MOZART, John Chrysostom-Wolfgang-Theophilus, the illustrious musical composer, was born at Salzburg, on the 27th of January 1756. He was the son of Leopold Mozart, a musician in the employment of the Prince-archbishop of Salzburg, and Anna Maria Perth Both parents were noted for their uncommon beauty. Mozart was scarcely three years old when he manifested the most astonishing disposition for music. With an instinctive perception of beauty, his great delight was to seek for thirds on the piano, and nothing could equal his joy when he found this harmonious chord. At the age of four his father taught him some minuets, and other pieces of music. Mozart would learn a minuet in half an hour, and a longer piece in less than twice that time; and immediately afterwards, he played them with remarkable clearness, and perfectly in time. Before he was six, he had invented several small pieces himself, and even attempted compositions of some extent and intricacy. The vivacity of his mind led him to attach himself easily to every new object that was presented to him. He pursued the usual tasks of childhood with ardour; and when learning arithmetic, covered the tables, chairs, and walls with figures which he had chalked upon them. Music, however, soon became his favourite study, and in his juvenile efforts in composition, he showed a consistency of thought and a symmetry of design which promised a maturity of the highest genius.

One day, his father returning from church with a friend, found his son busy writing. “What are you doing there, my little fellow ?” he asked. “I am composing a concerto for the harpsichord, and have almost got to the end of the first part.” “Let us see this fine scrawl.” “No, I have not yet finished it.” The father, however, took the paper, [7:15:586]and showed his friend a sheet full of notes, which could scarcely be deciphered for the blots of ink. The two friends at first laughed at this heap of scribbling; but after regarding it a little more seriously, the father’s eyes overflowed with tears of joy and wonder. “Look, my friend,” said he, with a smile of delight, “every thing is composed according to rule. It is a pity the piece cannot be made any use of; but it is too difficult; nobody would be able to play it.” “It is a concerto,” replied the son, “and must be studied till it can be properly played. This is the style in which it ought to be executed.” He accordingly began to play, but succeeded only so far as to give them an idea of what he intended.

The extraordinary precocity of his son’s genius induced Leopold Mozart to exhibit him at the different courts in Germany. As soon therefore as Wolfgang had attained his sixth year, the Mozart family, consisting of the father, mother, a young daughter who had made very considerable proficiency on the harpsichord, and Wolfgang, took a journey to Munich. This expedition succeeded in every respect. The young artists, delighted at the reception which they had met with, redoubled their application, and acquired a degree of execution on the piano, which no longer required the consideration of their youth to render it remarkable. During the autumn of the year 1762, the whole family repaired to Vienna, where the children performed before the court. Here they met with the celebrated Wagenseil. When Mozart, who knew already how to esteem the approbation of a great master, sat down to play before the Emperor Francis, he asked his majesty, “Is not Μ. Wagenseil here? we must send for him; he understands these things.” The emperor sent for Wagenseil, and gave up his place to him at the side of the piano. “Sir,” said Mozart to the composer, “I am going to play one of your concertos; you must turn over the leaves for me.”

Hitherto the young Mozart had only played upon the harpsichord. On his return from Vienna to Salzburg, he brought with him a small violin, and amused himself with it. Wenzl, a skilful violin player, came to consult Leopold Mozart about some trios he had written. It was proposed to try the music. The father played the bass, Wenzl the first violin, and Schachtncr, the archbishop’s trumpeter, was to have played the second; but Wolfang insisted so much en being allowed to take this part, that his father at last consented to his playing it on his little violin. It was the first time he had heard his son seriously attempt this instrument, which, to the astonishment and delight of the party, he played with marvellous precision.

Every day afforded fresh proofs of Mozart’s exquisite organization for music. He could distinguish and point out the slightest differences of sound; and every false or even rough note, not softened by some chord, was a torture to him. It was from this cause that, during the early part of his childhood, and even till he had attained his tenth year, he had an insurmountable horror for the trumpet when it was not used merely as an accompaniment. The sight of this instrument produced upon him much the same impression as that of a loaded pistol does upon other children when pointed at them in sport. His father thought he could cure him of this fear by causing the trumpet to be blown in his presence, notwithstanding his son’s entreaties to be spared that torment; but at the first blast the boy turned pale, fell upon the floor, and would probably have been in convulsions if they had not immediately ceased.

