FIRST PART—ITALY, VIENNA, MUNICH.—1770 TO 1776.
SECOND PART.—MUNICH, AUGSBURG, MANNHEIM.—SEPTEMBER 1771 TO MARCH 1778.
THIRD PART.—PARIS.—MARCH 1778 TO JANUARY 1779.
FOURTH PART.—MUNICH.—IDOMENEO.—NOVEMBER 1780 TO JANUARY 1781.
PREFACE
A
full and authentic edition of Mozart's Letters ought to require no
special apology; for, though their essential substance has already
been made known by quotations from biographies by Nissen, Jahn, and
myself, taken from the originals, still in these three works the
letters are necessarily not only very imperfectly given, but in some
parts so fragmentary, that the peculiar charm of this
correspondence—namely, the familiar and confidential mood in which
it was written at the time—is entirely destroyed. It was only
possible to restore, and to enable others to enjoy this charm—a
charm so novel, even to those already conversant with Mozart's life,
that the most familiar incidents acquire fresh zest from it—by an
ungarbled edition of these letters. This is what I now offer, feeling
convinced that it will be welcome not only to the mass of Mozart's
admirers, but also to professional musicians; for in them alone is
strikingly set forth how Mozart lived and labored, enjoyed and
suffered, and this with a degree of vivid and graphic reality which
no biography, however complete, could ever succeed in giving. Who
does not know the varied riches of Mozart's life? All that agitated
the minds of men in that day—nay, all that now moves, and ever will
move, the heart of man—vibrated with fresh pulsation, and under the
most manifold forms, in his sensitive soul, and mirrored itself in a
series of letters, which indeed rather resemble a journal than a
correspondence.This
artist, Nature had gifted in all respects with the most clear and
vigorous intellect that ever man possessed. Even in a language which
he had not so fully mastered as to acquire the facility of giving
expression to his ideas, he contrived to relate to others all that he
saw and heard, and felt and thought, with surprising clearness and
the most charming sprightliness, combined with talent and good
feeling. Above all, in his letters to his father when travelling, we
meet with the most minute delineations of countries and people, of
the progress of the fine arts, especially in the theatres and in
music; we also see the impulses of his own heart and a hundred other
things which, in fascination, and universal as well as artistic
interest, have scarcely a parallel in our literature. The style may
fail to a certain degree in polish, that is, in definite purpose in
expressing what he wished to say in an attractive or congenial
form,—an art, however, which Mozart so thoroughly understood in his
music. His mode of writing, especially in the later letters from
Vienna, is often very slovenly, evidencing how averse the Maestro was
to the task. Still these letters are manifestly the unconstrained,
natural, and simple outpourings of his heart, delightfully recalling
to our minds all the sweetness and pathos, the spirit and grace,
which have a thousand times enchanted us in the music of Mozart. The
accounts of his visit to Paris may, indeed, lay claim to a certain
aesthetic value, for they are written throughout with visible zest in
his own descriptions, and also with wit, and charm, and
characteristic energy. As these combined merits can only become
apparent by an ungarbled series of the letters, I have resolved,
after many long years of zealous research in collecting them, to
undertake the work,—that is, to publish the letters entire that
have come to my knowledge.It
now only remains for me to give some words of explanation as to the
method I have pursued in editing them.In
the first place, this edition, (being transcribed closely from the
originals,) if compared with the letters already published, will
prove that the latter are open to many corrections, both in trivial
and more important respects. I have forborne, however, attracting
attention to the deviations from the original text, either in Nissen
or Jahn. I have no wish to be punctilious about trifles, where, as in
the case of Jahn, the principal points are correct. Further, by this
faithful production of the letters, (nothing being omitted but the
constant repetition of forms of greeting and subscription,) we find
many an additional feature in the Maestro's life, and chiefly various
facts with regard to the creation and publication of his works, which
may serve to complete and to amend various statements in Dr. Ludwig
Ritter von Kochel's "Chronological Thematic Catalogue of the
Musical Compositions of W. A. Mozart," (Leipzig, Breitkopf and
Hartel). This will be effected not only by the hitherto unpublished
letters, though comparatively few in number, but also by passages
being given in full, which have been hitherto suppressed as of no
consequence. I have referred to Nissen and Jahn only when, in spite
of all my inquiries, I could not discover the proprietor of the
original, or procure a correct copy.I
must also remark that all letters without a special address are
written to his father. I have only adhered to Mozart's defective
orthography in his few letters of early date, and in the rest adopted
the more modern fashion. I did so for this simple reason, that these
defects form a charm in his juvenile letters, from being in
accordance with their boyish contents, while, with regard to the
others, they only tend to distract the attention from the substance
of the letters, instead of imparting additional interest to them.
