Updates | Contact | Cairo Opera House | Links
| |
Home | Composers Index
| Musical Epochs
| Musical Forms Updates | Contact | Cairo Opera House | Links |
Mozart worked at Colloredo's court because his father worked there, and it was considered natural that the son would follow the father's footsteps. That is, his father Leopold considered it natural. Wolfgang had little interest in such employment, for he was certain that he would not be properly appreciated. In addition, there was the question of income. At Salzburg, Wolfgang earned only a pittance, and to be paid so little for a job he loathed was the worst of insults. In a letter to his father in 1778, the twenty-two-year-old Wolfgang wrote, "the Archbishop can never pay me enough to compensate for the slavery of Salzburg." A later letter charged that Colloredo "glorifies himself through his dependants, robs them of the service and pays them nothing for it!" Perhaps the Archbishop heard rumors of Mozart's opinions, or, just as likely, Mozart did not trouble to hide his feelings. In either case, the employer was equally displeased with the employee. Their infamous final encounter in 1781 was a festival of insults on either side, resulting in Wolfgang's expulsion from the court, propelled through the door by a kick in the seat of the pants. The young composer described the experience as "a happy day for me!"
It would seem impossible for any artist to create great works in such a hateful environment, but the fact is that Mozart's Salzburg years were highly productive. The symphonies, concertos, and masses that he composed in Salzburg stand amongst his finest creations. Even the lesser-known works of this period are still marvelously crafted. His Symphony no. 33 in B-flat was completed July 9, 1779. In this first incarnation, the work comprised only three movements. The same is true of many of Mozart's Salzburg symphonies, for in the 1770s, that Italianate approach was the expectation. However, the composer's move to Vienna necessitated an adaptation to the more sophisticated Viennese style of composition. He began to write symphonies in four movements, with the third of those four a dance-like minuet. This new method left Mozart's earlier works somewhat out-of-date, but rather than allow this B-flat Major Symphony to fall by the wayside, the composer took up the score again and added the now-necessary minuet. It is the work's longer, revised form that is generally heard today.