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 the manuscript, or the copyists, who would see that manuscript. Copyists would be needed to make performing copies for the players, or to make a copy for a purchaser of the manuscript. Of course, the Mozarts could have made a copy for the Count themselves, but then why obliterate the date? Most likely, the markouts were made so that a copyist would not spread the gossip that the work in question was an older one, especially troublesome if a Count were informed that the works were new.

The only flaw in that line is that the concertos in question most likely were played earlier in Salzburg. After all, Mozart rarely wrote out music months before it was needed. Hence someone could remember that point and pass the information along to the Count.

All in all though, it's a good workable theory that covers the ground and ties a lot of loose facts together.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 21:12:45 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
CONTEMPORARIES OF MOZART:

Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812)

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 as friends and colleagues.
Knew from reputation.
Taught/nurtured as pupils and students.

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was born in Rothenburg am Neckar in May 1754. When he was only 14 years old he arrived in Vienna to study law, but soon became so attracted to the city’s rich musical life, that upon graduating, he decided to devote his life to music, both with composition and, as it turned out, publishing. By the 1780s he had become one of the city’s most popular composers, with an extensive and varied list of works to his credit. His music was geared more towards the skilled amateur market than to the professional, meaning that he was tapping into the developing middle class coming to the forefront in Vienna.

Hoffmeister’s reputation today however rests almost exclusively on his activities as a music publisher, though. In 1785, he established one of Vienna’s first music publishing businesses, second only to Artaria & Co that had ventured into this field only five years earlier. Vienna was the home to a great industry of copyists, who supplied the music market with hand-produced copies of various works by a multitude of composers. Until Artaria and Hoffmeister came along, there were no major music publishers of printed scores in Vienna. Over the next 15 years Hoffmeister issued works by many prominent Viennese composers amongst them Albrechtsberger, Clementi, E.A. Förster, Ordonez, Pleyel, Vanhal and Paul Wranitzky, as well as himself. Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn are all represented in his vast catalogue, Mozart by several important first editions including the G minor Piano Quartet K.478, and the single String Quartet in D K.499, the ‘Hoffmeister’ Quartet.

Hoffmeister’s publishing activities reached a peak in 1791, but thereafter they seemed to take a back seat to composition. He appears to have been somewhat of a dilettante overall in regards to business. He often missed announced schedules, opened ill-conceived branch offices (which went bankrupt), and changed addresses more frequently than good business practices would dictate. When times became tougher in the late 1780’s and early 1790’s, he sold the rights (and plates) of many works to Artaria and J. Amon. In 1799 Hoffmeister and the flautist Franz Thurner set off on a concert tour that was to have taken them as far a field as London. They got no further than Leipzig however, where Hoffmeister befriended the organist Ambrosius Kühnel. The two must have decided to set up a music publishing partnership for “within a year” they had founded the Bureau de Musique that would later grow into the well-respected firm of C.F. Peters, which is still active today. Until 1805 Hoffmeister kept both the Viennese firm and the newer Leipzig publishing house going, but in March 1805 he transferred sole ownership of the Bureau de Musique to Kühnel, arranging as part of the transfer a life annuity for himself. His interest in the Viennese firm was finally waning as well, for in 1806, apparently to allow more time for composition, he sold his 20-year-old business to the Chemische Druckerey.

As a composer Hoffmeister was highly respected by his contemporaries. This is evident from this entry in Gerber’s Neues Lexikon der Tonkünstler published around the time of his death in 1812:

”If you were to take a glance at his many and varied works, then you would have to admire the diligence and the cleverness of this composer.... He earned for himself a well-deserved and widespread reputation through the original content of his works, which are not only rich in emotional expression but also distinguished by the interesting and suitable use of instruments and through good practability. For this last trait we have to thank his knowledge of instruments, which is so evident that you might think that he was a virtuoso on all of the instruments for which he wrote.”

He was a very prolific composer; popular not only in Vienna and Austria, but throughout the German states and other parts of Europe. His music can claim flowing and pleasant melodies, making them easy for amateurs to sound good with. Overall however, his style is lacking in depth and originality. For the most part, his music was out of fashion by the 1820’s. Prominent in Hoffmeister’s extensive listings of works are those for the flute, not only concertos but also chamber works with the flute in a leading role. Many of these works were composed with Vienna’s growing number of amateur musicians in mind for whom the flute was one of the most favored instruments.

Hoffmeister composed at least eight operas (including one in collaboration with Süssmayr), about 66 symphonies, numerous concertos (at least 25 are for the flute, 14 keyboard, and around 20 others for various instruments and combinations of instruments), a large amount of chamber music, piano music, and many collections of songs.
Some Recordings:

Clarinet Concertos on Koch/Schwann 3-6422-2 (1) by Hoffmeister for 2 clarinets
KlarinettenKonzerte on Acanta 45 569 (1) by Hoffmeister
Wind Serenades on CPO CD 999107
Flute Concertos (1 by Hoffmeister) on Novalis 150162
String Quartets (2) on Naxos 8.55952

Sources:
Clive, Peter Mozart and His Circle: A Biographical Dictionary Yale University Press, New Haven 1993
Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) Article in The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd Edition Groves Dictionaries, New York 2000
.
Artaria composers list
Liner notes from some of the above CDs

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 14:43:16 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:

Dear Gary,

Thank you once again for the wonderful posting. It brings to mind the following:

On 20 November,1785 Mozart wrote to Franz Anton Hoffmeister:

"Dearest Hoffmeister!
I turn to you in my distress and beg you to help me out with some money, which I need very badly at this moment. Further, I entreat you to endeavour to procure for me as soon as possible the thing you know about. Forgive me for constantly worrying you, but as you know me and are aware how anxious I am that your business should succeed, I am convinced that you will not misconstrue my importunity and that you will help me as readily as I shall help you". (Emily Anderson;
Vol.II page 894).

"THE THING YOU KNOW ABOUT..." What could this "thing" be? Hoffmeister was Mozart's publisher during the composer's lifetime. Hoffmeister was also the chief procurer of music for Count Walsegg providing him with published scores, his own and other composers' works. He also acted as an in-between agent-purchaser of works composed by poverty sticken composers for which the Count paid well, then copied and presented as his own works to his orchestra. Evidence of this was found in an article written by Anton Herzog, a member of Count Walsegg's orchestra, discovered by Otto Schneider and published by Otto Erich Deutsch in the "Osterreichische Musikzeitschrift" in 1964.

Was Mozart asking Hoffmeister to procure for him a commission from Count Walsegg? There had been a rumour
floating about that Mozart had composed six quartets for Count Walsegg. In 1838 Count Moritz von Dietrichstein, the director of the Court Library in Vienna, had asked a judicial officer by the name of Nowack, a former employee of count Walsegg to search for Mozart's six quartets. The quartets were never found, instead Nowack found the Requiem. Are there still Mozart's six quartets hidden in someone's private library, were they ever written or are they now lost to posterity?

Count Walsegg's many manuscripts, acquired during a lifetime of obssessive collecting, have disappeared except for two works held, to the best of my knowledge, in the Archives of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. One of them, a flute concerto, was composed by Hoffmeister.

We face a dilemma here. Why was Mozart in debt in 1785? Earlier in the year, his father was visiting his son in Vienna. Leopold was impressed with his son's earnings and wrote to his daughter, Nannerl:
"If my son has no debts to pay, I think he can now lodge 2000 gulden in the bank". Again on on 12 March 1785 Leopold wrote to Nannerl:

"Your brother made 559 gulden at his concert, which we never expected, as he is giving six subscription concerts at the Mehlgrube..."

Where did all this money go?

Dr. Peter Davies suspected Mozart's gambling well before his debts to Prince Lichnowsky were discovered.

The question remains unanswred, did Mozart gamble right through the 10 years of his life in Vienna? Constanze took this secret to her grave but close study of Mozart's letters' particularly towards the end of his life when there were fewer and fewer friends to turn to for loans, paint a sorry picture.

Regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Michael Mallon
To: All
Date Posted: 12:20:13 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Gary,

Thanks for the interesting article. I love this series!

