kerst f. mozart as revealed in his own words (1905)

.9 CONCERNING THE OPERA 23 TOUCHING MUSICAL PERFORMANCES.. the youthful artist is before us, the merry, light-hearted smile upon his Mozart, an embittered and saddened Mozart,glowering g

MOZART

THE MAN AND THE AKTIST, AS

COMPILED AND ANNOTATED BY

FRIEDRICH KERST

NEW YORK

B W HUEBSCH

1905

B. W HUEBSCH

MM

THE SIGNIFICANCE orMOZART . .9

CONCERNING THE OPERA 23

TOUCHING MUSICAL PERFORMANCES . .45

EXPRESSIONS CRITICAL 51

WOLFGANG, THE GERMAN 69

STRIVINGS AND LABORS 89

EDITOR'S NOTE

Thepurpose and scope ofthis littlebook will

be obvious to the reader from even a cursory

glanceat itscontents It is, in a way, an

auto-biography of Mozart written without conscious

purpose, and for that reason peculiarly ning, illuminating and convincing. The out-ward things in Mo/art's lifeare allbut ignored

ofthe great musician's artistic, intellectual and

moral character, made in his own words.TheEditor has not only taken the trouble to

com-piler, but, for reasons which seemed to him

the books betray want of familiarity with theidioms and colloquialisms employed by Mozart,

contra-dictory and sprawling epistolary style. Some

of the intimacy of thatstylethenew translation

H E K

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

MOZART

Mozart! What a radiance streams from the

name!

Brightand pureas the lightof thesun,

Mozart's music greets us. We pronounce his

name and behold! the youthful artist is before

us, the merry, light-hearted smile upon his

Mozart, an embittered and saddened Mozart,glowering gloomily at a wicked world which

is doing its best to make his lot still more

bur-densome; a Mozart whose music should reflectsuchpainful moods

a humor truly divine, he strolled edly through a multitude of cares like Pr'mceTamino through his fantastic trials. Music

could exorcise all the petty terrors that beset

completely resolved in his works, and therefore

still stands bodily before uswithall his glorious

qualities after the lapseof a century has zart still something to say to us who have just

Mo-stepped timidly into a new century separated

by anotherfrom thatof thecomposer? Much;

very much Many prophets have arisen since

Mozart's death;two ofthemhavemovedus

pro-foundly withtheir evangel One of them knew

hearing lest he proclaim too much We lowed him into all the depths of the world of

us in the hurly-burly of national life and ing; pointing to his own achievements, he said:

striv-"

Ifyouwish it, youhavenow a German art!

"

The one was Beethoven, the other Wagner.

Becausetheir musicdemands of us thatwe sharewith it its experiences and struggles, they are

the guiding spirits of a generation which has

mist of the new century.

tale who could not forget themerrytuneof the

gladly permit ourselves to be led, occasionally,

out of the rude realities that surround us, into

a beautiful world that knows no care but lies

forever bathed inthe sunshine of cloudless

which fancy has dreamed has taken life and

form It is because of this that we make

pil-grimagesto the masterpieces ofthe plastic arts,

stress of life we gladly hie to Mozart that he

The Significance of Mozart 11

convince us that there are other and better

oc-cupations than the worries and combats of the

in-dividual mission to fulfil which will keep him

immortal " That of which Lessing convinces

us only withexpenditure of many words sounds

:

the longing for light and day. Therefore

in the tones of Mozart's opera; it is waftedtowards us like the morning breeze which dis-

pels the shadows and invokes the sun."

because death laid hold ofhim in the middle of

expectantly upon him, he vanished from theearth and left no hope deceived His was the

As the German ('tis Schumann's utterance)

thinks of Beethoven when he speaks the word

is associated with the conception of things

youthful, bright and sunny. Schumann was

"Do not put Beethoven in thehands of youngpeople too early; refresh and strenghten them

with the fresh and lusty Mozart." Another

heavy and intoxicating draught before us the

spring which laves us in Mozart's music, and

op-portunity to pass unimproved which offers us

was summed up in the name of Mozart In a

propheticecstasyhespokethesignificantwords:

"What else is genius than that productive

standing in the presence of God and Nature,and which, forthis reason, bear results and arelasting? All the creations of Mozart are of

force which is transplanted from generation to

generation, and is not likely soon to be

ex-hausted or devoured."

