Mozart: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own Words

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(Mannheim, November 16, 1777, to his father. The pupil was Rose
Cannabich, to whom the sonata referred to is dedicated. Her
father, whom Mozart admired greatly as an able conductor, was
Chapelmaster of the excellently trained orchestra at Mannheim. He
lived from 1731 to 1798. [The Andante from which trouble was
expected was that which Mozart wrote with the purpose that it
should reflect the character of Rose Cannabich, a lovely and
amiable girl, according to all accounts. H.E.K.])

53. "This E is very forced. One can see that it was written only
to go from one consonance to another in parallel motion,--just as
bad poets write nonsense for the sake of a rhyme."

(From the exercise book of the cousin of Abbe Stadler who took
lessons in thorough-bass from Mozart in 1784. It is preserved in
the Court Library in Vienna.)

54. "My good lad, you ask my advice and I will give it you
candidly; had you studied composition when you were at Naples,
and when your mind was not devoted to other pursuits, you would,
perhaps, have done wisely; but now that your profession of the
stage must, and ought to, occupy all your attention, it would be
an unwise measure to enter into a dry study. You may take my word
for it, Nature has made you a melodist, and you would only
disturb and perplex yourself. Reflect, 'a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing;'--should there be errors in what you write, you
will find hundreds of musicians in all parts of the world capable
of correcting them, therefore do not disturb your natural gift."

(To Michael Kelly, the Irish tenor, to whom Mozart assigned the
parts of Basilio and Don Curzio at the first performance of "Le
Nozze di Figaro" in 1786. Kelly had asked Mozart whether or not
he should study counterpoint. [See No. 8. Three years later Kelly
returned to England, began his career as composer of musical
pieces for the stage. He was fairly prolific, but failed to
impress the public with the originality of his creative talent.
He went into the wine business, which fact led Sheridan to make
the witty suggestion that he inscribe over his shop: "Michael
Kelly, Composer of Wines and Importer of Music." He was born in
1764 and died in 1826. H.E.K.])

55. "This is generally the case with all who did not taste the
rod or feel the teacher's tongue when boys, and later think that
they can compel things to their wishes by mere talent and
inclination. Many succeed fairly well, but with other people's
ideas, having none of their own; others who have ideas of their
own, do not know what to do with them. That is your case."

(In a letter written in 1789 to a noble friend criticizing a
symphony.)

56. "Do not wonder at me; it was not a caprice. I noticed that
most of the musicians were old men. There would have been no end
of dragging if I had not first driven them into the fire and made
them angry. Out of pure rage they did their best."

(Reported by Rochlitz. Mozart was rehearsing the Allegro of one
of his symphonies in Leipsic. He worked up such a fit of anger
that he stamped his foot and broke one of his shoe-laces. His
anger fled and he broke into a merry laugh.)

57. "Right! That's the way to shriek."

(At a rehearsal of "Don Giovanni" the representative of Zerlina
did not act realistically enough to suit Mozart. Thereupon he
went unnoticed on the stage and at the repetition of the scene
grabbed the singer so rudely and unexpectedly that she
involuntarily uttered the shriek which the scene called for. [The
singer was Teresa Bondini, the place Prague, and the time before
the first performance of the opera which took place on October
29, 1787. H.E.K.]) TOUCHING MUSICAL PERFORMANCES

58. "Herr Stein sees and hears that I am more of a player than
Beecke,--that without making grimaces of any kind I play so
expressively that, according to his own confession, no one shows
off his pianoforte as well as I. That I always remain strictly in
time surprises every one; they can not understand that the left
hand should not in the least be concerned in a tempo rubato. When
they play the left hand always follows."

(Augsburg, October 23, 1777, to his father. [We have here a
suggestion of the tempo rubato as played by Chopin according to
the testimony of Mikuli, who said that no matter how free Chopin
was either in melody or arabesque with his right hand, the left
always adhered strictly to the time. Mozart learned the principle
from his father who in his method for the violin condemned the
accompanists who spoiled the tempo rubato of an artist by waiting
to follow him. H.E.K.])

59. "Whoever can see and hear her (the daughter of Stein) play
without laughing must be a stone (Stein) like her father. She
sits opposite the treble instead of in the middle of the
instrument, so that there may be greater opportunities for
swaying about and making grimaces. Then she rolls up her eyes and
smirks. If a passage occurs twice it is played slower the second
time; if three times, still slower. When a passage comes up goes
the arm, and if there is to be an emphasis it must come from the
arm, heavily and clumsily, not from the fingers. But the best of
all is that when there comes a passage (which ought to flow like
oil) in which there necessarily occurs a change of fingers, there
is no need of taking care; when the time comes you stop, lift the
hand and nonchalantly begin again. This helps one the better to
catch a false note, and the effect is frequently curious."

