Читать книгу The Life of Mozart - Otto Jahn - Страница 7

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It was in January of the year 1762 that L. Mozart first turned to account the precocious talent of his children in an expedition to Munich. Their visit extended over three weeks, and both Wolfgang and his sister were summoned to play before the Elector, and were well received everywhere. Their success encouraged their father to a bolder attempt, and on September 19, of the same year, they set out for Vienna.1

Their journey was made by easy stages. At Passau they remained for five days, at the request of the Bishop, who wished to hear the boy-prodigy, and having done so, rewarded him with—one ducat! Thence they proceeded to Linz. Canon Count Herberstein travelled with them, and Wolfgang's distress at seeing an old beggar-man fall into the water impressed him so much that, as Bishop of Passau, in 1785 he reminded L. Mozart of it. At Linz they gave a concert, under the patronage of Count Schlick, Governor-General of the province. Count Palfy, a young nobleman who was paying his respects to the Countess Schlick on his way through Linz, heard from her such a glowing account of the boy-prodigy that he left his travelling-carriage at the door of her residence and went with her to the concert; his amazement was unbounded. From Linz they continued their journey by water. At the Monastery of Ips, while their travelling companions, two Minorite monks and a Benedictine, were saying mass, Wolfgang mounted to the organ-loft, and played so admirably that the Franciscan friars, and the guests they were entertaining, rose from table and came open-mouthed with astonishment to listen to him.

On their arrival at Vienna, Wolfgang saved his father the payment of customs duties. He made friends with the custom-house officer, showed him his harpsichord, played him a minuet on his little fiddle, and—"That passed us through!" Throughout the journey Wolfgang showed himself lively and intelligent, readily making friends, especially with officials; his engaging manners attracted as much love as his playing excited admiration.

The fame of the two children had preceded them to Vienna. Count Schlick, Count Herberstein, and Count Palfy had raised expectation to the highest pitch, and the children were assured of a good reception at court and among the nobility, who vied with each other in their devotion to everything connected with art.

The imperial family took more than a passive interest in musical affairs.2 Charles VI. was an accomplished musician, and used to accompany operatic or other performances at court upon the clavier,3 playing from the figured bass, according to the custom of conductors at the time. He caused his daughters to study music, and the future Empress Maria Theresa displayed at an early age both taste and talent. In 1725, when only seven years old, she sang in an opera by Fux, at a fête given in honour of her mother, the Empress Elizabeth. It was in allusion to this that she once, joking, told Faustina Hasse that she believed herself to be the first of living virtuose.4 In 1739 she sang a duet with Senesino so beautifully that the celebrated old singer was melted to tears.5 Her husband, Francis I., was also musical, and gave his children a musical education.6 The Archduchesses appeared frequently in operatic performances at court, acquitting themselves "very well for princesses."7

The Emperor Joseph sang well, and played the harpsichord and the violoncello.

Anecdotes of Mozart's genius had excited much interest at court, and on September 13, before he had even solicited the honour, L. Mozart received a command to bring his children to Schönbrunn. A quiet day was chosen, that the children might be heard without fear of interruption. Their playing surpassed all expectation, and they were afterwards repeatedly summoned to court. The Emperor took special delight in the "little magician" and enjoyed inventing new trials of skill for him. He jestingly told him that playing with all his fingers was nothing; playing with one finger would be true art; whereupon Wolfgang began to play charmingly with only one finger. Another time he told him that it would be true art to play with the keyboard covered; and Wolfgang covered the keys with a cloth, and played with as much decision and vivacity as if he could see them. This tour de force was often repeated on subsequent occasions, and always received with great applause.

But music was, generally speaking, a serious matter to Wolfgang, and even at court he refused to play except before connoisseurs. Once, seeing himself surrounded by a fashionable assemblage, he said before he began: "Is Herr Wagenseil here? Let him come; he knows something about it." (Georg Christoph Wagenseil—born in Vienna, 1688; died, 1779)—was a pupil of Fux, and one of the first clavier-players and composers of his time: he taught the Empress and afterwards her children.8 The Emperor moved aside to let him come near Mozart, who exclaimed: "I am going to play one of your concertos; you must turn over for me." At court, as elsewhere, Mozart was a bright, happy child. He would spring on the Empress's lap, throw his arms round her neck and kiss her, and play with the princesses on a footing of perfect equality. He was especially devoted to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette. Once, when he fell on the polished floor, she lifted him from the ground and consoled him, while one of her sisters stood by: "You are good," said Wolfgang, "I will marry you." The Empress asked him why? "From gratitude," answered he; "she was good to me, but her sister stood by and did nothing."9 The Emperor Joseph reminded him in after years of his playing duets with Wagenseil, and of Mozart's standing in the antechamber among the audience, calling "Pfui!" or "Bravo!" or "That was wrong!" as the case might be.10

