MOZART'S unsatisfactory position in Vienna, both from a pecuniary and a professional point of view,[1] doubtless inclined him for a professional tour, to which the immediate inducement was an invitation from Prince Karl Lichnowsky, husband of the Countess Thun, a zealous musical connoisseur and a pupil and ardent admirer of Mozart. His estates in Schleswig and his position in the Prussian army necessitated his residence from time to time in Berlin; and, being on the point of repairing thither in the spring of 1789, he invited Mozart to accompany him. The musical taste and liberality of Frederick William II. augured well for the expedition, and Lichnowsky's support was likely to prove a valuable aid. Accordingly on April 8, 1789, they set out.[2] At Prague, where they remained only one day, a contract with Guardasoni for an opera to be written in the autumn was "almost settled"; unfortunately only _almost_, for it does not appear to have gone further. Mozart was especially delighted with the news brought to him from Berlin by his old friend Ramm, that the King, having been informed of his intended visit, had asked repeatedly if the plan was likely to be carried out. At Dresden, where they arrived on April 12, Mozart's first care was to seek out his friend Madame Duschek, who was visiting the Neumann family; he was soon quite at home with these "charming people." Joh. Leop. Neumann, Secretary to the Military Council, was highly esteemed for his literary and musical activity. He translated for his intimate friend Naumann the operas "Cora" and {DRESDEN, 1789.} (227) "Amphion," and in 1777 he founded a musical academy;[3] his wife was considered a first-rate pianoforte-player.[4] Through them Mozart was introduced to the musical world of Dresden--among others to Körner, an interesting proof of whose friendship remains in a crayon sketch of Mozart drawn by Komer's sister-in-law, Dora Stock, in 1789. Kapellmeister Naumann--a Mass composed by whom he heard and thought very "mediocre"--inspired him with instantaneous dislike; and the feeling appears to have been mutual, if, as tradition reports, Naumann used to call Mozart a musical _sans culotte_.[5]