Mozart in Italy
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and his father Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
made three Italian journeys. The first, an extended tour of 15 months, was financed by performances for the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and by public concerts, and took in the most important Italian cities. The second and third journeys were to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, for Wolfgang to complete operas that had been commissioned there on the first visit. From the perspective of Wolfgang's musical development the journeys were a considerable success, and his talents were recognised by honours which included a papal knighthood and memberships in leading philharmonic societies.
Leopold Mozart had been employed since 1747 as a musician in the Archbishop of Salzburg
Archbishopric of Salzburg
The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, its territory roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg....
's court, becoming deputy Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
in 1763, but he had also devoted much time to Wolfgang's and sister Nannerl
Maria Anna Mozart
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:...
's musical education. He took them on a European tour
Mozart family grand tour
The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively...
between 1764 and 1766, and spent some of 1767 and most of 1768 with them in the imperial
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
capital, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The children's performances had captivated audiences, and the pair had made a considerable impression on European society. By 1769, Nannerl had reached adulthood, but Leopold was anxious to continue 13-year-old Wolfgang's education in Italy, a crucially important destination for any rising composer of the 18th century.
Each of Wolfgang's operas written for Milan's celebrated Teatro Regio Ducal
Teatro Regio Ducal
The Teatro Regio Ducal was the opera house in Milan from 26 December 1717 until 25 February 1776, when it was burned down following a carnival gala. Many famous composers and their operas are associated with it, including the premieres of Mozart's Ascanio in Alba, Mitridate, re di Ponto, and Lucio...
was a critical and popular triumph. In the course of the three visits he met many of Italy's leading musicians, including the renowned theorist Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini , also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian musician.-Biography:Martini was born at Bologna....
, under whom he studied in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. Leopold also hoped that Wolfgang, and possibly he himself, would obtain a prestigious appointment at one of the Italian Habsburg courts. This objective became more important as Leopold's advancement in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
became less likely; but his persistent efforts to secure employment displeased the imperial court, which precluded any chance of success. The journeys thus ended not with a triumphant return, but on a note of disappointment and frustration.
Background
Mozart family grand tour
The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively...
" of the major Northern European cities, begun when Wolfgang was seven and Nannerl twelve. This tour had largely achieved Leopold's objective to demonstrate his children's talents to the wider world and advance their musical education. A stay in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
beginning in 1767 proved less happy: an outbreak of smallpox, which led to the death of the Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria
Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria
Archduchess Maria Josepha Gabriela Johanna Antonia Anna of Austria . She was the daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress...
, prevented the children from performing in the imperial court and forced the family to seek refuge in Bohemia, where Wolfgang nevertheless contracted the disease
Mozart and smallpox
In 1767, the 11-year old composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was struck by smallpox. Like all smallpox victims, he was at serious risk of dying, but he survived the disease...
. They returned to Vienna in January 1768, but by now the children were no longer young enough to cause a sensation in their public concerts. Leopold fell out with the court impresario Giuseppe Affligio, and damaged his relations with the eminent court composer Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, through an over-eagerness to secure a performance of Wolfgang's first opera, La finta semplice
La finta semplice
La finta semplice , K. 51 is an opera buffa in three acts for soloists and orchestra, composed in 1769 by then 12-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by the court poet Marco Coltellini based on an early work by Carlo Goldoni...
, and as a consequence developed a reputation at court for being importunate and "pushy".
After the return to Salzburg in January 1769, Leopold considered the 18-year-old Nannerl's education to be virtually finished, and focused his efforts on Wolfgang. He decided to take the boy to Italy, which in its pre-unification days was a collection of duchies
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
, republics
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, and papal states
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, with the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
in the south. For more than two centuries Italy had been the source of innovations in musical style, the home of church music, and above all the cradle of opera
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
. In Leopold's view, Wolfgang needed to absorb firsthand the music of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, to equip himself for future commissions from Europe's opera houses, "the late eighteenth-century composers' honeypots" according to Mozart biographer Stanley Sadie
Stanley Sadie
Stanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
. Leopold wanted Wolfgang to immerse himself in the Italian language, to experience church music of the highest quality, and to extend his network of influential acquaintances. There was also the possibility, for both Wolfgang and Leopold, of securing positions in the northern Italian Habsburg courts. With these priorities in mind, Leopold decided that Nannerl and her mother should stay at home, a decision they resented but which made economic and practical sense.
