Who Was Mozart’s Real Musical Father?

by Janet Horvath, Interlude

Fans of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will likely be aware that he was taught, shaped, and influenced by his father Leopold Mozart, a violinist and composer. When Leopold began to teach his seven-year-old daughter Nannerl, in 1759, he discovered that Wolfgang could imitate anything his sister played on the keyboard. Leopold began teaching the little boy, and in no time, Wolfgang made astonishing progress. Leopold, deciding the children’s exceptional talents had to be shown off, organized extensive concert tours of the continent, and the children impressed and amazed kings and queens with their music making.

Leopold Mozart © stringsmagazine.com

Wolfgang met many illustrious musicians while traveling in Europe and encountered the music of George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Johann Christian Bach. Wolfgang’s friendship and musical kinship with Johann Christian (J.C.) Bach became pivotal.

Both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Christian Bach, were sons of famous musicians. J.C., the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, was born in Leipzig. The elder Bach was by then fifty years old and in 1750, when J.C. was a young teenager, Johann Sebastian passed away. J.C. traveled to Berlin to live with his older brother and to further his studies in composition and on the keyboard with him, the eminent composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Johann Christian soon developed into an accomplished performer and composer in his own right. He began to travel widely, eventually settling in Italy.

Portrait of Mozart by Johann Nepomuk della Croce

Captivated by the new musical style he heard in the operatic music there—lyrical, charming, and effortless that shied away from the serious counterpoint of baroque music, J.C. began perfecting Stile galant. It was the music of the future, which introduced simple, graceful phrases that highlighted the melody. Johann Christian’s successful first operas were composed in this elegant style.

Appointed to the position of Music Master to Queen Charlotte, he moved to London in 1762. His reputation increased after writing several successful operas. In 1764 “The English Bach” met and mentored the young eight-year-old Wolfgang and the two enjoyed improvising on the harpsichord. Nannerl, Mozart’s sister, wrote in her letters that Bach would sit Mozart in front of him at the keyboard. J.C. played one bar, then Mozart would elaborate on the next bar, ‘and in this way they played a whole sonata, and someone not seeing it would have thought that only one man was playing’.

Mozart’s predilection for wind instruments originates with J.C Bach. The latter thought the winds should be featured; they should carry the melody and not simply double melodic lines. In fact, J.C. Bach’s earliest opera was the first to include clarinets.

Portrait of Johann Christian Bach in 1776 by Thomas Gainsborough ©

Bach’s keyboard style also greatly influenced Mozart. Naturally Mozart and his sister played keyboard duets throughout their childhood, and Mozart’s sparkling and enchanting compositions for piano four hands and for two pianos will always be celebrated. Piano duos or works for piano four hands are performed on one piano and differ from compositions that are written specifically for two pianos. Mozart wrote his Fugue in C minor K. 426, and his Sonatas in D major K. 448 and in C major K. 545 for two pianos, and many other composers from Ravel to Liszt, and Brahms to Rachmaninoff followed suit.

At the Duo Pleyel concert

It was enlightening to hear the two composers, Mozart and J.C. Bach, juxtaposed, and to hear Bach’s influence firsthand in a recent concert by Duo Pleyel in Austria at the spectacular 12th century abbey Klosterneuburg, in Augustinus Hall. Pianists Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr presented a program entitled “Mozart’s Real Musical Father” that alternated Piano Duets by W. A. Mozart and those by J.C. Bach. They performed on a replica of Chopin’s preferred piano, a Pleyel built in 1848.

The duo opened the concert with the Mozart Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in D Major, K. 381. I think you’ll agree the first movement Allegro could not be more beguiling. Within the movement the interlocking melodies alternate from the major and minor key effortlessly, moving from charm to mystery, and from affecting to poignant.

Stift Klosterneuburg

A delightful duo by Johann Christian Bach followed, the Sonata for Piano Duet in A major Op. 18, No. 5. The duo is only two movements. The allegretto is expressive and lyrical, with the two pianos evenly matched singing through beautiful scale passages and ornaments, certainly an example of Stile galant and the compositional style Mozart would emulate.

Mozart’s Five Variations in G Major for Piano Duet, K. 501 was next on the program. Mozart’s wizardry in this brief work of only 7 minutes, is riveting. He highlights and embellishes the initial enchanting melody first in eight notes, then in triplets in the lower piano line, then in sinuous sixteenth notes in the higher register. It’s followed by a slow and weightier variation in the minor key. More virtuosic flourishes follow before the simple version from the introduction returns towards the end and fades out gracefully. It’s masterful.

