Life of Mozart, Vol. 2 (of 3)

by Otto Jahn

Now I must say a word to my sister on the subject of Clementi's sonatas. Every one who plays them must be aware that as compositions they are valueless. There are no striking passages, except the sixths and octaves, and I should strongly advise you not to be too much taken with these, for they are the ruin of a firm and quiet hand, and would soon deprive it of its lightness, flexibility, and flowing rapidity. For what is the object of these passages after all? They must be executed with the utmost rapidity (which not even Clementi himself can accomplish), and a lamentable hash is the result—nothing else in the world, Clementi is a charlatan, like all the Italians! He writes presto on a sonata, or even prestissimo or alia breve, and plays it allegro in three-four time. I have heard him do it! What he does STRACK AND COURT MUSIC. really well are passages in thirds—he worked at them day and night in London—but he can do nothing else, and he has not the least execution or taste, and far less any sentiment in his playing.[ 36 ]

In justification of this censure, Berger mentions Clementi having told him that, at the time of which Mozart writes, he devoted his attention to brilliant execution, and in particular to double runs and extemporised passages; it was only later that he adopted a more expressive style, which was perfected by the study of the best vocal music of the day, and by the gradual improvements made in the instrument known as the English pianoforte, the primitive construction of which had been too defective to allow of an expressive legato execution. Berger remarks further that Mozart's honourable and upright character prevents any suspicion of underhand motives for the severity of his judgment.

Mozart sought to gain favour with the Emperor by securing the support of his groom of the chamber, Strack, who possessed great influence in musical affairs. He tells his father (November 3, 1781) that on his name-day (October 31), which he had celebrated at the house of Baroness Waldstätten, he had been surprised by a serenade of his own composition (375 K.), which he had composed on St. Theresa's day (October 15) for the daughter-in-law of the court painter, Hickl. "The chief reason I wrote it," he continues, "was to let Herr von Strack, who goes there almost daily, hear something of mine, and I made it somewhat serious accordingly; it was very much admired." He ventured at a later date to count upon Strack as his friend with the Emperor, although, as he cautiously adds, "the courtier is never to be trusted" (January 23, 1782). The report having reached Salzburg that the Emperor intended taking Mozart into his service, he answers his father (April 10, 1782):—

The reason that I have not written to you about it is because I know nothing of it myself. It is certain, however, that the whole town is full of it, and that I am congratulated on all sides; I would fain believe, too, that the Emperor has been spoken to on the subject, and FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA. has it in his mind, but so far I have not heard a word. It has gone so far that the Emperor is thinking of it, and that without my having moved a step in the matter. I have been sundry times to see Herr von Strack (who is on my side) both to keep him in mind of me, and because

I like him; but not often enough to be tiresome or to appear to have any motive in it; and he must acknowledge as an honest man that he has not heard a word from me which could give him occasion to say that I wished to remain, far less to be engaged by the Emperor. We talk of nothing but music. It is of his own free will and quite disinterestedly that he speaks of me to the Emperor. Since it has gone so far without my co-operation, it may come to something. If one appears anxious, there is less chance of a good salary, for the Emperor is certainly a niggard. If he wants to have me, he must pay me for it; for the honour of being in the Emperor's service does not go very far with me.

Joseph II. was accustomed to have a concert in his own apartments every afternoon.[ 37 ] He generally dined alone in the music-room, which did not usually occupy more than a quarter of an hour; if there was no important business to be transacted, the concert began as soon as the cloth was removed, and lasted for about an hour, so that the Emperor might visit the theatre. Three times a week there was a grand concert, at which Gassmann,[ 38 ] and later Salieri, or sometimes Umlauf, were expected to appear; there was no audience, and the Archduke Maximilian, when he was present, took an active part in the performance. Joseph II. possessed a thorough musical education,[ 39 ] and preferred the severe style (Vol. I., p. 368); his fine bass voice had been trained in the Italian school,[ 40 ] and he played the violoncello and viola, as well as the clavier; he also read both vocal and instrumental music with great facility, and was a skilful player from score. Usually separate pieces were selected from operas and, oratorios; the Emperor accompanied from the score on the clavier, and also took a tenor or bass part—a pathetic one by preference.[ 41 ] The pieces chosen were KREIBICH AND THE ORCHESTRA. sometimes old favourites of the Emperor, sometimes new works with which he thus became acquainted; the operas which were afterwards to be performed were generally gone through in this way by the Emperor and the Archduke Maximilian.[ 42 ] The pieces were generally played and sung at sight; it amused the Emperor to put the executants on their trial, and he was delighted at the confusion which often ensued; the more energetic and distracted the conductor Kreibich became, the more heartily the Emperor laughed.[ 43 ]

