À propos! how about the Archbishop? Next Monday I shall have been absent from Salzburg for six weeks. You know, my dear father, that it is only for love of you that I remain in Salzburg, for, by heaven! if it rested with me I would have torn up the agreement and resigned my appointment before I left home this time. It is not Salzburg, but the prince and the proud nobility who become more insupportable to me every day. I should hail with delight a letter informing me that he no longer needed my services. The patronage I have here would assure me of present and future means of support, without taking into account the chances by death, which none ought to count upon, but which is no bad friend to a man in search of employment. But anything in the world to please you—and it would come all the easier to me if I could get away now and then for a little to take breath. You know how hard it was to get away this time, and that without some great cause there is no possibility of it again. Come to Munich and hear my opera, and then tell me if I am wrong to feel unhappy when I think of Salzburg.
His father seeks to reassure him as to the leave of absence (December 25, 1780):—
As regards the six weeks, I have decided not to take any steps in the matter, but if I hear anything on the subject I shall certainly answer that we understood you were to remain in Munich six weeks after the composition of the opera, for its rehearsal and production, but that I could not imagine that his highness would suppose that such an opera could be composed, copied, and performed in six weeks, &c.
It would not, however, have been a matter of regret to L. Mozart if Wolfgang could have met with a good situation in Munich. Wolfgang himself had been rendered full of hope from the gracious reception of the Elector, and wrote to his father that if he succeeded in settling in Munich, he (the father) must not long remain in Salzburg, but must follow him thither. He was very anxious to demonstrate in Munich that he could write other things besides operas, and he turned his church music to account. With this object he wrote to his father (November 13, 1780):—
Be so kind as to send me the scores of the two Masses that I have at home, and also the Mass in B flat major (275 K.), for Count Seeau has promised to speak of them to the Elector. I should like to make myself known in this style. I have just heard a Mass by Grua (kapellmeister in 1779, died 1826); it would be easy to compose half-a-dozen a day of that kind of thing.
Mozart also appears to have tried to win favour with the Elector by a new church composition; at least a grand Kyrie in D minor (341 K.), judging by the character of the composition and the distribution of the orchestra, can only have been written during this stay in Munich. The orchestra consists of the usual string quartet, and in addition two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns (in D and F), two trumpets, and drums; there is no grouping of the kind that is found in "Idomeneo." Whether this is a fragment of a Mass which was never completed, or whether it was intended for insertion in another work, cannot now be decided. It is tolerably long, but elaborated without much thematic treatment, the elements of the construction and flow being more rhythmical and harmonic, and taking their principal charm from the independent and richly elaborated orchestral accompaniment. Among Mozart's sacred compositions his Kyries are specially distinguished by an originality of tone-colouring and peculiarly melodious treatment, which are extremely well suited to the melancholy tone of the movement before us. Much of it points to the Requiem, and opens the door to conjecture as to the path which Mozart would have pursued had he devoted himself specially to church music.
Another great work, apparently written for the Munich Kapelle, is a grand serenata for wind instruments (361 K.),[ 16 ] with the date 1780, which he must have taken with him, since he would hardly have undertaken so important a work while engaged on "Idomeneo." The serenata is for two oboes, two clarinets, two viols, four horns, two bassoons, violoncello, and double-bass. The instruments, and the task appointed for them, point rather to the Munich orchestra SERENATA, 1780. than to that of Salzburg. Compositions for wind instruments alone, called Harmonie-Musik, were then much in favour, and Mozart may have wished to recommend himself by producing an important piece of the kind, which would place the performances of the band in a brilliant light.[ 17 ]
In form the serenata resembles those written for the complete orchestra. It begins with a solemn Largo, which serves as introduction to a Molto allegro, worked out very like the first movement of a symphony. This is followed by a Minuet with two trios, than a broadly planned Adagio, and again a Minuet with three trios. To this is joined a Romanze (adagio), simple and lyrical, in two parts, interrupted by an Allegretto leading again to the Adagio, which is repeated and concluded by a coda. Then comes an Andante with six variations, and the finale, consisting of a cheerful Rondo. It is no easy task to write such a succession of pieces for wind instruments, for the tone-colouring, although striking and agreeable, must be moderately and carefully treated. People were certainly more accustomed to this kind of music at the time, but even at the present day the serenata does not produce a sense of fatigue. It has an interest as a proof of the minute study which Mozart bestowed on all instrumental forces, whereby he acquired that complete mastery of the orchestra which is displayed in "Idomeneo."
But the work has a higher significance than that of a mere study of instrumentation, as is shown by the admiration it has excited in many places quite recently. The charm of the composition depends greatly upon the certainty with which the peculiar style of each instrument is made use of; but this forms only one side of the artistic construction of the idea, and the full force and beauty of the instrumental effects are only perceived when they are considered as a means of representing each part of the whole work in its due proportion.