The favour of the court was further displayed in substantial honours and rewards. In addition to a gift of money Marianne was presented with a white silk court dress, belonging to one of the Archduchesses, and Wolfgang with a violet coloured suit, trimmed with broad gold braid, that had been made for the Archduke Maximilian. His father had his portrait painted in this magnificent attire. As might have been expected, the children became the rage in society; "all the ladies fell in love with the lad." The music-loving Prince von Hildburghausen, Vice-Chancellor Count Colloredo, Bishop Esterhazy, all invited the Mozarts; and before long they were indispensable at every fashionable assembly. They were generally carried to and fro in the carriage of their entertainers, and received many handsome presents of money and trinkets. This prosperous course was, however, suddenly interrupted by an attack of scarlet fever, which kept Wolfgang in bed for a fortnight. The dangerous part of his illness was soon over, and the greatest sympathy was everywhere expressed for him; but the fear of infection was then very great, and the interest taken in his convalescence was accompanied by considerable reluctance to his society.

An invitation from the Hungarian magnates induced L. Mozart, although he had already exceeded his leave of absence, to undertake an expedition to Pressburg on December 11. The weather was very unfavourable, and made the return journey through roadless Hungary not a little dangerous. Their stay in Vienna was not much further prolonged, and early in January, 1763, they found themselves once more in Salzburg.

Having once tested the powers and popularity of his children, Leopold Mozart could not settle contentedly in Salzburg again, and he soon determined on the bolder venture of making their talents known beyond Germany. Paris was his ultimate goal, but he intended to exhibit the children at any of the German courts which did not lie too far out of their way. The class from which at the present day the musical public, properly so called, is drawn was then altogether uncultivated; and even where there were no courts, as in the imperial towns, the nobles and rich merchants kept up similar distinctions of rank.

L. Mozart lays complacent stress upon the fact that throughout their tour, their intercourse was confined to the nobility and distinguished persons, and that both for their health's sake and the reputation of their court, they were obliged to travel noblement. Being summer, therefore, the travellers avoided the capitals and visited the country seats to which, at this season, the courts were wont to repair.11 The journey began on June 9, and not prosperously; for in Wasserbrunn the carriage broke down, necessitating the delay of a whole day. "The last new thing is," writes the father, "that in order to pass the time we went to look at the organ, and I explained the pedal to Wolferl. He set to work to try it on the spot; pushed aside the stool, and preluded away standing, using the pedal as if he had practised it for months. We were all lost in astonishment. What has caused others months of practice comes to him as a gift of God." Wolfgang performed on the organ constantly throughout the journey, and was, his father says, even more admired as an organist than as a clavier-player.

Arrived at Munich on June 12, 1763, they proceeded at once to Nymphenburg, the summer residence of the Elector. Here the introduction of the Prince von Zweibrücken gained them a favourable reception, and they played repeatedly before the Elector and Duke Clement; it is specially mentioned that Wolfgang executed a concerto on the violin with cadenzas "out of his own head." Here they fell in with two travellers from Saxony, the Barons Hopfgarten and Bose, with whom they formed a cordial friendship, cemented during their stay in Paris. At Augsburg they took up their abode for a fortnight with the Mozart family, and gave three concerts, at which the audience were almost exclusively Lutherans. The Salzburg "Europàische Zeitung" (July 19, 1763) reports from Augsburg, July 9:—

The day before yesterday, Herr Leopold Mozart, Vice-Kapellmeister at Salzburg, left this place for Stuttgart, with his two precocious children. The inhabitants of his native town have fully appreciated the privilege accorded them in witnessing the manifestation of the marvellous gifts bestowed by Providence on these charming children; they recognise also how great must have been the paternal care, the result of which has been the production of a girl of eleven and, what is still more incredible, a boy of seven years old as ornaments to the musical world. The opinion pronounced on these prodigies by a correspondent from Vienna, which will be found on another page, enthusiastic as it appears, will be confirmed by all musical connoisseurs.

At Ludwigsburg, the summer residence of the Wurtemburg court, they did not succeed in obtaining audience of the Duke, although they had brought introductions from Canon Count Wolfegg, both to the Master of the Hunt, Bar. v. Pölnitz, and to Jomelli. L. Mozart was inclined to ascribe this to the influence of Jomelli, who figured as Kapellmeister from 1754 to 1768,12 with a salary of 4,000 fl. (more correctly 3,000 fl.), the keep of four horses, fuel and lights, a house in Stuttgart and another at Ludwigsburg, and 2,000 fl. pension for his widow. Leopold Mozart announces all this to Hagenauer, with the question: "What do you think of that for a Kapellmeister's pay?" He maintained that all native artists had to suffer from Jomelli's influence, who spared no trouble to drive Germans from the court and to admit none but Italians; this was the more possible, as he was in high favour with the Duke.

