Life of Mozart, Vol. 3 (of 3)

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!
CONTENTS


MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.
has a direct effect upon the hearer; both phrases have one solution:—
MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.
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.
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. 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.