Do you own the Hoffmeister quartets on Naxos? If so, how are they?

Thank you,
Michael

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 21:11:05 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Michael,

Thanks for the thanks! I enjoy this series as well, since it's an offshoot of the pursuit of good music by Mozart's contemporaries. You find a lot of fair to good stuff, the occasional noteworthy piece (which is almost always just a single movement in a larger work), and, rarely, that work that is a standout.

On the Hoffmeister quartets; I don't own them, but have heard them in the not too distant past. They're good works, but unmemorable. Hoffmeister was writing to the amateur/dilitante market, not really to the professionals or connoseurs. I don't want this to sound like a slap, but someone makes good money today composing elevator music, i.e. background music, and so I think that Hoffmeister sorta fits in there.

If you think of Vienna circa the early to mid 1780's as riding the "dotcom" bubble of it's time, then you can understand that there was a lot of entertaining going on, and hence a need for music for these parties, et al. I read an ad from a music vendor of the time that offered the public all sorts of music "of the lastest issue" for rent, and would even supply musicians and equipment for the parties. An important point in the ad was that a proper party required two symphonies be played, and since one was expected to give three parties a week, you could get a deal by renting all six at once.

This was the market Hoffmeister wrote for. And since he published his own music, his standards of selection were obviously a bit biased! Pleasant music of little depth, no too taxing for semi-professionals or gifted amateurs, and priced right.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Doug
To: All
Date Posted: 05:11:10 03/24/04 ()
Email Address: dbedg@wave.co.nz
 

Message:
Next week I will be playing viola in small concert. The featured work is to be a trio by Hoffmeister for Flute, Viola and Cello. It is a very good composition well written and showing a good knowledge of the capabilities of the instruments. I also have three of his quartets and very much enjoy playing his duet for Flute and Viola.

Very enjoyable music, well crafted but it does not come near Mozart's. Soon I am due to play in the supreme duet of them all - Mozarts duo for violin and viola number 2. IMHO no duet of any two instruments by any composer gets anywhere near this one for beauty, invention and playability, unless it is his duet No 1.

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Hoffmeister
From: Teresa
To: All
Date Posted: 17:30:47 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
What can I say, but kudos to Gary and Agnes for some fascinating material. And Good luck, Doug. Are you a professional musician?

All the best,
Teresa

Subject: Diva
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 23:34:39 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
THE ROLE OF THE STORACE SIBLINGS IN THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ENGLISH THEATRE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

Many thanks to Emmanuelle Sayag Pesque for the information she supplied to make this article possible.
-----------------------------

By: Agnes Selby.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, English theatre audiences did not possess the
sophistication of their European counterparts . On any given night it was not unusual for
warring factions to invade the stage and do battle there, damaging the scenery as
well as their opponents in the process, while a favourite Italian castrato continued
to belt out his aria.

The late eighteenth century forefathers of today’s English soccer hooligans found
English theatres a perfect venue, not only for their battles but also for warmth during the
winter months. The King’s Theatre, although more snobbish than Covent Garden or
Drury Lane, did not escape such invasion. The audience, when unable to understand the
story line on stage, sung in a foreign language, proceeded to provide its own
entertainment. The battling factions on stage received loud encouragement from their
supporters in the two-penny gallery.

On stage, the story line was not followed by the diva either, as the reigning custom
allowed her to sing her favourite arias irrespective of the opera being performed.
When members of the Royal family attended a performance, the audience
would often turn their backs to the stage in order to watch visiting Royalty rather than
the production. Admiring royalty and watching the nobility dressed to the hilt in elegant
costumes was more interesting than the production on stage. The nobility in turn watched
each other, this being part and parcel of their entertainment. Catcalls were frequent and
on wintry nights, coughing and sneezing drowned out even the highest pitched efforts
of the diva. The curtains on the boxes were often drawn during the performance while
the ladies thus closeted entertained their paramours. Their maids were busy behind the
curtains providing tasty morsels to the enamoured couples.

The invading hordes climbed all over the stage causing singers to duck for cover or
deal with the invasion in another way: “The stage of the Opera is so crowded that
Madam Rosa, in throwing her fine muscular arm into a graceful attitude, inadvertently
leveled three men of the first quality of a stroke”. (The Times 1798)

Going to the Opera appears to have been a life-threatening experience as well. The Irish
tenor, Michael Kelly in his autobiography, “Reminiscences” , describes an occasion

when, during his tenure as manager at the King’s Theatre, the Royal family’s visit
to the threatre created a stampede at the entry to the Opera House causing no fewer
than sixteen people to be trampled to death. However, the show did go on and the
Royal family heard nothing of the shocking incident until the following day

On April 19, 1782, “The Times” reported “the death of Mrs. Fitzherbert,
relic of the late Rev. Mr. Fitzherbert of Northamptonshire. On Wednesday evening
before her death, this lady went to Drury-Lane Theatre in company with some friends, to
see the Beggar’s Opera. On Mr. Bannister’s making his appearance in the character of
Polly, the whole audience were thrown into an uproar of laughter, unfortunately the
actor’s whimsical appearance had a fatal effect on Mrs. Fitzherber”t. It seems that Mrs. Fitzherbert “could not banish the figure from her memory, was thrown into hysterics, which continued without intermission until Friday morning, when she expired”.

The King’s Theatre was the home of the Italian Opera. The Italian singers
guarded their domain against their English colleagues with tactics resembling
those used by their Mafioso cousins of a later era. Sharp tongues were useful as
weapons to destroy an English singer’s reputation and the hysterical outbursts
of a reigning diva could keep the so-called undesirables from performing at the
theatre.

William Taylor, the manager of the King’s Theatre, was known for not paying his bills.
He rented a permanent apartment at the Debtors’ Prison from where he successfully
ran the theatre and presided at popular and well attended parties. Emma Hamilton,
Nelson’s mistress, was his next door neighbour, also with a permanent apartment at the
Debtors’ Prison. When they gave their separate parties on the same night, their titled
guests mingled with each other in perfect harmony. This did not help the singers at the
King’s Theatre who were lucky to get half of their contractual salary. As for the
composers who worked on a commission from the sale of tickets, they had very little
income for their efforts. Pressed by his personnel for what was due to them, Taylor
would retire in seeming despair to the Debtors’ Prison where he continued to live a life of
luxury.
.
By 1787 the King’s Theatre was eighty years old. It was a large theatre seating
1300 and was the only theatre licensed to present fully sung operas. It was badly
maintained and an Italian traveller observed that the “Englishmen of fashion were
squeezed into holes lined with dirty old paper and the walls of it covered with crimson
fluff”. The entry price was considerably higher than at the other two major theatres,
Covent Garden and Drury Lane, but all London theatres suffered from bad management
and lack of funds.

On the night of 17 June, 1789 the King’s Theatre burned to the ground. There were
a number of theories as to how this happened and accusations of arson were directed
at the then manager, Gallini. Luckily no one was hurt and the St. James Chronicle
observed “ that the fire was a blessing in disguise”. The King’s Theatre was eventually
rebuilt to greater glory with many more seats and more financial losses.

Two people emerged during this period with a considerable influence
on the contemporary performances of English opera : Anna Selina (Nancy)
Storace, the diva and her brother, Stephen Storace, the composer. Stephen Storace was a
Pre-Raphaelite, dying before that era had even begun. He was a man of many
talents. His friend and colleague, Michael Kelly in his autobiography, “Reminiscences”
speaks of Stephen Storace’s mathematical genius. Well regarded as a painter, Stephen
Storace painted exquisite scenery for many of his own operas, but his paintings, like
his operas, are lost to posterity.

Stephen Storace was overshadowed in life as in death by his sister Nancy, whose
fame survives as the first Susanna in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”.
She is also burdened by a reputation as Mozart’s mistress. Reputable scholars have
insisted on linking her romantically with Mozart, a liaison for which there is absolutely
no evidence. She is said to have introduced Mozart’s operas to English audiences but
throughout her career on the English stage, she never sang in a complete Mozart opera.
In fact, not a single Mozart opera was performed in London until well after Nancy
Storace’s retirement. Contrary to her description as a beautiful English rose, she
had inherited her dark, earthy looks from her Neapolitan father, Stefano and not from
her English mother, Elizabeth Trusler, considered to have been a fair-skinned and blue-
eyed beauty by her contemporaries.