He and his countrymen, of whom his house was always full, were reported to have said that it was incredible that a child of German birth could have such musical genius, and so much spirit and fire. Ridete Amici! he adds. Granted, however, that musical taste in Ludwigsburg had been thoroughly Italianised by Jomelli's influence and position,13 there is no doubt that this account of him is prejudiced and exaggerated. Metastasio pictures him as courteous and affable,14 and in Stuttgart he had the reputation of giving all due credit to German artists,15 so that L. Mozart's accusation is probably without much foundation. He himself acknowledges that Jomelli's unlimited power had been principally the cause of the excellence of musical performances in Ludwigsburg; though here again, Schubart complains that the orchestra was spoilt by the numerous amateur members who could not agree, and who were fond of introducing ornamentations in their separate parts, quite out of character with the whole.16

Of the really superior amateurs who were then at Ludwigsburg L. Mozart mentions only Tartini's pupil, P. Nardini (died 1793) who "was unsurpassed in taste, purity, and delicacy of tone, but not by any means a powerful player."

From Ludwigsburg they proceeded to Schwetzingen, and presenting recommendations from the Prince von Zweibrücken and Prince Clement of Bavaria, were well received by the Elector Palatine Karl Theodor. On July 18 the court assembled to hear them from five to nine o'clock; the children set all Schwetzingen in commotion, and the electoral household were enchanted with them. L. Mozart praises the admirable flute-playing of Wendling, and speaks of the orchestra as the best in Germany, being entirely composed of young men of good birth, who were "neither tipplers, nor gamblers, nor miserable ragamuffins" (a hit at Salzburg), and who were as estimable in their private as in their professional capacity. He goes on to inform pious Frau Hagenauer, that since they left Wasser-burg they had found no holy water, and rarely a crucifix in their bedrooms, and that they found it difficult to procure fast-day meals: "Everybody eats meat, and perhaps so have we, without knowing it. After all, it is no fault of ours!"

Making an excursion to Heidelberg, Wolfgang played the organ in the Church of the Holy Spirit, and so astonished his audience that the Dean ordered his name and the particulars of his visit to be inscribed as a memorial of it on the organ. Unfortunately no trace of the inscription remains.

At Mayence, owing to the illness of the Elector, Joseph Emnrerich (von Breidtbach), they could not appear at court, but made 200 florins at three concerts. Here they met the singer, Marianne de Amicis, who was returning with her family from London.

At Frankfort, which they went out of their way to visit, Mozart's first concert, on August 18, was so successful that they decided on giving three more. The newspaper announcement, of August 30, 1763, shows what an astonishing performance was offered to the public. It runs as follows:17— The universal admiration excited in the minds of the audience by the astounding genius of the two children of Herr L. Mozart, Kapellmeister at the Court of Salzburg, has necessitated the threefold repetition of the concert which was announced to take place on one occasion only.

In consequence, therefore, of this universal admiration, and in deference to the desire of many distinguished connoisseurs, the next and positively the last concert will take place this evening, Tuesday, August 30, in the Scharfischen Saal, on the Liebfraoenberge.

The little girl, who is in her twelfth year, will play the most difficult compositions of the greatest masters; the boy, who is not yet seven, will perform on the clavecin or harpsichord; he will also play a concerto for the violin, and will accompany symphonies on the clavier, the manual or keyboard being covered with a cloth, with as much facility as if he could see the keys; he will instantly name all notes played at a distance, whether singly or in chords on the clavier, or on any other instrument, bell, glass, or clock. He will finally, both on the harpsichord and the organ, improvise as long as may be desired and in any key, thus proving that he is as thoroughly acquainted with the one instrument as with the other, great as is the difference between them.18

Here, too, Goethe heard him. "I saw him as a boy, seven years old," he told Eckermann, "when he gave a concert on one of his tours. I myself was fourteen, and I remember the little fellow distinctly with his powdered wig and his sword."19

At Coblenz, Mozart was presented to the Elector of Treves, Johann Philipp (von Walderdorf), by Baron Walderdorf and the Imperial Ambassador, Count Bergen, and appeared at court on September 18. He was also frequently invited by the Privy Councillor and Imperial Knight von Kerpen, whose seven sons and two daughters all either sang or played some instrument. At Bonn, the Elector of Cologne, Maximilian Freidrich (Count of Konigseck-Rothenfels), being absent, they only remained long enough to see and admire the splendours of the residential palace; the magnificent beds, the baths, the picture galleries, concert halls, decorations, inlaid tables, chairs, &c.; also the numerous curiosities at Poppelsdorf and Falkenlust. At Cologne, on the other hand, they only note the "dingy cathedral." At Aix, the Princess Amalie, sister to Frederick the Great, and a zealous lover and patroness of music, was taking the waters. She endeavoured to persuade L. Mozart to take his children to Berlin, but he would not alter his plans.

