The great and universal applause bestowed on Wolfgang inspired his father with the hope that he would be intrusted WORKS IN GERMANY. with the opera seria for the next year; why this was not the case we are not aware. The rumour current in Salzburg that Wolfgang was about to enter the Elector's service, L. Mozart ascribes to his enemies, and to those whose consciences told them what good cause he had for taking such a step; he was used to such childish folly, and did not allow it to trouble him in the least. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that nothing would have pleased him more; but, as a prudent man, he did not wish to cut himself adrift from Salzburg before having secured a safe anchorage at Munich.
After enjoying to their close the pleasures of the Carnival, which lasted too long for the father, they returned to Salzburg on March 7,1775. In April the Archbishop of Salzburg was honoured by a visit from the Archduke Maximilian, youngest son of Maria Theresa (b. 1749), afterwards Archbishop of Cologne; he had been spending the Carnival in Paris, where his want of tact had placed the Queen in considerable embarrassment,[13] and had also paid a short visit to Munich. Court festivities were arranged, chiefly consisting of musical performances, for which the singer Consuoli and Becke, the flautist, were summoned from Munich. A serenata by Fischietti was performed on April 22, and on the following day Mozart's "Re Pastore," which had been very hurriedly composed. On April 24, according to the report of one of the Archduke's suite, "Music was the entertainment provided, as on the preceding days; at the conclusion of the performance, young Mozart placed himself at the piano and played various pieces from his head, with equal skill and grace." Whether he appeared as a violinist we do not know; he had, at any rate, composed his first violin concerto on April 14 (207 K.), and the fact that this was followed by four others in the same year (211, 216, 218, 219, K.) is a proof that he was applying himself energetically to the violin; possibly because it would be easier to find a good situation if he were an accomplished violin-player.
The next two years passed quietly and busily at Salzburg. Extracts from a diary kept by young Schiedenhofen show how CHURCH MUSIC—"HAFFNER-MUSIK," 1776. limited their circle of friendly intercourse was, and Wolfgang's authentically dated compositions afford proofs of his activity and progress.
The year 1776 was especially rich in church music; four masses (257, 258, 259,261, K.) fall in this year, three of them in its last quarter, while in March a Grand Litany in E flat major (243 K.) was written, besides an Offertory, "Venite populi," for two choirs (260 K.). To 1777 belong a Mass (275 K.), and a Graduale, "Sancta Maria" (273 K.). A series of organ sonatas were furnished for the services of the church, and for the court a number of divertimenti for wind instruments, probably as table music. In other respects, doubtless in consequence of the ill-will of the Archbishop, Wolfgang appears to have held aloof from the court concerts; no symphonies belong to this time. The serenatas were written for other occasions. On wedding-days, fête-days, or the like, these nocturnal pieces were usually performed in the street, not excepting the solos;[14] they were introduced by a march, in which any of the company who could handle a bow might take part; the rest listened from the windows above. Such music was either ordered and paid for, or offered as a tribute of esteem.
On the wedding-day of the Salzburg citizen F. X. Spath with Elise Haffher, daughter of the worthy merchant and Bürgermeister Sigmund Haffner[15] (July 22,1776), a serenata by Mozart was performed, afterwards known as the "Haffner-musik" (249, 250, K.). Another opportunity offered in the fête-day of the Countess Antonia Lodron, for whom in 1776 and 1777 Wolfgang wrote several specified nocturnes;[16] Schiedenhofen was present at the rehearsal of one of them, and he tells us also that on July 25, 1777, there was a rehearsal of a serenata at the house of the grocer Gusetti, composed by Wolfgang for his sister's fête-day; it consisted of a symphony, a violin concerto played by himself, and a flute concerto played by Cosel. Probably the divertimento composed in July, 1776 (251 K.) was also intended for his sister's fête-day. A Finalmusik (185, 215, K.) produced on August 23, 1775, and a "Serenata Nottuma" (239 K.) in January, 1776, are both for unknown occasions.
The clavier compositions were also mainly written for pupils or amateurs; for example, the Concerto in C major (246 K.) for the Countess Litzow or Lützow, wife of the Commandant of Hohen-Salzburg; that in E flat major (271 K.) for a Madame Jenomy (January, 1777), whom Wolfgang had met in Paris; the Concerto for three pianofortes for the Countesses Antonie, Luise, and Josepha Lodron (242 K.), February, 1776. While the Mozarts were at Munich, in 1775, a landed proprietor, Buron Dümitz, had ordered some pianoforte sonatas, which were duly forwarded (279-284 K.); but he altogether forgot to send the promised payment in return. Two four-hand sonatas, mentioned by his father (December 8, 1777), were probably intended for Wolfgang and his sister; Schiedenhofen heard them play a duet on August 15, 1777.
Having taken this biograpical survey, it is now time to bestow a closer inspection on Wolfgang's compositions.