Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters (72 page)

– Farewell a thousand times. I must close. – My wife and Carl send a 1000 good wishes to you and your husband. I am ever your honest brother who loves you,

W. A. Mozart

On 1 October Mozart and Constanze set out for Prague for the preparations for the first performance of his opera
Don Giovanni,
his second collaboration with Da Ponte, commissioned earlier that year in the wake of
Figaro
’s Prague success. On 14 October Mozart conducted
Le nozze di Figaro
as part of the festivities celebrating the wedding of Archduchess Maria Theresa, niece of Joseph II, and Prince Anton Clemens of Saxony;
Don Giovanni
was premiered on 29 October.

Dearest, most beloved Friend,

I hope you received my letter; – my opera
Don Giovanni
was staged on 29 Oct. and met with the most tremendous acclaim. – It was given yesterday for the 4th time – for my benefit; – I’m planning to leave here on the 12th or 13th; as soon as I’m back, you’ll have the aria
¹
straightaway;
N. B. between ourselves;
– I wish that my good
friends – especially you and Bridi
²
– could have been here for just one evening to share in my pleasure! – But perhaps it’ll be performed in Vienna? – I hope so. – People here are doing everything possible to persuade me to remain here for another couple of months and write another opera. – But, however flattering their offer, I can’t accept it. – Now, my dearest friend, how are you? – I hope that you’re
all
as well and as healthy as we are; – you can’t fail to be happy, dearest friend, as you possess everything you could wish for
at your age
and
in your situation
! – especially since you appear to have entirely abandoned your former somewhat
unsettled lifestyle
; – I guess that with each passing day you’re becoming more and more convinced of the truth of the little lectures I gave you. – Surely the pleasures of a fickle and flighty passion are worlds apart from the happiness afforded by a true and sensible love. – In your heart I expect that you often thank me for my teachings! – You’ll make me quite conceited. – But, joking apart, I deserve at least some thanks if you’re now more worthy of Fräulein N
³
....... as I played a by no means insignificant part in reforming or converting you; – my great-grandfather used to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who then told her daughter, my grandmother, who in turn told her daughter, my mother, who in turn told her daughter, my own sister, that to speak well and to talk a flowery language is a very great art but perhaps a no less great art is knowing when to stop; – and so I’ll heed the advice of my sister, which she owed to our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and put a stop not only to my moral excursus but also to this letter as a whole.

The 9th
.– I’ve received your 2nd letter with a mixture of surprise and pleasure; – if you needed the song
⁴
in question to be assured of
> my friendship for you, you’ve no further cause to doubt it – for here it is: – but I hope that you’re convinced of my true friendship even
without this song
, and in this hope I remain ever your most sincere friend

W. A. Mozart

P. S.: I
really
can’t believe that neither your dear parents nor your sister nor your brother remembered me! – I ascribe that entirely to
your
forgetfulness, my friend. And I flatter myself that I’m not mistaken. – As for the double seal, it’s like this: the red wax was useless – so I sealed it on top in black; – and I left my usual seal in Vienna. – Adieu, – I hope to embrace you soon.

We both send our best wishes to your whole family and also to the Natorps. –

Mozart and Constanze returned to Vienna about 16 November. The composer Christoph Willibald Gluckhad died in Vienna on 15 November, and on 7 December Joseph II appointed Mozart imperial and royal chamber composer with an annual salary of 800 florins. Mozart and Constanze’s fourth child, Theresia Constanzia Adelheid, was born on 27 December. Other details of Mozart’s life at this time are scarce. On 10 February 1788 he played at a concert given by the Venetian ambassador Andrea Dolfin, and in February and March he performed his arrangement of C. P. E. Bach’s cantata
Auferstehung und Himmelfart Jesu
at Count Esterházy’s. In March he composed the aria
Ah se in ciel, benigne stelle
K588 for Aloysia Lange and on 2 April he began a subscription for three string quintets (K406, 515 and 516) that failed to fill. A revised version of
Don Giovanni
was premiered at the court theatre in Vienna on 7 May. On 17 June, Mozart and Constanze moved to the Alsergrund suburb, in the Währingerstrasse.

