Chapter V: The Italian Tour (1)

THE Archbishop could not but feel flattered at the accomplishments of the young Salzburger, and he endeavoured, as far as lay in his power, to complete the partial success of the visit to Vienna by ordering a performance of Wolfgang's opera in Salzburg, notwithstanding that it was "an opera buffa,

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(98)

requiring performers of a buffo character." The programme, recovered by Köchel[1] gives the following [See Page Image] [2]cast:--

The performance must have taken place on the fête-day of the Archbishop or some similar festive occasion, and upon a stage specially erected in the archiepiscopal palace.

{SALZBURG--MASS IN D MINOR.}

(99)

1748, "La Clemenza di Tito" was given by the Signori Paggi di Corte, who played even the female parts, or of the chapel.

It was the custom on such occasions at the close of the performance to address the person in whose honour it was given, generally in the form of an air with recitative, concluding with a chorus; this peroration, which had no connection with the body of the opera, was called _licenza_) Two such, composed by Wolfgang for Archbishop Sigismund, are still preserved; a tenor air (36 K.) and a soprano air (70 K.), both with long recitatives, giving testimony to increasing dexterity in the treatment of form.

The performance of the opera was followed on the side of the Archbishop by the announcement of Wolfgang's appointment as Concertmeister, and he was accordingly so entered in the Court Calendar of 1770.

The greater part of the year 1769 was spent quietly at Salzburg in studies of which we know but little. The only compositions which can certainly be ascribed to this year are seven minuets for two violins and bass, composed January 26, 1769,[3] and two masses; they are all of the nature of studies. The first of the masses, in D minor, dated January 14, 1769 (65 K.), noteworthy on account of the minor key, is a missa brevis, and keeps strictly to that form, both in choruses and solos; in the Credo the words "Genitum, non factum--consubstantialem Patri--per quem omnia facta sunt," are distributed to three voices, and sung together. The different phrases, though well formed, have a certain abruptness, showing that the skill to continue and develop the suggestions of the mind was still wanting. But the ordering of the details and the counterpoint are both excellent, and bear many marks of originality.

As an example the fugue--

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(100)

is unusual, but has a striking effect in this place. Mozart evidently enters more into the spirit of his work as the mass proceeds, and gives his impulses freer play. The Benedic-tus apparently gave him some trouble. First, it was written for all four voices, then for soprano solo, and lastly as a duet for soprano and alto, this last arrangement being twice elaborated. The alterations in the details show how precise he was in this work. [See Page Image]

The beginning of the Dona--

Do - na, do - na no - bis

{PATER DOMINICUS MASS.}

(101)

promises well, but fails to maintain the same level to the end. [See Page Image]

The second mass, in C major (66 K.), the "Pater Domini-cus Mass," was composed in October, 1769, on the occasion of the first celebration of mass by Hagenauer's son, whose entrance into a monastery had formerly caused Wolfgang to shed tears (p. 50).[4] The young composer put forth all his powers to produce a truly grand and brilliant festival mass.

Every part is well conceived and worked out, and considerable progress is observable in the mechanical details of the whole. The subjects are more important, and the passages for the violins, which are very prominent, have more distinct character; the different parts, too, have freer play. But it is at the same time to be noted that the substance of the work is not yet on a level with its broader scheme. A succession of independent solos, which evidently served as the special embellishment of the mass, show a considerable effort to avoid a light operatic tone, and to combine dignity with easy and attractive grace.

Mozart's unequalled talent for pure and noble melody is as discernible here as elsewhere, though it is crippled by a certain amount of confusion of ideas. Curiously enough the Benedictus, a solo quartet, is accompanied only by the first violin, which plays round the voices with a continuous running passage. There is a good effect in the Dona nobis, where the chorus answers the short solo phrases--

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(102)

with changes of lead and harmony. [See Page Image]

This mass serves as a proof that L. Mozart did not confine himself to educating his son as an operatic composer, but that he made him pass through a course of severe study in every branch of his art, with the just conviction that his genius, when fully trained and developed, would mark out a line for itself.

L. Mozart's intention of taking Wolfgang to Italy remained firm as ever, and he considered their stay in Vienna as the first step towards its accomplishment. At that time, Italy was to musicians what she now is to painters and sculptors; a residence there was necessary to give the finishing touches to their education, and _éclat_ to their reputation.

Music in Italy was not only an art universally diffused and esteemed, it was _the_ Art _par excellence_. All classes shared the insatiable desire for music everywhere--in the churches, the theatres, the streets, and their own homes; and the delicate appreciation and enthusiasm for what was excellent were increased by practice and education. So in Italy a national tradition for production as well as for taste had been gradually formed, a sort of musical climate, in which artists found it easy to breathe. They knew that they might rely confidently on the appreciation of the public, whose attention and intelligence urged them to fresh efforts, while rewarding each success with sympathetic applause.

Opera and church music were almost in equal favour, and afforded mutual support to each other. It was accordant with the brilliancy of royal courts and rich cities to give operatic performances either at Carnival time or on special festive occasions; no expense was spared to engage the most famous singers, male and female, and for every season (_stagione_) new operas were written, if possible by famous and favourite composers. Again, the dignity of the Church required, at least on great holy days, that the musical part of the worship should be grand and imposing; and the more

{MUSIC IN ITALY.}

(103)

richly endowed churches and monasteries were quite able to rival the theatres. There was on every side a steady demand for musical production and execution, which offered abundant opportunity for the exercise of every kind of talent.