As exceptionally talented as the Storace children were, they were the product of
their father’s ambition. He had watched with great interest the machinations of Leopold
Mozart, during that family’s visit to London in 1764 -1765. Father Mozart made goodly
sums of money from his precocious children’s performances and this, coupled with the
fame that followed, proved to be an irresistibly intoxicating incentive for Stefano
Storace’s own paternal ambitions.

Storace pere had come to England from Italy, having graduated as
a violinist from the prestigious Conservatorium in Naples where he had prominent
family connections, his uncle being the Bishop of Naples. He arrived in Dublin with
these strong credentials and began a life-long friendship with Thomas Sheridan, father
of the English dramatist and parliamentarian, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, famous
for his masterpiece, “The School for Scandal”. There were too many Italian violinists in
Dublin so the ever inventive Stefano changed his instrument to the double bass. After
two years in Dublin, Stefano moved to London where he married Elizabeth Trusler
and became an influential member of the musical fraternity.

During his early teens, Stephen was sent to his uncle, the Bishop of Naples, to study at
his father’s Alma Mater, the Naples Conservatorium. It is there that he rebelled against
the privileges imposed upon him by his father and joined a group of English painters on
their painting excursions into the countryside, rarely attending his prescribed school.
He was rescued from this rebellious folly by his family’s arrival in Naples to further
Nancy’s singing studies. Nancy, however, was soon put to work and by the time she was
sixteen she was engaged as Prima Buffa at La Scala in Milan.

At about this time Stefano pere died and Nancy, accompanied by her mother and brother
continued her quest for fame. Not long after his father’s death, the liberated Stephen
returned to London where for a while he tried his hand as a painter as well as a
mathematics teacher. At the behest of his sister, he composed a number of arias which
she included in her every performance at La Scala. As in London, it was the custom at
La Scala for the diva to choose her own favourite arias, irrespective of the opera being
performed. Thus Stephen Storace fulfilled his late father’s dream and became a
composer.

In 1784 at the age of seventeen, Nancy obtained the post of Prima Donna of the
newly re-established Italian opera in Vienna. She arrived in Vienna, accompanied by her
mother, the baritone Francesco Benucci and the tenor, Michael Kelly. A most elegant
apartment was provided for her as well as a carriage and a pair of fine horses. Two
maids and a cook were there to fulfil her every wish. Elegant, sophisticated audiences
graced the Opera House and the public galleries housed attentive and well behaved
crowds. All expenses incurred by the Opera House were met by the Emperor, Joseph II.

Nancy remained in Vienna for three years during which time she married Abraham
Fisher, an English violinist, a friend and contemporary of her father’s whom Michael
Kelly described as the ugliest creature in all of Christendom, Nancy bore a child, a little
girl whom she refused to care for, the baby dying soon after her birth. Nancy endured
the cruelty and beatings of the jealous Fisher until the Emperor himself intervened and
Fisher was exiled from Vienna.

The Vienna years added to Nancy’s operatic experience. Her performances included
Paisielo’s setting of Beaumarchais’ play, “The Barber of Seville” Martin y Soler’s “Una
Cosa Rara”, and operas by Antonio Salieri. Her greatest fame comes from her
perfomance as the first “Susanna” in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” Her lover at the time was Benucci, the Figaro to her Susanna. With this pairing in mind Mozart and Da Ponte created a most enduring operatic masterpiece. Steven Storace arrived in Vienna in 1785 to present his own opera, “Gli sposi malcontenti”, with Da Ponte as librettist, experiencing great success with his original opera score. The scores of this opera as well as that of his subsequent work for the Viennese Opera are now lost.

During this period, Nancy gave her heart to Lord Barnard who arrived in Vienna with a group of young English aristocrats as partof their Grand European Tour. This descent on Vienna by some of England’s tide of youthful “John Bulls” was a yearly occurrence. They held horse races in the Prater, they gambled and went wild with drink, smashing lamp posts and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Reparations for the damage caused by the rampaging young aristocrats were paid out of the English Ambassador, Sir Keith’s own pocket and his letter testifies to his dread of these marauders. Sir Keith, wrote in 1786, “ I will certainly be wiser to get out of the way, for my purse
is at a very low ebb”. Lord Barnard by contrast, spent his time entirely at the opera,
entertaining Nancy or being entertained by the Storaces in their luxurious apartment.
He speaks in his diary about the delightful suppers he enjoyed with Miss Storace.

Nancy returned to London in 1787 in the company of Lord Barnard, her mother, her
brother, Michael Kelly and Thomas Atwood who had spent some years as Mozart’s pupil
on a scholarship provided by the Prince of Wales. Nancy Storace returned to London
with a one year contract at the King’s Theatre. She was heralded as a great returning
diva by the London newspapers: “ Storace of high distinction at the Emperor’s Court and
courted everywhere as the Empress of the musical line is expected to land at Dover on
Monday next the 26th”. (“The World” , March 22, 1787).

Nancy was just twenty-one years old. She had left London as a thirteen-year old child so
her native city must have appeared to her almost as a foreign country. One of the
principal differences between Vienna and London that Nancy was soon to notice was her
status as a professional performer. There was no question of direct court patronage or
of lodgings or carriages or servants being provided for her. She had to arrange all this
herself and pay for it from her own purse. The theatres were private enterprises,
run by managers who often pocketed the nightly takings, and the audiences were
a world away from those she was accustomed to in Vienna.

Nancy began her London career with acclaim. Her debut took place on 25 April
1787 at the King’s Theatre as Lisetta in Paisiello’s opera “Il Teodore in Venezia”. The
Times reported on 26 April: “Her figure petite – yet pleasing – eyes full of fire – features
finely formed – a volubility of expression, admirably calculated for the recitative
burletta – a sweetness and depth of tone, rarely to be met in a female voice – a delightful
shade with the most perfect knowledge of music’s art sums up the perfection of this new
operatic star”.

During this time, Nancy suffered the greatest disappointment of her young life. The
attentive Lord Barnard soon married his cousin, Lady Katherine Powlet, daughter of the
Duke of Bolton. On June 6, according to his diary, he dined with Nancy for the last time.
Lord Barnard subsequently embarked on a distinguished parliamentary career as MP
for Totnes. Although his diary reveals frequent visits to the opera , it also reveals his
sorrow at not ever being with Nancy Storace again. Banishment also awaited her

estranged husband, Abraham Fisher. After Nancy refused to see him, he engaged lawyers
and promised to disappear from Nancy’s life only upon her undertaking to pay him 10
pounds annually. Nancy rejected the blackmail and Fisher departed for good for his
native Ireland where he died in 1806.

The practice of compiling music from various composers into pasticcio operas was
already well developed by the time Stephen and Nancy Storace returned to London. John
Adolphus, a contemporary music critic and historian said of this operatic genre:
“The great art consisted of making every air and duet produce its utmost effect by not
overloading the performers with difficulties or condemning them to struggle with
compositions which could only acquire applause by exciting wonder without producing
pleasure”.

Once Stephen Storace realised that he had a gift for pasticcio opera, he began to
formulate some definite ideas as to how a new kind of English comic opera might be
created. This would not solely rely on the good-natured tunefulness of contemporary
composers such as Arnold and Shield but would also venture to incorporate into
English tradition the best of opera buffa - the charm of Paisiello and the greatness of
Mozart - by simply copying their music and combining it with bits of other compositions
including his own. It only needed Nancy to join him at Drury Lane for Stephen to feel
confident about embarking on the realisation of his plans. This Nancy did in the autumn
of 1789. Today, Stephen Storace would surely be sued for infringing copyright laws.

