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diff --git a/43413-0.txt b/43413-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c7a0c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/43413-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18543 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43413 *** + +LIFE OF MOZART + +By Otto Jahn + +Translated From the German by Pauline D. Townsend. + +With A Preface By + +George Grove, Esq., D.C.L. + +In Three Volumes Vol. III. + +London Novello, Ewer & Co. + +FAC-SIMILES + +Fac-similé No. 1 is of Mozart's letter to Bullinger from Paris, after +the death of his mother (see Vol. II., p. 53). + +Fac-simile No. 2 is of the original MS. of "Das Veil-chen," now in the +possession of Mr. Speyer, of Herne Hill (see Vol. II., p. 373). + +Fac-similes Nos. 3 and 4 are sketches illustrative of Mozart's method of +composing. Sketch I. is described in Vol. II., p. 425. Sketch II. is of +part of Denis's Ode, the words of which are given below; it is noticed +in Vol. II., pp. 370, 424: + + O Calpe! dir donnerts am Fusse, + Doch blickt dein tausendjähriger + Gipfel Ruhig auf Welten umher. + Siehe dort wölkt es sich auf + Ueber die westlichen Wogen her, + Wölket sich breiter und ahnender auf,-- + Es flattert, O Calpe! Segelgewolk! + Flügel der Hülfe! Wie prachtig + Wallet die Fahne Brittaniens + Deiner getreuen Verheisserin! + Calpe! Sie walltl Aber die Nacht sinkt, + Sie deckt mit ihren schwàrzesten, + Unholdesten Rabenfittigen Gebirge, + Flàchen, Meer und Bucht Und Klippen, wo der bleiche + Tod Des Schiffers, Kiele spaltend, sitzt. + Hinan! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. + +NEXT to pianoforte music for amateur musical entertainments, the quartet +for stringed instruments was the favourite form of chamber music. The +performers were occasionally highly cultivated amateurs, but more +often professional musicians, thus giving scope for more pretentious +compositions. The comparatively small expense involved enabled others +besides noblemen, even those of the citizen class who were so inclined, +to include quartet-playing among their regular entertainments.[1] Jos. +Haydn was, as is well known, the musician who gave to the quartet its +characteristic form and development.[2] Other composers had written +works for four stringed instruments, but the string quartet in its +well-defined and henceforth stationary constitution was his creation, +the result of his life-work. It is seldom that an artist has been +so successful in discovering the fittest outcome for his individual +productiveness; the quartet was Haydn's natural expression of his +musical nature. The freshness and life, the cheerful joviality, which +are the main characteristics of his compositions, gained ready and +universal acceptance for them. Connoisseurs and critics, it is true, +were at first suspicious, and even contemptuous, of this new kind of +music; and it was only gradually that they became aware that depth and +earnestness of feeling, as well as knowledge and skill, existed together +with humour in Haydn's quartets. He went on his way, however, untroubled + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(2) + +by the critics, and secured the favour and adherence of the public by an +unbroken series of works: whoever ventured on the same field was obliged +to serve under his banner. + +The widespread popularity of quartet music in Vienna could not fail to +impel Mozart to try his forces in this direction. His master was +also his attached friend and fellow-artist, with whom he stood in +the position, not of a scholar, but of an independent artist in noble +emulation. The first six quartets belong to the comparatively less +numerous works which Mozart wrote for his own pleasure, without any +special external impulse. They are, as he says in the dedication to +Haydn, the fruit of long and earnest application, and extended over a +space of several years. The first, in G major (387 K.), was, according +to a note on the autograph manuscript, written on December 31, 1782; +the second, in D minor (421 K.), in June, 1783, during Constanze's +confinement (Vol. II., p. 423); and the third, in E flat major (428 K.), +belongs to the same year. After a somewhat lengthy pause he returned +with new zeal to the composition of the quartets; the fourth, in B flat +major (458 K.), was written November 9, 1784; the fifth, in A major (464 +K.), on January 10; and the last, in C major (465 K.), on January 14, +1785. It was in February of this year that Leopold Mozart paid his visit +to Vienna. He knew the first three quartets, Wolfgang having sent them +to him according to custom; and he heard the others at a musical party +where Haydn was also present; the warmly expressed approbation of +the latter may have been the immediate cause of Mozart's graceful +dedication, when he published the quartets during the autumn of 1785 +(Op. ü).[3] + +The popular judgment is usually founded on comparison, and a comparison +with Haydn's quartets was even more obvious than usual on this occasion. +The Emperor Joseph, who objected to Haydn's "tricks and nonsense" (Vol. +II., + +{MOZART AND KLOPSTOCK.} + +(3) + +p. 204), requested Dittersdorf in 1786 to draw a parallel between +Haydn's and Mozart's chamber music. Dittersdorf answered by requesting +the Emperor in his turn to draw a parallel between Klopstock and +Gellert; whereupon Joseph replied that both were great poets, but that +Klopstock must be read repeatedly in order to understand his beauties, +whereas Gellert's beauties lay plainly exposed to the first glance. +Dittersdorf's analogy of Mozart with Klopstock, Haydn with Gellert +(!), was readily accepted by the Emperor, who further compared Mozart's +compositions to a snuffbox of Parisian manufacture, Haydn's to one +manufactured in London.[4] The Emperor looked at nothing deeper than the +respective degrees of taste displayed by the two musicians, and could +find no better comparison for works of art than articles of passing +fancy; whereas the composer had regard to the inner essence of the +works, and placed them on the same footing as those of the (in +his opinion) greatest poets of Germany. However odd may appear to +us--admiring as we do, above all things in Mozart, his clearness and +purity of form--Dittersdorf s comparison of him with Klopstock, it is +nevertheless instructive, as showing that his contemporaries prized his +grandeur and dignity, and the force and boldness of his expression, as +his highest and most distinguishing qualities. L. Mozart used also to +say, that his son was in music what Klopstock was in poetry;[5] no doubt +because Klopstock was to him the type of all that was deep and grand. +But the public did not regard the new phenomenon in the same light; the +quality they esteemed most highly in Haydn's quartets was their animated +cheerfulness; and his successors, Dittersdorf, Pichl, Pleyel, had +accustomed them even to lighter enjoyments. "It is a pity," says a +favourable critic, in a letter from Vienna (January, 1787), "that in his +truly artistic and beautiful compositions Mozart should carry his effort +after originality too far, to the detriment of the sentiment and heart +of his works. His new quartets, dedicated to Haydn, are much too highly +spiced to be palatable for any length + +{MOZART'S instrumental music.} + +(4) + +of time."[6] Prince Grassalcovicz, a musical connoisseur of rank in +Vienna,[7] had the quartets performed, as Mozart's widow relates,[8] and +was so enraged at finding that the discords played by the musicians were +really in the parts, that he tore them all to pieces--but Gyrowetz's +symphonies pleased him very much. From Italy also the parts were sent +back to the publisher, as being full of printer's errors, and even Sarti +undertook to prove, in a violent criticism, that some of the music in +these quartets was insupportable from its wilful offences against rule +and euphony. The chief stumbling-block is the well-known introduction of +the C major quartet--[See Page Image] + +the harshness of which irritates the expectant ear. Its grammatical +justification has been repeatedly given in learned analyses.[9] Haydn +is said to have declared, during a dispute over this passage, that if +Mozart wrote it so, he must have had his reasons for doing it[10]--a +somewhat + +{QUARTETS, 1785.} + +(5) + +ambiguous remark. Ulibicheff[11] undertook to correct the passage with +the aid of Fétis,[12] and then considered it both fine and pleasing; +and Lenz[13] declared that Mozart in "this delightful expression of the +doctrine of necessary evil, founded on the insufficiency of all finite +things" had produced a piquant, but not an incorrect passage. It is +certain, at least, that Mozart intended to write the passage as it +stands, and his meaning in so doing, let the grammatical construction +be what it will, will not be obscure to sympathetic hearers. The C +major quartet, the last of this first set, is the only one with an +introduction. The frame of mind expressed in it is a noble, manly +cheerfulness, rising in the andante to an almost supernatural +serenity--the kind of cheerfulness which, in life or in art, appears +only as the result of previous pain and strife. The sharp accents of +the first and second movements, the struggling agony of the trio to +the minuet, the wonderful depth of beauty in the subject of the finale, +startling us by its entry, first in E flat and then in A flat major, are +perhaps the most striking illustrations of this, but the introduction +stands forth as the element which gives birth to all the happy serenity +of the work. The contrast between the troubled, depressed phrase--[See +Page Images] + +has a direct effect upon the hearer; both phrases have one solution:-- + +and the shrill agitated one--[See Page Images] + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(6) + +The manner in which they are opposed to each other, and the devices by +which their opposition is thrown into strong relief, are of unusual, but +by no means unjustifiable, harshness. But the goal is not reached by one +bound; no sooner does serenity seem to be attained than the recurrence +of the _b_ draws the clouds together again, and peace and the power +of breathing and moving freely are only won by slow and painful +degrees.[14] + +Any difference of opinion as to this work at the present day can only +exist with regard to minor details, and it will scarcely now be asserted +by any one that "a piece may be recognised as Mozart's by its rapid +succession of daring transitions."[15] We are accustomed to take our +standard from Beethoven, and it seems to us almost incredible that +a contemporary of Mozart's, the Stuttgart Hofmusicus, Schaul (who +acknowledged, it is true, that he belonged to a time when nothing was +heard but Italian operas and musicians), should exclaim:[16]-- + +What a gulf between a Mozart and a Boccherini! The former leads us over +rugged rocks on to a waste, sparsely strewn with flowers; the latter +through smiling country, flowery meadows, and by the side of rippling +streams. + +Apart from all differences of opinion or analogies with other works, +it may safely be asserted that these quartets are the clear and perfect +expression of Mozart's nature; nothing less is to be expected from +a work upon which he put forth all his powers in order to accomplish +something that would redound to his master Haydn's honour as well as his +own. The form had already, in all its essential points, been determined +by Haydn; it is the sonata form, already described, with the addition +of the minuet--in this application a creation of Haydn's. Mozart +appropriated these main + +{MOZART'S AND HAYDN'S QUARTETS.} + +(7) + +features, without feeling it incumbent on him even to alter them. +Following a deeply rooted impulse of his nature, he renounced the light +and fanciful style in which Haydn had treated them, seized upon their +legitimate points, and gave a firmer and more delicate construction to +the whole fabric. To say of Mozart's quartets in their general features +that, in comparison with Haydn's, they are of deeper and fuller +expression, more refined beauty, and broader conception of form,[17] is +only to distinguish these as Mozart's individual characteristics, +in contrast with Haydn's inexhaustible fund of original and humorous +productive power. Any summary comparison of the two masters must result +in undue depreciation of one or the other, for nothing but a detailed +examination would do full justice to them both and explain their +admiration of each other. Two circumstances must not be left out of +account. Mozart's quartets are few in number compared with the long list +of Haydn's. Every point that is of interest in Mozart may be paralleled +in Haydn; hence it follows that certain peculiarities found in Haydn's +music are predominating elements in Mozart's. Again, Haydn was a much +older man, and is therefore usually regarded as Mozart's predecessor; +but the compositions on which his fame chiefly rests belong for the most +part to the period of Mozart's activity in Vienna, and were not without +important influence on the latter. This mutual reaction, so generously +acknowledged by both musicians, must be taken into account in forming a +judgment upon them. + +The string quartet offers the most favourable conditions for the +development of instrumental music, both as to expression and technical +construction, giving free play to the composer in every direction, +provided only that he keep within the limits imposed by the nature +of his art. Each of the four combined instruments is capable of the +greatest variety of melodic construction; they have the advantage over +the piano in their power of sustaining the vibrations of the notes, so +as to produce song-like effects; nor are they inferior + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(8) + +in their power of rapid movement. Their union enables them to fulfil the +demands of complete harmonies, and to compensate by increase of freedom +and fulness for the advantages which the pianoforte possesses as a solo +instrument. The quartet is therefore particularly well adapted both for +the polyphonic and the homophonie style of composition. The varieties of +tone of the instruments among each other, and of each in different +keys, further increases their capacity for expression, the nuances +of tone-colouring appearing to belong to the nature of stringed +instruments. Thus the material sound elements of the string quartet are +singularly uniform, at the same time that they allow free scope to the +individual movement of the component parts. The beginning of the andante +of the E flat major quartet (428 K.) will suffice to show how entirely +different an effect is given by a mere difference in the position of the +parts. The value which Mozart set upon the uniformity of the naturally +beautiful sound effects of stringed instruments may be inferred from +the fact that he seldom attempted interference with it as a device for +pleasing the ear. Pizzicato passages occur only three times--in the trio +of the D minor quartet (421 K.), of the C major quintet (515 K.), and +of the clarinet quintet (581 K.)--and each time as the gentlest form of +accompaniment to a tender melody. He was not prone either to emphasise +bass passages by pizzicato, and has done so only in the second adagio +of the G minor quintet (516 K.) and in the first movement of the horn +quintet (407 K.). Nor is the muting, formerly so frequent, made use of +except in the first adagio of the G minor quartet and in the larghetto +of the clarinet quintet. It need scarcely be said that an equal amount +of technical execution and musical proficiency was presupposed in each +of the performers. This is especially noticeable in the treatment of the +violoncello. It is not only put on a level with the other instruments as +to execution, but its many-sided character receives due recognition, and +it is raised from the limited sphere of a bass part into one of complete +independence. + +The favourite comparison of the quartet with a conversation between four +intellectual persons holds good in some + +{MOZART'S STRING QUARTETS.} + +(9) + +degree, if it is kept in mind that the intellectual participation and +sympathy of the interlocutors, although not necessarily languishing in +conversation, are only audibly expressed by turns, whereas the musical +embodiment of ideas must be continuous and simultaneous. The comparison +is intended to illustrate the essential point that every component part +of the quartet stands out independently, according to its character, but +so diffidently that all co-operate to produce a whole which is never at +any moment out of view; an effect so massive as to absorb altogether the +individual parts would be as much out of place as the undue emphasising +of any one part and the subordination of the others to it. The object +to be kept continually in view is the blending of the homophonie or +melodious, and the polyphonic or formal elements of composition to form +a new and living creation. Neither is neglected; but neither is allowed +to assert itself too prominently. Even when a melody is delivered by +one instrument alone, the others do not readily confine themselves to +a merely harmonic accompaniment, but preserve their independence of +movement. Infallible signs of a master-hand are visible in the free and +ingenious adaptation of the bass and the middle parts to the melodies; +and, as a rule, the characteristic disposition of the parts gives +occasion for a host of interesting harmonic details. The severer forms +of counterpoint only appear in exceptional cases, such as the last +movement of the first quartet, in G major (387 K.). The intention is +not to work out a subject in a given form, but to play freely with +it, presenting it from various interesting points of view by means +of combinations, analysis, construction, and connection with fresh +contrasting elements. But since this free play can only be accepted as +artistic by virtue of the internal coherency of its component parts, +it follows that the same laws which govern strict forms must lie at the +root of the freer construction. In the same way a conversation--even +though severe logical disputation may be studiously avoided--adheres to +the laws of logic while letting fall here a main proposition, there +a subordinate idea, and connecting apparent incongruities by means of +association of ideas. A similar freedom in the grouping and + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(10) + +development of the different subjects exists in the quartet, limited +only by the unity of artistic conception, and by the main principles of +rhythmic and harmonic structure, and of the forms of counterpoint. This +is most observable when an apparently unimportant phrase is taken up, +and by its interesting development formed into an essential element +of the whole, as in the first movement of the third quartet, in B flat +major (458 K.), where a figure--[See Page Image] + +at the close of a lengthy subject is first repeated by the instruments +separately, with a mocking sort of air, and afterwards retained and +treated as the germ of numerous freely developed images. + +In publishing these six quartets together Mozart certainly did not +intend them to be regarded in all their parts as one whole; his object +was to bring to view the many-sidedness of expression and technical +treatment of which this species of music was capable. The first quartet, +in G major (387 K.), and the fourth, in E flat major (428 K.), have +a certain relationship in their earnest and sustained tone; but how +different is the expression of energetic decision in the first from that +of contemplative reserve in the fourth; a difference most noticeable +in the andantes of the two quartets. Again, in the third and fifth +quartets, in B flat (458 K.) and A major (464 K.), the likeness in +their general character is individualised by the difference in treatment +throughout. The second quartet, in D minor (421 K.), and the sixth, in +C major (465 K.), stand alone; the former by its affecting expression of +melancholy, the latter by its revelation of that higher peace to which a +noble mind attains through strife and suffering. + +An equal wealth of characterisation and technical elaboration meets us +in a comparison of the separate movements. The ground-plan of the first +movement is the usual one, and the centre of gravity is always the +working-out at the beginning of the second part, which is therefore +distinguished by its length as a principal portion of the movement. The +working-out of each quartet is peculiar to itself. In the two + +{SIX QUARTETS, 1785.} + +(11) + +first the principal subject is made the groundwork, and combined with +the subordinate subject closing the first part, but quite differently +worked-out. In the G major quartet the first subject is spun out into +a florid figure, which is turned hither and thither, broken off by the +entry of the second subject, again resumed, only to be again broken off +in order, by an easy play on the closing bar--[See Page Images] + +to lead back again to the theme. In the D minor quartet, on the other +hand, only the first characteristic division--[See Page Images] + +of the broad theme is worked out as a motif; the next division somewhat +modified--[See Page Images] + +is imitated and adorned by the final figure:--[See Page Images] + +The first part of the third quartet, in B flat major, has not the usual +sharply accented second subject; the second part makes up for this in +a measure by at once introducing a new and perfectly formed melody, +followed by an easy play with a connecting passage-- + +this is invaded by the analogous motif of the first part--[See Page +Images] + +which brings about the return to the first part. The peculiar structure +of the movement occasions the repetition of the second part, whereupon +a third part introduces the chief subject anew, and leads to the +conclusion in an independent + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(12) + +way. In the E flat major quartet the interest depends upon the harmonic +treatment of an expressive triplet passage connected with the principal +subject. The first subject of the fifth quartet, in A major, is +indicated from the very beginning as a suitable one for imitative +treatment, and very freely developed in the working-out section. In the +last quartet in C major also, the treatment of the principal subject is +indicated at once, but the importance of the modest theme is only +made apparent by the harmonic and contrapuntal art of its working-out, +leading to the expressive climax of the coda and the conclusion. + +The slow movements of the quartets are the mature fruit of deep feeling +and masterly skill. With fine discrimination the consolatory andante +of the melancholy D minor quartet is made easy, but so managed as +to express the character of ardent longing, both in the ascending +passage--[See Page Image] + +and in the tendency to fall into the minor key. The andante of the +fourth quartet, in E flat major, forms a complete contrast to this. +Its incessant harmonic movement only allows of pregnant suggestions of +melodies, and is expressive of a self-concentrated mood, rousing itself +with difficulty from mental abstraction. But the crown of them all in +delicacy of form and depth of expression is the andante of the last +quartet, in C major; it belongs to those wonderful manifestations of +genius which are only of the earth in so far as they take effect +upon human minds; which soar aloft into a region of blessedness where +suffering and passion are transfigured. + +The minuets are characteristic of Mozart's tendencies as opposed +to Haydn's. The inexhaustible humour, the delight in startling and +whimsical fancy, which form the essence of Haydn's minuets, occur only +here and there in Mozart's. + +{SIX QUARTETS, 1785.} + +(13) + +They are cast in a nobler mould, their distinguishing characteristics +being grace and delicacy, and they are equally capable of expressing +merry drollery and strong, even painful, emotion. Haydn's minuets are +the product of a laughter-loving national life, Mozart's give the tone +of good society. Especially well-defined in character are the minuets +of the D minor and C major quartets--the former bold and defiant, the +latter fresh and vigorous. Delicate detail in the disposition of the +parts is common to almost all of them, keeping the interest tense +and high, and there are some striking peculiarities of rhythmical +construction. Among such we may notice the juxtaposition of groups of +eight and ten bars, so that two bars are either played prematurely, as +in the minuet of the first quartet, or inserted, as in the trio of the +B flat major quartet.[18] The ten-bar group in the minuet of the D minor +quartet is more complicated, because more intimately blended, and still +more so is the rhythm of the minuet in the fourth quartet, where +the detached unequal groups are curiously interlaced.[19] Very +characteristic is also the sharp contrast between minuet and trio--as, +for instance, the almost harshly passionate minor trios of the first +and last quartets, and the still more striking major trio of the D minor +quartet, light and glittering, like a smile in the midst of tears. + +The finales have more meaning and emphasis than has hitherto been the +case in Mozart's instrumental compositions. Three of them are in +rondo form (those of the B flat, E flat, and C major quartet), quick, +easy-flowing movements, rich in graceful motifs and interesting features +in the working-out. The merriment in them is tempered by 1 a deeper vein +of humour, and we are sometimes startled by a display of pathos, as +in the finale of the C major quartet. The more cheerful passages are +distinctly German in tone; and echoes of the "Zauberflote" may be heard +in many of the melodies and turns of expression. + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(14) + +The last movement of the G major quartet is written in strict form, and +highly interesting by reason of the elegance of its counterpoint; the +finale of the A major quartet is freer and easier, but nevertheless +polyphonic in treatment.[20] The D minor quartet concludes with +variations, the original and long-drawn theme having the rhythmical and +sharply accented harmonic form of the siciliana. It is in imitation of +a national song, and is sometimes like a slow gigue, sometimes like a +pastorale. The rhythm of the 6-8 time is somewhat peculiar, in that +the first of three quavers is dotted throughout; the tone is soft and +tender. There is a very similar siciliana in Gluck's ballet "Don +Juan" (No. 2), showing how marked the typical character is.[21] The +variations, which are as charming from their grace and delicacy of +form as from their singular mixture of melancholy and mirth, bring this +wonderful quartet to a close in a very original manner. + +The middle movement of the A major quartet is also in variations--more +earnest and careful on the whole--the precursor of the variations +in Haydn's "Kaiser" and Beethoven's A major quartets. These quartet +variations far surpass the pianoforte variations in character and +workmanship; they consist not merely of a graceful play of passages, but +of a characteristic development of new motifs springing from the theme. + +The success of the quartets, on which Mozart put forth all his best +powers, was scarcely sufficient to encourage him to make further +attempts in the same direction; not until August, 1786, do we find him +again occupied with a quartet (D major, 499 K.), in which may be traced +an attempt to + +{LATER QUARTETS, 1786-1790.} + +(15) + +meet the taste of the public without sacrificing the dignity of the +quartet style. It is not inferior to the others in any essential point. +The technical work is careful and interesting, the design broad--in many +respects freer than formerly--the tone cheerful and forcible throughout, +with the sentimental element in the background, as compared with the +first quartets. The last movement approaches nearest to Haydn's +humorous turn of thought, following his manner also in the contrapuntal +elaboration of a lightly suggested motif into a running stream of +merry humour. Nevertheless, this quartet remained without any immediate +successor; it would appear that it met with no very general approval +on its first appearance. "A short serenade, consisting of an allegro, +romance, minuet and trio, and finale" in G major, composed August 10, +1787 (525 K.), does not belong to quartet music proper. The direction +for violoncello, contrabasso, points to a fuller setting, which is +confirmed by the whole arrangement, especially in the treatment of the +middle parts. It is an easy, precisely worked-out occasional piece. + +During his stay in Berlin and Potsdam in the spring of 1789 Mozart was +repeatedly summoned to the private concerts of Frederick William II. of +Prussia, in which the monarch himself took part as a violoncellist. +He was a clever and enthusiastic pupil of Graziani and Duport, and he +commissioned Mozart to write quartets for him, as he had previously +commissioned Haydn[22] and Boccherini,[23] rewarding them with princely +liberality. In June of this year Mozart completed the first of three +quartets, composed for and dedicated to the King of Prussia, in D major +(575 K.); the second, in B flat major (589 K.), and the third, in F +major (590 K.), were composed in May and June, 1790. From letters to +Puchberg, we know + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(16) + +that this was a time of bitter care and poverty, which made it a painful +effort to work at the quartets, but there is even less trace of effort +in them than in the earlier ones. The instrument appropriated to his +royal patron is brought to the front, and made into a solo instrument, +giving out the melodies in its higher notes. This obliges the viola +frequently to take the bass part, altering the whole tone-colouring of +the piece, and the instruments are altogether set higher than usual, the +more so as the first violin constantly alternates with the violoncello. +By this means the tone of the whole becomes more brilliant and brighter, +but atones for this in an occasional loss of vigour and force. In other +respects also, out of deference no doubt to the King's taste, there is +more stress laid upon elegance and clearness than upon depth and warmth +of tone. Mozart was too much of an artist to allow any solo part in +a quartet to predominate unduly over the others; the first violin and +violoncello leave the other two instruments their independent power of +expression, but the motifs and working-out portions are less important, +and here and there they run into a fanciful play of passages. It is +singular that in the quartets in D and F major the last movements are +the most important. When once the composer has thrown himself into the +elaboration of his trifling motifs he grows warm, and, setting to work +in good earnest, the solo instrument is made to fall into rank and +file; the artist appears, and has no more thought of his presentation at +court. The middle movements are very fine as to form and effect, but are +without any great depth of feeling. The charming allegro of the second +quartet, in F major, is easy and graceful in tone, and interesting from +the elegance of its elaboration. In short, these quartets completely +maintain Mozart's reputation for inventive powers, sense of proportion, +and mastery of form, but they lack that absolute devotion to the highest +ideal of art characteristic of the earlier ones. + +Mozart's partiality for quartet-writing may be inferred from the many +sketches which remain (68-75, Anh., K.), some of them of considerable +length, such as that fragment of a lively movement in A major (68, 72, +Anh., K.) consisting of 169 bars. + +{TRIO IN E FLAT, 1788.} + +(17) + +Duets and trios for stringed instruments were naturally held in less +esteem than string quartets. Mozart composed in Vienna (September 27, +1788), for some unspecified occasion, a trio for violin, viola, and +violoncello, in £ flat major (563 K.), which consists of six movements, +after the manner of a divertimento--allegro, adagio, minuet, andante +with variations, minuet, rondo. The omission of the one instrument +increases the difficulty of composing a piece full in sound and +characteristic in movement, more than could have been imagined; the +invention and skill of the composer are taxed to the utmost. It is +evident that this only gave the work an additional charm to Mozart. Each +of the six movements is broadly designed and carried out with equal care +and devotion, making this trio unquestionably one of Mozart's finest +works. No one performer is preferred before the other, but each, if +he does his duty, may distinguish himself in his own province. With +wonderful discrimination, too, every technical device is employed which +can give an impulse to any happy original idea. How beautifully, +for instance, is the simple violoncello passage which ushers in the +adagio--[See Page Images] + +transformed into the emphatic one for the violin-- + +coined in due time, with climacteric effect, by the viola and +violoncello. The violin-jumps in the same adagio-- + +are effective only in their proper position; and all the resources at +command are made subservient to the art which is to produce the living +work. + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(18) + +The variations demand special attention. The theme is suggestive of a +national melody, and its effect is heightened by the different treatment +of each part when repeated, which also gives fulness and variety to the +variations. Each of these is artistically worked out in detail and of +distinctly individual character; the last is especially remarkable, in +which the viola, to a very lively figure, carries out the theme in its +simplest enunciation as a true Cantus firmus. The whole impression is +one of freshness and beauty of conception, elevated and enlivened by +the difficulties which offered themselves. Nothing more charming can +be imagined than the first trio of the second minuet; its tender purity +charms us like that of a flower gleaming through the grass. + +Haydn seems to have made no use of the increased resources offered +by the quintet, although other musicians--Boccherini, for +instance--cultivated this branch. It would appear to have been for some +particular occasions that Mozart composed four great string quintets, +in which he followed the track laid out in the first quartets. Two were +composed in the spring of 1787, after his return from Prague--[24] + +C major, composed April 19, 1787 (515 K.). + +G major, composed May 16, 1787 (516 K.).-- + +the other two-- + +D major, composed December, 1790 (593 K.). + +E flat major, composed April 12, 1791 (614 K.).-- + +at short intervals, "at the earnest solicitation of a musical friend," +as the publisher's announcement declares.[25] + +Mozart doubles the viola[26]--not like Boccherini in his 155 quintets, +the violoncello[27]--whereby little alteration in tone, colour, or +structure is effected. The doubling of the violoncello gives it a +predominance which its very charm of tone + +{THE QUINTET.} + +(19) + +renders all the more dangerous: whereas the strengthening of the less +strongly accentuated middle parts by the addition of a viola gives +freer scope for a lengthy composition. The additional instrument gives +increase of freedom in the formation of melodies and their harmonic +development, but it also lays on the composer the obligation of +providing independent occupation for the enlarged parts. A chief +consideration is the grouping of the parts in their numerous possible +combinations. The first viola corresponds to the first violin as leader +of melodies, while the second viola leaves the violoncello greater +freedom of action; these parts share the melodies in twos or threes, +either alternately or in imitative interweaving; the division of a +motif as question and answer among different instruments is especially +facilitated thereby. Again, two divisions may be placed in effective +contrast, the violins being supported by a viola, or the violas by the +violoncello. But the device first used by Haydn in his quartets, of +giving two parts in octaves, is perhaps the most effective in the +quintets, a threefold augmentation being even employed in the trio of +the E flat major quintet (614 K.). Finally, it is easier to strengthen +the violoncello by the viola here than it is in the quartet. It is not +that all these resources are out of reach for the quartet, but that they +find freer and fuller scope in the quintet. The effect of the quintet is +not massive; it rests on the characteristic movement of the individual +parts, and demands greater freedom in order that this movement of +manifold and differing forces may be well ordered and instinct with +living power. The increased forces require greater space for their +activity, if only on account of the increased mass of sound. If the +middle parts are to move freely without pressing on each other, the +outer parts must be farther apart, and this has a decided influence on +the melodies and the sound effects, the general impression becoming more +forcible and brilliant. The dimensions must also be increased in other +directions. A theme, to be divided among five parts, and a working-out +which is to give each of them fair play, must be planned from the first. +The original motif of the first Allegro of the C major quintet (515 +K.)--[See Page Image] + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(20) + +involves of necessity the continuation of the idea enunciated; and only +after a third repetition with modifications is it allowed to proceed +to a conclusion. It has thus become too far developed to allow of a +repetition of the whole theme; it starts again in C minor, is further +developed by harmonic inflections; and after a short by-play on a +tributary, it is again taken up and leads on to the second theme; we +have thus a complete organic development of the first motif. The second +theme is then of course carried out, and finally we have the broadly +designed motif which brings the part to a conclusion in a gradually +increasing _crescendo_ for all the parts; the whole movement thus gains +considerably in dimensions. + +The motif of the first movement of the E flat major quintet (614 +K.)--[See Page Image] + +is precisely rendered. But it is the germ whence the whole movement +is to spring; all beyond itself is suggested by this motif, and is +important only in relation thereto. The unfettered cheerfulness which +runs through the whole of the movement is expressed in these few bars, +given by the violas like a call to the merry chase. The opening of the +C major quintet prepares us in an equally decided manner for what is to +follow. The decision and thoughtfulness which form the ground-tone of +the whole movement, in spite of its lively agitation, are calmly and +clearly expressed in the first few bars. + +The G minor quintet begins very differently, with a complete melody of +eight bars, repeated in a different key. Few + +{MOZART'S G MINOR QUINTET.} + +(21) + +instrumental compositions express a mood of passionate excitement with +such energy as this G minor quintet. We feel our pity stirred in the +first movement by a pain which moans, sighs, weeps; is conscious in its +ravings only of itself, refuses to take note of anything but itself, and +finds its only consolation in unreasoning outbreaks of emotion, until +it ends exhausted by the struggle. But the struggle begins anew in +the minuet, and now there is mingled with it a feeling of defiant +resentment, showing that there is some healthy force still remaining; +in the second part a memory of happy times involuntarily breaks in, +but is overcome by the present pain; then the trio bursts forth +irresistibly, as if by a higher power, proclaiming the blessed certainty +that happiness is still to be attained. One of those apparently obvious +touches, requiring nevertheless the piercing glance of true genius, +occurs when, after closing the minuet in the most sorrowful minor +accents--[See Page Image] + +Mozart introduces the trio with the same inflection in the major-- + +and proceeds to carry it out in such a manner that only a whispered +longing may be detected underlying the gently dying sounds of peace. +This turn of expression decides the further course of the development. +The next movement, "Adagio ma non troppo, con sordini," gives us an +insight into a mind deeply wounded, tormented with self-questionings; +earnest reflection, doubt, resolve, outbreaks of smothered pain +alternate with each other, until a yearning + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(22) + +cry for comfort arises, tempered by the confident hope of an answer +to its appeal; and so the movement ends in the calm of a joyful peace +instead of, as the first, in the silence of exhaustion. The conquered +pain breaks out again in the introduction to the last movement, but its +sting is broken--it dies away to make room for another feeling. The new +émotion is not merely resignation, but joy--the passionate consciousness +of bliss, just as inspired, just as restlessly excited as the previous +pain. But the exultant dithyramb has not the same engrossing interest +for the hearers; man is readier to sympathise with the sorrows of others +than with their joys, although he would rather bear his sorrow alone +than his joy. This complete change of mood may well excite a suspicion +of fickleness, but it is not the less true that the anguish of the first +movement, and the exultation of the last, belong to one and the same +nature, and are rendered with absolute truth of artistic expression. + +We turn involuntarily from the artist to the man after such a +psychological revelation as this, and find traces of Mozart's nature +unmistakably impressed on his work. But we may seek in vain for any +suggestion of the work in his actual daily life. At the time when he +wrote this quintet his circumstances were favourable, he had only lately +returned from Prague covered with honour and substantial rewards, and he +was enjoying an intercourse with the Jacquin family which must have been +altogether pleasurable to him. It is true that he lost his father soon +after (May 26), but a recollection of the letter which he addressed to +him with the possibility of his death in view (Vol. II., p. 323), Mozart +being at the time engaged on the C major quintet, will prevent our +imagining that the mood of the G minor quintet was clouded by the +thought of his father's approaching decease. The springs of artistic +production flow too deep to be awakened by any of the accidents of +life. The artist, indeed, can only give what is in him and what he, has +himself experienced; but Goethe's saying holds good of the musician as +well as of the poet or painter; he reveals nothing that he has not felt, +but nothing _as_ he felt it. + +The main characteristics of the other quintets are calmer + +{MOZART'S QUINTETS.} + +(23) + +and more cheerful, but they are not altogether wanting in energetic +expression of passion. The sharper characterisation made necessary by +the division of the music among a greater number of instruments was only +possible by means of the agitation and restless movement of the parts, +even when the tone of the whole was quiet and contained. We find +therefore various sharp or even harsh details giving zest to the +whole--such, for instance, as the use of the minor ninth and the +comparatively frequent successions of ninths in a circle of fifths; +and the quintets have apparently been a mine of wealth to later +composers, who have made exaggerated use of these dangerous stimulants. +Greater freedom of motion stands in close connection with the better +defined characterisation of the quintets. Polyphony is their vital +element; the forms of counterpoint became more appropriate as the number +of parts increased. The finales to the Quintets in D and E flat Major +(573, 614, K.) showed that Mozart was able to make use of the very +strictest forms upon occasion. Both movements begin in innocent +light-heartedness, but severe musical combinations are developed out +of the airy play of fancy; ideas which have only been, as it were, +suggested are taken up and worked out, severe forms alternate with laxer +ones--one leads to the other naturally and fluently, and sometimes they +are both made use of at the same time. The disposition of the parts is +free, without any preconceived or definitive form, and its many delicate +details of taste and originality give an individual charm to each +separate part. The homophonie style of composition is not altogether +disregarded for the polyphonic, but it is never made the determining +element. Even a melody such as the second subject of the first movement +of the G minor quintet, complete in itself as any melody can be, is +made use of as a motif for polyphonic development. The freest and most +elastic treatment of form is that of the last movements. The other +movements are fully developed, and sometimes carried out at great +length, but the main features are always distinct and well preserved; +the outline of the finales is less firm, and capable of a lighter and +more varied treatment. + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(24) + +Another branch of concerted music high in favour in Mozart's day was the +so-called "Harmoniemusik," written exclusively for wind instruments, and +for performance at table or as serenades. Families of rank frequently +retained the services of a band for "Harmoniemusik" instead of a +complete orchestra.[28] The Emperor Joseph selected eight distinguished +virtuosi[29] for the Imperial "Harmonie," who played during meals, +especially when these took place in the imperial pleasure-gardens. The +performances included operatic arrangements as well as pieces composed +expressly for this object.[30] Reichardt dwells on the enjoyment +afforded him in 1783 by the Harmoniemusik of the Emperor and the +Archduke Maximilian. "Tone, delivery, everything was pure and +harmonious; some movements by Mozart were lovely; but unluckily nothing +of Haydn's was performed."[31] First-class taverns supported their own +"Harmonie" bands, in order that the guests might not be deprived of this +favourite accompaniment to their meals.[32] + +Besides the great serenades, intended for public performance, the old +custom was still practised of writing "Standchen,"[33] for performance +under the window of the person who was to be thus celebrated; and the +general desire that such pieces should be new and original provided +composers with almost constant employment on them.[34] Wind instruments +were most in vogue for this "night-music." The instruments were usually +limited to six--two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons, strengthened + +{SERENADES FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS.} + +(25) + +sometimes by two oboes. Such eight-part harmonies sufficed both the Emperor +and the Elector of Cologne as table-music and for serenades; and at a +court festival at Berlin in 1791 the music during the banquet was +thus appointed.[35] The "Standchen," in "Cosi fan Tutte" (21), and the +table-music, in the second finale of "Don Giovanni," are imitations of +reality. + +Mozart did not neglect the opportunities thus afforded him of making +himself known during his residence in Vienna. He writes to his father +(November 3, 1781):-- + +I must apologise for not writing by the last post; it fell just on my +birthday (October 31), and the early part of the day was given to +my devotions. Afterwards, when I should have written, a shower of +congratulations came and prevented me. At twelve o'clock I drove to the +Leopoldstadt, to the Baroness Waldstädten, where I spent the day. At +eleven o'clock at night I was greeted by a serenade for two clarinets, +two horns, and two bassoons, of my own composition. I had composed it +on St. Theresa's day (October 15) for the sister of Frau von Hickl (the +portrait-painter's wife), and it was then performed for the first time. +The six gentlemen who execute such pieces are poor fellows, but they +play very well together, especially the first clarinet and the two +horns. The chief reason I wrote it was to let Herr von Strack (who +goes there daily) hear something of mine, and on this account I made +it rather serious. It was very much admired. It was played in three +different places on St. Theresa's night. When people had had enough of +it in one place they went to another, and got paid over again. + +This "rather serious" composition is the Serenade in E flat major (375 +K.), which Mozart increased by the addition of two oboes, no doubt in +June, 1782, when he also wrote the Serenade in C minor for eight wind +instruments (388 K., s.). He had at that time more than one occasion for +works of this kind. The attention both of the Emperor and the Archduke +Maximilian was directed towards him (Vol. II., p. 197); and since +Reichardt heard compositions by Mozart at court in 1783, his attempt to +gain Strack's good offices must have been successful. In the year +1782 Prince Liechtenstein was in treaty with Mozart concerning the +arrangement of a Harmoniemusik (Vol. II., p. 206), and he + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(26) + +had undertaken with Martin the conduct of the Augarten concerts, which +involved the production of four great public serenades (Vol. II., p. +283). + +Both the serenades already mentioned are striking compositions, far +above the ordinary level of their kind, and may be considered, both +as to style and treatment, the precursors of modern chamber music. The +first movement of the Serenade in E flat major had originally two parts, +which Mozart afterwards condensed into one, giving it greater precision +by the omission of lengthy repetitions. The addition of the oboes gives +it greater fulness and variety; but it is easy to detect that they are +additions to a finished work. The whole piece is of genuine serenade +character. After a brilliant introductory phrase, a plaintive melody +makes its unexpected appearance, dying away in a sort of sigh, but +only to reassert itself with greater fervour. The amorous tone of the +"Entführung" may be distinctly traced in the adagio, and through all its +mazy intertwining of parts we seem to catch the tender dialogue of two +lovers. The closing rondo is full of fresh, healthy joy; the suggestion +of a national air in no way interferes with the interesting harmonic +and contrapuntal working-out.[36] The Serenade in C minor is far from +leaving the same impression of cheerful homage. The seriousness of its +tone is not that of sorrow or melancholy, but, especially in the +first movement, of strong resolution. The second theme is especially +indicative of this, its expressive melody being further noteworthy by +reason of its rhythmical structure. It consists of two six-bar phrases, +of which the first is formed of two sections of three bars each:--[See +Page Image] + +After the repetition of this, the second phrase follows, formed from the +same melodic elements, but in three sections of two bars each--[See Page +Image] + +{SERENADE IN C MINOR.} + +(27) + +and also repeated. On its first occurrence it forms a fine contrast to +the passionate commencement, and lays the foundation for the lively +and forcible conclusion of the first part, while in the second part +its transposition into the minor prepares the way for the gloomy and +agitated conclusion of the movement. The calmer mood of the andante +preserves the serious character of the whole, without too great softness +or languor of expression. + +Mozart has perpetrated a contrapuntal joke in the minuet. The oboes and +bassoons lead a two-part canon in octave, while the clarinets and horns +are used as tutti parts. In the four-part trio the oboes and bassoons +again carry out a two-part canon (_al rovescio_) in which the answering +part exactly renders the rhythm and intervals, the latter, however, +inverted:--[See Page Image] + +Tricks of this kind should always come as this does, without apparent +thought or effort, as if they were thrown together by a happy chance, +the difficulties of form serving only to give a special flavour to the +euphonious effect. The last movement, variations, passes gradually from +a disquieted anxious mood into a calmer one, and closes by a recurrence +to the subject in the major, with freshness and force. + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(28) + +This serenade is best known in the form of a quintet for stringed +instruments, to which Mozart adapted it apparently before 1784 (506 +K.). Nothing essential is altered--only the middle parts, accompaniment +passages, &c., are somewhat modified. Some of the passages and +movements, however, especially the andante and finale, have lost +considerably by the altered tone-colouring. + +Various divertimenti for wind instruments, which have been published +under Mozart's name, have neither external nor internal signs of +authenticity.[37] An Adagio in B flat major for two clarinets and three +basset-horns (411 K.), concerning which little is known, stands alone +of its kind.[38] The combination of instruments points here as elsewhere +(Vol. II., pp. 361, 410) to some special, perhaps masonic occasion, +the more so as a detached and independent adagio could only have been +written with a definite object in view. The juxtaposition of instruments +so nearly related, with their full, soft, and, in their deeper notes, +sepulchral tones, produces an impression of solemnity, which is in +accordance with the general facter of peace after conflict expressed +by the adagio. + +Mozart's works for wind instruments are distinguished by delicacy of +treatment apart from virtuoso-like effects. Considering them, however, +in the light of studies for the treatment of wind instruments as +essential elements of the full orchestra, they afford no mean conception +of the performances of instrumentalists from whom so much mastery of +technical difficulties, delicacy of detail, and expressive delivery +might be expected. Instrumental music had risen to great importance in +Vienna at that time. A great number of available, and even distinguished +musicians had settled there. Besides the two admirably appointed +imperial orchestras, and the private bands attached to families of rank, +there were various societies of musicians ready to form large or small +orchestras when required; and public and private concerts were, as we +have seen, of very frequent occurrence. + +{THE VIENNA ORCHESTRA.} + +(29) + +The appointment was, as a rule, weak, when judged by the standard of the +present day. The opera orchestra contained one of each wind instrument, +six of each violin, with four violas, three violoncelli, and three +basses.[39] On particular occasions the orchestra was strengthened (Vol. +II., p. 173), but most of the orchestral compositions betray by their +treatment that they were not intended for large orchestras. The purity +and equality of tone and the animated delivery of the Vienna orchestra +is extolled by a contemporary, who seems to have been no connoisseur, +but to have faithfully rendered the public opinion of the day.[40] +Of greater weight is the praise of Nicolai, a careful observer, who +compared the performances of the Vienna orchestra with those of other +bands.[41] He asserted, when he heard the Munich orchestra soon after, +that it had far surpassed his highly wrought expectations of Mannheim, +and that he had been perfectly astonished at the commencement of an +allegro.[42] It was not a matter of small importance, therefore, that +Mozart should have learnt all that could be learnt from the orchestras +of Mannheim, Munich, and Paris, and then found in Vienna the forces at +command wherewith to perfect this branch of his art. In this respect he +had a great advantage over Haydn, who had only the Esterhazy band at his +disposal, and never heard great instrumental performances except during +his short stays in Vienna. + +Mozart had much to do with raising the Vienna orchestra, particularly +in the wind instruments, to its highest pitch of perfection. Among +contemporary composers, who strove to turn to the best account the +advantages of a fuller instrumentation, + +Haydn undoubtedly claims the first rank. It is his incontestable merit +to have opened the way in his symphonies to the free expression of +artistic individuality in instrumental music, to have defined its forms, +and developed + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(30) + +them with the many-sidedness of genius; he did not, how-I ever, bequeath +to Mozart, but rather received from him the well-appointed, fully +organised, and finely proportioned orchestra of our day. In his old age +Haydn once complained to Kalkbrenner that death should call man away +before he has accomplished his life-long desires: "I have only learnt +the proper use of wind instruments in my old age, and now I must pass +away without turning my knowledge to account."[43] + +The first of the seven Vienna symphonies is in D major (part 5, 384 K. +(likely 385 K. DW)), and was composed by Mozart, at his father's wish, +for a Salzburg fête in the summer of 1782. He wrote it under the +pressure of numerous engagements in less than a fortnight, sending the +movements as they were ready to his father (Vol. II., p. 211). No wonder +that when he saw it again he was "quite surprised," not "remembering a +word of it." For performance in Vienna (March 3, 1783) he reduced it to +the usual four movements by the omission of the march and of one of the +minuets, and strengthened the wind instruments very effectively in the +first and last movement by flutes and clarinets. + +A lively, festive style was called for by the occasion, and in the +treatment of the different movements the influence of the old serenade +form is still visible. The first allegro has only one main subject, with +which it begins; this subject enters with a bold leap--[See Page Image] + +and keeps its place to the end with a life and energy enhanced by harsh +dissonances of wonderful freshness and vigour. The whole movement is +a continuous treatment of this subject, no other independent motif +occurring at all. The first part is therefore not repeated, the +working-out section is short, and the whole movement differs +considerably from the usual form of a first symphony movement. The +andante is in the simplest lyric form, pretty and refined, but nothing +more; the minuet is fresh and brilliant (Vol. I., p. 219). + +{THE D MAJOR SYMPHONY.} + +(31) + +The tolerably long drawn-out concluding rondo is lively and brilliant, +and far from insignificant, though not equal to the first movement in +force and fire. + +A second symphony was written by Mozart in great haste on his journey +through Linz in November, 1783; it was apparently that in C major (part +6, 425 K.), which with another short symphony in G major (part 6, 444 +K.), bears clear traces of Haydn's influence, direct and indirect. +(Note: By M. Haydn--the Introduction only by Mozart. DW) + +Several years lie between these symphonies and the next in D major (part +1, 504 K.). This was written for the winter concerts on December 6, +1786, and met with extraordinary approbation, especially in Prague, +where Mozart performed it in January, 1787[44]The first glance at the +symphony shows an altered treatment of the orchestra; it is now +fully organised, and both in combination and detail shows individual +independence. The instrumentation is very clear and brilliant--here and +there perhaps a little sharp--but this tone is purposely selected as the +suitable one. Traces of Haydn's influence may be found in the prefixing +of a solemn introduction to the first allegro, as well as in separate +features of the andante; such, for instance, as the epigrammatic close; +but in all essential points we have nothing but Mozart. The adagio is +an appropriate preface for the allegro, which expresses in its whole +character a lively but earnest struggle. In this allegro the form of +a great symphony movement lies open before us. The chief subject is +completely expressed at the beginning--[See Page Image] + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(32) + +and recurs after a half-close on the dominant with a characteristic +figure--[See Page Image] + +thus allowing of the independent development of section B. Then, after a +complete close on the dominant, there enters the very characteristic and +originally treated second subject; the close of the part is introduced +by the figure, D, so that a member of the chief subject, A, is again +touched upon. The working-out in the second part is founded on the third +section of the chief subject, C. These two bars, which there formed only +an intermediate passage, are here treated imitatively as an independent +motif; first B, then D, are added as counter-subjects, all three are +worked-out together, tributary subjects reappear from the first part, +until the chief subject, A, enters on the dominant in D minor, leading +the way for the other motifs, which press in simultaneously, and glide +upon a long organ point gradually back to the first subject, with +which the modified repetition of the first part begins. In this lengthy +working-out every part of the main idea is fully developed. The simple +enunciations of the first part appear, after the elaboration of +their different elements like utterances of a higher power, bringing +conviction and satisfaction to all who hear. The springlike charm of the +andante, with all its tender grace, never degenerates into effeminacy; +its peculiar character is given by the short, interrupted subject--[See +Page Image] + +which is given in unison or imitation by the treble part and the bass, +and runs through the whole, different harmonic turns giving it a tone, +sometimes of mockery, sometimes of thoughtful reserve. The last movement +(for this symphony has no minuet) displays the greatest agitation and +vivacity + +{SYMPHONIES, 1788.} + +(33) + +without any license; in this it accords with the restraint which +characterises the other movements. It illustrates the moderation of +most of Mozart's great works, which, as Ambros ("Granzen der Musik und +Poesie," p. 56) remarks, "is not a proof of inability to soar into a +higher sphere, but a noble and majestic proportioning of all his forces, +that so they may hold each other in equilibrium." The essence of the +work, to borrow the aesthetic expression of the ancients, is ethic +rather than pathetic; character, decision, stability find expression +there rather than passion or fleeting excitement. + +A year and a half passed before Mozart again turned his attention to +the composition of symphonies; then, in the summer of 1788, within two +months, he composed the three symphonies in E flat major (June 26), G +minor (July 25), and C major (August 10)--the compositions which +most readily occur to us when Mozart's orchestral works come under +discussion. The production of such widely differing and important works +within so short a space of time affords another proof that the mind of +an artist works and creates undisturbed by the changing impressions of +daily life, and that the threads are spun in secret which are to form +the weft and woof of a work of art. The symphonies display Mozart's +perfected power of making the orchestra, by means of free movement +and songlike delivery, into the organ of his artistic mood. As Richard +Wagner says:-- + +The longing sigh of the great human voice, drawn to him by the loving +power of his genius, breathes from his instruments. He leads the +irresistible stream of richest harmony into the heart of his melody, as +though with anxious care he sought to give it, by way of compensation +for its delivery by mere instruments, the depth of feeling and ardour +which lies at the source of the human voice as the expression of the +unfathomable depths of the heart.[45] + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(34) + +This result can only be attained by the most delicate appreciation of +the various capacities of each individual instrument. The very diversity +of tone-colouring which characterises these symphonies shows the +masterly hand with which Mozart chooses and blends his tones, so that +every detail shall come to full effect. It would not be easy to find +places in which the sound-effect does not correspond with the intention; +as he imagined it and willed it, so it sounds, and the same certainty, +the same moderation, is apparent in every part of the artistic +construction. + +The Symphony in E flat major (543 K., part 3) is a veritable triumph of +euphony. Mozart has employed clarinets here, and their union with the +horns and bassoons produces that full, mellow tone which is so important +an element in the modern orchestra; the addition of flutes gives +it clearness and light, and trumpets endow it with brilliancy and +freshness. It will suffice to remind the reader of the beautiful passage +in the andante, where the wind instruments enter in imitation, or of +the charming trio to the minuet, to make manifest the importance of the +choice of tone-colouring in giving characteristic expression. We find +the expression of perfect happiness in the exuberant charm of euphony, +the brilliancy of maturest beauty in which these symphonies are, as it +were, steeped, leaving such an impression as that made on the eye by the +dazzling colours of a glorious summer day. How seldom is this unalloyed +happiness and joy in living granted to mankind, how seldom does art +succeed in reproducing it entire and pure, as it is in this symphony! +The feeling of pride in the consciousness of power shines through the +magnificent introduction, while the allegro expresses purest pleasure, +now in frolicsome joy, now in active excitement, and now in noble and +dignified composure. Some shadows appear, it is true, in the andante, +but they only serve to throw into stronger relief the mild serenity of a + +{G MINOR SYMPHONY, 1788.} + +(35) + +mind that communes with itself and rejoices in the peace which fills it. +This is the true source of the cheerful transport which rules the last +movement, rejoicing in its own strength and in the joy of being. The +last movement in especial is full of a mocking joviality more frequent +with Haydn than Mozart, but it does not lose its hold on the more +refined and elevated tone of the preceding movements. This movement +receives its peculiar stamp from its startling harmonic and rhythmical +surprises. Thus it has an extremely comic effect when the wind +instruments try to continue the subject begun by the violins, but +because these pursue their way unheeding, are thrown out as it were, and +break off in the middle. This mocking tone is kept up to the +conclusion, which appears to Nägeli ("Vorlesungen," p. 158) "so noisily +inconclusive" (_so stillos unschliessend_), "such a bang, that the +unsuspecting hearer does not know what has happened to him."[46] + +The G minor symphony affords a complete contrast to all this (550 K., +part 2). Sorrow and complaining take the place of joy and gladness. The +pianoforte quartet (composed August, 1785) and the Quintet (composed May +16, 1787) in G minor are allied in tone, but their sorrow passes in the +end to gladness or calm, whereas here it rises in a continuous climax +to a wild merriment, as if seeking to stifle care. The agitated first +movement begins with a low plaintiveness, which is scarcely interrupted +by the calmer mood of the second subject;[47] the working-out of the +second part intensifies the gentle murmur--[See Page Image] + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(36) + +into a piercing cry of anguish; but, strive and struggle as it may, the +strength of the resistance sinks again into the murmur with which the +movement closes. The andante, on the contrary, is consolatory in tone; +not reposing on the consciousness of an inner peace, but striving after +it with an earnest composure which even attempts to be cheerful.[48] +The minuet introduces a new turn of expression. A resolute resistance is +opposed to the foe, but in vain, and again the effort sinks to a +moan. Even the tender comfort of the trio, softer and sweeter than the +andante, fails to bring lasting peace; again the combat is renewed, and +again it dies away, complaining. The last movement brings no peace, only +a wild merriment that seeks to drown sorrow, and goes on its course +in restless excitement. This is the most passionate of all Mozart's +symphonies; but even in this he has not forgotten that "music, when +expressing horrors, must still be music" (Vol. II., p. 239).[49] +Goethe's words concerning the Laocoon are applicable here ("Werke" +XXIV., p. 233): "We may boldly assert that this work exhausts its +subject, and fulfils every condition of art. It teaches us that though +the artist's feeling for beauty may be stirred by calm and simple +subjects, it is only displayed in its highest grandeur and dignity when +it proves its power of depicting varieties of character, and of throwing +moderation and control into its representations of outbreaks of human +passion." And in the same sense in which Goethe ventured to call the +Laocoon graceful, none can deny the grace of this symphony, in spite of +much harshness and + +{C MAJOR SYMPHONY.} + +(37) + +keenness of expression.[50] The nature of the case demands the +employment of quite other means to those of the E flat major symphony. +The outlines are more sharply defined and contrasted, without the +abundant filling-in of detail which are of such excellent effect in +the earlier work, the result being a greater clearness, combined with +a certain amount of severity and harshness. The instrumentation agrees +with it; it is kept within confined limits, and has a sharp, abrupt +character. The addition of clarinets for a later performance gave the +tone-colouring greater intensity and fulness. Mozart has taken an extra +sheet of paper, and has rearranged the original oboe parts, giving +characteristic passages to the clarinets, others to the oboes alone, and +frequently combining the two. No clarinets were added to the minuet. +Again, of a totally distinct character is the last symphony, in C +major (551 K., part 4), in more than one respect the greatest and best, +although neither so full of passion as the G minor symphony, nor so +full of charm as the E flat major.[51] Most striking is the dignity and +solemnity of the whole work, manifested in the brilliant pomp in the +first movement, with its evident delight in splendid sound-effects.: + +It has no passionate excitement, but its tender grace is heightened by +a serenity which shines forth most unmistakably in the subject already +alluded to (Vol. II., p. 455, cf. p. 334), which occurs unexpectedly +at the close of the first part. The andante reveals the very depths of +feeling, with traces in its calm beauty of the passionate agitation and +strife from which it proceeds; the impression it leaves is one of moral +strength, + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(38) + +perfected to a noble gentleness. The minuet recalls to mind the cheerful +subject of the first movement. There is an elastic spring in its motion, +sustained with a delicacy and refinement which transports the hearer +into a purer element, where he seems to exist without effort, like the +Homeric gods. The finale is that masterpiece of marvellous contrapuntal +art, which leaves even upon the uninitiated the impression of a +magnificent princely pageant, to prepare the mind for which has been the +office of the previous movements. We recognise in the principal subject +which opens the movement--[See Page Images] + +the motif of which Mozart made frequent use even in his youth (Vol. I., +p. 259); here he seems anxious to bid it a final farewell. He takes it +again as a fugue subject, and again inverted:-- + +Then other motifs join in. One, in pregnant rhythm-- + +asserting itself with sharp accents in all sorts of different ways, and +connected with a third motif as a concluding section:-- + +All these subjects are interwoven or worked out with other subordinate +ideas, both as independent elements for + +{SYMPHONIES.} + +(39) + +contrapuntal elaboration, and in two, three, or fourfold combinations, +bringing to pass harmonic inflections of great force and boldness, +sometimes even of biting harshness. There is scarcely a phrase, however +insignificant, which does not make good its independent existence.[52] +A searching analysis is out of the question in this place; such an +analysis would serve, however, to increase our admiration of the genius +which makes of strictest form the vehicle for a flow of fiery eloquence, +and spreads abroad glory and beauty without stint.[53] + +The perfection of the art of counterpoint is not the distinguishing +characteristic of this symphony alone, but of them all. The enthralling +interest of the development of each movement in its necessary connection +and continuity consists chiefly in the free and liberal use of the +manifold resources of counterpoint. The ease and certainty of this mode +of expression makes it seem fittest for what the composer has to say. +Freedom of treatment penetrates every component part of the whole, +producing the independent, natural motion of each. The then novel art +of employing the wind instruments in separate and combined effects was +especially admired by Mozart's contemporaries. His treatment of the +stringed instruments showed a progress not less advanced, as, for +instance, in the free treatment of the basses, as characteristic as it +was melodious. The highest quality of the symphonies, however, is their +harmony of tone-colour, the healthy combination of orchestral sound, +which is not to be replaced by any separate effects, however charming. +In this combination consists the art of making the orchestra as a living +organism express the artistic idea which gives the creative impulse to +the work, and controls the forces which are always ready to be set in +motion. An unerring conception of the capacities for development + +{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.} + +(40) + +contained in each subject, of the relations of contrasting and +conflicting elements, of the proportions of the parts composing the +different movements,[54] and of the proportions of the movements to +the whole work; finally, of the proper division and blending of the +tone-colours--such are the essential conditions for the production of a +work of art which is to be effective in all its parts. + +Few persons will wish to dispute the fact that Mozart's great symphonies +display the happiest union of invention and knowledge, of feeling and +taste. We have endeavoured also to show in brief outline that they are +the characteristic expression of a mind tuned to artistic production, +whence their entire organisation of necessity proceeds. But language, +incapable of rendering the impressions made by the formative arts, is +still more impotent in seeking to reproduce the substance of a musical +work.[55] Points that can be readily apprehended are emphasised +disproportionately; and the subjectivity of the speaker or writer +intrudes itself upon the consideration of the music. It has been +lately questioned, for instance, whether Mozart's compositions were the +absolute and necessary results of certain definite frames of mind, and +a comparison has been made between him and Beethoven upon this point. +If it is intended by this to draw attention to Beethoven's art, as +proceeding from his _spiritual_ being (Geist), in contrast to that of +earlier composers--of Mozart especially--which came from the _mind_ +(Seele),[56] an important point is indicated. But if this distinction is +made exhaustive, or essentially qualitative, the right point of view +is thereby disturbed. There can be no doubt that Beethoven has struck +chords in the human mind which none before him had touched--that + +{THE RIGHT MEANING OF THE SYMPHONIES.} + +(41) + +he employs the means at his command with a power and energy of +expression unheard before; that by him--the true son of his time--the +strife of passions and the struggle for individual freedom are more +powerfully and unhesitatingly expressed than by any of his predecessors. +But human nature remains the same, and the genuine impulses of artistic +creation proceed from universal and unalterable laws; the artist does +but impress his individual stamp upon the composing elements of his +work; and if, under certain circumstances, this should fail to be +comprehended, it does not therefore follow that the work has no +meaning.[57] For neither can the form and the substance of a veritable +work of art be divided or substituted the one for the other, nor can +such a work take effect as a whole when it is not accepted and grasped +in all its parts.[58] It is this wholeness, this oneness, which brings +the mind of the artist most clearly before us. Let it be remembered +that Mozart's contemporaries dis-; covered an exaggerated expression of +emotion and an incomprehensible depth of characterisation in those very +compositions in which our age recognises dignified moderation, pure +harmony, perfect beauty, and a graceful treatment of form sometimes even +to the loss of intrinsic force; and it will be acknowledged that much +which was supposed to depend on the construction of the work lies really +in the changing point of view of the hearers. Those only who come to the +consideration of the work with a clear and unbiased mind, taking their +standard from the universal and unchangeable laws of art--those only who +are capable of grasping the individuality of an artistic nature, will +not go astray either in their appreciation or their criticism. + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +[Footnote 1: The Greiners had quartet parties every Tuesday during Advent and +Lent (Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 127. Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 71).] + +[Footnote 2: Luigi Boccherini (1740-1805), who was almost a contemporary, +followed his own bent in numerous quartets, quintets, and trios, +uninfluenced by the works of others, and not himself exerting any +lasting influence (Piquot, Notice sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de L. +Boccherini. Paris, 1851).] + +[Footnote 3: The advertisement (Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 75, p. 2191) ran: "Mozart's +works require no praise, and to quote any would be superfluous; we can +only assure the public that we are offering them a masterpiece. This +is confirmed by the fact that the quartets are dedicated to his friend +Joseph Haydn, Kapellmeister to Prince Estcrhazy, who honoured them with +all the approbation which one man of genius can bestow upon another."] + +[Footnote 4: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 238.] + +[Footnote 5: Nissen, Nachtrag, p. 62.] + +[Footnote 6: Cramer, Magazin der Musik, II., p. 1273.] + +[Footnote 7: Gyrowetz, Selbstbiogr., p. xx. Jahrb. d. Tonkunst, 1796, p. 77.] + +[Footnote 8: A. M. Z., I., p. 855.] + +[Footnote 9: Fétis attacked this introduction in the Revue Musicale, V., p. 601, +and maintained his opinion against Pernes (Ibid., VI., pp. 25, 32). An +equally lively onslaught upon Fétis was made in a detailed analysis by +C. A. Leduc (A. M. Z., XXXII., p. 117), and renewed (A. M. Z., XXXIII., +pp. 81, 101) after an answer by Fétis (Rev. Mus., VIII., p. 821), and +also by C. M. Balthasar (A. M. ZM XXXIII., p. 493). Thereupon G. Weber +subjected the passage to a searching examination, and acknowledged +finally that the combinations of sound were unpleasing to his own ear.] + +[Footnote 10: Càcilia, XIV., p. 2.] + +[Footnote 11: Ulibicheff, II., p. 254.] + +[Footnote 12: The conjecture of Fétis that the first violin follows the second at +the second instead of the third crotchet of the second bar, by reason of +a printer's error, is disproved by Mozart's own manuscript (also by his +Thematic Catalogue).] + +[Footnote 13: Lenz, Beethoven, II., p. 78.] + +[Footnote 14: The same object is entirely fulfilled by Beethoven in the +introduction to the Symphony in B flat major, to say nothing of the +Quartet in C major. The cheerful serenity pervading the symphony, and +the occasional stronger accents of passionate feeling, are, as it were, +prefigured in the introduction, where we hear the rolling of the storm +which is to clear and freshen the atmosphere.] + +[Footnote 15: A. M.Z., III., p. 350.] + +[Footnote 16: Joh. Bapt. Schaul, Briefe über den Geschmack in der Musik, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 17: Cf. Musik. Briefe von einem Wohlbekannten, II., p. 40.] + +[Footnote 18: Two bars are added as an extension of the conclusion as in the +minuet of the Quintet in C major (515 K.).] + +[Footnote 19: There are groups of seven bars in the minuet of the later Quartet +in F major (590 K.), and of five bars in the trio.] + +[Footnote 20: This movement has been scored by Beethoven; the original is in +Artaria's possession.] + +[Footnote 21: A siciliana occurs among the variations in a sonata for pianoforte +and violin (377 K., 3), simpler and shorter than the one under +consideration, and altogether omitting the transition to the major key. +The same form is the basis of the rondo to the pianoforte Trio in G +major (496 K.), but freely carried out. The siliciana is employed, +according to old usage, for the slow middle movements of an early Sonata +in F major (280 K.), and of the pianoforte Concerto in A major (414 K.).] + +[Footnote 22: The Hadyn quartets, written in 1787 for the King of Prussia, are +well known.] + +[Footnote 23: From 1787 to 1797 Boccherini drew a considerable pension from +Frederick William II., for which he had to furnish annually some +quartets and quintets, compositions much loved and often played by the +King (Reichardt, Musik. Monatsschr., p. 17. Mus. Ztg., 1805, p. 232. +Picquot, Not. sur L. Boccherini, pp. 16, 112).] + +[Footnote 24: In March, 1788, Mozart announced (Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 27 Anh.) +three new quintets--these two, and the one arranged in C minor--at four +ducats a copy.] + +[Footnote 25: Wien. Ztg., May 18, 1793, p. 1462.] + +[Footnote 26: So also in the unfinished sketches of a number of qointet movements +(79.84 Anh., K.).] + +[Footnote 27: Picquot, Not. sur L. Boccherini, pp. 19, 28, 123] + +[Footnote 28: Prince Grassalcovicz reduced his full band to a "Harmoniemusik" +(Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 77).] + +[Footnote 29: Trûbensee and Wendt as oboists, the brothers Stadler as +clarinetists, Rub and Eisen hornists, Kautzner and Druben bassoonists +(Cramer, Magaz. Mus., I., p. 1400. Musik. Korresp., 1790, p. 31).] + +[Footnote 30: Mozart arranged the "Entfuhrung" for wind instruments (Vol. II., p. +210).] + +[Footnote 31: A. M. Z., XV., p. 668 (Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 327).] + +[Footnote 32: Mozart praised Albert's good "Harmoniemusik" to his father from +Munich (October 3, 1777). A special wind band was engaged for the table +music at the Augarten (Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 78).] + +[Footnote 33: Nicolai speaks highly of the "Harmoniemusik," which was performed +every evening before the main guard at the court (Reise, IV., p. 558).] + +[Footnote 34: Carpani, Le Haydine, p. 81. Gyrowetz, Biogr., p. 5.] + +[Footnote 35: Musik. Korr., 1791, p. 366.] + +[Footnote 36: The serenata has two minuets, the second of which is especially +Haydnlike in character. Perhaps they were intended to be omitted in the +rearrangement, for in Mozart's autograph score they are only copied and +inserted.] + +[Footnote 37: The beginning of an eight-part allegro is among the sketches.] + +[Footnote 38: The first bars of an adagio for clarinets and three basset-horns +were written out (93 Anh., K.), and an allegro for two clarinets and +three basset-horns (95 Anh., K.) was somewhat further advanced.] + +[Footnote 39: So it is given by Meyer (L. Schröder, I., p. 357) for the year 1781 +(cf. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 268), and the tables in the Jahrb. d. Tonkunst, +1796, p. 92, agree with his statement.] + +[Footnote 40: K. R[isbeck], Briefe ûb. Deutschld., I., p. 279.] + +[Footnote 41: Nicolai, Reise, IV., p. 542.] + +[Footnote 42: Nicolai, Reise, VI., p. 702.] + +[Footnote 43: So Kalkbrenner told me in Paris, in 1837.] + +[Footnote 44: Niemetschek, Biogr., p. 41. (Note: Misnumbered in the print +edition--DW)] + +[Footnote 45: Rich. Wagner, Kunstwerk der Zukunft, p. 85. It was just this +"Cantabilität" with which Nàgeli reproached Mozart, who according to him +"cannot be termed a correct composer of instrumental music, for he +mingled and confounded 'cantabilität' with a free instrumental play of +ideas, and his very wealth of fancy and emotional gifts led to a sort of +fermentation in the whole province of art, causing it rather to +retrograde than to advance, and exercising a very powerful influence +over it" (Vorlesungen, p. 157). It certainly appears strange in our +times to see Mozart considered as the disturbing and exciting element in +the development of art; and Nägeli was thoroughly sincere and in earnest +in his musical judgments.] + +[Footnote 46: E. T. A. Hoffmann says of this symphony (called the "swan song"): +"Love and melancholy breathe forth in purest spirit tones; we feel +ourselves drawn with inexpressible longing towards the forms which +beckon us to join them in their flight through the clouds to another +sphere." A. Apel attempted to turn the symphony into a poem, which was +to imitate in words the character of the different movements (A. M. Z., +VIII., p. 453). Cf. Ludw. Bauer's Schriften, p. 471.] + +[Footnote 47: It is characteristic that in the first and last movements the +second theme is only fully expressed when it enters for the second time +in the minor; in the major key it is far less expressive.] + +[Footnote 48: A mistake long perpetrated in the andante has been pointed out +by Schumann (N. Ztschr., XV., p. 150. Ges. Schr., IV., p. 62). In both +parts four bars (I., 29-32; II., 48-51) are repeated twice, with altered +instrumentation; this is altogether inexcusable, for it causes the same +transition from D flat major to minor (G flat major, A flat minor) to +occur twice in succession. A glance at the original score makes the +matter clear. Mozart originally wrote the four bars 33-36 (II., 52-55), +and then added the other version on a separate page, probably as +being easier; they were copied one after the other by mistake. That +he intended the demisemiquaver passage for the wind instruments may +be inferred from the arrangement with clarinets to be presently noted, +where it is given to those instruments.] + +[Footnote 49: Palmer (Evangel. Hymnologie, p. 246) finds no pain in this +symphony, only pure life and gaiety.] + +[Footnote 50: H. Hirschbach says, apparently quite seriously (N. Zeitschr. Mus., +VIII., p. 190): "There are many people who fight shy of Beethoven's +music, finding his earlier symphonies tolerable, but the later bizarre, +obscure, and so on; but Mozart's G minor symphony is acknowledged to +be a masterpiece, though here and there may be one who thinks this +so-called symphony really does not deserve the name, for it is +distinguished neither by originality nor workmanship, and is a +commonplace mild piece of music, requiring no great effort for its +production (even if we set aside the greater demands of the present +day), and it was apparently not considered as a great work by +Beethoven."] + +[Footnote 51: It has been called, I do not know when or by whom, the "Jupiter" +symphony, more, doubtless, to indicate its majesty and splendour than +with a view to any deeper symbolism.] + +[Footnote 52: Sechtcr gave a technical analysis in the appendix to Marpurg's +Kunst der Fuge (Wien: Diabelli) II., p. 161. Lobe, Compositionslehre, +III., p. 393.] + +[Footnote 53: Nägeli (Vorlesungen, p. 162) subjects this symphony to a searching +criticism, in order to prove that Mozart (to whom he allows great +originality and power of combination, extolling him as the first to form +the orchestra into a perfect organic whole) was wanting in repose, and +often shallow and confused.] + +[Footnote 54: Ad. Kullak (Das Musikalisch Schöne, p. 80) remarks that numerous +calculations undertaken by him serve to show that Hadyn and Mozart, in +the majority of their works, keep pretty close to the law of proportion +laid down by Zeising (according to which a whole divided into unequal +parts will not give the effect of symmetry unless the smaller parts bear +the same ratio to the larger as the larger to the whole), and that in +some cases they follow it exactly.] + +[Footnote 55: Mendelssohn's Briefe, II., p. 337.] + +[Footnote 56: Marx, Musik. des Neunzehnten Jahrh., p. 68.] + +[Footnote 57: Ad. Kullak, Das Musikalisch Schöne, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 58: Ambros, Gränzen der Musik und Poesie, pp. 64,123, 141.] + + +=== + + + +MOZART 35 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER. + +THE unexampled success of the "Entführung," which brought fame to the +composer and pecuniary gain to the theatrical management, justified +Mozart in his expectation that the Emperor, having called German opera +into existence,[1] would commission him to further its prosperous +career. He was indeed offered an opera, but the libretto, ''Welches ist +die beste Nation?" was such miserable trash, that Mozart would not waste +his music on it. Umlauf composed it, but it was hissed off the stage; +and Mozart wrote to his father (December 21, 1782) that he did not know +whether the poet or the composer were most deserving of the condemnation +the work received. In fact, the impulse given to German opera seemed +only too likely to die away without lasting result. Stephanie the +younger[2] contrived by his intrigues to obtain the dismissal of Müller +as conductor of the opera, and the appointment of a committee, whose +jealousies and party feelings he turned so skilfully to account that +they were all speedily satisfied to leave the actual power in his hands. +The incessant disagreements which were the consequence, the hostility +between composers, actors, and musicians, disgusted Kienmayer and +Rosenberg, the managers of the opera, and the Emperor himself. Nor were +the repeated experiments made with the works of mediocre + +{THE OPERA IN VIENNA.} + +(43) + +composers (which so enraged Mozart that he purposed writing a critique +on them with examples) likely to find favour with the Emperor. Add to +this that his immediate musical surroundings, Salieri at the head of +them, were at least passively opposed to German opera, and it will not +be thought surprising that the Emperor Joseph angrily renounced German +opera, and followed his own taste in the reinstalment of the Italian. +Chance brought this determination to a point. A French company of +considerable merit, both in opera and the drama, was performing at the +Kamthnerthortheater, and was patronised by the Emperor.[3] He sent for +the performers to Schönbrunn in the summer of + +1782, and entertained them in the castle during their stay. They were +dissatisfied with the hospitality they there received, and one of the +actors had the ill-breeding, during a meal at which the Emperor happened +to come in, to offer him a glass of wine, with the request that he would +try it, and say whether such wretched Burgundy was good enough for them +to drink. The Emperor drank the wine, and answered that it was good +enough for him, but he had no doubt they would find better wine in +France.[4] + +On the dismissal of this company, Count Rosenberg was commissioned to +engage the best singers in Italy, male and female, for an opera buffa, +which was all that was then thought feasible; and at the end of the +carnival of 1783 the German opera company was dissolved, its best +members associating themselves with the new Italian company.[5] Under +these circumstances there was not much hope of success for German +operatic compositions; and only three new pieces were produced in 1783, +none of them with any success.[6] Mozart wrote to his father (February +5, 1783):-- + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(44) + +Yesterday my opera was given for the seventeenth time with the usual +applause, and to a crowded house. Next Friday a new opera is to +be given, the music an absurdity (Galimathias) by a young pupil of +Wagenseil's + +(Joh. Mederitsch), called "Gallus cantans in abore sedens gigirigi +faciens." It will probably fail, but perhaps not so completely as +its predecessor, an old opera by Gassmann," "La Notte Critica" ("The +Disturbed Night"), which was scarcely brought to a third performance. +Before this there was Umlaufs execrable opera, which only reached a +second. It is as though, knowing that German opera is to die after +Easter, they wanted to hasten its end by their own act: and they are +Germans--confound them!--who do this. My own opinion is, that Italian +opera will not survive long, and I shall always hold to the German; I +prefer it, although it is certainly more trouble. Every nation has its +opera, why should we Germans not have ours? Is not our language as fit +for singing as the French and English? and more so than the Russian? +Well, I am writing a German opera all _for myself_. + +I have chosen as subject Goldoni's comedy "Il Servitore di Due Padroni," +and the first act is already translated--the translator being Baron +Binder! But it is to be a secret until it is finished. Now, what do you +think of that? Don't you think that I shall do myself some good by it? + +There can be little doubt that his father would have answered this +question in the affirmative, but he would have been more sceptical as to +the feasibility of the plan, and practical considerations seem to have +caused its abandonment. Two German airs, preserved in draft score, +belong by their handwriting to this period; one for a tenor (indicated +as Carl), "Müsst ich auch durch tausend Drachen" (435 K.), and the other +for a bass (Wahrmond), "Manner suchen stets zu naschen" (433 K.). No +dramatic situation is recognisable, and it cannot therefore be affirmed +that they were composed for this opera. The composition of a German +opera for which he afterwards received a commission from Mannheim +came to nothing. Klein sent him a libretto (doubtless "Rudolf von +Habsburg")[7] with the request that he would set it to music, whereupon +Mozart answered (March 21, 1785):[8]-- + +{DECLINE OF GERMAN OPERA.} + +(45) + +I ought certainly to have acknowledged before now the receipt of your +letter and the accompanying parcel; but it is not the case that I have +in the meantime received two other letters from you; if so, I should +certainly have remembered to answer your first as I now do, having +received your other two letters on the last post-day. But I should have +had no more to say to you on the subject of the opera than I now have. +My dear sir, my hands are so full of work that I have not a moment to +myself. You know by experience, even better than I, that a thing of this +sort must be read carefully and attentively several times over. Hitherto +I have not been able to read it once without interruption. All that I +can say at present is, that I should like to keep the piece a little +longer, if you will be kind enough to leave it with me. In case I should +feel disposed to set it to music, I should wish to know beforehand +whether it is intended for performance at any particular place? For such +a work ought not to be left to chance. I shall hope for an explanation +on this point from you. + +The reasons for the final rejection of this opera are unknown. +Mozart's account of the position of German opera in Vienna is very +characteristic. In 1784, it was almost extinct; only Madame Lange +selected the "Entführung" for her benefit on January 25, conducted +by Mozart himself (Wiener Zeitung, 1784, No. 7); and Adamberger gave +Gluck's "Pilgrimme von Mecca" on February 15. Besides these, Benda's +melodramas, "Ariadne" and "Medea," Jacquet's chief characters, were +performed a few times. But when in the following year the desire +for German opera revived, it was decided to reappoint the +Kamthnerthortheater, which had been freed from its connection with +the court, and to reinstate the German opera in competition with the +Italian. On this point Mozart continues:-- + +I can give you no present information as to the intended German opera, +as (with the exception of the alterations at the Karnthnerthor-theater) +everything goes on very quietly. It is to be opened at the beginning of +October. I do not prophesy a very prosperous result. It seems to me that +the plans now formed are more likely to end in the final overthrow +of the temporarily depressed German opera, than in its elevation and +support. My sister-in-law Lange alone is to be allowed to join the +German company. Cavalieri, Adamberger, Teyber, all pure Germans, of +whom our fatherland may be proud, are to stay in the Italian theatre, to +oppose and rival their own countrymen. German singers at present may be +easily counted! And even if they be as good + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(46) + +as those I have named, which I very much doubt, the present management +appears to me too economical and too little patriotic to think of paying +the services of strangers, when they can have as good or better on the +spot. The Italian _troupe_ has no need of them in point of numbers; it +can stand alone. The present idea is to employ _acteurs and actrices_ +for the German opera who sing from need; unfortunately the very men are +retained as the _directeurs_ of the theatre and the orchestra who have +contributed by their want of knowledge and energy to the downfall of +their own edifice. If only a single patriot were to come to the fore, +it would give the affair another aspect. But in that case, perhaps, +the budding national theatre would break forth into blossom; and what a +disgrace it would be to Germany if we Germans once began in earnest to +think, or act, or speak and even--to _sing_ German! Do not blame me, my +dear sir, if I go too far in my zeal. Convinced that I am addressing a +fellow _German_, I give my tongue free course, which unfortunately is +so seldom possible that after such an outpouring of the heart one feels +that one might get drunk without any risk of injuring one's health. + +The performances of the new German opera, which opened on October 16, +1785, with Monsigny's "Félix," were in no respect equal to those of the +Italian opera. Mozart, whose "Entführung" maintained its place in the +repertory until March, 1788, when the house was again closed, was not +further employed as composer.[9] Only on one occasion did the Emperor +seem to recollect that Mozart was the only opera composer of German +birth who could rival the Italian Salieri. At a "Festival in honour of +the Governor-General of the Netherlands," dramatic performances were +commanded by the Emperor in the Orangery at Schönbrunn, on February +7, 1796; the most distinguished actors and singers, both Italian and +German, were engaged.[10] Stephanie junior was commissioned to prepare +the German occasional + +{DER SCHAUSPIELDIRECTOR, 1786.} + +(47) + +piece; it was called "Der Schauspieldirector."[11] The dramatis persona +were as follows:--[See Page Image] + +The plot consists in the difficulties of Frank, the manager, in engaging +a company for a theatre he has received permission to open in Salzburg. +Many actors and actresses offer their services, and perform favourite +scenes by way of testing their ability, the piece concluding with a +similar trial of operatic music. The piece was loosely put together, and +its main interest consisted in allusions to the passing events in the +theatrical world; these are sometimes too palpable and rather coarse. +Casti's little Italian opera, written for the same occasion, "Prima la +Musica e poi le Parole" is, on the contrary, really witty and amusing, +and allows the composer scope for a genuine musical work. Salieri, whose +music, according to Mozart, was tolerable, but nothing more,[12] thus +gained a great advantage over Mozart, to whom was entrusted the musical +portion of the German piece. There could here, of course, be no question +of dramatic interest and individual characterisation. The two singers +bring their airs with them as prepared trials of skill. The object was +to mark the contrast between them. The two songs are alike in design, +with one slow and one agitated movement, and they further resemble each +other in their mixture of sentimentality and gaiety, and in the number +of bravura passages, + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(48) + +which sometimes go to a considerable height. It is in the details that +everything is different, even to the instrumentation, and that the +sharpest possible contrast is maintained both in the parts and style of +delivery. There is no great liveliness of movement until--the manager +being perplexed to make his choice between the two--they fall to +quarrelling, each of them reiterating with increasing warmth: "Ich bin +die beste Sangerin." Thereupon the tenor comes to the rescue, and seeks +to allay the irritation of the enraged ladies, giving occasion for +a comic terzet full of life and humour. This was composed by Mozart, +probably because it amused him, on January 18, 1786, although the play +was not finished until February 3. Although the situation in itself +cannot be said to possess much interest, there is a certain charm in +the piece, and the forms which are usually only of artistic significance +have here a substantial basis. The imitations with which the singers +follow on each other's heels, the passages in which they run up to +a fabulous height, the alternation of rapid _parlando_ with affected +delivery and extraordinary passages--all these not only take effect as +means of dramatic characterisation, but give the hearers the pleasure +of deciding for themselves which of the two aspirants really is the best +singer. The peacemaking tenor attaches., himself now to one, now to the +other singer, and then again opposes them both, giving a certain amount +of dignity to the dispute by means of musical and dramatic contrasts. +Indeed the whole scene is so lively, so gay, so free from caricature, +and so euphonious, that the terzet may well claim a place with more +important works. The concluding operatic piece is a vaudeville. Each +solo voice delivers a verse of the song, passing with characteristic +modifications into the principal motif, which takes the form of a +chorus. The bass voice comes last; the actor Buf gives his decision for +the first buffo. This was Lange, who himself used to say that he could +only make a singer at need (Selbtsbiographie, p. 126), and who thus +ironically parodied his own words. + +Mozart also wrote an overture to the piece, in which, less bound by the +triviality of the text, he could move more + +{DER SCHAUSPIELDIRECTOR, 1786.} + +(49) + +freely. It consists of a single movement in quick time. The first +bars--[See Page Image] + +fall at once into the tone of the whole, and form in their contrasting +elements the motifs which are afterwards intersected in the working-out. +The two subsequent better-sustained melodies possess in their easy +imitative movement, the charm of a lively, excited conversation, the +transition passage forming a piquant contrast; in short, the whole +overture resembles a comedy with the different characters and intrigues +crossing each other, until at last all ends well. The whole festival was +twice repeated at the Kamthnerthortheater soon after the performance at +Schönbrunn.[13] + +Several later attempts were made to give the piece more action and more +music, so as to preserve Mozart's work on the stage. + +When Goethe undertook the management of the court theatre at Weimar in +1791, numerous Italian and French operas were arranged to German words +by the indefatigable concertmeister Kranz and the industrious theatrical +poet, Vulpius.[14] Goethe, being in Rome in the summer of 1787, was +extremely amused by the performance of an intermezzo, "L' Impresario +in angustie,"[15] which Cimarosa had composed in the Carnival of the +previous year (at the same time as Mozart's "Schauspieldirector") for +the Teatro Nuovo at Naples.[16] He at once had it arranged as a comic +opera, with the title of "Theatralische Abenteuer," and the whole of the +music to Mozart's "Schauspieldirector" introduced.[17] + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(50) + +It was performed at Weimar on October 24,1791, with great success, +and afterwards repeated with alterations[18] on other stages during a +considerable time. + +In Vienna, after the operetta had again been thrice performed in +1797, an experiment was made in 1814 with an increased adaptation by +Stegmeyer, but without lasting success.[19] Within the last few years +L. Schneider has made a false step in the publication of the +"Schauspieldirector, or Mozart und Schikaneder."[20] Wishing to preserve +Mozart's music free from foreign contact, he chose out some songs, which +were suitably instrumentalised by Taubert, and fitted fairly well into +the new piece.[21] But in order to give the plot more interest he fell +into the unpardonable error of making Mozart himself the hero of the +opera, composing the "Zauberflöte" + +under Schikaneder's direction. It is incredible that any one should have +been capable of thus misrepresenting the master whom the resuscitation +of his music was intended to honour, as a senseless, infatuated coxcomb, +contemptible both in his obsequious submission to Schikaneder and +his immoral relations with his sister-in-law, Aloysia Lange. In 1856 +Mozart's operetta was given in Paris at the Bouffes Parisiens with great +success; but with what adaptations I am not aware. + +Mozart was altogether deceived in his expectation that the Italian opera +would not find favour with the public. Joseph made himself acquainted +through Salieri with all the most distinguished artists whom the latter +had heard in Italy (Mosel, Salieri, p. 75), and gave him full power to +engage those he thought fit; he even made this a special object of his +own journey through Italy. He thus succeeded in bringing together a +_personnel_ for opera buffa, which through a long series of years, with +various changes, was unsurpassed in the + +{REVIVAL OF ITALIAN OPERA, 1783.} + +(51) + +unanimous opinion of the public and connoisseurs.[22] The already +mentioned Vienna singers who went over to the Italian opera, Lange, +Cavalieri, and Teyber, were joined by Bemasconi, already past her +prime, in honour of whom Gluck's "Iphigenie in Tauris" was performed in +Italian, in December, 1783.[23] From Italy came Nancy Storace, Mandini, +and afterwards Celestine Coltellini. Of the German male singers they +had indeed dismissed Fischer, whose loss Mozart rightly declared to +be irreparable, but in Benucci they acquired a bass buffo of the first +rank. True, he left Vienna the same year, but Marchesini, who replaced +him, was not nearly so popular, and Benucci was recalled the following +year. The baritones were Mandini, Bussani, and Pugnetti, together +with the tenor, O'Kelly (Kelly), and the Germans, Adamberger, Saal, and +Ruprecht. On April 22, 1783, the Italian opera was opened with Salieri's +newly adapted opera "La Scuola dei Gelosi."[24] It was a decided success, +and was repeated twenty-five times, although a cold criticism of the +opening night asserts: "The prima donna sang extremely well, but her +gesticulation is intolerable. The buffo bore away the palm for natural +acting. The other performers are unworthy of notice."[25] The next +opera, by Cimarosa, "L' Italiana in Londra" (May 5), was not so well +received; but on the other hand Sarti's opera, "Fra due Litiganti il +Terzo Gode" (May 25) excited extraordinary enthusiasm.[26] Schroder +writes on July 26, 1783: "The Italian opera is much sought after, and +the German + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(52) + +theatre is empty."[27] Earnestly as Mozart desired to be employed upon +a German opera, he could not fail to be excited by the performances and +success of the Italian opera, and his overpowering love of the drama +urged him again to employ his genius in the field best fitted for its +efforts. He writes to his father (May 7, 1783):-- + +The Italian opera has recommenced, and pleases very much. The buffo, +named Benucci, is particularly good. I have looked through at least a +hundred (indeed more) ibretti, but cannot find one satisfactory--that +is, unless much were to be altered. And a poet would often rather write +a new one than alter--indeed the new one is sure to be better. We have +here a certain Abbate da Ponte as poet; he is driven frantic with +the alterations he has to make for the theatre; he is, _per obligo_, +employed on a new libretto for Salieri, and will be at least two months +over it;[28] then he has promised to do something new for me. But who +knows whether he can or will keep his word? You know how fair-spoken the +Italians are! If he tells Salieri about it, I shall get no opera as long +as I live--and I should like to show what I can do in Italian music. +Sometimes I have thought that if Varesco does not bear malice on +account of the Munich opera he might write me a new book for seven +characters--but you know best if that can be done. He might be writing +down his ideas, and we could work them out together in Salzburg. The +essential point is that the whole thing should be very comic and, if +possible, that it should have two good female parts--one seria, the +other mezzo carattere, but both equal in importance. The third female +might be quite buffa, and all the male parts if necessary. If you think +anything can be done with Varesco, please speak to him very soon. + +By way of inducement to Varesco, he sent him word that he might reckon +on a fee of four or five hundred gulden, for that it was customary in +Vienna to give the poet the receipts of the third representation. Some +time after he asks again (June 7, 1783) + +Do you know nothing of Varesco? I beg you not to forget; if I were in +Salzburg we could work at it together so well, if we had a plan ready +prepared. + +Before Mozart went to Salzburg he had an instance of what he might +expect in the opposition made to the insertion of his two airs for +Adamberger and Madame Lange in + +{L' OCA DEL CAIRO, 1783.} + +(53) + +Anfossi's "Curioso Indiscreto" (Vol. II., p. 326). On his arrival +in Salzburg at the end of July, he found Varesco quite ready for +the undertaking, which was to begin at once, and to be completed in +Salzburg. + +Among Mozart's remains were found in Varesco's handwriting the first act +complete, and the prose table of contents in detail of the second and +third acts of the opera "L' Oca del Cairo" ("The Goose of Cairo"). The +_dramatis personæ_ are as follows:-- + +The contents are briefly these:-- + +Don Pippo, Marchese di Ripasecca, a vain and haughty fool, has by his +ill-treatment forced his wife, Donna Pantea, to leave him; he believes +her dead, but she is living, concealed at a place over the seas. +Biondello, hated by him, loves his daughter Celidora, whom he intends to +marry to Count Lionetto di Casavuota; he himself has fallen in love with +her companion Lavina, who has come to an understanding with Calandrino, +Biondello's friend and Pantea's relative. The two maidens are confined +in a fortified tower and closely guarded. In full conviction of his +security, Don Pippo has been induced to promise Biondello that if he +succeeds in gaining access to Celidora within the year, her hand shall +be his reward. Hereupon, Calandrino, a skilful mechanic, has constructed +an artificial goose large enough to contain a man, and with machinery +capable of motion; this is conveyed to Pantea, who, disguised in Moorish +costume, is to display it as a show; it is hoped that Pippo may consent +to its exhibition before the two maidens, and that Biondello may thus +be conveyed into the tower. As a condition Calandrino exacts from his +friend a promise of Lavina's hand. + +The opera begins on the anniversary of the wager. Don Pippo is about +to marry Lavina, and awaits the arrival of Count Lionetto; his house is +filled with preparations for festivity. The curtain rises on the whole +household, including the coquettish maid Auretta and her lover the +house-steward, Chichibio, having their hair dressed. Calandrino + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(54) + +enters in much perturbation; Pantea has not arrived, and a violent storm +gives rise to the fear that she may fail altogether; some other device +must be hit upon. He promises marriage to Chichibio and Auretta, if +they can succeed in abstracting Don Pippo's clothes, and preventing his +leaving the castle, which they undertake. The scene changes: Celidora +and Lavina are conversing on a terrace on the fourth story of the tower, +to which they have obtained access in secret; the lovers appear below on +the other side of the moat, and a tender quartet is carried on. The new +plan is to throw a bridge across the moat and scale the tower. Workmen +arrive and the task is eagerly commenced; but Chichibio and Auretta, +chattering about their marriage, have failed to keep watch, and now +announce that Don Pippo has gone out; he himself speedily appears, +summons the watch, stops the work, and drives away the lovers. + +In the second act Pantea lands with the goose in a violent storm. It +is a fair-day, and the assembled people are full of amazement at the +natural and rational movements of the goose, which is supposed to come +from Cairo. Auretta and Chichibio inform Don Pippo of the wonderful +sight. He causes Pantea to come forward, and she informs him that the +goose having lost its speech from fright during the storm can only be +restored by the use of a certain herb growing in a lonely garden. Don +Pippo, delighted, commissions Calandrino to take Pantea and the +goose into the pleasure-garden, that so the two maidens may enjoy the +spectacle. The finale represents the fair close to the tower, the two +ladies looking on from the window. A dispute arises, in which Biondello +takes part; Don Pippo, as magistrate, is called on to do justice; some +ridiculous action is carried on, ending in a general tumult. Pantea then +puts Biondello into the goose and enters the garden, while Calandrino +informs Don Pippo that Biondello, in despair, has set out to sea in a +small boat, which is confirmed by the weeping Auretta. Don Pippo, in +high delight, forms a ludicrous wedding procession and proceeds to the +tower, where Celidora and Lavina stand at the window while the goose +makes various antics for the amusement of the crowd. Finally, Don Pippo +appears in the great hall of the tower, accompanied by the two maidens +and the goose, in full confidence of his triumph, and only waiting the +arrival of Count Lionetto to celebrate the wedding. Chichibio enters +with an uncourteous refusal from the Count. As Don Pippo is in the act +of giving his hand to Lavina, Pantea advances in her true person, the +goose begins to speak, opens, and Biondello steps out; Don Pippo is +beside himself, and is ridiculed by them all; he ends by promising to +amend his ways, and the three couples are made happy. + +No doubt this summarised account has omitted to take note of many comic +and effective touches; but on the other hand it has suppressed many +absurdities--the general impression of a fantastic and senseless plot +not being affected + +{L'OCA DEL CAIRO, 1783.} + +(55) + +by the treatment of the details. In the first glow of delight at having +a new libretto, Mozart set to work composing at once in Salzburg, +and after his return to Vienna he anticipated different scenes that +interested him; but he was soon seized with misgivings that the opera +could not be put on the stage without important alterations. He wrote on +the subject to his father (December 6, 1783):-- + +Only three more airs, and the first act of my opera is finished. With +the aria buffa, the quartet, and the finale I can safely say I am +perfectly satisfied--in fact, quite delighted. So that I should be +sorry to have written so much good music in vain, which must be the case +unless some indispensable alterations are made. Neither you, nor +the Abbate Varesco, nor I, reflected that it would have a very bad +effect--indeed, would ruin the opera--if neither of the two principal +female characters were to appear on the stage until the last moment, +but were to be always wandering about on the ramparts or terraces of +the tower. One act of this might pass muster, but I am sure the audience +would not stand a second. This objection first occurred to me in Linz, +and I see no way out of it but to make some scenes of the second act +take place in the fortress--_camera della fortezza_. The scene where +Don Pippo gives orders to bring the goose in might be the room in which +Celidora and Lavina are. Pantea comes in with the goose. Biondello pops +out; they hear Don Pippo coming. In goes Biondello again. This would +give an opening for a good quintet, which would be all the more comic +because the goose sings too. I must confess to you, however, that my +only reason for not objecting to the whole of the goose business is that +two men of such penetration and judgment as yourself and Varesco see +nothing against it. But there would still be time to think of something +else. Biondello has only undertaken to make his way into the tower; +whether he does it as a sham goose, or by any other trick, makes no +difference at all. I cannot help thinking that many more comic and more +natural scenes might be brought about if Biondello were to remain in +human form. For instance, the news that Biondello had committed himself +to the waves in despair, might arrive quite at the beginning of the +second act, and he might then disguise himself as a Turk, or something +of the kind, and bring Pantea in as a slave (Moorish, of course). Don +Pippo is anxious to purchase a slave for his wife; and the slave-dealer +and the Mooress are admitted into the fortress for inspection. This +leads to much cajoling and mockery of her husband on the part of Pantea, +which would improve the part, for the more comic the opera is the +better. I hope you will explain my opinion fully to the Abbate Varesco, +and I must beg him to set to work in earnest. I have worked hard enough +in the short time. Indeed, I should have finished the first act, if I +did not require some alterations made in some of the words; but I would +rather you did not mention this to him at present. + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(56) + +In the postcript he again begs his father to consult Varesco, and hurry +him on. On further consideration, however, he thought he had still +conceded too much, and a few days afterwards he wrote (December 10, +1783):-- + +Do all you can to make my book a success. I should like to bring the +ladies down from the ramparts in the first act, when they sing their +airs, and I would willingly allow them to sing the whole finale +upstairs. + +Varesco was quite willing to make the alteration, which was easily to be +effected by a change of scene. The altered version exists, together with +the original text; but we know nothing further on the subject. Mozart +seems to have made more extensive demands. He wrote to his father +(December 24, 1783):-- + +Now, for what is most necessary with regard to the opera. The Abbate +Varesco has written after Lavina's cavatina: "A cui serverà la musica +della cavatina antecedente"--that is of Celidora's cavatina--but +this will not do. The words of Celidora's cavatina are hopeless and +inconsolable, while those of Lavina's are full of hope and consolation. +Besides, making one character pipe a song after another is quite an +exploded fashion, and never was a popular one. At the best it is only +fitted for a soubrette and her lover in the _ultime parti._ My idea +would be to begin the scene with a good duet, for which the same words, +with a short appendix for the coda, would answer very well. After the +duet, the conversation could proceed as before: "E quando s' ode il +cam-panello della custode." Mademoiselle Lavina will have the goodness +to take her departure instead of Celidora, so that the latter, as prima +donna, may have an opportunity of singing a grand bravura air. This +would, I think, be an improvement for the composer, the singers, and +the audience, and the whole scene would gain in interest. Besides, it +is scarcely likely that the same song would be tolerated from the second +singer after being sung by the first. I do not know what you both mean +by the following direction: At the end of the interpolated scene for the +two women in the first act, the Abbate has written: "Siegue la scena +VIII che prima era la VII e cosi cangiansi di mano in mano i numeri." This +leads me to suppose that he intends the scene after the quartet, where +the two ladies, one after the other, sing their little songs from the +window, to remain. But that is impossible. The act would be lengthened +out of all proportion, and quite spoiled. I always thought it ludicrous +to read: _Celidora_. "Tu qui m' attendi, arnica. Alla custode farmi +veder vogl' io; ci andrai tu puoi." Lavina: "Si dolce arnica, addio." +(Celidora parte.) Lavina sings her song. Celidora comes back and says: +"Eccomi, or vanne," &c.; and then out goes Lavina, and Celidora sings +her air; they relieve one another, like soldiers on guard. It is much +more natural + +{L'OCA DEL CAIRO, 1783.