CHIPS FROM THE WORKSHOP

utter-ance and torments one; it will out; and then

one is out with it without questioning And,

look you, thereisnothingin this thing of

learn-ing out of books. Here, here and here ingto his ear, his head and his heart) is your

your pen and down with it; afterward ask theopinion of a man who knows his business

To a musically talented boy who asked Mozart how

I can not divide and subdividemy phrases so as

to produce light and shade; I am no painter.

I can not even give expression to my sentiments

and thoughts by gestures and pantomime; I

amno dancer But I can doit with tones; I am

there is nothing more to be said in music

congratu-lation to his father who was born onNovember 14, 1719.

Despitehis assertionMozart was an admirabledancerandpassionately devotedto the sport. [So says Herr Kerst

obviously misconceiving Mozart's words. It is plaintome

that the composer hadthe classic definition ofthe dance

Kingsley. "A dancein which every motion was a word,

and rest as eloquent as motion; in which every attitude

was a fresh motive for a sculptor of the purest school,

and the highest physical activity was manifested, not as

in coarse pantomime, in fantastic bounds and unnatural

distortions, but in perpetual delicate modulations of a

stately and self-sustained grace." H E K.]

3. The poets almost remind me of the

trum-peters with their tricks of handicraft. If we

musiciansweretostick as faithfully toourrules

(which were very good as long as we had no

they make worthless books

Vienna,October 13, 1781, to his father. Heis writing about the librettoof "Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail,"

byStephanie. Thetrumpeters at the time still madeuse

of certain flourishes which had been traditionally

pre-served in their guild.

4. I have spared neither care nor labor to

produce somethingexcellent for Prague

More-over it is a mistake to think that the practise

ofmyart hasbecomeeasyto me I assure you,

the study of composition as I. There is scarcely

not frequently and diligently studied.

the rehearsals for "Don Giovanni" in 1787.

painstaking labor; but the hope which some of

be rewardedatleast in part, has givenme

off-spring, willsome day bring me comfort

From the dedication of the Six Quartets to Haydn

in 1785. The quartets were sent back to the publisher,

from because contained so

Chips from the Workshop 15

misprints." Theunfamiliar chords and dissonances were

looked uponas printers' errors Grassalkowitsch, a garian prince, thought his musicianswereplaying faultily

differ-ently he tore themusic in pieces.

6. I can not deny, but must confess that I

shallbe gladwhen I receivemyreleasefrom this

work yourself pretty tired, and if you don'tgive a good many lessons you will makebut lit- tle money You must not think that it is lazi-

ness; no! but it goes counter to my genius,counter to my mode of life. You know that,

specu-late, study, consider. All this is prevented by

they will be necessary more for recuperation

than work

Paris,July 31, 1778, to his father.

7. M Le Gros bought the Sinfonie

who has it; but that isn't so. It is still fresh

in myhead, and as soon as I get home I'll write

it down again.

Paris, October3, 1778, to his father. An evidence of the retentiveness of Mozart's memory In this instance,

however, he did not carry out his expressed intention.

a good melodist to a fine racer, and

ad-vised, let well alone and remember the old

knows most, knows least."

To the English tenor Michael Kelly, about 1786, in

9. One of the priests gave me a theme I

fugue was in G minor) I began in the major,

with something jocose but in the same tempo;

finally the theme again, but backwards Finally

I wondered if I might not usethe playful odyas a themefor a fugue I did not question

ac-curately as if Daser had measured it for thepurpose The dean was beside himself

atailor in Salzburg.

next door a singing teacher who gives lessons,

andinthelastroomoppositeours, a hautboyist

Milan,August 23, 1771, to his "dearest sister."

11 IfIbuthadthetheme onpaper, worked

to hatch outour work in a room

bitofnatureandhummingallmannerofideas that came

into his head.

ifI were permitted to write only such music as

Chips from Workshop 17

think good Three weeks ago I made a phony, and by to-morrow's post I shall write

sym-again to Hofmeister and offer him three

whohadsubmitted asymphony for his judgment F. A

13 You can do a thing like this for the

pianoforte, but not for the theatre When I

wrote this I was still too fond of hearing my

own music, and never could make an end

theprincipal air in "Die Entfiihrung."

