UPON his arrival in Vienna on June 4, Mozart at once set to work upon a quartet for Frederick William II.; the Quartet in D major (575 K.) was completed in the same month, and in return for it, according to the Berlin Veteran, he received a valuable gold snuff-box with 100 friedrichsdor, and a complimentary letter.[ 1 ] But this did not materially affect his embarrassed circumstances; the precarious state of his wife's health kept him in a state of perpetual anxiety, and the expenses it involved brought him into serious difficulties: "I am most unhappy!" he wrote on July 17 to his friend Puchberg. The confident expectation of a permanent improvement in his outward position, which he expressed in his letters to this constant friend, were grounded, as it seems, upon the overtures which had been made to him in Berlin; he had informed the Emperor of them, and thought himself entitled to look for a compensation for his refusal. But circumstances were not then favourable, and Mozart was not the man to push a claim of the kind. The effect of his depression is clearly visible in the want of musical productivity during this period. His own catalogue contains only the following compositions belonging to this year:—
1789. June. A quartet for his majesty the King of Prussia, in D major
July. Sonata for pianoforte alone, D major (576 K.). Rondo in my opera of "Figaro" for Madame Ferraresi del Bene, "Al desio (577 K.).
August. Aria in the opera "I Due Baroni," for Mdlle. Louise Villeneuve, "Alma grande e nobil core" (578 K.).
September 17. Aria in the opera "Der Barbier von Seviglien," for Madame Hofer, "Schon lachtder holde Frühling" (580 K.). (575 K.).
September 29. Quintet for clarinet, two violins, viola, and violoncello, in A major (581 K.); first played in public at the concert for the funds of the Pension, December 22, 1789.[ 2 ]
October. Aria in the opera "ü Burbero," for Mdlle. Villeneuve, "Chi sà, chi sà quai sia" (582 K.).
Ditto, "Vado! ma dove?" (583 K.).
December, An air which was intended for Benucci in the opera "Cosi fan Tutte," "Rivolgete à me lo sguardo" (584 K.). Twelve minuets (585 K.) and twelve waltzes (586 K.).