On this subject (death and dying) I have already expressed my mind to you on the occasion of the melancholy death of my best and dearest friend, Count von Hatzfeld. He was thirty-one—just my age. I do not mourn for him, but for myself and for all those who knew him as I did.
Mozart also gave regular musical performances every Sunday morning in his own house; he used to invite his friends, and musical amateurs were admitted on payment. Kelly relates[ 66 ] that he never missed one of these. I find them mentioned elsewhere also, and have heard of them from old people who took part in them during the last years of Mozart's life. They were always well attended; but whether Mozart's public concerts were continued with unabated success after the year 1788, or whether the time had come when he was to experience "the fickleness" of the Viennese, I have no means of determining with exactitude. He wrote three symphonies in June, July, and August of 1788, whence it may be concluded that he was giving concerts during that time; and, by the same reasoning, the absence of any symphonies or concertos composed during the years immediately following would prove that no concerts were then given. His pecuniary embarrassments during those years tell the same tale; and the cutting off of this important contribution to his income seems to have occasioned his journeys to Berlin and Frankfort. Not until January, 1791, do we meet with another pianoforte concerto in B flat major (595 K., No. 15) that was no doubt intended for a Lenten concert.
The publication of his compositions, which in the present day would have been Mozart's chief dependence, was by no means profitable, as matters then stood. The music trade PUBLICATION OF COMPOSITIONS. of the day was small and insignificant; indeed, the first impulse was given to it by the publication of an edition of all Mozart's works soon after his death. During his life, however, compositions were more often copied than printed;[ 67 ] and the composer was obliged to keep careful watch lest copies should be distributed which were not ordered from him, and which in consequence he was never paid for. It need scarcely be said that caution such as this was not in Mozart's nature, and that copies of his works were frequently made and sold without his knowledge. Different musical firms (Joh. Traeg, Lausch, Torricella, &c.) advertised copies of his compositions for sale under his very eyes; nor was this conduct, however undesirable, thought unworthy of a respectable tradesmen. He was careful only of his concertos; too much depended on his keeping possession of them, and not allowing any one to play them who chose. His three first concertos, indeed, he thought it advisable to publish himself by a subscription of six ducats (December 23, 1782). He offered them afterwards to the "highly respectable public" for four ducats, "beautifully copied and revised by himself."[ 68 ] Even this his father thought too dear; but Mozart thought that the concertos were worth the money, and could not be copied for it.
When sending his father those composed in the following year, he wrote (May 24, 1784): "I can wait patiently until you send them back, so long as they do not fall into any one else's hands; I might have had twenty-four ducats for one of them to-day; but I think it will be to my advantage to keep them a couple of years by me, and then to have them printed." He used to take only the orchestral parts with him on his journeys, and to play himself from a clavier part of most extraordinary appearance, according to Rochlitz.[ 69 ] It consisted of only the figured bass and the principal MARRIED LIFE. motifs, with hints for the passages, runs, &c.; he depended on his memory, which never by any chance failed him. In 1788 he advertised copies of three quintets for four ducats.[ 70 ]
As far, then, as concertos and symphonies were concerned, the composer made his principal profit by his own performance of them; but he was also called upon to write different things for other people. Mozart wrote many compositions for his pupils, an extraordinary number for his friends and acquaintance, and not a few to order on particular occasions. Among the latter class are the quartets written for Frederick William II., in 1789 and 1790 (575, 589, 590, K.), for which he was doubtless well paid; it was said that he received for the first a valuable gold snuff-box and a hundred friedrichs-d'or.[ 71 ] It is well known that one hundred ducats were paid in advance for the Requiem, and something may have come in for the adaptation of Handel's oratorios, ordered by Van Swieten in 1788 and 1789, as well as for here and there a commission or dedication. But a closer examination of the long list of Mozart's compositions of this class makes it probable that they were not for the most part profitable to him. A characteristic anecdote is related of him by his widow, which bears out this supposition.[ 72 ] At one of Mozart's Sunday matinées there was present a Polish Count, who was very much delighted with the new (composed March 30, 1784) pianoforte quintet with wind instruments. He commissioned Mozart to write a trio with obbligato flute, which the latter promised to do. As soon as he arrived at home, the Count sent Mozart a hundred half-louis with a very polite note, repeating his thanks for the pleasure the music had given him. The terms of the note left Mozart no doubt that the money was a generous gift, and he returned the politest acknowledgment, at the same time sending the Count, contrary to his custom, the original score of the quintet he had so much admired. A year after the Count came again to Mozart and inquired after the trio. Mozart excused himself by saying he had not yet found himself in the humour to PUBLICATION OF COMPOSITIONS. write anything worthy of the Count's acceptance. "Then, no doubt," answered the Count, "you will find yourself still less in the humour to return me the hundred half-louis which I paid you for it." Mozart returned the money, but the Count kept the score of the quintet, which was soon after printed in Vienna without Mozart's permission. Against such persons and such behaviour Mozart had no weapons but a shrug of the shoulders, and a—"The rascal!" It may well be supposed that others besides this Polish Count took advantage of such easy-going good-nature. But the publishers must not be credited with more than their share of blame.[ 73 ] Variations and similar trifles were doubtless often printed without the composer's consent, and brought in considerable profits in which he had no share. But the more important of his works which appeared during his lifetime were either printed by subscription or trusted for publication to Torricella, Artaria, and Hoffmeister. I have only in one case been able to discover the amount paid to him; he wrote to his father, who communicated it to his daughter (January 22, 1785) that he had sold his quartets dedicated to Jos. Haydn to Artaria for one hundred ducats. This was a considerable sum for those days, and the reception given to the quartets on their appearance might well cause the publisher to fear he had paid too dear for them. It is said that the two beautiful pianoforte quartets in G minor (478 K., composed in July, 1785) and in E flat major (493 K., composed in June, 1786), were only the commencement of a series bespoken by Hoffmeister; but the public finding them too difficult, and refraining from buying them, he allowed Mozart to retain the money he had paid in advance, and gave up the continuation.[ 74 ] The popularity gained by Mozart's greater works must always have been of gradual growth, since they were considered in every respect too difficult, and it is quite credible that Hoffmeister said, as was reported of him:[ 75 ] "Write more popularly, or else I can neither print nor pay for anything more of yours!" MARRIED LIFE. Nor is it less credible that Mozart should have answered: "Then I will write nothing more, and go hungry, or may the devil take me!"
