MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

were present at St. Stephen’s on 21 July 1788, when Franz Hofer married Constanze’s sister
and future Queen of the Night, Josefa Weber. 101
During Leopold Mozart’s visit to Vienna in early 1785, he seems to have visited St.
Stephen’s at least once. The winter of 1784-5 was particularly severe, 102 and, as Leopold
reported to Nannerl on 21 February,
es schneyet ganz erbärmlich und geht ein erstaunlicher Wind, der die ohnehin wenig gehaitzten
Zimmer jämmerlich ausblässt. Noch war ich bey keinem Menschen, weil zu fuss noch nie aus
dem Hauß kamm, als nach St: Stephan um Mess zu hören, welches sehr nahe ist. 103
A month later, Leopold wrote on Good Friday to discuss liturgical practices in the city.
Although he does not mention where he observed the Holy Week ceremonies, the previous
reference and the proximity of St. Stephen’s suggest that the Cathedral was the likely
location:
Hier waren nicht nur allein keine hl: Gräber sondern sogar das Ciborium nicht ausgesetzt, sondern
eingeschlossen und 4 leichter brennen auf dem Altar, die Auferstehungen aber sind alle
Nachmittag und abends. 104
The catalyst for Mozart’s 1791 application to the Cathedral authorities was
apparently the knowledge that Kapellmeister Hofmann had recently recovered from a grave
illness. Just how Mozart came to learn this is unknown, and there is no evidence that he and
Hofmann were associated at any stage prior to 1791, although they certainly knew each
other by reputation. 105 The nature of Hofmann’s illness is also unknown, and Mozart’s
101 Emil Karl Blümml, “Josefa Weber-Hofer. Die Erste 'Königin der Nacht.'” in Aus Mozarts Freundes und
Familien Kreis (Vienna: E. Strache, 1923), 126.
102 MBA, vi.223; see also KK, 241-42.
103 MBA, iii.376.
104 MBA, iii.382. See RGZJ, 451-56. A description of the Holy Week services at St. Stephen’s for 1785 appears
in KK, 206-7.
105 It is possible that Mozart encountered Hofmann at concerts of the Tonkünstlersocietät. According to the
surviving rosters (A-Wsa, Haydn-Verein, A 1-3), St. Stephen’s provided ten treble and alto singers for the
Society’s chorus in Albrechtsberger’s Die Pilgrime auf Golgotha (April 1781), Hasse’s S. Elena al Calvario
(December 1781), and Martinez’s Isacco (March 1782.) Unfortunately, many of the rosters do not mention the
composition of the trebles and altos, and the roster for Davidde Penitente is lost, so it is unknown whether
Mozart conducted the St. Stephen’s choirboys in 1785. Many of the tenors and basses in the St. Stephen’s
Kapelle did however feature in the Society’s chorus, so it is likely that they sang under Mozart that year. See also
286