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Mozart

Chapter 18--The Last Works

Mozart's last works are categorized into instrumental works, the last operas, and the Requiem.  As I have already discussed the instrumental works and the operas, I will focus on the Requiem.

Analysis of the surviving Requiem manuscripts has established beyond reasonable doubt the amount of the Requiem Mozart actually composed.  There were sketches which Mozart laid out--two have survived.  He began laying out the full score by completing the voice parts.  Sussmayr composed the finishing touches, and tried to stay with Mozart's style.  The Lacrimosa may well be the last part of composing Mozart did.

Chapter 19--Aftermath

Mozart was a famous composer in his own lifetime.  Much has been made of his death in poverty and obscurity.  His reputation soared after his death, but he was the first composer to remain permanently lodged in the minds of not only practising musicians but also the musical public.  Scholars continue to research Mozart's life, analyse his music, and try to gain insight into his personality.  In the recent shift toward historically informed performance, causes us to wonder if we are actually hearing the music as Mozart would have performed it.  We are actually hearing his music with all that has been written since influencing both performer and hearer.  Modern instruments will not allow some of the "organic" forms to be played as they were.  All is infiltrated by modern musicians, modern technology, modern ears.  I wonder what Mozart would say if he could hear his music today!

Mozart

Chapter 12--Singspiel

Mozart would not usually be classified as a nationalist composer; most of his vocal works are in Latin or Italian.  Several times, however, he wrote in German.  At the time, German texts were found in Singspiel, which is German opera with spoken dialogue.  However, after writing Bastien und Bastienne, he wrote only two more German operas.

Mozart used "melodrama," delivering speech punctuated by music (speech through music).  One of his German operas, Zaide, used melodrama.  A few passages of Die Entfuhrung use melodrama, as well.  One of the famous quotes from the emperor to Mozart comes from a performance of this particular opera:  "Too many notes, my dear Mozart."  Sometimes it is still accused of too many notes, and of excessive diversity of style, as well.  However, this opera made Mozart famous all over Germany.

Chapter 13--The Land of the Clavier

This chapter discusses Mozart's piano concertos and piano chamber music.  His mature works of these genre were central to his economic being in the early years.  They were unprecedented in orchestral sensitivity, formal inventiveness, and in an inexhaustible variety of mood.  His first concertos were arrangements of sonatas.  He even used a sonata by J.S. Bach!

A bulk of this chapter deals with analysis of the concertos.  One of the performance considerations have to do with the cadenzas.  While we do not know what he would have played in performance, we must assume that what we do have from his manuscripts correspond to the style of his improvisations.  Most likely, he didn't confine himself to the notated piano part, but would have improvised on the spot. 

Some of Mozart's most engaging music are the keyboard pieces, written to please the public.  Piano chamber music larger than a trio was rare until Mozart provided models balancing concertante elements with strong individual contributions from the melodic instruments.  He wrote a piano quartet, but it was not a popular sale.  A more popular ensemble of the time was the piano trio.  Mozart wrote several of these, and his trio in G, written seventeen years later is wonderful.

Chapter 14--Vienna and Prague, 1785-1788

Leopold returned to Salzburg at the end of April, 1785, and never saw his son again.  In June, Nannerl came home to deliver her child:  'little Leopold' stayed with his grandfather while she returned to her husband and stepchildren.  This was done to assure the child better health in a town with better facilities. 

The first known "begging" letter written by Mozart was addressed to Hoffmeister in November of 1785.  He requested an advance payment against work to be delivered.  When Leopold was in Vienna, Mozart was earning well from performances and teaching.  Mozart took pride in his appearance and might even have been a bit vain.  It was necessary to be well dressed if he was to gain income as a freelance musician.  If he looked shabby, he would have not been welcomed into the finer homes.  His daily routine consisted of rising early, working on an composition while waiting for a barber to arrange and powder his hair.

There are many unknowns about Mozart's income and expenses.  We have no record of payments.  He took in a prodigy, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, into his home.  We don't know how much income he received for this arrangement.  We also we do not know how much money he wasted, although I've heard all my life how he wasted money on booze.  Expenses such as transportation, hairdressing, good clothes, and servants were necessary, as were doctors, rent, food, and drink.  We don't have any record of him gambling.  However, he was unable to make enough to save.  When his income was low, expenses were not, so he borrowed.