Acciacatura

The Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in F Major, K. 497 by Mozart begins with an exquisite Adagio before it embarks on a lighthearted Allegro di molto. What could be more beautiful than this opening? Mozart composes with such brilliant panache. Listen for the acciaccaturas – grace notes played as quicky as possible before the main note with the emphasis on the main note, as if little birds are chirping—as well as the speedy turns—a four-note pattern where the main note is played, then the note above, followed by the main note again, and then the note below, and is notated by a sideways ‘S’ symbol.

J.C. Bach Sonata for Piano Duet in F Op. 18, No. 6 followed, a work of only two movements, an Allegro, and a Rondeau-Allegro, which is an animated movement featuring unison playing and short cadenzas. One can hear many similarities in style that Mozart later adopted and perfected.

The concluding piece on the program, W.A. Mozart Sonata for Piano Duet in B-flat, K 358, begins with a lively and vivacious Allegro that highlights scales and unison passages in each of the two parts.

The third movement, a captivating Molto presto, features long passages of repeated notes, light and quick staccato notes, sparkling ornaments, rhythmic accents on the offbeats, low register bombast, all in merely three minutes. It must be so much fun to play, and lovely to listen to.

To hear these piano duos and to see the parallels between the composers in this most enjoyable program was illuminating, and evidence of the musical kinship between J.C. Bach and W. A. Mozart.

Mozart’s Seven Saddest Pieces of Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known for his light, elegant, joyful music. His preternaturally cheerful mood makes the times when he did write dark music stand out all the more.

Today, we’re looking at seven of Mozart’s saddest pieces of music, ranking them in a totally subjective list, from least sad to most sad.

So join us as we listen to various symphonies, sonatas, and more, and learn a bit about the stories behind each piece.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1789

By 1788, a mature Mozart had begun keeping meticulously detailed records of his output. Based on his records, we know that he finished this symphony after a matter of weeks on 25 July 1788.

Although the Fortieth has a reputation for being a tragic symphony, its origins weren’t particularly dramatic: indeed, it was probably written for a concert series at a casino.

Various historians have claimed that Mozart never got to hear the work performed, but later scholarship has disproven this legend. How? Because he rewrote the woodwind parts, suggesting that he’d heard them played…or, at the very least, was revising and anticipating an imminent performance.

Although this symphony could be thought of as sad, better words to describe it might be worried, agitated, or turbulent. Mozart’s most overtly sorrowful compositions appear later on this list, which is why this one doesn’t rank higher. 

Mozart turned seventeen years old in 1773. Amazingly, he had already written twenty-four symphonies, and that October, he wrote his twenty-fifth. (By the way, legend has it that he wrote it within two days of finishing his previous symphony!)

Mozart’s 25th Symphony draws from the Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) movement, which was popular in European music at the time. Music in the Sturm und Drang style valued extreme emotions and subjectivity, traits that pushed back against Enlightenment Era priorities like rationalism and detached objectivity.

Mozart embodied the values of the Sturm und Drang style by writing in a minor key and employing rhythmic syncopations.

Like his other G-minor symphony above, the emotional tone here is more furious than sad. 

In the summer of 1778, when Mozart was twenty-two, he and his beloved mother, Anna Maria, were living in Paris. His father, who usually oversaw his prodigy son’s travel and career, was unable to leave Salzburg, so he sent his wife off to accompany Wolfgang instead while he micromanaged what he could via letter.

Wolfgang obeyed orders, taking on a few students, composing, and networking. In June, his mother wrote letters home complaining of tiredness and a sore throat. We don’t know for sure, but it seems likely she didn’t want to pay to see a doctor, as her husband was always complaining about money.

Anna Maria Mozart

Unfortunately, whether or not she realized it, her life was in danger, and her health deteriorated quickly. On June 30th, last rites were administered, and on July 3rd, she died. It is still uncertain what she died of, although it’s widely believed to be typhoid fever.

Panicked, Mozart prepared his father by lying to him in a letter, claiming that she was only sick, not dead. When he finally admitted the truth, his father blamed him for what had happened.

It’s not known for sure when Mozart wrote this violin sonata in 1778, but many listeners believe that it was inspired by his feelings surrounding his mother’s sudden shocking death and his father’s hurtful reaction. It is melancholy with tinges of dramatic bitterness. 

We don’t know exactly when Mozart wrote his twelfth piano sonata. He could have written it during visits to Munich or Vienna, or, most intriguingly, during a visit to his hometown of Salzburg, during which he introduced his new wife Constanze to his father…no doubt a nerve-wracking and emotional trip!

Regardless of the sonata’s origins, its second movement is deeply emotional. The opening theme is not particularly sad (it’s more wistful than anything), but as it develops, it grows more and more quietly despairing, traversing between sunlight and shadow in a deeply affecting way. 