In the months before their departure, Wolfgang composed prolifically, gaining the favour of Archbishop Siegmund Christoph von Schrattenbach
Sigismund von Schrattenbach
Sigismund Graf von Schrattenbach was the Archbishop of Salzburg from 1753 to 1771. He was the son of Otto Heinrich, Graf von Schrattenbach, and Maria Theresa, Countess of Wildenstein, widowed Baroness Gall von Gallenstein.After studying theology, he was ordained a priest in 1723...
, who, as Leopold's employer, had to consent to the journey. Permission to travel, along with a gift of 600 florins
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
, was granted in October. Wolfgang was awarded the honorary title of Konzertmeister
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
(court musician), with a hint that on his return this post would merit a salary.
First journey, December 1769 – March 1771
Journey to Milan
On 13 December 1769, Leopold and Wolfgang set out from Salzburg, armed with testimonials and letters that Leopold hoped would smooth their passage. Among the most important was an introduction to Count Karl Joseph Firmian of Milan, described as the "King of Milan", an influential and cultivated patron of the arts. His support would be vital to the success of the entire Italian undertaking.The pair travelled through Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, then due south to the Brenner Pass
Brenner Pass
- Roadways :The motorway E45 leading from Innsbruck via Bolzano to Verona and Modena uses this pass, and is one of the most important north-south connections in Europe...
into Italy. They continued through Bolzano and Rovereto
Rovereto
Rovereto is a city and comune in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River.-History:Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier between the bishopric of Trento - an independent state until 1797 - and the republic of Venice, and later...
to Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, before turning west towards Milan. Leopold's financial plans for the journey were broadly the same as for the family's grand tour—travel and accommodation costs were to be met by concert proceeds. This 350 miles (563.3 km) winter journey to Milan occupied a difficult and unpleasant six weeks, with the weather forcing extended stops. Leopold complained in his letters home about unheated inn rooms: "... freezing like a dog, everything I touch is ice". Early concert receipts were modest; according to Leopold, costs were running at around 50 florins a week. After having unwisely boasted about profits made from the grand tour, Leopold was now more cautious about revealing financial details. He tended to emphasise his expenses and minimise his takings, writing, for example: "... On the whole we shall not make much in Italy ... one must generally accept admiration and bravos as payment."
The longest pause was two weeks spent in Verona, where the press reported glowingly on Wolfgang's concert of 5 January 1770. Father and son attended a performance of Guglielmi
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi was an Italian opera composer.Guglielmi was born in Massa. He received his first musical education from his father, and afterwards studied under Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto at Naples...
's Ruggiero, which Wolfgang described dismissively in a letter to Nannerl. The boy also had his portrait painted by a local artist, Saverio dalla Rosa (illustration). This interlude was followed by a shorter stop in Mantua, where Wolfgang gave a concert at the Accademia Filarmonica, with a programme designed to test his abilities in performance, sight reading
Sight reading
Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of written music, specifically when the performer has not seen it before. Sight-singing is often used to describe a singer who is sight-reading.-Sight-reading:...
, and improvisation. According to a press review the audience was "dumbfounded" at this "miracle in music, one of those freaks that Nature causes to be born". In Mantua, they suffered a snub from Prince Michael of Thurn und Taxis
Thurn und Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a German family that was a key player in the postal services in Europe in the 16th century and is well known as owners of breweries and builders of many castles.- History :...
, who informed them through a servant that he had no desire to meet them. Historian Robert Gutman surmises that the Prince, aware of the Affligio affair in Vienna, wanted no dealings with musicians who did not know their place. By contrast, Count Arco, whose family were members of the Salzburg court, received them warmly.