(Augsburg, October 23, 1777. The letter is to his father and the
young woman whose playing is criticized is the little miss of
eight years, Nanette Stein.)

60. "When I told Herr Stein that I would like to play on his
organ and that I was passionately fond of the instrument, he
marveled greatly and said: 'What, a man like you, so great a
clavier player, want to play on an instrument which has no
douceur, no expression, neither piano nor forte, but goes on
always the same?' 'But all that signifies nothing; to me the
organ is nevertheless the king of instruments.' "

(Augsburg, October 17, 1777, to his father.)

61. "I had the pleasure to hear Herr Franzl (whose wife is a
sister of Madame Cannabich) play a concerto on the violin. He
pleases me greatly. You know that I am no great lover of
difficulties. He plays difficult things, but one does not
recognize that they are difficult, but imagines that one could do
the same thing at once; that is true art. He also has a
beautiful, round tone,--not a note is missing, one hears
everything; everything is well marked. He has a fine staccato
bow, up as well as down; and I have never heard so good a double
shake as his. In a word, though he is no wizard he is a solid
violinist."

(Mannheim, November 22, 1777, to his father.)

62. "Wherein consists the art of playing prima vista? In this: To
play in the proper tempo; give expression to every note,
appoggiatura, etc., tastefully and as they are written, so as to
create the impression that the player had composed the piece."

(Mannheim, January 17, 1778, to his father. Mozart had just been
sharply criticizing the playing of Abbe Vogler. [See No. 66.])

63. "I am at Herr von Aurnhammer's after dinner nearly every day.
The young woman is a fright, but she plays ravishingly, though
she lacks the true singing style in the cantabile; she is too
jerky."

(Vienna, June 27, 1781, to his father. Beethoven found the same
fault with Mozart's playing that Mozart here condemns.)

64. "Herr Richter plays much and well so far as execution is
concerned, but--as you will hear--crudely, laboriously and
without taste or feeling; he is one of the best fellows in the
world, and without a particle of vanity. Whenever I played for
him he looked immovably at my fingers, and one day he said 'My
God! how I am obliged to torment myself and sweat, and yet
without obtaining applause; and for you, my friend, it is mere
play!' 'Yes,' said I, 'I had to labor once in order not to show
labor now.' "

(Vienna, April 28, 1784, to his father in Salzburg, whither the
pianist Richter, whom he recommends to his father, is going on a
concert trip.)

65. "Meissner, as you know, has the bad habit of purposely making
his voice tremble, marking thus entire quarter and eighth notes;
I never could endure it in him. It is indeed despicable and
contrary to all naturalness in song. True the human voice
trembles of itself, but only in a degree that remains beautiful;
it is in the nature of the voice. We imitate it not only on wind
instruments but also on the viols and even on the clavier. But as
soon as you overstep the limit it is no longer beautiful because
it is contrary to nature."

(Paris, June 12, 1778, to his father. [The statement that the
tremolo effect could be imitated on the clavier seems to require
an explanation. Mozart obviously had in view, not the pianoforte
which was just coming into use in his day, but the clavichord.
This instrument was sounded by striking the strings with bits of
brass placed in the farther end of the keys which were simple and
direct levers. The tangents, as they were called, had to be held
against the strings as long as it was desired that the tone
should sound, and by gently repeating the pressure on the key a
tremulousness was imparted to the tone which made the clavichord
a more expressive instrument than the harpsichord or the early
pianoforte. The effect was called Bebung in German, and
Balancement in French. H.E.K.])

66. "Before dinner Herr Vogler dashed through my sonata prima
vista. He played the first movement prestissimo, the andante
allegro and the rondo prestissimo with a vengeance. As a rule, he
played a different bass than the one I had written, and
occasionally he changed the harmony as well as the melody. That
was inevitable, for at such speed the eyes can not follow, nor
the hands grasp, the music. Such playing at sight and... are all
one to me. The hearers (I mean those worthy of the name) can say
nothing more than they have seen music and clavier playing. You
can imagine that it was all the more unendurable because I did
not dare to say to him: "Much too quick!" Moreover it is much
easier to play rapidly than slowly; you can drop a few notes in
passages without any one noticing it. But is it beautiful? At
such speed you can use the hands indiscriminately; but is that
beautiful?"

(Mannheim, January 17, 1778, to his father.)

67. "They hurry the tempo, trill or pile on the adornments
because they can neither study nor sustain a tone."

