[Illustration: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART.] _BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS._ LIFE OF MOZART BY LOUIS NOHL TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY JOHN J. LALOR. “_Man’s title to nobility is the heart._” CHICAGO: JANSEN, McCLURG, & COMPANY. 1880. COPYRIGHT, JANSEN, MCCLURG & COMPANY. A. D. 1880. STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY THE CHICAGO LEGAL NEWS COMPANY. TRANSLATOR’S NOTE. Mr. Louis Nohl, the author of the present little volume, has merited for himself in Germany a high reputation as a writer of the biographies of musicians, and some of his larger works have appeared in English on the other side of the Atlantic. The present is the first translation into our language of his shorter Life of Mozart. It will, we trust, prove acceptable to those who desire to learn the chief events in the life of the great composer, to see how his life influenced his compositions, and how his great works are, in many instances at least, the expression of his own joys and sorrows, the picture of his own soul in tones. The translator’s grateful acknowledgments are due to Mr. A. W. Dohn, of Chicago, who was kind enough to compare the entire translation with the original. His thorough knowledge of music and German, no less than his rare familiarity with the English language, have largely contributed to the fidelity of this translation. J. J. L. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD AND EARLY TRAVELS. Mozart’s Parentage--Early Development of his Genius--Character as a Child--Travels at the Age of Six--Received by Maria Theresa and Marie Antoinette--Mozart and Goethe--Meeting with Madame de Pompadour--The London Bach’s Opinion of Young Mozart--Asked to Write an Opera by Joseph II--Assailed by Envy--Padre Martini--Notes Down the Celebrated Miserere from Ear--The Pope Confers on him the Order of the Golden Spurs--A Member of the Philharmonic Society of Bologna--First Love--Personal Appearance--Troubles with the Archbishop, 7-41 CHAPTER II. THE GREAT PARISIAN ARTISTIC JOURNEY. Disgusted with Salzburg--In Vienna Again--Salzburg Society--Character of Musicians in the Last Century--Jerome Colloredo, Archbishop of Salzburg--Mozart’s Letter to Him--The Father’s Solicitude for His Son--Paternal Advice--New Compositions--Incidents of his Journey--Meets with Opposition--Secret Enemies--His Ambition to Elevate the Character of the German Opera--Disappointments--His Description of German “Free City” Life--Meeting with Stein--In his Uncle’s Family--“Baesle”--Meeting with the Cannabichs--Attachment for Rosa Cannabich--Influence of this Attachment on his Music--The Weber Family--The _Non so d’Onde Viene_--Circumstances of its Composition, 42-82 CHAPTER III. IDOMENEO.