The pair arrived in Milan on 23 January and found comfortable lodgings in the monastery of San Marco, not far from Count Firmian's palace. While they waited to see the Count, they attended Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
's opera Cesare in Egitto. Firmian eventually welcomed them with generous hospitality and friendship, presenting Wolfgang with a complete edition of the works of Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
, Italy's leading dramatic writer and librettist. Firmian also hosted a series of concerts attended by many of the city's notables, including Archduke Ferdinand, a possible future patron for the young composer. For the last of these occasions, Wolfgang wrote a set of aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
s using Metastasio's texts. These were so well received that Firmian commissioned Wolfgang to write the opening opera for the following winter's carnival season in Milan, just as Leopold had hoped he might. Wolfgang would receive a fee of around 500 florins, and free lodgings during the writing and rehearsal. The Mozarts left Milan on 15 March, heading south towards Florence and Rome, committed to return in the autumn and taking with them fresh letters of recommendation from Firmian.
Up to this point in the tour Wolfgang appears to have done little composition. The Accademia Filarmonica concert in Mantua had included much improvisation but little of Wolfgang's own music; the only certain compositions from this phase of the tour are the arias composed for the final Firmian concert, which sealed his contract for the carnival opera. These are Se tutti i mali miei, K. 83/73p, Misero me, K. 77/73e, and Ah più tremar ..., K. 71. The Symphony in G, K. 74
Symphony No. 10 (Mozart)
The Symphony No. 10 in G major, K. 74, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart probably during his first journey to Italy in the spring of 1770.The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns and strings...
, evidently completed in Rome in April, may have been started in Milan.
Milan to Naples
The first stop on the southward journey was at Lodi, where Wolfgang completed his first string quartet, K. 80/73f. After a few days in ParmaParma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, the Mozarts moved on to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, a "centre for masters, artists and scholars", according to Leopold. Their letter from Firmian introduced them to Count Pallavicini-Centurioni, a leading patron of the arts, who immediately arranged a concert for the local nobility in his palace. Among the guests was Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini , also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian musician.-Biography:Martini was born at Bologna....
, the leading musical theorist of his day and Europe's most renowned expert in Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
counterpoint. Martini received the young composer and tested him with exercises in fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
. Always with an eye upon Wolfgang's future prospects in the courts of Europe, Leopold was anxious for engagement with the great master; but time was short, so he arranged a return to Bologna in the summer for extended tuition. The pair left on 29 March, carrying letters from Pallavicini that might clear the way for an audience with Pope Clement XIV in Rome. Before they left, they made the acquaintance of the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček
Josef Myslivecek
Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
, whose opera La Nitteti
La Nitteti
La Nitteti is an 18th-century Italian opera in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was composed to a libretto by the Italian poet Metastasio that was first performed in 1756, one of the newer of the Metastasian librettos in Mysliveček's day...
was being prepared for performance. Later in 1770, Wolfgang would use the Mysliveček opera as a source of motives for his own opera Mitridate, re di Ponto
Mitridate, re di Ponto
Mitridate, re di Ponto , K. 87 , is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine....
and various symphonies. More broadly, it marked the beginning of a close association between Mysliveček and the Mozart family that lasted until 1778. Wolfgang used his works repeatedly as models of compositional style.
The next day they arrived in Florence, where Pallavicini's recommendation gained them a meeting at the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
with the Grand Duke and future emperor Leopold
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
. He remembered the Mozarts from 1768 in Vienna, and asked after Nannerl. In Florence they encountered the violinist Pietro Nardini
Pietro Nardini
Pietro Nardini was an Italian composer and violinist.-Life:He was born in Fibiana and studied music at Livorno, later becoming a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini. Having been a student of Giuseppe Tartini, he moved to Germany where he joined the court chapel in Stuttgart where he became conductor in 1762...
, whom they had met at the start of their grand tour of Europe; Nardini and Wolfgang performed together in a long evening concert at the Duke's summer palace. Wolfgang also met Thomas Linley
Thomas Linley the younger
Thomas Linley the younger was the eldest son of the composer Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson. He was one of the most precocious composers and performers that have been known in England, and became known as the "English Mozart".-Early life:Linley's abilities were apparent from a...
