Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters (62 page)

I hope you received my last letter, in which I told you that my opera
¹
had been well received. – There was another performance yesterday; – can you imagine that there was an even more powerful cabal yesterday than at the first night? – The whole of the first act was hissed. – But they couldn’t prevent the loud shouts of
bravo
during the arias. – I’d pinned my hopes on the closing trio
²
– but as
ill luck would have it, Fischer went wrong and as a result Dauer
³
– Pedrillo – went wrong too – and Adamberger on his own couldn’t sing all three lines so that the whole effect was lost and as a result
it wasn’t repeated
. – I was so angry that I was beside myself – as was Adamberger – and said straightaway that I wouldn’t allow the opera to be given again without a short rehearsal for the singers. – In the 2nd act both the duets
⁴
were repeated, as they had been the first time, and so was Belmonte’s rondeau ‘
Wenn der Freude Thränen fliessen’
.– The theatre was almost fuller than on the first night. – By the previous day there’d been no more reserved seats left either in the stalls or in the 3rd tier, and no boxes either. The opera has made 1200 florins in 2 days. –

I’m enclosing the original and 2 copies of the libretto. –

You’ll see that I cut a great deal; that’s because I knew that the full score is copied at once here – but I’d allowed my ideas free rein – and before I gave it to be copied I made a number of changes and cuts at various points. – It was given just as you see it. – Here and there the trumpets and timpani, flutes, clarinets and Turkish music are missing because I couldn’t get hold of any paper with enough lines. – They’re written out on extra sheets – the copyist has presumably lost them as he couldn’t find them. – The first act unfortunately fell in the mud when I was having it sent somewhere or other – I no longer remember where – which is why it’s so dirty. –

I’ve lots of work at the moment. – By Sunday week I have to arrange my opera for wind band – otherwise someone else will get in first – and they’ll be the one to profit from it, not me;
⁵
and I’m also supposed to be writing a new symphony!
⁶
– How shall I ever manage? – You can’t imagine how difficult it is to arrange such a thing for wind band – so that it suits the wind instruments and yet loses none of its effectiveness. – Oh well, I’ll just have to sit up all night working on it, there’s no other way – and to you, my dearest
father, may it be sacrificed. – You’ll certainly receive something every post day, and I’ll work as quickly as possible – and as far as haste allows, I’ll make a good job of it. –

Count Zichy has just this minute sent a message, asking if I’ll drive out to Laxenburg with him, so that he can introduce me to Prince Kaunitz. – So I must stop now and get dressed – if I’m not planning to go out, I don’t bother to dress.

The copyist has just this minute sent the remaining parts.

Adieu
. I kiss your hands 1000 times and embrace my dear sister with all my heart. I am ever your most obedient son

W. A. Mozart

P. S.: My dear Constanze sends you both her best wishes.

Mon très cher Père
,

You’ll no doubt be surprised to receive only the first allegro;
¹
but – I’d no choice – I’ve had to write a Nacht Musique
²
in a hurry, but only for wind band – otherwise I could have used it for
you
too–on Wednesday the 31st I’ll send you the 2 minuets, the andante and the final movement – if I can, I’ll also send a march – if not you’ll have to make do with the one from the Haffner music
³
– which is
very
little known:

– I’ve written it in D as I know you prefer it. – My opera was given
for the third time yesterday in honour of all Nannerls and was loudly applauded – and the theatre was again packed to the rafters in spite of the appalling heat. – It’s to be given again next Friday – but I’ve protested at this as I don’t want it to be flogged to death in this way. – I can truthfully say that people have gone quite mad over this opera. – But it does one good to receive such acclaim. – I hope you’ll have received the original. Dearest, most beloved father! – I must ask you – ask you by all you hold dear in the world – to give your consent to my marriage to my dear Constanze. – Don’t think that it’s just to get married – if that were all, I’d gladly wait. – But I see that it’s now unavoidably necessary for my own honour and the honour of my girl as well as for my health and state of mind. – My heart is restless, my head confused – how, then, can I think straight and work? – What’s the reason for this? – Most people think we’re already married – her mother is very worked up about it – and the poor girl and I are both tormented to death. – And this can so easily be put right. – Believe me that it’s just as easy to live in an expensive city like Vienna as it is elsewhere, it’s just a question of economy and of being properly organized. – And this is something you never find with a young man, especially one who’s in love. – Anyone who gets a wife like the one I’m getting will certainly be happy. – We’ll live very quiet, uneventful lives – and yet be happy. – And don’t worry – for if – God forbid – I were to fall ill today, especially when married, I’ll wager that the leading members of the nobility would offer me their protection. – I can say that with confidence. – I know what Prince Kaunitz has said about me to the emperor and Archduke Maximilian. – I eagerly await your consent, my most beloved father – I feel sure I can count on it – my honour and peace of mind are bound up with it. – Don’t put off for too long the pleasure of embracing your son and his wife. I kiss your hands 1000 times and am ever your most obed. son