} + +(57) + +also that, being all together for the quartet, to arrange their +contemplated attack, the men should go out to collect the necessary +assistants, leaving the two women quietly in their retreat. All that can +be allowed them is a few lines of recitative. I cannot imagine that it +was intended to prolong the scene, only that the direction for closing +it was omitted by mistake. I am very curious to hear your good idea for +bringing Biondello into the tower; if it is only comical enough, we will +overlook a good deal that may be unnatural. I am not at all afraid of +a few fireworks; all the arrangements here are so good that there is no +danger of fire. "Medea" has been given repeatedly, at the end of which +half the palace falls in ruins while the other half is in flames. + +Whether Varesco refused to give up the "goose business," whether he was +afraid of further endless emendations, or what his reasons were, who +can tell? In any case no radical change was made in the text, and, much +against his will, Mozart was forced to lay the opera aside. Besides a +recitative and the cursory sketch of a tenor air, six numbers of the +first act are preserved in draft score (422 K.), with, as usual, the +voice parts and bass completely written out, and the ritornelli +and accompaniment more or less exactly indicated for the different +instruments. Four numbers belong to Auretta and Chichibio; the +comparison with "Figaro" is an obvious one, and though Chichibio is +far from being a Figaro, Auretta approaches much nearer to Susanna. The +situation of her air (2) is not badly imagined. Calandrino, hearing from +Auretta that Chichibio is very jealous, embraces her in jest and says, +"What would Chichibio say if he saw us?" Thereupon that personage +enters, and Auretta, pretending not to observe him, sings:-- + + Se fosse qui nascoso + Quell' Argo mio geloso, + O, poverina me! + + Direbbe: "O maledetta, + Pettegola, fraschetta! + La fedeltà dov' è?" + + Pur sono innocente, + Se fosse presente, + Direbbe tra se: + + "O qui non c' è pericolo, + Un caso si ridicolo + Goder si deve affè." + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(58) + +The musical apprehension of the contrasts contained in the words is +remarkably humorous and graceful, and especially the point to which +the whole tends. "O qui non cè peri-colo" is as charmingly roguish as +anything in "Figaro." Chichibio's comic air (3) is in the genuine +style of Italian buffo, and consists of a rapid _parlando_; after the +direction to close with the ritornello it acquires some originality of +colour from the instrumentation. In the shorter of the two duets +between Auretta and Chichibio, the orchestra was also intended to play a +prominent part. The first duet (1), however, is more important and +more broadly designed; Auretta provokes Chichibio's jealousy in the +traditional manner, and then seeks to appease it. The whole piece, with +its shifting humours, is lively and amusing, and the subject--[See Page +Image] + +carried out by the orchestra and toyed with by the voice-parts, is of +a mingled grace and intensity truly worthy of Mozart. Then there are +sketches of two great ensembles. The quartet (6) in which the lovers +converse from afar has less of a buffo character and more true +feeling; the two pairs of lovers are clearly distinguished, and their +characteristics sharply defined. The finale (7), on the other hand, is +altogether in the liveliest buffo tone. At the beginning the lovers are +full of eagerness and hope at the building of the bridge, then follows +the excitement of suspense, and when Don Pippo actually appears a +general tumult breaks out. It does not lie in the nature of this +situation to make the same display of rich variety, nor of the dignity +of deep emotion, which we admire so much in other finales; it is +calculated rather to excite wonder at the long continuation of spirited +movement and ascending climax. In the last presto, especially, this is +quite extraordinary; here the chorus (contrary to custom in comic opera) +is independent and full of effect, yielding to no later work of the same +kind. A proof of the figure Don Pippo is intended to cut is given in +this + +{LO SPOSO DELUSO, 1784.} + +(59) + +finale. The short andante maestoso, "Io sono offeso! La mia eccellenza, +la prepotenza soffrir non de," indicates a grand buffo part such as +never occurs in any other opera. We have, it is true, but a weak and +shadowy outline of all these movements. Let the experiment be made of +imagining corresponding numbers of "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" deprived +of all their orchestral parts except the bass, and a few bars to suggest +the different motifs, and how much weaker and more colourless will be +the image that remains! So, also, we can scarcely arrive at even an +approximate idea of the life which Mozart would have thrown into +these sketches when he came to work them out in all their detail and +brilliancy of colouring. They betray, in common with all the works of +this period, the firm touch of a master, and possess a singular interest +to the student, even in their incomplete form. Who can say that Mozart, +if he had finished the opera, would not have succeeded in overcoming the +weaker points of the libretto? And yet he scarcely seems to have hoped +as much himself, seeing that he finally laid aside the work, begun with +so much eagerness and carried on so far. But he was far from abandoning +his design, and seeing no immediate prospect of a new libretto, he +selected from among the numerous books which he had collected one that +he might at least hope to see put on the stage. This was "Lo Sposo +Deluso" ("Der gefoppte Brautigam"), probably the same opera which was +produced at Padua in the winter of 1787, with music by Cav. Pado.[29] +That it was a libretto which had already been made use of follows +from the fact that Mozart made some corrections from the original of +inaccuracies as to names committed by the ignorant Italian copyist. +It is not necessary for the comprehension of the portions composed by +Mozart (430 K.) to transcribe the whole of the complicated contents of +the book; the list of characters, with the names of the singers to whom +Mozart alloted the various parts, will suffice to show the drift of the +plot. + +The _dramatis personæ_, then, are as follows:--[See Page Image] + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(60) + +The time at which Mozart was at work on this libretto falls within that +during which Nancy Storace performed as Signora Fischer. She had been +induced to marry an English violinist, a Dr. Fisher, at Vienna, who +ill-treated her, and was thereupon sent out of the country by the +Emperor. This was in the year 1784,[30] and as Nancy Storace never +afterwards bore the name of her husband, she could only have been so +described by Mozart shortly after her marriage. As the opera begins, +Bocconio, awaiting his bride, is discovered giving the finishing touches +to his toilet; his friend Pulcherio, the woman-hater, is present, and +jeers at him; so do Don Asdrubale and Bettina, who declares that if her +uncle does not provide her with a husband without delay, she will give +him and his wife no peace. While he is defending himself, the arrival +of the bride is announced; the confusion increases, for he is not yet +ready, and the others all torment him the more. Mozart has connected +this quartet with the overture, which leads into the first scene without +a break. We have a merry flourish of trumpets and drums, taken up by the +whole orchestra, and at once we are in the midst of wedding festivities +and joyous excitement. The plan of the + +{LO SPOSO DELUSO, 1784.} + +(61) + +overture, though without any actual allusion, reminds us of that to +"Figaro," but falls short of it in spirit and refinement. The merriment +is interrupted by a tender andante 3-8, in which strings and wind +instruments alternate, prefiguring the amorous emotions which are to +have a place in the drama. The flourish is heard again, the curtain +rises, and the andante is repeated in its main points, the instrumental +movement serving as a foundation for the free motion of the voices. The +different points are more sharply accented, and the hearer's enjoyment +is intensified by the richer and more brilliant working out of the +movement, which shows itself, as it were, in an altogether new light. +The ensemble is inspired with cheerful humour, full of dramatic life, +and showing distinctly Mozart's own art of giving independence and +freedom to the voices and orchestra, as members of one perfect whole. +The draft is worked out somewhat beyond the first design, the stringed +instruments being almost written in full, and the principal entrances of +the wind instruments at least indicated. We are thus enabled to form +a sufficient idea of the movement, which, had it been completed, would +have been so brilliant an introduction to the opera. Two airs are +preserved in the customary sketch form--voices and bass entire, and +detached indications for the violin. In the soprano air (3), however, +the outline is so characteristic that but a small effort of imagination +suffices to endow it with the effect of full instrumentation. The +caricatured haughtiness of the Roman lady Eugenia is shown in the very +first words:-- + +The contrast between pomposity and volubility is given at once; the +object is to balance one with the other, so that they may appear natural +displays of a consistent character. + +The moderation of tone thus obtained is all the more necessary from the +character being a female one, since a woman cannot be caricatured to +the point of being revolting, as a man can, without injury to the comic +effect. + + Nacqui all' aura trionfale, + Del Romano Campidoglio + E non trovo per le scale, + Che mi venga ad incontrar? + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(62) + +Caricature, which emphasises certain characteristic features of an +individual at the cost of others less striking must always be an +objectionable mode of musical representation. The external features +which can be exaggerated by the musician are limited and soon exhausted, +the exaggeration of emotional expression to produce a comic effect is +a very dangerous device, because music does not possess the resources +which enable poetry and the formative arts to represent disproportions +of caricature as amusing and comical rather than distorted and hideous. +Mozart takes as the foundation for his musical representation a genuine +pride, which is only led by chance impulses to express itself in +an exaggerated and distorted manner, and it is this temporary +self-contradiction which produces the comic effect. The musical +device he employs for the purpose is the composition of the air in +the traditional heroic form of opera seria, which is opposed to the +situation of the moment as well as to the fault-finding words. The +compass and employment of the voice show that Mozart had Storace in +view, for whom he afterwards composed Susanna. Pulcherio's second air +(4) is much more sketchily delineated. Eugenia and Bocconio, after +their first meeting, are not on very good terms with each other, and the +obliging friend seeks to reconcile them; he draws Bocconio's attention +to Eugenia's beauty, and hers to Bocconio's amiability, and as he goes +first to one and then to the other with his appeals, he pictures to +himself the misery which is sure to follow the union of the two. The +contrasting motifs to which the situation gives rise are arranged +in animated alternation. The sketch, however, shows only the general +design; and the share taken in it by the orchestra, doubtless a very +important one, cannot be even approximately arrived at. A terzet (5 +cf., Vol. II., p. 424) between Eugenia, Don Asdrubale and Bocconio is +completely worked out, and causes regret that it was not inserted in +a later opera, that so we might have heard it from the stage. Don +Asdrubale coming to greet Bocconio's bride, the lovers in amazement +recognise each other. Eugenia, who had been informed of Don Asdrubale's +death in battle, falls half-swooning on a couch, and Bocconio hastens +off to fetch + +{LO SPOSO DELUSO, 1784.} + +(63) + +restoratives. Asdrubale, who is on the way to Rome that he may wed +Eugenia, overwhelms her with reproaches, and throws himself on a couch +in despair. Eugenia has risen, and before Asdrubale can explain himself, +Bocconio returns, and to his astonishment finds the scene completely +altered. At this point the terzet begins, and expresses most charmingly +the confusion and embarrassment of the three personages, who are all in +the dark as to each other's conduct, and who put restraint on themselves +even in their extremity of suspense. The orchestra carries on the +threads independently, joined by the voices, sometimes apart and +interrupted, to suit the situation, sometimes together. An excellent +effect is given by the sharply accented expression of involuntary +painful emotion contrasting with the reserve which otherwise prevails +in the terzet. The whole tone of the piece is masterly; while never +overstepping the limits of comic opera, it successfully renders the deep +agitation of mind of all the three characters. This is contrived, not +by the mixture of a comic element in the person of Bocconio, who rather +approximates to the frame of mind of the other two, but by the cheerful +tone which penetrates the whole without any loss of truth of expression. + +This opera again stopped short of completion, and a third seems to +have had the same fate. A terzet for male voices, which is preserved in +duplicate draft, was intended for the first scene of a comic opera. An +opera by Accoromboni, "Il Regno delle Amazoni," was, according to Fétis, +performed at Parma in 1782, as well as elsewhere,[31] with success, and +the words of the terzet leave little doubt that this, too, was among the +"little books" Mozart had looked through, and that it suggested to him +an experiment which must almost have coincided in point of time with the +two just mentioned. It can scarcely have been the imperfections of the +libretti alone which caused Mozart to leave these operas unfinished, +but also the improbability of ever bringing them to performance. +The brilliant reception accorded to the Italian maestri, Sarti and +Paesiello, in Vienna, only caused + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(64) + +the German masters to fall more into the background. The extraordinary +success of Paesiello and Casti with "Il Re Teodoro'' (Vol. II., p. 344), +alarmed even Salieri. He had himself begun an opera, "Il Ricco d' un +Giorno," but laid it aside rather than enter into competition with the +"Re Teodoro." He was always skilful in turning circumstances to account. +When his "Rauchfangkehrer" failed in 1781, and Mozart's "Entführung" was +rousing great expectations, he received in the nick of time a commission +from Munich to write the opera "Semiramide," which was performed during +the Carnival.[32] He then set out, recommended and patronised by Gluck, +to produce "Les Danaides" in Paris. Crowned with new laurels, by reason +of the success which it there met with, he returned to Vienna and +completed his opera, after the first enthusiasm for his rivals had died +out. It was given on December 6, 1784, but without success.[33] Mozart's +prospects for the year 1785 were not any more favourable, when suddenly +help appeared from an unexpected quarter. + +Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838),[34] a native of Ceneda, was exiled from +the republic of Venice, where he had been schoolmaster, on account of +his opinions and manner of life. After a short stay in Gorz and Dresden, +he came to Vienna, warmly recommended to Salieri by the poet Mazzola, +just as the Italian opera was in process of being established. Through +Salieri's influence he was appointed a theatrical poet by Joseph II., +who continued to befriend him; he had thus every reason to be beholden +to Salieri. His first attempt was this opera, "Il Ricco d' un Giorno," +which he did not himself consider a success; Salieri ascribed its +failure, which he felt the more keenly in contrast to Paesiello's +success, solely and entirely to the poet, and swore that he would sooner +cut off his hand than set to music another word of Da Ponte's. He had no +difficulty in obtaining a libretto + +{CASTI--DA PONTE.} + +(65) + +from Casti, "La Grotta di Trofonio"; and this opera, which was first +given on October 12, 1785, was a great success.[35] Da Ponte now saw +himself threatened in his position, for Casti was his declared rival and +opponent. + +Casti had long been famous as a witty and gallant verse-maker; he was +acquainted with the most influential men of the day, and was ambitious +of succeeding Metastasio as _poeta Cesareo_. The rise of Da Ponte, who +had to some extent taken Metastasio's place in the theatre, would be +altogether against his interests; he sought therefore both by praise and +blame to bring his rival into discredit, and ridiculed him personally +in his operetta, "Prima la Musica" (Vol. III., p. 47). Casti carried his +vanity and self-complacency to such a pitch that Kelly mimicked him on +the stage in his own opera ("Demo-gorgone"), to the intense delight of +the public.[36] It was plainly Da Ponte's interest to gain the favour of +composers who might do credit to his operatic libretti. + +Vincent Martin (1754-1810), born in Valencia, and therefore called "Lo +Spagnuolo," had produced some operas in Italy with success since 1781; +Storace had made a furore in one of them at Venice.[37] This caused him +to repair to Vienna in 1784, where the wife of the Spanish Ambassador +took him under her powerful protection. At the command of the Emperor +Da Ponte adapted for him the opera, "Il Burbero di Buon Core," after +Goldoni's comedy, which was performed for the first time on January +4, 1786, with complete success; but his next operas, "Il Finto Cieco," +composed by Gazzaniga, and "Il Demogorgone," composed by Righini, were +not particularly successful. Not satisfied with these composers, he cast +his eyes on Mozart, to whom he had promised a libretto as early as 1783. +Da Ponte positively affirms[38] that it was owing to his readiness and +decision that Mozart was enabled to place his masterpiece on the stage +in defiance of all the cabals and intrigues of his enemies; and he +expresses the + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(66) + +hope that an impartial and truthful account of the affair will make this +evident. We shall therefore follow his account, but shall correct and +modify it in its details by means of other available information.[39] + +Baron Wezlar, a great lover of music, in whose house Mozart had lived +for a time (Vol. II., p. 304), had brought about the acquaintance +between the latter and Da Ponte, and proved himself a munificent patron +on the occasion. On Mozart's expressing anxiety lest an opera composed +by him should not be allowed to appear, Wezlar engaged to pay the +librettist a suitable fee, and to bring about the performance of +the opera in London or Paris if the obstacles in Vienna proved +insurmountable. Confiding in the favour and discernment of the Emperor, +Da Ponte declined this offer. In discussing a suitable subject Mozart +expressed the wish that Da Ponte would adapt Beaumarchais' comedy, "Le +Mariage de Figaro," which, after a prolonged struggle, had been given +for the first time on April 27, 1784, and was now occupying public +attention. The adaptation would be an easy matter, but the Emperor had +forbidden the production of the piece at the National Theatre on account +of its freedom of tone. Da Ponte, however, hoped to overcome this +difficulty; he agreed with Mozart to keep.the undertaking a secret. +They set to work, Da Ponte writing the libretto, and Mozart composing +it gradually as he received it: _in six weeks the whole was finished_. +Fortunately there was a dearth of new operas at the time. Da Ponte, +without consulting any one, went straight to the Emperor, and told him +what had happened. The Emperor had misgivings both as to Mozart, who, +though an excellent instrumental composer, had written an opera which +was no great success ("non era gran cosa"), and as to the piece which +he had already suppressed. Da Ponte declared that he would be answerable +for Mozart as well as for the piece, which he had adapted in such a +manner as to be perfectly fit for representation. The Emperor gave way, +summoned Mozart before him with the score, and after + +{ADAPTATION OF "FIGARO," 1785.} + +(67) + +hearing some portions of it, commanded that it should be performed and +put into rehearsal at once. This caused much displeasure to Mozart's +opponents, Casti and Count Rosenberg, "a sworn enemy of the Germans, who +would listen to nothing that was not Italian,"[40] and who made as many +difficulties as he could. Da Ponte relates one instance of the kind. The +manager, Bussani (the singer who was cast for the part of Bartolo), told +Count Rosenberg that in the third act of "Figaro," during the wedding +festivities, while Susanna is conveying the letter to the Count, a +ballet was to be introduced. Rosenberg sent for the poet, reminded him +that the Emperor would not allow a ballet, and turning a deaf ear to +his remonstrances, tore the scene out of the book. Mozart was furious; +wanted to call the Count to answer, to horsewhip Bussani, to appeal to +the Emperor, to take back the score--in short, he could with difficulty +be pacified. At the full rehearsal the Emperor was present. In obedience +to Rosenberg's order the ballet was omitted, and in dead silence Susanna +and the Count made their now meaningless gestures. The Emperor, in +amazement, asked what it all meant, and on Da Ponte's explanation of +the affair, ordered a proper ballet to be at once arranged. This story, +although Da Ponte may have exaggerated the importance of his own share +in it, doubtless gives a fair idea on the whole of the circumstances +under which Mozart's "Figaro" was produced. Kelly's assertion that +Mozart was commissioned by the Emperor to write an opera, and selected +"Figaro," accords very well with Da Ponte's account. Mozart began his +work in the autumn of 1785, as we learn from a letter of his father's to +Marianne (November 11, 1785):-- + +At last, after six weeks' silence, I have received a letter from your +brother of November 2, containing quite twelve lines. His excuse for not +writing is that he has been over head and ears at work on his opera, + +"Le Nozze di Figaro." He has put off all his pupils to the afternoon, so +that he may have his mornings free. I have no fear as to the music; + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(68) + +but there will no doubt be much discussion and annoyance before he can +get the libretto arranged to his wish; and having procrastinated and let +the time slip after his usual fashion, he is obliged now to set to work +in earnest, because Count Rosenberg insists upon it. + +This contradicts Da Ponte's account of the secrecy with which the opera +was prepared; and it may be doubted also whether it was really written +in six weeks. The date in Mozarts own catalogue,-April 29, 1786, only +proves that he closed his work by writing the overture immediately +before the first performance (May 1).[41] Da Ponte may have exaggerated +somewhat tor the sake of effect. Mozart's Thematic Catalogue shows what +he was capable of accomplishing even while at work upon "Figaro." There +is a hiatus in the catalogue from July 5, 1785, to November 5. It is +possible that he was busy with the opera during this interval; but +during the time immediately following, when he was working at it in real +earnest, we find the following compositions entered:-- + +1785. November 5. Quartet to the "Villanella Rapita" (Vol. II., p. +331). + +November 21. Terzet I (479, 480 K.). + +December 12. Sonata for piano and violin in E flat major (481 K.). + +December 16. Pianoforte concerto in E flat major (482 K.). + +1786. January 10. Pianoforte rondo in D major (485 K.). + +January 18. Terzet from the "Schauspieldirector." + +February 3. "Schauspieldirector" (486 K.). + +March 2. Pianoforte concerto in A major (488 K.). + +March 10. Duet and air for the private performance of "Ido-meneo" (489, +490 K.). + +March 24. Pianoforte concerto in C minor (491 K.). + +April 29. "Le Nozze di Figaro" (492 K.). + +To these may be added the Lent Concerts, which were also then +occupying him. There were other difficulties to be overcome before +the performance, of which we hear nothing from Da Ponte, but which are +related by Kelly:-- + +There were three operas now on the _tapis_, one by Righini ("ü +Demo-gorgone"), another by Salieri ("La Grotta di Trofonio"), and one + +{INTRIGUES AGAINST "FIGARO."} + +(69) + +by Mozart, by special command of the Emperor. Mozart chose to have +Beaumarchais' French comedy, "Le Mariage de Figaro," made into an +Italian opera, which was done with great ability by Da Ponte. These +three pieces were nearly ready for representation at the same time, and +each composer claimed the right of producing his opera for the first. +The contest raised much discord, and parties were formed. The characters +of the three men were all very different. Mozart was as touchy as +gunpowder, and swore that he would put the score of his opera into the +fire if it was not produced first; his claim was backed by a strong +party. Righini, on the contrary, was working like a mole in the dark to +get precedence. The third candidate was Maestro di Capella to the court, +a clever, shrewd man, possessed of what Bacon called "crooked wisdom"; +and his claims were backed by three of the principal performers, who +formed a cabal not easily put down. Every one of the opera company took +part in the contest. I alone was a stickler for Mozart, and naturally +enough, for he had a claim on my warmest wishes, from my adoration +of his powerful genius and the debt of gratitude I owed him for many +personal favours. The mighty contest was put an end to by his majesty +issuing a mandate for Mozart's "Nozze di Figaro" to be instantly put +into rehearsal. + +A slight error has crept in here, for Salieri's opera was given first +on October 12, 1785; but this account confirms the fact of the Emperor's +interference. Mozart's claims were supported by the distinguished +company of amateurs who arranged a representation of "Idomeneo" at the +Auersperg Theatre in March (Vol. II., p. 289). The fact that his friends +Count Hatzfeld (Vol. II., p. 291) and Bridi (Vol. II., p. 359) took his +part in the dispute shows that it was intended to put Mozart forward as +a composer of Italian operas, and that powerful support was considered +necessary for the purpose. His father had cause therefore to write to +his daughter (April 18):-- + +On the 28th, "Le Nozze di Figaro" is to be put on the stage for the +first time. It will mean much if it succeeds, for I know that there +has been a surprisingly strong cabal against it. Salieri and all +his adherents will move heaven and earth against it. Duschek told me +lately[42] that my son met with such violent opposition because of his +extraordinary talent and cleverness. + +{MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} + +(70) + +Niemetschek (p. 37) goes so far as to assert that it was commonly +reported that the Italian singers did all they could to ruin the opera +on its first performance by intentional mistakes and carelessness, and +that they had to be sternly reminded of their duty by the Emperor, to +whom Mozart appealed in despair at the end of the first act. Kelly says +nothing of this; he maintains, on the contrary, that never was opera so +strongly cast, and that all the subsequent performances he had seen +were no more to be compared to the original one than light is to +darkness:[43]-- + +All the original performers had the advantage of the instruction of the +composer, who transfused into their minds his inspired meaning. I never +shall forget his little animated countenance, when lighted up with the +glowing rays of genius; it is as impossible to describe it as it would +be to paint sunbeams. I remember at the first rehearsal of the full band +Mozart was on the stage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked +hat, giving the time of the music to the orchestra. Figaro's song "Non +più andrai" Benucci gave with the greatest animation and power of +voice. I was standing close to Mozart, who, (_sotto voce_), was repeating: +"Bravo! bravo, Benucci!" and when Benucci came to the fine passage, +"Cherubino, alla vittoria, alia gloria militar!" which he gave out with +stentorian lungs, the effect was electricity itself, for the whole of +the performers on the stage, and those in the orchestra, as if actuated +by one feeling of delight, vociferated: "Bravo! bravo, maestro! viva, +viva, grande Mozart!" Those in the orchestra I thought would never have +ceased applauding, by beating the bows of their violins against the +music-desks. The little man acknowledged by repeated obeisances his +thanks for the distinguished mark of enthusiastic applause bestowed upon +him. + +The following was the cast of the first performance, according to +Mozart's Thematic Catalogue--the original libretto is unfortunately +lost:[44]--[See page images] + +{PERFORMANCE OF "FIGARO."} + +(71) + +The reception of the opera by the public on its first performance (May +1, 1786) was such as to justify the most favourable anticipations.[45] +"Never was anything more complete," says Kelly, "than the triumph of +Mozart and his 'Nozze di Figaro.'" The house was crowded, and many +pieces were encored, so that the opera lasted twice the usual time; +but that did not prevent long-continued applause and repeated calls for +Mozart at the close of the performance. L. Mozart wrote to his daughter +on May 18: "At the second performance of your brother's opera (May 3) +five pieces were encored, and on the third (May 8) seven; one little +duet had to be sung three times."[46] The opera, therefore, was a decided +success; too much so, indeed, for many people, and the Emperor was +persuaded, after the first performance, to forbid any piece to be +encored, under the pretence of sparing the singers and the conductor. +Kelly narrates how the Emperor, after issuing this prohibition, +addressing himself at a rehearsal to Storace, Mandini, and Benucci, +said:[47] "I + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(72) + +dare say you are all pleased that I put a stop to encores; it must +be fatiguing and distressing to you to repeat so many songs." Storace +replied: "It is indeed, sire, very distressing." The other two bowed, +as if in assent; but Kelly, who was standing by, said boldly to the +Emperor: "Do not believe them, sire, they all like to be encored; at +least I am sure I always do"; whereupon the Emperor laughed. Mozart's +enemies found it impossible to drive the opera completely from the +stage, but they took care that it should not be given often enough +to take firm hold of the public favour. Nevertheless, it reached nine +performances within the year, though with long intervals between them +(May 1, 3, 8, 24, July 4, August 28, September 22, November 15, December +18). On November 17 Martin's "Cosa Rara" (after so strong an opposition +on the part of the singers, that the Emperor was obliged to compel them +to sing)[48] achieved an unprecedented success. This threw "Figaro" +somewhat into the shade, both in the public estimation and in the +Emperor's opinion; the latter told Dittersdorf that Mozart overweighted +the singers with his full accompaniments;[49] Martin's easy and taking +melodies were far more to the royal taste. During 1787 and 1788 "Figaro" +was not given at all in Vienna,[50] and was not reproduced until August +29, 1789. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXV. + +[Footnote 1: For the history of opera in Vienna I am much indebted to an article +written with full knowledge of the subject (A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 2651) +and still more so to the careful and accurate communications which I +owe to the courtesy of my friend Dr. Leop. von Sonnleithner; these two +accounts form the groundwork of the present chapter, even where I have +not expressly referred to them.] + +[Footnote 2: Müller (Abschied, p. 263) does not indeed mention the younger +Stephanie by name, but other accounts explain his allusions. Schroder +wrote to Dalberg (January 19, 1782): "I'm insisting upon the removal of +young Stephanie from all concern in the affair, but there is no one bold +enough to propose to the Emperor to dismiss a man whom he has appointed, +and who will certainly be the ruin of the theatre."] + +[Footnote 3: Meyer, L. Schroder, I., p. 358. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 265. Nicolai +heard a performance of Gluck's "Orpheus" there in 1781 (Reise, IV., p. +537).] + +[Footnote 4: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 194.] + +[Footnote 5: A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 269. Schroder wrote to Dalberg (October 21, +1782): "German opera is abolished here, and comedy has been strengthened +by Reineke and Opiz."] + +[Footnote 6: The new operas were: January 10--Gassmann, "Die Unruhige Nacht" (La +Notte Critica), performed three times; February 9--Gallus, "Rose," or +"Pflicht und Liebe im Streit," performed twice; February 23--J. Weigl, +"Die betrogne Arglist," performed three times.] + +[Footnote 7: On January 20, 1781, Klein submitted his opera "Kaiser Rudolf von +Habsburg" to the Electoral German company; a short notice (Rhein. +Beitr. z. Gelehrs., 1781, I., p. 383) gives it extraordinary praise. He +afterwards turned the same subject into a tragedy with similar title, +which appeared in 1787.] + +[Footnote 8: The letter was published in facsimile by Gassner (Zeitschr. f. +Deutschlands Musikvereine, II., p. 161), and has often been printed.] + +[Footnote 9: The new German original operas which were performed were: 1785--"Die +Dorfhandel," or "Bunt über Eck," by Rupprecht; "Die Dorfdeputirten," +by Teyber. 1786--"Die glücklichen Jager," by Umlauf; "Der Alchymist," by +Schuster; "Doctor und Apotheker," by Dittersdorf; "Robert und Hannchen," +by Hanke; "Betrug und Aberglauben," by Dittersdorf; "Zemirens und Azors +Ehestand," by Umlauf. 1787--"Die Liebe im Narrenhause," by Dittersdorf; +"Das wüthende Heer," by Rupprecht; "Im Finstern ist nicht gut tappen," +by Schenk; "Die Illumination," by Kürtzinger.] + +[Footnote 10: Wien. Ztg., 1786, No. 11. L. Schneider, Cäcilia, XXIV., p. 148. R. +Hirsch, Mozart's "Schauspieldirector," Leipz., 1859.] + +[Footnote 11: "Der Schauspieldirector." Ein Gelegenheitsstück in einem Aufzuge. +Wien, 1786. Printed, according to Schneider, in Stephanie's Vaudevilles.] + +[Footnote 12: Mosel, Salieri's Leben u. Werke, p. 90.] + +[Footnote 13: Wien. Ztg., 1786, No. 13 Anh.] + +[Footnote 14: Goethe, Tag-Vund Jahreshefte, 1791 (Werke, XXI., p. 12).] + +[Footnote 15: Goethe, Ital. Reise (Werke, XIX., p. 360).] + +[Footnote 16: A. M. Z., 1864, pp. 465, 649.] + +[Footnote 17: The text is printed in Diezmann's Goethe-Schiller-Museum, p. 15. +Goethe can scarcely have had a greater share in it than the insertion +of the songs "An dem schönsten Frûhlingsmorgen" and "Bei dem Glanz der +Abendröthe" (Neues Verz. e. Goethe-Bibl., p. 37). The words of Mozart's +pieces are only somewhat improved in unimportant particulars, being, as +a whole, very poor and insipid.] + +[Footnote 18: Theaterbriefe von Goethe, p. 32.] + +[Footnote 19: Hirsch, Mozart's Schauspieldirector, p. 18.] + +[Footnote 20: Printed in the German Bühnenalmanach, 1861.] + +[Footnote 21: Besides the Bandlterzett (441 K., Vol. II., p. 362), and the air +"Manner suchen stets zu naschen" (433 K., Vol. III., p. 44), the two +songs "An Chloe" (524 K.) and "Die betrogene Welt" (474 K.) are also +inserted.] + +[Footnote 22: Reichardt (A. M. Z., XV., p. 665. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. +324): "Opera buffa was at that time (1783) far better appointed there, +and followed its own bent with far more earnestness and consistency than +anywhere in Italy. The orchestra was also first-rate--full of fire and +discretion." Cf. Musik. Wochenbl., p. 66. Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. +78.] + +[Footnote 23: Berl. Litt.-u. Theat.-Ztg., 1784,1., p. 14. Opera seria was only +given as an exception. When the celebrated male soprano Luigi Marchesi +(Cramer, Magaz. f. Mus., I., p. 559) passed through Vienna on his +journey from St. Petersburg, in August, 1785, the Emperor directed him +to appear in Sarti's "Giulio Sabino," which was played six times to +overflowing houses (Muller, Abschied, p. 7).] + +[Footnote 24: Berl. Litt.--u. Theat.-Ztg., I., pp. 14,19.] + +[Footnote 25: Berl. Litt.--u. Theat-Ztg., I., p. 313.] + +[Footnote 26: Cramer, Magaz. f. Mus., II., p. 185.] + +[Footnote 27: Meyer, L. Schröder, I., p. 345.] + +[Footnote 28: This was the opera "Il Ricco d'un Giomo," which was produced with +little success on December 6, 1784 (Mosel, Salieri, p. 86).] + +[Footnote 29: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1789, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 30: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 231. Pohl, Mozart u. Haydn in London, p. +169.] + +[Footnote 31: Cramer, Magaz. f. Mus., II., p. 556.] + +[Footnote 32: Mosel, Salieri, p. 74.] + +[Footnote 33: Mosel, Salieri, p. 79. Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 34: L. Da Ponte's "Memorie" appeared in New York, 1823 (2nd edition, +1829-30), and a translation at Stuttgart, 1847. Cf. A. M. Z., X., p. +679; XLI., p. 788; XLIV., p. 769.] + +[Footnote 35: Schink, Dramaturg. Monate, II., p. 539.] + +[Footnote 36: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 235.] + +[Footnote 37: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 189.] + +[Footnote 38: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 68.] + +[Footnote 39: Kelly (Reminisc., I., p. 257) gives some interesting notices on the +history of "Figaro."] + +[Footnote 40: Berl. Mus.-Ztg., 1793, p. 141.] + +[Footnote 41: An account of the fate of the autograph score, which came into the +possession of N. Simrock, of Bonn, in 1864, is given in the N. Ztschr. +fur Mus., XXXVI., p. 261. Cf. XXXV., pp. 65, 77.] + +[Footnote 42: Duschek and his wife had arrived at Salzburg from Prague at the +beginning of April, after a short stay in Vienna.] + +[Footnote 43: Ulibicheff's opinion that, fortunately for the music, Mozart had +to do with mediocre singers (II., p. 40), is unfounded. Cf. A. M. Z., +XXIV., p. 270.] + +[Footnote 44: It is remarkable that none of the German vocalists, neither Madame +Lange nor Cavalieri nor Teyber, on whom Mozart had himself reckoned +for his "Sposo Deluso" (Vol. III., p. 60), were employed; a result, no +doubt, of operatic factions. We know from Da Ponte (Mem., I., 2, pp. +109, no, 135) that Cavalieri was highly favoured by Salieri (Mosel, +Salieri, p. 184), whose pupil she was.] + +[Footnote 45: So Mozart writes the name. Kelly was, as he says himself +(Reminisc., I. p. 139), called Okelly in Italy.] + +[Footnote 46: She afterwards saog Pamina in the "Zauberflote."] + +[Footnote 47: The Wiener Zeitung (1786, No. 35) contained only the following +brief notice: On Monday, May 1, was performed lor the first time in the +National Theatre a new Italian opera in four acts, entitled 'Le Nozze di +Figaro,' adapted from the French comedy of Mons. de Beaumarchais by +Herr Abb. da Ponte, theatrical poet; the music is by Herr Kapellmeister +Mozart. La Sign. Laschi, who has lately returned here, and La Sign. +Bussani, a new vocalist, made their first appearance as the Countess and +the page."] + +[Footnote 48: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 90.] + +[Footnote 49: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 237.] + +[Footnote 50: In, June, 1787, Balzer announced (Wien. Ztg., 1787, No. 46, Anh.) +that the unanimous approbation with which Mozart's masterpiece, "Die +Hochzeit des Figaro," had been received in Prague, had induced him +to publish a pianoforte arrangement by Kucharz; he also advertised +arrangements for wind instruments, and a version of the work as a +quintet by Abbé Vogler(I).] + + +=== + + + +MOZART 36 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. "LE NOZZE DI FIGARO." + +THE choice of Beaumarchais' comedy "Le Mariage de Figaro, ou La Folle +Journée," as a subject for operatic treatment, was deliberately made by +Mozart himself.[1] The + +{LE MARIAGE DE FIGARO.} + +(73) + +play had excited unusual interest, both on account of the name and +political position of the author and of the curious circumstances +under which it had been produced in Paris. Beaumarchais had offered his +comedy, towards the end of 1781, to the Théätre-Français, where it was +readily accepted. But rumours prejudicial to the piece led Louis XVI. to +have it read aloud in his presence; he was horrified at its freedom of +tone, and declared that he would never consent to its performance. This +only served to stimulate curiosity, and people thronged to hear the +reading of the manuscript; a strong court party interested themselves +for its production, the actors pressed for it, the public insisted +upon it. Beaumarchais knew well how to turn all these circumstances to +account; in June, 1783, his comedy was on the point of performance at +the court theatre; the audience was actually assembled, when, just as +the curtain was about to rise, a fresh prohibition arrived, from the +King. Complaints of tyranny and oppression now became audible, and the +affair assumed a political aspect. At length the King was prevailed upon +to countenance a private representation at a festival given by M. +de Vaudreuil to the Comte d'Artois in September, 1783. Beaumarchais +contrived that this should lead to a public performance, which took +place in April, 1784.[2] The unheard-of success of the play caused its +reputation to spread rapidly, and Mozart's attention could not fail to +be attracted to it, the more so as Paesiello's "Barbiere di Seviglia," +founded on Beaumarchais' earlier comedy, had been well received in +Vienna. Mozart's search for a suitable libretto among the Italian ones +already published, and his attempt to produce a new one with. Varesco, +were equally unsuccessful. The accepted form of opera buffa, relying +for effect solely on broadly comic situations and caricature, did not +satisfy Mozart's conditions of dramatic reality in the development of +an interesting plot and a consistent delineation of character. Both +conditions were amply fulfilled by Beaumarchais. "Le Nozze di Figaro" +is well known to be in a certain sort a continuation of the "Barbiere di +Seviglia." + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(74) + +The majority of the characters appear in both pieces, events belonging +to the plot of "Figaro" are grounded on the previous play, and it is +necessary for a proper appreciation of the motives and characterisation +to bear the connection of the two in mind:-- + +Count Almaviva having, with Figaro's help, gained the hand of Rosina, +the charming ward of Doctor Bartolo, takes Figaro and Marcellina, +Rosina's duenna, into his service, and retires to his castle, attended +also by Basilio, the music-master. He soon wearies of his wife's +society, and seeks distraction in the company of Susanna, the Countess's +maid and Figaro's affianced bride. Basilio is again made to act the +part of a go-between. The piece begins on the day appointed for Figaro's +wedding. Figaro, having learnt the Count's designs from Susanna, +determines to outwit his master, and to prevent the success of his +scheme for delaying the wedding. In this scheme the Count is offered +assistance by Marcellina, who is in love with Figaro, and possesses his +written undertaking to marry her should he fail in repaying her by a +certain day a sum of money she has lent him. Her dread of losing all +chance of Figaro, by his union with Susanna, induces her to call Bartolo +to her assistance, and the latter is the more ready to do what he +can, both that he may revenge himself on Figaro, and free himself from +Marcellina's claims upon him. It appears that years ago she bore him a +son, who was kidnapped as a child. While this danger is hanging over +the heads of the lovers, Susanna is sought in her room by the page +Cherubino, a heedless and beautiful youth, just budding into manhood. +The Count has surprised him with Fanchette, daughter of his gardener +Antonio, with whom he is himself flirting, and has discharged him from +his service; he begs Susanna to intercede for him with the Countess, his +godmother, for whom he entertains an ardent passion. As they converse, +they hear the Count approaching, and Cherubino hides behind a large +arm-chair; the Count has come to offer Susanna a dowry if she will +consent to meet him the same evening; she, however, vigorously repulses +him. Basilio enters: the Count hides behind the same arm-chair, and +Cherubino slips round to the front, and covers himself with a cloak +which lies upon the chair. Basilio reiterates to Susanna the Count's +proposals, and, on her continued refusal, makes malicious allusions to +the page, who is paying court not only to Susanna, but to the Countess. +The Count comes forward in a fury, orders the immediate dismissal of +the page, tells how he found him concealed in the gardener's house, and +discovers him in the arm-chair. But Cherubino has been a witness to all +that has passed, and, in order to conciliate and get rid of him at the +same time, the Count gives him a commission in his regiment, ordering +his immediate departure for Seville, to join the garrison there. At this +point Figaro enters at the head of the villagers in holiday attire. The +Count, at his marriage, had + +{BEAUMARCHAIS' FIGARO.} + +(75) + +renounced his seignorial rights, and, instigated by Figaro, his grateful +subjects come to petition him to honour the first wedding which has +since been celebrated by himself placing the wreath on the head of the +bride. The Count cannot refuse the petition, but begs for a few hours +delay, in order that the ceremony may be rendered more brilliant. +Figaro in the meantime is plotting a double intrigue against the Count, +with the co-operation of the Countess, who has been kept informed of +all that is going on by her devoted Susanna. Her relations to Figaro and +Susanna, and her ready acquiescence in a design to recall her husband +to a sense of his duty by means of a trick, keep us in mind that the +Countess Almaviva is the Rosina of the "Barber of Seville." She loves +her husband, and has a full consciousness of her own dignity; but +the circumstances of her early life, and of her marriage with Count +Almaviva, have left their indelible impress upon her. Figaro warns the +Count, who has gone hunting, by an anonymous letter that a rival has +made an assignation with the Countess; he hopes that jealousy will +divert his mind from the wedding. On the other side he assures him of +Susanna's intention to keep her appointment in the garden; Cherubino, +who has been allowed to delay his departure at Figaro's intercession, +is to be disguised so as to take Susanna's place at the interview. |The +page comes to be dressed; all at once the Count knocks, having hurried +home in jealous haste. Cherubino slips into the inner room, of which the +Countess locks the door; as the Count is plying her with angry questions +Cherubino throws down a chair; the Countess explains that Susanna is +within, but refuses to allow her to come out, or even to answer, and +will not give up the key. The Count, enraged, secures all means of +egress, and drags the Countess away with him to fetch an axe and break +the door open. Susanna, who has been concealed in an alcove during +this scene, proceeds to liberate Cherubino; he, finding no other exit +available, springs through the window into the garden, and Susanna +takes his place in the cabinet. The Count returning with the Countess, +determined to employ force in opening the door, she confesses that the +page is in the inner chamber, whereby his rage is still further excited; +to the astonishment of them both Susanna steps forth. The Countess soon +collects herself, and explains that their only intention has been to +punish him for his want of faith, and that Figaro wrote the letter as a +preliminary to the trick; the Count is forced to sue for pardon, which +he obtains with difficulty. Figaro now enters with the information that +all is prepared for the wedding, and being taxed by the Count with the +letter, denies all knowledge of it, and is with difficulty brought to +understand the position of affairs. This danger is hardly over when the +gardener enters, half tipsy, with the complaint that some one has just +jumped from the window of the cabinet upon his flowers; Figaro declares +that he was there with Susanna, and had jumped into the garden from fear +of the Count's fury. The gardener says that he thought he had recognised +Cherubino, but hands Figaro a paper which + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(76) + +had been dropped in the garden. The Count, his suspicions newly +awakened, demands the contents of the paper; the Countess recognises +in it the page's patent, and whispers through Susanna to Figaro, who is +able to ward off this fresh danger. Marcellina now appears supported +by Bartolo, and makes known Figaro's promise of marriage; the Count, in +high delight, promises to support her claims in a court of justice, and +by dismissing Basilio, who puts forward his claims to Marcellina's hand, +revenges himself for the letter which Basilio had presented to him. + +Before the sitting of the court the Countess conceives the design of +herself taking Susanna's place at the rendezvous with the Count. The +trial which takes place results in Figaro's being ordered to pay his +debt to Marcellina, or in default to marry her. The Count appears at the +goal of his wishes, but Figaro's evasion--that he must have the consent +of his parents--leads to the discovery that he is the long-lost son +of Bartolo and Marcellina, who thereupon decide to celebrate their +espousals together with his; Susanna, entering with money obtained +from the Countess to redeem Figaro, is indignant at finding him in +Marcellina's arms, but her anger is speedily turned to delight at +hearing the true position of affairs. + +During the solemn wedding ceremony--at which Cherubino, disguised as +Fanchette, appears among the village maidens and is recognised--Susanna +gives the Count a letter dictated by the Countess, in which she appoints +the place of rendezvous; a pin which is stuck into the letter is to be +returned as a token of understanding. Figaro sees that the Count reads +the letter and pricks himself with the pin, without noticing that +Susanna has given it to him; hearing afterwards from Fanchette that +she is commissioned by the Count to convey the pin back to Susanna, he +easily surmises what it means. Beside himself with jealousy, he stations +his parents and friends in the neighbourhood of the appointed place, and +repairs thither himself to surprise and punish the guilty pair. + +In the darkness of night the Countess and Susanna, having exchanged +clothes, come to put their husbands to the proof; Susanna has been +warned by Marcellina of Figaro's designs. Scarcely is the Countess +alone, when she is alarmed by the approach of Cherubino, who presses +a kiss on the supposed Susanna; the Count, entering on the instant, +salutes the page with a box on the ear, which is received instead by the +listening Figaro. Alone with the Countess, the Count addresses her in +the most endearing terms, presents her with money, and with a costly +ring, and endeavours to go off with her; she escapes him in the +darkness, and he seeks her in vain. + +In the meantime Susanna, as the Countess, comes to the enraged Figaro, +but forgetting for a moment to disguise her voice, he recognises her, +and turns the tables by proposing to her to revenge herself for her +lord's want of faith by her own, whereupon she makes herself known by + +{DA PONTE'S LIBRETTO.} + +(77) + +boxing his ears. Peace is easily restored by his explanation, and as +the Count approaches, seeking his Susanna, they continue to counterfeit +love. The Count in a rage calls for his people with torches, Figaro's +friends hasten in, and with them the Countess. The Count, to his +shame, discovers that it was his wife who accepted his presents and +declarations of love, and the pardon which she accords to him brings the +confusion to an end. + +Such is a mere outline of this amusing play of intrigue, where one knot +twisting in with another, one embarrassment growing out of another, call +forth ever and again fresh contrivances, while an abundance of effective +situations and characteristic detail make the witty and satirical +dialogue one of the most graphic character pictures of the time.[3] +Da Ponte has arranged his libretto with much skill, having no doubt +received important aid from Mozart himself. The progress of the piece +is left almost unaltered, the necessary abbreviations being judiciously +made.[4] Thus, the lengthy trial scene is omitted, and only the result +in its bearing on the plot is communicated. Sometimes an under-plot is +added, such as Basilio's appearance as Marcellina's lover. The +clearness of the plot is not often endangered, as it certainly is by the +alteration which omits all mention of a son of Bartolo and Marcellina +previous to their recognition of Figaro as their offspring. The musical +pieces are introduced with admirable discrimination in such positions +as to allow free and natural scope to the musical rendering of each +situation without hindering the progress of the plot, and this is no +small praise in such a piece as "Figaro." The whole scheme of the drama +demands that quite as much attention shall be given to the ensemble +movements and finales as + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(78) + +the solo airs; and this is of great advantage to the musical +construction. The definite and prearranged progress of the action +fulfils all the conditions of operatic representation with regard to the +position and diversity of the musical pieces; the poetical conceptions +are clever and appropriate, a suggestion of Beaumarchais being often +amplified in the musical working-out. The French comedy was of wonderful +advantage in maintaining the dialogue; and, shortened and modified as +it was of necessity, it retained far more of the spirit and life of the +original than was usual in the recitatives of opera buffa. This is +not indeed the case as far as the German adaptations of the opera are +concerned. I am not aware whence proceeded the first translation made +use of in Berlin in 1790.[5] In 1791 Knigge adapted the opera for +Schroder in Hamburg;[6] in 1792 it was given in Vienna, translated by +Gieseke; and in 1794 Vulpius's translation appeared. A new translation, +giving not only Da Ponte's verses, but Mozart's improvements on them, is +a pressing necessity. The vast superiority of "Le Nozze di Figaro," in +characterisation, plot, and dialogue, to the very best of opera buffa +libretti may be easily discerned by comparing it with other famous +operas, such as Casti's "Re Teodoro" or "Grotta di Trofonio." In many +essential points "Figaro" overstepped the limits of opera buffa proper, +and brought to view entirely new elements of dramatic construction. The +political element indeed, on which perhaps most of the effect of the +comedy depended, was altogether omitted from the opera. Not only does +the dialogue receive its essential character from the satire and scorn +which it freely casts upon the abuses of political and social life--the +whole tendency of the play is to depict the nobleman of the period, who, +himself without truth and honour, demands both from others, indulges +his lust without scruple, and thereby causes his dependents, injured in +their moral rights, to turn against him their intellectual superiority, +so that he is finally + +{DA PONTE'S LIBRETTO.} + +(79) + +worsted and disgraced. This conception of the nobility and their +position in relation to the citizen class is expressed with energy and +malice, and found such a response in the prevailing opinions of the +time, that the production of the piece against the expressed will of +the King appeared to be a public confirmation of the principles which +inspired it; and Napoleon might with justice say of "Figaro": "C'était +la révolution déjà en action."[7] Every trace of these feelings has +vanished in the opera, as will be clearly perceived by a comparison of +the celebrated "Frondeur-monologue" of Figaro in the fifth act with +the jealous song in the opera. The omission was made not so much in +deference to the Emperor Joseph's scruples as with the right conviction +that the political element is altogether out of place in music. + +The omission of political satire is the more serious because it leaves +as the central point of the plot an immorality which is not exactly +justified, but not by any means seriously punished; only treated with +a certain frivolity. The noble libertine is opposed by true and upright +love, honest devotion to duty and honourable conduct; but these moral +qualities are not made in themselves effective; the true levers of the +plot are cunning and intrigue employed as weapons of defence. The whole +piece appears in a doubtful light, the atmosphere surrounding Count +Almaviva is impure, and the suppression of those circumstances which +could alone make the phenomenon natural affects more or less the whole +spirit of the plot, and deprives the dialogue of much of its point and +double meaning. + +Beaumarchais might fairly plead that, having undertaken to give a true +picture of the manners of his time, absolute truth of conception and +detail was necessary to insure the right moral effect; it was for +a later age to perceive how completely the author of the satire was +himself under the influence of the time which he depicts and would fain +improve. This justification is denied to the opera. It has no title to +be considered as a picture of morals, neither can it pretend to exercise +any direct influence, whether moral or + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(80) + +political, on the minds of men. The dialogue is undoubtedly in many +respects purer than in the comedy; but the plot and its motives, the +chief situations, the whole point of view, become all the more decidedly +frivolous. How came it, then the Mozart could choose such a subject for +his opera, and that the public could accept it with approbation? It must +in the first place be borne in mind that the facts on which the plot is +founded, and the point of view from which these facts are regarded, +had at that time substantial truth and reality; men were not shocked at +seeing on the stage that which they had themselves experienced, and +knew to be going on in their own homes. A later age is disgusted by the +contrast between semblance and reality, and at the representation of +immorality in all its nakedness; the taste of the time demands that +it shall be shown after another form and fashion. A glance at the +entertaining literature, and even at the operas of the last half of +the eighteenth century, shows clearly that representation of immorality +plays an important part therein in a form which bespeaks the temper and +spirit of the time; and further, that a desire for the representation +of moral depravity is an infallible symptom of moral disease. It cannot, +therefore, be wondered at that a picture of the moral corruption which +penetrated all classes, from the highest to the lowest, and which had +brought all social and political relations to the verge of dissolution, +should have been regarded with eager approbation and enjoyment. The +age which produced and enjoyed "Figaro" took a lighter view of sensual +gratification and the moral turpitude connected therewith than that +which seems right to a generation grown serious by reason of higher aims +and nobler struggles. It need not here be discussed how far manners +and opinions which change with the times are to be regarded as absolute +morality; the point we are proving is undeniable, and is apparent, +often painfully so, in all the light literature and memoirs of the day. +Caroline Pichler writes in reference to this very period:[8]-- + +{MORAL TENDENCY OF FIGARO.} + +(81) + +There prevailed a taste for all that was beautiful and pleasant in +Vienna at that time. The mind had freer movement than at present, and +anything might be written and printed which was not in the strictest +sense of the word contrary to religion and the state. There was not +nearly so much stress laid upon _good manners_. Plays and romances of +a tolerably free tendency were admitted and discussed in good society. +Kotzebue was very much thought of. His pieces, as well as Gemmingen's +"Deutscher Hausvater," Schroder's "Ring," and many others which are sunk +in oblivion, together with a number of tales and romances (Meissner's +sketches above all) were founded on indecent subjects. They were read +without scruple or concealment by all the world, and every young girl. + +I myself saw and read them all repeatedly; "Oberon" I knew well, and +Meissner's "Alcibiades." No mother felt any scruple at allowing her +daughter to become acquainted with such works; and indeed living +examples of what we read moved before us with so little concealment of +their irregular and immoral doings, that it would not have been possible +for any mother to keep her daughter in ignorance on these points. + +It is sufficient to refer to the reading of Wieland's works. + +What can be more repugnant to our ideas than to find a young girl +writing to her lover:-- + +I hope you will soon get the new "Amadis"; it is the funniest, most +whimsical book. I wonder how you will like Olinda! Master Amadis is a +little too like butter--he melts in every sunbeam. + +Our wonder increases when we reflect that this young girl is Caroline +Flachsland, and her lover is Herder.[9] There can be no doubt that in +this respect Mozart was a child of his time; that he willingly allowed +himself to glide along the pleasant stream of life in Vienna, and that +his merrier moods were often productive of free and even coarse jests. +The frivolous element in Beaumarchais' comedy was not, therefore, likely +to repel him, although it would be unfair to assert that it mainly +attracted him; he accepted it, as others did, as the sauce which was +most likely to be of acceptable flavour. + +His chief concern was doubtless the gradual unfolding and continual +interest of the plot, and the graphic delineation of character, +qualities which were entirely overlooked by the ordinary opera buffa. +Any approach to probability or analogy with actual life was not thought +of, and was + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(82) + +not often replaced even by a fanciful poetic vein of humour; attempts to +give consistency to the caricatures of individuals and situations only +served to bring their irreconcilable contrasts into stronger relief. +In "Figaro," on the contrary, the interest depends upon, the truth the +representation of actual life. The motives of the actors are serious, +they are carried out with energy and intellect, and from them the +situations are naturally developed; only the light in which they are all +portrayed is that of Beaumarchais' strongly accented "gaieté," which is +by no means innocent, and in its essence nothing less than musical. It +is one of the strongest proofs of Mozart's genius that he should have +undertaken, moved as he was by the dramatic signification of the piece, +to infuse a new soul into it by his musical treatment; so sure was +he that whatever came home to his mind might be used as the germ of a +living creation. The musical representation, however, could only be a +true one by relying entirely on the emotions which alone are capable +of being expressed in music.[10] The whole piece is raised to a +higher sphere by the subordination of the powers of understanding and +intellect, which Beaumarchais had made the chief factors in his design. +Beaumarchais' aim was to preserve his plot and characters from vulgarity +or caricature; the point of view whence the musical reconstruction +proceeded led inevitably to an ennobling of the whole representation. +In depicting emotions, whether as the impulse to action, or as giving +significance even to the least commendable promptings of the mind, the +musician was in his own element, and the + +{MUSICAL TREATMENT OF THE DRAMA.} + +(83) + +wealth of dramatic situations and characters was a pure gain to an +artist who knew how to turn it to account. The piercing eye of genius +finds materials for its finest performance where a more superficial view +reveals nothing but difficulties. If each of the characters, pursuing +the interests they have at heart, are to express their inner sentiments +at every point in conformity with their nature, it follows that the +aim of dramatic characterisation in its true sense must be the +representation of individuality, sharp and precise in form, true and +pure as to its source; thus only will the exaggeration of caricature be +avoided. This holds good of all the chief characters in "Figaro"--of the +Count and Countess, Figaro, Susanna, and Cherubino. They are so entirely +governed by their emotions and passions, so completely involved in the +complications proceeding therefrom, that an artistic representation must +depend on the depicting of these emotions in their fullest truth. + +Bartolo and Marcellina seem to invite a treatment in caricature. In the +"Barber of Seville" we find the same Bartolo as a buffo character. This +is made impossible here by the fact that they are to appear afterwards +as Figaro's parents, and ought not, therefore, to cut grotesque figures +in our eyes. Beaumarchais' point, that Marcellina gives herself airs +of superiority to Susanna, "parce qu'elle a fait quelques études +et tourmenté la jeunesse de Madame" is not available for musical +characterisation, but Mozart brings it out skilfully in another way. In +the duet (Act I., 5), in which Susanna and Marcellina vie with each other +in impertinence and provocation, the expression is toned down by the +actual, disputing being left to the orchestra, and the two women are put +quite on an equality. Susanna prevails over Marcellina only by reason +of her youthful grace, and the whole appears an outbreak of that jealous +susceptibility which is said to be an attribute of the female sex. +Nobler women would not yield to such impulses, but these two belong to +no exalted sphere, and give the rein to their angry humours. But they +never forget themselves so far as to offend delicacy, and the general +tone is a gay one, Marcellina being shown in no way inferior to + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(84) + +Susanna.[11] Afterwards, when graver matters engage her, when she +asserts her claims upon Figaro in the first finale, or recognises him as +her son in the sestet, the musical expression is sustained and full of +true feeling. A singer who was able to form her conception of the part +from these touches of character would make of Marcellina something quite +different from the ordinary old housekeeper, whom we have unhappily been +used to see and hear, no doubt from a mistaken endeavour to render the +illusion that Figaro's mother must be an old woman, and sing like an +old woman. Marcellina's air (Act IV., 2)," on the other hand, does not +assist the characterisation, and is the only piece in the whole opera +which fails of its effect. The whole style of it, even to the passages, +is old-fashioned, like the traditional air for a seconda donna; it +appears to have been a concession made to the taste of the singer. +Basilio, the man of cold intellect and malicious cunning, is not a +figure which can be made comic by caricature. Mich. Kelly (1764-1825), +for whom it was written, was an Irishman, who had studied in Naples, and +was highly successful as a tenor in Italy and Vienna; his powers as a +mimic fitted him especially for comic parts.[12] Basilio's malice +and scorn are expressed in the terzet (Act I., 7) with delicacy and +character, and, in contrast with Susanna's painful excitement and the +Count's anger, they give to the piece an irony, such as has seldom found +expression in music. The point justly noted by Ulibicheff (II., p. 45 ) +that Basilio, in his attempts to pacify the Count after finding the page +in the arm-chair, repeats the words: "Ah, del paggio quel ch' ho detto +era solo un mio sospetto," a fifth higher, brings out in a striking +degree his character of refined malice. The effect is heightened by the +use of the same motif by the Count, when he is + +{BASILIO.} + +(85) + +telling how he found the page with Barberina; and it is attained in the +simplest manner by the natural development of the musical structure. +Basilio falls into the background in the course of the opera; the comic +way in which Beaumarchais makes him banished by the Count, and his +courtship of + +Marcellina, would have afforded good operatic situations, but +abbreviation and simplification were absolutely necessary, and much +that was not essential had to be sacrificed. The air which is given to +Basilio in the last act (Act IV., 3) scarcely affords compensation. Da +Ponte, deprived of Beaumarchais' guidance in this place, makes Basilio +illustrate by the fable of the asses' skin that those who can flatter +and deceive succeed in the world. The musical rendering follows the +story, the orchestra giving the characteristic detail. The expression +of ease and self-complacency, and above all the incomparable idea, +deservedly noticed by Ulibicheff, of turning the last sentence of the +heartless poltroon: "Onte, pericoli, vergogna e morte col cuojo d' asino +fuggir si puö," into a sort of parody of a triumphal march, give the air +a character of its own". Executed with humour and delicate mimicry it +becomes in fact an epitome of Basilio's character, with its utter want +of genial qualities. But tone-painting occurs only in such touches as +those of the storm, the yelping dog, the hurried retreat, and never +comes to the foreground. This means of effect, elsewhere so favourite a +device in opera buffa, is always sparingly used by Mozart. The "Din +din, don, don," in the duet between Susanna and Figaro (Act I., 2) can +scarcely be called tone-painting any more than it can be said to be +word-painting; it is hardly more than an interjection, which has the +advantage in its musical rendering of being incorporated as a motif in +the structure of the piece. Nor can the term be justly applied to the +march like tone of Figaro's "Non più andrai" (Act I., 9). Certain forms +and phrases have developed themselves in music as expressions of warlike +ideas, and they are employed as a matter of course where these ideas +occur; Figaro, describing to the page the military life before him, has +it mirrored as it were by the orchestra. Mozart wisely guards against +entering + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(86) + +upon any musical details in the picture, which would have led to a +distorted tone-painting; he confines himself to the barest and most +general allusions produced by association of ideas. It is often +difficult to decide how far the association of ideas contributes to +the partly involuntary, partly conscious construction of the musical +expression. For instance in the first duet between Figaro and Susanna +(Act I., 1), the motif for the bass--[See Page Image] + +with the corresponding one for the first violins, goes very well with +Figaro's measuring of the room, the diminutions expressing clearly +enough his repeated stretches. It cannot be doubted that the situation +has suggested the motif, but whether Mozart intended to express the +action of measurement is far less certain, and any idea of tone-painting +is out of the question. The subordinate characters of the drunken +gardener Antonio and the stuttering judge Don Curzio might under other +circumstances have been made into caricatures in the sense of opera +buffa, but they appear in situations which have so decided a character +of a totally different kind that they could not have departed from it +without serious injury to that harmony of the whole which none knew +better than Mozart how to preserve. The little cavatina (Act IV., 1) + +for Barbarina, (Fanchette in Beaumarchais) is very significantly not +exactly caricatured, but drawn in stronger colours than is elsewhere +the case. This little maid, in her liking for Cherubino, and with an +open-hearted candour which makes her a true _enfant terrible_ to the +Count, is altogether childish, and not only naïve but unformed. It is, +therefore, natural that she should express her grief for the lost pin, +and her fear of punishment, like a child; and when we hear her sobbing +and crying over it we receive the same ludicrous impression which +grown-up people rarely fail to feel at the sight of a child expressing +the sorrow of his heart with an energy quite out of proportion to the +occasion. The fact that the strong accents which Mozart here multiplies +to produce the effect of the disproportion of childish + +{FIGARO.} + +(87) + +ideas are afterwards made use of to express real emotion does no injury +to the truth of his characterisation. In a similar way the expression +of sentiment is exaggerated when it is represented as feigned; as, +for instance, the last finale, when Figaro makes love to the supposed +Countess, whom he has recognised as Susanna, and grows more and more +vehement in order to excite the Count's jealousy. Here we have a parody +of the accents of strongest passion (Vol. II., p. 427). How differently +does the same Figaro express his true feelings! How simple and genuine +is the expression of his love in the first duet (Act I., 1), when +he interrupts his measurements to exclaim to his pretty bride, with +heartfelt joy: "Si, mio core, or è più bello!" and in the last finale, +when he puts an end to pretence and, in an exalted mood, with the +feeling of his newly won, safely assured happiness fresh upon him, +exclaims: "Pace! pace, mio dolce tesoro!" Equally true is Figaro's +expression of the jealousy which results from his love. At first indeed +this feeling is a curiously mingled one. Warned by Susanna herself, he +has full confidence in her, and feels all his intellectual superiority +to the Count; he contemplates his situation with a humour which is +admirably rendered in the celebrated cavatina (Act I., 3). Cheerfully +as it begins, the expression of superciliousness and versatility has a +tinge of bitterness and resentment, betraying how nearly he is touched +by the affair which he affects to treat so lightly. Afterwards, when he +believes himself deceived, grief and anger are strongly expressed in the +recitative preceding his air (Act IV., 4). But his originality asserts +itself even here. The consciousness of what his situation has of the +ludicrous never forsakes him, and his anger against the whole female +sex, which he works up more and more, involuntarily assumes a comic +character. Here we have one of the many points which Mozart added to the +text. + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(88) + +The somewhat unflattering description of womankind runs-- + + Queste chiamate dee + Son streghe che incantano per farci penar, + Sirene che cantano per farci affogar, + Civette che allettano per trarci le piume, + Comete che brillano per toglierci il lume-- + +and so on, until at the end-- + + Amore non senton, non senton pietà-- + Il resto non dico, già ognuno lo sà. + +He has no sooner pronounced the fatal "il resto non dico," when he seems +unable to get out any more; and so it runs-- + + Son streghe che incantano--il resto non dico + Sirene che cantano--il resto non dico, &c.-- + +giving, opportunity for a corresponding musical treatment of the words. +At last Mozart makes the horns strike in unexpectedly and finish the +phrase for him in a manner full of musical fun. As the consciousness +grows upon Figaro that he is himself the injured party, his signs of +grief and pain grow stronger and more animated. The blending of warm +feeling with the involuntarily comic expression of intellectual reaction +is psychologically true, and in such a character as Figaro's inevitable; +it is embodied in the music in a form very different to that of an +ordinary buffo aria. Not less true to nature is Figaro's resigned +expression of disappointed love further on, when, having the evidence of +his own senses that Susanna has been unfaithful to him, he ejaculates: +"Tutto è tranquillo." But such a mood as this could not be a lasting one +with Figaro, and changes at once upon Susanna's entrance. Benucci, for +whom Mozart wrote Figaro, possessed an "extremely round, full, fine bass +voice." He was considered a first-rate actor as well as singer, and +had the rare merit of never exaggerating.[13] The individual +characterisation is still more sharply defined when several personages +appear together in similar situations. Immediately upon the air where +Figaro declares war upon the Count (Act I., 3) follows Bartolo's air +(Act I., 5) [14] in which the latter announces his approaching victory +over Figaro. He also is altogether in earnest; Figaro has cruelly +deceived him, and the long-looked-for + +{BARTOLO.} + +(89) + +opportunity of vengeance is close at hand: "Tutta Sevilla conosce +Bartolo, il birbo Figaro vinto sarà." He is full of pride and +self-consciousness-- + + La vendetta è un piacer serbato ai saggi, + L' obliar l' onte, gl' oltraggi + E bassezza, è ognor viltà-- + +and the air begins with the forcible and impulsive expression of this +self-consciousness enhanced by rapid instrumentation; Bartolo feels the +injury done to him, and his obligation in honour to avenge himself, +and the sincerity of this feeling invests him with a certain amount of +dignity. But--his character has none of the elements of true greatness; +as soon as he begins to descant on the way in which he is to outwit +Figaro, his grovelling spirit betrays itself; he excites himself with +his own chatter, and complacently announces his own triumph beforehand. +Bartolo's dignity is not, however, a parody on his true self; the +comic element consists in the contrast of the pride which lays claim to +dignity and the small-mindedness which unwittingly forfeits the claim. +The German translations lose the chief point of the characterisation. +Capitally expressed is the original: "coll' astuzia, coll' arguzia, col +giudizio, col criterio, si potrebbe----" here the orchestra takes up the +motif of the words "è basezza," as if to edge him on, but soon +subsides, as he recollects himself: "si potrebbe, si potrebbe"--suddenly +interrupted by "il fatto è serio," to which the whole orchestra responds +with a startling chord; thereupon he resumes with calm self-confidence: +"ma, credete, si farà," and then launches into the flood of trivialities +with which he seeks to bolster up his courage. + +Steffano Mandini, the original Count Almaviva, was considered by Kelly +as one of the first buffos of the day,[15] and Choron used to hold him +up to his scholars as his ideal of a singer.[16] At the moment when +Susanna has hearkened to; his suit, he infers from a word let fall by +her that she has + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(90) + +deceived him. Injured pride, disappointed hope, and jealousy of his +happier rival, excite him to a pitch of passion which breaks out in +true cavalier fashion with the words (Act III., 2).: "vedrò, mentr' io +sospiro, felice un servo mio!" What a world of expression Mozart has +thrown into these words! While disappointed but unvanquished passion +presses its sting deep into his heart, injured pride flares up prepared +to give place to no other feeling than that of revenge. In the wonderful +passage which follows with renewed force upon the immediately preceding +tones of sharp complaint--[See Page Image] the change from major to +minor brouight about by the chromatic passage in the middle parts is +of inimitable effect.[17] We have before us the nobleman, feeling +his honour affronted because he is not allowed to injure that of his +servant, and there is in the expression of his revengeful desires and +his certainty of victory no tinge of Figaro's cunning or Bartolo's +meanness; the stream of passion flows full and unmingled, and the +noble position of the Count gives it a certain amount of composure; +his weakness excites regret rather than contempt or even ridicule. The +expression of this air corresponds to the musical conception of the +Count throughout the opera, in making his feelings of injured pride +outweigh those of disappointed desire. Pride, jealousy, or anger, +unjustifiable as they may be in their outbreaks, are always more +dignified and nobler motives than a love-making whose only foundation +is licentiousness, and its only excuse frivolity. He gives free play to +this feeling in + +{THE COUNT.} + +(91) + +the enchanting duet with Susanna (Act III., 1); but the situation +is rendered endurable to the audience by the knowledge that Susanna +is playing a part to please the Countess. Mozart has given this little +duet a title to be placed in the first rank of musical works of art by +the delicacy with which he has rendered the mixture of encouragement and +coyness in Susanna's demeanour, her true motives being as clear to the +audience as is the misunderstanding of the Count. The harmonic turns of +her evasive answer to his passionate request, "Signor, la donna ognora +tempo ha di dir si," are masterpieces of musical diplomacy. Even the +piquant conceit by which she answers his urgent questions, "Verrai? non +mancherai?" with "si" instead of "no," and _vice versa_, to his great +perplexity, has something more than a merely comic signification.[18] It +characterises most strikingly the security with which she plays with +his passion as expressed in these eager, flattering requests. Even here, +delight at his hard-won victory predominates over his sensual impulses. + +The sensual element of love plays far too great a part in "Figaro," +however, to be altogether disregarded in its musical rendering. It would +be a difficult matter to determine how far and in what way music +is capable of giving artistic expression to this side of the tender +passion; but it cannot be disputed that Mozart has in this respect +competed successfully with the sister arts of painting and poetry. +In Susanna's so-called garden air (Act IV., 5) her longing for her +betrothed is expressed with all the tender intensity of purest beauty; +but the simple notes, cradled as it were in blissful calm, that seem to +be breathed forth "soft as the balmy breath of eve," glow with a mild +warmth that stirs the heart to its depth, entrancing the mind, +and intoxicating the senses like the song of the nightingale. The +_pizzicato_ accompaniment of the air fitly suggests a serenade. It gives +the voice free scope, and the sparely introduced wind instruments, as +well as the tender passage for the first violin towards the close, only +serve to give a finer emphasis to the + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(92) + +full body of the voice. The impression of longing delight is intensified +by the simplicity of the harmonies, as if from fear of disturbing by any +sudden change the calm bliss of the passing moment. But what analysis +can penetrate these mysteries of creative genius[19] Mozart was right to +let the feelings of the loving maiden shine forth in all their depth +and purity, for Susanna has none but her Figaro in her mind, and the +sentiments she expresses are her true ones. Figaro in his hiding-place, +listening and suspecting her of waiting the Count's arrival, throws, +a cross light on the situation, which, however, only receives its full +dramatic signification by reason of the truth of Susanna's expression +of feeling. Susanna, without her sensual charm is inconceivable, and a +tinge of sensuality is an essential element of her nature; but Mozart +has transfigured it into a noble purity which may fitly be compared with +the grandest achievements of Greek sculpture. + +Nancy Storace (1761-1814), "who possessed in a degree unique at that +time, and rare at any time, all the gifts, the cultivation, and the +skill which could be desired for Italian comic opera,"[20] seems to have +been a singer to whom Mozart was able to intrust the rendering of this +mixture of sentiment and sensuality. When "Figaro" was reproduced in +July, 1789, he wrote for Adriana Ferrarese del Bene,[21] a less refined +and finished singer, the air "Al desio di chi t'adora" (577 K.), +retaining the + +{RONDO FOR SUSANNA.} + +(93) + +accompanied recitative.[22] The words of this song-- + + + Al desio di chi t' adora + Vieni, vola, o mia speranza, + Morirö, se indarno ancora + Tu mi lasci sospirar. + Le promesse, i giuramenti + Deh! ramenta, o mio tesoro! + E i momenti di ristoro + Che mi fece amor aperar. + Ah! che omai più non resisto + All' ardor, che il sen m' accende. + Chi d' amor gli affetti intende, + Compatisca il mio penar. + +with the reference to vows and hopes unfulfilled seem better suited to +the Countess than to Susanna, though the air is clearly indicated for +the latter. Apparently the song was intended to strengthen Figaro in the +delusion that it was the Countess he saw before him. The device +might intensify the situation, but it was a loss to the musical +characterisation, for the air was not altogether appropriate either to +Susanna or the Countess. The singer had evidently wished for a grand, +brilliant air, and Mozart humoured her by composing the air in two +broadly designed and elaborately executed movements, allied in style to +the great airs in "Cosi fan Tutte," and in "Titus." The bravura of the +voice and orchestra is as entirely foreign to "Figaro" as is the greater +display of sensual vigour with which the longing for the beloved one +is expressed. Apart from its individual characterisation, the air has +wonderful effects of sound and expression, greatly heightened by the +orchestra. Basset-horns, bassoons, and horns are employed, occasionally +_concertante_, giving a singularly full and soft tone-colouring to the +whole. A draft score, unfortunately incomplete, in Mozart's handwriting, +testifies to a later abandoned attempt for a similar song. The +superscription is "_Scena con Rondo_"[23] the person indicated, Susanna. +The beginning of the recitative, both in words and music, is like that +of the better-known + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(94) + +song, and it expresses the same idea somewhat more diffusely as it +proceeds, closing in B flat major. The solitary leaf preserved breaks +off at the eighth bar of the rondo; only the voice-part and the bass are +given--[See Page Image] + +but even this fragment of text and melody suffices to show a complete +contrast to the air just mentioned. A little ariette preserved in +Mozart's original score and marked "Susanna" (579 K.), has still less +of the delicate characterisation which we admire so much in the +opera.[24]The words-- + + Un moto di gioja + Mi sento nel petto, + Che annunzia diletto + In mezzo il timor. + Speriamo che in contento + Finisca l' affanno, + Non sempre è tiranno fato ed amor-- + +are trifling, and so commonplace that they suggest no particular +situation. Even the music, hastily thrown together and light in +every respect, expresses only a superficially excited mood. If, as is +probable, the air was intended for the dressing scene,[25] the want of +individual characterisation + +{SUSANNA.} + +(95) + +becomes all the more observable. It would be a great mistake to consider +the character of Susanna as a mere expression of amorous sensuality. +This side of it is judiciously displayed first without any reserve, +in order to throw into relief her not less real qualities of devoted +affection, faithful service, and refined and playful humour. The very +scene, not in itself altogether unobjectionable, in which the ladies +disguise the page, is turned into an amusing joke by Susanna's innocent +and charming merriment. Susanna's air in this scene (Act II., 3) +is, technically speaking, a cabinet piece. The orchestra executes an +independent piece of music, carefully worked-out and rounded in most +delicate detail, which admirably renders the situation, and yet only +serves as a foil to the independent voice-part. A tone of playful humour +runs through the whole long piece from beginning to end; it is the +merriment of youth, finding an outlet in jest and teasing, expressed +with all possible freshness and grace. But the high spirit of youth does +not exclude deeper feelings where more serious matters are concerned; in +the terzet (Act II., 4) where Susanna in her hiding-place listens to the +dialogue between the Count and Countess, she displays deep emotion, and +expresses her sympathy with truth and gravity. Mozart has indeed grasped +this painful situation with a depth of feeling which raises the terzet +far above ordinary opera buffa.[26] In her relations to Figaro, Susanna +displays now one, now the other side of her nature. It is judiciously +arranged that immediately succeeding her first heartfelt, though not +sentimental expression of love (Act I., 1), the second duet (Act I., 2), +should display her merry humour. Her consciousness of superiority over +Figaro, who learns the Count's designs first through her, combined with +the ease of her relations towards them both, resulting from the honesty +of her love, enable her to carry off the difficult situation with + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(96) + +a spirit and youthful gaiety which contrast with Figaro's deeper +emotions. He begins indeed with unrestrained merriment, but the same +motif, mockingly repeated by Susanna, becomes a warning which has so +serious an effect upon him that not even her endearments can quite +succeed in chasing the cloud from his brow.[27] The ground-tone of the +duet, the intercourse of affianced lovers, is expressed with the utmost +warmth and animation, and places us at once in the possession of the +true state of affairs. Before the end comes, however, we see the couple +testing each other's fidelity and measuring their intellectual +strength against each other, as when in the last finale Susanna, in the +Countess's clothes, puts Figaro to the proof, and he, recognising her, +takes his clue accordingly. This duet sparkles with life and joviality, +rising, after the explanation, to the most winning expression of tender +love. + +The characters of the Countess and Cherubino are much less complicated +than that of Susanna. The Countess is represented as a loving wife, +injured by a jealous and faithless husband. The musical characterisation +gives no suggestion of any response, however faint and soon stifled, to +the page's advances, but is the most charming expression of ideal purity +of sentiment. She suffers, but not yet hopelessly, and the unimpaired +consciousness of her own love forbids her to despair of the Count's. +Thus she is presented to us in her two lovely songs. The calm peace of +a noble mind upon which sorrow and disappointment have cast the first +light shadow--too light seriously to trouble its serenity--is expressed +with intensest feeling in the first air (Act II., 1). The second (Act +III., 4), + +when she is on the point of taking a venturous step to recall the +Count to her side, is more agitated, and, in spite of the melancholy +forebodings which she cannot quite repress, gives expression to a joyful +hope of returning happiness. There is no strong passion even here; the +Count's affronts + +{CHERUBINO.} + +(97) + +excite her anger, and the dilemma in which she is, placed awakens her +youthful pleasure in teasing. This reminiscence of Rosina in earlier +years, combined with the consciousness of her true feeling, so finely +expressed by the music, may in some measure supply the motive for the +deceit which she thinks herself justified in using towards the Count. +Signora Laschi, who took the part of the Countess, was highly esteemed +in Italy, but was not a great favourite in Vienna.[28] Signora Bussani, +on the other hand, who appeared for the first time as the page, although +not a singer of the first rank, was much admired by the public for her +beautiful figure and unreserved acting,[29] or as Da Ponte says, for her +_smorfie_ and _pagliacciate_.[30] "Cherubino is undoubtedly one of the +most original of musical-dramatic creations, Beaumarchais depicts a +youth, budding into manhood, feeling the first stirrings of love, and +unceasingly occupied in endeavouring to solve the riddle which he is to +himself. Count Almaviva's castle is not a dwelling favourable to virtue, +and the handsome youth, who pleases all the women he meets, is not +devoid of wanton sauciness: "Tu sais trop bien," he says to Susanna, +"que je n'ose pas oser." To Susanna, with whom he can be unreserved, he +expresses the commotion of his whole nature in the celebrated air (Act +I., 6) which so graphically renders his feverish unrest, and his deep +longing after something indefinable and unattainable. The vibration of +sentiment, never amounting to actual passion, the mingled anguish and +delight of the longing which can never be satisfied, are expressed with +a power of beauty raising them out of the domain of mere sensuality, +Very remarkable is the simplicity of the means by which this +extraordinary effect is attained. A violin accompaniment passage, not +unusual in itself, keeps up the restless movement; the harmonies make no +striking progressions, strong emphasis and accents are sparingly used, +and yet the + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(98) + +soft flow of the music is made suggestive of the consuming glow of +passion. The instrumentation is here of very peculiar effect and of +quite novel colouring; the stringed instruments are muted, and clarinets +occur for the first time and very prominently, both alone and in +combination with the horns and bassoons.[31] The romanze in the second +act (2) is notably different in its shading. Cherubino is not here +directly expressing his feelings; he is depicting them in a romanze, and +he is in the presence of the Countess, towards whom he glances with all +the bashfulness of boyish passion. The song is in ballad form, to suit +the situation, the voice executing the clear, lovely melody, while the +stringed instruments carry on a simple accompaniment _pizzicato_, +to imitate the guitar; this delicate outline is, however, shaded and +animated in a wonderful degree by solo wind instruments. Without +being absolutely necessary for the progress of the melodies and the +completeness of the harmonies, they supply the delicate touches of +detail reading between the lines of the romanze, as it were, what is +passing in the heart of the singer. We know not whether to admire most +the gracefulness of the melodies, the delicacy of the disposition of the +parts, the charm of the tone-colouring, or tenederness of the +expression--the whole is of entrancing beauty. + +Unhappily we have lost a third air written for Cherubino. After the +sixth scene of the second act, in which Barberina requests the page to +accompany her, the original draft score contains the remark: "_Segue +Arietta di Cherubino; dopo l'Arietta di Cherubino viene scena 7, ma ch' +è un Recitativo istromentato con Aria della Confessa_," This arietta is +not in existence, and probably never was, a change in the arrangement +of the scenes having rendered it superfluous. This is to be regretted; +Cherubino's intercourse with Barberina would have supplied an essential +feature which is now wanting in the opera. But even as it is, the image +of + +{DANCE--MARCH.} + +(99) + +Cherubino is so attractive, so original, that it must unquestionably be +reckoned among the most wonderful of Mozart's creations. + +Thus we see all the _dramatis personæ_ live and move as human beings, +and we unconsciously refer their actions and demeanour to their +individual natures, which lie before us clear and well-defined. So great +a master of psychological characterisation was under no necessity of +calling accessories of costume or scenery to his aid, and declined even +to remind us by the use of peculiar musical forms that the action was +laid in Spain. This device is only once resorted to. The dance which is +performed during the wedding festivities in the third act (Act III., +8, p. 377) reminds us so forcibly of the customary melody for the +fandango,[32] that there can be no doubt this dance was known in Vienna +at the time. Gluck has employed the same melody in his ballet of "Don +Juan," produced at Vienna in 1761. If Mozart's adaptation be compared +with the other two, it will be perceived that he has formed a free and +independent piece of music out of some of the characteristic elements +of the original, combining dignity and grace in a singular degree; the +treatment of the bass and middle pans, and the varied combinations u of +the wind instruments heighten the effect of the unusual colouring. At +the exclamation of the Gotmt, who has pricked himself with a pin the +bassoon strikes up in plaintif tones:--[See Page Image] + +which are comically appropriate. But they are not primarily introduced +to express pain; they belong to the dance music, and recur at the same +point later on in the dance; the point of the joke is the apparently +chance coincidence of the dance music with the situation of the moment. +The fine march preceding the ballet, the gradual approach of which +produces a very effective climax (Vol. II., p. 154, note), takes its + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(100) + +peculiar colouring from the constant transition to the minor in the wind +instruments--[See Page Images]--without having any very decided national +character. Neither are the choruses sung on the same occasion by female +voices, or male and female together, particularly Spanish in tone, any +more than the chorus in the first act (Act I., 8); they are gay, fresh, +very graceful, and exactly fitted to the situation. + +Hitherto we have attempted an exposition only of the musical-dramatic +characteristics of the opera, the psychological conception which makes +the actions of the characters correspond with their individual nature... +Not less important are the events and circumstances which give rise to +the _combined action_ of the different characters; in the opera this is +displayed in ensemble movements. The prevailing principle is here +again truth in the expression of feeling; but the juxtaposition of +the different characters necessitates a greater stress to be laid on +individual peculiarities; + +and again, these characteristics of detail must be subordinated to the +main idea of producing a well-formed whole. A due balance of parts can +only be produced by compliance with the conditions of a musical work of +art. The substance and form of these ensemble movements are of course +subject to many modifications; many of them are nothing more than a +detailed and fuller exposition of some definite situation or mood; +and their whole design is therefore simple. Such are the duets between +Figaro and Susanna (Act I., i, 2), between Susanna and Marcellina (Act +I., 5), the writing duet (Act III., 5), and the duet between the Count +and Susanna (Act III., 1); they are distinguished from airs more by +their form than their nature. If during the dressing scene Cherubino +were to chime in with Susanna's remarks, the Countess were also directly +to interpose, such a duet or terzet would represent the situation in +greater variety of detail, the form would become richer by means of +contrasting + +{ENSEMBLES.} + +(101) + +elements, but the musical matter would not differ essentially from that +to which we are accustomed in solo airs. The terzet in the second act +is of this character; a situation or a mood is maintained, and only +variously mirrored in the various personages. Here, then, is the point +of departure for unity in the grouping of the whole; and the ordinary +resources of musical construction, such as the repetition of a motif in +different places, the elaboration and combination of the motifs, for the +most part lend themselves to the situation. + +The difficulty of the task increases in proportion as the music forms +part-of the plot. We have an instance of this in the duet between +Susanna and Cherubino (Act II., 5); when the latter tries to escape, and +finally jumps out of the window. The simple situation gives rise to an +expression of fear and disquiet in short, interrupted motifs, and the +prevailing characteristic is an agitation almost amounting to action__in +progress. The agitation, however, is so characteristically rendered by +the music, that, while appearing to flow from an irresistible impulse, +it is in reality only an effect of a definite musical formula fitly +working out a given motif. The orchestral part forms a separate piece of +music of very varied character.[33] + +The terzet of the first act comes in the very middle of the action (Act +I., 7). Here we have not merely three persons of dissimilar natures +thrown together, but at the particular point in the plot their interests +and sentiments are altogether opposed, and each of them is influenced by +different suppositions. The plot proceeds, however, and the discovery +of the page in the arm-chair gives a turn to affairs which changes the +position of each person present. We are struck in the first place with +the striking, delicately toned musical expression, especially when the +voices go together, as at the beginning, when the Count's anger: "Tosto +andate e scacciate il + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(102) + +seduttor!" Basilio's lame excuse: "In mal punto son qui giunto," and +Susanna's distress: "Che ruina, me meschina!" are all blended into a +whole, while preserving throughout their individual characters. The same +is the case at the end also, when the Count, taken by surprise, turns +his displeasure against Susanna in ironical expressions: "Onestissima +signora, or capisco come và"; while she is anxious on her own account: +"Accader non puo di peggio!" and Basilio gives free expression to his +malice: "Cosi fan tutte le belle!" But while the music appears only to +follow the plot, we cannot fail on closer examination to perceive that +I we have before us a work constructed and carried out I according to +the strictest laws of musical form. It is all so naturally and easily +put together that what is really owing to deep artistic insight might be +considered by the uninitiated as the result of a fortuitous coincidence +of dramatic and musical effects. The intensely comic effect produced by +Basilio's repetition of his previous sentence, a fifth higher is brought +about of necessity by the musical form. A similar effect is produced +when, at the point where a return to the original key leads us to expect +a recurrence of the principal subject, the Count, with the same notes +in which he had exclaimed, full of resentment at Susanna's intercession; +"Parta, parta il damerino!" now turns to Susanna herself with the words: +"Onestissima signora, or capisco come và," the point being brought out +by the change from _forte_ to _pianissimo_. Traits like this of +delicate dramatic characterisation proceed immediately from the musical +construction, and are to be ascribed solely to the composer; the text +does not by any means directly suggest them. + +The dramatic interest reaches a far higher level in the two great +finales. The finale to the second act is judiciously constructed, as +far as is compatible with musical exigences, out of the elements +already existing in Beaumarchais. The dramatic interest rises with the +increasing number of persons taking part in the action, and grows to a +climax, while new developments proceeding from the unravelling of each +complication bring the actors into ever-varying relations with each +other. The different situations afford the most + +{FINALES.} + +(103) + +animated variety, moving onwards in close connection, but each +one keeping its ground long enough to give ample scope for musical +elaboration.[34] The situations thus give rise to the eight movements, +distinct in design and character, which form the finale. The masterly +combination of the different movements is more effective than would be +any amount of emphasis laid on particular points of characterisation. +The finale opens with a manifestation of intensest passion--the Count +glowing with rage and jealousy, the Countess, wounded to the heart, +trembling at the consequences of her imprudence. + +In no other part of the opera is the pathetic element express so +prominent, the conflict being so strongly expressed that a serious +catastrophe appears inevitable. But Susanna's unexpected appearance +brings about an explanation, which could not be more aptly expressed +than by the rhythmical motif of the second movement.[35] Susanna's +mocking merriment, which for a moment rules the situation, is in some +degree moderated by the uncertainty of the two others. The want of +repose of the following movement alters the character again, while the +chief characters have to adapt themselves to their change of relative +position. The Count has to propitiate his wife, without being altogether +convinced himself; the Countess's anger and forgiveness both come from +the heart, but she feels that she is not now quite in the right. Susanna +is exerting herself to bring about explanation and reconciliation, +and in so doing takes involuntarily, as it were, the upper hand of the +Countess. It is a mimic war, carried on in the most courteous manner; +every emotion is broken and disturbed. + +Now let us turn to the music. A succession of short motifs, each of +which characterises a particular element of the situation, are loosely +put together, none of them independently worked out, one driving out the +other. But the + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(104) + +motifs occur in every case just where dramatic expression demands, +and each repetition throws a new light upon the situation, turning the +apparent confusion into a well-formed musical whole. Figaro brings +an element of unrestrained gaiety into the midst of this troubled +atmosphere; the G major following immediately on the E flat major breaks +away from all that has gone before. His merriment is truly refreshing, +but even he feels some constraint knowing that his secret is betrayed, +without being aware of what has led to it. The eagerness with which the +Count interrupts him, the anxiety with which the women seek to put him +in the right way, his alternate holding back and yielding, give the +scene a diplomatic sort of tone, wonderfully well-rendered by a tinge of +dignity in the music, which only here and there betrays, involuntarily +as it were, more animation. The closing ensemble gives to each of the +four voices a mysterious character which is quite inimitable. A complete +contrast to this delicate play is afforded by the half-drunken gardener +with his denunciation; this opponent requires quite a different +treatment. The musical characterisation becomes more lively and broader, +the different features more strongly marked. As soon as the Count begins +his examination of Figaro, the tone alters again. The remarkable andante +6-8 in which the beating motif--[See Page Image] is hurried through +the most varied harmonic transitions expresses an impatience which is +scarcely to be kept from violent explosion, quite in accordance with the +suspense with which the progress of the explanation is followed by +all present without arriving at any satisfactory solution. Finally +Marcellina enters with her confederates. The firm, bold pace which is at +once adopted by the music marks the commencement of a new struggle; the +peril becomes serious, and the change of situation brings about a new + +{FINALES.} + +(105) + +disposition of the characters. Marcellina, Basilio and Bartolo range +themselves on one side, the Countess, Susanna and Figaro on the other, +both parties aggressive and prepared for the fight, the Count between +them turning first to the one side and then to the other. When the +crisis is over, and Marcellina's claim acknowledged, the previous +positions are reversed; Marcellina's party has the advantage, Figaro's +is defeated. The vanquished party now lose self-command and become +violently agitated, while the victors express their triumph with mocking +composure. The finale ends in doubled tempos with a diffuse but decided +expression of those discordant moods on both sides, bringing the long +strife and confusion to an end.[36] The plan of the second finale +is quite different; we plunge at once into the midst of an animated +intrigue, one misapprehension and surprise following close upon another. +The Countess, disguised as Susanna, awaits the Count; Figaro, and +Susanna listen concealed; first the page enters, then the Count, and the +play proceeds, every one getting into the wrong place, receiving what +is not meant for him, and addressing himself to the wrong person. Mozart +has only grasped the amusing side of the complication, and the music +maintains a cheerful, lively character, without leaving room for any +expression of deeper feeling. By this means whatever is objectionable in +the situation seems to spring unavoidably as it were from the facts of +the case, on which the play is founded and developed. It is sufficiently +astonishing that the music should succeed in following this development +step by step in all its turns; the higher art of the master is displayed +in his power of representing dramatic life and reality in all its +perfection within the limits of a musical movement of scientific +conception and form. Nowhere perhaps is the style of intrigue which +Zelter praises as the special quality of the opera[37] brought + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(106) + +so prominently forward as in this ensemble. It consists in the art of +making each character express himself naturally and appropriately, at +the same time rendering the due meaning of the situation and throwing +the right light on every separate utterance, while giving the whole a +brighter colouring. As soon as Figaro and Susanna are opposed to each +other, the tone and style are altered. Serious genuine feeling breaks +through the mask of deception, and asserts its sway. Not until the +Count enters does the trickery begin again, leading to a succession of +surprises which find their climax in the appearance of the Countess. The +music renders so bewitchingly the impression of her pardoning gentleness +and amiability that we are forced to believe in the sincerity of the +reconciliation, and to share in the rejoicings which follow on so many +troublous events.[38] + +Next to these two finales a prominent position is assigned to the sestet +(Act III., 3) which according to Kelly was Mozart's favourite piece in +the whole opera.[39] This partiality is characteristic, for his amiable +nature finds fuller expression in this piece than in any other. The +trial scene is omitted in the opera, but the recognition of Figaro +by Marcellina and Bartolo is brought into the foreground. The cool +sarcastic tone of Beaumarchais gives this scene something unpleasant; +but the musical version even here allows human sentiment to assert +itself; if it were not for the extraordinary circumstances on which the +scene is founded it would be quite pathetic. Both the parents and the +son are in the act of expressing the tenderest affection and delight +when Susanna hastens in to redeem Figaro. The violence with which she +manifests her anger at Figaro's apparent want of constancy is meant +quite seriously, and is necessary in order to show how deeply her heart +is affected. Amid the caresses of her supposed rival she learns the +truth, the charming melody to which Marçellina had made herself known to +her + +{THE SESTET.} + +(107) + +son being transferred to the orchestra while she acquaints Susanna of +her relationship to Figaro. Susanna, incredulous of the wonderful story, +demands confirmation from each person present in turn, and the situation +assumes a comic character, consisting however only in the unexpected +turn of events, not in the sentiments of the persons interested, who +only wish to be quite sure of their facts before giving themselves up +to unmitigated delight. Once assured of their happiness, it overflows in +fervent gratitude with an enchanting grace that invests the happy lovers +with a sort of inspired and radiant beauty. Mozart has added very much +to the effect by keeping the whole passage _sotto voce_, a device which +he always employs with deep psychological truth.[40] But the lovers are +not alone, and the contrast afforded by the other personages present +prevents the purely idyllic character which would be incongruous in this +scene. One of these is the Count, who with difficulty restrains his rage +so far as not to commit himself. The other is the stupid, stuttering +judge, Don Curzio, who has pronounced judgment as the Count's tool, and +is now amazed at what is passing before him; incapable of an idea, +he says first one thing and then another, and finally takes refuge in +obsequiously following the opinions of his lord and master. The striking +musical effect of the high tenor going with the Count's deep bass gives +an expression of cutting irony, and emphasises the stupidity of the +judge who chimes in with the Count, without in the least entering into +the passions which agitate him. Don Curzio serves here the same purpose +as Basiliain the terzet of the first act, mingling a comic element with +the expression of a deeper emotion, and modifying, without injuring, +the serious ground-tone of the piece. This mode of construction is +altogether Mozart's own, and is a striking testimony to his power of +grasping and delineating dramatic truth. + +Kelly narrates that Mozart begged him not to stutter + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(108) + +while he was singing lest the impression of the music should be +disturbed. He answered that it would be unnatural if a stutterer should +lose his defect as soon as he began to sing, and undertook to do no harm +to the music. Mozart gave in at last, and the result was so successful +that the sestet had to be repeated, and Mozart himself laughed +inordinately. He came on the stage after the performance, shook Kelly +by both hands and thanked him, saying: "You were right and I was +wrong."[41] This was doubtless very amiable of Mozart, but his first +view was the right one, nevertheless. The artifice might succeed in a +master of mimicry, but Don Curzio ought certainly not to be made the +principal person in the sestet. On the contrary, he might well be +omitted altogether as a musical pleonasm; at least, if Basilio were to +be brought in and made to take the same part in the action. + +The sestet may be taken as an excellent example of the manner in which +Mozart turned his means of representation to account. We are struck +first of all with his power of grouping so as to produce a clear and +distinct whole. The effect and appreciation of music depends, like +architecture, on symmetry. Even though a strict parallelism of the +different component parts may be in all but certain cases inapplicable, +yet their symmetry must be always present to the apprehension of the +hearers. In the musical drama the characterisation of the situation +dominates the construction side by side with the laws of musical form. +In the sestet before us Marcellina, Bartolo, and Figaro form a natural +group, announcing themselves at once as connected from a musical point +of view, Marcellina and Bartolo closely corresponding, Figaro forming +the uniting member of the little group. Opposed to them we have the +Count and Don Curzio, who also keep together, but with greater freedom +of independent movement. Susanna's entry introduces a new element. At +first she opposes Figaro, and allies herself to the Count, and we have +then two strongly characteristic groups of three persons, each with a +construction and + +{TREATMENT OF THE VOICE PARTS.} + +(109) + +movement of its own. The explanation which ensues necessitates the +dissolving of the ensemble into a monologue, after which the situation +is changed. Susanna goes over to Figaro, Marcellina, and Bartolo, and +fresh group is formed, with Susanna as the chief member, though the +others do not by any means renounce their independence. Against this +concentrated force the discontented minority gives expression to +additional energy and resentment, coming to an end in unison. These +hints will suffice to show with what a firm mind of the hearers an +impression of the perfect freedom of dramatic action, within the limits +of strict and simple musical form. + +The great stress laid upon dramatic reality necessitated in general +simple forms and moderate execution in the musical part of the work. +In the airs the traditional form of two elaborate movements is only +exceptionally employed the cavatina or rondo form being in most cases +preferred and treated freely, although with considerable precision the +majority of the duets are similar in design, Mozart having usually +written over them _duettino, arietta_, But neither confined limits +nor dramatic interest have been made a pretext for the neglect of +well-constructed, well-rounded form; + +he never fails to hit upon the right point, whence a whole may be +organised. Thus, every separate passage in the finale heightens the +contrast, and leads by a 'natural process of development to a conclusion +for which '+ helps to prepare the way. What has been said in general terms +may be applied to the treatment of details, and primarily of the voices. +The dramatic characterisation necessitates perfect freedom in the +employment of every source of effect; long-drawn cantilene shorter +melodious phrase; well-marked motifs requiring elaborate working-out, +declamatory delivery merging into an easy conversational tone--all are +employed in their right place, often in rapid alternation and varied +combination. It is not sufficient, however that each separate device +should be employed effectively the essential point is that they should +be placed in right relations with each other, and with the whole of +which hand the musical edifice is put together so as to leave on the + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(110) + +they form parts. The unhesitating use of the resources of the voice, +and the harmony of the effect, are admirable alike in the great ensemble +movements and in the smallest passage to be sung; the sestet and the +second duet may be brought forward as essentially differing in style and +subject, yet each in its place distinguished by delicacy of detail and +striking effect. Great simplicity in the treatment of the voices is +a noteworthy consequence of this tendency. Song is merely the means +adopted for expressing emotion of different kinds. Homely simplicity +not only corresponds to truth of expression--it is necessary for +the combination of heterogeneous motives, which would otherwise be +incomprehensible. + +This simplicity, however, is not of the kind that reduces all expression +to the same level, and abjures ornament and grace; rather is it the +simplicity of a nature which draws its inspiration from the depths of +the heart, and excludes all merely virtuoso-like displays which would +serve but to glorify the singer.[42] + +An important aid to characterisation and colouring was found by Mozart +in the orchestra. We know by what means he had prepared and cultivated +every part of a full orchestra as a means of characteristic expression +and euphonious charm. His contemporaries were particularly impressed +by his use of wind instruments, and in point of fact they were little +likely ever to have experienced before the sensations produced by the +tender interweaving of the wind instruments in Cherubino's romanze (Act +II., 2), or their soft, melting sounds in his air (Act I., 6). In these +days we should, indeed, appreciate rather Mozart's moderation in the +employment of wind instruments. Trombones are never used, and trumpets +and drums only in the overture the march with a chorus (Act III., 7), +the closing passages of the finales, and in three airs: those of Bartolo +(Act I., 4), Figaro (Act I., 9), and the Count (Act III., 2). This is +not saying much; true moderation consists, not so much in + +{THE ORCHESTRA.} + +(111) + +abstaining from certain methods, as in the way in which those which are +employed are held in check. Equally admirable is the masterly treatment +of the stringed instruments which form the groundwork of the orchestra, +at the same time that the independent movements of the separate +instruments develop a fresh and ever-varied vivacity. Mozart has striven +above all to preserve a healthy balance of sound effects, and a unity of +treatment which never aims at brilliant effects brought about either by +an ostentatious extra vagance or an exaggerated economy in the use of +his resources; the right effect is produced at the right point, and in +the simplest manner, regard being always had to the laws of climax. The +simplicity of the voice parts necessitates a corresponding simplicity +in the instrumental parts! most distinctly appreciable where they occur +obbligato. A comparison with "Idomeneo" and the "Entführung" in this +respect will bring out the difference very strongly. The orchestra in +the "Entführung" is treated more easily and simply than in "Idomeneo"; +in "Figaro" the highest degree of clearness is united with abundant +fulness and intensive force of instrumental colouring. + +The position here accorded to the orchestra may be regarded as not +so much an improvement on earlier operas as an essentially new +conception of its powers and functions.[43] The orchestra appears For +the first time not only as an integral part of the whole, but as +one with equal rights, taking an independent and active part in the +musical-dramatic representation. Such a conception could only be +realised when the orchestra and instrumental music had been developed +and cultivated as they were by Haydn and Mozart. In this independent +position it is neither above nor in opposition to the voices, but each +is indispensable to the due effect of the other. + +The orchestra is no longer to be looked upon as a mere accompaniment +to the voices, but as an independent and co-operating means of +representation. And as such we find it in "Figaro." In many passages +the orchestra seems to take the lead--as, for instance, in the dressing +scene (Act II., 3), when the animated, + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(112) + +delicately worked-out orchestral passages not only hold the threads +together, but develop the characterisation. At other times the orchestra +forms the foundation in the working-out of motifs upon which the +voices are suffered to move freely, as in the duet between Susanna and +Cherubino (Act II., 5) and in different passages of the finales, the +andante 6-8 of the first finale and the first passage of the second. +There are, indeed, few numbers in which the orchestra does not +temporarily undertake one or the other office, in order to assist the +characterisation. The orchestra is never employed in this way with +better effect than in the so-called "writing-duet" (Act III., 5). At +the close of the recitative the Countess dictates the title, "canzonetta +sull' aria," and as soon as Susanna begins to write, the oboes and +bassoons take up the ritornello, and undertake to tell, as it were, what +Susanna is writing when she is silent and the Countess dictates.[44] +There is a trace here of a subsequent editorial alteration. Instead +of the present closing bars of recitative, which are inserted in the +original score by a strange hand, there were originally quite +different ones, to which the little duet in B flat major could not have +immediately succeeded. They probably served as an introduction to +a lively scene between the Countess and Susanna, similar to that in +Beaumarchais' dialogue. This is confirmed by the first sketch of the +writing-duet, which, with the title "Dopo il Duettino," only prefixes +the words of the Countess as recitative: "Or via, scrivi cor mio, +scrivi! gia tutto io prendo su me stessa." So close an approximation of +two duets was most likely the cause of the rejection of the first, with +the words of the recitative which called it forth. + +Detached features of the orchestral treatment, important as they may be, +however, do not constitute its peculiar character; many of them had been +previously and successfully attempted by other musicians. The essential +point consists in the orchestra taking part, as it were, in the action, +so that more often than not the instrumental parts would + +{THE ORCHESTRA--OVERTURE.