"She has no money," writes the practical man. "If the kisses she bestows on my children, particularly on Master Wolfgang, were each a louis d'or, we should be well off; as it is, neither our hotel bill nor our post-horses can be paid with kisses." At Brussels, where Prince Charles of Lorraine, brother of the Emperor Francis I., resided as Governor and Captain-General of the Austrian Netherlands, they were delayed some time, but succeeded in giving a grand concert.

Thence they proceeded direct to Paris, where they arrived on November 18, and were kindly received and hospitably entertained by the Bavarian ambassador, Count von Eyck. His wife was a daughter of the high chamberlain at Salzburg, Count Arco. Mozart was furnished with introductions to the most distinguished persons then in Paris; but all these were worth nothing, L. Mozart writes, in comparison with one letter given to him by a merchant's wife at Frankfort, and addressed to Grimm. Friedrich Melchior Grimm, the pupil and disciple of Gottsched,20 had lived in Paris since 1749. As secretary to Count Friesen, and afterwards to the Duke of Orleans, he had admission to the highest circles of society. His amiable disposition and the important share he took in the literary struggles of the encyclopedists gained him a still more exalted position as a sort of literary and artistic arbiter. His judgment on musical matters was eagerly sought after, and, as it came within his special province to bring to light anything out of the common way, he was of all others most fitted to appreciate Wolfgang's performances. He had genuine sympathy with his countrymen, too, and could understand such a nature as L. Mozart's. He had not yet been created baron and ambassador, was still active and energetic, and exerted all his personal and literary influence for the Mozart family. Leopold ascribes all their subsequent success to this "powerful friend." "He has done everything—opened the court to us, managed the first concert, and is going to manage the second. What cannot a man do with sense and a kind heart? He has been fifteen years in Paris, and knows how to make things fall out as he wishes."

Their first object was the introduction at court. The most important personage at that time at Versailles was, of course, Madame de Pompadour. "She must have been very beautiful," writes L. Mozart to Madame Hagenauer, "for she is still comely. She is tall and stately; stout, but well proportioned, with some likeness to Her Imperial Majesty about the eyes. She is proud, and has a remarkable mind." Mozart's sister remembered in after days how she placed little Wolfgang on the table before her, but pushed him aside when he bent forward to kiss her, on which he indignantly asked: "Who is this that does not want to kiss me?—the Empress kissed me."21 The King's daughters were much more friendly, and, contrary to all etiquette, kissed and played with the children, both in their own apartments and in the public corridors. On New Year's Day the Mozart family were conducted by the Swiss guard to the supper-room of the royal family. Wolfgang stood near the Queen, who fed him with sweetmeats, and talked to him in German, which she was obliged to interpret to Louis XV. The father stood near Wolfgang, and the mother and daughter on the other side of the King, near the Dauphin and Madame Adelaide.

Once having played at Versailles, they were sure of access to the most distinguished society.22A small oil painting, now in the Museum at Versailles, shows little Wolfgang at the clavier in the salon of Prince Conti, the centre of an assemblage of great people. Finally, having established their position in private society they gave two great concerts (on March 10 and April 9, 1764) in the rooms of a certain fashionable M. Felix, who had built a little theatre for private representations. The permission to give these concerts was a favour obtained with difficulty, as they infringed the privileges both of the Concert Spirituel and of the French and Italian theatres. The result was in every respect a brilliant success. Marianne Mozart played the most difficult compositions of the musicians then living in Paris, especially of Schobert and Eckart, with a precision and correctness that could not have been surpassed by the masters themselves.

Schobert was a native of Strasburg, cembalist to the Prince de Conti; as a composer he was famous for his grace and fire, especially in allegros,23 but as a man he was not all he should have been, according to L. Mozart. He was a false flatterer, his religion was à la mode, and his envy was often so ill-concealed as to excite ridicule. Eckart, on the contrary, was a worthy man, and quite free from jealousy; he had come from Augsburg to Paris in 1758, and was highly esteemed as a clavier-player and teacher.

Wolfgang's performances on the clavier, organ, and violin, extraordinary as they were, were thrown into the shade by the proofs he gave of almost incredible musical genius.24 He not only accompanied at sight Italian and French airs, but he transposed them [prima vista].