The musical education of youth was principally intrusted to the Church. Monasteries and religious institutions were careful to train the musical strength, which was later to be at their disposal; special institutions were founded, which were in part the origin of the future Conservatoires, whose mission it was to train their scholars as singers, instrumentalists, or composers, and in every case as thoroughly cultivated musicians. In Venice there were four such foundations in which boys, and more especially girls, received musical instruction, preparatory to devoting themselves to the service of the Church: the Ospidale della Pietà, intended for foundlings; Ospedaletto, where Sacchini was kapellmeister at this time; Gli Mendicanti, and Gli Incurabili, then under Galuppi's direction.[5] In Naples were similar establishments, De Poveridi Gesù-Christo; Della Pietà de' Turchini; S. Onofrio; Loretto. Though all were originally intended as nurseries for church music, yet they were of almost equal service to music of a secular nature; indeed, the most highly gifted among the scholars were likely to prefer the more brilliant and profitable career of the opera stage. But the separation was never complete; operatic composers for the most part worked also for the churches, where opera singers and even professional instrumentalists were often heard. Ecclesiastics, too, practised music in various branches, often with zeal and success. Although this union of musical forces, through the overpowering influence of the opera, worked in time prejudicially on the dignity and purity of church music, yet there can be no doubt of its good effect on the study of form and musical science. The result was all the greater, since the almost instinctive steadfastness of the national taste preserved musicians from aberrations which are only to be checked by rigid limitations as to style and form. An art so formed,

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(104)

with so one-sided a cultivation, must of course die out in the end; but the extraordinary accomplishments of numerous Italian masters cannot fail to impress us with admiration of the share which Italian music, in its fulness of life and activity, had in producing a true musical atmosphere. It was indeed, this firm foundation of scientific knowledge which made possible a liberation of music from its confined Italian limits without abandoning the laws of artistic formation.

Under these circumstances Italy enjoyed undisputed and unlimited sovereignty in all matters relating to music. Spain and England acknowledged it almost without reserve; in France, where the impulse proceeding originally from Italy, had been modified by national characteristics, the influence of Italy was now beginning to reassert itself. In Germany alone, the works of great masters (we need only remind our readers of the Bach family as representatives of German church music; of Keiser, the creator of German opera in Hamburg) bore witness to an independent development of music. Even here it was not as "German as the German oaks," and bore many traces of Italian or French influences; but the comprehension and cultivation of form, the substance and spirit of the music, are purely German. This German music, however, was principally confined to Protestant North Germany; it was nourished by no favour from the great, and the colder artistic mind of North Germany hindered it from attaining the popularity which was enjoyed by music in Italy. At all the German courts, Protestant as well as Catholic, the opera was Italian; the Catholic church music was under the exclusive sway of Italian composers; all singers, male and female, were either born or educated in Italy, and so, for the most part, were the instrumentalists, although it was in instrumental music that Germany first challenged the supremacy of Italy.

The curious attraction of Germans to Italy, which has existed in all ages under different manifestations, must have worked with peculiar power on musicians.[6] The German

{LEOPOLD' MOZART'S HOPES.}

(105)

composers of the last century (with the exception of the North German Protestant church composers) all studied and laid the foundation of their fame in Italy, even those who, like Handel and Gluck, possessed original power enough to enable them later to strike out a path for themselves.[7]

It may be said that, in this sense, Mozart's pilgrimage to Rome was the last of its kind; to him it was accorded, not, only to attain to the highest aim of Italian opera but to break the bonds of nationality, by lending depth and substance to the Italian perfection of form, while, with the wealth of knowledge acquired in Italy, he furnished artistic form and expression to the national opera of Germany.

In taking his son to Italy, L. Mozart had a twofold end in view. Wolfgang was not so much to continue his scholastic training (that he could have done at home) as to emerge from a narrow provincial existence into the great world of art, and by extended experiences to gain the refined taste of a cultivated man of the world. He was also to gain fresh laurels, and to prepare the way for a prosperous and glorious future. L. Mozart expected from the excitable Italians special interest and applause on account of Wolfgang's youth; and in this he was not disappointed. But he soon found that no pecuniary gain was to be expected from this journey, since all concerts (_accademie_) were given by exclusive companies, or by a public institute without entrance money; so that the artist could count on no receipts but a voluntary fee from the _entrepreneur_, which was not usually large. Soon after his arrival in Italy L. Mozart remarks to his wife, a remark often repeated, that although not rich he has "always a little more than is absolutely necessary"; and so bearing his main object in view, he is quite content.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(106)

Considering the constant fulfilment of duty as the most important factor in education, he insisted on Wolfgang's continuing his regular studies during their journey. A long list of compositions, partly suggested by passing events, partly set studies, bear witness to this. Wolfgang, who was very fond of arithmetic (p. 22), asks his sister to send his arithmetic book after him, so that he may go on with his sums. In Rome he had a present of an Italian translation of the "Arabian Nights," which amused him very much. Soon after we find him reading "Telemachus." L. Mozart was too well informed himself to look upon this journey as instructive merely from a musical point of view. His letters show that he took interest in politics and social life, in nature, art, and antiquity; he sends home long descriptions of the journey, which are to serve as preliminaries to future conversations over the books and engravings he is collecting. Wolfgang evinced the same fresh interest in everything he saw, and offered no opposition to the care his father took of his health. "You know that he can be moderate," writes L. Mozart (February 17,1770), and I can assure you that I have never seen him so careful of his health as in this country. He leaves alone all that he does not think good for him, and many days he eats but little; yet he is always fat and well, and merry and happy the whole day long. And from Rome he writes (April 14, 1770), that Wolfgang "takes as much care of his health as if he were a grown man."

