n the first. 'He never composed at the
clavier,' says his wife, in speaking of his manner of work, 'but wrote
music like letters, and never tried a movement until it was finished.'

The limits of our story forbid even a mention of the compositions
which made up the life-work of Mozart; the few to which we have found
space to refer are those connected with the chief episodes of his
career. Much less can we convey an idea of his powers of
improvisation. Hours snatched from sleep would be spent at the piano,
and into the silence of the night drifted many a divine melody which
no ear but his own was destined to hear. One who lived to be eighty,
speaking of those wonderful improvisations, says: 'I still, in my old
age, seem to hear the echo of those heavenly harmonies, and I go to my
grave with the full conviction that there can never be another
Mozart.'

It was at such times that the inspiration of true genius shone forth
in his expression. Ordinarily there was nothing distinguished about
his appearance; the head, with its profusion of fine hair, was
somewhat too large for the body, which was short and slim; the face
was pale, and the nose a rather too prominent feature; the eyes were
large, well-shaped, and shaded by long lashes and bushy eyebrows, but
the expression was absent and restless. When seated at the piano,
however, the whole countenance changed; the eye became calm and fixed,
and every movement of his muscles spoke the emotion which his playing
expressed.

Even the success of 'Don Giovanni'--at the performance of which the
Prague audience greeted Mozart's appearance in the orchestra with
thunders of applause and a triple flourish of trumpets--failed to
remedy the desperate condition into which his affairs had fallen; and
when his pupil and patron, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, proposed that he
should accompany him to Berlin, Mozart gladly accepted the invitation.
The visit, however, was productive of much honour, but very little
money, and at its conclusion he wrote to his wife: 'On my return you
must be glad to have _me_, and not think about money.' The King of
Prussia received Mozart with every mark of kindness and respect, and
being himself very musical, and desirous of having the best musicians
about him, he sought Mozart's advice regarding the proficiency of his
band. 'It contains some great players,' replied Mozart; 'but if the
gentlemen would _play together_ they would make a better effect.' The
King was ev