Ex. 1-2: Oiseaux, si tous les ans

In September 1777, the 21-year-old Mozart left Salzburg with his mother Anna after his departure from Archbishop Colloredo's service. They traveled through Munich to Mannheim, where Mozart stayed far longer than planned — from late October until mid-March 1778 — captivated by the excellent musicians of the Mannheim school and his infatuation with the 16-year-old soprano Aloysia Weber.

This arietta was composed for Elisabeth Auguste Wendling, daughter of the flutist Johann Baptist Wendling, one of Mozart's closest friends in Mannheim. Mozart wrote a second French arietta for her as well. (Ex. 8-3: Dans un bois solitaire by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Though Mannheim is a German city, the songs are in French — Elisabeth chose the poems herself. She later became a celebrated opera singer in Munich, praised by Haydn for her beauty and vocal talent.

The poem by Antoine Ferrand (1678–1719) addresses the birds: "Every year you leave when winter strips our groves bare — but not just to escape the frost. Your destiny forbids you to love except in the season of flowers. So when it passes, you seek it elsewhere, in order to love all year long."

Mozart was preparing for his upcoming trip to Paris, and these French songs served as early experiments in writing for Parisian audiences. In a letter to his father, he asked: "By the way, how did you like my French aria?"

Track 8 from the album The Complete Mozart Edition by Elly Ameling and Dalton Baldwin (1978)
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