Neither the honours with which he was everywhere overwhelmed, nor his performances as a musician, had any effect in spoiling the unsophisticated nature of the boy; he was always bright and animated, full of jokes and merry absurdities, and retaining a strong attachment to home and the home circle amid all the distractions of the journey. In his letters to his sister, he falls into a ludicrous jargon, composed of any number of different languages, and of childish jokes and teasings, after the manner of brothers and sisters who have grown up together and are under no sort of restraint in their intercourse.

But whenever the subject is connected with music, through all the joking tone can be traced a lively interest and a

{INSPRUCK--ROVEREDO, 1770.}

(107)

decided and impartial judgment; and the whole tone of his letters breathes hearty sympathy and amiability. Fortunate circumstances and a sensible education had combined with the happiest result; and there can be no doubt that the concentration of Mozart's early training on one object had the indirect effect of keeping at a safe distance much that might have been hurtful to his disposition.

The father and son left Salzburg at the beginning of December, 1769.[8] Many threads of personal recommendation stretched thence into the Tyrol and upper Italy, partly from mercantile connections, partly through the noble families belonging to the Cathedral Chapter, and the travellers had introductions which gained them admittance into widely different circles. Their first stay was at Inspruck, where they were well received by Count Spaur, brother to the Salzburg Capitular. On December 14, at a concert given by the nobility at the house of Count Künigl, Wolfgang played a concerto at sight, which had been put before him as a test of his skill; at the close he was presented with it, and twelve ducats in addition. The Inspruck newspaper testified (December 18) that "Herr Wolfgang Mozart, whose extraordinary musical attainments have made him famous alike in the imperial court, in England, France, Holland, and throughout the Holy Roman Empire," had given in this performance the most convincing proofs of his marvellous skill. "This youthful musician, who is just thirteen years old, has added fresh brilliancy to his fame, and has commanded the unanimous approbation of all musical connoisseurs."

As soon as they entered Italy the marks of honour with which the young artist was received became more animated and enthusiastic. At Roveredo the nobles arranged a concert at the house of Baron Todeschi, who had known Mozart at Vienna. "There is no need to say how Wolfgang is received," writes his father. When he wanted to play the organ at the principal church, the report of it spread through

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(108)

the town, and the church was so full that it took two strong men to clear the way to the choir, and then it was a quarter of an hour before they could get to the organ, they were so besieged by the audience.

The enthusiasm in Verona was still greater. As there was an opera every evening, a week elapsed before a concert could be arranged; but in the meantime invitations poured in from the Marchese Carlotti, Count Giusti del Giardino, Locatelli, &c.

Wolfgang performed a symphony of his own composition before a select assembly of connoisseurs, besides playing difficult pieces at sight, and composing a song to some dictated words, which he afterwards sang. The scene at Roveredo was repeated when he went to play the organ at St. Thomas's Church. The press was so great that they were obliged to get into the church through the monastery, and even then they could hardly have reached the organ had not the monks formed a ring round them, and so made a way through the crowd. "When it was over, the noise was still greater, for every one wanted to see the little organist."

Newspapers and poets vied with each other in extolling the marvellous apparition. The Receiver-General, Pietro Lugiati, chief among intellectual dilettanti, caused a life-size portrait of Wolfgang at the clavier to be painted in oils, and acquainted his mother with this honour in a long letter which contained warm expressions of admiration for the "raro e portentoso giovane."[9]

On January 10 they entered Mantua well and hearty in spite of the cold; but Wolfgangerl looked, his father said, owing to the fresh air and the heat of the stove, "as if he had gone through a campaign, a sort of reddish brown, particularly round the eyes and mouth, something like his Majesty the Emperor." Here too, they were warmly received by all the distinguished dilettanti of the place; Signora Bettinelli in especial lavished all a mother's care on

{PROGRAMME OF CONCERT AT MANTUA, 1770.}

(109)

the boy, and wept at parting from him. A Signora Sartoretti invited them to dine with her, and sent by her servants a vase with a beautiful bouquet tied with red ribbon, and in the middle of the ribbon a piece of four ducats folded in a poem addressed by the Signora to Wolfgang.

On January 16, the concert of the Philharmonic Society was given in their capital hall, Wolfgang being the principal performer. The programme, which we append, gives some idea of Wolfgang's performances in Italy.

Serie delle composizione musicali da eseguirsi nell' accademia pubblica filarmonica di Mantova la sera del di 16 del corrente Gennajo, 1770.

In occasione della venuta del espertissimo giovanetto

Sign. Amadeo Mozart.

1. Sinfonia di composizione del Sign. Amadeo.

2. Concerto di Gravecembalo esibitogli e da lui eseguito all im prowiso.

3. Aria d'un Professore.

4. Sonata di Cembalo all improwiso eseguita dal giovine con variazioni analoghe d'invenzione sua e replicata poi in tuono diverso da quello in cui è scritta.

5. Concerto di Violino d'un Professore.

6. Aria composta e cantata nell' atto stesso dal Sign. Amadeo all'

improwiso, co' debiti accompagnamenti eseguiti sul Cembalo, sopra parole fatte espressamente; ma da lui non vedute in prima.

7. Altra sonata di Cembalo, composta insieme ed eseguita dal medesimo sopra un motivo musicale propostogli improwissamente dal primo Violino.

8. Aria d'un Professore.

9. Concerto d'Oboè d'un Professore.

10. Fuga musicale, composta ed eseguita dal. Sign. Amadeo gul Cembalo;

e condotta a compiuto termine secondo le leggi del contrappunto, sopra un semplice tema per la medesima presentatogli all' im-prowiso.

