February 5. Four minuets and four waltzes (601, 602 K.).
Two country dances. (603 K.).
OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS.
1791. February 12. Two minuets and two waltzes (604, 605 K.).
February 28. Country dance, "II. Trionfo delle Donne" (607 K.).
March 6. Country dance, "Die Leyer" (610 K.).[ 4 ]
Waltz with Leyer-trio (611 K.).[ 5 ]
No dances are chronicled in 1790, the illness and subsequent death of the Emperor (February 20) having doubtless put a temporary stop to such entertainments. Those in the list are for the most part composed for full orchestra, and those with which I am acquainted make no claim to be considered otherwise than as actual dance music, with pleasing melodies and fresh rhythm—innocent recreations, betraying the master's hand in touches here and there.[ 6 ] As the only musical task imposed upon him by virtue of his office, they might well give rise to his bitter remark that his salary was too high for what he did, too low for what he could do (Vol. II., p. 276).
A commission more worthy his fame was intrusted to him by Van Swieten, who, having brought with him from Berlin an enthusiastic admiration for Handel's oratorios, sought to introduce them in Vienna. He not only gave frequent concerts at his residence in the Renngasse, for the exclusive performance of classical music, but he arranged grand performances of Handel's oratorios, supported by all the vocal and instrumental forces at his command. He induced several art-loving noblemen (among them the Princes Schwarzen-berg, Lobkowitz, and Dietrichstein, Counts Appony, Batthiany, Franz Esterhazy, &c.) to cover by a subscription the cost of these performances. They took place generally in ARRANGEMENT OF HANDEL'S ORATORIOS. the great hall of the Court Library (of which Van Swieten was chief director); sometimes at the palace of one or other of the patrons, and always in the afternoon, by daylight. There was no charge for admission, the audience being invited guests. The performances were arranged according to circumstances, taking place generally in the spring, before the nobility left Vienna for their country estates. The performers were principally members of the Court-Kapelle and of the operatic orchestra, and the preparation was undertaken entirely by Van Swieten, in whose house the rehearsals took place. He himself arranged "Athalia," and very probably also "The Choice of Hercules," for a performance after Mozart's death. The conductorship was at first intrusted to Joseph Starzer, who had arranged "Judas Maccabæus";[ 7 ] after his death, on April 22, 1787, Mozart took his place, and young Joseph Weigl accompanied on the pianoforte.[ 8 ]
"Acisand Galatea" was first performed, Mozart's arrangement of it appearing in his own catalogue, in November, 1788; Caroline Pichler retained in her old age a lively recollection of the impression made on her by this performance.[ 9 ] It was followed by the "Messiah," in March, 1789.[ 10 ] Great expectations were excited by this oratorio, by reason of the magnificent performances of it which had been given at the London Handel festivals in 1784 and 1785,[ 11 ] at the cathedral OFFICIAL AND OCCASIONAL WORKS. in Berlin, by Hiller, on May 19, 1786 (with Italian words),[ 12 ] at the University Church in Leipzig,[ 13 ] on November 3,1786, and May 11,1787, and at Breslau[ 14 ] on May 30,1788. Finally, in July, 1790, Mozart arranged the "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" and the "Feast of Alexander." It was considered necessary, in order not to distract the attention of the public by the unusual effects of Handel's orchestra, to modify the instrumentation.[ 15 ] Even Hiller remarks (Nachricht, p. 14), "Many improvements may be made in Handel's compositions by the employment of the wind instruments, according to the fashion of the present day. In the whole of the 'Messiah,' Handel appears never to have thought of the oboes, flutes, or French horns, all of which are so often employed to heighten or strengthen the effect in our present orchestras. I need not remark that the alterations must be made with care and discretion." But he went far beyond these "innocent" views; he shortened and altered the composition itself, especially in the airs and recitatives, and wrote "an entirely new score, as far as may be what Handel would himself have written at the present day" (Betracht-ungen, p. 16). He was convinced that "only a pedantic lover of old fashions, or a pedantic contemner of what is good in the new ones" would find fault with this proceeding (Betracht-ungen, p. 18). The object with which Mozart undertook to rearrange the instrumentation of Handel's works was the strengthening and enriching of the orchestra to enable it to dispense with the organ or harpsichord, to which the working-out of the harmonies had originally been intrusted. This was principally effected by the introduction of wind ARRANGEMENT OF HANDEL'S ORATORIOS. instruments. Mozart's autograph scores of "Acis and Galatea" (566 K.), of "The Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" (592 K.),[ 16 ] and of the "Feast of Alexander" (591 K.),[ 17 ] preserved in the Royal Library in Berlin, show how he set about his task. The voice parts and stringed instruments have been transferred to his score, and left as Handel wrote them, with the exception that where Handel has provided a violin part, Mozart employs the second violin and viola to fill in the harmonies. The wind instruments have been altogether omitted by the copyist in order to leave Mozart free play. Wherever Handel has employed them characteristically, they are so preserved, but when, as often happens, the oboes are the sole representatives of the wind instruments, Mozart has proceeded independently, sometimes replacing them by other single instruments, frequently clarinets—flutes only very occasionally, sometimes introducing the whole body of wind instruments. This he does also in some places where Handel has not even employed oboes, if it is needed to give force or fulness to the whole.
