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Great God, how infinite art thou!

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 321 hymnals Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1. Great God, how infinite art thou! What worthless worms are we! Let the whole race of creatures bow, And pay their praise to thee. 2. Thy throne eternal ages stood, Ere seas or stars were made; Thou art the ever-living God, Were all the nations dead. 3. Nature and time all open lie To thine immense survey, From the formation of the sky To the last awful day. 4. Eternity, with all its years, Stands present to thy view; To thee there’s nothing old appears; Great God! there’s nothing new. 5. Our lives thro' various scenes are drawn, And vexed with trifling cares; While thine eternal thought moves on Thine undisturbed'd affairs. 6. Great God, how infinite art thou! How frail and weak we are! Let the whole race of creatures bow, And pay their praise to thee.

My heart and ways, O God!

Meter: 6.6.8.6 Appears in 4 hymnals Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1 My heart and ways, O God! By thee are search'd and seen; My outward acts thine eye observes, My secret thoughts within. 2 No spot the realms of space, Whence thou art absent, know. In heav'n thou reign'st a glorious King. A righteous Judge below. 3 Lord! if within my heart Thou aught should'st disapprove: The secret evil bring to light, And by thy grace remove. 4 If e'er I've been perverse Or foolish in thy view: Recall my steps to thy commands, And form my life anew.

To thee, my God! my days are known

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 54 hymnals Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1 To thee, my god! my days are known; My soul enjoys the thought. My actions all before thee lie, Nor are my wants forget. 2 Each secret wish devotion breathes, Is vocal to thine ear; And all my walks of daily life Before thine eye appear. 3 The vacant hour, the active scene, Thy mercy shall approve; And ev'ry pang of sympathy, And ev'ry care of love. 4 Each golden hour of beaming light Is gilded by thy rays; And dark affliction's midnight gloom A present God surveys. 5 Full in thy view thro' life I pass, And in thy view I die. Lord! when all mortal bonds shall break, May I still find thee nigh

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[Lord, to me compassion show]

Appears in 1,075 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Dr. T. Hastings Topics: Aspirations For Grace; Aspirations For Holiness; Character Depraved from Birth; Character New Birth Essential go Good; Christians Graces of; Christians Saved by Grace; Deliverance From Sin; Faith Act of; God Loving and Merciful; Heart Claimed of God; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure, and Upright; Holiness; Humility; Joy Prayer for; Man Sinful; Mercy of God Prayer for the; Pardon; Parents and Children; Prayer Confession in; Prayer For Grace and Salvation; Prayer For Pardon; Regeneration; Repentance; Sin Confessed; Sin Conviction of; Sin Hatred of; Sin Original; Sin Salvation from; Sin Washed away; Truth; Worship Sincerity required in Incipit: 56531 65123 21717 Used With Text: The penitent's prayer and confession

ALEXANDRIA

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 33 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: William Arnold Topics: Adoption; Afflictions Deliverance from; Afflictions Promises for; Assurance Declared; Blessedness Of Those Fearing God; Cares; Character Good and Bad Contrasted; Children Instruction of; Christians Christ the Life of; Christians Conscious of Safety; Christians Duties of; Christians Evangelists; Deliverance from trouble; Glory of God In Providence; God Our Guardian; God Hearer of Prayer; God Love and Mercy; God Source of All Good; Gospel Gracious Fruit of; Gospel Preaching of; Gospel Privileges of; Gospel Sanctifying and Saving; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure and Upright; Holiness Of Christians; Judgments On the Wicked; Parents and Children; Prayer Answers to; Prayer confidence in; Prayer Promise to; Preservation; Protection Only from God; The Christian's Reward; The Righteous Deliverances of; The Righteous Honor and Safety of; The Righteous Troubles of; Safety Assured; Salvation God's Gift; Sin Salvation from; Trust in God Blessedness of; The Wicked Fate of Tune Key: G Major Incipit: 33235 34321 32354 Used With Text: The Secret of a Happy Life

