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

Verränderung des gusto leider so gar bis auf die kirchenMusic erstrekt hat; welches aber nicht
seyn sollte – woher es dann auch kömmt, daß man die wahre kirchenMusic – unter dem dache –
und fast von würmen gefressen – findet. – wenn ich, wie ich hoffe, im Monath Julio mit meiner
frau nach Salzburg kommen werde, so wollen wir mehr über diesen Punkt sprechen. 73
This passage is a rare example of Mozart expressing an opinion about his father’s
compositions, and the reference to Leopold’s sacred music being stored in the attic offers a
compelling if rather poignant example of the priority given to Wolfgang’s music in the
household. Whether or not Leopold ventured into the attic, it has been suggested that he did
send his son an example of his own music: the autograph score of the Litaniae de Venerabili
in D, Carlson IB2, now in the Konsistorialarchiv in Salzburg. 74 The score contains many
corrections in Wolfgang’s hand, particularly to the horn parts. Walter Senn dated the
corrections to the Viennese period on the speculative grounds that Mozart would not have
made such modifications, particularly ones written so hastily, while under the supervision of
his father. Senn further speculated that Constanze retained the score after her husband’s
death and took it with her to Salzburg, where it remained until it was sold by persons
unknown to the Dommusikverein und Mozarteum in 1852. 75 Unfortunately, the original
parts for the litany are lost, so it is not possible to determine whether the changes in the score
could have been followed in Salzburg performances prior to Mozart’s departure in 1780. It is
not clear why Mozart would have wanted to perform a litany in Vienna, since the
Gottesdienstordnung had no provision for instrumental settings of any kind and the van
Swieten circle was performing, as Mozart related, with keyboard reductions only. Senn’s
assumption that Leopold did not authorise the corrections is unproven, and the form of the
dynamic markings actually suggests a date around 1775, according to Plath. 76
73 MBA, iii.264.
74 A-Sd, Gb 127.
75 NMA X/28/3-5/1, viii.
76 Wolfgang Plath, “Beiträge zur Mozart-Autographie II: Schriftchronologie 1770-1780,” in Mozart-Schriften:
Ausgewählte Aufsätze, ed. Marianne Danckwardt (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1991), 253.
87