 Chapter 9 of Mozart, the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or how to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Mozart, the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words by Friedrich Kirst, translated by Henry Edward Kreibel. Chapter 9. Opinions Concerning Others. 81. Holtzbauer's music is very beautiful. The poetry is not worthy of it. What amazes me most is that so old a man as Holtzbauer should have so much spirit, it is incredible, the amount of fire in his music. Mannheim, November 14, 1777, to his father. Egnatz Holtzbauer was born in Vienna in 1711 and died as chapelmeister in Mannheim on April 7, 1793. During the last years of his life, he was totally deaf. The music referred to was the setting of the first great German sing-speel, Gunther von Schwarzberg. 82. There is much that is pretty in many of Martini's things, but in ten years nobody will notice them. Reported by Nissen, Martini lived in Bologna from 1706 to 1784. There Mozart learned to know and admire him. In 1776, he wrote a letter to him in which he said that of all the people in the world, he loved, honored, and valued him most. 83. For those who seek only light entertainment in music, nobody better can be recommended than Piazielo. Reported by Nissen, Piazielo was born in Taranto in 1741, composed over a hundred operas which, like his church music, won much applause. He died in Naples in 1816. Mozart considered his music transparent. 84. Jean-Mélie has his genre in which he shines, and we must abandon the thought of supplanting him in that field in the judgment of the knowing, but he ought not to have abandoned his field to compose church music in the old style, for instance. Reported by Nissen, Jean-Mélie was born in 1714 near Naples where he died in 1774. He was greatly admired as a composer of operas and church music. He was court-chapelmeister in Stuttgart from 1753 to 1769. 85. Wait till you know how many of his works we have in Vienna. When I get back home, I shall diligently study his church music, and I hope to learn a great deal from it. A remark made in Leipzig when somebody spoke slidingly of the music of Gossmann, an imperial court-chapelmeister in Vienna, and much respected by Maria Theresa and Joseph, 86. The fact that Gotti, the ass, begged the Archbishop for permission to compose a serenade shows his worthiness to wear the title where I make no doubt he deserves also for his musical learning. Vienna. October 12, 1782, to his father. Gotti was cathedral-chapelmeister in Salzburg, 87. What we should like to have, dear father, is some of your best church pieces, for we love to entertain ourselves with all manner of masters ancient and modern. Therefore, I beg of you, send us something of yours as soon as possible. Vienna. March 29, 1783, to his father. Leopold Mozart in Salzburg himself a capable composer. 88. In a sense, Vogler is nothing but a wizard. As soon as he attempts to play something majestic, he becomes dry, and you are glad that he, too, feels bored and makes a quick ending. But what follows? Unintelligible slip-slop. I listened to him from a distance. Afterward, he began a fugue with six notes on the same tone and presto. Then I went up to him. As a matter of fact, I would rather watch him than hear him. Mannheim, December 18, 1777, to his father. Abbe Vogler was trying the new organ in the Lutheran church at Mannheim. Vogler lived from 1749 to 1814 and was the teacher of Carl Maria von Weber, who esteemed him highly, and Meyerbeer. Mozart's criticism seems unduly severe. 89. I was at Mass, a brand new composition by Vogler. I had already been at the rehearsal day before yesterday afternoon, but went away after the Kyrie. In all my life, I have heard nothing like this. Frequently, everything is out of tune. He goes from key to key as if he wanted to drag one along by the hair of the head, not in an interesting manner which might be worth the while, but bluntly and rudely. As to the manner in which he develops his ideas, I shall say nothing, but this I will say, that it is impossible for a Mass by Vogler to please any composer worthy of the name. Briefly, I hear a theme which is not bad. Does it long remain not bad, you think? Will it soon not become beautiful? Heaven forfend. It grows worse and worse in a two-fold or three-fold manner. For instance, scarcely is it begun before something else enters and spoils it, or he makes so unnatural a close that it cannot remain good, or it is misplaced, or finally it is ruined by the orchestration. That's Vogler's music. Mannheim, November 20, 1777, to his father, 90. Clementi plays well so far as execution with the right hand is concerned. His forte is passages and thirds. Aside from this, he hasn't a penny worth of feeling or taste. In a word, he is a mere machinician. Vienna, January 12, 1782, to his father. Four days later, Mozart expressed the same opinion of Muzio Clementi, who is still in good repute after having met him in competition before the emperor. Clementi pre-looted and played a sonata, then the emperor said to me, Elons, go ahead. I pre-looted and played some variations. 91. Now I must say a few words to my sister about the Clementi sonatas. Everyone who plays or hears them will feel for himself that in compositions they do not signify. There are in them no remarkable or striking passages, with the exception of those in sixths and octaves, and I beg my sister not to devote too much time to these lest she spoil her quiet and steady hand and make it lose its natural lightness, suppleness, and fluent rapidity. What after all is the use? She is expected to play the sixths and octaves with the greatest velocity, which no man will accomplish, not even Clementi, and if she tries, she will produce a frightful zigzag and nothing more. Clementi is a chirolantano like all Italians. He writes upon a sonata presto, or even prestissimo, and a la brava and plays it allegro in four four time. I know it because I have heard him. What he does well is his passages in thirds, but he perspired over these day and night in London. Aside from this he has nothing, absolutely nothing, not excellence in reading, nor taste, nor sentiment. Vienna, June 7, 1783, to his father and sister. 92. Handel knows better than any of us what will make an effect. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt, even if he is often prosy. After the manner of his time, there is always something in his music. Mozart valued Handel most highly. He knew his masterpieces by heart, not only the choruses, but also many arias, reported by Rochelitz. 93. At propose, I intended, while asking you to send back the rondo, to send me also the six fugues by Handel and the tocatas and fugues by Eberlin. I go every Sunday to Baron von Svitens, and there nothing is played except Handel and Bach. I am making a collection of the fugues, those of Sebastian as well as of Emanuel and Friedemann Bach also have Handels, and here the six are lacking. Besides I want to let the Baron hear those of Eberlin. In all likelihood you know that the English Bach is dead. A pity for the world of music. Vienna, April 10, 1782 to his father. Johann Ernst Eberlin, Eberle, born in 1702, died in 1762 as Arch Episcopal Chapelmeister in Salzburg. Many of his unpublished works are preserved in Berlin. The English Bach was Johann Christian, son of the great Johann Sebastian, as a child Mozart made his acquaintance in London. 94. I shall be glad if Papa has not yet had the works of Eberlin copied, for I have gotten them meanwhile and discovered, for I could not remember that they are too trivial and surely do not deserve a place among those of Bach and Handel. All respect to his four-part writing, but his clavier fugues are nothing but long drawn out versetti. Vienna, April 29, 1782 to his sister, Nenerl, 95. Johann Christian Bach has been here, Paris, for a fortnight. He is to write a French opera and is come only to hear the singers, whereupon he will go to London, write the opera, and come back to put it on the stage. You can easily imagine his delight in mine when we met again. Perhaps his delight was not altogether sincere, but one must admit that he is an honorable man and does justice to all. I love him, as you know, with all my heart and respect him, as for him one thing is certain that to my face and to others he really praised me, not extravagantly like some, but seriously and in earnest. Saint Germain, August 27, 1778 to his father. Johann Christian Bach was the second son of Johann Sebastian, and born in 1735. He lived in London where little Wolfgang learned to know him in 1764. Bach took the precocious boy on his knee and the two played on the harpsichord. Bach was music master to the Queen. He liked to play with the boy, says Johann, took him upon his knee and went through a sonata with him, each in turn playing a measure with such precision that no one would have suspected two performers. He began a fugue which Wolfgang took up and completed when Bach broke off. H.E.K. 96. Bach is the father and we are the youngsters. Those of us who can do a decent thing learned how from him, and whoever will not admit it, is a remark made at a gathering in Lipsig. The Bach referred to as Philippe Emmanuel Bach, who died in 1788. 97. Here at last is something from which one can learn. Mozart's ejaculation when he heard Bach's Motet for double chorus, Sinkedem Ehren Ein News lead at Lipsig in 1789. Rochelitz relates, scarcely had the choir sung a couple of measures when Mozart started. After a few more measures he cried out, What is that? And now his whole soul seemed to doopey in his ears. 98. Let us two together and we will fall short of making a Haydn. Said to the pianist Leopold Kozoulouche, who had triumphantly pointed out a few slips due to carelessness in Haydn's compositions. 99. It was a duty that I owed to Haydn to dedicate my quartets to him, for it was from him that I learned how to write quartets. Reported by Nissen, Josef Haydn once said when the worth of Don Giovanni was under discussion, this I do know that Mozart is the greatest composer in the world today. 