Mozart magnus, corpore parvus

Dedicated to the life and times of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart.

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

littleweirdsickness replied to your post “How accurate is the song “Rock Me Amadeus”?”

He didn't write the song by himself. Someone wrote it for him and he had to sing it.

You are correct that he did not write the song by himself, but he definitely did help write it. The songwriting credit goes to Dutch music producers Ferdinand and David Bolland and Johann Hölzel, the legal name of Falco. Of course, it’s difficult to say what level of contribution he had without more research.

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Proud be the day that he was birthed The man who had no peers on earth, He wrote with all his music's might With Heaven's light and deepest night, And all his sorrows, joy, and pain Pierce through their hearts and there remain.

Translation of a verse from “Zu Mozarts Geburtsfeyer” (1825) by August Friedrich Ernst Langbein.

The poem was written on what would have been Mozart’s 69th birthday.

[Source]

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Was Mozart left-handed or ambidextrous? Sources on the Internet seem to vary about this.

This is a great question but one that it is, unfortunately, impossible to answer. There are no contemporary accounts that I’ve read that definitively state his hand-preference, and it is difficult to tell these things through handwriting alone.

What I can say is that if he was naturally left-handed, then he would have also probably been ambidextrous. Left-handed people were not really accommodated in any way in society at the time (check out the etymology of the word sinister), so he would have been forced to learn to write, play violin, etc., with his right hand.

The only evidence I can think of that is against being left-handed is that his writing doesn’t get smudged. He never had very good penmanship and lots of his letters are littered with ink blots, so I would imagine that if he wrote with his left hand, he would also smear the words he had just written to some extent. 

But really, if you would rather think of Mozart as a southpaw, then feel free. He certainly fits some of the statistical correlations of left-handed people.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

How accurate is the song “Rock Me Amadeus”?

Great question! Falco wrote the song after watching the film Amadeus, meaning that his source of inspiration wasn’t particularly accurate (you can read about that here!). The song is maybe 50% correct, 50% incorrect, and 100% catchy. My main problem with it is its focus on a “rockstar” life, which is a fun analogy but isn’t historically accurate because the conceptions and manifestations of fame at that time simply aren’t the same as the conceptions of fame nowadays. 

That being said, I wanted to do a verse-by-verse historical-accuracy analysis, so you can read that below the cut if you want a full breakdown. I won’t be providing translations of the lyrics, since this post is already a mile long, but through context and the song’s Denglisch it should be easy enough to follow. I’m definitely being nitpicky with it, but that’s the point. It’s a fun pop song and it doesn’t need to be accurate to be worthwhile or enjoyable, but it’s still an interesting exercise to see how close Falco got to reality.

Er war ein PunkerUnd er lebte in der großen StadtEs war in Wien, war ViennaWo er alles tat

This first verse is exactly what I mean about 50% correct. Like I said before, terms like “Punk” and “Rockstar” are not applicable to Mozart. However, he did live in Vienna, and from my understanding it was a pretty big city for the time. He didn’t do everything there, though. He traveled far less once he moved to Vienna, but Mozart did make the occasional journey, such as when he premiered Don Giovanni in Prague in 1787.

Er hatte Schulden denn er trankDoch ihn liebten alle FrauenUnd jede riefCome and rock me Amadeus

He did not have debts because he drank. His debts stemmed from a variety of reasons, particularly because he did not have secure employment once he left the Archbishop, and the debts were not necessarily long-standing. Mozart would go through periods of having lots of money and periods of having none at all. 

As for the womanizing, it’s harder to say. People like to paint Mozart as a womanizer exactly because of the modern conceptions of what it means to be a rockstar. Was it possible that he had affairs? Certainly, and even likely. Is there much direct evidence? Not that I’ve seen. Was it specifically because he was a famous musician that made him unfaithful? Given the culture of the time, not likely.

Er war SuperstarEr war populärEr war so exaltiertBecause er hatte FlairEr war ein VirtuoseEr war ein RockidolUnd alles riefCome and rock me Amadeus

We’ve been through the Superstar/Rockstar/Punk stuff, so skipping over that: He was popular during his time and certainly did not die as an unappreciated genius. As for the flair, Mozart spent a lot on clothes, particularly when he had a big event like an opera premiere or a tour coming up. He was most definitely stylish and used that flashy fashion sense to his advantage. So, good job there, Falco. Furthermore, “Virtuoso” is putting it mildly considering his childhood career touring Europe. 