, an English violin prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
and a pupil of Nardini's. The two formed a close friendship, making music and playing together "not as boys but as men", as Leopold remarked. Gutman reports that "a melancholy Thomas followed the Mozarts' coach as they departed for Rome on 6 April". The boys never met again; Linley, after a brief career as a composer and violinist, died in a boating accident in 1778, at the age of 22.
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", Pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
to the throne of England. There was much sightseeing, and performances before the nobility. The Mozarts visited the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
, where Wolfgang heard and later wrote down from memory Gregorio Allegri
Gregorio Allegri
Gregorio Allegri was an Italian composer of the Roman School and brother of Domenico Allegri; he was also a priest and a singer. He lived mainly in Rome, where he would later die.-Life:...
's famous Miserere
Miserere (Allegri)
Miserere, full name "Miserere mei, Deus" by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri, is a setting of Psalm 51 composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for use in the Sistine Chapel during matins, as part of the exclusive Tenebrae service on Wednesday and Friday of Holy...
, a complex nine-part choral work that had not been published. News of this extraordinary achievement even reached the Pope. Amid these activities, Wolfgang was busily composing. He wrote the contradanse K. 123/73g and the aria Se ardire, e speranza (K. 82/73o), and finished the G major symphony begun earlier.
After four busy weeks the Mozarts departed for Naples. Travellers on the route through the Pontine Marshes
Pontine Marshes
thumb|250px|Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain.The Pontine Marshes, termed in Latin Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, Pomptina Palus and Pomptinae Paludes by Pliny the Elder, today the Agro Pontino in Italian, is an approximately quadrangular area of former marshland in the Lazio...
were frequently harassed by brigands, so Leopold arranged a convoy of four coaches. They arrived on 14 May. Armed with their letters of recommendation, the Mozarts were soon calling on the prime minister, marchese Bernardo Tanucci
Bernardo Tanucci
Bernardo Tanucci was an Italian statesman, who brought enlightened government to the backward Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for Charles III and his son Ferdinand IV.-Biography:...
, and William Hamilton
William Hamilton (diplomat)
Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
, the British ambassador, whom they knew from London. They gave a concert on 28 May, which brought in about 750 florins (Leopold would not reveal the exact amount), and attended the first performance of Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
's opera Armida abbandonata
Armida abbandonata
Armida Abbandonata is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Niccolò Jommelli. The libretto, by Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, is based on the epic poem Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 30 May 1770. The young Wolfgang...
at the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
. Wolfgang was impressed by both the music and the performance, though he felt it "too old-fashioned and serious for the theatre". Invited to write an opera for the next San Carlo season, he declined because of his prior commitment to Milan. When no summons to play at the royal court was forthcoming, Leopold eventually decided to leave Naples, after visits to Vesuvius, Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
, Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, and the Roman baths at Baiae
Baiae
Baiae , a frazione of the comune of Bacoli) in the Campania region of Italy was a Roman seaside resort on the Bay of Naples. It was said to have been named after Baius, who was supposedly buried there. Baiae was for several hundred years a fashionable resort, especially towards the end of the Roman...
. They departed by post-coach for Rome on 25 June.
Return from Naples
The party made a rapid 27-hour return trip to Rome; in the process, Leopold sustained a leg injury that troubled him for several months. Wolfgang was granted an audience with the Pope, and was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. From Rome they made their way to the famous Santa Casa pilgrimage site at Loreto, and took the coastal road to RiminiRimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
—under military protection, because the road was subject to attacks from marauding pirates. From Rimini they moved inland, and reached Bologna on 20 July.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
for the Milan opera arrived; Leopold had been expecting Metastasio's La Nitteti, but it was Mitridate, re di Ponto
Mitridate, re di Ponto
Mitridate, re di Ponto , K. 87 , is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine....
, by Vittorio Cigna-Santi. According to the correspondence of Leopold, the composer Josef Mysliveček was a frequent visitor to the Mozart household while they were staying in Bologna. Musicologist Daniel E. Freeman argues that Mozart's approach to the composition of arias changed fundamentally at this time, bringing his style into closer alignment with that of Mysliveček.
