Speranza
Not until the success of Peter Shaffer’s film "Amadeus: has Antonio Salieri become
a household name.
However, this notoriety that Antonio Salieri has gained is far
from desirable.
He is reputed to be a mediocre composer with a passionate envy
of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
It has even been alleged that Salieri went as far as
to poison Mozart.
Musicologists agree conclusively that this rumour has no
substance.
However, that has not prevented it from being spread by such works as
Alexander Pushkin’s little tragedy "Mozart and Salieri."
The popularity of Peter
Shaffer’s dramatic play, Amadeus, and the movie that followed brought this image
of Salieri to the masses.
However, poor Salieri has not been served justice in
history.
Salieri was indeed an excellent composer who actually enjoyed more
success in his lifetime than Mozart did in his time.
Antonio Salieri was
born on August 18, 1750 in the little Italian town of Legnago, which was (and is) part of
the "Venetian" territory -- Veneto. (Shaffer has it as "Lombardy"!)
Salieri was sent to the public school to learn Latin,
and was also taught by his brother, Francesco, in the study of violin, piano,
and singing.
Francesco was a very talented violinist and was often called upon
to play for church festivals in the area surrounding Legnago.
Salieri, having a
taste for music from his infancy, would accompany his brother whenever there
would be enough carriage space to accommodate him.
Once when Salieri was ten
years old his brother went off to play at a neighbouring village.
As usual,
little Salieri wanted to join his brother and hear the wonderful music, in this
case, a violin concerto.
However, there was no room for him in the carriage, so
he was not able to attend.
Nonetheless, Salieri soon set off on foot to the
village without asking permission from his parents.
His parents were very
worried by his disappearance, and when he returned his angry father threatened
to confine him to his room for a week with a diet of nothing but bread and water
if he ever attempted the offense again.
Young Antonio had no doubt that
his father would stay true to his word if he was ever to try the same stunt.
However, he would not pass up on future opportunities to hear beautiful music.
It is in this story that a strange fact about Salieri surfaces: he was in love
with sugar.
Salieri reasoned that this imprisonment would be bearable if only he
would have sugar to eat with the bread. Accordingly, he began to stockpile sugar
in his room in case the time ever came where his father would indeed punish him
as stated. The time soon came when Salieri’s brother went off to play and he
could not bring his little brother. That morning, Salieri told a servant that he
was going to mass. He fully intended on going to mass and then coming home. It
just so happened that mass was on the way to where his brother was playing.
Salieri could not resist and began to travel off to hear his brother play.
However, a person that Salieri’s father had sent to keep watch of him brought
Antonio back to the house before he began his journey. Salieri’s father was very
upset and keeping his word sent Salieri to his room. Antonio was not very upset
of his punishment for he was prepared with his sugar. He waited for his dinner
and when the time came, a servant brought in the bread and water as his father
had promised. When the servant left, Salieri went to retrieve his stockpile of
sugar, but to his horror, it was gone. According to Alexander Wheelock Thayer in
his work Salieri: Rival Of Mozart, Salieri wrote in a letter, "I had entrusted
my secret to my sister; she had entrusted it to my mother, and she had entrusted
it to my father, who on that very morning before I was brought back, had
confiscated my entire stock as contraband of war" (27).
Returning to the
matter of Salieri’s instruction in music, besides being taught by his talented
brother, he was also taught by a local organist, Giuseppe Simone. He proved to
be a very apt pupil in his studies of music. Even at a young age he had formed
his own opinions of what good music should sound like. For example, Salieri
frequently attended mass and vespers at a nearby convent. One day while Salieri
was walking with his father, they encountered the monk who played organ at the
convent. Salieri’s father greeted him kindly, while Antonio greeted him with
noticeably less enthusiasm. When Salieri’s father asked him why he was so cold
to the organist, he responded, "I don’t like him because he is a bad organist"
(Thayer 28).