Amadeus, Amadeus, AmadeusAmadeus, Amadeus, AmadeusAmadeus, Amadeus, oh, oh, oh AmadeusCome and rock me Amadeus

Neither the women of Vienna nor Mozart himself used the name “Amadeus.” Most of the time, he wrote his middle name either Amadé or Amadè because he was a little liberal with the accent marks.

EyEs war um siebzehn hundert achtzigUnd es war in WienNo plastic money anymoreDie Banken gegen ihnWoher die Schulden kamen

Specifically, Mozart’s Vienna years were between 1781 and 1791, so I guess “around 1780″ is good enough. There was definitely no plastic money (or paper for that matter), but the accuracy goes downhill from there. I’m admittedly not familiar with the banking scene in Vienna during the 18th century, but I don’t think the banks had anything against Mozart. They definitely weren’t the source of most of his debts, either. He mostly owed money to friends, businesses, and fellow Freemasons.

The rest of the song repeats itself, so I think that pretty much covers everything! If you got this far, thanks for reading and congratulations on now being an expert on the historical accuracy of a pop song. 

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Mozart’s Estate - Part 1

On December 5th, 1791, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart died in his Viennese apartment on Rauhensteingasse of an unknown illness. According to the official inventory of his death, he left behind 592 florins and 9 kreuzer worth of assets, with an approximate purchasing power equivalent to $17,764.50 in the modern day. This is likely an undervalued estimate to avoid too high of a tax upon his heirs. 

Below is a list of the value of his belongings:

Cash - 60 fl.

Salary - 133 fl. 20 kr.

Silver - 7 fl.

Clothes and linens - 55 fl.

Table linen and bedsheets - 17 fl.

Furniture - 296 fl. 8 kr.

Books and music - 23 fl. 41 kr.

The silver is valued so low because he had pawned the majority of it for a journey to Frankfurt, leaving him with only a handful of utensils.

His furniture was freshly upholstered and included a full-sized billiards table, one roll-top desk, one sofa, one couch, two divans, two bookcases, 18 upholstered chairs, and 60 pieces of porcelain. All of this and more furnished an apartment of approximately 519 sq. feet (145 sq. meters).

A Josephenian writing desk from Austria. Mozart’s furniture would have been of a similar design as this, with simple, clean lines and little embellishment. [x]

[Source: 1791: Mozart's Last Year by H.C. Robbins Landon.] [Currency Source: Mozart's leters, Mozart's Life by Robert Spaethling.]

[tiny-librarian]

The marriage contract of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Constanze Weber.

The contract is dated 3 August 1782, the day before the wedding at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.  It was signed by Constanze Weber, her mother Maria Caecilia Weber, her witness Johann Carl Cetto von Kronstorff and her guardian Johann Thorwart, as well as by Mozart (‘Wolfgang Amadè Mozart’) and his witness Franz Gilowsky.  The seals of each signatory appear on the document, Mozart’s in the form of his initials ‘WAM’.  The only other person present at the wedding, in addition to the clergy, was Constanze’s younger sister, Sophie. The text of the contract stipulates that two copies were to be drawn up and signed, one for each spouse.

[therepublicofletters]

@stanzi-manzi !!!

[moremercurial]

@suffering-musician @therepublicofletters MY BABIES!!!!!!

[moremercurial]

236 years ago.

[windypoplarsroom]

Simon Quaglio

“Queen of the Night Scene, for Mozart’s Magic Flute” (1818)

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

A quick update: I’ve been getting a lot of asks lately, which I very much appreciate! I plan on answering all of them, but I also want to have some regular content in-between. Unfortunately I won’t be able to dedicate a lot of time to making more posts for a few weeks yet, but hold fast! I will get to those questions as soon as I can.

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

I know Mozart knew a bunch of languages, but are there any stories or letters of him speaking English? I'm curious how much English he knew

Mozart did indeed speak some English! It’s likely that he picked up some when he visited England as a child, since he stayed there for several months and had such an affinity for languages anyhow.

It seems he’d forgotten most of it by adulthood, however, as he mentions taking English lessons in 1782 in preparation for a grand tour of England and France he was hoping to go on. After three lessons, his English was... not the best but he hoped to be proficient in written English in three months.