14 You know that I hadalready finishedthe

firstAllegro on the second day after my arrival

Cannabich only once Then came young

Dan-ner and asked me how I intended to write the

Andante "I will make it fit the character ofMademoiselle Rose." When I played it it

pleased immensely I was right; she

isjust like the Andante

Can-nabich was a pupil of Mozart's, aged thirteen and very

talented. "She is

very sensible for her age, has a staid

it is with grace and amiability," writes Mozart in thesameletter It is also relatedof Beethoventhathesome-

times delineated persons musically [Also Schumann.

H E K.]

(Kochel, No 452.) I myself think it the best

thingI ever wrote in my life.

Vienna, April 10, 1784, to his father.

so d'onde viene, which Bach composed so tifully. I did it because I know Bach so well,

get itout of my head I wantedto see whether

or not in spite of these things I was able to

make anariathat should not be abitlikeBach's

It isn't a bit, not a bit like it.

lovely aria is No 294 in KochePs catalogue. The Bachreferred to was Johann Christian, the "London" Bach.

17 Ihaven't a single quiet hourhere I can

not getupearly Oneisnotalwaysin themood

see my name on them And then, as you know,

I becomestupid as soon as Iamobliged towrite

foran instrument thatI can not endure

com-posed something else pianoforte duets withthe violin, and a bit of the mass

was ill disposedtoward the pianoforte at the time. His

love for Aloysia Weber occupied the most ofhis tionandtime.

atten-18 Herewith I am sending you a Prelude

Chips from the Workshop 19

must come first and the fugue follow Thereason forits appearance isbecause Ihad made

the fugue andwrote it out while I was thinking

Vienna, April 20, 1782, to his sister Marianne Here

and was then able, even after considerable time had

elapsed, to write them down, in which proceeding

noth-ing could disturb him. In the case before us while

transcrip-tion he thought out a new composition. Concerning the

letter.

19 The cause of this fugue seeing the light

ofthis world is my dear Constanza Baronvon

Swieten, to whom I go every Sunday, let mecarry home all the works of Handel and Sebas-

him Constanza fell in love with the fugues as

soon asshe hadheard them;she doesn't want to

hear anything but fugues, especially those of

im-provise fuguesshe askedme if I hadnever ten any down, and when I said no, she gave me

the most beautiful things in music, and did not

her, and so it came about I purposely wrote

should not be playedtoo rapidly; forunless a

fugue is played slowly the entrance of the

sub-jectwill not be distinctly and clearly heard and

the piece will be ineffective. As soon as I find

time and opportunity I shall write five more.Vienna, April 20, 1782, to his sister Marianne Cf. No

93 [Mozart's remark that he carried home "all the

20 I have no small amount of work ahead

arranged for military band or somebody will

be ahead ofme and carryaway the profits; and

I must also write a new symphony How willthat bepossible? Youhave no idea howdifficult

it is to make such an arrangement so that it

lose nothing of its effect. Well, well; I shall

haveto do thework at night

Vienna,July20, 1782, to his fatherwhohadasked for

a symphony for the Hafner family in Salzburg. The

for the clock-makeratonce sothatI might drop

a few ducats into the hands of my dear little

because I hate such work not to be able to

it because it bores me If the reason for its

assured I should let the thing drop I hope,however, to force it through in time. Ah, yes!

if it were a large clock-work with a sound like

an organ I'd be glad to do it; but as it is the

Chips from Workshop 21

thing is made up of tiny pipes only, whichsound too shrill and childish for me

Frankfort-on-the-Main, October 3, 1790, to his wife.

"A Piece foranOrganin a Clock." (Kochel's catalogue,

No 594.) It was probablyordered by Count Deym for

his Wax-works Museum on the occasion of the death of

in Handel's style.

CONCERNING THE OPERA

When he was twenty-two years old Mozart

wrote to his father, "

I am strongly filled with

speak ofthis ambition It was,in fact, his true

Beethoven Hetook counsel with his father by

letter touching many details in his earlier eras, wherefore we are advised about their

Mozart's fine sesthetic judgment His four

words about them are in place, particularly

comments on"Die Entfiihrung ausdemSerail."