At that time, accompanying meant more than the playing of prepared passages for the piano or clavier; it involved the choice at the moment of a fitting accompaniment for the several parts of the score, or the supplying of harmonies to the bass.

On the other hand, the simplicity of the harmony, and the adherence to certain fixed forms, gave to such exercises facilities not afforded by the license and want of form of modern music. Grimm relates in his correspondence a truly astonishing instance of the boy's genius. Wolfgang accompanied a lady in an Italian air without seeing the music, supplying the harmony for the passage which was to follow from that which he had just heard. This could not be done without some mistakes, but when the song was ended he begged the lady to sing it again, played the accompaniment and the melody itself with perfect correctness, and repeated it ten times, altering the character of the accompaniment for each. On a melody being dictated to him, he supplied the bass and the parts without using the clavier at all; he showed himself in all ways so accomplished that his father was convinced he would obtain service at court on his return home. Leopold Mozart now thought the time was come for introducing the boy as a composer, and he printed four sonatas for the piano and violin, rejoicing at the idea of the noise which they would make in the world, appearing with the announcement on the title-page that they were the work of a child of seven years old. He thought well of these sonatas, independently of their childish authorship; one andante especially "shows remarkable taste." When it happened that in the last trio of Op. 2, a mistake of the young master, which his father had corrected (consisting of three consecutive fifths for the violin), was printed, he consoled himself by reflecting that "they can serve as a proof that Wolfgangerl wrote the sonatas himself, which, naturally, not every one would believe." The little composer dedicated his first printed sonatas (6, 7, K.), to the good-natured Princesse Victoire, both she and her sisters being very fond of music. The next (8,9, K.), were dedicated to the amiable and witty Comtesse de Tessê, lady-in-waiting to the Dauphiness.

Grimm had written a dedication in Mozart's name, in which both he and the Dauphiness were well touched off. To L. Mozart's vexation she declined it as too eulogistic, and a simpler one had to be substituted.

The prodigies were overwhelmed with distinctions, complimentary verses, and gifts. M. de Carmontelle, an admirable amateur portrait painter, made a charming picture of the family group;25 it was engraved by Delafosse at Grimm's instigation.

The unprecedented success of the two children was the more significant since musical culture was not nearly so predominant in Paris as in most of the German courts. "It is a pity," says Grimm, "that people in this country understand so little of music."

L. Mozart notes the standing war between French and Italian music, and the position which Grimm took up on the side of the Italians served to confirm him in his preconceived opinions. According to him none of the French music was worth a groat; in church music all the solos and everything approaching to an air, were "empty, cold, and wretched, in fact French." But he did justice to the choruses, and lost no opportunity of letting his son hear them.26 In instrumental music the German composers, among them Schobert, Eckart, and Hannauer, were beginning to make their influence felt, so much so that Le Grand27 abandoned the French style and composed sonatas after German models. The revolution to be wrought by Gluck, was as yet, indeed, not to be foreseen; but L. Mozart hoped that in ten or fifteen years the French style would be extinguished.

On April 10, 1764, the Mozart family left Paris. At Calais, Marianne notes in her diary, "how the sea runs away and comes back again." Thence they crossed to Dover in a small vessel, the packet being over full, and were very sea-sick; an experienced courier, whom they had brought with them from Paris, arranged the journey direct to London.28 They were heard at court on April 27, and their reception surpassed all expectation. "The favour shown to us by both royal personages is incredible," writes L. Mozart; "we should never imagine from their familiar manner that they were the King and Queen of England. We have met with extraordinary politeness at every court, but this surpasses them all. A week ago we were walking in St. James's Park; the King and Queen drove past, and although we were differently dressed, they recognised us, and the King leant out of the window smiling and nodding, especially towards Wolfgang."

