Subject: Back from Pilgrimage to Mozart Land
From: Priya Werahera
To: All
Date Posted: 16:09:02 03/31/04 ()
Email Address: priya@aspen.uchsc.edu
 

Message:
I got back last night from Salzberg after spending the last five nights there. There are many thank yous to go around, but my trip to Vienna would have been a total disaster without the help from our dear friend Andrea.

Yes, the weather in Vienna was great if you happen to be a duck. Wet, cold and soggy pretty much describes it all. Thanks to Andrea, she managed to take me to all the important locations including the Beethovens flat, cemetary where Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Strauss were laid to rest.

On Mozart, we went to the cemetary where he was buried in a Vienna suburb, with little ceremony and in an unmarked grave. There is an "unfinished tomb" placed in the approximate vicinity/location where they think the grave was located, but no one knows for sure. The house where he took his last breath by the way is owned by a private company. They are still conducting business at this location and hence we can only see this from outside.

Figaro House is a thing of beauty, especially his bedroom. I took pictures over and over again and spent some quite moment alone remebering Wolfgang and his music. I would have never found the Antonio Salieri's grave without Andrea. He too was buried in the same cemetary as Beethoven and the rest of the gang.

I attended a concert in Vienna with works of Mozart and Strauss, with traditional dancers also taking parts. This was a fun concert performed in a ballroom with a chamber orchestra. I must confess, Vienna is Strauss Country, not Mozart nor Beethoven. Viennese public love to dance and works of our dance master never seesm to impress upon them even after all these years.

Next day, I took the train to Salzburg. Mind you, I have not yet seen the sun since arriving in Europe. The gloomy weather pattern continued all the way to Salzburg. After arriving there, I decided to extend my stay by three days. I was suppose to leave last Saturday, but realized that I'll never be abkle to take even a half way decent out door photos with the current weather. Luckily, my Hotel said they can keep me for that duration.

So on Thursday and Friday, I visited the birth house and living house of Mozart. Folks, these are sacred ground that every Mozart fan have to visit. Unfortunately, they would not let me take pictures inside. But I still managed to take few anyway (LOL).

I finally got my own copy of the "Unfinished portrait of Mozart," by Joseph Lange, his own broth-in-law. I got a poster as well as actual-size engraved picture of the same for 98 Euros. Man, that was expensive. In addition, I brought 3 CDs that some of you may be interested.

(1) Piano Sonatas by Mozart played on his own Fortepiano by Andras Schiff (20 Euros)

This was recorded on January 29 and 30th, 1991 in the birth room of Mozart! The fortepiano is unsigned by the maker and the instrument once belonged to Mozart and was played by him during the last years of his life. The dampers are operated by two knee levers, the left one controlling only the bass and the right the entire keyboard. The instrument is exceptionally well suited to the interpretation of Mozart's keyboard music. In forte the tone is unusually strong and clear, in piano, mellow and sweet. The discant, above all, distingiushes itself from many other fortepianos through its singing yet quickly fading tone.

(2) Violin sonatas by Mozart played on his own violoin and Forte Piano (20 Euros).

Yuuko Shiokawa plays the violin and her husband, Andras Schiff played the Forte Piano, again recored in Mozart's birth room on January 27-29, 1992. The 4/4 violin is an "authentic instrument of Mittenwald (upper Bavaria) and dates from the 18th century, although it bears an ambiguous ettiquette. Its belly is made of spruce, its back, ribs and scroll of maple; the flat fingerboard is of ebony inlay, the varnish a dark brown.

When I played this CD, I found the sound of his violin to be "fuller and richer" than anything I've heard before. This viloin was not tuned to the usual A (440) of today as this would immediately require a new neck and a new bass-bar. Hence, it was played at a lower tuning of 421 which is nearly a half a tone lower than todays tuning.

(3) Six Trio Sonatas for two violins and basso continuo by Leopold Mozart (15 Euros). This is a fairly new recording which was released last December. I've not listend to this yet and hence cannot comment on the music.

Thanks to Agnes, I met Ms. Geffray at the Mozarteum. She was a big help indeed. I managed to copy several letters of Mozart, Leopold, Anna Maria, Nannrel and Constanze. Also got the front page of the Jupitor symphony, dedication page of Haydn Quartets by Mozart.

She also alerted me to come half hour early past Sunday to see if I can get tickets to the concert. I managed to get the tickets and that concert was nothing like I've heard before. They played Beethoven's violin concerto and Symphony No. 7 at the Mozarteum Hall. This was a real treat. Before the concert got started, I was able to visit the "little park with a hut," where Mozart was supposed to have composed Magic Flute.

There is more to write. Let me get the pictures and oragnize myself first (LOL). I am still bit disoriented after eating Austrian food for over a week.

Priya

Subject: Re: Back from Pilgrimage to Mozart Land
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 17:37:44 03/31/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Thanks for the report. Dark, wet weather seems somehow to fit many European cities. I've not been to Vienna yet, but have been to Paris several times and the best trip with the best photos was a very cold overcast 3 weeks in December. I'm looking forward to your pictures. I'd love to put some up here for all to see. When you're ready send an email to the webmaster@mozartforum.com and we'll work out details.

Regards

Steve

Subject: Re: Back from Pilgrimage to Mozart Land
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 19:58:27 03/31/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Priya,

Not withstanding the weather, it seems you had a grand time. Something you will always remember.

Thank you for seeing Ms. Geffray. She has never ever disappointed me. Many of my Australian friends have visited the Mozarteum, only to be given great help and hospitality by this gracious lady.

Please send us all you can. We would all love to share in your wonderful journey.

Kind regards, Agnes.

Subject: Herbert Von Karajan / Don Giovanni on DVD
From: Joe Dorazio
To: All
Date Posted: 12:02:26 03/31/04 ()
Email Address: joedorazio@hotmail.com
 

Message:
recorded in 1987 in Salzburg; Ramey; Tomowa-Sintow; et al, Weiner Philharmoniker.

Have you seen this production? What would you say about it?

Thanks!

Joe Dorazio
joedorazio@hotmail.com

Subject: Re: Herbert Von Karajan / Don Giovanni on DVD
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 17:29:21 03/31/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I have it on Laser Disk, and don't really care for it. Musically it is fine, better than fine. The production is done on a massive stage with very high contrast lighting. There was no intimacy. They also did not play up the comedic aspects at all. It was very serious and very grand, but not quite Don Giovanni in my opinion. There also were no English subtitles, although they may have added that for the DVD. If you're looking to own just one Don, I don't think this is the best choice. If you plan to own several this one is worth seeing.

Regards

Steve

Subject: XII Petites Pieces pour le Piano-forte KV Anh 140b
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 03:52:20 03/31/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:

In his revisions and comments to the third edition of the Köchel
Catalogue (1947) Alfred Einstein added to the Anhang section a
number 140b: "XII petites pieces pour le Piano-forte composees
par W.A. Mozart", published by C.F. Peters in Leipzig (Liv:I. Pl.-Nr.
28, 295). The same work was issued "En commission chez
Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig (Pl.-Nr. 152)". Einstein commented at
the time he could not determine whether it contained all Mozart
pieces. However he did state Nr.1, an Andante in C-major,
appeared falsely attributed. He further gave the information that
Nr.2 is an arrangement of the Finale of KV 334 and Nr.12 the
Finale of KV. 564. No incipits or descriptions of the 9 other pieces
were offered.

The 6th Edition of Köchel (1964) offered much more information
on these 12 Small pieces (in the Anhang B section for
transcriptions, page 805). We now find the first issue was
sometime prior to 1800 by J.P. Thonus in Leipzig as the "En
commission chez Breitkopf & H/aertel in Leipzig (Pl.-Nr. 152)"
listed above. In 1801 the pieces were published by Hoffmeister &
Comp. in Leipzig, and then by Peters. In Vienna the firm Artaria &
Co. published them in 1806 (V.Nr. 1789). The 12 pieces are as
follows:

1) Andante in C (unidentified)
2) Finale from Divertimento KV. 334
3) 2nd movement with 2 Variations from Piano Trio KV. 564
4) 3rd movement from "Linz" Symphony KV. 425
5) 2nd Andante (6th movement) from "Haffner" Serenade KV. 250
6) Menuet from String Trio KV. 563
7) Larghetto in F (unidentified)
8) 3rd Meunet with Trio I (7th movement) from "Haffner" Serenade
KV. 250
9) Menuet from "Don Giovanni" KV. 527
10) Andante from Piano Concerto KV. 537
11) Andante from String Trio KV. 563
12) Finale from Piano Trio KV. 564

K6 gave the incipits of the two unidentified pieces from copies of
the Hoffmeister and Artaria issues preserved in the archives of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.

As it turns out these two unidentified pieces are not that hard to
find. In Carolyn Maxwell's "Mozart-Solo Piano Literature" (1987) I
found both pieces have been published numerous times in
modern times, most since 1960. The 28-measure Larghetto is
listed by Maxwell as one of the Elementary pieces on page 79.
Compared to the unidentified Andante in C, she states this piece is
of greater musical importance--"with a true elegance of phrase
structure and considerable harmonic ingenuity"--thus assuring it
a broader role in the repertoire. She lists 4 publications of the
piece.

The 30 measure Andante is as listed as Elementary by Maxwell on
page 81. She states this Andante "is quite simple and its
pedagogic value as an introduction to the piano works of Mozart
is well known". She lists 6 publications of the Andante. Further,
numerous times (7 listed by Maxwell) this Andante has been
paired with a brief easy Rondo in C-major of 34 measures
(Allegro, 6/8 time) and given the title Sonatina (page 82 of
Maxwell's book).

So I am betting some of you who play the piano have practiced
and played these little unidentified pieces. Here are a few piano
music books I found these two (three with the Rondo in C) pieces
in:

Larghetto in F and Andante in C: "Mozart, His Greatest Piano
Solos", edited by Alexander Shealy (Copa Publishing Co. Carlstadt,
N.J. : Ashley Dealers Service, sole distributor, c1971-- pages 113
and 153).

both also in: "W.A. Mozart: An Introduction to his Keyboard
Works", edited by Willard A. Palmer (Alfred--1974, pages 34 and
36).