Mozart wrote his twenty-third piano concerto two months before the premiere of The Marriage of Figaro, and opera was clearly on his mind. You can hear it in the tragic aria-like melody that he gives to the solo piano.

Interestingly, this is the only piece of music that Mozart ever wrote in F-sharp minor.

It’s interesting to remember when hearing modern performances that Mozart likely improvised details while playing the solo piano part and that this tradition of improvisation has been largely discarded. 

Mozart was twenty-six years old when he wrote his Fantasia in D-minor for solo piano. It’s a short piece: just a hundred measures, split into a few parts and hovering around six minutes. Its unexpected, unpredictable form helps contribute to the feeling of listlessness and sadness.

We don’t know why Mozart wrote this work. We do know that he didn’t actually finish it himself, as it was unfinished upon his death in 1791.

The final ten measures were likely composed by German composer August Eberhard Müller, although others like Mitsuko Uchida have stepped forward with their own endings. 

Mozart’s Requiem contains his saddest music, both for the content of the music and for the tragic story behind its composition.

In 1791, a wealthy count named Franz von Walsegg commissioned Mozart to write a Requiem in honour of his recently deceased wife. (The count also was an amateur musician who, alarmingly, wanted a work to pass off as his own.)

Tragically, Mozart died before the Requiem could be finished. He was only thirty-five years old, and to this day, we don’t know exactly what killed him.

His widow was left with two children to raise. Mozart hadn’t left enough money for her to live on, and she knew that to secure her family’s economic security, she would have to hire a composer to finish the Requiem so that she could collect the commission fee.

Franz Xaver Süssmayr, a composer and Mozart student, took on the monumental task of finishing this masterpiece. We do not know exactly what Süssmayr contributed to the Requiem, but he later claimed he wrote the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, which appear toward the end.

The saddest movement of the Requiem is likely the Lacrymosa (“Weeping”), which combines sorrow and splendour in equal measure. 

Between the tragic subject matter and the knowledge that it turned out to be his farewell to music, it’s our pick for the saddest music that Mozart ever wrote.

Which work do you think is Mozart’s saddest? Would you re-order our list? Let us know in the comments!

The Best of Mozart

THE BEST OF MOZART 1. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525: I. Allegro (00:00) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 2. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525: II. Romanze - Andante (07:45) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 3. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525: III. Menuetto - Allegretto (12:50) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 4. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525: IV. Rondo - Allegro (14:50) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 5. Symphony No 35 in D major, K. 385 (Haffner Symphony): I. Allegro con spirito (20:08) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 6. Symphony No 35 in D major, K. 385 (Haffner Symphony): IV. Presto (25:54) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 7. Symphony No 40 in G minor, KV. 550: I. Molto Allegro (29:53) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 8. The Magic Flute: Overture (37:29) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 9. The Marriage of Figaro: Overture (44:41) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 10. String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590: I. Allegro moderato (49:12) - Accord quartet 11. String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590: IV. Allegro (58:13) - Accord quartet 12. String Quartet No. 20 in D major, K. 499: II. Menuetto and Trio. Allegretto (1:03:17) - Accord quartet 13. Violin Sonata No. 26 in B-flat major, K. 378: III. Rondo. Allegro (1:06:38) - Accord quartet 14. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467: II. Andante (1:10:46) - Csabay Domonkos 15. Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488: I. Allegro (1:16:25) - Csabay Domonkos 16. Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331: III. Alla Turca (1:27:15) - Csabay Domonkos 17. Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622: II. Adagio (1:29:35) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 18. Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216: I. Allegro (1:36:36) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 19. Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 314: II. Adagio non troppo (1:46:08) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra 20. Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 447: II. Romance. Larghetto (1:51:36) - Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his early death at the age of 35. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years". Thank you so much for watching this video by Halidon Music channel, we hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to share it All the best classical music ever on Halidon Music Youtube Channel: The Best Classical Music Playlist Mix, The Best Classical Music For Studying, Classical Music For Reading, Classical Music For Concentration, Classical Music for Sleeping and Relaxation, Instrumental Music, Background Music, Opera Music, Piano, Violin & Orchestral Masterpieces by the greatest composers of all time. The very best of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Schubert, Handel, Liszt, Haydn, Strauss, Verdi, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, Rossini, Ravel, Grieg, Ravel, Dvorák…

MOZART | Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat K. 595

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) | Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat K. 595 Aris Alexander Blettenberg - piano Klangkollektiv Wien Rémy Ballot - conductor MUSIK MERAN 12.10.2023 - Kursaal, Meran (I) 00:00 Allegro 14:37 Larghetto 22:40 Ronde. Allegro

The Child Prodigies of Classical Music (II)

From Mozart to Richard Strauss

By Georg Predota, Interlude

Let’s continue our exploration of early compositions by famous composers.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The young Mozart in Vienna

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is widely regarded as the child composer par excellence. It was probably because of Mozart that the image of the child composer first entered the public consciousness. On his first visit to London, young Mozart attracted the attention of Daines Barrington, “a polymath who wrote about a variety of curious phenomena.” It was agreed that Barrington would examine Mozart’s musical abilities by subjecting the 8-year-old boy to a number of tests. Barrington brought along the five-part score of a new opera by a London composer, including two lines in the difficult to read contralto clef.