A note written to Hoffmeister on November 20, 1785, is indeed in quite another tone:[ 76 ]—
Dear Hoffmeister,—I have recourse to you, and beg you to assist me with a little money, of which I am much in want at present. I earnestly entreat you to send me what I require as soon as possible. Pardon my troubling you so much, but you know me, and are aware how much I have your affairs at heart, so that I am convinced that you will not be offended at my importunities, but will be as ready to show yourself my friend as I am yours.
A very enterprising publisher, Commerzienrath Hummel, of Berlin, maintained that, though not musical, he could tell by the look of a composition whether it would suit him. He had a poor opinion of Mozart, and used to boast of having sent him back various works.[ 77 ]
Rochlitz relates, as an instance of Mozart's ill-treatment at the hands of theatrical managers,[ 78 ] that Schikaneder paid nothing for the "Zauberflöte," and even, contrary to the agreement, sold the score without his knowledge. Seyfried,[ 79 ] on the other hand, maintains that Schikaneder paid Mozart a hundred ducats, and resigned the net profits of the sale of the score to his widow. Be this as it may, Schikaneder's treatment of Mozart must not be considered illustrative of that which he usually received from his managers. A hundred ducats was then the usual payment in Vienna for an opera. This sum Mozart received for the "Entführung," for "Figaro," and no doubt also for "Cosi fan Tutte." For "Don Giovanni" he had 225 florins. To this were usually added the proceeds of a benefit performance (and another for the poet), which of course depended on the popularity of the composer with the public. Mozart does not mention the benefit performance of the PROFITS ON OPERAS. "Entführung"; but both in this case and that of "Figaro" it must have had considerable results.[ 80 ] Bondini paid a hundred ducats for "Don Giovanni." The Bohemian States, who ordered the "Clemenza di Tito" for their coronation festival, can scarcely have offered him less remuneration; even the manager Guardasoni, who was famous for his parsimony, "almost agreed" in the year 1785 to give Mozart "two hundred ducats for an opera and fifty ducats travelling expenses," as he informs his wife—an agreement, however, which was never carried out.[ 81 ]
In this respect, therefore, Mozart was not behind contemporary composers. With regard to performances on foreign stages, we have no definite information as to whether his permission was asked or paid for,[ 82 ] but we may gather something from the ordinary usages of the time. It was the traditional custom in Italy that whoever ordered the opera should pay for it; what became of the score afterwards was generally left to chance. The impresario remained in possession of it, and usually allowed the copyist to make what profit he could out of the sale of it (Vol. I., p. 131); but the composer also kept the score, and seems to have distributed it wherever he thought he might gain honour or profit by it. In Germany the case was altered, since there the composer had generally to do with a court theatre. In Mannheim and Munich he retained undivided possession of the score (Vol. II., p. 141).[ 83 ] Mozart rejoiced that Baron Riedesel had asked him for the "Entführung" and not the copyist (Vol. II., p. 213). As a matter of course foreign theatres took the easiest course open to them to obtain possession of the score. When they applied to the composer it was only because they saw no other way of getting it, or for some special reason. Any question of MARRIED LIFE. the composer's rights or the theatrical manager's obligations seems never to have occurred to either party. A careful hold of the score and watchful supervision of the copyist were the only means of protection. These did not go far, nor was Mozart the man to make use of them. When, therefore, his operas appeared on foreign boards without any compensation to himself, he only shared the fate of most of his contemporaries, nor does he seem to have complained of it. He is glad to write to his father (December 6, 1783) that his "Entführung" had been well and successfully performed in Prague and Leipzig; and he rejoiced again when "Figaro" was given in Prague and "Don Giovanni" in Vienna; but there is no mention of payment.