CATHERINE

Meter: 8.8.8.8 Appears in 9 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: E. M. Clark Topics: Angels; Aspirations For Peace and Rest; Character Good and Bad Contrasted; Christian Charity; Christ Betrayal of; Christ Crucifixion and Death of; Christians Conflicts of; Christians Persecuted and Sorrowing; Deliverance From Enemies; Faith Blessedness of; God Our Guardian; God the judge; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure and Upright; Ingratitude To Man; Judgments On the Righteous; Pity For Others; The Poor Remembered by God; Prayer confidence in; Prayer Imprecations in; Preservation; Retribution Threatened; Salvation Prayers for; Salvation Thanksgiving for; Temptation; Thanksgiving In Public Worship; Christian warfare; The Wicked Character of; The Wicked Persecuting Spirit of; The Wicked Prayers for Punishment of; The Wicked Self-Destroyed Tune Key: B Flat Major Incipit: 55555 65117 12212 Used With Text: God Our Advocate and Judge

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Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

Ye sons of men in sacred lays

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy #31 (1814) Meter: 8.8.8.8 Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1 Ye sons of men, in sacred lays, Attempt the great Creator's praise: But who an equal song can frame? What verse can reach the lofty theme? 2 He sits enthron'd amidst the spheres, And glory like a garment wears; While boundless wisdom, pow'r, and grace, Command our awe, transcend our praise. 3 Before his throne a shining band Of cherubs and of seraphs stand; Ethereal spirits, who in flight Outstrip the rapid speed of light. 4 To God all nature owes its birth, He form'd this pond'rous globe of earth, He raised the glorious arch on high, And measur'd out the azure sky. 5 In all our Maker's grand designs, Omnipotence with wisdom shines. His works, through all this wondrous frame, Bear the great impress of his name. 6 Rais'd on devotion's lofty wing, Let us his high perfections sing: O let his praise employ our tongue, Whilst list'ning worlds applaud the song! Languages: English

Ye weak inhabitants of clay

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy #30 (1814) Meter: 8.8.8.8 Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1 Ye weak inhabitants of clay, Ye trifling insects of a day, Low in your native dust bow down Before th' Eternal's awful throne. 2 Let Lebanon her cedars bring, To blaze before the sov'reign King; And all the beasts, that on it feed, As victims at his altar bleed. 3 Loud let ten thousand trumpets sound, And call remotest nations round, Assembled on the crowded plains, Princes and people, kings and swains. 4 Join'd with the living, let the dead, Rising, the face of earth o'erspread; And, while his praise unites their tongues, Let angels echo back the songs. 5. The drop that from the bucket falls, The dust that hangs upon the scales, Is more to sky and earth and sea, Than all this pomp, great God! to thee. Languages: English

Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy #51 (1814) Meter: 8.6.8.6 Topics: Character and Perfections of God Lyrics: 1 Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love, Unmerited and free, Delights our evil to remove, And help our misery. 2 Thou waitest to be gracious still; Thou dost with sinners bear, That, sav'd, we may thy goodness feel, And all thy grace declare. 3 Thy goodness and thy truth to me To ev'ry soul, abound, A vast, unfathomable sea, Where all our thoughts are drown'd. 4 Its streams the whole creation reach, So plenteous is the store; Enough for all, enough for each, Enough for evermore. 5 Faithful, O Lord, thy mercies are! A rock that cannot move: A thousand promises declare Thy constancy of love. 6 Throughout the universe it reigns, Unalterably sure; And, while the truth of God remains, His goodness must endure. Languages: English

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Authors, composers, editors, etc.