In 1785, he was composing at his best.  Sonatas, piano quartets, concertos, songs, and music for violin are found in this era.  He suffered a decline in concert-giving.  Perhaps he was unable to sustain public interest when the economy was on the decline in Austria.  He reappeared as a dramatic composer with the great opera, La folle journee ou Le Mariage de Figaro, and Le nozze di Figaro.  Also followed was Le Barbier de Seville. 

The reception fo Figaro is a subject of controversy.  The play has been read as presaging the French Revolution.  From this it has been deducted that the Vienese aristocracy were offended and therefore boycotted Mozart's concerts.  However, we know that it was initially enthusiastically received, but that after the third performance, the emperor banned the repetition of ensembles in the long opera.

In November 1786, the Mozarts lost their third son, Johann Thomas Leopold, in a cot-death.  Mozart's grief does not show up in his music.  His music was calculated equally to delight the connoisseur and the amateur. 

In 1787, Mozart leaves for Prague.  He was summoned there to witness the triumph of Figaro.  He wrote to Jacquin:  "I was very delighted to see everyone leaping about in sheer delight to the music of my Figaro, adapted as noisy contredanses and German dances; for here they talk of nothing but--Figaro; nothing is played, blown, sung, or whistled but--Figaro; no opera is enjoyed as much as--Figaro and eternally Figaro...."

In April of 1787, he learned that Leopold was seriously ill.  He died, May 28th.  He did not go to Salzburg to see his father, but Leopold did not summon him, perhaps out of pride, but also maybe was unaware of his impending death.  Mozart himself was not well, having recurrence of what may have been his fatal weakness, a complaint of the kidneys. 

Beethoven's mother's death may have prevented the two composers from ever meeting other than briefly.  Reports from Beethoven's pupils are contradictory.  The impact of Leopold's death on Mozart is speculative.  He inherited a mere 1000 gulden from his father. 

It was in the same year that he composed the great serenade, Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik.  We don't know the purpose of this composition, but perhaps it was written for entertainments in Prague.  It only has four movements, but is one of his most famous pieces.

Constanze was again pregnant, so she and Mozart left Prague in October.  He was working on Don Giovanni at the time.  The opera appealed less in Vienna than in Prague.  He also had many competitors for the public's eye.  Mozart wrote his three last symponies in '88.  Unfortunately, we don't know how well these pieces were received.  After his death, however, they were soon established as a touchstone of symphonic mastery.

Chapter 15--Chamber Music

This chapter discusses the chamber music that Mozart wrote.  String quartets, horn quintets, string trio, the Prussian quartets (written for the King of Prussia), and the clarinet quintet are examples.  Analysis of each is discussed here.

Chapter 16--Opera Buffa

Mozart's central place in the world of opera rests mainly on the three works with libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte.  When he wrote Figaro, he had not finished an opera buffa for over ten years.  This chapter tells about both Figaro and Don Giovanni.  I believe Mozart's operas to be his finest music.  Many cartoons have employed his music for it is so dramatic (check "Tom and Jerry"!).

Chapter 17--The Last Years, 1788-1791

Mozart's music was criticized for overelaborate orchestration.  He was struggling this time for concerts.  He hoped for a trip to London.  In 1789 he tried to obtain subscriptions for a concert series.   He wrote Puchberg, claiming to expect income from the subscription sale of the large and difficult string quartets of early '87.  He asked for a loan in '88 (1,000 gulden), but Puchberg only sent 200.  Puchberg was one of Mozart's Masonic brothers, and we do not know who else he was writing for money.  He was preparing to travel and needed funds for the trip. 

Again, the economy could have worsened his financial problems.  The deteriorating political situation caused economic hardship for those in Austria.  Mozart could not go on drifting in a circle of debts, repayments, and ever more meagre lodgings, while struggling to meet household and medical expenses.  He therefore visited Protestant North Germany.  His productivity was lower than usual.  He wrote a few dances on the trip, but none of his instrumental works would have been known there.  In April, he left Vienna, traveling with Count Karl Lichnowsky.  Lichnowsky must have loaned him money for later there was a lawsuit against Mozart by Lichnowsky for over 1,400 gulden. 

