Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/381

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  • ing from a few weeks up to more than three years and aggregating about nine

years in all. The chief objective of the first trip (1762) was Munich, of the second (1762-3) Vienna, of the third (1763-6) Munich, Stuttgart, the Rhine from Heidelberg to Cologne, Paris (via Brussels), London, the Low Countries, Paris again, Lyons, Switzerland and Munich again, of the fourth (1767-8) Vienna, of the fifth (1769-71) all the chief Italian cities, from Milan to Naples, of the sixth (1771) and seventh (1772-3) Milan, of the eighth (1773) Vienna, of the ninth (1774-5) Munich, of the tenth (1777-9) Munich, Mannheim and Paris, returning in reverse order, and of the eleventh (1780-1) Munich. The father's purpose was to make known his son's genius, to secure money, to acquaint him with musicians of all schools and with all prevalent styles, to attract to him the indispensable attention of wealthy patrons, especially at the courts where music was emphasized, to find opportunities for conspicuous and remunerative composition, and, in the end, to win for him some distinguished post commensurate with his abilities. The youth was presented everywhere as an incipient master, and, though he did receive some lessons and much helpful suggestion, especially on the third and fifth trips, he was generally accepted as a competitor on equal terms with other artists. The number of famous and talented singers, players and composers whom he met, often intimately, was enormous, and the social interest he excited was phenomenal. But the expenses of these experiences were heavy and ultimately forced the father into serious debt. And the son was volatile, fond of bright and witty society, and liable to forget his 'mission' in the pleasures of the moment or to sacrifice large aims to petty impulses.

No full summary is possible of the infinitely varied artistic influences to which Mozart was subjected during these formative years, but a few salient points may be named. In Salzburg there was little stimulating or agreeable, though there were a few good musicians, like Michael Haydn. At London (1764-5) much close intimacy with Christian Bach seems to have given him a decided impetus. At Vienna (1768) he heard Gluck's Alceste just as he was writing his own first extended opera, though then he probably had no real sense of Gluck's innovating aim. At Bologna (1770) he roused the enthusiasm of the veteran Martini and learned much from him. During the Italian tour generally he heard representative works of the Neapolitan order, including some by Jommelli and Hasse. At Augsburg (1777) he first saw the possibilities of the pianoforte, as revealed in the instruments of Stein. At Mannheim (1778) he was deeply impressed by the quality of the famous orchestra, found numerous congenial artistic friends, like Cannabich, and heard much to awaken his thought regarding German opera. Here, too, began his romantic attachment to the young soprano, Aloysia Weber, which alarmed his father, delayed and disarranged his tour, and ended only the next year in complete disappointment. In Paris (1778) he stood by during the thick of the Gluck-Piccinni quarrel, but aimed to keep out of it, though he studied attentively the operas of both composers and many by Grétry and other Frenchmen. From the start his strongest bent was toward dramatic music. Hence his eagerness to master the vocal and instrumental methods of the opera everywhere and the abandon with which he threw himself into every commission that offered. Yet his peculiar relation to the Archbishop of Salzburg and the predilections of his