Mozart
P. S.: All conceivable good wishes to Herr and Frau von Puchberg, I’ll have to wait till I get to Berlin to write and thank him. – Adieu,aimez moi et gardez votre santé si chère et précieuse à votre ápoux.5
166. Mozart to his wife, 16 April 1789, Dresden
Half past 11 at night
Dearest and most beloved little wife,
What? – Still in Dresden? – Yes, my dear; – I’ll explain it all in every last detail; – on Monday the 13th, after we’d had breakfast at Neumann’s, we all went to the court chapel, the mass was by Naumann,1 he conducted it himself – very mediocre; – we were in an oratory opposite the musicians; – Neumann suddenly nudged me and introduced me to Herr von König, who’s Directeur des Plaisirs – the doleful pleasures of the elector;2 – he was exceptionally civil and when he asked if I’d like His Highness to hear me, I replied that it would be a great honour but that I wasn’t my own master, I couldn’t stay – and that’s how we left it; – my princely travelling companion invited the Neumanns and Frau Duschek to lunch: – while we were at table, a message arrived to say that I was to play at court the following day, Tuesday the 14th, at half past 5 in the evening. – This is something quite exceptional here, where it’s otherwise very difficult to obtain an audience; and you know that I’d absolutely no thought of doing so here. – We’d arranged a quartet at the Hôtel de Pologne.3 – We played it in the chapel with Anton Teyber – who, as you know, is the organist here – and Herr Kraft – who’s Prince Esterházy’s cellist and who’s here with his son;4 among the works I played at this little concert was the trio5 I wrote for Herr von Puchberg – it received a really quite commendable performance – and Frau Duschek sang a whole number of things from Figaro and Don Juan;6 – the next day, at court, I played the new concerto in D;7 and the following morning – Wednesday the 15th – I received a very beautiful snuffbox; – we then had lunch at the Russian ambassador’s,8 where I played a lot. – After lunch we decided to go off in search of an organ. – It was 4 o’clock by the time we got there – Naumann was there too; – I should add that a certain Hässler9 – he’s the organist at Erfurt – is here; he too was there; – he’s a pupil of a pupil of Bach. – His forte is the organ and the clavichord – well, the people here think that because I come from Vienna, I don’t know anything about their taste in music and style of playing. – So I sat down at the organ and played. – Prince Lichnowsky – because he knows Hässler very well – persuaded him to play too, though it required a great effort to get him to do so; – Hässler’s forte on the organ is his footwork, which, since the pedals here are graded, doesn’t require much skill; also, he’s merely learnt by heart old Sebastian Bach’s harmony and modulations and is incapable of playing a fugue properly – he has no solid technique – as a result, he’s far from being an Albrechtsberger.10 – After this we decided to go back to the Russian ambassador’s so that Hässler could hear me on the fortepiano; – Hässler played too. – On the fortepiano I think Fräulein Auernhammer is just as proficient; so you can imagine that he’s sunk considerably in my estimation. – After that we went to the opera, which was truly awful; – do you know who one of the singers was? – Rosa Manservisi, – you can imagine her delight at seeing me there. – But the leading singer, Allegranti, is in fact much better than Ferrarese – not that that’s saying much.11 – We returned home after the opera; now comes the happiest moment for me; I found a letter from you, my dearest, my beloved, something I’d been longing for so very much! – Frau Duschek and the Neumanns were still with me, I immediately went off to my room in triumph, kissed the letter countless times before breaking it open – and then devoured it rather than read it. – I remained in my room for quite a while as I couldn’t read it often enough or kiss it often enough. When I rejoined the company, the Neumanns asked me if I’d received a letter and when I said yes they all congratulated me sincerely as every day I’d been complaining that I’d not had any news; – the Neumanns are delightful people; – now for your kind letter; my account of my stay here up to the time of my departure will be continued in my next letter.
Dear little wife, I’ve a whole series of favours to ask of you; –
1) please don’t be sad;
2) take care of your health and don’t trust the spring air.
3) don’t go out walking alone – best of all, don’t go walking at all
4) be assured of my love; – I’ve not written a single letter to you without placing your dear portrait in front of me.