Whether he actually achieved that timeframe is unknown, but he was still practicing his English in 1787. In March of that year he wrote the following in the Family Album of his English teacher and fellow Freemason, Johann Kronauer:

Patience and tranquillity of mind contribute more tu cure ourdistempers as the whole art of Medecine. [x]

He also had two English-language books in his library upon his death: Automathes: or, the capacity of the human understanding, and Percy: A Tragedy. It’s therefore likely that he did achieve his goal of proficiency in written English at some point.

I can’t find anything on how good at speaking English he was, but he certainly had opportunities to practice. He was friends with several musicians and singers from English-speaking countries, including Nancy Storace, who premiered the role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. 

Mozart never did go on that tour to England, but it’s clear he was serious about it given that he took lessons intermittently for 5 years. Altogether he was likely proficient, but not fluent in English, especially during the periods that he was actively taking lessons. 

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

"In the evenings, [Mozart] would lay with his pocket watch next to him and follow the performance of die Zauberflöte in spirit:  now the first act is over, now is the great Queen of the Night, and so on." On the day before his death, he said to his wife: "'I would very much like to hear my Zauberflöte again' and sang, with a voice barely audible, 'der Vogelhändler ich bin ja.'"

An eye-witness description of Mozart during his last days, from Mozart: Geld, Ruhm, und Ehre by Günther Bauer.

[astryfiammante]

Daines Barrington and the experiment on young Mozart

Mozart started gaining fame since a very young age thanks to the journeys that allowed him to display his uncommon musical skills in all of Europe. Among all the people who were able to witness his abilities, there were many who did not believe what they saw. Skeptics would often say that his father lied about his age (which was sometimes true), or that his talent derived from a pact with the devil or from the rings he wore during his public shows and that he was often asked to remove. Others would even say that he wasn’t actually a child, but an adult dwarf. It was skepticism that led English magistrate and scholar Daines Barrington to investigate. First, he asked one of his colleagues to send him Wolfgang’s birth certificate from Salzburg, which was the only document that could certify the boy’s age. He then visited nine-year-old Mozart in London and put him to several tests, such as sight-reading, playing the harpsichord, singing and improvising arias. The child brilliantly passed every test, much to Barrington’s amazement, and the magistrate later published his conclusions in Philosophical Transactions through the Royal Society. He confirmed that the child possessed premature and incredible talents that he compared to the “ability to simultaneously read in Greek, Hebrew and Etruscan”.

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

In his letter to the Royal Society, Barrington also claimed that Mozart’s behavior was fitting for a 9-year-old child:

“For example, whilst he was playing to me, a favourite cat came in, upon which he immediately left his harpsichord, nor could we bring him back for a considerable time. He would also sometimes run about the room with a stick between his legs by way of a horse.”

[source]

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

What were some things that Mozart lied and disliked? What diid he do when he wasn’t composing?

Oooh, great questions! Thank you very much :) 

First off, some of Mozart’s favorite things were games, languages, and animals. He loved to play cards and billiards, as well as shoot air-rifles at targets. In fact, he loved billiards so much that he even owned a table himself, despite the fact that many of his Viennese apartments were too cramped to really accommodate it. He also designed a few targets for the air rifle, which were often painted with funny scenes (NSFW recreation of one design here). On top of these more “formal” games, he would often prank people for fun.As for languages, he loved wordplay and learning new languages. As a child, he and his sister would entertain themselves during carriage rides by pretending they were the King and Queen of Sträwkcür (Sdrawkcab in English), where everyone spoke and walked and did everything else backwards. He also spoke quite a few “normal” languages, like French and Italian.Finally, he really seemed to like animals. He had a dog growing up, and as an adult he had a dog and birds on occasion. When his pet starling died, he even wrote a poem for it. 

The rest below the cut!

Now, onto his dislikes: he honestly seemed to be a pretty agreeable person, but when he disliked something, he really went all the way. He disliked pompous people, and often complained about people who wouldn’t take him seriously. The most pompous person of all, according to him, was his former boss, Hieronymus von Colloredo, Prince Archbishop of Salzburg.By extension, he really disliked Salzburg, and specifically this one cafe that’s still open today (you can read about that here).Another group on his shit-list was the French. His mother died in Paris and he wasn’t very popular during his time there, so it’s a bit understandable. Even so, he used French regularly and one of his most famous operas is based on a French novel (La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro).One time he said he hated flute music, but he was in France at the time so he might have just been sulking. 

