CHAPTER III. STUDY IN SALZBURG.
LEOPOLD MOZART had every reason to be satisfied with the result of his tour; the extraordinary talents of his children had been duly appreciated,[1] honours of every kind had been heaped upon them, and the three years exertions had produced a not inconsiderable pecuniary gain.[2] In spite of repeated, and sometimes severe, attacks of illness, the children returned to Salzburg in full health and vigour, and, what was of not less importance, with their childlike simple minds unspoiled by the exceptional degree of notice and admiration they had everywhere excited. The little Orpheus rode round the room on his father's stick, and sprang up to play with his favourite cat, in the middle of his improvisations on the clavier.
During the journey he had amused himself by constructing an imaginary kingdom, which he called Rücken; it was inhabited by children, of whom he was king, and his invention of fresh gifts and qualities for his kingdom and subjects was inexhaustible. So vividly was it impressed on his imagination, that he made a servant, who was something of a draughtsman, draw a map of it, to which he supplied the names of the places.[3] A very favourite idea of his was to compose an opera, to be performed entirely by young Salzburgers, of whom he drew up a list with his father. His tenderness of heart was constantly displayed. One morning on awaking, he began to cry bitterly, and STUDY IN SALZBURG. being asked the reason, answered that he longed to see his friends in Salzburg, all of whom he then mentioned by name. When he heard that Hagenauer's son Dominicus had entered the Monastery of St. Peter's he burst into tears, imagining that he should never see him again. Reassured on this point, he planned a visit to St. Peter's immediately on his return home, and talked of the games that he and his friend would play together.
Occasionally, Wolfgang displayed a considerable amount of self-assertion. A gentleman of rank in Salzburg was uncertain how to address the boy in conversation. The formal pronoun Sie appeared unbefitting a child, while Du was too familiar for so celebrated an artist; he took refuge in Wir, and began: "So we have been in France and England"—"We have been introduced at court"—"We have been honoured"—when Mozart interrupted him hastily: "And yet, sir, I do not remember to have seen you anywhere but in Salzburg."
But L. Mozart's satisfaction was not entirely without alloy. He was too intimately acquainted with the Salzburg court to feel certain of obtaining such a position as would enable him to educate his children in a way befitting their talents. On this point he had written to Hagenauer, shortly before their return:—
Everything depends on my having a position at home which is suitable to my children. God (all too merciful to me, miserable sinner) has endowed my children with such genius that, laying aside my duty as a father, my ambition urges me to sacrifice all else to their education. Every moment lost, is lost for ever, and if I never realised before how precious the time of youth is, I know it now. You know that my children are accustomed to work; if they once had an excuse for idleness, such as an inconvenient house, or want of opportunity for study, my whole fabric would fall to the ground. Custom is an iron path, and Wolfgang has still much to learn. But how shall we be treated in Salzburg? Perhaps we shall be only too glad to take our knapsacks on our backs and be off again. At any rate, I offer my children to my country. If it will have none of them, that is not my fault, and will be my country's loss.
So shrewd a man of the world had no idea of burying the pound that might produce such excellent interest. INSTRUCTION IN COUNTERPOINT. The uneventful stay of nearly a year which L. Mozart made with his children in Salzburg was employed in mechanical practice, and perhaps still more in the study of composition. A detailed account of these studies is not obtainable; but L. Mozart's wise and earnest views, his clear apprehension that genius entails twofold labour and exertion on its possessor, leave no doubt as to the severity and thoroughness of his instruction to his son. An exercise book containing exercises in thorough-bass and counterpoint is preserved in the Mozarteum at Salzburg, bearing no date, but evidently falling within this period. The intervals and scales are followed by a long list of short lessons on a given melody generally in three parts, to be worked out harmonically and according to the different kinds of simple counterpoint. (Nota contra notam; duoy quatuor nota contra notam; cum ligaturis; floridum.) The choral tunes which serve as Cantus firmus are taken from Fux's Gradus ad Pamassum, which was no doubt employed as a textbook. [4] The lessons, corrections, and brief notes are generally in the father's writing, the working out and the fair copies of the corrected lessons are of course made by Wolfgang; on one occasion he jokingly notes the different parts as Il Sign. d'Alto, il Marchese Tenore, il Duca Basso. An observation of the compositions of this period, which are still preserved, will show us the result of the studies.
Archbishop Sigismund,[5] incredulous of Wolfgang's powers, caused him, so Barrington says, to be locked up for a week, seeing no one, during which time he was to compose an oratorio, for which the Archbishop provided the subject. Wolfgang stood the test triumphantly, and the oratorio was publicly performed, with great success, during Lent, 1767.