Leopold and Wolfgang moved into Count Pallavicini's palatial summer residence on 10 August, and stayed for seven weeks while Leopold's leg gradually improved and Wolfgang worked on the Mitridate recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
s. At the beginning of October, with Leopold more or less recovered, they moved back into the city, and Wolfgang, it is thought, began his period of study under Martini. On 9 October he underwent examination for membership in Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica
Philharmonic Academy of Bologna
The Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna is a music education institution in Bologna, Italy.It was established in 1666. Saint Anthony of Padua was chosen as its patron saint and the image of an organ bearing the motto Unitate melos was chosen as its coat of arms...
, offering as his test piece the antiphon
Antiphon
An antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....
Quaerite primum regnum, K. 86/73v. According to Gutman, under ordinary circumstances Wolfgang's "floundering" attempt at this unfamiliar polyphonic
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
form would not have received serious consideration, but Martini was at hand to offer corrections, and probably also paid the admission fee. Wolfgang's membership was duly approved; and the Mozarts departed for Milan shortly afterwards.
Milan revisited, October 1770 – February 1771
The journey from Bologna to Milan was delayed by storms and floods, but Leopold and his son arrived on 18 October, ten weeks before the first performance of Mitridate. Wolfgang's fingers ached from writing recitatives, and in any case he could not begin work on the arias until the singers were present, collaboration with the principal performers being the custom for composers of the time. As the singers assembled, problems arose. Quirino GaspariniQuirino Gasparini
Quirino Gasparini was an Italian composer, born in Gandino, near Bergamo, Italy. He studied for the priesthood, but largely devoted his life to music, becoming maestro de capello at Turin's cathedral. His compositions are mainly of church music, including a Stabat Mater which is still performed...
, composer of an earlier version of Mitridate, tried to persuade the prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
Antonia Bernasconi to use his settings for her arias, but met with failure. "Thank God", Leopold wrote, "that we have routed the enemy". However, the principal tenor, Guglielmo d'Ettore, made repeated requests for his arias to be rewritten, and sang one of Gasparini's settings in Act 3, an insertion that survives in the published score of the opera.
Rehearsals began on 6 December. Wolfgang's mastery of Italian diction was revealed as the recitatives were practised, and a run-through of the instrumental score displayed his professionalism. Leopold wrote home: "An awful lot of this undertaking, blessed be God, is safely over, and, God be praised, once more with honour!" On 26 December, at the Teatro Regio Ducal
Teatro Regio Ducal
The Teatro Regio Ducal was the opera house in Milan from 26 December 1717 until 25 February 1776, when it was burned down following a carnival gala. Many famous composers and their operas are associated with it, including the premieres of Mozart's Ascanio in Alba, Mitridate, re di Ponto, and Lucio...
(Milan's great opera house at the time), Wolfgang directed the first public performance of his Mitridate from the keyboard, dressed for the occasion in a scarlet coat lined with blue satin and edged with gold. The occasion was a triumph: the audience demanded encores and at the conclusion cried "Evviva il maestro!" (Long live the master!). The opera ran for 22 performances, and the Gazetta di Milano praised the work handsomely: "The young maestro di capella, who is not yet fifteen years of age, studies the beauties of nature, and represents them adorned with the rarest musical graces." The arias sung by Bernasconi "vividly expressed the passions and touched the heart". Subsequent reactions to the opera proved less effusive; there are no records of further performances of Mitridate before its revival in Salzburg in 1971.
Having fulfilled his major obligation for his first trip to Italy by completing the opera Mitridate, Wolfgang gave a concert at Firmian's palace on 4 January 1771. A few days later, news arrived that Wolfgang had been granted membership in the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona. On 14 January they departed for a two-week sojourn in Turin, where they met many of the leading Italian musicians: the distinguished violinist Gaetano Pugnani
Gaetano Pugnani
Gaetano Pugnani was born in Turin. He trained on the violin under Giovanni Battista Somis and Giuseppe Tartini. In 1752, Pugnani became the first violinist of the Royal Chapel in Turin. Then he went on a large tour that granted him great fame for his extraordinary skill on the violin...