In Prague, Mozart met his old friends.  Mozart played for Friedrich Wilhelm II in Berlin.  Nevertheless, he continued to suffer his financial woes.  When he returned to Vienna, he was confronted with major expenses arising from Constanze's skin disease; she was so ill that he feared she might die.  On the recommendation of Dr. Closset, she went to bathe in the sulphurous waters of Baden. Mozart had to remain in Vienna; he urges her not to be jealous, and to behave herself modestly in the stylish company at the watering-place.  Their fourth child was born, but she died the same day.

Cosi fan tutte was written in 1790.  Mozart invited Puchberg and Joseph Haydn to a rehearsal.  But Joseph II died in mid-February.  Leopold II realized Mozart's value and continued his stipend.  In 1790, his productivity was at its lowest, partially because both he and Constanze were ill.  However, his health improved enough for him to travel abroad.  He traveled to Frankfurtam-Main in October.  He hoped to impress Leopold II by his attendance at the coronation.  He pawned his silver (which was never redeemed) for a coach.  Constanze handled another loan of 1,000 gulden from a merchant.  During his absence, Constanze had removed to the Rauhensteingasse, where the rent, 330 gulden, was lower than the Domgasse, but hardly cheap.  Mozart was invited to London to write operas for the Pantheon.  Perhaps health, perhaps debt, or perhaps new possibilities in Vienna led Mozart to decline.

1791 looked better.  He was preappointed without salary to help the ailing Leopold Hoffman as organist at St. Stephen's cathedral.  In her petition for a pension, Constanze referred to an income guaranteed by patrons in Hungary and Holland, in exchange for new compositions.  Perhaps he received part of this income, because she had fewer debts than would have been thought after his death.  During his last year, he began again writing more. 

The summer months are highlighted by the last letters from Mozart to Constanze.  She was again pregnant, and spending time in Baden for the cure.  He visited her when he could.  Mozart was hard at work at this time on the opera, Die Zauberflote.  He composed in a summerhouse attached to Schikaneder's theatre.  Mozart was much in demand and was working overtime in the summer of '91.  Constanze returned to Vienna before her son was born.  Franz Xaver Wolfgang was born on the 26th of July.

Work on Mozart's Requiem was delayed by 'Laut verkunde unsre Freude', but then it became the focus of the remaining compositional energies.  Constanze remembered taking the score away to force him to rest.  She alleged that six months before his death, on an outing to the Prater, Mozart spoke of being poisoned; but at the reveant period Constanze was in Baden.  Perhaps the conversation took place six weeks prior to his death, rather than six months.  There is no reason, in any case, to trust Mozart's own diagnosis.  By autumn, he had evidently recovered from this paranoia.  In November, there was an epidemic of "military fever" in Vienna.  He may have contacted the fever at the Lodge.  His constitution was not robust and earlier episodes of illness may have contributed to his condition becoming rapidly critical.  His body was swollen, but his mind remained clear.  Dr. Closeet applied a cold compress which caused Mozart to lose consciousness, and death followed in the first hour of December 5.  His burial two days later, on a day of mild, damp weather, followed the austere condition of the time for one neither a pauper, nor rich:  a simple ceremony and rapid disposal of the remains.

Mozart

Chapter 11--Vienna, 1781-1785

When Mozart and his father left Munich, they were separated by the Archbishop.  Leopold went home to Salzburg, and Mozart went to Vienna to serve as Konzertmeister, composer, and keyboard player.  Although Mozart requested to return to his father, Collerodo's attitude was feudal--he didn't care how his servants felt about the menial work he gave them.  Mozart's indignation was apparent in all his letters--his menial status frustrated him greatly.  He was plotting his escape from the start.  He tried to get a position at court, but there were no vacancies.  Then, his plan was to sell his compositions and teach, but teach only the wealthy.  He forgot the royalty left Vienna for the country in the summer.  Once freed from servitude, he would give concerts.  He made many acquaintances among the wealthy, who welcomed him into their homes as a gifted performer and entertaining guest.  He also hoped to get another opera commission, which never happened.  Leopold urged his son to be sensible and return to Salzburg.  Mozart's insubordinate attitude got him fired in May.  The Archbishop held his formal petition for release; Mozart was furious but fired indeed.

