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

Maria Theresia is to be believed, Joseph’s lack of religious conviction during the latter part of
the co-regency was nothing short of scandalous, as the Empress complained to the Marquis
d’Herzelles in March 1771:
…he has on his own authority dispensed himself from Lent…One dare not talk in his presence
about religion, the clergy, the authority of the church. His maxims are enough to make one’s hair
stand on end. Unhappily he trumpets these fine principles with which he is imbued in every
theatre-box, and everyone is aware of it, more even than I am. On this point, he adopts an
astonishingly decided and partisan attitude. His confessions are rare; his prayers scarcely edifying;
he seldom hears a complete Mass, and often misses it; no spiritual reading or conversation… 41
This remarkable passage should be seen in the context of Maria Theresia’s own increasing
religiosity in the years following the death of her husband, which played a part in the
frequent conflicts between the Empress and her son over matters of state. It is worthy of
note, however, that Maria Theresia subsequently refrained from issuing further orders related
to military instruments, apparently content to let Joseph exercise discretion in the matter.
On at least one occasion, the Landesregierung did grant official permission for the use of
trumpets and timpani in Viennese churches, but the general impression is for a rather lax
enforcement of the Imperial requirements for notification and consent. 42 A representative
example is the inauguration of Vienna’s Waisenhauskirche in December 1768, which featured
the first known appearance of Mozart’s music in liturgical context. All of the works written
by the twelve-year-old composer for this occasion included passages for “military
instruments,” of which a striking example is the muted trumpets in the Crucifixus of the
Mass in C Minor K. 139/47a – not to mention the mysterious “trumpet concerto for a boy”
Beales, Joseph II, 198. That same month, Charles Burney reported, “The whole imperial family is musical; the
emperor perhaps just enough for a sovereign prince, that is, with sufficient hand, both on the violoncello and
harpsichord, to amuse himself, and sufficient taste and judgment to hear, understand, and receive delight from
others.” Burney, Present State of Music, i.252.
41 Quoted in Beales, Joseph II, 205.
42 On 8 September 1767, the Wienerisches Diarium reported a service at which “die dabey angestimmte und mit
Erlaubnis des Hofes mit Trompeten und Paucken besetzte Musik war...von Leopold Hoffmann,
K.K.Hofmusici...”; transcribed in Wilfried Scheib, “Die Entwicklung der Musikberichterstattung im
Wienerischen Diarium von 1703-1780 mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wiener Oper” (PhD diss.,
Universität Wien, 1950), 216.
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