At this time Drury Lane boasted the best actors in London. Under the management of
Richard Sheridan, there was a blossoming of talent. Sheridan, increasingly preoccupied
with politics, wisely handed over the day-to-day running of the theatre to the principal
actor, John Kemble. Shakespeare’s plays and on occasion a modern play would be
staged. On the lighter side, the musical shows and farces which were often presented
after a serious piece on the same night, were the responsibility of Stephen Storace. The
works he composed do not survive. Mostly they were pasticcios of other people’s
compositions but Sheridan considered them great money spinners and had them
performed by excellent singers and actors such as Nancy Storace, John Banister,
Elizabeth Billington and the beautiful Anna Crouch, a mistress of both Michael Kelly
and the Prince of Wales.

As a composer, Stephen Storace had some original ideas and a strong sense of
theatre. He tried to imitate Mozart as, for instance, in the finale of his “The Pirates” which subsequently became the inspiration for Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance”. Stephen wrote all his operas with Nancy in mind, casting her as a maid, a lusty maiden or an impudent young miss. Audiences never tired of her performances any more than later audiences tired of Charlie Chaplin or Marilyn Monroe. Stephen’s pasticcios, such as the “Iron Chest” and “The Siege of Belgrade” inspired later English composers and brought a lightness to English opera, divorcing it in style from its European influences despite heavy “borrowings” from original European music. Nancy is believed to have been the first of many renowned English singers to appear in comic operettas on the English stage.

Stephen married Mary Hall in August 1788. Their son, Brinsley, died at the age of
nineteen. Stephen was wealthy enough to purchase a country property but spent most of
his time away from his wife and child , continuing to live with his mother and sister in
London. Stephen’s opera “Mahmoud”, where his own artistry and imagination took
precedence, was written with a young tenor, John Braham, in mind. He never completed
that opera and died after a long illness on 16th March, 1796. Nancy Storace completed
the opera with the help of Thomas Atwood.

John Braham was only nineteen years old and had been trained as cantor at the London
Synagogue. Nancy immersed herself in the young man’s career and, fearing a sudden
upsurge of anti-Semitism in London and the ensuing gossip about their affair, Nancy
and Braham departed for the Continent. They remained in Paris for eight months singing
mainly at the Theatre de la Republique. Both became particular favourites of Napoleon
and Josephine. They continued their travels, appearing in most of the Grand Opera
Houses of Europe. Nancy and Braham also travelled to Vienna where everything Nancy
remembered had changed. Mozart and Nancy’s great admirer, the Emperor Joseph II
were both long dead. She again met Salieri at the premiere of Haydn’s “The Seasons”,
the production of which Salieri financed. Nancy found Salieri now a sad old man for he had lost his only son and his beloved wife.

Four years after they had left England, Nancy and Braham returned to London and to
Covent Garden. In September 1801, Nancy gave birth to a son, William Spencer Harris
Braham yet the couple never married. While Braham was still very much in demand,
Nancy, ten years his senior, began losing her voice. Now obese, with her once glorious
hair thinning rapidly, she began to evoke ridicule in the press. Audiences could no longer
tolerate an ageing Diva in her favourite roles.

Braham left Nancy and their child for a younger woman. Nancy Storace died a lonely
woman on 24 August, 1817 at her spacious three-storey home in Herne Hill. Her
cherished gardens are today open to the public and known as Brockwell Park Gardens.
It is a place where families gather for Sunday cricket, children play hide and seek among
the old shrubberies in close proximity to Nancy’s residence designed for her by the
famed architect, Sir John Soane.

Mr. Anthony Spurgin, a musician of Howe, Sussex, would appear to remain the only
descendant of Nancy Storace and John Braham. At the time of writing it is possible
that he may no longer be alive and, not ever having married, he may have died without
issue.

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Daisy
To: All
Date Posted: 13:36:56 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
That was fun, I enjoyed that story. I have heard you mention the Storace connection before with Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance", and as a BIG Gilbert & Sullivan fan, I would love to read the libretto sometime. I'll have to hunt for it.

Subject: Re: "The Pirates"
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 16:02:03 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Daisy,
here is a quick note about the plot of The Pirates. It comes from the reference book about Stephen Storace's operas :

Jane Girdham, in English Opera in Late-Eighteenth Century London: Stephen Storace at Drury Lane. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997 (pp. 153-154) wrote :

The following outline vastly simplifies the complex plot. Don Altador/Michael Kelly (with his servant Blazio) sets out to rescue his love Donna Aurora/Mrs Crouch (who has a maid, Fabulina/Signora Storace) from her guardian Don Gasparo de Merida (a wicked pirate) who wants her to marry his nephew Guilhermo (also a pirate). Several failed attemps lead to Gaspero hiding Aurora in his castle. Altador and his supporters (who by then include, his servants, Aurora's servants, her long-lost maid Fabulina, and the coastguard) infiltrate the castle and rescue Aurora.

The action takes place around Naples. The principal charactere however, are Spanish. [...]

Fabulina 's first plan for Altador and Aurora to meet (in which Altador is to disquise himself as Gaspero) is foiled by Gaspero before it starts ; the second (in which they intend to escape by sneaking out pas the drunken watchman) almost succeeds. This plan, which takes place as the finale to Act 1, becomes a dramatic highpoint of the opera. Gaspero turns the 3rd plan, in which Altador and Aurora are to meet at the fair into a trap for Altador. It is concluded in the finale to Act 2 when Altador and Blazio are imprisoned on a pirate ship and Aurora is removed to her guardian castle in the country. The final rescue is initiated in act 2 when Gaspero's dismisses Fabulina ; then Fidelia, a former servant of Aurora, arrives. In act 3, they are joned by a 3rd servant, Marietta,who provides access to Gaspero's castle. The final rescue goes no more smoothly than the earlier ones because Altador - who enters the castle with Fabulina and Fidelia disquised as an entertainer with a magic lantern- is quiclkly recognized and imprisoned. He is therefore unable to fire the signal shot to summon the coast guard. In the end, sheer goodness is made to win the day, because trickery is certainly the prerogative of Gaspero and his pirates."

Not knowing the operetta The Pirates of Penzance (shame on me !!) I am unable to tell you if there is the slightest likeness in the plot of these 2 works.

This summary is the more precise I have read so far. All the plot summaries of the newspapers of the times are more confusing and circonvoluted. If someone is able to make me understand what it is about, I'll be most grateful....

The scenery and backdrops were splendid and the "special effects" quite effective. People loved it. It was a tremendous success.
The reviews (and Girdham) insist on the beauty of the music, and it is supposed to be one of Stephen Storace's best work, even if the plot is mostly ridiculous in our eyes.

More to come... I have to finish to prepare a lecture about Salieri's life and works I am supposed to do the day after tomorrow, and I lost all these computer files in my latest computer troubles... :-((

Kind regards,
Emmanuelle

Subject: Re: "The Pirates"
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 19:26:08 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Emmanuelle,

Thank you for the plot for the Pirates. As you know, such information is invaluable for comparison purposes. Without the information one can only quote
Girdham's opinion. Again, thank you very much for the information.

Good luck with the Salieri lecture. Will write personally.

Regards, agnes.

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 15:49:28 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Daisy,

I don't know if that libretto is around. We will have to ask Emmanuelle. She is the expert where the Storaces are concerned.
Regards, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Wrong move and link to answer
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 16:19:10 03/25/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOps !! Sorry, sorry..
I type the wrong key and my answer is above....
Here is a link to it (I hope !)
Emmanuelle

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Teresa
To: All
Date Posted: 17:36:27 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Agnes,

What a wonderful piece! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it--So shocking, the unfortunate plight of Mrs. Fitzherbert!

Thanks for such informative and VERY entertaining reading!

All the best, Teresa

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 23:18:46 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Teresa,

Thank you so much. Mrs. Fitzherbert is my husband's favourite for obvious reasons. She should have called a doctor! The fee would have stopped her from laughing.

Love, Agnes.

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 06:55:29 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Contrary to her description as a beautiful English rose, she had inherited her dark, earthy looks from her Neapolitan father, Stefano and not from
her English mother, Elizabeth Trusler, considered to have been a fair-skinned and blue-eyed beauty by her contemporaries.

