Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters (4 page)
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Authors: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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TEYBER FAMILY
Matthäus Teyber (
c
. 1711–85) was a member of the Vienna court orchestra. His son Anton (1756–1822), a keyboard player and composer active in Vienna during the early 1780s, was court organist at Dresden from 1787; in 1793 he succeeded Mozart as court chamber composer in Vienna. Another son, Franz (1758– 1810), also a keyboard player and composer, was associated with the actor and impresario Emanuel Schikaneder from
c
1786. Their sister Therese (1760–1830) sang the role of Blonde at the first performance
of Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(1782).
WALDSTÄTTEN, MARTHA ELISABETH, BARONESS
(1744–l8ll) An aristocrat andamateur pianist who may have studied with Mozart, Waldstätten accommodated Constanze Mozart three times at her residence in 1781 and 1782, and at Mozart’s request housed his student Josepha Auernhammer free of charge in late 1782. She also provided Constanze and Mozart with an extravagant, ‘princely’ meal on their wedding day, 4 August 1782, and corresponded with Leopold Mozart in an effort to convince him of Constanze’s
suitability as a wife. A year later she honoureda debt incurred by Mozart, eliciting sincere gratitude in return.
WEBER FAMILY
Mozart got to know the Weber family in Mannheim in 1777—8. Fridolin Weber (1733—79) had been a bass singer and music copyist at Mannheim from 1763; he was married to Maria Cacilia (née Stamm, 1727—93). They later moved to Munich, and then Vienna, and Mozart lodged with Maria Cacilia, by now a widow, on first quitting his position with the Salzburg court in 1781. The Webers’ daughters included the singer Josepha (1758— 1819), who later created the role of the Queen of the Night in
Die Zauberftöte
(1791) and in 1788 married the violinist Franz Hofer; Aloysia (see under
LANGE
); Constanze (see under
MOZART
); and Sophie (1763—1846), who was present at Mozart’s death, and married the choir director Jakob Haibel in 1807.
NOTES
1
. Amadeus was the Latin form of Theophilus (Gottlieb in German), one of his baptismal names. Wolfgang himself usually spelled it Amadè, and occasionally Amadé.
2
. See C. Eisen,
New Mozart Documents
(London, 1991), p. 74.
3
. H. C. Robbins Landon,
Mozart and Vienna
(London, 1991), p. 74.
The works below are cited in the footnotes by the abbreviations:
Briefe
: Wilhelm A. Bauer, Otto Erich Deutsch and Joseph Heinz Eibl, eds.,
Mozart: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen
(eight volumes, Kassel, 1962–2005)
Deutsch,
Bildern
: Otto Erich Deutsch,
Mozart und seine Welt in zeitgenössischen Bildern
(Kassel, 1961)
Deutsch,
Documentary Biography
: Otto Erich Deutsch,
Mozart: A Documentary Biography
(second edition, London, 1966)
Mozart’s works are identified by the numbers assigned to them in the standard catalogue of the composer’s works, Ludwig Ritter von Köchel,
Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amadé Mozarts
(Leipzig, 1862; sixth edition, ed. Franz Giegling, Alexander Weinmann and Gerd Sievers, Wiesbaden, 1964).
Little is known about Mozart’s early childhood in Salzburg. His first documented public performance was in September 1761, when he appeared as a dancer in the Latin school comedy
Sigismundus Hungariae Rex.
In December his father Leopold Mozart notated his first compositions, Kic and 1d, in the so-called ‘Nannerl Notebook’, a collection of short keyboard pieces used for study purposes by Wolfgang and his elder sister, Maria Anna, also known as Nannerl. By January 1762 Leopold was ready to take the children, aged six and eleven, on tour: they spent three weeks in Munich and played for Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria. Later that spring Wolfgang composed the short piano pieces K2-K5 and in September the family set out for Vienna by way of Passau and Linz (where they gave a public concert on 1 October). They arrived at Vienna on 6 October.
1
16 October 1762, Vienna
Monsieur mon très cher ami
We left Linz by slow boat at half past 4 in the afternoon on the Feast of St Francis
2
and arrived at Mauthausen in pitch darkness at half past 7 the same day. By noon the next day, Tuesday, we were in
Ybbs, where 2 Minorites and a Benedictine who had been with us on the boat said Mass, in the course of which our Woferl
3
had a whale of a time on the organ, playing so well that the Franciscans, who were just having lunch, left the meal with their visitors and rushed across to the choir, where they were almost struck dumb with amazement. We reached Stein after dark and by 3 o’clock on Wednesday were in Vienna, where we had a combined lunch and supper at 5. It rained throughout the journey and was very windy. Wolfgangl caught a cold in Linz, but in spite of all the upheavals of the last few days, including getting up early, eating and drinking at all hours and contending with the wind and rain, he has remained healthy, thank God. People make more of the rapids than the matter warrants. More on this when we speak in person. On landing we were met by Herr Gilowsky’s
4
servant, who came on board and then took me to our rooms. But we soon hurried off to an inn to appease our hunger, having first stowed away our luggage and sorted things out at our lodgings. Herr Gilowsky then came to welcome us. We’ve now been here for a week and still don’t know where the sun rises in Vienna: until now it hasn’t stopped raining, and with a constant wind it has snowed a little, too, so that we’ve even seen snow on the roofs. Moreover, it continues to be, if not very cold, at least very frosty. One thing I must make a point of telling you: we got through customs very quickly – both the customs at the place where we landed, where we were dealt with very swiftly, and the main customs, where we were completely exempted. For this we had to thank our Herr Woferl, for he immediately made friends with the customs official, showing him his keyboard, inviting him to visit us and playing him a minuet on his little violin, and with that we were waved through. The customs official asked very politely if he could visit us and to that end made a note of our address. In spite of the absolutely atrocious weather we have already attended a concert at Count
Collalto’s,
5
also Countess Sinzendorf introduced us to Count Wilczek and on the 11th to His Excellency the imperial vice-chancellor Count Colloredo, where we had the privilege of seeing and speaking to the leading ministers and ladies of the imperial court, namely, the Hungarian chancellor, Count Pálffy, and the Bohemian chancellor, Count Chotek, together with Bishop Esterházy and a whole host of people whose names I was unable to note down.
