AT Salzburg during May, 1773, Wolfgang composed a symphony (181 K.), a concertone for two violins (190 K.), and a mass (167 K.) in June.
In the summer of this year the Archbishop repaired to Vienna, and Leopold Mozart seized the opportunity of following him thither with Wolfgang. He looked forward only to a short absence, but when they presented themselves before the Archbishop in Vienna he gave them permission to extend their stay, as he intended himself to go into the mountains and to Gmünd.
Of the precise object of this tour we know nothing, only that L. Mozart hints mysteriously that he cannot tell his VISIT TO VIENNA, 1773 plans to every one, and that he must avoid anything that would excite attention either at Vienna or Salzburg, and cause obstacles to be thrown in their way. When the good people of Salzburg connected the illness of the kapellmeister Gassmann with his journey, he answered indignantly: "Herr Gassmann was ill, but is now better. I do not know what connection this may have with our journey to Vienna; but fools will be fools, all the world over."[1] There can be no doubt, however, that he was anxious that Wolfgang should be permanently attached to the court, either at Vienna or elsewhere. The Empress, of whom they immediately sought an audience, was very gracious, but that was all. The Emperor only returned from Poland towards the end of their stay, and they do not appear to have spoken to him at all.
They arrived on the 18th of July, and went straight to their old lodgings, where they surprised old Frau Fischer at supper; she was delighted to see them, and to provide them once more with comfortable apartments. Many old friendships were renewed: L'Augier, Martinez, Novarre, honest old Bono, Stephanie and his lovely wife, Dr. Auerbrugger and his two daughters, Franziska and Mariane, "who played charmingly and were thorough musicians,"[2] all welcomed the Mozarts eagerly; Wolfgang had grown so as never to be recognised unless his father were with him.
But their warmest welcome was from the Messmers, who only regretted that they had come without Frau Mozart and Marianne. Since the Mozarts' last visit, they had decorated their garden with statues, &c., and had built a theatre, an aviary, a dovecot, a summer-house looking over the Prater, and they were now turning their house into a comfortable winter residence. The whole family were together, including Fräulein Franzl, who was seriously ill, and Fräulein Sepperl, an inveterate match-maker, interesting herself in the love affairs even of the cook and the footman. Here they met their old friends Heufeld, Greiner, Steigentesch, WORKS IN GERMANY. Grill, Bono, &c.; and music was the invariable theme of conversation. Messmer had learned to play the harmonica from Miss Davis, and had an instrument made at a cost of 50 ducats, which was finer than that used by Miss Davis. He played it very well, and so did his little son, who showed considerable talent; Wolfgang tried the harmonica, and "wished he had one too." The Messmers soon after went farther into the country to Rothmühl, which interrupted this pleasant intercourse.
The great public event of the day during their stay in Vienna was the suppression of the order of Jesuits. L. Mozart, who followed their expulsion with great interest, thought that many good Christians would consider the Pope had only jurisdiction in matters of faith, and that the Jesuits would probably have been left unmolested if they had been as poor as the Capucines. In Rome the property of the Jesuits had been seized ad pias causas, which was easily done, since all that the Pope appropriated was ad pias causas; the Emperor thought differently, and had reserved to himself the right of dispensing the property of the Jesuits. Mozart thinks, too, that the millions taken from the Jesuits will awaken the appetite for more of such confiscations.[3]
Wolfgang had taken some work with him. A grand serenata for some fête in the family of their friend Andretter was sent from Vienna and performed at Salzburg in the beginning of August under Meissner's conductorship (145 K.). Then he set to work to write six quartets (168-173 K.), whether by order or not is uncertain; nothing more important, however, came to hand. The Jesuits performed the P. Dominicus Mass (66 K.) at court during the Octave of S. Ignatius' day; L. Mozart conducted, and the applause was great. The Theatin monks invited them to their service and banquet on the feast of S. Cajetan, and, the organ not being available, Wolfgang had the boldness to execute a concerto on a violin borrowed from his young friend Teyber. This made such an impression that in 1782 a lay brother, to whom Wolfgang COMPOSITIONS IN SALZBURG, 1773-74. remarked that he had eight years before played a violin concerto in the choir, at once addressed him by his name. Of money receipts during this visit to Vienna we hear little or nothing; on the contrary, L. Mozart writes to his wife that his body grows fat in proportion as his purse grows thin; and he consoles her for the fact that he has had to borrow money by declaring that it only proves his having need of money, but not of a doctor. Notwithstanding, he considered he had good reasons for remaining in Vienna. "Things must and will mend; take courage, God will help us!"
With the end of September they were again in Salzburg, and in December Wolfgang wrote a quintet for stringed instruments (174 K.) and a pianoforte Concerto in D major (175 K.), the first of the long list after his early attempts. Almost the whole of the year 1774 was passed quietly at home; Wolfgang wrote some important church music, two Masses in F and D major (192,194, K.), a great litany (195 K.), two psalms for a Vesper (193 K.), various symphonies (199-202 K.), two complete serenatas (203, 204, K.), and an interesting divertimento (205 K.). Then came a commission from Munich to write a comic opera for the Carnival of 1775. It is probable that the influence of the Prince Bishop of Chiemsee, Count Ferdinand von Zeil, an enthusiastic patron of Mozart, had been exerted on his behalf. The Elector Maximilian III. had also shown great interest in Mozart in former years, and on this account it was impossible for the Archbishop of Salzburg to refuse Wolfgang leave of absence. The Elector had a decided talent for music, which he had cultivated by study; he composed church music, and played the bass-viol, as Naumaun wrote to a friend, "divinely"; Burney declared he had heard no such bass-viol-player since the celebrated Abel. The Elector's sister also, the widowed Electress of Saxony Maria Antonia Walburga, known as a poetess, was then on a visit to Munich; she both composed and sang operas for which she had written the verses.[4] It followed, therefore, WORKS IN GERMANY. that much was done in Munich for orchestra and singers both in the opera and the churches, although the performances fell short of those in Mannheim.[5]
On December 6 Wolfgang set out with his father for Munich, where they found a small but comfortable lodging with a Chanoine et grand custos de Notre Dame; this good man showed them honour and hospitality above their deserts, as they considered, and often sacrificed his own convenience to theirs from sheer friendliness. The intense cold of the journey had, in spite of precautions, brought on Wolfgang's habitual malady, severe toothache, and he was confined to his room with a swelled face for several days. As soon as possible they made the acquaintance of those with whom they were to be associated, and were well received everywhere.