11. Sinfonia dal medesimo, concertata con tutte le parte sul Cembalo sopra una sola parte di Violino postagli dinanzi improwisamente.

12. Duetto di Professori.

13. Trio in cui il Sign. Amadeo ne suonerà col Violino una parte all improwiso.

14. Sinfonia ultima di composizione del Suddetto.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(110)

The result was brilliant, the applause indescribable, and, according to a newspaper account, the musicians in Mantua were unanimous in declaring that this youth was born to surpass the most accomplished masters of the art.

This notice and others dwell chiefly on the precocious performances of the youthful prodigy. But wonderful as were Wolfgang's accomplishments as a clavier-player, violinist, and vocalist, they were thrown into the shade by his talents as a composer. Even in his public performances the prominence given to improvisation is remarkable, and the readiness with which he adapted the most varied subjects, always fulfilling the conditions of musical art, presupposes not only great liveliness of imagination, but a perfect mastery of mechanical form. In estimating Mozart's early acquirements, the most impressive fact to be noticed is the absence of any exaggeration of feeling or over-cultivation; all is natural and unstrained. His talent was no forced exotic, which springs up quickly and as quickly withers away; it was a plant of healthy growth, coming gradually to maturity; and the mechanical skill acquired in youth was the best foundation for the free creative power of manhood.

Father and son arrived at Milan before the end of January, and found a safe and comfortable lodging in the Augustine monastery of San Marco. A lay brother was appointed to wait on them, even to the warming of their beds, which attention caused Wolfgang to be "delighted when bedtime came." Their warm friend and patron was the Governor-General, Count Carl Joseph von Firmian (b. 1716). He had been partly educated at Salzburg (where his elder brother Joh. Bapt. Anton was Archbishop until 1740), and had there founded a literary society, whose earnest endeavours after a freer method of scientific inquiry had led to many hard struggles with authority.[10] He afterwards studied at Leyden, and acquired cultivation and taste by frequent travels in France and Italy. As Ambassador at Naples, he won the heart of Winckelmann, who speaks of

{MILAN, 1770.}

(111)

him as one of the greatest, wisest, most humane, and most learned men of his time and country.[11] Count Firmian was appointed Govemor-General of Lombardy in 1759, and spared no efforts to promote the material well-being as well as the intellectual and artistic improvement of his province.

Like Münchhausen,[12] he was not only a patron, but an accomplished judge of science and of the arts, and his support and hospitality were freely bestowed on artists and scholars. The Mozarts found a ready sympathiser in him, and his introduction to families of rank obtained for them all the pleasures of the Carnival; they were invited to balls and masquerades, and were obliged to follow the fashion, and order dominos and _bajuti_ (caps, which covered the face to the chin and fell back over the shoulders).[13] L. Mozart thought they were exceedingly becoming to Wolfgang, but shook his head over his own "playing the fool in his old age," and consoled himself with the thought that the things "could be used for linings afterwards."

At the opera, where they were often present, they made the acquaintance of the Maestro Piccinni, who was producing his "Cesare in Egitto." Wolfgang's performances at a public concert excited here as elsewhere the wondering admiration of artists and amateurs. "It is the same in this place as in others," writes L. Mozart, "I need not particularise."[14] The friendship which Wolfgang struck up with two clever young singers, of fourteen and fifteen years old, led to his composing for them two Latin motetts.

But Count Firmian imposed a severer task on the young musician. He gave a brilliant soirée at his Palace, graced by the presence of the Duke of Modena and his daughter, and the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan. Wolfgang was commissioned to prepare for this soirée three songs to Metastasio's words as a proof of his power to produce serious dramatic music.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(112)

The principal piece was a grand aria with an accompanied recitative from "Demofoonte," the celebrated and often-composed "Misero pargoletto" (77 K.). The recitative is very elaborate, in high tragic style; its forcible character is rendered chiefly by the orchestra.

The air consists of an Adagio with a Poco allegro interposed in the same tone throughout. The two other songs (78, 79 K.) from Metastasio's "Artaserse," "Per pietà bel idol mio" and "Per quel paterne amplesso," have each only one movement; the last song has a short introductory recitative. In the two latter songs the simple Cantabile is embellished by bravura passages, which are wanting altogether in the first. They are all written for a soprano voice,[15] and stood the test as representative of the dramatic song of the time. Count Firmian presented Wolfgang with a snuff-box and 20 gigliati,[16] together with a copy of Metastasio's works. But the most important result of this soirée, and of their stay in Milan, was that Wolfgang was commissioned to write the new opera for the next season; the first singers--Gabrielli, with her sister and Ettore--were to be engaged for it, and the remuneration was fixed at 100 gigliati and free quarters in Milan during their stay. The libretto was to be sent after them, so that Wolfgang might make himself familiar with it, the recitative was to be forwarded to Milan in October, and the composer to be there himself at the beginning of November, to complete the opera in the neighbourhood of the singers, and to rehearse it for production at Christmas. These conditions were both agreeable and convenient, as they did not interfere with the journey through Italy, and allowed Wolfgang ample time to complete the opera quietly.