Misfortune soon struck the Salieri family with Antonio’s
father and mother dying between the years 1763 and 1765. Antonio lived with a
brother in Padua until some time in 1766. At this time, Giovanni Mocenigo, who
was a friend of Antonio’s father and a well-off Venetian nobleman, took Antonio
with him to Venice. He planned on sending Salieri to Naples to continue his
musical education. In the meantime Salieri happened to attend the opening of an
opera in Venice. Before the opera, a man in a large fur cloak came near Salieri
to greet a woman. Salieri soon realized that the man was none other than Pietro
Guglielmi, the composer of the opera. Guglielmi was so absorbed in his talk with
the woman that he did not realize that the young Salieri was hugging his coat
sleeve out of love for his music.
Salieri only stayed with Mocenigo for
three months, but during this time he studied thorough bass with Giovanni
Pescetti and signing with Ferdinando Pacini. There was to be held in Venice an
opera called Achille in Sciro. Florian Leopold Gassmann, the court ballet and
chamber music composer in Vienna, was called to Italy to compose the music for
this opera. Ferdinando Pacini was employed to sing in the opera and came to know
Gassmann. Pacini happened to mention the talented youth he was currently
teaching. Gassmann took quite an interest to the young Salieri as he was very
impressed with his singing and piano playing. He insisted that he take Antonio
back to Vienna with him as his pupil in composition. So began Salieri’s career
in Vienna where he would spend the rest of his life.
Interestingly,
Gassmann made sure to take Salieri to the church as soon as they arrived in
Vienna. According to Thayer, Salieri wrote that Gassmann told him, "I thought it
my duty to begin your musical education with God. Now it will depend upon you
whether its results shall be good or bad; I shall at all events have done my
duty" (30). And so it was that Gassmann instructed Salieri only after having
made this pact with God. Salieri had of course already mastered the piano,
violin, and singing. He had knowledge of thorough bass and reading music came
naturally to the talented young musician. In instructing the boy, Gassmann
intended on making him a master at vocal composition and especially at operatic
composition. Antonio was provided with a teacher of the languages of German and
French. Don Pietro Tommasi, a priest, gave Antonio lessons in Latin, Italian,
poetry, and anything else that would be relevant to his future profession.
Gassmann began instructing Antonio in counterpoint. Gassmann insisted that
Antonio restrict himself to learning the rules of music and not yet begin to
compose. However, Salieri could not refrain from composing, and he did so in
secret every chance he could.
At this time GIUSEPPE II was the Emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire.
Joseph II is commonly referred to as the musical emperor.
He was fairly gifted in music and saw to it that Vienna became the premiere
musical city in Europe. Gassmann was the court ballet composer in Vienna. Joseph
was very fond of Gassmann and his music. When he heard of the talented youth
that Gassmann had brought back with him from Venice, he expressed that he would
like to see him. Gassmann brought Antonio to the palace soon thereafter and the
boy had a conversation with the Emperor. At first Salieri was very nervous and
reluctant, but he soon became at ease with the kind Emperor and they proceeded
to talk of music, his home and so on. Salieri also took the opportunity to
express his gratitude to Gassmann whom he considered a second father. Joseph
then requested that Salieri sing and play the piano for him. The emperor was
very impressed with the boy’s singing and his skill on the piano. He requested
that Gassmann be sure to bring his pupil with him whenever he came to the court.
It was from this moment that Salieri endeared himself to the Emperor, a very
important factor in his career progression. According to Grove Music Online,
Salieri proved to indeed be "the greatest musical diplomat" as one of his
students described him. He had a knack for befriending those that would be
beneficial to his career. Besides befriending the Emperor, Salieri also
befriended Gluck, a forefather of opera, and Metastasio, one of the finest
librettists to this date, among many others he met along the way to his
success.
