My great grandfather used to say to his wife, my great grandmother, and she to her daughter my grandmother, and she again to her daughter, my mother, and she finally to her daughter, my dear sister, that it was a great art to be able to speak well and fully, but that it was perhaps a still greater art to know when to leave off speaking. I will, therefore, now follow the advice of my sister due to our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and bring my moral reflections and my letter to a close together.
And when, to his "delighted surprise," he received a second letter from Jacquin, he answers in a postscript:—
Can it be that neither your dear parents, nor your sisters and brother keep me in remembrance? That is incredible! I put it down to your forgetfulness, my friend, and I flatter myself that I may safely do so.
Gius. Ant. Bridi, of whom Mozart speaks in the above letter, was a young merchant of Roveredo, who was a favourite in musical circles[ 31 ] alike for his fine, well-trained tenor voice, and for his amiable character.[ 32 ] On the production of "Idomeneo" at the Auersperg theatre, he took a part, probably that of Idomeneo.[ 33 ] He too enjoyed, as he afterwards gratefully recorded, Mozart's friendship and confidence.[ 34 ] Gottfried von Jacquin wrote the following characteristic words in Mozart's album (April n, 1787):—
Genius without heart is a chimera—for it is not intellect alone, not imagination, not even the two combined which make genius—love! love! love! is the soul of genius.
He was endeared to Mozart by his musical talent and sympathy. A memorial of their friendship exists in the song composed for Jacquin on March 23, 1787: "Mentre di lascio, o figlia," from Paesiello's "Disfatta di Dario" (513 K., part 9). A comparison of this with the song composed SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. for Fischer shows how well Mozart understood the art of adapting himself to given conditions. There is no presupposition here of such a compass and flexibility of voice, nor of such force of passion as give the earlier song its original stamp; all that is required is a bass voice of moderate compass and no great depth, a certain volubility of voice, and a considerable amount of feeling and cultivation. The situation excludes any expression of violent emotion, and moderates the sentiment without rendering it less hearty; we are called on to sympathise with the sorrow of a father taking leave of his daughter at a moment pregnant with fate, not with that of a youth parting from his beloved. Here again external conditions have been utilised in the production of a song which is worthy by its beauty of form and grace of expression to take a high rank among others of its class.[ 35 ] Mozart composed other songs for his friend and his friend's family; ballads, for instance, for particular occasions and friends. Concerning one of these, he writes: "If the song en question is to be a test of my friendship, have no more doubt on the subject, here it is. But I hope that you do not need the song to convince you of my friendship" (Prague, November 4, 1787). Another, "Erzeugt von heisser Phantasie" (520 K.) is inscribed: "Den 26 Mai, 1787, in Hrn. Gottfried von Jacquin's Zimmer, Landstrasse." Several charming little canzonetti for two sopranos and a bass, with Italian words, were also written for this circle, Mozart indicates one of them, "Più non si trovano" (549 K.), under date July 16, 1788, and there are five other nottumi of the kind existing in autograph, viz.: "Luci cari luci belle" (346 K.); "Ecco quel fiero istante," by Metastasio (436 K.); "Mi lagnero tacendo," by Metastasio (437 K.); "Se lontan GOTTFR. V. JACQUIN AND MOZART. ben mio tu sei" (438 K.), "Due pupille amabili" (439 K.). To these exists in Mozart's handwriting wind-instrument accompaniment, for two clarinets and a basset-horn, or three basset-homs, a combination often employed by Mozart, apparently without any special reason. The accompaniment may be dispensed with, the canzonetti being properly intended for the voices alone. They are extremely simple, but full of grace and charm, and betray the master in their harmonic turns and disposition of parts. It may be inferred that these compositions were primarily intended for the Jacquin family, from the fact that several of them passed as the composition of Gottfr. von Jacquin in Vienna, as was the case with more than one solo song concerning whose authenticity there can be no doubt. Mozart set little store by such occasional compositions; they passed from hand to hand, and as Jacquin himself composed songs, which were put in circulation from his house, some of Mozart's might easily, without any fault on his part, be ascribed to him. As a set-off to these, the bass song, "Io ti lascio, o cara, addio" (245 K. Anh.), composed by Jacquin, is to this day included among Mozart's works. In the "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung," where it was first printed, it was expressly stated that the original was in Mozart's handwriting, and was written by him in a few minutes, as he took leave of a lady friend; the scene was afterwards variously laid at Prague and Mayence, and elaborated into a love episode. But in a letter to Hartel (May 25, 1799), Mozart's widow protested against the genuineness both of the song and of the story, and emphatically asserted, supported by the Abbé Stadler, that the song was composed by Gottfr. von Jacquin as a farewell to the Countess Hatzfeld, and that Mozart put the accompaniment to it. The song contains Mozart-like phrases, but no characteristic touches of his genius.
