Mozart: "Als Luise die Briefe ihres"

In the plot of this art song, which is really a miniature opera scene, Louise is burning letters from an unfaithful lover, exclaiming that the letters which began in flames of passion should be returned to flames. The song was penned by Mozart in 1787. That same year, Mozart wrote in a letter, "As death…is the true goal of our existence, I have formed during the last few years such close relations with this best and truest friend of mankind." The letter, with its sentiments about death, was prompted by the illness of Mozart's father, LEOPOLD MOZART, who died in May of 1787.