Rondo in C-major "Beginning to Play Mozart", edited by May L. Etts
(Schroeder & Gunther, Inc. 1964--page 30).

dennis

Subject: The "butter canapé": is this Mozart?
From: Maurizio Tomasi
To: All
Date Posted: 10:42:17 03/30/04 ()
Email Address: zio_tom78@hotmail.com
 

Message:
Yesterday evening I enjoyed a marvellous concerto by Chiara Bertoglio, a young virtuoso (20 years old!) from Turin. At the end of the performance (where she played Beethoven's "Waldstein" Op. 53, Schubert Impromptus Op. 142 and the 12 Etudes Op. 10 by Chopin), she sat at the piano and said, "Chopin never wrote an etude for a finger alone. Therefore, I am going to present you the 'butter canapé', a musical joke which is thought to have been written by Mozart".

The piece was a little walzer in C major, where the right hand played with the forefinger only. There were a lot of humorous glissandi in the main theme, and I found some of the spirit of Mozart in it. However, I never heard about this piece, nor the Koechel catalogue speaks about it. Is it *really* by Mozart?

BTW, note down the name "Chiara Bertoglio": I bet you will hear about her someday!

Maurizio.

Subject: Re: The "butter canapé": is this Mozart?
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 12:38:52 03/30/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
The piece you refer to is listed in the Anhang of Köchel as Anh
C27.09. It is a children's piece titled "La Tarine de Beurre". The
piano piece was first issued by Litolff in Braunschwieg. This
"tempo di Valse" can be "played with only one finger on the right
hand", and has also been called the "Butterfly".

dennis

Subject: Re: The "butter canapé": is this Mozart?
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 20:33:38 03/30/04 ()
Email Address: smithworld@earthlink.net
 

Message:
Hi everyone!

Well, C27.09 is a nice slip of a work, but it doesn't strike me as Mozart especially. There's a run with the right "finger" that sure sounds like it goes up off of Mozart's piano for one thing. As a children's piece it's rather cute, but I think Mozart would have left more evidence of himself in such a work, if it were his.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: New additions The Newsroom and The Library
From: MozartForum
To: All
Date Posted: 22:33:57 03/29/04 ()
Email Address: webmaster @MozartForum.com
 

Message:
The Newsroom and Library sections are now open for use! The Library is composed of two separate areas. First, we have taken the former Books Section and placed it totally within in the Library. You can’t have a Library without books, after all. Also, if you feel that there is a book of value not currently in the Library, please let us know. The second area within the Library is entitled Articles and Essays. This area will have various informational papers and worthy postings concerning Mozart’s world placed in here, organized for easy retrieval. No longer will you have to hunt through archives and/or search for a paper you remember being “somewhere.” We will continually update this area as material of value is received by us. So plan to check in often and see what’s been added!

The newly created "News Room" will consist of various items, changing at least once a month and/or being added to as individual points of interest arise. It will consist of recently released CDs, various CD reviews, CD web stores we recommend, newly published books on Mozart or related to his world, recent articles in journals, and topics that do not fit well into other places on the MozartForum. The information will not be permanent; instead it will be revamped about once a month, but added to when needed. Added items after the initial monthly posting will either be highlighted or placed at the beginning so you will not have to go through the entire page every time to find anything new. So we hope to be able to use this for topics and lists of things that are easier to find than scrolling through the Forum page, but are not permanent enough material to go into the Library. Yes, we will even try to throw in trivia questions once in a while if some are sent our way. Please enjoy.

We encourage your feedback, and hope that you’ll find these new sections of value in your continued pursuit of all things Mozart.

Subject: Contemporaries of Mozart: Cimarosa
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 22:26:38 03/29/04 ()
Email Address: smithworld@earthlink.net
 

Message:
CONTEMPORARIES OF MOZART:

Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801)

In this next installment of our intermittent series, we'll take a look at Domenico Cimarosa, one of the most successful opera composers of his time. As such, he composed very little "pure" instrumental music in the course of his career, but his is a tale worth knowing.

This is another posting in an irregular series on the various contemporary composers from Mozart's lifetime. The material is mostly derivative from general sources as noted. These are the people that Mozart:

Competed for work with.
Considered friends and colleagues.
Knew from reputation.
Taught to and nurtured as pupils and students
--------------------------------------------------------
"From the top!" Emperor Leopold II (1792)?
"From the top!" King Ferdinand of Naples (1799)?

Cimarosa was the son of an unemployed stonemason, was born on 17 December 1749 in Aversa, near Naples. His father died early on, and his mother, to make ends meet, became a laundress to a monastery, with Domenico being taken into their school as part of the work agreement. His abilities soon brought him recognition and he started taking music lessons.

He progressed well under the monks and was recommended and admitted to the Conservatorio di San Loreto, where he undertook the study of counterpoint, harmony and composition. As well, he became a skilled violinist, keyboard player and a gifted singer. After about 11 years at the Conservatory, composing mostly sacred works, he received a commission for a two act opera buffa, Le Stravaganze del conte, which premiered during Carnival season in Naples 1771-72, about a year after Mozart composed Mitridate, re' di Ponto for the theater in Milan.

Cimarosa's early works, while good ones, were not yet good enough to make his name. However, Italy was the hotbed for opera at the time and with a constant need for material to supply the theaters, he soon was kept busy helping to fill the demand. Paisiello and Piccinni were both supplying the market here as well, but in 1776 the first left for a post in St. Petersburg and the second for offers from Paris, and with their departures Cimarosa's work became increasingly more performed and popular. Between 1776 and 1786, he composed some 24 operas for the Neapolitan theaters, nearly 5 every two years. Most of these were comic works, but several opera seria were commissioned as well.

As well, his growing reputation garnered commissions from other Italian cities as well. The Teatro Valle in Rome offered one, soon followed by two other Roman theaters. In Rome, only men were allowed to sing on stage, so all the female roles were sung by castrati. As well, by edict each opera was to have 5 characters only. Cimarosa's L'italiana in Londra (The Italian Girl in London) during the Carnival season of 1778-79 was a great success and enhanced his reputation. He eventually was commissioned for 9 operas for Roman theaters over the next decade as well as receiving offers from nearly a dozen other court theaters across Europe, from Lisbon to St. Petersburg.

He became the second court organist in Naples by 1785 at a pay of approximately 432 gulden a year ($18,000), paid even when he was not in Naples to perform his job. Hence, this appears to be more of a stipend reward as opposed to a true posting, perhaps to keep the door open so as to receive priority when multiple opera commissions were due in around the same time. Cimarosa's work was much in demand across Europe, both for it's musical charm and style as well as it's availability; by this time over 30 operas were available to the managers of Europe’s various opera houses.

Catherine the Great of Russia, with a vacancy in her court for a maestro di cappella in 1787, offered the post to Cimarosa, knowing his international reputation. He accepted a three year contract and left on an almost triumphant tour from Italy, across Austria, Poland and finally to St. Petersburg. Nearly everywhere he went, he was lavishly honored and feted for his compositions.

At the outset of this trip, he stopped in Florence at the request of the court of the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany to try out a new pianoforte the Italian maker Cristofori had invented and presented to the Grand Duke. It is almost certain that it was during this visit that Cimarosa composed the bulk of his keyboard sonatas. These total 27 works (that can be found).

Once arriving in St. Petersburg to take up his post, Cimarosa was met with a peculiar situation he had not reckoned with. Catherine the Great, as it turns out, did not care for Cimarosa's music and apparently decided that she did not care for Italian opera as well! The Italian opera company was allowed to shrink by attrition (by 1790 there were only 3 singers left) and, once the contract ended, he (probably rather quickly) packed and left for warmer climes. His great one-act, one-man comedy in music Il maestro di cappella, while undated, is firmly believed to have been composed in St. Petersburg, for one thing because of the title and for the other, because the theater there probably couldn't have supported much more.

Passing on his way home to Naples through Vienna in 1791, Cimarosa learned (if he didn't know already, a good chance he did) that the former Grand Duke of Tuscany was now Emperor Leopold II of Austria. Leopold, once he discovered that he had an available Cimarosa, appointed him Kapellmeister to the court at a salary exceeding Mozart's. As well, he gave him a commission for a comic opera, something he never did for Mozart.

The result of this commission was the great comic opera Il Matrimonio Segreto, which premiered in January of 1792, roughly six weeks after Mozart's death. It was a tremendous hit and is still considered one of the world's most famous and popular comic operas. Leopold, after attending the second performance, commanded that THE ENTIRE OPERA be encored that night! As well, Cimarosa received a large additional monetary reward for his efforts.

While two more operas were premiered in Vienna for the 1792 season, Cimarosa went back to Naples by 1793, the death of Leopold a month after Il Matrimonio's triumph probably the compelling reason. He apparently longed for Italy and home, and with his popularity high, probably knew he could compose for any court theater in Europe from the familiar surroundings of Naples. The Neapolitan court welcomed him back and made him the First Organist as a salary/stipend of approximately $27,000 per year. Once back, he composed a Symphonie Concertante in C for two flutes for an ambassador to the Naples court, S. E. Esterhazy, whose family Joseph Haydn was kapellmeister to for many decades.

Which leads to his crossing paths with the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. In May of 1799, French revolutionary forces occupied the Kingdom of Naples during the struggle for the control of northern Italy. One Luigi Rossi composed a patriotic “hymn” for the occasion of the ceremony of burning the ex-Royal flag. Cimarosa, apparently (at that time) in agreement and sympathetic with the revolutionary cause, supplied the music. Apparently, this was a popular ceremony and word spread quickly of the events of the "liberation" of the people from the yoke of tyranny.

So, when Royal forces RE-OCCUPIED Naples in June of 1799 (fortunes of war, no doubt), the returning King was non-too-pleased (to say the least!) with his now ex-Court Organist. Cimarosa, attempting to dig his way out of this hole, composed a cantata in praise of Ferdinand by September, and followed that with several other works of appeasement. However, the king, believing this to be a classic case of insincerity, only got angrier. Cimarosa was arrested and incarcerated on treason charges. Rossi, the poet, was beheaded to atone for his actions, and it can be strongly inferred that Cimarosa was to get the da capa treatment as well. Only by the intervention of many, many notables in high places (including that of Lady Hamilton, consort to Admiral Sir Horacio Nelson, England's greatest fighting admiral) was his life saved. He was begrudgingly spared and banished from Naples forever.

Cimarosa, ill from the entire preceding events, went to Venice in December 1800 to recoup his fortunes. He received a commission for a new opera seria (which had been flourishing in Italy) entitled Artemista, but he never recovered his strength enough to finish it. He died 11 January 1801. It was rumored that the rulers of the Kingdom of Naples had had him poisoned (hmmmmm) and due to his international reputation and popularity, the authorities in Venice were forced to publish a report showing the true cause of death (stomach cancer). The Pope's personal physician signed off on this report and the rumors subsided (but have never gone fully away. This seems to happen every now and then!).