6) et ultimo please go into greater detail in your letters. – I’d like to know if my brother-in-law, Hofer, called the day after I left; does he come often, as he promised he would; – do the Langes come occasionally? – Is any more work being done on your portrait?12 – What sort of a life are you leading? – These are all things that naturally interest me very much. –
– 5) please pay proper heed not only to your own honour and minein your conduct, but also to appearances. – Don’t be cross with me for asking this. – You should love me even more for setting such store by honour.
Now farewell, my dearest, most beloved little wife! – Remember that each night before going to bed I talk to your portrait for a good half hour and do so again when I wake up. – We’re leaving the day after tomorrow, the 18th; – from now on you should always write to Berlin poste restante.
O Stru! Stri! – I kiss and squeeze you 1095060437082 times – here you can practise your pronunciation. I am ever
Your most faithful husband and friend
W. A. Mozart
I’ll finish off my account of our stay in Dresden next time. – Good night! –
167. Mozart to his wife, 23 May 1789, Berlin
Dearest, most beloved, most precious little wife, –
It was with extraordinary pleasure that I received your kind letter of the 13th; – but I’ve only just this minute received your previous one of the 9th as it had to make its way back to Berlin from Leipzig. – First, I must list all the letters that I’ve written to you, and then the ones that I’ve received from you. – I wrote to you
on 8 April from the post-stage at Budwitz. –
on the 10th from Prague. on the 13th and on the 17th from Dresden.
on the 22nd (in French) from Leipzig.
on the 28th and 5 May from Potsdam
on the 9th and 16th from Leipzig.
on the 19th from Berlin
and now the 23rd – that makes 11 letters.
I received your letter of 8th April on 15th April in Dresden.
of 13th – onthe 21st in Leipzig.
of 24th – on 8th May in Leipzig.
of 5th May – on 14th – in Leipzig. on my return.
of 13th – onthe 20th in Berlin.
and that of the 9th – onthe 22nd in Berlin.
That makes 6 letters.1
As you can see, there’s a gap between 13 and 24 April, when one of your letters must have gone missing, and so I had to survive for 17 days without a letter from you! – If you too had to contend with a similar situation for 17 days, then one of my letters, too, must have gone missing; – praise be to God, we shall soon have survived these calamities; – and with my arms round your neck, I’ll be able to tell you exactly how things have gone for me! – But – you know how much I love you! – Where do you think I’m writing this? – In my room at the inn? – No; – in a public house in the Tiergarten2 – in a summer house with a beautiful view – where I had lunch today all on my own, in order to be able to devote myself entirely to you; – the queen3 wants to hear me on Tuesday; but there’s not much to be made there. I simply announced my arrival, as that’s the custom here and they’d have taken it amiss if I’d not. – My dearest little wife, when I return you must look forward to seeing me, rather than to any money. – 100 friedrichs d’or aren’t 900 florins, but 700; – at least that’s what I’ve been told. – 2nd, Lichnowsky was in a hurry and had to leave early, so that I have to support myself in Pots
dam,4 which is an expensive place; – 3rd, I had to lend him 100 florins as he was running out of money – I couldn’t really refuse, you know why.5 – 4th, the concert in Leipzig turned out badly, as I always said it would, so that I went 32 miles6 – plus the return journey – for virtually nothing; for this, Lichnowsky is entirely to blame, as he wouldn’t leave me in peace but insisted on my returning to Leipzig. – But – more on this in person; – here, there is 1st, not much to be made from a concert and, 2nd, the king wouldn’t be keen on it. – You must be content, as I am, with the fact that I’m fortunate to enjoy the king’s favour; – what I’ve written here is between ourselves. – I’ll be leaving for Dresden on Thursday the 28th and shall spend the night there. On 1 June I’ll be sleeping in Prague, and on the 4th – the 4th? – with my dearest little wife; – tidy up your lovely little nest for me as my little knave certainly deserves it, he’s been behaving himself and wants only to possess your most beautiful…. Just imagine the rascal: even while I’m writing, he’s creeping up on to the table and looking at me questioningly, but I won’t stand for this and give a quick slap – but the lad is simply..... The rogue is now even more on fire and I can hardly restrain him any longer. I hope you’ll drive out to the first post-stage to meet me? – I’ll be arriving there at midday on the 4th; – I hope that Hofer – whom I embrace 1000 times – will be there too; – if Herr and Frau von Puchberg come too, then everyone will be there whom I’d like to see. And don’t forget Carl. – But, most important of all, you must bring with you someone who can be trusted – Satmann or someone like that – who can drive off to the customs with my luggage so that I don’t have to deal with this unnecessary seccatura but can drive home with you dear people. – Most certainly! –
Adieu for now – I kiss you millions of time and am ever your most faithful husband
W. A. Mozart
Mozart arrived backin Vienna on 4 June. He was in financial difficulties once again and planned to give subscription concerts but was unable to find any patrons other than Baron van Swieten. Constanze, who was pregnant for the fifth time, was ill, and in August made a visit for her health to Baden, a spa not far from Vienna.
