Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life by Robert Spaethling

Author:Robert Spaethling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2016-11-04T04:00:00+00:00

On May 12, Mozart wrote two letters to his father; one contains his famous outburst: “I didn’t know I was a valet” (Ich wuste nicht daß ich kammerdiener wäre), the other contains the message to his father that he should “pretend to be angry.” Mozart sent the first letter by mail because he did not care whether the censors would read it, but the second letter he sent with a friend who happened to be traveling to Salzburg.

To his father, in Salzburg

Vienna, May 12, 1781

Mon trés cher Pére!

You know from my last letter that I have asked the prince for my discharge.—because he himself ordered me to. In 2 previous audiences he had said to me already: get out of here if you don’t want to serve me properly; he will, of course, deny it, but that won’t change the fact that it is as true as there is a god in Heaven.—Can it be any wonder that finally, after I had been driven completely mad with words like knave, scoundrel, rascal, slovenly fellow, and other such edifying expressions out of the mouth of a prince, I took his get out of here quite literally?—The very next day I handed Count Arco a petition to give to His Grace; I also returned the travel money consisting of 15 gulden and 40 kreuzer for the Diligence, and 2 ducats for food.—He did not accept either; and he insisted that I could not resign without first obtaining your consent.—That’s your duty, he said;—I assured him in return that I knew my duty toward my father as well as he and perhaps Better—and I should be very sorry if I had to learn it first from him.—All right then, he said, if he is satisfied, you can request your discharge, if not—you can request it anyway.—Now, there’s a real Distinction for you!—All these lofty remarks the Archbishop had uttered during the three audiences I had with him, especially the last one, and all the subsequent things this splendid servant of god dished out, had such a terrific effect on my body that in the evening I had to leave the opera in the middle of the first Act and go home so I could lie down.—I felt quite hot and feverish—my body was trembling all over—and I staggered about in the street like a drunkard.—I stayed home the following day, that was yesterday—and stayed in bed all morning because I had taken some tamarind water.45

In addition, the Herr Count was so kind as to write many lovely things about me to his father, which you probably have had to swallow already.—The report undoubtedly contains a number of fabulous items—after all, if you want to write a Comedy and desire applause, you have to exaggerate a bit rather than stick to the facts—and, you must keep in mind, these gentlemen wish to show how eager they are to please their master.—

I only want to put down here, without getting too worked up because I

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