} + +(113) + +form a complete and satisfying whole without any voice parts at all. +The orchestra, of course, frequently executes the same melodies as the +voices, but it treats them in an original manner, producing a constant +flow of cross effects with the voices. Sometimes again it works out +its own independent motifs, and adds shading and detail to the outlines +furnished by the voices. It is not possible to over-estimate the share +thus taken by the orchestra in maintaining the main conception of the +situation, in increasing the dramatic reality and interest of the plot, +and in strengthening the impression made upon the audience. + +The capabilities of instrumental music in this direction are most +strikingly displayed in the overture, in composing which Mozart appears +to have kept before him the second title of Beaumarchais' play, "La +Folle Journée." He has made one very characteristic alteration in +the course of the overture. At first the rapid impetuous presto was +interrupted by a slower middle movement. In the original score the point +where the return to the first subject is made (p. 13) is marked by a +pause on the dominant-seventh, followed by an andante 6-8 in D minor of +which, however, only one bar is preserved:--[See page image] + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(114) + +The leaf on which its continuation and the return to the presto was +sketched is torn out, and the portion between _vi_ and _de_ crossed +through.[45] It is plain that Mozart altered his mind when he came to +the instrumentation of the overture, which he had sketched in the usual +way. Perhaps a middle movement beginning like a Siciliana did not please +him; in any case, he thought it better not to disturb the cheerful +expression of his opera by the introduction of any foreign element. +And in very truth the merry, lively movement pursues its uninterrupted +course from the first eager murmur of the violins to the final flourish +of trumpets. One bright, cheerful melody succeeds another, running +and dancing for very lightness of heart, like a clear mountain stream +rippling over the pebbles in the sunshine. A sudden stroke here and +there electrifies the motion; and once, when a gentle melancholy shines +forth, the merriment is as it were transfigured into the intensest +happiness and content. A piece of music can hardly be more lightly and +loosely put together than this; there is an entire want of study or +elaboration. Just as the impulses of a highly wrought poetic mood exist +unobserved, and pass from one to the other, so here one motif grows out +of the other, till the whole stands before us, we scarce know how. + +A not less important office is undertaken by the orchestra in assisting +the psychological characterisation, not only by giving light and shade +and colouring through changes of tone-colouring and similar devices +unattainable by the voices, but by taking a positive part in the +rendering of emotion. + +No emotion is so simple as to be capable of a single decided and +comprehensive expression. To the voices is intrusted the task of +depicting the main features, while the orchestra undertakes to express +the secondary and even 'the contradictory impulses of the mind, from +the conflict of which arise emotions capable of being expressed in music +alone of all the arts. We can scarcely wonder that Mozart's + +{FIGARO AS AN OPERA BUFFA.} + +(115) + +contemporaries, surprised at the novelty of his orchestral effects, +failed to appreciate their true meaning,[46] nor that his imitators +confined themselves to the material result, and failed to perceive +the intellectual significance of the improved instrumentation.[47] The +freedom with which Mozart employs voices and orchestra together or +apart to express dramatic truths can only exist as the highest result of +artistic knowledge and skill. The independence with which each element +cooperates as if consciously to produce the whole presupposes a +perfect mastery of musical form. True polyphony is the mature fruit of +contrapuntal study, although the severe forms of counterpoint are seldom +allowed to make themselves visible. + +To sum up, there can be no doubt that Mozart's "Figaro" must be ranked +above the ordinary performances of opera buffa on higher grounds than +its possession of an interesting libretto, a wealth of beautiful melody, +and a careful and artistic mechanism. The recognition of truth of +dramatic characterisation as the principle of musical representation was +an immense gain, and had never even been approached by opera buffa, with +its nonsensical tricks and caricatures. + +Rossini himself said that Mozart's "Figaro" was a true _dramma giocoso_, +while he and all other Italian composers had only composed _opere +buffe_.[48] Even though we acknowledge the influence of French opera +on Mozart (Vol. II., p. 342) as formed by Gluck,[49] and still more by +Grétry (Vol. II., p. 15),[50] the first glance suffices to show +that Mozart's superior musical cultivation enabled him to employ the +resources of his art to + +{LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.} + +(116) + +a far greater degree than Grétry. Granting also Grétry's undoubted +powers of dramatic characterisation and expression of emotion, Mozart's +nature is also in these respects far deeper and nobler. Nothing can be +more erroneous than the idea that Mozart's merit consisted in taking +what was best from Italian and French opera, and combining them into +his own; it was solely by virtue of his universal genius' that he +was enabled to produce an opera which is at once dramatic, comic, +and musical. Chance has decreed that "Figaro" should be an Italian +adaptation of a French comedy, set to music by a German; and this being +so serves only to show how national diversities can be blended into a +higher unity. + +A glance by way of comparison at the Italian operas which competed +in some respects successfully with "Figaro," such as Sarti's "Fra due +litiganti il terrzo godef" Paesiello's. + +"Barbiere di Seviglia" and "Re Teodoro," Martin's "Cosa Rara and "Arbore +di Diana," or Salieri's "Grotta di Trofonio," may at first excite +surprise that they contain so much that reminds us of Mozart, and which +we have learnt to identify with Mozart, knowing it only through him. But +a nearer examination will show that this similarity is confined to form, +for the most part to certain external turns of expression belonging to +the time, just as certain forms of speech and manner belong to different +periods. In all essential and important points, careful study will serve +only to confirm belief in Mozart's originality and superiority. All the +operas just mentioned have qualities deserving of our recognition. +They are composed with ease and cleverness, with a full knowledge +of theatrical effect and musical mechanism, and are full of life and +merriment, of pretty melodies, and capital intrigue. But Mozart fails in +none of these qualities, and only in minor matters do these other works +deserve to be placed side by side with his. None of them can approach +him even in some matters of detail, such as the treatment of the +orchestra, or the grouping of the ensembles. What is much more +important, however, they fail altogether in that wherein consists +Mozart's true pre-eminence: in the intellectual organisation, the +psychological depth, the + +{VIENNA, 1786.} + +(117) + +intensity of feeling, and consequent power of characterisation, the +firm handling of form and resource, proceeding from that power, and +the purity and grace which have a deeper foundation than merely sensual +Beauty. Those operas have long since disappeared from the stage, +because no amount of success in details will preserve in being any work +uninteresting as a whole. Mozart's "Figaro" lives on the stage, and in +every musical circle; youth is nourished on it, age delights in it +with ever-increasing delight. It requires no external aid for its +apprehension; it is the pulse-beat of our own life which we feel, the +language of our own heart that we catch the sound of, the irresistible +witchery of immortal beauty which enchains us--it is genuine, eternal +art which makes us conscious of freedom and bliss. + + + + +FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +[Footnote 1: Confirmed by Kelly (Reminisc., I., p. 257).] + +[Footnote 2: L. de Lomenin, Beaumarchais et son Temps, II., p. 293.] + +[Footnote 3: The piece in various translations was soon familiar on every +stage in Germany. A. Lewald has lately issued a new translation of it +(Beaumarchais, Stuttg., 1839).] + +[Footnote 4: In Paris (in 1793) the unfortunate idea was conceived of performing +Mozart's music with Beaumarchais' complete dialogue (Castil-Blaze, +L'Acad. Imp. de Mus., II., p. 19). Beaumarchais was pleased with the +representation, though not with the adaptation (Lomenin, Beaumarchais, +II., p. 585). A notice of the performance says: "The music impressed us +as being beautiful, rich in harmony, and artistically worked out. The +melodies are pleasing, without being piquant. Some of the ensemble +movements are of extreme beauty."] + +[Footnote 5: Schneider, Gesch, d. Oper in Berlin, p. 59.] + +[Footnote 6: Aus einer alten Kiste, p. 177. Meyer, L. Schroder, II., p. 55.] + +[Footnote 7: Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du Lundi, VI., p. 188.] + +[Footnote 8: Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 103.] + +[Footnote 9: From Herder's Nachlass, III., p. 67.] + +[Footnote 10: The intellectual transformation which the French comedy underwent +at Mozart's hands has often been insisted upon, e.g., by Beyle (Vies de +Haydn, Mozart et de Métastase, p. 359), who, while recognising Mozart's +excellence, is yet of opinion that Fioravanti or Cimarosa would perhaps +have succeeded better in reproducing the easy cheerfulness of the +original. Rochlitz also (A. M. Z., III., pp. 594, 595) and Ulibicheff +(II., p. 48) appear to consider the remodelling of the piece as not +altogether perfect. On the other hand, an enthusiastic article in the +Revue des Deux Mondes (XVIII., p. 844, translated in A. M. Z., XLII., +p. 589), extols Mozart as the master who has given to Beaumarchais' work +that which Mozart alone could have detected in the subject of it, viz., +_poetry_. Cf. Hotho Vorstudien fur Leben und Kunst, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 11: In the very characteristic and amusing duet for the two quarrelling +women in Auber's "Maurer" the realism of the musical representation is +of some detriment to the grace of expression and delivery.] + +[Footnote 12: He declares that he so astonished Casti and Paesiello by his power +of mimicry that, although he was very young, they intrusted him with the +difficult part of Gafforio in the "Re Teodoro," in which he made a great +sensation (Remin., I., p. 241).] + +[Footnote 13: Berl. Mus. Ztg. 1793, p. 138.] + +[Footnote 14: Bussani, who sang Bartolo and Antonio, had been in the Italian +Opera in Vienna in 1772 but left it the following year. He was noted for +his "resonant barn voice" (Müller, Genaue Nachr., p. 73).] + +[Footnote 15: Kelly, Reminisc., I., pp. 121, 196.] + +[Footnote 16: P. Scudo, Musique Ancienne et Moderne, pp. 22, 23.] + +[Footnote 17: Thus in Bartolo's air the close juxtaposition of major and minor +at the words "è bassezza è ognor viltà," exactly expresses the +intensification of his feeling of annoyance.] + +[Footnote 18: Rochitz, A. M. Z., III., p. 595.] + +[Footnote 19: A hasty sketch of the voice part shows only trifling alterations in +the later melody. It is noteworthy that Mozart made many attempts before +hitting upon a satisfactory conclusion.] + +[Footnote 20: A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 284.] + +[Footnote 21: She first appeared October 13, 1788, as Diana in Martin's "Arbore +di Diana" (Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 83, Anh.).] + +[Footnote 22: Wien. Ztg., 1789, No. 76, Anh., announces, "Neues Rondeau von Mme. +Ferrarese aus Le Nozze di Figaro, Giunse alfin Rec. Al desio Rondeau." +The air is published with the character given, "La Contessa," without +any further intimation. Mozart's autograph has disappeared, but André +has a copy of the air with the recitative from Mozart's remains, +both marked for "Susanna." This increases the difficulty which exists +respecting it (Sonnleithner, Recensionen, 1865, p. 721).] + +[Footnote 23: In the original score of "Figaro" the conclusion of the secco +recitative is followed by the words, "Segue Recit. instrumental con +Rondo di Susanna." The present garden aria could scarcely be called a +rondo, and this probably refers to another air, the design of which was +abandoned.] + +[Footnote 24: It is printed in a pianoforte arrangement among the songs (Ouvr., +V., 20).] + +[Footnote 25: Written above it in a strange hand is, "Le Nozze di Figaro. 13 +Atto 2do," and the cue, "e pur n' ho paura." Counting the pieces this +air is in the second act, No. 13, in G major, like the preceding one; +if it is assumed that the opera is divided into two acts, the garden air +would be No. 13 in the second act. The cues are not to be found in both +places, so that an alteration must have been made in the dialogue. The +cue agrees in sense with the words of the Countess before the dressing +song, ( Miserabili noi, se il conte viene).] + +[Footnote 26: In the original terzet, when the parts went together, the highest +was given to the Countess; Mozart afterwards altered it, wherever +dramatic expression allowed, so that Susanna should sing the highest +part; this has necessitated trifling modifications here and there in +the disposition of parts. This alteration was no doubt undertaken with +a view to the singers. In the two finales their relative position was +settled before he proceeded to the working-out.] + +[Footnote 27: According to Beyle, it is only in this duet that Mozart has +rendered the character of French comedy, and even here he takes Figaro's +jealousy too seriously (Vies de Haydn, Mozart et de Métastase, p. 361).] + +[Footnote 28: Cramer, Magaz. f. Mus., 1788, II., p. 48. She first appeared on +September' 24, 1784, with success (Wien. Ztg., 1784, No. 79, Anh.), and +she appeared again after a pause in "Figaro" (Wien. Ztg., 1786, No. 35, +Anh.).] + +[Footnote 29: Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 30: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 111; cf. p. 135.] + +[Footnote 31: The fragment of a sketch in score for this air is identical in the +first division; the words "solo ai nomi d'amor, di diletto," are +treated differently. A pianoforte arrangement of the air with violin +accompaniment, entirely in Mozart's handwriting, is in Jules Andre's +collection.] + +[Footnote 32: Dohrn, N. Ztschr. Mus., XL, p. 168.] + +[Footnote 33: The duet has undergone three unnecessary abbreviations in the +printing. The sketch of a few bars to serve as an introduction to +another duet has the superscription "Atto 2do, Scena 3, invece del +Duetto di Susanna e Cherubino." This was apparently never continued.] + +[Footnote 34: This connected construction of the different sections of the finale +is seldom found; they are generally merely successive scenas, as, for +instance, in Casti's "Re Teodoro."] + +[Footnote 35: Mozart has written above it, "Andante di molto," and not "Andante +con moto" as it is printed; and it may further be noted that Susanna +comes out of the closet "tutta grave."] + +[Footnote 36: Holmes says (Life of Mozart, p. 269) that Mozart wrote this finale +in two nights and a day, without stopping; in the course of the second +night he became unwell, and was obliged to desist when there only +remained a few pages to instrumentalise.] + +[Footnote 37: Zelter, Briefw. m. Goethe, V., p. 434.] + +[Footnote 38: Basilio and Don Curzio being intrusted to one singer, as well +as Bartolo and'Antonio, the score contains the names of the four +characters, but only two musical parts; supernumeraries were brought on +the stage in similar costumes when required.] + +[Footnote 39: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 260.] + +[Footnote 40: At first he gave Susanna's charming melody to the bassoon and flute +as well, but afterwards struck out both instruments, in order to allow +the voice full play. The instrumentation throughout the sestet is very +moderately treated.] + +[Footnote 41: Kelly, Reminisc., I., p. 260.] + +[Footnote 42: The running passages at the close of the air for the Countess (Act +III., 2) were not originally written by Mozart, but were added later, +probably at the wish of the singer.] + +[Footnote 43: Cf. Kossmaly to Ulibicheff, Mozarts Opern, p. 368.] + +[Footnote 44: This exquisite touch is completely lost in the German translation, +where the Countess only begins to dictate after the ritornello.] + +[Footnote 45: A writer in the Deutsch. Mus. Ztg., 1862, p. 253, conjectures that +an orchestral piece in D minor (101, Anh., K.) included among Mozart's +remains, but unfortunately lost, may have been this middle movement.] + +[Footnote 46: The Emperor Joseph's remark has been already mentioned. Carpani +(Le Haydine, p. 49; cf. p. 35) is of the same opinion. Grétiy's shrewd +criticism in answer to a question by Napoleon: "Cimarosa met la statue +sur le théätre et le piédestal dans l'orchestre; au lieu que Mozart met +la statue dans l'orchestre et le piédestal sur le théätre," has been +justly praised by Fétis (Biogr. Univ., IV., p. 106).] + +[Footnote 47: Carpani, Le Haydine, p. 202. Beyle, Vies de Haydn, Mozart et de +Métastase, p. 362. Stendsal, Vie de Rossini, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 48: Südd. Zeitg. f. Mus., 1861, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 49: H. Berlioz (Voy. Mus., II., p. 267) characterises Mozart as the +master who, above all others, followed in Gluck's footsteps.] + +[Footnote 50: Tieck, Dramaturg. Blatter, II., p. 325.] + +=== + + + +MOZART 37 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. MOZART IN PRAGUE. + +THE success of "Figaro" did not materially improve Mozart's position in +Vienna. He lived, it is true, in very pleasant intercourse with a large +circle of friends, especially with the members of the Jacquin family +(Vol. II., p. 357), but the necessity he was under of earning his living +as a music teacher and virtuoso was very galling to him. "You happy +man!" said he to Gyrowetz, who was setting out on a journey to Italy; +"as for me, I am off now to give a lesson, to earn my bread."[1] A +glance at the Thematic Catalogue of his compositions succeeding "Figaro" +shows that they were probably suggested by his position as a teacher and +in musical society:-- + +1786. June 3. Quartet for piano, violin, viola, and violoncello, in E +flat major (493 K.). + +June 10. Rondo for piano in F major (494 K.). + +June 26. Concerto for the French horn for Leutgeb in, E flat major (495 +K.). + +July 8. Terzet for piano, violin, and violoncello, in G major (496 K.). + + +{MOZART IN PRAGUE.} + +(118) + +1786. August 1. Piano sonata for four hands in F major (497 K.). + +August 5. Terzet for piano, clarinet, and violin, in E flat major (498 +K.). + +August 19. Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in D major +(499 K.). + +September 12. &Twelve variations for the piano in B flat major (500 K.). + +November. Variations for the piano for four hands in G major (501 K.). + +November 18. Terzet for piano, violin, and violoncello, in B flat +major(502 K.). + +Then follow three compositions intended for the winter concerts:-- + +1786. December 4. Pianoforte concerto in C major (503 K.). + +December 6. Symphony in D major (504 K.). + +December 27. Scena con rondo with pianoforte solo, for Mdlle. Storace +and myself, in E flat major (505 K.). + +We cannot wonder that he turned a willing ear to the entreaties of his +English friends, that he would leave Vienna in the autumn of 1786 (his +wife having presented him on October 27, 1786, with their third son, +Leopold, who died the following spring) and visit England; this plan +was seriously considered, and only abandoned upon his father's strong +opposition to it (Vol. II., p. 274). There soon after reached him +an invitation from another quarter, giving still greater prospect of +success and encouragement. "Figaro" made its way but slowly to most of +the other great towns of Europe,[2] but in Prague, where the "Entführung" +had left a very pleasing impression, it was performed at once, and with +the greatest success. + +The national taste for music which early distinguished + + +{MUSIC IN BOHEMIA.} + +(119) + +the Bohemians, and which they retain to the present day, arrived at +a high stage of development during the last century.[3] The zealous +attention bestowed upon church music both in town and country, and the +cultivated taste of the nobility, gave to talent an easy recognition, +and no available forces, either vocal or instrumental, were suffered to +remain in neglect. It was the "custom and obligation" for every head of +a school to write at least one new mass during the year, and to perform +it with his scholars. Any youth who distinguished himself was placed +in an institution where he was able to continue his musical education; +there was no lack of patrons ready to support him until he found a +situation in the musical establishment of a prince, a prelate, or a +monastery.[4] "The families of Morzini, Hartiggi, Czemini, Mannsfeldi, +Netolizki, Pachta, &c., were the patrons of many young men; they took +them from the village schools on their territories and brought them to +the capital to swell the ranks of their private musical establishments; +they wore a livery, and formed part of their retinue of servants. +Riflemen were not allowed to wear a uniform until they could blow the +bugle perfectly. Many noble families in Prague required their livery +servants to have a knowledge of music before being considered competent +for service." Under these circumstances, music and all connected with it +must have been held in high estimation at Prague, where the aristocracy +were wont to congregate during the winter. A permanent Italian opera, +especially intended for opera buffa, was founded by Bustelli, who had +also obtained a license in Dresden in 1765. From that time until 1776 he +gave performances at both places with a select + + +{MOZART IN PRAGUE.} + +(120) + +company, and acquired great fame thereby.[5] His successor was Pasquale +Bondini, who afterwards gave performances in Leipzig during the +summer,[6] and who was able to uphold the ancient fame of the Italian +opera in Prague. First-rate artists, such as Jos. Kucharz and Jos. +Strobach were engaged as operatic conductors; and other distinguished +musicians were engaged, as, for instance, Joh. Kozeluch (a relation of +Mozart's opponent living in Vienna, Leopold Kozeluch), Wenzel Praupner, +Vincenz Maschek, &c. There was, however, one artistic couple in Prague +of peculiar interest from their influential position and their intimate +friendship with Mozart. These were the Duscheks, whose name we have +already had frequent occasion to mention.[7] + +Franz Duschek (born 1736 in Chotinborek), while still a poor peasant +lad, attracted the notice of his feudal lord, Count Joh. Karl von +Spork, by his uncommon talent. He was first sent to study at the Jesuit +seminary at Königgràtz, but being obliged to give up study owing to an +unfortunate accident, he devoted himself entirely to music, and was +sent by the Count to Vienna, where he was educated into an accomplished +piano-forte-player by Wagenseil.[8] As such he had long held the first +rank in Prague, and not only did much by his excellent teaching to +advance the art of pianoforte-playing, but exercised a decided and +beneficial influence on musical taste in general. He was universally +esteemed as an honest and upright man, and his influence with +distinguished connoisseurs made him a powerful patron of foreign artists +visiting Prague. His hospitable house formed a meeting-point both for +foreign and native talent, and concerts were regularly given there on +certain days in the week. The animating spirit at all these meetings was +Duschek's wife Josepha (neé Hambacher),[9] who had received her musical +education from + + +{MADAME DUSCHEK.} + +(121) + +him. She played the pianoforte well enough to pass for a virtuoso, and +made some not unsuccessful attempts as a composer; but her forte lay in +singing. Her beautiful, full, round voice was admired equally with her +delivery, which was especially fine in recitative; she accomplished the +most difficult bravura passages with perfect ease, without neglecting +the effect of a perfect _portamento_; she united fire and energy with +grace and expression--in short, she maintained in every respect her +claim to be ranked with the first Italian singers of her time. This +claim was not, it is true, acknowledged by Leopold Mozart; when she was +in Salzburg with her husband, in 1786, he wrote to his daughter (April)-- + +Madame Duschek sang; but how? I cannot but say that she shrieked out an +air of Naumann's with exaggerated expression, just as she used to do, +only worse. Her husband is answerable for this; he knows no better, and +has taught her, and persuades her that she alone possesses true taste. + +Her appearance did not please him either. "She seems to me to show signs +of age already," he writes (April 13); "she has rather a fat face, and +was very carelessly dressed." Schiller's unfavourable remarks upon her +in Weimar, where she was in May, 1788, are quite in accordance with +this.[10] She displeased him by her assurance (Dreistigkeit)--he would +not call it impudence (Frechheit)--and her mocking manner, which +caused the reigning Duchess to observe that she looked like a discarded +mistress.[11] By favour of the Duchess Amalie she was allowed to +give three concerts for the display of her talent and the general +edification; Korner answers Schiller's account of her:[12]-- + +The Duchess is not so wrong in what she said of her. She did not +interest me very greatly. Even as an artist, I consider her expression +caricatured. Gracefulness is, in my estimation, the chief merit of song, +and in this she seems to me entirely wanting. + + +{MOZART IN PRAGUE.} + +(122) + +Reichardt, who became acquainted with the Duscheks in 1773,[13] writes +in 1808 from Prague:[14]-- + +I have found a dear and talented friend of those happy youthful days in +Madame Duschek, who retains her old frankness and love for all that is +beautiful. Her voice, and her grand, expressive delivery, have been a +source of true pleasure to me, + +She was a true friend also to Mozart. In 1777 the Duscheks were in +Salzburg, where they had family connections who were acquainted with the +Mozarts. Wolfgang took great pleasure in the society of the young lively +singer, and if she showed a disposition to hold aloof from Salzburg folk +in general, he too was "schlimm," as he called it, in this respect. Of +course he composed several songs for her (Vol. I., p. 234). The Duscheks +discovered Wolfgang's uncomfortable position in Salzburg; and the +intelligence that he intended shortly to leave the town drew from +them, his father says (September 28, 1777), expressions of the warmest +sympathy. They begged Wolfgang, whether he came to Prague then or at +any other time, to rely upon the most friendly welcome from them. In +the spring of 1786 they came to Vienna, and were witness of the cabals +against which Mozart had to contend before the performance of his +"Figaro." They were quite able to judge for themselves what the +opera was likely to be, and after the success which had attended the +performance of the "Entführung" in Prague they found no difficulty in +rousing interest there in the new opera:-- + +"Figaro" was placed upon the stage in 1786 by the Bondini company, and +was received with an applause which can only be compared with that which +was afterwards bestowed on the "Zauberflote." It is a literal truth that +this opera was played almost uninterruptedly during the whole +winter, and that it completely restored the failing fortunes of the +entrepreneur. The enthusiasm which it excited among the public was +unprecedented; they were insatiable in their demands for it. It was +soon arranged for the pianoforte, for wind instruments, as a quintet for +chamber music, and as German dance music; songs from "Figaro" + + +{PERFORMANCE OF "FIGARO."} + +(123) + +were heard in streets, in gardens; even the wandering harper at the +tavern-door was obliged to strum out "Non più andrai" if he wanted to +gain any audience at all.[15] + +Fortunately this enthusiastic approbation was turned to the profit of +the one whom it most concerned. Leopold Mozart wrote to his daughter +with great satisfaction (January 12, 1787):-- + +Your brother is by this time in Prague with his wife, for he wrote to me +that he was to set out last Monday. His opera "Le Nozze di Figaro" has +been performed there with so much applause that the orchestra and a +number of connoisseurs and amateurs sent him a letter of invitation, +together with some verses that had been written upon him. + +He conjectured that they would take up their abode with Duschek, whose +wife was absent on a professional journey to Berlin; but a greater +honour was in store for them. Count Johann Joseph Thun, one of the +noblest patrons of music in Prague, had placed his house at Mozart's +disposal. He accepted the offer gladly, and on his arrival at Prague, in +1787, he found the public enthusiastic for his music, and well-disposed +towards himself. The account which he addressed to Gottfried von Jacquin +(January 15, 1787) is written in the highest spirits:-- + +Dearest Friend!--At last I find a moment in which to write to you; I +intended to write four letters to Vienna immediately on my arrival, but +in vain! only a single one (to my mother-in-law) could I attempt, and +that I only wrote the half of; my wife and Hofer were obliged to finish +it. Immediately upon our arrival (Thursday, the 11th, at noon) we had +enough to do to be ready for dinner at one. After dinner old Count Thun +regaled us with music performed by his own people, and lasting about +an hour and a half. I can enjoy this true entertainment daily. At six +o'clock I drove with Count Canal to the so-called Breitfeld Ball, where +the cream of Prague beauty are wont to assemble. That would have been +something for you, my friend! I think I see you after all the lovely +girls and women--not running--no, limping after them. I did not dance, +and did not make love. The first because I was too tired, and the last +from my native bashfulness; but I was quite pleased to see all these +people hopping about to the music of my "Figaro" turned into waltzes and +country dances; nothing is talked of here but + + +{MOZART IN PRAGUE.} + +(124) + +"Figaro," no opera is cared for but "Figaro," always "Figaro"--truly a +great honour for me. Now to return to my diary. As I returned late from +the ball, and was tired and sleepy from my journey, it was only natural +that I should sleep long; and so it was. Consequently the whole of the +next morning was _sine linea_; after dinner we had music as usual; and +as I have a very good pianoforte in my room, you can easily imagine that +I did not allow the evening to pass without some playing; we got up a +little quartet _in caritatis camera_ (and the "schone Bandl hammera," +[Vol. II., p. 362] ) among ourselves; and in this way the whole evening +again passed _sine linea._ I give you leave to quarrel with Morpheus on +my account; he favoured us wonderfully in Prague; why, I cannot tell, +but we both slept well. Nevertheless, we were ready at 11 o'clock to go +to Pater Unger, and to give a passing glance at the Royal Library and +at the Seminary. After we had looked our eyes out, we felt a small +menagerie in our insides, and judged it well to drive to Count Canal's +to dinner. The evening surprised us sooner than you would believe, and +we found it was time for the opera. We heard "Le Gare Generose" (by +Paesiello). As to the performance, I can say little, for I talked all +the time; the reason I did so, against my usual custom, must have been +because--but _basta_--this evening was again spent _al solito_. To-day +I am fortunate enough to find a moment in which to inquire after your +welfare and that of your parents, and of the whole family of Jacquin. +Now farewell; next Friday, the 19th, will be my concert at the theatre; +I shall probably be obliged to give a second, and that will lengthen my +stay here. On Wednesday I shall see and hear "Figaro"--at least if I +am not deaf and blind by that time. Perhaps I shall not become so until +_after_ the opera. + +At the performance of "Figaro" Mozart was received by the numerous +audience with tumultuous applause; he was so pleased with the +representation, especially with the orchestral part of it, that he +expressed his thanks in a letter to Strobach, who conducted it. The +Prague orchestra was not strongly appointed,[16] nor did it shine +through the names of celebrated virtuosi; but it contained clever and +well-schooled musicians, full of fire and of zeal for what was good--the +best guarantee of success. Strobach often asserted that he and his +orchestra used to get so excited by "Figaro" that, in spite of the +actual labour it entailed, they would willingly have played it all over +again when they came to the end.[17] + + +{CONCERTS AND COMMISSIONS.} + +(125) + +The two concerts which Mozart gave in Prague were also highly +successful:-- + +The theatre was never so full, and delight was never so strongly and +unanimously roused as by his divine playing. We scarcely knew which +to admire most, his extraordinary compositions or his extraordinary +playing; the two together made an impression on our minds comparable +only to enchantment.[18] + +We have already given an account of the enthusiasm excited by Mozart's +extemporising (Vol. II., p. 438); the other compositions which he +performed were all loudly applauded, especially the lately written +symphony in D major. The pecuniary gain corresponded to the warmth of +this reception, and Storace was able to announce to L. Mozart that his +son had made 1,000 florins in Prague. The social distractions which +Mozart describes so graphically to his friend appear to have continued; +at least, he accomplished no musical work except the country dances +which he improvised for Count Pachta (510 K.; Vol. II., p. 436), and +six waltzes (509 K.), composed for the grand orchestra, probably for a +similar occasion (February 6, 1787).[19] When, however, in the joy of his +heart Mozart declared how gladly he would write an opera for an audience +which understood and admired him like that of Prague, Bondini took him +at his word, and concluded a contract with him by which Mozart undertook +to compose an opera + + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(126) + +by the beginning of the next season for the customary fee of one hundred +ducats.[20] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +[Footnote 1: Gyrowetz, Selbstbiogr., p. 14.] + +[Footnote 2: "Figaro" was first performed in Berlin, September 14, 1790 +(Schneider, Gesch. d. Oper, p. 59), and praised by the critics as a +masterpiece, while the ordinary public preferred Martin and Dittersdorf +(Chronik von Berlin, VIII., pp. 1229, 1244. Berl. Mus. Monatsschr., +1792, p. 137). "Figaro" had no greater success in Italy than others of +Mozart's operas: "Mozart's operas, at the hands of the Italian comic +singers and the Italian public, have met with the fate which would +befall a retiring sober man introduced to a company of drunkards; the +rioters would be sure to treat the sober man as a fool" (Berl. Mus. +Ztg., 1793, p. 77). Thus, failure was reported from Florence (A. M. Z., +III., p. 182) and Milan (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 294). "Figaro" has +lately been on the repertory of the Italian Opera in Paris; since the +unfortunate experiment in 1792 (p. 77, note), the opera has been given +in French at the Théätre Lyrique (1858), with the most brilliant success +(Scudo, Crit. et Litt. Mus., II., p. 458). "Figaro" was first performed +in London in 1813 (Catalani sang Susanna--Parke, Mus. Mem., II., p. 82), +and kept its place as one of the most favourite of operas.] + +[Footnote 3: Jahrb. d. Tonk., Wien u. Prag, 1796, p. 108. A. M. Z., p. 488. +Reichardt, Br. e. aufm. Reisenden, II., p. 123.] + +[Footnote 4: Gyrowetz, in his Autobiography (Wien, 1848), gives a description of +such an education.] + +[Footnote 5: A. M. Z., I., p. 330; II., p. 494.] + +[Footnote 6: [Blümner], Gesch. des Theaters in Leipzig, p. 203.] + +[Footnote 7: Particulars concerning him and his wife may be found in Cramer's +Mag. Mus., I., p. 997. Jahrbuch der Tonkunst, 1796, p. 113. A. M. Z., +I., p. 444.] + +[Footnote 8: Reichardt (Briefe eines aufmerks. Reisenden, I., p. 116) includes +him among the best pianoforte-players of the time (1773): "who, besides +a very good execution of Bach's music, has a particularly elegant and +brilliant style."] + +[Footnote 9: She was born in Prague in 1756, and died there at an advanced age.] + +[Footnote 10: Schiller, Briefw. m. Körner, I., p. 280. She had given a concert in +Leipzig on April 22 (Busby, Gesch. d. Mus., II., p. 668.)] + +[Footnote 11: We learn from L. Mozart's letters to his daughter, that Count +Clamm, "a fine, handsome, amiable man, without cavalier pride," was the +"declared lover" of Frau Duschek, and "kept her whole establishment."] + +[Footnote 12: Schiller, Briefw. m. Körner, I., p. 294.] + +[Footnote 13: Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 134.] + +[Footnote 14: Reichardt, Vertr. Briefe, I., p. 132.] + +[Footnote 15: Niemetschek, p. 34.] + +[Footnote 16: The violins were trebled, the violas and basses doubled (A. M. Z., +II., p. 522).] + +[Footnote 17: Niemetschek, p. 39. Holmes says (p. 278) that he heard the same +remark made by the first bassoonist after a performance of "Figaro."] + +[Footnote 18: Niemetschek, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 19: Every "Teutsche" has its "Alternativo," and they are united into a +connected whole, as Mozart especially remarks in a description of them. +The close is formed by a somewhat lengthy coda, and they are for the +most part lightly thrown together, with no pretension but to incite to +the dance. He remarks at the end, "As I do not know of what kind the +Flauto piccolo is, I have put it in the natural key; it can at any time +be transposed." A pianoforte arrangement in Mozart's handwriting is in +André's collection.] + +[Footnote 20: Niemetschek, p. 96. 1] + + +=== + + + + +MOZART 38 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. "DON GIOVANNI." + +MOZART had been so well satisfied with Da Ponte's libretto for "Figaro" +that he had no hesitation in intrusting the new libretto to him, and +immediately on his return to Vienna they consulted together as to the +choice of subject. Da Ponte, fully convinced of the many-sidedness of +Mozart's genius, proposed "Don Giovanni," and Mozart at once agreed to +it. Da Ponte relates,[1] with an amusing amount of swagger, that he was +engaged at one and the same time on "Tarar" for Salieri, on the "Arbore +di Diana" for Martin, and on "Don Giovanni" for Mozart. Joseph II. made +some remonstrance on this, to which Da Ponte answered that he would do +his best; he could write for Mozart at night and imagine himself +reading Dante's "Inferno"; for Martin in the morning, and be reminded +of Petrarch; and in the evening for Salieri, who should be his Tasso. +Thereupon he set to work, a bottle of wine and his Spanish snuffbox +before him, and his hostess's pretty daughter by his side to enact the +part of inspiring muse. The first day, the two first scenes of "Don +Giovanni," two scenes of the "Arbore di Diana," and more than half of +the first act of "Tarar" were written, and in sixty-three days the +whole of the first two operas and two-thirds of the last were ready. +Unfortunately we have no certain information either of the share taken +by Mozart in the construction of the text, nor of the manner in which +his composition was carried on. The warmth of his reception at Prague +made the contrast of his position in Vienna all the more galling to +him. On the departure of Storace, Kelly, and Attwood for England, in +February, 1787, he had seriously entertained the idea of following them +as soon as they had found a situation worthy of his acceptance + + +{VIENNA, 1787--DITTERSDORF.} + +(127) + +in London. The bass singer Fischer, who was visiting Vienna,[2] wrote in +Mozart's album on April 1, 1787, the following verses, more well-meaning +than poetical:-- + + Die holde Göttin Harmonie Der Tone und der Seelen, + Ich dächte wohl, sie sollten nie + Die Musensöhnen fehlen, + Doch oft ist Herz und + Mund verstimmt; + Dort singen Lippen Honig, + Wo doch des Neides Feuer glimmt-- + Glaub mir, es gebe wenig Freunde die den + Stempel tragen Echter Treu, Rechtschaffenheit. + +The lines throw a light on Mozart's relations to his fellow-artists, +and the hint contained in Barisani's album verses, written on April 14, +1787, that the Italian composers envied him his art (Vol. II., p. 306), +leaves no doubt as to whose envy, in the opinion of himself and his +friends, he had to dread. A musical connoisseur, visiting Vienna on his +return from Italy in the spring of 1787,[3] found everybody engrossed +with Martin's "Cosa Rara," which, Storace's departure having rendered +its performance in Italian impossible, was being played in a German +adaptation at the Marinelli theatre with success. Dittersdorfs success +in German opera had also the effect of throwing Mozart completely into +the shade. + +Dittersdorf (1739-1799)[4] came to Vienna during Lent, 1786,[5] to +produce his oratorio of "Job" at the concerts of the Musical Society, +and he afterwards gave two concerts in the Augarten, at which his +symphonies on Ovid's "Metamorphoses" were performed. The genuine success +of these compositions led to his being requested to write a German +opera. Stephanie junior, theatrical director at the time, provided him +with the incredibly dull libretto of the "Doctor und Apotheker," which +was played for the first + + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(128) + +time on July 11, 1786, and twenty times subsequently during the year. +That which had not been attained by the success of the "Entführung," +happened in this case. Dittersdorf was at once requested to write a +second opera, "Betrug durch Aberglauben," which was performed on October +3, 1786, with not less applause than the first; it was followed by a +third "Die Liebe im Narrenhause," also very well received on April 12, +1787. On the other hand, an Italian opera by Dittersdorf, "Democrito +Corretto," first performed on January 2, 1787, was a complete failure. +Dittersdorf's brilliant triumph over such composers as Umlauf, Hanke, +or Ruprecht, is not to be wondered at; his operas rapidly spread from +Vienna to all the other German theatres, and he acquired a popularity +far in excess of most other composers.[6] True merit was undoubtedly at +the bottom of this; he was skilful in appropriating the good points both +of opera buffa and of French comic opera, and his finales and ensemble +movements are specially happy in effect; he was not only thoroughly +experienced in the management of voices, but, being a fertile +instrumental composer, he had learnt from the example and precedent of +Haydn to employ his orchestra independently, and with good effect. +His easy flow of invention furnished him with an abundance of pleasing +melodies, a considerable amount of comic talent showed itself in +somewhat highly flavoured jokes, and his music had an easy-going, +good-tempered character, which, though often sinking into Philistinism, +was, nevertheless, genuinely German. Far behind Grétry as he was in +intellect and refinement, he decidedly excelled him in musical ability. +Life and originality were incontestably his, but depth of feeling or +nobility of form will be sought for in vain in his works. Each new +opera was a mere repetition of that which had first been so successful, +affording constant proof of his limited powers, which were rightly +estimated by some of his contemporaries.[7] Joseph II. + + +{COMPOSITIONS IN 1787.} + +(129) + +shared the partiality of the public for Dittersdorf's lighter style of +music, and rewarded him munificently when he left Vienna in the spring +of 1787. But the Emperor took no real interest in German opera--the +company received their dismissal in the autumn of 1787, and the +performances ceased in February, 1788.[8] + +Mozart's autograph Thematic Catalogue contains few important works +between his return to Vienna and his second journey to Prague:-- + +1787. March 11. Rondo for pianoforte, A minor (511 K.). + +March 18. Scena for Fischer, "Non sö d'onde viene" (512 K.). + +March 23. Air for Gottfried von Jacquin, "M entre ti lascio" (513 K.). + +April 6. Rondo for the horn, for Leutgeb (514 K.). + +April 19. Quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, C major +(Vol. III., p. 19) (515 K.). + +May 16. Quintet, G minor (Vol. III., p. 20) (516 K.). + +May 18, 20, 23, 26. A song on each (517-520 K.). + +May 20. A piano sonata for four hands, in C major (521 K.). + +June 11. A musical jest (Vol. II., p. 367, 522 K.). + +June 24. Two songs (523, 524 K.). + +August 10. Serenade (525 K.). + +August 24. Pianoforte sonata with violin, in A major (526 K.). + +These were probably all composed for social or teaching purposes; even +the two quintets, which are worthy of the first rank, were no doubt +written to order for a particular musical circle. Nor were these +compositions to the taste of the Viennese public of the day. The +traveller already mentioned notes as follows:[9]-- + +Kozeluch's works hold their ground, and are always acceptable, while +Mozart's are not by any means so popular. It is true; and the fact +receives fresh confirmation from his quartets dedicated to Haydn, that +he has a decided leaning to what is difficult and unusual. But on the +other hand, how great and noble are his ideas--how daring a spirit does +he display in them! + +The amount of industry with which Mozart worked at "Don Giovanni" is +unknown to us. We may conclude that, if he followed his usual habit, +he plunged eagerly into his new libretto at first, and afterwards +procrastinated over + + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(130) + +the actual transcription of his ideas. The received tradition represents +him as bringing the unfinished opera to Prague in September, 1787,[10] +and completing it, incited by intercourse with the intended +performers and the stimulating society of his enthusiastic friends and +admirers.[11] The impresario, who was bound to provide accommodation for +the composer until after the performance, had lodged Mozart in a house, +"bei drei Löwen" (on the market-place).[12] He preferred, however, +the vineyard of his friend Duschek at Kossir (Kosohirz); and the +summer-house and stone table are still shown at which he used to sit +writing his score, with lively talk and bowl-playing going on round +him.[13] All such stories as those of the delicate diplomacy with +which Mozart apportioned the several parts to the satisfaction of the +performers, of his having been obliged to appease L. Bassi, indignant at +Don Giovanni having no proper grand air to sing; of his having +composed "La ci darem la mano" five times before he could satisfy the +singers,[14] repose on the same foundation as those of his + +{PERFORMANCE IN PRAGUE, 1787.} + +(131) + +love-making with the female performers.[15] As to this, we know his +relations with the Duscheks; Teresa Saporiti is said to have expressed +her surprise that so great an artist should be so insignificant in +appearance; whereat Mozart, touched on his weakest point, diverted his +attentions from her and bestowed them on Micelli or Bondini--there were +no other female artists in Prague at that time. We are unfortunate in +having no information as to the influence exerted on the details of +the composition by the idiosyncracies of the singers and other +circumstances. Two anecdotes obtained credence at the time, both +relating to the rehearsals for which Da Ponte had also come from +Vienna;[16] he was lodged at the back of the inn "Zum Platteis," and the +poet and composer could converse with each other from their respective +windows. + +In the finale of the first act Teresa Bondini as Zerlina failed to utter +the cry for help in a sufficiently spontaneous manner. After many vain +attempts, Mozart went himself on to the stage, had the whole thing +repeated, and at the right moment gave the singer so unexpected and +severe a push that she shrieked out in alarm. "That's right," he +exclaimed, laughing, "that is the way to shriek!" The words of the +Commendatore in the churchyard scene were originally, it is said, +accompanied only by the trombones. The trombone-players failing to +execute the passage, Mozart went to the desk, and began to explain how +it might be done, whereupon one of them said: "It cannot be played in +that way, nor can even you teach us how to do it." Mozart answered, +laughing: "God forbid that I should teach you to play the trumpet; give +me the parts, and I will alter them." He did so accordingly, and added +the wood wind instruments.[17] + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(132) + +A good omen for the reception of the new opera was afforded by a +brilliant performance of "Figaro" on October 14,[18] under Mozart's +direction, in honour of the bride of Prince Anton of Saxony, the +Archduchess Maria Theresa of Toscana, who was passing through Prague on +her wedding tour.[19] Nevertheless, Mozart himself felt far from secure +of the success of "Don Giovanni"; and after the first rehearsal, while +taking a walk with the orchestral conductor Kucharz, he asked him in +confidence what he thought of the opera, and whether it was likely to +achieve so decided a success as that of "Figaro." Kucharz answered that +he could entertain no doubt of the success of such fine and original +music, and that anything coming from Mozart would meet with ready +recognition from the Prague public. Mozart declared himself satisfied +with such an opinion from a musician, and said he was ready to spare +neither pains nor labour to produce a work worthy of Prague.[20] + +Thus approached the day of performance, October 29 (not November 4), +1787; and on the previous evening the overture was still unwritten, to +the great consternation of Mozart's assembled friends. We have already +told (Vol. II., p. 414) how he parted late from the merry company, and +sat down to write with a glass of punch before him, and his wife telling +him stories by his side; how sleep overcame him, and he was obliged +to lie down for several hours before completing his task; and how the +copyist was sent for at seven o'clock in the morning, and the overture +was ready at + +{SUCCESS IN PRAGUE} + +(133). + +the appointed time.[21] There was barely time to write out the parts +before the beginning of the opera, which indeed was somewhat delayed +on this account. The well-drilled and inspired orchestra played the +overture at sight so well that, during the introduction to the first +act, Mozart observed to the instrumentalists near him: "Some of the +notes fell under the desks, it is true, but the overture went capitally +upon the whole." The success of the first representation was brilliant. +The theatre was full to overflowing, and Mozart's appearance as +conductor at the piano was the signal for enthusiastic clapping and +huzzas. The suspense with which the overture was awaited found vent in +a very storm of applause, which accompanied the opera from beginning to +end. The cast of this performance was as follows:--[See Page Images] + +The performance, though not including any virtuosi of the first rank or +fame, was considered an excellent one; the inspiring influence of +the maestro and the elevated mood of the public united to induce +the performers to put forth all their powers, and stimulated them to +extraordinary efforts. Guardasoni, who was associated with Bondini in +the management of the theatre,[22] was so delighted with the success of + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(134) + +the opera that he announced it to Da Ponte (who had been obliged to +hurry back to Vienna to put "Axur" upon the stage) in the words: "Evviva +Da Ponte, ewiva Mozart! Tutti gli impresari, tutti i virtuosi devono +benedirli! finchè essi vivranno, son si saprà mai, cosa sia miseria +teatrale."[23] Mozart also communicated to' Da Ponte the happy result +of their joint labours, and wrote to Gottfried von Jacquin (November 4, +1787):-- + +Dearest Friend,--I hope you have received my letters. On October 29, +my opera, "Don Giovanni," was put in scena, with the most unqualified +success. Yesterday it was performed for the fourth time, for my benefit. + +I intend to leave here on the 12th or 13th, and as soon as I arrive in +Vienna you shall have the airs to sing. N.B.--Between ourselves--I only +wish my good friends (particularly Bridi and yourself) could be here for +a single evening to share in my triumph. Perhaps it will be performed in +Vienna. I hope so. They are trying all they can here to persuade me to +remain two months longer, and write another opera; but flattering as the +proposal is, I cannot accept it.[24] + +Mozart met with constant and unequivocal proofs of esteem on all sides +during his visit to Prague; an esteem, too, not of mere fashion or +prejudice, but founded on a genuine love of art; he gave himself up +unreservedly to the pleasure afforded him by intercourse with his +friends and admirers; and many of these retained long after, as +Niemet-schek says (p. 93), the memory of the hours passed in his +society. He was as artless and confiding as a child, and overflowing +with fun and merriment; it was difficult for + +{SONG FOR MADAME DUSCHEK, 1787.} + +(135) + +strangers to realise that they were in the society of the great and +admired artist. + +Mozart had promised his friend, Madame Duschek, that he would compose a +new concert air for her; as usual, however, he could not be brought to +the point of transcribing it. One day she locked him into a summer-house +on the Weinberg, and declared she would not let him out until he had +finished the air. He set to work at once, but having completed his task, +retorted that if she could not sing the song correctly and well at first +sight, he would not give it to her.[25] In truth, the words: "Quest' +affanno, questo passo è terribile," in the andante of this song ("Bella +mia fiamma," 528 K., part 2) are rendered after a highly characteristic +manner; and the intervals for the voice, not easy in themselves, +become, by their harmonic disposition, a severe test of pure and correct +intonation. Altogether, this is one of the most beautiful of Mozart's +concert airs; it makes no great claims on the singer's powers of +execution, but it requires a soprano voice of considerable compass and +power, and a grand and expressive delivery. It is interesting to observe +how this song, animated and energetic as it is in expression, yet +differs essentially from the properly dramatic music of "Don Giovanni." +Unconnected with any plot, and not designed for the stage, the situation +adopts a modified character, the concert singer being in a totally +different position from the actor; and the form in which the composer +clothes his conception is suitably modified also. On November 15, 1787, +immediately after Mozart's return to Vienna, Gluck died; and the success +of "Don Giovanni" in Prague may have contributed to induce Joseph II. +to retain Mozart in Vienna by appointing him Chamber-Musi-cian +(Kammermusikus) on December 7, 1787. For the present, however, there was +no prospect of a performance of "Don Giovanni" in Vienna. + +Salieri had produced his opera of "Tarar" in Paris, in June, 1787, +Beaumarchais having spared no pains to create + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(136) + +an effect by a lively and exciting plot, by lavish decorations and +costumes, and by political and philosophical allusions. The public was +at first somewhat disappointed, and the music was considered inferior +to that of the "Danaides," produced in 1774; but the extraordinary piece +made in the end a great effect, and attracted large audiences.[26] The +Emperor was exceedingly pleased with the music, and commissioned Da +Ponte to prepare Italian words for it upon the occasion of the marriage +of the Archduke Francis with the Princess Elizabeth. This Italian opera +of "Axur" retained only the groundwork of the original, both the words +and the music being completely remodelled. Da Ponte gave fresh proof +of his dexterity, and Salieri, finding his task far more congenial than +before, did not grudge the trouble of recomposition.[27] On January 8, +1788, the Festival opera "Axur" was performed as a "Freispektakel," the +betrothal of the distinguished pair by the Archduke Maximilian having +taken place on January 6.[28]At first the audience were somewhat taken +aback by the traces of the French "Tarar" in the Italian "Axur," but +very soon they felt the lively, brilliantly appointed plot, and the +freer development of musical forms to be additional charms bestowed on +the essentially Italian music. Several representations, following in +quick succession, increased the favour in which this opera came to be +held in Vienna,[29] especially by the Emperor Joseph,[30] and very soon +on every stage in Germany.[31] + +The present, therefore, was no time for "Don Giovanni." Mozart catered +for the amusement of the Viennese by the dances (534-536 K.), which +he wrote in January, 1788, for the balls in the Redoutensaale, and he +indulged his patriotic feelings by a song on the Turkish war, which +Baumann sang at the theatre in the Leopoldstadt (539 K.). He + +{PERFORMANCE IN VIENNA, 1788.} + +(137) + +appears also to have given a concert during Lent, for which he wrote his +pianoforte concerto in D major (537 K.). But Joseph II. commanded the +production of "Don Giovanni," and there was no more to be said; it +was given on May 7, 1788,[32] and was a failure. Everybody, says Da +Ponte,[33] except Mozart, thought it a mistake; additions were made, +airs were altered, but no applause followed. Nevertheless Da Ponte +took Mozart's advice, and had the opera repeated several times in quick +succession, so that people grew accustomed to what was unusual, and the +applause increased with every representation.[34] The cast of the opera +in Vienna was as follows:--[See Page Image] + +There was no reason, as will be acknowledged, to ascribe the tardy +success of "Don Giovanni" to the inferiority of its performance.[35] Da +Ponte appears also to have + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(138) + +exaggerated with respect to the frequent alterations. Mozart's Thematic +Catalogue contains three pieces for insertion written _before_ the +first performance (April 24, 28, 30) and incorporated in the book of +words.[36] Mdlle. Cavalieri, of whom it was said at the time[37] that, +deserving to be placed in the first rank of Italian singers, and almost +deified as she was in Italy, not a word in her praise was ever uttered +in Vienna, insisted on having a grand scena in the part of Elvira, in +order to maintain her reputation as a singer. This gave rise (April 30) +to the magnificent air "Mi tradi quell' alma ingrata" (527, 25 K.).[38] +Mozart could not indeed persuade himself to sacrifice so much to the +"voluble organ of Mdlle. Cavalieri" as he had formerly done in the +"Entführung" (Vol. II., p. 235), but even as it is, the dramatic +interest has to yield to the vocal--the character of Elvira to the +individuality of the singer. The tenor singer, Signor Francesco +Morelia,[39] on the contrary, seems to have found Ottavio's grand air +too much for him, and the air in G major "Della sua pace" (527, 27 K.), +composed for him is more modest in every respect. + +A stronger effort after popularity was made by the duet between Zerlina +and Leporello, "Per queste tue manine" (527, 28 K.). The situation is +broadly comic, and has no proper connection with the plot; Leporello +is roundly abused, and finally tied hand and foot by Zerlina. It was +probably intended as a sacrifice to the taste of the audience, who +expected an opera buffa to make them laugh heartily. We know that +Benucci was an excellent comedian in every branch of his art, and this +duet leads to the conclusion that Signora Mombelli's forte was buffa. +Zerlina expresses her anger and revenge volubly enough, but her own +special grace + +{CRITIQUES ON DON GIOVANNI.} + +(139) + +and roguery have quite deserted her here. In a true opera buffa the +duet would have been quite in keeping; but it is out of place in "Don +Giovanni," because it brings Leporello and Zerlina to the foreground in +a degree which does not accord with the plot, and places them both in a +harsh light, false to their character as elsewhere displayed. Mozart was +right, then, in his opinion that additions and alterations were not the +means to make his opera gain favour; it was altogether too unusual a +phenomenon to take immediate effect upon a Viennese audience. We have +already seen how Haydn was constrained to put to silence the adverse +criticisms of musicians and connoisseurs assembled at Count Rosenberg's, +by declaring his conviction that Mozart was the greatest composer in the +world. "Don Giovanni" first made its way upon the stages of Germany in +German adaptations. It was given at Mannheim with extraordinary success +in October, 1789,[40] and Schroder produced it in Hamburg at about the +same time; Schink, while severely criticising the libretto of the opera, +expresses himself enthusiastically in praise of the music-- + +How can this music, so full of force, majesty, and grandeur, be expected +to please the lovers of ordinary opera, who bring their ears to the +theatre with them, but leave their hearts at home? The grand and noble +qualities of the music in "Don Juan" will appeal only to the small +minority of the elect. It is not such as to tickle the ear of the crowd, +and leave the heart unsatisfied. Mozart is no ordinary composer. His +music has been profoundly felt and thought out in its relation to the +characters, situations, and sentiments of his personages. It is a +study in language, treated musically. He never decks out his songs +with unnecessary and meaningless passages. That is the way in which +expression is banished from music: expression consisting not in +particular words, but in the skilful and natural combination of sounds +as a medium of real emotion. Of this method of expression Mozart is +a consummate master. Each sound which he produces has its origin in +emotion, and overflows with it. His expression is glowing with life and +picturesqueness, yet without the taint of voluptuousness. He has the +richest, and at the same time the most temperate imagination. He is a +true virtuoso, never allowing his creative impulse to run away with his +judgment; his inspiration is guided by reason, his impersonations are +the result of calm deliberation.[41] + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(140) + +The Berlin criticism was not quite so favourable, the opera having +been there performed for the first time in the presence of the King on +December 20, 1790:[42]-- + +If ever an opera was looked forward to with curiosity, if ever a +composition of Mozart's was lauded to the skies before its performance, +it was surely this "Don Juan." Every one will allow that Mozart is a +great and admirable composer, but that nothing good or great has been +written before this opera, or will be written after it, is a point on +which we may be allowed to doubt. Theatrical music admits of no rules, +of no appeal but to the heart, and its worth is in proportion to its +effect thereon. No amount of art in heaping up instrumental effects will +make a great musician or render his name immortal, unless he can give +utterance to the passions and emotions of the heart. Grétry, Monsigny, +and Philidor are instances to the point. Mozart has aimed at writing +something extraordinary, something inimitably grand in his "Don Juan"; +the extraordinary is there, certainly, but not the inimitably grand. +Vanity, eccentricity, fancy, have created "Don Juan," not the heart; +and we should have preferred being called upon to admire the highest +capabilities of music in one of his oratorios or solemn church +compositions than in his "Don Juan."[43] + +The extraordinary success of the opera[44] is attested by a notice of +it[45] which proceeds to prove that this musical drama satisfies the +eye, enchants the ear, does violence to the intellect, offends against +morals, and suffers vice to trample upon virtue and good feeling. The +author of the criticism accounts for the popularity of the opera by the +quality of the music, which is beyond all expression grand:-- + +If ever a nation might be proud of one of its children, Germany may be +proud of Mozart, the composer of this opera. Never was the greatness of +the human mind more perceptible, never did music reach so high a level! +Melodies which an angel might have conceived are accompanied by divinest +harmonies, and those whose souls are in any degree susceptible to what +is truly beautiful will agree with me in saying the ear is bewitched. + +At the same time he cannot refrain from the pious wish:--[See Page +Image] + +{CRITIQUES ON DON GIOVANNI.} + +(141) + +Oh, that he had not so wasted the energies of his mighty mind!--that his +judgment had been brought to the aid of his imagination, and had shown +him a less miry path to fame! How can it please him that his name should +appear set in diamonds upon a golden tablet, and the tablet suspended on +a pillory? + +Spazier, who acknowledged Mozart's "true, unborrowed, unartificial +wealth of ideas,"[46] and said of "Don Giovanni" that some of its single +airs were worth more than whole operas by Paesiello,[47] remarks on +another occasion:[48]-- + +The pleasure of seeing a genius strike out a new path with ease, which +one feels would possess insurmountable obstacles to others, becomes pain +and grief, which can only be turned to enjoyment again by minute study +of the work, when such an artist puts forth his whole strength as Mozart +has in "Don Juan," where he overwhelms his hearers with the vastness of +his art, giving to the whole an almost boundless effect. + +His promise of a more minute description remained unfulfilled. The +various notices of the work which followed its performance in other +places were all of the same kind, both praise and blame recognising the +fact that a novel and important phenomenon was being treated of.[49] +After the performance in Weimar, Goethe wrote to Schiller (December 30, +1797) ^ + +Your hopes for the opera are richly fulfilled in "Don Juan"; but the +work is completely isolated, and Mozart's death frustrates any prospect +of his example being followed.[50] + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(142) + +The popularity of the opera with the general public spread rapidly, +and very soon there was no stage in Germany where "Don Juan" had not +acquired permanent possession. According to Sonnleithner's calculation, +"Don Giovanni" had been performed 531 times at Vienna at the end of the +year 1863; at Prague, Stiepanek asserts that 116 representations took +place during the first ten years, and 360 before 1855;[51] at the +celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of "Don Giovanni" at Berlin, +in 1837, more than 200 performances were calculated to have taken +place;[52] similar celebrations took place at Prague[53] and +Magdeburg.[54] The opera was first introduced at Paris in 1805, in +a fearfully distorted and mangled version, by C. Kalkbrenner; a +characteristic instance was the masque terzet, where the words "Courage, +vigilance, adresse, défiance, que l'active prudence préside à nos +desseins" were sung by three gendarmes. Kalkbrenner also interpolated +some of his own music, and, spite of it all, the fabrication pleased +for a time.[55] In the year 1811 "Don Giovanni" was first given in its +original form by the singers of the Italian opera, and ever since the +most distinguished artists have retained Mozart's masterpiece upon +this stage in an uninterrupted succession of performances.[56] A French +translation of "Don Juan," by Castil-Blaze,[57] was given at Lyons in +1822, at the Odéon in Paris in 1827, and at the Académie de Musique in +1834, admirably cast and brilliantly appointed, besides being more true +to the original;[58] a still newer adaptation has been performed at the +Théätre Lyrique.[59] In London the great success of "Figaro" had paved +the way for "Don Giovanni," which has ever since its + + +{STATISTICS OF PERFORMANCES.} + +(143) + +first performance, in April, 1817, occupied a prominent place at the +Italian opera of that city. The applause which followed the first +Italian representation was so great that the lessee of Covent Garden +theatre produced an English version in May of the same year, which was +excellently performed, and with considerable success.[60] + +While "Don Giovanni" was thus becoming familiar to opera-goers in the +north, and even in Petersburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, it had not met +with any very warm or general sympathy in Italy, where repeated attempts +to introduce it to the public had resulted only in a certain amount of +respectful recognition from connoisseurs. "Don Giovanni" was first given +in Rome in 1811, no pains having been spared in the rehearsals, and +few alterations made in the opera. The audience was very attentive, and +applauded loudly; the music was termed "bellissima, superba, sublime, +un musicone"--but not altogether "del gusto del paese"; the many +_stranezze_ might be "belissime," but they were not what people were +accustomed to.[61] A more successful attempt was made in Naples in the +following year, although not on so grand a scale; the audience were +attentive, and seemed to accustom themselves to the _musica classica_, +but even here the success was not lasting.[62] The first representation +at Milan in 1814 provoked quite as much hissing as applause, but +subsequent performances were more successful.[63] At Turin the +opera appears to have pleased in 1815, in spite of its wretched +performance.[64] A mangled version of "Don Giovanni" was given at +Florence in 1818, and failed, but it was afterwards very well received +in its true form;[65] in 1857, as a friend wrote to me, "the antiquated +hyperborean music" was so emphatically hissed that it could not be +risked again. In Genoa, too, in 1824, "Don Giovanni" pleased the +learned, but not the public;[66] and at Venice, in 1833, it gained some + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(144) + +little popularity by slow degrees.[67] Quite lately a celebrated Italian +singer exclaimed angrily at a rehearsal of "Don Giovanni": "Non capisco +niente a questa maledetta musica!"[68] Against all this must be placed +Rossini's charming answer when he was pressed to say which of his own +operas he liked best: one person present suggested one, another the +other, till at last Rossini exclaimed: "Vous voulez connaître celui de +mes ouvrages que j'aime le mieux; eh bien, c'est 'Don Giovanni.'"[69] +The fame of "Don Giovanni" did not long remain confined to the old +world. When Garcia and his daughters were giving Italian operas at New +York in 1825, at Da Ponte's suggestion they produced + +"Don Giovanni."[70] At the conclusion of the first finale everything +went wrong; Garcia, who was playing Don Giovanni, exerted himself in +vain to keep the singers and orchestra in time and tune, until at last, +sword in hand, he came forward and, commanding silence, exclaimed that +it was a shame so to murder a masterpiece. They began again, collected +themselves and took pains, and the finale came happily to an end.[71] +The applause of the public renewed Da Ponte's youth; he recounts the +satisfaction with which he heard the assurance of a friend, whose custom +it was to go regularly to sleep at the opera, that such an opera as that +would keep him awake all night.[72] "Don Giovanni" brought him still +further good fortune; he placed his unexpectedly large profits obtained +therefrom in the lottery, and for the first time drew a prize.[73] "Don +Giovanni," once having made its way, was soon unanimously pronounced +first among all, Mozart's operas; he was said to have declared that he +wrote + +{THE LIBRETTO.} + +(145) + +it not at all for Vienna, a little for Prague, but mostly for himself +and his friends.[74] It is true that the libretto was formerly +considered as a bungling fabrication only tolerated for the sake of the +music; nevertheless, and especially after Hoffmann's clever vindication +of its poetical meaning,[75] "Don Giovanni" gradually became the +accepted canon of dramatic music, and the subject of wide-reaching +discussion.[76] In "Figaro" Da Ponte had opened a new field to opera +buffa, by representing the actual life of _bourgeois_ society; in "Don +Giovanni" he raised opera buffa in another direction to an altogether +higher sphere.[77] The legend on which the opera is founded had reached +the people through the tradition of centuries, and, familiar upon every +stage in Europe, it held the same place in the popular mind as the myths +of Greek tragedy. The facts, in spite of their wonderful and fantastic +character, offered a good groundwork to the dramatist, and the main +conception and essential elements of the situations and characters being +given, the fullest freedom of construction and development was permitted +in the treatment of the legend.[78] Whether the legend current in +Seville + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(146) + +of Don Juan Tenorio,[79] who invited to supper the statue of a warrior +slain by him in a duel, and who, warned in vain to repent, was doomed to +everlasting perdition, is of ancient origin or not, would be difficult +to determine from the contradictory accounts given of it.[80] It is said +to have been performed in monasteries from an early date, adapted by an +unknown writer with the title of "El Ateista Fulminado:"[81] the first +authentic dramatic version of the story being that by Gabriel Tellez, +contemporary of Lope de Vega, monk and prior of a monastery in Madrid. +His active ecclesiastical life did not prevent his acquiring, under the +name of Tirso de Molina, an honourable place in Spanish literature as +a dramatic poet.[82] His "Burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de Piedra" +belongs, according to Schack, both in design and workmanship to his +most fugitive pieces, but contains portions which could only have +been written by a poet of the first rank.[83] The plot is briefly as +follows:-- + +First Day [The scene is laid in Naples].--The Duchess Isabella is having +a parting interview with her lover, Duke Ottavio, when she discovers +that Don Juan has stolen into her apartment in Ottavio's stead. Her +cries for assistance bring the King, who gives Don Juan into the custody +of his uncle, Don Pedro Tenorio, the Spanish + +{TIRSO DE MOLINA'S "CONVIDADO DE PIEDRA."} + +(147) + +Ambassador; the latter, discovering his relationship with his prisoner, +allows him to escape, and denounces Don Ottavio to the King as +Isabella's seducer. Don Pedro is thereupon commanded to arrest Don +Ottavio, to whom, however, he declares that a man having been found with +Isabella, she reported him to be Ottavio; the lover believes himself to +be deceived and betrayed, and Don Pedro connives at his escape. +[Coast scene in Tarragona.] Catalinon, Don Juan's servant, bears his +shipwrecked master lifeless to shore, where they are discovered by +Tisbea, a fisher-girl; Don Juan awakes to consciousness upon her bosom, +and they fall violently in love with each other.[84] Their love-making +is interrupted by a scene in which the Commandant, Don Gonzalo de Ulloa +gives Don Albeso, King of Castile, an account of his diplomatic mission +to Portugal. Then the story returns to Tisbea, who is deceived and +deserted by Don Juan, and left to her passion of despair. + +Second Day [The scene is in Seville].--Don Diego Tenorio, Don Juan's old +father, acquaints the King with the crime which his son has committed +in Naples against Isabella and Ottavio; the King banishes Don Juan from +Seville until he shall make reparation by marrying Isabella. Ottavio +enters and puts himself under the protection of the King, who promises +to demonstrate his innocence in Naples, and to give him the hand of +Donna Anna, Ulloa's daughter, and Don Juan's fiancée. Don Juan appears, +greets Ottavio in friendly fashion, and enters into a long conversation +with the Marquis de la Mota, wherein they discuss the beauties of the +day like the regular roués they are; finally the Marquis declares his +love for Donna Anna. He has no sooner departed than a note is brought to +Don Juan to be conveyed to the Marquis; he opens it, and finding that in +it Donna Anna appoints an interview, determines to keep the appointment +himself; and he acquaints De la Mota, who returns, with the invitation, +but names a later hour. He is as indifferent to his father's sentence of +banishment as to his repeated exhortations, and upon the arrival of the +Marquis to serenade Donna Anna, he borrows his mantle, ostensibly to +enable him to visit one of his many sweethearts, but really that he may +gain access to Donna Anna herself. Discovering the deceit, she cries for +help; her father stops Don Juan's way with drawn sword, and falls by +his hand. The murderer flies; De la Mota enters for the rendezvous; +the King, hurrying in with his guards, takes him for the murderer, +and delivers him to judgment, commanding a magnificent funeral for +the Commandant, and the erection of a monument in his honour. [Country +scene.] Patricio is celebrating his wedding with Aminta, when Don Juan, +journeying through, mingles with the guests, and placing himself close +to the bride, excites the jealousy of the bridegroom. + +Third Day.--Don Juan prevails upon the jealous Patricio to renounce + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(148) + +Aminta by falsely representing that she was formerly seduced by him, and +had summoned him to interrupt the wedding; he gains the consent of +her father by means of a solemn promise of marriage, and after a long +resistance, Aminta gives way. [The Sea-coast.] Isabella, arriving at the +King's summons for her espousals with Don Juan, falls in with Tisbea, +who complains of Don Juan's treachery, and repairs with Isabella to +Seville to seek justice from the King. [Seville.] Don Juan, informed by +Catalinon of how his victims are united to revenge themselves on him, +sees the statue erected to the Commandant, with an inscription calling +for vengeance on his murderer. This rouses his haughty insolence; he +plucks the statue by the beard, and invites it to supper, that it may +execute his vengeance. While Don Juan is entertaining his followers at +table, the statue appears, to the consternation of all but Don Juan, +and remains silent until the meal is over. Left alone with Don Juan, +the Commandant invites him to supper in the chapel, and he accepts the +invitation, after repressing an involuntary shudder. [The Palace.] The +King promises Don Diego that he will create Don Juan Count of Lebrija, +and bestow Isabella upon him, at the same time pardoning the Marquis +at Donna Anna's request, and uniting the two in marriage. Don Ottavio +requests the King's permission to fight a duel with Don Juan, his father +proposing to judge between the two; the King commands a reconciliation. +As he goes out, Aminta enters with her father, to acquaint the King with +her claims on Don Juan's hand, and Ottavio promises her his support. +[The Street.] Don Juan, pardoned by the King, and on the point of +wedding Isabella, prepares to keep his appointment with the Commandant, +and enters the church where Ulloa has spread a meal for him and +Catalinon. The dishes contain scorpions and snakes, the wine is gall and +verjuice, and the table music is a penitential psalm. After the meal, +the Commandant grasps Don Juan's hand with a grip which cannot be shaken +off;[85] "Thou art summoned to the eternal judgment-seat" exclaims the +Commandant; "thy reward shall be fitted to thy deserts." Don Juan falls +down lifeless and sinks below with the statue. [The Palace.] The King +wishing to see the nuptials celebrated, Isabella, Aminta, and Tisbea +come forward to make good their claims to Don Juan's hand, and the +Marquis reveals the treachery practised on him by Don Juan. The King is +in the act of promising justice, when Catalinon enters and makes known +Don Juan's dreadful end. Thereupon Ottavio and Isabella, De la Mota and +Donna Anna, Patricio and Aminta, are severally united, and "the story of +the Marble Guest comes to an end." + +{TIRSO DE MOLINA'S "CONVIDADO DE PIEDRA."} + +(149) + +The drama, necessarily, in this rapid sketch, stripped of all the +elegance and brilliancy of its poetical rendering, bears to an +extraordinary degree the stamp of the time and nation to which it +belongs. The freedom and unreserve with which the various love intrigues +are treated and described are certainly peculiar to the age, and the +story is distinguished by a dash of chivalric bravery all its own; the +audience, while recognising a faithful representation of their own +state of morals, were little inclined to take umbrage at the summary +punishment of the sinner before them.[86] This point is, indeed, +emphasised by various observations made in a truly catholic spirit; for +instance, when Don Juan says to his stony guest, after having mockingly +invited him to sup: "What will'st thou, vision, ghost? Dost thou suffer +still the pains of purgatory? Dost thou demand satisfaction? What is +thy will? I pledge my word to do as thou com-mandest. Why hast thou left +God's throne? Do thy sins cause thee still to wander?" The effect is +greatly heightened again by the reply of the statue when Don Juan is +about to light him out: "Let be; God lights my path." And when Don Juan +sees that all is over, he begs for a confessor, and the statue answers, +"Too late, too late is thy contrition!" and Don Juan falls dead. The +intricate plot is very unequally treated, and so indeed are also the +characters. Among the female characters, Tisbea as a type of passion, +and Aminta as a type of naïve simplicity, are both attractive and +original; and among the men Don Juan, boldly and freely sketched, and +his servant Catalinon, the inevitable "Gracioso" of the Spanish drama, +are most remarkable. Catalinon in particular is treated with moderation +and delicacy; neither his cowardice, his moralising, nor his wit is +brought too prominently forward, and he always appears as the shadow of +his master. Even in the spectre scenes he fails to rise to any grandeur +of character. The influence of Spain upon the Italian drama[87] +necessarily + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(150) + +brought Tirso's "Don Juan" to Italy. According to Ricco-boni, it first +appeared upon an Italian stage soon after 1620.[88] The first printed +translation known is that by Onofrio Giliberti, entitled "ü Convitato +di Pietra," performed in 1652 at Naples; others followed with the same +title by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini (1670) and Andrea Perucci (1678);[89] +the subject was familiar on the Italian stage, and unfailingly +popular.[90] + +The Italian dramatic company, who were naturalised in Paris at the +theatre of the Hötel de Bourgogne, were accustomed to appoint one of +their number to arrange the plan of the pieces which they performed, but +the actual performance was improvised. In this fashion they played an +improvised version of Giliberti's "Convitato di Pietra," which had an +extraordinary run.[91] The chief situations of the Spanish drama, much +simplified and coarsened, are compressed into five acts, and Arlecchino, +who appears here as Don Juan's servant, is brought into the foreground +and made the mouthpiece of a great deal of very questionable badinage:-- + +The first act represents Isabella's seduction in Naples. Don Pedro, her +father and Don Juan's uncle, agrees with her to denounce Ottavio, her +lover, as her seducer, which causes the latter to take flight.[92] In +the second act Don Juan and Arlecchino swim to shore [a very favourite +scene, richly garnished with jokes], and Don Juan's love passages with +the lovely fisher-maiden Rosalba take place. On her claiming his promise +of marriage, he mockingly refers her to Arlecchino, who unrolls the long +list of his master's mistresses. It was customary to allow the end +of the roll to fall, as if by chance, into the pit, and the audience +delighted themselves by looking for the names of their friends or +connections in the list. Rosalba, in despair, casts herself into the +sea.[93] + +{THE ITALIAN "CONVITATO DI PIETRA."} + +(151) + +The third act shows Ottavio in great favour at the court of Castile, on +the point of marriage with Donna Anna. He is attended by Pantaloon, who +carries on the usual by-play with Arlecchino. Don Juan intercepts the +letter in which Donna Anna summons Ottavio, steals in to her, Arlecchino +keeping watch outside, and slays the Commandant, her father, who +surprises them. In the fourth act Donna Anna demands justice from the +King; a reward of 6,000 thalers is placed upon the head of the murderer, +and Arlecchino is greatly tempted to gain it, which gives rise to +much jesting between him and Pantaloon. In the fifth act Don Juan +is discovered before the statue of the Commandant, which he mocks. +Arlecchino is made to invite it to supper, whereupon it nods, and, +upon Don Juan's repetition of the invitation, answers him in words. Don +Juan's supper gives opportunity for much comic display of greediness and +cunning on the part of Arlecchino, continuing even after the appearance +of the Commandant, who invites Don Juan and departs. The King, made +acquainted with Don Juan's crimes, commands him to be seized and brought +to justice. Before escaping he keeps his appointment with the Commandant +in the church, and is dragged below by the spectre. The closing tableau +shows Don Juan burning in hell, and expressing his torment and his +remorse:-- + +To which the demons answer: "Mai!"[94] + +This extravaganza was extraordinarily successful. In 1673 a second +version, with additions and new scenery ("Aggiunta al Convitato di +Pietra"), was announced.[95] The new Italian company of the Duke of +Orleans replaced the improvised "Convitato di Pietra" upon the stage in +1717, and it was revived in 1743.[96] This gave rise to a dispute with +the French actors, who were not willing to renounce their claim to so +taking a piece.[97] Dorimon first produced a translation of Giliberti's +piece with the title of "Le Festin de Pierre,[98] ou le Fils Criminel," +at Lyons in 1658, when + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(152) + +Louis XIV. met the Princess of Savoy there, and it was performed again +at the Théätre de la Rue des Quatre Vents, in Paris, during 1661. But +De Villiers had been beforehand with him here, having produced his +_tragi-comédie_ with the same title and almost verbal identity in 1659 +at the theatre of the Hötel de Bourgogne.[99] Don Juan's afflicted +father, exposed to the insolence of his son and the mockery of the +servant, appears quite at the beginning of the piece. Afterwards Don +Juan changes clothes with his servant Philippin in order to elude +justice, robs a monk of his cowl, and in this disguise slays Don +Philippo (Ottavio), the lover of Amarillis (Donna Anna). After the +Commandant has supped with him and invited him, Don Juan again seduces a +newly married woman, and then repairs to the chapel, where he is struck +by lightning as he sits at table. + +Molière did not neglect so promising a subject for the use of his +company, and his "Don Juan, ou le Festin de Pierre" was first performed +at the Palais-Royal on February 15, 1665. In contrast with the +buffoonery of the Italians he has tried to raise the subject into the +sphere of genuine comedy, and has thereby obliterated the last trace of +the national-historical character of the drama in its Spanish form. Both +sensual passion and chivalric boldness have disappeared. Molière's "Don +Juan" is a cold-blooded egotist in his love and his want of faith, an +enlightened rationalist, even when preserving his honour as a cavalier +with personal bravery; his servant Sganarelle reasons as morally as his +master immorally, but is quite as great an egotist, and a coward into +the bargain. The striking situations, in which the original was so rich, +are either merely related, as in the case of the seduction of Donna Anna +and the murder of the Commenda-tore, or they have lost all their lively +colouring by a new turn, as in the case of the adventures with the +fisher-girl and the peasant; everything that might shock or injure the + +{MOLIÈRE'S "FESTIN DE PIERRE."} + +(153) + +refined tone of comedy was omitted. On the other hand, the interests of +morality required that every opportunity for repentance and amendment +should be given to Don Juan; the more he is preached at from every +quarter, the more obstinate he becomes in his evil courses. The +truthfulness of psychological development thus striven after makes the +catastrophe all the more glaringly absurd; such a sinner as this could +not be carried off by a ghost. As a compromise, Molière makes Don Juan +to be warned by a spirit in the form of a woman, who is transformed into +an appearance of Time with his scythe; this was an allegory quite after +the taste of the time, and rendered the marble guest a superfluity. Some +of the situations, such as the adventure in the country, or the scene +with the merchant, are excellently rendered, and delicate traits of +characterisation are always to be found; in fact, the better a point +is, the less it is found to have to do with the original "Don Juan." +Molière's "Don Juan" was not printed during his life, and was only +played fifteen times. A versified adaptation of it by Thomas Corneille, +given in 1677, was well received, and kept the stage until 1847, when +Molière's comedy was again substituted.[100] + +Incited by Molière's example, Goldoni produced the "mauvaise pièce +espagnole," which he could not contemplate without horror, at Venice in +1736, in the worthier form of a regular comedy entitled "Don Giovanni +Tenorio, ossia il Dissoluto":-- + +In the first act, Donna Anna obeys her father against her will, and is +betrothed to Don Ottavio. The second act shows Elisa, a peasant girl, +taking leave of her lover Carino. Immediately after Don Juan appears, +plundered by robbers, and gains her favour. Carino surprises them +bidding farewell, but Elisa appeases his jealousy. Isabella, who has +been deserted by Don Juan in Naples, follows him disguised as a man. In +the third act she enters Seville with Ottavio, whom she has delivered +from the hands of robbers on the way hither. When Donna Anna discovers +her sex, she makes it the excuse for renouncing Ottavio's hand. +Isabella, meeting Don Juan, forces him to fight with her; but, refusing +from shame to give the standers-by any account of herself, she is +pronounced by Don Juan to be a maniac. Elisa also + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(154) + +pursues Don Juan, but he is warned against her by Carino, to whom she +has been faithless. Don Juan declares himself ready to give her up, +but Carino will have none of her. In the fourth act, Don Juan makes +declaration of love to Donna Anna, who is not unfavourably disposed +towards him, but refers him to her father for consent. He seeks, +however, with drawn sword to gain her favour on the spot; she calls for +help; her father hastens in, and is slain by Don Juan, who then escapes. +It is resolved to pursue him and to seek redress against him from the +King. In the fifth act Elisa promises to liberate him, having relatives +among the guards, if he will marry her. Isabella interposes and renews +her challenge to him to fight. Donna Anna, in mourning robes, calls +for vengeance, but Don Juan displays so much passion for her that she +relents and pardons him. Thereupon comes a letter from the King of +Naples, demanding Don Juan's punishment, and disclosing Isabella's +secret. Don Juan, seeing himself hopelessly lost, beseeches Carino to +slay him. A thunderbolt from the mausoleum of the murdered Commendatore +strikes him dead. + +Goldoni asserts[101] that the public were astonished at first, and did +not know "Ce que voulait dire cet air de noblesse que l'auteur avait +donné à une ancienne bouffonnerie." But it soon became known that +the coquettish Elisa was an actual portrait of the actress, Elizabeth +Passalacqua, who played the part, and that Goldoni had chosen this way +of being revenged on her for bestowing her favours simultaneously on +him and on the actor Vitalba. This roused interest in the piece, and +convinced people "que le comique raisonné était préférable au comique +trivial." Rosimond looked at the subject from quite another point +of view in his _tragi-comédie_ "Le Festin de Pierre, ou l'Athéiste +Foudroyé," produced in 1669 at the Théätre du Marais. This theatre was +then noted for its brilliant decoration and spectacle pieces, which +often necessitated high prices of admission. Such a piece was this of +Rosimond's, and he had been careful to lay the plot in heathen times, +that his atheism might vaunt itself with impunity.[102] Again, in 1746, +"Le Grand Festin de Pierre" was given in Paris as a pantomime,[103] and +has always been popular on village and marionette stages. + +{DON JUAN IN ENGLAND AND GERMANY.} + +(155) + +In England also "Don Juan" was put on the stage at about the same time. +Whether in his "Libertine Destroyed," which was produced in 1676, Thomas +Shadwell followed the Spanish original or the French or Italian version, +I cannot pretend to determine. The piece was very successful, but Don +Juan's villainy was so dreadful, and the piece altogether so horrible, +"as to render it little less than impiety to represent it on the +stage."[104] In 1725 Antonio de Zamora, Chamberlain to King Philip V. of +Spain, adapted the same subject under the title, "Non hay deuda que +no se pague y convi-dado de piedra." "This adaptation, displaying much +talent and skill, is cast almost in the same form as the opera; the +earlier adventures of Don Juan in Naples are omitted, and Zamora, +like the author of the libretto, begins with the murder of the +Commandant."[105] In Germany, "Don Juan, oder das Steinerne Gastmahl," +belonged to the standing repertory of the improvising actor from the +beginning of the eighteenth century. Prehauser, the celebrated buffoon +of the Vienna Theatre, made his first dramatic attempt in 1716 as Don +Philippo in the "Steinerne Gastmahl."[106] Schroder appeared in +Hamburg, in 1766, as Sganarell in "Don Juan," and "surpassed all +expectation."[107] This may have been a version of Molière's "Don Juan," +but as early as 1746 an afterpiece entitled "Don Juan" was on the +repertory of Ackermann's Company,[108] and in 1769 the pantomime +ballet of "Don Juan" was given by them.[109] At Vienna, up to 1772, an +improvised "Steinerne Gastmahl" was regularly given during the octave of +All Souls;[110] a proof that Don Juan's dissolute life was contemplated +with pleasure, and that morality was considered as abundantly vindicated +by his being carried off by the devil after a long penitential + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(156) + +speech.[111] The traditions of this burlesque degenerate into a mere +puppet-show. "Hanswurst" becomes the chief personage, and Don Juan's +love adventures are made subservient to his deeds of blood; both the +names and situations point to the French version of the Italian piece as +the principal source, but many additions have been made, and these, for +the most part, not happy ones.[112] + +It was in Paris that the first attempt was made to treat "Don Juan" +operatically. In the year 1713, Le Tellier produced "au jeu d'Octave," +a comic opera "Le Festin de Pierre," in three acts, and "en vaudevilles +sans prose" at the Théätre de la Foire Saint-Germain.[113] It was well +received, but exception being taken to the representation of hell at the +conclusion of the opera, it was suppressed; but a few days after, we are +told, "Le magistrat, mieux informé, révoqua cette sentence."[114] The +piece followed the old lines, only a few new jokes were introduced; and +the language of the couplets, judging by the specimens which are given, +must have been tolerably free. + +A ballet of "Don Juan," with music by Gluck, was performed in Vienna +in 1761.[115] The programme indicates four divisions, each of them +containing an important situation, worked out and enlivened by means of +different dances. + +{GLUCK'S BALLET, "DON JUAN."} + +(157) + +Unfortunately we have no hints as to the details of the music, which +consists for the most part of short and unelaborated dance melodies:-- + +In the first division, Don Juan serenades his mistress, Donna Anna, and +is admitted by her; surprised by her uncle, he escapes into the street, +and slays his pursuer. In the second division, Don Juan is giving a +feast, at which Donna Anna is present, and dances, a _pas de deux_ with +him; the appearance of the statue scares away the guests. After a short +stay, the Commendatore invites Don Juan, who accepts, and conducts him +to the door. In the meantime the guests reassemble, but seized with +fresh terror, rush from the house; Don Juan prepares to seek the +Commendatore alone, his servant, spite of threats and persuasions, +refusing to accompany him. The third part takes place in the mausoleum; +the Commendatore tries vainly to bring Don Juan to repentance, and +finally plunges him into the abyss. In the last division, Don Juan is +tormented by demons in the lower world; he strives in vain to escape or +to resist, and at last, in despair, he resigns himself and is devoured +by the flames.[117] + +Ten years before Mozart's "Don Giovanni," a _dramma tragicomico_, +entitled "ü Convitato di Pietra, ossia il Dissoluto," was performed +both at Vienna (first on August 21,1777) and at Prague; the composer was +Vine. Righini.[118] The plot is briefly as follows:[119]-- + +The fisher maiden Elisa, and her lover Ombrino, save Don Giovanni and +his servant Arlechino from the waves. Don Giovanni, who has betrayed +Isabella, daughter of the Duca d'Altamonte, in Naples, and is a fugitive +in consequence, readily wins the love of the too-confiding Elisa. The +Commendatore di Loioa, returning from victorious war, is greeted by Don +Alfonso in the name of the King of Castile, who has erected a statue +to his honour, and promises to wed his daughter Donna Anna to the Duca +Ottavio. Donna Anna, in defiance of her father's threats, refuses the +honour. Don Giovanni, whose crime and flight have been made known to +Don Alfonso, enters with Arlechino the house of the Commendatore, where +Donna Anna, having dismissed her maid Lisette, is preparing to retire +to rest. He offers her violence, which she resists, and recognises him; +thereupon enters the Commendatore and falls in + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(158) + +combat with Don Giovanni. Donna Anna vows vengeance on the murderer. In +the second act Don Giovanni determines to flee, and orders Arlechino to +be ready in the tavern, and to order a meal. Isabella, who has pursued +Don Giovanni, extorts from Don Alfonso a promise of reparation. Don +Giovanni, seized with remorse, takes refuge in the mausoleum, and falls +asleep near the statue of the Commendatore. There he is found by +the sorrowing Anna, whose love and pity he seeks in vain to kindle. +Arlechino summons him to the tavern, where all is prepared; he invites +the statue to be his guest, and is sorely perplexed by the answer given. +Arlechino in the tavern makes love to the hostess Corallina. Donna +Anna receives from Don Alfonso the assurance of the speedy pursuit and +punishment of Don Giovanni. The latter sups with Arlechino, waited upon +by Corallina and Tiburzio; he toasts the approving audience, Arlechino +and the pretty maids, in German verse! The statue appears, but does not +eat, invites Don Giovanni and disappears; the meal is continued with +the utmost composure. In the third act, Don Giovanni is the guest of the +Commendatore in the mausoleum; he refuses to repent, and is cast into +the abyss. Don Alfonso and Donna Anna are acquainted by Arlechino of +this consummation. Don Giovanni is seen tormented by demons. + +The libretto differs neither in design nor execution from that of an +ordinary opera buffa. + +In 1787 "Il Convitato di Pietra," by Gius. Gazzaniga, was given in +Venice at the Teatro di S. Mosè, and was received with much applause. +The opera was given in Ferrara, Bergamo,[120] and Rome, "every evening +for a month, till no one was satisfied who had not seen Don Juan +roasting in hell, and the late lamented Commandant rising to heaven as a +disembodied spirit";[121] it was played in Milan, 1789; in Paris, 1791, +where, however, in spite of the brilliant concluding scene, it was only +moderately successful,[122] and in London (notwithstanding Da Ponte's +contradiction) in 1794.[123] The libretto is lost, but fragments of a +score which Sonnleithner discovered in Vienna[124] show that Da Ponte + +{GAZZANIGA's "CONVITATO DI PIETRA."} + +(159) + +must have made liberal use of this libretto,[125] if, indeed, the two +have not a common source:--. + +Pasquariello is reluctantly keeping watch before the house of the +Commandant, when Don Giovanni rushes out, and strives to free himself +from Donna Anna, who snatches the mask from his face and calls her +father to help; he appears and falls in combat, a terzet for the men +closing the introduction [there is no overture]. After some little talk, +Don Giovanni flies with Pasquariello. Donna Anna hastens in with her +betrothed Duca Ottavio, and finds to her horror the corpse of her father +[accompanied recitative]; more composedly she acquaints him with Don +Giovanni's villany, and declares her intention of retiring to a +nunnery until Ottavio shall have discovered and punished the murderer +[air],[126] to which he consents sorrowfully [air]. Don Giovanni, +waiting for Donna Eximena in a casino, converses with Pasquariello, +when Donna Elvira enters in travelling guise; she has been deceived and +deserted by Don Giovanni in Burgos, and has followed him hither [air]. +They recognise each other, Don Giovanni refers her to Pasquariello for +the motives of his departure, and goes out. Pasquariello gives her the +list of his master's mistresses [air]; she vows to gain justice or +be avenged. Don Giovanni enters in loving converse with Eximena, and +satisfies her jealous doubts of his fidelity [air]. A peasant couple, +Biagio and Maturina, are celebrating their wedding [chorus and +tarantella]. Pasquariello pays court to the bride, but on the entrance +of Don Giovanni retires; and Don Giovanni treats the bridegroom so +rudely that he finally goes off in dudgeon [air]. Don Giovanni befools +Maturina by flattery and a promise of marriage. Two scenes are wanting +here (14 and 15). Biagio enters in jealous mood, but is appeased by +Maturina [scena and rondo]. Eximena questions Pasquariello concerning +his master, and rejoices to learn that he is constant to her [air]. +Don Giovanni is besieged with questions by Donna Elvira, Eximena, and +Maturina all at once, and satisfies each in turn by assuring her that +love for him has turned the brains of the other two.[127] Duca Ottavio +is discovered in the mausoleum adding the inscription to the statue +which the Commandant had erected to himself in his lifetime. Don +Giovanni enters with Pasquariello to view the monument, and obliges +the latter to invite the statue [duet]. The cook Lanterna attends Don +Giovanni; Elvira comes and meets him returning with Pasquariello; she +exhorts him earnestly to repent, but he scornfully refuses, whereupon +she leaves him + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(160) + +and retires to a nunnery. Don Giovanni proceeds to sup merrily +[concertino]; Pasquariello eats with him, and Lanterna wait upon them; +they toast the town of Venice and its lovely women.[128] A knock is +heard, and, to the horror of the two servants, the Commandant appears. +Don Giovanni bids him welcome, and orders Pasquariello to serve him; +he accepts the Commandant's invitation, giving him his hand on it, but +rejects his exhortation to repentance, and is delivered over to the +demons.[129] + +A "Convitato di Pietra," by Tritto, is known to me only through Fétis, +who places it in the year 1783.[130] + +A wealth of material, which made the task of selection difficult, left +Da Ponte no necessity to task his invention for his libretto.[131] +We have no means of ascertaining how deep or how extensive were his +previous studies,[132] but even compared with Gazzaniga's libretto, +which he closely followed for the greater part of the first act and +the second finale, we cannot fail to recognise his superiority in the +arrangement of the plot, in the delineation of character, and in +the grouping of situations for musical treatment, especially in the +ensembles. His discrimination in the selection of material was also very +just. He saw clearly that if the spectral apparition was to have its +due effect it must be set in vivid contrast with the representation +of actual life, with all its impulses of passion, of love, hate, or +despair, of humour and merriment. He cannot be said to have cast the +magic of true poetry over his work, nor has it the knightly tone of the +Spanish original, but he has endowed + +{DA PONTE'S LIBRETTO.} + +(161) + +his characters with the easy pleasure-loving spirit of the time; and the +sensual frivolity of life at Venice or Vienna is mirrored in every +page of his "Don Giovanni." The language displays a versatility almost +amounting to gracefulness; and, remembering to what a low level of +vulgarity the treatment of the subject had been brought, we shall be +the more ready to recognise the effort to raise the dialogue to a more +sensible and refined standard. Da Ponte was right in placing the main +points on which the action turns upon the stage, and in furnishing the +composer with a number of musically effective situations, in which the +elements of tragedy and comedy, of horror and merriment, meet and +mingle together. This curious intermixture of ground-tones, which seldom +allows; expression to any one pure and unalloyed mood, is the special +characteristic of the opera. Mozart grasped the unity of these contrasts +lying deep in human nature, and expressed them so harmoniously as +to open a new province to his art, for the development of which its +mightiest forces were henceforward to be concentrated. Great as has been +the progress of music in the expression of this inner life of man since +Mozart's time, he has not yet been surpassed in his power of creating +living forms instinct with artistic beauty, and endowed with perfect +dramatic truth. When Goethe declared that Mozart would have been the man +to compose his "Faust,"[133] he was thinking of "Don Giovanni"; but it +could scarcely have been the merely external manipulation of the plot, +however skilful, which directed his opinion. With the instinctive +certainty of genius he felt the universality of Mozart's conception and +representation of humanity, and acknowledged him as his equal on what +was, in his judgment, a far more extensive field than this. + +The commencement of the opera[134] sets us at once in the midst of the +action: the passionate intensity of the first + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(162) + +scene, the villainy which is practised before our eyes, prepare us +for the deep shadow which is to fall on the picture of reckless +pleasure-seeking, and for its horrifying conclusion; nor is the humorous +element altogether absent:-- + +Leporello is discovered keeping impatient watch for his master, who soon +appears, pursued by Donna Anna, and vainly striving to break loose +from her. Her cries for help bring the Commendatore, her father, who +challenges the insolent intruder to fight, and falls by Don Giovanni's +sword, to the consternation of the latter and of Leporello. Neither +scorn nor mockery are expressed in the words, "Ah! gia cade il +sciagurato," and the music is as far from such sentiments as the words. +Da Ponte has sagaciously shown traits of natural human sentiment in Don +Giovanni, and Mozart has not let these escape him. But he has no time to +waste in regrets; he takes to flight, and immediately after Donna Anna +returns with her affianced lover, Don Ottavio; she swoons at sight of +the corpse, and as soon as she returns to herself makes Don Ottavio +swear vengeance on the murderer. + +Don Giovanni, deaf to Leporello's reproaches, is confiding to him that +he is in pursuit of a new adventure,[135] when a lady enters. This is +Donna Elvira, whom he has deceived and deserted in Burgos, and who has +followed him to claim his promise of marriage; he approaches her, and is +consternated on seeing who she is. She overwhelms him with reproaches, +and he refers her to Leporello for explanations and excuses, taking the +opportunity of slipping away himself; Leporello, for her consolation, +displays a list of his master's love intrigues, which he carries about +with him. Enraged at this fresh insult, she resolves to sacrifice her +love for her unfaithful lover to her thirst for vengeance. + +Masetto and Zerlina, with their village friends, are celebrating their +wedding in the neighbourhood of Don Giovanni's casino, whither he +has repaired by preconcerted arrangement. Zerlina's fresh loveliness +attracts him; and, making acquaintance with the bridal party, he invites +them all into his casino, but soon drives out Masetto, whose jealousy he +has excited; and is on the point of winning Zerlina by his flattery and +declarations of love when Elvira steps between them, warns Zerlina, +and (spite of Don Giovanni's whispered protestation that she is a poor +maniac in love with him and mad with jealousy) carries off the peasant +maiden.[136] To Don Giovanni, thus left alone, enter Donna Anna and +Ottavio, who greet him as a friend of the family, and claim his + +{DA PONTE'S LIBRETTO.} + +(163) + +assistance in discovering the murderer and bringing him to justice; +while he is conversing with Donna Anna, Elvira again interposes and +warns her that he is a hypocrite. He again secretly represents her as +a maniac who must be humoured,[137] and goes out with her. Donna +Anna's suspicions are aroused, and observing Don Giovanni closely, she +recognises her father's murderer in him, acquaints Don Ottavio with the +circumstances, and urges him to avenge her father's death. Unwilling +to give easy credence to such a grave accusation, he decides to examine +thoroughly into the affair, and to clear up the doubts as to Don +Giovanni. The latter, disembarrassed of Donna Elvira, commands a banquet +to be prepared in honour of the bridal party. Masetto, whom Zerlina has +with difficulty appeased by her coaxing endearments, conceals himself +when he sees Don Giovanni approaching; after some demure behaviour on +Zerlina's part, Masetto comes forward, and Don Giovanni, with quick +presence of mind, persuades them both to accompany him into the house +for the banquet. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio enter with Elvira, who has +explained everything to them, and at her instigation they all put +on masks, in order to observe Don Giovanni without being recognised; +Leporello, perceiving them, conveys the expected invitation to enter, +which they accept. It was at that time customary in Venice to go about +masked, and strangers thus disguised were invited to enter where +any festivities were going on, thus heightening the frolic of the +masquerade. As they enter the hall, there is a pause in the dance; the +guests take refreshment, Don Giovanni devotes himself to Zerlina, and +Masetto, his jealousy again aroused, seeks to warn her; then the masked +strangers become the centre of observation, are politely greeted, and +the dance begins again. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio tread a minuet, the +dance of the aristocracy;[138] Donna Anna with difficulty restrains her +conflicting emotions, which vent themselves in occasional interjections, +while Don Ottavio exhorts her to remain calm. Elvira follows every +movement of Don Giovanni; the latter invites Zerlina to dance, and +Leporello forces Masetto to dance with him in order to distract his +attention from Zerlina. At the right moment Don Giovanni carries off +Zerlina. Leporello hurries after to warn him; her cries for help are +heard, and all rush to her rescue. Don Giovanni meets them, dragging +in Leporello, whom he gives out to be the culprit, and threatens with +death; but he is surrounded on all sides, the masks are thrown off, and +he finds himself in the midst of his victims, + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(164) + +intent on revenge. For one moment his presence of mind forsakes him +and he is at a loss how to extricate himself, but his courage speedily +returns, and he boldly and irresistibly makes his way through his +enemies. + +This momentary dismay and confusion is psychologically correct, and +brings an important feature into the situation, which Mozart has +effectively seized in his musical characterisation of it. Don Giovanni +and Leporello, with the storm of voices surging round them, sing _sotto +voce_; and highly characteristic is the submission to Leporello's +opinion to which Don Giovanni here condescends. Only with the words +"Ma non manca in me corraggio" does he gather his senses together, +and strike at once a different key, in which Leporello cannot follow +him.[139] + +The first act must be allowed to have a well-constructed and interesting +plot, but the second consists of situations without cohesion or +connection, although capable of being made musically very effective. It +wants a leading motive to hold the parts together, the incessant pursuit +of Don Giovanni not by any means answering the purpose; the comic tone +also degenerates into coarseness:-- + +Don Giovanni, having appeased the incensed Leporello with money and +fair words, confides to him that he is courting Elvira's pretty +wait-ing-maid, and changes clothes with him in order to gain easier +access to her. This is scarcely accomplished when Elvira appears at +the window. In order to get out of the affair with a good grace, Don +Giovanni renews his addresses to her with pretended passion, and she is +weak enough to give ear to him. Leporello, in his disguise, accepts and +answers her protestations of love, until Don Giovanni, making a noisy +entrance, drives them both away; then with a tender song he strives +to entice the waiting-maid to appear. Masetto then enters armed, with +several friends, to call Don Giovanni to account; the supposed Leporello +undertakes to put them on the right track, but cleverly contrives to +disperse and dismiss them, wheedles Masetto out of his weapons, beats +him soundly, and escapes. Masetto's cries bring Zerlina to the spot, and +she seeks to console him with loving caresses. + +In the meantime Leporello and Elvira have taken refuge in an +antechamber; Leporello tries to slip away, while Elvira beseeches him +not to leave her alone in the dark. He is on the point of escaping when + +{DA PONTE'S LIBRETTO.} + +(165) + +Don Ottavio enters with Donna Anna, endeavouring to calm her sorrow; +Elvira and Leporello each try to escape unobserved, but Zerlina and +Masetto intercept them. The supposed Don Giovanni is taken to account +on the spot; in vain does Elvira petition for him, to the general +astonishment; at last Leporello discovers himself, and after many +excuses and explanations makes good his escape. Don Ottavio, now no +longer doubting that Don Giovanni is the murderer of the Com-mendatore, +announces his intention of proceeding against him in a court of justice, +and begs his friends to console his betrothed until he shall have +accomplished his design. + +Don Giovanni awaits Leporello's arrival at the foot of the monument +erected to the Commendatore, and laughingly relates his latest +adventure; an invisible voice twice utters words of warning. He becomes +aware of the presence of the statue, and makes Leporello read the +inscription on it: "I here await the chastisement of my ruthless +murderer." In arrogant contempt of Leporello's horror he forces the +latter to invite the statue to supper; the statue nodding its head. Don +Giovanni calls upon it to answer, and on its distinctly uttering the +word "Yes" he hastens away in consternation. + +Don Ottavio strives anew to console Donna Anna, and at last begs for her +hand in marriage: she explains that, though her heart consents to +his prayer, her mourning for her father compels her to postpone its +fulfilment. This scene gives rise to a suspicion of having been inserted +in Prague after the completion of the opera, in order to give the singer +a final air. The situation is repeated at the close of the finale, and +is not here in accordance with Don Ottavio's previous appearances. Don +Giovanni, seated at his richly appointed table, eats and jokes with the +greedy Leporello. This scene, which was always made the occasion for +broad jesting between master and servant, has been turned by Mozart into +musical fun and by-play. Don Giovanni's private musicians play favourite +airs from the newest operas. At the first bar Leporello cries "Bravi! +'Cosa Rara!'" It is the last movement of the first finale from Martin's +"Cosa Rara": "O quanto un si bel giubilo," which was then in every one's +mouth; and the parody was a very happy one. Just as in Martin's opera +the discontented lovers are contrasted with the more favoured ones, on +whom their mistresses have been bestowed before their eyes, so here the +hungry Leporello contrasts with the gormandising Don Giovanni, and the +music might have been made for them. The second piece is greeted by +Leporello with "Evvivano! 'I Litiganti!'" It is Mingone's favourite air +from Sarti's opera, "Fra Due Litiganti il Terzo gode" (Act I., 8), the +same on which Mozart had written variations (Vol. II., p. 345), the then +familiar words of which-- + + "Come un agnello, + Che va al macello, + Andrai belando + Per la città"-- + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(166) + +were comically appropriate to the snuffling Leporello.[140] The apparent +malice which induced Mozart to parody favourite pieces from operas +which were avowedly rivals of his own (the impression being immensely +heightened by the humorous instrumentation caricaturing arrangements +for harmony music), is rendered in some degree excusable by his having +included himself in the joke. When the musicians strike up "Non più +andrai," Leporello exclaims: "Questa poi la conosco pur troppo!" +Thus Mozart expressed his gratitude to the people of Prague for their +enthusiastic reception of "Figaro."[141] + +To this merry pair enters Elvira. She has overcome her love, and intends +entering a cloister, but wishes to make one more effort to bring Don +Giovanni to repentance; but her representation being met only with +easy contempt, she angrily leaves him. She is heard to utter a shriek +without. Leporello hastens after her, and returns in horror: the statue +of the Commendatore is at the door; it knocks, and Don Giovanni has to +go himself to open it, and to conduct his marble guest to a seat. The +statue rejects all hospitality, and asks Don Giovanni if he is prepared +to return the visit; on his answering in the affirmative, he grasps him +by the hand, and calls upon him to repent. Don Giovanni repeatedly and +defiantly refuses, and the statue leaves him; night comes on, flames +burst from the earth, invisible spirit voices are heard, demons surround +Don Giovanni, who sinks into the abyss. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, +Elvira, Masetto and Zerlina enter to drag the offender to justice, +but find that human revenge has been anticipated; Leporello, who has +witnessed the dreadful scene with every sign of horror, relates his +master's fearful end. Relieved from anxiety, and restored to their +natural relations, they unite in the words of the "old song"-- + + "Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, + E de' perfidi la morte + Alla vita è sempre ugual!" + +No doubt the serious moral appended to the gay and easygoing tone of +the opera was a reminiscence of the custom of considering the piece, +on account of its ready practical application, as a sort of religious +drama; the music takes the same tone towards the end. We can scarcely +conceive that it was with a view to the moral effect alone that Da Ponte +so contrived the plot that Don Giovanni should fail in each + +{GERMAN ADAPTATIONS.} + +(167) + +of the love adventures in which he engages; there can be no question +that the cheerful tone which runs through the whole opera depends +chiefly on the repulses with which the hero is continually met on the +field of his heroic deeds. It is true that some of the passionate force +which distinguishes the Spanish drama is thereby sacrificed, but, on +the other hand, the murders and low crimes which were heaped up in +the German burlesques of "Don Giovanni" also disappeared, and the +concentration of the action dispensed with a number of ill-connected +and licentious scenes. Unfortunately the German adaptations have made +a concession to the popular taste in retaining the accustomed Carnival +frolic, which has nothing whatever in common with Da Ponte's "Don +Giovanni"--to say nothing of Mozart. Only of late has this deformity +been occasionally removed by the introduction of the original recitative +in its stead.[142] But, apart from this, the current German version not +only misses the easy, often striking and graceful style of the Italian +verses, and spoils the melodious flow of the words; it even distorts the +sense, and puts into the mouths of the singers sentiments foreign alike +to the situation and to the music.[143] + +But whatever merit Da Ponte's libretto may claim, it claims chiefly as +having given occasion to Mozart's music; (527 K.). One is accustomed to +consider the libretto of an opera as the canvas on which the composer is +to work + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(168) + +his embroidery; it might in this case almost be compared to the frame +on which the sculptor erects and models his statue, so completely is the +endowment of the opera with body and soul the actual and exclusive work +of Mozart.