No, she had too strong features according to English taste, and was particularly suited to perform gypsies, servant girls and peasant girls ; she was said to be « coarse » in appeareance and voice.
Here is one of her most faithful early portraits, taken between 1788 and 1790. She is holding a score inscribed Storace. It has been said that it could have been Mary Storace, wife of Stephen or Elizabeth Storace, her mother, but the apparent age of the sitter and the strong likeness of eyes setting, eyebrows and nose seem to indicate IMHO that it is indeed Ann Selina.

More to come about Agnes’ excellent article, as I don’t have the time right now.
I have found some info that slightly change some of Agnes’ writing, about the influence of the Storaces in the London musical life, and on the reasons why Le Nozze di Figaro wasn’t staged till the 1800’s.

Kind regards,
Emmanuelle

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 20:39:18 03/23/04 ()
Email Address: smithworld@earthlink.net
 

Message:
Hi everyone!

Nice job here!

I knew that opera houses of the time were much more rowdy than our sedates ones of today, but the Englsih certainly seem to have been less than "proper" back then! It would appear that opera houses then were the "hot" clubs of today, where up-scale people go to see and be seen. certainly the entertainment in both cases appears to be secondary to the atmosphere of expectantly successful networking. If we want to equate the fighting with mosh pits, well, it seems we're closer than we thought. The more things change....

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Re: Diva
From: Michael Mallon
To: All
Date Posted: 12:09:52 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Agnes,

Thanks for the great article. I wasn't aware that theatres in England could get THAT chaotic. Haydn's London Notebooks suggest that most of the theatre-goers were devoid of sophistication, often shouting demands toward the stage until they got their way. But I didn't read anything about the on-stage slug-fests!

Thanks again,
Michael

Subject: 2 Cadenzas for Voice and Solo Instruments with Mozart Ties
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 06:50:48 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Two Cadenzas for Voice and Solo Instruments with
Mozart Connections
=========================

I would like to discuss two Voice Cadenzas with accompaniment of
instruments that have connections with Mozart. Neither are well
known and neither have been recorded to my knowledge.
===========

Cadenza for Soprano, Viola, Flute, Oboe, Cello KV. 626b/21=41
In a Paris auction catalogue of June 1932 a Mozart autograph
fragment was listed as "fragment de la partition de' orchestre d'un
morceau pour chant et orchestre...viol., fl., ob, vc.". Einstein
believed this "obviously" belonged to the planned "German Opera"
Mozart talked of in his letter of February 5, 1783, and listed it
within the autograph section in K3 under the German opera--KV
416a. The fragment was transferred in K6 to KV 626b/41, where
numerous pieces that the editors could not place anywhere else
were listed. However later research has found it is the same as the
2 sheets of "piece de musique autographe" listed in K6 as KV
626b/21 [It also contains sketches for the String Quartet K464].

On November 21, 1974, a partial photocopy of the autograph of
this fragment for voice and instruments came up for auction by
the French firm Charavay. The original autograph is now in private
possession in America. The entire autograph consists of 2 sheets
(4 written on sides). The first three sides consist of 35 measures
of the Cadenza for Soprano, Flute, Oboe, Violin, and Cello in D-
major.

The collector Eric Offenbacher inquired of Wolfgang Plath and
received this answer on April 16, 1985: "I can identify the
questionable piece without doubt as K.626b/21=41. It looks as if
Mozart wrote here a concertizing cadenza (similar as in the
'Martern aller Arten' aria) for a separate aria composition which
needs further elicitation. According to the handwriting in the
manuscript I would date it 1783. We might deal here with a favor
that Mozart extended to Aloysia Lange/Weber." This photocopy is
now in the Research Materials of the Biblioteca Mozartiana Eric
Offenbacher (BMEO) at Harvard University (Location: Merritt Room
Ms. Coll. 110 BMEO).

Alan Tyson's paper studies place the paper as being used by
Mozart around the same time Plath placed it. [NMA Watermarks
volume, Watermark #60.]

In his 1992 book Mozarts Schaffensweise, Ulrich Konard only
stated nothing can be told of the contents of the manuscript. In an
article in the 1995 Mozart Jahrbuch, Konrad states this Cadenza is
not a sketch, but a composition full score in Mozart's normal
employed handwriting. The composition is headed "Cadenza",
apparently by Mozart. In addition several corrections show
spontaneous improvements during the work. Mozart had first
written the last two measures with the turn to the typical 4/6-
fermate time, and entered in the voice part the words "con un
lan=[...?] . Then it concluded with the virtuosa coloratura
furnished Cadenza for the Soloist and the accompaniment
instruments. There lacks any text, except those of the entry
words. For which Aria and for what occasion Mozart composed the
Cadenza, could not be ascertained. No known Mozart Soprano-
Aria contains the words "con un lan..". In describing the autograph
Konrad noted on the first page Georg Nissen had noted in the
upper left corner "N. 11". On the lower portion of the third side
(after the conclusion of the Cadenza) was entered "The
Authenticity of the music writing of W.A. Mozart confirmed by
Julius Andre, Frankfurt a/Main in October 1851".

In the 1999 appearing volume of the NMA containing sketches
[NMA-Series X/Workgroup 30/Volume 3] Konard states the
Cadenza belongs to Konstanze's Aria Nr.11 from Die Entführung
dem aus Serail, at measure 87ff. He writes "beside the setting and
the motif kinship noteworthy is the fact that the paper type of the
sheet also is found in the autograph of Entführung".

How the words "con un lan..." fit into a German opera is not
known. Measure 87 of the Aria Aria Nr.11 ("Matern aller Arten") is
at the words "untreu konnte sein" where the solo Violin runs up
the scales, followed by the cello at measure 88, the Oboe at
measure 89 and Flute at measure 90 [at 2:56 in Davis version of
the Aria of Entführung, 3:12 in Harnoncourt version of the Aria,
and 2:54 in Hogwood version--to name the versions of the
complete opera I own, if you would like to find the passage
without a score]. Probably because of familiarity with the Aria, I
can not imagine a Cadenza here.

Unfortunately Konrad does not give the facsimile or transcription
of the first two sides containing the Cadenza (only the 3rd with
the last 3 measures of the Cadenza, and 4th side containing the
String Quartet sketches are reproduced). According to NMA-
Sketches volume the transcription was to appear in the volume for
fragments [Series X/Work Group 30/Volume 4]. However when this
volume appeared in 2002 the transcription was not there. Also in
2002 the NMA-Critical Report of Entführung aus dem Serial
appeared and nothing was mentioned there.
================

Cadenza for Oboe and Soprano to Holzbauer's "Günther von
Schwarzburg"

In the 1968/70 Mozart Jahrbuch, Wolfgang Plath wrote an article
on the Mozart material in the Hessischen Landesbibliothek from
the estate of Heinrich Henkel, which formerly had been in the
André collection. Under the Number 296 are "Various older
individual parts: to Unknown Works...". Here is found an 18
measure Cadenza for Oboe and Soprano to an Aria in Bb. The
Cadenza is at the words "Die Sonne glënzt schö---------ner".
The manuscript consists of one page with only one written on
side; the copyist is unknown. Plath believed that "Mozart's
authorship is unlikely". Plath transcribed the Cadenza in full on
page 350, and added a footnote that he knew of no German
Soprano Aria in Bb by Mozart in which a solo Oboe was employed.
Certainly the not completed Aria "Schon lacht der holde Frühling"
(KV 580) is in Bb, but there is no Oboe in the orchestration, and
the words "Die Sonne glänzt schöner" do not appear in the Aria.

In an article on Mozart's handwriting in the 1971/72 Mozart
Jahrbuch, Plath cited the Cadenza belongs to Aria Nr.4 "Der
glänzende Himmel war finstere Wüste" in Ignaz Holzbauer's
"Günther von Schwarzburg" . I have a CD of this opera (cpo
999 265-2), and the Cadenza under discussion is not used. I
checked out the 1957 edition of the opera in the Denkmäler
Deutscher Tonkunst, as well as the 2002 facsimile of the opera
(with an extensive forward by Bärbel Pelker) and found nothing on
this cadenza. I e-mailed Professor Pelker in Heidelberg, and she
replied she was unaware of the cadenza and would investigate
what she could on its providence. Perhaps someday there will be
more to report.

dennis

Subject: Contemporaries of Mozart: Bernhard Henrik Crusell
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 03:15:17 03/22/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Hi Gary,

As we've discussed, I've copied here the article I posted at 'The Mozart Newsletter - Issue 8', for Steve's link to my brief summary which has already been uploaded. Sorry, I'm not very good at HTML, so this one is now devoid of the italics and text colours available from the original article from our Mozart Newsletter.

