THE accession of Leopold II. to the Imperial throne (March 13, 1790) was not an event of good omen for music and the opera. Up to the month of July he had not entered the theatre, nor had any private concerts, nor MOZART'S POSITION AT COURT, 1790. displayed any sort of partiality for music; his consort, the Empress Louise, visited the opera and laid claim to some musical knowledge, although she expressed herself dissatisfied with the state of music in Vienna; the young princes, too, were instructed in music. 1 The difference between Joseph and his successor in point of taste was very soon manifested by the reintroduction of ballets, and by the favour bestowed on opera seria as well as opera buffa. It was rumoured that a new court theatre was to be built, in which the boxes were to be arranged for card-playing, and that Salieri had determined in consequence to resign his post, which was to be filled by Cimarosa. 2 Those individuals who had enjoyed the esteem of Joseph had little favour to hope for from Leopold; a fact which soon became evident in matters theatrical. Count Rosenberg was removed from the management, which was intrusted to Count Ugarte; 3 Da Ponte and Madame Ferraresi fell into disfavour; 4 Salieri thought it advisable to retire from the conductorship of the opera, and his place was filled by Jos. Weigl, "that the master might be reverenced in the pupil." 5 Mozart had stood too high in the favour of Joseph to be able to expect much from Leopold II.; his candidature for the post of second kapellmeister was as little successful as his request to be honoured with the musical instruction of the princes. Proof positive of the low esteem in which he was held by the court was afforded to him on the occasion of the visit of King Ferdinand of Naples, who came to Vienna (September 14) with his Queen, Caroline, to celebrate the marriages of his daughters, Maria Theresa and Louise, with the Archdukes Francis and Ferdinand. Ferdinand's LABOUR AND POVERTY. two passions were music and the chase; 6 and the instrument which he most affected was the lute. In his honour a new opera by Weigl ("La Cafetiera Bizarra") was performed (September 15); 7 the Emperor made his first appearance at the opera with King Ferdinand, when Salieri's "Axur" was played (September 21); in honour of the weddings, open table was held in the great Redoutensaal, and a concert performed in the gallery under Salieri's direction, in which Cavalieri and Calvesi and the brothers Stadler took part, and a symphony by Haydn was performed which the King knew by heart, and sang out loud as it was played; Haydn was introduced to him, invited to Naples, and honoured with commands for compositions; 8 and all this time Mozart remained unnoticed, and was not even summoned to play before the King of Naples, a neglect which wounded him deeply. His condition was painful in the extreme; his wife's delicate health showed no signs of improving; and as his expenses increased his income gradually diminished. In May he had only two pupils, and was obliged to appeal to his friends to assist him in raising the number to eight. His continual and pressing embarrassments exhausted even the resources of his ever-generous friend Puchberg, and he was obliged to apply to money-lenders, and to embark in speculations which did but hasten his financial ruin (Vol. II., p. 301). The weight of these cares crippled his energies for work, as he himself complains, and no period of his life is so poor in artistic production as this year. His own catalogue contains, after the completion of "Cosi fan Tutte" in January, 1790, only:—

May. Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello in B flat major (589 K.).

June. Quartet in F major (590 K.).

July. Handel's "Cecilia" and "Alexander's Feast," arranged (591, 592 K.).

EXPEDITION TO FRANKFORT, 1790.

In the hope of improving his circumstances, Mozart resumed his plan of taking a professional tour; the coronation of Leopold II. in Frankfort, on October 9, attracted a large number of strangers to that city, and seemed to render it a favourable place for the experiment. Salieri, as court kapellmeister, 9 Ign. Umlauf as his deputy, and fifteen chamber musicians, were sent to Frankfort among the retinue of the Emperor. 10 Mozart was not included among the number, and thus was deprived of the advantage of the imperial patronage. On September 23 he set off, after pawning his silver plate to defray the expenses of his journey (Vol. II., p. 301) in company with his brother-in-law, the violinist Hofer, whom he took with him out of compassion, and with the intention of sharing the expected profits together; they travelled in their own carriage, and, arriving in Frankfort on the 23rd, had considerable difficulty in finding a lodging, owing to the overflow of strangers into the town. On October 14, at noon, Mozart gave a concert in the Stadt-theater. 11 The contrabassist Ludwig, long since dead, who took part in the concert, used to tell how the piano stood upon the stage, and how during the rehearsal the restless, agile little man was continually leaping over the prompter's box into the orchestra to chat in a friendly way with the various performers, and then climb back again on to the stage. Mozart's own compositions were exclusively performed at this concert; he played the concertos in F major (459 K.) and D major (537 K.). Margarethe Hamel, afterwards Frau Schick, was the vocalist, and so charmed Mozart by her voice and delivery that he is said to have exclaimed repeatedly: "I never wish to hear any other singing LABOUR AND POVERTY. than this." 12 It is also said that he played a pianoforte concerto as a duet with old "Papa BeeckÉ" (Vol. I., pp. 151,368), whom he met again here. 13 He acquaints his wife with the friendly reception accorded him, and tradition has it that he struck up a friendship with the concertmeister Hoffmann, and generally spent the evening with him at Gran's tavern in the Bleidenstrasse. Hesse became acquainted in Frankfort, as he tells us, 14 with an old superannuated organist of the Katharinenkirche, who in 1790 had been the pupil of his predecessor; the old man said:—

One Sunday, after service, Mozart came into the choir at St Katharine's, and begged the old organist to allow him to play something. He seated himself on the stool and gave the reins to his fancy, when the organist suddenly pushed him off the stool in the rudest manner, and said to the pupil standing by: "Mark that last modulation which Herr Mozart made; how can he profess to be a musician and commit such grave offences against correct composition?"