[144] The very overture[145] shows at once that something more +is to be expected than the usual fun of opera buffa. Mozart must have +strongly felt the necessity for a grave and solemn introduction, and has +therefore selected the usual French form of overture, consisting of a +slow introduction followed by an allegro. The andante is taken from the +opera itself. We have the principal subjects of the spectral apparition +(as it were, the musical expression of the old title "Il Con-vitato di +Pietra"), indicating at the very commencement the culminating point of +the opera, and fixing its ground-tone.[146] After a few introductory +chords, clear, solemn sounds are heard like an apparition from heaven, +spreading around a feeling of disquiet and strangeness, swelling +into fear and horror. It is interesting to note how the ascending and +descending scales, which, like the mysterious rustling of the + +{THE OVERTURE.} + +(169) + +breeze, produce a kind of cold shudder in the hearer, were first brought +clearly before Mozart's mind during the performance of the ghost scene. +In the finale, where they first occur (p. 271), they were wanting in +the original score; Mozart inserted them subsequently, and, room being +scarce, wrote them in diminutive little notes, which often extend into +the following bar; but the second time they occur, and in the overture, +they are duly written down. The allegro is exclusively suggestive of the +main features of the story; and an eager, irrepressible force, "which +is intoxicated with the lust for enjoyment, and in enjoyment pines for +lust," penetrates the whole, sometimes in accents of keen pain--[See +Page Images] and hot desire, sometimes with exultation and wild +delight.[147] The grave cry of warning which interrupts the eager +movement--is answered, as if in frivolous mockery, by an easy playful +passage--[See Page Images] + +and then the contrasting elements are worked out with a wealth of +harmonious and contrapuntal detail. Mozart is said to have borrowed both +the subject and its imitation from + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(170) + +a canon by Stölzel.[148] But a glance at the bars which are adduced to +prove this--[See page Image] + +will show what a keen hunt after plagiarism is required to find any +borrowed idea in this imitative disposition of parts, common to many +old church compositions. But here again Mozart has turned one of the +resources of musical construction into a development of a psychological +idea. How deeply suggestive it is that the warning cries should be +heard woven into the imitations, dying into tender, almost melancholy +entreaty, and finally, as the mocker seems determined to treat it all +as a jest, rising into an awful call to repentance, sounding again and +again with a force that penetrates into the very marrow of one's bones! +Again, how truly conceived is the harmonic transition at the close, +by means of which this warning motif cuts short with the seventh the +jubilation at its very highest pitch, then dies away into gentle notes +of remonstrance, and so gradually calms the hearer, and prepares him for +what is to follow![149] + +The opera begins by introducing us to the only really comic character it +contains, and thus in a measure fulfils the anticipations excited by +the overture. The typical character of the comic servant, which in "Don +Juan" had passed through the successive stages of Gracioso, Arlecchino, +Sganarelle, Hanswurst, and Kasperle, here attained to perfection as far +as opera buffa is concerned. Leporello is a creation unique of its kind; +but since in every branch of art gifted minds, however original, draw +from a common source, so Leporello, + +{LEPORELLO.} + +(171) + +striking as is his individuality, is developed out of the traditions +of opera buffa. The distinctive character of the opera depends upon +his intimate connection with all the situations and all the persons. It +would not suffice for the due blending of the contrasting elements that +Leporello should scatter jests in season and out of season on every +conceivable topic; it was only by rendering all his acts and expressions +consistent with his character that they could be made to react upon +the situations and persons which brought them forth. He has a distinct +personality, with his own way of thinking and feeling, and his own way +of expressing himself. The boldness with which his essentially comic +nature is brought into conflict with passions and events which sound the +very depths of the human heart transports us to the highest province of +humour. This is especially observable in his relations to his master, +with whom he is at once in sympathy and in striking contrast. + +He has the same desire for enjoyment and display, the same laxity of +moral judgment, the same tendency to treat serious matters in a mocking +spirit; he does not want ability either, but fails altogether in just +those qualities which keep alive our interest in Don Giovanni--in +strength and courage: his cowardice betrays itself on every occasion. +While Don Giovanni is on the look-out for every adventure, however +daring, and extricates himself from every peril, however imminent, +Leporello is always pressed into the service, is utterly helpless in any +contingency, and escapes finally only by virtue of his cowardice. This +contradiction between his nature and his surroundings is all the more +entertaining since he himself is perfectly aware of it. We learn his +character from the very first. He is in high dudgeon at being forced +to mount guard outside while his master is enjoying himself within, and +marches impatiently up and down; but as he marches, proud thoughts +of future grandeur take possession of his soul. "Voglio far il +gentiluomo"--he might almost be taken for a cavalier. Suddenly he hears +a noise. He is no longer the grand gentleman, but gives vent to abject +fear in his terrified babble, as Don Giovanni wrestles with Donna Anna. +When the danger grows serious, and the Commendatore falls, he is seized +with horror, but + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(172) + +although the moral shock is great it is with actual physical fear that +his teeth chatter. The whole sequence of characteristic expression +in the scene receives its full significance only by contrast with +Leporello's cowardice. Donna Anna's passion, which Don Giovanni is +constrained to oppose with a force equal to her own; the dignified +bearing of the Commendatore, forcing Don Giovanni at length reluctantly +to draw the sword;[150] the duel[151] with its horrifying result--all +these afford a rapid succession of exciting and harrowing points, +scarcely leaving room for the comic element, which nevertheless is +there, and kept actively before us without doing injury to the harmony +of the whole. What a force of artistic expression is displayed in the +eighteen bars of andante which close the introduction! The death which +ends the pain of the Commendatore, the mingled pity and triumph of +Don Giovanni, the horror and fear of Leporello, are blended into such +harmony as to leave the mind--relieved from suspense--full of true +emotion. The unusual combination of three bass voices seems as though +expressly chosen for the serious tone of the situation; the stringed +instruments accompany the voices in the simplest manner, with a few +sustained notes for the horns and bassoons, and only in the concluding +symphony do the oboes and flutes enter with a plaintive chromatic +passage. Here burns truly the inextinguishable flame of genius![152] + +To return to Leporello. The various ways in which his timorous nature +expresses itself in different situations give occasion for the most +interesting characterisation. He has least to do in the first finale, +but he stands close by his master, who shields him in their common +danger; in the + +{THE SESTET--LEPORELLO.} + +(173) + +sestet, however, he shows himself in his full proportions. Willing as he +is to take his master's place with Elvira, his fears do not suffer him +to do it; and when he finds himself alone in the dark with her, in spite +of her entreaties not to be left alone, his one anxiety is to escape. +The contrast is excellently expressed between the bashfulness of Elvira +and the terror of her cowardly interlocutor. Just as he is making off, +Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter, and he conceals himself. A rapid +transition to another key, emphasised by the unexpected entry of drums +and trumpets, transports us to a higher region, and an affectingly +beautiful expression is given to the sorrow of a noble mind and the +consolation of a loving heart. Elvira again takes part in the situation; +she is full of anxiety for the supposed Don Giovanni, and the expression +of her fear becomes more material, lowering her to the level of +Leporello, who seeks anew to escape, and repeats his former motif, but +more despondently, and in the minor key. Then Zerlina and Masetto enter +and run against him, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna also become aware of his +presence; and, to their intense surprise, Elvira interposes a petition +for Don Giovanni. Her former motif expressive of anxiety is taken up and +maintained by the orchestra, becoming the nucleus of the situation, the +surprise of the other serving only to give light and shade. When her +petition is finally rejected, Leporello throws off his disguise. His +timidity has become mortal fear, he knows that his insignificance alone +can shield him, and he cannot reiterate too strongly that he is in very +truth Leporello, and not Don Giovanni. The general surprise at this +discovery is of course expressed in far stronger fashion than that at +Elvira's sudden change of mind. What is to be done? At first they are +all at a loss. With regard to Leporello, though he has more or less +injured some of them, their position is in common; he is not the Don +Giovanni on whom they have vowed vengeance; their indignant amazement +at the deceit practised on them unites them into a compact body, more +occupied with their own feelings than anxious to punish Leporello. The +latter thinks only of the + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(174) + +danger which threatens him, and, try as he may to collect himself, fear +gets possession of him; he mumbles to himself, cries aloud, and makes a +final appeal for mercy before he runs away. The perplexity which seizes +them all at the discovery of Leporello is the point of union of the +situation; the truth and energy with which the nature of each person +is expressed giving it the stamp of life and power.[153] Leporello's +position is totally different when Don Giovanni arrogantly orders him to +invite the statue of the Commendatore to sup with them (Act II., 9). +The mysterious sounds which he has just heard, and the marble figure, +terrify him; but his master threatens with drawn sword; one fear +overmasters the other, and he now persuades himself to address the +statue--now turns in terror to his master. The musical expression of +fear by means of intervals of sevenths--[See Page Image] + +but how characteristic is the difference between this cringing appeal +for pity, and the former energetic cry extorted, as it might be, on the +rack! The terror increases at each successive attempt to address the +statue, while the energy of each address decreases, and dies away at +last into a plaintive parlando. The orchestra at the same time adds the +expression of insolent mockery, which is not less characteristic of the +situation, in a playful but sharply accented + +{DUET--LEPORELLO} + +(175) + +passage, wherein the flutes are made especially effective. + +As soon as Leporello's fears are verified and the statue actually moves, +he succumbs to his terror, and Don Giovanr^ steps forward. Fear is a +stranger to him; he sees the statue nod its head, and demands a more +distinct answer; he puts his question plainly and decidedly; the statue +answers by "Si." Leporello behaves as though struck by a thunderbolt, +and has no idea but flight; even Don Giovanni is affected, and feels +the supernaturalness, but he retains his self-possession; and, in the +expression of trembling haste with which it hurries on the conclusion, +the orchestra mingles something of the humorous impression which is +given by the unexpected _dénouement_ of the situation. The harmonic +construction is here masterly in the extreme. From the beginning ^ to +this point only the principal key and the one next related to it have +been used; but now the interrupted cadence upon C major transports us +to another atmosphere, and the altered movement of the orchestra is +expressive of energetic activity. + +A few chords, however, lead Don Giovanni's questions at once back to the +dominant of the principal key, and the forcible "Si" of the Commendatore +answers with the tonic, the clear calm of which is destroyed at once by +Leporello's C: the real conclusion is only arrived at circuitously. Very +different in effect on both occasions is the occurrence of the same C in +the bass. The first time, when C major follows decidedly on B major, it +makes a fresh, elevating impression; the second time, when C follows the +sustained E as the third below, and forms the basis for the chord of the +third, fourth and sixth, it gives a shock to the ear. The vivid reality +with which the two contrasting individualities are made to express +themselves in so unusual a situation has necessitated the free form of +the duet. Detached musical phrases, complete in themselves, follow the +play of the emotions without the elaboration or repetition of any of +the subjects; only Leporello's cry of terror recurs several times, and +serves to a certain extent as a connecting link. Mozart has judiciously +refrained from bringing the horror of a spectral apparition objectively +before his hearers. Their imagination has been sufficiently worked upon +by the + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(176) + +awful and imposing words of the Commendatore,[154] and their attention +ought not to be diverted from Don Giovanni and Leporello. The freedom +which permits of a playful treatment of Leporello's double fear and of +Don Giovanni's consternation reposes mainly on the half-light in which +the ghostly element is viewed. The spectator is impelled to accept the +mixture of the horrible as a flavouring to the humorous; he is not in +the least absorbed by horror. As soon as the ghost appears bodily, he +comes to the foreground and gives tone and colour to all the rest; it +is of advantage to the effect that none of the resources of musical +delineation are employed to heighten this point. The true economy of an +artist not only concentrates his resources on one point, but finds its +truest expression in his appearing to disdain their use at another. The +main point here was the audible voice of the statue, and Mozart gave +it no support but the vibration of the horn note; this necessitated the +greatest simplicity in the whole musical rendering of the situation. + +The appearance of the Commendatore in the last finale is led up to +in truly masterly fashion. First we have the display of the luxurious +living which has erased from Don Giovanni's mind all remembrance of what +has passed. Leporello's greediness, with the jests upon it which were +customary in this part of the piece, are made subservient to the more +delicate humour of the table music. The entrance of Elvira heightens +the situation, and the contrast of her deeply moved feelings and Don +Giovanni's frivolous excitement introduces a new turn, and prepares for +the catastrophe. Leporello feels, indeed, that Elvira is in the right, +but dares not oppose his master, and so introduces no dissonant +tone into the strongly marked character of this scene. But when the +catastrophe draws near it is Leporello who, as he opened the action at +the beginning of the opera, now announces the dread apparition at its +close. All the + +{THE COMMENDATORE.} + +(177) + +terror he has hitherto been a prey to is as nothing compared with +his mortal anguish at the sight of the marble guest, and even to the +commands of his master he answers only with cries of terror; we feel +that, ludicrous as the gestures of the cowardly fellow may be, something +must have happened that would have alarmed any one, however courageous. +Then there enters the Commendatore, accompanied by! soul-harrowing +sounds.[155] No human passion, no anger, no pity speaks from his awful +tones: the inflexible decree of an eternal law is embodied in all its +sublimity in music. The warning words pursue their measured course, +now tarrying upon one note with varied chords, now moving in forcible +intervals, the heavy weight accumulating till it threatens to annihilate +the culprit. The orchestra is calmer and quieter even than before, but +adds many finely shaded touches to the image of the apparition. At one +time it strengthens the weighty tread of the sustained sounds by the +sharp rhythm of dotted notes--then again it falls in dissonant chords +upon strongly accented notes, or gives expression to the curdling horror +which seizes the hearer, by means of rapid ascending and descending +scales. In face of this dread apparition Don Giovanni summons all +his strength together. At first, indeed he is consternated, and the +orchestra gives expression to his horror; but he soon collects himself, +becomes more and more decided as the Commendatore continues to urge him, +the call to repentance serving merely as a challenge to his defiance: +his fall is inevitable. Again, as at the first, the two stand opposite +each other in deadly struggle, but now it is Don Giovanni who is forced +to yield, powerless against the forces of the unseen world. Mozart has +endued the awe-struck sublimity + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(178) + +of this scene with noble beauty and force of climax, and has even +ventured to invest it with something of a comic tone. Leporello's abject +fear during such a conflict was a matter of course, but it would be +foreign to his nature even under these circumstances, to be altogether +silent. When, with chattering teeth and shaking limbs, he sings his +triplets when, upon the Commendatore's question "Verrai?" he calls in +deadly fear to his master--[See Page Image] + +every one must feel how wofully in earnest the poor wretch is, and how +he is ludicrous not of his own free will, but because he cannot help it. +Every-day life shows how easily the sublime or the awful passes into +the ridiculous, and how the incongruous emotion thus produced only +strengthens the impression of horror; the blending of these contrasting +elements into a true and living representation in art can only be +accomplished by a great genius. There is scarcely anything in dramatic +music which can compare in this respect with this scene of "Don +Giovanni." + +Leporello is not conscious of the ridicule he incurs by his cowardice, +and in truth it forms but one feature in his character. His air (Act +II., 7) following the sestet, in which he seeks to justify himself on +all sides, looking out at the same time for an opportunity of escape, +makes his cunning more apparent than his fear. He has collected his +senses, and, convinced that once recognised he has nothing more to fear, +he only seeks to fortify himself with excuses until he can escape. +The air is therefore lighter and easier in tone, in strong contrasts, +varying according to the quarters to which he addresses himself, but in +no way elaborated, and coming to an end with a musical point charmingly +expressive of the words. The moderated tone of the piece is of very +good effect after the ponderous length of the sestet. Leporello is a +dissipated, insolent fellow, but, little as his principles can stand +before a threat or a bribe, he has not so completely emancipated himself +from all moral restraint + +{LEPORELLO--AIRS.} + +(179) + +as has his master. He has little scruple, however, in accepting his part +in the villainies planned by Don Giovanni, who makes use of him chiefly +to get rid of Elvira. In the celebrated air (Act I., 4) in which, +professedly by way of consolation, he unrolls the list of his master's +amours, he does not conceal the pleasure which the remembrance of the +love adventures and the thought of the trick he is playing on Elvira +afford him. In the first part the enumeration of the long list is made +parlando, only here and there the accent is somewhat raised for effect, +as at the famous "Ma in Ispagna son già mille e trè"; but the orchestra, +in lively motion all the time, betrays the reminiscence of jovial and +licentious adventures which is passing through the mind of the speaker. +He grows warmer over his description of his master's tastes and habits, +and gives full expression to every detail, until his final malicious +apostrophe, "Voi sapete quel che fa," is given with undisguised mockery. + +Those who have heard how Lablache sang--[See Page Image] + +Quel che fa under his breath, and a little through his nose, with an +indescribable side glance at Elvira, can have an idea of the comic +ill-nature which Mozart meant to throw into this conclusion. + +The characterisation, appropriate in every detail and inimitable in its +rendering of Leporello's secret complacency,[156] can only be rightly +appreciated with the Italian words; the German translation is most +faulty where the musical treatment demanded the strictest accuracy; +the mode of expression, too, is purely Italian, sometimes only +comprehensible in conjunction with Italian pantomime. When indeed he +extols "nella bionda la gentilezza, nella + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(180) + +bruna la costanza, nella bianca la dolcezza," the expression is +universally applicable, and the _grande maestoso_ rises plainly before +the minds of all; but when we come to--[See Page Image] + +the proper effect cannot be rendered in German. In the streets of any +town in Italy it may be observed how, when anything is to be described +as small, the person describing it repeats the word eight or ten times +with great rapidity, lowering the hand by degrees nearer and nearer to +the ground; and the action could not possibly be better indicated than +in this place by Mozart. There is a similar effect in the terzet (Act +II., 2) where Leporello cannot contain his laughter--[See Page Image] + +Se se-gui-ta-te ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, +ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, and the silent internal chuckle of the Italian +is musically expressed to perfection. More especially has the rapid +utterance, one of the principal devices of opera buffa, a totally +different signification in Italian and German. It is not natural to the +German, and appears either exaggerated or vulgar; it should therefore +be seldom and carefully employed as a means of characterisation. For +an Italian, on the contrary, rapid speech, for which his language is +so well adapted, is the natural expression of excitement, and the +only question for him is whether he shall give vent to his feelings or +exercise control over them. In Italian opera it is used without +scruple, and without in itself aiming at making a comic impression; the +circumstances, persons engaged, and manner employed give the character +of the piece. In the part of Leporello the rapid parlando has a +very different expression in different situations, and can always be +justified on psychological grounds. But it is by no means exclusively +the characteristic of comic persons. In the first finale (Act I., 13) +Masetto's rapid outpouring of jealous rage, Zerlina's fear and distress, +are not intended to move the + +{THE RAPID PARLANDO.} + +(181) + +audience to laughter; they merely give natural expression to their +feelings, and it is the situation which produces the comic effect. +These characters, it is true, belong to the lower classes, to whom some +indulgence might be accorded in respect of good manners; but even Don +Giovanni makes free use of his tongue when he ceases to exercise control +over himself. In his intercourse with Leporello especially he allows +much freedom to his servant, and lowers himself to the same level; this +is of course made apparent in the musical expression, and various +small indications of a free and easy tone of conversation have an +extraordinary effect on the free and vivid conception of the whole. In +the short duet (Act II., 1) in which he appeases the incensed Leporello, +he expresses himself altogether after the manner of the latter, but it +must be remembered that Leporello is really highly indignant, while Don +Giovanni is only in joke all the time; in this contrast consists the +comic point of the situation. Again, too, in the first finale, when he +loses presence of mind for a moment, he falls into this rapid utterance +with the words: "È confusa la mia testa," which, as soon as he has +collected himself, ceases again with the words "ma non manca-in me +coraggio." In the quartet (Act I.) the danger threatening him +through Elvira excites him so greatly that in counselling her to be +careful--"Siate un poco più prudente"--the rapidity of his address +betrays his own loss of self-control. There is something of a comic tone +in this, but the gravity of the situation does not allow it to go beyond +a mere shade, and even this rapid parlando ought not to assume a really +buffo character. Elvira herself, with the unbridled passion of her +nature, gives vent to her anger in winged words, which are certainly not +calculated to produce a comic effect. Donna Anna, on the other hand, +and Don Ottavio, persons of high birth and breeding, never so far lose +command over themselves as to fall into this hurried speech. The quartet +just mentioned is one of the finest instances of the quality and extent +of Mozart's genius. The conversation between Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, +and Don Giovanni is most unexpectedly interrupted by the warnings of +Elvira; the two first are amazed, and uncertain what to make of it, + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(182) + +while Don Giovanni, alarmed, seeks by deception to keep them in +uncertainty, and to silence Elvira. All this gives rise to a genuinely +musical variety of mood tinged with melancholy by the grief of Donna +Anna and Don Ottavio. A most prominent feature of the whole is the +skilful grouping. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio are inseparable, and form +the nucleus of the piece; Elvira and Don Giovanni, though in opposition, +are sometimes together, and sometimes in conjunction with the other two. +The situation demands that Elvira shall be most frequently isolated, +in contrast with the three remaining characters; and as her passionate +excitement keeps her in the foreground, she gives the tone to the whole +piece, and Don Giovanni is constrained to follow her, while Don Ottavio +and Donna Anna only occasionally emerge from their mood of anxious +contemplation. A touch of dramatic truth is the adoption by the +orchestra and other voices of Elvira's motif to the words--[See Page +Image] + +so that it seems to be the key to the riddle forcing itself on the +ear and betraying Don Giovanni's guilt. The motif recurs after all the +reproaches, questions, and appeals, and dies away in gentle but pained +reproach when the true position of affairs is left unexplained. The +suspicion which here enters the mind of Donna Anna prepares the way for +the conviction which forces itself upon her that Don Giovanni is the +murderer of her father. The grouping of the voices is treated primarily +as a means of psychological characterisation. The entrance of Elvira +in the second finale gives Leporello a moral shock which brings him +musically _en rapport_ with Elvira, and their parts are therefore in +correspondence; indeed, towards the end they are in close imitation[157] +and opposed to that of Don Giovanni. In the + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(183) + +terzet again (Act II., 2), Leporello is first associated with Don +Giovanni and afterwards with Elvira, whom he begins by reviling, but +who later arouses his sympathy, while Don Giovanni holds aloof from +them both. This power of grouping the parts so that they shall serve the +purposes of psychological and dramatic characterisation as well as of +musical construction, is observable in every one of the ensemble pieces. + +L. Bassi (1766-1825), who is described as an excellent and well-trained +singer, and as a man of fine exterior and pleasing manners,[158] was, we +are told, very much annoyed that, as the chief personage of the opera, +he had no grand air to sing; this was probably felt by others as a +blemish in the work. If the nature of Don Giovanni had at all resembled +that of Faust, he could not have failed to give some expression to the +mental conflict between sensuality and misanthropy on the one hand, +and the impulses of his higher moral nature on the other; and such a +conflict would have lent itself readily to musical representation. +But Don Giovanni has no scruples of the kind; the gratification of his +desires is his sole object, and to this he devotes himself in all the +consciousness of his own strength. Danger entices him as calling forth +his powers; he delights in jests which demonstrate his superiority to +his victim, and sensual enjoyment is his only real object in life. He +pursues it neither with the lust of a fiend nor with the passion of +a strongly moved nature, but with a reckless abandonment to sensual +impulses taking absolute possession of all his faculties, and so coming +into momentary contact with the nobler capabilities which exist in every +soul. Imposing strength, external refinement, a jovial and even humorous +manner are, indeed, far from ennobling or dignifying such a character; +but they render it less despicable, and reflect line for line the +manners of the age which produced Tirso's "Don Juan" and Da Ponte's +"Don Giovanni." Music, which in its very nature gives preference and +expression to the emotional element of the human mind, + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(184) + +was the only fitting exponent of such a creation in the world of +art.[159] A nature such as that of Don Giovanni does not express itself +in monologue, but in action, and we learn to know him almost exclusively +in his relations to others. It is only when he is directing Leporello to +prepare a costly banquet, and abandoning himself to the anticipation of +the enjoyment it will afford him, that he gives musical expression to +his excitement in an air, or rather in a _Lied_ (Act I., 11). His mind +is engrossed with the idea of the ball, and he predicts the situation +which actually occurs in the finale; even the three different dances are +mentioned by name:-- + + Senza alcun ordine + La danza sia + Chi l' minuetto + Chi la follia + Chi 1' alemanna + Farai ballar. + +Starting with this idea, Mozart has given him a simple and very lively +dance song to sing, in which nothing of the higher passions and still +less either of demoniacal lust or noble sentiment can be traced, but +only a very powerful expression of sensual impulse in a sort of fleeting +paroxysm. The very pleasing and impressive melody, the simple harmony, +the marked rhythm, and especially the instrumentation, all combine to +produce a happy effect. The flutes and violins, which lead the melody +almost without interruption, maintain the dance-like character of the +song, and the uniformly rapid movement of the accompaniment produces +a singular degree of excitement, enhanced by the strong accents of the +wind instruments. So again, the digression into the minor key, making +the sting of + +{DON GIOVANNI--AIRS.} + +(185) + +unbridled passion to be felt in the very indulgence of it, is of very +striking effect. The serenade (Act II., 3) is of a totally different +character; Mozart has written _Canzonetta_ against it. Don Giovanni here +pours out the whole warmth of his feelings towards the fair one whose +heart he hopes to win. The Italian version of the song has a national +character both in rhythm and language; it is of little consequence +whether Don Giovanni is supposed to be singing a well-known song, or +improvising one. The irresistible, insinuating flattery of this song, +the state of voluptuous longing which it expresses, have the same sort +of effect upon us as the dazzling colour and intoxicating perfume of +some rare exotic flower; there is nothing, even in Mozart, which can +be compared to it. The effect of the charming melody, and of the +well-chosen harmonies, is much enhanced by the _pizzicato_ mandoline +accompaniment supported by the stringed instruments. The tender, +curiously vibrating tone of the metal strings of the mandoline seems +inseparable from the sweet gracefulness of the song; the instrument was +then in common use (Mozart has written several songs to the mandoline, +Vol. II., p. 371, note), and its effect was thus all the more +characteristic.[160] + +The only real air which Don Giovanni sings, he sings not as Don +Giovanni; disguised as Leporello, he is giving Masetto and his +companions directions for catching himself, and the musical +characterisation must therefore approach burlesque. This air (Act II., +4), "Metà di voi qua vadano," belongs undoubtedly to those original +conceptions which one admires without exactly understanding how they +have been brought about. The situation in itself affords no proper +musical impulse; it treats merely of the posting of scouts, of +communication by signals, the speaker himself being thrown into a +dubious light by reason of his disguise, and none + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(186) + +but a great genius could have found in this place a nucleus round which +to develop a musical masterpiece. The character of the piece is of +course buffo, not only because Don Giovanni is playing the part of +Leporello, but because he is himself thoroughly enjoying the trick he +is playing Masetto; these motives must therefore be blended. It is only +necessary to compare this song with those of Leporello (Act I., 4; II., +7), to appreciate the essential difference in their style. The +rapidly spoken passages give a tone of vulgarity, which is relieved by +occasional involuntary expressions of greater dignity; passages such +as--[See Page Image] + +could not have been sung by Leporello; they show us the cavalier +beneath his disguise. In accordance with the situation the voice is +kept parlando; and the orchestra to which the constructive detail is +intrusted is so independently treated that it might without injury +dispense with the voice, although each is in fact the necessary +complement of the other. The mysterious importance and the apparent +confidence of Don Giovanni, which form the fundamental motif of the +situation when contrasted with the earnest attention and curiosity of +the country people, are humorously conceived and the orchestra renders +every turn of what is passing in the minds of all concerned. But, in +spite of this, the musical characterisation can only be made fully +effective by suitable pantomime on the part of all the characters, even +of those who do not speak, except through the orchestra. Don Giovanni's +true character, however, is not displayed until he comes in contact with +the other, and more especially with the female, characters of the +opera. His seductive powers are first practised towards Zerlina. She is +represented as a simple village + +{ZERLINA.} + +(187) + +maiden; and the little duet (Act I., 5) which she sings with her +affianced lover amid the joyful acclamations of their friends, expresses +innocent gladness in the simplest possible manner and with quite a +popular tone.[161] Don Giovanni is the first to arouse sentiments which +have hitherto slumbered unsuspected in her bosom. The simple peasant +girl becomes an easy prey to the elegant man of the world; her vanity +is flattered by his condescension, and his way of expressing the tender +emotions excited in him by sensual gratification impresses Zerlina's +innocent mind with a conviction of truthfulness, and rouses so +irresistible a love towards him that all other considerations are cast +into the shade. This is the main idea expressed in the duet (Act I., +6), wherein Don Giovanni makes speedy conquest of Zerlina's heart. The +feeling of mutual satisfaction to which they both yield, as it has +been preceded by no strife of passions, gives rise to an expression of +unalloyed happiness cradled in softest, warmest sunlight. The second +part was indeed required to contain more of fire and passion, but the +truth of the characterisation has probably suffered thereby. Zerlina's +nature is neither deep nor passionate, but light and impressionable; and +Don Giovanni's chief weapon is his power of assimilating himself to the +woman whom he designs to attract. This point has been made admirable use +of by Mozart.[162] Such a broad psychological fact is, however, easy +to represent; that which can neither be analysed nor reproduced is the +effect of the tender intensity of the simple notes, which penetrate the +soul like the glance of a loving eye. + +At the second interview between the two the state of affairs is +considerably modified. Zerlina has been warned by Elvira; she has just +calmed Masetto's jealousy with some difficulty, and is aware that he +overhears; she seeks, therefore, to repel + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(188) + +Don Giovanni, though conscious that he has lost none of his old +attraction for her. He knows this, and answers her petition for +mercy with her own motif, whereby the love-making is as delicately +characterised as immediately afterwards his astonishment at finding +Masetto in ambush, and the quick presence of mind with which he +ceremoniously greets him, whereupon Don Giovanni's own phrase is +mockingly repeated by Masetto. The orchestra, after accompanying the +lovers with strains as tender as their own, here gives inimitable +expression to suppressed scorn and resentment. The dance music is heard, +however, and relieves the strain; all except Zerlina feel the relief, +and hasten within. As the festivities proceed, and Zerlina, watched by +Masetto's jealous eyes, endeavours to elude Don Giovanni's pursuit of +her until he leads her to the dance and then carries her off,[163] +the complicated situation is characterised, as a whole, with firm and +distinct touches, and the individual points are allowed to fall into the +background. When she has been delivered from Don Giovanni's hands her +feelings for him have undergone a revulsion, and henceforward she is +found among the number of his pursuers. Her passing inclination for the +libertine has, however, roused into life a germ which is fostered and +developed by her relations towards Masetto. At first her intercourse +with her lover is unreserved and entirely happy. Masetto is represented +as a course, jealous, but good-natured clown, and appears at a +disadvantage when compared with Zerlina, Don Giovanni, or even with +Leporello. Mozart has sketched his figure for us in simple graphic +lines, never bringing him to the foreground, but always giving him his +right place in the ensemble movements, to which he contributes his share +of life and colour. He only asserts himself once in an air, when Don +Giovanni is sending him away in order to be alone with Zerlina. This is +of a decidedly buffo character, and, compared with the + +{MASETTO--ZERLINA.} + +(189) + +airs of Don Giovanni and Leporello, affords a totally distinct but +equally faithful picture of character; His indignation, only restrained +from respect for the great man, which would fain vent itself in ironical +bitterness, his coarse sarcasm, which he intends to be so delicate +and biting, are admirably characterised. The very first motif of the +orchestra, where the ominous horns are again distinctly heard--[See Page +Image] + +at which he exclaims, "Ho capito, signor si," shows by the monotonous +repetition of increasingly emphatic bars how engrossed he is in the one +idea which has taken possession of his mind. The two motifs with which +he sarcastically addresses Zerlina and Don Giovanni are also admirably +characteristic; and equally so the conclusion, where he does not know +how to stop; and the syncopated rhythm adds not a little force to the +expression of his perplexity. + +Zerlina's two airs are in vivid contrast to the coarse and boorish, +but honest character of her lover. They express neither affection nor +tenderness, but rather the consciousness of her own superiority, which +her intercourse with Don Giovanni has revealed to her. Hers is one of +those easy natures which are volatile without being actually untrue, +whose feelings are the children of the passing moment, and whose charm +is enhanced by the excitement of the moment. The master has inspired +this lovely and graceful form with a breath of warm sentiment, without +which she would be cold; and her roguish smile saves her from the +reproach of mere sentimentality. The first air (Act I., 12) takes its +tone from Zerlina's desire to pacify Masetto; but there is no trace of +a need for forgiveness--of the consciousness of an unlawful love; she +disarms her lover's wrath with caressing tenderness, and gives him +glimpses of bliss which he is far too weak to resist. + +It would be impossible to conceive a more charming love-making, and no +false note of sentimentality mars the graceful picture. The obbligato +violoncello lends itself in a singular degree to the individual +characterisation, its restless + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(190) + +movement and soft low sound standing in happiest contrast to the clear +fresh voices; the accompaniment completes what the singer leaves unsaid. +It portrays the anxious hesitation in the minds of both the lovers; and +not until the second part does the motion flow free and full, till all +resentment dies away in gentle murmurings. The second air (Act II., +5), corresponds to a different situation. Masetto has been beaten, +and Zerlina tries to console him; if she were to put on an air of +sentimental gravity it would appear absurd; the roguish playfulness with +which Mozart has endowed the broader merriment indicated by the words is +far more appropriate here, and gives the expression of pure and tender +grace, which renders this one of the most attractive of songs. The +clearness and brightness of the instrumentation compared with that of +the first air is very striking. + +Very different is Don Giovanni's behaviour towards Elvira. + +This ungrateful part of a deserted mistress has for the most part been +neglected. If a great artist, such as Schroder-Devrient, had conceived +the idea of embodying on the stage the dignified character of Elvira +as Mozart created it, the representation of the opera would have been +placed on an altogether different footing. Elvira is in an outward +position of equality with Don Giovanni. She is his superior in nobility +of mind, and she has been deeply injured by him. Her first air (Act I., +3)[164] shows her as a woman of strong character and passionate feeling, +as far from the ladylike reserve of Donna Anna as from the youthful +grace of Zerlina. As unreservedly as she had given her love to Don +Giovanni does she now yield to her thirst for revenge, and even this +proceeds not so much from injured pride as from disappointed love, +ready to burst in new flames from its ashes. The tone-colouring of the +instrumentation in this air is in very striking contrast to that of +the previous songs; clarinets are used for the first time, and with the +horns and bassoons (no flutes) give a full and brilliant effect. Don +Giovanni overhearing her, and sympathising with her while + +{ELVIRA.} + +(191) + +not recognising her, together with the running comments he makes on her +to Leporello, add a mixture of humour to the scene which could not +be more gracefully expressed. The laugh is unsparingly turned against +Elvira, and is occasioned by the passionateness with which she has +compassed her own discomfiture. The musical rendering clearly shows that +in her proper person she remains unaffected by it. Resolved to pursue +Don Giovanni, and defeat his machinations, she intercepts him as he +is hastening into his casino with Zerlina, and exclaims to the deluded +maid:-- + + Ah! fuggi il traditor! + Non lo lasciar più dir; + Il labbro è mentitor + E falso il ciglio! + Da' miei tormenti impara + A creder a quel cor + A nasca il tuo timor + Dal mio periglio! + +This air, unlike the rest of the opera, retains the form of the older +school, then still frequently heard in church music.[165] Apparently +Mozart made use of the severe, harsh form which at once suggests the +idea of sacred music to the hearer, in order to give the impression of a +moral lecture, and to emphasise the contrast with the "gay intoxication +of self-forgetfulness" of the rest of the scene.[166] This mode of +address was appropriately and suggestively employed towards the peasant +maid; but Elvira adopts quite another tone when she returns and finds +Don Giovanni in close converse with Donna Anna. In the quartet (Act I., +8) (likely 9, DW) her warning, in accordance with the exalted rank of +the mourners, takes a plaintive tone, and her passion only flares up +again when roused by Don Giovanni's duplicity. Then she comes forward, +and her energetic tone predominates in the ensemble movements, although +the silent power of true nobility and grief exerts a moderating +influence on her expressions of passion. She makes a similar impression + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(192) + +in the first finale (Act I., 13). She has explained herself to Donna +Anna and Don Ottavio, and they are leagued together to watch and to +expose Don Giovanni. When they appear masked in front of the casino she +encourages them to act boldly; Don Ottavio chimes in with her, but Donna +Anna is seized with maidenly fears face to face with such an adventure. +All this is expressed in the most admirable manner, and a few touches +suffice to place the two women before us in all the dissimilarity of +their natures. The accompaniment, too, is unusually characteristic. +In sharp contrast to the cheerful excitement in which Don Giovanni, +Zerlina, and Masetto make their exit stands the mournful accompaniment +to Elvira, while Don Ottavio's powerful tenor notes are infused with +additional energy by the accented passage? for the wind instruments. The +accompaniment, without altering its essential character, adopts at Donna +Anna's entrance an anxious plaintive tone expressive of the purity +and elevation of her mind. After a short colloquy with Leporello, who +invites them to enter, the three, confident in the justice of their +cause, prepare for their difficult enterprise. After the restless energy +of the previous scene this clear and composed expression of a deeper +emotion diffuses a sense of calm beneficence. The construction of the +movement places Donna Anna and Don Ottavio in close juxtaposition; +Elvira is placed in opposition to them and, in accordance with her +character, she is more animated and energetic. Here again the desired +effect is much strengthened by the support of the orchestra. It was +unusual to make use of the wind instruments alone in accompaniments; and +in addition to this the full soft sound of the extended chords contrasts +strikingly with the deep tones of the clarinets, heard now for the +first time. What a contrast it forms, too, to the tone-colouring of +the preceding movement; one feels for the moment transported to another +world. Scarcely have the last echoes died away when the sharp attack of +the orchestra on the following movement brings us down to earth again. +In the scene which follows it is Elvira who is ever on the watch--who +with Don Ottavio intercepts and + +{ELVIRA--TERZET.} + +(193) + +unmasks Don Giovanni; after that she falls into her place with the rest. +Implacable as Elvira shows herself in her pursuit of revenge on Don +Giovanni, her love for him has taken such deep root in her heart, his +personality exercises such a magic power over her, that she is ready to +forget all that is past, and to trust herself to him again. Poetry could +only make this visible by means of a chain of connecting links; music +is happier in its power of rendering the most hidden springs of human +action; once let the right key be struck, and the state of mind to be +represented is there. And seldom has a frame of mind incapable of verbal +description been so truly and beautifully expressed as in this terzet +(Act II., 2). A short ritomello places the hearer in a frame of mind +which enables him to give credence to what he is about to learn. Elvira, +alone in the twilight, comes to the window; old memories awaken old +feelings, which, while she deplores them, she cannot escape. Don +Giovanni, who is present, resolves to turn this softened mood to +account; he wishes to drive Elvira away, and a fresh triumph over her +affections is a satisfaction to his arrogant vanity. Leporello in his +master's hat and cloak is made to advance, and Don Giovanni, concealed +behind him, addresses Elvira tenderly in the very notes which have just +issued from her mouth. Don Giovanni's appeal comes to her like an echo +of her own thoughts. She interrupts him with the same lively reproaches +which she has already uttered to herself, while he prays for her pity +with the most melting tenderness. Elvira is overcome, and thereupon very +appropriately the motif occurs with which Leporello first expressed his +consternation at Elvira's appearance. Don Giovanni persists all the more +urgently in the same tone, and the turn of expression just alluded to +is developed, with a startling impetus produced by the transition to the +key of C major, into a cantilene of entrancing beauty.[167] + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(194) + +He answers Elvira's violent reproaches ("con transporto e quasi +piangendo," Mozart has noted them) with exclamations of increasing +passion, and threatens to kill himself if she does not grant his prayer. +The feeling that Elvira must yield to so passionate an outburst of +the love towards which her heart impels her is mingled with a sense of +Leporello's ludicrous situation, and we feel no incongruity in his fit +of laughter. But when Elvira actually yields, even Leporello cannot +withhold his sympathy from her, while Don Giovanni mockingly triumphs +in his victory. In a certain sense the two have exchanged their parts as +well as their clothes. This terzet may safely be cited as an example of +how simplicity of design and regularity of construction may unite with +perfect beauty and truth of expression into a piece of genuine dramatic +characterisation; but who can express in words the tender fragrance of +loving desire which breathes from the music like the perfumes from an +evening landscape? If we are to infer Don Giovanni's character from +the duet with Zerlina (Act I., 6), the serenade (Act II., 3), and this +terzet, we have the picture of an engaging and amiable personality which +strikes every tone of affection and desire with bewitching grace and +delicacy, and with an accent of such true feeling that it is impossible +for the female heart to withstand him. This is not the whole of Don +Giovanni's character, however. When Elvira's weakness has betrayed her +into an equivocal position, Don Giovanni's heartless insolence places +her in a situation which only Leporello's comic character prevents from +becoming an exceedingly painful one. The fear which takes undisputed +possession of him during the interview reflects a comic light upon +Elvira, but without interfering with her preconceived character. Mozart +has succeeded admirably in the sestet (Act II., 6) in maintaining +Elvira's dignity of deportment both towards the craven Leporello and her +former allies; she never sinks below herself; but the consciousness of +her weakness and of the dastardly trick played upon her has broken +her spirit. There is no trace of the energetic, flaming passion of the +earlier Elvira; Donna Anna's pure + +{ELVIRA--INSERTED AIR--FINALE.} + +(195) + +form rises high above her, and she no longer takes the lead in the +expression of astonishment and indignation. After the sestet, when +Leporello had escaped from the hands of Zerlina, there was inserted +in Vienna an air for Elvira, in which the violence of her passion is +moderated to a degree almost incredible. The softened mood in which the +feeling of her inextinguishable love is expressed no longer as anger +against the traitor, but as pity for the lost sinner, is, when rightly +delivered,[168] most admirably represented; but the dignity and +nobleness which have stilled the waves of sorrow and revenge are not +really consistent with the fire and force of the true Elvira. Then, +also, the accents of disappointed love, which Mozart knew how to evoke +with such masterly insight, are scarcely present at all in this air. +Nevertheless, considered musically it is of great beauty, and the voices +are most effectively supported by obbligato solo instruments, which are +never elsewhere used in exactly the same way by Mozart. This charming +piece is not inappropriate in its own place, but it does not render +either situation or character with the same breadth or accuracy which +Mozart elsewhere displays in "Don Giovanni." Any idea of a closer +connection with Don Giovanni being now out of the question, Elvira, +feeling also that her own existence is rendered worthless, resolves to +enter a convent. But her character and her undying affection forbid her +to part for ever from Don Giovanni without calling him to repentance and +amendment. Her entrance in the second finale interrupts the merriment of +Don Giovanni and Leporello at table, and, like a landscape in changing +lights, the whole tone of the music is altered at a stroke.[169] Her +warning here is very different to that which she addressed to Zerlina. +A stream of glowing words comes from the very depths of her love-tossed +heart, and beats in vain against the overweening pride of her heartless +betrayer. At first he seeks to treat her appeal as a jest, which may be +humoured; and when her prayers, her tears, her dismay are thereby + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(196) + +redoubled, he mocks at her with all the frivolity of his +pleasure-seeking nature. This is too much even for Leporello: he +sympathetically approaches Elvira; and the effect is very fine, when +the same notes which seemed to threaten annihilation by their weight at +Elvira's entrance are heard from the mouth of Leporello. Don Giovanni's +overbearing insolence increases and calls down upon him the fate to +which, now that even Elvira has left him, he is doomed to hasten. +This scene is again a very masterpiece of high dramatic art. A flow of +passionate emotion, like a lava stream down the mountain side, succeeds +to the loosely connected musical jests of the supper-table. The very +change of tone-colouring is of the greatest significance. The first +noisy and brilliant movement, with its trumpets and drums and lively +passages for the stringed instruments, is succeeded by the arranged +harmony music, against which the full orchestra, with the combined +strength of wind and stringed instruments, stands in bold relief. Don +Giovanni and Elvira are here for the first time opposed on equal terms. +Her passionate emotion is purified and ennobled without any loss of +strength or reality; and he displays an energy and keen enjoyment of +life which would have something great in it if it were directed to +higher aims, but which here excites only horror. It prepares us for +the resistance which he is to make to the spectral apparition; but the +insolent scorn with which he hardens himself against Elvira's prayers +is more shocking to the feelings than his determined resistance to +the horrors of the nether world, wherein we cannot but grant him our +sympathy. Sharply accented as are the mocking tone of mind and the +sensuality of Don Giovanni, we never find him vulgar or revolting. This +is due to the combination of strength and boldness with beauty of form +in the music allotted to him. What can be more impressive than the +oft-repeated motif given to Don Giovanni:--[See Page Image] + +{DON GIOVANNI'S CHARACTER.} + +(197) + +with no support but a simple bass, in strong contrast to the rich +accompaniment elsewhere employed? His good breeding is as characteristic +of him as his love of enjoyment, and is shown at his first entrance +in his behaviour towards Donna Anna and the Commendatore. There is no +roughness in his struggle with her, and he would fain avoid violence, as +also in the combat with her father; not until his honour as a cavalier +has been touched to the quick does he draw his sword, and the result of +the duel causes him genuine emotion. True, his nobler impulses are not +of long duration; he is destitute of generosity or nobility of mind, and +his highest quality is mere brute courage. In the churchyard scene, when +his arrogance has brought matters to a crisis, and Leporello has +made his terrified exit, the horror of his situation rouses all Don +Giovanni's determination, and he passes the bounds of foolhardiness in +his defiance of the spectre. This scene, however, in which the defiance +of a mortal is forced to yield to the higher powers, is a necessary +sequel to the preceding one with Elvira, in which the moral conflict has +just been fought out. Its pathos redeems it from burlesque, and spreads +an impression of horror which overmasters human reason. Mozart's success +in the combination of these qualities into a whole of harmonious beauty +has already been admired by us as the work of a genius. Gracious and +winning manners and overflowing strength and animal spirits, combined +with the refinement of good birth and breeding and the frankness of a +jovial temperament, produce a picture of a man richly endowed by nature, +but requiring to bend to moral restraint before he can be called great +or noble. He attracts liking, he rouses sympathy, but he is doomed to +final overthrow. + +Donna Anna,[170] as the representative of intellectual elevation and +moral purity, is placed in strong contrast to this seductive being, who +attracts and degrades all with whom he comes in contact. She triumphs +over him from the first, + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(198) + +the magic of his presence being powerless to affect her pure spirit. +But her maidenly pride resents his unworthy advances; the idea that an +insult so great should remain unpunished rouses such passion within her, +that she loses sight of all save her just revenge. The music gives a +tone of nobility and elevation to her passionate excitement, stamping +her at once as the superior nature to which Don Giovanni yields, not +only that he may escape recognition, but because he cannot help himself. +Her relation to him preserves this tone throughout, and there is no +subsequent suggestion of any closer or more personal interest. + +Hoffmann's infelicitous idea that Donna Anna had been dishonoured by Don +Giovanni is contradicted by Da Ponte's libretto, which emphasises +her affection for Don Ottavio as repeatedly and decidedly as does the +high-pitched ideality of the music. It is a grievous error to suppose +that her "high-tragedy manner" towards her betrothed arises from the +consciousness of shame and from falsehood and hypocrisy, and not rather +from an elevated sense of pride and pure morality and from filial +grief for her murdered father. Hoffmann's conception of the two +chief characters, and their; relations to each other, though often +quoted,[171] is in many respects a misleading one. A Don Giovanni, a +very demon, who seeks in sensual love to satisfy his cravings for the +supernatural; who, weary and satiated with earthly pleasures, despising +mankind, and in utter scorn against nature and his Creator seeks to +compass the ruin of every woman he meets, is as foreign to the age, +the character, and the music of Mozart as a Donna Anna who, loving +the greatness which originally existed in Don Giovanni, yields to him +without resistance, only to feel doubly conscious of her abasement and +absorbed in the desire for revenge. + +Upon her return with Don Ottavio she finds her father a corpse, and, +after making the most pitiful lamentations, she becomes insensible. +Coming to herself her first + +{DONNA ANNA.} + +(199) + +half-unconscious exclamation is for her father; she imagines that the +murderer is before her, and beseeches him to slay her also. When the +dread certainty has brought her to full consciousness, she collects +all her forces for revenge. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance on the +murderer, and her excitement rises to an unnatural joy at the prospect +of the fulfilment of their gloomy task. The musical rendering of +this state of mind is perfect. The high-pitched mood of Donna Anna is +characterised with so much precision and delicacy, and the continuous +climax is so consistent and well connected, chiefly by virtue of the +musical construction, that we feel ourselves taken captive and prepared +to accept what we hear as the involuntary outbursts of passion.[172] +Even Don Ottavio's consolatory words, sharply as they contrast in their +cantilene-like delivery with Donna Anna's broken interjections, betray +in their restless accompaniment and changing harmonies the inner +disquiet from which he cannot free himself. As soon, however, as the +thought of revenge has been grasped, the two go together, and the voices +are in close connection, while the orchestra (a chief factor in the +musical rendering of the whole scene) contrasts with them in sharpest +accents, now urging, now restraining; the long suspense of the detached, +disconnected phrases is relieved by the stream of passion which seems to +raise the weight from the hearts from which it flows. Don Ottavio, owing +partly to the libretto, has acquired an unfavourable reputation that +can scarcely be entirely overcome, even if the exaggerations which have +become customary in his part should be discarded.[173] In real life we +feel the highest esteem for a character which preserves calmness and +clearness in the midst of heaviest trials, + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(200) + +and stands loyally and tenderly by the side of the afflicted; but we +seldom find a poetic or passionate side to such a nature. Such an one +is Don Ottavio. He preserves his composure amid the whirlwind of +passion around him; his love imposes upon him the task of consoling and +supporting his beloved one under the loss of her father, and he performs +it in a manner at once tender and manly. He rises to greater strength +in the summons to vengeance, when he shows himself in no way inferior +to Donna Anna; and when the two next come upon the scene, it is he who +exhorts Donna Anna to stifle her grief and to dream only of revenge. The +unexpected appearance of Elvira, and Don Giovanni's behaviour inspire +him with some degree of suspicion; but he and Donna Anna preserve in the +quartet (Act I., 8) a dignified reserve towards the strangers, which +has a depressing effect when united with their mournful contemplation of +their own sorrow. Here they are entirely at one with each other, and so +the music renders them; their superiority of birth and demeanour has its +effect on the other two characters, and gives the tone to the whole. Don +Giovanni's entrance, his glance and tone, inspire Donna Anna with the +certainty of his being her father's murderer; the memory of that fearful +event flashes across her, and the tumult of feeling which it arouses is +expressed by the orchestra in pungent dissonances by means of opposing +rhythm and harsh sounds produced especially by the trumpets, which have +been silent since the overture until now. It is with difficulty that she +composes herself sufficiently to acquaint her lover with the cause of +her agitation. + +When she has told him all, she urges him again to revenge her father's +death, in an air (Act I., 10) of which the delicate characterisation +completes the perfect image of Donna Anna. This air, in comparison with +the preceding recitative and with the duet, is temperate in tone. The +renewed appeal for revenge is not the same involuntary outburst of +passion which it was; it is the expression of conviction, and is +therefore more composed, though not less forcible than before. A high +and noble pride speaks in the first motifs (Vol. 11., p. 428)--[See Page +Image] + +{DONNA ANNA--OTTAVIO.} + +(201) + +with inimitable dignity and force, while the plaintive sextoles of the +violins and violas, the urgent figure for the basses, which turns to +imitation at the second motif, and the gentle admonitory dialogue of the +wind instruments represent the restless anxiety which has called forth +her determination.[174] + +Donna Anna's elevation of mind raises the man of her choice, and her +maidenly bashfulness gives her confidence a lover-like character. +Ottavio, who has not been inspired with the same instinctive certainty +of Don Giovanni's guilt, finds it hard to convince himself that a +nobleman, and his friend, can be capable of such a crime; but he is +quite ready to acknowledge the necessity for closely observing him. It +was at this point that the air composed in Vienna was inserted (Anh. 3) +to express Ottavio's devoted love for Donna Anna. It depicts exclusively +the tender lover, and the heroic impulses which might be supposed to +belong to the situation will be sought for in vain; the contrast with +Donna Anna's high-spirited air is very striking. No doubt the insertion +of the song was, in some measure at least, a concession to the +individual singer and to the preference of the public for sentimental +lovers. Granting this, however, it is simple and true in sentiment, +tender without sickliness, and of purest melody. Besides the clear and +lovely chief melodies, parts here and there, such as the transition to B +minor and the return to D major at the words, "E non ho bene s' ella non +l' ha," have a very striking effect. But the song + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(202) + +is below the level of the situation, and, for want of a counterbalancing +force, it injures the conception of Don Ottavio's character. The masque +terzet expresses in a very pure and noble manner the contrast between an +affection based on moral constancy, such as that of Donna Anna and Don +Ottavio, and the unwholesome passions of the other characters. Donna +Anna, entering masked to play the spy on Don Giovanni, is seized +with alarm at the danger which threatens them all, especially her +lover--"Temo pel caro sposo" she sings with her own melting, plaintive +tones--and she calms her fears with difficulty. In the ball-room, where +noisy merriment is at its height, their dignified appearance gives the +assembly a certain air of solemnity. Leporello and Don Giovanni greet +them respectfully; they answer somewhat ceremoniously, and join in +the cry: "Viva la libertà!" but with a sort of dignified reserve which +stamps them as of superior rank to the crowd of country people round +them. This is a faithful reflection of the manners of the time; so also +is the subordination of the chorus in this scene: it was customary for +country people to keep at a respectful distance before persons of +rank. When the dance recommences, it is Donna Anna again who finds her +feelings so hard to master that she almost betrays herself. Zerlina's +cry for help is the signal for an outbreak of general excitement; +and henceforth they are all avowedly ranged against Don Giovanni. Don +Ottavio acts as the mouthpiece and champion of the women, and calls Don +Giovanni to account for the murder of the Commendatore. But he makes no +attempt to take the punishment of the crime into his own hands, and Don +Giovanni is allowed to beat a retreat from the presence of his former +friends and now determined opponents. No chorus is introduced in the +last movement of the first finale, and indeed none is conceivable.[175] +What would be gained in material sound-effects would be lost in true +dramatic effect. The "buona gente" do not presume to take part in the + +{DONNA ANNA--OTTAVIO} + +(203) + +dispute of their lords; and, as the affair grows serious, the dancers +and musicians leave the ball-room hastily, and the principal characters +remain in possession of the scene.[176] + +Hitherto Don Ottavio has shown himself as a man deserving of Donna +Anna's affection and confidence, loyal and devoted, cautious and +determined, and preserving throughout the lofty demeanour which +distinguishes him from Don Giovanni. But from this point we are in +expectation that he will put his resolutions into action, and that the +second act gives him no opportunity of doing so is a serious blemish. + +The loose and disconnected plot of the second act sacrifices Donna Anna +and Don Ottavio in especial; Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto are woven not +unskilfully into its intricate meshes, but the other two are altogether +left out. In the sestet (Act II., 6) the earlier motif of consolatory +assurance is repeated without any definite occasion, and only the +exalted purity of the music can cover this defect. Their presence is in +no way necessary either to the exposure of Leporello's trickery; it is +amply justified from a musical point of view, however, for the noble and +dignified tone, which contrasts with Leporello's comic fright and gives +the character of the ensemble, is the result of their participation. + +Don Giovanni's new villainy having removed all doubt of his guilt +from Don Ottavio's mind, the latter no longer hesitates to call him to +account. His conduct has rendered him unworthy of giving the ordinary +satisfaction of a nobleman, and Ottavio resolves to deliver him over +to justice, taking upon himself the risk of encountering so bold and +formidable an adversary. As he turns to depart his thoughts naturally +turn to Donna Anna, who has left the scene after the sestet, and he +entreats his friends to console her during his absence, until he shall +return with the tidings of a completed revenge. This feeling is natural +and true, and the air (Act II., 8) expressing it is in every way +appropriate. + +His appeal for the consolation of Donna Anna is made in one of the +loveliest cantilene which has ever been written for a tenor voice; but +the second part is not quite on the + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(204) + +same level. Mozart has rightly refrained from expressing the desire for +revenge in a grand heroic movement, which would have introduced a false +tone, but has limited it to a middle movement, rendered characteristic +mainly by the rapid and forcible motion of the orchestra. The purely +musical effect of this part is excellent, but the voice part has not +force or brilliancy proportionate to the sweetness and fulness which it +has just displayed. The idiosyncracies of the singer Baglione may, in +some degree, have occasioned this treatment; he was specially celebrated +for his artistic and finished delivery.[177] + +The course of the plot justifies Don Ottavio in his conduct towards Don +Giovanni, and when the reprobate has been called before a higher than +any earthly tribunal, Ottavio claims Donna Anna's hand, not as a tender +lover, but as a faithful protector summoned by fate to her side. Donna +Anna's postponement of their union until the year of mourning for +her father shall have expired is a realistic trait, and reflects +the ordinary rules of society and mode of thought then in vogue too +faithfully to be at all poetic. But there can be no doubt of the +intention to represent the love of Donna Anna and Don Ottavio as deep +and sincere; and it argues a misapprehension of tragic ideality to +consider the postponement either as an excuse to conceal her aversion +to her lover, or as the result of her determination to renounce earthly +love and seek refuge in a convent or the grave.[178] It is to the +disadvantage of Don Ottavio, however, that he is made to re-enter +and entreat Donna Anna to consent to an immediate union, without any +previous intimation that he has carried out his design of bringing Don +Giovanni to justice. This is uncalled for, and shows him in the light +of an amorous weakling destitute of energy.[179] The scene was probably +inserted later in order to separate the + +{DONNA ANNA--OTTAVIO.} + +(205) + +churchyard scene from the supper, and chiefly, no doubt, to supply +Donna Anna with another air; the characterisation of Don Ottavio and +the natural progress of the plot are sacrificed to these objects. On +the other hand, the air itself (Act II., 10) is a grateful task for +the singer; and affords important aid to the musical-dramatic +characterisation of Donna Anna. Hitherto grief and revenge have inspired +her utterances; her affection to Don Ottavio has been indicated by her +intrusting to him her most sacred interests and duties. Here, at last, +her love breaks forth without reserve, and although she still rejects +his petition, it is with a maidenly coyness and an expression of regret +which add a new and individual interest to her character. The air is +introduced by a recitative, and consists of two independent movements in +different tempi. In form and treatment, especially in the employment of +wind instruments almost solo, and in the bravura voice passages, it more +closely resembles the traditional Italian aria than any other of the +original songs in Don Giovanni; but, in spite of this, it renders +important service to the characterisation.[180] The regularity of the +musical form corresponds very well to the refined and not only noble but +well-bred demeanour of Donna Anna. Deep and sincere emotion is expressed +with maidenly tenderness, infused with just the tinge of melancholy +which invests the whole representation of her character. + +The characters which have been occupying our attention are so accurately +and minutely delineated, and every detail is so admirably blended into +the conception of the whole, that though a comparison with "Figaro" +may doubtless show many superficial points of resemblance, a closer +examination reveals the complete independence of the two works. No one +figure resembles another even distantly; each has its own life, its own +individuality, preserved in the minutest particulars, as well as in the +general conception. Not less remarkable than this is the art with which +the different + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(206) + +elements, in all their force of energy and truth, are combined into an +harmonious and comprehensive whole. + +As regards the dramatic force and reality of the situations, especially +in the ensembles, "Figaro" has the advantage over "Don Giovanni." The +introduction to the first act is admirably planned, both musically and +dramatically; in the quartet (Act I., 8) and terzet (Act II., 2) the +situation and prevailing tone are simple, but well chosen and sustained; +and the idea of giving Don Giovanni and Leporello a share in Elvira's +first air (Act I., 3), is productive of excellent effect. The sestet +(Act II., 6), on the other hand, is very loosely put together; the +characters are grouped round Leporello suitably enough, it is true, +but their encounter is not the natural result of the situation, and +the climax is a purely external one. The finales in "Don Giovanni" are +indeed far superior to the ordinary run, which even in good operas often +consist of loosely strung scenes which might just as well be spoken +as sung, but they are inferior to the well-combined, consistent* +development of the plot which delights us in the finales in "Figaro." +The first finale begins in lively style with the quarrel between +Masetto, whose jealously is newly awakened, and the terrified Zerlina, +who seeks to avoid an outbreak. The insidious ever-recurring motif for +both voice and orchestra--[See Page Image] + +in contrast with the quickly uttered notes and sharp accents of anger, +is highly expressive of suspicion. Suggestive in another way are the +beating notes for the trumpets-- + +which are interposed in Masetto's speech, and afterwards taken up by the +flutes-- + +{FIRST FINALE.} + +(207) + +when Zerlina asserts herself, rising gradually to impatient quavers for +the violin--[See Page Image] + +while the principal subject pursues its quiet course. They are +interrupted by the noisy merriment of Don Giovanni and his companions, +who are repairing to the merry-making in the casino; the gradual dying +away of the song of the retreating guests prepares us for the singularly +tender and lovely scene between Zerlina and Don Giovanni, which, +contrasted with the preceding duet with Masetto, first clearly shows +the dangerous fascination of the seducer. After the inimitably expressed +start of surprise at Masetto's reappearance the music alters altogether +in character, and Don Giovanni assumes a cordial hospitality and +cheerful gaiety which is partly accounted for by the sound of the dance +music from the casino; this is made also a musical prophecy of what is +to ensue, for the eight bars that are heard are taken from the second +of the dances afterwards combined, and Mozart has omitted the two first +bars, in order to put the hearer at once in the midst of the dance (Vol. +II., p. 154 note). A lively figure for the violin expresses the desire +of the three to join in the merriment. The figure is continued when +Elvira, Donna Anna, and Don Ottavio appear, and several accompaniment +figures are also retained, with important modifications. The minor key +for the first time occurring, and the totally different treatment of the +orchestra give an impression of a mysterious and gloomy shadow cast upon +the noisy merriment of the scene. Leporello, opening a window by chance, +sees the masks, and is ordered by his master to invite them to enter. +The open window causes the dance music to be more plainly heard, and +prepares for what is to follow; this time a minuet is played, which is +heard entire, for as long as the window remains open the orchestra is +silent, and conversation is carried on parlando. The unusual treatment +of this scene prepares the way for the ball; but it is quite as +consistent with the adagio which intervenes with surprising and profound +effect. + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(208) + +The grave and elevated tone betokening the presence of higher moral +forces is additionally impressive after the unquiet, passionate activity +which precedes it. For the first time in this finale the voices put +forth all their power and beauty, and they receive powerful assistance +from the accompanying wind instruments. The voices seem to stand out +from the dark background of the peculiarly deep notes of the clarinets, +but the chords which follow are like gleams of light cast upon them, and +the whole movement appears transfigured in the glory of a higher region. +The scene changes, as was not unusual in finales, and we find ourselves +in the ball-room. The dance ended, the guests disperse for refreshment, +and Don Giovanni and Leporello, as hosts, Zerlina unable to escape Don +Giovanni's observation, and Masetto, jealously watching her, come to the +front. The orchestra plays the principal part in the lively movement, +6-8, which portrays this situation. Rhythm, melodies, and instrumental +colouring, all are stamped with voluptuous excitement, and we seem to +breathe the heated air of the ball-room. The voices move freely, either +joining in the orchestral subjects or going their own way in easy +parlando or prominent melodies, grouped according to the requirements +of the situation. The entrance of the masks gives, as has already +been observed, a different tone to the scene; the stranger guests are +courteously greeted, and Don Giovanni's summons to the dance places +fully before the spectators the ball-room scene, which has so often +been suggested. The real motive of the scene being musical, the dramatic +representation is skilfully made the object of the musical construction. + +The company is a mixed one, and different dances are arranged to suit +the taste of all; thus also Don Giovanni is provided with the means of +freeing himself of those persons who come in the way of his design. His +distinguished guests tread a minuet, he himself joins in the country +dance with Zerlina, while Leporello whirls Masetto in the giddy waltz. +The musical representation of the situation in the three different +dances is thus made the chief point of the scene, the plot moving +rapidly onward; none of the characters + +{DANCES.} + +(209) + +are in a position to express themselves fully, and the dance alone +preserves the continuity of the whole. The combination of three dances +simultaneously in varied rhythm and expression, offered to Mozart a +task in counterpoint which he has accomplished with so much ease and +certainty, that the untechnical listener scarcely believes in its +difficulty. The arithmetical calculation that three bars in 2-4 are +equal to two bars in 3-4, and one bar 3-8 represents a crotchet in a +triplet, is easily made, and the system presents no difficulty. But the +problem really consists in concealing the system beneath the melody +and rhythm, and in causing the necessary coincidence of the phrasing +to appear a natural and unstudied one, dependent on the individual +character of each dance. One dance follows another as a matter of +course. The minuet begins--the same which has been heard before. At the +repetition of the second part, the second orchestra prepares to strike +up, the open strings are struck in fifths, touched _pizzicato_, and +little shakes tried, the violoncello joins in in the same way--and all +falls naturally into the minuet, as it pursues its even course.[181] At +last a gay country dance (2-4) strikes up, as different in melody and +rhythm from the minuet as can be, although it is of course constructed +on the same fundamental bass. At the second part, the third orchestra +proceeds to tune up as the second had done before, and falls in with +a fresh and merry waltz (3-8).[182] Before the minuet recommences, +Zerlina's cry for help is heard, both dances and music break off +suddenly, and the orchestra, which has hitherto been silent, strikes +in with full force.[183] Zerlina's cry for help brings about a complete +change of + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(210) + +mood and tone. All present, except Don Giovanni and Leporello, are +inspired by one sentiment, and form a compact and solid mass opposing +the two, either in unison or by means of a purely harmonious treatment +of the voices. Only pit particular points, such as the unmasking, do the +different characters stand out, and the imitation by means of which the +parts are again united emphasises the impression of strict connection +between them. This kind of grouping requires a broad, grand treatment, +and a more forcible one both for the voices and the orchestra. Mozart +has nevertheless happily avoided the adoption of a tragic tone, which +would have been unsuited to the situation. The case is not, after +all, too grave to allow of Don Giovanni and Leporello expressing their +confusion and dismay comically, after their manner, and the humorous +character of the opera is thereby preserved.[184] Still more simple is +the construction of the second finale. The introduction of table music +taken from different operas renders the supper scene a very masterpiece +of musical fun; but the episode has no direct connection with the +action.[185] This begins with the entrance of Elvira, with a gravity and +an impulse which have been wanting since the beginning of the opera. +In opposition to Elvira's glowing passion, to which her higher resolves +lend nobler impulse than before, so that even Leporello is carried away +by her energy, Don Giovanni's sensuality stands out in stronger +relief, until it outrages man's noblest and most sacred feelings; the +contradiction develops a depth of pathos + +{THE SECOND FINALE.} + +(211) + +which prepares for the approaching catastrophe. The force and fulness of +musical expression in this scene are as remarkable as the deep truth of +its characterisation. Compare the passionate expressions of Donna Anna +with this outbreak of Elvira, and the fundamental difference of the two +characters is clear; so also it is plain that, inimical to each other +as they may be, Elvira and Don Giovanni are creatures of the same +mould, having the same easily excited sensual impulses. Leporello's +terror-stricken announcement of the Commendatore's approach comes as a +relief to this highly wrought scene. In point of fact, the comic tone +increases the suspense more than even Elvira's piercing cry; ludicrous +as is the fear of Leporello, the main impression it produces is one +of horror at its cause. The first fear-struck tones of the orchestra, +collecting their forces for what is to come, the first simple, firm +tones of the spectre's voice[186] transport us to the sphere of the +marvellous. This sense of the supernatural is preserved by Mozart +throughout the scene, and the hearer seems to himself to be standing in +breathless suspense at the very verge of the abyss. It is produced by +an uninterrupted climax of characteristically shaded movement; and the +object which the master has kept steadily before him has been to produce +at every point the expression of a grandeur and sublimity surpassing +that of earth. To accomplish this, external means, such as the +disposition of harmonies and instrumental colouring are employed with +equal boldness and skill, but the true conditions of its extra-ordinary +effect are the high conception and powerful inspiration which animate +the whole. When to this it is added that Don Giovanni and Leporello, +although under the spell of the supernatural apparition, act freely, +each according to his individual nature, without for an instant +prejudicing the unity of tone, it must be acknowledged that the union +of dramatic truth and lofty ideal is here complete. After this prolonged +and painful suspense the breaking of the storm + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(212) + +which is to deliver Don Giovanni into the power of the internal spirits +comes as a long-expected catastrophe. The spirits themselves Mozart has +wisely kept in the background. Invisible in the darkness, they summon +their victim in few, monotonous, but appalling notes. This allows of +a more animated expression to the torture of despair which seizes Don +Giovanni, and to the terror of Leporello; while the orchestra depicts +the tumult of all the powers of nature. This scene can only attain to +its full effect when theatrical managers can make up their minds to +allow the music to work on the imagination and feeling of the audience, +unimpeded by a display of fireworks and demoniac masks.[187] This +finale, after all that has preceded it, does not certainly produce a +calming effect, but it relieves the suspense, and virtually brings the +plot to an end. The entrance of the other characters to learn the fate +of Don Giovanni from Leporello, and to satisfy the audience as to their +own fate, is chiefly a concession to the custom of assembling all the +chief persons on the stage at the close of the opera, which in this case +seems justified by the necessity of concluding with a composing and +moral impression. It is not, however, the true close of the plot, and +the audience have already been quite sufficiently informed as to the +fate of the characters. + +Regarded from a musical point of view, Leporello's +narrative--interrupted by exclamations of astonishment from the +others--is very fresh and spirited, and the surprise well and delicately +expressed; the movement would be most effective in another place, but +here it falls decidedly flat. The larghetto in which the duet between +Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, with the short remarks of the others, is +brought to a close is lovely, but not so weighty in substance as the +situation demands. The closing movement is very fine, and Mozart has +imparted such a clear and tender radiance to the church-music sort of +form in which he has embodied the moral maxims, that a flush like that +of dawn seems to rise + +{THE SECOND FINALE.} + +(213) + +from the gloomy horror which has buried the gay life of the drama in +deepest night. It was soon felt that to preserve the interest of +the audience after the spirit scene was impossible. An attempt at +abbreviation was annexed to the original score, omitting the larghetto +so far as it referred to personal circumstances. Whether this experiment +was made in Prague or Vienna,[188] it appears not to have sufficed, and +at the performance in Vienna the opera closed, as it almost invariably +has later, with Don Giovanni's descent into the lower regions. At +his fall all the characters enter and give a cry of horror, which is +inserted in the score on the chord of D major. A few attempts have been +made later, either on theoretical or practical grounds, to restore the +original closing scene.[189] Attempts at a modification such as +have been made are very objectionable. At a performance in Paris Don +Giovanni's disappearance was followed by the entry of Donna Anna's +corpse borne by mourners, and the chanting of the "Dies iræ" from +Mozart's Requiem.[190] This idea suggested to Kugler[191] the further +one of changing the scene after Don Giovanni's fall to the mausoleum +of the Commendatore, and introducing the funeral ceremonies, the chorus +singing from Mozart's Re-queim, "Lux perpetua luceat ei" (not _eis_, +"because it is only for one person"), "Domine, cum sanctis tuis quia +pius es," to be followed by the "Osanna in excelsis" as an appropriate +conclusion. It is as difficult to comprehend how these two movements +can be thus combined, as how reverence for the master can allow of his +sacred music being thus tacked on to an opera without any regard to +unity of style and workmanship. Viol, supported by Wolzogen, +adopted this idea so far as, instead of the usual conclusion, to insert +the funeral service in the mausoleum, and have the closing movement of +the opera sung there; but it appears + +{DON GIOVANNI.} + +(214) + +altogether out of place. Nothing can be more objectionable than to make +use of separate parts of a work of art in a different sense to that +intended by the master; omission is, on the whole, a less hurtful +proceeding. + +A consideration of the finale proves what is borne out by the whole +opera, that, though inferior in artistic unity of plot to "Figaro," it +excels that work in the musical nature of its situations and moods. In +"Figaro" we are amazed to find how, within the narrow limits of emotion +presented to us, seldom rising to passion, never to a higher pathos, our +minds are entranced by the grace and spirit of the representation. +In "Don Giovanni," on the contrary, there is scarcely a side of human +nature which is not expressed in the most varied shades of individuality +and situation; through the checkered scenes of daily life we are led to +the very gates of the spirit world, and the light of original wit and +humour shines upon the work from beginning to end. The difficulty for a +dramatically gifted author lay in moderation. Da Ponte having placed his +"Don Giovanni" in the present, Mozart with ready wit draws upon reality +where-ever possible for matters of detail and colouring. This freshness +and fulness of realism distinguishes "Don Giovanni" from "Figaro," +without entailing any loss of ideality, for every subject drawn from +real life is turned to the service of the artistic conception of the +whole. The statues of the Parthenon or the figures of Raphael teach how +the great masters of the formative arts follow nature in all and each +of their creations; they teach, too, how the treasure which the eye of +genius descries in the depths of nature must be first received into a +human heart, thence to emerge as a complete and self-contained whole, +appealing to the sympathies of all mankind. Nor is it otherwise with +the great masters of sound, whatever be the impulse which urges them to +expression, whether the words of the poet, the experiences of life, the +impressions of form, colour, or sound; + +the idea of the whole, which inspires it with life and endows it with +form and meaning, must come from the depths of his own spirit, and is +the creative force, which is unceasingly active until the perfect work +of art is produced. The ideal + +{WORKS IN VIENNA, 1788.} + +(215) + +of such a work is the perfection which is conceivable and visible to +mankind in art alone; in it that which elsewhere appears as contrast or +opposition rises to the highest unity. This once attained, we experience +the satisfaction which for mortals exists in art alone. But our delight +and admiration rise still higher when this harmony is maintained +throughout a varied and many-sided composition, containing a wealth of +interests and motives appealing to our most opposite sympathies, and +stirring the very depths of our being--then it is that we feel the full +and immediate inspiration of that Spirit Who looks upon the universe as +the artist looks upon his work. + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +[Footnote 1: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2 p. 98.] + +[Footnote 2: Mozart wrote the beautiful air "Non sö d'onde viene" for him on +March 18 (512 K., Vol. I., p. 422).] + +[Footnote 3: Cramer, Mag. Mus., 1788, II., p. 47.] + +[Footnote 4: His naïve and highly entertaining autobiography appeared in Leipzig +in 1801.] + +[Footnote 5: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 228.] + +[Footnote 6: Gerber, A. M. Z., I., p. 307; ibid, III., p. 377. Cf. Biedenfeld, +Die Komische Oper, p. 60.] + +[Footnote 7: Berl. Mus. Wochenbl., 1791, pp. 37, 54, 163.] + +[Footnote 8: Müller, Abschied, p. 277.] + +[Footnote 9: Cramer, Magaz. f. Musik, 1788, II., p. 53.] + +[Footnote 10: "Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag" is the title of a novel by Eduard +Möricke (Stuttgart, 1856), written with the author's usual grace and +delicacy. At the same time it is to be regretted that he has laid so +much stress on the lighter, more worldly side of Mozart's character; and +it is scarcely conceivable that a poet could have ascribed to Mozart a +manner of composition which was as far as it was possible to be from his +nature as an artist.] + +[Footnote 11: Particulars concerning this visit to Prague are given by J. R. +Stiepanek in the preface to his Bohemian translation of "Don Giovanni" +(Prague, 1825, German translation by Nissen, p. 515)* The Prague +reminiscences are revived also in the "Bohemia" (1856, Nos. 21-24). +Heinse gives some details communicated by L. Bassi (Reise--u. +Lebensskizzen, I., p. 208), and J. P. Lyser draws from the same source +in his Mozart-Album (Hamburg, 1856). These accounts are, however, +wanting, not alone in aesthetic culture, but in the discernment of what +is historically true. On a lower level still must be placed Herib. Rau's +"Cultur-historischer Roman" "Mozart" (Frankfort, 1858), which has little +in common either with culture or history; his description of the visit +to Prague is in especial a more appalling calumny on Mozart's moral and +artistic character than has been ventured on by any of his opponents.] + +[Footnote 12: Ost und West, 1839, No. 42, p. 172. A memorial tablet was +afterwards placed on this house.] + +[Footnote 13: The vineyard is called Petranka (Smichow, No. 169), and belongs, +according to the "Bohemia" (1856, p. 118), to the merchant Lambert +Popelka.] + +[Footnote 14: In the autograph score the duet is written on smaller paper, and +somewhat more hastily than the other numbers, as was the case with +Masetto's air.] + +[Footnote 15: Castil-Blaze has accepted these professional fables as literal +truth (Molière Musicien, I., p. 310).] + +[Footnote 16: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 103.] + +[Footnote 17: The recitative and these two passages are omitted from the +autograph score, which prevents any identification of the alterations. +In "Idomeneo" the Oracle is accompanied only by trombones and horns. +Gugler throws doubt on the anecdote (Morgenbl., 1865, No. 33, p. 777).] + +[Footnote 18: At the wedding festivities in Vienna, on October 1, Martin's +"Arbore di Diana" was performed (Wien. Ztg., 1787, No. 79, Anh.), and +was repeated nine times in the same year.] + +[Footnote 19: Wien. Ztg., 1787, No. 84. "Don Giovanni" was to have been played +for the first time on this occasion, and Sonnleithner informs me that +a book of the words had actually been printed, with the title-page, +"Da rappresentarsi nel teatro di Praga per l'arrive di S. A. R. Maria +Teresa, Archiduchessa d' Austria, sposa del Ser. Principe Antonio di +Sassonia l'anno 1787." Here the first act closes with the quartet +(8); the second act is intact. The performance did not take place, the +Princess leaving Prague on October 15.] + +[Footnote 20: Niemetschek, p. 87.] + +[Footnote 21: In Mozart's Thematic Catalogue the subject of the overture is +entered under date October 28, with the title, "Il Dissoluto Punito, +o il Don Giovanni: Opera buffa in 2 Atti--Pezzi di Musica 24." The +overture is, as usual, written as a separate piece, hastily, but with +scarcely any alterations.] + +[Footnote 22: A very unfavourable account of his greed for gain and +unscrupulousness is given in the A. M. Z., II., p. 537.] + +[Footnote 23: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 103. The fee which he received was fifty +ducats.] + +[Footnote 24: Wien. Ztg. (1787, No. 91): "On Monday, October 29, Kapellmeister +Mozart's long-expected opera, 'Don Giovanni, das steinerne Gastmahl,' +was performed by the Italian opera company of Prague. Musicians and +connoisseurs are agreed in declaring that such a performance has never +before been witnessed in Prague. Herr Mozart himself conducted, and +his appearance in the orchestra was the signal for cheers, which were +renewed at his exit. The opera is exceedingly difficult of execution, +and the excellence of the representation, in spite of the short time +allowed for studying the work, was the subject of general remark. The +whole powers, both of actors and orchestra, were put forward to do +honour to Mozart. Considerable expense was incurred for additional +chorus and scenery, which has been generously defrayed by Herr +Guardasoni. The enormous audience was a sufficient guarantee of the +public favour."] + +[Footnote 25: So the story was told on the authority of Mozart's son, in the +Berl. Musikztg. Echo (1856, No. 25, p. 198).] + +[Footnote 26: L. de Loménin, Beaumarchais et son Temps, II., p. 399.] + +[Footnote 27: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 98. Mosel, Salieri, pp. 98, 128.] + +[Footnote 28: Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 3. Müller, Abschied v. d. Bühne, p. 277] + +[Footnote 29: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 108. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 284. In 1788 +"Axur" was performed twenty-nine times.] + +[Footnote 30: Mus. Korr., 1790, p. 30.] + +[Footnote 31: Berlin. Musik. Wochenbl., p. 5.] + +[Footnote 32: Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 38. My friend Gabr. Seidl informs me that +in the accounts of the theatre for 1788-1789 is the entry (pp. 45,127): +"Dem da Ponte Lorenz fur Componirung der Poesie zur Opera il Don +Giovanni, 100 fl."; and pp. 47, 137: "Dem Mozart Wolfgang fur +Componirung der Musique zur Opera il Don Giovanni, 225 fl."] + +[Footnote 33: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 104.] + +[Footnote 34: "Don Giovanni" was performed fifteen times during this year. +Lange's assertion, therefore, that it was withdrawn after the third +representation rests upon an error. But after 1788 it was removed from +the stage, and did not reappear until November 5, 1792, in a miserable +German adaptation by Spiess. According to Da Ponte the Emperor +exclaimed, after hearing "Don Giovanni": "The opera is divine, perhaps +even more beautiful than 'Figaro.' but it will try the teeth of my +Viennese." To which Mozart answered, on hearing the remark, "We will +give them time to chew it." Joseph went into head-quarters on February +28, 1788, and did not return to Vienna till December 5 (Wien. Ztg., +1788, No. 18); he can only, therefore, have been present at the last +performance of the year, on Dec. 15.] + +[Footnote 35: A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 284.] + +[Footnote 36: The different pieces are numbered in the same order in the +announcement of the pianoforte score (Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 42, Anh.).] + +[Footnote 37: Cramer, Magazin d. Mus., July, 1789, p. 47.] + +[Footnote 38: Cavalieri wished to sing it in E major instead of E flat +major, and Mozart therefore made a transition into E at bar 19 of the +recitative, and wrote over the air itself, "in E."] + +[Footnote 39: He first appeared at Easter, 1788, in the "Barber of Seville" +(Wien. Ztg., 1788, No. 34, Anh.).] + +[Footnote 40: Journal der Moden, 1790, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 41: Schink, Dramaturgische Monate (1790), II., p. 320.] + +[Footnote 42: Schneider, Gesch. d. Berl. Oper, p. 59. A notice from Berlin in the +Journal der Moden (1791, p. 76) says: "The composition of this opera is +fine, although here and there it is very artificial, heavy, and overladen +with instruments."] + +[Footnote 43: Chronik v. Berlin, IX., p. 132. Cf. XI., p. 878.] + +[Footnote 44: "Don Giovanni" was given five times within ten days.] + +[Footnote 45: Chronik v. Berlin, IX., p. 316.] + +[Footnote 46: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 158.] + +[Footnote 47: Mus. Monatsschr., p. 122.] + +[Footnote 48: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 19.] + +[Footnote 49: Jacobi wrote to Herder, in July, 1792: "We were terribly bored by +yesterday's opera; it is an insupportable affair, this 'Don Juan'! A +good thing that it is over." (Auserl. Briefw., II., p. 91.)] + +[Footnote 50: Briefw., 403,1., p. 432. Schiller had written (402, I., p. 431): +"I have always had a certain amount of hope that the opera, like the +choruses of the old hymns to Bacchus, would be the means of developing a +nobler conception of tragedy. In the opera, a mere servile following of +nature is forsaken, and the ideal, disguised as indulgence, is allowed +to creep on the stage. The opera, by the power of music and by +its harmonious appeal to the senses, attunes the mind to a higher +receptivity; it allows of a freer play of pathos, because it is +accompanied by music; and the element of the marvellous, which +is suffered to appear in it, makes the actual subject a matter of +indifference."] + +[Footnote 51: Bohemia, 1856, No. 23, p. 122.] + +[Footnote 52: A. M. Z., XXXIX., p. 800.] + +[Footnote 53: A. M. Z., XL., p. 140.] + +[Footnote 54: A. M. Z., XXXIX., p. 810.] + +[Footnote 55: Castil-Blaze, L'Acad. Impér. de Mus., II., p. 98.] + +[Footnote 56: Castil-Blaze, Molière Musicien, I., p. 321. Cf. Siever's Càcilia, +IX., p. 208. A. Schebest, a. d. Leben e. Künstlerin, p. 202.] + +[Footnote 57: Castil-Blaze, Molière Musicien, I., pp. 268, 323. L'Acad. Impér. de +Mus., II., p. 241.] + +[Footnote 58: Leipzig, A. M. Z., 1866, p. 192.] + +[Footnote 59: "Don Juan," opéra en 2 actes et 13 tableaux. Édition du Théätre +Lyrique.] + +[Footnote 60: Pohl, Mozart und Haydn in London, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 61: A. M. Z., XIII., p. 524. Stendhal, Vie de Rossini, p. 6.] + +[Footnote 62: A. M. Z., XIV., p. 786; XV., p. 531.] + +[Footnote 63: A. M. Z., XVI., p. 859.] + +[Footnote 64: A. M. Z., XVIII., p. 232.] + +[Footnote 65: A. M. Z., XX., p. 489.] + +[Footnote 66: A. M. Z., XXVI., p. 570.] + +[Footnote 67: A. M. Z., XXV., p. 639.] + +[Footnote 68: Scudo, Crit. et Littêr. Mus., I., p. 121. For similar remarks on an +older Italian singer, see A. M. Z., XXV., p. 869.] + +[Footnote 69: Viardot, Manuscr. Autogr. du D. Giov., p. 10. It must be remembered +that Rossini's arrival in Paris, in 1823, was the signal for a party +warfare between the Mozartists and Rossiniists, similar to that waged +by the Gluckists and Piccinnists. Cf. A. M. Z., XXV., p. 829.] + +[Footnote 70: Da Ponte, Mem., III., p. 43. Scudo, Crit. Littér. Mus., I., p. 178.] + +[Footnote 71: Castil-Blaze, Molière Musicien, I., p. 329.] + +[Footnote 72: Da Ponte, Mem., III., p. 54.] + +[Footnote 73: Da Ponte, Mem., III., p. 58.] + +[Footnote 74: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 51.] + +[Footnote 75: E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Don Joan, eine fabelhafte Begebenheit, die +sich mit einem reisenden Enthusiasten zugetragen," written in September, +1812 (Hitzig Hoffmann's Leben, II., p. 35), appeared in the first volume +of his "Phantasie-stücke in Callot's Manier" (Bamberg, 1813). The novel +and striking ideas contained in the article made a great impression at +the time, and to Hoffmann is due the merit of adducing from the music +the poetical and psychological truth of the opera.] + +[Footnote 76: I will here only mention H. G. Hotho, Vorstudien fur Leben und +Kunst (Stuttgart, 1835), p. 1; Victor Eremita, Det Musikalsk-Erotiske, +in Enten-Eller (Copenhagen, 1849), I., p. 25; and P. Scudo, Crit. +et. Littér. Music., I., p. 150. Others will occur later on; but a +compilation of all that has been written, to the purpose or not, on the +subject of Don Juan would be a very tedious and not a very profitable +labour.] + +[Footnote 77: The usual title of opera buffa is given to "Don Giovanni" by +Mozart in his Thematic Catalogue; in the libretto it is called "dramma +giocoso."] + +[Footnote 78: On the adaptations of this subject cf. Cailhave, De l'Art de la +Comédie (Paris, 1785), III., ix t.; II., p. 175; Kahlert, Die Sage +vom Don Juan (Freihafen, 1841), IV., 1, p. 113. Much serviceable +information, together with some nonsense, may be found in Castil-Blaze, +Molière Musicien, I., p. 189. A collection of Don Juan literature in the +Russian language, by C. Swanzow, has been sent to me by the author.] + +[Footnote 79: The name and arms of the family of Tenorio (once distinguished in +Seville, but long since died out) are given by Castil-Blaze (p. 276), +from Gonzalo Argole de Molina's Nobleza de Andaluzia (Seville, 1588), +p. 222. According to Favyn (Théätre d'Honneur et de Chevalerie, Paris, +1620) Don Juan Tenorio was the companion of King Pedro (1350-1369) in +his cruelties and lusts.] + +[Footnote 80: The legend is told by Castil-Blaze (p. 221), after Puibusque, Hist. +Comparée des Littér. Espagn. et Franç. (Paris, 1843). Schack asserts +that it is still current in Seville, and sold in the streets on loose +sheets, in the form of a romanze.] + +[Footnote 81: Castil-Blaze, p. 222. Arnold (Mozart's Geist, p. 298) says that +the true source is a political romance by a Portuguese Jesuit, entitled +"Vita et mors sceleratissimi principis Domini Joannis."] + +[Footnote 82: Schack, Gesch. der dram. Litt. u. Kunst in Spanien, II., p. 552. L. +Schmidt, Die vier bedeut Dramatiker der Spanier, p. 10. Tellez died +in 1648, seventy-eight years old; in 1621 he had already written three +hundred comedies.] + +[Footnote 83: An epitome of the piece, published in Eugenio da Ochoa's Tesoro del +Teatro Espaniol (Paris, 1838, IV., p. 73), was given by Cailhava, +II., p. 179. Kahlert and Castil-Blaze. It is now accessible in the +translations of C. A. Dohrn (Spanische Dramen, I., p. 1) and L. +Braunfels (Dramen aus u. n. d. Span., I., p. 1).] + +[Footnote 84: The part of Tisbea is very charmingly treated; Byron has made use +of this part of the subject.] + +[Footnote 85: When Don Juan swears to marry Aminta, he says, with ambiguous +mockery:--] + + "Wird mein Wort je im geringsten + Falsch befunden--nun so mag mich + Eine Leichenhrnd vernichten."] + +[Footnote 86: Schack (II., p. 569), quoting from a license to publish Tirso's +works, says that they contain nothing which could offend good manners, +and that they present admirable examples to youth.] + +[Footnote 87: Schack (II., p. 679).] + +[Footnote 88: Riccoboni, Hist. du. Théätre Ital., I., p. 47.] + +[Footnote 89: Castil-Blaze (p. 263) has a list of the editions.] + +[Footnote 90: Goldoni, Mém., I., p. 163. Eximeno, L'Orig. d. Musica, p. 430.] + +[Footnote 91: Cailhava, in an analysis of the Convitato (II., p. 186), remarks +that he has observed trifling alterations in different performances, +but that in essentials the piece is always the same. A more detailed +analysis of a later piece, differing somewhat in detail, is given by +Castil-Blaze (I., p. 192).] + +[Footnote 92: Castil-Blaze's piece omits this adventure, and begins with Donna +Anna and the murder of the Commendatore.] + +[Footnote 93: Castil-Blaze's sketch inserts the peasant wedding here.] + +[Footnote 94: This piece alone was in writing, all the rest was improvised.] + +[Footnote 95: Castil-Blaze, I., p. 243.] + +[Footnote 96: Dictionnaire des Théätres de Paris, II., p. 539.] + +[Footnote 97: The French pieces are enumerated in the Dictionnaire des Théätres +de Paris, II., p. 540.] + +[Footnote 98: This absurd title, arising from an error of translation (Convitato +Convié), not only held its ground in France, even after its exposure +by De Visé (Mercure Galant, 1677, I., p. 32), but it was rendered still +more nonsensical in its German form, "Das steinerne Gastmahl," which was +the usual title in the last century.] + + "Placatevi d'Averno + Tormentatori etemi! + E dite per pietade + Quando terminaran questi miei guai?"] + +[Footnote 99: In the same year, 1659, Tirso's drama was played in Paris by +Spanish actors (Castil-Blaze, p. 247).] + +[Footnote 100: Castil-Blaze, I., p. 246.] + +[Footnote 101: Goldoni, Mém., I., 29, p. 163.] + +[Footnote 102: Cailhava, II., p. 193.] + +[Footnote 103: Dictionnaire des Théätres, II., p. 542.] + +[Footnote 104: Dav. Erskine Baker, Biographia Dramatica (London, 1782), II., p. +188. Th. Shadwell, Poeta Laureatus under William III., lived 1640-1692.] + +[Footnote 105: Schack, III., p. 469.] + +[Footnote 106: Müller, Abschied, p. 63.] + +[Footnote 107: Meyer, L. Schroder, I., p. 153; Cf. II., 2, pp. 55, 144.] + +[Footnote 108: Meyer, II., 2, p. 44.] + +[Footnote 109: Meyer, II., 2, p. 179. Schütze, Hamburg. Theatergesch., p. 375.] + +[Footnote 110: [Oehler] Geschichte des ges. Theaterwesens zu Wien, p. 328.] + +[Footnote 111: Sonnenfels, Ges. Schr., III., p. 139. Pohl showed me a printed +table of contents, without date or place: "Das steineme Gastmahl, oder +die redende Statue sammt Arie welche Hanns-Wurst sin get, nebst denen +Versen des Ere-miten und denen Verzweiflungs-Reden des Don Juans bey +dessen unglücksee-ligen Lebens-Ende."] + +[Footnote 112: Three puppet plays from Augsburg, Strasburg, and Ulm have been +published by Scheible (Das Kloster, III., p. 699); they are very +mediocre. Molière's "Don Juan," as an opera for puppets, was played in +Hamburg in 1774 (Schletterer, Deutsch. Singsp., p. 152).] + +[Footnote 113: Dictionnaire des Théätres, II., p. 540.] + +[Footnote 114: Mém. sur les Spectacles de la Foire, I., p. 153.] + +[Footnote 115: Schmid, Gluck, p. 83. Castil-Blaze conjectures (I., p. 265) that +this ballet was written in Parma, in 1758. Sara Goudar, in her Remarques +sur la Musique Italienne et sur la Danse (Paris, 1773), writes about +Gluck: "Gluck, Allemand comme Hasse, l'imita [Jomelli]; quelquefois +même le surpassa, mais souvent il fit mieux danser que chanter. Dans +le ballet de Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre, il composa une musique +admirable" (Ouvr. Mèl., II., p. 12). Printed before Wollank's pianoforte +score, and in Lobe's Flieg. Blàtt. f. Mus., I., p. 122.] + +[Footnote 117: A ballet, "II Convitato di Pietra," was given in Naples in 1780 +(Signorelli, Stor. Crit. d. Teatri, X., 2, p. 172).] + +[Footnote 118: This opera was also performed in Braunschweig in 1782 (Cramer, +Mag. f. Musik, I., p. 474).] + +[Footnote 119: The book of the words printed in Vienna has on the title-page "da +rap-presentarsi ne' teatri privilegiati di Vienna l' anno 1777.] + +[Footnote 120: Castil-Blaze, I., p. 267.] + +[Footnote 121: Goethe, Briefw m. Zelter, II., p. 160.] + +[Footnote 122: Musik. Monatschr., p. 122.] + +[Footnote 123: Da Ponte, Mem., II., 1, p. 28.] + +[Footnote 124: The manuscript (perhaps autograph) in the archives of the Society +of Musicians in Vienna bears the title, "ü Convitato di Pietra, Atto +solo del Sgr. Giuseppe Gazaniga. In S. Moisè, 1787." The greater part of +the recitative, five pieces in score, and four airs with voice part and +bass, are preserved.] + +[Footnote 125: Recensionen, 1860, No. 38, p. 588.] + +[Footnote 126: The fact of her non-reappearance is proved by the same singer +taking the part of Maturina.] + +[Footnote 127: Here, doubtless, was inserted the quartet, "Non ti fidar o +misera," composed by Cherubini for the performance in Paris in 1792 +(Scudo, Crit. et Litt. Mus., I., p. 181). Not. de Manuscr. Autogr. de +Cherubini, pp. 12, 101.] + +[Footnote 128: For a performance at Ferrara, Ferrara is substituted for Venezia.] + +[Footnote 129: _Atto solo_ is on the title-page instead of secondo, which is +struck out; on the second scene is _Atto secondo_, and the finale +is superscribed _Finale secondo._ On the other hand, the scenes are +continuously numbered from 1 to 24. I can only suppose that an earlier +version has been abridged for representation.] + +[Footnote 130: A "Don Giovanni" ascribed to Cimarosa is the result of a mistake; +his opera, "ü Convito," composed in 1782, is an adaptation of Goldoni's +"Festino," and has nothing to do with Don Juan (Castil-Blaze, p. 267).] + +[Footnote 131: When Sonnleithner had succeeded in obtaining the books of the +words printed for the first performances in Prague and Vienna, he +published a reprint of the first with the alterations and omissions of +the second, together with all the scenic remarks written by Mozart on +his score. "ü Dissoluto Punito, ossia il Don Giovanni. Dramma giocoso. +Poesia di Lorenzo da Ponte." Leipzig, 1865.] + +[Footnote 132: I have, unfortunately, been unable to obtain Zamora's drama.] + +[Footnote 133: Eckermann, Gespräche mit Goethe, I., p. 64.] + +[Footnote 134: The scenic order, for which the books of the words give important +data, has been the subject of much recent controversy. Cf. Recensionen, +1859, No. 25. A. von Wolzogen über d. seen. Darstellung von Mozart's +"Don Giovanni" (Breslau, 1860). Bitter, Mozart's "Don Juan," p. 62. +Sonnleithner, Recensionen, 1865, No. 48. Woerz, Wien. Ztg., 1866, No. +293, &c.] + +[Footnote 135: Gazzaniga's "Eximena" is wisely omitted.] + +[Footnote 136: Zerlina owes to Goldoni's "Elisa" a strong tinge of frivolity; and +the credulity and inexperience of the peasant maid are not without an +alloy of sensuality. She is, however, at the same time endowed with a +natural charm that enables Mozart to represent her with full consistency +as a very lovable creature.] + +[Footnote 137: This shows the progress made upon Gazzaniga's work. That which +was a mere comic by-play is here used as a motive for giving a common +interest to the characters, and leads to the recognition of Don +Giovanni, and to the climax of the finale.] + +[Footnote 138: At Hamburg, members of noble families required that minuets should +be played alternately with the country dances, "that they might not be +obliged to mix with the crowd" (Meyer, L. Schroder, I., p. 150).] + +[Footnote 139: Gugler's idea (Morgenbl., 1865, p. 775) that Don Giovanni feigns +his alarm, as if saying to his captors, "Your unexpected and unfounded +accusations have altogether upset me," has not convinced me.] + +[Footnote 140: The air is given in the Niederrhein. Mus. Ztg., II., p. 413. +Mozart has changed the original key (A major) and somewhat condensed the +whole, to its decided advantage.] + +[Footnote 141: How far superior to the senseless toasts in Righini's and +Gazzaniga's versions.] + +[Footnote 142: O. Gumprecht, Deutsch. Theater-Archiv, 1859, Nos. 2, 3.] + +[Footnote 143: The earliest translation is that by Bitter, mentioned by E. G. +Neefe (1789). Don Giovanni is called Herr von Schwänkereich; Leporello, +Fickfack. It circulated in manuscript, and was the foundation of most +of the earlier German versions, as well as of those by Schroder and +Rochlitz (Leipzig, 1801), which cannot be adjudged free from the faults +of their predecessors. Kugler showed by his own attempt how difficult a +task it was (Argo, 1859, p. 353). A great advance has been made in the +recent versions of W. Viol ("Don Juan": Breslau, 1858); L. Bischoff, in +Simrock's pianoforte score (Cf. Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1858, p. 397; 1859, +p. 88); A. von Wolzogen (Deutsche Schaub., IX., 1860); C. H. Bitter +(Mozart's "Don Juan" u. Gluck's "Iphigenia in Tauris," Berlin, 1866). +Lyser's announcement of a translation by Mozart himself (N. Ztschr., +XXI., p. 174), of which he quoted fragments, was unquestionably the +result of a mystification, in spite of Lyser's repeated declaration that +he had copied from the autograph original in the possession of Mozart's +son (Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1845, p. 322), where Al. Fuchs did not find it +(Ibid., p. 343).] + +[Footnote 144: G. Weber makes a statement with regard to Mozart's autograph +score (Cäcilia, XVIII., p. 91) which places the question of the inserted +pieces in a very clear light. The treasure, which could find no place +in any public collection of Germany, came into the possession of +Madame Pauline Viardot; a new account of it is given by Viardot in the +"Illustration" of the year 1855 (Deutsch. N. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1856, V., +No. 9). He relates at the close that Rossini called upon him saying: "Je +vais m'agenouiller devant cette sainte relique"; and after turing over +the score exclaimed: "C'est le plus grand, c'est le maître de tous; +c'est le seul qui ait eu autant de science que de génie et autant de +génie que de science."] + +[Footnote 145: The character and meaning of this remarkable and much-discussed +piece of music are so distinctly marked that they cannot fail to be +apprehended. CL Hoffmann's suggestions (Fantasiestücke, I., 4, +Ges. Schr., VII., p. 92), Ulibicheff (Mozart, III., p. 105), Krüger +(Beitrage, p. 160), and the elaborate analysis by Lobe (A. M. Z.t XLIX., +pp. 369, 385, 417, 441), where the effort to trace everything back to a +conscious intention has led to some singular mis* apprehensions.] + +[Footnote 146: In the overture to "Cosi fan Tutte" also, Mozart has made a +humorous use of a motif from the opera; and in both cases has made +it introductory to the principal subject of the overture, which is an +altogether independent composition. The superficial device of making +the whole overture an embodiment of different subjects from the opera, a +custom introduced by Weber, would not occur to artists whose aim was to +produce a consistent whole, working from within outwards.] + +[Footnote 147: In the printed score, the B of the last bar is B flat; the +original has this B flat only in the last bar but one. The position +of this chord with C sharp above B natural is unusual, but not +unprecedented. Mozart has left the chief melody undisturbed to the first +violins, the B flat of the second violins corresponding to the C of the +flutes. The repetition of the passage in the second part of the overture +is not written out.] + +[Footnote 148: Marpurg, Von der Fuge, II., p. 77. Kirnberger, Kunst des reinen +satzes, II., 2, p. 18. It will be found in the Kyrie of Stolzel's Missa +Canonica.] + +[Footnote 149: Nägeli, who finds great fault with Mozart's "exaggerated and +licentious contrasts" (Vorlesungen, pp. 157, 160), asserts that the +allegro of the overture contains a bar too much, and that the rhythm is +thereby destroyed; a reproach which was thoroughly refuted by Kahlert +(N. Ztschr. f. Mus., XIX., p. 97).] + +[Footnote 150: Mozart has suggested this train of ideas independently of Da +Ponte. To the Commendatore's reproach: "Cosi pretendi da me fuggir?" Don +Giovanni answers in the act of going, _sotto voce_, "Misero!" then to +the renewed exclamation, "Battiti!" he repeats, _piu voce_, "Misero!" +and not until the Commendatore has come close to him does he break out +with "Misero attendi!"] + +[Footnote 151: The duel is simply and appropriately rendered by the answering +_whizzing_ passages for the violins and bass; very similar to Gluck's +ballet, only more elaborated.] + +[Footnote 152: Gazzaniga has made a tolerably long piece of it, not without +expression, and the best in his opera--but how far apart from Mozart!] + +[Footnote 153: Schaul (Briefe üb. d. Geschmack in der Musik, p. 51) cites this +sestet as an instance of Mozart's sins against sound sense, because it +is written in tragic instead of melodramatic style.] + +[Footnote 154: The musical treatment of the words of the Commendatore has been +visibly influenced by Gluck's "Alceste." A comparison of the two will +show how skilfully Mozart introduced more delicate touches of detail +without injuring the imposing effect of the whole.] + +[Footnote 155: A force and brilliancy are given to the wind instruments by means +of the trombone such as was never before dreamed of. Mozart's sheet with +the wind instruments is lost, but an old copy has the trombones. +They are not used in the overture, because he meant it to be merely +suggestive, and wished neither to lessen the impression of the actual +apparition, nor to disturb the tone character of the overture. Gugler +seeks to prove that the trombones were added later by Süssmayer +(Leipzig, A. M. Z., 1867, No. 1-3), which I am not prepared to allow.] + +[Footnote 156: An instance is Leporello's confidential whisper to Elvira +(intensified in effect by the interrupted cadence on B flat and +the wonderful bassoon notes): "Sua passion predominante è la giovin +principiante] + +[Footnote 157: The distinguishing form of imitation appears to be always +justified psychologically by its appropriateness to the particular +character; in the quartet, for instance, Donna Anna and Don Ottavio have +the imitation; in the first finale it is given to Zerlina and Masetto.] + +[Footnote 158: A. M. Z., II., p. 538.] + +[Footnote 159: Beethoven declared he could not write operas like "Figaro' and +"Don Juan"; they were repulsive to him (Rellstab, Aus meinem Leben, II., +p. 240. Cf. Beethoven's Studien, Anh., p. 22). The pure morality of +the great man, both in his life and his art, must be reverently +acknowledged; at the same time, without allowing art to stray beyond +the bounds of morality, we would not willingly see it excluded from the +representation of this phase of human nature.] + +[Footnote 160: There is no truth in the remark in the Fliegende Blättem f. Musik +(I., p. 184) that the song shows Don Giovanni as he wished to appear, +while the accompaniment indicates what he really was. Don Giovanni +expresses his real feelings, and the song is not mere hypocrisy. The +peculiar character of the accompaniment is brought about simply by the +nature of the instruments.] + +[Footnote 161: This little duet and chorus is written on different paper, like +Masetto's air (Anh. 2). The two were not inserted later, but written in +Prague, during the rehearsals, when the whole of this part seems to have +been revised.] + +[Footnote 162: In the autograph score the second part has no new tempo marked; +Mozart intended to denote the climax by the change of beat; not by +accelerated tempo. The chromatic interlude, which Ulibicheff looks +upon as a moral warning (Vol. II., p. 125), gives me the impression of +sensual longing.] + +[Footnote 163: The words which are given to Don Giovanni after the recommencement +of the minuet, "Meco tu dei ballare, Zerlina vien pur qua," are not in +the original score, nor in the libretto; later on, when he leads her to +the country dance, he says: "Il tuo compagno io sono, Zerlina vien pur +quà."] + +[Footnote 164: Mozart rightly calls the piece not terzetto, but aria, for Don +Giovanni's and Leporello's interruptions are only peculiarly constructed +ritornellos, and do not alter the very simple aria form of the piece.] + +[Footnote 165: The assertion that Mozart wrote above the air "Nello stile di +Haendel" (Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 116) is unfounded.] + +[Footnote 166: Ambros, "Grànzen der Musik und Poesie," p. 61.] + +[Footnote 167: In the Fliegenden Blättern fur Musik (III., p. n.) it is pointed +out that the beginning of this melody is identical with the serenade, +and this is adduced as an instance of refined characterisation, meant +to indicate Don Giovanni's treachery to Elvira, whom he is addressing, +while he is thinking of the waiting-maid; there is no foundation for the +idea, however.] + +[Footnote 168: Gumprecht's remarks on this are instructive (Klass. Sopran-album, +p. 8).] + +[Footnote 169: Gazzaniga places it in recitative before the finale.] + +[Footnote 170: It is an oft-repeated mistake that this part was written by Mozart +for Campi, who was born in Lublin, 1773, and had been a main support to +Guardasoni's company since 1791 (A. M. Z., II., p. 537).] + +[Footnote 171: Marx, Berl. Mus. Ztg., I., p. 319. Rellstab, Ges. Schr., VI., p. +251. Genast says (Aus d. Tageb. e. alten Schausp., III., p. 171) +that Bethmann rendered Donna Anna in this sense, and that upon his +representation Schröder-Devrient copied it. Cf. A. von Wolzogen, Wilh. +Schroder-Devrient, p. 163.] + +[Footnote 172: It is a great improvement on Gazzaniga's libretto that Donna Anna +does not disappear after her first entrance, but takes the place in the +plot of the meaningless Eximena; but to invent new motives for her was +beyond Da Ponte's power.] + +[Footnote 173: Ulibicheff (III., p. 113), Lobe (Flieg. Blätt. f. Mus., I., p. +221), Vincent (Leipz. Theat. Ztg., 1858. Cf. Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1860, +pp. 222, 231), have taken a right view of Don Ottavio's character.] + +[Footnote 174: Marx considers the voice parts and the whole spirit of the aria +powerful and grand, but the instrumentation trivial (Kompositionslehre, +IV., p. 529); he conjectures that it may have been worked out by +Sussmayer. This conjecture is contradicted by the autograph score; and +we may rather believe that Mozart was actuated by consideration +for Saporiti's voice, and refrained from overpowering it by the +instrumentation.] + +[Footnote 175: Even at the beginning of the finale there is no chorus of +villagers. Don Giovanni enters with several servants, who echo his +greeting to the guests: "Su corraggio, o buona gente!"] + +[Footnote 176: Cf. Gugler, Morgenbl., 1865, No. 32, p. 749.] + +[Footnote 177: Da Ponte, Mem., III., i p. 80. A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 301. Cf. A. +Schebest, Aus d. Leben e. Kunstlerin, p. 203.] + +[Footnote 178: Bitter, Mozart's "Don Juan," p. 82.] + +[Footnote 179: The substitution of a letter in his stead, written by him to Donna +Anna, confuses the situation without helping out Don Ottavio. Gugler, +Morgenbl., 1865, No. 33, p. 780.] + +[Footnote 180: Whoever has heard this air sung by a true artist will have been +convinced that the often-abused second movement of it is a necessary +element of the characterisation.] + +[Footnote 181: The same jest has been introduced by Weber in the first act of +"Der Freischütz," when the village musicians fall into the ritornello +after the mocking chorus.] + +[Footnote 182: The second and third orchestra consist only of two violins and +bass, the wind instruments of the first doing duty for all; Mozart +apparently wished to avoid a multiplication of effects.] + +[Footnote 183: It is remarkable that there is in the music of "Don Giovanni" no +trace of national characterisation. In this dance-music, where it +might have occurred, in the table music of the second finale and in +the serenade, Mozart has drawn his inspiration from his immediate +surroundings, and has reproduced this directly upon the stage.] + +[Footnote 184: The first idea which must occur to them on the breaking out of the +storm: "How differently this fête began," is humorously suggested in +the words--[See Page Image] an echo of Don Giovanni's exclamation: "Sù +svegliatevi da bravi!"] + +[Footnote 185: It has been said that the whole of the table music was inserted in +Prague during the rehearsal, and it bears all the traces of a happy and +rapidly worked-out inspiration.] + +[Footnote 186: A musical friend in 1822, forestalling Meyerbeer, proposed to +sing the part of the Commendatore through a speaking-trumpet behind the +stage, while an actor was going through the gestures on the stage. A. M. +Z., XXIV., p. 230.] + +[Footnote 187: At Munich the close of the finale was formerly followed by the +chorus of Furies from Vogler's "Castor und Pollux," which is in the key +of A flat major! (A. M. Z., XXIII., p. 385.)] + +[Footnote 188: Gugler conjectures that the abbreviation proceeds from Sussmayer +(Leipzig, A. M. Z., 1866, p. 92), which appears to me improbable.] + +[Footnote 189: Gugler, Morgenbl., 1865, No. 32, p. 745.] + +[Footnote 190: Castil-Blaze, Molière Musicien, I., p. 338.] + +[Footnote 191: Argo, 1854, I., p. 365. Cf. Gantter, Ulibicheff, Mozart, III., p. +361. Viol, "Don Juan," p. 25.] + +=== + + + + + +MOZART 39 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS. + + +FROM a practical point of view, Mozart's "Don Giovanni" did no more +than his "Figaro" towards improving his position in Vienna. His painful +pecuniary circumstances may be gathered from his letters to Puchberg +in June, 1788. A glance at the catalogue of his compositions after his +return from Prague is sufficient to indicate the fact of their having +been produced at the pleasure of pupils or patrons:-- + +1787. December 11. Lied, "Die kleine Spinnerin" (531 K.). + +1788. January 3. Allegro and andante for pianoforte in F major (533 K.). + +January 14, 23, 27. Tänze (534-536 K.). + +February 24. Pianoforte concerto in D major (537 K., part 20). March +4. Air for Madame Lange, "Ah se in ciel" (538 K.). March 5. Teutsches +Kriegslied for Baumann (539 K.). + +March 19. Adagio for pianoforte, B minor (540 K.). + +March 24, 28, 30. Pieces for insertion in "Don Giovanni" (525, 527, 528 +K.). + +In May. Arietta for Signor Albertarelli, "Un bacio di mano" in the opera +of "Le Gelosie Fortunate" (541 K.). + +June 22. Terzet for piano, violin, and violoncello, E major (542 K.). + +{OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.} + +(216) + +1788. June 26. Symphony, E flat major (543 K.). + +A short march for violin, flute, viola, horn, and violoncello, in D +major, unknown (544 K.). + +A short pianoforte sonata for beginners in C major (545 K.). + +A short adagio for two violins, viola, and bass, to a fugue in C minor +(546 K.). + +July 10. Short pianoforte sonata for beginners, with violin, F major +(547 K.). + +July 14. Terzet for piano, violin, and violoncello, in C major (548 K.). + +July 16. Canzonette a 2 soprani e basso, "Più non si trovano" (549 K.). + +July 25. Symphony in G minor (550 K.). + +August 10. Symphony in C major (551 K.). + +August 11. Ein Lied beim Auszug ins Feld, unknown (552 K.).[1] + +September 2. Eight four-part and two three-part Canoni (553-562 K.). + +September 27. Divertimento for violin, viola, and violoncello, in E flat +major (563 K.). + +October 27. Terzet for piano, violin, and violoncello, in G major (564 +K.). + +October 30, December 6, December 24. Tänze (565, 567, 568 K.). + +1789. January. German air, "Ohne Zwang aus freiem Triebe" (569 K.). + +February. Pianoforte sonata in B flat major (570 K.). + +February 21. Tänze (571 K.). + +The symphonies in E flat major, G minor, and C major, written in the +three summer months of 1788, show that the inner strength was not +slumbering; but Mozart's appointment as chamber-composer to the Emperor +gave him no impulse to composition, and his official duties were +limited to the preparation of music for the masked balls in the imperial +Redoutensale.[2] + +These Redoutensale are situated in the wing of the Hof-burg, which forms +the right side of the Josephsplatz, and originally contained a theatre, +where, upon festive occasions, operas and ballets were performed before +the court; after the erection of the Burgtheater, in 1752, the old +Hoftheater was + +{MASKED BALLS.} + +(217) + +converted into the large and small Redoutensaal now existing, and +concerts, balls, and other entertainments given there. The balls were +masked, and took place on every Carnival Sunday, on Shrove-Tuesday, and +on the three last days of Carnival. Joseph II. favoured them as a means +of drawing different classes together, and frequently appeared at them +with his court; all ranks mixed freely, and considerable license was +allowed. The usual dances were minuets, country dances, and waltzes, +in the last of which only the lower classes joined, on account of the +crowding--just as is the case in "Don Giovanni" (p. 163). The +management of the Redoute was generally in the same hands as that of the +Opera-Theatre, the two being farmed out together. The court monopolised +the Opera-Theatre in 1778 and the Kàrnthnerthortheater in 1785, and kept +the control over them until August, 1794. Thus it came about that the +court theatrical-director ordered the dance music, and although the +pay was only a few ducats for a set of dances, the services of good +composers were claimed for the purpose; Haydn, Eybler, Gyrowetz, Hummel, +and Beethoven all composed for the Redoute, as well as Mozart.[3] During +the years succeeding his appointment--1788, 1789, 1791--Mozart composed +a number of different dances for the masked balls:-- + +1788. January 14. Country dance "Das Donnerwetter" (534 K.). + +January 23. Country dance, "Die Bataille" (535 K.). + +January 27. Six waltzes (536 K.). + +October 30. Two country dances (565 K.). + +December 6. Six waltzes (567 K.). + +December 24. Twelve minuets (568 K.). + +1789. February 21. Six waltzes (571 K.). + +December. Twelve minuets (585 K.). + +Twelve waltzes. N.B.--A country dance, "Der Sieg vom Helden Coburg" +(against the Turks, October, 1789) (586, 587 K.). + +1791. January 23. Six minuets for the Redoute (599 K.). + +January 29. Siz waltzes (600 K.). + +February 5. Four minuets and four waltzes (601, 602 K.). + +Two country dances. (603 K.). + + +{OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.} + +(218) + +1791. February 12. Two minuets and two waltzes (604, 605 K.). + +February 28. Country dance, "II. Trionfo delle Donne" (607 K.). + +March 6. Country dance, "Die Leyer" (610 K.).[4] + +Waltz with Leyer-trio (611 K.).[5] + +No dances are chronicled in 1790, the illness and subsequent death of +the Emperor (February 20) having doubtless put a temporary stop to such +entertainments. Those in the list are for the most part composed for +full orchestra, and those with which I am acquainted make no claim to be +considered otherwise than as actual dance music, with pleasing melodies +and fresh rhythm--innocent recreations, betraying the master's hand in +touches here and there.[6] As the only musical task imposed upon him +by virtue of his office, they might well give rise to his bitter remark +that his salary was too high for what he did, too low for what he could +do (Vol. II., p. 276). + +A commission more worthy his fame was intrusted to him by Van Swieten, +who, having brought with him from Berlin an enthusiastic admiration for +Handel's oratorios, sought to introduce them in Vienna. He not only gave +frequent concerts at his residence in the Renngasse, for the exclusive +performance of classical music, but he arranged grand performances of +Handel's oratorios, supported by all the vocal and instrumental forces +at his command. He induced several art-loving noblemen (among them the +Princes Schwarzen-berg, Lobkowitz, and Dietrichstein, Counts Appony, +Batthiany, Franz Esterhazy, &c.) to cover by a subscription the cost of +these performances. They took place generally in + + +{ARRANGEMENT OF HANDEL'S ORATORIOS.} + +(219) + +the great hall of the Court Library (of which Van Swieten was chief +director); sometimes at the palace of one or other of the patrons, and +always in the afternoon, by daylight. There was no charge for admission, +the audience being invited guests. The performances were arranged +according to circumstances, taking place generally in the spring, before +the nobility left Vienna for their country estates. The performers were +principally members of the Court-Kapelle and of the operatic orchestra, +and the preparation was undertaken entirely by Van Swieten, in whose +house the rehearsals took place. He himself arranged "Athalia," and very +probably also "The Choice of Hercules," for a performance after Mozart's +death. The conductorship was at first intrusted to Joseph Starzer, who +had arranged "Judas Maccabæus";[7] after his death, on April 22, +1787, Mozart took his place, and young Joseph Weigl accompanied on the +pianoforte.[8] + +"Acisand Galatea" was first performed, Mozart's arrangement of it +appearing in his own catalogue, in November, 1788; Caroline Pichler +retained in her old age a lively recollection of the impression made on +her by this performance.[9] It was followed by the "Messiah," in March, +1789.[10] Great expectations were excited by this oratorio, by reason +of the magnificent performances of it which had been given at the London +Handel festivals in 1784 and 1785,[11] at the cathedral + + +{OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.} + +(220) + +in Berlin, by Hiller, on May 19, 1786 (with Italian words),[12] at the +University Church in Leipzig,[13] on November 3,1786, and May 11,1787, +and at Breslau[14] on May 30,1788. Finally, in July, 1790, Mozart +arranged the "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" and the "Feast of Alexander." +It was considered necessary, in order not to distract the attention of +the public by the unusual effects of Handel's orchestra, to modify +the instrumentation.[15] Even Hiller remarks (Nachricht, p. 14), "Many +improvements may be made in Handel's compositions by the employment of +the wind instruments, according to the fashion of the present day. In +the whole of the 'Messiah,' Handel appears never to have thought of the +oboes, flutes, or French horns, all of which are so often employed to +heighten or strengthen the effect in our present orchestras. I need not +remark that the alterations must be made with care and discretion." But +he went far beyond these "innocent" views; he shortened and altered the +composition itself, especially in the airs and recitatives, and wrote +"an entirely new score, as far as may be what Handel would himself have +written at the present day" (Betracht-ungen, p. 16). He was convinced +that "only a pedantic lover of old fashions, or a pedantic contemner +of what is good in the new ones" would find fault with this proceeding +(Betracht-ungen, p. 18). The object with which Mozart undertook to +rearrange the instrumentation of Handel's works was the strengthening +and enriching of the orchestra to enable it to dispense with the organ +or harpsichord, to which the working-out of the harmonies had originally +been intrusted. This was principally effected by the introduction of +wind + + +{ARRANGEMENT OF HANDEL'S ORATORIOS.} + +(221) + +instruments. Mozart's autograph scores of "Acis and Galatea" (566 K.), +of "The Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" (592 K.),[16] and of the "Feast of +Alexander" (591 K.),[17] preserved in the Royal Library in Berlin, show +how he set about his task. The voice parts and stringed instruments have +been transferred to his score, and left as Handel wrote them, with the +exception that where Handel has provided a violin part, Mozart +employs the second violin and viola to fill in the harmonies. The wind +instruments have been altogether omitted by the copyist in order +to leave Mozart free play. Wherever Handel has employed them +characteristically, they are so preserved, but when, as often happens, +the oboes are the sole representatives of the wind instruments, Mozart +has proceeded independently, sometimes replacing them by other single +instruments, frequently clarinets--flutes only very occasionally, +sometimes introducing the whole body of wind instruments. This he does +also in some places where Handel has not even employed oboes, if it is +needed to give force or fulness to the whole. + +The frequent introduction of the clarinets replaced the full and +powerful organ tones, but without any express imitation of that +particular sound-effect by Mozart. The whole character of the +instrumentation was necessarily modified, and even the portions which +were literally + + +{OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.} + +(222) + +transcribed from Handel's original have a very different effect in their +altered surroundings. Mozart has proceeded quite as independently in +dealing with the harpsichord parts. Not content with filling in the +prescribed or suggested harmonies and regulating the due succession of +chords, he has also made an independent disposition of the middle +parts and given them free movement. The subjects employed by Handel are +further developed, and sometimes a new motif has occurred to him as +an enlivenment to the accompaniment, in which case the additional wind +instruments are employed to advantage. The harpsichord is treated, in +the main, as might be expected from a first-rate organist of that time, +and it is difficult at the present day to reproduce what so much depends +upon the free co-operation of the performer.[18] The objection +which may be raised against the alteration and partial remodelling of +a carefully thought-out and finished work by a strange hand is +unanswerable. The most loving and intelligent treatment cannot avoid +inequality and incongruity; compared with what has been literally +transmitted, every modification reflects, both in kind and degree, the +individual learning and taste of the adapter. On the whole, however, +Mozart's arrangements evince the greatest reverence for Handel, combined +with a masterly use of all available resources, and they afford a +proof as interesting as it is instructive of the study which Mozart had +bestowed upon Handel, of the spirit in which he undertook his task, and +of his thorough and delicate apprehension of foreign creations. + +Mozart had heard the "Messiah" in 1777 at Mannheim, but apparently it +had made no more lasting impression upon him than upon the public. Now, +however, he approached the masterpiece with far other predilections, +and the adaptation opened to him many points of interest. The three +oratorios already mentioned were so moderate in length as to be suited +for performance entire, but the greatly + + +{THE "MESSIAH."} + +(223) + +disproportionate length of the "Messiah" made its curtailment a +necessary part of its adaptation (572 K.). Several pieces were omitted, +and others were shortened; but a proof that other and more important +alterations were contemplated is afforded by a letter from Van Swieten +to Mozart (March 21, 1789), given by Niemetschek (p. 46): "Your idea +of turning the words of the unimpassioned air into a recitative is +excellent; and in case you should not have retained the words, I have +copied and now send them to you. The musician who is able to adapt and +to amplify Handel's work so reverently and so judiciously, that on +the one side he satisfies modern taste, and on the other preserves the +integrity of his subject, has appreciated the great master's work, has +penetrated to the source of his inspiration, and will doubtless draw +from the same well himself. It is thus that I regard what you have +accomplished, and I need not therefore again assure you of my entire +confidence, but only beg you to let me have the recitative as soon as +possible." Nevertheless, this idea, judging from the published score, +was not carried out. In the arrangement of the orchestra, Mozart has +gone further than in the previous works. Sometimes there has been an +external necessity for altering even characteristic instrumentation, +as in the air, "The trumpet shall sound" (No. 44). There were no solo +trumpeters such as existed in Handel's time, and an attempt was made to +preserve the effect as far as possible by rearrangement. He has altered, +however, even without such occasion as this, and many instances of +instrumental arrangement might be cited as far transgressing the bounds +within which interference with a work of art is justifiable.[19] +In themselves these same portions are admirable alike in their +sound-effects and musical treatment, and in the delicate discrimination +with which Mozart has made his additions appear as the natural +development of Handel's ideas; we can see how the fascination of +continuing the weaving of the threads from the master's hands has +tempted + + +{OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.} + +(224) + +him to overstep the boundary. In doing so, however, the connection of +the parts has been lost, and the unity of the whole has been disturbed. +One of the most remarkable examples is the air, "The people that walked +in darkness," in which the wind instruments added by Mozart are foreign +to Handel's purpose, but nevertheless of very fine effect, and certainly +not deserving of the reproach of "doleful sound-painting" ("betrübter +Malerei").[20] It was to be expected that Mozart's adaptation should +attract both praise[21] and blame,[22] while those, such as Rochlitz[23] +and Zelter,[24] who went deeper into the subject found much that was +excellent and also much that was faulty in the work, at the same time +that they gave due consideration to the occasion that called it forth +and the design with which it was undertaken. + +It must not be forgotten that these adaptations were undertaken by +Mozart solely for Van Swieten's performances, and that his individual +taste and the exigences of the representation must have exercised +considerable influence upon them. He must certainly not be credited with +the wish to improve upon Handel;[25] his intention has rather been so to +popularise his works as to bring them home to the + + +{ADAPTATIONS OF EARLIER WORKS.} + +(225) + +public, without altering any of the more important parts. That the +adaptations should have been published and accepted as regular improved +editions of the original was not his fault, though he has often had to +do penance for it. It must be remembered also that the historic theory +which holds that every work of art should be carefully preserved in the +form wherein its author has embodied it was then non-existent. + +The majority of compositions have been directly the result of +circumstances determining the direction of the artist's energies; they +laboured for the future while seeking to satisfy the present. They +therefore made free use of their works for subsequent elaboration, +altering what was needful, and adapting them to the particular occasions +on which they were performed by means of additions, omissions, and +alterations. The same freedom was thought allowable with the works of +other masters, especially those of an earlier time, so that the public +might the more easily and comfortably enjoy what was set before it. A +knowledge of what was then thought excusable in this direction[26] will +serve to increase our respect for the artistic spirit in which Mozart +performed his task.[27] The scientific and historic ideas which have +permeated the cultivation of our times require the enjoyment of a work +of art to be founded upon historical insight and appreciation, and to +this end it must be represented exactly as the artist has produced it. +But this principle, true as it is in itself, can only be applied with +considerable practical limitations, and it is doubtful how far the +general public is capable of apprehending and approving it; in any case +it is much to be desired that the fashion in such matters should not be +set by pedants.[28] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +[Footnote 1: Wien. Ztg., 1789, No. 69, Anh., advertises Frûhlingslied and +Kriegslied by Mozart.] + +[Footnote 2: In the grand pasticcio arranged by Da Ponte, "L'Ape Musicale," a +couple of airs by Mozart are inserted (Wien. Ztg., 1789, No. 23, Anh.).] + +[Footnote 3: I owe these particulars to the courtesy of Sonnleithner.] + +[Footnote 4: Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 44, Anh., announces thirteen German +waltzes, thirteen trios and coda, among which are the "Leyer" and +"Schlittenlahrt."] + +[Footnote 5: André's Catalogue includes, besides five minuets signed "Di +Wolfgango Amadeo Mozart, Vienna, 1784" (461 K.), and the Prague +"Teutschen" (509 K.) already mentioned (Vol. III., p. 125), several +other dances, certainly belonging to an earlier date. Printed and +written collections of dances in the most varied arrangements have been +circulated under Mozart's name, although of very doubtful authenticity.] + +[Footnote 6: Under Mozart's name an "Anleitung soviel Walzer oder Schleifer +mit zwei Wurfeln zu componiren, soviel man will, ohne musikalisch zu +verstehen," was published in four languages by Hammel (Amsterdam, Berlin +and elsewhere). I am not aware whether he had any share in it.] + +[Footnote 7: The often-expressed opinion that Mozart arranged "Judas Maccabæus" +(A. M. Z., XXII., p. 30) has been corrected by Sonnleithner (Cäcilia, +XVIII., p. 242). "Judas Maccabæus" was performed as early as 1779, at +the Concert for the Pensionsinstitut (Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 70).] + +[Footnote 8: These particulars, communicated to me by Sonnleithner, rest partly +on the testimony of the University Apparitor, Joh. Schönauer, who had +assisted at these performances as a boy.] + +[Footnote 9: Car. Pichler, Denkw., IV., p. 21. Schönauer said that Mozart gave +a benefit performance of "Acis and Galatea" in Jahn's Hall, at which +Mdlle. Cavalieri, Adamberger, and Gsur sang the solo parts.] + +[Footnote 10: Carpani mentions a performance of the "Messiah" in the +Schwarzenberg Palace; perhaps a later one (Hayd., p. 64).] + +[Footnote 11: Burney's "Nachricht," translated by Eschenburg (Berlin, 1785). The +first time there were over 500, the second time over 660 performers. In +consequence of this the "Messiah" was performed in Copenhagen in March, +1786. (Cramer, Mag. f. Mus., II., p. 960.)] + +[Footnote 12: J. A. Hiller, Nachricht von der Auftuhrung des Händelschen Messias +(Berlin, 1786, 4), with Hiller's portrait. There were about 300 +performers.] + +[Footnote 13: This again gave rise to some explanatory pamphlets from Hiller: +Fragment aus Handel's Messias; Ueber Alt und Neu in der Musik; Der +Messias von Handel nebst angehängten Betrachtungen darûber. On this +occasion there were more than 200 performers; the enthusiasm of the +audience was great, as was testified by a then youthful member of it +(Reichardt's Mus. Ztg., I., p. 126. Cf. Rochlitz, Für Freunde der Tonk., +I., p. 22. A. M. Z., XXX., p. 491).] + +[Footnote 14: Hiller gave explanatory comments on the words. They were published +in the Schles. Provinzial-Blätter, 1788, p. 549. Particulars are given +by Baumgart, Abh. d. Schles. Ges. Phil. hist. Abth., 1862, I., p. 46.] + +[Footnote 15: The pastoral, "Acis and Galatea," was composed by Handel at Cannons +in 1720 (Chrysander, Handel, I., p. 479).] + +[Footnote 16: In pursuance of an old custom of celebrating St. Cecilia's Day by +music, a musical society had been founded in London, which instituted +a grand performance on that day; the music and words were expressly +written for the occasion, and the praise of music formed the subject. A +long list of celebrated poems and compositions by the first masters was +the result. W. H. Husk (An Account of the Musical Celebrations on St. +Cecilia's Day, London, 1857. Chrysander, Handel, II., p. 412. Pohl. +Mozart u. Haydn in London, p. 12). Dryden's Song for St. Cecilia's Day, +"From harmony, from heavenly harmony, this universal frame began," was +written in 1687, and set to music by Draghi; Handel composed the same +poem in the autumn of 1739. (Chrysander, Handel, II., p. 430.)] + +[Footnote 17: Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" was written in 1697, and performed +with Jer. Clark's music. Handel composed it in 1736; at the second +performance in 1737, a duet and chorus, the words by Newburgh Hamilton, +were added, but are not included in Mozart's arrangement. (Chrysander, +Handel, II., p. 413).] + +[Footnote 18: The excellent pianoforte arrangement, which is published by the +German Handel Society with the score of "Acis and Galatea," shows +throughout a similar working-out and arrangement.] + +[Footnote 19: Mozart is not answerable for all that stands in the printed score. +The air, "If God is for us" (No. 48), with bassoon accompaniment, is, as +Baumgarten has proved (Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1862, No. 5, p. 35), taken +from Hiller's arrangement.] + +[Footnote 20: Thibaut, Ueb. Reinheit d. Tonk., p. 66.] + +[Footnote 21: In Fr. Th. Mann's musik. Taschenb. for 1805, we read (p. 3): "Der +genielle Mozart erhob jene bis zur Manier getriebene Simplicitat, jene +lang-weilige ermüdende Leere durch Ausfullung der Begleitung. Göttliche +Zierden sind es, die Mozart aus der Fülle seiner Harmonie hier zusetzte, +die aber bei diesem fur solche Schönheit unorganisirten Werk so isolirt +stehen, dass sie einen zweiten Bestandtheil ausmachen!"] + +[Footnote 22: A notice from Hamburg (Reichardt's Mus. Ztg., I., p. 197) says +of Mozart's arrangement: "Michel Angelo's Gemälde muss kein David +über-malen wollen." Setzte doch Handel zu Mozart's Opern keine Orgel u. +s. w. oder vielmehr strich keine--weg"; whereupon Reichardt remarks that the +omitted word is illegible in the "esteemed correspondent's" handwriting.] + +[Footnote 23: Jen. Allg. Litt. Ztg., 1804, I., p. 601. Rochlitz names himself as +the author of the detailed review (Fur Freunde der Tonk., I., p. 259). +Cf. A. M. Z., IX., p. 476; XV., p. 428; XXIX., p. 692.] + +[Footnote 24: Reichardt's Mus. Ztg., I., p. 41. Zelter, who owns to this review +to Goethe (Briefw., II., p. 302; III., p. 418), used to perform the +"Messiah" in Mozart's version, with alterations and omissions (Berl. +Allg. Mus. Ztg., 1824, p. 427).] + +[Footnote 25: Cf. Parke, Mus. Mem., II., 76.] + +[Footnote 26: Thus Hiller not only rearranged the instrumentation of Pergolese's +"Stabat Mater," but adapted it partially as a four-part chorus; J. A. +Schulze turned six instrumental adagios, by J. Haydn, into a cantata, +"Der Versöhnungstod," for chorus and orchestra. And how was Mozart's +church music treated! (App. 2.)] + +[Footnote 27: Gerber undertook, in all seriousness, to perform the choruses of +the "Messiah" in Mozart's version, but to have all the airs recomposed +by approved composers (A. M. Z., XX., p. 832).] + +[Footnote 28: The conclusion to Gluck's overture to "Iphigenie in Aulis," which +has been, without proof, ascribed to Mozart, is, according to Marx +(Gluck, II., p. 71), by J. P. Schmidt.] + + +=== + + + + +MOZART 40 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XL. A PROFESSIONAL TOUR. + +MOZART'S unsatisfactory position in Vienna, both from a pecuniary and a +professional point of view,[1] doubtless inclined him for a professional +tour, to which the immediate inducement was an invitation from Prince +Karl Lichnowsky, husband of the Countess Thun, a zealous musical +connoisseur and a pupil and ardent admirer of Mozart. His estates +in Schleswig and his position in the Prussian army necessitated his +residence from time to time in Berlin; and, being on the point of +repairing thither in the spring of 1789, he invited Mozart to accompany +him. The musical taste and liberality of Frederick William II. augured +well for the expedition, and Lichnowsky's support was likely to prove a +valuable aid. Accordingly on April 8, 1789, they set out.[2] At Prague, +where they remained only one day, a contract with Guardasoni for an +opera to be written in the autumn was "almost settled"; unfortunately +only _almost_, for it does not appear to have gone further. Mozart was +especially delighted with the news brought to him from Berlin by his old +friend Ramm, that the King, having been informed of his intended visit, +had asked repeatedly if the plan was likely to be carried out. + +At Dresden, where they arrived on April 12, Mozart's first care was to +seek out his friend Madame Duschek, who was visiting the Neumann family; +he was soon quite at home with these "charming people." Joh. Leop. +Neumann, Secretary to the Military Council, was highly esteemed for his +literary and musical activity. He translated for his intimate friend +Naumann the operas "Cora" and + +{DRESDEN, 1789.} + +(227) + +"Amphion," and in 1777 he founded a musical academy;[3] his wife was +considered a first-rate pianoforte-player.[4] Through them Mozart was +introduced to the musical world of Dresden--among others to Körner, +an interesting proof of whose friendship remains in a crayon sketch +of Mozart drawn by Komer's sister-in-law, Dora Stock, in 1789. +Kapellmeister Naumann--a Mass composed by whom he heard and thought very +"mediocre"--inspired him with instantaneous dislike; and the feeling +appears to have been mutual, if, as tradition reports, Naumann used to +call Mozart a musical _sans culotte_.[5] + +A summons to play before the court on April 14 was regarded as an +unusual honour, and was followed by a present of 100 ducats.[6] +Elsewhere he played with his usual readiness and good nature; and the +interest which was felt in him was increased by a competition in which +he came off with flying colours. His rival was Hàssler of Erfurt,[7] who +happened to be in Dresden at the time, and was considered a pianoforte +and organ-player of the first rank. Much was said in praise of his +astonishing executive powers, of his brilliant and fiery delivery,[8] +of his singular gift "of putting expression into the most rapid +prestissimo--so that in softness and pathos it was equal to an +adagio"[9]--and of his wonderful memory, enabling him to play the +most difficult compositions without the notes. As an organ-player his +dexterity with the pedal was specially admired.[10] He had an + +{A PROFESSIONAL TOUR.} + +(228) + +excellent opinion of himself; and when in the summer of 1788 he was in +Dresden, "exciting the liveliest astonishment in all who heard him +by his inexpressibly affecting playing," he let it be known that he +intended to proceed to Vienna, "in order to prove to the Vienna public +in competition with the great Mozart, that strong as the latter may be +upon the pianoforte, he cannot play the clavichord."[11] To Mozart he +appeared no formidable antagonist; he gave him credit for his dexterity +in the use of the pedal, but placed him below Albrechtsberger as an +organ-player, and compared him to Aurnhammer as a pianist. + +Mozart's visit to Leipzig left behind a strong and pleasant impression. +Fr. Rochlitz, then a young man, became intimate with him at the house +of their common friend Doles,[12] and preserved a number of interesting +traits, characteristic both of the man and the artist. He was cheerful +and amiable in society, outspoken in his judgments of art and artists, +and responsive to any display of interest in music; "not niggardly of +his art, as so many musicians are." Almost every evening during his stay +in Leipzig he took part in musical entertainments at different houses, +and when quartets were played he took the piano or tenor part. The +violinist Berger, who was generally of the party, used, as an old man, +when any of these pieces were brought forward, to whisper to a friend +with tender emotion, "Ah, I had once the honour of accompanying the +great Mozart himself in that piece."[13] An ear-witness gave the +following account:-- + +On April 22 he played the organ of the Thomaskirche, without previous +notice, and gratuitously. He played very finely for an hour to a large +audience. The then organist, Gorner, and the cantor, Doles, sat near +him and pulled the stops. I saw him well; a young, well-dressed man +of middle height. Doles was quite delighted with the performance, and +declared that his old master, Sebastian Bach, had + +{LEIPZIG--POTSDAM, 1789.} + +(229) + +risen again. Mozart brought to bear all the arts of harmony with the +greatest ease and discrimination, and improvised magnificently on every +theme given--among others on the chorale, "Jesu meine Zuversicht."[14] + +Doles in return made his Thomaner scholars sing for Mozart Bach's +motett, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied," and we have already seen +how intensely delighted he was, and how eagerly he at once set about +studying Bach's other motetts (Vol. II., p. 416). Shortly after this, +and apparently without having given a concert, Mozart continued his +journey to Berlin, and thence immediately proceeded to Potsdam, where +Lichnowsky presented him to the King. Frederick William II. possessed +remarkable talent and love for music. He played the violoncello +well, not only as a soloist, but frequently also in the orchestra +at rehearsals.[15] Even before his accession to the throne he had +maintained a well-appointed and excellent Kapelle under the leadership +of the violoncellist Duport senior (1741-1818); concerts were regularly +performed before him, and he was fond of hearing foreign virtuosi.[16] +Reichardt credits him with great universality of taste,[17] which was +of special advantage to music after Frederick the Great's bigoted +prejudice. It was at the King's instigation that Reichardt organised his +Concerts Spirituels, at which the older Italian music was principally +performed; he esteemed highly both Handel and Gluck, and both at his +concerts and on the stage showed equal favour to Italian, French, and +German music; the improved instrumental music called into being by Haydn +found a sympathetic patron in him. After his accession, in 1786, musical +enterprise had still more cause to rejoice in the royal favour. +He united his own with the royal Kapelle and placed Reichardt as +Kapellmeister at their head. The grand Italian opera given at the +Carnival was brilliantly appointed, and Naumann's services as a composer +were retained, together with those of Alessandri + +{A PROFESSIONAL TOUR.} + +(230) + +and Reichardt. The hitherto little-esteemed German drama was elevated to +the rank of a national theatre, and a regular support was secured to it, +which had great weight in the elevation of German opera. Nor were opera +buffa or the French opera neglected; on one evening, during a court +festival, in the summer of 1789, Cimarosa's "Falegname," Dalayrac's +"Nina," and Reichardt's "Claudine von Villa-bella" were performed. The +King's concerts were conducted in the same manner as before, remaining +under Duport's leadership. + +The King welcomed foreign artists not only liberally in point +of payment, but with the utmost kindness and freedom of personal +intercourse, so that it is not surprising that they should have held +him in great reverence, and approached him with large expectations.[18] +Mozart's best introductions to the King's favour were his instrumental +compositions, especially his quartets, and the very successful +performance of his "Entführung" which had taken place in Berlin; there +can be little doubt that he confirmed the good opinion conceived of him +by his accomplishments as a virtuoso and by his general demeanour. But +he found a powerful opponent in the haughty and intriguing Duport.[19] +At Mozart's first visit he insisted on speaking French, which Mozart, +although familiar with the language, decidedly declined doing. "The +grinning mounseer," said he, "has been long enough making German money, +and eating German bread, to be able to speak the German language, or to +murder it as best he may, with his French grimaces."[20] Duport did not +forgive him, and did all he could to prejudice the King against him, +although Mozart paid him the compliment of composing variations (573 +K.) to a charming minuet of Duport's (April 29, 1789), and of performing +them himself. But the King was proof against + +{OFFER OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA.} + +(231) + +Duport's ill-nature, invited Mozart regularly to his concerts, and +was fond of hearing him play. When he asked him what he thought of the +Berlin Kapelle, Mozart answered frankly, that it contained the best +performers in the world, but that if the gentlemen would play together +it would be an improvement.[21] This implied disapprobation of the +Kapellmeister Reichardt, whose direction had indeed been found fault +with by others.[22] We hear of no intercourse between the two artists; +perhaps some such sharp expressions as the above were the cause of +the grudging notices of Mozart by Reichardt and the journals under his +influence, which we cannot fail to remark.[23] No two natures could well +be more dissimilar. Reichardt was undoubtedly a distinguished man; he +had musical talent, a keen intellect, varied cultivation, and great +energy; but ambition, vanity, and a passionate temper seldom allowed him +to arrive at a calm judgment, and he was in continual search of some new +way in which to bring himself forward. The journalist and the musician, +the critic and the composer, trod close on each other's heels; and while +always seeking to gain credit for originality of style, his greater +compositions are in truth uncertain and unequal, and seldom produce the +desired effect. No wonder that he failed to understand a nature such as +Mozart's, which, undisturbed by external considerations, followed its +creative impulses from sheer inner necessity; no wonder, either, that so +failing, he should have sought to justify his aversion to his rival on +polemical grounds.[24] Mozart's remark must have made some impression +on the King, since he soon after offered him the post of Kapellmeister, +with a salary of 3,000 dollars. This offer, however, consideration for +the Emperor Joseph induced Mozart to decline.[25] + +{A PROFESSIONAL TOUR.} + +(232) + +During his stay in Potsdam, Mozart resided in the house of the +well-known hom-player Thùrschmidt, with whom he had become acquainted in +Paris; he was a constant guest also of the hospitable and music-loving +Sartory, an artist of architectural ornament, who had been much in +Italy, and welcomed all who took interest in his favourite art; Mozart's +playing and sociability made him, as may be imagined, the centre of this +cheerful society.[26] Another of his friends was the charming singer +Sophie Niclas, sister to the Kammer-musikus Semler, who had made a very +successful appearance as Constanze in the "Entführung" in 1784:[27]-- + +On one occasion, at her house, he was asked to improvise something. +Readily, as his custom was, he complied, and seated himself at the +piano, having first been provided with two themes by the musicians who +were present. Madame Niclas stood near his chair to watch him playing. +Mozart, who loved a joke with her, looked up and said, "Come! haven't +you a theme on your mind for me too?" She sang him one, and he began the +most charming fantasia, now on the one subject, now on the other, +ending by bringing them all three together, to the intense delight and +amazement of all who were present.[28] + +Arrangements were made during Mozart's stay in Berlin for a return visit +to Leipzig, where in the meantime a concert for his benefit was being +organised; he arrived there on May 8. At the rehearsal for this concert +he took the tempo of the first allegro of his symphony so fast that the +orchestra was very soon in inextricable confusion. Mozart stopped, told +the players what was wrong, and began again as fast as before, doing all +he could to keep the orchestra together, and stamping the time with his +foot so energetically that his steel shoe-buckle snapped in two.[29] He +laughed at this, and as they still dragged, he began a third time; the +musicians, + +{CONCERT IN LEIPZIG, 1789.} + +(233) + +grown impatient, worked in desperation, and at last it went right. "It +was not caprice," he said afterwards to some musical friends, whom he +had lectured only a short time before on the subject of too rapid tempo, +"but I saw at once that most of the players were men advanced in years; +there would have been no end to the dragging if I had not worked them up +into a rage, so that they did their best out of pure spite." The rest +of the symphony he took in moderate time, and after the song had been +rehearsed he praised the accompaniment of the orchestra, and said +that it would be unnecessary to rehearse his concerto: "The parts are +correctly written out, you play accurately, and so do I"; and the result +showed that his confidence was not misplaced.[30] + +The concert[31] was poorly attended, and scarcely paid the expenses of +Mozart's journey to Leipzig. Almost half the audience had free tickets, +which, with his usual liberality, Mozart gave away to every one he +knew. He required no chorus, and the fairly numerous chorus-singers +were therefore excluded from their usual free admission. Some of them +inquired at the ticket-office whether this was really to be the case; +and as soon as Mozart heard of the inquiry he gave orders that the +good folks should all be admitted: "Who would think of enforcing such +a rule?" The poor audience had not the effect of damping his musical +enthusiasm or good humour. His own compositions only were performed; he +conducted two symphonies, as yet unpublished, and then Madame Duschek +sang the air composed for Storace with obbligato pianoforte (505 K.); he +himself played two concertos, one of them the great C major (467 K.), as +usual without notes. He complied with ready goodwill to the request for +an improvisation at the close of the concert; and after it was over, as +though he were then just warming to + +{A PROFESSIONAL TOUR.} + +(234) + +his work, he took his friend Berger into his room and played far into +the night.[32] + +Mozart returned to Berlin[33] on May 19, and his "Entführung" was +performed the same evening "by general desire."[34] He went to the +theatre, seated himself close to the orchestra, and attracted the +attention of his immediate neighbours by his _sotto voce_ remarks on +the performance. In Pedrillo's air at the words "nur ein feiger Tropf +verzaget," the second violins played D sharp instead of D, whereupon +Mozart angrily exclaimed, "Damn it, play D, will you!" Every one looked +round astonished, and the orchestra recognised him. Madame Baranius, who +was playing Blondchen, refused to make her exit until Mozart went on +to the stage, complimented her, and promised to study the part with her +himself.[35] This promise, according to old tradition in Berlin,[36] +involved him in a questionable adventure. Henriette Baranius (_née_ +Husen) made her appearance at a very early age in Berlin in 1784, and +became the darling of the public, more from her remarkable beauty and +grace than from her talents as an actress and a singer, although these +were by no means inconsiderable.[37] She was much talked of, and the +theatrical critics of the time were never tired of admiring her costly +and tasteful dresses, which in defiance of all precedent she insisted +upon wearing in parts to which they were unsuited.[38] She was accused +of making the most of her attractions in private as well as in public, +and Mozart, it was said, became so deeply involved with her that it +cost his friends much trouble to extricate him. His letters to his wife +during this period make the story almost incredible. + +Another and more innocent encounter took place in the + +{LUDWIG TIECK AND MOZART.} + +(235) + +theatre. Ludwig Tieck, as a youth, was frequently at the house of +Reichardt, and there first began "to divine the mysteries of music in +classical works":-- + +Led by his own inclination, and in opposition to the prevailing taste, +he addicted himself to Mozart's great compositions, uninfluenced by +contemporary critics, or even by so powerful an opinion as that of +Reichardt. Mozart's victorious rival was Dittersdorf, whose comic operas +were played in Berlin to crowded audiences. The "Doctor und Apotheker" +was preferred to "Figaro" or "Don Juan," and "Die Liebe im Narrenhause" +was in the public estimation the greatest of musical works. Ludwig's +veneration for Mozart was destined to receive an unexpected reward. One +evening during the year 1789, entering the theatre, as his custom was, +long before the performance began, and while it was still empty and +half-lighted, he perceived a strange man in the orchestra. He was +short, quick, restless, and weak-eyed--an insignificant figure in a grey +overcoat. He went from one desk to another, and appeared to be hastily +looking through the music placed on them. Ludwig at once entered into +conversation with him. They spoke of the orchestra, the theatre, the +opera, the public taste. He expressed his opinions without reserve, and +declared his enthusiastic admiration of Mozart's operas. "Do you really +hear Mozart's works often, and love them?" asked the stranger--"that is +very good of you, young sir." The conversation continued for some time +longer; the theatre began to fill, and at last the stranger was called +away from the stage. His talk had produced a singular effect upon +Ludwig, who made inquiries concerning him, and learnt that it was Mozart +himself, the great master, who had conversed with him, and expressed his +obligation to him.[39] + +Hummel, who, as Mozart's pupil, had played in Dresden on March 10 with +great success,[40] was giving a concert in Berlin, without being aware +of Mozart's presence. When the boy descried him among the audience, he +could scarcely contain himself, and as soon as his piece was ended, he +pushed his way through the audience and embraced him with the tenderest +expressions of joy at seeing him.[41] During this + +{A PROFESSIONAL TOUR.} + +(236) + +second visit to Berlin, on May 26, Mozart played before the Queen, which +was considered a politic step, without any expectation of a handsome +present in return. Following the advice of his friends, he did not +attempt a public concert, seeing that there was no chance of a large +profit, and the King was averse to it. The latter, however, sent him +a present of 100 friedrichsdor, and expressed a wish that Mozart would +write some quartets for him. This was the whole result of the tour, +diminished by a loan of 100 florins which Mozart thought it incumbent on +him to make to a friend; he might well write to his wife that she must +be glad to see him, not the money he was bringing. + +Very different was the career of Dittersdorf, who came to Berlin in July +of the same year. He had chosen the time when the visit of the Governess +of the Netherlands occasioned festivities of every kind, and he +refreshed the memory of the King, who had seen and invited him at +Breslau, by the presentation of six new symphonies. Immediately upon +his arrival he managed to ingratiate himself with Reichardt, was by him +presented to Madame Rietz, afterwards Countess Lichtenau, and was +very soon commanded by the King to put his "Doctor und Apotheker" in +rehearsal, and to conduct it at a court festival at Charlottenburg; +he also received permission to produce his oratorio of "Job" in the +opera-house (hitherto only used by the court), with the resources of the +royal Kapelle at his disposal. This, with additions from other sources, +increased his _personnel_ to 200, and the performance was highly +successful, Dittersdorf quitting Berlin rich in money and honours.[42] + +On May 28 Mozart set out on his homeward journey by way of Dresden and +Prague, where he made a stay of a few days. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XL. + + +[Footnote 1: A proof of this is a note of hand for 100 florins, dated April 2, +1789. Cf. O. Jahn, Ges. Aufs., p. 234.] + +[Footnote 2: The principal sources of information for this journey are Mozart's +letters to his wife.] + +[Footnote 3: Heymann, Dresden's Schriftsteller u. Kunstler, p. 280. Meissner, +Biqgr. Naumanns, II., p. 267.] + +[Footnote 4: Cf. Goethe's Br. an Frau v. Stein, II., p. 280.] + +[Footnote 5: And yet Mannstein says (Gesch. Geist u. Ausübung des Gesanges, p. +89) that when Naumann heard the passage "Tu sospiri, o duol funesto" in +the air composed for Storace (505 K.), he exclaimed: "That is a divine +idea I Who has taught this man to express sympathy with the sorrows of +others as well as those of his own heart in these few notes?"] + +[Footnote 6: Wien. Abendpost, 1866, p. 835. Cf. Mus. Real-Ztg., 1789, p. 191.] + +[Footnote 7: Joh. Wilh. Hassler (1747-1822) has prefixed his autobiography to the +second part of his six easy sonatas (Erfurt, 1786).] + +[Footnote 8: Cramer, Mag. f. Mus., II., p. 404. Schiller, Briefw. m. Körner, I., +p. 154. Car. v. Wolzogen, Litt. Nachl., I., p. 203.] + +[Footnote 9: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1., p. 360.] + +[Footnote 10: Musik. Wochenbl., p. 71.] + +[Footnote 11: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1788, p. 56.] + +[Footnote 12: Doles dedicated his cantata "Ich komme vor dein Angesicht" (1790), +"to two of his most esteemed patrons and friends, Herr Mozart and Herr +Naumann, as a token of his distinguished regard."] + +[Footnote 13: Rochlitz, Fur Freunde der Tonk., III., p. 222..] + +[Footnote 14: Reichardt, Mus. Ztg., I., p. 132.] + +[Footnote 15: Naumann's Leben, p. 183. Meissner, Biogr. Naumanns, II., p. 199; +cf. 212.] + +[Footnote 16: Wolf, Auch eine Reise, Weim., 1784, p. 10.] + +[Footnote 17: Reichardt, Musik. Monatsschr., p. 70. Mus Ztg., I., p. 2. Cf. +Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 453. Schneider, Gesch. der Oper, p. 52.] + +[Footnote 18: The accounts of Dittersdorfs (Selbstbiogr., p. 248) and Naumann's +(Meissner's Biogr., II., p. 189; Naumann's Leben, p. 267) personal +intercourse with Frederick William II. are very interesting.] + +[Footnote 19: Mus. Monatsschr., p. 20. Cf. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 457. +Schneider, Gesch. der Oper Beil., XXXVI., pp. 15, 16.] + +[Footnote 20: So says the Berlin musical Veteran (Neue Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, p. +35).] + +[Footnote 21: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., IM p. 22.] + +[Footnote 22: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 267.] + +[Footnote 23: Cf. Rochlitz, A. M. Z., XXX., p. 491.] + +[Footnote 24: Cf. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. 638.] + +[Footnote 25: My researches in the Royal Library and archives for some trace +of négociations accompanying this offer have proved fruitless. It must +therefore have been at once refused at Mozart's personal interview with +the King; the way in which Mozart writes to his wife, that she has cause +to be satisfied with the favour in which he stands with the King, seems +to refer to some definite proposal.] + +[Footnote 26: So ways the Veteran. The tradition, according to which Mozart wrote +the "Ave verum" in Potsdam, is quite untrustworthy.] + +[Footnote 27: Berl. Litt. u. Theal.-Ztg., 1784, II., p. 160.] + +[Footnote 28: So says Semler, Voss. Ztg., 1857, March xi; Beil., p. 7.] + +[Footnote 29: The scene made such an impression that a viola-player marked the +place on his part where Mozart stamped the time till his shoe-buckle +snapped. Griel, the old orchestra attendant at Leipzig, had picked it up +and showed it as a token.] + +[Footnote 30: A. M. Z., I., pp. 85, 179.] + +[Footnote 31: The notice in the Leipz. Ztg., 1789, Nos. 91 and 93 runs; "Heute +als den Mai wird Herr Capellmeister Mozart, in wirklichen. Diensten Sr. +K. K. Maj. eine musikalische Akademie in dem grossen Conzertsaale zu +seinem Vortheil geben. Die Billets sind fur 1 Gulden bei Hrn. Rost in +Auerbachs Hofe und bei dem Einlasse des Saales zu bekommen. Der Anfang +ist um 6 Uhr."] + +[Footnote 32: On May 17, at Leipzig, he composed the charming little Gigue (574 +K.) for the court-organist, Engel.] + +[Footnote 33: He stayed in the house at the Gensdarmenmarkt with Moser, to whom +he presented an elegant copy of the six quartets (421 K.).] + +[Footnote 34: Journ. d. Moden, 1789, p. 394.] + +[Footnote 35: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., I., p. 20.] + +[Footnote 36: N. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, p. 36.] + +[Footnote 37: An enthusiastic description of her beauty is given by Rahel (I., p. +62).] + +[Footnote 38: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1, p. 93. Schletterer, Reichardt, I., p. +511.] + +[Footnote 39: Köpke, L. Tieck, I., p. 86. It is well known that in 1789 the +"Entfuh-rung," alone of Mozart's operas, was given in Berlin, "Figaro" +and "Don Giovanni" not appearing on the stage there until November and +December, 1790. This is a fresh proof of how youthful memories are +confounded with later reminiscences.] + +[Footnote 40: Mus. Real-Ztg., 1789, p. 156.] + +[Footnote 41: So Hummel's widow told me at Weimar, in 1855.] + +[Footnote 42: Dittersdorf, Selbstbiogr., p. 253. Cf. Mus. Monatsschr., p. 41.] + +=== + + + +MOZART 41 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. "COSÌ FAN TUTTE," + +UPON his arrival in Vienna on June 4, Mozart at once set to work upon a +quartet for Frederick William II.; the Quartet in D major (575 K.) was +completed in the same month, and in return for it, according to +the Berlin Veteran, he received a valuable gold snuff-box with +100 friedrichsdor, and a complimentary letter.[1] But this did not +materially affect his embarrassed circumstances; the precarious state +of his wife's health kept him in a state of perpetual anxiety, and the +expenses it involved brought him into serious difficulties: "I am most +unhappy!" he wrote on July 17 to his friend Puchberg. The confident +expectation of a permanent improvement in his outward position, which he +expressed in his letters to this constant friend, were grounded, as it +seems, upon the overtures which had been made to him in Berlin; he had +informed the Emperor of them, and thought himself entitled to look for +a compensation for his refusal. But circumstances were not then +favourable, and Mozart was not the man to push a claim of the kind. +The effect of his depression is clearly visible in the want of musical +productivity during this period. His own catalogue contains only the +following compositions belonging to this year:-- + +1789. June. A quartet for his majesty the King of Prussia, in D major + +July. Sonata for pianoforte alone, D major (576 K.). Rondo in my opera +of "Figaro" for Madame Ferraresi del Bene, "Al desio (577 K.). + +August. Aria in the opera "I Due Baroni," for Mdlle. Louise Villeneuve, +"Alma grande e nobil core" (578 K.). + +September 17. Aria in the opera "Der Barbier von Seviglien," for Madame +Hofer, "Schon lachtder holde Frühling" (580 K.). (575 K.). + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(238) + +September 29. Quintet for clarinet, two violins, viola, and violoncello, +in A major (581 K.); first played in public at the concert for the funds +of the Pension, December 22, 1789.[2] + +October. Aria in the opera "ü Burbero," for Mdlle. Villeneuve, "Chi sà, +chi sà quai sia" (582 K.). + +Ditto, "Vado! ma dove?" (583 K.). + +December, An air which was intended for Benucci in the opera "Cosi fan +Tutte," "Rivolgete à me lo sguardo" (584 K.). Twelve minuets (585 K.) +and twelve waltzes (586 K.). + +The prospect which was known to have been opened to him in Berlin may +have had some effect in causing "Figaro" to be again placed on the stage +in August. At the request of the prima donna, Madame Adriana Ferraresi +del Bene, who had made her first appearance on October 13, 1788, Mozart +wrote the grand air (577 K.).[3] For Louise Villeneuve he composed, +during the following month, three airs for insertion in different operas +(578, 582, 583, K.), perhaps with some view to his own new opera, in +which Mdlle. Villeneuve was to appear. The approbation with which the +revival of "Figaro" was received[4] no doubt suggested to the Emperor to +commission Mozart to write a new opera. "It was not in his power," says +Niemetschek (p. 43), "to decline the commission, and the libretto was +provided him without consultation of his wishes."[5] It was "Cosi fan +Tutte, osia la Scuola degli Amanti," by Da Ponte.[6] Mozart was busily +engaged on it in December, 1789; and in January, 1790, it is entered in +his catalogue as completed; it was first performed on January 26, with +the following cast:[7]-- + +{CHARACTERS AND PLOT.} + +(239) + +It appears to have been successful,[8] although it did not remain long +on the repertory.[9] Unfortunately, we have no detailed information as +to the preparation and performance of this opera. Da Ponte's achievement +as the writer of an original libretto[10] serves to show more clearly +than ever how much he had hitherto owed to his predecessors. Neither +invention nor characterisation are anywhere visible, only a certain +amount of dexterity in the handling of his subject. + +The plot in its main points is as follows:-- + +Two young Neapolitan[11] officers--Ferrando (tenor) and Guillelmo +(bass)--who are betrothed to the sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, are +discovered seated in a _café_ in lively dispute with their friend Don +Alfonso, an old cynic, who maintains that their two _fiancées_ would +fail under any trial of their constancy. Upon their challenge to +make good his words at the point of the sword he retorts with the old +proverb, that woman's faith is like the phoenix--never seen.[12] Each of +the lovers + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(240) + +declares his bride to be the phoenix. At last they agree to a wager. The +two lovers promise on their word as officers to do nothing during the +next four-and-twenty hours but what they are directed by Don Alfonso, +who thereupon undertakes within that time to prove the fickleness of the +two maidens. The young men, confident beforehand of victory, determine +on celebrating it by a grand banquet in honour of their mistresses. + +Fiordiligi and Dorabella are discovered in their garden by the seashore, +awaiting the arrival of their lovers and lovingly contemplating their +portraits; each declares her lover to be the handsomest and best. +Alfonso entering, brings the direful news that Ferrando and Guillelmo +have been ordered to proceed at once to the field with their regiment. +The lovers enter with melancholy mien to bid adieu, and the two ladies +give vent to heartrending expressions of grief and love. The lovers +express satisfaction thereat to Don Alfonso, who bids them wait for the +end. A military march with a lively chorus is heard in the distance;[13] +the lovers yield themselves to a last fond embrace with sobs and tears, +at which Don Alfonso can hardly keep his countenance. The march again +summons the officers to depart, and the two ladies join with Don Alfonso +in waving their adieux to the retreating bark. + +Despina, the waiting-maid of the two ladies, waits for them impatiently +with their chocolate.[14] She is amazed at their entrance in a condition +of violent sorrow, which is expressed by Dorabella more especially in +high tragic style. Her astonishment increases on hearing the cause, and +she advises her mistresses to take the matter easily, and do all they +can to divert their thoughts. The serious reproof with which this +advice is met is answered by her in a tirade on the fickleness of men +in general, and soldiers in particular, whom she declares to deserve no +better treatment. + +Don Alfonso, in pursuance of his design, now seeks to gain over Despina. +A few gold pieces and the prospect of a rich reward speedily gain her +promise to admit two friends whom he declares to be madly in love with +her mistresses. He at once introduces Ferrando and Guillelmo in the +garb of wealthy Albanians, and so disguised by great beards as to be +unrecognisable by Despina, who regards them as veritable "antidoto d' +amor." While they are ingratiating themselves with the waiting-maid the +two ladies enter. Their consternation at the presence of strangers turns +to violent indignation when the pretended Albanians proceed without +preface to fall on their knees and make declarations of + +{LIBRETTO.} + +(241) + +love. Don Alfonso, entering to prevent actual scandal, feigns to +recognise old friends in the Albanians, and endeavours to act as +mediator. The strangers continue their bold suit, but Fiordiligi proudly +declares her faith as firm as a rock, and is immovable. The consequence +is that upon Guillelmo renewing his entreaties the two ladies decline to +hear him out, and make their exit. No sooner are they gone than the two +break into loud laughter, which Don Alfonso with difficulty induces +them to moderate. The first attack, which was to carry all by storm, has +failed, and Don Alfonso retires to concoct a new plot with Despina. + +Fiordiligi and Dorabella are again discovered in the garden lamenting +bygone happy hours, when the two Albanians rush in. They declare their +resolution to take poison, spite of Don Alfonso's earnest dissuasions. +Before the eyes of the cruel fair ones they swallow the contents of two +vials, and sink in convulsions upon a bank of turf. The two horrified +ladies call for Despina, who hurries off with Don Alfonso in search of +a doctor, enjoining the ladies to support the sufferers during their +absence. This, however, they dare not do, but contemplate the men from +a distance in great agitation, which causes intense amusement to the +disguised lovers. They gradually come nearer, and begin to express an +interest which turns the amusement into disquiet. Don Alfonso returns +with Despina, disguised as a doctor, a charlatan of the latest fashion, +_à la_ Mesmer, who promises to work miracles by means of magnetism. The +terrified maidens are forced to submit to his behests, and to hold the +heads of the sufferers, while he magnetises them back to life. +Finding themselves in the arms of the fair ones, they begin to rave +ecstatically; the ladies, regarding this as the commencement of the +cure, allow it to continue, though not without uneasiness, until the +patients demand a kiss from them. This rouses the pride of the ladies, +and they break into a rage so violent in its demonstrations that the +others begin to be doubtful of their sincerity; the first finale closes +amid general confusion. + +At the beginning of the second act, Despina seeks to reason her ladies +out of their exaggerated ideas of constancy and their dread of a +love-adventure such as offers itself; she places before them the image +of a maiden who treats men lightly for her amusement, and remarks with +satisfaction that her words have made some impression. In fact, when +the sisters are left alone, Dorabella first declares her inclination to +hearken to Guillelmo's suit, and Fiordiligi pronounces herself ready to +put the new ideas into practice with Ferrando. In this favourable mood +Don Alfonso invites them to a garden-party, where the lovers receive +them with a serenade. They now show themselves as bashful and modest as +they were formerly urgent and bold; Don Alfonso has to speak for them, +Despina answers for the ladies, and reconciliation is sealed by a +pressure of the hand. After some general conversation Ferrando and +Fiordiligi go off together. Guillelmo expresses himself + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(242) + +more tenderly to Dorabella, and offers her a valuable gold heart as a +gift; she takes it without more ado, declares that she cannot offer +him her heart in exchange, since he already possesses it, allows him +to loosen Ferrando's portrait from her bosom, and gives way to the +tenderest endearments. Ferrando returns with Fiordiligi, who rejects him +with apparent severity, but lets it be felt that she is not altogether +indifferent to his suit; he ventures upon a tender declaration of love, +and, finding it still unheeded, goes out in despair. Left alone, she +declares her heart to be affected, but adheres to her resolve to resist +the temptation and keep faith with her lover. + +Ferrando joyfully communicates Fiordiligi's steadfastness to Guillelmo, +but is consternated to hear from him how easily Dorabella has been won, +and has to submit to some triumph on the part of his friend. He feels +all the acuter pain that his love to the faithless one is not yet +stifled. Guillelmo now regards the wager as lost, but Don Alfonso +demands that one more attack shall be made on Fiordiligi. + +Fiordiligi reproaches her sister in unmeasured terms for her +thoughtlessness, whereupon the latter with extreme frankness declares +that she neither can nor will control her inclinations. Horrified at +this, Fiordiligi determines upon escaping from her own weakness by +donning man's attire and following her lover to the wars. She has a +uniform brought in, puts on the helmet, takes the sword in her hand, +when Ferrando rushes in and conjures her to slay him rather than desert +him. This is too much; she cannot withstand his anguish, and sinks upon +his breast overcome. It is now Guillelmo's turn to be beside himself. +The two are bent upon forsaking their faithless mistresses, until Don +Alfonso gradually succeeds in making them regard the affair from his own +philosophical point of view: "Cosi fan tutte!" They decide therefore on +espousing their brides, but not before they have punished them for their +want of faith. Despina enters with the news that the two ladies have +determined to wed their new lovers the same evening, and have sent her +to fetch the notary. The two couples enter the gaily decorated room, and +are received by Despina and Don Alfonso and the congratulatory chorus +of friends and servants. Amid cheerful converse they place themselves at +table. Despina enters as a notary, and reads the marriage contract. It +is scarcely subscribed when the chorus and march of the first act are +heard in the distance. Don Alfonso enters terrified with the news +that the regiment has been suddenly recalled, and the old lovers +are approaching the house. The Albanians and the notary are hastily +concealed, and the ladies, in mortal fear and embarrassment, receive +their lovers returning full of joy. Don Alfonso, acting as mediator, +causes the notary to be discovered; but Despina declares herself, and +asserts that she is returning from a masked ball. But the marriage +contract falling into the hands of Guillelmo, the ladies are obliged +to confess their guilt to their enraged lovers, whereupon the latter +discover themselves as the Albanians, while Guillelmo returns the + +{PERFORMANCES OF THE OPERA.} + +(243) + +portrait to Dorabella, mockingly repeating the melody of the duet. +Confessions ended, Don Alfonso exhorts them to make peace, and brings +the couples together; finally, they all unite in the moral:-- + + "Fortunato l' uom, che prende + Ogni cosa pel buon verso, + E tra i casi e le vicende + Da ragion guidar si fà. + Quel che suole altrui far piangere + Fia per lui cagion di riso, + E del mondo in mezzo i turbini + Bella calma troverà." + +The opera was not again performed in Vienna in Italian until 1858, but +it was produced at the Theater an der Wien in a German translation by +Gieseke, in 1794, with the title of "Die Schule der Liebe"; in 1804 it +was played at the Imperial Hoftheater as "Màdchentreue"; again at +the Theater an der Wien in 1814, in Treitschke's adaptation, "Die +Zauberprobe"; in 1819 and 1840 at the Hoftheater in the earlier +translation, and in 1863 in Schneider's adaptation. In Berlin also, +where it was first given on August 6, 1792, with the title "Eine machts +wie die Andere,"[15] it was again attempted in 1805 in the translation +by Bretzner, "Weibertreue, oder die Mädchen sind von Flandem" (Leipzig, +1794),[16] followed in 1820 by Herklot's adaptation "Die verfängliche +Wette." Nevertheless the older adaptation was preferred for the revival +of the opera in 1826 at the Königstadt theatre;[17] this gave way to +one by an anonymous author in 1831,[18] which was employed for the +representations of 1832 and 1835, but abandoned for L. Schneider's +adaptation in 1846.[19] At Prague, Guardasoni at once placed "Cosi +fan Tutte" on his repertory; and in 1808[20] it was performed there +in German as "Màdchentreue," in 1823 as "Zauberprobe,"[21] in 1831 in +Bohemian,[22] and in 1838 in Italian by the + +{COS! FAN TUTTE.} + +(244) + +pupils of the Conservätorium.[23] Guardasoni also introduced the opera +at Leipzig, where it was several times performed in German during +1805,[24] and by the Dresden Italian opera company in 1830.[25] +Curiously enough "Cosi fan Tutte" was the first opera by Mozart +performed in Dresden, in 1791, and kept its place in the repertory, +although in 1812 it was still the only one.[26] In Italy it took no +firmer hold than the others, and was only given on single occasions at +Milan in 1808 and 1814,[27] and at Turin in 1816.[28] In Paris "Cosi +fan Tutte" was given by the Italian opera company at the Odéon in 1811, +1817, and 1820;[29] and in London it was first played in an English +translation by Arnold in 1811,[30] and again in 1828; in 1842 it was +included among the Italian operas, and received with great applause.[31] + +The wide-spread reputation of "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" had prepared +the public mind to receive Mozart's music to this opera (588 K.)[32] +with the favour which it deserved;[33] but the libretto was universally +pronounced to be one of the worst of its kind;[34] nor has the judgment +of + +{ALTERATIONS IN THE LIBRETTO.} + +(245) + +posterity reversed the verdict passed upon it.[35] Two reproaches were +more especially brought forward. One was the extreme improbability +that neither the lovers nor Despina in their disguises would have been +recognised by the two ladies, and the other the outrage committed on the +moral sense by the frivolity of the test imposed, and if possible still +more by the ease with which, after the unfortunate issue of the trial, +the lovers all adopt a philosophic toleration towards each other. These +two blemishes, however, will scarcely account for the fact that, even +where attempts have been made to remove them by adaptation, the opera +has never maintained its place on the stage.[36] Unquestionably, +the device of the disguise is trivial, and in itself not at all +entertaining, but the number of popular comedies the main point of which +consists in disguise prove that the public in this respect is not hard +to please. It makes no undue call on the imagination of the spectators +to proceed on this supposition, although in every drama deviations more +or less important must thereby be made from reality. But the imagination +refuses to accept these improbabilities unless they are made to serve +as external manifestations of events and actions which seem thus to be +taking their regular course. If they are made the foundation for events +which are manifestly false to nature, the revulsion in the spectator's +mind is extended to the improbable representation itself. Treitschke +hit upon the most unfortunate device for obviating the difficulty, by +turning Alfonso into a magician and Despina into a sprite, and thereby +not only producing glaring inconsistencies, but completely nullifying +the musical characterisation. Another attempt was made by Krebel in +an adaptation called "Màdchen sind Màdchen," performed in Stuttgart in +1816, where the lovers return home after a lengthened absence and + +{COSÏ FAN TUTTE.} + +(246) + +before appearing to their brides undertake and carry out the trial of +their constancy; Despina undertakes the cure in her own person, and +in the last finale a real notary is brought on, whom she afterwards +declares to be her lover. The progress of the plot is completely +changed, almost all the songs are transformed and taken from their +proper connection. Herklot's alterations in "Die verhangnissvolle Wette" +went still deeper.[37] The ladies are not put to the test by their own +lovers, but, with the connivance of the latter, by two of their friends, +whose servant Pedrillo takes part in the intrigue as the doctor and the +notary. Not to mention the injury which the musical characterisation +suffers thereby, the clumsiness of the test imposed is made still +more apparent, and the final reconciliation becomes more unreal and +revolting. + +Da Ponte has made no effort to soften the awkwardness of the situation; +it is indeed very much increased by the exchange of lovers made during +the trial, as if the right choice was that which is then made. G. +Bernhard (Gugler), who has done honour both to words and music by +his excellent edition of the opera,[38] removed this obstacle in his +adaptation, "Sind sie treu?" (Stuttgart, 1858). Here each lover +proves his own mistress, and the plot and its development are modified +accordingly.[39] Da Ponte sacrificed the excuse this would have afforded +to the two ladies--who might be supposed unconsciously drawn towards +the true object of their affections--to the dramatic effect of the +embarrassing position of the men on either side. Attempts to remedy this +defect led to other and greater ones.[40] In an old adaptation, "Die +Wette, oder Màdchen-List und -Liebe," the author + +{CRITICISM OF THE LIBRETTO.} + +(247) + +(whose name is unknown to me) has hit upon the device of making the +waiting-maid betray Don Alfonso's plot to the sisters before the +entrance of the pretended friends, so that they are supposed to be +hoaxing their lovers all the time, and the latter have to sue for pardon +at the end. Despina's disguise as the doctor is retained, but a real +notary is brought in for the last finale. Arnold proceeded similarly in +his English version, "Tit for Tat."[41] L. Schneider, too, has made the +same alteration, with the difference that Despina does not betray to her +mistresses the plot against them until the second act, from which time +they feign the weakness with which they mean to chastise their lovers. +But this alteration implies a coarseness of conduct in the two sisters +which is scarcely less reprehensible than their fickleness. The musical +characterisation also is destroyed, since they are now supposed to feign +the sentiments which they were originally intended to express in all +seriousness; the inconsistency is sometimes unendurable. Added to this, +the second finale is nullified by the altered catastrophe, and the +charming part omitted where the men recall the characters assumed by +them.[42] + +It would have been necessary to bring the psychological interest of the +drama into the foreground in order to conceal what was objectionable in +the situations. Ingenuity and delicacy of invention might have turned +the subject into an interesting drama, with the guilt and mishaps so +evenly balanced that the whole might naturally come to a cheerful +and pacifying conclusion. Da Ponte's text in no way fulfils these +requirements; he takes his stand on the level of the ordinary opera +buffa, and demands to be measured by that standard. He makes some +attempt at more delicate characterisation in his Fiordiligi, in which +Ferrando partakes, but the remaining characters are all of the usual +opera buffa type, and only receive their individual stamp by virtue of +the music. Nor do the situations + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(248) + +display much more of original invention. The only animation afforded +to the play, consisting of the pretended poisoning and the entrance of +Despina as doctor, is neither new nor refined, and the plot proceeds +without exciting either interest or suspense. But it gives occasion for +a succession of musical situations which, considered apart, have been +skilfully treated by Da Ponte. The parting scene, the sestet, and +especially the first finale, are thoroughly musical in design, and +Da Ponte's verses are easy and flowing, often not devoid of wit. +Unfortunately his energies are almost all exhausted in the first act. +While this contains a wealth of ensemble movements and contrasting +situations scarcely to be found in any other opera, the monotony of the +second act is strikingly apparent. It does not seem to have occurred +to Da Ponte to develop his plot by means of an artistic arrangement of +ensemble pieces. His sole care has evidently been to apportion the airs +and duets indispensable to the chief characters in opera buffa with a +due regard to dramatic contrast.[43] + +Mozart therefore found himself once more engaged upon an opera buffa +in the strict sense of the term. The plot is without meaning, the +characters without individuality, deriving what effect they have by +means of the ordinary resources of low comedy and exaggeration. Passion +and feeling rarely assert themselves without the disturbing elements +of hypocrisy and deceit; and thus the source of Mozart's own peculiar +conception of musical representation is virtually closed to him. +Then, in addition, the demands of the artists had to be taken into +consideration. We can only wonder, under the circumstances, at Mozart's +power of seizing every point which could be turned to the service of his +artistic conceptions; the work reveals a side of his nature which has +not hitherto appeared.[44] + +The unreserved expression of emotions throughout the + +{THE MUSIC--ENSEMBLES.} + +(249) + +opera affords a not ungrateful field for musical representation. The +awkwardness of having three terzets for male voices following each other +disappears under Mozart's treatment, since he makes each the natural +outcome of the situation, and they serve as joint members of one +organism to produce a natural climax. The first terzet takes its tone +from the excited mood of the young officers, which Don Alfonso seeks +with easy playfulness to moderate. In the second, Don Alfonso comes to +the foreground with his old song about the phoenix and woman's faith, +which he sings in a tone of good-humoured irony, exceedingly well +supported by the orchestra, while the other two try mainly to interpose +and stop him; it is a most original piece of music, full of excellent +humour. The third terzet displays the high spirits of the lovers, raised +to a pitch of great excitement, and the music brings the merry feast +to which they are already looking forward vividly before the mind. The +light and cheerful, somewhat superficial tone which here prevails, fixes +the ground-tone of the opera. The young men are characterised generally, +without accentuating their individualities; they stand opposed to Don +Alfonso, whose contrasting character comes out all the more sharply. The +duet for the two sisters (4) is more elevated in tone, to accord with +the situation. They are melting in tender emotion as they gaze on the +images of their lovers, and the expression of the music is full of +life and sensuality, but more animated than warm, with no echo of those +gentle accents in which Mozart elsewhere so inimitably characterises +the hidden longings of the soul. The unanimity of sentiment here again +obscures individual character, and the modifications are more musical +than dramatic in their nature. Don Alfonso's + +{COSI FAN TUTTE.} + +(250) + +short air (5), where he appears to urge composure, characterises not +his true nature, for he is feigning all the time, but the situation, and +that with a degree of exaggeration which comes out in striking relief to +his otherwise calm and equable nature. The tone and delivery of the +air are correctly indicated by Don Alfonso's words: "non son cattivo +comico"; the deceit is conscious and evident throughout, and it is +rendered easy for the performer to let an ironical tone occasionally +peep through. The following quintet (6) carries us to a height hitherto +unsuspected. The grief of the sisters at the prospect of separation from +their lovers is expressed with ever-increasing passion, while conscious +dissimulation imposes a certain restraint on the men, though the emotion +they express is in itself genuine enough; the softer nature of Ferrando +betrays itself in his gradually increasing sympathy with the sorrowing +women. The ironical element introduced by Don Alfonso, just at the point +when the passionate lamentation of the sisters is making the greatest +impression on their lovers, prevents the situation from passing +altogether into the pathetic vein. This quintet undoubtedly belongs in +every respect to Mozart's highest achievements. The short duet (7) on +the other hand, in which Ferrando and Guillelmo seek to console +their trembling fair, ones is poor both in musical substance and +characterisation, being an easily constructed piece of the kind which +the general public loved. The march with chorus (8), which comes next, +is simple, but very fresh and pretty, well suited both to the situation +and the character of the opera. The farewell scene (9) takes place +at the same time--indicated in the autograph score as "Recitativo +coi stromenti"--and is a perfect masterpiece of beauty and delicate +characterisation. The broken sobs of the afflicted women have something +of the same comic effect as the infinite sorrow of childhood, and the +men seem, half involuntarily, to imitate them; but when the last adieux +have been exchanged they give vent to such a sweet and touching sound of +lamentation that even the lovers are touched by it, and Don Alfonso +is silenced. The repetition of the chörus interrupts the tender +leave-taking just at the right time, and endows the scene with fresh +life and animation. It finds an appropriate conclusion in the + +{TERZET.} + +(251) + +tones and gestures of the two maidens as they wave their adieux from the +shore, while Don Alfonso appears to share their feelings with a sort of +ostentation of sympathy. This terzettino (10) shows Mozart's power of +displaying endless shades of one and the same feeling. The farewells +wafted from the shore are more composed than the lamentations called +forth by the idea of separation, or even by the separation itself; they +are more pure also, more intense, and transfigure all that has gone +before with the light of a tender and harmonious grace finding its +expression in separate sharp suspensions, and especially in the +unexpected dissonance which occurs upon "desir--[See Page Image] + +The murmuring accompaniment of the muted violins, combined with the +soft full chords of the wind instruments, suggesting the idea of +the sea-voyage, contribute to the colouring of this gem of musical +expression. The instrumentation throughout this first division of the +opera is carefully and admirably managed. The first terzet is simple, +the lively figures for the stringed instruments denoting its character, +while the oboes, bassoons, and horns strengthen the lights and shades; +it is quite otherwise in the second, where the stringed instruments have +a gentle accompanying passage, while a flute and a bassoon carry on +the melody of the song; the third is brilliant with trumpets and drums, +shrill oboes and rapid violin passages. During the whole of the love +scene the clarinets are kept in the foreground, the combined orchestra +is full and soft, but milder and more sparkling in the last terzet, +where flutes come in; the contrasting clang of the lively and vigorous +march is highly effective. Thus far all has taken a natural course, and +we + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(252) + +have met with no unusual characters, no startling situations; the +emotions represented have been true and simple, and have been the +necessary consequences of the events composing the easily comprehended +plot. The musical depicting of such emotions is a grateful task; if it +is true in itself and a faithful rendering of the given situation +it cannot fail of its effect. And Mozart has here combined truth of +characterisation with a beauty of form and a charm of sweet sound which +almost overpower the ear, and are scarcely to be found in such fulness +in any other of his operas. The further development of the plot leads to +a sharper characterisation of individuals. Dorabella first unfolds her +grief in a grand air (n) introduced by an accompanied recitative. +It consists of one movement (allegro agitato) which receives its +distinctive character from the sextole passage for the violins--[See +Page Image] which does not cease for one bar until just before the end; +an unsteady trembling movement is imparted to it by varied harmonic +transitions, and an occasional sharper accentuation by the full chords +of the wind instruments. The simple sustained voice-part moves above +this accompaniment in short expressive phrases, rising now and then to +a tone of passionate appeal, and at the close to an unexpected pathos. +Both in musical treatment and emotional expression the air takes a high +rank; but none the less is it in striking contradiction to the character +of Dorabella as it is afterwards developed. It is she who proposes to +her sister to coquet with the new lovers, and in the duet (20) in which +they agree to do so it is she who takes the initiative. In the duet with +Guillelmo (23)[45] she shows herself so easily persuaded and so full of +amorous passion that it appears the revelation of her true nature. It +renders superfluous her subsequent expression of opinion in an air (28) +that love rules over all hearts, and it is but folly to resist his sway. +This air has a certain resemblance to the first in the simplicity of the + +{DORABELLA.} + +(253) + +voice-part and the moderation of the expression, although the feelings +inspiring it are of such a different nature. The accompaniment again +bestows upon the song its peculiar colouring; and the great prominence +given to the wind instruments adds an insinuating and specious tone to +the whole. But a closer examination reveals the evident contrast of +the two songs. Dorabella is a woman of lively but not deep feeling; +excitement is necessary to her, even though it may be of a painful +nature--she cannot live without it. Her expressions of sorrow increase +in intensity, and the orchestra is markedly toned down to allow her to +display her true, somewhat shallow nature. Besides this, the exaggerated +tone of her grief, displaying its want of perfect sincerity, is strongly +marked by the words, e.g.-- + + Esempio misero d' amor funesto + Darö all' Eumenidi, se viva resto, + Col suono orribile de' miei sospir-- + +and the music takes the cue therefrom. While borrowing the pathetic tone +and form of the opera seria, she turns them into a parody like that +of the text, invoking the furies with all the rhetorical apparatus of +tragedy; this is especially noticeable towards the close:--[See Page +Image] + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(254) + +The parody facilitates the difficult task of carrying the musical +expression of emotion to an exaggerated degree without making it ugly +and unnatural. The refined delivery of the vocalist, and the ready +apprehension of the audience, must always be presupposed. In the +character of Fiordiligi Da Ponte has unquestionably kept Ferraresi del +Bene in view; he was said to stand in tender relations towards her.[46] +According to him she had a fine voice and an original and affecting +delivery, and this opinion was confirmed by the London critics, although +she was never considered there as a true prima donna;[47] and Mozart +himself remarked that it was not saying much to pronounce Allegrandi +far superior to Ferraresi. She had not a good figure, and was but an +indifferent actress; but she had beautiful eyes and a charming +mouth, and was in great favour with the public. It is not surprising, +therefore, that Fiordiligi should have been placed on a higher level +than her sister, both musically and dramatically.[48] Her very first air +(14) places her in a far more favourable light. The disguised lovers, +after a decided repulse, renew their shameless attack. Fiordiligi's +condescending to answer them and to assert her inflexible constancy may +not, indeed, be a proof of fine feeling on her part, but it demands an +energetic and emphatic tone and strong and appropriate colouring. We +therefore have a bravura air in two movements, an andante and allegro, +closed by a long coda in accelerated tempo. The comic effect again rests +on the element of parody, which is even more strongly marked than in +Dorabella's air; the bravura passages, intervals of octaves, tenths and +twelfths, the roulades which she flings at her opponents, the bass-like +passages in the deeper register of the voice, all characterise +Fiordiligi's Amazon-like haughtiness in an exaggerated manner. +Afterwards, it is true, she + +{FERRANDO.} + +(255) + +is induced by her more thoughtless sister to coquet with the new lover, +but Dorabella's lover presents himself after a fashion calculated to +make a strong impression upon her. Guillelmo is always light-hearted and +cheerful; while, even in the parting scene, Ferrando has shown himself +to be a man of softer mould. His air (17), after the first repulse +of his suit, leaves no doubt as to his nature. It renders the vapid +sentimentality of the words with remarkable tenderness and delicacy, but +this kind of sentimentality being quite foreign to the southern nature, +the portrayal of it would rouse more ridicule than sympathy. Such a +character cuts a comic figure upon the 'stage--a circumstance which must +be borne in mind in considering this opera. Even in his feigned wooing +he expresses his feelings with warmth and animation, his eccentricities +being indeed heightened by the difficulties of the situation. This is +just the demeanour calculated to make an impression on Fiordiligi, and +she soon begins to waver. Perceiving this, he expresses his delight +with an extravagance which a man of calmer temperament would have been +incapable of dissembling;[49] it is evident that his fancy gets the +better of his excited feelings. So apprehended, this air (24) not only +entrances our minds by its continuous flow of lovely melody, but gives +us a sense of natural fitness for the situation and characters. It would +have been an impossible task for music to represent Ferrando as singing +this song with coolly calculated dissimulation; for the exaggeration +of caricature is only appropriate when no conviction is required to +be brought home to us, whereas here the impression experienced +by Fiordiligi must be shared by the audience before it can become +intelligible. The music must therefore express a feeling by which a man +of excitable nature would be likely to be carried away. + +In this way only can we justify the deep impression made upon the +equally excitable Fiordiligi, when, left alone, she reproaches herself +doubly for having coquetted with Ferrando, and been false at heart to +her lover. The feeling + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(256) + +of remorse, and of newly strengthened fidelity which the memory of her +absent lover inspires, is charmingly expressed in the lovely air (25), +"Per pietà, ben mio, perdona." This is genuine emotion, springing from +the heart, and the music expresses it with all the charm of pure +melody. This important air, in two elaborate movements--adagio and +allegro--gives ample opportunity for display to the singer and an +independent part to the wind instruments, especially the horns, without +doing injury to truth of expression. It is undeniably akin to the great +air in "Figaro" (p. 92) composed for the same Ferraresi, although they +differ both in tone and colouring. Probably the individuality of the +singer, distinctly recognisable in the three songs, exerted considerable +influence over their composition; and it may also be remarked that too +vivid a representation of such a mood as this would have exceeded the +limits of opera buffa; even as it is it suggests almost too serious a +complication and solution of the situation. Ferrando, on learning +the faithlessness of his Dorabella, breaks at first into violent +indignation; but this soon gives way to softer feelings, which he cannot +overcome. In his lovely cavatina (27)--so Mozart has entitled it--his +anger is only faintly suggested, while the memory of his still-loved +Dorabella shines forth from the darkness of the soul.[50] While he is +yet in this sentimental mood he is urged by Don Alfonso to make one more +attack upon Fiordiligi's heart. With this intent, he surprises her in +the act of putting into effect her romantic determination to escape from +her own weakness by donning man's attire and following her lover to the +wars. The duet which ensues (29) is of singular design and unusually +rich elaboration. In contrast with Fiordiligi's grandiloquent +sentiments, as she fancies herself again by the side of her lover, comes +the melancholy plaint, the urgent petition of Ferrando; her resistance +grows weaker as his entreaties grow more earnest--until at last she +sinks into + +{FERRANDO--GUILLELMO.} + +(257) + +his arms. This scene consists of a regularly worked-out duet in two +movements, but the long suspense requires a corresponding length of +reaction from it, and we have to all intents and purposes a second duet, +with two movements expressive of the happiness of the lovers. Here +again the expression of feeling is so direct and true that we cannot +but imagine Ferrando carried away by the impulse of the moment. In fact, +these two characters and their relations to each other are somewhat out +of keeping with the rest of the opera. Da Ponte failed in giving due +effect to the deeper psychological interest of the characters; Mozart +has clothed them in flesh and blood, but even he has failed to endow +them with the distinct and vivid personality which is to be found in +"Figaro" and "Don Giovanni." + +No doubt the idiosyncrasies of the performers, who were for the most +part more of singers than actors, and had apparently not much talent +for comedy, had considerable influence on the plan of the piece;[51] +the part of Guillelmo was written for the excellent buffo Benucci (Vol. +III., pp. 51, SS).[52] He first comes forward independently, when, in +his disguise as an Albanian, his first attack has been repulsed and, +Fiordiligi having expressed her haughty indignation, he boldly ventures +on a fresh declaration of love. Here he had originally an air (584 K.) +of the most decided buffo type, which opposed to the exaggerated pathos +of Fiordiligi an extravagance of a different kind, and expressed in +strong caricature the confidence of the new wooers in the ultimate +success of their + + (To Fiordiligi.) + + Rivolgete à lui lo sguardo + E vedete come stà; + Tutto dice, io gelo, io ardo, + Idol mio, pietà, pietà. + + + + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(258) + + + + (To Dorabella.) + + E voi, cara, un sol momento + Il bel ciglio à me volgete, + E nel mio ritroverete + Quel che il labbro dir non sà. + Un Orlando innamorato + Non è niente in mio confronto, + Un Medoro il sen piagato + Verso lui per nullo io conto. + Son di foco i miei sospiri, + Son di bronzo i suoi desiri. + Se si parla poi di merto, + Certo io son ed egli è certo, + Che gli uguali non si trovano + Da Vienna al Canadà. + Siam due Cresi per richezza; + Due Narcissi per bellezza; + In amori i Marcantoni + Verso noi sarian buffoni; + Siam più forti d'un Ciclopo, + Letterati al par di Esopo; + Se balliam, il + Pick ne cede, + Si gentil e snello è il piede, + Se cantiam, col trillo solo + Facciam torto al uscignolo, + E qualche altro capitale + Abbiam poi, che alcun non sà. + +Mozart has turned this into a comic air in the grand style, worthy +to rank with those of Leporello, although the delicate malice which +characterises the latter would be out of place here. The various points, +not only where the mention of dancing and singing suggest musical +freaks, but throughout, are made effective in the happiest musical +contrasts, without disturbing the flow and consistency of the whole +song. Towards the close especially, the climax is inimitable. After the +transition into D minor on "trillo" and "uscignolo"--[See Page Image] + +{GUILLELMO'S AIR.} + +(259) + +the wind instruments sound a mocking fanfare to the violin quavers on +"qualch' altro capitale"--[See Page Image] + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(260) + +whereupon Guillelmo, after the exit of the sisters, breaks out with the +whole strength of his voice into a triumphant allegro molto--[See Page +Image] + +but stops suddenly, as if afraid of being overheard, and sings his joy +sotto voce to Don Alfonso. This air, which afforded abundant opportunity +for the display of voice and art to the happiest advantage, was laid +on one side, no doubt with the conviction that so evident a caricature +could not be maintained throughout the love-test without wedding +internal to external improbabilities, and displaying Guillelmo in +two distinct characters. Another air (15) was therefore substituted, +expressing Guillelmo's character as a cheerful man of the world who +takes serious matters lightly, and comports himself with ease and +freedom. He turns half confidently, half jokingly to the ladies, the +secret pleasure which their rejection of his suit affords him increasing +his cheerfulness, and even giving it a tinge of irony. The music is +quite simple, tuneful, light and pleasing, in direct contrast to the +previous grand air. His second air (26) in which, after his adventure +with Dorabella, his good opinion of women is considerably modified, is +in perfect harmony with the first. The feeling that he has the advantage +over Ferrando, the + +{GUILLELMO.} + +(261) + +assurance of Fiordiligi's unalterable faith, give him an air of +overweening security, and cause him to express himself with a lightness +which he would certainly have refrained from had he known how nearly the +matter affected himself. This is a truly comic situation, and Mozart +has given effect to it mainly by the tone of easy merriment which he +has caught so admirably, and which never passes the bounds of friendly +good-humour. The air is long, singer and orchestra vying with each other +in rapid animation, and the jovial, easy character of the man is fully +and pleasantly expressed.[53] His intercourse with Dorabella corresponds +with this view. The easy, half-jesting gallantry with which he +approaches her in the duet (23) belongs to his nature, and the part he +is playing is no effort to him. It is more than once made plain that +Dorabella is more strongly affected than he; after she has once met his +advances with favour he merely seconds her, as being pledged to do so; +but he does it with the same ease and confidence that he has displayed +throughout. + +Mozart has shown correct judgment in making Guillelmo' a natural, +good-humoured character, instead of a caricatured buffo figure. But +a motive seems to have been at work here which appears throughout the +whole of "Cosi fan Tutte." It is evident that Mozart has sought to clear +himself from the reproach that his music was too heavy, too serious for +a comic opera, and to satisfy the taste of the public for what was light +and entertaining. This demand was met in the two male duets, the first +(7) being light and superficial, and the second a serenade (21), which +(accompanied, according to custom, only by wind instruments) follows +a striking chorus with a melodious and pleasing effect, but without +individual character. The same motive is even more evidently at work in +the character of Despina. She never betrays a particle of true feeling. +She has no sympathy + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(262) + +either for her mistresses, or for their lovers, or for Don Alfonso, and +she has no love affair of her own. The only visible motive of action +with her is selfishness, which triumphs even over her love of intrigue; +every expression of hers shows giddy thoughtlessness, not always of the +most refined kind. Her two songs are both addressed to her ladies. The +first (12) is in answer to Dorabella's pathetic burst of sorrow, and +scoffs at her belief in the constancy of men, while urging her to +reward inconstancy with inconstancy. The second (19) exhorts the still +undecided fair ones to adopt coquetry as the true rule of life for the +female sex. In the first air the gaiety, lightly tinged with humour +in the short introductory allegretto, is light and easy, and has a +forwardness about it not quite maidenly, but so pretty and winning that +the whole person is invested with a certain interest and attractiveness. +In the second air Despina appears as the temptress; therefore the action +is more careful, the expression more delicate; insinuating persuasion +takes the place of her former pertness, and the comic element only +asserts itself once in the strongly accented:-- + + E qual regina + Dali' alto soglio + Coll posso e voglio + Farsi ubbidir. + +This air reminds us in many points of Zerlina, but it serves also +to prove how many touches of detail and delicate shades of musical +expression are wanting when true feeling is not at the root of the +conception. Spite of its commonplace tone, its lively gaiety gives it +a certain charm, just as in everyday life we often meet with people +commonplace in their nature, but attractive from their youthful +freshness and cheerfulness. But Despina is in her element when she +herself is playing some extravagant prank, and she adopts her various +disguises with much boldness and gay humour. The scene where she enters +as a doctor in the first finale belongs indisputably to the wittiest +performances of comic music. After the long suspense, the animation +caused by the entrance of the doctor has an excellent effect, and the + +{DESPINA.} + +(263) + +boastful loquacity and solemn conceit of the charlatan stand out from +the surroundings without the need of any special medium for their +expression. Every phrase is pronounced simply but with telling effect; +exaggeration, which at this point of the situation would only do harm, +is carefully avoided, and the general impression of unclouded gaiety +is heightened by the intensity with which the other characters express +their feelings.[54] The notary in the second finale is quite as +humorously depicted. After an elaborate greeting, the polite elegance of +which is mockingly expressed by the figure in the accompaniment, given +to the second violins, the notary begins to read the marriage contract +in a monotone (_pel naso_, Mozart directs), which is the most comic +imitation of reality in its five times repeated phrase--[See Page Image] +twice with additional emphasis:-- + +The accompaniment of the violins is different for each clause (the +basses remaining the same), and increases in speed, thus producing a +climax provoked by the impatient exclamations of the bridal party. +The whole conception of the part of Despina may be referred to the +individuality of its first performer, Signora Bussani, whose reputation +was + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(264) + +rather for spirit and audacity than for delicacy of expression (Vol. +III., p. 97). Another example of perfect gaiety is the terzet for the +three male voices (16). After the angry exit of the sisters, Guillelmo +and Ferrando begin to laugh,[55] thereby increasing the discomfiture of +Don Alfonso, who with difficulty persuades them to desist. The merriment +of the young men, the annoyance of the old one, the laughter which +they vainly endeavour to suppress, are so admirably expressed, and the +triplet passage of the accompaniment adds so strikingly to the effect, +that we feel the same irresistible inclination to merriment that is +inspired by the countenance of an antique laughing satyr. + +The counterpart to Despina is Don Alfonso,[56] who displays throughout +the plot no single impulse of sympathy or good-nature, and at the same +time fails to inspire interest as a purely comic character. Paltry +scepticism without humour or good-temper, cold rationalism without +any tinge of geniality, are not attractive in themselves, and are +essentially unmusical; they can only be effective by virtue of contrast, +and Don Alfonso therefore appears principally in ensembles. In the first +male terzet his cool demeanour stands in excellent relief against the +excitement of the young men, and Mozart has given an irresistibly droll +expression to the little ballad which he mockingly sings to them (2). +His sympathy in the parting scene has more delicacy of characterisation; +here he keeps in the background, but the quiet remarks which he +interposes add just the ingredient to the melting sentiment of the +ladies which is required for the production of the right effect on the +audience. As a rule, however, Don Alfonso does not express his true +sentiments, and his dissimulation induces an exaggeration which is not +without comic effect, but requires great refinement of delivery. It +belongs to the conception of such a character that he should abstain +from asserting himself independently, and therefore + +{DON ALFONSO.} + +(265) + +no grand air is assigned to him; this may be partly owing, however, to +the deficiencies of the first performer, for Bus-sani does not appear to +have been much of a singer. + +His two most important solo pieces are purposely so arranged as to admit +of an amount of sentiment which is foreign to his true character. In +the first he expresses with evident exaggeration the consternation which +fills him at the afflicting intelligence which he is bringing to the +sisters; it is as characteristic of the person as of the situation, and +expresses at once the state of excitement which prevails throughout the +following scene. Of more original design is the short ensemble +movement (22) in which Don Alfonso and Despina bring the two couples +together.[57] By undertaking to be the mouthpiece of the bashful +lovers, Don Alfonso gains an opportunity of expressing himself with more +feeling, and yet his position does not admit of any very deep or serious +expression on his part. The device of making the two lovers strike +in like an echo is a happy one; but Da Ponte has not turned it to the +advantage of which it was capable. It is quite right that Fiordiligi and +Dorabella should not join in in the same way when Despina answers for +them; but to leave them quite out of the question, and to make the +interest of the situation centre in the by-play of Don Alfonso and +Despina, destroys the significance which this scene might have had. +A teasing, jesting tone predominates throughout the movement, and is +indeed in keeping with the whole opera; but we long for a little more +energy and fulness of expression at the more important points. In order +to place Don Alfonso in the right light, he should be shown in real +perplexity, and brought thereby into the + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(266) + +foreground. The laughing terzet passes too quickly to make this motive +effective. Besides the terzet, he has only two short movements wherein +to express his views on the inconstancy of women, and these in a sort +of accompanied recitative suggest very vividly his exalted and pedantic +turn of mind. In the latter of the two he proceeds through a very simple +but suggestive climax to point his closing moral--[See Page Image] and +the converted but appeased lovers join in at his desire:-- + +As has already been remarked, Mozart took this phrase as the motto for +his overture. It is introduced by a short andante, which, after +two quick chords, begins with a tender motif for the oboe; this is +interrupted by repeated chords, but starts again, whereupon first the +bass, and then the full orchestra, give out the "Cosi fan tutte" as +above,[58] and immediately lead into the presto which is to demonstrate +the significance of the phrase. A short cursory phrase--rises in rapid +crescendo for the violins through two octaves; and then all the parts, +in syncopated rhythm--[See Page Image] + +{THE OVERTURE--ENSEMBLES.} + +(267) + +seem to stop the way for some moments, only to give place to a light +running passage--[See Page Image] + +which the wind instruments take up by turns. These are the elements +which in rapid and incessant alternation chase each other through the +overture like feather balls tossed from hand to hand, until the merry +game is interrupted by the phrase which gave birth to it: "Cosi fan +tutte!" Again the crescendo rises to its highest pitch, and closes +with a few powerful chords. The gay and wanton tone of the opera could +scarcely be better suggested, the overture being in very truth the most +perfect expression of careless gaiety. In the clear flow of its lively +frolic we see some resemblance to the overture to "Figaro," but the +deep, fine feeling which shines through the tumult of the earlier work +would be out of place, and may be sought for in vain in the overture +before us. + +The characters presented to us in this opera lend themselves best to +musical treatment when they join in ensemble pieces.[59] The definite +situations give strength to the characterisation, which is further aided +by the contrast of the persons concerned; and the dramatic motive adds +variety and energy of expression. The sestet in the first act (13) is +very simple in design, but effective from its well-placed contrasts +and judicious climax. The introduction of the friends has a marchlike +character. Don Alfonso recommends them to Despina's favour, and they +add more lively entreaties, in accordance with their assumed characters; +Despina's mirth + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(268) + +is excited by the extraordinary figures before her, while they are +delighted to find that she does not recognise them. + +The action begins with the entrance of the two ladies. The urgent suit +of the lovers is now opposed to the strong displeasure of the sisters, +Despina making common cause with the former. The declaration of love is +emphasised in an unusual fashion by the transition of the harmony into +a minor key,[60] by the chromatic movement of the parts, and by the +clarinet, bassoon, and violoncello accompaniment. The astonishment of +the two ladies at first gives a painful tone to the expression, but +as soon as they have recovered sufficiently to give vent to their +indignation the situation changes. The lovers rejoice in silence over +this proof of fidelity, while Despina and Don Alfonso affect to find +some grounds for suspicion in the very violence of the resentment +displayed by the sisters. The grouping of the characters is also +changed. Fiordiligi and Dorabella, divided between anger at the +intruders and the remembrance of their absent lovers, stand together; +on the other side the lovers join issue, and Despina and Don Alfonso +observe the course of affairs together; it is with right judgment +that the two latter are put prominently forward, especially at the +passage--[See Page Image] for they command the situation, and this +passage throws a light upon the tumult and confusion which prevail. +Mozart's temperate discrimination in the use of means has here again +enabled him to mould all this into a musical whole of perfect unity. The +situation of the first finale is nearly allied to this, but more vividly +characterised in the details, and more elaborately worked out. It begins +with a very amorous + +{THE FIRST FINALE.} + +(269) + +duet for the forsaken fair ones, introduced by a long ritornello and +worked out in independent style; a counterpart to the first duet, only +that here the expression is naturally more fond and languishing. The +sensual, dreamy mood thus represented is broken in upon by the harsh +dissonances and disjointed rhythm of the poisoning scene, and ends with +a pathetic ensemble and the swooning of the lovers. During the absence +of Don Alfonso and Despina in quest of aid, a calmer tone is adopted, +which grows gradually more animated as the sisters express their terror +and anxiety, and the lovers their satisfaction at the state of affairs, +and enjoyment of the comic scene in which they are playing the chief +parts. But when the sympathy displayed by the ladies at the sight of +their apparent sufferings gradually becomes so demonstrative that there +seems some danger of pity being transformed to love, the tables are +turned, the lovers begin to be anxious, and a state of painful suspense +overmasters them all. At this point there occurs one of those deeper and +more delicate psychological manifestations which Mozart so well knew how +to render, and in which, as usual, the orchestra co-operates. At first, +two characteristic motifs which go through the whole movement, a triplet +figure--[See Page Image] and an interrupted one of quite a different +character-- combine together, but then there enter two others-- to +express the painful sensations of the poisoned lovers. The orchestra +carries this idea out in manifold combinations, and thus affords a +characteristic groundwork for the expressions of gradually augmenting +compassion. The lovers, become suspicious, now express their anxiety, +and they finally all concur in a distrustful uncertainty, plaintively + +{COSÌ FAN TUTTE.} + +(270) + +rendered by imitative chromatic passages. The entertaining and truly +comic element of the situation consists in the fact that the merry trick +which Ferrando and Guillelmo hoped to play takes so doubtful a turn, +and that the emotions, on both sides genuine, spring from quite other +sources, and take quite different directions from those which are +outwardly indicated. Mozart has seized the situation with ready humour, +and, as usual, the right apprehension of the dramatic part of the work +has improved the conception and treatment of the musical element; this +movement is in every respect a masterpiece, and belongs to Mozart's most +exquisite compositions. The scene changes completely with the entrance +of the disguised physician, and the key of the dominant G major, +following the close in C minor, makes the same impression of freshness +as the introduction of an entirely new element.[61] All is now animation +and life--question and answer are rapidly exchanged, help is asked for +and given, and in the midst stands the charlatan playing out the farce +with due solemnity, and infusing the whole scene with wit and humour. + +After the completion of the pretended cure, the lovers again come to +the foreground and express their passion in extravagant ravings; the +reluctance of the ladies, in spite of Despina's and Don Alfonso's +persuasions, again gives a comic tone to the situation, contributing to +the production of an ensemble singularly rich in contrasting sentiments. +The orchestra again serves as a groundwork, and an original and +persistent violin figure gives the andante a strange, somewhat solemn +character, with which the voices frequently contrast in a manner highly +suggestive of the situation. The instrumentation also lends its aid. Not +only are the stringed instruments here employed so differently to the +preceding movement that they scarcely seem the same instruments; but, +whereas oboes with flutes and bassoons + +{THE SECOND FINALE.} + +(271) + +predominated in the former case, here clarinets and bassoons are +reinforced by trumpets with highly original effect. The tone-colouring +alters completely at the commencement of the allegro. The flutes in +unison with the violins, and the tremolo quaver accompaniment, express +a decree of sensual excitement which contrasts strikingly with the calm, +exalted tone of the andante. The lovers awaking from their trance and +demanding a kiss, the sisters are transported with an indignation far +more intense than that excited by the first encounter. Don Alfonso and +Despina seek to pacify them, and an unwilling suspicion that the +very violence of the resentment argues against its absolute sincerity +modifies in the minds of the lovers the comic impression of the whole +scene. The dramatic characterisation of all these opposing elements, the +well-defined grouping of the characters, the force and fire with which +the climax is worked up, and the tumult of excited emotions with which +the finale ends, give it a place above the corresponding first finale in +"Figaro," and on a level with that in "Don Giovanni." + +The second finale begins with the wedding ceremony, which is charmingly +and graphically depicted. Despina, who is joined by Don Alfonso, gives +directions to the servants for the reception of the bridal party, and +the whole of the first movement sparkles with life and gaiety, preparing +the way for the festive chorus in which the two couples are presently +welcomed. Then follows the endearing talk of the lovers, who seat +themselves at table, drink to each other, and finally join in an amorous +canon. This is a trait taken from the social manners of the time (Vol. +II., p. 362), just as the independent treatment of the wind instruments +during the whole scene represents the customary table music.[62] +A startling enharmonic transition (from A flat major to E major) +transports us out of this lovesick mood, and the scene which follows +with the notary is as full of humour as that with the physician, +although the context + +{COSÎ FAN TUTTE.} + +(272) + +necessitates greater moderation of tone; it is effectively interrupted +by the distant chorus proclaiming the return of the warriors. The +consternation and confusion which ensue have no real interest for the +audience, who are aware of what the issue must be; the plot is therefore +hurried rapidly to an end, and does not admit of any connected musical +treatment. The composer has been forced to content himself with bringing +out certain points, such as the feigned terror of Don Alfonso, the real +alarm of the ladies, and the joyful greetings of the returning lovers. +The situation becomes more piquant when Despina unmasks, and when the +lovers discover themselves as the pretended Albanians; and Mozart has +rendered both these points with true musical humour. But the purely +musical interest does not reassert its sway until the reconciliation has +taken place, and a feeling of peace and happiness is diffused around. +The last movement more especially is full of such calm and melodious +beauty that we feel lifted above the vanity and triviality of so much +that has gone before, and left with an impression of heartfelt gaiety +and satisfaction. + +A nearer examination of the opera shows that the libretto, never rising +above the ordinary opera buffa, has not seldom dragged the music down +to its own level. The caricature and exaggeration indispensable to +this species of comic drama have indeed been made by Mozart, as far as +possible, the natural outcomes of the situations and characters, and are +thus justified as an artistic element of the work, but he has not been +able altogether to avoid the substitution of external stage devices for +psychological truth. The attempt is more visible in this work than in +any other to render the meaning of the words through the senses; the +accompaniment is especially rich in detail-painting, instead of being, +as in Mozart's other works, called upon to add the more delicate +shades of emotional characterisation. In the duet between Guillelmo and +Dorabella (23) the orchestra gives the heart-beats which are made the +chief point of the words; in the lovely terzet (10) the raging of wind +and waves, and in the preceding quintet (9) the sobs, are distinctly +expressed. Even subordinate ideas are represented + +{GENERAL CRITIQUE.