6
All of them, especially the ladies, were very kind to us. Count Leopold Kuenburg’s fiancée spoke to my wife in person and told her she is going to be married in Salzburg.
7
She’s a pretty, friendly lady, of medium height. She is expecting her fiancé any day now in Vienna. Countess Sinzendorf is doing all she can for us, and all the ladies have fallen in love with my boy. Everyone is already talking about us, and when I went on my own to the opera on the 10th, I heard Archduke Leopold talking to someone in another box and saying lots of things, including the fact that there was a boy in Vienna who plays the keyboard so well etc. etc.
8
At 11 o’clock that same evening I received orders to go to Schönbrunn
9
on the 12th. But the next day I received fresh instructions to go there on the 13th as the 12th is the Feast of Maximilian and, therefore, a busy gala, and, as I hear, they want to hear the
children at their convenience. The main thing is that everyone is amazed at the boy, and I have yet to hear anyone who is not saying that it’s unbelievable. Baron Schell, who used to be known as Loulou, is doing all he can for me and gratefully acknowledges the grace and favour he enjoyed in Salzburg. If you have a chance to do so, please say as much to Herr Chiusole and give him my good wishes. Count Daun also gave me a letter for Baron Schell.
10
I have high hopes that I shall leave Vienna well satisfied. And so it seems, for the court is asking to hear us even before we have announced ourselves. Young Count Pálffy was passing through Linz just as our concert was starting, he was calling on Countess Schlick
11
and she told him about the boy and persuaded him to stop the mail coach in front of the town hall and go to the concert with her. He listened with astonishment, and with a great deal of to-do he told Archduke Joseph, who told the empress.
12
As soon as it was known that we were in Vienna, the command came for us to go to court. That, you see, is the cause.
I wrote the foregoing on the 11th, with the firm intention of telling you on the 12th, when we got back from Schönbrunn, how it had gone. But we had to drive straight from Schönbrunn to Prince Hildburghausen,
13
and 6 ducats were more important than sending you this letter. I have confidence in Frau Hagenauer and trust that she will be kind enough to accept my best wishes on her name day now, rather than later, and in the present brief form of saying merely that we shall pray to God to keep her and all her loved ones well for many years to come and that when the time comes He may invite us all to play cards with Him in Heaven. There is now time only to say in great haste that we were received with such extraordinary kindness
by their majesties that if ever I tell them about it, people will say I have made it all up. Suffice it to say that Wolferl jumped up into the empress’s lap, grabbed her round the neck and kissed her right and proper. In short, we were with her from 3 till 6, and the emperor himself came in from the next room and took me to hear the infanta play the violin.
14
On the 15th the empress sent 2 dresses, one for the boy and one for the girl.
15
They were delivered by the privy paymaster, who drove up to our house in full regalia. As soon as the order arrives, they are to appear at court, and the privy paymaster will collect them. At ½ past 2 today they have to go to the two youngest archdukes,
16
at 4 o’clock to the Hungarian chancellor, Count Pálffy. Yesterday we were with Count Kaunitz
17
and the day before with Countess Kinsky and later with Count Ulfeld.
18
We’re already booked up for the next two days. Please tell everyone that we are well and happy, thank God. Every good wish from your old friend
Mozart
Please inform Frau Niderl
19
that we are well. NB: Don’t forward any more letters to me, but just open them and read them, otherwise I have to spend a lot of money on postage on needless letters: you’ll see what’s necessary. Compliments to everyone.
Homo proponit, Deus disponit
.
1
I’d planned to leave Pressburg
2
on the 20th and to pass through Vienna on the 26th in order to be back in Salzburg on New Year’s Eve. But on the 19th I had unusually bad toothache, I repeat,
for me unusually bad toothache
: it was the whole upper set of front teeth, which are otherwise healthy and in good condition. My whole face swelled up during the night, so that the next day I looked just like the Passau simpleton, so much so that Lieutenant Winckler (the brother of the court timpanist), who’d come to visit us, didn’t recognize me when he came into the room and thought he’d got lost. In this unfortunate situation I had to console myself with the thought that we were in any case detained by the unusual cold snap; for the pontoon bridge had been removed, and even ferrying the postbags across the Danube in small boats has been a risky business, leaving the postilion to continue the journey on an old nag. As a result I had to wait for news that the March
3
(not a very wide river) was frozen. And so I left Pressburg at half past 8 in the morning on Christmas Eve and, travelling by a special route, arrived back at our lodgings in Vienna at half past 8 at night. It was not a particularly comfortable journey, because although the ground was frozen, it was indescribably bumpy and full of deep holes and ruts, for the Hungarians don’t build roads. If I had not had to buy a carriage with good suspension in Pressburg, we’d undoubtedly have arrived home missing a few ribs. I had to buy the carriage as I wanted to get back safely to Vienna. None of the country coachmen in Pressburg had a 4-seater closed carriage. A town coachman had such a carriage, but town coachmen aren’t allowed to travel across country, except for a few hours and with only 2 horses.