Cimarosa's funeral was a magnificent staging, with all the eminent citizens of Venice in attendance and the musicians and singers donating their efforts gratis. As well, a similar send-off in Rome was created, with a marble bust of Cimarosa, when completed, being placed in the Gallery of the Campidoglio.

Cimarosa's unfinished opera seria Artemisia was given its first performance in the Teatro La Fenice on 17 January 1801, just seven days after his death. At that premiere, the audience requested that the curtain be lowered at the point at which Cimarosa had written his last note, a very flattering posthumous compliment, and a fitting conclusion to his opera career, which saw approximately 76 operatic works composed in 30 some-odd years.

Works: 76 operas, 7 symphonies, 3 concerto-style works, 2 oratorios, several cantatas, many masses and sacred works.
Recordings:

Opera: Il Matrimonio segreto Bellini/Orch. of Eastern Netherlands. 3 CD's on the Arts Music label ARZ 47117

Orchestral: Symphonie Concertante in C for Two Flutes, Concerto in B flay for Harpsichord, Il Maestro di cappella Frontalini/Moldavia S.O. 1 CD on the Bongiovanni label BGV-2184

Sacred: Requiem Mass Frontalini/Warnia N.O. 1 CD on the Bongiovanni label BGV-2088

Piano: Piano Sonatas Vol 1 & 2 (27 total) by Andrea Coen, piano. 2 CD's on the Stradivarious label SVS-33414/33415

The Sinfonia Concertante for 2 Flutes can also be found on a collection of 2-flute concerti by Devienne, Doppler and Viotti, performed by Rampal, Scimone and I Solisti Veneti on the ERATO label, #2292-45836-2.

And a Concertante for Flute & Oboe may be found on a collection of flute & oboe concerti by Salieri and Karl Stamitz, performed by Nicolet, Holliger, and the Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields led by Ken Sillito on the PHILLIPS label, #416-359-2, (a very nice disk!)

Sources:

Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd Edition Groves Dictionaries, New York 2000

Artaria Composers section article

Liner notes from the various CDs noted above.
Edited from previous posting

Subject: test again
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 19:48:35 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
test again

Subject: Test
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 19:25:41 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
test

Subject: For Tellern: Goethe, Mozart and Hummel and Medelssohn
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 07:27:35 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:

Dear Tel,

Just something for you and anyone else interested.

Even if Mozart did not sit down to dinner with Goethe
his youngest pupil, Hummel did so in 1821. And there, at dinner was the 11 year old Mendelssohn playing his latest composition.

Hummel at the time was Kapellmeister in Weimar a position he accepted in February 1819. He was very popular in Weimar as composer as well as teacher.

There was initially some distance between Hummel and Goethe who was not an easily accessible man. A pleasant relationship developed between Goethe and Hummel overshadowed somewhat by Goethe's greater interest in the theatre rather than in music. Did they ever discuss Hummel's teacher, the great Mozart? Probably - but we will never know.
Hummel composed a song which was performed after the eulogy at Goethe's funeral on March 26, 1832.

Kind regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: For Tellern: Goethe, Mozart and Hummel and Medelssohn
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 18:44:11 03/28/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Dear Agnes,

Thank you so very much. I'll include your info in my 'unfinished' research. And you know why I can't write very long now ...

Bery best wishes,
Tel

Subject: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 22:33:31 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
MOZART’S SONS.
THE LEGACY OF A GENIUS.
By Agnes Selby.

Mozart and his wife Constanze had six children during the nine short years of their marriage. Only two of their children, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver, survived into adulthood and both found their Mozart legacy a debilitating burden. Genetic inheritance in the case of Mozart’s sons resulted in two quite ordinary men. They may have inherited their father’s physiognomy, perhaps some talent but absolutely none of his transcendent genius. Both sons lived in the shadow of their great father whom they revered and resented at the same time. Neither found a way to dispel from their own lives the glorious shadow under which they were born and destined to live.

It is tempting to place the lives of Mozart’s sons under a microscope and with the help of modern psychology, analyse the symptoms of their malaise. But it is not quite so simple. The analyst must forgo what he or she has learned and go back in time to when the dictates of life were very different and help for a troubled soul was not dependent on psychiatric evaluation but on the cruel realisation of one’s own irredeemable worth.

Karl Thomas, the elder of the two surviving sons was born on September 21, 1784 at the time of Mozart’s greatest prosperity. One of the wealthiest merchants in Vienna, Johann Thomas von Trattner stood as his godfather when he was christened in St. Peter’s Church. His younger brother, Franz Xaver, on the other hand, was fatherless at the age of five months and his early years were spent watching his mother struggle against all odds in order to provide for him and his brother. Yet Franz Xaver was a happy, gregarious child given to disobedience, an utterly indulged little boy in whom his mother, Constanze saw the fulfillment of Mozart’s genetic legacy.

Karl was the second child born to the Mozarts, the first child, Raimund, having died as an infant during his parents’ visit to Salzburg. Karl remained an only child for seven years. During this period his parents endured the death of three more babies whose fate would leave the household stricken with sadness until another pregnancy again heralded a renewal of life. In such an atmosphere Karl grew introspective, appearing quite content with his own company. A visitor to his parents’ home described the toddler in 1787 as wandering in the garden quite absorbed in his own thoughts.

During his visit to Vienna, Leopold Mozart testified to his grandson Karl’s amiable nature in a letter (16.2.1785) to his daughter, Nannerl, describing the baby Karl as a picture of his father…On the whole the child is charming, for he is extremely friendly and laughs when he is spoken to. I have only seen him cry once and the next moment he started to laugh. In later life Karl’s contemporaries also described him as a friendly person, with a quiet charm, stoical and completely unobtrusive. He had inherited the shyness which characterised his mother’s youth and like her, he managed to rise above his difficulties and in the end come to terms, at least to some degree, with a recognition of his own limitations.

Karl was an indifferent student. Mozart worried to the end of his life about his much loved son’s education. Apart from Constanze, Karl was the only person Mozart allowed to sit in his study when he composed. For hours on end the child would sit peacefully watching his beloved father, perhaps dreaming of the day when he would himself become another Mozart. Karl attended an expensive private school in Vienna founded by Wenzel Bernard Heeger, which cost Mozart each year more than his own father had earned as Kapellmeister at the Salzburg Court. Mozart, however, found this institution most unsatisfactory. In the last letter Mozart wrote to Constanze in Baden (14/10/1791), he described the school thus:
…All they can do is to turn out a good peasant into the world…As [for] his serious studies, God Help them!…he is, if anything, less inclined to learn than before, for out there all he does is wander about the garden for five hours in the morning and five hours in the afternoon, as he has himself confessed. Mozart had already decided to send Karl to the Piarist Institute. Apparently it was difficult to enroll a child in this illustrious institution and in order to ingratiate himself with the religious brothers who ran the school, Mozart had even joined a procession in June, 1791 walking all the way to Josephstadt holding a candle in his hand. (letter to Constanze 25.6.1791) In the autumn of 1791, Mozart took Karl to the performance of The Magic Flute where the boy sat mesmerised by his father’s music and the spectacle of the special effects devised for the opera.

The youngest son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang, was born on July 26, 1791 barely five months before Mozart’s death. Constanze later changed his Christian names to Wolfgang Amadeus thereby sealing his fate. Franz Xaver as Wolfgang Amadeus, had thereafter to live up to his great father’s reputation. On hearing his name people searched for the real Wolfgang Amadeus but found only an ordinary young musician burdened with that famous name. Young Wolfgang never knew his real father, only a God-like figure whom at first he tried to emulate. The realisation that he lacked his father’s genius brought to an end his own aspirations and locked him into an existence of self-doubt and unfulfilled longing for a greatness he knew he could never achieve. Wolfgang searched for his father everywhere. In 1819, while visiting his mother in Denmark, he spent hours walking with her in the garden listening to her talk of Mozart. He visited his aunt, Nannerl in Salzburg during the same year and enjoyed hearing the old lady reminisce about her concert tours with his father as she spoke of Mozart’s and her own youth.

Late in 1838 the manuscript of Mozart’s famous Requiem was discovered and was bought by the Royal Court Library for their archives. The whole of Vienna buzzed with excitement at this discovery as it was believed that the entire manuscript was in Mozart’s handwriting. The Viennese newspapers announced that shortly Ignaz von Mosel, the deputy director of the Court Library, would publish a thesis on the subject. Wolfgang made a copy of what he believed was his father’s original manuscript and was deeply touched to hold in his hands his father’s last composition. Ignaz von Mosel, however, found some discrepancies in the newly purchased manuscript and he wrote to Constanze, now living in Salzburg, seeking clarification. Constanze took a long time to reply. On February 10, 1839 Constanze wrote to von Mosel, excusing herself for not answering him sooner as she did not want to spoil her son’s delight in believing that the manuscript was in his father’s handwriting. The manuscript may well have been Sussmayr’s, she said. …If the score is complete then it is not Mozart’s because he did not finish it. It should be possible to distinguish where Sussmayr continued the score because I feel that nobody can exactly imitate another person’s handwriting.

As Mozart lay dying Franz Xaver was only a baby but Karl, then seven years old, sat unobserved in the corner of the death room wide-eyed and terrified. Death had visited his home before to claim his siblings soon after they were born but his father was his strength and his refuge from his mother’s frequent pregnancies and consequent illnesses. He watched from his corner of the room his father’s final agony and described in later years the pervasive odour of death as though his father’s body was already rotting before he actually died. He witnessed his mother’s desperate attempt to cling to his father’s still body until she was physically pried from Mozart’s corpse. The scene of his father’s death was to remain imprinted in his memory.

After his father’s death, the two boys and their mother left their comfortable, large apartment and moved to smaller quarters. Karl was increasingly drawn to his merry little brother, whose light-hearted childish pranks eased the tension created by their mother’s endeavours to provide for them. Karl enjoyed the concerts and operas his mother staged in memory of his father. To keep Mozart’s spirit alive she also held Sunday soirees when his father’s and Haydn’s music were performed. During these occasions Karl again found a quiet corner where unobserved, he listened to the beautiful music. He desperately longed to emulate his father. In his loneliness, during the years following his father’s death, he grew close to his mother and little brother only to find himself torn away from them all too soon.