At the ordinary concerts the Emperor only took part in the quartet. The first violin was played by Kreibich (or Greybig), "a man who was made for a conductor; he has a capital insight into the theory of music, but, unfortunately for his art, affects a certain degree of charlatanry. His timidity prevents his executing solo parts with distinctness and elegance, and his bowing is not sufficiently round and firm." This nervousness, joined to a pompous manner, made him the butt of the jokes and squibs of the musical circle,[ 44 ] and though not at all ill-natured, he was not in a position to make his opinion of value, but allowed himself to be made the tool of others, who were willing enough to let him appear to the Emperor and the public as the leader of all that related to the chamber music. With him were associated the violinists Woborzil, who led the orchestra in the German opera, Hoffmann, Ponheim, and Krottendorfer, mediocre artists and unimportant men; of the last it was only said that he flattered Strack, and was his marionette. Strack was in fact the soul of these concerts; he had the direction of the musicians, played the violoncello, and was present on every occasion, while the others took it by turns; this, together with his personal position, gave him overpowering influence with the Emperor. "You know the kind of men FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA. who, as Schiller says, come in as makeshifts when any one is wanted. Strack has always been with Joseph, and has used his opportunities so well that, in the musical line, he can do exactly as he likes."

It was a fact that good music, especially good instrumental music, was seldom performed in the closet. If a quartet was played it was by a second-rate composer, and the masters who were then founding a new epoch in this province, Haydn—for whose "tricks" the Emperor did not care much[ 45 ]—and Mozart, together with their imitators, Pleyel and Kozeluch, were excluded, or as good as excluded. This was considered to be owing to Strack's influence, and it was wondered at that Salieri, "the idol of the Emperor," who invariably took part in the private concerts, did not assert his opinion; but he "was too politic to come into collision with the shadow of his Emperor."

How far, after all, was Salieri capable of influencing the music of his day? Joseph's taste had been formed on the tradition of Italian music, represented by Hasse and Piccinni, and his predilections retained the same direction. His wish to develop a national school of music proceeded from rational conviction; and, though he was intellectually capable of appreciating the works of Gluck and Mozart, they were not really after his own heart. He had avowedly accustomed himself to look for entertainment in music, and was overpowered by the independent power and fulness which Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart brought to bear upon their art. Salieri had no reason for combating the Emperor's inclinations, since they were also his own. He skilfully sought to turn to account the acquisitions which music had made in various directions, and to make Italian opera capable of satisfying the demands of a more enlightened taste. With the exception of the operas written for Paris, in which he consciously followed Gluck's manner, he remained throughout true to the tradition of Italian opera, introduced no new element into it, and did not possess SALIERI AND MOZART. originality enough to make an indelible mark on the music of the day. But it was just this mediocrity of talent, skill, and taste which won for him the favour of his imperial master and of the public; it would have required the possession of a singular union of moral and artistic greatness and magnanimity to acknowledge rising genius as superior to his own, and to bow himself down before it—and Salieri was not capable of this. He is described as a benevolent and good-tempered man, amiable in his private life, and adorned with the well-deserved fame of noble and generous actions;[ 46 ] but these good qualities did not preserve from envy either his reputation or his position. In the year 1780 he had just returned from a lengthened tour in Italy, which had brought him new fame and honour, and had confirmed him in the favour of the Emperor; at this point Mozart made his appearance as a rival, dangerous by reason of his brilliant powers of execution, which most readily win the applause of the multitude, as well as by his compositions. The "Entführung" threatening to throw Salieri's "Rauch-fangkehrer" completely into the shade, and "Idomeneo" establishing its composer as a formidable competitor on his own ground, it was impossible that Salieri, who instinctively felt Mozart's superiority, could long pretend indifference to it. There was no interruption of their personal intercourse.[ 47 ] Mozart was friendly and unconstrained in his behaviour to his fellow-artists, "even to Salieri, who could not bear him," as Frau Sophie Haibl, Mozart's sister-in-law, relates, and Salieri was "too politic" to make any show of his dislike to Mozart. It was understood in Vienna, however, that he did dislike him, and that he secretly strove to check his progress, not only by depreciatory criticism,[ 48 ] but by every FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIENNA. sort of obstacle thrown in his way from the very first. Salieri had been appointed maestro to the Princess Elizabeth, but he was unable to instruct her on the clavier, and Mozart had clearly the next claim. "He may take the trouble," writes he to his father (August 31, 1782), "to do me harm in this matter, but the Emperor knows me; the princess would have liked to learn from me from the first, and I know that my name stands in the book where the list of all those appointed to her service is kept." But Salieri was much too cautious to allow Mozart to attain to such a position. An unknown musician named Summerer was appointed teacher of the clavier to the Princess Elizabeth. Mozart consoled himself, when he heard that the salary was only four hundred florins, by the reflection that it would not leave much over when the waiting, travelling, and other expenses contingent on such a service had been paid for (October 12, 1782).

Under these circumstances Salieri and Strack were naturally sworn allies in the Emperor's music room, and resisted together the introduction of any elements which would undermine their influence by giving the Emperor's taste a new direction. Although, therefore, Mozart was encouraged by the Emperor's expressions of liking for him, more especially as "great rulers are not too fond of saying such things for fear of a dagger-thrust from an envious rival," yet the obstacles which he had to overcome in the surroundings of the Emperor were likely to prove too powerful for him. The Emperor's parsimony also restrained him from adding another kapellmeister to those who were already in receipt of salaries from the court.