Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 10
10.—A TEST OF PRECOCITY.
The youthful Mozart was not the greatest prodigy known to history, but he was one of the few whose early precocity did not lead to expectations which were disappointed in later life. His musical life was a continual growth. Great stories were told of his marvelous abilities, and some of them were doubtless exaggerated. But every claim that was put forth by himself or by the parents of this wonder-child he could fulfill.
The Archbishop of Salzburg had it in his power to benefit the art of all succeeding time by granting proper patronage to Mozart, but this the churlish old fellow declined to do. He even declared that the boy Mozart was a fraud, and in the interests of art and religion he would unmask him. His plan was to confine the young genius in a closed room, give him pens, ink, paper and the necessary words, and to hold him prisoner there until he should have composed a mass. The Mozarts, father and son, consented to the trial, knowing it was entirely within the boy's powers. For more than a week did he stay in that room, seeing no one save the servant who brought his meals: At the end of this time he sent to the bishop his composition, which, after trial by the court band, the bishop ordered to be placed in the repertoire of the cathedral choir. But even after this display of genius the prelate was lacking in that appreciation of art which would have led him to become a beneficent patron.