It was now Constanze’s sole responsibility to educate her sons. She believed, like most of her contemporaries, that her son needed a strong male role model to influence him during his teenage years. Constanze made the decision to take Karl to Prague to attend the Gymnasium (high school) there and board with Mozart’s first biographer, Franz Niemetschek, himself a professor at the Gymnasium. Franz Duschek, the noted Bohemian piano virtuoso and the husband of Prague opera’s prima donna, Josepha Duschek, had agreed to
become Karl’s music teacher. Although the shy boy must have been apprehensive and fearful to be parted from his mother, as an adult he remembered the time he had spent in Prague as the happiest of his life.

Constanze and Karl arrived in Prague in early February, 1794. On February 7 they attended a concert organised by the law students at Prague University. The hall was brightly lit with Mozart’s name enshrined in a temple with pyramids on either side. A large illuminated sign read “Gratitude and Pleasure”. Madam Duschek sang Vitella’s rondo from Mozart’s opera,
La Clemenza di Tito, and a gifted young pianist performed Mozart’s piano concerto in D. Two symphonies were also performed, the whole evening being dedicated to Mozart’s music. The newspapers reported that Mozart’s widow and son both wept tears of grief at their loss and of gratitude towards a noble nation.

There was however, a downside to this visit. The Prague opera company had been rehearsing Salieri’s opera, Tarare in which a young boy is offered up for sacrifice. The Mozart name spelt magic in Prague, especially in operatic circles. Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro had in the past rescued the Prague Opera company from bankruptcy. The Opera company now planned to cast Karl as the sacrificial boy. Constanze was well aware of her son’s shy and retiring nature. Karl did not possess Mozart’s love for drama and spectacle nor did he possess his father’s temperament and self assurance. All but ten years old, the thought of appearing on stage must have been frightening to the reticent little boy. Even in his old age, while attending his father’s centennial celebrations, Karl Mozart, the last Mozart alive, sat in the back row of the Salzburg Cathedral. Most people celebrating his father’s birth were unaware of his presence in their midst.

Constanze solved the problem by inserting a notice in the Prager Neue Zeitung on April 9 canceling Karl’s role as the sacrificial boy. She did this in a tactful manner for fear of offending the Bohemians who had been most supportive of her after Mozart’s death: Had the opera announcement not revealed the matter so prematurely, this announcement would not have been necessary;…a person informed according to the latest opera bill might accuse the widow Mozart, who is full of respect and gratitude towards the Prague public, of a capriciousness of which she is entirely innocent”.

Constanze returned to Vienna and Karl did not see his mother again until the autumn of the following year, when Constanze took the unprecedented decision for an eighteenth century woman to tour the German states publicising Mozart’s works. She brought with her Franz Xaver, now four years old who was also left in the care of Madam Niemetschek. This was the only time the brothers were to spend any length of time together. Their love for each other was cemented during this period.

The brothers remained in Prague until November, 1797 when Constanze returned from her publicity tour. Having succeeded beyond her own expectations, Constanze was now able to discharge all of Mozart’s debts. Due to her efforts, Mozart’s music, in danger of being forgotten by the fickle public, had experienced a revival. She could, herself, look forward to a period of less strained financial circumstances. On November 15, 1797 a memorial concert was held at the Prague National Theatre at which all the luminaries of the Prague musical establishment were present. A number of Mozart arias and chamber works were performed and by special request, little Wowie (Franz Xaver) now six years old, made his musical debut at this concert. He stood on a table to be better seen by the audience and to their delight sang the Papageno aria from The Magic Flute. Karl did not participate.

Constanze returned to Vienna with both her children. Having discussed Karl’s academic progress with his teachers, Niemetschek and Duschek, she decided to discontinue his formal education. Constanze resumed her Sunday concerts. Nobles, diplomats and musicians attended these Sunday soirees and it is believed that one such Mozart admirer was the Danish diplomat, Nicolaus Nissen. He became Constanze’s second husband and the beloved step-father to her sons.

Sometime in 1798 Karl was sent to Livorno in Italy where he was apprenticed to an English business house. It had always been Karl’s most fervent dream to continue in his famous father’s footsteps but he did not possess the divine spark of genius nor the ability to work the long, tedious hours at the piano to perfect his craft. He accepted his fate with equanimity, at least for the time being, but his old ambition haunted him and he had to have one more try to emulate his father.

It is not known at what point in time Constanze changed Franz Xaver’s name legally to Wolfgang Amadeus but henceforth he will be referred to in this narrative as Wolfgang. Wolfgang’s later portrait reveals his close resemblance to his father but even more so his resemblance to Leopold Mozart. Viewed side by side, the portraits of Wolfgang and his grand-father could easily be thought to represent the same man at different stages of life. Wolfgang possessed a good musical talent and received the best musical tuition. Haydn himself took great interest in this son of Mozart’s and Salieri, who taught him without remuneration, firmly believed in Wolfgang’s ability.

At the age of eleven Wolfgang delighted Constanze by composing a Rondo for piano for her name-day. In 1805 Constanze decided to present the fourteen year old Wolfgang to the public. She planned a concert for Haydn’s seventy-third birthday on March 31 at the Theater-an-der-Wien. Constanze publicised the concert in the Wiener Zeitung on 16 March and her advertisement contained the following sentiment: May indulgent connoisseurs discover some traces of his father’s talent in the son’s endeavours! Constanze sent printed invitations to the most influential people in Viennese musical circles as well as to Mozart’s many old friends.

The concert had to be postponed and took place on April 8. The theatre was full and Constanze herself led Wolfgang onto the stage where they were greeted with thunderous applause. Wolfgang played Mozart’s piano concerto in C major and a Cantata that he, himself had composed especially for Haydn’s birthday. Haydn who sat in the audience was moved to tears.

Wolfgang’s concert brought forth many favourable reviews but the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung cautioned him: …may he not forget that for now the name Mozart will inspire leniency, in the future it will entail great expectations. Over the next two years Wolfgang became a highly successful performer and was much sought after in Vienna. A number of his early compositions were published at this time by Andre and Breitkopf & Hartel. In May 1808, an overview of the state of music in Vienna, published by Ignaz von Mosel, named Wolfgang amongst the outstanding pianists and composers of the time. He was included in the list with such luminaries as Beethoven, Streicher and the blind pianist, Theresia Paradis. As he grew older, however, Wolfgang realised that as a musician, he would forever be compared to his immortal father. It was a crippling discovery that thwarted his musical development and prevented him from discovering his own individuality. In the era of Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and Schumann, Wolfgang floundered, imprisoned by his father’s musical legacy.

At the age of seventeen Wolfgang accepted a position as music teacher in Galicia, Poland. He could not have buried himself farther from the musical stimulus of Vienna than in this northernmost corner of the Habsburg Empire. Clearly in Vienna the burden of being Mozart’s son hindered him both professionally and emotionally. He left Vienna in search of his own identity and his mother, who understood his dilemma, was unwilling to thwart his quest. By this time she too had realised that Wolfgang could never fulfil the expectation that the public had of a Mozart.

On October 22, 1808 Wolfgang departed for Poland. There in Podkamien, 60 miles from the city of Lemberg, he took up employment with a Count Baworowski as music teacher to his daughter, Henrietta. Wolfgang wrote to Karl on Janury 22, 1809 from Podkamien that he was paid well, receiving 1,000 florins per year plus lodging, heating and light. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine a cheerful young man choosing to be buried alive in such a stultifying environment.

Meanwhile in Livorno, although he had spent five years learning business procedure, Karl was unhappy with his life. He once again wanted to study music to follow in his father’s footsteps. At the end of 1805 he moved to Milan to study music at the new Milan Conservatoire. Haydn sent his personal recommendation to Professor Asioli in Milan. It is still extant:
My dear Colleague, I should like Carlo Mozart to have the honour to be one of your students…Allow me to recommend this youth to you as the son of a friend of mine, now dead and the heir to a name which should be dear to all connoisseurs and friends of art…
The lack of self-esteem Mozart’s sons continued to experience throughout their lives is due to just such recommendations. Their father’s illustrious name opened every door, but it was the sons who allowed these doors to be closed. Constanze and Nissen agreed to support Karl financially but Constanze cautioned her son:
“…no son of Mozart can be second rate so that he does not bring shame rather than honour to his name. If you have taken all this into consideration then I am happy for you but hope that you will be doubly diligent…”

For the next two years Karl’s studies progressed well. Constanze corresponded with Professor Asioli and received good reports from him about her son. By the third year, however, Constanze began to worry about Karl’s dedication to his work. She suggested he return to Vienna and study with the respected composer, Albrechtsberger. She would have preferred to have him live with her and Nissen in order to look after him and supervise his studies. However, by early 1809 Albrechtsberger died and in May the French army occupied Vienna. Under these circumstances, Karl decided to remain in Milan. In 1810 Karl gave up his music studies. He obtained a position as clerk to the Viceroy of Naples in Milan. In a letter to her son Constanze remained supportive if somewhat surprised. She was glad, she said, that he was settling down to a more secure lifestyle without financial worries. This would allow him to study and enjoy music without the need of having to support himself by it.

In the vast family correspondence that still survives there is no further reference made to Karl’s decision not to pursue music as a profession although it must have been a heart-wrenching experience for him. He continued to enjoy music, to teach piano to his friends’ children and to organise musical soirees in his home. He remained a bureaucrat for the rest of his life, achieving in the end a high position in this capacity. He was also the only one in his family to enjoy the music of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and other contemporary musicians, whereas Constanze and Wolfgang found their compositions difficult to understand and remained faithful to Mozart and the musical style of the eighteenth century. It was Wolfgang’s tragedy that he, a child of the Romantic era, did not explore the musical idiom of his own century. An interest in the Romantic movement might have freed him of the shackles imposed on him by his heritage. He might even have left his own mark on nineteenth century music.

Wolfgang chose, however, to bury himself in Podkamien. The high musical standards he had brought with him into his self-imposed exile were the standards of his teachers, Haydn, Salieri and Albrechtsberger. These were indeed the highest musical standards anyone could aspire to. Wolfgang, however, remained so closely wedded to the ideals of his teachers that he was unable to grow beyond their instructions. In Podkamien, and even later in Lemberg, the new and exciting musical developments that his contemporaries enjoyed in Vienna completely passed him by. When finally he left Podkamien for Lemberg and contemplated returning to Vienna, he encountered a completely new situation which would influence his decisions for the rest of his life.