, his 15-year-old prodigy pupil Giovanni Battista Viotti
Giovanni Battista Viotti
Giovanni Battista Viotti was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness...
, and the composer Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
whose opera Annibale in Torino Leopold declared to be magnificent. They returned to Milan for a farewell lunch with Firmian before their departure for Salzburg on 4 February.
Journey home
On their way back to Salzburg Leopold and Wolfgang stayed for a while at VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, pausing on their way at Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
to see an opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
. In Venice, Leopold used his letters of introduction to meet the nobility and to negotiate a contract for Wolfgang to write an opera for the San Benedetto theatre. Wolfgang gave several concerts and perhaps played at Venice's famed ospidali: foundling schools some of which became respected music academies. The Mozarts were received generously, but Leopold appeared dissatisfied. "The father seems a shade piqued", wrote a correspondent to the Viennese composer Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
, adding: "... they probably expected others to seek after them, rather than they after others". Hasse replied: "The father, as I see the man, is equally discontent everywhere".
Leaving Venice on 12 March, the Mozarts journeyed to Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, where during a day of sightseeing Wolfgang was commissioned by Don Giuseppe Ximenes, Prince of Aragon, to compose an oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
for the city. The history of La Betulia Liberata
Betulia Liberata
Betulia liberata is the title of a libretto by Metastasio which was originally commissioned by Emperor Charles VI and set by Georg Reutter the younger in 1734, and which was subsequently set by as many as 30 composers including Jommelli , Ignaz Holzbauer , Kozeluch , Schuster , Salieri and most...
("The Liberation of Bethulia") is obscure—it may not have been performed in Padua, or at all in Wolfgang's lifetime. In Verona, a few days later, he received further commissions. Wolfgang was to compose a serenata (or one-act opera) to be performed in Milan in the autumn for the wedding of the Archduke Ferdinand and his bride Princess Beatrice of Modena
Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este
Maria Beatrice d’Este was heiress of Modena and Reggio and Duchess of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1797 and from 1816 until her death in 1829.-Biography:...
. At the same time the young composer was engaged to undertake another Milan carnival opera, for the 1772–73 season, at an increased fee. This created a conflict of dates which prevented Wolfgang from proceeding with the San Benedetto contract. Thereafter, father and son sped northward, arriving home in Salzburg on 28 March 1771.
In his review of this first Italian journey, musicologist Maynard Solomon
Maynard Solomon
Maynard Solomon has carried out a multiple career: he was a co-founder of Vanguard Records as well as a music producer, and later became a writer on music.-Career in the recording industry:...
's investigation of the meagre financial information provided by Leopold indicates that the Mozarts made a substantial profit—perhaps as much as 2,900 florins. The pair had also been accorded wide recognition, moving among the highest Italian nobility. Aside from being honoured by the Pope, Wolfgang had been admitted to the academies of Bologna and Verona, and had studied with Martini. Solomon calls this Leopold's "finest hour and ... perhaps his happiest".
Second journey, August–December 1771
In 1771 Leopold and Wolfgang set out once more for Milan, arriving on 21 August. Wolfgang was to compose the serenata for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand and Princess Beatrice. They shared their lodgings with violinists, a singing-master, and an oboist: a ménage that was, as Wolfgang wrote jestingly to Nannerl, "... delightful for composing, it gives you plenty of ideas!" Working at great speed, Wolfgang finished Ascanio in AlbaAscanio in Alba
Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, is a pastoral opera in two parts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini...
just in time for the first rehearsal on 23 September.
The serenata was expected to be the lesser of the works for the wedding celebration, second to Hasse's opera Ruggiero. However, the 72-year-old Hasse was out of touch with current theatrical tastes, and although his opera was praised by the Dowager Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
, its overall reception was lukewarm, especially compared to the triumphant success of Ascanio. Leopold expressed delight at this turn of events: "The archduke has recently ordered two copies", he wrote home. "All the noblemen and other people constantly address us in the street to congratulate Wolfgang. In short! I'm sorry, Wolfgang's Serenata has so crushed Hasse's opera that I can't describe it." Hasse was gracious about his eclipse, and is said to have remarked that the boy would cause all others to be forgotten.