Salieri soon had his chance to write real operas to be produced
upon the stage. In 1769, Gassmann went to Rome to compose an opera for a
carnival there. It so happened that Giovanni Gastone Boccherini had written a
comic Italian opera libretto entitled Le donne letterate. It was intended that
Gassmann compose the music for the opera. However, since Gassmann was in Italy,
the composing duties were placed upon Salieri. Salieri, now twenty years of age,
accepted this task with great enthusiasm. He worked very passionately on this
opera until he completed it. On the opening night, Salieri was very anxious. He
ran around the town to look upon the fliers with his name on them. When he
arrived at the theatre, he was thrilled to see how many came to hear his first
opera. The opera was performed to much applause and Salieri was greatly pleased.
This was a fine comic opera, or opera buffa as it was called. Now Salieri turned
his attentions towards writing a dramatic opera, or opera seria. In 1771,
Salieri wrote Armida on a libretto by Marco Coltellini. The year 1772 was an
important year for Salieri in which he composed three operas. Two were only
moderately successful, but the first, La fiera di Venezia, was a major success.
It made Salieri’s name known all throughout Europe.
The Emperor Joseph helped to
spread the word about the young composer in Italy and in France, for he had
powerful connections there: his sister was Marie Antoinette and his brothers
were Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Ferdinand, Governor of Lombardy.
Joseph
sent a copy of Salieri’s Armida to his brother Leopold and told him of the great
success it enjoyed in Vienna. Leopold soon replied that he would like to have
Salieri write an opera for Florence. So it came to be that Salieri was sought
after throughout Europe for his compositions.
In 1774, Salieri lost his
second father and benefactor. Gassmann died on January 22 of that year.
Gassmann’s wife and children would always have a kind protector in Salieri.
Joseph was very upset by the loss of his dear Kapellmeister Gassmann. He offered
the now vacant position of imperial royal chamber composer to Salieri. He also
appointed Salieri as the Kapellmeister to the Italian opera. Salieri was only 24
years of age at the time. In 1775, Salieri met his future wife, Therese von
Helfersdorfer. However, before he could have her hand in marriage, he had to
obtain permission from her guardian whom her father had appointed before he
died. The guardian said that he would allow Salieri her hand in marriage if he
was convinced that he could support her. Salieri told him that he earned 300
ducats as Kapellmeister of the Italian opera, a hundred ducats as imperial
chamber composer, and that his compositions and music lessons brought in another
300 ducats annually. The guardian responded that Salieri could only count on the
hundred ducats that he received from the court. He told Salieri to come back
when his position improved. When the Emperor found out about this, he raised
Salieri’s salary from one to three hundred ducats. Salieri returned to the
guardian and he consented to the marriage, which would eventually produce eight
children.
In 1776, Joseph reorganized the court theatres with an emphasis
on spoken drama. This allowed Salieri to return to his homeland to write opera
there. Between the years 1778 and 1780, Salieri wrote five operas for theatres
in Rome, Venice, and Milan. These were mainly comic operas. One of these comic
operas was La scuola de’ gelosi, a work which up to this point was the most
successful and established Salieri’s reputation all throughout Europe. In 1780,
Joseph commissioned Salieri to write Singspiel, or a German opera, for the
National theatre. Der Rauchfangkehrer was performed in 1781. It was one of only
two German operas written by Salieri. It was very successful until it was
overshadowed by another opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The composer of
this opera was none other than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
A turning point in
Salieri’s career occurred when Gluck was commissioned for a work by the Paris
Opera. However, Gluck was too weak to compose the opera. He passed the duty on
to Salieri. This opera, Les Danaïdes, was a major success when it was performed
in Paris. Its success was such that the Paris Opera commissioned two more works
from Salieri. The second, Les Horaces, was a failure due to bad luck on the part
of the performers. However, the third, Tarare, was one of Salieri’s greatest
triumphs. His Italian translation of this opera, Axur re d’Ormus, was just as
big of a success.
