77. "The themes pleased me most in the symphony; yet it will
be the least effective, for there is too much in it, and a
fragmentary performance of it sounds like an ant hill looks,--
that is as if the devil had been turned loose in it."

(In a letter written in 1789 to a nobleman who was a composer and
had submitted a symphony to Mozart for criticism.)

78. "So far as melody is concerned, yes; for dramatic effect, no.
Moreover the scores which you may see here, outside those of
Gretry, are by Gluck, Piccini and Salieri, and there is nothing
French about them except the words."

(A remark made to Joseph Frank, whom Mozart frequently found
occupied with French scores, and who had asked whether the study
of Italian scores were not preferable.)

79. "The ode is elevated, beautiful, everything you wish, but too
exaggerated and bombastic for my ears. But what would you? The
golden mean, the truth, is no longer recognized or valued. To win
applause one must write stuff so simple that a coachman might
sing it after you, or so incomprehensible that it pleases simply
because no sensible man can comprehend it. But it is not this
that I wanted to discuss with you, but another matter. I have a
strong desire to write a book, a little work on musical criticism
with illustrative examples. N.B., not under my name."

(Vienna, December 28, 1782, to his father. "I was working on a
very difficult task--a Bardic song by Denis on Gibraltar. It is a
secret, for a Hungarian lady wants thus to honor Denis." When