100. Nobody can do everything just and terrify, cause laughter or move profoundly like Josef Haydn. Reported by Nissen, the biographer who married Mozart's widow, H.E.K. 101. Keep your eyes on him, he'll make the world talk of himself someday. A remark made by Mozart in reference to Beethoven in the Spring of 1787. It was the only meeting between the two composers. The prophetic observation was called out by Beethoven's improvisation on a theme from Lenoze di Figuero, H.E.K. 102. Atwood is a young man for whom I have a sincere affection and esteem. He conducts himself with great propriety, and I feel much pleasure in telling you that he partakes more of my style than any scholar I ever had, and I predict that he will prove a sound musician. Remarked in 1786 to Michael Kelly, who was a friend of Atwood, and a pupil of Mozart at the time, Thomas Atwood was an English musician born in 1765. He was chorister of the Chapel Royal at the age of nine, and at sixteen attracted the attention of the Prince of Wales afterward George IV, who sent him to Italy to study. He studied two years in Naples and one year in Vienna with Mozart. Returned to London, he first composed for the theatre and afterward largely for the church. He and Mendelssohn were devoted friends. H.E.K. 103. If the oboist Fisher did not play better when we heard him in Holland, 1766, then he plays now he certainly does not deserve the reputation which he has. Yet between ourselves I was too young at the time to pronounce a judgment. I remember that he pleased me exceedingly and the whole world. It is explained easily enough if one but realizes the tastes have changed mightily since then. You would think that he plays according to the old school, but no, he plays like a wretched pupil and then his concertos, his compositions. Every retornello lasts a quarter of an hour. Then the hero appears lifts one leaden foot after the other and plumps them down alternately. His tone is all nasal and his tenuto sounds like an organ tremulant. Vienna, April 4, 1787, to his father. Johann Christian Fisher, 1733 to 1800 was a famous oboist and composer for his instrument. Fisher was probably the original of the many artists of whom the story is told that having been invited by a nobleman to dinner, he was asked if he had brought his instrument with him, replied that he had not for that his instrument never ate. Kelly tells the story in his reminiscences and makes Fisher the hero, H.E.K., 104. I know nothing new except that Gellert has died in Leipzig and since then has written no more poetry. Milan, January 26, 1770. Wolfgang was on a concert tour with his father who admired Gellert's writings and had once exchanged letters with him. The lad seems to have felt ironical. 105. Now I am also acquainted with Herr Weiland, but he doesn't know me as well as I know him, for he has not heard anything of mine. I never imagined him to be as he is. He seems to me to be a little affected in speech, has a rather childish voice, a fixed stare, a certain learned rudeness, yet at times a stupid condescension. I am not surprised that he behaves as he does here and as he would not dare do in Weimar or elsewhere. For the people look at him as if he had fallen directly from heaven. All stand in awe, no one talks, everyone is silent, every word is listened to when he speaks. It is a pity that he keeps people in suspense so long, for he has a defective speech which compels him to speak very slowly and pause after every six words. Otherwise he is, as we all know, an admirable brain. His face is very ugly, pockmarked, and his nose rather long. He is a little taller than papa. Mannheim, December 27, 1777, to his father. On November 22 Mozart had reported, in the coming carnival, Rosemund will be performed new poetry by Herr Weiland, new music by Herr Schweitzer. On January 10, 1778 he writes, Rosemund was rehearsed in the theatre today. It is good but nothing more. If it were bad you could not perform it at all, just as you can't sleep without going to bed. Now that Herr Weiland has seen me twice, he is entirely enchanted. The last time we met, after lauding me as highly as possible, he said, it is truly a piece of good fortune for me to have met you here, and pressed my hand. Mannheim, January 10, 1778, 107. Now I give you a piece of news which perhaps you know already, that godless fellow in Archrascal Voltaire is dead, died like a dog, like a beast. That is his reward. Paris, July 3, 1778, to his father, who, like the son, was a man of sincere piety and abhorred Voltaire's atheism. 108. When God gives a man an office, he also gives him sense. That's the case with the Archduke. Before he was a priest, he was much wittier and intelligent, spoke less but more sensibly. You ought to see him now. Stupidity looks out of his eyes, he talks in chatters eternally and always in falsetto. His neck is swollen, in short, he has been completely transformed. Vienna, November 17, 1781, to his father. The person spoken of was Archduke Maximilian, who afterward became Archbishop of Cologne and was the patron of Beethoven. The ambiguity of the opening statement is probably due to carelessness in writing, for Mozart's habit of using double negatives. H.E.K. End of Chapter 9. This recording by Aaron Elliott, St. Louis, Missouri. Chapter 10 of Mozart, The Man and the Artist. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Larry N. Walden. Mozart, The Man and the Artist, as revealed in his own words, by Friedrich Kirst. Translated by Henry Krebiel. Chapter 10, Wolfgang the German. Mozart's Germanism is a matter of pride to the German people. To him, German was no empty concept as it was to the majority of his contemporaries. He is therefore honored as a champion of German character and German art, worthy as such to stand beside Richard Wagner. Properly to appreciate his patriotism, it is necessary to bear in mind that in Mozart's day, Germany was a figment of the imagination, the French language, French manners, and Italian music being everywhere dominant. Wagner, on the contrary, was privileged to see the promise of the fulfillment of his strivings in the light of the German victories of 1870 to 1871. When the genius of Germany soared aloft, she carried Wagner with her. Wagner's days of glory in August 1876 were conditioned by the Great War with France. How insignificant must the patronage of Joseph II, scantily enough bestowed on Mozart in comparison with that showered on Salieri, appear when we recall the Mycenaeus Ludwig II. 109. Frequently I fall into a mood of complete listlessness and indifference. Nothing gives me great pleasure. The most stimulating and encouraging thought is that you, dearest father, and my dear sister, are well, that I am an honest German and that if I am not always permitted to talk, I can think what I please. But that is all. Paris, May 29, 1778, to his father. 110. The Duke de Guine was utterly without a sense of honour and thought that he was a young fellow and a stupid German to boot, as all Frenchmen think of the Germans. He'll be glad to take it, but the stupid German was not glad and refused to take the money. For two lessons he wanted to pay me the fee of one. Paris, July 31, 1778, to his father. Mozart had given lessons in composition to the Duke's daughter. Scene number 51. 111. An Italian ape, such as he is, who has lived in German countries and eaten German bread for years, ought to speak German or mangle it as well or ill as his French mouth will permit. Said of the Vialon cellist Duport, the favourite of King William I of Prussia, in 1789, when Mozart was in Berlin and Duport asked him to speak French. 112. I pray God every day to give me grace to remain steadfast here, that I may do honour to myself and the entire German nation to his greater honour and glory, and that he permit me to make my fortune so that I may help you out of your sorry condition and bring it to pass that we soon meet again and live together in happiness and joy. But his will be done on earth as in heaven. Paris, May 1, 1778, to his father, who had plunged himself in debt and was giving lessons in order to promote the career of his son. His sister also helped nobly. 113. If this were a place where the people had ears, hearts to feel, and a modicum of musical understanding and taste, I should laugh heartily at all these things. As it is, I am among nothing but cattle and brutes, so far as music is concerned. How should it be otherwise since they are the same in all their acts and passions? There is no place like Paris. You must not think that I exaggerate when I talk thus of music. Turn to whom you please, except to a born Frenchman. You shall hear the same thing, provided you can find someone to turn to. Now that I am here, I must endure out of regard for you. I shall thank God Almighty if I get out of here with a sound taste. Paris, May 1, 1778. 114. How popular I would be if I were to lift the national German stage to recognition in music. And this would surely happen, for I was already full of desire to write when I heard the German sing-schwil. Munich, October 2, 1777. A sing-schwil is a German opera with spoken dialogue, H.E.K. 115. If there were but a single patriot on the boards with me, a different face would be put on the matter. Then, Mayhap, the budding national theatre would blossom, and that would be an eternal disgrace to Germany. If we Germans should once begin to think German, act German, speak German, and even sing German. Vienna, March 21, 1785, to the playwright Anton Klein of Mannheim. It was purposed to open the sing-schwil theatre in October. 116. The German opera is to be opened in October. For my part, I am not promising it much luck. From the doing so far it looks as if an effort were making thoroughly to destroy the German opera which had suspended, perhaps only for a while, rather than to help it up again and preserve it. Only my sister-in-law Lange has been engaged for the German sing-schwil. Cavalieri, Attenberger, Teiber, all Germans, of whom Germany can be proud, must remain with the Italian opera, must make war against their countrymen. Vienna, March 21, 1785, to Anton Klein. Madame Lange was Aloysia Weber, with whom he was in love before he married her sister Constanza. 117. The gentleman of Vienna, including most particularly the emperor, must not be permitted to believe that I live only for the sake of Vienna. There is no monarch on the face of the earth whom I would rather serve than the emperor, but I shall not beg service. I believe that I am capable of doing honour to any court. If Germany, my beloved fatherland, of whom you know I am proud, will not accept me, then must I, in the name of God, again make France or England richer by one capable German and to the shame of the German nation. You know full well that in nearly all the arts those who excelled have nearly always been Germans. But where did they find fortune? Where fame? Certainly not in Germany. Even Gluck, did Germany make him a great man? Alas, no. Vienna, August 17, 1782, to his father. Mozart's answer in 1789, when King Frederick William II of Prussia said to him, Stay with me, I offer you a salary of three thousand dollars, was touching in the extreme. Shall I leave my good emperor? Thereupon the king said, Think it over, I'll keep my word even if you should come after a year and a day. In spite of his financial difficulties Mozart never gave serious consideration to the offer. When his father advised him against some of his foreign plans he answered, So far as France and England are concerned you are wholly right, this opening will never be closed to me. It will be better if I wait a while longer. Meanwhile it is possible that conditions may change in those countries. In a preceding letter he had written, For some time I have been practicing myself daily in the French language and I have also taken three lessons in English. In three months I hope to be able to read and understand English books fairly well. 118. The two of us played a sonata that I had composed for the occasion and which had a success. This sonata I shall send you by Herr Vundalberwick who said that he would feel proud to have it in his trunk. His son, who is a Salzburger, told me this. When the father went, he said, quite loud, I am proud to be your countryman. You are doing great honor to Salzburg. I hope that times will so change that we can have you amongst us and then do not forget me. I answered, My fatherland has always the first claim on me. Vienna, November 24, 1781, to his father. Mozart is speaking of a concert which he had given. The sonata is the small one in D major, Mozart often made merry over the Salzburgians. He called them stupid and envious. 