168. Mozart to Michael Puchberg, 12 July 1789, Vienna
Dearest, most beloved friend
and most worthy B. O.,
My God, I’m in a situation that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy; and if you, my dearest friend and brother, abandon me, I and my poor sick wife and child will unfortunately be lost through no fault of my own. – When I was with you recently, I wanted to open my heart to you – but I didn’t have the heart to do so! – and even now I dare only write, and I tremble as I do so – indeed, I wouldn’t even dare to write if I didn’t know that you know me and that you’re familiar with my circumstances and are entirely convinced that I’m innocent as far as my unfortunate and extremely sad situation is concerned. O God! Instead of words of gratitude, I’m coming to you with more requests! – Instead of settling up, I’m demanding more. If you really know my heart, you’re bound to feel my anguish at this; I probably don’t need to repeat that this unfortunate illness has prevented me from earning any money; but I must tell you that in spite of my wretched condition I decided to give my subscription concerts at home in order to be able to meet my present expenses, which are currently so great and so frequent, as I was convinced that you’d be kind enough to wait; but in this, too, I was unsuccessful; – my fate, unfortunately, is so much against me – albeit only in Vienna – that I can’t earn anything even when I want to; 2 weeks ago I sent round a list for subscribers, and the only name on it is Swieten’s! – As of today (the 13th) it seems that my dear little wife is slowly getting better, so that I would have been able to work, if this blow, this heavy blow, hadn’t struck; – at least people are comforting us by saying that things are improving – although yesterday evening she again reduced me to a state of dismay and despair, as she was in so much pain – and I with her, but tonight (the 14th) she slept so well and things have been so much easier all this morning that I’m extremely hopeful; and I’m again starting to feel like work – but at the same time I see misfortune facing me from another quarter – even if only for the moment! – Dearest, most beloved friend and brother – you know my present circumstances, but you’re also aware of my prospects; things will remain as we agreed; like this or like this, you understand; – meanwhile I’m writing 6 easy keyboard sonatas for Princess Friederike and 6 quartets for the king,1 all of which I’ll have Kozeluch engrave at my expense; in addition the 2 dedications will earn me something; in a couple of months my fate must be decided in every last detail, and so you, my most beloved friend, will not be risking anything; so it depends solely on you, my only friend, as to whether you are willing or able to lend me a further 500 florins. – Until my affairs are sorted out, I’d be grateful if I could repay you at a rate of 10 florins a month; and then – in a few months’ time at the very most – I’ll repay the whole sum with whatever interest you like and at the same time declare myself your debtor for life, which I shall unfortunately always have to remain, as I’ll never be in a position to thank you sufficiently for your friendship and love; – praise be to God, it’s done; you now know everything; please don’t take it amiss that I’ve confided in you but bear in mind that without your support, the honour, peace of mind and perhaps even the life of your friend and brother will be destroyed; ever your most grateful servant, true friend and brother
W. A. Mozart
At home, 14 July 1789.