(Recorded by Rochlitz as a criticism by Mozart of Italian singers
in 1789.)

68. "It is thus, they think, that they can infuse warmth and
ardor into their singing. Ah, if there is no fire in the
composition you will surely never get it in by hurrying it."

(According to Rochlitz Mozart used these words while complaining
of the manner in which his compositions were ruined by
exaggerated speed in the tempi.) EXPRESSIONS CRITICAL

69. "We wish that it were in our power to introduce the German
taste in minuets in Italy; minuets here last almost as long as
whole symphonies."

(Bologna, September 22, 1770, to his mother and sister. Mozart as
a lad was making a tour through Italy with his father. [There
might be a valuable hint here touching the proper tempo for the
minuets in Mozart's symphonies. Of late years the conductors, of
the Wagnerian school more particularly, have acted on the belief
that the symphonic minuets of Mozart and Haydn must be played
with the stately slowness of the old dance. Mozart himself was
plainly of another opinion. H.E.K.])

70. "Beecke told me (and it is true) that music is now played in
the cabinet of the Emperor (Joseph II) bad enough to set the dogs
a-running. I remarked that unless I quickly escape such music I
get a headache. "It doesn't hurt me in the least; bad music
leaves my nerves unaffected, but I sometimes get a headache from
good music." Then I thought to myself: Yes, such a shallow-pate
as you feels a pain as soon as he hears something which he can
not understand."

(Mannheim, November 13, 1777, to his father. Beecke was a
conceited pianist.)

71. "Nothing gives me so much pleasure in the anticipation as the
Concert spirituel in Paris, for I fancy I shall be called on to
compose something. The orchestra is said to be large and good,
and my principal favorites can be well performed there, that is
to say choruses, and I am right glad that the Frenchmen are fond
of them....Heretofore Paris has been used to the choruses of
Gluck. Depend on me; I shall labor with all my powers to do honor
to the name of Mozart."

(Mannheim. February 28, 1778, to his father. On March 7 he
writes: "I have centered all my hopes on Paris, for the German
princes are all niggards.")

72. "I do not know whether or not my symphony pleases, and, to
tell you the truth, I don't much care. Whom should it please? I
warrant it will please the few sensible Frenchmen who are here,
and there will be no great misfortune if it fails to please the
stupids. Still I have some hope that the asses too will find
something in it to their liking."

(Paris, June 12, 1778, to his father. The symphony is that known
as the "Parisian" (Kochel, No. 297). It is characterized by
brevity and wealth of melody.)

73. "The most of the symphonies are not to the local taste. If I
find time I shall revise a few violin concertos,--shorten them,--
for our taste in Germany is for long things; as a matter of fact,
short and good is better."

(Paris, September 11, 1778, to his father, in Salzburg. In the
same letter he says: "I assure you the journey was not
unprofitable to me--that is to say in the matter of
composition.")

74. "If only this damned French language were not so ill adapted
to music! It is abominable; German is divine in comparison. And
then the singers!--men and women--they are unmentionable. They do
not sing; they shriek, they howl with all their might, through
throat, nose and gullet."

(Paris, July 9, 1778, to his father. Mozart was thinking of
writing a French opera.)

75. "Ah, if we too had clarinets! You can't conceive what a
wonderful effect a symphony with flutes, oboes and clarinets
makes. At the first audience with the Archbishop I shall have
much to tell him, and, probably, a few suggestions to make. Alas!
our music might be much better and more beautiful if only the
Archbishop were willing."

(Mannheim, December 3, 1778, to his father. Mozart was on his
return to Salzburg where he had received an appointment in the
Archiepiscopal chapel. It seems that wood-wind instruments were
still absent from the symphony orchestra in Salzburg.)

76. "Others know as well as you and I that tastes are continually
changing, and that the changes extend even into church music;
this should not be, but it accounts for the fact that true church
music is now found only in the attic and almost eaten up by the
worms."

(Vienna, April 12, 1783, to his father, who was active as Court
Chapelmaster in Salzburg, and who had been asked by his son in
the same letter, when it grew a little warmer, "to look in the
attic and send some of your (his) church music.")

77. "The themes pleased me most in the symphony; yet it will be
the least effective, for there is too much in it, and a
fragmentary performance of it sounds like an ant hill looks,--
that is as if the devil had been turned loose in it."

(In a letter written in 1789 to a nobleman who was a composer and
had submitted a symphony to Mozart for criticism.)

78. "So far as melody is concerned, yes; for dramatic effect, no.
Moreover the scores which you may see here, outside those of
Gretry, are by Gluck, Piccini and Salieri, and there is nothing
French about them except the words."

