Lætari, iocari
Fruique divinis honoribus stat,
Dum hymen optimus
Tædis et floribus Grata, beata
Connubia iungit et gaudia dat?
But now comes in Zephyrus with the tidings that Hyacinthus is slain by Apollo. Melia thereupon declares that she cannot accept him, OEbalus wishes to banish him, and Zephyrus expresses in an air the hopes to which these APOLLO ET HYACINTH US. events give birth. Then enters Apollo, overwhelms Zephyrus with abuse, and causes him to be borne away by the winds; Melia, enraged by this fresh deed of violence, reproaches Apollo, and a duet follows, in which she rejects and dismisses him, while he bewails his love and her cruelty.
Hereupon follow the third and fourth acts of the tragedy. Then Hyacinthus is borne in dying, and declares in an accompanied recitative that Zephyrus is his murderer, which gives occasion to Æbalus to rage duly in an air, followed by a duet between him and Melia, dreading the anger of the offended god. But Apollo appearing, changes Hyacinthus into a flower, extends his forgiveness to Æbalus and Melia, and betrothes himself to the latter.
A concluding terzet expresses the general satisfaction.
This composition manifests throughout great decision of style, and in many respects a very marked progress. The songs—in the old-fashioned aria form—are more freely treated, the handling of the parts is more independent, and a disposition to the imitative form is more marked than heretofore. In the duet between Melia and Æbalus, for instance, and in the first chorus, where the voices are treated harmonically, the violins have an imitative phrase in the accompaniment.
Mistakes here and there in the text prove Wolfgang's Latin to be still that of a learner. A droll little note written in 1769, to Madame Hagenauer, shows that he was then working hard at it. The note runs as follows:—
Dear Friend,—I hope you will excuse the liberty I take in troubling you with these few lines; but since you told me yesterday that you understood everything, and that I might write Latin to you as much as I chose, I cannot refrain from sending you at once some Latin lines, and when you have read them please send the answer back by one of your own servants, for our girl cannot wait. (But you must send me the answer in a letter.)
Cuperem scire, de qua causa, à quam plurimis adolescentibus ottium usque adeo æstimetur, ut ipsi se nec verbis, nec verberibus, ab hoc sinant abduci.
Even if the text were translated and explained to him, it would have been strange if he had found no difficulty in the STUDY IN SALZBURG. language; and it is only another proof of the boy's musical apprehension that his setting of the familiar German sacred texts has a more distinctive character than that of this piece of declamatory school rhetoric; the mere fact of being set to produce a brilliant work as a task had its influence on the music, which is cold and stiff, and sometimes devoid of taste. No doubt the long passages, the peculiar turns given to the pompous or amorous melodies, all that appears to us most tiresome was then most loudly applauded, and the truly surprising ability shown in the working out may have passed at that time for original productive power, which is just what we cannot grant it to have been. Still, there are not wanting signs even of this, and the young artist asserts his individuality at once whenever he has to express a simple emotion, such as he can comprehend and enter into.
There is a little solo in the first chorus (G major, 3-4) which, in its expressive simplicity, almost reminds us of Gluck. Again, in the duet between Melia and Obalus there is a long well-worked-out cantilene, which is not without beauty and expression, and is further distinguished by original instrumentation. In this the first violins (muted) lead the melody, the second violins and bass accompany pizzicato, two tenors coll' arco, and two horns are introduced; a very striking variation on the otherwise simple orchestral accompaniment, consisting of the string quartet, two oboes, and two horns.