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

In response to a question about the nature of Mozart’s singing and speaking voice,
Constanze provided an answer that was recorded by Mary Novello as follows:
M.N. His singing voice was a tenor, his speaking voice gentle, unless he was directing, then he
was energetic and would occasionally stamp with his feet, and once he was so loud in the
Cathedral that Madame heard him at an immense distance. 143
The story of Mozart stamping his foot with impatience while directing an orchestra had
already appeared in Rochlitz’s unreliable anecdotes and Nissen’s biography, this time in
reference to Mozart’s Leipzig concert of 12 May 1789. As often with Constanze’s
recollections, it is difficult to tell whether they were the source of the anecdotes in early
biographies or derived from them. 144 Nevertheless, the reference to the “Cathedral” had not
appeared before, and one might wonder about the location of this particular church. The
only time that Constanze could have accompanied her husband to Salzburg Cathedral was in
1783, and there is no record of any performance there under Mozart. It is possible that
Constanze was confusing the Cathedral with St. Peter, and what she was actually describing
was a rehearsal or the performance of the C minor Mass. As a long-time resident of the city
she certainly knew of the distinction, however. Constanze did not accompany her husband
on the tour of 1789, so the only remaining possibilities are the unlikely option of St. Vitus in
Prague, or St. Stephen’s in Vienna. We are of course reliant on the Novellos’ ability to
accurately record what they heard, but if their transcription was precise and the recollection
was accurate, it is likely that Constanze was referring to Mozart directing a performance as
adjunct Kapellmeister in 1791.
143 Novello, A Mozart Pilgrimage, 113.
144 See Maynard Solomon, “The Rochlitz Anecdotes: Issues of Authenticity in Early Mozart Biography,” in
Mozart Studies, ed. Cliff Eisen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 23-4, Neal Zaslaw, Mozart's
Symphonies: Context, Performance Practice, Reception (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), 423-24.
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