César Malan

1787 - 1864 Person Name: H. A. César Malan Topics: Almsgiving; Benevolence; Character Good and Bad Contrasted; Character Value of Good; Christian Charity; Christians Conscious of Safety; Christians Graces of; Enemies Destruction of; Enemies Restrained; Godly Fear Blessedness of; Fearlessness; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure and Upright; Home Life; Liberality; Love For Man; Parents and Children; Patience; Pity For Others; The Poor Duty Towards; Providence of God Over Saints; The Christian's Reward; The Righteous Blessedness of; The Righteous Character of; Safety Enjoyed; Steadfastness; The Wicked Fate of Composer of "WELTON" in The Psalter Rv Henri Abraham Cesar Malan, 1787-1864. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, into a bourgeois family that moved to Switzerland to escape religious persecution during the French Revolution, he attended the university in Marseilles, France, intending to become a businessman. Although having some grounding in religious faith by his mother, he decided to attend the Academy at Geneva (founded by Calvin) in preparation for ministry. He was ordained in 1810, after being appointed a college master (teaching Latin) in 1809. Malan was in accord with the National Church of Geneva as a Unitarian, but the Reveil Movement caused him to become a dissident (evangelical) instead of a proponent of the Reformed Church (believing works, not faith, was what mattered). In 1811 he married (wife’s name not found). They had at least two children (one son was Solomon, referenced below). From 1813 on Malan slowly became an evangelical, after being given an understanding of true salvation through grace (not works) in 1816 by two German Lutherans from Geneva. He became saved upon this realization and was so changed that he burned his prized collection of classical authors and manuscripts. In 1817 he preached around Geneva, and one sermon in particular, “Man only justified by faith alone” created a firestorm and brought him into conflict with religious authorities of the region. From then on he wished to help reform the national church from within, but the forces of the Venerable Company were too strong for him and excluded him from the pulpits and caused his dismissal from his regentsship at the college in 1818. Others in agreement with Malan were Charles Spurgeon, Robert Wilcox, Robert Haldane, and Henry Drummond. In 1820 he built a chapel in his garden and obtained the license of the State for it as a separatist place of worship. He preached in that chapel 43 years. In 1823 he was formally deprived of his status as a minister of the national Church. Various events caused his congregation to diminish over the next few years, and he began long tours of evangelization subsidized by religious friends in his land, Belgium, France, England and Scotland. He often preached to large congregations. Malan also authorized a hymn book, “Chants de Sion” (1841). A strong Calvinist, Malan lost no opportunity to evangelize. On one occasion an old man he visited pulled Malan’s hymnal out and told him he had prayed to see the author of it before he died. On a visit to England Malan also inspired author, Charlotte Elliott, to write the hymn lyrics for “Just as I am”, when seeking an answer to her conversion she asked and he advised her to come to Christ ‘just as she was’. Malan published a score of books and also produced many religious tracts and pamphlets largely on questions in dispute between the National and evangelical churches of Rome. He also wrote articles in the “Record” and in American reviews. His hymns were set to his own melodies. He was an artist, a mechanic, a carpenter, a metal forger, and a printer. He had his own workshop, forge and printing press. One of his greatest joys was the meeting of the evangelical alliance at Geneva in 1861 which helped change church views. He retired to his home, Vandoeuvres, in the countryside near Geneva in 1857, dying there seven years later.. He was honored by a visit from the Queen of Holland two years before his death. He is mainly remembered as a hymn writer, having written 1000+ hymn lyrics and tunes. One son, Solomon, a gifted linguist and theologian, became Vicar of Broadwindsor. About a dozen of his hymns appeared translated in the publication “Friendly visitor” (1826). He was an author, creator, composer, editor, correspondent, contributor, translator, owner, and performer. John Perry ================= Malan, Henri Abraham César. The family of Malan traces its origin to the valleys of Piedmont. A branch of it settled at Mérindol, in Dauphiné, but was driven from France by the persecutions that followed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pierre Malan [Cesar's father], after seeing his sister fall a victim to persecution, left Mérindol (1714), and arrived at Geneva (1722). Henri Abraham César Malan was born at Geneva in 1787. After an education at the College, he went to Marseilles, with the intention of learning business: but, soon after, entered the Academy at Geneva, as a preparation for the ministry, to which he was ordained in 1810. He had been appointed one of the masters at the College in the previous year. The National Church of Geneva was at that time almost Unitarian, and Malan's convictions were in accord with