Mozart's first quartet was composed on the way from Milan to Parma, and dated Lodi, March 15, 7 o'clock in the evening (80 K.). At Parma the celebrated singer Lucrezia Agujari, called "la Bastardella," invited them to sup with her, and sang so as to justify the reports they had heard of

{"LA BASTARDELLA"--BOLOGNA, 1770.}

(113)

her execution and the fabulous compass of her voice. "I could not have believed that she could sing to C in altissimo," writes L. Mozart, "had I not heard it with my own ears. The passages which Wolfgang has written were in her song, and she sang them somewhat softer than the deeper notes, but as clearly as an octave pipe in an organ. In fact, the trills and all were note for note just as Wolfgang has written them down. Besides this she has good alto notes, as low as G. She is not handsome, but certainly not ugly; has a wild look in her eyes at times, like people who are subject to fits, and she limps with one leg. She has always conducted herself well, and has therefore a good name and reputation."

On March 24 they arrived at Bologna. Here they were received by Field Marshal Count Pallavicini in a way that reminded them of Count Firmian. "They are two noblemen," writes L. Mozart, "who possess identical tastes and modes of thought, and are equally amiable, generous, and dignified." The Count arranged a brilliant concert in his own house, attended by 150 persons of the high nobility, among them the Cardinal Legate Antonio Colonna Branci-forte, and the chief of connoisseurs--Padre Martini. The company assembled at 8 o'clock, and did not disperse until near midnight.

L.. Mozart considered that Wolfgang made a greater effect in Bologna than elsewhere, that city being the seat of so many artists and learned men. Here they met the celebrated Spagnoletta (Gius. Useda), from Milan, the kapellmeister, Vincenzo Manfredini, known also as an author, who had visited them at Salzburg, on his journey from St. Petersburg in 1769, and the famous alto, Gius. Aprile.[17] Bologna, the father thought, and thought rightly, was the best centre whence Wolfgang's fame could spread over Italy, since he had there to stand the severest tests from Padre Martini, the idol of the Italians, and the acknowledged arbiter in all matters of art. The Franciscan Giambattista Martini[18]

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(114)

(born 1760) was esteemed not only as the composer of short, concise, artistically worked-out sacred pieces, but, from his thorough and comprehensive researches, as unquestionably the most learned theoretical musician of his day. Only one volume of his pedantic "Storia della Musica" had as yet appeared, and his classical work on counterpoint was only in preparation;[19] but he was already considered infallible on all musical questions, both in Italy and abroad. His possession of an unequalled musical library[20] placed him in correspondence with numerous musicians, scholars, and princes. Disputed points were submitted to his arbitration, and his advice was sought in the bestowal of official places. A recommendation from Padre Martini was the best possible key to success. His authority was the more readily acknowledged, since he united to his rare attainments a singular degree of modesty, and a ready alacrity to afford instruction, counsel, or assistance whenever required. He preserved, even in his learned disputes, invariable dignity and amiability,[21] with a certain amount of cautious reserve. L. Mozart might well be anxious to win the favour of such a man for his son. Whenever they visited him Padre Martini gave Wolfgang a fugue to work out, which was always done to the great contrapuntist's entire satisfaction.

The companion figure to this learned monk was a musical celebrity of quite another kind, whose acquaintance Mozart also made in Bologna. Farinelli (Carlo Broschi, b. 1705), a pupil of Porpora, first appeared in 1722 in Metastasio's "Angelica," and an intimacy resulted between the singer and the poet (who called him his _caro gemello_) which had an important effect on the development of Italian opera. Farinelli's career in Italy was an unbroken success, and he was enthusiastically received in Vienna and London.[22] Arriving in Spain in 1736, his singing had power to dispel the

{FARINELLI--FLORENCE, 1770.}

(115)

melancholy of Philip V.; he was summoned daily to the king's presence, and became his acknowledged favourite, a position which he retained under Ferdinand VI. and Queen Barbara. On the accession of Charles III., in 1761, Farinelli was obliged to leave Spain, and living in wealthy ease at Bologna, indulged his tastes for art and science. He practised the amiable and refined hospitality of a cultivated man of the world in his beautiful villa, and took peculiar interest in his fellow-artists, who never failed even in his old age to be charmed with his singing.[23]

The reports that have come down to us concerning the compass and beauty of his voice, concerning his way of taking breath, his _portamento_, his declamation,[24] are as wonderful as was the success of this king of artists both in public and at court. He appears almost as a personification of the greatness and power of song in the last century, of which we can scarcely form a true conception, and which cause the history of music in that age to be mainly a history of song and singers. The period of Mozart's musical education was still under this influence, and, although the absolute sovereignty of song was soon to decline, the impression made on him in his youth by Farinelli and other great singers was not likely to be forgotten.[25]

On March 30 the travellers reached Florence. Their Austrian introductions secured them a most favourable reception in this city. The imperial ambassador, Count Rosenberg, immediately made known their arrival at court, where they were very graciously received by the Archduke Leopold, He recollected their former stay at Vienna, and inquired after Nannerl. Wolfgang played at court on April 2, accompanied by Nardini, the celebrated violinist; the Marquis de Ligniville, director of music, laid the most difficult fugues before Wolfgang to work out; he accomplished everything "with as much ease as eating a piece of bread."

