Classical Music
The Mozart family. Mozart is sitting next to his sister Nannerl, with his father on the right. His deceased mother is show in a portait on the wall.
Mozart
The Mozarts’ house in Salzburg
the myth and the magic
John Low traces the life and work of arguably the greatest mind in Western music Infant prodigy, genius composer, virtuoso musician, linguist, mason, wit, dandy, billiard hustler, sometime drunkard, gambler, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart’s life was short, highly eventful and far from sweet.
A large part of his adult life was spent begging from friends and chasing payment from his many benefactors and employers in a mainly unsuccessful attempt to maintain his and his spouse’s chaotic and profligate lifestyle. There were periods during his Vienna years- he moved there in 1781 aged 25-when he was earning an exceptionally high salary as a freelance composer/ musician, and his subscription concerts were a roaring success. But the cash was often frittered away. He had a penchant for fine clothes and hand-made shoes: he even bought a carriage and a horse and installed a billiards table in one of the many expensive apartments they rented in Vienna. They were, to put it mildly, bad managers. Mozart’s easy- come- easy- go attitude may well be explained by the fact that he could - and , more likely had to - work at astonishing speeds and produce compositions in a fraction of the time taken by his contemporaries; and, of course of infinitely higher quality. It was not unusual for him to work through the night or operate on three hours sleep: today’s 24/ 7 ‘high flyers’, would, in comparison, be a country mile behind him. In a letter to his father he wrote, “This morning is lost in lessons, lunch is eaten at 2 pm, the afternoon is dedicated to various preparations and in the evening I finally have time to compose- as long as I have no concert to perform”. Apart from the mental and physical strain of his composing, teaching and performing, he was his own agent, manager and general dogsbody, doing everything from booking venues, arranging advertising, printing posters and commissioning orchestras, to selling tickets. Mozart’s life is well documented largely through the reminiscences of his father, wife, sister, acquaintances, letters and biographies. He was born on January 27th 1756 in Salzburg, Austria (At the time Salzburg was a German state an did not became part of Austrian empire until 1816) His father Leopold was a composer and violinist and held an official post at the Archbishop’s court in the city. His mother was Anna Maria Pertl,
and he had a sister four years older called Nannerl. They were the only two of the couple’s seven children to survive infancy. From an early age they both demonstrated remarkable musical abilities. Wolfgang would watch as his sister was given keyboard lessons. He was improvising himself for the age of three. His father began giving him lessons, and famously told a visitor to their house: “Wolfgang learnt this minuet when he was four. This minuet and trio were learnt by Wolfgang in half an hour, at half past nine at night on January 26 1761, one day before his fifth year” Leopold, like any astute impresario, quickly realised he had a great act on his hands and paraded Wolfgang and Nannerl around Europe, almost as if they were freaks - which in some way they were freaks they wereto the adulation of Royalty , Princes of the church and the nobility. His aims were mercenary – to make money. But “The Travelling Mozarts’ enterprise was largely a financial failure. After returning from one ‘tour’ Leopold observed sourly: “We have swords, lace, mantillas, snuff- boxes, gold cases, sufficient to furnish a shop but as for money, it is a scarce article and I am positively poor” There were occasions when their travels produced some profit, such as when King George 111 of England paid the wunderkind the huge sum of 50 guineas to compose six sonatas for his Queen Charlotte. But like a modern touring company, putting the show on the road was an expensive business, with travel and accommodation, staff and advertising expenses. These tours, often involving traveling on poor ‘ roads’ in cold and wet carriages for weeks, with the constant fear of being held up by highwaymen, took a toll on everyone’s health and this period in Mozart’s life is often cited as a contributory factor for his later ills and early death. Their firs important trip involved them being away from home for nearly three and a half years. And from early childhood to adolescence Mozart visited Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Italy, and England. The travelling continued relentlessly in his adult years when he was planning, rehearsing or directing performances of his operas, or performing as a soloist. The last trip of his life was to Prague in the late summer of 1791 to the
NOTE This article was recently published in a digital edition of senior Times and posted on the senior Times website seniortimes.ie - It is being re-published for the benefit of those who do not have access to the Internet 34 Senior Times l August 2020 l www.seniortimes.ie