it. But the great movement known as the Réveil, of which the first products were the dissident church of Bourg de Four and at a later date that founded by Malan himself, and which finally imbued the whole Swiss Church with its spirit, was silently preparing itself. The germ of the movement may be traced in the Société des Amis (1810), of which Empeytaz and A. Bost were leaders; and in Malan's independent attainment to the doctrines of the Divinity of the Saviour and the free gifts of salvation through Him (1816). But the human agency, which gave it force, and determined its Calvinistic direction, was the visit of Robert Haldane (in the autumn of 1816), to whom not only these pioneers of the movement, but F. Monod, E. Rieu, Guers, Gonthier, Merle d'Aubigné, and others, always pointed as their spiritual father. Empeytaz and others sought to attain enfranchisement by the establishment of the "petite Eglise of Bourg de Four." Malan wished to reform the national Church from within: and a sermon at Geneva, which brought on him the obloquy of the professors and theologians that composed his audience, and which Haldane characterized as a republication of the Gospel, was his first overt act (Jan. 19, 1817). But the opposing forces were far too strong for him. The Venerable Company excluded him from the pulpits, and achieved his dismissal from his regentship at the College (1818). In 1820 he built a chapel (Chapelle du Temoignage) in his garden, and obtained the licence of the State for it, as a separatist place of worship. In 1823 he was formally deprived of his status as a minister of the national Church. The seven years that succeeded were the palmy days of the little chapel. Strangers, especially from England, mingled with the overflowing Swiss congregation. But (in 1830) a secession to Bourg de Four, and then the foundation of the Oratoire and the Société Evangelique, which in 1849 absorbed the congregation of Bourg de Four under the title of the Église Evangélique, thinned more and more the number of his adherents. His burning zeal for the conversion of souls found a larger outlet in long tours of evangelization, subsidized by religious friends, in his own land and Belgium and France, and also in Scotland and England, where he had friends among many religious bodies, and where he preached to large congregations. The distinguishing characteristic of these tours was his dealing with individuals. On the steamboat or the diligence, in the mountain walk, at the hotel, no opportunity was lost. On one occasion an old,man whom he visited drew from under his pillow a copy of his great hymnbook, Chants de Sion, 1841, and told him how he had prayed to see the author of it before he died. It is as the originator of the modern hymn movement in the French Reformed Church that Malan's fame cannot perish. The spirit of his hymns is perpetuated in the analysis of Christian experience, the never-wearied delineation of the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows of the believer's soul, which are still the staple of French Protestant hymns. To this was added, in Malan himself, a marked didactic tone, necessitated by the great struggle of the Réveil for Evangelical doctrine; and an emphatic Calvinism, expressing itself with all the despondency of Newton and Cowper, but, in contrast with them, in bright assurance, peace and gladness. French criticism has pronounced his hymns unequal, and full of literary defects; but their unaffected freshness and fervent sincerity are universally allowed. In the Chants de Sion, hymns 20, ”Hosanna! Béni soit"; 165, “Mon coeur joyeux, plein d'espérance"; 199, "Du Rocher de Jacob"; 200, "Agneau de Dieu"; 239, "Trois fois Jehovah," are in every Protestant French hymnbook; and several others are very widely used. Besides his hymns Malan produced numberless tracts and pamphlets on the questions in dispute between the National and Evangelical Churches and the Church of Rome, as well as articles in the Record and in American reviews. He was a man of varied acquirements. His hymns were set to his own melodies. He was an artist, a mechanic: his little workshop had its forge, its carpenter's bench, its printing press. To the end of his life his strong Calvinism, and his dread of mere external union in church government, kept him distinct from all movements of church comprehension, though freely joining in communion with all the sections of Evangelical thought in Geneva and Scotland. At one time there seemed a prospect of his even rejoining the national Church, which had driven him from her. One of his greatest joys was the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance at Geneva (1861). He left no sect; one of his latest orders was the demolition of his decayed chapel, in which he had preached for 43 years. He died at Vandoeuvres, near Geneva, in 1864, leaving a numerous family, one of whom, the Rev. S. C. Malan, D.D., sometime Vicar of Broadwindsor, is well known as a linguist and a theologian of the English Church. To English readers Malan is chiefly known as a hymn-writer through translations of his "Non, ce n'est pas mourir" (q.v.): "It is not death to die", &c. About a dozen of his hymns appear in a translated form in the Friendly Visitor for 1826. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Malan