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(116)

The Marquis de Ligniville, Duca di Conca, &c., was considered one of the most thorough masters of counterpoint in Italy. As a proof of his skill he had written a "Salve Regina"[26] and "Stabat Mater" for three parts, in the form of different kinds of canon. To the latter work is prefixed a long treatise (dated April 11, 1767) for the Philharmonic Society in Bologna, of which he was a member; the object of the treatise was to show that in accurate contrapuntal works the traditions of the old Roman school were preserved. In accordance with this view Ligniville apologises ironically to followers of the gusto moderno for the disuse of drums and trumpets, and for the simple old modulations to which he confines himself as being ignorant of the new lights. He allowed Wolfgang to study his works; and the latter copied neatly nine movements of the thirty canons of the "Stabat Mater." (Anh. 238 K.) Not satisfied with this, Wolfgang aimed at himself becoming a master of counterpoint. A "Kyrie a cinque con diversi canoni" in three five-part canons in unison was evidently an imitation of Ligniville's compositions, and was only one of many studies in the same difficult art.[27] A loose sheet contains besides the first canon of the Kyrie, a design for a four-part canon, and five close canons or riddle canons, the first part and the number of parts only being given, [See Page Image] expressly noted di Mozart:--

{STUDIES IN CANON-WRITING, 1770.}

(117)

2. Canon.--Ter temis canite vocibus. [See Page Image]

3. Canon.--Ad duodecimam: clama ne cesses.

Con - fi - te - bor ti bi Do - mi-ne in gen - ti -bus et no -mi - ni to - o can - ta -. - - - - - bo.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(118)

4. Canon.--Tertia pars si placet.

Con - fi - te.. bor ti-biDo - - - - - mi-ne in gen- ti-bu« et no -mi-ne tu - o can - ta bo.

5. Canon.--Ter voce ciemus.

[See Page Image] Nos. 1, 3, 4 of these are copied from the vignettes with which Padre Martini's "Storia Universale" is adorned. [28] He had made Wolfgang a present of his book, and the latter probably set to work at once to find out the knack of writing canons. We can see the ease with which he mastered his task.

At Florence, they fell in with their old London acquaintance Manzuoli, and Wolfgang was rejoiced to hear that there was a probability of his being engaged to sing in his opera at Milan.

In order to incite Manzuoli's ardour, Wolfgang gave him all his songs to sing, including those he had composed in Milan.

At Florence, too, Wolfgang formed a tender friendship with Thomas Linley, a boy of fourteen, the son of an English composer; he was a pupil of the celebrated violin-player Nardini, and played so exquisitely as almost to surpass his teacher. The two boys met at the house of Signora Maddalena Morelli, who was famous as an improvisatrice, under the name of Corilla,[29] and had been crowned as a poetess on the capitol in 1776;[30] during the

{ROME, 1770--ALLEGRI'S MISERERE.}

(119)

few days that the Mozarts stayed in Florence the boys were inseparable, and performed together or by turns, "more like men than boys." They parted with many tears, and Tommasino, as Linley was called in Italy, brought to Wolfgang, as a parting gift, a poem which Corilla had written for him.

According to Burney,[31] Tommasino and little Mozart were talked of throughout Italy as two geniuses of the greatest promise, and in later life at Vienna, Mozart spoke with warmth of Linley,[32] and the hopes which had been frustrated by his early death.[33]

It was with regret that they left Florence; Leopold Mozart wrote to his wife: "I wish that you could see Florence, its neighbourhood, and the situation of the city; I am sure you would say that it is a place to live and die in." But time pressed, if they were to be in Rome for the carnival.

They had a fatiguing journey, in dreadful weather, that reminded them of Salzburg rather than of Rome, and passed through uncultivated country with wretched inns containing plenty of filth but little to eat, except perhaps a couple of eggs and some cabbage. They arrived in Rome about midday on Wednesday in Holy Week, amidst a storm of thunder and lightning, "received like grand people with a discharge of artillery." There was just time to hurry to the Sistine Chapel and hear Allegri's Miserere. It was here that Wolfgang accomplished his celebrated feat of musical ear and memory.[34]

It was the custom on Wednesday and Friday in Holy Week for the choir of the Pope's household to sing the Miserere (Ps. 50), composed by Dom. Allegri, which was arranged alternately for a four and five-part chorus, having a final

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(120)

chorus in nine parts.[35] This performance was universally considered as one of the most wonderful in Rome; the impression made by it in conjunction with the solemn rites it accompanied was always described as overpowering.[36] "You know," writes L. Mozart, "that this celebrated Miserere is so jealously guarded, that members of the chapel are forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to take their parts out of the chapel, or to copy or allow it to be copied.[37] We have got it, notwithstanding. Wolfgang has written it down, and I should have sent it to Salzburg in this letter, were not our presence necessary for its production. More depends on the performance than even on the composition.[38] Besides, we must not let our secret fall into other hands, _ut non incurramus mediate vel immediate in censuram ecclesiæ_." When the performance was repeated on Good Friday, Wolfgang took his manuscript with him into the chapel, and holding it in his hat, corrected some passages where his memory had not been quite true. The affair became known, and naturally made a great sensation; Wolfgang was called upon to execute the Miserere in presence of the Papal singer Christofori, who was amazed at its correctness. L. Mozart's news excited consternation in Salzburg, mother and daughter believing that Wolfgang had sinned in transcribing the Miserere, and fearing unpleasant consequences if it should become known. "When we read your ideas about the

{MOZART'S RECEPTION IN ROME.}

(121)

Miserere," answered the father, "we both laughed loud and long. You need not be in the least afraid. It is taken in quite another way. All Rome, and the Pope himself, know that Wolfgang has written the Miserere, and instead of punishment it has brought him honour. You must not fail to show my letter everywhere, and let his Grace the Archbishop know of it."

The Mozarts prepared at once to take part in all the festivities of Holy and Easter weeks. "Our handsome dress," writes L. Mozart, "our German speech, and the want of ceremony with which I call to our servant to order the Swiss guard to make way for us, help us through everywhere." He appears to have been flattered that Wolfgang was sometimes taken for a German nobleman or prince, and he for his tutor. At the cardinals' table Wolfgang stood near the seat of Cardinal Pallavicini, who asked him his name. On hearing it he inquired in surprise, "What! are you the famous boy of whom I have heard so much?" talked to him kindly, praised his Italian, and spoke broken German to him.

