I have striven with a certain amount of zeal to bring together all that appeared to render my narrative more graphic and lifelike, and have not refrained from adducing my authorities, partly for the sake of accuracy, partly to point the way to those who find the subject of interest. I have gone even further than this, and have added to the names of many persons, principally musicians, of whom mention had to be made, a short notice of their life and sometimes an epitome of their performances. It is probable that the minority of my readers will already have such facts in their minds, and they are essential to a clear perception of the whole work: I have been anxious to spare them the trouble of continual reference to a biographical dictionary.
I have confined myself to the accessible and, of its kind, excellent Dictionary of Musicians by Gerber and Fétis, but my own investigations, leading me into the detailed history of this time, have not seldom supplied additional data for such notices; I remark this not to depreciate the merit of those works, but that it may not be supposed that my statements can always be verified by a reference to accessible authorities.
You may perhaps smile at the zeal of the "philolog" betraying itself in such minute particulars. Be it so. I hold to my craft, and occasionally you will not find it amiss that I do so.
I may remark besides, not to you, but to those who hold in horror notes, digressions, quotations, and references as the merciless weapons of pedantry, that they need not for this INTRODUCTION. reason at once reject my book. I have striven so to write that the text is complete in itself and requires no notes for its comprehension; and those who do not desire the information they contain, may contentedly pass them over. On the other hand, I hope that you will uphold my opinion that the application of the scientific method even to these researches, cannot but be to their advantage. This is perhaps most strikingly evident in the chronological notification of each separate work.
We are well supplied with chronological information as to Mozart's compositions. From 1784 onwards we possess his own carefully compiled thematic catalogue which André has edited (Offenbach, 1805 and 1828).
On earlier compositions the data is generally correctly given with the autograph signature, and the list of authentically dated works comprises by far their greater number. But not quite all; the autograph is wanting to many, and they are not all dated. It thus becomes necessary to resort to classification resting on the external evidence of paper and handwriting, and the internal evidence of style and technical treatment, as well as on the testimony of witnesses.
Hofrath André compiled for his own use a chronological catalogue coming down to the year 1784, of which I have made use. It contains many suggestive remarks, and did me good service, although, of course, it could not spare me my own investigations, by means of which I have, in most cases, come to a solution of my difficulties. The catalogue which I have compiled with considerable pains will, I hope, recommend itself by its brevity, clearness, and trustworthiness. I was obliged to give up the idea of noting what had been already printed, where, and how often; to do this with completeness and exactitude would require an amount of time and study which it was out of my power to bestow.
The treatment of historical facts, both in detail and as a whole, has its own secure and beaten path. Its final object is truth, and my sole concern has been to discover and set forth the truth. No consideration for others has led me to conceal what was essential or important for the due understanding of Mozart as a man and an artist; neither have I LIFE OF MOZART. been tempted to silence on points which were to his disadvantage. Public opinion on his achievements as a fully developed artist is firmly established, and is perhaps only susceptible of modifications of detail and degree; but my work is the first attempt that has been made towards a correct judgment of Mozart as a student and as a man. It has been a pleasure to me to find that as I proceeded, my admiration, esteem, and love for Mozart were constantly on the increase; but not on any account would I have my representation of his character considered in the light of an apology. It is my firm conviction that injustice is done to great men by concealing or slurring over their failings; we serve them best by seeking to make them understood just as they were.
An attempt to lay Mozart's individuality before the reader seemed hardly complete without some presentation of his outward appearance. You will find, therefore, in this book, the charming picture of Mozart as a boy, engraved from the portrait in oils, painted in Verona in 1770; also the characteristic portrait from the family group in the Mo-zarteum at Salzburg, which was painted in 1780, and an engraving of Tischbein's portrait, painted at Mayence in 1790. I have thought it right, further, in a work which is intended to transmit traditions, to preserve the well-known profile of Posch's medallion, which served as a model for all early portraits, more and more unlike in every copy, and yet always like. Various fac-similes of Mozart's handwriting are also given, and I do not fear that you will find out of place a portrait of his father, also taken from the Salzburg family picture.
May I add one word on the musical criticism contained in my work? I am quite aware that it must stand on its own merits, and I am only anxious to express my full consciousness of the difficulty of my undertaking. That the substance of a musical work cannot be verbally represented, and that its effect on the hearer is incapable of being reproduced by description, least of all by a climax of high-sounding adjectives, admits of no dispute. Properly speaking, as Schumann once wished for the musical critic, when a INTRODUCTION. composition is discussed, there should be singers and instrumentalists ready at hand to perform it. But this being scarcely feasible, we are driven to a verbal attempt at reproducing the essence of the work. Such an attempt can only succeed by starting from artistic form, and showing how its laws and types, its technical conditions, its manifold application and development, are all represented in the most individual modifications. A general idea of the work, however, is all that can be arrived at by this means; the immediate impressions made upon the mind by its performance cannot be reproduced; neither can the attempt to express in words the artistic frame of mind which finds its expression in the forms of the work be altogether successful, and it is impossible to apprehend the degree in which the artistic mood imbues the artistic form otherwise than by observation of the work itself.