} + +(273) + +after the same realistic manner, as, among others, the drawing of the +swords in the first terzet, the flourish of trumpets and clinking of +glasses in the third, the piping and cannon reports in the war chorus +(8), the beating of the heart in Dorabella's air (28) suggested by the +quavers on the oboe, and the general clinking of glasses in the last +finale by the pizzicato of the violins.[63] These are all pleasing +touches, introduced without injury to more important features, but they +do not reach to the same height of psychological characterisation which +we are wont to admire in Mozart's operas. Other devices of opera buffa +are more constantly employed here than elsewhere, especially rapidity +of speech; but, on the other hand, there is no trace of any attempt at +imitating national peculiarities, even when the disguises assumed might +have given rise to it; Mozart could not but feel that a musical disguise +of the kind would very soon, fatigue the audience. The effort to cater +to the taste of the public goes hand in hand with submission to the +dictates of the singers, and we find their influence far more visible in +"Cosi fan Tutte" than in "Figaro" or "Don Giovanni." There is an evident +effort to please individual taste in the concerted airs, and in the +unusually light and pleasing melodies; such concessions cause this +opera, more than any other, to resemble the best works of Italian +masters. + +The peculiar qualities of Mozart's nature, his refinement and nobility +of thought, his wealth of productivity, and his marvellous technical +knowledge, are as distinctly marked in this opera as elsewhere. The +planning, the construction, the grouping of parts, are so firm, so +transparently clear, that we follow even the most complicated movements +with ease. The freedom and pliancy of the disposition of parts, where +there occurs a combination of different characteristic melodies, the +easy dexterity displayed in the employment of contrapuntal forms, +co-operate to excite and rivet the attention of the hearer, without +causing him any sense of effort. + +The quality, however, which delights us more than any other in this +opera is its delicate sense of beautiful sound, + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(274) + +and the ease with which this sense is made evident throughout. It is +a quality, no doubt, inseparable from inventive power and a talent for +construction, but it is not universally effective in the same degree, +and it is rare to find such a union of the forces which regulate the +impression made by musical beauty upon the senses. Even the orchestra, +although deficient in the delicate detail of "Figaro" and "Don +Giovanni," is in other respects fuller, more brilliant, and richer in +separate instrumental effects. The wind instruments are brought more +forward, in more varied combinations and finer shades of tone-colouring. +The clarinets are made effective, and a characteristic distinction made +between their employment and that of the oboes. An original use is +made of the trumpets: apart from drums they are not trumpet-like in the +ordinary sense, but are used in place of the horns (not in combination +with them), and mostly in the lower registers, in order to give +freshness and force to the tone-colouring. Similar observations might +be extended to show in detail with what refined penetration and correct +judgment of effect the forces of the orchestra are made to conduce to +the euphonious charm of the opera. That "Cosi fan Tutte," considered as +a whole, and in respect of importance and detail of characterisation, is +inferior to "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," no competent critic will deny. +Nevertheless many separate portions of the work, and the large majority +of the characters, display Mozart's genius and mastery of his art in +full measure of originality and brilliancy, and in many respects this +opera may be held to indicate an important step in advance of all that +has gone before it. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLI. + + +[Footnote 1: N. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1856, No. 5, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 2: N. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1852, No. 35.] + +[Footnote 3: Wien. Ztg., 1788, October 15, No. 83, p. 2,541.] + +[Footnote 4: From August 29, when "Figaro" was first placed on the stage, it was +given eleven times (August 31; September 2, 11, 19; October 3, 9, 24; +November 5, 13, 27); fifteen times in 1790, and three times in 1791.] + +[Footnote 5: Fr. Heinse (Reise-und Lebensskizzen, I., p. 184) mentions a rumour +that a story current in Vienna at the time concerning two officers and +their mistresses furnished the subject for the opera, which was adopted +by the express desire of the Emperor.] + +[Footnote 6: Da Ponte mentions it only briefly (Mem., II., p. 109).] + +[Footnote 7: In the Wien. Ztg., 1790, No. 9, Anh., the date is printed, +"Mittwoch, 16 Januar."] + +[Footnote 8: Joum. des Luxus u. d. Moden, 1790, p. 148: "I have again to announce +a new and excellent work by Mozart acquired by our theatre. It was +performed yesterday for the first time at the Imp. Nat. Theatre. It is +entitled,'Cosi fan Tutte, osia la Scuola degli Amanti.' Of the music, it +is sufficient to say that it is by Mozart."] + +[Footnote 9: It was repeated after the first performance, on January 28,30; +February 7, 11. After the death of Joseph II. (February 20) the theatre +was closed until April 12; Mozart's opera was given again June 6, 12; +July 6, 16; Aug. 17; in all, therefore, ten times; then it was allowed +to drop.] + +[Footnote 10: The first book of the words, "Cosi fan Tutte, osia la Scuola degli +Amanti. Dramma giocoso in due atti, da rappresentarsi nel Teatro di +Corte l' anno 1790," was shown to me by Sonnleithner.] + +[Footnote 11: In the original recitative (Act I., sc. 9), Trieste was written, +and altered into Naples; Venezia is in the printed score.] + +[Footnote 12: The words with which Don Alfonso begins the second terzet-- "È la +fede delle femine Come l' Araba fenice: Che vi sia, ciascun lo dice Dove +sia, nessun lo sà"--are borrowed from Metastasio's "Demetrio" (Act II., +sc. 3), and were composed by himself as a canon (where it runs, "La fede +degli amanti, &c.). It is therefore an old familiar song that Alfonso +sings to them.] + +[Footnote 13: According to the original score the march is first played by the +orchestra alone, piano at the beginning, and _crescendo_ from the second +part; at the repetition the chorus joins in _forte_.] + +[Footnote 14: This scene was originally introduced by a Cavatina for Despina; +after the recitative is written, _Dopo la cavatina di' Despina._ Mozart +afterwards crossed out these words, probably because a better place was +found for Despina's air.] + +[Footnote 15: Schneider, Gesch. d. Oper, p. 61.] + +[Footnote 16: Schneider, Ibid., p. 76.] + +[Footnote 17: A. M. Z., XXVIII., p. 26. Berl. Mus. Ztg., III., p. 12.] + +[Footnote 18: A. M. Z., XXXIII., p. 550.] + +[Footnote 19: A. M. Z., XLVIII., p. 870.] + +[Footnote 20: A. M. Z., X., p. 409.] + +[Footnote 21: A. M. Z., XXV., p. 428.] + +[Footnote 22: A. M. Z., XXXIII., p. 222.] + +[Footnote 23: A. M. Z., XL., p. 440.] + +[Footnote 24: A. M. Z., VII., p. 240.] + +[Footnote 25: A. M. Z., XXXII., p. 375. Fr. Heinse, Reise-und Lebensskizzen, I., +p. 183.] + +[Footnote 26: A. M. Z., XIV., p. 189. Cf. XVI., p. 154.] + +[Footnote 27: A.M.Z., XII., p. 500; XVI., p. 451.] + +[Footnote 28: A. M. Z., XVIII., p. 895.] + +[Footnote 29: A. M. Z., XIII., pp. 526, 720; XIX., p. 550; XXII., p. 813.] + +[Footnote 30: Pohl, Mozart u. Haydn in London, p. 146. Parke, Mus. Mem., II., p. +259.] + +[Footnote 31: A. M. Z., XLIV., p. 750.] + +[Footnote 32: The autograph score is arranged and written quite in Mozart's usual +manner. The recitative of the scena (XI. and XII.), [the duet (29), +completed by a strange hand, exists in Mozart's manuscript], the +serenade (21), the accompanied recitative for Fiordiligi before the air +(25), and the whole of scena (XIII.) of the second act, besides some +extra sheets for the wind instruments, are wanting.] + +[Footnote 33: B. A. Weber declared after the performance in Berlin (Mus. +Monatsschr., 1792, p. 137): "After the 'Marriage of Figaro,' this opera +is indisputably the finest. The concerted pieces more especially have a +beauty and an expression which can be rather felt than described."] + +[Footnote 34: Journ. d. Mod., 1792, p. 504: "The opera in question is the most +absurd stuff in the world, and only sought after on account of the +excellence of the music."] + +[Footnote 35: In a Musikalischer Briefwechsel (Berlin Mus. Ztg., 1805, p. 293) +the opera, both words and music, are severely criticised by "Arithmos," +who is then in his turn ridiculed as a Philistine by "Phantasus," and +the opera praised as a model of genuine irony. E. T. A. Hoffmann, too, +who places the essence of comic opera in the fantastical, considers +that the much-abused text of "Cosi fan Tutte' is genuinely operatic +(Serapionsbrüder, I., 2, 1, Ges. Schr., I., p. 120).] + +[Footnote 36: Cf. A. von Wolzogen, Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1861, p. 137.] + +[Footnote 37: In this form the opera was performed in Berlin, and again in 1822 +at Braunschweig (A. M. Z., XXIV., p. 378), in 1823 at Cassel (A. M. Z., +XXV., p. 450), and in 1824 at Munich (A. M. Z., XXVI., p. 588).] + +[Footnote 38: Morgenblatt, 1856, No. 4, p. 75.] + +[Footnote 39: This has occasioned the displacement of some of the songs, not +always to their disadvantage. This version is not only far superior to +all that preceded it, but is excellent in itself by reason of its taste +and cleverness and careful regard for musical requirements.] + +[Footnote 40: A Danish translation by Oehlenschläger, with which I am +not acquainted, appears to have altogether transformed the plot +(Oehlenschläger, Lebenserin-nerungen, I., p. 121; IV., p. 43).] + +[Footnote 41: Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 188.] + +[Footnote 42: These pseudo improvements have been adopted at the more recent +performances of the opera at Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, Vienna, and even +at Karlsruhe,by Ed. Devrient (1860).] + +[Footnote 43: In the second act there are six airs, four duets, the so-called +quartet and Alfonso's short scena; in the first there are six airs, two +duets, five terzets, and one quintet, besides a sestet and the great +scena with the chorus.] + +[Footnote 44: "Oh, how inexpressibly I prize and honour Mozart," says Richard +Wagner (Oper u. Drama, I., p. 54), "in that he found it impossible to +write the same kind of music for 'Titus' as for 'Don Juan,' for 'Cosi +fan Tutte' as for 'Figaro' I How music would have been debased thereby! +A sprightly, frivolous poet handed him his airs, duets, and ensembles +to compose, and according to the warmth with which they inspired him, he +set them to the music which would endow them with the fullest amount of +expression that they were capable of." Hotho (Vorstudien f. Leben und +Kunst, p. 76) is of opinion that in "Cosi fan Tutte" the female parts +are thrown into the shade by the male, while the contrary is the case in +"Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," and accounts for this fact by saying that +Mozart was always attracted by that side of his subject which was mostly +suggestive of melody.] + +[Footnote 45: It is advertised in the Wien. Ztg., 1790, No. 16, Anh., as the most +beautiful duet of the new opera.] + +[Footnote 46: Da Ponte, Mem., II., pp. 108,117.] + +[Footnote 47: Parke, Mus. Mem., I., p. 48.] + +[Footnote 48: The first part was originally given to Dorabella, the second to +Fiordiligi, as far as the first finale; this was afterwards altered by +Mozart. It can only have arisen from an exchange of names, for that the +first part was always intended for Ferraresi is clear from the manner in +which the low notes are made use of, evidently to suit her voice.] + +[Footnote 49: It is suggestive for the execution that _lietissimo_ is the +direction at the beginning of the voice part.] + +[Footnote 50: An excellent effect is given by the alternations of the keys of +E flat major and C major in the second theme, and the interchange of +clarinets and oboes connected therewith.] + +[Footnote 51: The tenor, Vincenzo Calvesi, who made his first appearance with his +wife in April, 1785 (Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 33, Anh.), is the same for +whom, in 1785, the inserted piece, "Villanella rapita," was written +(Vol. II., p. 331), and who, in 1786, took the part of one Antipholus in +Storace's "Gli Equivoci," while Kelly took the other (Kelly, Reminisc., +I., p. 237).] + +[Footnote 52: Bassi distinguished himself subsequently in Dresden in the part of +Guillelmo (A. M. Z., X., p. 410; XIII., p. 730; XIX., p. 649).] + +[Footnote 53: Here again an alteration must have been made. The preceding +recitative ended originally after Ferrando's words, "Dammi consiglio!" +in C minor, whereupon the direction follows: _Segue Varia di Guillelmo_. +Afterwards the two last bars were crossed out, and the recitative +was continued on another sheet, as it is now printed, with the same +direction at the end.] + +[Footnote 54: The repetition by the wind instruments of the passage of such +irresistibly comic gravity--[See Page Image] is wanting in the original +score, and is written by the hand of a copyist on a separate sheet for +flutes and bassoons only; nor do the references appear to me to be by +Mozart. The insertion, however, was unquestionably in accordance with +his intentions.] + +[Footnote 55: In both versions, Guillelmo's air breaks off on the chord of the +seventh, and is immediately followed by the terzet. At the beginning of +the latter is written _ridono moderatamente (not fortissimo_).] + +[Footnote 56: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., III., p. 592.] + +[Footnote 57: This appears to be a later alteration. The preceding recitative +ended originally at--[See Page Image] and the direction followed _Segue +V aria di Don Alfonso;_ the d was crossed out, and attacca written +against it. Even if Mozart did not look upon the ensemble as a regular +quartet, he could scarcely have denominated it "Aria di Don Alfonso"; +such an aria must therefore have been projected, and afterwards changed +for the ensemble.] + +[Footnote 58: Rochlitz, A. M. Z., III., p. 593. Cf. Ambros, Culturhistor. +Bilder., p. 191.] + +[Footnote 59: One can hardly credit Schroder's remark, on seeing the opera, +rechristened by Stegmann "Liebe und Versuchung," May 1, 1791, at +Frankfort: "Wretched! Even Mozart's music is only good in the second +act." (Meyer, L. Schroder, II., i., p. 68.)] + +[Footnote 60: The minor key is employed only in Don Alfonso's caricatured air (5) +in the poisoning scene of the second movement of the first finale, and +very cursorily in Ferrando's air (27).] + +[Footnote 61: The change of key, simple though it is, is more marked than in the +first finale of "Figaro " and "Don Juan." G minor follows D major, then +E flat major, C minor, G major, then immediately B flat major, and again +without transition D major.] + +[Footnote 62: The canon was originally more spun out, and Guillelmo, having +vented his wrath in parlando, was to take up the theme against +Dorabella; but Mozart rightly gave up the idea, and struck out the bars +he had already written.] + +[Footnote 63: Cf. Gugler, Morgenblatt, 1856, No. 4, p. Si.] + +=== + + + + +MOZART 42 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XLII. LABOUR AND POVERTY. + +THE accession of Leopold II. to the Imperial throne (March 13, 1790) was +not an event of good omen for music and the opera. Up to the month of +July he had not entered the theatre, nor had any private concerts, nor + +{MOZART'S POSITION AT COURT, 1790.} + +(275) + +displayed any sort of partiality for music; his consort, the Empress +Louise, visited the opera and laid claim to some musical knowledge, +although she expressed herself dissatisfied with the state of music +in Vienna; the young princes, too, were instructed in music.[1] The +difference between Joseph and his successor in point of taste was very +soon manifested by the reintroduction of ballets, and by the favour +bestowed on opera seria as well as opera buffa. It was rumoured that +a new court theatre was to be built, in which the boxes were to +be arranged for card-playing, and that Salieri had determined in +consequence to resign his post, which was to be filled by Cimarosa.[2] +Those individuals who had enjoyed the esteem of Joseph had little favour +to hope for from Leopold; a fact which soon became evident in matters +theatrical. Count Rosenberg was removed from the management, which was +intrusted to Count Ugarte;[3] Da Ponte and Madame Ferraresi fell +into disfavour;[4] Salieri thought it advisable to retire from the +conductorship of the opera, and his place was filled by Jos. Weigl, +"that the master might be reverenced in the pupil."[5] Mozart had stood +too high in the favour of Joseph to be able to expect much from Leopold +II.; his candidature for the post of second kapellmeister was as little +successful as his request to be honoured with the musical instruction +of the princes. Proof positive of the low esteem in which he was held +by the court was afforded to him on the occasion of the visit of King +Ferdinand of Naples, who came to Vienna (September 14) with his Queen, +Caroline, to celebrate the marriages of his daughters, Maria Theresa and +Louise, with the Archdukes Francis and Ferdinand. Ferdinand's + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(276) + +two passions were music and the chase;[6] and the instrument which he +most affected was the lute. In his honour a new opera by Weigl ("La +Cafetiera Bizarra") was performed (September 15);[7] the Emperor made +his first appearance at the opera with King Ferdinand, when Salieri's +"Axur" was played (September 21); in honour of the weddings, open table +was held in the great Redoutensaal, and a concert performed in the +gallery under Salieri's direction, in which Cavalieri and Calvesi and +the brothers Stadler took part, and a symphony by Haydn was performed +which the King knew by heart, and sang out loud as it was played; Haydn +was introduced to him, invited to Naples, and honoured with commands for +compositions;[8] and all this time Mozart remained unnoticed, and was +not even summoned to play before the King of Naples, a neglect which +wounded him deeply. His condition was painful in the extreme; his +wife's delicate health showed no signs of improving; and as his expenses +increased his income gradually diminished. In May he had only two +pupils, and was obliged to appeal to his friends to assist him in +raising the number to eight. His continual and pressing embarrassments +exhausted even the resources of his ever-generous friend Puchberg, and +he was obliged to apply to money-lenders, and to embark in speculations +which did but hasten his financial ruin (Vol. II., p. 301). The weight +of these cares crippled his energies for work, as he himself complains, +and no period of his life is so poor in artistic production as this +year. His own catalogue contains, after the completion of "Cosi fan +Tutte" in January, 1790, only:-- + +May. Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello in B flat major (589 +K.). + +June. Quartet in F major (590 K.). + +July. Handel's "Cecilia" and "Alexander's Feast," arranged (591, 592 +K.). + +{EXPEDITION TO FRANKFORT, 1790.} + +(277) + +In the hope of improving his circumstances, Mozart resumed his plan of +taking a professional tour; the coronation of Leopold II. in Frankfort, +on October 9, attracted a large number of strangers to that city, and +seemed to render it a favourable place for the experiment. Salieri, as +court kapellmeister,[9] Ign. Umlauf as his deputy, and fifteen chamber +musicians, were sent to Frankfort among the retinue of the Emperor.[10] +Mozart was not included among the number, and thus was deprived of the +advantage of the imperial patronage. On September 23 he set off, after +pawning his silver plate to defray the expenses of his journey (Vol. +II., p. 301) in company with his brother-in-law, the violinist Hofer, +whom he took with him out of compassion, and with the intention of +sharing the expected profits together; they travelled in their own +carriage, and, arriving in Frankfort on the 23rd, had considerable +difficulty in finding a lodging, owing to the overflow of strangers +into the town. On October 14, at noon, Mozart gave a concert in the +Stadt-theater.[11] The contrabassist Ludwig, long since dead, who took +part in the concert, used to tell how the piano stood upon the stage, +and how during the rehearsal the restless, agile little man was +continually leaping over the prompter's box into the orchestra to chat +in a friendly way with the various performers, and then climb back again +on to the stage. Mozart's own compositions were exclusively performed +at this concert; he played the concertos in F major (459 K.) and D major +(537 K.). Margarethe Hamel, afterwards Frau Schick, was the vocalist, +and so charmed Mozart by her voice and delivery that he is said to have +exclaimed repeatedly: "I never wish to hear any other singing + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(278) + +than this."[12] It is also said that he played a pianoforte concerto as +a duet with old "Papa Beecké" (Vol. I., pp. 151,368), whom he met again +here.[13] He acquaints his wife with the friendly reception accorded +him, and tradition has it that he struck up a friendship with the +concertmeister Hoffmann, and generally spent the evening with him +at Gran's tavern in the Bleidenstrasse. Hesse became acquainted in +Frankfort, as he tells us,[14] with an old superannuated organist of the +Katharinenkirche, who in 1790 had been the pupil of his predecessor; the +old man said:-- + +One Sunday, after service, Mozart came into the choir at St Katharine's, +and begged the old organist to allow him to play something. He seated +himself on the stool and gave the reins to his fancy, when the organist +suddenly pushed him off the stool in the rudest manner, and said to the +pupil standing by: "Mark that last modulation which Herr Mozart made; +how can he profess to be a musician and commit such grave offences +against correct composition?" + +The pupil had remembered the modulation, and Hesse thought it a fine +one, and not even unusual. + +From Frankfort Mozart proceeded to Mayence. Here rumour assigned him a +touching love intrigue, which was supposed to have suggested the +song "Io ti lascio," the said song having been in reality composed by +Gottfried von Jacquin in Vienna, and not by Mozart at all (Vol. II., +p. 361). On his way back to Frankfort, Mozart stayed at Mannheim, and +renewed the memory of former days with as many of the old friends as +still survived. He arrived just in time for the first performance of his +"Figaro," which took place on October 24. The actor Backhaus notes in +his Tagebuch der Mann-heimer Schaubühne: "I got into great disgrace with +Mozart. I was standing at the door while our rehearsal was going on. He +came and asked me about it, and whether he might hear it. I took him for +a little journeyman tailor, and refused to let him in. 'You will surely +allow Kapellmeister Mozart to hear the rehearsal?' So I was in a scrape +most decidedly."[15] + +{RETURN JOURNEY TO VIENNA, 1790.} + +(279) + +The late organist of the Trinitatiskirche, Schultz, delighted as an +octogenarian to recall how Mozart, who visited his father and played the +organ with him, censured the slow tempi of the Kapellmeister Fränzel at +the rehearsal in the theatre, and gave it himself with more animation. +Otherwise, Mozart pronounced himself highly satisfied with the cast and +the performance.[16] + +At Munich, where Mozart arrived on October 29, and took up his quarters +with his old friend Albert,[17] he found still more of the old set, and +his letters to his wife show the pleasure he took in their society. Here +at last he had the gratification of being requested by the Elector to +play at the concert which was given at court to the King of Naples, +who was staying at Munich for two days[18] on his return journey from +Frankfort. "Highly creditable to the Vienna court," he writes, "that the +King should hear me in a foreign country." Shortly after Mozart's return +to Vienna Salomon arrived from London, and made what might at that time +be considered brilliant proposals to Haydn to accompany him to England, +and produce that series of compositions for the Philharmonic Society +which were destined to lay the foundation of Haydn's fame and +prosperity. Salomon made repeated propositions to Mozart also to +undertake the journey to London under similar conditions, as soon as +Haydn should return. It was with a heavy heart that Mozart bade adieu to +his dear "Papa Haydn," the only artist in Vienna who really understood +him and wished him well. + +It may safely be asserted that Mozart did not return to Vienna with a +full purse, nor did his other financial operations secure for him that +for which he so touchingly expresses to his wife his ardent longing: +a mind free from anxiety, and permission to work--only to work. He did +work, though, + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(280) + +after his return, and the last year of his life displays an activity +which passes belief. His own list contains:-- + +1790. December. A quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello D +major (593 K.). + +1791. January 5. A pianoforte concerto, B flat major (595 K.). + +January 14. Three German songs (596 K.). + +January 23, 29; February 5, 12, 28; March 6. Dances (599-607, 609-611 +K.). + +March 3. A piece for clockwork, in F minor (608 K.). + +March 8. A bass air with obbligato double-bass, for Hrn. Görl and +Pischlberger, "Per questa bella mano" (612 K.). Variations for the piano +on the song "Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding" (613 K.). + +April 12. A quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in E +flat major (614 K.). + +April 20. Final chorus in the opera "Le Gelosie Villane," by Sarti, for +amateurs, "Viviamo felici in dolce contento" (615 K., unknown). + +May 4. Andante for a waltz on a small barrel-organ, in F major (616 K.). + +May 23. Adagio and Rondo for harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and +violoncello in C minor (617 K.). + +June 18. In Baden "Aveverum corpus" (618 K.). + +July. A short German cantata for solo voice and pianoforte, "Die ihr des +unermesslichen Weltalls Schopfer" (619 K.). + +A glance at this catalogue is sufficient to prove that he wrote whatever +he was requested, either by commission or to please his friends. + +For his own playing, no doubt at a concert, he wrote the pianoforte +concerto in B flat major, which like most of the compositions of this +period, is distinguished by its mild and earnest tone and charming +euphony. The two fine quintets for stringed instruments were written "at +the earnest solicitation of a musical friend" (Vol. III., p. 18) who +was no doubt acquainted with Mozart's poor circumstances, and wished +to afford him a worthy opportunity of turning his art to account. The +spirit in which Mozart undertook commissions which were often of a very +subordinate nature may be best seen in his composition for a mechanical +timepiece which was ordered by Count Deym for Müller's art-collection, +then attracting great attention. The serious temper which it displays, +and + +{BADEN, 1791--STOLL.} + +(281) + +the thoroughly technical treatment of the composition, betray no +evidence of a work merely done to order. Another occasional composition +is the beautiful chorus with stringed quartet accompaniment, "Ave verum +corpus." Mozart's wife was staying at Baden for the waters in the summer +of 1790, and again in 1791, in company with her sister Sophie. There +Mozart became acquainted with the schoolmaster and choirmaster Stoll, an +ardent admirer, who took pleasure in making himself useful to Mozart +and his wife. That Stoll could appreciate the fun of Mozart, in his +unrestrained moods, is shown by the superscription of a note (July 12, +1791)-- + + Liebster Stoll! + Bester Knoll! + Grösster Schroll! + Bist Stemvoll! + Gelt das Moll! + Thut dir wohl! + +or by his assurance in another letter: "This is the stupidest letter +which I ever wrote in my life; but it is just fitted for you." On the +other hand, Mozart was of use to him with his compositions, and lent +him, among others, his Masses in B flat major (275 K.) and C major (317 +K.) for performance. On one of these occasions the soprano singer turned +obstinate, and would not obey Mozart's directions. He sent her away, and +gave the part to his little favourite, Antonia Huber, a child of ten or +eleven years old, who was often with her brother-in-law Stoll and met +Mozart at his house. He practised with the child for a week, and her +industry and attention were so great that she performed her part to +admiration, and was rewarded by Mozart with "Brav, Tonerl, recht brav!" +together with a kiss and a ducat. He used to say to her, "Tonerl, make +haste and grow big, and I will take you with me to Vienna."[19] The "Ave +verum corpus" was no doubt composed at Stoll's suggestion during one +of these visits to Baden. It bears tokens of haste, but is so full of +childlike piety, winning simplicity, and entrancing harmony, + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(282) + +that one seems for the moment transported from all earthly doubts and +cares into a region of heavenly calm and peace. + +A very different impression is made by the bass air with obbligato +double-bass, composed by Mozart for two professional friends. The +celebrated double-bass player, Pischlberger, was in Schikaneder's +orchestra, and Gerl and his wife (formerly Mdlle. Reisinger) sang at +the same theatre. Contemporaries affirmed that the very pretty and +attractive woman had completely entangled Mozart in her coils. Be that +as it may, this composition was the cause of a connection between Mozart +and Schikaneder which was fertile in results to the former. + +Emanuel Schikaneder was born in poor circumstances at Regensburg +in 1751. He was obliged as a boy to earn his living as a wandering +musician, and in 1773 was so inspired by the performances of a wandering +troupe of actors at Augsburg that he joined them. He afterwards married +Eleonore Artim, the adopted daughter of his manager, and undertook the +management. He had considerable skill and audacity, not only as an actor +and singer, but also as a dramatic poet. His company visited by turns +Inspruck, Laibach, Gratz,[20] Pressburg, Pesth, and Salzburg, where he +had become acquainted with the Mozarts in 1780, and had suggested some +compositions to Wolfgang (Vol. II., p. 102). His want of refinement in +the choice of means of attraction is sufficiently proved by his having +on one occasion at Salzburg, when "Agnes Bernauer" was performed, made +the public announcement: "The Vidame will this day be thrown over the +bridge "--which concession to the moral feelings of his audience was +duly made the same evening.[21] He acquired a considerable competence, +but an unlucky speculation in Pressburg ruined him. He had written a +piece in which a goose played the principal part, and all the others +were cocks and hens. The expenses for scenery and costumes were very +great, and, as it was a complete failure, his finances were + +{SCHIKANEDER.} + +(283) + +irretrievably injured. In November, 1784, he gained access for his +company to the stage of the Karnthnerthortheater in Vienna, where he +gave German operas and plays, at which the Emperor was occasionally +present.[22] He appeared on April 1, 1785, in the part of Schwindel in +Gluck's "Pil-grimmen von Mecca"; but attempting greater parts in serious +drama, he was hissed off the stage, and in February, 1786, was forced +to leave Vienna.[23] He then took the town theatre in Regensburg, and +endeavoured to satisfy the taste of the populace for low comedy; but +this did not last long, and in the summer of 1787 he threw up the +undertaking[24] and returned to Vienna. His wife had in the meantime +remained at the theatre in the "Freihause auf der Wieden,"[25] and +had taken the management of it from Friedel. This now passed into +Schikaneder's hands, and in these confined premises--little better than +a barn--he succeeded in delighting the Viennese public with performances +expressly designed to attract them, especially comic operas, of which +many were highly successful.[26] What he wanted in cultivation (he could +barely write or reckon) he made up for in sound mother-wit, practical +experience, and knowledge of stage routine. His audacity was equal to +his frivolity, and he found a way out of every dilemma. He was addicted +to sensual gratification, a parasite and a spendthrift; and in spite of +his large income was often hard pressed by his creditors.[27] + +During one of these periods of embarrassment, in the spring of 1791[28] +(May 7 is given as the date), he had recourse + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(284) + +to Mozart, with whom he had renewed the old acquaintance, and +representing to him that he was lost unless he could produce an opera +of great attractive power, he assured him that he had discovered an +excellent magic subject for an opera, which Mozart was just the man to +compose. Mozart's irresistible inclination for operatic composition, his +natural good-nature and regard for a brother Freemason, and, as it was +said, the influence of Madame Gerl, all combined to induce him to make +the attempt: "If we make a fiasco, I cannot help it, for I never wrote +a magic opera in my life." Schikaneder gave him the first sketch of the +"Zauberflöte," and, knowing how difficult it was to bring Mozart to the +point of writing, he arranged a little garden-house in the courtyard of +the Freihaus for his use, so as to keep him under his own eye. Here, and +in Josephsdorf, on the Kahlenberg (where his room in the casino is +still shown),[29] Mozart wrote the greater part of the "Zauberflöte"; +Schikaneder was at hand to discuss points of detail, to make necessary +alterations, and above all to have his own part written to his mind. He +had a poor bass voice, was uncultivated, but not unmusical, and could +execute his songs in a dashing and effective manner. He knew perfectly +in what consisted his best effects, and insisted on having simple, +popular melodies, which Mozart was compliant enough to go on altering +until Schikaneder was satisfied. The song "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen," +after many attempts, was, it is said, suggested by a melody hummed +by Schikaneder himself. It has been remarked that the beginning is +identical with the seventh and eighth lines of Scandelli's (d. 1580) +chorale, "Nun lob mein Seel den Herren"--[See Page Image] is sung to the +same melody[30]--a sure proof of its popularity. The duets "Bei Männern +welche Liebe fühlen," and + +{COMPOSITION OF THE "ZAUBERFLOTE."} + +(285) + +"Papageno" were repeatedly rearranged in deference to Schika-neder's +wish. His want of any hesitation in the matter is proved by the +following note from him, preserved by Al. Fuchs in his collection:-- + +Dear Wolfgang,--Herewith I return your "Pa-Pa-Pa-," which I like fairly +well. It will do, at any rate. We shall meet this evening at the usual +place.--Yours, E. Schikaneder. + +But Schikaneder took care to keep his composer in good humour by +frequent invitations to his table; where both eating and drinking were +of the best, and by introductions to the jovial and free-living society +in which he himself moved, and which also included A. Stadler, the man +who so shamefully abused Mozart's good nature (Vol. II., p. 309). The +pressure of external circumstances, of growing domestic troubles, and +the bitter feeling of failure and disappointed hope, combined with +his own excitable nature to cause Mozart to seek for distraction and +forgetfulness in the whirl of a pleasure-loving life. His wife was at +Baden, where his youngest son Wolfgang was born on July 26; her absence +deprived his home life of any comfort, and drove him to take refuge +among his theatrical friends. Folly and dissipation were the inevitable +accompaniments of such an existence, and these soon reached the public +ear, combining with the exaggerated accounts current of the loose life +led by Schikaneder and his associates to cover Mozart's name for several +months with an amount of obloquy beyond what he deserved (Vol. II., p. +270). While the "Zauberflöte" was in course of composition, Da Ponte, +who was obliged to leave Vienna, tried to persuade Mozart to accompany +him to London, and there take an active part in the production of +Italian opera. Mozart turned a favourable ear to the project, but +demanded a delay of six months for the completion and performance of his +opera, to which Da Ponte could not agree.[31] In July, 1791, the +work was so far advanced that he was able to insert the opera in his +catalogue as virtually complete; the rehearsals had begun as + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(286) + +soon as the voices and bass parts were ready, the working-out of the +instrumentation being left, as usual, to the last. + +It was at this juncture that Mozart received an unexpected commission in +a very singular manner.[32] A stranger, a tall, thin grave-looking +man, dressed from head to foot in grey, and calculated from his very +appearance to make a striking and weird impression, presented him one +day with an anonymous letter begging him with many flattering allusions +to his accomplishments as an artist to name his price for composing a +Requiem, and the shortest time in which he could undertake to complete +it. Mozart acquainted his wife with the circumstance, and assured her +that it gave him great satisfaction, since he had long wished to try his +powers once more on this species of composition, and to produce a work +that both friends and foes might admire and study after his death. The +innovations in church music introduced by the Emperor Joseph had been +swept away by his successor, and the services of the Church were once +more performed after the old fashion. Mozart was anxious therefore +to impress upon the Emperor Leopold II., as the supreme arbiter, his +familiarity with the orthodox church style, and the present seemed a +favourable opportunity for the purpose. After consultation with his +wife he announced his readiness to undertake the commission, but without +fixing a term for its completion, and naming as his price 50 (some say +100) ducats; whereupon the messenger again appeared, paid the stipulated +sum, and promised an addition on the delivery of the finished work. +Mozart was enjoined to compose the Requiem according to his own will and +pleasure, and to make + +{COMMISSION FOR THE REQUIEM.} + +(287) + +no endeavour to discover his mysterious patron, an endeavour which would +certainly prove in vain. + +It is now proved beyond doubt that Count Franz von Wal-segg of Stuppach +was the patron in question, and that he ordered the Requiem in memory +of his late wife, Anna Edlen von Flammberg; the mysterious messenger was +his steward Leutgeb, whose personal appearance has been described to +me by Grillparzer. Count Walsegg was a zealous lover of music, a good +flautist, and a moderately good violoncello-player; he had quartet +parties every Tuesday and Thursday, and theatrical performances every +Sunday, in which his family and retainers took active part. But he was +also ambitious to figure as a composer. He used to order quartets from +different composers, always anonymously and with the offer of handsome +payment;[33] these he would then copy with his own hand, and have the +parts written out from this score. After performance he would set the +players to guess the composer; they, fully aware of the mystification, +invariably flattered his weakness by guessing himself, and he with a +deprecating smile would tacitly admit the imputation. This explains the +mysterious origin of the Requiem. He rewrote Mozart's score, gave +the parts to be copied from his duplicate (with the title of "Requiem +composto del Conte Walsegg"), and himself directed the performance of it +on December 14, 1793. + +Before Mozart had set himself in earnest to this task, he received in +the middle of August a fresh commission which brooked of no delay. A +festival opera was to be performed at the approaching coronation +of Leopold II. as King of Bohemia in Prague. The subject chosen was +Metastasio's "Clemenza di Tito," and again it was the people of Prague +who made good the deficiencies of the Viennese: the States called upon +Mozart to compose the opera. For reasons which do not appear their +decision was so long delayed that there remained only a few weeks for +the composition and rehearsal + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(288) + +of the opera. After making all preliminary arrangements, Mozart set +out for Prague. As he was in the act of stepping into the +travelling-carriage with his wife, the mysterious messenger appeared, +and touching his wife on the arm, asked how it would fare with the +Requiem now. Mozart excused himself by alleging the necessity of his +present journey, and the impossibility of acquainting his unknown patron +with it, and promised that it should be his first work on his return +if the delay were granted him; with this the messenger declared himself +satisfied. + +Mozart worked at his opera during the journey, making sketches in the +carriage, and working them out at the inn where they stopped for the +night. He must have intended the part of Sextus to be taken by a tenor, +for in two sketches of the duets with Vitellia (i) and Annius (3) Sextus +is a tenor, which of course necessitated a plan and treatment altogether +different. He cannot have received definite instructions as to the cast +of the opera until he was in Prague; but then he set to work with so +much ardour that in the course of eighteen days the opera was finished +and in rehearsal.[34] He called in the assistance of a young composer +named Franz Süssmayr, one of his pupils, who is said to have written the +secco recitatives; what makes this the more probable is the fact that in +the original score there is no secco recitative at all. But the further +assertion that Süssmayr composed the airs for Servilia, Annius, and +Publius, and arranged the instrumentation of some other pieces,[35] +is disproved by the existence of almost all the numbers in Mozart's +handwriting.[36] + +{FIRST PERFORMANCE OF "TITUS," 1791.} + +(289) + +The opera was performed with great magnificence[37] on September 6, +the coronation day, after the banquet, before the royal family and +an invited audience, in the National Theatre.[38] The cast was as +follows:--[See Page Image] + +The Empress is said to have expressed herself very disdainfully +concerning the "porcheria" of German music; and it is certain that +the first performance of "Titus" was far from being a success.[39] +Niemetschek is of opinion (p. 112) that the public were too excited +by the gorgeous coronation festivities to be disposed to listen to +the calmer beauties of Mozart's music. Mozart, accustomed to find +consolation for so much slighting indifference in the enthusiastic +applause of the Prague audiences, was thoroughly cast down by his +failure; the more so as he was unwell when he arrived, and his +indisposition had been increased by his extraordinary exertions. He was +continually taking medicine and looked pale and depressed, although, as +Niemetschek says, his gaiety shone forth bright as ever in the congenial +society of his Prague friends; at his parting from the familiar circle +he was so overcome as to shed tears.[40] + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(290) + +If it be true that "Cosi fan Tutte" is in all essential points an +opera buffa, it is no less certain that "Titus" may take its stand as a +veritable opera seria. Metastasio wrote "La Clemenza di Tito" in 1734, +and it was performed with Caldara's music on the name-day of Charles +VI.; it was subsequently set to music by several distinguished +composers.[41] It is true that the public taste had so far altered that +it was scarcely feasible to present it in its original form; but the +improvements in the libretto, made by Caterino Mazzola, the Saxon court +poet,[42] did not affect the character of the opera in any important +degree. The principal change was the compression of the original three +acts into two, and the omission of a not very happy episode, in which +Annius, by a change of mantle, is taken for the guilty person. The +course of the plot is thereby simplified; but it would be impossible by +means of alterations to endow it with any lively dramatic interest. Nor +is it rich in good musical situations; of all the characters Vitellia is +the only one who displays the least passion; and the excessive amount +of virtue and generosity depicted affords no field either for musical or +dramatic interest. Further condensations were made of the numerous and, +for the most part, rhetorically sententious solo airs, and ensemble +movements were introduced at suitable points. This was accomplished +with all possible deference to the original design and to Metastasio's +verses, so that the character and colouring proper to a court festival +piece was well preserved.[43] The following is a brief abstract of the +plot:--(23); the duets (1, 3, 7), terzets (10, 14,18), the quintet (12), +sestet (26), and the chorus (15); they retain for the most part +Metastasio's ideas, and often his verses and turns of expression. + +{PLOT OF "TITUS."} + +(291) + +Vitellia, daughter of Vitellius, who has been deposed by Vespasian, +has nourished the hope of a union with Titus, but finding herself +disappointed, she wishes young Sextus, who is passionately in love with +her, to form a conspiracy against his friend Titus, and by his overthrow +to gain her hand. At the beginning of the opera she is urging her +wavering lover to action, when Annius brings the unexpected tidings that +Titus has banished his mistress Berenice from Rome. He entreats Sextus +to obtain the consent of Titus to his union with Servilia, the sister of +Sextus, who willingly promises his aid. After a magnificent assembly of +the people, in which the generosity of Titus is publicly displayed, the +Emperor himself demands from Sextus the hand of his sister Servilia; +Sextus is confused and silent, but Annius, by his generous praise of the +virtues and beauty of Servilia, strengthens the Emperor in his decision. +Servilia, however, informed by Annius of the honour in store for her, +assures him of her unalterable love, and, hastening to Titus, confesses +to him the whole truth, whereupon he generously resigns her, and unites +her to Annius. Vitellia, incensed to the highest degree by the proposed +elevation of Servilia, directs Sextus and his coconspirators to proceed +at once to action. He obeys, but has scarcely left her presence, when +Publius, leader of her body-guard, enters, and summons her to the palace +to bestow her hand upon Titus; she hastens to the palace in the utmost +dismay and consternation. There is a general encounter in front of +the capitol, which has been set on fire by the conspirators; great +excitement prevails, and turns to grief and horror at the tidings +brought by Sextus of the death of the Emperor, whom he believes himself +to have slain. + +In the second act, Sextus, a prey to remorse, confesses his guilt to +Annius, who counsels flight, and is supported by Vitellia with an eye +to her own safety; Publius enters and arrests Sextus on the testimony of +some imprisoned conspirators. At a meeting of the senators, who bewail +the death of Titus, the latter steps forth from among the people, throws +off the disguise in which he had saved himself, and is recognised amid +general rejoicings.[44] He knows that Sextus intended to assassinate +him, and has been condemned to death by the senate, but summoning him +to his presence, he offers him a free pardon in return for a full +confession. Sextus, unwilling to inculpate Vitellia, maintains an +obstinate silence, and Titus finally ratifies the sentence of death. +Vitellia yields to the entreaties of Servilia to intercede with the +Emperor for Sextus, renounces her hopes, and resolves to save him by +confessing her own guilt. All being prepared in the amphitheatre for the +execution of Sextus, it is about to take place, when Vitellia rushes in, +and denounces herself as the originator of the revolt; Titus pardons her +a well as Sextus and the conspirators; all present extol his clemency. + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(292) + +Both the plot and the characters are absolutely devoid of dramatic +interest. The abstract goodness of Titus, who is ready on every occasion +to pardon and to yield, rouses no sympathy,[45] and is dramatically +mischievous in its effects, since it destroys any sort of suspense. +Publius, Annius and Servilia are mere props in the plot, characters +without any individuality. Sextus is a purely passive instrument, +wavering between love and remorse, without force or decision. We should +sympathise with him if his love for Vitellia were returned, and if a +healthy passion gave an impulse to his crime; but his weakness, which +prevents his being aware that he is only the instrument of her selfish +passion, deprives him of all sympathy, while Vitellia repels us by her +barefaced ambition, to which she is ready to sacrifice every sentiment +and every duty; her remorse comes too late to appear anything but +a dissonance leading to the inevitable conclusion of the plot. This +internal weakness in the characters is emphasised by Metastasio's +poetical treatment of the plot. His dainty style was specially suited +for court poetry and its corresponding musical expression, and his +dexterity in the handling of the accepted forms of composition made his +task a comparatively easy one. But even without taking into account +the revolution which had taken place in the drama, we may judge from +"Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" that what in Metastasio's time was of +advantage to the composer had now become fetters binding him to forms +and dogmas which were virtually obsolete. We find traces throughout of +the opera seria, which Mozart had abandoned long ago, but which he was +constrained here to resume. Metastasio's graceful daintiness of style, +too, was even more injurious in the taste it encouraged for mere +amusement of the trifling kind that was looked for at the opera at that +time, giving an unseemly effeminacy of tone to the opera seria, and +running an equal risk of degenerating into mere trifling or empty +pomp and show. If, in addition to this, it be remembered that Mozart's +express directions were to compose an occasional, a festival opera, for +which two singers had + +{TITUS OVERTURE--ENSEMBLES.} + +(293) + +been summoned from Italy, and would demand to be shown at their best, +and that he composed the opera against time, and struggling with +illness, it will scarcely be expected that an unqualified success should +follow such a combination of untoward circumstances. The character of +a brilliant festal piece is at once suggested by the overture, which +begins appropriately by a solemn intrada, with a long-drawn climax. +The first bars recall the overture to "Idomeneo," which, however, in +earnestness and dignity of tone, and originality of invention, far +surpasses that to "Titus." The second theme so announced falls short of +expectation, being weak and trifling,[46] and even the subject selected +for harmonic contrapuntal treatment--[See Page Image] skilful and +brilliant as the treatment is, has in itself no special interest, +so that when the prelude recurs to form an effective conclusion, the +principal impression remaining is one of brilliant display. + +The march (4) and the choruses (5, 24) as well as the finale (26) +_Sestetto con coro_, in which short solo passages alternate with the +chorus, maintain this festive character. They are brilliant and flowing, +pleasing and melodious, and answer for their purpose and the situation +without laying claim to original invention or characterisation. Only the +chorus with which Titus is received before he pronounces judgment upon +Sextus (24) has a fine expression of solemn dignity, suggested not so +much by the words, which are trivial enough, as by the character of the +situation. It was a happy touch to make the chorus, after the unexpected +deliverance of Titus (15), express delight, not with jubilant outcries, +but with the suppressed joy of bewildered amazement. Nevertheless this +chorus is too light and fugitive for the situation. + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(294) + +The tenor part of Titus displays most clearly the influence of the old +opera seria, Metastasio's words, consisting of general axioms, being +retained for all his three airs (6, 8, 20). The two first are short and +melodious, but not deeply suggestive;[47] the last retains the old +aria form with a long middle movement and return to the first allegro, +together with bravura passages quite in the old style. The report that +the tenor Baglione found that Mozart and not an Italian composer +had been engaged to write the opera, and that they quarrelled in +consequence,[48] is the more improbable since Baglione was the same +singer for whom Mozart had written Don Ottavio. + +Servilia's air (2) indicated, after the old style, with tempo di +menuetto, the two airs for Annius (13, 17)[49] and that for Publius +(16), are all both in design and treatment proper to secondary parts, +without musical significance or individual characterisation. The main +weight, therefore, fell according to custom upon the two prime donne, +who played Sextus and Vitellia. The fact that the parts of the lovers, +Sextus and Annius, were soprano, was an objectionable relic of the old +opera seria, and that Sextus should have been played by a female and +not a male soprano was a progress indeed for humanity, but not for the +drama. True characterisation is impossible when a woman in man's clothes +plays the lover, and the case is not improved by the weak, womanish +character of Sextus. His passion for Vitellia becomes a thing contrary +to nature, and the deeper the dramatic conception of the part the more +repulsively does this appear. Of necessity, therefore, vocal execution +comes to the foreground. The first air of Sextus, "Parto I" (9), fails +at once in dramatic interest from his having already repeatedly assured +Vitellia of his blind obedience, if she will only bestow upon + +{TITUS--SEXTUS.} + +(295) + +him one glance of love. The musical design and working-out are those of +a grand bravura air. Tenderness, tinged with only an occasional dash of +heroism, prevails throughout the two movements (adagio 3-4 and allegro +4-4). An obbligato clarinet goes with the voice, and the strictly +concertante treatment of this instrument gives its chief interest to +the musical working-out of the song. Considered as a concert air +which treats the given situation only as a general foundation for +the development of musical forces, it is of extraordinary beauty, the +melodies being noble and expressive, the sound-effects of the voice and +clarinet admirable, and the only concessions to brilliancy of effect the +triplet passages and the long-drawn-out conclusion. + +The second air (19) is more definitely characterised by the situation. +Sextus, having with difficulty withstood Titus's friendly entreaties, +is overpowered by his feelings when the Emperor turns coldly away, and +leaves him to be led to death. This air is also in two movements; Sextus +expresses his grief for the loss of Titus's confidence in an adagio, and +his despair at the death awaiting him in an allegro. Metastasio's text +expressed only the latter feeling, and Mazzola formed the first part +of the air out of the words of the dialogue.[50] The expression of the +first movement is fervent and true, and the softness characterising +it belongs to the character and the situation; the second movement +expresses a certain amount of passion in some parts, but is as a whole +wanting in energy, and its chief motif, even for a female Sextus, is +too soft and tender. Schaul adduces as a proof of Mozart's frequent sins +against good sense that Sextus, tortured by remorse, should express +his agony to Titus in a rondo.[51] "If it were a rondo by Pleyel or +Clementi," remarks C. M. von Weber in answer,[52] "it might indeed +produce a ludicrous effect; but let the critic only note the heartfelt +fervour of the song, the depth and beauty of expression in such places +as 'pur saresti men + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(296) + +severo, se vedesti questo cor, and all such petty fault-finding will +cease to be heard." Mozart had originally sketched another allegro, +the first bars of which, still existing in autograph, are rather more +decided in character:--[See Page Image] + +The page ends here, and the present allegro is begun on a fresh one; +it cannot be determined whether the first allegro was finished or only +commenced, but in any case the instrumentation was not worked out. + +Vitellia is the only character in the opera displaying anything like +passion or strength of feeling. The singer Maria Marchetti (b. 1767), +married to the tenor Fantozzi in 1788, had acquired great renown in +Italy and Milan, whence she was summoned to Prague; she possessed a +fine, full voice, and excellent execution and action, enhanced by a +pleasing exterior and dignified bearing.[53] In her first air (2) there +is indeed no passion, Metastasio's words, consisting of frigid +moral observations, scarcely allowing of any characteristic musical +expression. The air is divided into the traditional two movements, +neither of them distinguished by originality, + +{TITUS--VITELLIA.} + +(297) + +and even the bravura part is insignificant; the whole effect is so dry +and commonplace as involuntarily to suggest Süssmayr. Vitellia's +second air, on the contrary (22, 23), is the gem of the opera, and +incontestably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. At the +decisive moment Vitellia rises to the resolution of renouncing her +dearest hopes, of sacrificing her very life to the nobler instincts +of her soul, which have too long been made to yield to her ambitious +striving after false greatness. + +The musical characterisation grasps this situation, and develops from it +a psychological picture complete in itself, and only loosely connected +with the earlier conception of Vitellia's character in the opera. The +song seems thus to be detached from the framework of the opera, and +to belong rather to the province of concert music. This idea is +strengthened by the design, treatment, and compass of the two movements, +as well as by the introduction of the obbligato basset-horn, which +is treated so as to accord with the voice part, without any brilliant +bravura.[54] Every element of the song is blended into such perfect +unity, such charm of melody, such beauty of musical form; the sharp +contrasts of the different motifs are so admirably expressive of the +general character of which they form the details, and the whole work is +so permeated by the breath of poetic genius, that our satisfaction in +contemplating a perfect work of art leads us to forget how it stands +forth as something foreign to the context. + +Even the introductory recitative is a masterpiece of telling expression, +and in the air itself the noble beauty of the different motifs is tinged +with a sadness amounting to gloom, but so sublime as to inspire the same +emotions with which we gaze at the Niobe. The ensembles with which the +opera is provided are only in part of any dramatic significance, and +where this is wanting the musical interest also suffers; the duets +especially are not important either in length or + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(298) + +substance. Passing over the duettino (3) between Sextus and Annius, +which became popular owing to its easy and pleasing tone, but which in +no way corresponds to the character of an heroic opera, we may notice +the first duet between Sextus and Vitellia as better defined, especially +in the first movement; although even here the wish to attract is very +apparent, and gains quite the upper hand in the triplet passages and +easy imitations of the allegro. An expression of tender feeling is +more appropriate to the short duet between Annius and Servilia, and the +loveliness of the music makes up for the absence of tragic seriousness. + +The three terzets are better placed, and more suitable to their dramatic +situations, but even they fail to elicit dramatic contrasts by giving to +each character an equal and characteristic share in the piece. Thus, in +the first terzet, Vitellia alone is inspired with lively emotion, Annius +and Publius being mere passive spectators. It is at the moment When she +has dispatched Sextus to the murder of Titus that she is informed of the +Emperor's choice of her as his consort; in vain she strives to recall +Sextus, she feels that she herself is the destroyer of her happiness. +An agitated violin passage, with rapid changes of harmony intensified +by suspensions, expresses the excitement and consternation to which she +gives vent in detached and broken exclamations; but the calm observation +of the two others-- + + Ah, come un gran contento, + Come confonde un cor!-- + +chills the expression of Vitellia's emotion, so that the combination +of the voices, instead of producing a climax as it ought, weakens the +passion of the movement and prevents its rising to more than a +momentary prominence. The second terzet (14) was suggested by an air +of Metastasio, "Se mai senti spirarti sul volto," which was a favourite +subject with the old composers.[55] It begins with the tender + +{TITUS--ENSEMBLES.} + +(299) + +farewell of Sextus to Vitellia, stricken with shame and dismay. This +contrast would have made an excellent opportunity for musical effect if +Publius had supplied the connecting link by the addition of a new and +important element in the situation; instead of this, he remains a mere +passive spectator, and does not increase the pathos of the situation at +all. Sextus gives the tone here, as Vitellia in the previous terzet, and +the tender softness of his farewell scarcely allows expression to the +true significance of the situation; otherwise, however, this terzet is +superior to the first in the freer development of the voice parts.'" The +third terzet (18) has a beautiful and expressive first movement, but its +second movement is too slight in design and too little worked out for +its situation. + +The opera contains one movement, however, altogether worthy of Mozart, +and this is the first finale. It is true that even this is far from +possessing the greatness of design or the wealth of elaboration of the +finales of the earlier operas; it does not pretend to be more than a +representation of the situation; but it is earnest and weighty in +tone, and possesses features of unsurpassed loveliness. The finale is +introduced by a soliloquy for Sextus, in which he pours out the doubt +and self-reproach which torture his mind; an unaccompanied recitative +expresses this condition with an amount of truth and energy elsewhere +entirely wanting to the part of Sextus. When he sees the capitol in +flames, and is convinced that his repentance comes too late, he becomes +more collected, and the quintet begins with his finely expressed wish +to save Titus or to die with him; then he has to evade the questions of +Annius, who hurries in full of sympathy--Servilia, Publius, and Vitellia +enter in quick succession, full of anxiety and horror; a characteristic +orchestral motif gives the clue to the development of the movement, and +the separate exclamations of the invisible chorus interposed in rising, +dissonant chords, form the pivots on which the progressive harmonies +turn; the re-entry of Sextus brings the symmetrically constructed +movement to a close. A short recitative, in which Sextus announces the +assassination of Titus, leads into the andante, which ends + +{LABOUR AND POVERTY.} + +(300) + +the finale. All present are united in one feeling of sorrow and horror +at the crime which has been committed, and the chorus has approached +near enough to join in lamentation with the solo voices; the impression +thus produced is dignified and beautiful in the extreme. Here we may +perceive to what a height opera seria was capable of rising by a liberal +development of its original elements; but unfortunately this movement +is the only one of the kind in "Titus." A backward glance of comparison +upon "Idomeneo"[56] results to the advantage of the earlier opera in +many and important points. It is true that the conventional forms of +the opera seria are there more strictly preserved, but a fresh vigorous +effort is at the same time made to give them meaning and substance, +and pass their narrow bounds wherever possible,. while in "Titus" the +composer has been content to compromise the matter by preserving the +semblance of form, but no more. Thus forms intended to be largely +treated, such as the division into two movements, are often so lightly +and vaguely treated as to lose all dramatic interest, and still more +marked is the tendency of the tragic and serious conception of the opera +to degenerate into mere pleasing gracefulness. The advantages of the +later work in a freer and easier flow of melody, in a more mature and +cultivated taste, were more than counterbalanced by the loss of +depth and force of musical construction, a loss which is all the more +perceptible from the grandeur of the background afforded by a subject +taken from the Roman imperial age, which even in Metas-tasio's +adaptation was not wholly obscured, and under happier circumstances +would have sufficed to inspire Mozart to a nobler creation. The +treatment of the orchestra is indicative of the whole tone of the opera, +displaying occasionally the full splendour with which Mozart has endowed +it, and raising and supporting the musical representation wherever it +attains to dramatic significance, but for the most part not going beyond +an easy accompaniment of the voices. + +{CRITICISMS ON "TITUS."} + +(301) + +In brilliancy and delicacy of orchestral treatment "Titus" can sustain +no comparison with "Idomeneo," or even with "Cosi fan Tutte." + +Opinions on this opera were widely diverse. According to Niemetschek +(p. 111) "Titus" ranks from an aesthetic and artistic point of view as +Mozart's most perfect work:-- + +Mozart mentally grasped the simplicity, the quiet dignity of the +character of Titus and of the whole plot, and embodied them in his +composition. Every part, even the very moderate instrumental parts, bear +this stamp, and combine into perfect unity. + +He is of opinion that full maturity of taste is nowhere more finely +displayed than in this opera (p. 105), which is also the best example of +Mozart's admirable dramatic characterisation (p. 72). An article showing +the shortcomings of Metastasio's libretto praises the excellence of the +musical characterisation which endows Titus with the character of gentle +amiability, Vitellia with force and dignified purity, and the friendship +between Sextus and Annius with quite an ideal tenderness.[57] Schaul, on +the contrary (Brief üb. d. Gesch-mack, p. 59), maintains that with the +exception of a few pieces the opera is so dry and tiresome that it might +rather be taken for the first attempt of budding talent than for +the product of a mature mind. He quotes the criticism of an Italian, +considered one of the best judges in Naples, that flashes of genius +shone out here and there in the more serious airs, which showed what +Mozart would have been capable of under happier guidance. "Titus" was +criticised in Berlin, in 1796, with the greatest harshness and +severity in two articles which excited indignation on account of +their disrespectful tone, although the blame bestowed was not without +foundation.[58] With a juster regard to circumstances Rochlitz +says:[59]-- + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(302) + +Being only human, he was constrained either to produce an altogether +mediocre work, or one of which the principal movements were very good, +and the minor ones light and easy, and suited to the taste of the +multitude; with right judgment he chose the latter. + +It was perhaps this accommodation of the music to the taste of the +public, and the concessions made to the popular love of gorgeous scenery +and spectacular effects, which gained for "Titus" an enduring place on +the German stage, although it was never received with the same favour as +"Don Giovanni," "Figaro," and the "Zauberflöte." The opera was +produced for the first time in London in 1806 for the benefit of Madame +Billington, being the first of Mozart's operas performed in England;[60] +it was given successfully in Paris in 1816,[61] and in Milan at the +Teatro Rè in the following year.[62] + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLII. + +[Footnote 1: Mus. Corresp., 1790, p. 30.] + +[Footnote 2: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 15. Cf. Lange, Selbstbiogr., p. 167.] + +[Footnote 3: Muller, Abschied, p. 286.] + +[Footnote 4: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 114.] + +[Footnote 5: Mosel, Salieri, p. 138. Mus. Wochenbl., p. 62. Leopold's most severe +remarks upon Salieri are quoted by Da Ponte (Mem., II., p. 135): +"So tutte le sue cabale e so quelle della Cavalieri. É un egoista +insopportabile, che non vorrebbe che piacessero nel mio teatro che le +sue opere e la sua bella; egli non è solo nemico vostro, ma lo è di +tutti i maestri di capella, di tutte le cantanti."] + +[Footnote 6: An official table was published, showing that during the King's stay +in the imperial dominions, from September 3,1790, to March 18,1791, he +followed the chase thirty-seven times, and himself shot 4,110 head of +game (Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 29).] + +[Footnote 7: Wien. Ztg., 1790, No. 75, Anh.] + +[Footnote 8: Mus. Corresp., 1790, p. 145. Griesinger, Biogr. Not., p. 36.] + +[Footnote 9: Mus. Corresp., 1790, p. 146. Mosel, Salieri, p. 138.] + +[Footnote 10: Wahl-und Krönungs-Diarium, 2 Anh., p. 5.] + +[Footnote 11: In the Councillors and Deputy-Councillor's Register for the +imperial town of Frankfort on the election and coronation of the Emperor +Leopold II., is the following entry (p. 400): "Mittwoch, 13 October, +1790. Als vorkame, dass der Kayseri. Conzert-Meister Mozart um die +Erlaubniss nachsuche Morgen Vor-mittag im Stadtschauspielhaus ein +Concert geben zu dörfen: sol le man ohne Consequenz auf andere Falle +hierunter willfahren." I am indebted for this, as for other information, +to my friend W. Speyer.] + +[Footnote 12: Lewezow, Leben und Kunst der Frau Schick, p. 14.] + +[Footnote 13: Lipowsky, Baier. Mus. Lex., p. 16.] + +[Footnote 14: Breslau Ztg., 1855, No. 240, p. 1366.] + +[Footnote 15: Nohl, Musik. Skizzenb., p. 190.] + +[Footnote 16: Koffka, Iffland und Dalberg, p. 185.] + +[Footnote 17: So it is stated in the Kurfürsl. gnädigst privil., Münchner +Wochen-und Anzeigeblatt, 1790, No. 44.] + +[Footnote 18: According to the Kurfürstl. gnädigst privil. Münchner Ztg., 1790, +Nos. 173-175, the arrival of the King of Naples, on November 4, was +celebrated by a court gala and concert, and on the following day by a +court hunt, and a theatrical performance and supper.] + +[Footnote 19: The story rests on the authority of Tonerl herself, now Frau +Haradauer of Graz (Wien. Fremdenbl., January 22, 1856).] + +[Footnote 20: At this place he had a performance of "Count Waltron" upon the +ramparts, in a camp of 200 tents (Wien. Ztg., 1782, No. 68).] + +[Footnote 21: Berliner Litt. u. Theat. Ztg., 1783, I., p. 94.] + +[Footnote 22: Wien. Ztg., 1784, No. 102, Anh.] + +[Footnote 23: Müller, Abschied, p. 273. Berl. Litt. und Theat. Ztg., 1785, I., p. +304.] + +[Footnote 24: Mettenleiter, Musikgesch. d. Stadt Regensburg, p. 265.] + +[Footnote 25: Hormayr, Wien., VI., p. 75. Castelli, Memoiren, I., p. 46.] + +[Footnote 26: Journal der Moden, 1790, p. 149. Theaterkal., 1789, p. 202. Cf. +Varn-hagen, Denkw., VIII., p. 57.] + +[Footnote 27: Seyfried gives this description, which can scarcely be exaggerated, +since it has an apologetic tendency (N. Zeitschr. fur Mus., XII., p. +380). Schikaneder died in poverty, and insane, 1812 (Südd. Mus. Ztg., +1860, p. 21).] + +[Footnote 28: Treitschke gives many particulars of the composition and first +performance of the "Zauberflöte" (Orpheus, Mus. Taschenb., 1841, p. 242) +in the Illustr. Familienbuch des österr. Lloyd (1852, II., p. xig), and +in the Monatsschrift fur Theater und Musik (September 1857, p. 444); +valuable old traditions are paixed with demonstrable falsehoods.] + +[Footnote 29: Allg. Wiener Mus. Ztg., 1841, p. 128.] + +[Footnote 30: C. F. Becker, N. Ztschr. fur Mus., XII., p. 112.] + +[Footnote 31: Da Ponte, Mem., I., 2, p. 124.] + +[Footnote 32: The story of the Requiem is familiar in all its details, and has +been deprived of every trace of mystery or uncertainty. Niemetschek's +simple account (p. 40), and Rochlitz's more highly coloured one (A. M. +Z., I., pp. 149, 177), are both founded on statements by Frau Mozart. +Full light has been thrown on the other side by the communications of +the musicians J. Zawrzel (André, Vorber. zu Mozarts Requiem, Cäcilia, +VI., p. 212), Krüchten (Cäcilia, VI., p. 217), Herzog (Köchel, +Recensionen, 1854, No. 48, p. 753), who were all acquainted with Count +Walsegg, and are trustworthy on the whole, although they differ from +each other in matters of detail. Some facts, which it was thought +unadvisable to publish, were vouched for to me in Vienna by A. Schmid +and Al. Fuchs.] + +[Footnote 33: Niemetschek (p. 52) saw a short note from the Unknown, in which +Mozart is urged to send the Requiem, and to name a sum for which he +would undertake to supply annually a certain number of quartets.] + +[Footnote 34: The entry in the Autograph Catalogue is as follows: "September 5 +(performed in Prague, September 6), La Clemenza di Tito, opera seria in +due atti, per I' incoronazione di sua Maestà l' imperatore Leopoldo II., +ridotta a vera opera dal Sgre Mazzoli, poeta di sua A. S. l' Elettore di +Sassonia--24 pezzi." (In the printed score there are twenty-six pieces, +not counting the overture; but the obbligato recitatives are counted +separately here, and not in the original score.)] + +[Footnote 35: Seyfried, Càcilia, IV., p. 295.] + +[Footnote 36: Nothing is omitted but the duettino (3) (which, however, is +included in "A Revised Copy of Mozart's Original," by Abbe Stadler) and +the accompanied recitative (25).] + +[Footnote 37: The first three scenes were by P. Travaglia, in the service of +Prince Ester-hazy, the fourth was by Preising of Coblenz, and the +costumes were by Chérubin Babbini of Mantua.] + +[Footnote 38: J. Debrois, Urkunde uber die Krönung Sr. Maj. des Königs von +Bohmen, Leopolds II., p. no.] + +[Footnote 39: Musik. Wochenbl., pp. 70, 94.] + +[Footnote 40: According to an anecdote in the Bohemia (1856, No. 23, p. 122) +there was in Prague an old harpist named Hoffman, a familiar figure in +every coffee-house. Mozart had him up in his room when he was living at +the "Neuwirthshaus" (now "Der goldene Engel"), and played an air to him +on the pianoforte, desiring him to improvise variations upon it. This he +did, to Mozart's satisfaction. Ever after, this theme was the show-piece +of the harpist, and he would never play it except by special desire; +then he would go off into reminiscences of Mozart, and nothing would +shake his firm persuasion that the great man must be a native of +Bohemia.] + +[Footnote 41: It was composed, among others, by Leon. Leo, 1735; by Hasse, 1737; +by Jomelli; by Perez, 1749; by Gluck, 1751; by Jos. Scarlatti, 1760; by +Nau-mann, 1769.] + +[Footnote 42: It would be ascribing to Mozart a merit to which he has no claim +to credit him with the reconstruction of the libretto (A. M. Z., I., p. +151. Cäcilia, XX., p. 191).] + +[Footnote 43: The numbers taken unaltered from Metastasio are: 2,5, 6, 8, +9,11,16, 20, 21, 25, and the obbligato recitatives, n, 17, 22, 24. Those +for which new words were written are the songs for Annius (13, 17), for +Sextus (19), and for Vitellia] + +[Footnote 44: This scene is all Mazzola's invention, but it does not form one of +the longer ensemble movements.] + +[Footnote 45: Zelter, Briefw. m. Goethe, III., p. 26.] + +[Footnote 46: Curiously enough this very motif has become a type for a long list +of overtures and symphonies by Mozart's immediate successors, and +may even be recognised in Beethoven's first symphony and Prometheus +overture.] + +[Footnote 47: The second air (8) is apparently of later composition, for it is +not included in the consecutive numbering, and the score is written +on the same paper as the march (3), the obbligato recitative, and the +overture, all composed after the completion of the other pieces, which +are written on one kind of paper.] + +[Footnote 48: Seyfried, Càcilia, XX., p. 193.] + +[Footnote 49: The second air (17), with Mazzola's words, was inserted +subsequently, and numbered 13 1/2.] + +[Footnote 50: The ritomello is added on a separate page by a copyist; so is +the concluding ritornello. Probably the air originally passed into an +accompanied recitative for Titus, which is not preserved.] + +[Footnote 51: Schaul, Briefe üb. d. Geschmack, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 52: C. M. von Weber, Lebensbild, III., p. 4.] + +[Footnote 53: Gerber, N. Lex., II., p. 75. Cf. A. M. Z., IV., p. 318. Reichardt, +Mus. Ztg., 1805, I., p. 112. In a notice from Berlin of the year 1799 it +is described as a caricature (A. M. Z., I., p. 348).] + +[Footnote 54: The fact that the clarinet and basset-horn alone were employed as +obbligato instruments, and that with an evident supposition of great +proficiency, would lead to the inference that Stadler had come to Prague +for the coronation.] + +[Footnote 55: A striking organ point in Gluck's composition gave rise to much +debate; he employed it afterwards in "Iphigenie en Tauride," in the last +air of the second act (Schmid, Gluck, pp. 48, 353).] + +[Footnote 56: The alleged reminiscence in the first finale in "Titus" of the +great scene in "Idomeneo" (24) (A. M. Z., I., pp. 54, 152) is not +supported by a closer examination.] + +[Footnote 57: A. M. Z., IV., p. 822.] + +[Footnote 58: Deutschland, I., p. 269; II., p. 363. Reichardt, to whom this +article was ascribed (Mus. Ztg., 1805, I., p. 6), declared that the +criticism on Mozart's arrangement of the "Messiah," which had been +attributed to Reichardt, was no more by him than many other reviews of +Mozart's works for which he had been attacked during many years past +with great acrimony.] + +[Footnote 59: A. M. Z., I., p. 154.] + +[Footnote 60: Reichardt, Mus. Ztg., II., p. 123. Parke, Mus. Mem., II., p. 3. +Pohl, Mozart u. Haydn in London, p. 145.] + +[Footnote 61: A. M. Z., XVIII., p. 463.] + +[Footnote 62: A. M. Z., XIX., pp. 174, 190.] + +=== + + + + +MOZART 43 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. "DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE" + +DISAPPOINTED and suffering, Mozart returned to Vienna in the middle of +September. While his wife again repaired to Baden, he divided his time +between the labours involved in the completion and scenic arrangements +of the "Zauberflöte" (620 K.) and the Requiem. The chorus "O Isis und +Osiris," Papageno's song, which Schikaneder had stipulated for, and +the second finale, must have been written after September 12;[1] on +September 28 he completed the overture and the march which formed +the introduction to the second act. After many rehearsals under the +conductorship of the Kapellmeister Henneberg, then still a very + +{DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.} + +(303) + +young man, the first performance took place on September 30. Mozart +conducted at the piano, and Süssmayr turned over for him. The playbill +ran as follows:[2]--[See Page Image] + +This day, Friday, September 30, 1791, the Company of the Imperial +Theatre auf der Wieden have the honour of performing for the first time +Die Zauberflöte. + +Grand Opera in Two Acts, by Emanuel Schikaneder. + +The music is by Herr Wolfgang Amade Mozart, Capellmeister and Imperial +Chamber Composer. Esteem for an appreciative public and friendship +for the author of the work have induced Herr Mozart to consent on this +occasion to conduct the orchestra in person.[3] + +Books of the opera, with two copper-plate engravings, representing +Herr Schikaneder in his actual costume as Papageno, may be had at the +box-office, price thirty kreutzers. + +The scenery and stage accessories have been intrusted to Herr Gayl and +Herr Nessthaler, who flatter themselves that they have performed their +task with all due regard to the artistic requirements of the piece. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(304) + +The success was not at first so great as had been expected, and after +the first act Mozart rushed, pale and excited, behind the scenes to +Schikaneder, who endeavoured to console him. In the course of the second +act the audience recovered from the first shock of surprise, and at the +close of the opera Mozart was recalled. He had hidden himself, and when +he was found could with difficulty be persuaded to appear before the +audience, not certainly from bashfulness, for he was used by this time +to brilliant successes, but because he was not satisfied with the way in +which his music had been received. The story that Haydn consoled Mozart +by his approbation is untrue,[4] for he was in London at the time. But +Schenck relates in his manuscript autobiography that he had a place in +the orchestra at the first performance, and that after the overture, +unable to contain his delight, he crept along to the conductor's stool, +seized Mozart's hand and kissed it; Mozart, still beating time with his +right hand, looked at him with a smile, and stroked his cheek. At +the second performance on the following day he again conducted, but +afterwards resigned the conductorship to Henneberg. On October 9 notice +was sent to Berlin:-- + +The new spectacular drama, "Die Zauberflöte," with music by our +kapellmeister, Mozart, has been performed at great expense and with much +magnificence of scenery, &c.; but it has not attained the success +hoped for, owing to the inferiority of the subject and diction of the +piece.[5] + +Schikaneder, however, persevered, and with every repetition the applause +increased; Mozart's pleasure thereat, and more especially at the +approbation expressed by Salieri and Cavalieri, may be gathered from his +letters to his wife. The "Zauberflöte" soon became the most popular of +operas. It was performed twenty-four times in October; on November 23, +1792, Schikaneder announced the hundredth, and on October 22,1795, the +two hundredth performance of the opera.[6] + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(305) + +Schikaneder[7] had long varied his favourite farcical pieces by the +production of operas, either adaptations of earlier ones or works +expressly composed for him,[8] and in 1791 he had achieved a great +success with the romantic-comic opera "Oberon, König der Elfen," adapted +by Gieseke from Wieland, and composed by Wranitzky (1756-1808).[9] +The brilliant appointments of scenery, costume, and machinery, and the +satisfaction with which the dramatisation of Wie-land's universally +popular poem was viewed by the public, heightened the interest in the +opera to a degree far beyond the deserts of the light and popular music. +It was first performed in Frankfort during the coronation festivities +in 1790, and, rapidly spreading over the whole German stage, shared, and +for a short time rivalled, the popularity of the "Zauberflöte."[10] In +order to assure himself of a repetition of this success, Schikaneder +selected as a subject for his new opera the tale of Lulu, oder die +Zauberflöte, from Wieland's Dschinnistan.[11] The story is briefly as +follows:-- + +In the kingdom of Chorassan there dwelt in an old magician's castle +the good fairy Perifirime, called the "radiant fairy." Hunting in the +neighbourhood, Prince Lulu, son of the King of Chorassan, enters the +usually avoided castle, and the fairy, appearing to him in her full +radiance, promises him rich reward if he will obey her behests. She +discloses to him that the wicked magician Dilsenghuin, with the help of +her faithless + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(306) + +attendant Barsine, has deprived her of her precious talisman, a golden +fire-steel, which is obeyed by the spirits of the elements and of all +earthly regions, every spark struck from it becoming a powerful spirit, +subject to the possessor; none but a youth whose heart is as yet +untouched by love can regain the talisman for her by stratagem. She +designates Lulu as her deliverer, and promises him the best gift that +she has if he will undertake the task. This is none other than the +beautiful Sidi, daughter of Perifirime and Sabalem, King of Cashmere, +whom the magician keeps in his power, making tender advances to her +which she is only able to resist owing to her magic power of repelling +attacks so long as her heart is untouched by love. The fairy dispatches +Lulu with two magic gifts--a flute which has the power of winning all +hearts, and of exciting and appeasing every passion at will; and a ring, +by turning which the wearer can assume any form, and by throwing it away +can summon the fairy herself to his aid. + +Thus provided, Lulu approaches the magician's stronghold in the form of +an old man, and by his flute-playing entices first the forest beasts, +and then the magician, who takes him into the fortress to try his art +upon the obdurate beauty. Lulu gains the confidence of the magician and +his son, with Barsine and the dwarf Barka; the love of the beautiful +Sidi is also soon his. He succeeds in throwing the magician and his +companions into a deep sleep during a banquet, and possesses himself of +the talisman. By the aid of the genü now subject to him, and finally by +the appearance of the fairy, he overcomes all the dangers and obstacles +prepared for him by the magician, who is finally changed into an owi, +and flies away with his son, similarly transformed. The fairy +destroys the fortress and carries the lovers to her castle upon her +cloud-chariot; there the Kings of Chorassan and Cashmere bless their +union.[12] + +This story was treated as follows in Schikaneder's opera:-- + +The "Japanese" Prince, Tamino, while hunting, is pursued by a great +serpent, and falls in a swoon; three ladies of the Queen of Night slay +the monster.. On the awaking of the Prince there enters the bird-catcher +Papageno, the comic character of the opera, contrasting in the +traditional manner with the grave heroic lover (who does not, +however, display any great daring here). Papageno is a good-tempered, +pleasure-loving, loquacious poltroon, whose feather costume is a sort +of reminiscence of Schikaneder's bird comedies. He gives himself out to +Tamino as the slayer of the dragon, but is punished for his boasting by +the veiled ladies, who reappear and fasten up his mouth with a padlock, +at the same time presenting the Prince with the portrait of a beautiful +damsel, of whom he instantly becomes deeply enamoured. Hearing that the +original of the portrait is Pamina, daughter of the Queen of + +{THE LIBRETTO-RIVAL THEATRES.} + +(307) + +Night, and that she has been carried away by a wicked demon, he swears +to free her from the power of the enemy, whereupon the Queen herself +appears and promises him the hand of her daughter as the reward of his +success. The ladies then command Papageno, from whose mouth they remove +the padlock, to accompany Tamino to the castle of the magician Sarastro, +which he is reluctantly obliged to do. They provide Tamino with a magic +flute, Papageno with a chime of bells, and promise that "three boys, +young, beautiful, pure, and wise," shall hover round them as guides.[13] + +In Sarastro's castle Pamina, who has endeavoured by flight to escape +the hated advances of her jailer and tormentor, the Moor Monostatos, has +been recaptured and is kept in bondage. Papageno makes good his entry; +he and the Moor are mutually alarmed at each other's appearance, and run +away in opposite directions. Papageno, venturing in again, finds Pamina +alone, and acquainting her with Prince Tamino's commission from her +mother to liberate her, they hasten to seek for him together. + +So far the original story has been followed in its essential parts. The +modifications which have been made in the characters and situations to +enhance the dramatic interest are such as would occur naturally in the +development of the story. But when Schikaneder had proceeded thus far +in his adaptation he learnt that an opera founded on the same story was +finished and about to be produced at the Leopold-stàdter Theatre, which +often placed itself in competition with his. + +It was in 1781 that Marinelli opened his newly erected theatre in the +Leopoldstadt.[14] He produced operas, among which the "Sonnenfest der +Braminen" had a great run, and after the brief span of popularity which +German opera had enjoyed at the National Theatre, the suburban theatre +became a formidable and finally a successful rival. But the proper +element of this theatre was in popular farces. The comic actor Laroche +had created the part of Kasperl, the direct descendant of Hanswurst, +and the people were never tired of seeing him play his coarse tricks and +antics in the most widely different situations. It had been the custom +to bring Hanswurst into contact with witches and magicians, + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(308) + +and Kasperl was consequently introduced to the same society, with some +differences in colouring, due to French taste and to the Eastern fairy +tales disseminated mainly by Wieland. Popular songs played their part in +these "Kasperliads," and out of modest vaudevilles, such as "Kasperl's +Ehrentag," a fairy tale by Hensler (1789), in which the music was +confined to some short choruses and an accompaniment to the supernatural +apparitions, arose gradually comic magic operas. The Leopoldstàdter +Theatre had possessed since 1786 a fruitful composer in Wenzel +Müller,[15] whose place as a comic popular musician was somewhat +similar to that of Laroche as an actor. On May 3, 1791, "Kasper der +Vogelkràmer," by Hensler, was performed with his music, followed on +June 8 by "Kasper der Fagottist, oder die Zauberzither," a vaudeville in +three acts, the words adapted from "Lulu" by Joach. Permet.[16] The piece +follows the plot of the original pretty closely, and the dialogue is as +far as possible verbally transcribed; nevertheless the whole effect is +that of a travesty, and the text of the "Zauberflöte" displays a decided +superiority in comparison with it:-- + +Prince Armidoro, attended by Kaspar Bita, loses himself in the chase, +and comes upon the fairy Perifirime, who despatches them to the magician +Bosphoro, bestowing on the prince a guitar with the same virtues as +the magic flute, and on Kaspar (through the little sprite Pizichi, +who frequently reappears in time of need) a magic bassoon, which gives +occasion to some very questionable pleasantry. The magic power of the +ring, which enables the Prince to assume at will the form of an old man +or of a youth, is very naively employed, the fancy of the audience +being alone called in to represent the metamorphosis. The magician has a +swaggering boon companion, Zumio, who guards the damsels and is in love +with Palmire, playmate of the beautiful Sidi, afterwards in a similar +relation with Kaspar. Having conciliated Bosphoro and Zumio by means of +their magic instruments, and gained entrance into the castle, they +win the love of the damsels, but not without exciting the mistrust +and jealousy of the magician and his companion, who seek to possess +themselves of the instruments. They are saved by Perifirime from a storm +raised by the spirits subject to Bosphoro; an attempt to poison them +fails through Pizichi's warning; finally they are all put to sleep at + +{KASPAR DER FAGOTTIST.} + +(309) + +supper by the magic instruments, and Armidoro possesses himself of the +talisman which makes the spirits subject to him. Perifirime appears, +punishes Bosphoro, and carries the lovers back to her palace. + +Apart from Kaspar's broad jokes, the opera is not wanting in effective +situations, both dramatic and comic, and now and then the music takes +a more ambitious flight. Thus, the opera opens with a grand hunting +chorus, and the first act closes with the sprites tormenting the +followers of the Prince, who are in search of him; the spinning song, +the boat scene with the storm, and the sprites playing at ball with +Zumio, all form good musical situations. The composer rises above the +level of the librettist. In some of the songs and dances he has caught +the popular tone very well, but has failed in the fresh humour which he +elsewhere displays. In spite of all defects, or rather in great +measure because of them, the opera, the music, and the _mise en scène_ +completely hit the popular taste, and 125 representations took place in +the course of a very few years. As a consequence of this success +there appeared in 1792 "Pizichi," or the continuation of "Kaspar der +Fagottist," by Perinet and Wenzel Müller, which had an equally brilliant +reception, and was dedicated by the author "To the illustrious public, +as a token of gratitude." Schikaneder could not hope to rival such a +success as this with an opera on the same subject. He resolved therefore +to transform the piece as much as possible, while utilising what had +already been done on it, and to turn the wicked magician into a noble +philosopher who wins Tamino to be his disciple, guides him to higher +wisdom and virtue, and rewards him with the hand of Pamina. The idea was +capable also of being turned to account in the interests of Freemasonry. +The change in the political views of the government under Leopold II. +had been unfavourable to Freemasonry, which began to be regarded with +much distrust as the organ of political and religious liberalism. A +glorification of the order upon the stage, by a performance which would +place its symbolical ceremonies in a favourable light and justify its +moral tendency, would be sure to be well received as a liberal party +demonstration compromising neither the order as a body nor + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(310) + +its individual members. The effect was heightened by the consciousness +of a secret understanding among the initiated, while the uninitiated +could not fail to suspect a deeper meaning behind the brilliant +display of spectacular effects.[17] Whether Schikaneder, himself a +Freemason,[18] was the author of this idea, or whether it was suggested +by the order, we have no means of ascertaining; the execution of it +was principally due to Joh. Georg Karl Ludw. Gieseke. He was born +in Braunschweig, studied at the university of Halle, and joined +Schikaneder's troupe to earn his living as an actor and a chorus-singer. +He had tried his hand already as an author, having prepared the text for +Wranitzky's "Oberon," and enriched Schikaneder's repertory with a number +of pieces in part translated and in part original. Schikaneder, never +averse to accepting foreign aid,[19] made use of Gieseke's labours as +a groundwork, which he altered to suit his purpose, inserting, for +instance, the characters of Papageno and Papagena, and giving +himself out as the sole author of the piece.[20] We have no means of +ascertaining how far this alteration in the plan of the opera affected +the first part; points here and there may have been retouched, but no +important corrections were made, or some very striking contradictions +would certainly have been removed. With the first finale we find +ourselves in an altogether new new world:-- + +The three boys lead Tamino into a thicket, where stands the temple of +wisdom, knowledge, and nature, exhort him to be steadfast, enduring, +and silent, and leave him alone. He learns from a priest that Sarastro +reigns in the temple of wisdom, and that Pamina has been taken from + +{THE LIBRETTO.} + +(311) + +her mother for certain good reasons, which must remain concealed from +him until all shall be revealed-- + + "Sobald dich fuhrt der + Freundschaft Hand + Ins Heilightum zum ew' gen Band." + +After being encouraged by invisible voices, and assured that Pamina +still lives, he joyfully seizes his magic flute, whose tones have power +to draw all living beings to him. At Papageno's signal he hastens +in search of him. Papageno enters with Pamina; they are surprised by +Monostatos and his slaves; Papageno has recourse to his bells, which set +all who hear them singing and dancing. Scarcely are they free from the +intruders when Sarastro is heard returning from the chase in his chariot +drawn by six lions, and accompanied by a solemn march and chorus. +Pamina, kneeling, informs him that she seeks to escape the love advances +of the Moor, and implores him to allow her to return to her mother; this +Sarastro refuses, but pardons her with the aphorism:-- + + "Ein Mann muss eure Herzen leiten, + Denn ohne ihn pflegt jedes + Weib Aus ihrem Wirkungskreis zu schreiten." + +In the meantime Monostatos enters, having captured Tamino; as soon +as the latter perceives Pamina, he rushes to her, and they embrace +tenderly. The Moor, to his consternation, is rewarded by Sarastro +with "seventy-seven strokes of the bastinado," and the strangers are +conducted into the temple of expiation, that their heads may be covered +and they may be purified. + +Here we may still trace the original design, for the magic instruments, +the wicked Moor, and the chariot drawn by lions, have little affinity +with the temple of wisdom; but with the second act we set forth on +altogether fresh ground:-- + +In the assembly of the eighteen (3x6) attendants dedicated to the great +gods Isis and Osiris,[21] Sarastro announces that the virtuous Prince +Tamino stands at the gate of the temple, seeking permission to gaze +on the "great lights" of the sanctuary; questioned by the devotees, he +assures them of the Prince's virtue, discretion, and benevolence; and, +on the assembly giving their consent with a thrice-repeated blast of +trumpets, he thanks them with emotion in the name of humanity. For, + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(312) + +when Tamino, united with Pamina, shall become one of the devotees of +wisdom, he will destroy the empire of the Queen of Night,[22] who by +superstition and imposture seeks to undermine their power; and virtue +shall triumph at the overthrow of vice. The Orator warns him of the +severity of the probation that he must pass through--but he is a prince, +"nay more, he is a man"; he is able to endure all, "and once devoted +to Osiris and Isis, he will feel the joys of the gods sooner than we." +Tamino and Papageno are to be led into the antechamber of the temple, +and there the Orator, in virtue of his "holy office" as "dispenser of +wisdom," shall acquaint them both with the duty of man and the power +of the gods. A solemn appeal to Isis and Osiris to endow the pair with +wisdom, and to strengthen and protect them in the hour of trial closes +this scene, which bears the impress of Freemasonry throughout. + +The tests begin, after Tamino has declared that, impelled by love, he is +ready for any trial to acquire wisdom and gain Pamina, and Papageno has +agreed to make the attempt to win the love of Papagena, a pretty little +woman, just suited to him. The impression here intended to be conveyed +is evidently that of the higher nature and strivings of man in Tamino +and of the limited and purely sensual side of his nature in Papageno. +The first trial is that of silence. They are scarcely left alone in the +darkness when the three Jadies of the Queen of Night enter and strive to +excite their terrors, which is easily accomplished as far as Papageno is +concerned, the steadfast Tamino with difficulty restraining his cries. +The ladies disappear upon the summons of the priest; the Orator praises +Tamino, and again covers his head that he may continue his "pilgrimage." +Monostatos finds Pamina asleep in the garden, and is on the point of +kissing her, when the Queen of Night appears, gives Pamina a dagger, and +commands her to avenge her wrongs on Sarastro, to whom Pamina's father +had bequeathed the omnipotent talisman which she had hoped to possess; +by Sarastro's death Pamina will gain her freedom, Tamino's life, and +her mother's love. Monostatos, who has overheard, takes the dagger from +Pamina, and threatens to betray her unless she will grant him her love; +on her refusal, he tries to kill her, when Sarastro enters, liberates +Pamina, and promises to wreak a noble vengeance on her mother by +securing her daughter's happiness. + +Tamino and Papageno are conducted into a hall, to remain there in + +{THE LIBRETTO.} + +(313) + +silence until they hear a trumpet sound. Papageno cannot refrain from +chattering to an old woman who brings him a glass of water and, to his +horror, claims him as her lover; a fearful thunder-clap terrifies him, +and he only recovers when the three boys bring him a richly furnished +table, and, reiterating the warning to silence, restore the magic +instruments. While they are eating, Pamina enters, and construes +Tamino's silence into a proof of his want of love for her; not even +her lamentations, however, can tempt him to speak. After this proof of +steadfastness, he is conducted to the assembly, and informed by Sarastro +that two paths of danger still remain to be trodden; Pamina is brought +in to bid him farewell, and, to her despair, he still refuses to utter a +word to her. + +Papageno is informed by the Orator that he shall be excused the +punishment for his loquacity, but that he is never to feel "the divine +joys of the initiated." He declares himself quite content, and only +wishes for a cup of wine and "ein Mädchen oder Weibchen"; the old woman +appears, and is changed into the youthful Papagena, but only to vanish +again the same instant. + +Pamina, plunged in deep melancholy by Tamino's apparent aversion, is on +the point of stabbing herself, but is restrained by the three boys, who +promise to restore Tamino to her. Tamino is just then conducted to the +gates of horror by two men in armour, with the injunction-- + + "Der welcher wandelt diese Strasse voll Beschwerden, + Wird rein durch Wasser, Feuer, Luft und Erden; + Wenn er des Todes Schrecken überwinden kann, + Schwingt er sich aus der Erde himmelan. + Erleuchtet wird er dann im Stande sein, + Sich den Mysterien der Isis ganz zu weihn"-- + +and left to tread the path of danger through fire and water, when Pamina +rushes in, resolved to endure this trial in company with him. They +sustain it happily to the sound of the magic flute, and are received +with solemn rejoicings by the assembly in the temple. Papageno, in +despair at the loss of his Papagena, whom he calls in vain to return, is +about to hang himself, when the three boys appear, and remind him of +his bells: at the sound of them Papagena returns, and his happiness +is complete. In the meantime the Queen of Night, with her ladies, has +gained admittance into the sanctuary by the help of Monostatos, and +promises him her daughter's hand, if he aids her to victory; but a +fearful storm drives them back, and Tamino and Pamina are united with +priestly pomp by Sarastro in the circle of the temple votaries:-- + + "Die Strahlen der Sonne vertreiben die Nacht, + Zernichten der Heuchler erschlichene Macht." + +It would be superfluous to criticise this libretto. The small interest +of the plot, the contradictions and improbabilities in the characters +and in the situations, are clear + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(314) + +to all; the dialogue is trivial, and the versified portions wretched +doggerel, incapable of improvement by mere alteration. Nevertheless, a +certain amount of stage dexterity is not to be denied to it. Schikaneder +knew how to excite and sustain the interest of his audience by +theatrical effects of combination and alteration. On this point the +testimony of Goethe[23] is added to the lasting and wide-spread +approval of the public; he declares that the "Zauberflöte" is "full of +improbabilities and of jokes that it is not easy to appreciate or to +enjoy; but it must be allowed that the author has thoroughly grasped +the idea of contrast and of producing grand theatrical effects"; he +undertook a translation of the piece, and was for some time seriously +occupied with it.[24] Undeniable as it is that the opera owes to +Mozart's music the charm that it exercises over young and old, +cultivated and uncultivated, it must be acknowledged that the piece,[25] +poor from a dramatic point of view, affords many and good opportunities +for the production of musical effects.[26] Whether + +{THE OVERTURE.} + +(315) + +we think much or little of the Masonic views which are here seen +embodied in the mysteries of Isis,[27] Mozart at any rate was inspired +by the zeal of a partisan in giving them utterance. + +The dignity and grandeur with which the music reveals the symbolism of +these mysteries certainly have their root in his intense devotion to the +Masonic idea. + +A clear indication of this devotion was given to the initiated in the +overture,[28] but in a way that showed how well he distinguished Masonic +symbolism from artistic impulse. It opens with a short adagio, +whose solemn accents raise the expectation of an apparition of grave +importance, The trumpets, which are added to the full choir of wind +instruments, give a fulness and brilliancy to the chords which had not +at that time been heard before. The allegro; begins with a regular fugue +on the theme--[See Page Image] the first bars reminding us of dementi's +sonata, played before the Emperor Joseph (Vol. II., p. 199):-- + +The reminiscence may have been conscious or unconscious. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(316) + +But the first glance at the subject of an overture to J. H. Collo's +cantata, "Lazarus Auferstehung" (Leipzig, 1779)--[See Page Image] shows +a considerable similarity to the motif of the overture before us,[29] +with which it cannot have had anything to do, since Mozart in all +probability never knew the cantata. + +After the regular fourth entry of the whole motif, a free fantasia +begins with the separate parts of it and the counter motif, in the +most varied shades of expression, with an ease and elegance which lets +nothing appear of the technicalities of counterpoint, and displays an +animation and liveliness of truly sparkling brilliancy. After the close +of the movement on the dominant with a marvellous crescendo, there +follow three chords three times repeated, with pauses between, given out +by the wind instruments alone, with powerful effect of climax:[30]--[See +Page Image] + +They are the same that occur in the temple assembly as a sign that +Tamino is accepted and appointed to undergo the itests, and were +suggested by the knocking or other rhythmical sounds to which members +were admitted to be initiated in the mysteries of the Masonic lodge. +This does away with the frequent suggestion that the second and third +chords are + +{THE OVERTURE.} + +(317) + +intended to baboimd,[31] indeed André declares in the preface! to his +edition that this solemn introduction, "uncomprehended of a profane +public," to the mystic work which follows would be quite spoilt by the +binding of these chords! Winter has accentuated the rhythm still more +sharply in the "Labyrinth," the second part of the "Zauberflöte," the +overture of which begins with the chords--[See Page Image] which are +repeated several times. The chords suggest to the musical mind only the +solemn warning sound calling attention to what is to follow, but to the +initiated they recall the probation which must be undergone by those who +engage in the search for a higher light. In the allegro which follows +the first theme is taken up again, not in regular fugal form, but +working out the different motifs with unusually elaborate contrapuntal +treatment, for the most part in the stretto. The very form of thematic +treatment gives an impression of force, but of force opposed by many +obstacles and hard to overcome; this is strengthened by the use of the +minor key and by the startling harmonic progressions which intensify the +character of gloom, until it amounts to horror. Serenity returns only +with the recurrence of the principal key, and gradually rises to a +glorious radiance, troubled only towards the close by a few startling +chords, and shining out again with all the purer beauty, till one seems +to float in a very sea of light.[32] Let the contrapuntist admire in this +inimitable masterpiece of German instrumental music the science and +intellectual mastery which it displays; let the Freemason delight in the +refinement with which his mystical ideas are clothed in a musical dress; +the true triumph of genius consists in having created a work which, +quite apart from + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(318) + +scholarship or hidden meaning, produces by its perfection an effect +on the musical mind which is quite irresistible, animating it to +more active endeavour, and lifting it to an atmosphere of purest +serenity.[33] + +The belief that Mozart selected the severer musical forms for his +overture in order to prefigure the serious mood in which he approached +the opera, obtains confirmation from his employment of them again at the +solemn moment of trial. The entrance of the men in armour, who fortify +Tamino with the words quoted above, before he proceeds on his dangerous +voyage through the elements, is announced by an imitative passage for +the strings--[See Page Imge] following a few solemn introductory bars, +and retained in the subsequent working-out as a figured accompaniment to +the song of the two men. The Cantus firmus, however, which they sing in +unison, in octave, supported by flutes, oboes, bassoons, and trombones, +is the old chorale "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein,"[34] unaltered +except in the division of the crotchets into quavers, where the words + +{ACH GOTT VOM HIMMEL.} + +(319) + +require it, and in the closing line added by Mozart.[35] He learnt the +melody no doubt from Kirnberger, who often made use of it as an example, +and twice worked it into a Cantus firmus.[36] This may be gathered from +the fact that Kirnberger as well as Mozart raised the second line by +a third, and that a motif interwoven with it by Mozart is an evident +reminiscence[37] of one employed by Kirnberger in the working out of the +chorale "Es woll uns Gott genàdig sein":--[See Page Image] + +The attraction which the melody had for him as a Cantus firmus for +contrapuntal elaboration is proved by a sketch preserved in the Imperial +Library at Vienna, which contains the beginning of another four-part +elaboration of the theme, adhering still more closely to Kirnberger. +According to Al. Fuchs,[38] this was the first of Mozart's drafts for +the opera, to which it can only be said that in that case he made use +of an earlier contrapuntal study. In the autograph score the movement +is written continuously in connection with the whole finale, but the +handwriting, at first neat, afterwards more and more hasty, shows +clearly that it was copied from an earlier sketch.[39] Even those who +are incapable of appreciating the contrapuntal art with which this +movement is worked + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(320) + +out,[40] and who have no suspicion that they are listening to an old +church melody,[41] will receive an impression of mystery and solemnity +admirably expressive of the dramatic situation to which Mozart strove to +give effect. + +Mozart has throughout the opera given to the music which touched on the +mysteries and the initiation into them a peculiarly solemn character, +and this is consistently maintained through every shade of feeling, from +mild gravity to inspired ecstasy. To this sphere belong the three boys, +who, although emissaries of the Queen of Night, are represented in +the course of the plot as the visible genü of the secret bond. In the +quintet (6) the announcement of the guidance they offer to Tamino and +Papageno is accompanied by a peculiar fexpression in the music, produced +by a change in the harmonic and rhythmic construction[42] and in the +instrumentation. The marchlike movement to which they lead Tamino to the +gates of the sanctuary fulfils to admiration the expectation which has +been raised. The sound-effects also are very uncommon. The clear boys' +voices, supported by the stringed instruments without the double-bass, +are sustained by the full, lightly touched chords of the trombones and +muted trumpets and drums; and a long-sustained G for the flutes and +clarinets sheds a mild radiance like a nimbus over the whole. The +thrice-repeated warning "Sei standhaft, duldsam und verschwiegen," taken +up by the firm tones of the wind instruments, raises the march whose +solemn course it interrupts to a higher dignity and force; the few bars +sung by Tamino throw into greater prominence the unusual character of +the apparition, and the repetition of the boys' song strengthens the +impression which has been given of the higher world to which we now have +access. Such an introduction as this was essential to give the right +tone and + +{TAMINO.} + +(321) + +groundwork for the long recitative which follows, in which Tamino, +prejudiced against Sarastro's wisdom and virtue, is gradually confounded +and half-convinced by one of the priests of the temple. In liveliness +of dramatic expression and successful rendering of the contrasts of +animated conversation, combined with the seriousness proper to the +surroundings and to the dignity of the priest, this recitative stands +alone. The climax of the scene is reached in the consolatory assurance +of the priest that all shall be made plain--[See Page Image] which is +twice repeated by invisible male voices, accompanied by trumpet chords. +A solemn expression, in which emotion and exaltation are united, +betokens the announcement of an oracle. The requirements of musical +climax, of dramatic effect, and of mystic symbolism are here again at +one. + +Meanwhile we are conducted to the temple portals; Tamino is consoled and +reanimated by the intelligence that Pamina still lives, and, still far +from having attained the philosophic calm of the votaries, he has no +thought but for his love. As soon as he begins to express this purely +personal and human emotion, the music becomes freer and lighter, and +solemn seriousness gives place to cheerful geniality. The part taken +at this juncture by the magic flute in assembling the listening animals +round Tamino has no connection with the situation nor with the symbolism +of the piece; it is a relic of the old fable. It was probably owing +to Mozart's aversion to the flute (Vol. I., p. 385), as well as to the +moderate proficiency of the tenor Schack, who played it himself, that +the flute is brought so little forward as a solo instrument; another +reason being that, as Tamino played it himself, it could only be +inserted in the pauses of his songs. In this place it is a ballad-like +cantilene to which the flute supplies the prelude and interlude; +afterwards, during the visit to the dark cave, Mozart has left the flute +part to the fancy of the flautist. During the fire and water ordeal, the +flute has the melody of a slow march, and the peculiar accompaniment of +low chords for the trombones, + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(322) + +horns, trumpets and drums give it a curious, weirdlike character.[43] + +The three boys, or genü, in accordance with the numerical symbolism +pervading the whole, appear three times. After acting as guides to +Tamino, they appear to him and Papageno as they wait in silence within +the gloomy cavern, and bring them for their consolation meat and drink, +as well as the magic flute and bells. The musical characterisation is +therefore lighter and more cheerful. Mozart, hopeless of making +anything out of the nonsensical words, has kept to the delineation of +an attractive ethereal apparition, and has created a short movement of +marvellous grace and charm (17) endowed, as it were, with wings by the +lovely violin passage which accompanies it. + +The third appearance is again of a solemn character. The boys announce +that soon "superstition shall disappear and wisdom shall triumph." +The character of the melody and rhythm approaches that of the first +movement, the instrumentation, as befits the situation, being less +brilliant, although the tone-colouring of the combined clarinets, horns, +and bassoons has a significance all its own.[44] The object here is to +restrain Pamina from suicide and to offer her consolation; thus, while +the boys are interwoven in the plot, they stand necessarily outside of +the narrow circle of allegorical personages, and become, as it were, +human; besides this, the exigences of the music require that they should +be subordinate to Pamina. In the course of this scene, therefore, they +lay aside their proper character to some extent, and become more pliant +and less reserved. Mozart has rightly avoided too close an adherence to +any external characterisation of the boys, and has adopted such means +of expression as were best suited to each situation, not forgetting, +however, to assert their individualities at every appropriate point. +Pamina, on her side, is brought + +{CHORUSES.} + +(323) + +into closer contact with the boys from the moment when she yields to +their persuasions, and thus the ensemble with which the scene closes is +endowed with a nobler, more exalted expression than that of the purely +subjective emotion of Pamina's longing for her lost lover. A solemnity +of a more exalted order belongs to those scenes in which Sarastro and +the temple priests take part. This is at once manifest in the first +finale, which has an altogether exoteric character. The march and chorus +with which Sarastro is received, the closing chorus which celebrates his +virtue and justice, combine force and dignity with a perfect radiance +of beauty; they correspond to the choruses at the end of the opera when +Tamino and Pamina, having withstood every ordeal, are welcomed within +the temple and crowned with glory and wisdom. They are distinguished +above the ordinary operatic choruses of the day as much by their dignity +of expression as by their construction and mode of treatment; and the +wealth of the instrumentation, more especially the introduction of the +trumpets, gives a character of solemnity and magnificence then unknown +in operatic music. Nevertheless they do not obtrude beyond the natural +framework of the opera, and the limits of a work of art are never +exceeded in the effort to express a higher meaning in the music. The +analogy of the choruses with those in "König Thamos" has already been +pointed out (Vol. II., p. 111). There they are treated very elaborately +as independent pieces of music, while here the greater concentration of +musical forces and the maturer, more elevated forms of beauty, display +the mastery of a finished artist. + +The esoteric character of the mysteries is brought to view in the second +act. A solemn, slow march (10) introduces. the assembly of the priests +in the most appropriate manner. It is said that in answer to the +accusation of a friend that he had stolen this march from Gluck's +"Alceste" (Act I., sc. 3), Mozart laughingly replied that that was +impossible, as it still stood there. It was perhaps the best answer to +such an impertinence. The similarity to Gluck's march, as well as to +the last march in "Idomeneo" (25), consists entirely in the fitting +expression of closely related moods. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(324) + +But the special points in the conception are altogether new and +original. A presageful mood, tinged with a gentle melancholy, rising to +greater energy towards the close, transfuses this wonderful movement, +the very tone-colouring of which is affecting. The soft muted tones of +the basset-horn and bassoons are made clearer and purer by the addition +of a flute, while the full chords of horns and trombones and the +stringed instruments bind these elements into unity. The same +tone-colouring, only several shades deeper (the flute being omitted, and +of the strings only violas and violoncelli retained), is continued +in the prayer (11) which follows, addressed to Isis and Osiris in a +mysterious twilight, from which the simple impressive melody for +the bass voice sounds forth with majestic and soothing effect. The +repetition of the closing passage by the male chorus is of quite +indescribable effect, when Sarastro's characteristic passage--[See Page +Image] is given an octave higher. The earnest religious conception which +underlies this prayer shows the spirit in which the symbols and rites of +Freemasonry were approached by Mozart, who once thanked God that +through Freemasonry he had learnt to look upon death as the gate of true +happiness (Vol. II., p. 323). + +The duet for the two priests (12)--a warning against feminine +malice--does not come up to the same high standard, and only becomes at +all imposing at the closing bars, "Tod und Verzweiflung war sein Lohn." +The words could not be delivered with gravity without producing too +comic an effect; Mozart has therefore treated them as a piece of +friendly counsel, not as a priestly admonition, The second chorus of +priests (19), which greets Tamino at the successful issue of his first +trial, has, on the other hand, quite the dignity and solemnity of the +first; although doubt and anxiety are for the present at an end, there +is as yet none of the jubilant delight with which the victor is hailed +at the final victory. A character of purity and elevation is expressed +with a manly confidence differing from the + +{SARASTRO--AIR--TERZET.