The pupil had remembered the modulation, and Hesse thought it a fine one, and not even unusual.

From Frankfort Mozart proceeded to Mayence. Here rumour assigned him a touching love intrigue, which was supposed to have suggested the song "Io ti lascio," the said song having been in reality composed by Gottfried von Jacquin in Vienna, and not by Mozart at all (Vol. II., p. 361). On his way back to Frankfort, Mozart stayed at Mannheim, and renewed the memory of former days with as many of the old friends as still survived. He arrived just in time for the first performance of his "Figaro," which took place on October 24. The actor Backhaus notes in his Tagebuch der Mann-heimer SchaubÜhne: "I got into great disgrace with Mozart. I was standing at the door while our rehearsal was going on. He came and asked me about it, and whether he might hear it. I took him for a little journeyman tailor, and refused to let him in. 'You will surely allow Kapellmeister Mozart to hear the rehearsal?' So I was in a scrape most decidedly." 15

RETURN JOURNEY TO VIENNA, 1790.

The late organist of the Trinitatiskirche, Schultz, delighted as an octogenarian to recall how Mozart, who visited his father and played the organ with him, censured the slow tempi of the Kapellmeister FrÄnzel at the rehearsal in the theatre, and gave it himself with more animation. Otherwise, Mozart pronounced himself highly satisfied with the cast and the performance. 16

At Munich, where Mozart arrived on October 29, and took up his quarters with his old friend Albert, 17 he found still more of the old set, and his letters to his wife show the pleasure he took in their society. Here at last he had the gratification of being requested by the Elector to play at the concert which was given at court to the King of Naples, who was staying at Munich for two days 18 on his return journey from Frankfort. "Highly creditable to the Vienna court," he writes, "that the King should hear me in a foreign country." Shortly after Mozart's return to Vienna Salomon arrived from London, and made what might at that time be considered brilliant proposals to Haydn to accompany him to England, and produce that series of compositions for the Philharmonic Society which were destined to lay the foundation of Haydn's fame and prosperity. Salomon made repeated propositions to Mozart also to undertake the journey to London under similar conditions, as soon as Haydn should return. It was with a heavy heart that Mozart bade adieu to his dear "Papa Haydn," the only artist in Vienna who really understood him and wished him well.

It may safely be asserted that Mozart did not return to Vienna with a full purse, nor did his other financial operations secure for him that for which he so touchingly expresses to his wife his ardent longing: a mind free from anxiety, and permission to work—only to work. He did work, though, LABOUR AND POVERTY. after his return, and the last year of his life displays an activity which passes belief. His own list contains:—

1790. December. A quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello D major (593 K.).

1791. January 5. A pianoforte concerto, B flat major (595 K.).

January 14. Three German songs (596 K.).

January 23, 29; February 5, 12, 28; March 6. Dances (599-607, 609-611 K.).

March 3. A piece for clockwork, in F minor (608 K.).

March 8. A bass air with obbligato double-bass, for Hrn. GÖrl and Pischlberger, "Per questa bella mano" (612 K.). Variations for the piano on the song "Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding" (613 K.).

April 12. A quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in E flat major (614 K.).

April 20. Final chorus in the opera "Le Gelosie Villane," by Sarti, for amateurs, "Viviamo felici in dolce contento" (615 K., unknown).

May 4. Andante for a waltz on a small barrel-organ, in F major (616 K.).

May 23. Adagio and Rondo for harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and violoncello in C minor (617 K.).

June 18. In Baden "Aveverum corpus" (618 K.).

July. A short German cantata for solo voice and pianoforte, "Die ihr des unermesslichen Weltalls Schopfer" (619 K.).

A glance at this catalogue is sufficient to prove that he wrote whatever he was requested, either by commission or to please his friends.

For his own playing, no doubt at a concert, he wrote the pianoforte concerto in B flat major, which like most of the compositions of this period, is distinguished by its mild and earnest tone and charming euphony. The two fine quintets for stringed instruments were written "at the earnest solicitation of a musical friend" (Vol. III., p. 18) who was no doubt acquainted with Mozart's poor circumstances, and wished to afford him a worthy opportunity of turning his art to account. The spirit in which Mozart undertook commissions which were often of a very subordinate nature may be best seen in his composition for a mechanical timepiece which was ordered by Count Deym for MÜller's art-collection, then attracting great attention. The serious temper which it displays, and BADEN, 1791—STOLL. the thoroughly technical treatment of the composition, betray no evidence of a work merely done to order. Another occasional composition is the beautiful chorus with stringed quartet accompaniment, "Ave verum corpus." Mozart's wife was staying at Baden for the waters in the summer of 1790, and again in 1791, in company with her sister Sophie. There Mozart became acquainted with the schoolmaster and choirmaster Stoll, an ardent admirer, who took pleasure in making himself useful to Mozart and his wife. That Stoll could appreciate the fun of Mozart, in his unrestrained moods, is shown by the superscription of a note (July 12, 1791)—

