Mozart resigns

The composer was called to Vienna the following March, where his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, participated in the festivities for Joseph II 's accession to the Austrian throne. Mozart, fresh from his adulation in Munich, was offended when Colloredo regarded him as a mere servant, and particularly when the archbishop forbade him to perform at Countess Thun's before the Emperor for a fee equal to half of his annual Salzburg salary. In May, the ensuing quarrel reached a head, Mozart attempted to withdraw and was rejected. Permission was granted the following month but the composer was dismissed in a grossly insulting manner, administered by the steward of the archbishop, Count Arco. Mozart decided to settle in Vienna as a freelance performer and a composer.