Richard Redhead

1820 - 1901 Topics: Aspirations For Grace; Aspirations For Holiness; Aspirations For the Holy Spirit; Assurance Desired; Baptism; Cares; Character Depraved from Birth; Character New Birth Essential to Good; Christians Duties of; Christians Graces of; Christians Saved by Grace; Deliverance From Sin; Faith Act of; Faith Walking by; God Love and Mercy; Gospel Freeness of ; Gospel Sanctifying and Saving; Grace Abounding; Grace Justifying; Grace Redeeming; Grace Restoring; Heart Broken and Contrite; Heart Claimed of God; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure and Upright; Holiness Of Christians; Humility; Joy Prayer for; Man Sinful and Lost Condition; Mercy of God Prayer for; Pardon Sought; Parents and Children; Penitence; Prayer Confession in; Prayer For Grace and Salvation; Prayer For Pardon; Prayer Promise to; Regeneration; Repentance; Revival; Sin Confession of; Sin Conviction of; Sin Hatred of; Sin Original; Sin Salvation from; Sin Washed away; Truth; Worship Sincerity in Composer of "AJALON" in The Psalter Richard Redhead (b. Harrow, Middlesex, England, 1820; d. Hellingley, Sussex, England, 1901) was a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford. At age nineteen he was invited to become organist at Margaret Chapel (later All Saints Church), London. Greatly influencing the musical tradition of the church, he remained in that position for twenty-five years as organist and an excellent trainer of the boys' choirs. Redhead and the church's rector, Frederick Oakeley, were strongly committed to the Oxford Movement, which favored the introduction of Roman elements into Anglican worship. Together they produced the first Anglican plainsong psalter, Laudes Diurnae (1843). Redhead spent the latter part of his career as organist at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Paddington (1864-1894). Bert Polman