or by his assurance in another letter: "This is the stupidest letter which I ever wrote in my life; but it is just fitted for you." On the other hand, Mozart was of use to him with his compositions, and lent him, among others, his Masses in B flat major (275 K.) and C major (317 K.) for performance. On one of these occasions the soprano singer turned obstinate, and would not obey Mozart's directions. He sent her away, and gave the part to his little favourite, Antonia Huber, a child of ten or eleven years old, who was often with her brother-in-law Stoll and met Mozart at his house. He practised with the child for a week, and her industry and attention were so great that she performed her part to admiration, and was rewarded by Mozart with "Brav, Tonerl, recht brav!" together with a kiss and a ducat. He used to say to her, "Tonerl, make haste and grow big, and I will take you with me to Vienna." 19 The "Ave verum corpus" was no doubt composed at Stoll's suggestion during one of these visits to Baden. It bears tokens of haste, but is so full of childlike piety, winning simplicity, and entrancing harmony, LABOUR AND POVERTY. that one seems for the moment transported from all earthly doubts and cares into a region of heavenly calm and peace.

A very different impression is made by the bass air with obbligato double-bass, composed by Mozart for two professional friends. The celebrated double-bass player, Pischlberger, was in Schikaneder's orchestra, and Gerl and his wife (formerly Mdlle. Reisinger) sang at the same theatre. Contemporaries affirmed that the very pretty and attractive woman had completely entangled Mozart in her coils. Be that as it may, this composition was the cause of a connection between Mozart and Schikaneder which was fertile in results to the former.

Emanuel Schikaneder was born in poor circumstances at Regensburg in 1751. He was obliged as a boy to earn his living as a wandering musician, and in 1773 was so inspired by the performances of a wandering troupe of actors at Augsburg that he joined them. He afterwards married Eleonore Artim, the adopted daughter of his manager, and undertook the management. He had considerable skill and audacity, not only as an actor and singer, but also as a dramatic poet. His company visited by turns Inspruck, Laibach, Gratz, 20 Pressburg, Pesth, and Salzburg, where he had become acquainted with the Mozarts in 1780, and had suggested some compositions to Wolfgang (Vol. II., p. 102). His want of refinement in the choice of means of attraction is sufficiently proved by his having on one occasion at Salzburg, when "Agnes Bernauer" was performed, made the public announcement: "The Vidame will this day be thrown over the bridge "—which concession to the moral feelings of his audience was duly made the same evening. 21 He acquired a considerable competence, but an unlucky speculation in Pressburg ruined him. He had written a piece in which a goose played the principal part, and all the others were cocks and hens. The expenses for scenery and costumes were very great, and, as it was a complete failure, his finances were SCHIKANEDER. irretrievably injured. In November, 1784, he gained access for his company to the stage of the Karnthnerthortheater in Vienna, where he gave German operas and plays, at which the Emperor was occasionally present. 22 He appeared on April 1, 1785, in the part of Schwindel in Gluck's "Pil-grimmen von Mecca"; but attempting greater parts in serious drama, he was hissed off the stage, and in February, 1786, was forced to leave Vienna. 23 He then took the town theatre in Regensburg, and endeavoured to satisfy the taste of the populace for low comedy; but this did not last long, and in the summer of 1787 he threw up the undertaking 24 and returned to Vienna. His wife had in the meantime remained at the theatre in the "Freihause auf der Wieden," 25 and had taken the management of it from Friedel. This now passed into Schikaneder's hands, and in these confined premises—little better than a barn—he succeeded in delighting the Viennese public with performances expressly designed to attract them, especially comic operas, of which many were highly successful. 26 What he wanted in cultivation (he could barely write or reckon) he made up for in sound mother-wit, practical experience, and knowledge of stage routine. His audacity was equal to his frivolity, and he found a way out of every dilemma. He was addicted to sensual gratification, a parasite and a spendthrift; and in spite of his large income was often hard pressed by his creditors. 27

During one of these periods of embarrassment, in the spring of 1791 28 (May 7 is given as the date), he had recourse LABOUR AND POVERTY. to Mozart, with whom he had renewed the old acquaintance, and representing to him that he was lost unless he could produce an opera of great attractive power, he assured him that he had discovered an excellent magic subject for an opera, which Mozart was just the man to compose. Mozart's irresistible inclination for operatic composition, his natural good-nature and regard for a brother Freemason, and, as it was said, the influence of Madame Gerl, all combined to induce him to make the attempt: "If we make a fiasco, I cannot help it, for I never wrote a magic opera in my life." Schikaneder gave him the first sketch of the "ZauberflÖte," and, knowing how difficult it was to bring Mozart to the point of writing, he arranged a little garden-house in the courtyard of the Freihaus for his use, so as to keep him under his own eye. Here, and in Josephsdorf, on the Kahlenberg (where his room in the casino is still shown), 29 Mozart wrote the greater part of the "ZauberflÖte"; Schikaneder was at hand to discuss points of detail, to make necessary alterations, and above all to have his own part written to his mind. He had a poor bass voice, was uncultivated, but not unmusical, and could execute his songs in a dashing and effective manner. He knew perfectly in what consisted his best effects, and insisted on having simple, popular melodies, which Mozart was compliant enough to go on altering until Schikaneder was satisfied. The song "Ein MÄdchen oder Weibchen," after many attempts, was, it is said, suggested by a melody hummed by Schikaneder himself. It has been remarked that the beginning is identical with the seventh and eighth lines of Scandelli's (d. 1580) chorale, "Nun lob mein Seel den Herren"—[See Page Image] is sung to the same melody 30 —a sure proof of its popularity. The duets "Bei MÄnnern welche Liebe fÜhlen," and COMPOSITION OF THE "ZAUBERFLOTE." "Papageno" were repeatedly rearranged in deference to Schika-neder's wish. His want of any hesitation in the matter is proved by the following note from him, preserved by Al. Fuchs in his collection:—

Dear Wolfgang,—Herewith I return your "Pa-Pa-Pa-," which I like fairly well. It will do, at any rate. We shall meet this evening at the usual place.—Yours, E. Schikaneder.