George III. was a connoisseur and passionate admirer of Handel's music, and Queen Charlotte sang and played; both had German taste, and gave special honour to German artists, as Jos. Haydn found in later years.29 The Mozarts were summoned to court on May 19, and played before a limited circle from six to ten o'clock. Pieces by Wagenseil, Bach, Abel, and Handel were placed by the King before the "invincible" Wolfgang, who played them all at sight; he surpassed his clavier-playing when he sat down to the King's organ; he accompanied the Queen in a song, a flute-player in a solo, and, finally, he took the bass of an air by Handel and improvised a charming melody to it. None took more interest in the young musician than the Queen's music-master, Joh. Christian Bach,30 the son of Sebastian Bach, settled in London since 1762, and the author of several popular operas and numerous pianoforte compositions. He looked upon his art after an easy careless fashion; but his kindness and goodwill won Wolfgang's heart for ever. He liked to play with the boy; took him upon his knee and went through a sonata with him, each in turn playing a bar with so much precision that no one would have suspected two performers. He began a fugue, which Wolfgang took up and completed when Bach broke off. At last L. Mozart thought the time had come to introduce to the public "the greatest wonder of which Europe or the world can boast," as the grandiloquent announcement ran. Not without due calculation, the concert was fixed for June 5, the King's birthday, which was sure to bring a large public to London. The speculation succeeded, and L. Mozart "was terrified" by taking one hundred guineas in three hours—a satisfactory sum to send home. On the 29th Wolfgang played at a concert given at Ranelagh Gardens, with a charitable object, and "astonished and delighted the greatest connoisseurs in England." This prosperous career was, however, temporarily cut short; Leopold Mozart was seized with dangerous inflammation of the throat, and retired with his children to Chelsea, where they remained seven weeks before his cure was completed. During this time Wolfgang, out of consideration for his father, left his instrument untouched; but he set to work to write orchestral symphonies, and his sister tells31 how he said to her, sitting near: "Remind me to give something really good to the horn." The horn was at that time a favourite instrument in England, and in many of Wolfgang's youthful compositions it has a prominent part. The first symphony, in E flat major (1 K.), in the three usual movements, has many corrections which the boy made, partly to improve the instrumentation, partly to moderate the too rapid transition to the principal theme of the first movement. Originality is scarcely to be expected, but it is something that a due regard to form and continuity should be everywhere apparent. He worked so diligently that at the next concert it was announced that all the instrumental pieces were of Wolfgang's composition. Three symphonies (17,18,19, K.), in B flat major (with two minuets, the instrumentation not quite complete), in E flat major (with clarinets, instead of oboes, and bassoons), and in D major (Londra, 1765), which all fall within the London visit, show marked progress. The subjects are better defined, the disposition of the parts is freer and more orchestral, and some instrumental effects begin to be heard. On October 29, they were in town again, and invited to court to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the King's accession. As a memento of the royal favour, L. Mozart printed six sonatas for piano and violin or flute, composed by Wolfgang, and dedicated to the Queen on January 18, 1765, which dedication she rewarded with a present of fifty guineas.32 The opening of the Italian Opera House on November 24, 1764, had no small influence on Wolfgang's genius; here, for the first time, he heard singers of note. Giovanni Manzuoli (born in Florence, 1720),33 whose singing and acting were then exciting the London public to the highest enthusiasm,34 became acquainted with the Mozart family, and gave Wolfgang lessons in singing. His voice was, of course, a boyish treble; his style that of an artist. The following year, in Paris, Grimm declared that he had so profited by Manzuoli's instruction as to sing with extreme taste and feeling, notwithstanding the weakness of his voice. Thus early did Mozart acquire, as if by natural instinct, all the requisites for a great composer which are, to most men, the result of years of painful study.

During Lent, he enjoyed the opportunity of hearing Handel's Oratorios, but we hear nothing of any special influence which they may have had on his mind; indeed, he knew little of Handel in later years, until Van Swieten made him acquainted with his works.

On February 21, the "Wonder of Nature" reappeared in public at a concert which had been often postponed. The political situation and the illness of the king made the time an unfavourable one, and the receipts were not so great as had been expected.

Another concert, on May 13, took place only after repeated announcements of the approaching departure of the Wonder of Nature, and at a reduced rate. "It was quite enchanting," declares the "Salzburger Zeitung"35 "to hear the sister of twelve years old play the most difficult sonatas on the harpsichord, while her brother accompanied her impromptu on another harpsichord." Wolfgang performed on a harpsichord with two manuals and a pedal which the musical instrument maker Tschudi had constructed for the King of Prussia;36 Tschudi "rejoiced that his extraordinary harpsichord should be played for the first time by the most extraordinary performer in the world." After this, L. Mozart repeatedly invited the public to hear and test the young wonder in private daily from twelve to two o'clock; at first these performances took place in their own lodging, afterwards in a tavern, not of the first rank. It was promised as something extraordinary that the two children should play a duet on the same clavier with the keyboard covered. It was for these occasions that Wolfgang composed his first duet, according to L. Mozart, the first sonata for four hands ever written.

The Hon. Daines Barrington, a man highly esteemed as a lawyer and a philosopher, undertook a repeated and searching trial of the boy's skill, and has left a circumstantial report of the result.37 He obtained a copy of Wolfgang's registry of baptism, in order to be sure of his age, and made other minute inquiries concerning him. Besides the usual tests of playing difficult pieces at sight, and of singing and accompanying with proper expression a score hitherto unknown to him, he demanded an improvisation. He told Mozart to improvise a love-song such as Manzuoli might sing in some opera. The boy at once pronounced some words to serve as a recitative, then followed an air on the word affetto (love) of about the length of an ordinary love-song in the regulation two parts. In the same way he composed a song expressive of anger on the word perfido which excited him so much, that he struck the clavier like one possessed, and several times sprang up from his seat. Barrington remarks that these improvised compositions, if not very astonishing, are yet far above the ordinary run, and give proofs of decided inventive power. Not only has Mozart's technical education so far advanced, that he handles freely the forms and rules of composition; he begins now to display the inspired imagination of an artistic genius.