Most honourable B. O.,
¹

Dearest and most beloved Friend,

I kept thinking that I’d get into town one of these days in order to thank you in person for the kindness that you’ve shown me – but now I don’t even have the heart to appear before you as I’m obliged to admit quite candidly that I can’t possibly pay you back the money you lent me as soon as I’d intended and I must ask you to be patient with me! – It worries me greatly that the situation is what it is and that you can’t help me as much as I’d like! – My position is such that I’m absolutely forced to raise some money. – But, in God’s name, in whom can I confide? No one but you, my dearest of friends! – If you would at least be kind enough to obtain the money for me by some other means! – I’ll gladly pay the interest, and whoever lends it to me is, I think, sufficiently indemnified by my character & my income – I’m only sorry to be in this position, but that’s why I’d like to have a fairly
substantial sum
for a somewhat
longer period of time
in order to be able to obviate the situation. – If you, my most worthy brother, don’t help me in my present situation, I shall lose my honour and my credit, which is the one thing I’d like to keep. – I rely entirely on your genuine friendship and brotherly love and confidently expect that you’ll help me in word and deed. If I obtain what I want, I’ll be able to breathe freely again as I’ll then be in a position to put my affairs in order and
keep
them like that; – do come and see me; I’m always at home; – in the 10 days that I’ve been here I’ve done more work than in 2 months in my other lodgings, and if I weren’t so often plagued by black thoughts that I can banish only with great effort, things would be even better, as my rooms are pleasant – comfortable – and
cheap!
– I don’t want to detain you any longer with my nonsense and shall
say no more
– and
hope
.

Ever your obedient servant and true friend and B. O.

W. A. Mozart

Dearest Sister,

You’d have every reason to be angry with me!
¹
– But will you still be cross when you receive my latest piano pieces by this mail coach? – Oh no! – This, I hope, will put us back on course. –

As you’ll be convinced that not a day goes by without my wishing you every possible happiness, you’ll not mind if I’m a little late in sending you my best wishes on your name day; – dearest sister; – with all my heart and soul I wish you all that you believe is most beneficial to yourself, and that’s that. –

Dear sister! – You can’t doubt that I’ve a lot to do – you also know that I’m rather lazy when it comes to writing letters; – so don’t take it amiss if I write to you only
rarely
; – but this shouldn’t prevent you from often writing
to me
; – however much I dislike writing letters, I like receiving them. – Also, you’ve got more to write about than I have as there are more things that interest me in Salzburg than is the case with you and Vienna. –

I now have something to ask of you: – I wonder if Haydn would lend me
his 2 tutti masses
and the
graduals
that he’s written?
²
I’d like to borrow them for a time in full score and will return them with many thanks. – It’s now a year since I wrote to him and invited him to visit me, but he hasn’t replied; – in terms of answering letters he seems to have a lot in common
with me
, doesn’t he? – So I would ask you to arrange these matters as follows: – invite him out to your house and play him some of my new works; – the trio and the quartet will surely not displease him.
³
– Adieu, dearest sister! – As soon
as I’ve collected together some more new music, I’ll send it to you; – I am ever your sincere brother

W. A. Mozart

P.S.: My wife sends her very best wishes. And we send ours to our dear brother-in-law.

P.S.: In reply to your point about my terms of service, the emperor has taken me into his household and as a result has made a formal
appointment
;
for the present
, however, I’m on only
800
florins – but no one else in the household is getting
so much
. – Although the playbill for my Prague opera
Don Giovanni
– which is being given again today – could hardly be accused of including
too much
information as the management of the Imperial and Royal Theatres was responsible for it, it did say that the music was by Herr Mozart,
Kapellmeister in the actual service of His Imperial and Royal Majesty
.

Between June and August 1788 Mozart composed his last three symphonies, K543, 550 and 551 (‘Jupiter’). His daughter Theresia died on 29 June. In November he arranged Handel’s masque
Acis and Galatea
(1718/32) for Gottfried van Swieten; his arrangement of Handel’s
Messiah
(1742) was performed at Count Esterhaázy’s on 6 March 1789. In January he and Constanze had moved backinto the city, to Judenplatz 245, and later that spring Mozart decided to undertake a concert tour to Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin. He left Vienna on 8 April in the company of Prince Karl Lichnowsky (1761–1814
),
a prominent Viennese patron of music (he was later a patron of Beethoven’s, who dedicated several works to him).

Dearest and most beloved little wife,

We arrived here safely at half past 1 today; meanwhile I hope
you’ve received my note from Budwitz. – Now for my report on Prague. – We put up at the Unicorn; – after I’d been shaved, had my hair done and got dressed, I drove out to Canal’s, intending to dine with him; but as I had to drive past the Duscheks, I made enquiries there and discovered that Madame had yesterday left for Dresden!!! – – – So I’ll meet her there. He was dining at Leliborn’s, where I too often used to dine; – so I drove straight there. – I sent in a message to the effect that someone was wanting to speak to Duschek and that he should come out. You can imagine his delight. – So I dined at Leliborn’s. – After we’d eaten, I drove off to see Canal and Pachta,
¹
but they weren’t at home; – and so I went to Guardasoni’s – who has virtually arranged for me to be given 200 ducats for the opera next autumn
²
and 50 ducats as travelling expenses. – I then returned home in order to write all this to my dear little wife – something else; – Ramm left here only a week ago to return home, he’d come from Berlin and said that the king
³
had frequently and insistently asked if it was certain that I was going to Berlin, and as I’d not yet come, he then said he was afraid that I wasn’t coming. – Ramm got very anxious and tried to reassure him; – to judge from this, things shouldn’t go too badly for me. – I’m now taking the prince
⁴
to meet Duschek, who’s waiting for us, and at 9 o’clock we’re leaving for Dresden, where we’ll arrive tomorrow evening. – My dear little wife, I long so much for news of you – perhaps I’ll find a letter waiting for me in Dresden! O God! make my wishes come true! On receiving this letter you must write to me
poste restante
in Leipzig, you understand; adieu, my dear, I must close, otherwise the post will leave without me. – I kiss our Carl a thousand times and kiss you with all my heart. I am ever your faithful