But Schikaneder took care to keep his composer in good humour by frequent invitations to his table; where both eating and drinking were of the best, and by introductions to the jovial and free-living society in which he himself moved, and which also included A. Stadler, the man who so shamefully abused Mozart's good nature (Vol. II., p. 309). The pressure of external circumstances, of growing domestic troubles, and the bitter feeling of failure and disappointed hope, combined with his own excitable nature to cause Mozart to seek for distraction and forgetfulness in the whirl of a pleasure-loving life. His wife was at Baden, where his youngest son Wolfgang was born on July 26; her absence deprived his home life of any comfort, and drove him to take refuge among his theatrical friends. Folly and dissipation were the inevitable accompaniments of such an existence, and these soon reached the public ear, combining with the exaggerated accounts current of the loose life led by Schikaneder and his associates to cover Mozart's name for several months with an amount of obloquy beyond what he deserved (Vol. II., p. 270). While the "ZauberflÖte" was in course of composition, Da Ponte, who was obliged to leave Vienna, tried to persuade Mozart to accompany him to London, and there take an active part in the production of Italian opera. Mozart turned a favourable ear to the project, but demanded a delay of six months for the completion and performance of his opera, to which Da Ponte could not agree. 31 In July, 1791, the work was so far advanced that he was able to insert the opera in his catalogue as virtually complete; the rehearsals had begun as LABOUR AND POVERTY. soon as the voices and bass parts were ready, the working-out of the instrumentation being left, as usual, to the last.

It was at this juncture that Mozart received an unexpected commission in a very singular manner. 32 A stranger, a tall, thin grave-looking man, dressed from head to foot in grey, and calculated from his very appearance to make a striking and weird impression, presented him one day with an anonymous letter begging him with many flattering allusions to his accomplishments as an artist to name his price for composing a Requiem, and the shortest time in which he could undertake to complete it. Mozart acquainted his wife with the circumstance, and assured her that it gave him great satisfaction, since he had long wished to try his powers once more on this species of composition, and to produce a work that both friends and foes might admire and study after his death. The innovations in church music introduced by the Emperor Joseph had been swept away by his successor, and the services of the Church were once more performed after the old fashion. Mozart was anxious therefore to impress upon the Emperor Leopold II., as the supreme arbiter, his familiarity with the orthodox church style, and the present seemed a favourable opportunity for the purpose. After consultation with his wife he announced his readiness to undertake the commission, but without fixing a term for its completion, and naming as his price 50 (some say 100) ducats; whereupon the messenger again appeared, paid the stipulated sum, and promised an addition on the delivery of the finished work. Mozart was enjoined to compose the Requiem according to his own will and pleasure, and to make COMMISSION FOR THE REQUIEM. no endeavour to discover his mysterious patron, an endeavour which would certainly prove in vain.

It is now proved beyond doubt that Count Franz von Wal-segg of Stuppach was the patron in question, and that he ordered the Requiem in memory of his late wife, Anna Edlen von Flammberg; the mysterious messenger was his steward Leutgeb, whose personal appearance has been described to me by Grillparzer. Count Walsegg was a zealous lover of music, a good flautist, and a moderately good violoncello-player; he had quartet parties every Tuesday and Thursday, and theatrical performances every Sunday, in which his family and retainers took active part. But he was also ambitious to figure as a composer. He used to order quartets from different composers, always anonymously and with the offer of handsome payment; 33 these he would then copy with his own hand, and have the parts written out from this score. After performance he would set the players to guess the composer; they, fully aware of the mystification, invariably flattered his weakness by guessing himself, and he with a deprecating smile would tacitly admit the imputation. This explains the mysterious origin of the Requiem. He rewrote Mozart's score, gave the parts to be copied from his duplicate (with the title of "Requiem composto del Conte Walsegg"), and himself directed the performance of it on December 14, 1793.

Before Mozart had set himself in earnest to this task, he received in the middle of August a fresh commission which brooked of no delay. A festival opera was to be performed at the approaching coronation of Leopold II. as King of Bohemia in Prague. The subject chosen was Metastasio's "Clemenza di Tito," and again it was the people of Prague who made good the deficiencies of the Viennese: the States called upon Mozart to compose the opera. For reasons which do not appear their decision was so long delayed that there remained only a few weeks for the composition and rehearsal LABOUR AND POVERTY. of the opera. After making all preliminary arrangements, Mozart set out for Prague. As he was in the act of stepping into the travelling-carriage with his wife, the mysterious messenger appeared, and touching his wife on the arm, asked how it would fare with the Requiem now. Mozart excused himself by alleging the necessity of his present journey, and the impossibility of acquainting his unknown patron with it, and promised that it should be his first work on his return if the delay were granted him; with this the messenger declared himself satisfied.