This first German opera he composed with the

confessed purpose of substituting a work

de-signed for the "national lyric stage"

for theconventional and customary Italian opera De-

ingenuous, so German in feeling, and above all

so full of German humor that the success wasunexampled, and Mozart could write to his

father:

"The people are daft overmy opera."

Here, at the very outset, Mozart's humor, the

golden one of all the gifts with which Mother

Nature had endowed him, was called into play

With this work German comic opera took its

beginning As has been remarked "although

it has been imitated, ithas never been surpassed

in its musically comic effects." Thedelightfully

characterizedinthe music, willcreate merriment

per-sonal and peculiarly amiable charm from thefact thatweare privileged to see in thelove-joy

of Belmont and Constanze an image of that ofthe young composer and his "

Stanzerl."

After"Die Entfiihrung" (1782) came"Le

(1787), and "Die Zauberflote "

(1791) Itwould be a vain task to attempt to estab-

works Mozart was not like Wagner, a strongpersonality capable of devoting a full sum ofvital force to the carrying out of a chosen and

approved principle As is generally the case

rococo period. There is, therefore,no cause ofwonderment in the fact that Italian texts are

again usedin "Le Nozze deFigaro" and "DonGiovanni," and that another, but this time a

complete German opera, does not appear until

we reach "Die Zauberflote."

Nevertheless it is possible to note a

develop-ment towards a climax in the four operas specting Mozart's conception of the world It

re-hasbeen deniedthat thereis a single redthread

inMozart's life-work Nevertheless ourmethod

Concerning the Opera 25

of study will disclose to us an ever-growing

view of human life, and a deeper and deeper

glimpse into the emotional and intellectual life

commonplace conditions of "Die Entfiihrung,"

where arascal singsinthebest ofhumor offirstbeheading and then hanging a man, we reach

a plane in"The Marriage of Figaro," in which

Beau-marchais's indiclment we feel the revolutionarybreeze freshly blowing. In "Don Giovanni"

God and the world, in order that he fulfil his

phrasegoes to-day Herethe tremendousedy whichlies inthe story has receiveda musicalexpression quite without parallel, notwithstand-

trag-ing the moderation exercisedin the employment

of means In "Die Zauberflote," finally, we

observe the clarification which follows the

fer-mentation Here webreathe the pure, clear

at-mosphere of heaven, the atmosphere withinwhich he can live who has freed himself from

selfish desire, thus gaining internal peace, and

who recognizes his ego only in the happiness

andwelfare of others

22 I have an unspeakable desire to composeanother opera. . (In Italy one can ac-

quire more honor andcredit with an opera than

with a hundred concerts in Germany, and I amthe happier becauseI can compose, which, after

all, is my one joy and passion. I am

about an opera, sit in a theatreor hear singing.

expectation ofmakinga position for himself in Italy.

to write operas . Do not forget my

wish to write operas! I am envious of everyman who composes one; I could almost weep from chagrin whenever I hear or see an aria.

Mannheim, February 2, 1778, to his father. Mozart

Aloysia, his futuresister-in-law) toItaly while his father

wasdesirous thathe should goto Paris.

24 I am strongly possessed by the desire to

French Wendling's associates are all of theopinion that my compositions would please ex-

traordinarily in Paris One thing is certain;

I would not fear the test. As you know I am

25 I assure you that if I get a commission

True the (French) language is of the devil's

own making, and I fully appreciate all the

diffi-culties that encountered; but I

Concerning Opera 27

feel myself as capable of overcoming them asany other composer Au contraire when I con-

feel as if my body were afire my hands and

feet tremblewith desire to make the Frenchman

value and fearthe German Why is no man ever commissioned to write a grand opera?

French-Why must it always be a foreigner? In my

case the most unendurable thing would be the

how to defend myself But I should prefer to

get along without a duel; I do not liketo fightwith dwarfs

Paris, July31, 1778, to his father.

26 Do you imagine that I would write anopera comique in the same manner as an opera

seri-ousness inan operabuffa as theremust bemuch

more of playfulness and merriment I am not

the buffoon has not been banished from music,and in this respect the French are right.

