page_title: Mozart in Italy
section_title: Return from Naples
hierarchical_section_title: Mozart in Italy / First journey, December 1769 – March 1771 / Return from Naples
caption_attribution_description: English: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antiphon Quaerite, Bologna 1770; composition exercise; now in the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna
context_page_description: Between 1769 and 1773, the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father Leopold Mozart made three Italian journeys. The first, an extended tour of 15 months, was financed by performances for the nobility and by public concerts, and took in the most important Italian cities. The second and third journeys were to Milan, for Wolfgang to complete operas that had been commissioned there on the first visit. From the perspective of Wolfgang's musical development the journeys were a considerable success, and his talents were recognised by honours which included a papal knighthood and memberships in leading philharmonic societies.
  Leopold Mozart had been employed since 1747 as a musician in the Archbishop of Salzburg's court, becoming deputy Kapellmeister in 1763, but he had also devoted much time to Wolfgang's and sister Nannerl's musical education. He took them on a European tour between 1764 and 1766, and spent some of 1767 and most of 1768 with them in the imperial capital, Vienna. The children's performances had captivated audiences, and the pair had made a considerable impression on European society.
context_section_description: The party made a rapid 27-hour return trip to Rome; in the process, Leopold sustained a leg injury that troubled him for several months. Wolfgang was granted an audience with the Pope, and was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. From Rome they made their way to the famous Santa Casa pilgrimage site at Loreto, and took the coastal road to Rimini—under military protection, because the road was subject to attacks from marauding pirates. From Rimini they moved inland, and reached Bologna on 20 July.
  Leopold's priority was to rest his leg. Wolfgang passed the time by composing a short minuet, K. 122/73t, and a Miserere in A minor, K. 85/73s. Meanwhile, the libretto for the Milan opera arrived; Leopold had been expecting Metastasio's La Nitteti, but it was Mitridate, re di Ponto, by Vittorio Cigna-Santi. According to the correspondence of Leopold, the composer Josef Mysliveček was a frequent visitor to the Mozart household while they were staying in Bologna. The musicologist Daniel E. Freeman believes that Mozart's approach to the composition of arias changed fundamentally at this time, bringing his style into closer alignment with that of Mysliveček.
  Leopold and Wolfgang moved into Count Pallavicini's palatial summer residence on 10 August, and stayed for seven weeks while Leopold's leg gradually improved and Wolfgang worked on the Mitridate recitatives. At the beginning of October, with Leopold more or less recovered, they moved back to Bologna, and Wolfgang, it is thought, began his period of study under Martini. On 9 October he underwent examination for membership in Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica, offering as his test piece the antiphon Quaerite primum regnum, K. 86/73v. According to Gutman, under ordinary circumstances Wolfgang's "floundering" attempt at this unfamiliar polyphonic form would not have received serious consideration, but Martini was at hand to offer corrections, and probably also paid the admission fee. Wolfgang's membership was duly approved; and the Mozarts departed for Milan shortly afterwards.
caption: Wolfgang's Antiphon examination exercise at Bologna, as revised by Martini
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "800", "Image ImageLength": "595", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:16 01:54:50", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "382", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11349", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "595"}