Mozart worked at his opera during the journey, making sketches in the carriage, and working them out at the inn where they stopped for the night. He must have intended the part of Sextus to be taken by a tenor, for in two sketches of the duets with Vitellia (i) and Annius (3) Sextus is a tenor, which of course necessitated a plan and treatment altogether different. He cannot have received definite instructions as to the cast of the opera until he was in Prague; but then he set to work with so much ardour that in the course of eighteen days the opera was finished and in rehearsal. 34 He called in the assistance of a young composer named Franz SÜssmayr, one of his pupils, who is said to have written the secco recitatives; what makes this the more probable is the fact that in the original score there is no secco recitative at all. But the further assertion that SÜssmayr composed the airs for Servilia, Annius, and Publius, and arranged the instrumentation of some other pieces, 35 is disproved by the existence of almost all the numbers in Mozart's handwriting. 36

FIRST PERFORMANCE OF "TITUS," 1791.

The opera was performed with great magnificence 37 on September 6, the coronation day, after the banquet, before the royal family and an invited audience, in the National Theatre. 38 The cast was as follows:—[See Page Image]

The Empress is said to have expressed herself very disdainfully concerning the "porcheria" of German music; and it is certain that the first performance of "Titus" was far from being a success. 39 Niemetschek is of opinion (p. 112) that the public were too excited by the gorgeous coronation festivities to be disposed to listen to the calmer beauties of Mozart's music. Mozart, accustomed to find consolation for so much slighting indifference in the enthusiastic applause of the Prague audiences, was thoroughly cast down by his failure; the more so as he was unwell when he arrived, and his indisposition had been increased by his extraordinary exertions. He was continually taking medicine and looked pale and depressed, although, as Niemetschek says, his gaiety shone forth bright as ever in the congenial society of his Prague friends; at his parting from the familiar circle he was so overcome as to shed tears. 40

LABOUR AND POVERTY.

If it be true that "Cosi fan Tutte" is in all essential points an opera buffa, it is no less certain that "Titus" may take its stand as a veritable opera seria. Metastasio wrote "La Clemenza di Tito" in 1734, and it was performed with Caldara's music on the name-day of Charles VI.; it was subsequently set to music by several distinguished composers. 41 It is true that the public taste had so far altered that it was scarcely feasible to present it in its original form; but the improvements in the libretto, made by Caterino Mazzola, the Saxon court poet, 42 did not affect the character of the opera in any important degree. The principal change was the compression of the original three acts into two, and the omission of a not very happy episode, in which Annius, by a change of mantle, is taken for the guilty person. The course of the plot is thereby simplified; but it would be impossible by means of alterations to endow it with any lively dramatic interest. Nor is it rich in good musical situations; of all the characters Vitellia is the only one who displays the least passion; and the excessive amount of virtue and generosity depicted affords no field either for musical or dramatic interest. Further condensations were made of the numerous and, for the most part, rhetorically sententious solo airs, and ensemble movements were introduced at suitable points. This was accomplished with all possible deference to the original design and to Metastasio's verses, so that the character and colouring proper to a court festival piece was well preserved. 43 The following is a brief abstract of the plot:—(23); the duets (1, 3, 7), terzets (10, 14,18), the quintet (12), sestet (26), and the chorus (15); they retain for the most part Metastasio's ideas, and often his verses and turns of expression.

PLOT OF "TITUS."

Vitellia, daughter of Vitellius, who has been deposed by Vespasian, has nourished the hope of a union with Titus, but finding herself disappointed, she wishes young Sextus, who is passionately in love with her, to form a conspiracy against his friend Titus, and by his overthrow to gain her hand. At the beginning of the opera she is urging her wavering lover to action, when Annius brings the unexpected tidings that Titus has banished his mistress Berenice from Rome. He entreats Sextus to obtain the consent of Titus to his union with Servilia, the sister of Sextus, who willingly promises his aid. After a magnificent assembly of the people, in which the generosity of Titus is publicly displayed, the Emperor himself demands from Sextus the hand of his sister Servilia; Sextus is confused and silent, but Annius, by his generous praise of the virtues and beauty of Servilia, strengthens the Emperor in his decision. Servilia, however, informed by Annius of the honour in store for her, assures him of her unalterable love, and, hastening to Titus, confesses to him the whole truth, whereupon he generously resigns her, and unites her to Annius. Vitellia, incensed to the highest degree by the proposed elevation of Servilia, directs Sextus and his coconspirators to proceed at once to action. He obeys, but has scarcely left her presence, when Publius, leader of her body-guard, enters, and summons her to the palace to bestow her hand upon Titus; she hastens to the palace in the utmost dismay and consternation. There is a general encounter in front of the capitol, which has been set on fire by the conspirators; great excitement prevails, and turns to grief and horror at the tidings brought by Sextus of the death of the Emperor, whom he believes himself to have slain.

In the second act, Sextus, a prey to remorse, confesses his guilt to Annius, who counsels flight, and is supported by Vitellia with an eye to her own safety; Publius enters and arrests Sextus on the testimony of some imprisoned conspirators. At a meeting of the senators, who bewail the death of Titus, the latter steps forth from among the people, throws off the disguise in which he had saved himself, and is recognised amid general rejoicings. 44 He knows that Sextus intended to assassinate him, and has been condemned to death by the senate, but summoning him to his presence, he offers him a free pardon in return for a full confession. Sextus, unwilling to inculpate Vitellia, maintains an obstinate silence, and Titus finally ratifies the sentence of death. Vitellia yields to the entreaties of Servilia to intercede with the Emperor for Sextus, renounces her hopes, and resolves to save him by confessing her own guilt. All being prepared in the amphitheatre for the execution of Sextus, it is about to take place, when Vitellia rushes in, and denounces herself as the originator of the revolt; Titus pardons her a well as Sextus and the conspirators; all present extol his clemency.