Vienna, June 16, 1781, to his father. Mozart draws

comedy inopera. ["Shakespearehas taught us toaccept

an infusion of the comic element in plays of a serious cast; but Shakespeare was an innovator, a Romanticist,

The Italians, who followed classic models, for a reason

amply explained by the genesis of the art-form, ously excluded comedy fromserious operas, except as in- termezzi, until they hit upon a third classification, which

rigor-they called opera semiseria, in which a serious subject

was enlivened with comic episodes. Our dramatic tastes

beinggrounded in Shakespeare,we should beinclined to

put down "Don Giovanni" as a musical tragedy; or,

librettist's work, I fancy, than his own." How to Listen

to Music, page221. H E K.]

27 In opera, willy-nilly, poetry must be theobedient daughter of music. Why do Italian

operas please everywhere, even in Paris, as I

and compels us to forget everything else. All

is well carried out, and the words are writtensimply for the sake of the music and not here

God knows, adds nothing to a theatrical

the most indispensable thing in music, butrhymes, for the sake of rhymes, the most in-

will assuredly come to grief along with the

music It were best if a good composer, whounderstands the stage, and is himself able tosuggest something, and a clever poet could beunited in one, like a phoenix. Again, one must

not fear the applause of the unknowing.Vienna,October13, 1781, to his father. Theutterance

is notable as showing Mozart's belief touching the tionshipbetweentextandmusic; heplaces himselfin op-

rela-Concerning the Opera 29

position toGluck whoseideaswereat a laterdayaccepted

expres-sion, and of augmenting the interest of the fable, out interrupting the action, orchillingit with useless and

with-superfluous ornaments; for the office of music, whenjoined topoetry, seemedtometo resemble thatofcolor-

ing inacorrectandwelldisposeddesign, wherethelights

andshades onlyseemtoanimatethe figures without

alter-ing the outline." Gluck in his dedication of "Alceste"

to theGrandDukeofTuscany. "Theerror in the genre

(music) hasbeen madetheend, while the end of

expres-sion (the drama) has been made a means." Wagner,

"

Opera and Drama." H. E K.]

un-natural in an aria are the asides. In speech

must be repeated, the effect is bad

been invited toMunich tocompose anopera, "Idomeneo,

Re di Creta," for the carnival of 1781 [In tinction to the observations touching poetry and music

contradis-in the preceding paragraph, this remark shows that he

nevertheless had a sense of dramatic propriety. He

ac-cepted the formashe found it, but protested against the things which stood in the way of its vitalization.

H E K.]

29 The second duet will be cut out entirely

more for the good than the harm of the

op-era You shall see for yourself, if you read

cooled by an aria or duet, which, moreover,

would be extremely annoying to the other

ac-tors who would haveto standaround with

be-tween Ilia andIdamante would become too long

andtherefore lose in value

un-der which the instruments can do some good

in the whole opera, there will be so much noiseand confusion on the stage that an aria would

cut but a sorry figure. Moreover there will be

a thunder-storm which is not likely to cease out

be so ifthe speechis too long the length itselfconvincing the listener of the fictitiousness of

the scene? If the speech oftheGhost inlet" werenotso

"Ham-longit would bemore effective.

made the following suggestions respecting the opera

"

(near the closeof the opera) in a few words of

where-upon the oracle speaks also from the depths. Thevoice

most extraordinary; it ought to make a masterpiece of

Concerning the Opera 31

32 In a word: far-fetched or unusual words

are always out of place in an agreeable aria;

moreover, I shouldlike to havethe aria suggest

con-sisted of only one part I should stillbe satisfied

in fact, I should prefer to have it so.

is still the subject of discussion.

33 As tothematter ofpopularity, be

uncon-cerned; there is music inmy opera for all sorts

of persons but none for long ears.

ex-pressed a fear that Mozart would not write down to the level of his public. [On December 11, his father had

written :

"

I recommend you not to think in your workonly of the musical public, but also of the unmusical.You know that there are a hundred ignorant people for

every ten true connoisseurs; so do not forget what is called popular and tickle the long ears." H E K.]

