His dramatic talent again asserts itself unmistakably; the three characters are boldly sketched, and many little comic touches are thrown into relief, as, for instance, the song in which Colas practises hocus-pocus, the duet in which Bastienne to all Bastien's despairing resolutions answers only: "Viel Glück!" and others. The technical working-out is very simple. Neither in the duets nor in the closing terzet are the voices interwoven; but they THE FIRST OPERA IN VIENNA. alternate with each other, or proceed together in simple harmony; only in one instance does there occur a short imitative passage. The orchestra usually goes with the voice, to which a simple, well-arranged bass is provided, the other parts filling in the harmonies. An accompaniment with any independent phrasing is rarely met with. The accompaniment is mainly intrusted to the stringed instruments, strengthened by oboes (on one occasion by two flutes) and horns, but only to fill in the harmonies. Horns are also employed obbligato, and with charming effect, in Bastienne's second song, "Ich geh jetzt auf die Weide."
It says much for the artistic feeling and true discrimination of a boy of twelve years old, that he not only displays a mastery of operatic form, and a rare dramatic and inventive genius, but that he is able to grasp and appreciate the essential differences, both artistic and national, between German and Italian opera.
It is noteworthy that his first dramatic attempts should, so to speak, touch the two extremes, which it was to be his mission to bring together. One song of Bastien's (10), with slightly altered words and clavier accompaniment, "Daphne, deine Rosenwangen," and another, "Freude, Königin der Weisen" (52, 53, K.), were printed in a musical serial,[47] the editor, no doubt, thinking to make his profit with the name of the youthful prodigy.
Among the occasional compositions, which were numerous during Mozart's stay in Vienna, two symphonies must be mentioned. The first, in F major (43 K.), falling within the year 1767, is only noticeable for its middle movement, which is an elaboration of the duet in "Hyacinthus," already mentioned (p. 62 ). The second, in D major, dated December 13,1768 (48 K.), is very animated, and has some striking features.
Considerable doubt still exists on the subject of a quintet, in B flat major (46 K.), which, according to Kochel's unimpeachable authority is preserved in Mozart's boyish QUINTET IN B FLAT MAJOR, AND SERENADE. hand-writing in the archives of the Austrian Musikverein; it has many corrections, and the date appended, in a strange hand certainly, but coinciding with the composition, is "d. 25 Januar (Mozart writes Janner), 1768." This quintet, for two violins, two tenors, and violoncello, contains the four principal movements (omitting the second minuet, the romance, and the variations) of the great serenade for wind instruments belonging to the year 1780 (361 K); the substance is here in its integrity, with only the necessary alterations to adapt it for strings.
Close examination leaves hardly any doubt that the composition was originally intended for wind instruments; finer effects are produced in the serenade, and are obviously not interpolated; the quintet betrays itself as an arrangement by evident efforts to bring out given effects.
Accordingly the serenade must be considered also as a very early work, and the omission of the three movements in the quintet affords no reason for ascribing them to a different period. Nevertheless, the conception and workmanship of these movements, and the scientific mastery of the art therein displayed, belong to the maturity of manhood, and make it difficult to give credence to the handwriting of the manuscript rather than to this internal evidence.
L. Mozart's hope of seeing an opera by Wolfgang on the Vienna stage was, as we have seen, destroyed; but he was not altogether deprived of the satisfaction to be afforded him by a public display of his son's genius. They had become acquainted with the celebrated Father Ign. Parhammer, a Jesuit, who had been especially zealous in purifying the land since the emigration of the Protestants from Salzburg in 1733; [48] he took a prominent position in Vienna, and became father confessor to the Emperor Francis I. in 1758. In the following year he was made director of the Orphan Asylum, which he extended and reorganised with remarkable activity, making it at length one of the most noted of such institutions.[49] In all similar institutions conducted by the Jesuits in Germany, the musical education of the orphans was THE FIRST OPERA IN VIENNA. considered next in importance to their religious duties,[50] and in this case the result was so striking that the Emperor intended employing them in his operatic company.[51] Parhammer sometimes invited the Mozarts; and when the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid in the summer they were present and met the Emperor, who conversed with Wolfgang about his opera. Soon after he was commissioned to prepare the music for the mass to celebrate the dedication of the chapel, with the addition of an offertory and a trumpet concerto, to be performed by one of the boys. The latter is not preserved; the Mass in G major (49 K.), the first which Mozart had written, betrays, as might be expected, the uncertainty of boyish workmanship more than any previous work. It is written for chorus and solos which do not merely alternate with the chorus in short phrases; "Et in Spiritum Sanctum" is an independent solo for the bass; Benedictus, a solo quartet. The plan, modelling, and execution of the music are quite of the conventional type of a Missa brevis; it is almost devoid of original invention, and bears no signs of those stirrings of genius which we have remarked in previous works. This want has not been without influence on the working-out of the music. The imitative phrasing is stiffer and less free than elsewhere; only the little regulation fugue "Et vitam" shows the result of study; and the impetuous Osanna— FIRST MASS IN G MAJOR. [See Page Image] is vigorous and well finished. The Offertory, "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" (47 K.), in C major is lively and brilliant, with trumpets and drums. The closing "Alleluia" is almost too gay, but it is pretty and fresh, reminding one of Caldara's easier pieces.
The performance, which Wolfgang conducted, took place on December 7, 1768, in the presence of the imperial court, and confirmed, as the father writes home, that which their enemies by opposition to the opera had sought to disprove; convincing the court and the numerous audience assembled, of Wolfgang's right to a place of honour among composers.
The following is the testimony of a contemporary journal:[52]