It is interesting to note the first stirrings of the dramatic element in Mozart, and how he was able already to give articulate expression to various passions as they were suggested to him.

An instance of this is a tenor song, "Va dal furor portata" (21 K.), composed in London, 1765, in which the Da capo form is rigorously adhered to, and which, though wanting in originality displays much sense of characteristic expression.

Before the end of their London stay they visited the British Museum, the natural history and ethnographical curiosities being duly noted by Marianne. In deference to an expressed wish, Wolfgang presented the Museum with his printed sonatas and with a manuscript composition (20 K.), consisting of a short madrigal in four parts, "God is our Refuge," the melody being possibly suggested.38 Notwithstanding this, the treatment of it is an extraordinary proof not only of the boy's skill, but of his readiness in apprehending and adhering to an unaccustomed form.39

On July 24, 1765, they left London, remained one day in Canterbury, and passed the rest of the month at the country seat of Sir Horace Mann. In obedience to the repeated and earnest solicitations of the Dutch Ambassador, speaking as the mouthpiece of the Princess Caroline, of Nassau-Weilburg, L. Mozart, contrary to his original plan, consented to visit the Hague. He probably lays stress on this pressing invitation to excuse his lengthened absence from Salzburg. His leave of absence had long ago expired, and he was repeatedly urged to hasten his return; but he was firmly resolved with God's help, to carry out what he had begun. They had proceeded as far on their journey as Lille, when Wolfgang was seized with an illness which necessitated a delay of four weeks, and from which he had not quite recovered when he was in Ghent playing on the great organ of the Church of St. Bernard. They reached the Hague in the beginning of September, and met with a very gracious reception from the Prince of Orange and his sister the Princess of Weilburg. But now, Marianne, in her turn fell dangerously ill; was delirious for a week together, and received the last sacrament. "No one," writes the father, "could have heard unmoved the interview between myself, my wife, and daughter, and how we convinced the latter of the vanity of the world and the blessedness of early death, while Wolfgang was amusing himself with his music in another room." They did not neglect to have masses for Marianne's recovery said in Salzburg.

On the Sunday that she was at her worst, Leopold opened the Gospel at the words: "Lord, come down, ere my child die;" but a new treatment of the case by Herr Schwenckel, physician to the Princess of Weilburg, was so successful, that he was soon able to acknowledge the prophetic significance of the words: "Thy daughter sleeps; thy faith hath saved thee."

Scarcely was the father relieved from this anxiety when he was subjected to a still greater trial. Wolfgang was seized with a violent attack of fever, which reduced him to extreme weakness for several weeks. But even illness did not cripple the boy's mental activity. He insisted on having a board laid across his bed, on which he could write; and even when his little fingers refused their accustomed service he could scarcely be persuaded to cease writing and playing.

In January, 1766, we find him composing a song, "Conservati fedele" (23 K.), for the Princess of Weilburg, which consists of a pleasant, flowing melody, and here and there characteristic touches, happily expressed by changes of harmony. He was able before the end of this month to go on to Amsterdam, where they spent four weeks. Wolfgang gave two concerts at which all the instrumental pieces were of his own composition. Among them was a Symphony in B flat major (22 K.), in three movements, which had been written at the Hague, and which contains noteworthy instances of thematic elaboration and well-rounded phrasing. Although it was Lent, and all public amusements were strictly forbidden, these concerts were permitted because the "exhibition of the marvellous gifts of these children redounds to the glory of God," a resolution which, though it was formulated by Lutherans, was nevertheless cordially accepted by so devout a Catholic as L. Mozart.

On March 8, 1766, they travelled back to the Hague, to assist at the festivities given in honour of the Prince of Orange, who came of age on that day. Wolfgang was ordered to compose six sonatas for piano and violin for the Princess of Weilburg, which were printed with a dedication (26 to 31, K.). In addition, he wrote several songs for the same princess, and other "trifles," which were also printed, among them pianoforte variations on an air composed for the occasion (24 K.), and upon another air, "which is sung, played, and whistled all over Holland." This was the song, "Wilhelmus von Nassau,"40 written and composed by Philipp von Mamix (d. 1598), on the Prince of Orange (d. 1584), which soon spread far and wide41 and became the national song of Holland. Mattheson cites it as an instance of a national war-song, which had inspired a whole people to great deeds, and had played an important part in the war and in the celebration of peace, in 1749.42 For one concert, Wolfgang composed an orchestral piece after the manner of a "Concerto grosso," in which a clavier obbligato was introduced with the other instruments and called it a "Galimathias musicum." Sketches for this in Wolfgang's handwriting, with his father's corrections here and there, have been preserved (32 K).43 After an easy andante, which serves as an introduction, come thirteen movements, generally only in two parts, varying both in measure and time. There is a variety of instrumentation unmistakably present, and the horns are specially favoured; there is one passage which imitates the bagpipes.