LABOUR AND POVERTY.

Both the plot and the characters are absolutely devoid of dramatic interest. The abstract goodness of Titus, who is ready on every occasion to pardon and to yield, rouses no sympathy, 45 and is dramatically mischievous in its effects, since it destroys any sort of suspense. Publius, Annius and Servilia are mere props in the plot, characters without any individuality. Sextus is a purely passive instrument, wavering between love and remorse, without force or decision. We should sympathise with him if his love for Vitellia were returned, and if a healthy passion gave an impulse to his crime; but his weakness, which prevents his being aware that he is only the instrument of her selfish passion, deprives him of all sympathy, while Vitellia repels us by her barefaced ambition, to which she is ready to sacrifice every sentiment and every duty; her remorse comes too late to appear anything but a dissonance leading to the inevitable conclusion of the plot. This internal weakness in the characters is emphasised by Metastasio's poetical treatment of the plot. His dainty style was specially suited for court poetry and its corresponding musical expression, and his dexterity in the handling of the accepted forms of composition made his task a comparatively easy one. But even without taking into account the revolution which had taken place in the drama, we may judge from "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" that what in Metastasio's time was of advantage to the composer had now become fetters binding him to forms and dogmas which were virtually obsolete. We find traces throughout of the opera seria, which Mozart had abandoned long ago, but which he was constrained here to resume. Metastasio's graceful daintiness of style, too, was even more injurious in the taste it encouraged for mere amusement of the trifling kind that was looked for at the opera at that time, giving an unseemly effeminacy of tone to the opera seria, and running an equal risk of degenerating into mere trifling or empty pomp and show. If, in addition to this, it be remembered that Mozart's express directions were to compose an occasional, a festival opera, for which two singers had TITUS OVERTURE—ENSEMBLES. been summoned from Italy, and would demand to be shown at their best, and that he composed the opera against time, and struggling with illness, it will scarcely be expected that an unqualified success should follow such a combination of untoward circumstances. The character of a brilliant festal piece is at once suggested by the overture, which begins appropriately by a solemn intrada, with a long-drawn climax. The first bars recall the overture to "Idomeneo," which, however, in earnestness and dignity of tone, and originality of invention, far surpasses that to "Titus." The second theme so announced falls short of expectation, being weak and trifling, 46 and even the subject selected for harmonic contrapuntal treatment—[See Page Image] skilful and brilliant as the treatment is, has in itself no special interest, so that when the prelude recurs to form an effective conclusion, the principal impression remaining is one of brilliant display.

The march (4) and the choruses (5, 24) as well as the finale (26) Sestetto con coro, in which short solo passages alternate with the chorus, maintain this festive character. They are brilliant and flowing, pleasing and melodious, and answer for their purpose and the situation without laying claim to original invention or characterisation. Only the chorus with which Titus is received before he pronounces judgment upon Sextus (24) has a fine expression of solemn dignity, suggested not so much by the words, which are trivial enough, as by the character of the situation. It was a happy touch to make the chorus, after the unexpected deliverance of Titus (15), express delight, not with jubilant outcries, but with the suppressed joy of bewildered amazement. Nevertheless this chorus is too light and fugitive for the situation.

LABOUR AND POVERTY.

The tenor part of Titus displays most clearly the influence of the old opera seria, Metastasio's words, consisting of general axioms, being retained for all his three airs (6, 8, 20). The two first are short and melodious, but not deeply suggestive; 47 the last retains the old aria form with a long middle movement and return to the first allegro, together with bravura passages quite in the old style. The report that the tenor Baglione found that Mozart and not an Italian composer had been engaged to write the opera, and that they quarrelled in consequence, 48 is the more improbable since Baglione was the same singer for whom Mozart had written Don Ottavio.

Servilia's air (2) indicated, after the old style, with tempo di menuetto, the two airs for Annius (13, 17) 49 and that for Publius (16), are all both in design and treatment proper to secondary parts, without musical significance or individual characterisation. The main weight, therefore, fell according to custom upon the two prime donne, who played Sextus and Vitellia. The fact that the parts of the lovers, Sextus and Annius, were soprano, was an objectionable relic of the old opera seria, and that Sextus should have been played by a female and not a male soprano was a progress indeed for humanity, but not for the drama. True characterisation is impossible when a woman in man's clothes plays the lover, and the case is not improved by the weak, womanish character of Sextus. His passion for Vitellia becomes a thing contrary to nature, and the deeper the dramatic conception of the part the more repulsively does this appear. Of necessity, therefore, vocal execution comes to the foreground. The first air of Sextus, "Parto I" (9), fails at once in dramatic interest from his having already repeatedly assured Vitellia of his blind obedience, if she will only bestow upon TITUS—SEXTUS. him one glance of love. The musical design and working-out are those of a grand bravura air. Tenderness, tinged with only an occasional dash of heroism, prevails throughout the two movements (adagio 3-4 and allegro 4-4). An obbligato clarinet goes with the voice, and the strictly concertante treatment of this instrument gives its chief interest to the musical working-out of the song. Considered as a concert air which treats the given situation only as a general foundation for the development of musical forces, it is of extraordinary beauty, the melodies being noble and expressive, the sound-effects of the voice and clarinet admirable, and the only concessions to brilliancy of effect the triplet passages and the long-drawn-out conclusion.