119. Thoroughly convinced that I was talking to a German, I gave free reign to my tongue, a thing which one is so seldom permitted to do that after such an outpouring of the heart it would be allowable to get a bit fuddled without risk of hurting one's health. Vienna, March 21, 1785, to Anton Klein. End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Mozart, the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rebecca Case. Mozart, the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words, by Friedrich Kirst, translated by Henry Carbill. Chapter 11. Self-Respect and Honor Beethoven is said to have been the first musician who compelled respect for his graft. He, who prouder than Goethe, associated with royalties and said of himself, I too am a king. Mozart rose from a dependent position which brought him most grievous humiliations. He was looked upon as a servant of the Archbishop of Salzburg and treated accordingly. At the time, composers and musicians had no higher standing. Mozart feels the intolerableness of his position and protests against it on every opportunity. He is conscious of his worth and intellectual superiority. When he endures the grossest indignities from his tormentor, Archbishop Heronimus, it is for the sake of his father, whom he would save from annoyance. In all things else, he follows the example of his father, but in the matter of self-respect, he admonishes and encourages his parent. Although Beethoven rudely rejected the condescending goodwill of the great which would have made Mozart happy and demanded respect as an equal, it must be confessed that the generally manly conduct of Mozart was an excellent preparation of the Viennese soil. 120 I wish that the elector were here. He might hear something to his advantage. He knows nothing about me, knows nothing about my ability. What a pity that these grand gentlemen take everybody's word and are unwilling to investigate for themselves. It's always the way. I am willing to make a test, let him summon all the composers in Munich and even invite a few from Italy, Germany, England and Spain. I will trust myself in a competition with them all. Munich, October 2nd, 1777 to his father. Mozart had hoped to secure an appointment in Munich, but was disappointed. 121 I could scarcely refrain from laughing when I was introduced to the people. A few, who knew me par renomene, were very polite and respectful. Others, who know nothing about me, stared at me as if they were a bit amused. They think that because I am small and young that there can be nothing great and old in me. But they shall soon find out. Mannheim, October 31st, 1777 to his father. 122 We poor common folk must not only take wives whom we love and who love us, but we may, can and want to take such because we are neither noble, well-born nor rich, but lowly, mean and poor. Hence we do not need rich wives because our wealth dies with us, being in our heads. Of this wealth, no man can rob us unless he cuts off our heads, in which case we shall have need of nothing more. Mannheim, February 7th, 1778 to his father. Mozart had fallen in love with Aloysa, daughter of the poor musician Weber. 123 I will gladly give lessons to oblige, particularly if I see that a person has talent and a joyous desire to learn, but to go to a house at a fixed hour or wait at home for the arrival of someone that I cannot do, no matter how much it might yield me. I leave that to others who can do nothing else than play the clavier. For me it is impossible. I am a composer and was born to be a chapel master. I dare not thus bury the talent for composition which a kind God gave me in such generous measure. I say more this without pride for I feel it now more than ever before and that is what I shall do had I many pupils. Teaching is a restless occupation and I would rather neglect the clavier playing than composition. The clavier is a side issue though, thank God, a strong one. Mannheim February 7th, 1778 to his father who must have read the words with sorrow since he and his daughter Neneira were laboriously giving lessons and practicing economy to make Mozart's journey possible and had to advance money to him. 124 I know of a certainty that the Emperor intends to establish a German opera in Vienna and is earnestly seeking a young conductor who understands the German language, has genius, and is capable of giving the world something new. Benda of Gota is seeking the place and Schweitzer is also an applicant. I believe this would be a good thing for me but with good pay as a matter of course. If the Emperor will give me a thousand Florence I will write a German opera for him and if then he does not wish to retain me I'll write. I beg of you, write to all the good friends in Vienna whom you can think of that I would do honour to the Emperor. If there is no other way let him try me with an opera. Mannheim January 10th, 1778 to his father 125 The greatest favour that Hergrim showed me was to lend me fifteen Louis-Dor in driblets at the life and death of my blessed mother. Is he fearful that the loan will not be returned? If so, he truly deserves a kick for he shows distrust of my honesty the only thing that can throw me into a rage and also of my talent in a word he belongs to the Italian party is deceitful and is seeking to oppress me. Paris September 11th, 1778 to his father who was on a friendly footing with the French encyclopedist Grim since the first artistic tour made with little Wolfgang in 1763 when he owed many favours to Grim apparently Mozart here doesn't injustice to his patron who it is true thought highly of the Italian Puccini. 126 On my honour I can't help it it's the kind of man I am lately when he spoke to me rudely foolishly and stupidly I did not dare to say to him that he need not worry about the 15 Louis D'Or for fear that I might offend him I did nothing but endure and ask if he were ready and then your obedient servant. Paris September 11th, 1778 to his father at whose request Baron Grim had received the young artist in Paris but at the same time had exercised a sort of artistic guardianship over him. Wolfgang had written to his father as early as August 27 if you write to him do not be too humble in your thanks there are reasons. On another occasion Grim is able to assist children but not adults do not imagine that he is the man he was. 127 You know that I want nothing more than good employment good in character and good in recompense let it be where it will if the place be but Catholic but if the Salzburgians want me they must satisfy my desires or they will certainly not get me. Paris July 3rd, 1778 to his father who wished to see his son in the surface of the Arch-Apiscopal court at Salzburg. 128 The prince must have confidence either in you or me in everything relating to music otherwise all will be in vain for in Salzburg everybody or nobody has to do with music if I were to undertake it I should demand free hands in matters musical the head court Chamberlain should have nothing to say a Cavalier cannot be a conductor but a conductor could well be a Cavalier. Paris July 9th, 1778 129 If the Archbishop were to entrust it to me I would soon make his music famous that's sure but I have one request to make at Salzburg and that is that I should not be placed among the violins where I used to be I'll never make a fiddler I will conduct at the Claver and accompany the Arias it would have been a good thing if I had secured a written assurance of the conductorship Paris September 11th, 1778 to his father who had urged him to return to Salzburg to receive an appointment to the conductorship Mozart seems to have a premonition of the treatment which he received later from the Archbishop 130 I must admit that I should reach Salzburg with a lighter heart if I were not aware that I have taken service there it is only this thought that is intolerable put yourself in my place and think it over at Salzburg I do not know who or what I am I am everything and at times nothing I do not demand too much or too little only something if I am something Strasburg October 15th, 1778 to his father while returning from Paris filled with repugnance to the Archbishop for aside from obeying a praiseworthy and beautiful motive he means filial affection I am really committing the greatest folly in the world he writes in the same letter 131 the Archbishop cannot recompense me for the slavery in Salzburg as I have said I experience great pleasure when I think of visiting you again but nothing but vexation and fear at the thought of seeing myself at that beggarly court again the Archbishop must not attempt to put on grand heirs with me as he used to it is not impossible it is even likely that I would put my fingers to my nose and I know full well that you would enjoy it as much as I Mannheim November 12th, 1778 to his father 132 at 11 o'clock in the four noon a little too early for me unfortunately we already go to table we dine together the two temporal and spiritual valets, Mr. The Controller Mr. Zetti, The Confectioner Mr. The Two Cooks Cessarelli, Bruetti and my insignificance NB the two valets sit at the head of the table I have at least the honor of sitting above the cooks well I simply think I am at Salzburg at dinner a great many coarse and silly jokes are cracked but not at me because I do not speak a word unless of necessity and then always with the utmost seriousness as soon as I have dined I go my way Vienna March 17th, 1781 to his father the Archbishop was visiting Vienna and had brought with him his best musicians whom however he treated shabbily at length the rupture came Mozart was dismissed literally with a kick 133 give me best of fathers that I must summon all my manhood to write to you what reason commands God knows how hard it is for me to leave you but if beggary were my lot I would no longer serve such a master for that I shall never forget as long as I live and I beg of you I beg of you for the sake of everything in the world encourage me in my determination instead of trying to dissuade me that would unfit me for what I must do is my desire and hope to win honour fame and money and I hope to be of greater service to you in Vienna than in Salzburg Vienna May 12th, 1781 to his father 134 I did not know that I was a valet de chambre and that broke my neck I ought to have wasted a few hours every four noon in the ante