34 I have had a good deal of trouble with

him about the quartet. The oftener I fancy itperformed on the stage the more effective it

seems to me; and it has pleased all who haveheard it on the pianoforte. Raaff alone thinks

it will make no effect. He said to me in

"Non c'e da splanar la voce it is too

sing in a quartet! Hehas no understandingof

"

My dear

changed in this quartet I would change it at

once; butIhavenot been so completely satisfiedwith anything in the opera as I am with this

quartet; when you have heard it sung together

differently. I have done my best

to fit you with the two arias, will do it again

with the third, and hope to succeed; but you

mustlet thecomposer havehis own way intrios

Recently he was vexed because of one of the

words in his best aria rinvigorir and

It is trueit is very unpleasant at the conclusion

of an aria.

the principal singer in the opera "Idomeneo," which

35 My head and hands are so full of the

myself transformed into a third act. It has

there is scarcely a scenein itwhich is not

trombones and two French-horns, which areplaced at the point from which the voice pro-

silent.

sameletter he invites to Munich to hear the opera.

36 After the chorus of mourning the King,

the populace, everybody, leave the stage, and

Concerning the Opera 83

kneeling in the temple) That will never do;

very simple one for two violins, viola, bass and

during which the King enters and the priestsmake the preparations for the sacrifice. Then

prayer In Electra's recitative, after the terranean voice, the word Partono (they go)

sub-should be written in ; I forgot to look at thecopy made for the printer and do not know

whether or how the direction has been written

in. It seems silly to me that everybody shouldhurry away only in order to leaveMademoiselle

Electra alone

37 I am glad to compose the book. The

per-formed about themiddle of September; but thecircumstances connected with the performances,

character that they enliven my spirits in such a

degree that I hurry to mywriting desk and main seated there with great joy

re-Vienna, August 1, 1781, to his father. The opera

re-ferred to is "Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail." The

"

circumstances" were the court festivals which were to

celebrate the coming of the Russian Grand Duke, from

future benefits.

38 As regards the work of Stephanie you

is well fitted to the character of the stupid,

coarse and malicious Osmin I know full well

that the style ofthe verse is none of the best,

but it has so adjusted itself to the musical

thoughts (which were promenading inmy brain

in advance) that thelineshad to please me,and

the performance So far as the songs are cerned they are not to be despised Belmont'saria "

con-O, wie angstlich" could

been written better formusic

was the author of the libretto of "Die Entfiihrung ausdem Serail."

39 An aria has been written for Osmin in

the first act . You have seen only the

beginningandendofit,whichmust beeffective;

of Turkish music In developing the aria I

have given him (Fischer, a bass) a chance to

show his beautiful low tones The "By the

beard of the Prophet" remains in the same

grows continually,when onethinks that thearia

is cometo an end, the Allegro assai must make

thebestkind of an effectwhenit entersin a

the music must do the same

mustneverbecarried intheir

Concerning the Opera 35

the verge ofdisgust,andmusic, even inthemostawful situations must not offend the ear butalways please, consequently always remain mu-

sic, I have not chosen a key foreign to F (i.e.

the key of the aria), but a related one, not

minor You know how I have given expression

feurig," there is a suggestion of the beating

as well, and is written right into the voice of

Adamberger One can see the reeling and

with flute in unison The Janizary chorus is,

written to suit the Viennese

the composition of "Die Entfiihrung," Mozart delivered himself at greater length and more explicitlythan about

any other opera. From the above excerpt one can learn

his notions touching musical characterizationand tion ["Turkish" music, or "Janizary" music, is that in

40 The close will make a deal of noise; and

that is all that is necessary for the end of an

bet-ter, so that the people shallnot get too cool to

applaud

Vienna, September 26, 1781, to his father. The Trio

at theend of the first act is the finale referred to.

41 My opera is to be performed again next

Friday, but I have protested against it as I do

not want it to be ridden to death at once The

Vienna,July 27, 1782, to his father ,

42 My opera was performed again

yester-day, this time at the request of Gluck Gluckpaid me many compliments on it. I am to dinewith him to-morrow

Vienna, August 7, 1782, to his father. [How Mozart

to learn. H E K.]

43 The most necessary thing is that the

whole be really comical; then, if possible, thereshould be two equally good female parts, oneseria, the other mezzo carattere; but one must

Vienna,May 7, 1783, to his father, in Salzburg,where

44 It would be a pity if I should have posed this music for nothing, that is to say if

com-no regard is to be shown for things that areabsolutely essential. Neither you, nor Abbe

Varesco, nor I, reflected that it will be a bad

the sceneuntilthelastminute, but botharekept