W. A. Mozart

P. S.: I embrace my dear sister with all my heart. My Constanze sends her best wishes to you both. –
Adieu.

Mon très cher Père
,

You’re very much mistaken if you think your son capable of acting wrongly; –

My dear Constanze – now, praise God, my actual wife
¹
– has long known my circumstances and all that I can expect to receive from you. – But her friendship and love for me were so great that she willingly – and with the greatest pleasure – sacrificed her entire future to me and my destiny. – I kiss your hands and thank you with all the tenderness that a son has ever felt for his father and for your most kind consent and father’s blessing. – But I knew I could rely on them! – After all, you knew that I myself could see everything only too clearly – yes, everything that could be said against such a step – but also that I couldn’t have acted otherwise without offending my conscience and my honour – and so I was able to rely entirely on this, too! – And so it was that, having waiting 2 post days in vain for a reply and having arranged the ceremony for the day by which I would most certainly have known the answer, I – already assured of your consent and feeling suitably consoled – was married in God’s name to the woman I love. The very next day your 2 letters arrived together; – it’s all over now! – I only ask you to forgive me for trusting prematurely in your paternal love; – in this sincere confession of mine you have further proof of my love of the truth and my loathing of lies. – My dear wife will be writing by the next post to ask her dearest, most beloved father-in-law for his paternal blessing and her dear sister-in-law for the continuation of her most valued friendship. – The only people present at the wedding were her mother and youngest sister, Herr von Thorwart as guardian and witness for both of us; – Herr von Cetto (the district councillor), who gave away the bride; and Gilowsky as my best man. – As soon as we were pronounced man and wife, both my wife and I began to cry; –
everyone, even the priest, was moved by this. – And all of them wept on witnessing how much our hearts were moved. – Our wedding feast consisted of a supper given for us by Baroness Waldstätten that was in fact more princely than baronial – my dear Constanze is now looking forward a hundred times more to travelling to Salzburg! – And I wager – I wager – that you’ll delight in my own good fortune when you get to know her! – I’m sure that in your eyes as in mine a right-thinking, honest, virtuous and obliging woman is a source of happiness for her husband! –

Enclosed is a short march!
²
– I only hope that everything arrives in good time – and that it’s to your liking. – The first allegro
³
must be very fiery. – The last – as fast as possible. – My opera was given again yesterday – at Gluck’s insistence; – he’s been very complimentary about it. I’m having lunch with him tomorrow. – As you can see, I’m in a hurry.
Adieu
. My dear wife and I kiss your hands 1000 times and we both embrace our dear sister with all our hearts. I am ever your most obed. son

W. A. Mozart

My Lady,

I am most obliged to your Ladyship for the particular interest that you have taken in my circumstances and above all I should like to say how obliged and grateful I am for the extraordinary kindness that your Ladyship showed in celebrating my son’s wedding day in so lavish a manner. When I was a young lad, I always thought that philosophers were people who said little, seldom laughed and adopted a sullen attitude to the world in general. My own experiences have now convinced me that without knowing it I too am one: I have done
my duty as a true father, making the clearest and most intelligible representations to him in so many letters and convincing myself that he knows my tiresome circumstances, which are highly distressing to a man of my age, and is also aware of the way in which I have been passed over in Salzburg, since he knows that both morally and physically I am the victim of his behaviour, – and yet there is nothing I can now do except leave him to his own devices – which is what he wanted – and pray to God that He grants him my paternal blessing and does not take away His divine grace. But I shall not abandon my innate cheerfulness, which I still retain in spite of my years, and shall continue to hope for the best. – Indeed, I would be wholly reassured were it not that I have detected in my son a serious failing, which is that he is far too
patient
or
sleepy
, too
easy-going
, perhaps sometimes too
proud
and whatever else you want to call all those qualities that render a person
inactive
: or else he is too
impatient
, too
hot-headed
, and can’t wait. Two opposing principles rule in him – too much or too little, and no golden mean. If he’s not short of something, he’s immediately satisfied and becomes
lazy
and
inactive
. If he has to act, he feels his own worth and
immediately wants to make his fortune
. Nothing is then allowed to stand in his way: and yet it is unfortunately the cleverest people and those who possess real genius who find the greatest obstacles placed in their way. Who will prevent him from making his way in Vienna if only he shows a little patience? – – Kapellmeister Bonno is extremely old,
¹
– on his death, Salieri will be promoted and make room for someone else, and isn’t Gluck an old man too!? – My Lady! Persuade him to be patient, and permit me to ask you to be so kind as to give me your Ladyship’s opinion on this point. – My daughter commends herself to your Ladyship and like me wishes that she had the good fortune to be able to kiss your Ladyship’s hands. She is very moved at being honoured, quite undeservedly, with a remembrance from your Ladyship. Oh, if only we were not so far away! I have a whole host of things that I’d like to talk to your Ladyship about – and if only we could immerse ourselves in music! – May my mind be calmed by hope, the unique consolation of our wishes! – Perhaps I may yet be fortunate enough to be able to assure your Ladyship in person not only of my friendship, which is of little worth but none the less genuine, but also of my most heartfelt esteem and reverence as I am indeed

Your Ladyship’s

most humble and obed. servant

Leopold Mozart

My son once wrote to say that as soon as he was married he would not wish to live with his wife’s mother. I hope that he has indeed left the house. If not, it is his own and his wife’s misfortune.

Dearest Baroness,