The Weber family moved to Vienna near St. Peter's Church.  Aloysia had gotten married.  She married an actor who was also a painter, Joseph Lange, who later painted the unfinished portrait that is considered to be Mozart's best likeness.  Gossip about Mozart and Constanze Weber were floating around at this time.

Mozart worked hard to realise his intention to support himself on a freelance basis.  In addition to violin sonatas he published and piano sonatas, he continued to pursue an opera libretto.  With librettist Stephanie, he began working on Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail.

During 1782, Mozart was busy with keyboard projects that maintained him over the next three years.  He began to believe that he might support himself by piano playing.  He was thrust into competition with Muzio Clementi who was a generous foe, but Mozart sneered in letters to Leopold that Clementi was merely a mechanic, lacking in taste.  For most of the 1780s, Mozart was considered the finest keyboard player in Vienna.  He could play for hours for wealthy patrons.

In December 1781, Mozart finally admitted to his father that he was to marry Constanze Weber.  Her mother tried to force him into marriage with her, but Constanze tore up the agreement he'd finally signed, because she said she trusted him.  He admitted that she was not pretty but insisted that she was sensible.  They married on August 4, 1782.  Constanze was not the weatherbrain legends spin about her, but she managed his estate competently.  Constanze gave birth to their first child, Raimund Leopold Mozart, on June 17, 1783.  Six weeks later, the couple left for Salzburg, leaving Raimund with a wet nurse.

The visit lasted from July to October.  We do not know what reception the couple received from Nannerl and Leopold.  Perhaps the atmosphere was strained at times, but music continued to be composed and performed.  When they returned to Vienna, they found that their infant son had died.  A new pregnancy soon followed. 

On August 23, 1784, Nannerl became the third wife of a government official.  She moved to St. Gilgen.  Leopold kept in constant touch with her and reported on the 14th of September that her brother had been very ill with rheumatic fever.  Constanze gave birth to their second child, Carl Thomas, who was properly cared for and lived into adulthood.  The same year, Mozart was admitted to the Freemasons' Lodge.

Masonry is not a religions, although it was deist, and it was unfairly suspected of hostility to the Catholic Church.  Mozart took and interest in philosophical approaches to understanding his place on earth.  Mozart was very dedicated to the masonry.  The nature of the relationship between his Masonic leanings and his music remains a bit cloudy.

Leopold visited Mozart in Vienna in 1785.  He heard most of Mozart's music in Vienna in its original form.  Joseph Haydn also visited and Mozart wrote string quartets and dedicated them to him.  Haydn was most pleased and praised Mozart to Leopold and is reported as saying:  "Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name.  He has taste and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition."

Mozart

Chapter Eight--The 'Classical' Style

This chapter covers the keyboard music of Mozart.  Although he had learned to play on the harpsichord, he preferred the piano, which was a relatively new instrument.  Sometimes he composed at the keyboard, developing his technique as well as composing.  When he wrote down the keyboard music, he fixed a version of the music so that others, such as Nannerl, could also play them, or so that he could sell them.  Unfortunately, we have lost some of the improvisations that he composed, simply because they were never written down.  We cannot say how closely notated works correspond to what his amazed audiences may have thought he plucked out of the air.  Samples from his piano works, as well as those for piano and violin are included and analyzed in this chapter.

 Chapter Nine--Salzburg and Munich, 1779-1781

In January 1779, Mozart set off for home.  He resisted going to Salzburg because of how he felt it limited his composing and opportunities for recognition.  Leopold secured an appointment for him to succeed Adlgasser with the condition that he compose more music than his predecessor.  Even though he was unhappy in Salzburg, he composed some of his finest works during this stay.  He completed his great Mass in C and supplied full Vesper settings for the cathedral.  During this tenure, he was organist at the cathedral as well.  He became a master as a composer for the orchestra.