Hoping I copied the contents well, esp in terms of paragraphs. ;-)

For my other soon to-be-featured CoMs, coming Gary, coming!!

G'day!

Best regards,
Tel Asiado

***************************************************
Contemporaries of Mozart: Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Swedish-Finnish clarinettist, composer and translator

This is another posting in an irregular series on various contemporary composers from Mozart’s lifetime. The material is mostly derivative from general sources as noted. These are the people that Mozart: competed with for work, considered friends and colleagues, knew from reputation, and/or taught to and nurtured as pupils and students.

The most significant and internationally best-known Finnish Classical composer - and indeed, the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius - was Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838), who rose to a prominent position in the Swedish music world. Born in Nystad, Finland, he lived in Stockholm from 1791 onwards and performed his life's work in Sweden. He made his last visit to his home country in summer 1801, when he performed in Turku and Helsinki. In those days, Finland was undeniably a musical backwater. The centre of musical activities was Turku, where the Turku Society of Music (Turun Soitannollinen Seura), founded in 1790, had done invaluable work in promoting music and had set up an orchestra of its own.

As a result of a war in 1808 and 1809, Sweden ceded Finland to Russia. Helsinki was made capital of the new autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812. The university was transferred to Helsinki after the great fire of Turku in 1828, spelling an end to Turku's role as the hub of Finnish music life. Crusell was employed for forty years (1793-1833) playing principal clarinet with the Hovkapellet (Royal Court Orchestra), and eventually became an internationally celebrated clarinettist based in Stockholm. It is indicative of his reputation that he was for many years the best-paid musician in the entire orchestra. Crusell also attained fame as a renowned clarinet virtuoso, and went to Germany to study and perform in 1798, 1803 and 1811; on the second occasion, his trips extended as far as Paris.

The son of a poor bookbinder, Bernhard Henrik Crusell received his earliest musical education from a clarinettist of the Nyland regimental band at age 8. In 1788 he became a volunteer musician in the military band at Sveaborg in Viapori (today Suomenlinna), the island fortress outside Helsinki, and in 1791 he was transferred to Stockholm where he became a court musician two years later. From 1793 to 1833 he was a clarinettist in the court orchestra. In 1798, he studied the clarinet with Franz Tausch in Berlin and gave concerts there and in Hamburg. In Sweden he became a distinguished soloist, performing concertos and chamber by Peter Winter, L.A. Lebrun, L.-E. Jadin, Krommer, Beethoven, Mozart and others, as well as his own works. Reviews emphasize his tone and in particular his “pianissimo”. About 1800 Crusell played with the reed turned upwards, and later with the reed turned downwards, which favours cantabile playing. After c1810 he used an 11-keyed Grenser clarinet.

In Stockholm, Crusell studied music theory and composition with Daniel Böritz and Abbe Vogler, intermittently active in Stockholm from 1786 to 1799. In 1803 he studied composition with Berton and Gossec, and the clarinet with Lefevre during a six-month stay in Paris. As well as writing instrumental music for his own use, he also composed works for his wind-instrument colleagues in the court orchestra. In 1811, he made a trip to Leipzig to search for a publisher; this marked his first contact with the Bureau de Musique (A. Kühnel), taken over by C.F. Peters in 1814.

Crusell conducted the military bands in Linkö every summer from 1818 to 1837 and arranged marches and opera overtures by Weber, Spohr and Rossini for their use; he also composed pieces for male choir. In 1820s he composed solo songs, among others to texts from “Frithiof’s Saga” by the well-known Swedish poet Esaias Tegner. His opera Den lilla slafvinnan, first performed in 1824, was given 34 times over the next 14 years.

Crusell's style follows the generic Viennese Classicism of the period, but he also derived influences from French opera, which he became acquainted with through his job with the court orchestra. Crusell's major works are the three Clarinet Concertos, which remain in the standard international core repertoire of the instrument and of which numerous recordings, including complete sets, exist. In addition to concertos proper, Crusell also composed other concertante works.

** Dating of the concertos **

We do not know the precise dates of Crusell's concertos. The Finnish Crusell expert Fabian Dahlström believes that the works can be dated as follows, with certain reservations:
- Introduction et Air suèdois for clarinet and orchestra op. 12 (premiered 1804, later rewritten, published c.1830)
- Clarinet Concerto No.3 in B flat major Op. 11 (c.1807?, later revised, published 1829)
- Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major for clarinet, horn, bassoon and orchestra Op. 3 (premiered 1808, published 1816)
- Clarinet Concerto No.1 in E flat major Op. 1 (completed 1810, published 1811 or 1812)
- Clarinet Concerto No.2 in F minor Op. 5 "Grand" (premiered 1815, published c.1818)
- Concertino in B flat major for bassoon and orchestra (1829)

The opus numbering of the clarinet concertos is based on the order of publication, which differs from the probable order of composition. Crusell is known to have performed one of his concertos in 1807, and stylistic and other grounds suggest that this was probably the B flat major Concerto op. 11.

The orchestral score of the Air suèdois for bassoon and orchestra is lost. Only a piano version has been preserved. Kalevi Aho orchestrated the work in 1990.

Entirely lost works by Crusell include a set of variations for horn and orchestra and two movements of an unfinished horn concerto. Crusell composed these horn works during the first decade of the 19th century.

**Crusell's concertos: influence of Spohr and Weber**

The three clarinet concertos are Crusell's best-known works. Stylistically they hark back to late Viennese Classicism, but also reflect the influence of Louis Spohr and Carl Maria von Weber, whose clarinet concertos provide an obvious point of reference. Crusell composed his concertos for his own use, and the solo parts are very musicianly in character.

Although the music is technically quite demanding, Crusell did not succumb to the temptations of superficial virtuosity. He made effective use of the songful quality of the clarinet, and of its range and capacity for abrupt switches of register.

** Clarinet Concerto in F minor Op. 5 **

The finest of Crusell's clarinet concertos – and perhaps the high point in his whole career – is the Concerto in F minor, dedicated to Czar Alexander I of Russia. The work shows some affinity with Beethoven. The minor key in itself lends a certain dark tone to the music.

The first movement opens with a restrained unison and goes on to unite cantabile and virtuoso elements. The slow movement shows Crusell at his most poetic and serene. The work closes with a lively rondo, which ultimately turns into F major.

Crusell's other two concertos are somewhat more conventional. The virtuoso element is more pronounced in both works than in the Concerto in F minor. Both have a middle movement with a languorous songfulness that contrasts aptly with the faster, virtuoso opening and finale.

** Introduction et Air suèdois **

Introduction et Air suèdois for clarinet and orchestra is the work with which, in 1804, Crusell made his Stockholm début as a composer. It is a lively set of variations on Olof Åhlström's drinking song Supvisa, well known to Stockholm audiences. In fact the work was first presented as "Variationer på visan: Goda gåsse, glaset töm" (Variations on the song: 'Dear boy, empty the glass'), in reference to the ditty's opening words. Crusell obviously designed the work as a showcase for his instrumental skill.

** Sinfonia concertante in B flat major **

The Sinfonia concertante in B flat major is a concerto of symphonic proportions for three solo instruments and orchestra. Crusell composed the solo parts for a wind trio in which he himself played the clarinet. From the premiere in 1808 to the end of Crusell's life, the Sinfonia concertante was Crusell's most-played work in Stockholm. It was also performed in Leipzig and London.

The bright, expansive opening movement is Crusell's longest single concerto movement. The slow movement, soulfully songlike, has much beautiful ornamentation. The work ends in a rondo with a central passage consisting of variations on a theme borrowed from Luigi Cherubini's opera Les deux journées.

