Mozart had held an honorary position at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg since 1769 but, with the death of Count Schrattenbach (who had shown great tolerance in allowing Mozart and his father Leopold prolonged periods of absence) the new Prince-Archbishop Hieronimus Franz von Paula, Count Colloredo, gave Wolfgang a formal, salaried post. (Mozart had been trying, unsuccessfully, to secure an appointment with Archduke Ferdinand, prompting Ferdinand’s mother to write to her son that the Mozarts’ habit of ‘going around the world like beggars’ would degrade his service!) The sixteen-year-old Wolfgang’s appointment as Konzertmeister to the Archbishop in July 1772 brought on a flurry of composition: eight symphonies, four divertimentos and some substantial sacred works. Also included during that year were the first three ‘Epistle’ or ‘Church’ Sonatas.