Munich offered Mozart a commission to write a serious opera on the grandest scale.  He wrote and produced Idomeneo.  The orchestra writing is a crowning glory for this work.  Despite its greatness, there were only three performances of the opera.  This gave him the reputation of favoring the orchestra at the expense of the voices, although most performers enjoy his operas today.

Chapter Ten--Orchestral Music

Mozart's symphonies and other orchestral works are discussed in this chapter.  He was delighted with the full sound of the orchestra which included flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and drums, as well as the string family.  The symphonies of 1773-1774 are the last he composed in bulk. 

The piano concertos are some of my favorites.  The progress of his concertos parallels that of his symphonies.  Some have three movements, some have four.  In all his concertos, he treats the soloist with care, providing melodic opportunities and the chance to show off.

Mozart

Chapter Six--Sacred Music

Most of Mozart's sacred music was written in Salzburg.  Not only were there masses, but also instrumental pieces written for the church.  Most of the masses were short, as per the archbishop's reforms.  This chapter deals with the different masses which Mozart wrote and discusses the styles and compositional techniques he employed in his compositions. 

Chapter Seven--Mannheim and Paris, 1777-1779

If Mozart hadn't had such high ambitions, he could have made a modest living in Salzburg.  He most missed the chance to write operas.  After being fired by the archbishop, he made his way as a keyboard player and instrumental composer.  Leopold was retained by the archbishop, but Mozart set off in September with his mother who had mostly avoided the hardships of travel since 1770.  She was not a forceful character, and because she was a woman, she could not keep a tight reign on her son.  Leopold attempted to exert control through letters which he sent along the way.  The letters took several days to arrive.  Mozart's replies usually crossed the new letters from his father in the mail.  Wolfgang ran the trip as best he could.  He was driven by the notion (which of course was accurate) that he was superior to contemporaries, but they did not see it.  Mozart also had a great lack of tact. 

Leopold wanted his son to find a better patron in Germany.  Mozart wanted to try one of the great music capitals.  Vienna was resistant, and that left Paris and London.  At first, he made real effort to be hired in Munich, but he ran into his old friend, Myslivecek, who was seriously ill with syphilis.  While trying to cover the travel expenses with a concert and lessons, Mozart was unable to impress the court.  Of course, he might have insulted just as many, as well.

Mozart moved onto Mannheim--against his father's wishes.  This was the first rebellion.  While there, he fell in love with Aloysia Wendling.  Of course, his elaborate plan that she would help him conquer Italy, horrified Leopold.

Winter weather kept Mozart and his mother in Mannheim.  Mozart had plenty of time to compose.  He did receive some small commissions, but he was not paid very much for them. 

The Mozarts reached Paris in March of 1778.  There was a war of words between the French opera and the Italian opera.  Mozart, of course, would eventually assimilate the French style with the Italian.  No one asked him to try in Paris.  He did take some pupils at this time, but most of the time, he was struggling for money.

Mozart's mother complained that she rarely left their chilly lodgings.  She became seriously ill.  There are legends that Mozart let her die unattended.  She actually saw a priest and received extreme unction before falling into delirium, dying unconscious in the presence of her son, a nurse, and a friend.  She had insisted upon having a German doctor attend to her, which delayed medical treatment she very much had needed.  Her friend found one, but she deteriorated anyway with a fever they could not treat.  The doctors repeatedly bled her, as was the habit in those days, and probably hastened her death.

Mozart wrote home to his father telling him that she was seriously ill.  He then wrote to a friend to go to his father to break the news gently to him of his wife's death.  During this time, Mozart wrote the famous A-minor piano sonata.  This sonata is associated with the pain and turbulence of his mother's death, although the actual date of composition is not known.  Mozart failed in his struggle for recognition in Paris.  He complained to his father that they took him for a beginner, 'except for the real musicians.'  He tried to avoid going back home to Salzburg, and his letters are full of disdain for the lack of opportunity for him there.  He returned to Aloysia, but in the end lost her as well.  He dreaded the reception he might receive from his father when he returned to Salzburg.

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