At the conclusion of the Easter festivities they set to work to present their numerous letters of introduction, and were warmly received by the noble families of Chigi, Barberini, Bracciano, Altemps, and others: one assembly followed another, all in Wolfgang's honour. The astonishment at his performances increased, according to L. Mozart, the farther they proceeded into Italy; "but Wolfgang," he adds, "does not remain stationary; his acquirements increase day by day, so that the greatest masters and connoisseurs cannot find words for their astonishment." For the Academies he appears to have written a Symphony (81, K.) and two soprano songs (82, 83, K.)from Metastasio's "Demo-foonte,"[39] "Se ardire e speranfca" and "Se tutti i mali miei." In the midst of more serious study he found time to send his sister a new country dance, in return for which she was to send him some new minuets by Haydn. About this time they fell in with Meissner, who was on his way from Naples to Salzburg; Wolfgang appeared with him at the German Jesuit College, where Herr v. Mölk, of Salzburg, was studying.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(122)

On May 8, they quitted Rome, where their stay had been in every way agreeable; they had been comfortably lodged in the house of the Papal courier Uslinghi, on the Piazza del Clementino; their hostess and her daughter treated them with every attention and kindness, making them feel quite at home in the house, and refusing to hear of payment when they left. The journey to Naples was one not to be undertaken without some apprehension. The roads were unsafe, a merchant had lately been assassinated, and "sbirri and bloodthirsty Papal soldiers" were in pursuit of the murderer; L. Mozart hoped that similar measures would be taken in Naples. He thought it well, therefore, to travel with four Augustine monks, which was further an advantage, as it assured them a friendly welcome and hospitality in all the monasteries which lay on their way. In Capua, they were allowed to be present as guests at the taking of the veil by a nun of high rank.

Naples, where they remained from the middle of May to the middle of June, impressed our travellers with the irresistible charm of beautiful nature.

At first they suffered from cold, but this soon turned to excessive heat, and Wolfgang, who had always longed to look brown, saw his wish in a fair way to be accomplished. They had good recommendations to the court from Vienna. Queen Caroline, whom Wolfgang had lately seen in Vienna, received them graciously, accosting them whenever they met; but Wolfgang was not summoned to play at court. The King, although not unmusical, cared for nothing that required any cultivation; "what he is," writes L. Mozart, "can be better told than written." The all-powerful minister Tanucci, placed his major-domo at their service, to show them all that was worth seeing. Other nobles followed this example; and every evening a magnificent equipage was placed at their service, in which they joined the brilliant _passeggio_ of the nobility on the Strada Nuova or on the quay, clad in elegant summer costumes. L. Mozart had ordered for himself a coat of maroon-coloured watered silk with sky blue velvet facings, and Wolfgang rejoiced in an apple-green coat with rose-coloured facings and silver

{NAPLES, 1770--LADY HAMILTON.}

(123)

buttons. Among Wolfgang's patrons was the old Princess Belmonte, the friend of Metastasio, and interesting to musicians as having been roused from deep melancholy by the singing of the tenor Raff.

The rendezvous of artists and scholars was the house of the British ambassador, Sir Wm. Hamilton, whose acquaintance the Mozarts had made in London. He himself was a violin-player, and pupil of Giardini; and his charming first wife was not only a cultivated judge of music, but was considered the best pianoforte-player in Naples; her "brilliant shakes and turns" were not less admired than the touching expression of her playing, which was in accord with her gentle nature.[40] It was not without triumph that L. Mozart narrated her having trembled at playing before Wolfgang.

They found other old friends in the Swiss Tschudi, from Salzburg, and in a Dutchman named Doncker, who had been kind to them in Amsterdam; every one pressed forward to offer hospitality and assistance. Under these favourable circumstances, a public concert was given on May 28, with the most brilliant success; a success the more welcome, as they were not likely to find their tour a profitable one for some time to come. L. Mozart was delighted with the situation, fertility, animation, and curiosity of Naples; but he was shocked by the wretchedness of the population, and above all by the superstition which prevailed not only among the lazaroni, but also in the higher ranks of society. He witnessed an example of it when Wolfgang played at the Conservatorio della Pietà; the skill with which he used his left hand suggested to the audience that there was magic in a ring he wore; when he drew it off and played without it the wonder and applause were redoubled.

The time of their stay in Naples was favourable to musical interests. Simultaneously with the excellent representations of comic opera in the Teatro Nuovo, there was opened on May 30, the King's fête-day, the Grand Opera in San Carlo,

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(124)

for which Jomelli, Caffaro, and Ciccio di Majo were engaged; Anna de Amicis was prima donna, Aprile principal male singer. By a curious coincidence, Wolfgang was a witness of the first attempt made by Jomelli, who had left Stuttgart for Naples in 1768, to regain the favour of his countrymen. De Rogatis' opera "Armida Abbandonata," in which he made his reappearance, was designed to satisfy the higher claims of dramatic music, and to bring the results of his studies in Germany before the Italians, who were, however, slow to appreciate them. Wolfgang thought the opera fine, but too pedantic and old-fashioned for the theatre. This seems to have been the universal opinion; and later the increasing distaste to Jomelli's operas obliged the withdrawal of his "Iphigenia in Aulide," and the substitution of "Demofoonte" (November 4, 1770).[41]

The Mozarts found Jomelli polite and friendly. Through him they became acquainted with the impresario Amadori, who offered Wolfgang a _libretto_ for San Carlo; but this, owing to his previous engagement in Milan, he was obliged to refuse, together with similar offers which had been made to him in Bologna and Rome.

