Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/31

 MOZART plundered of his labors by performers, and of his money by delinquent borrowers; but his fame was extending, and his works, notwith- standing their striking originality, were be- coming more generally appreciated. In the spring of 1789 he became a travelling compan- ion of Prince Charles Lichnowsky, and he gave performances in Dresden, Leipsic, and Berlin. The king of Prussia, Frederick William II., understood Mozart's music very well, and took such a liking to him as to offer him the place of chapelmaster with 3,000 thalers salary. Mo- zart refused the offer out of regard for the em- peror Joseph, whereupon the king told him it should remain good for a year and a day. After an absence of three months he returned to Vienna, where his profits were soon absorbed by the illness of his wife. He now wrote a quartet for the king of Prussia, for which he received a gold box and 100 friedrichs d'or. He had as yet said nothing of Frederick Wil- liam's offer ; but, urged by his friends, he sub- mitted to the emperor his needy condition and requested his dismissal. Joseph was unpleas- antly surprised, and exclaimed : " What ! you will leave me, Mozart ? " Mozart was touched, and replied : " Your majesty, I throw myself upon your mercy, and will remain." His Cosi fan tutte was produced Jan. 26, 1790, and was running successfully when the emperor died, before he had increased the composer's salary. The new emperor Leopold II., hostile to his predecessor's favorites, declined his ser- vices; and he carried his spitefulness so fap that when the musicians in Vienna played be- fore the king of Naples, Mozart was not invited to take part. In the autumn he visited Frank- fort, Mentz, and Mannheim, on occasion of Leo- pold's coronation. In Munich he was invited to play before the king of Naples, upon which he wrote to his wife : " Very honorable to the court at Vienna that the king could only hear me in a foreign land ! " He was still pressed for money, but fortune was turning. Soon after his return, John Peter Salomon came to Vienna to engage Haydn, and after him Mozart, for his London concerts. Early in the spring of 1791 an old acquaintance, Schikaneder, pro- prietor of a small theatre in Vienna, applied to him to compose music for a fairy play. The subject was the Zauberflote ("Magic Flute"). Constanza Mozart was in Baden at the sulphur baths, and her husband while engaged upon this opera was thrown much into the socie- ty of Schikaneder, who led a dissipated life. With him and his companions the disappointed and harassed composer forgot his troubles, and for 10 or 12 weeks, the first and only time in his life, was induced to break in upon his ab- stemious habits. With the exception of those which relate to this short period, the stories unfavorable to his reputation which are current in musical literature are without foundation. On May 9 the magistrates of Vienna appointed Mozart adjunct and successor to the chapel- master Hoffmann of St. Stephen's church, the best musical position in Vienna, except the imperial chapelmasterships. In July a mes- senger unknown to Mozart (his name was Leut- ger) brought him an anonymous letter in which, after speaking warmly of the composer's ge- nius, his terms for a requiem were demanded. Mozart gave them, and soon after the messen- ger returned and paid him 50 ducats (or ac- cording to some authorities 100) in advance. At this time he was so assiduously engaged on the " Magic Flute" that he could not carry out Da Ponte's suggestion of giving performances in London, and he was moreover suddenly called upon in August to compose an opera for the coronation of the emperor as king of Bo- hemia at Prague. But four or five weeks re- mained for the entire labor of composition and rehearsal of this, the Clemenza di Tito, one of Metastasio's texts. When they were about to leave for Prague, some one pulled Mme. Mo- zart's dress as she and her husband were en- tering the carriage. She turned, and recognized the man who had ordered the requiem. Mo- zart explained the necessity of the journey, and promised to complete it at once on his return. When he reached Prague but 18 days were left before the opera was to be given. But his pupil Siissmaier was so well acquainted with Mozart's style of composition, that his master could give the score into his hands after the vocal parts were written and the accompani- ment sketched, to be filled out. In this manner the work was completed in time ; but it was not received as his others had been, partly on account of the character of the libretto, and partly because the subject was scarcely fitted for the excitement of a coronation. The opera afterward became popular. In September Mo- zart returned to Vienna, sick and disappointed, to divide his time between the " Magic Flute " and the requiem. The opera was performed on the 30th of that month, Mozart directing. The audience remained cold to the end of the first act, but warmed up before the -close, and the composer was called before the curtain. Its popularity increased with each performance. It was given 24 times in October alone. There is hardly another instance in the annals of the lyric stage where an opera possessed of so little dramatic action has become so universally popu- lar. That Goethe wrote a second part to it is perhaps the greatest compliment that could be paid it. Mozart now applied himself to the composition of the requiem with all the force of his genius. He was unable to discover the name (a Count Walsegg) of him who had or- dered it, and he began to fancy that there was something supernatural about it. The anxieties of the preceding year, possibly the change in his habits while under the influence of Schika- neder, and his labors on the "Titus," had brought his nervous system into a condition which required a long period of rest. But he persisted in work, although he fainted repeat- edly while engaged on the "Magic Flute;" and the restless energy with which he lab'ored