Oh God! – I can hardly bring myself to post this letter! – And yet I’ve no choice! – If it hadn’t been for this illness, I’d not have been forced to behave so shamelessly towards my only friend; – and yet I hope that you’ll forgive me as you know what is good and bad about my situation. The bad will soon pass, but the good will certainly last if only the present evil can be alleviated. – Adieu! – Forgive me in God’s name, I beg you to forgive me! – – and – adieu!– – – – – – –
169. Mozart to his wife, mid-August 1789, Vienna
My darling little wife, –
I was delighted to receive your dear letter1 – I hope you received my 2nd letter yesterday, together with the decoction, the electuaries and the ants’ eggs.2 – I’ll be setting sail at 5 in the morning – if it weren’t simply for the pleasure of seeing you and holding you in my arms again, I’d not drive out just yet as they’ll shortly be performing Figaro,3 for which I have to make a number of changes, so I’m needed at the rehearsals – I’ll probably have to be back here by the 19th – but it would be impossible for me to remain here until the 19th without you; – dear little wife! – I want to speak to you very candidly, – you’ve absolutely no reason to be sad – you have a husband who loves you and who does everything he can for you – as for your leg, you just need to be patient, it’s bound to get better; – of course, I’m pleased when you have some fun – most certainly I am – I just wish that you wouldn’t sometimes make yourself so cheap – in my view you’re too free and easy with N. N.4… also with N. N. when he was in Baden, – remember that N. N. are not as coarse in their dealings with other women – whom they may well know better than they know you – as they are with you, even N. N., who is otherwise well-behaved and particularly respectful towards women, must have been misled by you into writing the most terrible and foul-mouthed sottises in his letter – a woman must always ensure that she’s respected – otherwise people start to gossip – my love! – forgive me for being so candid, but my peace of mind demands it as much as our mutual happiness – remember only that you yourself once admitted that you were too indulgent – you know the consequences of this – remember, too, the promise that you made me – oh God! – just try, my love! – be happy and contented and ready to please me – don’t torment yourself and me with needless jealousy – trust in my love, after all you have proof of it! – and you’ll see how contented we can be, believe me that only if a wife behaves prudently will she bind her husban
d to her – adieu – tomorrow I’ll kiss you with all my heart.
Mozart
In September Mozart composed the clarinet quintet K581. Wolfgang and Constanze’s fifth child, Anna Maria, was born on 16 November but died the same day. At the time, Mozart was hard at workon a new opera, Così fan tutte (‘Women are all the same’), which premiered at the Burgtheater on 26 January 1790. After six performances the opera’s successful run was interrupted by the death of Emperor Joseph II on 20 February.
170. Mozart to Michael Puchberg, late March or early April 1790, Vienna
Herewith, my dearest friend, I’m sending you the life of Handel.1 – When I got home after my last visit to see you, I found the enclosed note from Baron Swieten. You’ll see from it, as I did, that my prospects are now better than ever. – I’m now standing on the very threshold of my own good fortune2 – but I’ll lose it for ever if I can’t take advantage of it this time. My present circumstances, however, are such that, no matter how agreeable my prospects, I must abandon for ever all hope of future prosperity unless I have the help of a true friend; – for some time now you’ll have noticed that I’ve been constantly sad – and only the inordinate number of kindnesses that you’ve shown me have persuaded me to remain silent; but now, in my hour of utmost need, when the whole of my future happiness will be decided, I call upon you once again, and for the last time, fully trusting in the friendship and brotherly love that you’ve shown me, to stand by me to the best of your abilities. You know how my present circumstances would harm my application to the court if they were to become known – and how necessary it is that they remain a secret; for at court they judge not by circumstances but, unfortunately, only by appearances. You know and, I’m sure, are entirely convinced that if my application succeeds, as I now hope it will, you yourself will certainly not be the loser – with what pleasure I shall repay my debts to you! – With what pleasure I shall thank you – and, moreover, acknowledge myself for ever in your debt! – What an agreeable sensation it is finally to reach one’s goal! – What a blissful sensation to have helped someone else do so – my tears prevent me from completing the picture – in short! – the whole of my future happiness lies in your hands – act according to the dictates of your noble heart – do what you can and remember that you’re dealing with an honest and eternally grateful man whose situation is a source of such anguish to himself more on your account than on his own! –
Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters Page 58