** Concertino in B flat major **

Crusell composed the Concertino in B flat major for his son-in-law, bassoonist Frans Preumayr, to play on a tour of Europe in 1829 and 1830. The work is in a fairly free form, with three movements played without pause.

The central movement consists of two variations on a theme by François Adrien Boieldieu. There is no slow movement proper. The solo score is highly demanding – Preumayr, one of Europe's leading bassoonists, called the piece his "warhorse".

** Chamber music **

Crusell also wrote a considerable body of chamber music. As might be expected, the clarinet is in a central role here too, most particularly in the three clarinet quartets. We do not know exactly when Crusell's works were written, and even the date of publication is not always certain. It seems evident that his chamber music output, consisting of a dozen works, was written by 1822. The earliest documentary evidence is from 1803, at which time Crusell was either working on or had just completed one of the clarinet quartets.

While Crusell made efficient use of the virtuoso potential of the clarinet in his concertos, the clarinet parts of the quartets are not quite so demanding. In fact, the quartets were intended more for the salon and for proficient amateurs rather than for the concert hall. Nevertheless, the clarinet writing is always idiomatic, and the string instruments defer to the leading role of the clarinet.

The clarinet quartets fall into the normal four-movement structure. The First Clarinet Quartet in E flat major (op. 2, published c. 1811) is slightly different from the others in that the first movement has a slow introduction. The Second Clarinet Quartet in C minor (op. 4, published c. 1817) is more melodic and restrained, which together with the minor key makes the work more subdued than the others. The brightest and most instrumental of the three is the Third Clarinet Quartet in D major (op. 7, published c. 1823), which was also published in a version for flute and strings as op. 8.

Of the remaining works, the closest in idiom to the clarinet quartets is the Divertimento for oboe and string quartet op. 9 (published 1823). This is a single-movement work with three clearly defined sections. The Potpourri (also known as the Concert Trio) for clarinet, horn and bassoon (1814?) shows flashes of true virtuoso brilliance. It draws upon folk music much like Airs suèdois (1814?), a medley for bassoon and piano of Swedish folk tunes. The three Duos for two clarinets (1821?) were popular with clarinettists in their day, providing a well-written lively dialogue for two players to indulge in.

** Finnish orchestral music before Sibelius **

Although orchestral works were being performed in both Finland and Sweden by the early Finnish composers, the main emphasis was on chamber music and works for solo instrument. Crusell, a practised and competent orchestrator , wrote three fine concertos for his own instrument, the clarinet, as well as other concertante works. Crusell had firsthand knowledge of the potential of the orchestra from his position in the Royal Court Orchestra in Stockholm. Even if he did not compose orchestral works proper, the overture to his opera Den lilla slafvinnan (The Little Slave Girl, 1824) qualifies as one.

The shift from Classicism to Romanticism was slow in coming to Finland. After Crusell, Finland had to wait until the end of the century for the next composers of veritable stature -Kajanus, Mielck and of course, Sibelius - to emerge. Very little orchestral music was composed in Finland in the interim.

Crusell's compositions include three clarinet concertos, an air and variations for clarinet and a concertante for clarinet, bassoon and horn. He also wrote chamber music, including three clarinet quartets, an opera Den lilla Slafvinnan (1824, Stockholm) and 12 songs. Crusell was also a brilliant linguist who translated the German, Italian and French operas by Mozart, Rossini and others for the Swedish stage. His debut in 1821 of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro contributed to his election to the Greatest League, the leading literary circle in Sweden at this time. He was awarded the Swedish Academy’s Gold Medal in 1837, and was inducted into the Wasa Order. His two manuscript autobiographies are in the Royal Library, Stockholm.

**Sources**

Article on Bernhard Henrik Crusell from Grove
Dictionary
Finnish Music Information Centre (FIMIC)
Kimmo Korhonen: Finnish Chamber Music
ISBN 952-5076-18-0 (Internet version)
(originally printed as ISBN 952-5076-16-4, 2001)
(translated by © Jaakko Mäntyjärvi)
(Internet version edited by Aarne Toivonen,
December 2001)
Kimmo Korhonen: Finnish Concertos
ISBN 952-5076-11-3 (1999)
(original version printed in 1995 as ISBN
951-692-362-3)
(translated by © Timothy Binham)
(edited by © Aarne Toivonen/MIC, November 1999)
Kimmo Korhonen: Finnish Orchestral Music 1
(From the origins up to the second World War)
ISBN 952-5076-08-3 (Internet version, FIMIC 1999)
(originally printed in 1995 as ISBN 951-692-360-7)
(translated by © Timothy Binham)
Liner Notes to Crusell Clarinet Concertos, CD by
Hyperion CDA66708
Liner Notes to Crusell Clarinet Concertos No.1 in E
flat and No.3 in B flat, CD
by Hyperion CDA66055

Subject: Re: Contemporaries of Mozart: Bernhard Henrik Crusell
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 22:30:03 03/22/04 ()
Email Address: smithworld@earthlink.net
 

Message:
Dear Tel,

No, looks good from here. Any contributions from you are eagerly awaited.

And to all others, if you have someone you'd like to see information on, drop me a line and we'll see what we can do. Or, if you have someone you'd like to write about, you can always post your own work here. Since I coordinate that area of this site, if you drop me a line at my email address, we can discuss projects of interest for all of us.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Pieces I wish were recorded....
From: Marcus
To: All
Date Posted: 22:18:19 03/21/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I wish more music of Mozart's contemporaries was recorded... I know its growing with every year and some of the music is beautiful... here are some pieces I can think of that I wish were recorded...

Vanhal:

More Masses (i have the ones in G, C and Eflat)
and his 2 Requiem settings!
More Symphonies although they have released many

Krommer:

More Symphonies! the 2 on Chandos are great!
and his 2 Masses

Kozeluch:

More piano concertos
Masses

I could name some more (Sussmayr! Eybler, Salieri, Cimarosa, Eberl etc) but I'd rather hear what the Board thinks and maybe there are some Mozart pieces that I dont know that should be recorded?
cheers!

Subject: The Requiem
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 11:13:13 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I'd love to have a recording of the Requiem fragment.
Left exactly as Mozart left it. I've heard recordings
of other fragments that sometimes just end in mid measure, or start in multiple parts and the parts just drop away one by one till it ends. Wouldn't it be nice to hear the Requiem that way ?

Steve

Subject: Re: The Requiem
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 14:38:54 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I'd love to have a recording of the Requiem fragment.
Left exactly as Mozart left it.

Dear Steve,
If I understand the problem correctly, no one really knows HOW Mozart left it !!
Kind regards,
Emmanuelle

Subject: Re: The Requiem
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 11:30:08 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Steve, there is one. On the Opus 111 label. Christoph Spering
conducts the Chorus musicus Köln and the Neue Orchester. the
record number is OP 30307; and also on the CD is the Süssmayr
completed version of the Requeim .

I think I saw it in the Berkshire Catalogue last week.

dennis

Subject: Re: The Requiem
From: Steve Ralsten
To: All
Date Posted: 11:07:39 03/24/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I own this CD, and was quite excited to find it. On playing however it falls way short of what I had in mind. The CD presents a performance of the Sussmayr completion, that is probably the least appealing performance I've heard. Then in a seperate section
they perform the segments that were left incomplete by Mozart. Only by switching cuts back and forth can you get any flow of what Mozart left behind. In addition, the performance is recorded in a very resonant hall
with reverb and echo it is much tougher to get the feel for what parts are there and what parts aren't.

I would much prefer a more acoustically revealing performance, with all segments in proper order.

Regards

Steve

Subject: Re: The Requiem
From: Dan Leeson
To: All
Date Posted: 19:10:26 03/23/04 ()
Email Address: leeson0@attglobal.net
 

Message:
Unfortunatley, the Spering recording is very unreliable. Further, it is incorrect on a significant number of occasions. Spering does not seem to know what has been written about that piece in the last 40 years. Typical of his errors is his erroneous assertion that Mozart finished the Kyrie fugue even though a brilliant scholarly paper printed in the Jahrbuch ca. 1970 (entitled, "Who did the instrumentation of the Kyrie fugue?") gives absolute evidence that much of the Kyrie fugue is NOT by Mozart. I too was hopeful when I bought the disk, but was disappointed when I heard it and read his notes.