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1756 - 1791 Person Name: Mozart Topics: Aspirations For Grace; Aspirations For Holiness; Character Depraved from Birth; Character New Birth Essential go Good; Christians Graces of; Christians Saved by Grace; Faith Act of; God Loving and Merciful; Heart Broken and Contrite; Heart Good, Perfect, Pure, and Upright; Holiness; Humility; Mercy of God Prayer for the; Pardon; Penitence; Prayer Confession in; Prayer For Grace and Salvation; Prayer For Pardon; Regeneration; Repentance; Revival; Sin Confessed; Sin Conviction of; Sin Hatred of; Sin Salvation from; Sin Washed away; Truth; Worship Sincerity required in Composer of "[In thy great loving kindness, Lord]" in Bible Songs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Austria 1756-1791. Born at Salzburg, Austria, the son of Leopold Mozart, a minor composer and violinist, and youngest of seven children, he showed amazing ability on violin and keyboard from earliest childhood, even starting to compose music at age four when his father would play a piece and Mozart would play it exactly as did his father. At five, he composed some of his own music, which he played to his father, who wrote it down. When Mozart was eight, he wrote his first symphony, probably transcribed by his father. In his early years his father was his only teacher, teaching his children languages and academic subjects, as well as fundamentals of their strict Catholic faith. Some of his early compositions came as a surprise to his father, who eventually gave up composing himself when he realized how talented his son was. His family made several European journeys and he and his sister, Nanneri, performed as child prodigies, at the court of Prince-elector Maximillian II of Bavaria in Munich, and at the Imperial Courts in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour followed, for 3.5 years, taking the family to courts in Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, Dover, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Mechelen, and again to Paris, and back home via Zurich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. During these trips Mozart met many musicians, acquainting himself with the works of other composers. He met Johann Christian Bach in London in 1764. Family trips were challenging, and travel conditions were primitive. They had to wait for invitations and reimbursements from nobility, and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home. First Leopold (1764) got sick, then both children (1765). They traveled again to Vienna in 1767 and stayed there over a year. After a year back in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang went to Italy (1769-1771), Leopold wished to display his son’s abilities as a performer and maturing composer. In Bologna, Italy, Wolfgang was accepted as a member of the famous Academia Filamonica. In Rome he heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere twice in performance. Back in the Sistine Chapel, Mozart wrote the whole performance out from memory, thus producing the first unauthorized copy of this closely guarded property of the Vatican. In the next few years Mozart wrote several operas performed with success in Italy, but his father’s hopes of securing a professional appointment for his son were not realized. At age 17 he was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. After returning to Salzburg, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. This gave Mozart ample opportunity to develop relationships with other musicians and his admirers, resulting in his development of new symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, masses, serenades, and some minor operas. In 1775 he wrote his only violin concertos, five in all. Again, he was discontent with work in Salzburg and traveled to find more opportunity to write operas. He and his father again visited Munich and Vienna, but neither visit was successful with the exception of his opera ‘La finta giardiniera’ in Munich. In 1777 he resigned his Salzburg position and went to Augsburg, Mannheim, Paris, and Munich again. In Mannheim he met and fell in love with Aloysia Weber, one of four daughters of a musical family. He could find no real employment there and left for Paris in 1778. He might have had a position as organist at Versailles, but he was not interested in that. He fell into debt and started pawning valuables. During these events his mother died. Meanwhile his father was still trying to find him a position in Salzburg. After checking out several other European cities and Munich, he again encountered Aloysia, but she was no longer interested in him, so he returned to Salzburg, having written another symphony, concerto, and piano sonata, and took the new appointment his father had found. However, he was still in discontent. Visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He wrote another opera, ‘Idomeneo’, in 1781, that was successful in Munich. Two months later he was summoned to Vienna, where his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, wanted him around due to his notoriety. Mozart wished to meet the emperor and perform for him, and finally got that opportunity. It resulted in a part-time position and substantial commissions. Colloredo became a nemesis to Mozart’s career, finally releasing Mozart from his employ with a literal kick in the pants, much against his father’s wishes. However, he was now independent. Mozart then decided to settle in Vienna as a free lance performer and composer. He lived with the Fridolin Weber family, who had moved from Mannheim to Vienna. Fridolin, the father, had died, and they were taking in lodgers to make ends meet. His career there went well, and he performed as a pianist before the Emperor, establishing himself as the finest keyboard player in Vienna. He wrote another opera in 1782, again achieving success. Mozart had now become a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period and was known throughout Europe. Aloysia was now married to actor, Joseph Lange, and Mozart’s interest shifted to her sister, Constanze. In 1782 he married Constanze Weber Mozart Nissen. The marriage started out with a brief separation, and there was a problem getting Mozart’s father’s permission, which finally came. They had six children, but only two survived infancy: Carl and Franz. He lived in Vienna and achieved some notoriety, composing many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas. In 1782-83 he became intimately acquainted with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friederic Handel, as his friend, Gottfried van Swieten, owned many manuscripts of the Baroque masters, which Mozart studied intently. He altered his style of composition as a result. That year Mozart and his wife visited his father and sister, and he composed a liturgical piece, a Mass, with a singing part for his wife. He also met Joseph Hadyn in Vienna in 1784 and they became friends. They even played together in a string quartet from time to time. Mozart wrote six quartets dedicated to Hadyn. In 1785 Hadyn told Leopold Mozart, “Your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste, and what is more, the greatest skill in composition”. Over the next several years Mozart booked several piano concertos in various places as a sole performer to delighted audiences, making substantial remuneration for his work. He and his wife then adopted a more luxurious lifestyle. They moved to an expensive apartment and he bought a fine fortepiano and billiard table. They sent their son, Karl, to an expensive boarding school and also kept servants. In 1784 Mozart became a Freemason and even composed Masonic music. Over the next several years he did little operatic writing and focused on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. He again began operatic collaboration in 1785, creating ‘The marriage of Figaro’, then ‘Don Giovanni’ in 1787. That year his father died. Also that year he obtained a steady post under Emperor Joseph II as his chamber composer. This was part-time employment that was important when hard times arrived. However, Joseph aimed at keeping Mozart from leaving Vienna for better work. The Austrio-Turkish War made life difficult for musicians, and his aristocracy support had declined. He moved to save on expenses, but that did not help much, and he was reduced to borrowing funds from his friends, and pleading for loans. During this period he produced his last three symphonies. In 1789 he then set up on a journey to Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin hoping to improve his fortunes. In 1790 he was highly productive, producing concertos, an opera, ‘The magic flute’, a series of string quintets, a motet, and an (unfinished) Requiem. Finances began to improve and he begin paying back his debts. Public reaction to his works also brought him great satisfaction. In 1791, while in Prague for the premiere of his opera, ‘La clemenza di Tito’, he fell ill. He continued professional functions for a short time, but had to go home and be nursed by his wife over the next couple of months. He died at Vienna, Austria, at the age of 35, a small thin man with undistinguishing characteristics. He was buried in a modest grave, having had a small funeral. Beethoven composed his early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Hadyn wrote “posterity will not see such a talent (as Mozart) again in 100 years”. 600+ works. Side note: Mozart enjoyed billiards, dancing, and had a pet canary, a starling, a dog, and a horse for recreational riding. He liked off-color humor. He wore elegant clothing when performing and had a modest tenor voice. John Perry

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