The second air (19) is more definitely characterised by the situation. Sextus, having with difficulty withstood Titus's friendly entreaties, is overpowered by his feelings when the Emperor turns coldly away, and leaves him to be led to death. This air is also in two movements; Sextus expresses his grief for the loss of Titus's confidence in an adagio, and his despair at the death awaiting him in an allegro. Metastasio's text expressed only the latter feeling, and Mazzola formed the first part of the air out of the words of the dialogue. 50 The expression of the first movement is fervent and true, and the softness characterising it belongs to the character and the situation; the second movement expresses a certain amount of passion in some parts, but is as a whole wanting in energy, and its chief motif, even for a female Sextus, is too soft and tender. Schaul adduces as a proof of Mozart's frequent sins against good sense that Sextus, tortured by remorse, should express his agony to Titus in a rondo. 51 "If it were a rondo by Pleyel or Clementi," remarks C. M. von Weber in answer, 52 "it might indeed produce a ludicrous effect; but let the critic only note the heartfelt fervour of the song, the depth and beauty of expression in such places as 'pur saresti men LABOUR AND POVERTY. severo, se vedesti questo cor, and all such petty fault-finding will cease to be heard." Mozart had originally sketched another allegro, the first bars of which, still existing in autograph, are rather more decided in character:—[See Page Image]

The page ends here, and the present allegro is begun on a fresh one; it cannot be determined whether the first allegro was finished or only commenced, but in any case the instrumentation was not worked out.

Vitellia is the only character in the opera displaying anything like passion or strength of feeling. The singer Maria Marchetti (b. 1767), married to the tenor Fantozzi in 1788, had acquired great renown in Italy and Milan, whence she was summoned to Prague; she possessed a fine, full voice, and excellent execution and action, enhanced by a pleasing exterior and dignified bearing. 53 In her first air (2) there is indeed no passion, Metastasio's words, consisting of frigid moral observations, scarcely allowing of any characteristic musical expression. The air is divided into the traditional two movements, neither of them distinguished by originality, TITUS—VITELLIA. and even the bravura part is insignificant; the whole effect is so dry and commonplace as involuntarily to suggest SÜssmayr. Vitellia's second air, on the contrary (22, 23), is the gem of the opera, and incontestably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. At the decisive moment Vitellia rises to the resolution of renouncing her dearest hopes, of sacrificing her very life to the nobler instincts of her soul, which have too long been made to yield to her ambitious striving after false greatness.

The musical characterisation grasps this situation, and develops from it a psychological picture complete in itself, and only loosely connected with the earlier conception of Vitellia's character in the opera. The song seems thus to be detached from the framework of the opera, and to belong rather to the province of concert music. This idea is strengthened by the design, treatment, and compass of the two movements, as well as by the introduction of the obbligato basset-horn, which is treated so as to accord with the voice part, without any brilliant bravura. 54 Every element of the song is blended into such perfect unity, such charm of melody, such beauty of musical form; the sharp contrasts of the different motifs are so admirably expressive of the general character of which they form the details, and the whole work is so permeated by the breath of poetic genius, that our satisfaction in contemplating a perfect work of art leads us to forget how it stands forth as something foreign to the context.

Even the introductory recitative is a masterpiece of telling expression, and in the air itself the noble beauty of the different motifs is tinged with a sadness amounting to gloom, but so sublime as to inspire the same emotions with which we gaze at the Niobe. The ensembles with which the opera is provided are only in part of any dramatic significance, and where this is wanting the musical interest also suffers; the duets especially are not important either in length or LABOUR AND POVERTY. substance. Passing over the duettino (3) between Sextus and Annius, which became popular owing to its easy and pleasing tone, but which in no way corresponds to the character of an heroic opera, we may notice the first duet between Sextus and Vitellia as better defined, especially in the first movement; although even here the wish to attract is very apparent, and gains quite the upper hand in the triplet passages and easy imitations of the allegro. An expression of tender feeling is more appropriate to the short duet between Annius and Servilia, and the loveliness of the music makes up for the absence of tragic seriousness.

The three terzets are better placed, and more suitable to their dramatic situations, but even they fail to elicit dramatic contrasts by giving to each character an equal and characteristic share in the piece. Thus, in the first terzet, Vitellia alone is inspired with lively emotion, Annius and Publius being mere passive spectators. It is at the moment When she has dispatched Sextus to the murder of Titus that she is informed of the Emperor's choice of her as his consort; in vain she strives to recall Sextus, she feels that she herself is the destroyer of her happiness. An agitated violin passage, with rapid changes of harmony intensified by suspensions, expresses the excitement and consternation to which she gives vent in detached and broken exclamations; but the calm observation of the two others—

chills the expression of Vitellia's emotion, so that the combination of the voices, instead of producing a climax as it ought, weakens the passion of the movement and prevents its rising to more than a momentary prominence. The second terzet (14) was suggested by an air of Metastasio, "Se mai senti spirarti sul volto," which was a favourite subject with the old composers. 55 It begins with the tender TITUS—ENSEMBLES. farewell of Sextus to Vitellia, stricken with shame and dismay. This contrast would have made an excellent opportunity for musical effect if Publius had supplied the connecting link by the addition of a new and important element in the situation; instead of this, he remains a mere passive spectator, and does not increase the pathos of the situation at all. Sextus gives the tone here, as Vitellia in the previous terzet, and the tender softness of his farewell scarcely allows expression to the true significance of the situation; otherwise, however, this terzet is superior to the first in the freer development of the voice parts.'" The third terzet (18) has a beautiful and expressive first movement, but its second movement is too slight in design and too little worked out for its situation.