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The whole winds up with an elaborate movement on the first part of the national song—

which is partly fugued, partly worked out in a free imitation, showing, as one might expect, the uncertain hand of a boy. But it is plain that he was considered as an established composer. His father's talent, too, met with flattering recognition; his Violin Method was translated into Dutch, and dedicated to the Prince of Orange on his accession.44 The publisher brought it to Leopold Mozart, accompanied by the organist, who invited Wolfgang to play on the great organ at Haarlem, which he did on the following day. At length they travelled by way of Mechlin to Paris, where they arrived on May 10, and established themselves in a lodging provided by their friend Grimm. The progress made both by Wolfgang and his sister was acknowledged by all; but the public are more easily excited by the phenomenal performances of an infant prodigy than by the incomparably more important development of an extraordinary genius, and the interest in the children does not appear to have been so great as on their former visit. Nevertheless, they played repeatedly at Versailles; the Princess of Orleans, afterwards Duchess of Condé, thought herself honoured in presenting Wolfgang with a little rondo for piano and violin of her own composition.45 Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig, the Braunschweig Achilles, as Winckelmann calls him,46 who had won his laurels in the seven years' war, sought them out in Paris. "He is pleasant, handsome, and amiable," writes L. Mozart, "and as soon as I went in, he asked me if I were the author of the Violin School." He had not only intelligence and good taste in music, but played the violin himself so well "that he might have made his fortune by it."47 He said of Wolfgang that many a kapellmeister had lived and died without having learnt as much as the boy knew now. He entered into competition with the most distinguished artists on the organ, the piano, or in improvisation, and either came off victor or with abundant honour. On June 12, he composed a little Kyrie for four voices with stringed accompaniment (33, K), that is precise and simple, but in style and form, and in the purity of its melody, approaches nearer to the Mozart of after life than any other composition of his boyhood.

Leaving Paris on July 9 they obeyed the summons of the Prince of Condé to Dijon, where the Estates of Burgundy were assembled. Next they stayed a month at Lyons, and made the acquaintance of a certain Meurikofer, a merchant, who was never tired of the joke of making Wolfgang sing an Italian song with spectacles on his nose. At Ghent, where they found everything in confusion, they made no stay; at Lausanne they remained five days at the request of several distinguished persons, especially of Prince Louis of Wurtemberg, brother of Duke Charles; they were a week at Berne, and a fortnight at Zurich; guests of the Gessner family, from whom they received much kindness, and parted with regret. Among other books presented to them as keepsakes, Salomon Gessner gave them a copy of his works, with the following inscription:—

Accept this gift, dear friends, in the same friendly spirit in which I offer it. May it preserve my memory fresh among you. May you, venerable parents, long enjoy the sight of the happiness of your children wherein consists the most precious fruit of their education; may they be as happy as their merit is extraordinary! In the tenderest youth they are an honour to their country and the admiration of the world. Happy parents! happy children! Never forget the friend whose esteem and love for you will never be less lively than at this moment.

Salomo Gesner.

Zurich, August 3, 1766.

Taking Winterthur and Schafhausen by the way, they journeyed to Donaueschingen, where they were expected by Prince Joseph Wenzeslaus von Fürstenberg. They remained here twelve days, and played every evening from five to nine o'clock, always producing some novelty; they were richly rewarded by the Prince, who was moved to tears at their departure. At Biberach, Count Fugger von Babenhausen arranged an organ competition between Wolfgang and Sixtus Bachmann, who was two years older than Wolfgang, and had attracted great admiration by his musical performances. "Each tried his utmost to surpass the other, and the competition increased the fame of both."48 Then they went by way of Ulm, Günzburg, and Dillingen to Munich. Arriving here on November 8, they dined with the Elector on the following day. Wolfgang sat next to him and composed a piece in pencil, taking for theme a few bars which the Elector hummed to him; this piece he played after dinner to the astonishment of all the party.

An indisposition with which Wolfgang was here seized seems to have put a stop to a journey to Regensburg which had been planned, and about the end of November, 1766, the Mozart family re-entered Salzburg.