chamber I was often told that I should let myself be seen but I could not recall that this was my duty and came punctually only when the archbishop summoned me Vienna May 12th, 1781 135 to please you best of fathers I would sacrifice my happiness my health and my life but my honour is my own and ought to be above all else to you let Count Arco and all Salzburg read this letter Vienna May 13th, 1781 it was Count Arco who had dismissed Mozart with a kick the father was thrown into consternation at the maltreatment of his son and sought to persuade Mozart to return to Salzburg Mozart replied, best dearest father ask of me anything you please but not that the very thought makes me tremble with rage 136 you did not think when you wrote this that such a backstep would stamp me as one of the most contemptible fellows in the world all Vienna knows that I have left the archbishop knows why knows that it is because of my injured honour of an injury inflicted three times and I am to make a public denial proclaim myself a cur and the archbishop a noble prince no man can do the former least of all I and the second can only be done by God if he should choose to enlighten him Vienna may 19th 1781 to his father who had asked him to return to the service of the archbishop 137 if it be happiness to be rid of a prince who never pays one but torments him to death then I am happy for if I had to work from morning till night I would do it gladly rather than live off the bounty of such a I do not care to call him the name he deserves I was forced to take the step I did and I cannot swerve a hair's breath from it impossible Vienna may 19th 1781 138 Salzburg is nothing now to me except it offer an opportunity to give the count a kick even if it were in the public street I desire no satisfaction from the archbishop for he is not in a position to offer me the kind that I want and must have within a day or two I shall write to the count telling him what he can confidently expect to receive from me the first time I meet him be it where it may except a place that commands my respect Vienna June 13th 1781 to his father Count Arco's offense has been mentioned on June 16th Mozart wrote the hungry ass shall not escape my chastisement if I have to wait 20 years for as soon as I see him he shall come in contact with my foot unless I should be so unfortunate as to see him in the sanctuary the reader will probably guess that the translator is resorting to euphemisms in rendering Mozart's language H.E.K. 139 it is the heart that confers the patent of nobility on man and although I am no count I probably have more honor within me than many account menial or account whoever insults me is a cur I shall begin my representing to him with complete gravity how badly he did his business but at the end I shall have to assure him in writing that he is to expect a kick and a box on the ear from me for if a man insults me I have got to be revenged and if I give him no more than he gave me it is mere retaliation and not punishment besides I should thus put myself on a level with him and am too proud to compare myself with such a stupid gilding Vienna June 20th, 1781 to his father these expressions called out by the insulting treatment received from the archbishop and Count Arco are in striking contrast to Mozart's habitual amiability 140 I can easily believe that the court parasites will look sconce at you but why need you disturb yourself about such a miserable pack the more inimical such persons are to you the greater the pride and contempt with which you should look down upon them Vienna June 20th, 1778 to his father who fears that some of the consequences of his son's step may be visited upon him 141 I do not ask of you that you make disturbance or enter the least complaint but the archbishop and the whole pack to speak to you about this matter for you, if compelled can without the slightest alarm say frankly that you would be ashamed to have reared a son who would have accepted abuse from such an infamous cur as Arco and you may assure all that if I had the good luck to meet him today I should treat him as he deserves and that he would have occasion to remember me the rest of his life all that I want is that everybody shall see in your bearing that you have nothing to fear keep quiet but if necessary speak and then to some purpose Vienna July 4th, 1781 to his father 142 I may say that because of Vogler winter was always my greatest enemy but because he is a beast in his mode of life and in all other matters a child I would be ashamed to set down a single word on his account he deserves the contempt of all honorable men I will therefore not tell infamous truths rather than infamous lies about him Vienna December 22nd, 1781 to his father to whose ears Peter Winter a composer had brought slanderous reports concerning Mozart and his constanza Winter was a pupil of Abbe Vogler See number 66 143 he is a nice fellow and a good friend of mine I might often dine with him but it is accustomed with me never to take pay for my favors nor would a dish of soup pay them yet such people have wonderful notions of what they accomplish with one I am fond of doing favors for people but they must not plague me she, the daughter is not satisfied if I spend two hours every day with her talking to law about the whole day yet she tries to play the well-behaved one Vienna August 22nd 1781 to his father Mozart is writing about a landlord and his daughter concerning whom favorable reports had reached the ears of the father Mozart explains matters and soon therefore announces a change of lodgings 144 I beg of you that when you write to me about something in my conduct which is displeasing to you and I in turn give you my views let it always be a matter between father and son and therefore a secret not to be divulged to others let our letters suffice and do not address yourself to others for by heaven I will not give a finger's length of accounting concerning my doings or omissions to others not even to the emperor himself I have cares and anxieties of my own and have no use for petulant letters Vienna September 5th 1781 to his father who lent a willing ear to gossips and was never cherry in his reproaches Mozart was already 25 years old 145 if I were a Weidmier I would demand the following satisfaction from the emperor he should endure 50 strokes at the same place in my presence and then he should pay me 6,000 dukats if I could not obtain this satisfaction I should take none but Thresa dagger through his heart at the first opportunity NB he has already had an offer of 3,000 dukats on condition that he does not come to Vienna but permits the matter to drop the people of Innsbruck say a Weidmier he who was scourged for our sake and has no use for us Vienna August 8th 1781 to his father Herr von Weidmier was a nobleman and theater director who without cause had been sentenced to a whipping by the president Count Wolkenstein on the complaint of another nobleman Mozart's bloodthirstiness was probably due to memories of Arco's kick still rankling in his heart it was only after long solicitation to his father that he abandoned his plan to send Arco the threatened letter H.E.K 146 you probably already know that the musical Marquesi Marquesius de Milano was poisoned in Naples but how? he was in love with the Duchess and her real amont grew jealous and sent 3 or 4 bravos to Marquesi and left him the choice of drinking poison or being massacred he chose the poison being a timid Italian he died alone and left his gentleman murderers to live in rest and peace had they come into my room I would have taken a few of them with me into the other world as long as someone had to die pity for so excellent a singer Munich December 30th 1780 to his father Mozart on the whole was one of the most peaceable men on earth in personal courage and he could fly into transports of rage 147 if you were to write also to Prince Zeal I should be glad but short and good do not by any means crawl that I cannot endure Mannheim December 10th 1777 to his father Count Ferdinand von Zeal was Prince Bishop of Chimsee who was towards Mozart who was hoping for an appointment in Munich if he wants to do something he can all Munich told me that nothing came of it 148 whoever judges me by such baggattels is also a scam Mozart wrote many occasional pieces for his friends fitting them to the player's capacities Mozart said that the publisher who bought some of these baggattels and printed them without applying to him was a scamp lump but took no proceedings against him 149 very well then I shall earn nothing more go hungry and the devil a bit will I care Mozart's answer to Hofmeister the Leipzig publisher who had said write in a more popular style or I can neither print nor pay for anything of yours End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of Mozart the Man and the Artist as revealed in his own words this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recorded by Larry Ann Walden Mozart the Man and the Artist as revealed in his own words by Friedrich Kirst translated by Henry Krebiel Chapter 12 Strivings and Labors 150 we live in this world only that we may go onward without ceasing a peculiar help in this direction being that one enlightens the other by communicating his ideas in the sciences and fine arts there is always more to learn Salzburg September 7 1776 to Padre Martini of Bologna whose opinion he asks concerning a motet which the arch bishop of Salzburg had faulted 151 I am just now reading Telemachus I am in the second part Bologna September 8 1770 to his mother and sister 152 because you said yesterday that you could understand anything and that I might write what I please in Latin curiosity has led me to try you with some Latin lines have the kindness when you have solved the problem to send the result to me by the Hagenauer servant made Kuprum Skire de Quacauza Aquam Plurinus Adelaus Kintibus Othium Ousquae Adio Aestimator Utipsi Sey Necwerbis Necwerberibus Abhoc Sinnet Abduke The Arch Episcopal Concertnaster aged 13 writes thus to a girlfriend 153 since then I have exercised myself daily in the French language and already taken three lessons in English in three months I hope to be able to read and understand the English books fairly well Vienna August 17 1782 to his father Mozart had given it out that he intended to go to Paris or London Prince Calnitz had said to Archduke Maximilian that men like Mozart lived but once in a hundred years and should not be driven out of Germany Mozart however writes to his father but I do not want to wait on charity I find that even if it were the emperor I am not dependent on his bounty 154 I place my confidence in three friends and they are strong and invincible friends that is God, your head and my head True our heads differ but each is very good serviceable and useful in its genre and in time I hope that my head will be as good as yours in the field in which now yours is superior Mannheim February 28 1778 to his father 155 Believe me I do not love idleness but work True it