Biographers can, and ought always to render faithfully the original
writing, because quotations alternate with the text of the
biographer; but in a regular and uninterrupted series of letters this
attraction must be very sparingly used, or it will have a pernicious
effect.The
explanatory remarks, and also the supplementary Lexicon, in which I
have availed myself of Jahn's catalogue, will make the letters more
intelligible to the world at large. The Index, too, has been most
carefully prepared to facilitate references.Lastly,
I return my best thanks to the keeper of the Archives of the
Mozarteum in Salzburg, to Herr Jellinck, and to all the librarians
and collectors of autographs who have assisted me in my task, either
by furnishing me with copies of their Mozart letters, or by letting
me know where I could procure them. I would also earnestly request
all who may possess any Mozart letters to send me an exact transcript
of them in the interest of Art; for those here given allude to many
still unknown, which are no doubt scattered about here and there,
waiting to be brought to light.With
respect to myself, the best reward I aspire to in return for the many
sacrifices this collection has cost me, is, that my readers may do
justice to the purpose which chiefly guided me throughout this
publication,—my desire being not merely to benefit science, and to
give a graphic description of the amiability and purity of heart
which so distinguished this attractive man, (for such was my aim in
my "Life of Mozart,") but above all to draw attention
afresh to the unremitting zeal with which Mozart did homage to every
advance in Art, striving to make music more and more the interpreter
of man's innermost being. I also wished to show how much his course
was impeded by the sluggishness and stupidity of the multitude,
though partly sustained by the sympathy of kindred souls, till the
glorious victory was won over routine and imbecility. Amidst all the
fatiguing process of copying and collating letters already so
familiar to me, these considerations moved me more vividly than ever;
and no work on the Maestro can ever bring them with such force before
the intelligent reader as this connected succession of letters,
containing his own details of his unwearied artistic struggles and
productions. May these letters, then, kindle fresh zeal in our
artists of the present day, both in youthful genius and in
laurel-crowned Maestri!—especially may they have the happiest
influence on those who devote themselves to that phase of Art in
which Mozart attained the highest renown!—may they impart that
energetic courage which is derived from the experience that incessant
efforts for the progress of Art and its appliances enlarge the limits
of human intellect, and can alone insure an immortal crown!
FIRST PART—ITALY, VIENNA, MUNICH.—1770 TO 1776.
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg on the 17th January, 1756. His
father, Leopold Mozart, belonged to a respectable tradesman's family
in the free city of Augsburg. Conscious of being gifted with no small
portion of intellectual endowments, he followed the impulse that led
him to aim at a higher position in life, and went to the then
celebrated University of Salzburg in order to study jurisprudence. As
he did not, however, at once succeed in procuring employment in this
profession, he was forced, from his straitened means, to enter the
service of Canon Count Thun as valet. Subsequently, however, his
talents, and that thorough knowledge of music by which he had already
(according to the custom of many students) gained some part of his
livelihood, obtained for him a better position. In the year 1743 he
was received into the band (Kapelle) of the Salzburg cathedral by
Archbishop Sigismund; and as his capabilities and fame as a violinist
increased, the same Prince shortly afterwards promoted him to the
situation of Hof-Componist (Court Composer) and leader of the
orchestra, and in 1762 he was appointed Hof-Kapellmeister (conductor
of the Court music).
In
1747 Leopold Mozart married Anna Maria Pertlin, a foster-child of the
Convent of St. Gilgen. The fruits of this marriage were seven
children, two of whom alone survived,—Maria Anna, (the fourth),
called Nannerl, born in 1751; and the youngest, Wolfgang Amadeus
Johannes Chrysostomus. The daughter at a very early age displayed a
most remarkable talent for music, and when her father began to give
her instructions in it, an inborn and passionate love of this art was
soon evident in her little brother of three years old, who at once
gave tokens of a degree of genius far surpassing all experience, and
really bordering on the marvellous. In his fourth year he could play
all sorts of little pieces on the piano. He only required half an
hour to learn a minuet, and one hour for a longer movement; and in
his fifth year he actually composed some pretty short pieces, several
of which are still extant.