The Mozarts were free to leave Milan early in November, but they stayed another month because Leopold hoped that the success of Ascanio would lead to an appointment for Wolfgang from a royal patron. He apparently solicited Archduke Ferdinand on 30 November, and his request was passed on to the imperial court in Vienna. It is possible that Leopold's pushiness in Vienna over La finta semplice still rankled, or that word of his crowing over Hasse's failure had reached the Empress. For whatever reason, Maria Theresa's reply to the archduke was unequivocal, describing the Mozarts as "useless people" whose appointment would debase the royal service, and adding that "such people go around the world like beggars". Leopold never learned this letter's contents; by the time it reached Milan the Mozarts had left, disappointed but still hopeful. "The matter is not over; I can say that much", Leopold wrote as he and Wolfgang made their way home.
Despite the hectic schedule during this short visit to Milan, Wolfgang still found time to write his Symphony in F
Symphony No. 13 (Mozart)
Symphony No. 13 in F major, K. 112, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was written in Milan during the autumn of 1771. The symphony is in four movements, the second of which is scored for strings alone. It is a work of originality and humour, using very limited instrumentation...
, K. 112 (No. 13). He contrived a further symphony from the Ascanio overture, by adding a finale to the two existing movements. Another symphony, K. 96/111b, in C major, is sometimes allocated to this visit to Milan, but there are questions about when (or indeed whether) Wolfgang actually wrote it.
Upheaval in Salzburg
The day after Leopold and Wolfgang arrived back in Salzburg the court was thrown into turmoil by the death of Archbishop Schrattenbach. This created a predicament for Leopold, who had unresolved issues with the court. Part of his salary during the second Italian visit had been stopped, and Leopold wished to petition for its payment, and to pursue the matter of Wolfgang's salary as a Konzertmeister, which Schrattenbach had indicated might be paid on Wolfgang's return from the first Italian journey.The Salzburg Kapellmeister post, which Leopold might earlier have expected to secure, was opening up. The incumbent, Giuseppe Lolli, was over 70 years old and ready for retirement; Leopold had followed Lolli as Vice-Kapellmeister, and in ordinary circumstances might have felt confident of succeeding him again. However, the appointment would now be made by the new archbishop, whose policies and attitudes were unknown. On 14 March 1772, amid various political machinations, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo
Count Hieronymus von Colloredo
Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1771 until 1803, when the Archbishopric was secularized.-Life:He was the second son of Count Rudolf Wenzel Joseph Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz , a...
was elected to the archbishopric as a compromise candidate acceptable to the imperial court in Vienna.
Although unpopular among Salzburgers, this appointment appeared at first to be to the Mozarts' advantage: Leopold's withheld salary was paid, and on 31 August Colloredo authorised the payment of Wolfgang's Konzertmeister salary. However, the new archbishop began to look for someone outside the Salzburg court to be his new Kapellmeister. Eventually, he chose the Italian Domenico Fischietti
Domenico Fischietti
Domenico Fischietti was an Italian composer.He was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatory of Sant'Onofrio Porta Capuana under the leadership of Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante....
, who was several years younger than Leopold. Realising that his chances of promotion had probably been irrevocably lost, Leopold turned his hopes for a comfortable old age towards Wolfgang, giving new urgency to the third Italian journey which began in October 1772.
Third journey, October 1772 – March 1773
Lucio Silla
Lucio Silla, K. 135, is an Italian opera in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra.It was first performed on 26 December 1772 at the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan....
, revised by Metastasio from an original by Giovanni de Gamerra
Giovanni de Gamerra
Giovanni de Gamerra was a cleric, a playwright, and a poet. He is best known as a prolific librettist....