In order to support himself while he explored the possibility of a solo career, Wolfgang became the teacher to the two young daughters of the Chief Government Councillor, Ludwig Cajetan von Baroni-Cavalcabo. Their mother, Josephine was three years older than Wolfgang, a beautiful woman, married to a man many years her senior. Josephine also possessed a beautiful singing voice and Wolfgang often accompanied her on the piano.
The Baroni-Cavalcabos gave musical soirees which needed rehearsals. Alone during these sessions, Wolfgang and Josephine fell in love, a love which would last all their lives. Except for two concert tours, undertaken by Wolfgang to test the waters of a concert career, Josephine and Wolfgang never parted. Thus Wolfgang became locked in a menage a trois for the rest of his life.

In May 1819 Wolfgang undertook a grand concert tour. He wanted to prove himself not only as a composer but also as a virtuoso pianist. His diary during this concert tour was addressed to Josephine and revealed his desire to prove himself able to support her and establish himself as an international artist, so that she could leave her husband and marry him. At the back of his mind was also his desire to visit his mother and father (Nissen) in Denmark. Nissen had retired from the Danish diplomatic service and the couple had settled in Copenhagen in 1810.

As a reward for his long service to Denmark, Nissen was made Councillor of State and given the position of Censor of newspapers. This position placed him at odds with newspaper editors who firmly believed in the freedom of the press whereas Nissen, trained as a diplomat, believed that some things were better kept secret from the public. If Constanze and Nissen were already contemplating leaving Denmark at the time of Wolfgang’s visit, he was not aware of it. He had an emotional reunion with his mother which he described in his diary: “I cannot describe how emotional I was. I was shaking all over as the long awaited moment approached. Finally they led me into a room where I saw a woman whom I did not recognise as I was looking into the light. She did not recognise me either as she told me later, and yet we rushed into each other’s arms. It was a truly spiritual moment! To see each other after nearly eleven years of separation! I found both of them, especially my mother kind beyond expectation.

During his long walks with his mother he learned more about Mozart. He also found that he could talk to her about Josephine and their love for each other. It was like discovering a long-lost friend. This close and adult relationship would continue for the rest of his parents’ lives. He had always been close to Nissen, who was the only father he had ever known but, in his youth, Constanze was a demanding task mistress. He confided to his dairy: “…she has become a real mother to me, something that she has always been but did not always show me”.

He remained with his parents until September 29 giving one successful concert in Copenhagen. He continued his concert tour, performing in Berlin where he met the Beers, parents of the composer, Meyerbeer and Felix Mendelssohn who became his friend for life. In Dresden he met his mother’s cousin, Carl Maria von Weber, who was most affectionate toward him and Wolfgang spent many happy days in the Weber home. In Carl Maria von Weber’s biography, written by his son Max, it appears that Carl Maria felt sorry for Wolfgang, sensing that he remained in the shadow of his immortal father despite all the success he had had during his concert tour.

Wolfgang arrived in Milan on August 21, 1820. He stayed with Karl for a month. The brothers spent joyous days together and reminisced about their childhood. While on tour, Wolfgang had heard that Karl had married but this proved to be untrue. Instead, Wolfgang found that Karl, like himself, was living in a menage a trois. Nothing more is known of Karl’s private life except for Constanze’s letter to him in March, 1833 in which she grieves with him over the death of his Constanza. It is not known who this Constanza was. Some writers believe she was Karl’s love-child; some others believe she was his lover. There is no documentary evidence to support either claim. An intensely private person, Karl took this secret with him to the grave.

In 1820 Constanze and her husband left Denmark in search of a cure for Nissen’s ill health. For a long time it was believed that they had settled soon thereafter in Salzburg, in order to be close to the spas that Nissen found were beneficial to his health and to allow him to write his monumental opus, Mozart’s first documentary biography. More than four years in the Nissens’ lives, however, remained undocumented. Recently, the Danish author, Viggo Sjoqvist, discovered in the Danish National Archives a letter, written in December 1823 in Milan, from Constanze to Danish composer, S.E.F. Weyse, stating that she had been living in Italy for two years. The letter reveals Constanze in a happy frame of mind, being tormented by her son, Karl with performances of modern compositions which were but noise to her ears. She begged Weyse to send her his own compositions so that she could show her son what a good composer could do! It seems that mother and son were reunited after a long period and that they truly enjoyed each other’s company.

The first evidence of the Nissens’ presence in Salzburg is a note written by Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, in the diary of Andreas Stumpff on September 21, 1824 when this gentleman stopped over in Salzburg on his way from London to Vienna to visit his old friend, Beethoven. Both Constanze and Nissen had added their signatures to Nannerl’s greeting. From this we can surmise that Constanze and Nissen may have spent the unaccounted years in Milan with Karl. Constanze had not seen her eldest son for more than twenty years but once she had settled in Salzburg, Karl visited her at regular intervals.

The most revealing portrait of Wolfgang’s character comes from Vincent and Mary Novello who visited the once again widowed Constanze in Salzburg in 1829. Vincent Novello was the founder of a publishing company in London which still exists today. He was a most influential member of the then ruling London intelligentsia, a writer and organist of no mean achievement. Mary, his wife was also a writer and her notes about Mozart greatly influenced Edward Holmes, Mozart’s first English biographer. The Novellos’ meeting in Salzburg with Constanze coincided with Wolfgang’s visit to his mother. The Novello diaries were published in 1955 by their descendant, Nerina Medici Di Marignano, edited by Rosemary Hughes. Entitled A Mozart Pilgrimage Being the Travel Diaries of Vincent & Mary Novello, it paints in fine detail Constanze’s up-beat personality which contrasts sharply with Wolfgang’s self-pity and his complaints about the burden of his Mozart heritage. Vincent Novello found “…young Mozart a melancholy thoughtful-looking person…He is (unfortunately, I think) a Professor of Music and seems to be impressed with the idea, that everything he can possibly do, will be so greatly inferior to what was accomplished by the wonderful genius of his illustrious father, that he feels disinclined to write much, or to publish what he produces.” Mary Novello’s observations: “…her younger son, who though somewhat resembling his father seems to have no genius and his feelings perhaps may cast a shade over his countenance rendering it rather heavy, and damps the ardour of his musical works reducing them to mediocrity, something of this despair of effecting anything worthy of his father’s name seemed to hang over him…”
This is a recurring theme in the record of Wolfgang’s conversations with Vincent and Mary Novello.

Wolfgang was deeply affected by Nissen’s death in 1826 and thereafter spent a considerable time in Salzburg. His conducting of Mozart’s Requiem in honour of his stepfather in the Universitatskirche was considered the best performance of the Requiem to date in Salzburg. On December 5, 1826 he repeated the performance of the Requiem in Lemberg on the anniversary of Mozart’s death, thus celebrating the revered man who had fathered him and also his recently departed stepfather who had loved and cared for him as
though he had been his own child.

When Nicolaus Nissen died in 1826 his Mozart Biography remained unfinished. Constanze undertook the enormous task of having the biography completed. Although the book did not sell as well as she had expected, due to a renewed interest in Mozart, his birthplace Salzburg began to enjoy a revival. Since the Napoleonic wars Salzburg had suffered from neglect but during the 1830s visitors began arriving in Salzburg in search of Mozart. Vincent Novello testified that at the time of his visit, Salzburg did not have a decent orchestra, the elegant buildings that once graced the town, stood like orphans clad in shabby clothes. Constanze kept an open house and supplied the visitors with cake, coffee and information about Mozart and his music. She conducted a vast correspondence with lovers of Mozart’s music and there even exists a visiting card with her name on it and on the verso, in English and in her handwriting there appears the following: I wish to greet with great pleasure all Mozart admirers and tell them that if they ever come to Salzburg to give me the satisfaction of visiting me.

Having Constanze in their midst to remind them of the glory of their native son, the city fathers soon realised that by encouraging this Mozart revival their city and their businesses would benefit. A Mozart Committee was formed and the decision taken to erect a monument in Mozart’s honour. Constanze played a pivotal role in this undertaking, writing personally to European monarchs asking them for contributions. The result was so overwhelming that in September 1837 Constanze published a circular in various newspapers expressing her thanks for all the contributions that were pouring into Salzburg. In August 1837 she had gone to Munich at the invitation of King Ludwig of Bavaria to attend a Memorial Festival for the benefit of Mozart’s monument. Her presence there elicited great interest and resulted in a profit of 600 florins for the memorial, that sum representing at the time the annual income of a physician at a leading Vienna hospital.

The Mozart Committee in time became the Dom-Music-Verein whose major undertaking was the erection of the Mozart monument. On October 1, 1841 the Dom-Music-Verein and Mozarteum began its activities as a music school. Constanze did all she could to ensure that Wolfgang was appointed the first director of the Mozarteum but the position went to Alois Taux, a young man of twenty-two.

Wolfgang was now fifty years old and ailing. He was given the title of Honorary Kapellmeister of the Mozarteum, a title he cherished. He was by then living in Vienna together with Josephine and her husband. Taux’s appointment relieved Wolfgang of the anxiety of having to be separated from Josephine. In Vienna he spent his time teaching and organising soirees for Josephine’s salon. The composer, Robert Schumann became his friend and always visited Wolfgang when he was in Vienna. In one of his letters to his wife Clara, Schumann wrote that when in Vienna one was always assured of excellent concerts at the Cavalcabos’ as they were planned by Mozart’s son.

On December 6, 1841 a memorial service was held at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mozart’s death.
The Requiem Mass was performed and in the evening, in the Great Hall of the Casino and before a large gathering of artists, musicians and poets, Wolfgang performed his father’s Fantasy and Sonata in C minor. This was the crowning moment of his life. At the same time in Salzburg, the seventy-nine-year old Constanze, with the help of the Dom-Music Verein organised to have the Requiem performed in the Salzburg Cathedral.

Constanze died on March 6, 1842. It now fell to her sons to represent the Mozart family at the erection of Mozart’s monument. Mozart’s two sons were guests of honour and Wolfgang was asked to compose a hymn for the Festival celebrations. Instead, Wolfgang brought along a Festival Cantata in three movements based on themes from his father’s opera, La Clemenza di Tito.