was difficult in Salzburg and cost me an effort and I could scarcely persuade myself Why? Because I was not happy there You must admit that for me at least there was not a penny worth of entertainment in Salzburg I do not want to associate with many and of the majority of the rest I am not fond There is no encouragement for my talent If I play or one of my compositions is performed the audience might as well consist of tables and chairs in Salzburg I sigh for a hundred amusements and here for not one to live in Vienna is amusement enough Vienna May 26 1781 to his father who was concerned as to the progress making in Vienna 156 I beg of you best and dearest of fathers do not write me any more letters of this kind I conjure you for they serve no other purpose than to heat my head and disturb my heart and mood and I who must compose continually need a clear head and quiet mood Vienna June 9 1781 to his father who had reproached him because of his rupture with the archbishop 157 If there ever was a time when I was not thinking about marriage it is now I wish for nothing less than a rich wife and if I could make my fortune by marriage now I should perforce have to wait because I have very different things in my head God did not give me my talent to put it a dangle on a wife and spend my young life in inactivity I am just beginning life and shall I embitter it myself I have nothing against matrimony but for me it would be an evil just now Vienna July 25 1781 to his father who was solicitous lest he fall in love with one of the daughters in the Weber family with whom he was living all manner of rumors had been carried to him the father persuaded his son to seek other lodgings but the sons of Weber eventually became Mozart's wife nevertheless 158 this sort of composer can do nothing in this genre he has no conception of what is wanted Lord if God had only given me such a place in the church and before such an orchestra a remark made in Leipzig in 1789 in reference to a composer who was suited to comic opera work but had received an appointment as church Mozart examined a mass of his and said it sounds all very well but not in church he then played it through with new words improvised by himself such as in the cum sancto spiritu stolen property gentlemen but no offense 159 you see my intentions are good but if you can't you can't I do not want to scribble and therefore cannot send you the whole symphony before next post day Vienna July 31 1782 to his father who had asked for a symphony for the Hofner family in Salzburg 160 I do not beg pardon no but I beg of Herr Buhlinger that he himself apply to himself for pardon in my behalf with the assurance that as soon as I can do so in quiet I shall write to him until now no such occasion has offered itself for as soon as I know that in all likelihood I must leave a place I have no restful hour and although I still have a modicum of hope I am not at ease and shall not be until I know my status Mannheim November 22 1777 to his father Abbey Buhlinger was the most intimate friend that the Mozart family had in Salzburg Mozart had been negligent in his correspondence 161 to live well and to live happily are different things and the latter would be impossible for me without witchcraft it would have to be supernatural and that is impossible for there are no witches nowadays Paris August 7 1778 to his friend Buhlinger who had sought to persuade him to return to Salzburg 162 Beau sat himself down beside me and listened attentively and I I forgot the cold and the headache and played regardless of the wretched clavier as I play when I am in the mood give me the best clavier in Europe and at the same time hearers who understand nothing or want to understand nothing and who do not feel what I play with me and all my joy is gone Paris May 1 1778 to his father Mozart had behaved very haughtily and kept Mozart sitting in a cold room for a long time before the dupe came End of Chapter 12 Chapter 13 of Mozart, the man and the artist as revealed in his own words This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Mozart The man and the artist as revealed in his own words by Frederick Kursk translated by Henry Krabil Chapter 13 at home and abroad 163 I assure you that without travel we at least men of the arts and sciences are miserable creatures a man of mediocre talent will remain mediocre whether he travel or not but a man of superior talent which I cannot deny I am without doing wrong deteriorates if he remains continually in one place Paris September 11 1778 to his father who had secured an appointment for him at Salzburg which he was loathed to accept He asked that the archbishop permit him to travel once in two years He feared that he would find no congenial society in Salzburg where moreover music did not stand in large appreciation Mozart's subsequent experiences were of the most pitiful character 164 Write me How is Mr. Canary? Does he still sing? Does he still pipe? Why I am thinking of the canary because there is one in our anti-room that makes the same little sounds as ours Naples May 19 1770 to his sister Mozart was very fond of animals and a letter from Vienna to his sister on August 21 1773 he writes How is Ms. Bimby's? Please present all manner of compliments to her Ms. Bimby's was a dog At another time he wrote a pathetic little poem on the death of a starling While in the midst of the composition and rehearsal of Ida de Mayo he wrote to his father Give Pimperol, a dog a pinch of Spanish snuff a good wine biscuit and three buses 165 because of my disposition which leans towards a quiet domestic life rather than to boisterousness and the fact that since my youth I have never given a thought to my linen clothing of such things I can think of nothing more necessary than a wife I assure you that I frequently spend money unnecessarily because I am negligent of these things I am convinced that I could get along better than I do now on the same income than I had a wife How many unnecessary expenditures would be saved? Others are added, it is true but you know in advance what they are and can adjust them In a word, you lead a regulated life In my opinion an unmarried man lives only half a life, that is my conviction and I cannot help it I have resolved the matter over and over in my mind and of the same opinion still Vienna December 15th 1781 to his father 166 At present I have only one pupil I could have several if I were to lower my fee but as soon as one does that one loses credit My price is 12 lessons for six dockets and I make it understood besides that I give the lessons as a favor I would rather have three pupils who pay well than six who pay ill I am writing this to you to prevent you from thinking that it is selfishness which prevents me from sending you more than 30 dockets Vienna June 16th, 1781 to his father In American money Mozart's fee is represented by the lesson H.E.K 167 I could not go about Venice looking like a tramp particularly just at this time My linen was pitiable No servant here has shirts of such coarse stuff as mine and that certainly is a frightful thing for a man Consequently there were again expenditures I had only one pupil who attended her lessons for three weeks and I was again the loser One must not throw one self away here, that is the first principle or one is ruined forever The most audacious man wins the day Vienna September 5, 1781 to his father excusing himself for not having made remittances 168 Resent anything and that once you receive smaller pay Besides all this the emperor is a skin flint If the emperor wants me he ought to pay for me the mere honor of being in his employee is not enough If the emperor were to offer me 1000 florins an account 2000 I should present my compliments to the emperor and go to the count Vienna April 10, 1782 to his father Mozart was not too industrious in the pursuit of a court appointment yet had reason to be hopeful Near the end of his short life the appointment came from Joseph too to whom Mozart had been too faithful 169 I described my manner of life to my father only recently and I will repeat it to you At six o'clock in the morning I am already done with my first year and at seven I am fully dressed Thereupon I compose until nine o'clock From nine to one I give lessons then I eat unless I am a guest at places where they dine at two or even three o'clock as for instance today and tomorrow with count as zitschi done I cannot work before five or six o'clock in the evening and I am often prevented even then by a concert if not I write till nine Then I go to my dear Constance where the delight of our meeting is generally embittered by the words of her mother hence my desire to free and save her as soon as possible At half after ten or eleven at home since owing to the occasional concerts and the uncertainty as to whether or not I may be called out I cannot depend on having time for composition in the evening I am in the habit particularly when I come home early of writing something before I go to bed frequently I forget myself and write till one o'clock then up again at six Vienna February 13, 1782 to a sister Marian Nannerl as he called her one hundred seventy we do not go to bed before twelve o'clock and get up half after five or five because nearly every day we take an early walk in the Alharden Vienna May 26, 1784 to his father to whom he complains of his maid servant who came from Salzburg and who had written to the father that she was not permitted to sleep except between eleven and six o'clock 171 now as to my mode of life as soon as you were gone I played two games of billiards with Erivan Mozart who wrote the opera for Schnickenatter's then I sold my nag for fourteen dockets then I had Joseph call my primus and bring a black coffee to which I smoked a glorious pipe of tobacco at five thirty I went out of the door and took my favorite promenade through the glasses to the theater what do I see, what do I smell it is the primus with the cutlass, gusto I eat to your health it has just struck eleven o'clock perhaps you are already asleep shhh I do not want to wake you Saturday the eighth you ought to have seen me yesterday at supper I could not find the old dishes and therefore produced a set as wide as snow flowers and had the wax can the labra in front of me Vienna October 7 1791 Mozart's wife who was taking the waters at Badden Mozart was fond of billiards and often played alone as on this occasion he was careful of his health and had been advised by his physician to ride but he could not acquire a taste for the exercise hence the sale of his horse the primus was his valet a servant found in every Vienna's household at the time out of the door through he stepped on beginning his walk to the theater his funeral procession passed two months later 172 I have done more work during the ten days that I have lived here than in two months in any other lodgings and if it were not that I am too often harassed by gloomy thoughts which I can dispel only by force I could do still more for I live pleasantly comfortably and