Finally, what he did in his spare time: As I said before, he really loved games. Some use this information to say that he probably gambled his money away, but I don’t think it was about gambling. I think he played most often just for the fun of it, with no sums or very small sums involved.His bookshelf was rather extensive, with reading materials intended for him and for teaching his young son. We can conclude from this that Mozart was fairly well-read, although some of those books were more for hunting for libretto ideas and song texts rather than for leisure reading--or perhaps they were a combination of both!He also really loved to party. Again, I don’t think it was to an unhealthy level; he was just a very social person and he liked to spend time with his friends. Although, sometimes he composed at the parties: he would write little canons with funny lyrics for he and his friends to sing. However, most of the time, when he wasn’t composing, he was doing other work-related things. He played lots of concerts, took on pupils from time to time, and traveled. It could be argued that even some of his partying was for work-purposes, since he would often be attending the soirees of nobles who would commission works or sponsor concerts. Being a musician without a set patron at that time meant fostering as many good connections as possible, so staying social was key. 

In the end, Mozart was a very hard worker. He would get up early and go to bed late, and many of his day-to-day activities related to his work. When he did have some time to himself, all signs point to an agreeable, social man who liked games and didn’t tolerate arrogance or disrespect. 

[Image sources: x x]

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Mozart’s Writing Style

Mozart had a very unique voice in his letters. He never received a formal education, although public schooling was beginning to become mandatory in Europe when he was born. Instead, he was taught by his father; this led to a lot of irregularities and quirks in his writing that help to make his voice so distinct. On top of this, he was just a playful person who wrote, especially to close friends and family, very expressively. Here are some of his most distinct writing quirks:

Em-Dashes

hat. – Nun hat die italienische opera Buffa alhier wider angefangen; und gefällt sehr. – der Buffo ist besonders gut. er heist Benuci. – ich habe leicht 100 – Ja wohl mehr bücheln durchgesehen – allein – ich habe fast [x]

Mozart loved to use em-dashes, even in places where they wouldn’t really make sense like at the beginning or end of sentences. He often used more if he was excited, annoyed, or defensive, giving his letters a kind of breathless feel. For instance, in the excerpt above, he describes how he read through at least 100 librettos but couldn’t find a single decent plot for a new opera. The em-dashes add to the annoyance of the lines, but also give the impression that Mozart is panting after frantically reading a bunch of scripts. 

Apropos

einen Cavalier – apropos: der Churfürst ist izt wieder zu Manheim – die Mad: Canabich [x]

Let’s cut straight to the point: Mozart does not know what “apropos” means. He used it to mean “by the way” or “unrelated” which keen-eyed observers might notice to be the exact opposite of what apropos actually means. He makes this mistake as early as 1771, and no one seems to correct him for the rest of his life.

Languages

Lusus enim suumhabet ambitum spricht der seelige sänger Meissner, Cap: 9 pag: 24. weiters auch der heilige Ascenditor, [x]

Mozart spoke multiple languages with varying fluency; aside from his native Salzburg dialect of German, he also knew French, Italian, Latin, and English. He often switched languages in his letters, regardless of whether or not the recipient would actually understand him. He also tended to write certain words in certain languages; for example, he would almost always write “music” as the French “Musique.”

Wordplay

Man und Weib  ist ein leib [x]

It wouldn’t be a Mozart letter without a rhyme, a pun, or some other kind of wordplay. Close friends and family could expect to get some kind of short poem, a complete list of verb conjugations, upside-down text, or other punny jokes. Other languages also often featured in these games, such as when he would “translate” someone’s name from one language to another (most famously done with his own middle name, which he writes as Theophilus, Gottlieb, and variants of Amadé). Such expressiveness highlights how fascinated he was with language and writing, in some ways more than his multilingualism does.

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Now about the question of godfather!--Here is what happened. I sent immediately to Baron Wetzlar, who is a good and true friend to me, with the good news of the safe delivery of my wife;--he came straightaway himself--and offered himself as godfather--I couldn't refuse him--and so I thought to myself, well, I can still call the boy Leopold--and just as I was thinking it--the Baron said with the greatest delight--Ah, well, now you have a little Raymund--and he kissed the child--so what was I to do--well, I had the boy baptized Raymund Leopold.