In 1763, when Mozart was in his seventh year, his family set out upon their first expedition beyond the boundaries of Germany; and it is from this period that the celebrity of the name of Mozart in Europe is to be dated. They visited Paris and many other cities on the Continent; and in the year 1764 came to London, where the children played before the king. Mozart also played the organ at the Chapel Royal; and with this the king was even more pleased than with his performance on the harpsichord. During this visit, he composed six sonatas, which he dedicated to the queen. He afterwards returned to France, whence he proceeded to Holland and Switzerland; and on his arrival at his native place in 1766, he composed, at the request of the Emperor Joseph, the music of an opera-buffa called the Finta Semplice, which was approved of by Hasse and Metastasio. At the dedication of the Church of the Orphans he composed the music of the mass, and directed this solemn service, in the presence of the imperial court, although he was at that period only twelve years old.

In the month of December 1769, his father took him to Italy, and in every city met with an enthusiastic reception. Young Mozart had not as yet ventured out of the beaten track of composers; but, preserving the old forms of melody and harmony, he wrote in a style which was particularly learned and correct. His operas at this period were thought to have an air of stiffness, from the cen-trapuntal knowledge which they exhibited. What principally distinguished him from other composers, was the facility with which he scored, and the extraordinary fluency of his ideas. It was probably, too, from reading Metastasio at this period that Mozart’s taste in lyric poetry was formed; for in maturer life he was fastidious in the choice of the words he set to music, and the uninterrupted flow of melody and versification distinguished his airs from those of any other composer. Another circumstance of the Italian tour, which proved influential upon the after life of Mozart, was the daily hearing of the highest and most pathetic style of church music, Italy having in the latter part of the last century produced some of her greatest ecclesiastical works. In the celebrated Requiem, which was composed purely from love of the expressive in sacred music, we may discover the result of the author’s young devotion to this branch of the art, the consequence of listening to choral effects in the cathedrals of Italy.

Mozart having engaged to produce the first opera for the carnival of Milan, our travellers proceeded to Bologna, where Wolfgang found an enthusiastic admirer in Padre Martini, who was astonished to find a boy of fourteen years old capable of giving answers instantly in the rigore modi, to any subject of fugue laid before him. In Rome Mozart gave a miraculous attestation of his quickness of ear and extensive memory, by bringing away from the Sistine Chapel the Miserere of Allegri, a work full of imitation and repercussion, mostly for a double choir, and continually changing in the combination and relation of the parts. He drew out a sketch of this celebrated composition upon the first hearing, and filled it up from recollection at home. He then repaired to the second and last performance with his manuscript in his hat, and corrected it. He afterwards produced his copy at a concert in Rome, and one of the singers who sang at the performance of the Miserere pronounced it perfect. Mozart thus became famous in Rome, a city where it was most difficult to excite attention in any thing relating to the fine arts, on account of the numerous productions of art which were then every day presented, and formed subjects of constant and familiar contemplation.

In December 1770, the first representation of his opera, Mitridate Re di Ponto, took place at Milan. It met with remarkable favour, and was performed twenty nights in succession. He afterwards wrote several other operas, one of which, entitled Lucio Silla, was likewise represented twenty times. But the epoch at which Mozart’s genius ripened may be dated from his twentieth year. Constant study and practice had given him ease in composition, and ideas came thicker with his early manhood. The fire, the [7:15:587] melodiousness, the boldness of harmony, the inexhaustible invention, which characterize his works, were at this time apparent. He began to think in a manner entirely independent, and to perform what he had promised as a regenerator of the musical art.

