THE MAN (1779-179l)
In the middle of January, 1779, Mozart was once more in Salzburg, and for nearly two years he remained in that city, busied with his duties at the Archbishop's palace, and composing works of all kinds. The record of these years is chiefly one of almost ceaseless writing. Many of Mozart's best and ripest works date from this period. Among these are the Mass in C, published as No. 1, though really the composer's fourteenth. This is one of the finest of the series, as well as one of the most popular. The "Agnus Dei," a solo, the chief theme of which foreshadows the "Dove sono" of Figaro, was formerly a favourite air with soprani who valued expression above mere display. Another important work dating from this period is the incidental music to Gebler's drama Thamos, König in Ægypten. This music consists partly of entr'actes and incidental music, but it also contains three magnificent and amply developed choruses, which may justly be described as among the most noble choral pieces that Mozart ever wrote. The play was a failure, but the composer, regretting that the music could not be used, had the choruses adapted to Latin hymns; in this form they have become well-known and popular as the three great motets, Splendente te, Deus, Ne pulvis et cinis, and Deus, tibi laus et honor. To this period also belong the two-act German opera Zaide, two vespers, two symphonies, two great serenades—one being the magnificent one for thirteen wind instruments—the Symphonie Concertante in E flat, for violin and viola, the concerto in the same key for two pianos, and some of his best sonatas for piano solo, besides smaller pieces, vocal and instrumental, too numerous to mention.
In the latter part of the year 1780, Mozart received from the Elector of Bavaria a commission to write an opera for Munich, for the Carnival of 1781. The Archbishop had promised him leave of absence, and on November 6, 1780, he left Salzburg for the Bavarian capital. The libretto was written by the Abbé Varesco, Court chaplain at Salzburg, the subject selected being Idomeneo, and it was founded on a French opera on the same subject that had been composed by Campra, and produced in 1712.
Mozart, on his arrival in Munich, was received with open arms by his many friends in that city, and he worked at the opera with an enthusiasm that may be easily imagined. Though his principal vocalists were not all that he could have desired, he had a splendid orchestra at his disposal, and from the first all the performers were delighted with the music. His letters to his father while writing the opera are full of interesting details. After the first rehearsal, Ramm, the first oboe, an old friend of the composer, assured him that he had never yet heard any music that made so great an effect upon him. Mozart's father, who was most anxious for the complete success of the work, wrote urging his son "to think not only of the musical, but also of the unmusical public. You know, there are a hundred without knowledge to every one connoisseur, so do not forget the so-called 'popular' that tickles even the long ears." Wolfgang replied: "Don't trouble yourself about the so-called 'popular,' for in my opera is music for all kinds of people—only not for the long ears."
Idomeneo was produced on January 29, 1781, with a success that must have satisfied not only the composer, but also his father and sister, who came over from Salzburg to hear it. In this opera we find Mozart in his full maturity. Whether in the flow of his melody, the richness of the harmony, the power of dramatic characterization, or the beauty and variety of the orchestration, this work shows a decided advance on any of its predecessors, and marks a turning-point in the history of dramatic music.
Thanks to the fact that the Archbishop of Salzburg was at this time in Vienna, Mozart was able to prolong his visit to Munich; but in March he was summoned to join his employer, and on March 12 he arrived in Vienna. Here he was treated by the Archbishop with the utmost indignity; not only was he made to take his meals with the servants, but he was refused permission to take any engagements whereby he might add to his meagre income. Insult followed insult, till at length the crisis came, and Mozart resigned the appointment which his self-respect forbade him longer to hold, and determined to seek his fortune in Vienna.
Though now thrown entirely on his own resources, Mozart was very sanguine about the future. At first he earned only a precarious livelihood by playing at fashionable parties and teaching the piano; but he looked forward with great hopes to obtaining an appointment with the Emperor Joseph II. But the monarch, though always affable and even cordial to the composer, preferred Italian music to the more solid style of Mozart, whom he esteemed as a pianist rather than as a composer. "He cares for no one but Salieri," said Mozart of him; and there can be no doubt that the influence of the Italian on the Emperor was very great. Salieri, a musician of talent, though not of genius, saw in Mozart a formidable rival, and, while outwardly polite, secretly intrigued against him.
Joseph II. took great interest in the establishment of a school of German opera, and engaged an excellent company of vocalists, among whom was Mozart's old flame, Aloysia Weber, for the theatre. Mozart, who always delighted in writing for the stage, had brought with him to Vienna his German opera Zaide. He scarcely hoped that it would be produced, as he thought the libretto unsuited to the Viennese public; but Stephanie, the inspector of the opera, was so pleased with the music that he promised to give Mozart a good text to set. The Emperor was quite willing to see what the composer could do in German opera; and in July Mozart, to his great delight, received the libretto of Belmont und Constanze, now known under its second title, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Owing to various causes, among others the cabals of Mozart's enemies, the production of the opera was much delayed; it was only by the express command of the Emperor that it was at length performed for the first time on July 13, 1782. It was of this opera that the Emperor said to the composer: "Too fine for our ears, and an immense number of notes, my dear Mozart!" which called forth the reply: "Exactly as many notes, your Majesty, as are needful."
The success of the work was immediate and complete. Here Mozart was virtually on new ground. Excepting the operetta Bastien und Bastienne and the Zaide above-mentioned, all Mozart's preceding operas had been written to Italian words; and though in Idomeneo a fusion of Italian and German styles is to be seen, it is not till Die Entführung that we find an important work genuinely German in character. Of Italian influence there is but little trace except in some parts of the music allotted to Constanze. This role was undertaken by Madame Cavalieri, a great bravura singer, but little more; and many of the florid passages in her songs remind one of the popular ornate style of the day. It is difficult to speak too highly of the wealth of melodic invention, the truth of expression, or the skill shown in differentiating the various characters of the drama to be found in this work, while the picturesqueness of the orchestration is perhaps even superior to that of Idomeneo, and certainly far surpasses that of any of the early operas.