Dan Leeson

Subject: Re: Pieces I wish were recorded....
From: Gary Smith
To: All
Date Posted: 22:24:24 03/22/04 ()
Email Address: smithworld@earthlink.net
 

Message:
Hi Marcus,

What are you looking for in Eberl? There's three symphonies, a pinao concerto, a piano sonata and some piano trios as well.

Sussmayr has seen two symphonies come out in the last 15 months or so, though I'd like to hear that unfinished piano concerto that's out there.

On piano concerti, someone on the net was offering sheet music for Vanhal piano concerti, so we may see those on say the Naxos label at some time or another. Paiseillo also wrote 6 piano concerti, and they're out on some label. Can get more information if you're interested there.

Marco Polo released 12 Cimarosa opera overtures back in 2002, if you're looking for an instrumental "view" into this opera composer.

Do you have Kozeluch's piano concerto for 4 hands on the Koch/Schwann label? Or, if you're into real curiosities, you might try his Sinfonia Concertante for Trumpet, contrabass, piano and mandoline (!?!) on the Bayer label.

Moving along in the vein, Supraphon issued a Vol. 1 and 2 of Myslivecek violin concerti, which are a worthy look at this neglected composer.

Finally, Ondine issued two violin concerti of Finnish Classical composers, Erik Ferling and Eric Tulindberg.

Plenty out there to still get if you're compelled to explore all aspects of the Classical Era. If you've got questions on these, let me know.

Regards,

Gary

Subject: Re: Pieces I wish were recorded....
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 07:29:49 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Of course the list is extremely long, but here are a few I would like
to see recorded:

Dittersdorf --Symphony in D "Le Carneval' or "Il Ridotto". A 7
movement work by Dittersdorf that has always intrigued me as to
how it sounds.

Mozart-- Symphony in F K98 Everyone records works not by
Mozart, why has this been so neglected? Not even once, while the
Overture in Bb K311a, which has never been really taken serious,
has been recorded at least twice,

Rosetti-Requiem played Dec 14, 1791 for Mozart funeral
memorial in Prague, but composed in 1776. Why not? Most new
Requeims are not any different from one of the previous
recordings.

Gyrowetz-Symphony C; attributed to Mozart in at least one
manuscript, but there are lots of manuscripts around to work
from. Wouldn't this be a better choice than yet another middle or
late Haydn Symphony, or the 6th recording of Mozart Symphony
#18 or the like? As much as I like early to mid Mozart symphonies,
is there really anything new to say in these work-a-day pieces?

Leopold Hofmann- A Requeim, or actually any Masses, I would
love to hear them.

Regarding your Vanhal selection. He is probably my favorite
composer after Mozart. His symphonies are well constructed,
excellent works. The 3 Masses you mention are all great, with the
Missa solemnis only a hair less fantastic than Mozart's c-minor
K427.

dennis

Subject: Re: Pieces I wish were recorded....
From: Daisy
To: All
Date Posted: 11:26:59 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I would like to hear some of the compositions of Sussmayr so that we could make comparisons. As a man who was most likely a pupil of Mozart's, who assisted with the Requiem, I think a clinical look at his work might be in order. besides, we might also enjoy them for themselves.

Subject: Re: Pieces I wish were recorded ? Italian operas
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 15:38:43 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Operas by Storace, Paisiello, Cimarosa, Salieri, Sarti, Traetta, Jommelli, Guglielmi, JC Bach, Piccini, Sacchini etc etc...
Mozart heard many of them, was inspired or curious about them. The list would be too long to write here.

Emmanuelle, 18th century opera fanatic.

Subject: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Joe Dorazio
To: All
Date Posted: 19:47:01 03/21/04 ()
Email Address: joedorazio@hotmail.com
 

Message:
I once read in some liner notes, that the piano concerto, No. 20 in D minor, K466, was "..nothing short of an artistic self-portrait." I find this remark both appealing, and fascinating, and I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the matter.

What composition would you vote as being Mozart's "artistic self portrait"? I definitely agree that K466 ranks high on the list, and I might add the string quartet in C major, No. 19 "Dissonance", K465.

What say you?

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: dennis
To: All
Date Posted: 07:42:41 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
I guess I have never thought of an "artistic self portrait" by Mozart.
I have heard this type of description in other artists. Certainly
Smetana's String Quartet in e-minor is in this field, and many
commentators speak of Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony in
these terms (although I never have). But regarding Mozart, not.

I guess it depends in your mind's eye what you think Mozart
thought of himself. Some will no doubt choose the Musicial Joke
K522 to go with the Amadeus "clown" image of him; many will
pick a minor key work as an inner tormented soul. Others "A little
night music" K525 as a cheerful, happy go lucky guy.

As I have always liked to think of Mozart as a regular guy who had
a job to do, I would pick the 6 Haydn Quartets as his "artistic self
portrait". He plugged along with a purpose in mind, took a while
for various reasons, but fiinally got it done. Then modestly told
everyone what he did, and then moved on. That pretty much
describes me--and is that not how we all view Mozart or any
hero--that deep down we are a little bit like him.

dennis

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 23:32:52 03/21/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Hi Joe,

For one thing, K.466 is Mozart's first piano concerto in a minor key, adding dimension of the seriousness to the form. Despite the reference to brighter tonalities, overall I find this music almost always poignant. I can't remember now: did Beethoven provide the cadenzas?

I do rank this high on my list too.

Best regards,
Tel Asiado

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Arno
To: All
Date Posted: 10:45:06 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Hi Tel,

Beethoven provided cadenzas. They are in the Kinsky catalogue as WoO 58.

Arno.

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Tel Asiado
To: All
Date Posted: 15:35:15 03/22/04 ()
Email Address: telscafe@hotmail.com
 

Message:

Thanks Arno! Very interesting and informative, this "Seldom Heard" music of Ludwig van B. Sometimes the term "Rarities" is also used.

Would you know of any more cadenzas Beethoven did for Mozart? Or he did for other composers?

G'day!

Tel

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Arno
To: All
Date Posted: 11:03:59 03/23/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
AFAIK Beethoven wrote only cadenzas for his own concertos except the two for the d minor concerto of Mozart. I checked it at Dominique Prevot's site (see link).

Arno.

Subject: Re: Artistic Self Portrait?
From: Gurn Blanston
To: All
Date Posted: 13:13:00 03/22/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Yes, although not the only cadenzas. I have others, I know they are not Beethoven's but I don't know who wrote them. If you wish to hear the Beethoven ones for comparison, the most easily attainable are the Jeno Jando version on Naxos which are ubiquitous. And of course Steven Back has recorded them as a standalone Beethoven piece (WoO 58) on Monument, Beethoven's own record label ;-))

Subject: For Emmanuelle.
From: Agnes Selby
To: All
Date Posted: 19:37:19 03/21/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Emmanuelle,

I suppose anything is possible, but I have not come across Anna Gottlieb having lived with the Mozarts. I will look into it and if I find anything I will post it.

Good Heavens, why should I be angry with you for providing more information for my benefit and everyone else's as well? Besides, you know how much I love all the information you send me. I would know nothing about Anna Storace but for your extensive knowledge.

It is quite possible that saying she was Mozart's last friend was important to Anna Gottlieb. Michael Kelly also made it a point of letting people know about his relationship with Mozart. In each instance, Mozart was by then a very famous man and people were always keen to "drop names". Da Ponte, as an old man in New York even staged "The Marriage of Figaro", so proud was he of his connection to Mozart.

I am glad you received the photo of Tom and Ali.

Lots love, Agnes.

Subject: For Steve
From: Emmanuelle
To: All
Date Posted: 16:13:42 03/21/04 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
Dear Steve,
As you must have guessed, I still have email troubles. The internet provider is coming back to normal, but I still have some trouble sending anything by email and I also have had no mail at all since about 10 days, which is highly suspicious.
I still have many pictures to send you, and I'll do it asap.
Kind regards,
Emmanuelle (truly sorry about the delay)