In 1788, Salieri was made Hofkapellmeister by Joseph, a
position which he filled until his retirement in 1824. From this point on he
focused more on the administration of the court chapel and the composition of
church music. Joseph II died February 20th of 1790. Rumors circulated that
Salieri was to be dismissed or resign as Hofkapellmeister. However, the truth of
the matter is that Salieri requested that his duties be reduced, agreeing to
compose an opera every year for the court theatre. So began a decline in
Salieri’s career, for he no longer had the patronage of Joseph II, the
stimulating rivalry of Mozart, or the opportunity to write operas for France
because of the Revolution.
Salieri continued to stay active in the music
world even though his rate of composition slowed. He focused very much on his
duties in the chapel and the music library. He also served as the president of
the Tonkünstler-Societät, which was founded by Gassmann to support the widows
and children of musicians. He conducted and composed much music for this
society’s benefits. To be certain, Salieri did not just write operas; his range
of compositions was very diverse. He wrote piano concertos, symphonies, masses,
among many other types of music. In 1815, Salieri was responsible for directing
and planning musical events for the Congress of Vienna.
Throughout
Salieri’s busy life, he made teaching a priority. Not only was he a wonderful
vocal and composition teacher, but most of the lessons that he gave were gratis.
Salieri was forever grateful to the kindness of Gassmann in teaching him for
free and taking him under his wing, and he returned the favor to many musicians
including the likes of Beethoven, Schubert, and even Liszt. When teaching, he
placed an emphasis on placing words to music, for this was his
specialty.
There is indeed no evidence to support the idea that Salieri
killed Mozart. In Salieri’s last years, he suffered a physical and mental
breakdown. He was admitted to the Vienna general hospital and the rumor spread
that Salieri accused himself of killing Mozart. However, there was no concrete
evidence of this. It would have been very unreasonable to think that Salieri
killed Mozart. For during the times that the two great composers were both alive
they were, for the most part, friends. Of course, there were times when the two
did not see eye to eye. This was only natural as Salieri and Mozart came from
different musical traditions and wrote in very different styles. On the whole,
they got along with one another fine. It was even reported that Salieri came to
visit Mozart on his deathbed. It is also reported that Salieri was one of the
few who attended Mozart’s funeral. It is now widely accepted that Mozart’s cause
of death was rheumatic inflammatory fever.
Thus, it is very unfortunate
that Salieri, such a brilliant person and composer, would be defamed as such by
the likes of Pushkin and those who rumored against him. He was indeed a truly
outstanding person. As a family man and a musician, balancing both demanding
efforts, there were no rivals. Fortunately, Salieri’s reputation is now being
cleared. More and more people are becoming aware of his works through new
recordings and increasing numbers of performances of his music. Much of this
revival can be credited to his being brought to the spotlight by the movie
Amadeus, which while factually inaccurate, never actually directly indicts
Salieri of killing Mozart. Hopefully, one day Salieri’s music will be played
again worldwide in all its glory and he will receive the credit that he so
rightfully deserves.
Partial list of Works: 50 operas, 94 arias and
ensembles, 340+ songs, 6 concertos, 3 symphonies, 6 ballets, 7 serenades, 5
masses, 1 requiem mass, 100+ other religious works
Works
Consulted
Braunbehrens, Volkmar. "Maligned Master: The Real Story of
Antonio Salieri." New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation,
1992.
Mandelstam, Nadezhda. "Mozart and Salieri." Ann Arbor: Ardis,
1973.
Pushkin, Alexander. "Mozart and Salieri: The Little Tragedies."
Trans. Antony Wood. London: Angel Books, 1982.
Reid, Robert. "Pushkin’s
Mozart and Salieri: Themes, Character, Sociology." Amsterdam: Rodopi,
1995.
Shaffer, Peter. "Amadeus." New York: Perennial,
2001.
Thayer, Alexander Wheelock. "Salieri: Rival of Mozart." Kansas
City: The Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, 1989. Ed. Theodore
Albrecht.
"Antonio Salieri", Grove Music Online
No comments:
Post a Comment