All this was a rich source of satisfaction to Wolfgang, but it did not lessen his father’s cares. The preparations for his journey were of course very carefully made, even in the minutest details, especially in what related to his compositions, that he might “be able to show what he could do in everything:” in concertos for the piano and violin, sonatas, airs and ensemble pieces of the most various kind. The sonatas for the piano alone--as we would remark here to the lovers of music--known as Nos. 279-284 in L. Kœchel’s “_Chron. themat. Verzeichniss_,” are, as to their form, perfectly full of beauty, and the matter of them frequently interests us by the distinctness of its almost speaking pictures of life. More significant and important yet is the sonata in C major. Its _Andante cantabile_, in F major (3/4), is a dramatic scene which, although on a small scale, clearly bespoke the hand of the future composer of _Figaro_ and _Don Giovanni_. And the variations with which the sonata in A major (6/8) begins were hardly equaled by Beethoven in his Op. 26. The trio in the minuet, on the other hand, was a full scene from life, taken from the Carnival to which the closing _Alla Turca_ alludes. Compared with these youthful works of Mozart--for they belong to the end of the year 1770--what are the sonatas of Ph. E. Bach, and even of Joseph Haydn? The travelers had also, with the assistance of the father, made every other preparation for their journey. The boot-tree or stretcher, even, which was, at the time, a necessary part of a traveler’s outfit, was not forgotten. And yet their first stopping-place was near enough. The father had once before knocked at the doors of Munich. Now the son went to seek his fortune by calling personally on the good-hearted elector. We can here, of course, touch only on the principal incidents of Mozart’s journey, on those which influenced his subsequent life, and must refer the reader for more detailed information to his letters. We find in them the clearest and most charming descriptions of his life. They appeal to our deepest feelings; for they are addressed, almost without exception, to the father. The father’s answers had to be very explicit, for there was ample room for advice and timely precaution, much to deter from or to make good again, as occasion required, and not a little place for admonition. In every one of them, we find the reflection of the solid worth of these two faithful souls, a worth which was destined to find a really ideal and transfigured echo in Mozart’s music. This journey had for effect the development of Mozart’s inmost nature. It gave his artistic creations that sovereign and catholic character for which they are so remarkable.