It was the custom on such occasions at the close of the performance to address the person in whose honour it was given, generally in the form of an air with recitative, concluding with a chorus; this peroration, which had no connection with the body of the opera, was called licenza) Two such, composed by Wolfgang for Archbishop Sigismund, are still preserved; a tenor air (36 K.) and a soprano air (70 K.), both with long recitatives, giving testimony to increasing dexterity in the treatment of form.
The performance of the opera was followed on the side of the Archbishop by the announcement of Wolfgang's appointment as Concertmeister, and he was accordingly so entered in the Court Calendar of 1770.
The greater part of the year 1769 was spent quietly at Salzburg in studies of which we know but little. The only compositions which can certainly be ascribed to this year are seven minuets for two violins and bass, composed January 26, 1769,[3] and two masses; they are all of the nature of studies. The first of the masses, in D minor, dated January 14, 1769 (65 K.), noteworthy on account of the minor key, is a missa brevis, and keeps strictly to that form, both in choruses and solos; in the Credo the words "Genitum, non factum—consubstantialem Patri—per quem omnia facta sunt," are distributed to three voices, and sung together. The different phrases, though well formed, have a certain abruptness, showing that the skill to continue and develop the suggestions of the mind was still wanting. But the ordering of the details and the counterpoint are both excellent, and bear many marks of originality.
As an example the fugue— THE ITALIAN TOUR. is unusual, but has a striking effect in this place. Mozart evidently enters more into the spirit of his work as the mass proceeds, and gives his impulses freer play. The Benedic-tus apparently gave him some trouble. First, it was written for all four voices, then for soprano solo, and lastly as a duet for soprano and alto, this last arrangement being twice elaborated. The alterations in the details show how precise he was in this work. [See Page Image]
The beginning of the Dona—
Do - na, do - na no - bis PATER DOMINICUS MASS. promises well, but fails to maintain the same level to the end. [See Page Image]
The second mass, in C major (66 K.), the "Pater Domini-cus Mass," was composed in October, 1769, on the occasion of the first celebration of mass by Hagenauer's son, whose entrance into a monastery had formerly caused Wolfgang to shed tears (p. 50).[4] The young composer put forth all his powers to produce a truly grand and brilliant festival mass.
Every part is well conceived and worked out, and considerable progress is observable in the mechanical details of the whole. The subjects are more important, and the passages for the violins, which are very prominent, have more distinct character; the different parts, too, have freer play. But it is at the same time to be noted that the substance of the work is not yet on a level with its broader scheme. A succession of independent solos, which evidently served as the special embellishment of the mass, show a considerable effort to avoid a light operatic tone, and to combine dignity with easy and attractive grace.
Mozart's unequalled talent for pure and noble melody is as discernible here as elsewhere, though it is crippled by a certain amount of confusion of ideas. Curiously enough the Benedictus, a solo quartet, is accompanied only by the first violin, which plays round the voices with a continuous running passage. There is a good effect in the Dona nobis, where the chorus answers the short solo phrases— THE ITALIAN TOUR. with changes of lead and harmony. [See Page Image]
This mass serves as a proof that L. Mozart did not confine himself to educating his son as an operatic composer, but that he made him pass through a course of severe study in every branch of his art, with the just conviction that his genius, when fully trained and developed, would mark out a line for itself.