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WE must here cast a glance at a number of separate songs composed by Mozart, either for insertion in operas or for performance at concerts.

The earliest of them, composed for the two Licenze at Salzburg (p. 99), and those belonging to the first Italian journey, call for no special remark. Yet there occurs in the air composed at Rome, "Se tutti i mali miei" (183 K.), a change of key produced by enharmomic progression which deserves to be noticed:— [See Page Image] No such songs are known to belong to the years immediately following, but in 1775 we find several composed at Salzburg, probably for performance by foreign vocalists visiting the city. Two tenor airs belong to May, 1775. In one of them, described as "Aria buffa" (210 K.) the singer is supposed to be flattering some one to his face with the greatest fluency, while he makes all sorts of rude remarks aside:—

Con ossequio, con rispetto

Io m' inchio e mi profondo

A un sapiente si perfetto,

Che l' egual non v' è nel mondo,

E l' eguale non verrà—

Per l' orgoglio e l' ignoranza e la gran bestialità.

The orchestra maintains a single theme (Allegro assai) without intermission, and the voice is almost throughout parlando in rapid vivacity; the union of a certain amount of dignity with burlesque fluency of tongue is very comical, the whole song being simply conceived and easily and consistently worked out. This song could only have been meant for performance on the stage, and the second (209 K.), "Si mostra la sorte propizia all' amante," is scarcely of importance enough for a concert-room. It is the complaint of a bashful lover, but has so little pathos as to be only suitable for opera buffa. It is simple both in design and execution, and may have been inserted to suit the powers of some singer in the place of another song. It was no doubt also for insertion in an opera buffa that an air for Dorina (217 K.), "Voi avete un cor fidele," was composed (October 26, 1775); it is in the style of a soubrette, superior to those of its kind in the "Finta Giardiniera," and equal to Despina's songs in "Cosi fan tutti." An Andantino grazioso and an Allegro, the latter considerably elaborated, are both repeated, then a few bars of the Andantino recur, and the whole is wound up by rather a long Coda in allegro. The exact repetition of both movements makes the effect of the whole somewhat stiff, but the details are fresh, animated, and very characteristic.

The tone of melting tenderness at the beginning, the mocking parlando of the questions, and finally the fervency of the words, "Ah! non credo," are so strikingly expressed, and the whole effect is so cheerful and even droll, that we cannot fail to recognise the hand of a master of his art. The subjects and the passages in the allegro are neat and graceful, and the orchestral parts are lively and appropriate.

A tenor song (256 K.), "Clarice cara mia sposa," composed for Signor Palmini, September, 1776, is a true theatrical buffo air, and bears lively testimony to Mozart's comic talent. A Capitano prates nonsensically, with much swagger, of how he will have his own way in spite of everybody; a Don Timoteo seeks in vain to interrupt the flow of his talk, which seems to run over in an unintermittent succession of triplets falling like heavy rain, and, as it were, drenching the hearer in an instant.

The monotonous parlando is provided with just so much of melody as to indicate that it is sung, not spoken. The orchestra maintains a very simple subject—[See Page Image] with varied harmonies, in a light, even sketchy manner, but with considerable musical interest. Even the few words in recitative, thrown in by Don Timoteo, do not allow the singer to take breath, and only serve to make the next paroxysm still more comical.

Another song, composed in the same month for the alto Fortini, may have been intended for performance at a concert. Mozart justly considered this song worthy to live, for he writes from Vienna (April 12, 1783) to beg that the rondo for an alto voice may be sent to him which he had composed when the Italian troupe were at Salzburg. The idea is the usual one of the leave-taking of a disconsolate lover. The introduction is a not very long, but an expressive recitative. The transition from this to the air itself is charming and very touching; it is the involuntary expression of the pain of parting welling out from the innermost depths of the heart:—[See Page Image]

Both the movements of the song, Andante moderato and Allegro assai, are repeated; then the Andante recurs for the third time, makes its way through an Allegretto to the Allegro assai, and from this a subject is selected, which leads through an effective crescendo to a pause on the seventh. Then the opening bars of the Andante are repeated, stop short, and the song is rapidly concluded 'by the Allegro. The hesitation and irresolution of the lover, who cannot bring himself to depart, find ready expression in this change of movement. A deep, calm, and restrained emotion, corresponding admirably to the character of an alto voice, is well portrayed by the simple, unornamented song, interrupted only by the stronger accents of intense grief. The orchestral accompaniment is so managed as skilfully to heighten the peculiar effect of an alto voice.

Repeated mention is made in the letters of the year 1777, and afterwards, of a scena composed for Madame Duschek. 1 In the summer of 1777, Josepha Duschek, a singer and pianoforte-player of celebrity, and a young, vivacious woman, came for a visit from Prague to Salzburg. The foundation was laid of a friendship with Wolfgang, of which we shall frequently have occasion to speak. The scena in question is probably the grand aria of Andromeda (272 K.), "Ah, lo previdi," belonging to August, 1776, not long before his departure from Salzburg, and one of the greatest compositions of the kind. An agitated recitative is followed by a long, elaborate Allegro, expressive of the passion of a brave and noble mind. Scorn for perfidy overpowers even pain at the loss of the beloved one; tones which seem to scorch and wither pour forth like glowing metal on the betrayer; then comes a subject which has already made itself heard more than once in the orchestra as a cry of suppressed pain, and this leads to a gentler mood; grief for the lost love is expressed in a beautiful recitative, and dies away into calm and composed melancholy with a Cavatina, which concludes the scena.

The psychological truth of the details, the blending of the transitions, the unity of the tone, are qualities quite as much to be admired in this song as the musical originality and skill displayed in its composition. The last movement is perhaps a little spun out; although the strain of long-continued violent emotion seems to require a correspondingly gradual cessation.

The orchestra is as simply managed as in the earlier songs; for wind instruments only horns, bassoons and oboes are employed, with, more seldom, flutes; in the recitatives there are only stringed instruments. 2

It is indicative of the taste of the time that among so many vocal compositions the song proper (lied) seldom or never appears. Five very simple Lieder with clavier accompaniments belong to the earlier Salzburg epoch (147–151 K.); they are more pedantic than any other of the compositions, and interest us chiefly through the words by Günther and Canitz, which Mozart has selected for composition.

HE years of Mozart's development at Salzburg were fruitful not only of operatic compositions, but of others which arose from the circumstances of his residence there. First among these stands church music.

Church music had long been fostered at Salzburg, and was especially encouraged by Archbishop Sigismund; his severe and world-contemning piety caused him to keep the service of the church continually before the eyes both of singers and composers. The prospect of a moderate pension induced many clever artists to settle in Salzburg, in spite of the poor payment they received for their services. Sigismund's successor,

Hieronymus, extended his parsimony even to the members of the Kapelle, whom he estranged by his overbearing manners; on the whole, music rather declined than advanced under his rule, 3 although he cared more than Sigismund for the splendour of his court. 4