The opera contains one movement, however, altogether worthy of Mozart, and this is the first finale. It is true that even this is far from possessing the greatness of design or the wealth of elaboration of the finales of the earlier operas; it does not pretend to be more than a representation of the situation; but it is earnest and weighty in tone, and possesses features of unsurpassed loveliness. The finale is introduced by a soliloquy for Sextus, in which he pours out the doubt and self-reproach which torture his mind; an unaccompanied recitative expresses this condition with an amount of truth and energy elsewhere entirely wanting to the part of Sextus. When he sees the capitol in flames, and is convinced that his repentance comes too late, he becomes more collected, and the quintet begins with his finely expressed wish to save Titus or to die with him; then he has to evade the questions of Annius, who hurries in full of sympathy—Servilia, Publius, and Vitellia enter in quick succession, full of anxiety and horror; a characteristic orchestral motif gives the clue to the development of the movement, and the separate exclamations of the invisible chorus interposed in rising, dissonant chords, form the pivots on which the progressive harmonies turn; the re-entry of Sextus brings the symmetrically constructed movement to a close. A short recitative, in which Sextus announces the assassination of Titus, leads into the andante, which ends LABOUR AND POVERTY. the finale. All present are united in one feeling of sorrow and horror at the crime which has been committed, and the chorus has approached near enough to join in lamentation with the solo voices; the impression thus produced is dignified and beautiful in the extreme. Here we may perceive to what a height opera seria was capable of rising by a liberal development of its original elements; but unfortunately this movement is the only one of the kind in "Titus." A backward glance of comparison upon "Idomeneo" 56 results to the advantage of the earlier opera in many and important points. It is true that the conventional forms of the opera seria are there more strictly preserved, but a fresh vigorous effort is at the same time made to give them meaning and substance, and pass their narrow bounds wherever possible,. while in "Titus" the composer has been content to compromise the matter by preserving the semblance of form, but no more. Thus forms intended to be largely treated, such as the division into two movements, are often so lightly and vaguely treated as to lose all dramatic interest, and still more marked is the tendency of the tragic and serious conception of the opera to degenerate into mere pleasing gracefulness. The advantages of the later work in a freer and easier flow of melody, in a more mature and cultivated taste, were more than counterbalanced by the loss of depth and force of musical construction, a loss which is all the more perceptible from the grandeur of the background afforded by a subject taken from the Roman imperial age, which even in Metas-tasio's adaptation was not wholly obscured, and under happier circumstances would have sufficed to inspire Mozart to a nobler creation. The treatment of the orchestra is indicative of the whole tone of the opera, displaying occasionally the full splendour with which Mozart has endowed it, and raising and supporting the musical representation wherever it attains to dramatic significance, but for the most part not going beyond an easy accompaniment of the voices.

CRITICISMS ON "TITUS."

In brilliancy and delicacy of orchestral treatment "Titus" can sustain no comparison with "Idomeneo," or even with "Cosi fan Tutte."

Opinions on this opera were widely diverse. According to Niemetschek (p. 111) "Titus" ranks from an aesthetic and artistic point of view as Mozart's most perfect work:—

Mozart mentally grasped the simplicity, the quiet dignity of the character of Titus and of the whole plot, and embodied them in his composition. Every part, even the very moderate instrumental parts, bear this stamp, and combine into perfect unity.

He is of opinion that full maturity of taste is nowhere more finely displayed than in this opera (p. 105), which is also the best example of Mozart's admirable dramatic characterisation (p. 72). An article showing the shortcomings of Metastasio's libretto praises the excellence of the musical characterisation which endows Titus with the character of gentle amiability, Vitellia with force and dignified purity, and the friendship between Sextus and Annius with quite an ideal tenderness. 57 Schaul, on the contrary (Brief Üb. d. Gesch-mack, p. 59), maintains that with the exception of a few pieces the opera is so dry and tiresome that it might rather be taken for the first attempt of budding talent than for the product of a mature mind. He quotes the criticism of an Italian, considered one of the best judges in Naples, that flashes of genius shone out here and there in the more serious airs, which showed what Mozart would have been capable of under happier guidance. "Titus" was criticised in Berlin, in 1796, with the greatest harshness and severity in two articles which excited indignation on account of their disrespectful tone, although the blame bestowed was not without foundation. 58 With a juster regard to circumstances Rochlitz says: 59 —

Being only human, he was constrained either to produce an altogether mediocre work, or one of which the principal movements were very good, and the minor ones light and easy, and suited to the taste of the multitude; with right judgment he chose the latter.

It was perhaps this accommodation of the music to the taste of the public, and the concessions made to the popular love of gorgeous scenery and spectacular effects, which gained for "Titus" an enduring place on the German stage, although it was never received with the same favour as "Don Giovanni," "Figaro," and the "ZauberflÖte." The opera was produced for the first time in London in 1806 for the benefit of Madame Billington, being the first of Mozart's operas performed in England; 60 it was given successfully in Paris in 1816, 61 and in Milan at the Teatro RÈ in the following year. 62