MOZART LEAVES PARIS
| After the death of his mother, Mozart leaves Paris on
September 26 for Salzburg. In a letter to his father from Nancy, he
indicates that he is not bringing home many compositions. The fact of the
matter is, he wrote very little while in Paris, and we are not sure why.
Perhaps the death of his mother was so traumatic he could not continue in a
productive manner. Salzburg held little interest for him now, and in a
letter to his father from Strasbourg dated October 15, 1778 he states. . .
"at Salzburg I don't know who I am--I am everything and then again, I'm
nothing--I ask neither too much nor too little--but I want something--I need
to be somebody..."Mozart hesitated to return to his father, the archbishop
and Salzburg. After a stop in Mannheim, he wrote his cousin "the Bäsle" from Kaisheim - north of Augsburg - that he would not be stopping to see her, but in hopes she will come to Munich where they could spend some time together. He also asked her to come to Salzburg, perhaps wanting some moral support knowing his father will most assuredly blame him for the death of his mother as well as other happenings that occurred during his departure from Salzburg and his stay in Paris. . . "for you might have an important role to play--so be sure to come even for a bit, otherwise we'll be in deep shit." (Kaisheim, December 23, 1778) His arrived in Munich was on December 25, 1778 and most anxious to present to Aloysia an aria he had composed for her as an engagement present. The aria K. 316/300b, is taken from a Gluck libretto for his opera "Alceste", the librettist being Raniero Calzabigi. The worst happened when he arrived - Aloysia rejected him and he was devastated. He soon got hold of himself and according to Nissen, sat at the piano and sang: "Leck mir das Mensch im Arsch, das mich nicht will." ("Let the wench who doesn't want me kiss my ass") |