Mozart produced his first great opera, Idomeneo, in his twenty-fifth year. He was then enamoured of Mademoiselle Constance Weber, a celebrated actress, whom he afterwards married. The family of his mistress having opposed the match, on account of his unsettled habits and situation, he was desirous of showing them that, although he had no recognised rank in society, he nevertheless possessed the means of obtaining consideration; and his attachment to Constance supplied him with the subjects of the impassioned airs which his work required. The love and vanity of the young composer, thus stimulated to the highest pitch, enabled him to produce the opera of Idomeneo, which he always regarded as one of his best, and from which he has frequently borrowed ideas for his subsequent works.

Mozart being now happily married and settled, gave himself up to his profession. In 1787 he produced Le Nozze di Figaro, and II Don Giovanni, and afterwards his Cosi fan Tutte, and La Clemenza di Tito, an opera of Metastasio, which was performed for the first time in 1792. He wrote only three German operas, Die Zauber-flöte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Der Schauspiel-director.

His works composed for the stage consist altogether of twelve operas. He left seventeen symphonies and instrumental pieces of all kinds, besides masses and other church compositions. He was one of the first piano-forte performers in Europe. He played with extraordinary rapidity, and the execution of his left hand was especially admired. Haydn said, “I never can forget Mozart’s playing; it went to the heart.”

Entirely absorbed in music, this great man was a child in almost every other respect. His hands were so wedded to the piano, that he could use them for nothing else. At table his wife carved for him; and in every thing relating to money, or to the management of his domestic affairs, or even the choice and arrangement of his amusements, he was entirely under her guidance. But, seated at the piano-forte, he appeared a being of another order. His mind then took wing, and his whole attention was directed to the development of his art. His health was very delicate, and during the latter part of his too short life it declined rapidly. At times he laboured under a profound melancholy, and in this state he wrote Die Zauberflote, the Clemenza di Tito, and his celebrated mass in D minor, commonly known by the name of his Requiem. The circumstances which attended the composition of the last of these works are too remarkable to be omitted in any notice of the life of Mozart.

One day, when his spirits were unusually oppressed, a stranger, of a tall dignified appearance, was introduced. The manners of this stranger were grave and impressive, and he told Mozart that he came from a person who did not wish to be known, to request he would compose a solemn mass, as a requiem for the soul of a friend whom he had recently lost, and whose memory he was desirous of commemorating by this solemn service. Mozart undertook the task, and engaged to have it completed in a month. The stranger begged to know what price he set upon his work, and having immediately paid him a hundred ducats, took his leave. The mystery of this visit seemed to have a very strong effect upon the mind of the musician. He brooded over it for some time, and then suddenly calling for writing materials, began to compose with extraordinary ardour. This application, however, was more than his strength could support; it brought on fainting fits, and his increasing ill ness obliged him to suspend his work. “I am writing this Requiem for myself,” said he abruptly to his wife one day; “it will serve for my own funeral service;” and this impression never afterwards left him. At the expiration of the month, the mysterious stranger appeared, and demanded the Requiem. “I have found it impossible,” said Mozart, “to keep my word; the work has interested me more than I expected, and I have extended it beyond my first design. I shall require another month to finish it.” The stranger made no objection; but observing, that for this additional trouble it was but just to increase the premium, laid down fifty ducats more, and promised to return at the time appointed. Astonished at the whole proceedings, Mozart ordered a servant to follow this singular personage, and if possible find out who he was; the man, however, lost sight of him, and was obliged to return as he went. Mozart, now more than ever persuaded that he was a messenger from the other world sent to warm him that his end was approaching, applied with fresh zeal to the Requiem, and, in spite of the exhausted state both of his mind and body, completed it before the end of the month. At the appointed day the stranger returned; but Mozart was no more. He died on the 5th of December 1791, before he had completed his thirty-sixth year.