Kelly relates that he composed Metastasio's "Grazie agi' inganni tuoi," that Mozart was pleased with the simple melody, and wrote variations upon it.[ 36 ] These do not exist, but we have a sketch by Mozart in which Kelly's melody, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. with some slight improvements, and a new middle phrase, is arranged for two soprano voices and a bass, with a wind instrument accompaniment (flute, two clarinets, horns and bassoons) no doubt for some special occasion (532 K.).
Concerted songs of this kind were then a favourite pastime in musical circles; they were often comic, and sometimes coarse. No one will doubt that Mozart was always ready for this species of fun, and his comic "Bandl-Terzett" (441 K.) was known, not only among his Vienna friends,[ 37 ] but far and wide among lovers of music and fun. Mozart had made his wife a present of a new belt ribbon which she wished to wear one day when she was going for a walk with Jacquin. Not finding it she called to her husband: "Liebes Mandl, wo ists Bandl?" (Where is the belt, my dear?) They both looked for it in vain till Jacquin joined them and found it. But he refused to give it up, held it high in the air, and being a very tall man, the Mozarts, both little, strove in vain to reach it. Entreaties, laughter, scolding, were all in vain, till at last the dog ran barking between Jacquin's legs. Then he gave up the ribbon, and declared that the scene would make a good comic terzet. Mozart took the hint, wrote the words in the Vienna dialect (which is essential for the comic effect), and sent the terzet to Jacquin.[ 38 ] Well sung, it never fails of its effect. A four-part pendant to the terzet "Caro mio Druck und Schluck," was in the possession of Mozart's widow, as she informed Hartel (May 25, 1799); it seems to have been a canon with a comic bass part (Anh. 5 K.).
Canons were in special favour at the social gatherings of CANONS. which we have been speaking. It may always be taken for granted that children and persons of slight musical cultivation will take peculiar pleasure in this severest form of musical mechanism, if the persistent regularity with which each part pursues its independent course is combined with a general effect of harmony and satisfaction. For the enlightened few, the interest arises from such a skilful handling of forms confined within the strictest rules as shall emphasise epigrammatic points in the most vivid and telling manner. So in poetry, the sonnet, the triolet, and other similar forms serve by their very limitations to emphasise the conceits which they express. The same sort of contrast, produced without departing from a strict adherence to rule, forms the chief effect of the canon. The sharp definition of its various parts gives it abundance of means for accentuating particular points, aided by their constant recurrence in different positions and different lights. The canon, therefore, is the epigrammatic form of music, the most suitable vehicle for a moral sentence or a witty phrase, and it is capable of expressing alike the most serious and the most comic ideas. It requires, indeed, the firm hand of a master so to triumph over the difficulties of the form as to produce not only a masterpiece of counterpoint for the satisfaction of the learned, but also a melodious self-sufficing vocal piece, whose most studied difficulties shall leave the impression of lucky accidents. The greatest masters seem to have turned for recreation to the composition of canons,[ 39 ] and even grave men like Padre Martini[ 40 ] and Michael Haydn[ 41 ] did not disdain to write comic canons. Mozart cultivated the style, and a long list may be placed under his name. In the "Oeuvres" (XV., XVI.) two two-part, nine three-part, nine four-part, and one six-part SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. canons are printed; but they are certainly not all genuine. In the Thematic Catalogue, the following are noted as composed by Mozart:—
XV.