Mozart

P. S.: All conceivable good wishes to Herr and Frau von Puchberg, I’ll have to wait till I get to Berlin to write and thank him. – Adieu,
aimez moi et gardez votre santé si chère et précieuse à votre ápoux.
⁵

Half past 11 at night

Dearest and most beloved little wife,

What? – Still in Dresden? – Yes, my dear; – I’ll explain it all in every last detail; – on Monday the 13th, after we’d had breakfast at Neumann’s, we all went to the court chapel, the mass was by Naumann,
¹
he conducted it himself – very mediocre; – we were in an oratory opposite the musicians; – Neumann suddenly nudged me and introduced me to Herr von König, who’s
Directeur des Plaisirs
– the doleful pleasures of the elector;
²
– he was exceptionally civil and when he asked if I’d like His Highness to hear me, I replied that it would be a great honour but that I wasn’t my own master, I couldn’t stay – and that’s how we left it; – my princely travelling companion invited the Neumanns and Frau Duschek to lunch: – while we were at table, a message arrived to say that I was to play at court the following day, Tuesday the 14th, at half past 5 in the evening. – This is something quite exceptional here, where it’s otherwise very difficult to obtain an audience; and you know that I’d absolutely no thought of doing so here. – We’d arranged a quartet at the Hôtel de Pologne.
³
– We played it in the chapel with Anton Teyber – who, as you know, is the organist here – and Herr Kraft – who’s Prince Esterházy’s
cellist and who’s here with his son;
⁴
among the works I played at this little concert was the trio
⁵
I wrote for Herr von Puchberg – it received a really quite commendable performance – and Frau Duschek sang a whole number of things from Figaro and Don Juan;
⁶
– the next day, at court, I played the new concerto in D;
⁷
and the following morning – Wednesday the 15th – I received a very beautiful snuffbox; – we then had lunch at the Russian ambassador’s,
⁸
where I played a lot. – After lunch we decided to go off in search of an organ. – It was 4 o’clock by the time we got there – Naumann was there too; – I should add that a certain Hässler
⁹
– he’s the organist at Erfurt – is here; he too was there; – he’s a pupil of a pupil of Bach. – His forte is the organ and the clavichord – well, the people here think that because I come from Vienna, I don’t know anything about their taste in music and style of playing. – So I sat down at the organ and played. – Prince Lichnowsky – because he knows Hässler very well – persuaded him to play too, though it required a great effort to get him to do so; – Hässler’s forte on the organ is his footwork, which, since the pedals here are graded, doesn’t require much skill; also, he’s merely learnt by heart old Sebastian Bach’s harmony and modulations and is incapable of playing a fugue properly – he has no solid technique – as a result, he’s far from being an Albrechtsberger.
¹⁰
– After this we decided to go back to the Russian ambassador’s so that Hässler could hear me on the fortepiano; – Hässler played too. – On the fortepiano I think Fräulein Auernhammer is just as proficient; so you can imagine that he’s sunk considerably in my estimation. – After that we went to the opera, which was truly awful; – do you know
who one of the singers was? – Rosa Manservisi, – you can imagine her delight at seeing me there. – But the leading singer, Allegranti, is in fact much better than Ferrarese – not that that’s saying much.
¹¹
– We returned home after the opera; now comes the happiest moment for me; I found a letter from you, my dearest, my beloved, something I’d been longing for so very much! – Frau Duschek and the Neumanns were still with me, I immediately went off to my room in triumph, kissed the letter countless times before breaking it open – and then devoured it rather than read it. – I remained in my room for quite a while as I couldn’t read it often enough or kiss it often enough. When I rejoined the company, the Neumanns asked me if I’d received a letter and when I said yes they all congratulated me sincerely as every day I’d been complaining that I’d not had any news; – the Neumanns are delightful people; – now for your kind letter; my account of my stay here up to the time of my departure will be continued in my next letter.