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart explaining the awkward naming situation of his first child, Raymund Leopold Mozart (b. 1783), in a letter to his father Leopold. A few weeks earlier, he had promised Leopold that he would be the godfather (and thus namesake) of the child. However, the rather presumptuous Baron Raymund von Wetzlar had a different idea, and Mozart was too awkward to correct him.

Letter to his father; Vienna, June 18, 1783.

Translation by Robert Spaethling. [Source letter]

[wolfgangerl-mozart]

Hello, I really love your blog! Do you know of any good, accurate Mozart biographies I could read? You seem to be very knowledgeable and I would like to learn more accurate information about Mozart :)

Hello! Thank you so much for your ask :) 

I understand the struggle of trying to find accurate information on Mozart. So many biographies are sensationalized, or they draw their information from secondary sources that are sensationalized, that it’s hard to know what to trust. I therefore don’t like to recommend biographies unless you’re just trying to get supplemental information.

Instead, I recommend reading Mozart’s own words, in the form of his letters. That way, you can form your own impression of him and have the tools to identify when a biographer is on the more sensational end of the spectrum.

Recommendations and my “checklist” for finding a more trustworthy biography below the cut!

I highly recommend Robert Spaethling’s Mozart’s Letters, Mozart’s Life. His book contains tons of letters and excellent biographical information. Each chapter has extra information to contextualize the letters, and through both the letters and the notes you can get a good picture of his life from his teen years to his death.Many of the translations on this blog come from this book, specifically because, in my opinion, his translations are the best. A lot of translators “clean up” Mozart’s letters by removing grammar and spelling mistakes or using archaic, formal English. I can see where they’re coming from, because Mozart obviously uses archaic German compared to today. However, making him sound like a Founding Father gives the wrong impression about his personality and writing style. I could go on for days about this subject but suffice it to say that Spaethling translates Mozart so that a modern reader reads the same voice that an 18th-century reader would.

The biggest flaw in Spaethling’s book is that it doesn’t cover his entire life. If you’re interested in Mozart’s childhood, you must enter very murky territory in terms of accuracy. For this, I generally rely on Leopold Mozart’s letters and the von Nissen biography. If you speak German, both can be found readily online (see my Resources section). If you don’t... keep your eyes on this blog, because I’m (slowly, painfully) working on translating stories from the von Nissen biography :)

Now, some things I look for to see if a biography seems legit:

Mozart’s personality. Is he described as a person or a cartoon character? Many biographies will pick an archetype for Mozart: crazed genius, depressed genius, idiot savant/man-child, and playboy are the most common. Even good biographies will tend to lean towards one stereotype, but what’s important is figuring out which one it is and reading the book with a grain of salt; a biographer is likely going to choose the anecdotes that forward their image of Mozart’s personality, but it doesn’t mean those are the only anecdotes.

Handling of Mozart’s scatological humor. Does the biographer contextualize the humor or freak out because a composer made a poop joke? Scatological humor was not just a Mozart thing, and it’s a sign of poor research if a biography does not acknowledge this.

Use of modern terms. Is he described as a “rock star”? Framing his life this way is a sign that the biography is sensationalizing him and not looking at him as a person of the 18th century. Rock stars are a modern invention and if your book has the same level of insight as a Falco song, there’s a problem.

Cited sources. Is there a lot of “x noble once said...” stuff or is the biographer drawing upon contemporary letters? After Mozart died, a lot of people got kicks out of telling weird stories (re: lies or exaggerations) about him. As far as I’m concerned, those stories are suspect unless they are in writing from before 1792. Even the von Nissen biography is suspect because of this, but I think it has more credence because Nannerl would have less of a reason to tell a Weird Mozart Story than some random noble who wants to seem interesting.

This obviously isn’t comprehensive but I think it’s a decent place to start. If you have any other questions or want me to clarify something, let me know. I hope this helps you on your journey of discovering Mozart! 

[classicarte]

Le jeune Mozart est présenté à l'impératrice Marie-Thérèse par Joseph II le 13 octobre 1762. (The young Mozart is introduced to the empress Maria Theresa by Joseph II on 13 October, 1762)

Eduard Ender, 1869

[caballerodelatristefigura]

Leopold Mozart with Wolfgang and Nannerl

“Mozart père & ses deux enfants” · Watercolor by Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle, Paris, November 1763 (Musée Condé, Chantilly, France)