. Wolfgang found himself in the familiar routine of composing rapidly while coping with problems such as the late arrival of singers and the withdrawal of the principal tenor due to illness. Leopold reported on 18 December that the tenor had arrived, that Wolfgang was composing his arias at breakneck speed, and that rehearsals were in full swing. The first performance, on 26 December, was chaotic: its start was delayed two hours by the late arrival of Archduke Ferdinand, there were quarrels among the principal performers, and the running time was extended by the insertion of ballets (a common practice of the time), so the performance was not over until two o'clock the following morning. Despite this, subsequent performances were well received. Leopold wrote on 9 January 1773 that the theatre was still full, and that the premiere of the season's second opera, Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
's Sismano nel Mogul, had been postponed to allow Wolfgang's piece a longer run—26 performances in all. Such success for the new work seems to have been fleeting; but during the next few years the libretto was reset by several different composers, including Wolfgang's London mentor Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
.
Leopold, unaware of the Empress's views, continued to pursue an appointment for Wolfgang by applying to Grand Duke Leopold I of Tuscany
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
, the Empress's third son. The application was strongly supported by Count Firmian, and Leopold, in a coded letter home, said he was quite hopeful. While the Mozarts waited for a reply, Wolfgang composed a series of "Milanese" string quartets
Milanese Quartets (Mozart)
The six string quartets, K. 155-160, were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1772 and early 1773. Because they were composed in Milan while he was working on his opera Lucio Silla, they are popularly known as the Milanese Quartets. Before this set was composed, Mozart had written one...
(K. 155/134a to K. 160/159a), and the famous motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
Exsultate, jubilate
Exsultate, jubilate
Exsultate, jubilate K. 165, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written in 1773.This religious solo motet was composed at the time Mozart was visiting Milan....
, K. 165. Leopold resorted to deception to explain his extended stay in Milan, claiming to be suffering from severe rheumatism that prevented his travelling. His ciphered letters to his wife Anna Maria assure her that he is in fact well, but urge her to spread the story of his indisposition. He waited through most of January and all of February for the Grand Duke's reply. The negative response arrived on 27 February. It is not known whether the Grand Duke was influenced by his mother's opinion of the Mozart family, but his rejection effectively ended Leopold's hope of an Italian appointment for Wolfgang. The Mozarts had no choice now but to return to Salzburg, leaving Milan on 4 March and reaching home nine days later. Neither father nor son visited Italy again.
Evaluation
Maynard Solomon summarises the Italian journeys as a great triumph, but suggests that from Leopold's standpoint they also incorporated a great failure. The Mozarts had certainly profited financially, and Wolfgang had developed artistically, into a recognised composer. Although the Mozarts' reception had not been uniformly cordial—they had been cold-shouldered by the Neapolitan court and the Prince of Thurn and Taxis had snubbed them—the Italians had generally responded with enthusiasm. Wolfgang had been received and knighted by the Pope; he had been granted membership in leading philharmonic societies and had studied with Italy's greatest music scholar, Giovanni Martini. Above all, he had been accepted as a practitioner of Italian opera by a leading opera house, completing three commissions that resulted in acclaimed performances. Other compositions resulted from the Italian experience, including a full-scale oratorio, several symphonies, string quartets, and numerous minor works.The failure was Leopold's inability, despite his persistence, to secure a prestigious appointment either for himself or for Wolfgang. Leopold was evidently unaware of the negative light in which he was generally viewed; he did, however, perceive that there was some intangible barrier to his Italian ambitions, and eventually recognised that he could not overcome whatever forces were arrayed against him. In any event, Wolfgang's Italian triumphs proved short-lived; despite the critical and popular successes of his Milan operas, he was not invited to write another, and there were no further commissions from any of the other centres he had visited. With all hopes of an Italian court appointment gone, Leopold sought to secure the family's future by other means: "We shall not go under, for God shall help us. I have already thought out some plans."
Wolfgang was qualified by his skills at the keyboard and violin, and by his compositional experience, for a post as Kapellmeister; but at 17 he was too young. He therefore remained in Colloredo's employ at the Salzburg court, increasingly discontent, until his dismissal from the Archbishop's retinue during its stay in Vienna, in 1781. Leopold, unpromoted from his rank of vice-Kapellmeister, remained with the court until his death in 1787.