cheaply Vienna June 27 1788 to his friend Puchberg 173 I have no conveniences for writing there i.e. at Badden and I want to avoid embarrassments as much as possible nothing is more enjoyable than a quiet life and to obtain that one must be industrious I am glad to be that Vienna October 8 1791 to his wife at Badden Mozart probably refers to work on his requiem he says further if I had had nothing to do I would have gone with you to spend the week 174 now the babe against my will it was always my determination that whether she was able to do so or not my wife was to not suckle her child but neither was the child to guzzle the milk of another woman I wanted brought up on water as I and my sister were but Vienna June 18, 1783 to his father the day after his first child was born the dear, thick, fat little fellow died soon after 175 young as I am I never go to bed without thinking that possibly I might not be alive on the morrow yet not one of the many persons who know me can say that I am a rose or melancholy for this happy disposition I thank my creator daily and wish with all my heart that it were shared by all my fellows Vienna April 4, 1787 to his father shortly before the latter's death Mozart himself died when he was not quite 36 years old 176 if it chances to be convenient I shall call on the fishners for a moment longer than that I could not endure their warm room and the wine at table I know very well that people of their class think they are bestowing the highest honors when they offer these things that I am not fond of such things still less of such people Vienna December 22, 1781 to his sister Mozart was acquainted with the Fisher family from the time of his first journeys as a child the contrast which he draws between the artist and the loving commonplace citizen is diverting 177 the Viennese are a people who soon grow weary and listless but only of the theater my forte is too popular to be neglected this surely is clavier land spoken to Count Arco who had warned him against removing to Vienna because of the fickleness of the Viennese public he wanted him to return to Salzburg 178 I am riding in a place called Reisenberg which is an hours distance from Vienna I once stayed here overnight now I shall remain a few days the house is insignificant but the surroundings the woods in which a grotto has been built as natural as can be are splendid and very pleasant Vienna July 13, 1781 to his father like Beethoven Mozart loved nature and wanted to garden about his home 179 I wished that my sister were here in Rome I am sure she would be pleased with the city for St. Peter's Church is regular and many other things in Rome are regular Rome, April 14, 1770 a droll criticism from the traveling virtuoso aged 14 in a letter to his mother and sister 180 carefully thinking it over I conclude that in no country have I received so many honors or been so highly appreciated as in Italy you get credit in Italy and in opera especially in Naples Munich October 11, 1777 to his father an influential friend had offered to get him an appointment in Italy 181 Strausburg can't get along without me you have no idea how I am honored and loved here the people say that everything I do is refined to date and courteous and have so good a bearing everyone knows me Strausburg October 26, 1778 to his father on his return journey from Paris on October 3 he had written I beg your pardon if I cannot write much it is because unless I am in a city in which I am well known I am never in a good humor acquainted here I would gladly stay for the city is truly charming beautiful houses handsome broad streets and superb squares 182 oh what a difference between the people of the Palatinate and of Bavaria what a language how coarse to say nothing of the mode of life Mannheim November 12, 1778 to his father Mozart while returning from Paris had stopped at his dear Mannheim where at the moment a regiment of Bavarian soldiers were quartered and had just got news of the rudeness with which the people of Munich had treated their elector 183 in Regensburg we dined magnificently at noon listened to divine table music at angelic service and glorious Moselle wine we breakfasted in Nuremberg the hideous city at Würzburg we strengthened our stomachs with coffee a beautiful, splendid city the charges were moderate everywhere only two relay posts from here at Ashoffenburg the landlords swindled us shamefully Frankfurt on the main September 29 to his wife the remark is notable because of the judgments pronounced on the Renaissance city Nuremberg and the Rococo city Würzburg 184 all the talk about the imperial cities is mere boasting I am famous, admired and loved here it is true but the people of Wienmese in their parsimony Mozart went to Frankfurt in 1790 on the occasion of the coronation of the emperor hoping to make enough money with concerts to help him out of financial difficulties that failed End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 of Mozart the man and the artist revealed in his own words this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Mozart the man and the artist as revealed in his own words by Friedrich Kerst translated by Henry Krebel Chapter 14 Love and Friendship Mozart's love for his father made him dependent on the latter to the end of his days he was a model son and must have loved his wife devotedly since for her sake he once in his life was his father the majority of his letters which have been preserved are addressed to his father to whom he reported all his happenings and whose advice he is forever seeking similar were his relations with his sister Marianne, Nan Earl whom he loved with great tenderness the letters to his wife are unique all of them even the last seem to be the letters of a lover they were a pair of turtle doves Mozart was an ideal friend ready to sacrifice to the uttermost in the altar of friendship it was this trait of character which made him throw himself with enthusiasm into free masonry whose affiliations he sought to widen by drafting the constitution of a community which he called the grotto he probably hated only one man in the world the Archbishop of Salzburg his tormentor the moment you do not trust me I shall distrust myself the time is past it is true when I used to stand on the settle and kiss the tip of your nose but have I therefore shown laxity and respect, love, and obedience I say no more Mannheim, February 19, 1779 to his father who was vexed because Mozart was showing a disposition to stay in Mannheim because of a love affair instead of going to Paris off with you to Paris and soon wrote the father the Italian words are meaningless and are but a bit of a child's play the nature of which can be gathered in your mark pray do not let your mind often harbored the thought that I shall ever forget you it is intolerable to me my chief aim in life has been is and will be to strive so that we may soon be reunited and happy reflect that you have a son who will never consciously forget his filial duty towards you and who will labor ever to grow more worthy of so good a father Mannheim February 28, 1778 to his father the first thing I did after reading your letter was to go on my knees and out of a full heart thank my dear God for this mercy now I am again at peace since I know that I need no longer be concerned about the two persons who are the dearest things on earth to me Paris, July 31st, 1778 to his father who had written that he and Nanurl had comforted each other on the death of his mother dearest best of fathers I wish you all conceivable good whatever can be wished that I wish you but no I wish you nothing but myself everything for myself then I wish that you remain well and live innumerable years to my great happiness and pleasure I wish that everything that I undertake may agree with your desire and liking or rather that I may undertake nothing which might not turn out to your joy this also I hope for whatever adds to the happiness of your son much naturally be agreeable also to you Anna, November 16th, 1781 to his father congratulating him on his name day on March 17th, 1778 Mozart had written from Mannheim your accuracy extends to all things papa comes directly after God was my maxim as a child and I shall stick to it our little cousin is pretty sensible, amiable, clever and merry all because she has been in society she visited Munich for a while you are right, we suit each other admirably for she too is a bit naughty we play great pranks on the people here abouts Augsburg, October 17th, 1777 to his father the little cousin was two years younger than Mozart her father was a master book binder in Augsburg the maiden seems later to have had serious designs on the composer I shall be right glad when I meet a place in which there is a court I tell you that if I did not have so fine a teacher cousin and a miss cousin and so dear a little cousin my regrets that I am in Augsburg would be as numerous as the hairs of my head Augsburg, October 17th, 1777 to his father whose birthplace he was visiting on a concert tour Mozart was vexed at the insolence of the patricians in the case of Frau Long I was a fool, that's certain but what is a fellow not when he's in love I did really love her and am not indifferent toward her even now it's lucky for me that her husband is a jealous fool and never permits her to go anywhere so that I seldom see her Vienna, May 12th, 1781 to his father at the time when he was being outrageously treated by the arts bishop Frau Long was Aloysse Weber sister of Constance to whom Mozart transferred his love and whom he made his wife Aloysse married an actor at the court theater Joseph Long with whom she lived unhappily I will not say that when at the house of Manuel Zell to whom I seem already to have been married off I am morose and silent but neither am I in love I jest with her and amuse her when I have time which is only evenings when I sup at home for in the four noons I write in my room and in the afternoons I am seldom at home only that and nothing more if I were obliged to marry all the girls with whom I have gested I should have at least two hundred wives Vienna, July 25th, 1781 to his father who had heard all manner of tales concerning the relations of Mozart and Constance Weber my good dear Constance is the martyr and perhaps for that very reason the best-hearted, cleverest and in a word the best of them all she assumes all the cares of the house and yet does not seem able to accomplish anything O best of fathers I could write pages if I were to tell you all the scenes that have taken place in this house because of us too Constance is not ugly but anything but beautiful all her beauty consists of two little black eyes and a handsome figure she is not witty but has enough common sense to be able to perform her duties as wife and mother she is not inclined to finery that is utterly false on the contrary she is generally ill-clad for the little that the mother was able to do for her children was done for the other two nothing for her true she likes to be neatly and cleanly