On June 25, they travelled with post-horses back to Rome. Through the fault of a clumsy postilion their carriage was upset; Leopold saved his son by springing out before the danger came; he himself sustained considerable injury to his leg. Wolfgang was so tired by the journey (they had driven twenty-seven hours without a stop), that after he had eaten a little he fell asleep in his chair and was undressed and put to bed by his father, without waking.

This stay in Rome, during which they were present at the illumination of St. Peter's, at the delivery of Neapolitan tribute, and other ceremonies, brought Wolfgang a new distinction; he was invested by the Pope, in an

{"RITTER MOZART"--BOLOGNA, 1770.}

(125)

audience of July 8, with the order of the Golden Spur, which the father announces, not without pride, as "a piece of good luck."[42] "You may imagine how I laugh," he writes, "to hear him called _Signor Cavaliere_."

The honour apparently made little impression on Wolfgang. For some years his father insisted on his signing his compositions "Del Sign. Cavaliere W. A. Mozart," and advised him to wear his order in Paris; but later he let it drop, and one never hears of _Ritter Mozart_, whereas Gluck, who like Klopstock, wished to be outwardly recognised as the prophet of higher culture, was very tenacious of his dignity as a _Ritter_. Mozart was too simple-natured, and too essentially a musician, to set any store by outward distinctions.

On July 10, they left Rome, where Pomp. Battoni had painted a fine portrait of the young maestro, and travelled by way of Cività Castellana, Loretto, and Sini-gaglia to Bologna. They arrived on July 20, intending to remain here quietly until the completion and rehearsal of his opera should render Wolfgang's presence in Milan indispensable. L. Mozart's injured leg was still troublesome, and he was otherwise unwell, so that the friendly invitation of Count Pallavicini, to pass the hot season at his country-house in the neighbourhood of Bologna, was joyfully accepted. They found the coolest, best-appointed rooms prepared for them; couriers and servants were placed at their disposal, and their intercourse with the noble family was pleasant and unrestrained. The father was most carefully tended, and Wolfgang struck up a firm friendship with the young Count, who was just his own age, played the piano, spoke three languages, had six tutors, and was already a chamberlain.

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(126)

Wolfgang composed industriously, and writes to his sister about four Italian symphonies, five or six songs, and a motett, which he had written. His only distress was that he had lost his singing voice; he had not five clear notes left, either high or low, and could no longer sing his own compositions. At Bologna they made the acquaintance of the operatic composer, Joh. Misliweczeck (1737-1781), who was finishing an oratorio for Padua, and was to write the opera in Milan for 1772. "He is an honest man," writes L. Mozart, "and we have become great friends." But their principal intercourse was with Padre Martini, with whom they became very intimate, visiting him daily, and holding long musical discussions. The discourse and instruction of the great contrapuntist could not be without influence on Wolfgang's work. A list of sketches in difficult contrapuntal forms, which according to the handwriting belong to this time, must have been studies suggested by Padre Martini. Of peculiar interest is a three-part Miserere for alto, tenor, and bass, with figured Continuo, superscribed _Del Sigr. Caval. W. A. Mozart, in Bologna_, 1770 (85 K.). It is evidently written under the influence of Allegri's Roman Miserere, generally harmonic, with some few imitative introductory passages, simple and very beautiful. The three last movements, Quoniam, Benigne, Tunc acceptabis, are written by another hand, and evidently not composed by Mozart; the subjects are severer and more simple. Probably Padre Martini wound up the youth's exercises by these movements of his own composition.[43]

The Philharmonic Society of Naples, whose festival performance Mozart had attended in company with Burney,[44]

{ELECTION TO THE ÀCCÀDEMIA FILARMONICA.}

(127)

honoured him with a signal proof of admiration and esteem. This famous society, founded in 1666, upon the presentation by Wolfgang of a memorial, and his accomplishment of a prescribed task, elected him a member of their body as _Com-positore_. This honour was eagerly sought after by the most distinguished composers. For composers of church music it was important, since Benedict XIV., in a bull of 1749, had given a kind of overseership to the Philharmonic Society; only its members could become kapellmeisters to churches in Bologna, and by a Papal decree this membership was allowed to take the place of any examination.[45] The distinction was the greater since members were required[46] to be twenty years old, to have been admitted into the first class of compositore, and to have been a year in the second class of cantori and sonatori. Leopold describes the election as follows:--

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of October 9 Wolfgang was required to appear at the hall of the society. There the Princeps Academiæ and the two censors (who are old kapellmeisters) gave him an antiphon from the Antiphonary; he was then conducted by the verger to a neighbouring apartment and locked in, there to set it in three parts. When it was ready it was examined by the censor, and all the kapellmeistem and composers, who voted on it by means of black and white balls. All the balls being white he was called in, and amid clapping of hands and congratulations the Princeps Academiæ in the name of the society announced his election. He returned thanks, and the thing was over. I was all the time on the other side of the hall cooped up in the Academical Library. Every one was astonished that he was ready so soon, for many have spent three hours over an antiphon of three lines. N.B.--You must know that it was not an easy task, for this kind of composition excludes many things of which he had been told beforehand. He finished it in exactly half an hour.

The task was, according to the old statute, a Cantus firmus from the Gregorian Antiphonary, to be elaborated contrapuntally for four, five, or eight voices _a capella_ (in duple time); it was to be executed strictly according to rule, adhering to the singular treatment of the harmonies belonging to the old

{THE ITALIAN TOUR.}

(128)