} + +(324) + +intense sympathy of the first chorus, and the instrumentation is +modified accordingly. Trombones and horns give an imposing tone, +lightened by trumpets, flutes and oboes, instead of basset-horns, while +the prevailing low position of the stringed instruments supplies force +and gravity to the movement. The moderate length of this chorus, as of +all the movements which have the same solemn and mystic tone, is a fresh +proof of Mozart's sure insight. The powerful impression is made, the +excited mood is appeased, without fatiguing the mind or dulling the +charm of the unusual characterisation. + +Sarastro never descends altogether from his high priestly eminence, but +he shows a genial side to his character, and sometimes, as on his first +appearance in the finale, a fatherly one. This more genial nature is +expressed in the air (16), + +"In diesen heiligen Hallen," which, as with so many other pieces +from the "Zauberflöte," we have first to forget having so often heard +maltreated before we can realise the original impression made by it. The +simple instrumentation and the easy treatment of the cavatina shows at +once that the priestly character is not meant to be maintained here: +it is the paternal friend speaking words of comfort to the maiden who +confides in him.[45] Mozart, convinced that Freemasonry is the key to +true philanthropy and friendship, has not contented himself with merely +setting the trivial words before him to music, but has given expression +with all the warmth and intensity of his nature to the highest and +noblest feelings of the human heart. The beautiful terzet (20) gives a +peculiarly elevated calm to Sarastro's sympathy in a situation which is +more dramatic and musical than almost any other in the opera. Pamina +is led in to bid farewell to Tamino before he sets forth for his final +ordeal. This in itself is a test of his fortitude, for he is constrained +to oppose reserve to her excitement, and to endure her reproaches +for his apparent want of tenderness in silence. Between them stands +Sarastro, consoling and + +{DIE ZAUBERFLöTE.} + +(326) + +exhorting them, like a higher power holding the fate of them both in his +hand.[46] + +It was Mozart's task to blend into one these conflicting elements of +passionate grief, of deep emotion restrained by an inflexible will, +and of unyielding earnest exhortation. It was comparatively easy +to accentuate the contrasts. Pamina and Sarastro are in absolute +opposition, and Tamino, joining issue now with one, now with the other, +forms a natural middle point. It is fortunate, from a musical point of +view, that the arrangement of the parts falls in with these conditions, +land that the natural course of the emotions depicted lends itself to a +musical climax. The simplicity of the orchestral means here made use +of by Mozart shows how much he was able to accomplish with very little, +especially in the accompaniment passage, which renders so marvellously +the agitation of the situation.[47] It may at first sight appear +fcommonplace; but the unusually low position of the violas, violoncelli, +and bassoons gives it a striking expression of power and of breathless +urgency.[48] + +The part of Sarastro taxed all the resources of a deep bass voice, such +as that for which Franz Gerl, the original supporter of the part, was +celebrated.[49] It was in another way as original a conception as that +of Osmin. The latter may be said to have had a predecessor in the buffo +of the Italian opera, but Sarastro is the first of his kind, and can +as little be compared to the regulation bass parts of Italian opera as +Almaviva and Don Giovanni to the baritones. The dignity and calm of +the philosopher to whom passion is unknown would have afforded little +opportunity for musical characterisation had not Mozart's genuinely +German nature gone down to the intellectual depths of the character. For + +{TAMINO.} + +(327) + +Sarastro's good temper and amiability, which might so easily do violence +to the idealism of the conception, show their German origin unaffected +by the symbolism around them. Mozart sought and found in the powerful +sonorous tones of the bass voice the musical organ for the expression of +a nature passionless indeed, but open to all that is good and noble, +and possessing the benevolence and truthfulness of a mind matured in the +graver experiences of humanity. + +The intrusion of Masonic mysteries into the plot has had a bad effect +upon the treatment of the characters, Tamino especially being injured by +it. At first he scarcely presents an heroic appearance--rather that of +a susceptible and generous youth longing to meet danger and strife that +the right and his love may prevail. The original course of the plot +leads him into dangers which he has to overcome by strength and courage; +here, for some incomprehensible reason, he is to be converted to a +belief in Sarastro. The fact of his probation taking place for the most +part in silence is of disadvantage to him, both as a tenor and a +lover; the dark cave and the wandering through fire and water are +not particularly terrifying to the spectators, and his praiseworthy +endeavours after virtue are too abstract to be interesting. And yet +Mozart has filled in this colourless outline with the warm tints of +youthful enthusiasm for all that is noble in life and in love. The first +air (4) strikes the tone which is to prevail throughout. We may trust +the word of the poet, that the sight of a lovely woman is sufficient to +inspire the heart with a love that is irresistible, and to rouse it to +a new and blissful life; but the musician alone has the power of so +realising the miracle to the mind of the hearer that he feels it working +in himself; and such a musician is Mozart. After a twice-repeated sort +of sigh from the orchestra, there streams forth from an overflowing +heart:--[See Page Image] + +More agitated feelings follow this first glad expression of love, +and the development of strong emotion is expressed by the form of the +musical representation which follows every + +{DIE ZAUBERFLöTE.} + +(328) + +turn of thought, breaking off the threads and joining them again without +any connected flow of melody. The whole piece is a well-constructed +cantilene, formed from separate symmetrical phrases, and recurring at +the close with the words, "und ewig ware sie dann mein," to the same +melody which followed the first exclamation with "mein Herz mit neuer +Regung füllt." + +Stormy passion and fierce longing are the proper accompaniments to all +youthful love, and the moderation with which Tamino keeps them in check +gives at once the keynote to his character. His enthusiasm for an +ideal, and his noble and intelligent mind, are opened to us in the fine +recitative, and the calmer expression of love which follows completes +the picture of character. + +Benedict Schack, the original Tamino (b. 1758) was both musically and +intellectually a cultivated man. He was a good flautist, and composed +several operas for Schikaneder's company, which he joined as a vocalist +in 1784. He had become very intimate with Mozart in Vienna. When the +latter called for him, as he often did, to take a walk, he used, while +Schack was dressing, to seat himself at his writing-table and compose +little bits of the opera which lay there. Schack was equally famed for +his flexible and metallically pure tenor voice and his artistic and +refined execution, but he.was a very inferior actor.[50] + +As the piece proceeds the love intrigue takes a peculiar tone from its +association with the mysteries and with the ordeals belonging to them. +Many allusions are made to the dignity of marriage as the consummation +of righteous love, and this is apparently the sense intended to be +conveyed by the oft-quoted ludicrous doggerel:-- + + Ihr (der Liebe) Zweck zeigt deutlich an, + Nichts edlers sei als Weib und Mann; + Mann und Weib, und Weib und Mann, + Reichen an die Gotter an. + +The main points, how Tamino is to win Pamina by his + +{PAMINA.} + +(329) + +initiation into the mysteries, and how Pamina comes to share his ordeals +with him, are not made clear, since the love intrigue has originally +nothing to do with them. Pamina,[51] at first contrasting with Papagena +only as a gay, lively young girl whose higher nature has had no +opportunity for development, shows herself in her true proportions when +she approaches Sarastro with the pride and self-possession which denote +her as his equal in dignity and sentiment. It is but for one short +moment that the lovers first see each other, and by an irresistible +impulse rush into each other's arms. This outbreak of passion falls so +naturally into the rest of the movement, essentially different as it is +in tone, that one is amazed that such simple notes can give so powerful +an impression of jubilant emotion. Tamino and Pamina are separated at +once, and are not reunited until near the end of the opera. + +If Tamino may be said to be the expression of the enthusiasm of love +as it awakes in the bosom of youth, Pamina may, on the other hand, be +considered as the embodiment of the torment excited in a loving heart +by doubt of the loved one's constancy. The spark which is kindled in her +bosom by the sight of Tamino rises into an inextinguishable flame, and +when his obstinate silence causes her to doubt his love, every hope of +joy vanishes from her breast. It is not a difficult task for music to +render the anguish of a broken heart, and the keener the pangs to be +conveyed the easier it becomes. But to express with the utmost truth +and intensity the deep grief of a maiden who has learnt to know her own +heart by the first mighty pulsation of love, at the very moment when her +hope is to be rudely dashed to the ground--this is the work of such a +master only as the composer of the air (18) "Ach ich fühls."[52] Bitter +pain + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(330) + +speaks here--pain without hope of solace; the memory of a vanished +happiness has not yet softened into regretful melancholy, nor is it +sharpened by the lingering pangs of conflict and torment overcome; it is +a pain as yet unconscious of its own force and intensity. All feelings +are swallowed up in the one: "He loves me not, and happiness is flown!" +When to this open and truthful expression of the anguish endured by +an innocent heart is united the charm of budding maidenhood, we feel +ourselves in the presence of a beauty which moves our inmost being, and +which Mozart alone of all musicians is capable of rendering in song. The +form and means of effect employed are of the simplest kind. The music +follows the course of the emotions in a continuous flow, without +allowing any definite motif to predominate. It is a very delicate touch +which makes the same expressive phrase occurring in the major to the +words, "nimmer kehrt ihr Wonnestunden meinem Herzen mehr zurück," recur +in the minor at the close to the words, "so wird Ruh im Tode sein." The +voice part is put very prominently forward, the stringed instruments +maintaining the harmonies and the rhythm in the simplest manner, while +different wind instruments (flutes, oboes, bassoons) give a sharper +accent here and there. The orchestra becomes independent only in the +closing symphony, expressing deep sorrow very effectively by means of +its syncopated rhythm and chromatic passages. This air forms a decided +contrast to the garden air in "Figaro" (Vol. III., p. 91), and yet there +is a deep-seated relationship apparent in them. In "Figaro" we have the +purest expression of happy love, flowing from a human heart without a +disturbing thought. Here it is the unmingled expression of sorrow for +departed love. The one has the soft warm glow of a fragrant summer +night; the other is like moonlight shining on rippling waters; but +in truth, purity, and beauty of musical rendering, the two songs +unmistakably betray the mind and hand of one and the same musician. + +Before the painful impression has had time to die away there follows the +brief interview of the lovers in presence of Sarastro and the Initiated, +as represented in the terzet (20). + +{PAMINA--TERZET.} + +(331) + +Pamina, in her anxiety and doubt as to whether Tamino's love will stand +the test imposed upon it, gives the tone to the whole piece. Her concern +is not appeased by Sarastro and Tamino's consoling assurances, and not +until the time for farewell has really arrived do the two lovers' parts +unite and contrast with that of Sarastro. Then the expression of emotion +is raised and purified, and indicated by touches of extraordinary +delicacy and depth, as when Pamina's passionate outbreak--[See Page +Image] + +deprives Tamino of self-control, and he too gives vent to the anguish +of parting, while she appeals to him in mingled joy and sorrow, and +Sarastro remains inexorable; or when at the inimitably beautiful passage +at the close the hearts as well as the voices of the lovers seem to +mingle and flow into one. Here again we may admire the skill with which +the ordinary resources of musical representation are employed to produce +extraordinary effects.[53] Instead of feeling her anxiety set at rest by +this interview, Pamina is more violently agitated than before. She now +no longer doubts that Tamino has ceased to love her, and, deprived of +all hope, she seizes the dagger which her mother has given to her to +murder Sarastro, and prepares to plunge it in her own bosom. Thus, at +the beginning of the second finale, we find her "half-frantic" under the +protection of the three boys. Their presence has a moderating effect on +her passion of despair, and Mozart has carefully refrained from giving +to the thoughts of suicide excited in a maiden's breast by her first +disappointment in love the same kind of expression as would belong to +one who, exhausted by long strife with the world, had resolved to rid +himself of life and his sorrows + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(332) + +together. Thus, bold and energetic as the musical expression is, it +never causes any distortion in the picture of a charming innocent girl, +and this has a more tranquillising effect on the minds of the audience +than the support of the three boys. In accordance with the situation +the movement of the voices is quite free, generally declamatory, the +interjections of the three boys holding the whole movement firmly in +its groove. Pamina gives ready ear to the reassurance of the three boys, +but, instead of breaking into loud exultation, her mind recurs lovingly +to Tamino, and the music gains that soft pathetic tone which belongs +to modern music. The supernatural element of the scene idealises it, and +prepares the way for the solemn ordeal which is immediately to follow. +Tamino, who has determined to tread the path of danger, but has believed +he was to tread it alone, is agreeably surprised to find Pamina at his +side. The reunion of the lovers is deprived, in face of the dangers +which they are to overcome together, of every trace of sensual passion. +Not until they are initiated into the mysteries for which they are +undergoing probation can their love be justified or its enjoyment +assured. The tone of the scene therefore is a serious one, rendered even +solemn by the participation of the grave guardians of the sanctuary, +who have just enunciated its ordinances. But the human emotion which +irresistibly breaks forth adds a pathos to the solemnity and a charm +to the youthful pair, filling us with renewed admiration for the genius +which blends all these diverse elements into a living and harmonious +whole. + +Such a pair of lovers as this, so ideal, so sentimental (schwarmerisch) +in their feelings and mode of expression, betray at once their German +origin and character; there is nothing analogous in Mozart's Italian +operas; even Belmont and Constanze, though of the same type, display +more human passion. To the representatives of noble humanity, Sarastro, +Tamino, and Pamina, stands opposed the antagonistic and vindictive +principle, in the person of the Queen of Night. The manner of her +representation leaves distinct traces visible of the different part she +was originally intended to fill. At the beginning, when she appears as +the + +{THE QUEEN OF NIGHT.} + +(333) + +deeply injured mother, with all the magnificence of her regal state, +there is nothing in the musical characterisation to indicate her +gloomy and vindictive nature, which is thus proved to have been an +afterthought. A solemn introduction, rising into a powerful crescendo, +announces the coming of the Queen, while "the mountains are cleft +asunder." It has been pointed out[54] that this ritornello has +considerable resemblance to the passage in Benda's "Ariadne," which +accompanies the setting of the sun:--[See Page Image] + +Mozart knew and admired Benda's "Ariadne," and this passage may have +been in his mind; but it is scarcely to be imagined that he consciously +imitated it, and in any case he has rendered it far more effectively. +A short recitative is followed by an air in two movements (5), the only +one so + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(334) + +elaborate in form of the whole opera, the result doubtless of the +traditional conception of the character of the Queen. The first movement +expresses a mother's grief simply and pathetically, but without any +tinge of the supernatural to characterise her either as the good fairy +or as the Queen of Night. The allegro is far weaker, going off after +a few energetic bars into long runs and passages quite instrumental in +character, with nothing striking in them but the presupposition of an +extraordinary soprano voice in the high--[See Page Image] +to which they rise. This is apparently another concession made by Mozart +to the "voluble throat" of his eldest sister-in-law, Madame Hofer (Vol. +II., p. 330). There can be no difficulty in accrediting a sister of +Aloysia Weber with the possession of a fabulously high voice; but it is +remarkable that Schroder, who saw her in the same year (1791) as Oberon, +should have said of her (Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1, p. 85): "A very +unpleasing singer; her voice is not high enough for the part, and she +squeaks it, besides which she opens her mouth with a gape like the elder +Stephanie." Nevertheless, she set no small store on herself, and must +have been admired by a portion of the public; Mozart has made a still +greater sacrifice to her in the second air, in which the Queen of Night +commands her daughter to wreak vengeance on Sarastro. In design it is +free and bold, in passionate expression of resentment very powerful; the +two chief parts are both musically and dramatically striking, the close +is genuinely pathetic, and the uniformly high position of the voice +in conjunction with the forcible and somewhat shrilly toned +instrumentation, is of very singular effect. All this notwithstanding, +Mozart has allowed himself to be persuaded to ruin an aria which +might have been a model of pathetic declamation by two long ornamental +passages inserted between the parts of the air, which are not only +destructive of proper effect, but also unnatural, and wanting in taste +themselves. The Queen is attended by three ladies, who, however, have +none of the vindictive qualities which distinguish her. Not + +{THE THREE LADIES.} + +(335) + +only do we find unmistakable proofs of their original conception as good +fairies, but the way in which they are treated in the opera has a spice +of the drollery of Musäus or Wieland, although without their grace and +refinement; the merit which they possess is entirely due to Mozart. +They show themselves in their true colours from the first introduction. +Tamino enters in terrified flight from a serpent,[55] which is +well-expressed by the orchestra; at the moment when he is falling into a +swoon, the three ladies appear and slay the monster. As they gaze on the +beautiful youth, tender promptings fill their breasts; each wishes to +remain with him and to send her companions with tidings to the Queen; +a dispute arises which ends by their all three going, after a tender +farewell to the insensible Tamino. The situation is represented with +vivacity and humour in three well worked-out and varying movements, and +although the ladies never display any lofty emotions, they move with +so much natural grace that the not very refined situation makes an +impression of unclouded cheerfulness. A long cadenza for the three +voices, with which the movement originally closed, was judiciously +struck out by Mozart himself.[56] + +The ladies express themselves in similar fashion, though not quite so +openly, seeing that they are not alone, in the quintet (6) when they +deliver Papageno from his padlock, present him and Tamino with the flute +and bells, and promise the companionship of the three boys. Here +too, they are benevolent beings, bringing miraculous gifts, but not +displaying any higher nature except when they mention the three boys, +and even then the mysterious tone adopted belongs rather to the latter +and the mysteries connected with them. Indeed, the teasing familiarity +of the ladies to Papageno, and their coquettish politeness to Tamino, + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(336) + +give them quite a _bourgeois_ character, supported by the genial, jovial +tone of the music, which is fresh, natural, and full of euphonious +charm. + +In the second quintet (13) the same ladies appear as opponents of the +initiated, but their character has been already so clearly indicated +that they cannot consistently turn into vindictive furies. They have +the appropriate feminine task of inveigling Tamino and Papageno into +breaking the silence which has been imposed on them, and, while easily +accomplishing this, as far as Papageno is concerned, they find that +Tamino is inflexible himself, and recalls Papageno to his duty. The +object of the music, therefore, is not to bring a dismal or gloomy +image before the mind, but to emphasise, without exaggerating, the comic +element of the situation. The central point of interest is of course +Papageno, who displays all the cowardice and loquacity of his nature to +the ladies, and is only kept within bounds by his respect for Tamino; +the ladies treat the interview almost as a joke, and even Tamino's +steadfast determination acquires from its surroundings an involuntarily +comic tone. The whole quintet is light and pleasing, destitute of any +higher feeling, such as that of the first quartet; all the more striking +is the effect of the powerful closing chords, to which the ladies, +pursued by the initiated, depart with a cry of terror, while Papageno +falls to the ground. The peculiar musical effect of this piece depends +mainly upon the skill with which the female voices are employed;[57] +where the male voices come in they are made to add to the combinations +partly in contrast and partly in union with the female voices. The +instrumentation is for the most part easy; in order to afford a firm +foundation the two violins frequently go with the third voice instead +of the bass, while wind instruments support the upper voices, which +produces a clear, light, and yet powerful tone-colouring. The allegretto +(6-8) in the introduction, in comparison with the two other movements of +the + +{THE MOOR--PAPAGENO.} + +(337) + +same, or the passages in the first quintet, "bekamen doch die +Lügner allé," "O so eine Flöte," "Silberglöckchen," and finally the +announcement of the three boys may serve as examples of the union of +orchestra and voices to produce a climax of novel and melodious effect. + +The Moor Monostatos may also be considered as a follower of the Queen of +Night, only left in attendance on Sarastro through the inconsistency +of the adaptation, and made a renegade in order that the figure of a +traitor to the order might not be omitted. He is never brought to the +front, neither in the terzet, where he threatens Pamina and then runs +away from Papageno, nor in the first finale, where he is made to dance +by Papageno, and then bastinadoed by order of Sarastro. But in the +second act, when he surprises Pamina asleep, he has a little song to +sing (14) which is a miniature masterpiece of psychological dramatic +characterisation.[58] + +The kingdom of Night is most strikingly characterised when the Queen and +her ladies are introduced into the sanctuary by Monostatos to plot their +revenge. The motif on which the movement rests--[See Page Image] + +is graphically descriptive of the stealthy entry; the summons to the +Queen of Night takes an expression of gloomy solemnity which stands in +characteristic contrast to the dignified gravity of the priests. + +Papageno adds a third element to the temple priests and the kingdom of +Night. Even the inevitable character of the comic servant received +a novel colouring from the introduction of Masonic relations. The +qualities of sensuality, cowardice, and loquacity, on which the comic +effect depends, are here made typical of the natural man, who, destitute +of the nobler and more refined impulses of the initiated, aspires to +nothing beyond mere sensual gratification. This it maybe which causes +Papageno to appear far less vulgar and offensive + +{DIE ZAUBERFLöTE} + +(338) + +than most of his fellows. It is true that his wit is destitute of +refinement or humour, but his jokes, though silly, are healthy and +natural to one side of the German character, which explains the fact +of Papageno having become the favourite of a large part of the public. +Although Schikaneder had doubtless a share in this popularity (he made +the part to his own liking, and when he built his new theatre with the +proceeds of the "Zauberflöte," he had himself painted on the drop-scene +as Papageno), all the essential merit of it is Mozart's own. To whatever +extent Schikaneder may have helped him to the melodies, that he came to +the aid of Mozart's inventive powers will be imagined by none, least of +all by those who know that the simplest song requires science for its +perfection, and that truth and beauty are made popular, not by debasing, +but by simplifying them. + +Papageno's songs are genuine specimens of German national music--gay and +good-humoured, full of enjoyment of life and its pleasures. The first +song (3), "Der Vogel-fänger bin ich ja," is unusually simple, with an +extremely happy, sympathetic melody; the addition of horns, with +the tones and passages natural to them, gives a freshness to the +accompaniment; and the by-play on the reed-pipe (ever since called +Papageno's flute)--[See Page Image] + +with the answer of the orchestra, has a really funny effect. The second +song (21) is in two parts, differing in time and measure, but resembles +the first in the tone of merry content which lies at the root of its +popularity. Schikaneder may have given just the suggestion to the +musical conception (Vol. III., p. 284), but the precise and well-rounded +working-out is due to Mozart alone. Papageno's bells give a peculiar +tone to the accompaniment, "eine Maschine wie ein holzemes Gelàchter," +they are called in the libretto, and "istromento d' acciajo" by Mozart +in the score; they were brought in for the ritornellos and interludes +with easy variations in the different verses. The celebrated double-bass +player Pischl-berger or, according to Treitschke, Kapellmeister + +{PAPAGENO.} + +(339) + +Henneberg "hammered" the instrument behind the scenes. Mozart wrote to +his wife at Baden how he had once played the bells himself behind the +scenes:-- + +I amused myself by playing an arpeggio when Schikaneder came to a pause. +He was startled, looked round, and saw me. The second time the pause +occurred I did the same; then he stopped and would not go on; I guessed +what he was after, and made another chord, upon which he tapped the +bells and said: "Hold your tongue!" ("Halts Maul!"), whereupon everybody +laughed. I fancy this was the first intimation to many people that he +did not play the instrument himself. + +The instrument occurs first in the first finale, when Papageno makes the +slaves of Monostatos dance and sing to it. + +Here it is brought prominently forward, supporting the melody alone, +accompanied only _pizzicato_ by the stringed instruments, and in a +measure by the chorus; the whole is most innocently simple, and of +charming effect.[59] The bells exercise their power a third time (the +magic flute is also; played three times) in the last finale, where the +magic instrument aids the despairing Papageno to recall his Papagena, +and is treated simply as befits its nature.[60] + +Papageno's chief scene is in the last finale, when he resolves to die +for the love of his lost Papagena, and it forms a counterpart to the +pathetic scene of Pamina's despair. An expression of good-humour and of +true, if not very elevated, feeling prevents the comic situation from +becoming farcical. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLöTE.} + +(340) + +Papageno's grief is like that of a child, expressed in genuine earnest, +yet of a nature to raise a smile on the lips of grownup people. +This double nature is well expressed, for example, in the violin +passage--[See Page Image]nwhich has something comic in its very accents +of grief. The form of this lengthy scene is altogether free. Without +alteration of time or measure the music follows the various points of +the scene, declamatory passages interrupting the long-drawn threads of +melody sometimes with great effect, and descriptive phrases repeated +at suitable places to keep the whole together. Thus the characteristic +passage--occurs three times to the words: "Drum geschieht es mir schon +recht!" "Sterben macht der Lieb' ein End," and "Papageno frisch hinauf, +en.de deinen Lebenslauf!" At the close, when he seems really on the +point of hanging himself, the time becomes slower, and a minor key +serves to express the gloom of despair. But the three boys appear and +remind him of his bells; at once his courage rises, and as he tinkles +the bells he calls upon his sweetheart to appear with all the confidence +and joy of a child. At the command of the boys he looks round, sees her, +and the two feather-clothed beings contemplate each other with amazement +and delight, approaching nearer and nearer, until at last they fall +into each other's arms. The comic point of the stammering "Pa-pa-pa-," +uttered by them both, slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity +until they embrace with the exclamation, Papageno!" and "Papagena!" was +due to Schickaneder's + +{LOVE OF MAN AND WIFE.} + +(341) + +suggestion.[61] That the happiness they feel at their reunion should +find expression in anticipating the advent of numerous little +Papagenos and Papagenas is not only intended as a trait of human nature +unrestrained and unrefined in thought and word, but serves to point +to the parental joys springing from wedlock as "the highest of all +emotions." The duet originally ended with the words (which Mozart did +not set to music):-- + + Wenn dann die Kleinen um sie spielen + Die Eltern gleiche Freude fühlen, + Sich ihres Ebenbildes freun + O, welch ein Gluck kann grosser sein? + +The words with which the boys lead Papagena to Papageno-- + + Komm her, du holdes, liebes Weibchen! + Dem Mann sollst du dein Herzchen weihn. + Er wird dich lieben, süsses Weibchen, + Dein Vater, Freund und Brader sein + Sie dieses Mannes Eigenthum! + +were also omitted by Mozart, because serious exhortations and moral +reflections would have been out of place here. He has instead succeeded +in producing so lively and natural an expression of childlike delight, +untouched by any taint of sensual desire, that the hearer feels his own +heart full of happiness for very sympathy. The companion piece to this +duet is that which Papageno sings with Pamina, after informing her that +Tamino, fired with love, is hastening to her release (8). There can be +no doubt that Mozart's wish has been to express the loftiest conception +of the love of man and wife as an image, however faint and imperfect, of +heavenly love; but here again Schikaneder has interposed, and insisted +on something popular. We cannot blame him, for Papageno's sphere is that +of natural, simple sentiment, not of enlightened morality, and Pamina is +an inexperienced girl, who follows her own feelings, and is ready enough +to fall into Papageno's vein. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(342) + +Mozart did not find it easy to satisfy Schikaneder, who called each +fresh attempt fine, but too learned; not until the third, or as some +say, the fifth version,[62] did Mozart hit on the simple tone of warm +feeling which Schikaneder believed would win every ear and every heart. +His judgment proved correct; at the first performance this was the +first piece applauded, and an angry critic complained in 1793 that the +"Mozartites" were passing all bounds, and that "at every concert the +ladies' heads went nodding like poppies in the field when the senseless +stuff was sung: 'Mann und Weib, und Weib und Mann (which makes four, by +the way), reichen an die Gottheit an.'"[63] According to Kapellmeister +Trüben-see, of Prague, who was engaged as oboist in Schikaneder's opera, +a rejected composition of this duet in the grand style was afterwards +made use of alternately with that now known, and indicated on the +playbill, "with the old duet" or "with the new duet."[64] At the first +performance of the "Zauberflöte" in the new Theater an der Wien in 1802, +Schikaneder' made the following announcement on the bill:-- + +Having been so fortunate as myself to possess the friendship of Mozart, +whose affection for me led him to set my work to music, I am in a +position to offer the audience on this occasion a gratifying surprise +in the form of two pieces of Mozart's composition, of which I am sole +possessor.[65] + +One of them may have been the duet in question; what the other was we +cannot even conjecture.[66] An individuality such as Papageno's is +sure to impart some of its naïve good humour and joviality to the other +characters with whom he comes in contact, and the impression thus made +cannot + +{ENSEMBLES.} + +(343) + +fail to appear in the music; whenever Papageno enters, whether he is +merry or whether he is sad, an irresistible tone of good humour takes +possession of the stage. Next to him in want of reserve and self-control +stands Pamina, who only gradually attains a consciousness of her higher +and nobler nature. Neither in the duet nor in the flight does her +expression of the feelings they are both experiencing differ in tone +from Papageno's; any marked distinction here would have marred the total +impression without assisting psychological truth. But on the approach +of Sarastro they draw apart; Pamina entrenches herself in proud reserve, +while Papageno gives vent to his terror with the same energy as in the +first quintet (6) when he is ordered to accompany Tamino to the castle. +In the second quintet (13) his fright is kept in check by Tamino's +presence, and his disgust at not daring to speak, and not being able +to keep silence, gains the upper hand and gives the tone to the whole +piece. + +Such a consideration as we have given to the principal characters of the +"Zauberflöte," to its intellectual and musical conception, and to the +prevailing freedom of its form, serves to stamp its character as a +genuinely German opera. What was begun in the "Entführung," which +undertook to raise German vaudeville to the level of opera proper, +is carried further in the "Zauberflöte," which succeeds in gaining +recognition for the simplest expression of feeling, and for full freedom +of form of dramatic characterisation. The opera contains no airs of +the traditional stamp, except the two airs of the Queen of Night; and +a comparison of the way in which the aria form is treated in "Cosi fan +Tutte" and "Titus" will show an organic change in the airs, now that +they are developed from the simple Lied. This freedom of construction is +still more apparent in the ensembles, in the beautiful terzet (20), and +more especially in the first quintet (6). The second quintet (13) is +more precise in form, the ladies tempting Tamino and Papageno to break +silence forming the natural middle point of the musical construction. +But the freedom of movement strikes us most of all in the finales, which +are admirable examples of + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(344) + +the art, so praised by Goethe, of producing effect by means of contrast. +In dramatic design they are inferior to the finales of "Figaro," "Don +Giovanni," or "Cosi fan Tutte." Instead of a plot proceeding from one +point, and developing as it proceeds, we have a succession of varied +scenes, lightly held together by the thread of events, and interesting +us more from their variety than their consistent development. In order +to follow this rapid movement great freedom of musical construction was +necessary; opportunities of carrying out a definite motif till it forms +a self-contained movement, which are so frequent in Italian finales, +occur here but seldom, one instance being the allegro of the first +finale, when Monostatos brings in Tamino, and the movement of the second +finale to which the Queen of Night enters. This essential difference of +treatment fills us with renewed admiration of Mozart's fertility in the +production of new suggestive and characteristic melodies, which seem +ready at command for every possible situation. Those who descend to +details will be amazed to find how seldom Mozart is satisfied with +a mere turn of expression, how lavish he is of original fully formed +musical subjects, and how all the details of his work are cemented into +a whole by his marvellous union of artistic qualities. + +This leads us to the consideration of a second point in which the +"Zauberflöte" surpasses the "Entführung." The latter is confined to a +narrow circle of characters, situations, and moods, while the former has +a large and varied series of phenomena. The story from which the plot is +derived opens the realm of fairies and genü, personified in the Queen +of the Night and her ladies, and, as regards his outward appearance, in +Papageno. In addition to this there is the mystical element which +takes the first place both in the dramatic conception and the musical +characterisation of the opera. Mozart had no intention of representing +a fantastic fairy land, such as was called into existence by Weber and +Mendelssohn. The fabulous was not then identified with the fantastic, +but was often consciously made a mirror for the reflection of real life, +with its actual sentiments and views. Therefore the Queen of Night is +depicted as a queen, + +{FANTASTIC AND MYSTIC ELEMENTS.} + +(345) + +as a sorrowing mother, as a revengeful woman; her ladies have their +share of coquetry and gossip, and these feminine qualities predominate +over the supernatural. The musical task of combining three soprano +voices into a connected whole, while preserving their individuality, +calls for great peculiarity of treatment, entailing further a special +turning to account of the orchestral forces at command, at the same time +that no special forms of expression are made to serve as typical of the +fairy element of the piece. + +On the other hand the apparition of the three boys is accompanied by +every means of musical characterisation. They form the link with the +region of mysticism indicated awkwardly enough in the libretto. We +recognise something more than individual taste and inclination in +Mozart's efforts to invest them with a character of grave solemnity. A +universal and deep-rooted sympathy with Freemasonry was a characteristic +sign of the times, and the German mind and disposition are well +expressed in the efforts that were made to find in Freemasonry that +unity which intellectual cultivation and moral enlightenment alone could +bestow. Mozart was therefore at one in intention and aim with all that +was highest and noblest in the nation, and the more deeply his own +feelings were stirred the more sure he was to stamp his music with all +that was truly German in character. It was not without design that he +selected an old choral melody to mark a point of most solemn gravity, or +that he treated it in the way with which his fellow-countrymen were most +familiar. This passage is also significant as showing the marvellous +element in a symbolic light, and bringing the supernatural within the +domain of the human sphere. In this respect the representation of +the marvellous in the "Zauberflöte" differs widely from that in "Don +Giovanni." There the appearance of the ghost is a veritable miracle, a +fact which must be believed to be such, and rendered to the minds of +the spectators by means of the musical representation of terror in the +actors. In the "Zauberflöte," on the contrary, the marvellous element is +suggested only by the mystery hidden beneath it, and the mind is attuned +to a mood of awe-struck wonder. + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(346) + +It cannot be denied that the deeply rooted symbolism of the opera has +dulled the edge of individual characterisation. Actions lose their +reality and become mere tests of virtue; the choruses of the priests +express generalities; neither the three ladies nor the three boys are +independent characters, but each group forms an individual, which +again represents an idea; even the principal characters, owing to the +concentration of all upon one idea, have more of a typical character +than is desirable in the interests of dramatic characterisation.[67] +In spite of these drawbacks Mozart has depicted both his situations and +characters naturally and vividly. No one will attempt to deny that both +the subjects and treatment of "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," and in some +degree also of "Cosi fan Tutte," present far more occasions for the +expression of passion, for delicate detail, and for the emphasising of +special features, than is the case with the "Zauberflöte," where the +effect depends mainly on the general impression left by the whole work; +but that this is the case affords only another proof of Mozart's power +of grasping the strong points of every problem that was set before him. +"In Lessing's 'Nathan,'" says Strauss,[68] "we are as little disposed +to complain of the want of that powerful impression produced by his +more pungent pieces, as we are to wish the peaceful echoes of Mozart's +'Zauberflöte' exchanged for the varied characterisation and foaming +passion of the music of 'Don Juan.' In the last work of the musician, as +in that of the poet, wide apart as they stand in other respects, there +is revealed a perfected spirit at peace with itself, which having fought +and overcome all opposition from within, has no longer to dread that +which comes from without." + +The fact that the words of the opera were in German had doubtless an +important influence on the musical expression. Wretched as the verses +are, so much so that it is difficult sometimes to find the sense +necessary for the proper understanding of Mozart's rendering of them, +they nevertheless + +{THE ORCHESTRA.} + +(347) + +form the basis of the musical construction. Italian operatic poetry, +long since stereotyped in form, fettered the composer's fancy, while the +German verses, from their very want of finish, left him freer scope +for independent action. It is worthy of note that instrumental +tone-painting, so frequently employed in Italian opera as a means of +giving musical expression to the poetry, is but little resorted to in +the "Zauberflöte." Apart from the difference of poetical expression in +Italian and German, the sensuous sound of the Italian language was far +more provocative of musical expression; and the declamatory element of +correct accentuation and phrasing was at the root of the correct musical +expression of German words. In this respect also the "Zauberflöte" is +far superior to the "Entführung." A comparison of the text with the +music will show what pains Mozart has taken to declaim expressively +and forcibly. Sometimes the effort is too apparent, as in Sarastro's +well-known "Doch"; but as a rule Mozart's musical instinct prevents +the declamatory element from intruding itself to the detriment of the +melodious. + +In the treatment of the orchestra also the "Zauberflöte" stands alone +among Mozart's operas. It is not, as in "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," +employed for delicate details of characterisation, nor is it, as in +"Cosi fan Tutte" replete with euphonious charm. It has here a double +part: in that portion of the opera which represents purely human emotion +the orchestra is free and independent in movement, but easy and simple +in construction; while for the mystic element of the story it has quite +another character: Unusual means, such as trombones and basset-horns, +are employed for the production of unusual and weird effects, while +through all the delicate gradations of light and shade, from melancholy +gravity to brilliant pomp, the impression of dignity and solemnity is. +maintained, and the hearer is transported to a sphere beyond all earthly +passion. Not only are the hitherto unsuspected forces of the orchestra +here brought into play, but its power of characterisation is for the +first time made _fully_ manifest, and the "Zauberflöte" is the point of +departure for all that modern music has achieved in this + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(348) + +direction. It must not, however, be forgotten that instrumental +colouring is always to Mozart one means among many of interpreting +his artistic idea, and never aspires to be its sole exponent, or to +overshadow it altogether. + +That which gives the "Zauberflöte" its peculiar position and importance +among Mozart's operas is the fact that in it for the first time all the +resources of cultivated art were brought to bear with the freedom of +genius upon a genuinely German opera.[69] In his Italian operas he had +adopted the traditions of a long period of development, and by virtue +of his original genius had, as it were, brought them to a climax and a +conclusion; in the "Zauberflöte" he stepped across the threshold of the +future, and unlocked the sanctuary of national art for his countrymen. +And they understood him; the "Zauberflöte" sank directly and deeply +into the hearts of the German people, and to this day it holds its place +there. The influence which it has exerted in the formation of German +music can be disregarded by no one who has an eye for the development of +art. + +Evidence of the rapid popularity of the "Zauberflöte" is afforded by the +imitations of it which were produced at the theatres Auf der Wieden and +Leopoldstadt:-- + +Everything is turned to magic at these theatres; we have the magic +flute, the magic ring, the magic arrow, the magic mirror, the magic +crown, and many other wretched magic affairs. Words and music are +equally contemptible (except the "Zauberflöte"), so that one knows not +whether to award the palm of silliness to the poet or the composer. +Added to this, these miserable productions are still more miserably +performed.[70] + +Schikaneder's opera, "Babylons Pyramiden," the first act composed by +Gallus, the second by Winter, first produced October 23, 1797, bore a +striking resemblance to the + +{PERFORMANCES AND IMITATIONS.} + +(349) + +"Zauberflöte."[71] In the following year appeared "Das Labyrinth, +oder der Kampf der Elemente," announced as a continuation of the +"Zauberflöte," by Schikaneder and Winter;[72] it was performed in Berlin +with great magnificence in 1806.[73] Goethe's design of continuing the +"Zauberflöte" has been already mentioned (Vol. III., p. 314, note). It +would be superfluous to enumerate the performances of the "Zauberflöte" +in Germany. It soon took possession of every stage in Vienna. In 1801 it +was given at the Karnthnerthortheater with new scenery by Sacchetti.[74] +Schikaneder was not mentioned, which gave rise to some coarse pamphlets +in doggerel verse.[75] Schikaneder's answer was a brilliantly appointed +performance of the "Zauberflöte" in his new theatre An der Wien, which +he recommended to the public in some doggerel lines as Papageno, not +failing also to parody the defective machinery of the other theatre.[76] +The run was extraordinary,[77] but he had taken so many liberties with +the work--omitting the quintet, for instance, and inserting an air +for Mdlle. Wittmann--that he did not escape criticism in more doggerel +verses.[78] + +From Vienna the opera spread rapidly to every theatre in Germany, great +and small.[79] In Berlin it was first given on May 12,1794, with a +success[80] that testified to the preference for German rather than +Italian opera there;[81] the jubilee of this performance was celebrated +on May 12, 1844.[82] + +{DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.} + +(350) + +At Hamburg "the long-expected 'Zauberflöte'" was first put on the stage +on November 12,1794, and soon usurped the popularity of "Oberon" and +"Sonnenfest der Braminen."[83] It may be mentioned as a curiosity +that the "Zauberflöte" was played in a French translation[84] at +Braunschweig* and in Italian at Dresden,[85] until the year 1818,[86] +when C. M. von Weber first produced it in German with great care, and +quite to his own satisfaction.[87] + +The "Zauberflöte" rapidly gained popularity for Mozart's name, +especially in North Germany. How universal was the favour with which +it soon came to be regarded may be testified by Goethe, who makes his +Hermann, describing a visit to his neighbour in their little country +town, say:-- + + Minchen sass am Klavier; es war der Vater zugegen, + Hörte die Tochterchen singen, und war entzückt und in Laune. + Manches verstand ich nicht, was in den Liedern gesagt war; + Aber ich hörte viel von Pamina, viel von Tamino, + Und ich wollte doch auch nicht stumm sein! Sobald sie geendet, + Fragt' ich dem Texte nach, und nach den beiden Personen. + Aile schwiegen darauf und lächelten; aber der Vater + Sagte: nicht wahr, mein Freund, er kennt nur Adam und Eva?!!! + +Even to this day Sarastro and Tamino are regular starring and trial +parts; unhappily, so is the Queen of Night for singers who possess the +high F; and though the novelty and splendour of the scenery and +stage accessories have been long since surpassed, and the interest in +Freemasonry has died away, yet the "Zauberflöte" is still popular in the +best sense of the word. It has been successfully performed in Dutch,[88] +Swedish,[89] Danish,[90] and Polish;[91] but, as might have been +expected, the "_musica scelerata_ without any melody" was even less to +the taste of the Italians than Mozart's + +{PERFORMANCES AND IMITATIONS.} + +(351) + +other operas.[92] It is not surprising either that it was only +moderately successful in London, where it was first performed in +Italian[93] in 1811, then in English in 1837,[94] and in German by a +German company in 1840;[95] but the songs and other pieces of the opera +have always been well known and popular.[96] + +The "Zauberflöte" was given in Paris in 1791 curiously transformed by +Lachnith under the title of "Jes Mystères d'Isis."[97] The piece was +irrecognisable; everything miraculous, including the magic flute itself, +and everything comic was omitted, Papageno being turned into the wise +shepherd Bochoris; this, of course, involved the parodying of a great +part of the music, and much was omitted even without this excuse. The +omissions were made good by the insertion of pieces out of other operas +by Mozart, e.g., the drinking-song from "Don Giovanni" arranged as a +duet, an air from "Titus," also as a duet, and more of the same kind. +Great liberties were taken with the music itself. The closing chorus, +with Sarastro's recitative, formed the beginning of the opera; then +followed the terzet "Seid uns zum zweiten-mal willkommen," sung by six +priestesses; then a chorus from "Titus" (15); and then the original +introduction. Monostatos' song was given to Papagena (Mona), the first +air of the Queen of Night to Pamina, and the duet "Bei Mannern" was +turned into a terzet. It can easily be imagined how distorted Mozart's +music was by all these additions, erasures, and alterations. The +performance called forth lively protests from the critics and +connoisseurs,[98] French as well as German;[99] its defence was +undertaken, curiously + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(352) + +enough, by Cramer.[100] The opera was nicknamed "Les Misères d'Ici," and +"l'opération" of the "dérangeur" Lachnith was discussed.[101] But all +were agreed as to the excellence of the scenery and ballet, of the +arrangement of particular scenes, and of the admirable performance +of the orchestra and chorus, which may account for the fact that this +deformity was one hundred and thirty times performed in Paris up to +1827.[102] On February 23, 1865, the unmutilated "Zauberflöte" was, for +the first time, placed on the stage of the Théätre-Lyrique, translated +by Nuitter and Beaumont, and had a brilliant success.[103] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLIII. + + +[Footnote 1: Treitschke, Orpheus, 1841, p. 246. Monatsschr. f. Theat. u. Music, +1857, p. 445.] + +[Footnote 2: Al. Fuchs, Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 57. A. M. Z., XLIV., p. 366.] + +[Footnote 3: The three Genü were played by Nanette Schikaneder, afterwards Madame +Eikof (Südd. Mus. Ztg., 1866, p. 191), Matth. Tuscher and Handlgruber, +but Frz. Maurer appeared instead of the second, the same who sang +Sarastro four years afterwards. The names in brackets rest on a +communication from Treitschke (Orph., p. 246); apparently these parts +were sometimes changed.] + +[Footnote 4: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 5: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 79. This must have been the fault of the +performance; at least, in 1793, "Mozart's admirable music was so mangled +at Schikaneder's theatre, that one would fain have run away." (Berlin, +Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 142).] + +[Footnote 6: Treitschke (Orph., p. 248) remarks that, at the time he wrote, the +"Zauberflöte" had been performed for the hundred and thirty-fifth time.] + +[Footnote 7: I have to thank my friend Dr. L. von Sonnleithner for much +information on these points.] + +[Footnote 8: The new operas for Schikaneder's theatre were: 1789, "Una Cosa +rara," second part, music by B. Schack; "Das unvermuthete Seefest," +music by J. Schenck; 1790, "Das Schlaraffenland," music by Schack +and Gerl; "Das Singspiel ohne Titel," music by J. Schenck; "Die +Wienerzeitung," music by Schack; 1791, "Oberon," music by Paul +Wranitzky; "Der Erndtekranz," music by Joh. Schenck; "Die Zauberflöte."] + +[Footnote 9: Cf. Riehl, Mus. Charakterköpfe, I., p. 244.] + +[Footnote 10: Schroder saw this opera during his tour in the spring of 1791, at +Frankfort, Mannheim, and Vienna; and it was given at Hamburg in October +(Meyer, L. Schröder, II., pp. 64, 76, 85, 97). In Berlin it was put +upon the stage in February, 1792, and was severely criticised (Mus. +Wochenbl., p. 157). It was sometimes performed later, and older +dilettanti preferred it to Weber's "Oberon" (A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 643).] + +[Footnote 11: The third volume of this collection of tales appeared in 1789. The +preface declares the author of "Lulu" and the "Palmblatter" to be the +same, and consequently (since it cannot be Herder) Liebeskind.] + +[Footnote 12: The tale was afterwards turned into a Danish opera, "Lulu," by +Güntel-berg, and composed by Kuhlau (A. M. Z., XXX., p. 540).] + +[Footnote 13: These three helpful boys, with their aphorisms, are borrowed from +another tale in the third part of the Dschinnistan, "Die klugen Knaben."] + +[Footnote 14: Devrient, Gesch. der deutschen Schauspielkunst, III., p. 141.] + +[Footnote 15: Riehl, Musik. Charakterköpfe, I., p. 3.] + +[Footnote 16: Castelli, Memoiren, I., p. 111.] + +[Footnote 17: Goethe says of his "Helena" (Gespr. m. Eckermann, I., p. 317): +"Granted that the majority of spectators care for nothing but what meets +the eye, the initiated will not fail to grasp the higher meaning, as is +the case with the 'Zauberflöte' and some other works."] + +[Footnote 18: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freimaur. in Oesterreich, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 19: Pater Cantes is said to have composed the songs to Schikaneder's +operas from friendship (Monatsschr. f. Theat. u. Mus., III., p. 444).] + +[Footnote 20: Gieseke himself told Cornet that he had the principal share in +the words of the "Zauberflöte" (Die Oper in Deutschl., p. 24. Illust. +Familienbuch des öst. Lloyd, II., p. 19); and Neukomm confirmed his +statement to me, having known Cornet as an actor at the Theater auf der +Wieden.] + +[Footnote 21: The most important features of the ceremonial, the tests of secrecy +and silence, the wandering through fire and water, &c., are to be found +in Apuleius' account of the initiation of Lucius into the mysteries of +Isis (Met., IX., 21). It is well known that the origin of Freemasonry +has been found in the Egyptian mysteries, and various symbols have +thence made their way into some of the lodges (Cf. Born in the Journal +fur Freimaurer, 1784, I., 3. Berlioz, Litt. u. Theater-Zeitg., 1783, p. +741).] + +[Footnote 22: The Masonic tendencies are visible in the frequent allusions to the +opposition between light and darkness, and in the subordinate +position of the women, who are "not to pry into mysteries which are +incomprehensible to the female mind," and which can only be solved under +the guidance of wise men. Cf. a "treatise on the uses of secrecy" read +at a lodge held for women, setting forth why the order was, and must +remain, closed to them (Teutsch. Mercur, 1786, III., p. 59).] + +[Footnote 23: Eckerxnann, Gespräche mit Goethe, III., p. 17.] + +[Footnote 24: Goethe made the following announcement on the subject to Wranitzky +(January 24, 1796): "The favour with which the 'Zauberflöte' has been +received, and the difficulty of writing a piece which could compete with +it, have suggested to me the idea of finding in itself the subject of +a new work, so as to meet the preference of the public half way, as it +were, and to simplify the performance of a new and complicated piece +both to the actors and the theatrical management. I believe I shall best +attain this object by writing a second part to the 'Zauberflöte' the +characters are all familiar, both to the public and to the actors, and +it will be possible, having the earlier piece before one, to heighten +the climax of the situations and events without exaggerating them, and +to give life and interest to the whole piece." He writes to Wranitzky, +further, that it will please him to be associated with so talented a +man, and that he has endeavoured to "open a wide field to the composer, +and to touch upon every department of poetry, from the most elevated +emotions to the lightest pleasantry" (Orpheus, 1841, p. 252. Cf. Briefw. +zw. Schiller u. Goethe, 468. Briefw. m. Zelter, I., p. 16; II., pp. 93, +166).] + +[Footnote 25: Herder lays stress on the predominating idea of the struggle +between light and darkness as a main reason for the great success of the +"Zauberflöte" (Adrastea, II., p. 284).] + +[Footnote 26: Reichardt writes to Tieck (March 17, 1812): "Thus numberless +mongrel and prodigious creations have taken form, round which music has +been developed and almost perfected. Mozart's highest performances owe +their existence to Schikaneder and Co. Without the 'Zauberflöte' and +'Don Juan,' one side of Mozart's genius would have remained unknown to +us" (Briefe an L. Tieck, III., p. no).] + +[Footnote 27: An interpretation from the Masonic point of view is given by L. v. +Batzko (Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Mod., 1794, p. 364). A ludicrous allusion +to the Revolution was imputed to the "Zauberflöte" by a pamphlet, +Geheime Gesch. d. Verschworungssy stems d. Jacobiner in d. österr. +Staaten, 1795.] + +[Footnote 28: André has published the score of the overture, so that the +alterations and additions can be recognised as such. The autograph of +the opera is complete (N. Ztschr. fur Mus., XLV., p. 41).] + +[Footnote 29: Cäcilia, XX., p. 132.] + +[Footnote 30: Cf. Marx, Lehre v. d. mus. Kompos., IV., p. 181.] + +[Footnote 31: Allg. Wiener Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 521. Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1856, +pp. 68,89. N. Ztschr. f. Mus., XLV., p. 41.] + +[Footnote 32: Ulibicheff, who has devoted careful study to this overture, +continually, and with justice, recurs to the idea of light and +brilliancy, which is irresistibly brought home to the hearer, as Mozart +no doubt fully intended.] + +[Footnote 33: Koch, Journal der Tonkunst (1795, I., p. 103).] + +[Footnote 34: The use made of the old choral melody was first remarked by +Rochlitz, but he calls the chorale, "Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir" +(A. M. Z., I., p. 148), while Gerber (N. Lex., III., p. 496) calls it, +"Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam," and Zelter (Briefw., III., p. +415; IV., p. 354), "Wenn wir in hochsten Nöthen"--variations which are +capable of explanation, and sometimes of justification (Càcilia, VIII., +p. 134. A. M. Z., XLVIII., p. 481).] + +[Footnote 35: The antiquated melody treated by Mozart is the song, "Ach Gott vom +Himmel sieh darein," in use from 1524 (Winterfeld, Evang. Kirchengesang, +I., Beil. 14; II., p. 7. Tucher, Schatz des evang. Kirchengesanges Mel., +236).] + +[Footnote 36: Kirnberger, Kunst d. reinen Satzes, I., p. 237.] + +[Footnote 37: Kirnberger, I., p. 243. Cf. Stadler, Nachr., p. 12.] + +[Footnote 38: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 39: Two choral melodies, "O Gottes Lamm," and "Als aus Egypten," with +partially figured bass, are written by Mozart upon one sheet (343 K.), +perhaps with a similar object.] + +[Footnote 40: Cf. Marx, Lehre v. d. mus. Kompos., II., pp. 536, 568.] + +[Footnote 41: Whether any special Masonic wisdom lurks in the choice of this song +I cannot say; it is worthy of remark that even in the Masonic funeral +music a figured Cantus firmus is made use of (Vol. II., p. 411).] + +[Footnote 42: The resemblance traced by C. F. Becker (Hausmusik, p. 37) to a +passage from Joh. Kuhnau's "Frisch e Clavierfrüchte".(1696) has been +proved illusory by Faiszt (Cäcilia, XXV., p. 150).] + +[Footnote 43: This curious combination recalls to mind the piece for trumpets and +flutes which Mozart formerly wrote in Salzburg (Vol. I., p. 308).] + +[Footnote 44: It is not without purpose that they are made to accompany Tamino's +words, "Der Lieb' und Tugend Heiligthum" in the recitative of the +first finale where Mozart first selected flutes, but then changed to +clarinets, which only recur in this place.] + +[Footnote 45: This is pointed out in an article on the characteristics of +different keys (A. M. ZM XXVII., p. 228).] + +[Footnote 46: The last words which Mozart wrote to his wife at Baden contained +an allusion to this terzet: "Die Stunde schlägt--leb wohl--wir sehen uns +wieder."] + +[Footnote 47: Mozart, as an ear-witness noted (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 571), accented +the first quaver of this figure, and took the tempo of the terzet almost +as quick as it has since been played, following the direction _andante +moderato_. In Mozart, as in other older composers, andante ("going") by +no means exclusively implies a slow tempo.] + +[Footnote 48: Siebigke gives an elaborate analysis of this terzet (Mozart, p. +38).] + +[Footnote 49: Meyer, L. Schroder, II.; I., p. 85.] + +[Footnote 50: Lipowsky, Baier. Musik-Lex., p. 297. A. M. Z., XXIX., p. 519. +Meyer, L. Schroder, II.; I., p. 85.] + +[Footnote 51: Anna Gottlieb, born in Vienna, 1774, sang Barberina in "Figaro" +in 1786, and was then engaged by Schikaneder; in 1792 she went as prima +donna to the Leopoldstadt Theater. She took part in the Mozart Festival +at Salzburg in 1842, and in the Jubilee of 1856, and died there soon +afterwards.] + +[Footnote 52: G. Weber's remark (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 247) that the tempo of this +air is generally taken too slow, is confirmed by the contemporary of +Mozart already mentioned, with a reference to his own directions (Ibid., +p. 571). Here again the direction andante was misleading.] + +[Footnote 53: It is interesting to note how the rhythmic movement of the +beginning--[See Page Image] gives the impulse to the whole of the music.] + +[Footnote 54: Cäcilia, XX., p. 133.] + +[Footnote 55: The original words were: "Dem grimmigen Löwen zum Opfer +erkoren--schon nahet er sich." Mozart substituted the poisonous serpent +later. In the Fliegende Blatter fur Mus. (I., p. 441), the description +of this serpent is compared with that in Weber's "Euryanthe."] + +[Footnote 56: The autograph score shows traces of abbreviation, the complete +cadenza having been made known by Al. Fuchs from an old copy (Allg. +Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1841, p. 244).] + +[Footnote 57: The parts of the three boys are treated in similar fashion, only +that the working-out is appropriately much simpler.] + +[Footnote 58: Marx, Kompositionslehre, IV., p. 541.] + +[Footnote 59: In the Parisian travesty of the "Zauberflöte" the virtuous shepherd +Bochoris sings this song to induce the guard to liberate Pamina, and +by this means gradually works up the twelve Moorish slaves and the guard +into such a state of comic and exhilarated emotion that they form +round him during his song, and execute an exceedingly characteristic +pantomimic dance, expressive of curiosity and delight. Then the chorus +of the guard falls in, interspersed with Lais' lovely singing, +which continues until the chorus sink at his feet in delight. "It is +impossible," adds Reichardt, in describing this scene (Vertraute Briefe +aus Paris, I., p. 438), "to imagine anything more piquant or perfect. +It made such an impression that it had to be repeated, a thing which had +never happened there before" (A. M. Z., IV., p. 72). The rearrangement +of the music necessitated is described in A. M. Z., IV., Beil. I.] + +[Footnote 60: At a performance of the "Zauberflöte" at Godesberg, in June, 1793, +a steel keyed instrument was substituted for the bells with good effect +(Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 151).] + +[Footnote 61: Castelli (111. Familienbuch, 1852, p. 119), quoting from the +bass-player Seb. Mayer.] + +[Footnote 62: "Herr Schikaneder has made it his habit to dabble in all the operas +composed for him, altering the keys and sometimes striking out the +best-passages and substituting bad ones. Even Mozart had to submit to +his criticism in the composition of the 'Zauberflöte,' and underwent not +a little annoyance in consequence. For instance, the duet 'Bei Männern' +had to be composed five times before it pleased him" (A. M. Z., I., p. +448.)] + +[Footnote 63: Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 148.] + +[Footnote 64: N. Ztschr. fur Mus., XLV., p. 43.] + +[Footnote 65: Allg. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 66: A duet composed by Mozart (625 K.) for Schikaneder's "Stein der +Weisen," performed in 1792, is not known.] + +[Footnote 67: Cf. Hotho, Vorstudien, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 68: Strauss, Lessing's Nathan d. Weise, p. 77.] + +[Footnote 69: Beethoven, according to Seyfried (Beethoven's Studien, Anhang, p. +21), declared the "Zauberflöte" to be Mozart's greatest work, for in it +he first shows himself as a _German_ composer. Schindler adds (Biogr., +II., pp. 164, 322) that he thought so highly of it because it contained +every species of song, even to the chorale and the fugue. If we reflect +that this praise from Beethoven can only refer to the intellectual power +which succeeded in combining the most varied forms into an artistic +whole, born of one conception, we shall be convinced how deep was his +appreciation of that power.] + +[Footnote 70: Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 142.] + +[Footnote 71: A. M. Z., I., pp. 73, 447.] + +[Footnote 72: A. M. Z., II., p. 811.] + +[Footnote 73: A. M. ZM V., pp. 778, 794. Zelter, Briefw., I., p. 74.] + +[Footnote 74: A. M. Z., III., p. 484. Ztg. fur d. Eleg. Welt, 1801, No. 40, p. +315.] + +[Footnote 75: Mozart und Schikaneder, ein theatralisches Gespräch uber die +Auffuhrung der Zauberflöte im Stadttheater, in Knittelversen von * *. +Wien, 1801 (Ztg. fur d. Eleg. Welt, 1801, No. 41, p. 326). Mozart's +Traum nach Anhörung seiner Oper die Zauberflöte im Stadttheater, +Jupitern und Schikanedem erzahlt im Olymp in Knittelversen von F. H. von +TZ. Wien, 1801.] + +[Footnote 76: Treitschke, Orpheus, p. 248. A. M. Z., III., p. 484.] + +[Footnote 77: Jupiter, Mozart und Schikaneder nach der ersten Vorstellung der +Zauberflöte im neun Theater an der Wien (Wien, 1802).] + +[Footnote 78: A. M. Z., XII., p. 1057.] + +[Footnote 79: A. M. Z., XIV., p. 558. Treitschke, Orpheus, p. 249.] + +[Footnote 80: Reichardt, Vertr. Briefe aus Paris, I., p. 163.] + +[Footnote 81: Schneider, Gesch. d. Oper, p. 63.] + +[Footnote 82: A. M. Z., XLVI., p. 443. Rellstab, Ges. Schr., XX., p. 379.] + +[Footnote 83: Meyer, L. Schroder, II., i, p. 115.] + +[Footnote 84: A. M. Z., VII., p. 208.] + +[Footnote 85: A. M. Z., I., p. 341.] + +[Footnote 86: Treitschke, Orpheus, p. 250.] + +[Footnote 87: A. M. Z., XX., p. 839. Cäcilia, VIII., p. 170.] + +[Footnote 88: A. M. ZM XIV., p. 239.] + +[Footnote 89: A. M. Z., XIV., pp. 593, 804, 864.] + +[Footnote 90: A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 820.] + +[Footnote 91: A. M. Z., XIV., p. 327.] + +[Footnote 92: An attempt at Milan, in 1886, had a doubtful success (A. M. Z., +XVIII., pp. 346, 485), and a second in Florence, 1818, was a decided +failure (A. M. Z., XXI., p. 42).] + +[Footnote 93: Pohl, Mozart u. Haydn in London, p. 147.] + +[Footnote 94: Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 193.] + +[Footnote 95: A. M. Z., XLII., p. 736; XLIV., p. 610.] + +[Footnote 96: A. M. Z., III., p. 335.] + +[Footnote 97: A closer analysis by a German musician is to be found in A. M. Z., +IV., p. 69.] + +[Footnote 98: A. M. Z., IV., p. 47.] + +[Footnote 99: Reichardt, Vertr. Briefe aus Paris, I., pp. 162, 457. Solger, +Nachgel.Schr., I., p. 69. Engel, Journal de Paris, 1801, No. 346. +Schlegel, Europa, II., I., p. 178.] + +[Footnote 100: Cramer, Anecd. sur Mozart, p. 18. Cf. Ztg. f. d. eleg. Welt, 1801, +No. 101.] + +[Footnote 101: Castil-Blaze, L'Acad. Imp. de Mus., II., p. 86.] + +[Footnote 102: A. M. Z., XX., p. 858; XXXIII., pp. 82, 142. In the year 1829, the +German performance of the "Zauberflöte" was very successful in Paris. +(A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 466.)] + +[Footnote 103: Niederrhein. Mus. Ztg., 1865, p. 68. Berl. Mus. Ztg., Echo, 1865, +p. 73. Henry Blaze de Bury, Revue des Deux Mondes, 1865, LVI., p. 412.] + + +=== + + + + + + +MOZART 44 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. ILLNESS AND DEATH. + +NO sooner was the "Zauberflöte" completed and performed than Mozart set +to work with restless eagerness upon his still unfinished Requiem.[1] +His friend, Jos. von Jacquin, calling upon him one day to request him to +give pianoforte lessons to a lady who was already an admirable performer +on the instrument, found him at his writing-table, hard at work on the +Requiem. Mozart readily acceeded to the request, provided he might +postpone the lessons for a time; "for," said he, "I have a work on hand +which lies very near my heart, and until that is finished I can think of +nothing else."[2] Other friends remembered + +{SAD FOREBODINGS.} + +(353) + +afterwards how engrossed he had been in his task up to a very short time +before his death.[3] The feverish excitement with which he laboured at +it increased the indisposition which had attacked him at Prague. Even +before the completion of the "Zauberflöte" he had become subject to +fainting fits which exhausted his strength and increased his depression. +The state of Mozart's mind at this time may be gathered from a curious +note in Italian, written by him in September, 1791, to an unknown friend +(Da Ponte? cf., + +Affmo Signore,--Vorrei seguire il vostro consiglio, ma come riuscirvi? +ho il capo frastemato, conto a forza e non posso levarmi dagli occhi +1' immagine di questo incognito. Lo vedo di continuo, esso mi prega, +mi sollecita, ed impaziente mi chiede il lavoro. Continuo perché il +comporre mi stanca meno del riposo. Altronde non ho più da tremere. Lo +sento a quel che provo, che l' ora suona; sono in procinto di spirare; +ho finito prima di aver goduto del mio talento. La vita era pur si +bella, la camera s' apriva sotto auspici tanto fortunati, ma non si puö +cangiar il proprio destino. Nessuno micura [assicura] i propri giomi, +bisogna rassenarsi, sarà quel che piacerà alla providenza, termino ecco +il mio canto funebre, non devo lasciarlo imperfetto. + +It was in vain that his wife, who had returned from Baden, sought to +withdraw him from his work, and to induce him to seek relief from gloomy +thoughts in the society of his friends.[5] One beautiful day, when they +had driven to the Prater, and were sitting there quite alone, Mozart +began to speak of death, and told his wife, with tears in his eyes, +that he was writing his Requiem for himself. "I feel it too well," he +continued; "my end is drawing near. I must have taken poison; I cannot +get this idea out of my mind."[6] Horrified at this disclosure, Frau +Mozart sought, + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(354) + +by every possible argument, to reason him out of such imaginations.[7] +Fully persuaded that the assiduity with which he was working at the +Requiem was increasing his illness, she took the score away from him and +called in a medical adviser, Dr. Closset. + +Some improvement in Mozart's state of health followed, and he was able +to compose a cantata written by Schikaneder for a Masonic festival (623 +K.), which was finished November 15, and the first performance conducted +by himself. He was so pleased with the execution of this work, and +with the applause it received, that his courage and pleasure in his +art revived, and he was ready to believe that his idea of having taken +poison was a result of his diseased imagination. He demanded the score +of the Requiem from his wife, who gave it to him without any misgiving. +The improvement, however, was of short duration, and Mozart soon +relapsed into his former state of melancholy, talked much of having been +poisoned, and grew weaker and weaker. His hands and feet began to swell, +and partial paralysis set in, accompanied by violent vomiting. Good old +Joseph Deiner (Vol. II., p. 300) used to tell how Mozart had come to +him in November, 1791, looking wretched, and complaining of illness. +He directed him to come to his house next morning to receive his wife's +orders for their + +{SERIOUS ILLNESS.} + +(355) + +winter supply of fuel. Deiner kept the appointment, but was informed by +the maid-servant that her master had become so ill during the night that +she had been obliged to fetch the doctor. The wife called him into the +bedroom where Mozart was in bed. When he heard Deiner he opened his +eyes and said, almost inaudibly, "Not to-day, Joseph; we have to do with +doctors and apothecaries to-day."[8] On November 28 his condition was +so critical that Dr. Closset called into consultation Dr. Sallaba, chief +physician at the hospital. During the fortnight that he was confined to +bed consciousness never left him. The idea of death was ever before his +eyes, and he looked forward to it with composure, albeit loth to part +with life. The success of the "Zauberflöte" seemed likely at last to +open the door to fame and fortune; and during his last days of life he +was assured of an annual subscription of one thousand florins from +some of the Hungarian nobility, and of a still larger yearly sum +from Amsterdam, in return for the periodical production of some few +compositions exclusively for the subscribers.[9] It was hard to leave +his art just when he was put in a position to devote himself to it, +unharassed by the daily pressure of poverty; hard, too, to leave his +wife and his two little children to an anxious and uncertain future.[10] +Sometimes these ideas overpowered him, but generally he was tranquil and +resigned, and never betrayed the slightest impatience. He unwillingly +allowed his canary, of which he was very fond, to be removed to the next +room, that he might not be disturbed by its noise. It was afterwards +carried still farther out of hearing. Sophie Haibl says:-- + +When he was taken ill we made him night-shirts which could be put on +without giving him the pain of turning round; and, not realising how +ill he was, we made him a wadded dressing-gown against the time that he +should be able to sit up; it amused him very much to follow our work as +it proceeded. I came to him daily. Once he said to me, + +(ILLNESS AND DEATH.) + +(356) + +"Tell the mother that I am going on very well, and that I shall be +able to come and offer my congratulations on her fête-day (November 22) +within the week." + +He heard with intense interest of the repetition of the "Zauberflote," +and when evening came he used to lay his watch beside him, and follow +the performance in imagination: "Now the first act is over--now comes +the mighty Queen of Night."[11] The day before his death he said to +his wife: "I should like to have heard my 'Zauberflote' once more," +and began to hum the birdcatcher's song in a scarcely audible voice. +Kapellmeister Roser, who was sitting at his bedside, went to the piano +and sang the song, to Mozart's evident delight.[12] The Requiem, too, +was constantly in his mind. While he had been at work upon it he used to +sing every number as it was finished, playing the orchestral part on the +piano. The afternoon before his death he had the score brought to his +bed, and himself sang the alto part.[13] Schack, as usual, took the +soprano, Hofer, Mozart's brother-in-law, the tenor, and Gerl the bass. +They got as far as the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart, with +the feeling that it would never be finished, burst into a violent fit of +weeping, and laid the score aside.[14] + +When Frau Haibl came towards evening her sister, who was not usually +wanting in self-control, met her in a state of agitation at the door, +exclaiming: "Thank God you are here! He was so ill last night, I thought +he could not live through the day; if it comes on again, he must die in +the night." Seeing her at his bedside, Mozart said: "I am glad you are +here; stay with me to-night, and see me die." Controlling her emotion, +she strove to reason him out of such thoughts, but he answered: "I have +the flavour of death on my + +{THE END.} + +(357) + +tongue--I taste death; and who will support my dearest Constanze if you +do not stay with her?" She left him for a moment to carry the tidings to +her mother, who was looking anxiously for them. At her sister's wish she +went to the priests of St. Peter's, and begged that one might be sent +to Mozart as if by chance; they refused for a long time, and it was +with difficulty she persuaded "these clerical barbarians" to grant her +request. When she returned she found Süssmayr at Mozart's bedside in +earnest conversation over the Requiem. "Did I not say that I was writing +the Requiem for myself?" said he, looking at it through his tears. And +he was so convinced of his approaching death that he enjoined his wife +to inform Albrechtsberger of it before it became generally known, in +order that he might secure Mozart's place at the Stephanskirche, which +belonged to him by every right (Vol. II., p. 277, note). Late in the +evening the physician arrived, having been long sought, and found in +the theatre, which he could not persuade himself to leave before the +conclusion of the piece. He told Süssmayr in confidence that there was +no hope, but ordered cold bandages round the head, which caused such +violent shuddering that delirium and unconsciousness came on, from which +Mozart never recovered. Even in his latest fancies he was busy with +the Requiem, blowing out his cheeks to imitate the trumpets and drums. +Towards midnight he raised himself, opened his eyes wide, then lay down +with his face to the wall, and seemed to fall asleep. At one o'clock +(December 5) he expired.[15] + +At early morning the faithful Deiner was roused by the maid-servant +"to come and dress" her master; he went at once and performed the last +friendly offices for Mozart. The body was clothed in a black robe and +laid on a bier, which was carried into the sitting-room and deposited +near the piano. A constant flow of visitors mourned and wept as they +gazed on him; those who had known him intimately loved him; his fame as +an artist had become universal, and his sudden death brought home to all +men the extent of their + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(358) + +loss. The "Wiener Zeitung" (1791, No. 98) made the following +announcement:-- + +We have to announce with regret the death of the Imperial Court +Composer, Wolfgang Mozart, which took place between four and five +o'clock this morning. Famous throughout Europe from earliest childhood +for his singular musical genius, he had developed his natural gifts, +and by dint of study had raised himself to an equality with the greatest +masters; his universally favourite and admired compositions testify +to this fact, and enable us to estimate the irreparable loss which the +musical world has sustained in his death. + +A letter from Prague, of December 12, 1791, announced:[16]-- + +Mozart is--dead. He returned from Prague in a state of suffering, which +gradually increased; dropsy set in, and he died in Vienna at the end of +last week. The swelling of his body after death led to the suspicion of +his having been poisoned. His last work was a funeral Mass, which was +performed at his obsequies. His death will cause the Viennese to realise +for the first time what they have lost in him.[17] His life was troubled +by the constant machination of cabals, whose enmity was doubtless +sometimes provoked by his _sans souci_ manner. Neither his "Figaro" nor +his "Don Juan" were as enthusiastically received in Vienna as they were +in Prague. Peace be to his ashes! + +Mozart's wife, who had been so unwell the day before his death that the +physician had prescribed for her, was rendered completely prostrate in +mind and body by his death. In her despair she lay down upon his bed, +desiring to be seized with the same illness, and to die with him. Van +Swieten, who had hastened to bring her what consolation and assistance +he could, persuaded her to leave the house of death, and to take up her +abode for the present with some friends living near. He undertook the +care of the funeral, and having regard to the needy circumstances of +the widow, he made the necessary arrangements as simply and cheaply +as possible. The funeral expenses (on the scale of the third class) +amounted to 8 fl. 36 kr., and there was an additional charge of 3 fl. +for the hearse. Rich man and distinguished patron + +{INTERMENT AND GRAVE.} + +(359) + +as he was, it seems never to have occurred to Van Swieten that it would +have been becoming in him to undertake the cost as well as the care of +a fitting burial for the greatest genius of his age. At three o'clock +in the afternoon of December 6 the corpse of Mozart received the +benediction in the transept chapel on the north side of St. Stephen's +Church. A violent storm of snow and rain was raging, and the few friends +who were assembled--among them Van Swieten, Salieri, Süssmayr, Kapellm. +Roser, and the violoncellist Orsler[18]--stood under umbrellas round +the bier, which, was then carried through the Schulerstrasse to the +churchyard of St. Mark's. The storm continued to rage so fiercely +that the mourners decided upon turning back before they reached their +destination,[19] and not a friend stood by when the body of Mozart was +lowered into the grave. For reasons of economy no grave had been bought, +and the corpse was consigned to a common vault, made to contain from +fifteen to twenty coffins, which was dug up about every ten years and +filled anew: no stone marked the resting-place of Mozart. Good old +Deiner, who had been present at the benediction, asked the widow if she +did not intend to erect a cross to the departed; she answered that there +was to be one. She no doubt imagined that the priest who had performed +the ceremony would see to the erection of the cross. When she was +sufficiently recovered from her first grief to visit the churchyard, she +found a fresh gravedigger, who was unable to point out Mozart's grave; +and all her inquiries after it were fruitless. Thus it is that, in spite +of repeated attempts to discover it, the resting-place of Mozart remains +unknown.[20] + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(360) + +Poor Constanze and her two children were now placed in the saddest +possible position. Not more than sixty florins of ready money were +available at Mozart's death; to this might be added 133 fl. 20 kr. of +outstanding accounts, the furniture, wardrobe, and scanty library, which +were valued at less than 400 florins. But there were debts to be +paid, not only to generous creditors like Puchberg, who rendered every +assistance in settling the affairs of his deceased friend without any +thought of his own claim, but to workmen and tradesmen, who must be paid +at all costs; the doctor's bill alone amounted to 250 florins.[21] +In this emergency, Constanze appealed first to the generosity of the +Emperor. One of Mozart's attached pupils informed her that the Emperor +had been very unfavourably disposed towards her, in consequence of +the calumnies spread abroad by Mozart's enemies to the effect that his +dissipation and extravagance had involved him in debts amounting to +more than 30,000 florins; and she was advised to make her application +in person, so as to persuade the Emperor of the falsehood of such +reports.[22] At the audience which was granted to her, she boldly +declared that Mozart's great genius had raised up enemies against him, +who had embittered his existence by their intrigues and calumnies. These +slanderers had multiplied tenfold the amount of his debts, and she was +prepared to satisfy all claims with a sum of 3,000 florins. Even this +amount of liability was not the result of thoughtless extravagance, +but had been inevitably incurred by the uncertainty of their income, by +frequent illnesses and unforeseen calls on their resources. Appeased by +Frau Mozart's representations, the Emperor encouraged her to give a +concert, in which he took so generous an interest that the proceeds +enabled her to pay all her husband's debts. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLIV. + + +[Footnote 1: The narrative which follows is founded chiefly upon the widow's +statements in Niemetschek (p. 50. Nissen, p. 563), which agree with +those made by her to an English lady at Salzburg in 1829 (The Musical +World, 1837, August and September. Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. +196), and upon a letter from Sophie Haibl (April 7, 1827), extracts from +which are given by Nissen (p, 573), and of which Köchel has sent me a +copy in full.] + +[Footnote 2: Mosel, Ueb. d. Orig. Part, des Requiem, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 3: Stadler, Nachtr., p. 17.] + +[Footnote 4: In the possession of Mr. Gouny [? Young], of London, copied from the +original by Köchel.] + +[Footnote 5: A. M. Z., I., p. 147.] + +[Footnote 6: This idea was very prevalent, and was not altogether rejected by +Niemetschek, who, remarking on his early death, adds: "if indeed it was +not purposely hastened" (p. 67). Detouche relates it to Sulp. Boisserée +(I., p. 292. Mar. Sessi was convinced of its truth. N. Berlin Mus., +1860, p. 340). Even the widow says in a letter to Reg. Rath Ziegler, of +Munich (August 25, 1837', that her son giving no signs of his father's +greatness, would therefore have nothing to fear from envious attempts on +his life. p. 285):[4]--] + +[Footnote 7: Mozart's diseased fancies were made the grounds for shameful +suspicions of Salieri, who was said to have acknowledged on his deathbed +having administered poison to Mozart (cf. A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 413). +Carpani exonerated Salieri in a long article (Biblioteca Italiana, +1824), and brought forward medical testimony that Mozart's death was +caused by inflammation of the brain, besides the assertions of Salieri's +attendants during his last illness, that he had made no mention of any +poisoning at all. Neukomm also, relying on his intimacy both with the +Mozarts and with Salieri, has energetically protested against a calumny +(Berlin, allg. mus. Ztg., 1824, p. 172) which no sane person would +entertain. The grounds on which the rumour was discredited by +Kapellmeister Schwanenberg of Braunschweig, a friend of Salieri, are +peculiar. When Sievers, then his pupil, read to him from a newspaper +the report of Mozart's having been the victim of the Italian's envy, he +answered: "Pazzi! non ha fatto niente per meritar un tal onore" (A. M. +Z., XXI., p. 120. Sievers, Mozart u. Sussmayr, p. 3). Daumer has striven +to support the untenable conjecture that Mozart was poisoned by the +Freemasons (Aus der Mansarde, IV., p. 75). Finally, the report of the +poisoning furnished the subject of a dreary novel, "Der Musikfeind," by +Gustav Nicolai (Arabesken für Musikfreunde, I. Leipzig, 1825).] + +[Footnote 8: Wiener Morgen-Post, 1856, No. 28.] + +[Footnote 9: This is on the authority of the widow's petition to the Emperor.] + +[Footnote 10: He had prophesied of his little son Wolfgang at four months old +that he would be a true Mozart, for that he cried in the same key in +which his father had just been playing (Niemetschek, p. 41).] + +[Footnote 11: A. M. Z., I., p. 149.] + +[Footnote 12: Monatsschr. für Theat. u. Mus., 1857, p. 446.] + +[Footnote 13: He had a tenor voice, gentle in speaking, unless when he grew +excited in conducting; then he spoke loud and emphatically (Hogarth, +Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 198).] + +[Footnote 14: So says the unquestionably trustworthy account of Schack (A. M. Z., +XXIX., p. 520. Nissen, Nachtr., p. 169).] + +[Footnote 15: So also says the Joum. d. Lux. u. d. Mode, 1808, II., p. 803.] + +[Footnote 16: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 94.] + +[Footnote 17: A contemporary musician (Salieri must be meant) did not scruple to +say to his acquaintance: "It is a pity to lose so great a genius, but a +good thing for us that he is dead. For if he had lived much longer, +we should not have earned a crust of bread by our compositions" +(Niemetschek, p. 81).] + +[Footnote 18: Monatsschr., 1857, p. 446. Schikaneder was not present; the news +of Mozart's death had affected him most deeply; he walked up and down, +crying out: "His spirit follows me everywhere; he is ever before my +eyes!" (Nissen, p. 572).] + +[Footnote 19: Wiener Morgen-Post, 1856, No. 28.] + +[Footnote 20: Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Moden, 1808, II., p. 801. Al. Fuchs related +the negative result of his careful inquiries in Gräffer's Kl. Wiener +Memoiren (I., p. 227). Ritter von Lucam has at last (Die Grabesfrage +Mozart, Wien, 1856) elicited by inquiries from two old musicians who had +known Mozart, Freystadter and Scholl, that the grave was on the right of +the churchyard cross, in the third or fourth row of graves. This agrees +with the statement of the gravedigger in Nissen (p. 576), and inquiries +officially set on foot in 1856 make it probable that it was in the +fourth row to the right of the cross near a willow-tree (Wien. Blatter +Mus. Theat. u. Kunst, 1859, No. 97).] + +[Footnote 21: The list of effects--which owing to the kindness of my friends, +Karajan and Laimegger, lies before me--is copied in the Deutsche Mus. +Ztg., 1861, p. 284. It is affecting to see from it how simple, even +poverty-stricken, was the whole _ménage_. The collection of books and +music is valued at 23 fl. 41 kr.; and among the bad debts is one of +300 fl. to Frz. Gilowsky, who was advertised in July, 1787, as having +absconded insolvent; 500 fl. are put down as borrowed by Ant. Stadler +(Posttägl. Anzeig., 1787, No. 35).] + +[Footnote 22: On a malicious rumour of the kind see O. Jahn, Ges. Aufs. über +Musik, p. 230.] + +=== + + + + + +MOZART 44 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. ILLNESS AND DEATH. + +NO sooner was the "Zauberflöte" completed and performed than Mozart set +to work with restless eagerness upon his still unfinished Requiem.[1] +His friend, Jos. von Jacquin, calling upon him one day to request him to +give pianoforte lessons to a lady who was already an admirable performer +on the instrument, found him at his writing-table, hard at work on the +Requiem. Mozart readily acceeded to the request, provided he might +postpone the lessons for a time; "for," said he, "I have a work on hand +which lies very near my heart, and until that is finished I can think of +nothing else."[2] Other friends remembered + +{SAD FOREBODINGS.} + +(353) + +afterwards how engrossed he had been in his task up to a very short time +before his death.[3] The feverish excitement with which he laboured at +it increased the indisposition which had attacked him at Prague. Even +before the completion of the "Zauberflöte" he had become subject to +fainting fits which exhausted his strength and increased his depression. +The state of Mozart's mind at this time may be gathered from a curious +note in Italian, written by him in September, 1791, to an unknown friend +(Da Ponte? cf., + +Affmo Signore,--Vorrei seguire il vostro consiglio, ma come riuscirvi? +ho il capo frastemato, conto a forza e non posso levarmi dagli occhi +1' immagine di questo incognito. Lo vedo di continuo, esso mi prega, +mi sollecita, ed impaziente mi chiede il lavoro. Continuo perché il +comporre mi stanca meno del riposo. Altronde non ho più da tremere. Lo +sento a quel che provo, che l' ora suona; sono in procinto di spirare; +ho finito prima di aver goduto del mio talento. La vita era pur si +bella, la camera s' apriva sotto auspici tanto fortunati, ma non si puö +cangiar il proprio destino. Nessuno micura [assicura] i propri giomi, +bisogna rassenarsi, sarà quel che piacerà alla providenza, termino ecco +il mio canto funebre, non devo lasciarlo imperfetto. + +It was in vain that his wife, who had returned from Baden, sought to +withdraw him from his work, and to induce him to seek relief from gloomy +thoughts in the society of his friends.[5] One beautiful day, when they +had driven to the Prater, and were sitting there quite alone, Mozart +began to speak of death, and told his wife, with tears in his eyes, +that he was writing his Requiem for himself. "I feel it too well," he +continued; "my end is drawing near. I must have taken poison; I cannot +get this idea out of my mind."[6] Horrified at this disclosure, Frau +Mozart sought, + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(354) + +by every possible argument, to reason him out of such imaginations.[7] +Fully persuaded that the assiduity with which he was working at the +Requiem was increasing his illness, she took the score away from him and +called in a medical adviser, Dr. Closset. + +Some improvement in Mozart's state of health followed, and he was able +to compose a cantata written by Schikaneder for a Masonic festival (623 +K.), which was finished November 15, and the first performance conducted +by himself. He was so pleased with the execution of this work, and +with the applause it received, that his courage and pleasure in his +art revived, and he was ready to believe that his idea of having taken +poison was a result of his diseased imagination. He demanded the score +of the Requiem from his wife, who gave it to him without any misgiving. +The improvement, however, was of short duration, and Mozart soon +relapsed into his former state of melancholy, talked much of having been +poisoned, and grew weaker and weaker. His hands and feet began to swell, +and partial paralysis set in, accompanied by violent vomiting. Good old +Joseph Deiner (Vol. II., p. 300) used to tell how Mozart had come to +him in November, 1791, looking wretched, and complaining of illness. +He directed him to come to his house next morning to receive his wife's +orders for their + +{SERIOUS ILLNESS.} + +(355) + +winter supply of fuel. Deiner kept the appointment, but was informed by +the maid-servant that her master had become so ill during the night that +she had been obliged to fetch the doctor. The wife called him into the +bedroom where Mozart was in bed. When he heard Deiner he opened his +eyes and said, almost inaudibly, "Not to-day, Joseph; we have to do with +doctors and apothecaries to-day."[8] On November 28 his condition was +so critical that Dr. Closset called into consultation Dr. Sallaba, chief +physician at the hospital. During the fortnight that he was confined to +bed consciousness never left him. The idea of death was ever before his +eyes, and he looked forward to it with composure, albeit loth to part +with life. The success of the "Zauberflöte" seemed likely at last to +open the door to fame and fortune; and during his last days of life he +was assured of an annual subscription of one thousand florins from +some of the Hungarian nobility, and of a still larger yearly sum +from Amsterdam, in return for the periodical production of some few +compositions exclusively for the subscribers.[9] It was hard to leave +his art just when he was put in a position to devote himself to it, +unharassed by the daily pressure of poverty; hard, too, to leave his +wife and his two little children to an anxious and uncertain future.[10] +Sometimes these ideas overpowered him, but generally he was tranquil and +resigned, and never betrayed the slightest impatience. He unwillingly +allowed his canary, of which he was very fond, to be removed to the next +room, that he might not be disturbed by its noise. It was afterwards +carried still farther out of hearing. Sophie Haibl says:-- + +When he was taken ill we made him night-shirts which could be put on +without giving him the pain of turning round; and, not realising how +ill he was, we made him a wadded dressing-gown against the time that he +should be able to sit up; it amused him very much to follow our work as +it proceeded. I came to him daily. Once he said to me, + +(ILLNESS AND DEATH.) + +(356) + +"Tell the mother that I am going on very well, and that I shall be +able to come and offer my congratulations on her fête-day (November 22) +within the week." + +He heard with intense interest of the repetition of the "Zauberflote," +and when evening came he used to lay his watch beside him, and follow +the performance in imagination: "Now the first act is over--now comes +the mighty Queen of Night."[11] The day before his death he said to +his wife: "I should like to have heard my 'Zauberflote' once more," +and began to hum the birdcatcher's song in a scarcely audible voice. +Kapellmeister Roser, who was sitting at his bedside, went to the piano +and sang the song, to Mozart's evident delight.[12] The Requiem, too, +was constantly in his mind. While he had been at work upon it he used to +sing every number as it was finished, playing the orchestral part on the +piano. The afternoon before his death he had the score brought to his +bed, and himself sang the alto part.[13] Schack, as usual, took the +soprano, Hofer, Mozart's brother-in-law, the tenor, and Gerl the bass. +They got as far as the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart, with +the feeling that it would never be finished, burst into a violent fit of +weeping, and laid the score aside.[14] + +When Frau Haibl came towards evening her sister, who was not usually +wanting in self-control, met her in a state of agitation at the door, +exclaiming: "Thank God you are here! He was so ill last night, I thought +he could not live through the day; if it comes on again, he must die in +the night." Seeing her at his bedside, Mozart said: "I am glad you are +here; stay with me to-night, and see me die." Controlling her emotion, +she strove to reason him out of such thoughts, but he answered: "I have +the flavour of death on my + +{THE END.} + +(357) + +tongue--I taste death; and who will support my dearest Constanze if you +do not stay with her?" She left him for a moment to carry the tidings to +her mother, who was looking anxiously for them. At her sister's wish she +went to the priests of St. Peter's, and begged that one might be sent +to Mozart as if by chance; they refused for a long time, and it was +with difficulty she persuaded "these clerical barbarians" to grant her +request. When she returned she found Süssmayr at Mozart's bedside in +earnest conversation over the Requiem. "Did I not say that I was writing +the Requiem for myself?" said he, looking at it through his tears. And +he was so convinced of his approaching death that he enjoined his wife +to inform Albrechtsberger of it before it became generally known, in +order that he might secure Mozart's place at the Stephanskirche, which +belonged to him by every right (Vol. II., p. 277, note). Late in the +evening the physician arrived, having been long sought, and found in +the theatre, which he could not persuade himself to leave before the +conclusion of the piece. He told Süssmayr in confidence that there was +no hope, but ordered cold bandages round the head, which caused such +violent shuddering that delirium and unconsciousness came on, from which +Mozart never recovered. Even in his latest fancies he was busy with +the Requiem, blowing out his cheeks to imitate the trumpets and drums. +Towards midnight he raised himself, opened his eyes wide, then lay down +with his face to the wall, and seemed to fall asleep. At one o'clock +(December 5) he expired.[15] + +At early morning the faithful Deiner was roused by the maid-servant +"to come and dress" her master; he went at once and performed the last +friendly offices for Mozart. The body was clothed in a black robe and +laid on a bier, which was carried into the sitting-room and deposited +near the piano. A constant flow of visitors mourned and wept as they +gazed on him; those who had known him intimately loved him; his fame as +an artist had become universal, and his sudden death brought home to all +men the extent of their + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(358) + +loss. The "Wiener Zeitung" (1791, No. 98) made the following +announcement:-- + +We have to announce with regret the death of the Imperial Court +Composer, Wolfgang Mozart, which took place between four and five +o'clock this morning. Famous throughout Europe from earliest childhood +for his singular musical genius, he had developed his natural gifts, +and by dint of study had raised himself to an equality with the greatest +masters; his universally favourite and admired compositions testify +to this fact, and enable us to estimate the irreparable loss which the +musical world has sustained in his death. + +A letter from Prague, of December 12, 1791, announced:[16]-- + +Mozart is--dead. He returned from Prague in a state of suffering, which +gradually increased; dropsy set in, and he died in Vienna at the end of +last week. The swelling of his body after death led to the suspicion of +his having been poisoned. His last work was a funeral Mass, which was +performed at his obsequies. His death will cause the Viennese to realise +for the first time what they have lost in him.[17] His life was troubled +by the constant machination of cabals, whose enmity was doubtless +sometimes provoked by his _sans souci_ manner. Neither his "Figaro" nor +his "Don Juan" were as enthusiastically received in Vienna as they were +in Prague. Peace be to his ashes! + +Mozart's wife, who had been so unwell the day before his death that the +physician had prescribed for her, was rendered completely prostrate in +mind and body by his death. In her despair she lay down upon his bed, +desiring to be seized with the same illness, and to die with him. Van +Swieten, who had hastened to bring her what consolation and assistance +he could, persuaded her to leave the house of death, and to take up her +abode for the present with some friends living near. He undertook the +care of the funeral, and having regard to the needy circumstances of +the widow, he made the necessary arrangements as simply and cheaply +as possible. The funeral expenses (on the scale of the third class) +amounted to 8 fl. 36 kr., and there was an additional charge of 3 fl. +for the hearse. Rich man and distinguished patron + +{INTERMENT AND GRAVE.} + +(359) + +as he was, it seems never to have occurred to Van Swieten that it would +have been becoming in him to undertake the cost as well as the care of +a fitting burial for the greatest genius of his age. At three o'clock +in the afternoon of December 6 the corpse of Mozart received the +benediction in the transept chapel on the north side of St. Stephen's +Church. A violent storm of snow and rain was raging, and the few friends +who were assembled--among them Van Swieten, Salieri, Süssmayr, Kapellm. +Roser, and the violoncellist Orsler[18]--stood under umbrellas round +the bier, which, was then carried through the Schulerstrasse to the +churchyard of St. Mark's. The storm continued to rage so fiercely +that the mourners decided upon turning back before they reached their +destination,[19] and not a friend stood by when the body of Mozart was +lowered into the grave. For reasons of economy no grave had been bought, +and the corpse was consigned to a common vault, made to contain from +fifteen to twenty coffins, which was dug up about every ten years and +filled anew: no stone marked the resting-place of Mozart. Good old +Deiner, who had been present at the benediction, asked the widow if she +did not intend to erect a cross to the departed; she answered that there +was to be one. She no doubt imagined that the priest who had performed +the ceremony would see to the erection of the cross. When she was +sufficiently recovered from her first grief to visit the churchyard, she +found a fresh gravedigger, who was unable to point out Mozart's grave; +and all her inquiries after it were fruitless. Thus it is that, in spite +of repeated attempts to discover it, the resting-place of Mozart remains +unknown.[20] + +{ILLNESS AND DEATH.} + +(360) + +Poor Constanze and her two children were now placed in the saddest +possible position. Not more than sixty florins of ready money were +available at Mozart's death; to this might be added 133 fl. 20 kr. of +outstanding accounts, the furniture, wardrobe, and scanty library, which +were valued at less than 400 florins. But there were debts to be +paid, not only to generous creditors like Puchberg, who rendered every +assistance in settling the affairs of his deceased friend without any +thought of his own claim, but to workmen and tradesmen, who must be paid +at all costs; the doctor's bill alone amounted to 250 florins.[21] +In this emergency, Constanze appealed first to the generosity of the +Emperor. One of Mozart's attached pupils informed her that the Emperor +had been very unfavourably disposed towards her, in consequence of +the calumnies spread abroad by Mozart's enemies to the effect that his +dissipation and extravagance had involved him in debts amounting to +more than 30,000 florins; and she was advised to make her application +in person, so as to persuade the Emperor of the falsehood of such +reports.[22] At the audience which was granted to her, she boldly +declared that Mozart's great genius had raised up enemies against him, +who had embittered his existence by their intrigues and calumnies. These +slanderers had multiplied tenfold the amount of his debts, and she was +prepared to satisfy all claims with a sum of 3,000 florins. Even this +amount of liability was not the result of thoughtless extravagance, +but had been inevitably incurred by the uncertainty of their income, by +frequent illnesses and unforeseen calls on their resources. Appeased by +Frau Mozart's representations, the Emperor encouraged her to give a +concert, in which he took so generous an interest that the proceeds +enabled her to pay all her husband's debts. + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLIV. + + +[Footnote 1: The narrative which follows is founded chiefly upon the widow's +statements in Niemetschek (p. 50. Nissen, p. 563), which agree with +those made by her to an English lady at Salzburg in 1829 (The Musical +World, 1837, August and September. Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. +196), and upon a letter from Sophie Haibl (April 7, 1827), extracts from +which are given by Nissen (p, 573), and of which Köchel has sent me a +copy in full.] + +[Footnote 2: Mosel, Ueb. d. Orig. Part, des Requiem, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 3: Stadler, Nachtr., p. 17.] + +[Footnote 4: In the possession of Mr. Gouny [? Young], of London, copied from the +original by Köchel.] + +[Footnote 5: A. M. Z., I., p. 147.] + +[Footnote 6: This idea was very prevalent, and was not altogether rejected by +Niemetschek, who, remarking on his early death, adds: "if indeed it was +not purposely hastened" (p. 67). Detouche relates it to Sulp. Boisserée +(I., p. 292. Mar. Sessi was convinced of its truth. N. Berlin Mus., +1860, p. 340). Even the widow says in a letter to Reg. Rath Ziegler, of +Munich (August 25, 1837', that her son giving no signs of his father's +greatness, would therefore have nothing to fear from envious attempts on +his life. p. 285):[4]--] + +[Footnote 7: Mozart's diseased fancies were made the grounds for shameful +suspicions of Salieri, who was said to have acknowledged on his deathbed +having administered poison to Mozart (cf. A. M. Z., XXVII., p. 413). +Carpani exonerated Salieri in a long article (Biblioteca Italiana, +1824), and brought forward medical testimony that Mozart's death was +caused by inflammation of the brain, besides the assertions of Salieri's +attendants during his last illness, that he had made no mention of any +poisoning at all. Neukomm also, relying on his intimacy both with the +Mozarts and with Salieri, has energetically protested against a calumny +(Berlin, allg. mus. Ztg., 1824, p. 172) which no sane person would +entertain. The grounds on which the rumour was discredited by +Kapellmeister Schwanenberg of Braunschweig, a friend of Salieri, are +peculiar. When Sievers, then his pupil, read to him from a newspaper +the report of Mozart's having been the victim of the Italian's envy, he +answered: "Pazzi! non ha fatto niente per meritar un tal onore" (A. M. +Z., XXI., p. 120. Sievers, Mozart u. Sussmayr, p. 3). Daumer has striven +to support the untenable conjecture that Mozart was poisoned by the +Freemasons (Aus der Mansarde, IV., p. 75). Finally, the report of the +poisoning furnished the subject of a dreary novel, "Der Musikfeind," by +Gustav Nicolai (Arabesken für Musikfreunde, I. Leipzig, 1825).] + +[Footnote 8: Wiener Morgen-Post, 1856, No. 28.] + +[Footnote 9: This is on the authority of the widow's petition to the Emperor.] + +[Footnote 10: He had prophesied of his little son Wolfgang at four months old +that he would be a true Mozart, for that he cried in the same key in +which his father had just been playing (Niemetschek, p. 41).] + +[Footnote 11: A. M. Z., I., p. 149.] + +[Footnote 12: Monatsschr. für Theat. u. Mus., 1857, p. 446.] + +[Footnote 13: He had a tenor voice, gentle in speaking, unless when he grew +excited in conducting; then he spoke loud and emphatically (Hogarth, +Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 198).] + +[Footnote 14: So says the unquestionably trustworthy account of Schack (A. M. Z., +XXIX., p. 520. Nissen, Nachtr., p. 169).] + +[Footnote 15: So also says the Joum. d. Lux. u. d. Mode, 1808, II., p. 803.] + +[Footnote 16: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 94.] + +[Footnote 17: A contemporary musician (Salieri must be meant) did not scruple to +say to his acquaintance: "It is a pity to lose so great a genius, but a +good thing for us that he is dead. For if he had lived much longer, +we should not have earned a crust of bread by our compositions" +(Niemetschek, p. 81).] + +[Footnote 18: Monatsschr., 1857, p. 446. Schikaneder was not present; the news +of Mozart's death had affected him most deeply; he walked up and down, +crying out: "His spirit follows me everywhere; he is ever before my +eyes!" (Nissen, p. 572).] + +[Footnote 19: Wiener Morgen-Post, 1856, No. 28.] + +[Footnote 20: Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Moden, 1808, II., p. 801. Al. Fuchs related +the negative result of his careful inquiries in Gräffer's Kl. Wiener +Memoiren (I., p. 227). Ritter von Lucam has at last (Die Grabesfrage +Mozart, Wien, 1856) elicited by inquiries from two old musicians who had +known Mozart, Freystadter and Scholl, that the grave was on the right of +the churchyard cross, in the third or fourth row of graves. This agrees +with the statement of the gravedigger in Nissen (p. 576), and inquiries +officially set on foot in 1856 make it probable that it was in the +fourth row to the right of the cross near a willow-tree (Wien. Blatter +Mus. Theat. u. Kunst, 1859, No. 97).] + +[Footnote 21: The list of effects--which owing to the kindness of my friends, +Karajan and Laimegger, lies before me--is copied in the Deutsche Mus. +Ztg., 1861, p. 284. It is affecting to see from it how simple, even +poverty-stricken, was the whole _ménage_. The collection of books and +music is valued at 23 fl. 41 kr.; and among the bad debts is one of +300 fl. to Frz. Gilowsky, who was advertised in July, 1787, as having +absconded insolvent; 500 fl. are put down as borrowed by Ant. Stadler +(Posttägl. Anzeig., 1787, No. 35).] + +[Footnote 22: On a malicious rumour of the kind see O. Jahn, Ges. Aufs. über +Musik, p. 230.] + +=== + + + +MOZART 45 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. THE REQUIEM. + + + +ONE of the first cares of Mozart's widow was the Requiem (626 K.).[1] +Mozart having left it unfinished, she could not but fear that the +Unknown would not only refuse to complete the stipulated payment, but +would demand the return of what had been already paid. In this dilemma, +she called various friends into counsel, and hit upon the idea of +continuing such portions of the work as Mozart had left, and of +presenting it entire to the Unknown. The completion was first intrusted +to Joh. Eybler;[2] witness the following certificate from him:-- + +The undersigned hereby acknowledges that the widow Frau Konstanze +Mozart has intrusted to him, for completion, the Requiem begun by her +late husband. He undertakes to finish it by the middle of the ensuing +Lent; and also gives his assurance that it shall neither be copied nor +given into other hands than those of the widow. + +Joseph Eybler. + +Vienna, December 21, 1791. + +He began his task by filling in the instrumentation in Mozart's +manuscript as far as the Confutatis, + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(362) + +and writing two bars of a continuation of the Lacrimosa,[3] but he then +abandoned the work in despair. Other musicians seem to have declined +it after him until it finally fell to the lot of Süssmayr. He had been +Mozart's pupil in composition, had lent a hand in "Titus" (p. 288), +and had often gone over the parts of the Requiem already composed with +Mozart, who had consulted him as to the working-out of the composition +and the principal points of the instrumentation. The widow, at a later +time, said to Stadler: + +As Mozart grew weaker Süssmayr had often to sing through with him and +me what had been written, and thus received regular instruction from +Mozart. I seem to hear Mozart saying, as he often did: "Ah, the oxen are +on the hill again! You have not, mastered that yet, by a long way."[4] + +This expression was also well remembered by her sister Sophie, and we +can enter into it, remembering the manner in which Mozart himself wrote +and developed his compositions (Vol. II., p. 423). + +The first two movements, Requiem and Kyrie, were finished and written +out in full score by Mozart; there can be no question about them.[5] The +Dies iræ was sketched out in his usual way, the voice parts completely +written out, together with the fundamental bass--sometimes figured--and +the instrumental parts where they had to go without the voices; where +the accompaniment was at all independent the subject was indicated +sufficiently clearly to be carried on and filled in subsequently. The +score was left in this state as far as the last verse of the Dies iræ; +Mozart stopped at the words:-- + + Qua resurget ex favilla + Iudicandus homo reus. + +{SUSSMAYR'S WORK.} + +(363) + +He had not set himself, however, to compose the Requiem straight +through, but had thrown off different parts of it according to the +mood he happened to be in. Thus before the Dies iræ was finished he +had composed the Offertorium, of which the two movements, Domine Jesu +Christe and Hostias, were left virtually complete in the same state as +those mentioned above. + +It will now be understood how Mozart, going through the score, either +at the piano or the desk with his pupil Süssmayr, would discuss the +various points of the instrumentation, would encourage him to make +suggestions, and explain his own ideas and intentions, so that Süssmayr +would in many respects have formed a lively image in his mind of what +the completed score would be, and would often be able faithfully to +reproduce Mozart's own intentions. Of the remaining movements, Sanctus, +Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, there were no such sketches in existence. + +Süssmayer's first care was to copy out all that Mozart had left +imperfect, "that there might not be two handwritings together," as the +widow wrote to André (Càcilia, VI., p. 202)--she must have had Eybler's +promised completion in her mind--and then to fill in the instrumentation +according to Mozart's apparent design. Pages 11-32 of Mozart's original +manuscript, containing the Dies iræ as far as the Confutatis, fell +into the hands of the Abbé Stadler, and were by him bequeathed to the +Imperial Library in Vienna. The remaining sheets (33-45) containing the +Lacrimosa, Domine, and Hostias, belonged to Eybler, who presented them +to the same library. That Mozart had contemplated carrying them out, and +uniting them into one score with the Requiem and Kyrie is proved by the +continuous numbering of the pages in his own handwriting; there is no +instance to be found of his having recopied a score so sketched out when +filling it in.[6] + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(364) + +Süssmayr's appointed task, therefore, was the composition "from his own +head" (ganz neu) of the concluding part of the Lacrimosa, the Sanctus, +Benedictus, and Agnus Dei; only "in order to give the work more unity" +he repeated the fugue of the Kyrie with the words "cum sanctis." The +Requiem thus completed--the two first movements in Mozart's handwriting, +the remainder in Süssmayr's--was delivered over to the owner.[7] If it +was intended that the latter should accept the whole composition as by +Mozart, appearances were certainly not calculated to undeceive him. The +score in question passed in 1838 into the possession of the Imperial +Library.[8] The first impression of every one who sees it, and who is +familiar with Mozart's handwriting, must be that the whole of it was +written by him, and that the autograph of Mozart's Requiem in its +entirety is before him.[9] Closer examination and comparison raise +suspicion, many discrepancies are discovered, although perhaps only +trifling ones, and the fact must be borne in mind that, to a question +addressed to her on the subject, Mozart's widow answered (February 10, +1839) that a full score of the Requiem in Mozart's handwriting could not +exist, since it was finished not by him but by Süssmayr. + +A comparison of the manuscript with several scores undoubtedly written +by Süssmayr--a terzet and bass air, composed by him in 1793 for +insertion in the "Serva Padrona"--solved the riddle. It was the same +handwriting, closely resembling that of Mozart, with the same deviations +from it which had been pointed out in the Requiem. There could + +{SÜSSMAYR'S WORK.} + +(365) + +no longer be any doubt that Süssmayr had written the score from the Dies +iræ--the paging begins afresh, starting with page 1 at the Sanctus. In +one place the transcriber betrays himself by a mistake. The closing bars +of the Tuba mirum are noted for the stringed instruments by Mozart, as +follows:--[See Page Image] + +In his copy Süssmayr has omitted the octave passage for the violins, and +the characteristic instrumentation for the violas, and has filled up the +omission in a way which is certainly no improvement on the original.[10] + +Süssmayr, it is clear, had so modelled his handwriting on that of Mozart +that the two could only be distinguished by trifling idiosyncrasies. +There are other instances of the same kind--Joh. Seb. Bach's second +wife, for instance, writing a hand which only an expert could +distinguish from her husband's, and Joachim's manuscript being, at one +time at least, almost identical with Mendelssohn's. As far as the score +of the Requiem was concerned, the wish to persuade the owner of the +Requiem that he was possessed of a composition exclusively by Mozart may +have come to the aid of + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(366) + +custom and natural aptitude. There is no doubt that Count Walsegg +accepted the score as having been completed and written by Mozart at +least as far as the Sanctus.[11] Whether this was expressly stated, or +merely taken for granted by him, does not appear, and the fact that +the composition had been ordered by him with a view to a deception of +another kind is a curious coincidence, but does not make the case any +the better. + +Under these circumstances it was to the interest of the widow to +maintain that the Requiem had been completed by Mozart. This explains +the assertion of Rochlitz[12] (who according to his own account had +questioned Mozart's widow at Leipzig in 1796 concerning the whole +story of the Requiem) that Mozart had completed the Requiem before his +death.[13] But a secret known to so many could hardly be long kept. +The widow had retained a copy of the work, and a performance of it +took place soon after in Jahn's Hall at Vienna, the hall being densely +crowded. It was pretty well known to the performers what portions were +by Mozart and what by Süssmayr,[14] and the knowledge was not slow to +spread. It reached Munich[15] and Prague, where at the first performance +of the Requiem no secret was made of the fact that the Sanctus was +composed by Süssmayr.