though not extravagantly dressed and she can herself make most of the clothes that a woman needs she also dresses her own hair every day understands housekeeping has the best heart in the world tell me could I wish a better wife Vienna December 15th 1781 to his father Constance seems to have been made for Mozart they went through the years of their brief wedded life like two children dearest best of friends surely you will let me call you that you cannot hate me so greatly as not to permit me to be your friend and yourself to become mine and even if you do not want to be my friend longer you cannot forbid me to think kindly of you as I have been in the habit of doing consider well what you said to me today despite my entreaties you gave me the mitten three times and told me to my face that you would have nothing further to do with me I to whom it is not such a matter of indifference as it is to you to lose a sweetheart am not so hot-tempered as to accept that mitten I love you too dearly for that I therefore beg you to ponder on the cause of your indignation a little confession of your thoughtless conduct would have made all well if you do not take it ill dear friend may still make all well from this you see how much I love you I do not flare up as you do I think I consider and I feel if you have any feeling I am sure that I will be able to say to myself before night Constance is the virtuous honour-loving, sensible and faithful sweetheart of just and well-meaning Mozart Vienna April 29th, 1782 to his fiancee Constance Weber she had played at a game of forfeits such as was looked upon lightly by the frivolous society of the period in Vienna Mozart rebuked her and she broke off the engagement the letter followed and soon thereafter a reconciliation Mozart had said to her no girl who is jealous of her honour would do such a thing she is an honest good girl of decent parents I am able to provide her with bread we love each other and want each other it is better to put one's thoughts to right and be an honest fellow God will give the reward I do not want to have anything to approach myself with Vienna July 31st, 1782 to his father who had given his consent hesitatingly and unwillingly to the marriage of his son who was 26 years old on August 7th Mozart wrote to him I kiss your hands and thank you with all the tenderness which a son should feel for his father for your kind permission and paternal blessing if I were to tell you all the things that I do with your portrait you would laugh heartily for instance when I take it out of its prison house I say God bless you Stanzerl God bless you you little rascal crawler baller, sharp nose little bagatelle and when I put it back I let it slip down slowly and say new, new, new, new but with the emphasis which this highly significant word demands and at the last quickly good night little mouse sleep well now I suppose I have written down a lot of nonsense at least so the world would think but for us who love each other so tenderly it isn't altogether silly Dresden April 13th, 1789 to his wife in Vienna Dear little wife I have a multitude of requests First, I beg of you not to be sad Second, that you take care of your health and do not trust the spring air Third, that you refrain from walking out alone or better do not walk out at all Fourth, that you rest assured of my love Not a letter have I written to you but that your portrait was placed in front of mine Fifth, I beg of you to consider not only my honor and yours in your conduct but also in appearances Do not get angry because of this request You ought to love me all the more because I make so much of honor Dresden April 16th, 1789 to his wife in Vienna who was fond of life's pleasures You cannot imagine how slowly time goes when you are not with me I can't describe the feeling there is a sort of sense of emptiness which hurts a certain longing which cannot be satisfied and hence never ends but grows day by day When I remember how childishly merry we were in Baden and what mournful tedious hours I pass here my work gives me no pleasure because it is not possible, as my want to chat a few words with you when stopping for a moment If I go to the clavier and sing something from the opera da Zuperflut, I must stop at once because of my emotions Basta Vienna, July 7th, 1791 to his wife who was taking the waters at Baden I call only him or her a friend who is a friend under all circumstances who thinks day or night of nothing else than to promote the welfare of a friend who urges all well-to-do friends and works himself to make the other person happy Kaisersheim December 18th, 1778 to his father Mozart was making the journey from Mannheim to Munich in the carriage of a prelate The parting with his Mannheim friends especially with Raoul Kahnabek his motherly friend was hard For me, who never made a more painful parting than this the journey was only half-pleasant it would even have been a bore if from childhood I had not been accustomed to leave people, countries, and cities Permit me to beg for a continuance of your precious friendship and to ask you to accept mine for now and for ever with an honest heart I vow it to you everlastingly True it will be of little use to you but it will be the more durable and honest for that reason You know that the best and truest of friends are the poor and the poor especially those who are born rich and those who have become rich fortuitously they are too often wrapped up completely in their own luck but there is nothing to fear from a man who has been placed in advantageous circumstances not through blind but deserved good fortune through merit a man who did not lose courage because of his first failures who remained true to his religion and trust in God was a good Christian and an honest man a man who has deserved better fortune from such a man there is nothing to fear Paris August 7, 1778 to his friend Bullinger in Salzburg to whom he felt beholden for the gentle and considerate way in which he had broken the news of his mother's death to the family my friend had I bet the money which many a man who does not deserve it wastes so miserably if I only had it oh with what joy would I not help you who can will not and those who would like to cannot Paris July 29, 1778 to Frida Lynn Weber father of Constance the letter was found but recently among some Gerta autographs End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of Mozart the man and the artist as revealed in his own words this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Mozart the man and the artist as revealed in his own words by Friedrich Herst translated by Henry Krebel Chapter 15 Worldly Wisdom Mozart's father brought him up to be worldly wise while journeying at a tender age through the world with his father the lad became an eyewitness of the paternal business management with all its attention to detail the art of utilizing persons and conditions in order to achieve material results as a youth he repeats the journeys accompanied by his mother whom he loses by death in Paris regularly from Salzburg his father sends him letters full of admonitions and advice the subjects almost systematically grouped the worldly wisdom of the son is the fruit of paternal education which he did not outgrow up to the day of his death but life experience was also an educator a seeming distrust of mankind speaks out of many a passage in his letters but on the whole he thought too well of his fellow men and remained blind to the faults of his false friends who basely exploited him for their own ends although gifted with keen powers of observation he always followed his kind heart instead of his better judgment and his sister spoke no more than the truth when she said after his death outside of music he was and remained nearly always a child this was the chief trait of his character on its shady side he always needed a father mother or other guardian reflect too on this only too certain truth it is not always wise to do all the things contemplated one often thinks one thing would be most advisable and another unadvisable and bad when if it were done the opposite results would disclose themselves Mannheim December 10th 1777 to his father when a plan for an appointment in Mannheim came to not I am not indifferent but only resolved and therefore I can endure everything with patience provided only that neither my honor nor the good name of Mozart shall suffer therefrom well since it must be so so be it only I beg do not rejoice or sorrow prematurely for let happen what may it will be all right so long as we remain well happiness exists only in the imagination Mannheim November 29th 1777 to his father who had abraded him because of his reckless expenditures at the time Mozart was hoping for an appointment at Mannheim dearest and best of fathers you shall see that things go better and better with me what use is this perpetual turmoil this hurried fortune it does not endure ce va piano va sano one must adjust himself to circumstances Vienna December 22nd 1781 to his father just before Mozart's marriage engagement to Constance Weber now to put your mind at ease I am doing nothing without reasons and well founded ones too Vienna October 21st 1781 to his little cousin who may still have cherished hopes of capturing her Mary Kinsman I have no news except that 35 59 60 61 and 62 were the winning numbers in the lottery and therefore that if we had played those numbers we would have won but that in so much that we did not play those numbers we neither won nor lost but had a good laugh at others Milan October 26th 1771 to his sister everybody was extremely courteous and therefore I was also very courteous for it is my custom to conduct myself towards others as they conduct themselves towards me it's the best way to get along Augsburg October 14th 1777 to his father in Vienna and all the imperial hereditiments the theaters will all open in six weeks it is wisely designed for the dead are not so much benefited by the long morning as many people are harmed Munich December 13th 1780 to his father Empress Maria Theresa had died on November 29th Mozart had greatly revered her from his youth nevertheless he takes a practical view of the situation since the production of his opera Eidomenio is imminent he requests of his father to have his black coat thoroughly dusted cleaned and put to rights and to send it to him since everybody will go into mourning and I who will be summoned hither and thither must weep along with the others rest assured that I am a changed man outside of my health I know of nothing more necessary than money I am certainly not a miser it would be difficult for me to change myself into one and yet the people here think me more disposed to be stingy than prodigal and for a beginning that will suffice as far as pupils are concerned I can have as many as I want but I do not want many I want better pay than the others and therefore I am content with fewer one must put on a few errors at the beginning or one is lost i.e. one must travel the common road with