven trios for piano and strings, and one trio for piano, clarinet, and viola.
20. Forty-three sonatas, and two sets of variations for piano and violin.
21. A fugue and a sonata for two pianos; five sonatas and a set of variations for piano duet.
22. Seventeen sonatas for piano solo.
23. Four fantasias, fifteen sets of variations, and twenty various pieces for piano solo.
24. Seventeen sonatas for organ, with other instruments, written for Salzburg.
In addition to the above works, Kochel's catalogue gives a list of ninety-eight works which Mozart began, but, for some unknown reason, never completed.