The Festival took place over a period of three days in September 1842. The city was beautifully decorated; the statue stood covered, awaiting the unveiling in Michaelsplatz which was renamed Mozartsplatz. When Wolfgang arrived he was greeted by a fanfare from the newly formed Salzburg orchestra. The Empress Carolina Augusta and the King of Bavaria were seated on especially erected platforms. That evening a memorial service took place in memory of Constanze in St. Sebastian’s Church.

After Wolfgang returned to Vienna he dedicated his Festival Cantata to the King of Bavaria. As much as the King admired Mozart and in every respect supported Constanze and her efforts on behalf of Mozart’s music, he rejected Wolfgang’s Cantata. In the end the King of France took pity on him and accepted the Cantata in 1843.

During the winter of 1843 Wolfgang became ill with a stomach ailment and in the spring of 1844 went to Karlsbad seeking a cure. He was accompanied by his friend and pupil, Ernest Pauer. Wolfgang’s condition worsened and Josephine hurried to Karlsbad to be at his bedside. He died in Karlsbad, with Josephine by his side on July 29, 1844. Memorial services, with performances of Mozart’s Requiem were held in his memory in Salzburg, Vienna and Lemberg. He left his entire estate, most of it inherited from his mother, to Josephine who in turn donated all Mozart memorabilia to the Mozarteum.

After the Festival, Karl returned to Milan and corresponded frequently with Alois Taux who had become his friend. He had reached a high position as a civil servant but the death of his mother and brother in such quick succession, left him increasingly lonely and unhappy. He had amassed a goodly fortune, enlarged by his inheritance from Constanze. On his return to Italy, Karl had learned of the great success of The Marriage of Figaro at the Theatre Lyrique in Paris. He was surprised to receive a payment of 8,000 francs as the heir and legitimate owner of Mozart’s intellectual property. Karl had a good relationship with Josephine Cavalcabo and when he visited her in Vienna in 1849 he saw the newly completed Mozarthof in Rauhensteingasse where he had witnessed his father’s death.

In 1855 Taux formed a committee to plan a large festivity to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Karl donated the family bible and his father’s forte-piano to the Mozarteum. “…The instrument is so dear to me, he wrote, that I can only part from it with deep sorrow as every time I look at it, I recall my father playing on it, especially that in the last year of his life, I often sat in his study for days on end because my mother was sick…”

Karl arrived in Salzburg in late August, 1856. He was feted everywhere he went and on August 23 the Mozarteum Orchestra serenaded him. Many dignitaries descended on Salzburg and performers from German-speaking lands took part in the festivities. It was the beginning of the Mozart Festival and it continues to be celebrated to this day. Karl met many of his father’s worshippers, among them Ludwig Ritter von Kochel in whose diary Karl expressed his gratitude for the tireless work Kochel undertook in cataloguing Mozart’s works.

Karl Mozart died on 31 October, 1858 with his father’s portrait in his hand.
Modest to the end, Karl requested a second class funeral but in Salzburg the passing of the last Mozart was honoured by Alois Taux with the performance of the Requiem in the Salzburg Cathedral.

Neither of Mozart’s sons ever married and there were no descendants to carry on the famous name. In 1856 Karl wrote to his friend, Popelka: “…Sons should not follow their father’s profession in which the father excels”. By the same token they should not marry because he believed that the perpetuation of a famous man’s genetic line is not without risk.
There may have been many other reasons why Mozart’s sons did not marry and why both of them formed liaisons with married women of high social standing. Both suffered from a lack of self-esteem but Mozart’s sons felt that they could not marry just anyone. Yet neither could afford to support a wife accustomed to a privileged life. The feeling of inadequacy, the burden of their heritage and their complete inability to cope with what they believed was expected of them as the sons of a brilliant father, caused them to lead unhappy lives, probably more so in Wolfgang’s case as Karl had in the end accepted the fact that his father could not be emulated.

Agnes Selby (by courtesy of “Quadrant”).

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 13:26:16 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Agnes,
Really, quite a fascinating and complete account, thanks for your efforts. Does it add anything to the discussion to mention that Wolfgang the Younger composed one of the "Other" Diabelli Variations, the set that was by "everyone other than Beethoven"? I was very interested to find this out. What would really please me would be to get a list of all those "others", as I have never seen one, and to be able to hear the alternate version performed, which I have been told that it once was.
Regards,
Gurn

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 14:44:39 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Gurn, while in Salzburg I bought a number of piano works by young Mozart for my daughter but there were no "Diabelli Variations" among the purchased items. In fact, I never even knew about the variations. It would be worth investigating.

Thank you Dennis for answering Michael's question and thus educating me in the process.

Kind regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 06:27:44 03/30/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Agnes,
Well, I only found out peripherally when someone mentioned it on another board, and the listing they quoted actually used the nomen "W. Mozart the Younger". Of course this little info-gem was balanced out by her question, which was essentially "I thought he died back in the 1790's, what gives?" ;-))
Regards,
Gurn

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Michael Mallon
To: All
Date Posted: 13:57:53 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Agnes,

Thank you for that wonderful article. I, too, am very grateful for all of the effort you put into your works.

I have two questions (for you or anyone else):

1. Have any of Wolfgang Jr.'s cantatas (i.e., the one he wrote for J. Haydn, the Festival Cantata, etc.) survived?

2. Have they been recorded?

I suspect that they haven't been recorded if they do indeed survive... I hope I'm wrong.

Thanks again,
Michael

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 15:43:53 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Michael,

Many thanks for your kind words. I am extremely pleased that Dennis answered your question as I have learned from his answer.
Kind Regards,
Agnes.

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 14:06:52 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
In the Vienna National Library I found this entry when looking for
another Mozart piece last week:

"AutorIn: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 

Titel: Cantate an Joseph Haydn; auf dessen 73. Geburtstag den
31. März . ... Musik ... von Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart. Wien 1805. 

Siehe Cantate 

1.Signatur 237503-B. Mus" 

I suspect this is the Cantata you ask about. I know of no
recording.

dennis

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Michael Mallon
To: All
Date Posted: 22:46:33 03/30/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Dennis and Agnes,

Many thanks for the response.

It's a pity that the work hasn't been recorded... but perhaps it will be, someday.

I hope that we will see a recording of it by the next big Mozart year (2006.)

Thanks again,
Michael

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Bill Szep
To: All
Date Posted: 16:03:12 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Hi Agnes,
Thank you for this beautiful story. I don't mind telling you that at the point where Karl dies with his father's portrait in his hand, my eyes were not dry! Thank you for this powerful and educated posting!
Bill

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 21:27:19 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Bill, Many thanks. A letter is waiting for you at home.

Kind regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Teresa
To: All
Date Posted: 11:52:48 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Great article, Agnes!

Yours, Teresa

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 13:34:05 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Teresa,
Thank you very much.
Kind regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Andrea Hubrich
To: All
Date Posted: 00:51:29 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Thank you Agnes for this wonderful piece on the lives of Mozart's sons. I have learned much more about his sons from your post since all of my Mozart books don't go into great detail on these two.

It must have been hard for them growing up to have to live up to their father's genius. I don't envy them. But they did survive and so did the music of their wonderful father. Gott sei Dank!!!

Subject: Re: Mozart's Sons
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 02:54:03 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Andrea,

Thank you so much for your comments.

Regards, Agnes.

Subject: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 21:26:45 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Gary, my friend, I wonder that you have not visited Gluck. He certainly is a greater force than any of the composers you have commented upon thus far.
P.S. I have been considering submitting a list of famous men of that period. I sent my list to some friends who like it but I am not really competent to comment on that(or any) period. Perhaps Emanuelle could start us off?

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 21:13:30 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Don,

I have several "Contemporaries" currently in work (on the slow burner, what with the current workload) and yes, one of them is Gluck. I will, since you asked, move him up on the production schedule. Since there are a few others completed, they will probably see the light of day before him, though.

I do admit that there's not a lot of logic in the presentation of these papers, except the fact that I do them on individuals whom I have a current interest in (say a new recording), or directly knew Mozart (like a pupil such as Eybler) or someone asks about a certain person.

I also, for example, have a couple that simply require a lot of information to distill down to make a good presentation that covers the major points concerning that individual. For one, I haven't done Joseph Haydn yet, though I have an 8 page paper I'm still adding to, because there's just too much to say about such a composer.

Rest assured though, these folks will get covered.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 01:00:53 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I am sure you are competent to comment on that period. Keep in
mind that is the reason we are here. This is a forum for comment
and lists and questions from everyone. A list of famous men would
be interesting. Take a look at the "Who's Who" section of the
MozartForum and see who is missing from your "Famous Men (and
let us not forget Women) List". We are always looking to expand
and improve everything at this site.

dennis

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 15:03:42 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Famous and/or influential men circa 1750-1800 – in no particular order.

Music: J.S. Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.

Philosophy , Literature and Explorers: Hegel, Kant, Gothe, Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Holderlein, Shelley, Diderot, Moliere, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Burke, Hume, Rousseau, A&W Humbolt, Cooke, Lewis and Clark.

Mathematics & Physics: Euler, Gauss, LaPlace, Legendre, Fourier, (various)Bernoullis, Ampere, D’Alembert, DeMoivre, Carnot, Monge.

Artists: Goya, Fragonard, Hokusai, Utamaro, Wedgewood, Hogarth,. Tiepolo, Canaletto

Politics: Washington, Jefferson, Napoleon, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: Teresa
To: All
Date Posted: 09:52:30 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Just for fun, how about a few late 18th century influential women?

Writers: Jane Austen, Phyllis Wheatley, Mary Wollstonecraft

Politics: Abigail Adams, Madame de Pompadour, you already have Catherine the Great

Mathematics/Philosophy: Maria Agnesi, Sophie Germain, Mary Somerville

Exploreres: Sacagawea

There are countless others (I obviously left out the women closest to Mozart, because they've been discussed a lot already.)

All the best, Teresa

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 18:52:39 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Thanks for your contribution. Where did you get the names Maria Agnesi, Sophie Germain, Mary Somerville? I have a vague recollection of Sophie Germain.

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 17:53:54 03/28/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:
Dear Teresa,

Good stuff. I wish I can provide an extensive list to add to yours, but I'm just flat out with work now and will have to dig in to my collection of information on all these, ie, including both influential men and women of the 18th century.

Let me just add for women composers/musicians for now:

Harriet Abrams, Maria Teresa Agnesi, Countess Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt, Princess of Prussia (Anna Amalia), Elizabeth Anspach, Elisabetta de Gambarini, Elizabeth Joanetta Catherine von Hagen, and there is Mme Ravissa who flourished in the late 18th century... I can go on but gotta go...