the many Vienna May 26th 1781 to his father depend confidently on me I am no longer a fool and you will still less believe that I am a wicked and ungrateful son I lost my brains in my good heart implicitly and you shall never be sorry how should I have learned to value money I never had enough of it in my hands I remember that once when I had twenty ducats I thought myself rich need alone teaches the value of money Vienna May 26th 1781 to his father if it were possible that it should vex me I should do my best not to notice it as it is thank God there is no need of my deceiving myself because only the opposite can vex me and I should have had to decline which is always too bad when one is dealing with a grand gentleman Vienna October 5th 1782 to his father Mozart had expected to give music lessons to a princess but another teacher was chosen continuing in the same letter he says I need only tell you his fee and you will easily be able to judge from it the strength of the master 400 florans his name is summerer I shall compose an opera but not an order for the sake of 100 ducats to see the theatre earn four times as much in a fortnight I shall perform my opera at my own cost and make at least 1200 florans in three performances then the director can have the work for 50 ducats if he does not want it I shall have received my pay and can utilize the opera elsewhere I hope that you never have observed a tendency to dishonest dealing in me why not not to be a bad fellow but neither ought one to be a stupid one to let others benefit from the work which cost him study, care and labour and surrender all claims for the future Vienna October 5th 1782 to his father Mozart's plans for exploiting his opera were never realized yesterday I dined with the Countess then and tomorrow I shall dine with her again I let her hear all that was complete she told me that she would wager her life that everything I have written up to that date would please I care nothing for the praise or censure of anybody until the whole work has been seen or heard instead I follow my own judgment and feelings Vienna August 8th 1781 to his father the opera in question was Diane de Ferrand Aus dem Sorel Magnanimity and gentleness have often reconciled the worst enemies Vienna July 8th 1791 to his wife who had somewhat rudely repulsed the advances of one of the visitors at the bottom where she was taking the waters End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 of Mozart the man and the artist as revealed in his own words this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Mozart the man and the artist as revealed in his own words by Friedrich Kerst translated by Henry Krebel Chapter 16 in Suffering it is difficult to call up in the fancy a picture of a suffering Mozart as a merry Beethoven the effect of melancholy hours is scarcely to be found in Mozart's music when he composed i.e. according to his own expression speculated while walking up and down revolving musical ideas in his mind and forming them into orderly compositions so that the subsequent transcription was a mechanical occupation which required but little effort he was transported to the realm of tones far from the miseries of this world nor would his happy disposition permit him long to remain under the influence of grief and care none of the letters which sound notes of despair lacks a jest in which the writer forcibly tears himself away from his gloomy thoughts his sufferings came to him from without the fate of a Beethoven was spared him others brought him pain his rivals through envy the archbishop through malevolence the emperor through ignorance sufferings of this character challenged opposition and called out his powers presenting to us a Mozart full of temperament incapable of measuring himself with any opponent he never lost hope even when hope seemed most deceptive it is therefore impossible to speak of a suffering Mozart in the sense that we speak of a suffering Beethoven fate was kind even at his death which was preceded by but a brief illness I am still full of gall three times this I do not know what to call him has assailed me to my face with impertence and abuse of a kind that I did not want to write down my best of fathers and I did not immediately avenge the insult because I thought of you he called me a wretch a licentious fellow told me to get out and I suffered it all feeling that not only my honour but yours as well was attacked but it was your wish I held my tongue Vienna, May 9th, 1781 to his father who had heard with deep concern of the treatment which his son was enduring at the hands of the Archbishop of Salzburg and who feared for his own position at the close of the letter Mozart writes I want to hear nothing more about Salzburg I hate the Archbishop's the verge of madness the edifying things which the Archbishop said to me in three audiences particularly in the last and what I have again been told by this glorious man of God had so admirable a physical effect on me that I had to leave the opera in the evening in the middle of the first act go home and to bed I was in a fever my whole body trembled and I reeled like a drunken man in the street the next day, yesterday I remained at home and all forenoon in bed because I had taken the taramend water Vienna, May 12th, 1781 to his father the catastrophe between Mozart and the Archbishop I was watching twice the Archbishop gave me the grossest impertnances and I answered not a word more I played for him with the same zeal as if nothing had happened instead of recognizing the honesty of my service and my desire to please him at the moment when I was expecting something very different he begins a third tirade in the most despicable manner in the world Vienna, June 13th, 1781 to his father see the chapter Self-Respect and Honor all the world asserts that by my braggadocio and criticisms I have made enemies of the professional musicians which world? presumably that of Salzburg for anybody living in Vienna sees and hears differently there is my answer Vienna, July 31st to his father who had sent Mozart what the latter called so indifferent and cold a letter when informed by his son of the great success of his opera as on previous occasion Salzburg tail-bearers had been busying themselves I rejoice like a child at the prospect of being with you again I should have been ashamed of myself if people could look into my heart so far as I'm concerned it is cold, cold as ice yes if you were with me I might find greater pleasure in the courteous treatment which I received from the people but as it is it is all empty adieu, love Frankfurt, September 30th, 1790 to his wife Mozart had made the journey to Frankfurt to give concerts amid the festivities accompanying the coronation of Leopold II hoping that he could better his financial condition not having been sent at the cost of the Emperor like other court musicians he pawned his silver, bought a carriage and took with him his brother-in-law a violinist named Hofer it took us only six days to make the journey he was disappointed in his expectations I have now decided to do as well as I can here and look joyfully towards a meeting with you what a glorious life we lead I shall work, work dreams give me no concern for there is no mortal man on earth who does not sometimes dream but merry dreams quiet, refreshing, sweet dreams those are the thing dreams which, if they were realities would make tolerable my life which has more of sadness in it than merriment Munich, December 31st, 1788 to his father during Mozart's sojourn in Paris the love of Aloysse Weber had grown cold and Mozart was in the Delors Happy man now see, I have got to give still another lesson in order to earn some money 1786 to Jarowetz on the latter's departure for Italy you cannot doubt my honesty for you know me too well for that nor can you be suspicious of my words my conduct or my mode of life because you know my conduct and mode of life therefore forgive my confidence in you I am still very unhappy always between fear and hope Vienna, July 17th, 1788 to his faithful friend Perchberg whom he has asked for money on account of the severe illness of his wife you know my circumstances to be brief, since I cannot find a true friend I am obliged to borrow money from users but as it takes time to hunt among those un-christian persons for those who are the most Christian and to find them I am so stripped that I must beg you dear friend, for God's sake to help me out with what you can spare one of many requests for help sent to Perchberg it was sent in 1790 and the original bears an endorsement May 17th sent 150 Florence if you worthy brother do not help me out of my present predicament I shall lose my credit and honour the only things which I care now to preserve Vienna, June 27th, 1788 to Perchberg who had sent him 200 Florence 10 days before Perchberg was a brother mason how I felt then how I felt then such things will never return now we are sunk in the emptiness of everyday life remarked on remembering that at the age of 14 he had composed a requiem at the command of Empress Maria Teresa and had conducted it as chapel master of the Imperial Orchestra did I not tell you that I was composing this requiem for myself said on the day of his death while still working on the requiem for which he had received so mysterious a commission the work had been ordered by Account Valsig who made pretensions to musical composition and who wished to palm it off as a work of his own written in memory of his wife Mozart never knew him I shall not last much longer I am sure that I have been poisoned I cannot rid myself of this thought Mozart believed that he had been poisoned by one of his Italian rivals his suspicions falling most strongly on Salieri as regards Mozart Salieri cannot escape censure for though the accusation of having been the cause of his death has been long ago disproved it is more than possible that he was not displeased at the removal of so formidable a rival at any rate though he had it in his power to influence the Emperor in Mozart's favor he not only neglected to do so but even intrigued against him as Mozart himself relates in a letter to his friend Purchberg after his death however Salieri befriended his son and gave him a testimonial which secured him his first appointment C. F. Pohl in Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians Stay with me tonight you must see me die I have long had the taste of death on my tongue I smell death and who will stand by my constants if you do not stay reported by his sister-in-law Sophie sister of Constance now I must go just as it had become possible for me to live quietly now I must leave my art just as I had freed myself from the slavery of fashion had broken the bonds of speculators and won the privilege of following my own feelings and compose freely and independently whatever my heart prompted I must away from my family from my poor children in the moment when I should have been able better to care for their welfare uttered on his deathbed Edna of Chapter 16