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

Unterdessen will ich ihnen benachrichtigen, daß der Papst hieher kommen soll; davon ist die
ganze Stadt voll. – ich glaube es aber nicht; denn, graf kobenzl hat mir gesagt daß der kayser diese
visite nicht annehmen wird. 111
When the Pope arrived, ten weeks’ later, Mozart’s reported the event in a tone that could be
a comment on the commotion stirred up by the visit, a dismissive reference to the man
himself, or both:
Nun muß ich schliessen; nur noch, daß gestern Nachmittag um halb 4 uhr der Pabst hier
angekommen ist - eine lustige Nachricht. 112
There were, no doubt, many opportunities at the various social occasions frequented by
Mozart to discuss Joseph’s reforms with well-informed people, although the conversations
are now lost to us. One of Mozart’s earliest communications to Salzburg after his arrival in
Vienna was a copy of private correspondence between Joseph and Kaunitz concerning
portraits of the royal family, procured by Mme. Lamotte. 113 In contrast to his easy access to
members of the secular nobility and bourgeoisie, Mozart seems to have had little to do with
senior church figures such as Migazzi, or members of the Geistliches Hofkomission. Given the
professional areas in which Mozart was now promoting himself, the choice to cultivate
primarily secular patrons was a natural decision.
With the introduction of the new Gottesdienstordnung, the lives of Vienna’s church
musicians changed dramatically. The decision of Joseph II to radically reduce the amount of
paid work for singers and instrumentalists caused economic hardship in the short term, for
there was no equivalent to the Religious Fund set up to compensate defrocked monks and
nuns after the forced closure of their Houses. Mozart, in effect, had resigned from the
111 MBA, iii.190.
112 MBA, iii.199. This “lustige Nachricht” is followed by a “trauerige”: the death of Frau von Auerhammer’s
husband.
113 MBA, iii.95-7.
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