(A remark made to Joseph Frank, whom Mozart frequently found
occupied with French scores, and who had asked whether the study
of Italian scores were not preferable.)

79. "The ode is elevated, beautiful, everything you wish, but too
exaggerated and bombastic for my ears. But what would you? The
golden mean, the truth, is no longer recognized or valued. To win
applause one must write stuff so simple that a coachman might
sing it after you, or so incomprehensible that it pleases simply
because no sensible man can comprehend it. But it is not this
that I wanted to discuss with you, but another matter. I have a
strong desire to write a book, a little work on musical criticism
with illustrative examples. N. B., not under my name."

(Vienna, December 28, 1782, to his father. "I was working on a
very difficult task--a Bardic song by Denis on Gibraltar. It is a
secret, for a Hungarian lady wants thus to honor Denis." When
Gibraltar was gallantly defended against the Spaniards, Mozart's
father wrote to him calling his attention to the victory. Mozart
replied: "Yes, I have heard of England's triumph, and, indeed,
with great joy (for you know well that I am an arch-Englishman)."
The little book of criticism never appeared.)

80. "The orchestra in Berlin contains the greatest aggregation of
virtuosi in the world; I never heard such quartet playing as
here; but when all the gentlemen are together they might do
better."

(To King Frederick William II, in 1789, when asked for an opinion
on the orchestra in Berlin. The king asked Mozart to transfer his
services to the Court at Berlin; Mozart replied: "Shall I forsake
my good Emperor?")

OPINIONS CONCERNING OTHERS

81. "Holzbauer's music is very beautiful; the poetry is not
worthy of it. What amazes me most is that so old a man as
Holzbauer should have so much spirit,--it is incredible, the
amount of fire in his music."

(Mannheim, November 14, 1777, to his father. Ignaz Holzbauer was
born in Vienna, in 1711, and died as chapelmaster in Mannheim, on
April 7, 1793. During the last years of his life he was totally
deaf. The music referred to was the setting of the first great
German Singspiel, "Gunther von Schwarzburg.")

82. "There is much that is pretty in many of Martini's things,
but in ten years nobody will notice them."

(Reported by Nissen. Martini lived in Bologna from 1706 to 1784;
there Mozart learned to know and admire him. In 1776 he wrote a
letter to him in which he said that of all people in the world he
"loved, honored and valued" him most.)

83. "For those who seek only light entertainment in music nobody
better can be recommended than Paisiello."

(Reported by Nissen. Paisiello was born in Tarento in 1741,
composed over a hundred operas which, like his church music, won
much applause. He died in Naples in 1816. Mozart considered his
music "transparent.")

84. "Jomelli has his genre in which he shines, and we must
abandon the thought of supplanting him in that field in the
judgment of the knowing. But he ought not to have abandoned his
field to compose church music in the old style, for instance."

(Reported by Nissen. Jomelli was born in 1714 near Naples, where
he died in 1774. He was greatly admired as a composer of operas
and church music. He was Court Chapelmaster in Stuttgart from
1753 to 1769.)

85. "Wait till you know how many of his works we have in Vienna!
When I get back home I shall diligently study his church music,
and I hope to learn a great deal from it."

(A remark made in Leipsic when somebody spoke slightingly of the
music of Gassmann, an Imperial Court Chapelmaster in Vienna, and
much respected by Maria Theresa and Joseph.)

86. "The fact that Gatti, the ass, begged the Archbishop for
permission to compose a serenade shows his worthiness to wear the
title, which I make no doubt he deserves also for his musical
learning."

(Vienna, October 12, 1782, to his father. Gatti was Cathedral
Chapelmaster in Salzburg.)

87. "What we should like to have, dear father, is some of your
best church pieces; for we love to entertain ourselves with all
manner of masters, ancient and modern. Therefore I beg of you
send us something of yours as soon as possible."

(Vienna, March 29, 1783, to his father, Leopold Mozart in
Salzburg, himself a capable composer.)

88. "In a sense Vogler is nothing but a wizard. As soon as he
attempts to play something majestic he becomes dry, and you are
glad that he, too, feels bored and makes a quick ending. But what
follows?--unintelligible slip-slop. I listened to him from a
distance. Afterward he began a fugue with six notes on the same
tone, and Presto! Then I went up to him. As a matter of fact I
would rather watch him than hear him."

(Mannheim, December 18, 1777, to his father. Abbe Vogler was
trying the new organ in the Lutheran church at Mannheim. Vogler
lived from 1749 to 1814, and was the teacher of Karl Maria von
Weber (who esteemed him highly) and Meyerbeer. Mozart's criticism
seems unduly severe.)