[16] The widow sold manuscript copies of the +Requiem to various noblemen,[17] and allowed others to make copies of +it;[18] Hiller copied the + +{PUBLICATION.} + +(367) + +score note for note with his own hand, and wrote on the title-page +"Opus,summum viri summi," expressing no doubt whatever as to the +whole work being that of Mozart.[19] Not content with the profits thus +accruing from the Requiem, the widow turned her attention towards +its publication. The idea occurred to her that a public appeal to the +Unknown might induce him to forego his claim on the composition.[20] The +appeal, however, was not made, for the publishers, Breitkopf and Hàrtel, +not conceiving themselves to be bound by the agreement made with Mozart, +resolved on bringing out the work from the several transcripts of it +which had fallen into their hands. Desirous, however, that the work +should be produced with all possible correctness, they applied to the +widow for her copy, with which, having no power to stop the publication, +she saw no objection to furnishing them. To their question (prompted +by the reports current as to the authorship of the work) whether +the Requiem was wholly and solely composed by Mozart, she answered +explicitly as follows (March 27, 1799):-- + +As to the Requiem, it is true that I possess the celebrated one, written +shortly before his death. I know of no Requiem but this, and declare all +others to be spurious.[21] How far it is his own composition--it is +so to near the end--I will inform you when you receive it from me. The +circumstances were as follows: Seeing his end approaching, he spoke with +Herr Süssmayr, the present Imperial Kapellmeister, and requested him, if +he should die without completing it, to repeat the first fugue in + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(368) + +the last part, as is customary; and told him also how he should develop +the conclusion, of which the principal subjects were here and there +already carried out in some of the parts. And this Herr Süssmayr +actually did. + +On being pressed for further information she referred the publishers to +Süssmayr himself, who answered in the letter already mentioned (February +8, 1800). He nowhere asserts having received a decided commission from +Mozart, nor does he mention the concluding fugue, so that it is plain +that the widow turned her not very clear recollection of the transaction +as far as possible in favour of the integrity of the Requiem. Count +Walsegg, who had already given himself out as the composer of the +Requiem, must have felt considerable annoyance at its wide dissemination +as Mozart's work; but as yet he had made no sign. When however, in +1799, Breitkopf and Hàrtel announced the publication of the Requiem +from the manuscript in the possession of Mozart's widow, he thought it +time to put forward his claim. He sent his own copy of the score to his +advocate, Dr. Sortschan, at Vienna, and through him demanded explanation +and compensation from the widow. Stadler and Nissen negotiated with the +advocate in her name. Stadler pointed out which parts had Mozart and +which Süssmayr for their author, and the advocate wrote down all that +he said for the information of the Count, to whom he returned his +score.[23] As to compensation, the widow wrote to Hàrtel (January 30, +1800) that the Count had demanded the restitution of fifty ducats, but +that he would perhaps be satisfied with receiving a number of copies of +the work. Nissen at length induced the Count "with much difficulty +and after many threats" to accept as payment transcripts of several +unpublished compositions by Mozart,[24] and even to allow the widow to +revise the printed score by a comparison of it with his own.[25] + +{SÜSSMAYR'S SHARE IN THE WORK.} + +(369) + +As the result of this unsatisfactory transaction to all concerned in it, +we may conclude that the Requiem and Kyrie are the work of Mozart as we +have them, that the movements from the Dies iræ to the first eight bars +of the Lacrimosa, also the Domine Jesu and Hostias, were finished by +Mozart in the voice part and the bass, and that the principal points of +the instrumentation were also indicated by him, leaving only the details +to be elaborated. This, however, is not by any means so easy and purely +mechanical an undertaking as has been supposed, and Mozart's verbal +suggestions must not be underrated. As regards the last three numbers, +Süssmayr's statement that they had been "composed (verfertigt) entirely +afresh" by him offers no decided testimony on the point. Stadler's +account[26] ("the widow told me that after Mozart's death a few scraps +of paper with music on them had been found on his writing-desk, and +had been handed over to Herr Süssmayr; what they contained, or what use +Süssmayr made of them, I do not know") admits the possibility, but +only the possibility, that these scraps were sketches for the last +movements.[27] The repeatedly expressed doubt as to whether "these +flowers really grew in Süssmayr's garden" can only be supported upon +internal evidence. + +The serious spirit in which Mozart undertook the composition of his +Requiem, the intensity of his absorption in it, and the artistic labour +which he bestowed upon it, are best evidenced by the work itself.[28] +It is remarkable that towards the close of his life, when increasing +illness disposed his mind to serious reflection, his musical labours +should have been calculated to turn his thoughts upon death and the +grave. On the one hand his views as a Freemason, which were both earnest +and sincere, found their expression in the "Zauberflote"; and, on the +other, his religious convictions + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(370) + +asserted for the last time in the Requiem the sway over his mind +and conscience which they had never lost.[29] The two sets of mental +activities thus roused found their common centre in Mozart's mind, and +impelled him to the production of his most powerful and most important +works. The similarity of thought and tendency displayed in the Requiem +and the "Zauberflöte" is observable even in the combinations of external +means in corresponding parts of the two works. The combination of +basset-horns, bassoons, and trombones, and here and there of trumpets +and drums, with the stringed instruments, which gave so singular +an expression of earnest solemnity to the tone-colouring of the +"Zauberflöte," is made use of again in the Requiem. + +But the tone-blending of the latter work is nevertheless limited, +the clearer wind instruments--flutes, oboes, clarinets and the +softer horns--being left out altogether, and the frequent orchestral +characterisation depending altogether upon the varied combinations of +the instruments named above. + +The view upheld in the opera that serious ideas must be expressed in +corresponding severity of form is even more decided in the Requiem, +in so far as Mozart must have regarded as natural and inevitable the +identification of certain fixed forms with the musical expression of +religious emotion in an act of worship. The praiseworthy feeling which +leads an artist, who believes himself to be offering his work for the +service of the Most High, to bestow his best thoughts and his best +workmanship upon it, cannot fail also to have influenced him. The +pleasure which, after his study of Handel's oratorios and the strong +impression made on him by Bach's motetts, Mozart took in the severely +contrapuntal style of composition is evinced both in the "Zauberflöte" +and in the two organ pieces composed in December, 1790, and March, 1791. +But the main inducement to this form was doubtless the facility with +which it expressed a serious, controlled and concentrated frame of mind, +allowing at the same + +{KYRIE--INTROITUS.} + +(371) + +time much freedom of characteristic and individual expression. The chief +significance of the Requiem rests herein, that it proves these forms, +with their fixed laws and strongly marked features, to have more than a +merely abstract or historical value; it proves them to be in fact, when +artistically conceived and scientifically handled, capable of giving +appropriate expression to the deepest emotion in which the human heart +finds vent.[30] + +In considering the Requiem, a distinction must be made between the +different parts of this kind of Mass and the different degrees of +importance which they receive in relation to the act of worship with +which they are associated. + +The Kyrie is preceded by the Introitus, beginning with a prayer for the +departed. The bassoons and basset-horns, in successive imitation, give +utterance to the soft, sustained melody of the prayer, supported by a +simple accompaniment on the stringed instruments; it is interrupted by +four clashing trumpet chords announcing the approach of judgment, and +not again recurring until the day of doom is there. Thereupon the voices +immediately enter, falling in from the bass upwards; but a syncopated +figure for the violins gives the petition for repose an expression +of painful unrest, called forth by the contemplation of death and the +coming judgment; soon, however, the clouds are pierced by the divine +light which is finally to disperse them, and the movement comes to a +peaceful end after an outburst of confidence and strength rendered by +the orchestra. After a short transition passage come the words of the +psalm, "Lord, we will magnify Thee upon Zion, and pay our vows unto +the Most High." In order to emphasise these as the words of Scripture, +Mozart has set them to an old chorale melody and given them to a soprano +voice, which utters them in clear, pure tones, like consolation from +above. The chorale, as has been already remarked (Vol. I., p. 200), is +the two-part _tropus_ of the ninth church mode to the psalm "In exitu +Israel de Ægypto," and had previously been made use of by Mozart as a +Cantus firmus + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(372) + +in his "Betulia Liberata"; but what a difference between the work of the +youth and that of the matured master![31] While the soprano chorus takes +up the same melody firmly and forcibly with the words "Thou that hearest +prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come!" the other voices fall in in +animated movement, and an energetic figure for the violins increases the +force of the expression. Then the petition for eternal rest is renewed +with a stronger expression of confidence, but still with the ground-tone +of painful agitation, rendered, by the union with the first motif of a +second, more animated and more forcible. This second subject has already +been hinted at in the transition passage to the psalm texts, from which +also the passage accompanying the texts is taken, and here first fully +asserts itself, the psychological development thus coinciding with the +musical climax. The climax reaches its highest point in the petition for +eternal light, which the divided voices utter alternately and repeat in +concert with tender, pleading supplication. + +The ejaculations "Kyrie eleison!" and "Christe eleison!" are bound +together as the two themes of a double fugue (the first strong and firm, +the second agitated and impulsive), which are carried out together in +inextricable entanglement--their expression heightened by the chromatic +construction towards the close, until in constantly increasing climax +they come to a pause on a harshly dissonant chord, and then, as it were, +collect themselves and unite in quiet composure. This fugue[32] has +given rise to the extremes of criticism, laudatory and the reverse;[33] +G. Weber could not bear to believe that Mozart + +{KYRIE.} + +(373) + +could have written such "Gurgeleien" as the chromatic passages of +the Christe eleison,[34] and others have looked in vain for the pious +humility of expression proper to such a solemn appeal to the mercy of +the Redeemer.[35] Whether the treatment of the keys adopted in this +movement is in accordance with the requirements of a strict fugue, must +be decided by the masters of the school; it is undeniable that on it +depends the character and effect of the movement, and that the essential +laws of counterpoint are here apprehended and turned to account with +deep insight into their true nature.[36] + +The execution of the chromatic passages is difficult certainly; but, +apart from the fact that both older and contemporary masters, who +wrote for trained choirs--Bach, for instance, or Handel, or Haydn--made +similar demands on the skill of their performers, they are perfectly +possible if taken in the right time, and the effect produced by them is +probably that which Mozart intended. The conception of the movement is +clearly expressed, and requires neither explanation nor apology.[37] +The exclamation, "Lord, have mercy upon us!" is capable of very varied +expression; in the mouth of one in the agony of death, burdened with sin +and about to appear before the Judge of all men, it becomes an agonising +appeal for mercy. This state of mind has already been expressed, and +rises at the close of the Requiem into such an intensity of longing +after eternal light, that the anguished yet not despairing cry of the +Kyrie is perfectly naturally led up to. The two feelings are expressed +in the two themes of the fugue, although, in accordance with the +character of the + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(374) + +Mass, even the confidence is penetrated with a feeling of grief. In such +a mood the element of agitation naturally rises higher and higher, until +at length the anguish of suspense finds vent in the heartrending cry for +mercy which leads to composure and resignation. The two movements of the +Requiem and the Kyrie are thus formed into a whole of perfect harmonic +unity, and lead the way to the Dies iræ. + +In view of this unmistakable unity of conception and construction it +appears strange that decided traces of Handel's influence should appear +in the principal subjects. Stadler remarks that Mozart has borrowed +the motif of the Requiem from the first motif of Handel's "Dirge on +the death of Queen Caroline"--"as some loose sheets among his retrains +show"--and has worked it out after his own manner.[38] This can only +allude to the preliminary sketches of this portion of the Requiem such +as Mozart was accustomed to make for contrapuntal work before writing +the score (Vol. II., p. 433), and of such there must have been a great +number during the composition of his Requiem. Stadler's conjecture that +they were vestiges of Mozart's youthful studies is unfounded; he was +not acquainted with Handel's works in his youth, nor until they were +introduced to him by Van Swieten (Vol. II., p. 386), under whose +direction he rearranged Handel's oratorios between 1788-1790 (p. 218). +Before this, the anthem in question cannot have been known to him. In +this beautiful work, composed in December, 1737,[39] Handel has taken +the Chorale, "Herr Jesu Christ, du wahres Gut," or, "Wenn mein Stündlein +vorhanden ist',[40] as Cantus firmus to the first chorus, and has made +further use of the same theme in the fugued concluding chorus. It is +very unlikely that Mozart deliberately chose out the subject in order +to work it out in a different way to Handel; it was more probably so +stamped on his memory as to have suggested itself naturally as suited to +the words before him, and to have then + +{HANDEL'S INFLUENCE.} + +(375) + +been quite independently worked out by him. Stadler also points out that +Mozart has taken the motif to the Kyrie from one of Handel's oratorios. +The chorus "Halleluja! we will rejoice in Thy salvation." from Handel's +"Joseph," contains both the themes of Mozart's Kyrie, but in the major +key; again, the principal subject of the Kyrie eleison has been carried +out as a fugue in the minor in the well-known and beautiful chorus of +the Messiah, "By His stripes." A comparison of this fugue with that of +the Requiem, shows that the adaptation has not merely consisted in the +change from a major to a minor key, and that the actual motif, a very +favourable one for treatment in counterpoint--[See Page Image] + +and one constantly occurring in the fugal movements of every age, here +serves only as a nucleus from which the master proceeds to develop his +own independent creation. The essential principle in the construction +of a double fugue is the combination of two themes, each bearing a +necessary relation to the other. In the chorus in "Joseph" are two +motifs exactly answering to each other; and it can scarcely be doubted +that Mozart was struck with the combination and adopted it, although, +as the examples adduced will show, his working-out of the motifs +is essentially his own. Handel only really worked out the second +motif--one, by the way, which often recurs in others of his works--and +this in very free treatment; the first only occasionally emerges from +the passages which play around it, like a huge rock almost overwhelmed +by the billows. Mozart has undertaken such a fugal elaboration of both +motifs as presupposes a radically different treatment impossible +without a new intellectual conception of the task before him. Still more +essential does this reconception appear when it is remembered that the +supplication of a sinner for mercy was to take the place of a joyful +offering of praise and thanksgiving. The transposition to a minor key +involves at the outset so complete a reconstruction of the harmonic +treatment as to point to a new creation + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(376) + +rather than an adaptation. We here stand in the presence of one of +the mysteries of music; how it is that one and the same musical idea, +embodied in one definite form, should be capable by means of artistic +arrangement of expressing different and even totally opposite emotions. +It is true, doubtless, that invention is the characteristic gift of +genius, but absolute novelty is not to be considered as altogether +indispensable to invention. In music, as in every other art, the +creation of an individual becomes common property for his successors, +whose task it is so to develop and carry it on as in their turn to +create and construct an original and undying work. Richly endowed +natures, in the consciousness of their power of producing what is +perfectly original from?any given point, often undisguisedly follow the +impulse given by a predecessor to their imagination. A striking proof +of this is given by Haydn, who has written a double fugue as the last +movement of his Quartet in F minor, which might appear a deliberate +attempt at rivalry, but which has in reality every claim to +independence. To what extent Handel himself has employed, retouched, +and re-elaborated melodies, not only of previous occurrence in his own +works, but borrowed from other musicians, has lately been pointed out +by Chrysander; and one of the most striking examples of such musical +plagiarism is Gluck's expressive air from "Iphigenie in Tauris," "Je +t'implore, et je tremble," which was unmistakably suggested by the +beautiful Gigue in Seb. Bach's Clavier Studies (I., part I.).[41] +Neither of these two great masters could be suspected of borrowing ideas +for lack of invention.[42] + +A curious part of the Requiem, of special prominence in the musical +construction of the Mass, is the old Latin hymn, + +{DIES IRÆ.} + +(377) + +Dies iræ, which is generally not quite accurately described as a +Sequence.[43] It had grown into a custom in the service of the Mass that +at the Alleluja of the Gradual in High Mass, which was repeated by the +congregation, and then again by the choir, the last syllable "ja" +should be extended into a jubilus, upon which long-drawn-out florid +progressions (_sequentæ_) were sung, of different forms for different +festivals. Gradually these became so elaborate as to offer great +difficulties in execution and to require special practice, and the +idea arose of providing these merely vocalised melodies (_neumæ_, or +divisions) with words which were called _prosæ_, because they were +confined to no particular metre or rhythm, but followed the melody, a +syllable to every note. The greatest development of these _prosæ_, which +were now called _sequentiæ_, was made in the ninth century by Notker the +Stammerer for his scholars and successors in the musical school of +St. Gall.[44] If he did not actually invent them, he gave them their +essential form. Proceeding from the old alleluja jubilation, he founded +upon it a fixed form, consisting partly in regularly recurring cadences, +partly in the twofold repetition of each melodic progression, with +the frequent employment of a kind of refrain. This gave to the words a +certain amount of regularity, still however far from any strictness of +rhythm or metre. These Sequences introduced a fresh element of animated +movement into the rigid uniformity of the ritual, and, coming in the +place of the responses, gave the congregation an effective share in the +service. They had therefore a reciprocal effect on the national poetry, +and were developed side by side with it. In process of time rhyme, at +first only occasionally appearing, became general. The two lines set to +the corresponding melodic choral progressions were connected by rhyme, +as well as the lines of the refrain. Then they were united into + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(378) + +verses, and gradually the number of syllables in each line was made +equal. The Sequences, which allowed of very great variety of form, were +extremely popular in Germany, France, and England--less so in Italy; and +so many were written, often set to well-known melodies, that they seemed +to imperil the strictly conventional character of the Mass. The Church +therefore forbade the use of all but three--"Victimæ Paschali," "Veni, +sancte Spiritus," and "Lauda Sion salvatorem"--which alone are included +in the revised Breviary after the Council of Trent in 1568. + +There can be no Sequence properly so-called in a Requiem, because there +is no Alleluja to which it can serve as the supplement; but, following +the analogy of the Sequence, a hymn on the last judgment was added to +the Tractus, which follows the Gradual, as a preparation for the reading +of the Gospel. The date of the introduction of this hymn is uncertain, +but it is mentioned as an integral portion of the Requiem by Barthol. +Albizzi in 1385, and was acknowledged and retained as such, together +with the three Sequences named above. The author of the hymn is not +certainly identified, but it was most probably the Franciscan Thomas, of +Celano, who was living in 1255.[45] + +The importance of the Dies iræ from a musical point of view is +determined by the fact that it takes the place of the Gloria and +the Credo, which are not sung in the Requiem. Instead of the joyful +confidence of these movements, the reflections of sinful man in the +presence of judgment here find their expression, and this obviously +determines the tone of the whole. The euphonious force and beauty of the +hymn, which have not been attained in any of the numerous translations +made of it, distinguish it as made for music,[46] the subject being +also very favourable to composition. With graphic force the terrors of +judgment are painted with all ecclesiastical severity, and with constant +reference to the actual words of Scripture, while the mercy and + +{DIES IRÆ.} + +(379) + +loving-kindness of the Redeemer are dwelt on with equal emphasis. The +fear of damnation is tempered by the hope of salvation, and from the +waitings of remorse rises the prayer of the trusting believer. Intense +and varied emotions are thrown into relief by strong contrast. Brief +but pregnant suggestions give occasion for powerful musical +characterisation, favoured also by the isolated position of the hymn in +the service. Just as the preacher addresses his solemn warning to the +congregation with more of individual emphasis than the priest who offers +the sacrifice of the Mass, so the composer who depicts the terrors of +the last judgment, so as to bring them home to the imagination of his +hearers, has freer individual scope than if he were merely following the +different acts of worship. In the Dies iræ, therefore, we have a freer +style, a more vivid expression than elsewhere. Nor is it so bound by the +usages of tradition as the other parts of the Mass, although a division +of the hymn into particular sections is indicated by the arrangement of +the subject, and necessitated by the conditions of musical construction. + +The hymn begins by representing the destruction of the world, which is +to precede the coming of the Lord, and the expression must therefore be +forcible and animated even to excess. Here, then, for the first time +the chorus enters as a compact mass, only dividing once, when the +basses exclaim: "Quantus tremor est futurus!" the only attempt at +tone-painting, while the other voices wail: "Dies iræ! dies illa!" until +they all unite to express the fearful majesty in which the Judge shall +appear. The effect of this chorus in contrast to what has gone before +rests in great measure on the high position of the voices; their shrill, +clear tone, heightened by the string accompaniment of semiquavers or +syncopated notes, is expressive of strong agitation. Without having +recourse to any new devices--trombones are omitted here that the shrill +effect may not be impaired--an altered tone-colouring transports the +hearer to an altogether new region of ideas. The harmonising adds to +the effect by the occurrence of harsh, rugged chords--especially by the +transition from E major to C minor at the repetition of the "Quantus + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(380) + +tremor" and the return to A major; not to mention other striking +features, such as the imitative passage for the tenor at the first +"Quantus tremor," which expresses amazement in the most vivid manner. + +After bringing before the mind of the hearers the tumult and horror of +the destruction of the world, the judgment begins--the trumpets call all +created beings before the throne of the Judge. A tenor trumpet makes the +announcement in a simple passage, which is taken up by a bass voice, +and the two unite with a solemn and dignified effect.[47] Then one after +another a tenor, alto, and soprano voice describe the judgment and its +unmitigated severity, and at last combine in trembling supplication at +the words, "Cum vix iustus sit securus." Mozart has here, apparently, +intentionally refrained from emphasising the terrors of judgment, +wishing to heighten the contrast of the destruction of the world with +the appearance of the Judge, and its effect on the conscience as well as +the senses of mankind; he aimed at expressing this effect by means of +a soul-elevating calm; but he has fallen short of his endeavours. The +movement is in itself expressive, dignified, and full of euphonious +beauty, especially towards the close, but it fails to rouse in us a +sense of the grandeur and elevation which belong to the subject.[48] + +The idea that no created being is justified before God recalls the +conception of the Judge throned in His awful glory, which is expressed +with terrible force in the chorus that follows. The plan of it shows +clearly the influence of the words on the musical conception. The +thrice-repeated exclamation "Rex!" and then "Rex tremendæ majestatis," +makes, even when spoken, a strong impression, but when sung by the whole +strength of the chorus in simple, powerful chords, supported by the wind +instruments, the effect is almost overpowering, and is heightened by the +strongly + +{DIES IRÆ.} + +(381) + +punctuated passage for the strings, sinking, as it were; into terrified +silence at each recurrence of the exclamation. The idea of the mercy of +the Redeemer is at first subordinate to this impression: while sopranos +and altos in strict imitation repeat the "Rex tremendae majestatis," and +the stringed instruments elaborate their figure in two-part imitation, +the tenors and basses announce "Qui salvandos salvas gratis" with a +characteristic motif, also in strict imitation; and this is repeated, +with alternations of the upper and lower parts, until they all four +unite in the whole sentence, forming a movement of concisest strength +and severity. The declaration of mercy calls forth the prayer, beginning +with the single appeal, "Salva me!" repeated to the gradually dying +passage for the stringed instruments, and finally concentrating all its +strength and intensity of emotion in the prayer:[49] "Salva me, Fons +pietatis!"[50] + +And now the idea gains ground of the merciful Saviour and His work in +reconciling mankind with God; Him we beseech to intercede for souls +conscious of their sinfulness. The verses which are devoted to this +division of the subject are given to a quartet of solo voices, as +appropriate to the gentler and more individual tone of the emotions +depicted. The quartet in question is one of the longest and most +elaborate movements of the Requiem, and in its plan and arrangement, in +the wealth and importance of its different motifs, in the delicacy of +its detail, and the spirit which breathes from it throughout, it is +perhaps the finest of them all; nor is it too much to say that no more +beautiful and noble piece of music of the kind has ever been written. +Mozart himself recognised the fact, telling his wife, after writing down +the Recorders, that if he were to die before finishing the Requiem it +was of the greatest importance that + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(382) + +this movement should have been completed.[51] The chief part of the +movement, after its introduction by the ritornello, is formed by a motif +given by two voices in imitation at the beginning, the middle, and +again towards the close, the fervent expression of which is tinged with +severity by means of suspensions of the second. It is supported by a +figured bass, the first bar of which--[See Page Image] + +contains the germ from which most of the motifs of the accompaniment +and the interludes are developed, and finally winds up the ritornello in +two-part canonic imitation on the violins, with a figure for the +violas in counter-movement to an organ point on the bass. This two-part +movement having been executed first by the alto and bass, then by the +soprano and tenor, the four unite in free movement to bring the whole +to an expressive close with the supplicating appeal, "Ne me perdas illa +die!" In the first episode the parts are at first divided into short +responding phrases, held together by the figured bass, and coming to a +close together, whereupon the first movement, abbreviated, is repeated. +Then there occurs a new motif of essentially harmonic character, the +effect of which depends upon the thrice-heightened climax of the chords, +intensified by the contrast of the high and low voices. Then the parts +divide again and lead the way for the last entry of the first movement, +which is repeated with a short parenthesis inserted; the final close is +brought about in a very interesting and satisfying manner by the fine +successive or parallel motion of the different parts. But we despair of +reproducing in words anything but a mere skeleton of the beauty of this +wonderful quartet--a beauty whose peculiar charm consists in the union +of loveliest grace with chaste severity and earnest depth of thought. +This charm it owes to the simplicity and truth of feeling which led the +master to seek and to find the best expression + +{DIES IRÆ.} + +(383) + +for what was in his mind; and never in any art, be it what it may, has +the comforting feeling of pious trust in the mercy of God, arising from +the consciousness of human weakness, been more truly and beautifully +expressed than in this Recordare. + +The verse which follows contrasts the torments of the damned with the +hopes of believers, and could not therefore be suitably rendered with +the same composure of tone. It had become customary to emphasise the +contrast very strongly, depicting the torments of hell as graphically as +the joys of Paradise. In this movement, therefore, the men's voices are +opposed to the women's, and describe the torments in short, imitative +phrases, emphasised when repeated by rapid changes from major to minor +and sharp suspensions and rendered still more forcible by a frequent +pregnant rhythmical figure borne by the stringed instruments in unison. +The women's voices, supported only by a quiet violin passage, express +a low and fervent appeal for redemption, intensified upon repetition by +some suspensions.[52] All the emotions and reflections represented so +far have tended to turn the thoughts inwards, with such feelings of +remorse and repentance as alone can lead to the trust in divine mercy, +and it is with the feeling of deep self-abasement that the supremest +point of the hymn is approached. The voices unite soft and low in a +succession of harmonies such as no mortal ear had ever heard:--[See Page +Image] + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(384) + +Involuntarily we bow before the declaration of a mystery which no mouth +may utter; irresistibly impelled by the stream of harmony, we feel our +spirits loosed from the bondage which has held them, and born again to +life and light; we feel a breath of the immortality which had already +touched the brow of the master as he wrote. To the contrite and broken +spirit the Day of Wrath becomes a day of mourning, and so the "Lacrimosa +dies illa" begins with a gentle plaint hushed by the terrifying +representation of the rising of the dead from their graves, which is +grandly expressed in a powerful crescendo, brought about by the rising +climax of the melody and the onward motion of the harmonies. With the +anguished cry of "Homo reus!" the pen dropped from the hand of the +master; the emotion which shook his whole being was too strong for +expression: "Huic ergo parce Deus, pie Jesu Domine!" + +How far Süssmayr's continuation has fulfilled Mozart's intentions cannot +of course be absolutely decided; he has rightly taken up and carried out +the suggestion of the first few bars, and his conclusion has an imposing +solemnity. It is worthy of note that henceforward the trombones are much +more frequently employed than heretofore. When we compare the scanty and +peculiar use made of them in the Requiem and the Tuba mirum, with their +characteristic occurrence in the "Zauberflote," it appears doubtful +whether Mozart himself would so often have introduced them as supports +to the voices; although this was no doubt the custom in contemporary +church music. + +The Offertorium belongs again to the service, and requires on that +account another and a more conventional character in the music than the +Dies iræ. It falls into two sections, of which the first (Domine Jesu +Christe) prefers the petition that the soul of the departed may not go +down into hell, but + +{OFFERTORIUM.} + +(385) + +may be carried into light by the Archangel Michael. The earnest and +affecting character of the music is tinged with a certain amount of +harshness and unrest, arising from the constant recurrence of the +mention of hell and its torments, which distinguishes the movement from +the otherwise similar one of the Requiem. The vivid contrasts of the +words are accentuated by the music, and the result is a succession of +short phrases, combining into larger groups, which correspond with each +other. The words "ne absorbeat eas Tartarus" are worked out into a short +fugue, which has an unusually harsh effect owing to the characteristic +sevenths of the theme and the powerful semiquaver passage carried out by +the stringed instruments in unison. The gentle melody, supported by the +solo voices in canonic imitation, "sed sanctus signifer Michael," has, +on the contrary, a soothing effect, and is the only ray of light which +is allowed to shine through the surrounding gloom. The whole movement +closes with the words "Quam (lucem sanctam) olim Abrahæ promisisti" +in an elaborate fugue, the effect of which is heightened by the +accompaniment which carries out a motif of its own in close imitation. +G. Weber found fault with this fugue, with its aimless elaboration of +a subordinate idea and superfluous repetition of the same unimportant +words;[53] and Seyfried defended it on the ground that a fugue was +considered indispensable at this point,[54] and indeed was not unsuited +to it. The idea is, in truth, not a subordinate one, it is the ground +of the confidence with which the prayer is offered, and so becomes +the basis of the whole movement. The fugue is the form best fitted for +short, pithy sentences, and the one in question has the same singular +mixture of trust in the divine mercy and tortured anxiety at the thought +of death which was expressed in the first movement of the Requiem, +although it there assumed a milder form. Separate passages are of great, +though somewhat rugged beauty, as befitted the movement; more especially +the closing passage, "de profundo lacu, in obscurum, et semini eius." + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(386) + +The second part (Hostias et preces) has a much more composed character, +as becomes the offering by the spirit of its sacrifice to the Almighty. +The idea, therefore, of still lingering disquiet is left to be expressed +by the syncopated passage for the violins, the voices going together +almost throughout the movement, and declaiming the words with strikingly +appropriate expression. The very simplicity of this movement reveals the +hand of the master, and gives it an individuality especially noticeable +at the words "tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam +facimus." Thus far a reference to Mozart's own manuscript suffices +to determine how much was left to Süssmayr's carrying out. Although +sufficient indications were given even of the more elaborate and +independent instrumental parts to serve as a guide to a well-educated +musician, yet the example adduced above shows how much freedom in +matters of detail was left for the further elaboration; and, not to +mention various oversights, it is probable that had Mozart completed +the composition many delicate touches would have been added to the +accompanying parts which cannot now be even conjectured. Very few +indications are given for the wind instruments, and even if Mozart gave +verbal instructions concerning them, much must still remain in doubt. It +must be allowed, however, that Süssmayr's share in the work has been on +the whole successfully performed; it is quite in keeping with the +rest, and he has plainly refrained from making any alterations or +surreptitious interpolations. With the last three movements we enter +the domain of conjecture, if we are to reject the positive testimony of +Süssmayr, supported by Mozart's widow, as to the share of the former in +the work. Rochlitz, reviewing Süssmayr's letter on the subject, remarks +that "the works already known to be by Herr Süssmayr subject his +claim to an important share in this great composition to considerable +doubt";[55] and he expressed his suspicions more decidedly at a later +time.[56] G. Weber, who failed to recognise Mozart in many + +{SÜSSMAYR'S SHARE IN THE WORK.} + +(387) + +parts of the first movements, has, on the contrary, assigned to him a +distinct share in the last movements.[57] Marx emphatically expressed +his conviction that the principal subjects throughout showed traces of +Mozart's handiwork.[58] This view is founded on the assumption that the +movements are worthy of Mozart, and are such as Süssmayr himself could +not have produced; but the critic must be careful not to bring forward +on aesthetic grounds alone accusations which involve so much of grave +moral delinquency. + +Seyfried's assertion that,[59] according to the generally accepted +opinion in Vienna, Süssmayr found note-books containing sketches of +these movements, and showing Mozart's intention of elaborating the +Osanna fugue after the Benedictus, as well as the new theme for the +concluding fugue, Cum sanctis, has scarcely been investigated with the +care which it demands. One circumstance has, as far as I know, been +left altogether out of account. If the last three movements had been +altogether wanting at Mozart's death, it would have appeared, one would +think, both easier and simpler to supply them from one of his manuscript +Masses, which were entirely unknown, than to commission Süssmayr to +write them afresh; and such a proceeding would doubtless have been +far more capable of justification to the owner of the work. But the +confusion and embarrassment in which Mozart's death threw his widow and +her affairs may have occasioned many things to be done which would not +otherwise have taken place. + +Frz. Xav. Süssmayr, who, as a young man of twenty-seven, enjoyed the +friendship of Salieri[60] and Mozart, became so intimate with the +latter[61] that he was, as Seyfried + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(388) + +expresses it, "the inseparable companion of the immortal Amphion." He +adopted Mozart's style of writing with such success that, although his +ideas often fell far short of his master's, many of his works in the +serious style might, Seyfred maintains, be taken for Mozart's, did we +not know that they were Süssmayr's;[62] Hauptmann has informed me of +instrumental works by him which show quite Mozart's manner of work, and +might pass for lighter compositions by the latter. + +Sievers, who warmly espoused Süssmayr's cause, speaks of his "Spiegel +von Arkadien," which he ranks with the "Zauberflote," + +and of various pieces which may serve as models of the graceful +and characteristic as well as of the tragico-serio styles of +composition.[63] I have carefully examined his operas, "Der Spiegel +von Arkadien" (1794) and "Soliman II." (1800), as well as some of his +lighter church compositions, and find nothing in them beyond an easy but +superficial inventive power, a smooth practised workmanship, and almost +throughout an obvious imitation of Mozart's manner. + +The Sanctus and Osanna are scarcely of a kind to admit of a decided +opinion as to their authorship. The brevity and conciseness of the +Sanctus do not by any means prove it not to have been by Mozart, for all +the movements of the Requiem, when not lengthened by a fugal treatment, +are similarly compressed. Nor must an unpleasing progression for the +violins be taken as decisive against his authorship, for the working-out +is in any case not his. On the other hand, it must not be concluded that +because the movement has a general character of dignified grandeur, and +the commencement of the Pleni sunt is truly majestic, that therefore +Süssmayr could not have written it. It is not on the whole equal to +the best of the preceding movements. The short fugue of the Osanna is +animated, vigorous, and faultlessly concise; there is nothing against +the supposition that Mozart might have written it; but, on the other +hand, it would be difficult to prove with certainty that it might not +have been + +{SÜSSMAYR'S SHARE IN THE WORK.} + +(389) + +the work of a musician with the amount of talent and cultivation +unquestionably possessed by Süssmayr. + +The case is somewhat different with the Benedictus, where, according to +custom, solo voices are introduced in a long and elaborate quartet of +pleasing character. Zelter says of it: "The Benedictus is as excellent +as it can be, but the school decides against it being by Mozart. +Süssmayr knew Mozart's school of music, but had not been trained in it +from early youth, and indications of this may be found here and there +in the beautiful Benedictus."[64] He is doubtless right. The first motif +for the alto, and the idea of making the several voices reply to each +other, might very well be Mozart's; but certainly not the working-out. +The motion is obviously interrupted when the soprano, after the alto, +again enters in the tonic; and the passage into the dominant is very +lame. Still lamer, after the conclusion of the first part, are the +laborious continuance in F major, and (instead of the development +naturally expected here) the immediate return by the chord of the +seventh to the first part, which is then repeated in its entirety. +Neither the design nor the execution is worthy of Mozart; nor is +it credible that in the interlude he would have copied the "et lux +perpetua" from the Requiem in such a strange fashion as it has here been +done, without any reason for an allusion to that place. + +The abnormally thick and full instrumentation must also be taken into +consideration. The instrumentation has, it is true, not been worked out +by Mozart in the other movements, but here it can scarcely be separated +from the general design, and it is distinguished from that of all the +other movements by the use of two trombones, which Mozart never employed +elsewhere, and which here supply the place of horns. Finally, the +character of the movement is in many passages soft and effeminate, +contrasting in this respect with the earnestness of the other movements, +even of the Tuba mirum.[65] The + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(390) + +Osanna is, according to custom, an exact repetition of the previous one, +only that the voices are transposed on account of the altered key. + +The Agnus Dei transports us to quite a different region. Here we find +the depth and intensity of feeling, the noble beauty and the originality +of invention, which we admire in the first movements of the Requiem. The +fine expressive violin figure of the first period--[See Page Image] +is full of vigour, and is admirably enhanced by its harmonic treatment, +and the gentle counter-phrase in its peaceful motion brings about a +soothing conclusion. The twofold repetition is effectively varied, +and the close is emphasised by a novel and beautiful turn. The whole +displays the perfect mastery of a musician. "If Mozart did not write +this," says Marx,[66] "well, then he who wrote it is another Mozart!" + +I have seen nothing in Süssmayr's works which can justify me in +ascribing to him the conception of this movement; much, on the contrary, +to convince me that the chief ideas at least are Mozart's, and that +Süssmayr can hardly have had a more important share in this movement +than in the earlier ones. His whole statement loses, no doubt, its full +credibility if a well-grounded doubt can be thrown on any one point; +but I should not like to assert with confidence that in the Sanctus and +Benedictus Süssmayr must have availed himself of sketches by Mozart. + +The repetition of the first movement at the conclusion of the Mass was +not unusual at the time. Hasse in his Requiem intones the Lux æterna to +the same chorale as the Te decet, and then repeats the Requiem; Zelenka +does the same; Jomelli repeats the Requiem, but adds a fresh conclusion +to it. Contemplating that portion of the Requiem which Mozart completed, +or which he left in such a state that to the initiated it is easy to +distinguish his handiwork, + +{GENERAL REVIEW OF THE WORK.} + +(391) + +we have no hesitation in placing this work on the pinnacle of that +artistic perfection to which the great works of Mozart's later years +had attained.[67] We see revealed the depth of feeling, the nobility +of beauty, the mastery of form, the complete spiritual and mental +absorption in the task before him which have combined to produce this +marvellous creation. A comparison of the Requiem with other similar +compositions, both by Mozart himself and his contemporaries, serves to +emphasise the vast superiority of the former;[68] for Mozart even here +does not absolutely reject the forms hallowed by long tradition; he +shows his individual genius all the more strongly by keeping within +them. Still less does he run counter to the views which the Requiem, by +virtue of its position in the Catholic ritual, is meant to express, +by any endeavour of his own to go further or to introduce something +peculiar to himself; that full, unfettered devotion which is the +indispensable condition of genuine artistic production is never +disturbed, but human emotion, religious belief, and artistic conception +go hand in hand in fullest harmony. On this unity rests the significance +of the Requiem, for on this ground alone could Mozart's individuality +arrive at full expression, and--working freely and boldly, yet never +without consciousness of the limits within which it moved--produce the +masterpiece which reveals at every point the innermost spirit of its +author. In this sense we may indorse his own expression, that he wrote +the Requiem for himself; it is the truest and most genuine + +{THE REQUIEM.} + +(392) + +expression of his nature as an artist; it is his imperishable +monument.[69] + +The Requiem met with immediate recognition and approval. "If Mozart had +written nothing except his violin quintets and his Requiem," Haydn used +to say, "they would have rendered his name immortal."[70] It was more +especially received with enthusiasm in North Germany, where church +music, unmindful of J. S. Bach, had degenerated into all the triviality +and insipidity which a slavish adherence to form could produce. It was +with delight and astonishment that men recognised the union of classical +severity of form with depth of poetic feeling--an oasis in the desert +to those who had long wandered in a waste of sand. The old organist, +Kittel, at Erfurt, a pupil of Sebastian Bach, received one day the organ +part of a Requiem which he did not know; the further he proceeded in it, +the more entranced he became, and on inquiring the composer's name, and +hearing that it was Mozart, he could scarcely believe his ears, having +been accustomed to regard Mozart only as the composer of popular operas +which he knew nothing about. He procured the operas however, and was +unprejudiced enough to recognise and admire in them the composer of the +Requiem. So I was told by my music-master, Apel, Kittel's pupil. + +Hiller, grown grey in reverence for Hasse and Graun, lifted his hands +in amazement on first hearing the Requiem, and soon brought it to +performance at Leipzig.[71] At Berlin the Singakademie produced the +Requiem at their first public performance, October 8; 1800,[72] in +memory of their founder, Fasch, who had lately died; it has ever since +been chosen, both there[73] and elsewhere, when it is sought to honour +the memory of great men, especially of musicians,[74] and Zelter + +{SYMPATHY FOR THE FAMILY.} + +(393) + +expressed his opinion that the Requiem would never be brought into +disfavour either by adverse criticism or mediocre performance.[75] +Cherubini[76] produced the Requiem in Paris in the year 1804,[77] and +it has comforted and sustained innumerable mourners,[78] not only +throughout Europe, but in the New World.[79] + + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLV. + +[Footnote 1: The more detailed accounts of the composition and completion of the +Requiem have been given chiefly on the authority of Süssmayr (A. M. +Z., IV., p. 2) and Stadler (Vertheidigung der Echtheit des Mozartschen +Requiems, mit zwei Nachtr.; Wien, 1827), and they have been verified +and elucidated by the discovery of the score delivered over to Count +Walsegg. Cf. Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1861, p. 380. The narrative in +the text, therefore, is given without regard to the dust-clouds of +controversy in which a dispute carried on with so much animosity on all +sides was sure to envelop the facts of the case.] + +[Footnote 2: Mozart made the following declaration, May 30, 1790: "I, the +undersigned, hereby declare that I consider the bearer of this, +Herr Joseph Eybler, to be a worthy pupil of his famous master, +Albrechtsberger, a thoroughly learned composer both in chamber and +church music, experienced in the art of composition, and also an +accomplished organ and pianoforte-player; in short, it is only to be +regretted that young musicians of his talents and attainments are so +seldom to be met with" (N. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1858, p. 244).] + +[Footnote 3: Köchel, Recensionen, 1864, p. 753.] + +[Footnote 4: Stadler, Nachtr., p. 40.] + +[Footnote 5: These two movements are written on five sheets of twelve-line +Italian music-paper in quarto, which Mozart generally used, and are, +according to his custom _folioed_, not _paged_, from one to ten, the +last three pages being left blank. The signature is "Di me W. A. Mozart, +1792." This mistake, or anticipation of the date, was destined to give +rise to much confusion.] + +[Footnote 6: An accurate copy of these sheets by Mozart was published by André +in 1829, with the title: "Partitur des Dies iræ welche Abbé Stadler bald +nach Mozart's Tode fur sich copirt hatte,--Hostias von W. A. Mozart's +Requiem, so wie solche Mozart eigenhändig geschrieben und Abbé Stadler +in genauer Uebereinstimmung mit dem Mozartschen Original copirt hat, +nebst Vorschrift und Anhang." The "Anhang" is a similar sketch of the +Requiem and Kyrie, evolved by André himself--a curious idea and a very +useless labour.] + +[Footnote 7: Stadler, Vertheidigung, p. 13.] + +[Footnote 8: The sister and heiress of Count Walsegg, the Countess Sternberg, +sold his collection of music to his steward, Leitner, from whom the +score of the Requiem was obtained by his clerk, Karl Haag; it was +bequeathed by the latter to Katharina Adelpoller. Commissary Novak, of +Schottwien, who had formerly been steward to Count Walsegg, drew the +attention of Count Moritz von Dietrichstein, Imperial Librarian, to the +existence of the treasure, and it was purchased for fifty ducats and +placed in the Library.] + +[Footnote 9: A. M. Z., XLI., p. 81. N. Ztschr. f. Mus., X., p. 10. Cäcilia, XX., +p. 279.] + +[Footnote 10: J. F. von Mosel, Ueber die Original-Partitur de Requiem von W. A. +Mozart (Wien, 1839). Cf. A. M. Z., XLI., p. 317.] + +[Footnote 11: Niemetschek, who had his information from the widow, says that +directly after Mozart's death the messenger demanded and received the +work, "incomplete as it was" (p. 52). The Count himself signified that +the Requiem was only Mozart's as far as the Sanctus.] + +[Footnote 12: Càcilia, IV., p. 288.] + +[Footnote 13: A. M. Z., I., p. 178.] + +[Footnote 14: Stadler, Nachtr., p. 6.] + +[Footnote 15: A. M. Z., XXIX., p. 520.] + +[Footnote 16: Càcilia, IV., p. 308. The singer, Mariottini, of Dresden, made a +copy of the Requiem, Kyrie, and Dies iræ, and appended the following +observation: "L' Offertorio, il Sanctus e l' Agnus Dei non gl' ho +transcritti, perche non mi anno parso essere del valore del precedente, +ne credo ingannarmi nel crederli opera di un' altra penna" (Càcilia, +VI., pp. 303, 310).] + +[Footnote 17: Frederick William II. paid her 100 ducats for one (Càcilia, VI., p. +211).] + +[Footnote 18: Hàfer relates that a "Thomaner" Jost, who wrote music very +well, copied the score twice for the widow during her stay in Leipzig +(Càcilia, IV., p. 297).] + +[Footnote 19: Rochlitz, Für Freunde der Tonk., I., p. 25.] + +[Footnote 20: In a letter to Härtel (October 10, 1799) she sends him a draft of +such an appeal: "The noble Unknown, who, a few months before Mozart's +death, commissioned him to compose a Requiem, not having declared +himself during the seven years which have elapsed since that time, the +widow of the composer gratefully accepts this silence as a permission +to her to publish the work to her own advantage. At the same time she +considers it as safer for herself, and more in accordance with the +sentiments inspired in her by the noble patron of her late husband, to +call upon him to express his wishes on the subject to her within three +months through the Wiener, Hamburger, or Frankfurter Zeitung, at +the expiration of which time she will consider herself justified in +publishing the Requiem among the collected works of her late husband."] + +[Footnote 21: The "Requiem Brevis" in D minor (237, Anh., K.), published by +Simrock, of Bonn, under Mozart's name, may be at once pronounced +spurious, having neither external nor internal credibility.] + +[Footnote 23: A. M. Z., I. Int. Bl., p. 97. Stadler, Vertheidigung, p. 14.] + +[Footnote 24: Nissen, Nachtrag, p. 169.] + +[Footnote 25: There were only a few emendations in the score published by +Breitkopf and Hàrtel in 1800, and these had been communicated to Hàrtel +by the widow (August 6, 10, 1800; cf. A. M. Z., IV., p. 30). The revised +copy served as a foundation for André's pianoforte arrangement, and his +edition of the score (1827). In this the letters M. and S. distinguish +what is Mozart's and what Sussmayr's. The preface was reprinted in the +Càcilia (VI., p. 200).] + +[Footnote 26: Stadler, Vertheidigung, p. 46.] + +[Footnote 27: Even Seyfried only conjectures this (Càcilia, IV., p. 296).] + +[Footnote 28: A searching notice, written by Schwencke and revised by Rochlitz, +appeared after the publication of the score (A. M. Z., IV., p. 1). It +was soon after translated into French in the Journal de Paris, and then +noticed in the German papers as an example of French criticism (A. M. +Z., XXX., p. 209).] + +[Footnote 29: The minor compositions of the "Ave verum corpus" (Vol III., p. 281) +and the Freemasonic Cantata (Vol. II., p. 408) complete this parallel.] + +[Footnote 30: Cf. Lorenz, Deutsche Mus. Ztg., 1861, p. 257. A. Hahn, Mozart's +Requiem (Bielef., 1867). Kriebitzsch, Fur Freunde d. Tonk., p. 61.] + +[Footnote 31: Mich. Haydn has introduced the same into his unfinished Requiem, at +the words "Te decet hymnus"; according to Rochlitz (A. M. Z., IV., p. +7) and Zelter (Briefw. m. Goethe, IV., p. 353 ) the chorale "Meine +Seel erhebet den Herrn," is sung to this melody. The treatment of this +passage is decided by the ritual. In Jomelli's Requiem both verses of +the Psalm are intoned, in Hasse and Zelenka the first ("Te Jerusalem" +in Asola; Proske's Musica Divina) only the words "Te decet hymnus in +Sion in Pitoni both verses are freely composed.] + +[Footnote 32: Rochlitz, Fur Freunde der Tonknnst, I., p. 159. A detailed analysis +is given by Lobe (Compositionslehre, III., p. 195).] + +[Footnote 33: According to Kàgeli the violent changes of key and arbitrary +alternations of major and minor have turned the fugue into a barbarous +confusion of sounds (Vorlesungen üb. Musik., p. 99).] + +[Footnote 34: Cäcilia, III., p. 216.] + +[Footnote 35: Schwencke, A. M. Z., IV., p. 8.] + +[Footnote 36: The theme stands with its counter-theme in doubled counterpoint of +the twelfth. It is perhaps worthy of note that the Christe begins in +the minor passages a third above the Kyrie, and in its major passages a +third below the Kyrie--an arrangement not wanting in original effect.] + +[Footnote 37: Marx remarks, in answer to Weber's criticism (Lehre v. d. Mus. +Compos. III., p. 500), that "here--following the whole spirit of the work--the +point to be considered was not so much a literally faithful expression +of the words as a thoroughly religious and solemn rounding and balancing +of a whole section of the service, the prayer for the departed in all +its amplitude of detail" (Cf. Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1825, p. 881).] + +[Footnote 38: Stadler, Vertheidigung, p. 17.] + +[Footnote 39: Chrysander, Händel, II., p. 436.] + +[Footnote 40: Tucker, Schatz d. evang. Kirchenges., II., p. 151, No. 282.] + +[Footnote 41: This has been already pointed out by Cramer (Anecd. sur Mozart, p. +26), whose attention was drawn to it by J. A. P. Schulz.] + +[Footnote 42: G. C. P. Sievers says (Mozart u. Süssmayr, p. 15) that a +kapellmeister at Ferrara told him that in one of Mozart's Masses a whole +piece was copied from an early Italian master, which was confirmed by +Santini; Sievers had forgotten the key of the Mass and the name of the +ill-used composer. That Mozart should have inserted a strange piece in +a Mass written for Salzburg Cathedral under the eye of his father is +incredible. A. Schiffner asserted (A. M. Z., XLV., p. 581) that Handel +and Mattheson, Telemann and Mozart, had all stolen from Reinhard Keiser. +Al. Fuchs (Cäcilia, XXIII., p. 95) called on him for proof; Schiffner, +who probably knew as little of Reiser's scores as did Mozart, made no +response to the challenge.] + +[Footnote 43: Ferd. Wolf, Ueb. die Lais, Sequenzen und Leiche, pp. 29, 76, 91.] + +[Footnote 44: Schubiger, Die Sàngerschule St. Gallens, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 45: Mohnike, Kirchen-u. litterar-histor. Studien u. Mittheilungen, I., +p. 3.] + +[Footnote 46: The translations have been collected by F. G. Lisco (Dies iræ, +Hymnus auf das Weltgericht, Beitrag zur Hymnologie. Berlin, 1840).] + +[Footnote 47: Hiller, in consequence of the unsatisfactory trombone-players, +transposed the solo after bar 5 to the bassoons, which was copied in the +printed score (Cäcilia, VIII., p. 54. Cf. A. M. Z., IV., p. 10).] + +[Footnote 48: In this a very enthusiastic admirer of the Requiem (A. M. Z., XVI., +p. 617) and (as to the close) Ulibicheff agree (I., p. 252).] + +[Footnote 49: Indescribably beautiful is the occurrence here of the chord of the +minor sixth on G, instead of the minor common chord which one expects.] + +[Footnote 50: The close in D minor of the movement in G minor appeared so +striking to Schwencke (A. M. Z., IV., p. 11), that he conjectured that +Mozart must have intended a further revision of these choruses. But +the different movements of the Sequence, although detached, are yet in +immediate relation with each other; and Mozart made the transition into +D minor because the following movement is in F major.] + +[Footnote 51: Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 199.] + +[Footnote 52: G. Weber could not bring himself to attribute to Mozart a treatment +which "emphasises, _con amore_, the egotistical baseness of the words, +and by the ferocious unison of the stringed instruments maliciously +incites the Judge of the World to hurl the cursed crowd of sinners into +the deepest abyss, and then to call the singers to all the joys of the +blessed" (Càcilia, III., p. 220). He has clearly misunderstood both +the words and the intention of the composer so to bring before the +imagination the torments of the damned as to lead to an intenser longing +for the mercies of Redemption.] + +[Footnote 53: Cäcilia, III., p. 222.] + +[Footnote 54: Cäcilia, IV., p. 296.] + +[Footnote 55: A. M. z., IV., p. 4.] + +[Footnote 56: Cäcilia, IV., p. 289. A. M. Z., XXV., p. 687.] + +[Footnote 57: Cäcilia, III., p. 226; IV., p. 279.] + +[Footnote 58: Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1825, p. 378.] + +[Footnote 59: Cäcilia, IV., p. 307.] + +[Footnote 60: The Wiener Zeitung announces that the music of the opera "L' +Incanto Superato," first performed July 8,1793, is arranged by Herr +Franz Siessmayr, "pupil of Herr Salieri."] + +[Footnote 61: Jahrb. d. Tonk., 1796, p. 61: "It is no small recommendation to him +that he was a pupil of Mozart, and very highly thought of by him. He has +also completed some works left unfinished by this great genius"--which +can only refer to the Requiem.] + +[Footnote 62: Cäcilia, III., p. 295.] + +[Footnote 63: G. L. P. Sievers, Mozart u. Sussmaier, p. 8.] + +[Footnote 64: Zelter, Briefw. m. Goethe, IV., p. 353.] + +[Footnote 65: A correspondent of G. Weber had heard that André possessed MSS. +which would prove that every note of the Benedictus was an adaptation of +an earlier and favourite air of Mozart (Cäcilia, IV., p. 292). It need +scarcely be said that there is not a word of truth in this.] + +[Footnote 66: Berl. Mas. Ztg., 1825, p. 379.] + +[Footnote 67: Zelter (Briefw. m. Goethe, IV., p. 353) pronounces the Requiem to +be "disjointed, unequal; some of the pieces might be inserted, and it +would be a mistake to consider it as a whole; the same thing is the case +with many excellent composers; and though the Requiem consists entirely +of detached pieces, it is the best production that I know of the last +century." The story of the Requiem may have had some influence on this +judgment.] + +[Footnote 68: A. M. Z., XVI., p. 812: "Mozart has disclosed his whole inner being +in this one sacred work, and who can fail to be affected by the fervour +of devotion and holy transport which streams from it? His Requiem is +unquestionably the highest and best that modern art has to offer for +sacred worship." Unfavourable criticism was not wanting. "I should be +without feeling," says Ernst, in Tieck's Phantasus (Schriften, IV., p. +426), "if I failed to love and honour the marvellous depth and richness +of Mozart's mind--if I failed to be carried away by his works. Only, let +me have none of his Requiem."] + +[Footnote 69: Cf. O. Lindner, Zur Tonkunst, p. 176.] + +[Footnote 70: Stadler, Vertheidigung, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 71: Rochlitz, Für Freunde d. Tonk., I., p. 25. Häser, Cäcilia, IV., p. +297.] + +[Footnote 72: Zur Geschichte der Singakademie, p. 15.] + +[Footnote 73: It was performed in memory of the Queen in 1805; of the +Akademie-director Frisch in 1815; of Prince Radziwill in 1833; of Count +Brühl in 1837; of Frederick William III. in 1840; and of Frederick +William IV. in 1861.] + +[Footnote 74: At Leipzig, in memory of Schicht, in 1823; at Berlin, in memory of +Andr. Romberg, in 1821; of Bemh. Klein, in 1832; of Ludwig Berger, 1839; +in Vienna, in memory of C. M. von Weber and Beethoven; and in Munich, +1867, in memory of P. von Cornelius.] + +[Footnote 75: Zelter, Briefw. m. Goethe, VI., p. 243.] + +[Footnote 76: Rochlitz has attempted to prove (A. M. Z., XXV., p. 685) how +Vogler, in composing his Requiem, had Mozart's always in view, in order +to avoid imitating it; a similar negative influence is apparent in +Cherubini's magnificent Requiem in C minor, with which the second in D +minor is quite in keeping (Cf. Gum-precht, Recensionen, 1864, No. 21).] + +[Footnote 77: Berl. Mus. Ztg., 1805, p. 26.] + +[Footnote 78: A lover of music in Venice left a considerable legacy for the +performance annually of three Requiems, of which one was to be Mozart's +(A. M. Z., XLII., p. 54). A society was founded at' Senftenberg in +Bohemia, 1857, in order to perform Mozart's Requiem annually on June 18 +(N. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1857, p. 167; Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1857, p. 343).] + +[Footnote 79: Neukomm mentions an excellent performance in Rio Janeiro in 1819 +(A. M. Z., XXII., p. 501).] + + + +=== + + + +MOZART 46 + +BY DAVID WIDGER + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. AT THE GRAVE. + +MOZART'S early and unexpected death, removing him from the eyes of the +world at the moment when he might seem to have attained the height of +his artistic greatness, had the effect of silencing the detractions and +the envy of the few who were blinded by jealousy to his merits, and +of exalting his works in the minds of those who felt his loss to be +an irreparable one. Public feeling took the form of sympathy for his +bereaved family, who were left in pressing need; and they found generous +support, not in Vienna and Prague alone, but in many other places to +which the widow made professional visits. When she was in Berlin, in +1796, Frederick William II. allowed her the use of the opera-house and +the royal musicians for a benefit concert, at which she + +{AT THE GRAVE.} + +(394) + +appeared as a vocalist (February 28). The King, as was stated in the +programme (Niemetschek, p. 63), "took great pleasure in thus proving to +the widow how highly he esteemed the talent of her late husband, and how +much he regretted the unfortunate circumstances which had prevented his +reaping the due reward of his labours." But such efforts as these +could not assure her a livelihood for any length of time; nor would the +manuscripts left by Mozart realise, as matters then stood, anything like +a sum sufficient for her future needs. His compositions might be spread +abroad, either in MS. or in print, without her consent or authorisation. +Indeed, when reference was made to her, she considered it as a +favour,[1] and was well pleased when, in 1799, André purchased from her +all the manuscripts in her possession for a sum of one thousand ducats. + +Some of Mozart's manuscripts had been lost before his death, others have +been made over to other people by André himself, and the remainder are +included in the "Thematic Catalogue of Mozart's Original Manuscripts +in the Possession of Hofrath André of Offenbach" (Offenbach, 1841). +Unhappily, no public library has been able to obtain this most important +collection, and its dispersion, owing to testamentary dispositions, must +be a source of regret to all musicians. + +Mozart's widow found a means of secure and untroubled existence in her +second marriage. Georg Nic. Nissen (b. 1765) made her acquaintance, +in 1797, at Vienna, where he was attached to the diplomatic service +of Denmark, and rendered her great service in the arrangement of her +affairs, as the numerous letters written by him in her name sufficiently +show. He appears to have been a tiresome, but an upright and honourable +man, and to have acted well towards Constanze and her children from the +time of their marriage in 1809. After resigning his state service, in +1820, he lived with her in Salzburg, where also Mozart's sister resided +(App. I.). He died in 1826, and was followed by his widow on + +{COMMEMORATIONS.} + +(395) + +March 6, 1842, a few hours after the arrival of the model for Mozart's +statue; after Nissen's death she had lived with her widowed sister, +Sophie Haibl.[2] + +Karl, the elder of Mozart's two surviving sons, began life as a +merchant, then tried music,[3] and finally embraced an official career. +He was a good pianist, and conducted musical performances, first at +the house of Colonel Casella, afterwards at his own;[4] he died in a +subordinate official post at Milan in 1859. The younger son, Wolfgang, +became a musician. He first appeared in public in 1805,[5] made repeated +professional tours, and after 1814 lived as musical director, first +at Lemberg, afterwards in Vienna; he died at Carlsbad in 1844. He was +esteemed both as a pianist and composer, but the greatness of his name +prevented his attaining to more.[6] + +Appreciation and honour had not been wanting to Mozart in his lifetime, +but they had been far from unalloyed; after his death they were showered +in fullest measure on his memory.[7] His loss was commemorated in many +places by the performance of his own works or of specially composed +funeral cantatas,[8] and the anniversaries of his birth and of his death +are still kept, both in private musical circles[9] and publicly, by +concerts. The hundredth anniversary of his birth, which in 1856 caused +all Germany to ring with Mozart's name and Mozart's music, united every +voice into a chorus of praise and honour, and gave a new impulse to the +study of his works.[10] + +Mozart's personal appearance has become so familiar by means of +well-known portraits that he may in this respect + +{AT THE GRAVE.} + +(396) + +be compared to Frederick the Great or Luther; his music and his +countenance have alike become common property (App. III.). + +In the year 1799 the Duchess Amalie of Weimar placed a memorial of +Mozart in the park of Siefurt; it is in terra cotta: a lyre on a +pedestal, and leaning on it a tragic and a comic mask.[11] Bridi (Vol. +II., p. 359), in the "Temple to Harmony" which he erected in his garden, +has given to Mozart the first place among the seven musicians there +represented, and has placed a monument dedicated to him in a melancholy +grotto, with the inscription, "Herrscher der Seele durch melodische +Denkkraft."[12] The same inscription is on the reverse of a medal by +Guillemard together with a muse playing a lyre and a Cupid with a flute; +the other side has a portrait of Mozart. A medallion by Bàrend has also +a portrait in front, the reverse representing Orpheus and a captive +lion, with the inscription, "Auditus saxis intellectusque ferarum +sensibus." The design for a medallion by Böhm, which was never struck, +was shown to me by my friend Karajan. It consists of a refined and +intellectual representation of Mozart's profile. + +In 1835 the idea took shape of erecting a statue to Mozart in Salzburg. +An appeal for subscriptions was made in September, 1836,[13] and the +cast of the statue was completed on May 22, 1841. The ceremony of +unveiling the figure took place on the Michaelsplatz, September 4, +1842.[14] Unhappily it cannot be said that Schwanthaler has succeeded +in investing the accepted idea of Mozart as an artist and a man with any +ideal force and dignity. He is represented clothed in the traditional +toga, standing with his head turned sidewards and upwards, and in his +hand a scroll with the inscription, "Tuba mirum." In bas-relief on +the pedestal are allegorical representations of church, concert, and +dramatic music, and an eagle flying heavenwards with + +{MEMORIALS OP MOZART.} + +(397) + +a lyre. The simple inscription is "Mozart."[15] In 1856 the city of +Vienna determined upon erecting a monument to Mozart in the churchyard +of St. Mark's. It was designed by Hans Gasser, and solemnly unveiled +December 5, 1859. A mourning muse reposes on a granite pillar, holding +in her right hand the score of the Requiem, and resting her left, with a +laurel wreath, on a pile of Mozart's works. On the pedestal are Mozart's +portrait and the Vienna arms, with a short inscription.[16] + +Mozart's name has been more worthily honoured by the foundation of +various institutions. The Salzburg Mozarteum, founded in 1842, not only +preserves the most important family documents and interesting relics +which were in the possession of Mozart's sons; it has the further aim +of fostering and advancing music, and more especially church music, in +Mozart's native town.[17] The Mozart Institution at Frankfort, founded +in 1838, encourages talent by means of prizes and scholarships;[18] +and a Mozart Society, founded in 1855, undertakes to assist needy +musicians.[19] + +But after all that may be accomplished in honour of Mozart by the most +enthusiastic of his admirers, his true and imperishable fame rests upon +his works. A history of modern music will be concerned to show how his +influence has worked upon his successors, displaying itself sometimes +in conscious or slavish imitation, sometimes in the freer impulse it has +given to closely allied natures; and it may truly be said that of all +the composers who have lived and worked since Mozart there is not one +who has not felt his inspiration, not one who has not learnt from him, +not one who at some time or another has not encroached upon his domain. +Like all great and original geniuses, he belongs to two ages which it +was his mission to bring together; while quickening and transforming all +that his own age can offer him as the + +{AT THE GRAVE.} + +(398) + +inheritance of the past, he leaves to posterity the offspring of his +individual mind to serve as a germ for new and more perfect life. + +It would be presumptuous to attempt to summarise in a few phrases the +result of a life of ceaseless mental activity, and of strongly marked +individuality. In view of this difficulty many biographers take refuge +in a comparison of the subject of their work with other great men, and +thus emphasise the points of resemblance or divergence which exist in +their natures. No such parallel appears to me more justifiable than one +between Mozart and Raphael.[20] The majestic beauty which appears to +absorb all the other conditions of art production, and to blend them +into purest harmony, is so overpoweringly present in the works of both +masters that there is no need to enforce the comparison by dwelling on +the many points of resemblance in their career both as men and artists, +and in their moral and intellectual natures. Such a comparison, however, +is not profitable unless it can be shown how and under what conditions +this beauty, so varied in its manifestations, so similar in its effects, +is produced.[21] Although it will readily be acknowledged that Mozart is +closely related to Shakespeare[22] in fertility, force, and reality +of dramatic invention and in breadth of humour, and to Goethe[23] in +simplicity and naturalness of human sentiment and in plastic clearness +of idea, yet here again we are confronted with the distinguishing +qualities of great artists in different provinces of art, and Mozart's +individuality in his own art is as far as ever from explanation. The +frequently attempted parallels with great + +{CONCLUSION.} + +(399) + +musicians, with Haydn[24] or Beethoven,[25] bring out still more clearly +the characteristics which distinguish him from all others; and it is to +be feared that the more ingeniously these comparisons are carried out in +detail the more the images are distorted and the judgment biassed. + +With whatever feelings, and from whatever point of view, we regard +Mozart, we are invariably met by the genuine purity of an artist's +nature, with its irrepressible impulses, its inexhaustible power of +production, its overflowing love; it is a nature which rejoices in +nothing but in the manifestation of beauty which is inspired by the +spirit of truth; it infuses all that it approaches with the breath of +its own life, and, while conscientious in serious work, it never ceases +to rejoice in the freedom of genius. All human emotions took a musical +form for him, and were by him embodied in music; his quick mind grasped +at once all that could fittingly be expressed in music, and made it +his own according to the laws of his art. This universality, which is +rightly prized as Mozart's distinguishing quality, is not confined to +the external phenomena which he has successfully portrayed in every +region of his art--in vocal and instrumental, in chamber and orchestral, +in sacred and secular music. His fertility and many-sidedness, even from +this outward point of view, can scarcely indeed be too highly extolled; +but there is something higher to be sought in Mozart: that which makes +music to him not a conquered territory but a native home, that which +renders every form of musical expression the necessary outcome of his +inner experience, that by means of which he touches every one of his +conceptions with the torch of genius whose undying flame is visible to +all who approach his works with the eyes + +{AT THE GRAVE.} + +(400) + +of their imagination unbound. His universality has its limits only +in the limits of human nature, and consequently of his own individual +nature. It cannot be considered apart from the harmony of his artistic +nature, which never allowed his will and his power, his intentions and +his resources, to come into conflict with each other; the centre of his +being was the point from which his compositions proceeded as by natural +necessity. All that his mind perceived, or that his spirit felt, every +experience of his inner life, was turned by him into music; from his +inner life proceeded those works of imperishable truth and beauty, +clothed in the forms and obedient to the laws of his art, just as the +works of the Divine Spirit are manifested in the forms and the laws of +nature and history.[26] + +And, while our gaze is lifted in reverence and admiration to the great +musician, it may rest with equal sympathy and love upon the pure-hearted +man. We can trace in his career, lying clear and open before us, the +dispensation which led him to the goal of his desires; and, hard as +he was pressed by life's needs and sorrows, the highest joy which is +granted to mortals, the joy of successful attainment, was his in fullest +measure. + +"And he was one of us!" his countrymen may exclaim with just pride.[27] +For, wherever the highest and best names of every art and every age are +called for, there, among the first, will be the name of Wolfgang Amade +Mozart. + +{MARIANNE MOZART.} + +(401) + + + + +APPENDIX I. MARIANNE MOZART. + +OLFGANG MOZART'S sister, Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, known to her +family and friends as Nannerl, was born July 30, 1751, and was thus +five years older than her brother. She early showed a decided talent for +music, and made extraordinary progress under her father's tuition. She +made her appearance as a clavier-player during the early professional +tours of the Mozart family in 1762, 1763-1766, and 1767, competing +successfully with the first performers of the day, and overshadowed +only by the accomplishments of her younger brother. Her father writes +(London, June 8, 1764): "It suffices to say that my little lass at +twelve years old is one of the most accomplished players in Europe"; +and independent accounts which have come down to us coincide in this +expression of opinion. During their stay at the Hague in October, 1765, +she was seized with a serious illness and brought to the brink of the +grave; her recovery, which had been despaired of by her parents, was +hailed by them with delight. In November, 1767, she and Wolfgang were +both struck down by smallpox at Olmütz; this also she happily recovered. + +She did not accompany her father and brother in their subsequent +journeys to Italy, but remained at home with her mother. Nevertheless +she continued her studies as a clavier-player, and made good her claim +to be considered a virtuoso; as such she was recognised by Burney's +informant in 1772 (Burney, Reise, III., p. 262). She owed much, as she +was the first to acknowledge, to the example and instruction of her +brother, who threw himself eagerly into her studies whenever he was +in Salzburg. Leopold writes to his son (January 26, 1778) that the +violinist Janitsch and the violoncellist Reicha of the Wallerstein +Capelle, who were giving a concert in Salzburg, "absolutely insisted +upon hearing Nannerl play. They let out by their great anxiety to hear +your compositions that their object was to judge from her _gusto_ of +your way of playing. She played your Mannheim sonata excellently well, +with charming expression. They were delighted both with her playing and +with the composition. They accompanied Nannerl in your trio in B flat +(254 K.) exceedingly well." He goes on to tell Wolfgang of the high +opinions formed by these musicians both of his compositions and of +Nannerl's style of playing; and how she always repeated: "I am but +the pupil of my brother." Wolfgang used in after years, when they were +separated, to send her his pianoforte compositions, and set great store +on her + +{APPENDIX I.} + +(402) + +judgment, frequently also giving her his own opinions and criticisms on +music and musicians--as, for instance, on Clementi. + +Marianne made some few attempts at composition; a song which she sent to +her brother in Rome excited Wolfgang's astonishment at its excellence, +and she wrote exercises in thorough-bass which were quite free from +mistakes, and gave him great satisfaction. Her father remarks at a later +date (February 25, 1778) that she had learnt to play thoroughbass and to +prelude exceedingly well, feeling that she would have to support herself +and her mother after his death. Once (July 20, 1779) when Wolfgang +sent her from Paris a prelude--"a sort of capriccio to try the piano +with"--as a birthday greeting, she jokingly put her father to the test. +She received it at four o'clock in the afternoon, and at once set to +work to practise it till she knew it by heart. When her father came +in at five she told him that she had an idea, and that if he liked +she would write it down, and thereupon began the prelude. "I rubbed my +eyes," says Leopold Mozart, "and said, 'Where the deuce did you get that +idea?' She laughed and drew the letter from her pocket." + +She early began to give lessons on the clavier, her father writing from +Milan (December 12, 1772): "Tell Nannerl that I wish her to teach +little Zezi carefully and patiently; it will be to her own advantage to +instruct another person thoroughly and with patience; I know what I am +saying." These lessons afterwards became a source of income which could +hardly have been dispensed with in the needy circumstances of the Mozart +family; they enabled her to support herself as long as she lived at +home, and thus lightened her father's pecuniary anxieties. She was +considered even by her own family as somewhat parsimonious, and her +father was agreeably surprised at hearing her exclaim, when told of +Wolfgang's difficulties on his Parisian journey: "Thank God that it is +no worse!" although she well knew that her own interests would have to +be sacrificed to help her brother out of his scrape. But there is in +fact every reason to believe that her heart was a tender one, and +easily touched; she felt the loss of her mother very deeply, and had the +warmest sympathy for her brother; sometimes indeed this took a livelier +form than he cared for, and we find him once writing with ill-humour +(Mannheim, February 19, 1778): "My best love to my sister, and pray tell +her not to cry over every trifle, or I shall take good care never to +come back"--an expression which did not fail to call down a reproof from +his father. The relation of the brother and sister to each other was +from childhood of the tenderest and closest description. The severe +discipline to which they were both subjected, the journeys they took +together, and above all the concentration of all the thoughts and +energies of both upon music, increased their natural affection, in +which there was not a trace of envy or jealousy on either side. Wolfgang +vented his love of joking and teasing upon his "Schwester Canaglie"; +and the letters which he wrote to her while on his Italian tour give +abundant proofs of their unrestrained and innocent intercourse. The +joking tone of + +{MARIANNE MOZART.} + +(403) + +Wolfgang's correspondence with his sister was not entirely dropped even +when they had passed their childhood, but they also shared the more +serious concerns of life together in fullest sympathy. We have seen how +unendurable life at Salzburg became to Wolfgang as he grew up, and his +sister's position was in no way a more enviable one. When her mother and +brother left home for their journey to Paris, she remained to keep +house for her father, who praised her for her attention, economy, and +industry, and for her good management of the maid-servant, who was both +dirty and untruthful. After her mother's death she continued her care +of the household, which was occasionally increased by their receiving +boarders. Pianoforte practice, generally with her father for some hours +in the evening, and lessons to various young ladies, filled up her time. +She was much liked as a teacher, and her pupils were distinguished for +precision and accuracy of playing. When Wolfgang was at home, the house +was full of life, her father was cheerful, and she had a companion with +whom to share her joys and sorrows; but if he was away, the father, who +could scarcely live without him, was often gloomy and preoccupied, and +not even her tender ministrations could compensate him for the absence +of his son. Marianne had but few distractions from her quiet domestic +life in the form of gaiety or company; she took a lively interest in +the persons and concerns of her few acquaintances, an interest which +was shared by Wolfgang even when he had left Salzburg. "Write to me +often--that is, of course, when you have nothing better to do," he +writes from Vienna (July 4, 1781) "for a bit of news is a great treat +to me, and you are the veritable Salzburg Intelligencer, for you write +about everything that ever happens, and sometimes, no doubt to please +me, you write the same thing twice over." Their father had impressed +upon them the importance of keeping a regular diary, and this Wolfgang +did in his earlier years; Marianne continued the habit much longer. +Fragments of her diary still exist, and among her letters to her brother +are two which contain very detailed accounts of the performances of +Schikaneder's theatrical company at Salzburg. + +Towards the end of 1780, while Wolfgang was at Munich busy with his +"Idomeneo," Marianne was seized with an illness which for a time +threatened to turn into consumption; it was long before she completely +recovered. It appears probable that an attachment which did not turn out +happily had something to do with this illness. Marianne, who had been +a pretty and attractive child, became, as the family picture in the +Mozarteum shows, a handsome woman, to whom suitors would not be +wanting. Wolfgang's jokes about Herr von Mölk, an unfavoured admirer of +Marianne's, as well as other mysterious allusions in his letters, prove +that the brother and sister shared with each other their tenderest +feelings. When Mozart was finally settled in Vienna, he lost no +opportunity of being useful to his sister: "Ma très chère soeur," +he writes (Vienna, July 4, 1781)--"I am very glad that you liked the +ribbons, and will inquire as to the price of them; at + +{APPENDIX I.} + +(404) + +present I do not know it, since Fr. von Auerhammer, who was so kind as +to get them for me, would accept no payment, but begged me to say all +that was nice to you from her as a stranger, and to assure you that +it gives her very great pleasure to be of any service to you; I have +already expressed your acknowledgments to her for her kindness. Dearest +sister! I have already told our father that if you would like anything +from Vienna, whatever it may be, I will get it for you with the utmost +pleasure; this I now repeat to you, with the addition that I shall be +extremely vexed if I hear that you have intrusted your commissions to +any one else in Vienna." Constanze was always ready at a later time to +perform the same sort of service for her sister-in-law. But Wolfgang's +sympathy with his sister was displayed in more serious matters. On July +4, 1781, he writes: "And now I should like to know how it stands with +you and our very good friend? Write and tell me about it. Or have I lost +your confidence in this affair?" This good friend was Franz D'Yppold, +captain in the imperial army, who came to Salzburg as Governor to +the Pages, and was made Councillor of War in 1777. He conceived an +attachment to Marianne, which she returned, but his circumstances did +not allow him to marry. Mozart, seeing that his sister's health and +happiness were at stake, represented to her that there was nothing +to hope for in Salzburg, and begged her to induce D'Yppold to try his +fortune in Vienna, where he, Wolfgang, would do his utmost to advance +his prospects. She would be able to earn far more by giving lessons in +Vienna than in Salzburg, and there could be no doubt they would soon be +able to marry; then the father would be obliged to give up his service +at Salzburg, and join his children in Vienna. Unfortunately these +promising plans remained unfulfilled; and as there appeared to the +lovers no prospect of a possible union, the connection between them +ceased. D'Yppold never ceased to be on friendly terms with L. Mozart, +and always testified great sympathy and esteem for Marianne herself. He +was very fond of her little son, who lived with his grandfather; and, +during an absence from home of L. Mozart, he came to the house every day +to see how the child was getting on. + +Marianne returned in kind her brother's interest and sympathy in her +love affairs. To her he poured out his complaints of the hard fate of +himself and his Constanze, and the latter began a correspondence with +her long before her father had reconciled himself to the connection. +Correspondence between the brother and sister naturally flagged somewhat +when Wolfgang became engrossed in his life and occupation at Vienna. He +justifies himself against her reproaches (February 13, 1782): "You must +not think because I do not answer your letters that I do not like to +have them. I shall always accept the favour of a letter from you, my +dear sister, with the utmost pleasure; and if my necessary occupations +(for my livelihood) allow of it, I will most certainly answer it. You do +not mean that I never answer your letters? You cannot suppose that + +{MARIANNE MOZART.} + +(405) + +I forget, or that I am careless--therefore they must be real hindrances, +real impossibilities that come in the way. Bad enough, you will say! +But, good heavens I do I write any oftener to my father? You both know +Vienna t How can a man without a penny of income do anything here but +work day and night to earn a living? My father, when his church service +is over, and you, when you have given a couple of music lessons, can +sit down and write letters all day if you choose; but not I.... Dearest +sister, if you could imagine that I should ever forget my best and +dearest father or yourself, then--but no! God knows, and that is enough +for me--He will punish me if it should ever happen." + +In 1784 Marianne married Johann Baptist, Baron von Berchthold, of +Sonnenburg, councillor of Salzburg and steward of St. Gilgen. Wolfgang +wrote on her marriage (August 18, 1784): "Ma très chère soeur,--_Potz +Sapperment!_ it is time that I write to you if my letter is to find you +still a virgin! In a couple of days it will be all over! My wife and I +wish you all manner of happiness and good fortune in your new life, and +are full of regret that we cannot be present at your wedding; but we are +in hopes of meeting you and your husband next spring at Salzburg, and +perhaps also at St. Gilgen. We regret nothing now but the solitude in +which our father will be left. True, you will be near him, and he +can often walk over to see you, but he is so tied to that confounded +Kapelle! If I were in my father's place, this is what I should do: I +should ask the Archbishop in consideration of my long service to set +me free--and I should take my pension and go and live quietly with my +daughter at St. Gilgen; if the Archbishop refused, I should hand in my +resignation and join my son in Vienna. And to this I wish you would +try every means of persuading him. I have written the same thing in my +letter to him to-day. And now I send you a thousand good wishes from +Vienna to Salzburg, summed up in the hope that you two may live as +happily together as we two. Your loving brother, W. A. Mozart." + +A long list of letters from L. Mozart to his daughter testify to his +care for her welfare. He is indefatigable in his attention to household +matters, and occasionally receives from her presents of game or fish; he +also keeps her constantly informed of what is going on in town. He is, +as may be supposed, always ready with advice or remonstrance, both to +his daughter and her husband, whom he considers "too absorbed in the +spirit of economy"; he makes plenty of sarcastic remarks, but is, on +the whole, under more restraint with them than with Wolfgang. His +keen glance and shrewd sense never fail him. His son-in-law's hasty +application for the stewardship of Neumark drew from him serious advice +to weigh everything well beforehand, and then to be resigned to what +should happen. "I write all this," he adds (November 20, 1786), "because +I can easily imagine how many useless and vexatious ideas and remarks +will be let fall upon the subject; whereas, if it is to be, the course +of Providence cannot be withstood." Report said that Marianne + +{APPENDIX I.} + +(406) + +had not always an easy time of it with her husband; and five +stepchildren cannot have left her much leisure for repining. L. Mozart +describes them as naughty, ill brought up, and ignorant; one of the +boys, Wolfgang, was heard to boast that "he had got the better of his +second mamma, and, when he was naughty, papa always laid the blame on +her and the servants, and blew them up." + +In June, 1785, she came to Salzburg to be confined in her father's +house. As her health long remained delicate, L. Mozart kept his little +grandson, bestowing upon it the tenderest care, and informing his +daughter of the child's well-being in every letter. "I can never look at +the child's right hand without emotion," he writes (November 11,1785); +"the cleverest pianist could not place his hand upon the keys more +charmingly than he holds his little hand; whenever he is not moving his +fingers they are all in position for playing, and when he is asleep the +tiny fingers are bent or stretched exactly in the right proportion, +as if they were resting on the keys; in short, it is the most charming +sight in the world. It often makes me sad to see it, and I wish he were +three years old, so that he might begin to play at once." He could not +persuade himself to part with the child, and although he often abused +the father for never coming to see it, he declared himself: "I tell you +I mean to keep little Leopold as long as I live." + +After their father's death Wolfgang wrote to Marianne (June 16, 1787): +"Dearest Sister,--I am not at all surprised at your not writing to me +yourself the sad and totally unexpected news of our dear father's death; +I can readily imagine the cause of your silence. May God receive him to +Himself! Be assured, my darling, that if you are in need of a faithful, +loving brother, you will find one in me. My dearest sister, if you were +still unprovided for, there would be no need of all this. I would, as +I have intended and said over and over again, have left all to you with +the greatest pleasure; but as it is, one may almost say, useless to you, +while to me, on the contrary, it would be of the greatest advantage, I +think it my duty to consider my wife and child." + +This letter affords no clue to the share of his father's inheritance +claimed by Mozart, and it is not known how the matter was arranged. It +was doubtless not without some reference to this that a letter written +soon after by Mozart to his sister (August, 1787) treated of his +pecuniary position. "In answer to your question as to my service," he +says, "the Emperor has taken me into the household, and I am formally +appointed, but have only 800 florins--this is more, however, than any +other member of the household. The announcement of my Prague opera 'Don +Giovanni' (which is to be given again to-day) ran: 'The music is by Herr +Mozart, Kapellmeister in the actual service of his Imperial Majesty.'" + +I do not know of any later letters. Marianne kept up no correspondence +with her brother's widow; from a letter to Sonnleithner (July 2, 1819), +we gather that she had not heard from her sister-in-law + +{ARRANGEMENTS OF MOZART'S CHURCH MUSIC.} + +(407) + +since 1801, that she knew nothing of the children, and had only heard of +her second marriage by chance. + +In 1801 the Baron von Sonnenburg died, and his widow retired with her +children to Salzburg, where she lived in comfort, if not in wealth. +She returned to her old occupation, and gave music lessons--for money +certainly, but not from need, since her simple and frugal way of life +enabled her even to lay by a portion of her income. She was always much +respected and liked in Salzburg. In 1820 she became blind, a misfortune +which she bore with equanimity, and even cheerfulness, as the +following anecdote will show: Receiving a visit from a lady whom she +disliked--people who were fond of her paid her frequent visits to afford +her amusement in her misfortune--she exclaimed, when at last the visitor +had departed, "What an infliction to be obliged to converse with that +person! I am glad that I cannot see her!" + +She died at an advanced age in her native town, October 29, 1829. + +APPENDIX II. ARRANGEMENTS OF MOZART'S CHURCH MUSIC. + +EVEN cantatas which appeared under Mozart's name (Leipzig: Breitkopf and +Hartel, and elsewhere) are perhaps, after his operas, the most widely +known of his works, and upon them in a great measure rests his fame as +a composer of church music. Of these cantatas, however, only one, the +second (and that with altered words), was left in its present state by +Mozart; the others were all put together after his death from separate +portions of various church compositions, often widely differing in +the time, the object and the style of their composition, and having +undergone arbitrary alterations and additions. Nothing but the newly +adopted words holds them together, and these are generally trivial, +often in direct contradiction to the spirit of the original words. + +The parody of Goethe's song "Der du Leid und Sehnsucht stillest," which +in Cantata III. replaces the original "Alma redemptoris," may serve as +an example. This double injustice done to the composer may be explained +as arising from the tendency of an age which turned to its own immediate +convenience any music which came to hand, with little feeling for the +work of art as a whole and little respect for the right of the author to +the integrity of his work or for the claims of historical accuracy. + +The following is the result of a survey of the cantatas and their +component parts (Anh., 124-130 K.):--[See Page Image] + +{APPENDIX II.} + +(408) + +Cantata I. consists of the Kyrie (p. i), Panis omnipotent!ae (p. 10), +Viaticum (p. 15), and Pignus futurz gloriae (p. 16) of the Litany 125 K- + +Cantata II. is the Litany 109 K. + +Cantata III. is pot together from the Sanctus of the Mass 259 K. (p. 3); +the Benedictus of the Mass 220 K.; the Gloria of the Mass 259 K. (p. 9); +the Offertorium 72 K. (p. 15); and the Credo of the Mass 259 K. (p. 25). + +Cantata IV. consists of the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass 220 K. (p. 3); +Motetto 277 K. (p. 12); Gratias (p. 19); and Domine (p. 21) of the +Mass in C minor 427 K. [employed in the "Davidde Penitente" 469 K. as +Chorus 4» "Si pur sempre," and Duet 5, "Sorgi o Signore **]; Magnificat +of the Vesper 193 K. (p. 26). + +Cantata V. is formed of the Kyrie (p. 1), Et incarnatus, to the close of +the Credo (p. 6), Benedictus (p. 12), Agnus Dei (p. 20), and Gloria (p. +25) of the Mass 258 K. + +Cantata VI. contains the Dixit of the Vesper 193 K. (p. 1); Laudate +Dominum (p. 13) and Magnificat (p. 20) of the Vesper 321 K. Cantata VII. +is put together from the Kyrie (p. 1) and Benedictus (p. 5) of the Mass +259 K.; an air from "Davidde Penitente" (469 IL, 3) "Lungi le cure +ingrate" (p. 14); the Agnus Dei (p. 26) and Dona nobis (p. 29) of the +Mass 259 K.; and the Dixit of the Vesper 321 K. (p. 33). + +After this, it was not surprising that the choruses from "Konig +Tham os" should have been used as sacred music, or that the +"Frei-maurercantaten" (429,471 K.) should have been treated in the same +way (Vol. II., p. 407). Nor was it unusual to find an altered text +(church-like in character) supplied to sacred compositions. But secular +music was also appropriated by the Church. The beautiful adagio of the +grand serenata for wind instruments (361 K.) has been turned into an +offertory, "Quis te comprehendat" (Anh., 110 K.). The air for Nancy +Storace (405 K.),"Ch' io mi scordi di te," has been fitted to the +words "In te domine speravi," and the obbligato piano part transferred +to the organ (Anh., 120 K.). The air from "Titus" (19),"Deh per +questo istante," with the words "O Deus, ego te amo" (Anh., 112 K.), +and Adamberger's air, "Per pietà non ricercate" (420), with the words +"Omni die die Mariae" (Anh., hi K.), are both used as offertories. V. +Novello published the wonderful ensemble from the second finale in +"Figaro" "Più docile io sono e dico di si," with the words "O Jesu +mi, miserere nobis!" as a motett with organ accompaniment, and has +appended the remark: "This motett may be used at Benediction." It is to +be hoped that there is no truth in the report that Leparello's "Notte +e giorno faticar" and Don Giovanni's "Fin che dal vino," have been +travestied as a "Docti sacris" and a "Lauda Sion." + +{ARRANGEMENTS OP MOZART'S CHURCH MUSIC.} + +(409) + +Further than this, however, whole Masses have been arranged from +Mozart's operas; and at the beginning of this century a "Missa di +Figaro. Don Giovanni" was not unknown to church choirs. One example of +the kind may be described as evidence of the fact. In the collection +of K. Zulehner of Mayence there was preserved a "Coronation Mass" in C +major, with Mozart's name as composer, of which a copy was sent to me +by Herr Schott of Mayence. All the movements, with the exception of the +Credo, are identical with whole movements or smaller portions of "Cosî +fan Tutte," with alterations of key and instrumentation, and here and +there the addition or omission of a part, as follows:-- + +The Kyrie is the terzet (10) "Soave sio il vento," transposed into C +major and turned into a four-part chorus by the addition of a tenor +part, and with two flutes to fill in the harmonies. Christe eleison is +the first movement of the duet (4), "Ah guarda sorella," transposed into +G major, for soprano and tenor, with two oboes and two horns, shortened +here and there, and the ritomello placed at the end. At the beginning +of the Gloria, after a few unimportant bars by the adapter, the motif +of the first chorus of the second finale is made use of (p. 230); then +follow for the Gratias agimus the first seventy bars of the air (11) +"Smanie implacabile" as a soprano solo in F major. The Qui tollis +consists of seven bars not borrowed, but at the Miserere occur four bars +from the first finale (p. 115), "Ed il polso," and after the repetition +of the original Qui tollis at the word "suscipe," the first finale (p. +115), "Ah se tardo," is continued to the end of the movement. "Quoniam +tu solus" to the end of the Gloria is the terzet (3) "Una bella +serenata," unaltered up to the addition of the fourth part in the tutti +passages; the closing ritornello is omitted. In the Gloria, flutes, +oboes, horns, and drums and trumpets are employed in the customary +alternations. Sanctus and Osanna are the andante of the first finale +shortened by six bars, transposed into C major, and the parts rather +differently arranged to suit the words. Benedictus is the duet and +chorus (21) "Secondate," transposed into F major, and accompanied by +stringed instruments flutes, and oboes; the chorus enters at "Osanna." +Agnus Dei begins with eleven original bars, then follows "Idol mio" from +the second finale, with the part of Despina omitted. Dona nobis is the +closing ensemble of the opera. I gather from a letter addressed to G. +Weber that Zulehner was of opinion that Mozart wrote the Mass before +the opera; that, on the contrary, the Mass was pieced together from +the opera by some church musician, no external evidence is required to +prove. + +APPENDIX III. PORTRAITS OF MOZART. + +HE earliest portrait of Mozart, a half-length in oils, now in the + +{APPENDIX III.} + +(410) + +Mozarteum, lithographed in Nissen, represents him as a boy of seven +years old, standing near the clavier, clad in the violet gold-laced +court dress of the Archduke Maximilian, which had been presented to +him in 1762 (Vol. I., p. 28). His hair is frizzed and powdered, his hat +under his arm, his sword by his side; his left hand is thrust into his +vest; his right on his side. The round good-humoured boyish face, with +its candid eyes, looks out as if from a disguise. During the stay of +the Mozart family in Paris in 1763, an accomplished admirer, L. C. +de Carmontelle, painted them in a group; the picture was engraved by +Delafosse in small folio, with the title under:-- + +"LEOPOLD MOZART, Père de MARIANNE MOZART, Virtuose ägée de onze ans, et +de J. G. WOLFGANG, Compositeur et Maître de Musique ägé de sept ans." + +Wolfgang, finely dressed and frizzed, is sitting at the harpsichord in +a pillared hall, apparently open to the air, and playing from some open +music. The little head is evidently a good likeness, and there is a +charming expression of earnest attention. His father stands close behind +him, and accompanies on the violin; the sister is standing on the other +side of the harpsichord, turning towards her brother and singing from +some music. In the same year a small oil picture, containing many +figures, was painted; it was formerly in the gallery of the Duke of +Rohan-Chabot at Schloss-Rurik, and is now in the Museum at Versailles. +Mozart is seated at the clavier, on which a "basse de viole" is lying, +and playing or singing; he is accompanied on the guitar by the opera-singer +Veliotte. The Prince de Beauveau, in a cherry-coloured coat +decorated with the blue Grand Cross, is seated behind the young +musician, glancing absently at a paper which he holds in his left hand. +The Chevalier de la Laurency, gentilhomme to the Prince de Conti, is +standing in a black velvet coat behind Mozart's chair; the Prince de +Conti is talking to M. de Trudaine; Mdlle. Bagaroty is standing before +a group of ladies, viz.: Madame la Maréchale de Mirepoix, Madame de +Viervelle, Madame la Maréchale de Luxembourg, and Mdlle. de Boufflers, +afterwards Duchesse de Lauzun. The Prince d'Henin is preparing tea, +while listening attentively to Mozart's music. In another group are +Dupont de Velse, brother to M. d'Argentai; the Countesses Egmont, mother +and daughter, and President Henaut at the fireplace. + +{PORTRAITS OF MOZART.} + +(411) + +The last group shows us the Comtesse de Boufflers standing before a +well-spread table; by her side is the Comte de Chabot (Duc de Rohan) +in conversation with the Comte de Jarnac. The Maréchal de Beauveau is +pouring out a glass of wine for Bailli de Chabrillant; Meyrand, the +famous geometrician, stands sidewards. The picture is full of life and +expression. All the company are listening in amazement and delight to +Mozart's bewitching tones. He is in an apple-green silk coat with knee +breeches, and his feet do not touch the floor. His countenance is fresh, +his look full of expression, and the little powdered perruque gives him +a somewhat pedantic look, at which the spectators are evidently amused. + +Wolfgang was painted several times during his Italian tour. At Verona +Lugiati made a life-size portrait of him in oils, in two sittings, +as his father writes home. "La dolce sua effigie mi è di conforto ed +altresi di eccitamento a riprendere qualche fiata la musica," he writes +to the mother (April 22, 1770). Sonnleithner, who discovered the picture +by the aid of the Imperial Sectionsrath W. Booking, gives a detailed +account of it. Mozart is seated playing the clavier, somewhat to +the left of the spectator, in a carved arm-chair; his youthful and +intellectual countenance is turned towards the spectator. He wears a red +court dress embroidered in gold, and has a diamond ring on the little +finger of his left hand. Upon the clavier, above the keyboard, is +written: "Joanni Celestini Veneti, MDLXXXIII." Upon the open music-book +can be distinctly read:--[See Page Image] + +{APPENDIX III.} + +(412) + +This piece, therefore, must have possessed some peculiar interest for +the Veronese. Below, in the centre of the narrow, beautifully carved +gold frame, there is a white plate with the following inscription:-- + +Amadeo Wolfgango Mozarto Salisburgensi puero duodenni + +In arte musica laudem omnem fidemque prætergresso eoque nomine Gallorum +Anglorumque regi caro Petrus Lujatus hospiti suavissimo effigiem in +domestico odeo pingi curavit anno MDCCLXX. + +In the same year the celebrated artist Pompeo Battoni of Rome painted a +life-size head of Mozart, which came into the possession of Mr. Haydon +of London; it is now the property of J. Ella, who has placed it in the +South Kensington Museum, and rendered it familiar in an engraving by H. +Adlard. The head is turned almost full-face towards the spectator, the +right-hand holding a roll of music-paper. The animated countenance has +an évident resemblance to the Verona portrait, but with more of a view +to + +{PORTRAITS OF MOZART.} + +(413) + +effect, being in fact what is called idealised. After his return from +Italy in 1772, a portrait of Wolfgang was painted which his sister +possessed; it is the one of which she wrote to Sonnleithner (July +2, 1819) that he looked yellow and sickly in it, having only lately +recovered from a severe illness. Before Mozart left Salzburg in 1777, a +portrait was painted which, according to his father (November 27, 1777), +was highly successful. Padre Martini, having begged for a likeness of +Wolfgang for his collection, the father had a copy of this one made and +sent it to him in the beginning of December, 1777, "in a black frame, +with a handsomely gilt edge." "I delayed complying with your request +until now," he writes to the Padre (December 22,1777), "for want of a +skilful artist. There is, in fact, none such residing in our town; and +I have always been in hopes that, as does sometimes happen, a clever +artist might visit Salzburg--I therefore postponed it from time to time. +At last, however, I was forced to commission a local artist to undertake +the portrait. As a painting it is of little worth, but, as regards the +likeness, + +I assure you that it resembles him exactly. I have written his name +and age behind the picture." In the library of the Liceo Filarmonico +at Bologna there is an oil picture from Padre Martini's collection, of +which Dr. Zangemeister sent me a photograph and a minute description. At +the top of the frame, in white letters, stands:-- + +CAV. AMADEO WOLFGANGO MOZART ACCAD. + +FILARMON. DI BOLOG. E DI VERONA. + +On the back is written (probably by an Italian, not by L. +Mozart):--Joannes Crisostomus Wolfgangus Amadeus Mozart Salisburgensis +Teuto, auratæ Militiæ Eques + +Bonnoniensis Veronensisque Accademicus Natus 27 Ianuarü 1756: Ætatis suæ +21. + +The portrait represents a man in a brown coat, with the gold cross on +a red ribbon round his neck; to the right is a stool, to the left a +clavier with black under notes and white over notes; on the desk is +a piece of music. But it is impossible to recognise Wolfgang in the +portrait; it is that of a man of middle age, stiff in demeanour, and +with no resemblance to Mozart. It might be meant for his father, who had +promised (August 21, 1778) to send Padre Mardini his own portrait; but +this is contradicted by the cross of the order. Probably some confusion +has taken place in the arrangement of the collection. Wolfgang took with +him on his journey a little medallion as a present to his cousin, among +whose remains it was pointed out to me. He is in a red coat, his hair +simply arranged, and the very youthful face with its + +{APPENDIX III.} + +(414) + +intelligent eyes has an open light-hearted expression. Before Mozart +went to Munich in 1780 the painter Della Croce at Salzburg began a large +family group, and Wolfgang's portrait was fortunately finished before +his departure. This large oil-painting, now in the Mozarteum at +Salzburg, represents the brother and sister seated at the harpsichord +playing a duet. Wolfgang is in a red coat with a white vest and +neckcloth, Marianne in a dark rose-coloured dress trimmed with lace, and +a red ribbon in her high coiffure; the father, in black, with a white +vest and neckcloth, is seated behind the harpsichord, his left hand +holding a violin, his right with the bow resting on the harpsichord. +On the wall hangs an oval portrait of the mother, with a blue +neckhandkerchief, and a blue ribbon in her hair. Wolfgang's sister +considered this portrait very like him; and it does in fact give one an +impression of individuality. The face is young for his age, but not +so gay and animated as in earlier pictures; it has rather a depressed +expression, corresponding very well to his mood at the time. After +his marriage he had himself painted with Constanze, and sent the two +miniatures to Salzburg. "I only hope," he writes (April 3, 1783), "that +you may be pleased with them; they seem to me to be both good, and all +who have seen them are of the same opinion." Mozart's brother-in-law, +the actor Lange, who was an enthusiastic artist, began a portrait of +him, seated at the piano, in a light brown coat and white neckcloth, and +strove to render the expression of the artist absorbed in his reveries. +The picture was only finished as far as the bust, and is now in the +Mozarteum at Salzburg; Carl Mozart considered it very like. Mozart's +short stay in Dresden in April, 1789, was utilised by Dora Stock, +Korner's talented sister-in-law, in taking his portrait in crayons +with much delicacy and animation; it was engraved in Berlin by E. +H. Schroder, and published by Ed. Mandel. The conception of Mozart's +appearance, which afterwards became typical, was formed from a small +medallion carved in boxwood in relief by Posch, and now preserved in the +Salzburg Mozarteum. This was engraved in octavo by J. G. Mans-feld, 1789 +(Viennæ apud Art aria Societ.) with the inscription: "Dignum laude virum +Musa vetat mori." On the lower edge of the medallion, among instruments +and laurel branches, is a sheet of music with "An Chloe" written on +it. This engraving is the foundation of most of the later ones; it was +engraved afresh from the medallion by Thäter (Leipzig: Breitkopf und +Hartel). + +The last portrait of Mozart is a bust, life size, painted by Tischbein +during his stay in Mayence in October, 1790. C. A. André discovered and +obtained possession of it at Mayence in 1849; it was among the remains +of the Electoral court violinist Stutzl. Two men who had themselves seen +Mozart--Professor Arentz, of Mayence, and the former court organist, +Schulz, of Mannheim, on being shown the picture, and asked whom +it represented, recognised their beloved Mozart without a moment's +hesitation. At the same time this likeness differs + +{PORTRAITS OF MOZART.} + +(415) + +considerably from the others current, and it can scarcely be doubted +that Tischbein has idealised the features, especially the nose; but the +expression of the eyes and mouth has a mixture of sensuousness, roguery, +and gentle melancholy, which testify to the artist's intellectual +apprehension; while Posch is probably more accurate in outline, but +more Philistine in conception. It has been engraved by Sichling in the +"Bildnissen berühmter Deutschen" (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hàrtel), and +afterwards diminished for this book. + +I consider as apocryphal a small medallion in the possession of Karajan, +representing a slender well-dressed youth, inscribed as "Mozart's +Portrait;" also a round miniature, belonging to Frz. Henser, of Cologne, +of a full-grown man in a grey coat, his hand in his vest, which seems +to me to have no resemblance to Mozart. It is signed "Jac. Dorn, pinx., +1780." + +APPENDIX IV. (To the English Edition.) + +A LIST OF MOZART'S WORKS, + +COMPILED FROM THE FIRST COMPLETE + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(416) + +AND CRITICALLY REVISED EDITION, NOW BEING PUBLISHED BY BREITKOFF AND +HARTEL, LEIPZIG. + +[See Page Image] + +VOCAL MUSIC. + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(417) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(418) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(419) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(420) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(421) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(422) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(423) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(424) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(425) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(426) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(427) + +{APPENDIX IV.} + +(428) + +{INDEX.} + +(429) + +{INDEX.} + +(430) + +{INDEX.} + +(431) + +{INDEX.} + +(432) + +{INDEX.} + +(433) + +{INDEX.} + +(434) + +{INDEX.} + +(435) + +{INDEX.} + +(436) + +{INDEX.} + +(437) + +{INDEX.} + +(438) + +{INDEX.} + +(439) + +{INDEX.} + +(440) + +{INDEX.} + +(441) + +{INDEX.} + +(442) + +{INDEX.} + +(443) + + + +FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLVI. + +[Footnote 1: Breitkopf and Hartel's edition of the "Ouvres" was prepared in +concert with the widow, and from the autograph originals furnished by +her; concerning which the entire correspondence lies before me.] + +[Footnote 2: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 150.] + +[Footnote 3: Reichardt, Briefe aus Wien., I., p. 244.] + +[Footnote 4: A. M. Z.f XX., p. 512.] + +[Footnote 5: A. M. Z., VII., pp. 427, 502.] + +[Footnote 6: Cf. N. Ztschr. fur Mus., XXI., p. 169.] + +[Footnote 7: A solemn funeral mass was celebrated at Prague, December 14, 1791 +(Wien. Ztg., 1791, No. 103).] + +[Footnote 8: Wessely in Berlin (Mus. Wochenbl., p. 191), and Cannabich in Munich, +composed funeral cantatas on Mozart's death (Niemetschek, p. 66).] + +[Footnote 9: A. M. Z., II., p. 239.] + +[Footnote 10: It does not appear that any complete statement of all the +ceremonies by which this jubilee was kept has been made.] + +[Footnote 11: Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Mod., November, 1799. A. M. Z., II., pp. 239, +420.] + +[Footnote 12: Bridi, Brevi Cenni, p. 63. A. M. Z., XXVI., p. 92.] + +[Footnote 13: A. M. Z., XXXIX., p. 309.] + +[Footnote 14: Cf. L. Mielichhofer, Das Mozart-Denkmal zu Salzburg und dessen +Enthüllungsfeier (Salzburg, 1843). The amount subscribed was nearly +25,000 fl.] + +[Footnote 15: The monument is familiar in Amsler's fine engraving.] + +[Footnote 16: Zellner, Blätt. f. Mus., Theat. u. Kunst, 1859. No. 97.] + +[Footnote 17: Since 1843 the Mozarteum has issued annual reports of its doings.] + +[Footnote 18: A. M. Z., XLII., p. 735. The Mozart Institution also issues regular +reports.] + +[Footnote 19: Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1855, p. 398; 1856, pp. 296, 303; 1857, p.232.] + +[Footnote 20: Rochlitz, Raphael u. Mozart (A. M. Z., II., p. 641). Alberti, +Raphael u. Mozart: eine Parallele (Stettin, 1856).] + +[Footnote 21: The different conceptions that are here possible is seen from +Carpani's having bracketed in a comparison of Painters and Musicians (Le +Haydine, p. 215) Pergolese and Raphael, Mozart and Giulio Romano. Beyle +compares Mozart with Domenichino (Vie de Haydn, p. 260).] + +[Footnote 22: Fr. Horn, A. M. Z., IV., p. 421.] + +[Footnote 23: Th. Kriebitzsch, Poeten u. Componisten (A. M. Z., L., p. 545; Für +Freunde d. Tonk., p. 52). He puts down the "Messiah" as Mozart's--no +doubt without reflection.] + +[Footnote 24: [Arnold] W. A. Mozart u. J. Haydn. Versuch einer Parallele (Erfurt, +1810). G. L. P. Sievers, Characteristik d. deutschen. Mus., A. M. Z., +IX., p. 698.] + +[Footnote 25: Graham, Account of the First Edinburgh Musical Festival, p. 121 +(A. M. Z., XVIII., p. 635. My readers will be familiar with Reichardt's +comparison of the three masters as quartet composers: Haydn, he says, +built a charming fanciful summer-house, Mozart transformed it into a +palace, and Beethoven crowned the edifice with a bold defiant tower +(Briefe aus Wien., I., p. 231). E. T. A. Hoffmann finds in Haydn's +instrumental works a childlike gaiety, while Mozart leads him into the +depths of the spirit-world, and Beethoven into the region of prodigies +and boundless space (Phantasiestucke, I., 4 Ges. Schr., VII., p. 55).] + +[Footnote 26: O. Lindner, Zur Tonk., p. 173.] + +[Footnote 27: Oehlenschläger, Erinnerungen, IV., p. 225.] + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Life Of Mozart, Vol. 3 (of 3), by Otto Jahn + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43413 *** |