Have a good day dear friend.
All the best,
Tel

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: Teresa
To: All
Date Posted: 05:27:41 03/29/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Hi Tel and Don,

Thanks for the additional names, Tel! Don, I enjoy reading about influential women, and I got some names from different readings, but those ladies names may have come from a website I looked at, which I would have to hunt down again. You may find it by doing a google search and typing in "Women's History" or something like that.

All the best, Teresa

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 17:44:31 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
An impressive list. No argument on Music, although I am surprised
you did not mention Gluck himself, I am not familiar with
Hokusai or Utamaro in art, but Goya is in my opinion the most
important artist in the early 19th Century easily and perhaps the
entire history of Europe. In Politics I could add a name or two--in
partiuclar Beaumarchais, a fascinating figure in French politics--
but hard to argue with any of these. I know nothing of Philosphy
and unfortunately little of literature of this period, but the
selection of Cooke is a great one that most (especially in USA)
forget. I have a son who is an English Lit major and am sending
the list to him for comment. the mathematics names are all
unfamiliar to me, so will take your word for them.

dennis

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 18:08:08 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Yes I forgot to include Gluck in the body of the message. Also I mispelled Goethe. The Japanese artists are wonderful and are the only entries not of western origin. I am ashamed of myself. Try these two sites for Hokusai and Utamaro.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/hokusai.html

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/utamaro.html

I also have no ladies. Can you think of any?

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 20:03:41 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Well, for starters you listed Catherine the Great, she is one.

dennis

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 20:52:05 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Yes, of course.

Have you had an oportunity to check out Hokusai and Utamaro? If so what do you think?

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 16:34:57 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I got a chance this evening to check out both web sites you gave. I
have seen a few of the Utamro paintings before. I found them
pleasant but enjoyed the Hoikusai scenes much more. They give a
fine view of life and scenery, but to be honest I did not find them
much more than that. For example in the various Goya countryside
scenes I think the Spanard finds more human expression to blend
into the scene. Certainly Goys's masterwork in this field is "The
Meadow of San Isidro" painted in 1788. But for expression beyond
ordinary, and going into the super ordinary, Goya's "The Colossus"
from around 1810 and "Executions of the thrid of May" (1814) are
unsurpassed in artists of the time.

dennis

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 17:32:29 03/28/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
It is a different culture. There are strange forms of humor and sadness about the human condition and other things which make us wonder about the mind that made them. Of course, that is what art is all about.
I would guess you don't like Fragonard?

Subject: Re: Gluck
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 00:48:17 03/27/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:
Hi Don,

I'm very interested in your list of famous men of that period. I too have my own list and researches. Perhaps we can compare notes and share it here? Otherwise if you like, you can first contact me offline at webmaster@InspiredPen.4t.com.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Tel

Subject: Mozart and J.W. Goethe
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 05:39:24 03/26/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Dear All,

I'm very interested if any professional and/or friendship existed between Mozart and Goethe (1749-1832). When and where, or any common memberships.

Appreciate greatly if anyone can share info with me.

Best regards,
Tel Asiado

Subject: Re: Mozart and J.W. Goethe
From: DonW
To: All
Date Posted: 21:17:35 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
In Goethe's "Italien Journey" there are some comments about "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" and its effect upon a Goethe literary effort.

Subject: Re: Mozart and J.W. Goethe
From: Andrea Hubrich
To: All
Date Posted: 06:58:15 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Greetings Tel,

I'm not too sure if Mozart and Goethe ever met each other. All I could find was that Goethe saw Mozart perform at a concert in Frankfurt in August 1763. Goethe told a friend "I saw him as a boy of seven, when he gave a concert when passing through. I myself was about fourteen, and I remember still quite clearly the little fellow with his wig and sword."

Subject: Re: Mozart and J.W. Goethe
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 11:38:34 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
There is no record of Goethe and Mozart meeting, except for
Goethe's remembrance in 1830 of seeing Mozart in concert when
Mozart was a seven year old boy.

Two Lieder with Mozart connections are set to texts by Goethe.
The spurious "Mailied" K.Anh C8.24 uses the Goethe text "Wie
herrlich leuchtet mir die Natur". But what interests us more is
Mozart's most famous Lieder, "Das Veilchen" K476, written June 8,
1785 . Mozart's source is possibly from a setting of the poem
(however not naming Goethe as the author) in the third "Collection
of German Lieder for the Piano" (Vienna, 1780) which was
recorded in the Mozart estate after his death. Mozart headed the
autograph "Das Velichen vom Göthe", the only time we know
Mozart recorded any poet's name on an autograph. Because of this
John Arthur has written: "Indeed, it is tempting to suspect some
unknown personal link between the two men, or at least to
consider some other personal interpretation of Mozart's choice of
text".

dennis

Subject: Re: Mozart and J.W. Goethe
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 00:40:04 03/27/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Dear Dennis, Andrea and Don,

Thanks very much for responding to my query. I've been doing some research on Goethe, but most specifically, I want to establish his 'connection' with Mozart in any way.

And yes, in my research I've also come across with "Das Veilchen" K476 being mentioned.

Hoping you all have a great weekend!

Best regards,
Tel

Subject: Datings and Occasions for Mozart Divertimenti and Serenades
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 03:39:57 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:

We all have recordings of Mozart's Divertimenti and Serenades in
our collections. However many times it is difficult to keep track of
when and for what reason they were composed. To help keep
these dates and reasons in mind, I have compiled of list of the
Divertimenti and Serenades (excluding those for winds) with likely
dating of each composition and the occasion for its composition.
Many datings are not certain and even more occasions are
unknown. The basis for the information is mostly the volumes of
the Neue Mozart Ausgabe (NMA) that each work was published in.

"Gallimathias musicum" KV. 32 -- Composed prior to March 11,
1766, most likely in Amsterdam between late January and early
March. For celebrations around installation of Prince of Orange in
Hague.

Cassation in G KV. 63 -- Composed (early) summer 1769 as
Finalmusik at University in Salzburg for either August 6 or August
8, 1769.

Cassation in Bb KV. 99/63a -- Composed (early) summer 1769 as
Finalmusik for Univsersity in Salzburg for either August 6 or 8,
1769--opposite the occasion of KV. 63.

Cassation in D KV.100/62a -- Composed in summer 1769, mostly
likely after KV. 63 and KV. 99/63a; perhaps homage to Archbiship,
acknowledging appointment to unpaid Concertmaster post on
October 27, 1769.

Divertimento in Eb KV. 113 -- Composed November 1771 in
Milan; most likely for Academy on November 22 or 23. Additional
winds added perhaps in Spring 1773 in Milan (NMA). However Alan
Tyson's watermarks studies place additional winds in Salzburg
after the Milan trip.

Divertimenti in D, Bb, F KV. 136,137,138/125a,b,c -- Composed
in Salzburg in 1772 for unknown occasion and purpose.

Divertimento in D KV. 131 -- Composed in beginning of June
1772 in Salzburg for unknown occassion and purpose.

Divertimento in D "Antretterin Musik" KV.205/167A -- Composed
mostly likely before July 14, 1773, in Salzburg; perhaps for
Nameday of Maria Anna Antretter on July 26, 1773.

Serenade in D "Antretter Serenade" KV. 185/167a -- Composed
late July or early August 1773 in Vienna; occasion was the
Salzburg University Finalmusik for Logici in early August 1773.

Serenade in D KV. 203/189b -- Composed probably August 1774
in Salzburg for unknown occasion.

Serenade in D KV. 204/213a -- Dated August 5, 1775, in
Salzburg for unknown occasion.

"Serenate notturna" in D KV. 239 -- Composed January 1776 in
Salzburg for unknown occasion.

Divertimento in F "1st Lodron Nachtmusik" KV. 247 -- Composed
June 1776 in Salzburg, perhaps for Nameday of Countess Lodron
on June 13.

Serenade in D "Haffner" KV.250/248a -- Composed for wedding
festivities of Marie Elisabeth Haffner on July 21, 1776, in Salzburg.

Divertimento in D KV.251 -- Composed July 1776 in Salzburg,
probably for Nannerl Mozart's Nameday festivities on night of July
25.

Notturno in D "Echo" KV.286/269a -- Composed most likely early
1777 in Salzburg for unknown occasion. (Probably a Carnival
entertainment; perhaps only a 3-movement fragment).

Divertimento in Bb "2nd Lodron Nachtmusik" KV. 287/271H --
Composed for Nameday of Countess Lodron; performed June 16,
1777, in Salzburg.

Serenade in D "Posthorn" KV. 320 -- Dated August 3, 1779, in
Salzburg for University Finalmusik.

Divertimento in D "Robinig Musik" KV. 334/320b -- Composed
1779-1780 in Salzburg, perhaps as University Finalmusik for
Sigmund Robinig in summer of 1780.

"Musikalischer Spass" in F KV. 522 -- Dated June 14, 1787,
Vienna; for unknown occasion.

"Eine kleine Nachtmusik" in G KV. 525 -- Dated August 10, 1787,
Vienna; for unkown occasion.

dennis

Subject: Re: Datings and Occasions for Mozart Divertimenti and Serenades
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 06:38:42 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dennis,
Splendid, and oh, so handy! You are quite right, keeping these all straight is a nightmare, a straightforward list like this is clearly for the best.
Regards,
Gurn

Subject: Re: Datings and Occasions for Mozart Divertimenti and Serenades
From: Zevy
To: All
Date Posted: 18:29:03 03/27/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Ironic - EKN has such glory and we don't even know for what occasion it was composed....

Zevy

Subject: Re: Scores and plots
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 16:16:43 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Daisy and Agnes,
I don't have the libretto, only the main plot from Girdham's book, which I typed above.
And quite frankly, when one reads the plots of some of the operas composed by Storace, one really wonder at the success of them. I suppose the music was truly magnificent.. and it was more like operetta or musical theatre plot than opera.

Alas, all the complete scores of Storace's operas burned along with Drury Lane, so there is now only the piano-voice scores left, and what was printed in London. only the complete scores for his Viennese operas survive (I would kill to hear them ! Well, almost...)
So we are left with our imagination to understand what pleased so much the audiences of the times. As Storace's operas were performed till the end of the 19th c in England and the US, it MAY be that some full scores, used in the provincial theatres, survive somewhere, but so far, not one has been found.