89. "I was at mass, a brand new composition by Vogler. I had
already been at the rehearsal day before yesterday afternoon, but
went away after the Kyrie. In all my life I have heard nothing
like this. Frequently everything is out of tune. He goes from key
to key as if he wanted to drag one along by the hair of the head,
not in an interesting manner which might be worth while, but
bluntly and rudely. As to the manner in which he develops his
ideas I shall say nothing; but this I will say that it is
impossible for a mass by Vogler to please any composer worthy of
the name. Briefly, I hear a theme which is not bad; does it long
remain not bad think you? will it not soon become beautiful?
Heaven forefend! It grows worse and worse in a two-fold or three-
fold manner; for instance scarcely is it begun before something
else enters and spoils it; or he makes so unnatural a close that
it can not remain good; or it is misplaced; or, finally, it is
ruined by the orchestration. That's Vogler's music."

(Mannheim, November 20, 1777, to his father.)

90. "Clementi plays well so far as execution with the right hand
is concerned; his forte is passages in thirds. Aside from this he
hasn't a pennyworth of feeling or taste; in a word he is a mere
mechanician."

(Vienna, January 12, 1782, to his father. Four days later Mozart
expressed the same opinion of Muzio Clementi, who is still in
good repute, after having met him in competition before the
emperor. "Clementi preluded and played a sonata; then the Emperor
said to me, 'Allons, go ahead.' I preluded and played some
variations.")

91. "Now I must say a few words to my sister about the Clementi
sonatas. Every one who plays or hears them will feel for himself
that as compositions they do not signify. There are in them no
remarkable or striking passages, with the exception of those in
sixths and octaves, and I beg my sister not to devote too much
time to these lest she spoil her quiet and steady hand and make
it lose its natural lightness, suppleness and fluent rapidity.
What, after all, is the use? She is expected to play the sixths
and octaves with the greatest velocity (which no man will
accomplish, not even Clementi), and if she tries she will produce
a frightful zig-zag, and nothing more. Clementi is a Ciarlatano
like all Italians. He writes upon a sonata Presto, or even
Prestissimo and alia breve, and plays it Allegro in 4-4 time. I
know it because I have heard him! What he does well is his
passages in thirds; but he perspired over these day and night in
London. Aside from this he has nothing,--absolutely nothing; not
excellence in reading, nor taste, nor sentiment."

(Vienna, June 7, 1783, to his father and sister.)

92. "Handel knows better than any of us what will make an effect;
when he chooses he strikes like a thunderbolt; even if he is
often prosy, after the manner of his time, there is always
something in his music."

(Mozart valued Handel most highly. He knew his masterpieces by
heart--not only the choruses but also many arias. [Reported by
Rochlitz. H.E.K.])

93. "Apropos, I intended, while asking you to send back the
rondo, to send me also the six fugues by Handel and the toccatas
and fugues by Eberlin. I go every Sunday to Baron von Swieten's,
and there nothing is played except Handel and Bach. I am making a
collection of the fugues,--those of Sebastian as well as of
Emanuel and Friedemann Bach; also of Handel's, and here the six
are lacking. Besides I want to let the baron hear those of
Eberlin. In all likelihood you know that the English Bach is
dead; a pity for the world of music."

(Vienna, April 10, 1782, to his father. Johann Ernst Eberlin
(Eberle), born in 1702, died in 1762 as archiepiscopal
chapelmaster in Salzburg. Many of his unpublished works are
preserved in Berlin. The "English" Bach was Johann Christian, son
of the great Johann Sebastian. As a child Mozart made his
acquaintance in London.) 94. "I shall be glad if papa has not yet
had the works of Eberlin copied, for I have gotten them
meanwhile, and discovered,--for I could not remember,--that they
are too trivial and surely do not deserve a place among those of
Bach and Handel. All respect to his four-part writing, but his
clavier fugues are nothing but long-drawn-out versetti."

(Vienna, April 29, 1782, to his sister Nannerl.)

95. "Johann Christian Bach has been here (Paris) for a fortnight.
He is to write a French opera, and is come only to hear the
singers, whereupon he will go to London, write the opera, and
come back to put it on the stage. You can easily imagine his
delight and mine when we met again. Perhaps his delight was not
altogether sincere, but one must admit that he is an honorable
man and does justice to all. I love him, as you know, with all my
heart, and respect him; as for him, one thing is certain, that to
my face and to others, he really praised me, not extravagantly,
like some, but seriously and in earnest."

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