of the whole work, to make plain. We must not underrate the wholesome and powerful effect which grand and important works must have made upon him, and the enlightenment and correction of his views as to the nature of the opera thereby obtained. But we must also remember that Mozart received these impressions and this instruction into a nature self-dependent and productive, and that his artistic cultivation enabled him to appropriate only what was in accordance with his nature. Gluck sets aside the fixed expressions of operatic form as far as is practicable, in order to gain perfect freedom of dramatic action; Mozart, on the other hand, strives to spare these forms, and so to mould and develop them that they may themselves serve as vehicles for dramatic expression. This he does not because he clings to what is old and established, but with the just perception that these forms contain an essential element of artistic construction which is capable of development. Mozart never seeks, as Gluck did, to forget that he is a musician; on the contrary, he remembers it at every point of his artistic production, and could not ignore the fact if he would. In opposition to the one-sided requirements of dramatic characterisation, he falls back upon the principles of musical construction, which are far from contradicting such requirements, and are in fact the higher power which establishes them. On these grounds we assert that Mozart's creative power in music (to which we must first turn our glance in judging an artist) was more universal and deeper than that of Gluck; that he surpassed him in artistic cultivation and discipline will be doubted by no one who compares the technical work, the disposition of the orchestra, &c., in "Idomeneo" with Gluck's operas. This judgment does not exclude the fact that some of Gluck's performances as an artist are not only grand and striking, but surpass kindred works by Mozart. But if the laws and nature of art are once perceived, a more certain rule is provided for the judgment of the work of art as well as of the artist; and here Mozart may bear away the palm. Mozart's leave of absence was not extorted from the Archbishop without difficulty, and it was limited to six weeks. {DREAD OF RECALL.} (165) The better satisfied he became with his life in Munich, where he found friends, appreciation, and enlightenment, the more appalling grew the prospect of returning to Salzburg, and he was in terror lest the Archbishop should recall him even before the performance of the opera. With this idea he writes to his father (December 16, 1780):--