The only comparison would be to imagine a minute, knowing Don Giovanni only with extracts of a piano-voice score. Or try listening to a reduction of Le Nozze di Figaro. It is depressing... and it is impossible to really understand the quality of it...

Kind regards,
Emmanuelle -last fan of the Storaces.

Subject: Building a Mozart Collection Question for Steve, & others...
From: Bill Szep
To: All
Date Posted: 19:55:47 03/24/04 ()
Email Address: wszep@att.net
 

Message:
Hello Steve,

I am piecing my Mozart collection together and I came across the BC collection and was wondering what you think of it?

I like both the modern and period instruments. I would like to complete the Mozart collection. Does this set really have everything in the Mozart catalogue?

I have bought the complete string quartets/quintets from Naxos, complete symphonies with Trevor Pinnock, complete piano trios with the Mozartean Players, and the dances, marches, and contradances on Phillips. I like piecing this together; however, when I see the BC collection, it is very tempting!

I welcome your, and others, thoughts about building a Mozart collection.

Thanks,
Bill

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Bill Szep
To: All
Date Posted: 19:58:57 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I guess I should clarify that I mean "Brilliant Classics"! I changed my title without changing the text. Sorry!
Bill

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 23:08:17 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I would recommend the Brilliant Classics set to anyone that wants to really hear and own Mozart, on a budget.
I have some experience with the Phillips set, and it is the better of the two. It also costs in the area of triple. The Brilliant Classics set is pretty well organized, has some good performers and some great ones. They do present many things on period instruments. The symphonies are all done by small orchestra. I don't think either set has an advantage
as far as completeness goes. Neither is absolutly complete, there are fragments and arrangements and oddities that I imagine will always keep me looking to complete the collection

Brilliant is very weak in liner notes. Many things are not well covered and some are flat out wrong, like the story I once mentioned about Aloysia having given birth to a "love child" of Mozarts. If you already own a few reference books (and visit this site) as your source of infomation then the weakness in liner material won't bother you. If you are dependant on liner notes for your historical knowledge then you will not become well educated.

You can pick up the Brilliant set for about $500.

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Bill Szep
To: All
Date Posted: 10:28:35 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Thanks Steve and Gurn,

I really appreciate both of your inputs into this burning questing - for me!

I think that I could be happy with the Brilliant Classics set. As you mentioned, Steve, I won't be bothered by the weak notes. I have bought a lot of Mozart books by Robbins-Landon and others - and always read this site to "bump up" my Mozart knowledge! Finding time to post replies is the trick! Be assured that I am reading the great posts on this site and am always learning! Thanks again! I will probably buy this set in the future and hold on to what I already have. Buying this set will save me a lot of time browsing Amazon and make my wife happier that I cut down on my computer time!

Gurn, thank you for the review on the "BC"! I hope you enjoy your cd's you just purchased. I am interested to see how you like them.

Thanks again!
Bill

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 07:03:00 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I have picked up 2 volumes of the Brilliant set, the German Dances and the Orchestral Serenades. In both cases my reason for purchase was to get a lot of pieces that were rarely available elsewhere all in one low priced package. And I wasn't disappointed either! The playing was excellent, sound was very good too. If you are thinking of going this route though, use a fraction of the money you save over buying the Philips set and invest it immediately (if you don't already have it) in a copy of the "Compleat Mozart" by Neal Zaslaw. Then the lack of not only liner notes but even certain identification of the piece will become meaningless and you will be a happy camper!

Regards,
Gurn

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Cocchini
To: All
Date Posted: 11:40:38 03/25/04 ()
Email Address: alfredandeileen@hotmail.com
 

Message:
This collection is available from www.zweitausendeins.de for c.$350.00, including shipment to the U.S. They have different shipping fees depending on destination. I have ordered from
Zweitausendeins in the past, the Complete Bach Edition by B.C. being one item, and have found them to be reliable but a bit slow (3 to 5 weeks to the U.S.).
Anyway, it's probably the lowest available price for the collection, unless you can find one on Ebay.

Alfred

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Bill Szep
To: All
Date Posted: 06:30:25 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Afred and Steve,

Thanks for this info. I will visit and bookmark this website for future reference. I have already taken a lot of cd's off of my Amazon wish list!

Thanks again!
Bill

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 12:04:15 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
This is where I bought my set and this price is lower that what I paid. I had no troubles in paying by CC or in shipping from Germany. They were not offering the complete set as currently described back then. I bought the pictured boxes about 6 at a time. I do question one thing in the description....

>>>Die komplette Mozart-Edition von Brilliant Classics auf 170 CDs zusammen im Paket<<<<

I'm not sure about that "zusammen im Paket" I have purchased other things from Brilliant in what they called economy packets. What I got was a little paperboard sleeve for each CD. No plastic jewel case
and no liner notes at all. Not having the plastic cases
or the organizational boxes might be a problem for a 170 CD set. It might be a good idea to clarify what
zusammen im Paket means here.

The price of 272 Euros for the complete set is really
astounding. Even if I figure my time is worth $5.00 an hour I easily spent more than $300 in time searhing for recordings before buying my set.

Regards

Steve

Subject: Re: Building a Mozart Collection - Brilliant Classics (BC)!
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 08:06:43 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Steve,
Well, it is no bargain to have gotten the jewel boxes. The two boxes I talked about above came in jewel cases, and they only added to the bulk. I box of 10 jewel cases is HUGE on the shelf given how little is in it, whilst sitting next to it unobtrusively is my AAM / Hogwood Complete symphonies the is 19 disks AND an excellent booklet taking up about 1" of shelf space!! Actually I was hoping to get the packaging that you got. Wanna trade? ;-))
Regards,
Gurn
PS - and not a lick of literature, either! :-(

Subject: Re: Brilliant Classics (BC) packaging in France
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 15:58:09 03/26/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
and not a lick of literature, either! :-(

In the Brilliant Classics CD sets I bought in France in some stores, there was no libretti other than the original text (and no translations) and someimtes liner notes in English but no libretti -as for the Betulia Liberata !!
These came in cardboard "wrapping" in which there are some plastic cases (what you call "jewel boxes" ? sorry the notion is unfamiliar to me !) for the CDs.

Is the series packaged differently in the different countries.
I never saw some volumes of this serie in Paris.

Best regards,
Emmanuelle

PS : This gets curiouser and curiouser. I bought maily some vocal works I didn't have. Some recordings are excellent, and others merely good, but there is always something interesting in this collection.

Subject: The Czernin Violin Concertos???
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 04:21:59 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
[Note: This originally was printed in the Mozart Newsletter]

It has incorrectly been stated many times that Mozart's Violin
Concertos were written for Antonio Brunetti. This is not the case,
as Brunetti did not arrive in Salzburg until 1776. He certainly
played some--if not all--later, but they were not written for him.
The Violinist Johann Kolb has been brought up in connection to
the questionable Violin Concerto KV 271i and in connection with
the Violin Concerto in Bb, KV 207, because Leopold Mozart
referred to "your Concerto for Kolb" in a letter to Wolfgang. For
lack of anyone else, and because Mozart was a very accomplished
Violinist, most have put forward Mozart himself as the first
performers of these 5 Violin Concertos.

I present another name for consideration: Count Johann Rudolph
Czernin.

The 17 year old Count Johann Rudolph Czernin arrived in Salzburg
in 1775, to attend the university there. He was the son of Count
Prokop Adalbert Czernin. His sister was Countess Antonie Lützow.
And perhaps most important his deceased mother was the sister
of Archbishop Colloredo, thus the Count was a nephew of the
Salzburg Archbishop.

Countess Lützow, 25 years old, was a fine pianist and Mozart
composed a Piano Concerto (KV. 246) for her in 1776. Count
Johann Rudolph Czernin was an aspiring Violinist.

Ruth Halliwell ("The Mozart Family") brings forth an ideaa the
Czernin family had a type of financial arrangement with the
Mozarts for some period begining in 1775. For a relatively long
period of time in Salzburg Mozart wrote a considerable number of
compositions which had nothing to do with his court duties. Even
though none of the many compositions can be shown to have
been written for Count Johann Rudolph Czernin it would seem
probable some were, and that Mozart was paid for them.

When the father, Count Prokop Adalbert, visited Salzburg to see
his children, musical entertainment was provided. The father
arrived in Salzburg for a visit on May 29, 1775. Unfortunately we
do not know when he left. Mozart's Violin Concerto KV 211 is
dated June 14, 1775. Could this have been written for a
performance with the Old Count in attendance? And is it not
possible the performer was his son, Count Johann Rudolph
Czernin? The following April Mozart a Piano Concerto for his
sister, Countess Lützow, written just before a number of Czernin
family memebers visited Salzburg.

Think of the possibilities. Mozart could kill several birds with one
stone here. He composes a piece for the young Count, the
Count's father hears him premiere it (or at least the father's first
hearing of the Concerto by his son), and he makes points with the
young Count's uncle--also Mozart's boss. Even if Wolfgang could
not see the possibilities, would Leopold Mozart have let an
opportunity (spelled $$$$$) like this slip through his fingers?

In September, October and Decembr of 1775, Mozart writes 3
more Violin Concertos. Then in December 1776 we learn in a letter
from Karl, Freiherr von Petermann to Count Prokop Adalbert
Czernin that the Count was to give "the little Motzard" an annual
payment of 20 ducats. This payment is probably for future
compositions, but also older compositions mighty be in the deal,
as the letter further states "He also told me that he will send the
Symphony and the other pieces at the earliest opportunity". Could
these "other pieces" include one Violin Concerto or more written
for the Count's son?

More food for thought here. The Violin Concerto KV 207 is
apparently dated April 14, 1775, but recent research shows the
date was altered from 1773 to 1775. In April 1775 Archduke
Maximilian visited Salzburg. For the big event Mozart was
commissioned to compose 'Il Re Pastore'. On April 24, 1775 a
concert was given with performers drawn from the nobility.
Among these performers was Count Johann Rudolph Czernin.
Could Mozart (father or son) have altered the date so the young
Count believed he was receiving a brand new Violin Concerto?

dennis

Subject: Re: The Czernin Violin Concertos???
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 21:21:59 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear dennis,

I think this works well as a theory. The only reason to change the date on a manuscript is to fool someone. Normally, that might be a publisher, but the violin concerti weren't published in Mozart's lifetime (I don't believe). Two other possibilites would be to fool the Count, should he see t