The distinguishing characteristic of the music of Mozart is its power of touching the deepest feelings of the soul. He has been justly styled the Raffaelle of music. He had many of the fine qualities and modest perfections of the great painter, whom he also resembled in the fertility and variety of his genius. Mozart embraced his art in its whole extent, and excelled in all its departments. When, indeed, we bring into view all his qualifications as a composer and a practical musician, the result is astonishing. The same man, under the age of thirty-six, was at the head of dramatic, sinfonia, and piano-forte music; he was eminent in the sacred style, and equally at his ease in every variety, from the elaborate concerto to the simplest pieces of music. He put forth about eight hundred compositions, including masses, motetts, operas, and fragments of different kinds; at the same time supporting himself by teaching and giving public performances, at which he executed concertos on the piano-forte, the violin, the organ, or played extempore.

Of his operas, he esteemed most highly II Don Giovanni and Idomeneo. He seldom spoke of his own works; but of the Don Giovanni he one day observed, “This opera was not composed for the public of Vienna; it is better suited to Prague: but, to say the truth, I wrote it only for myself and my friends.” In this extraordinary production, so remarkable for exquisite melodies and profound harmonies, the playful, the tender, the pathetic, the mysterious, the sublime, and the terrible, may be distinctly traced. The composer exhibits throughout the work the most romantic imagination; and in the awful accompaniment to the reply of the statue, we have a specimen of composition replete with terrific expression, but at the same time perfectly free from inflation or bombast. The ghost scene in the last act maybe considered as the greatest effort of dramatic composition. Well has the style of Mozart been described as that of Shakspeare in music. The fear of Leporello is painted with true comic spirit; a thing rather unusual with Mozart. But melancholy is the prevailing passion in this masterpiece; and so strong, so distinct, so real, is the imagery in which it is presented to the soul, that minds possessed of the least enthusiasm are sure to be moved.

We have already seen that the Idomeneo was the firstwork produced by Mozart that raised his name to celebrity as a dramatic composer. This opera, and the Clemenza di Tito, are, in the opinion of judges, considered as the two best serious operas extant. His opera of Le Nozze di Fi- [7:15:588]garo is also much admired. In this piece, it must be admitted that Mozart has changed the picture of Beaumarchais. The spirit of the original is preserved only in the situations; all the characters are altered to the tender and impassioned. But although the brilliant wit of the French author has not been conveyed, yet, as a work of pure tenderness and melancholy, entirely divested of any unsuitable admixture of the majestic and the tragical, the Nozze di Figaro is unrivalled. It is difficult to form any idea of the Zauberflote, without having seen it. The story, which is like the wandering of a delirious imagination, harmonizes admirably with the genius of the musician. The subject of Cosi fan Tutte is unsuitable to Mozart, who could not trifle with love. The tender parts of the characters in this opera are the best.

The sacred compositions of Mozart are celebrated all over Europe, and frequently performed in the Catholic churches. Of these works the most sublime is the Requiem ; but several of his other masses and motetts are noted for their grandeur and beauty. His symphonies, quartetts, and other works for the orchestra and stringed instruments, rank in estimation with those of Haydn and Beethoven. His piano-forte writings are also justly esteemed. Mozart’s sympathy was most extensive; he participated with Sebastian Bach in the beauty of the fugue, with Handel in the grandeur of church music, with Gluck in the serious opera, with Haydn in instrumental music, and in the universality of his genius surpassed them all.

In the exterior of Mozart there was nothing remarkable; he was diminutive in person, and had a very agreeable countenance, which, however, did not at the first glance discover the greatness of his genius. His eyes were tolerably large and well shaped, more heavy than fiery in the expression; and when he was thin they were rather prominent. His sight was quick and strong; but he had an unsteady, abstracted look, except when seated at the piano-forte, and then the whole form of his visage changed. His hands were small and beautiful, and he used them so softly and naturally upon the piano-forte, that the eye was no less delighted than the ear. His head was rather large in proportion to his body, but his hands and feet were in perfect symmetry. The stunted growth of Mozart’s body may have arisen from the efforts of his mind. He was always good humoured, but very absent, and in answering questions seemed to be thinking of something else. Mozart had six children, but two sons only survived him. His widow married Μ. von Nissen, at Vienna, who published, in 1829, a full and excellent biographical account of the composer. (z. z.)