“Mozart played it flawlessly, and also captured the composer’s tempos, dynamic, and musical intentions.” Next Barrington asked young Mozart to improvise a love song, and the boy created a complete piece with recitative and two movements. Then Barrington asks Mozart to compose a song of rage. “This time Mozart tears into the keyboard like a child possessed, standing up from his bench and hammering the keys with small fingers that can scarcely reach the interval of a fifth.” Barrington concludes that Mozart may “become even greater than another one-time European prodigy, now working in London. This Mozart might, one day, prove to be a match for even the great George Frideric Handel.”

Mozart’s musical output as a child is truly remarkable, as he completed roughly 120 works before 1772. These works are written in a great variety of genres, and his success was widely recognized at the time. Barry Cooper suggests, “Mozart’s success may well have prompted a surge in the number of active child composers, which certainly increases significantly around this time.” Among the dramatic works written by Mozart between 1768 and 1771, we find the oratorio La Betulia Liberate, an impressive work with powerful choruses and well-characterized arias. 

Joseph Martin Kraus

Portrait of Joseph Martin Kraus, 1775

Born in the same year as Mozart, Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792) was one of the most talented and unusual composers of the 18th century. He initially studied music at a Jesuit Gymnasium in Mannheim, and his earliest musical training was influenced by the Italian style of the Mannheim composers. He began composing symphonies during his youth and quickly developed a flair for the dramatic and unexpected. His earliest attempts have sadly been lost, but what has survived, indicated a strong dramatic element making them more “theatrical than simply mass-produced concert works.” The Symphony in A major (VB 128) is one of the earliest symphonies by Kraus to have survived, and the first movement features “bold unisons, flashing motivic figures and expansively worked out contrasting themes, while the second is filled with considerable lyricism.” The work also includes a minuet, and a rousing final movement providing a musical depiction of a hunt. 

Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns in 1846

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) claimed to have destroyed many of his childhood works. Seemingly, his efforts at destruction did not progress very systematically, as more than fifty pieces still survive. Hector Berlioz would later describe him as “knowing everything about music but lacking inexperience.” To be sure, Saint-Saëns was one of the greatest child prodigies the world had ever seen. It is reported that he improvised descriptive pieces at the age of 2 and that he penned a short and unpretentious composition aged just 3 years and 164 days. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13, and he tried his hand at the composition of symphonies at the age of 15. Two of these symphonic attempts remained unfinished, but the Symphony in A Major emerged fully formed in four complete movements. A critic writes, “Although it was probably conceived as a student exercise to demonstrate his mastery of various writing and orchestration techniques, this symphony is far more than just an academic rite of passage. Balance and concision (a legacy of the Viennese classics), a stylistic unity that manages to channel a spirit of romanticism into a classical four-movement structure, light and transparent orchestration: everything here proclaims an exceptional talent.”

Alexander Tcherepnin

Alexander Tcherepnin

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977) initially studied music with his mother, and as early as 1913, he was apparently composing an opera entitled “The Death of Ivan the Terrible.” Supposedly, Tcherepnin wrote in the score that a large metal sheet be thrown on the floor to imitate the sound of a huge bell. Tcherepnin also “composed hundreds of piano pieces in his early years, including thirteen piano sonatas.” Forced to flee after the 1917 Russian Revolution, the family fled Saint Petersburg and settled in Tbilisi, Georgia. Tcherepnin took a good many of his early pieces with him, and a substantial number actually reached print. This includes the Bagatelles Op. 5, of which No. 7 was probably composed in 1912. Originally composed for piano solo, Tcherepnin later revised and arranged these pieces for a variety of instrumental forces, including a version for piano and orchestra.

Ignaz Moscheles

Ignaz Moscheles

The Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870), together with Jan Ladislav Dussek and Muzio Clementi, eventually established the “London” School of Pianoforte playing. Moscheles hailed from Prague and took early lessons from the disciplinarian director of the local conservatory, Friedrich Weber. He only allowed Moscheles to play the music of Mozart, Clementi, and J.S. Bach, and none of the “modern stuff” that Beethoven was composing. In 1808, after the death of his father, Moscheles went to Vienna and studied counterpoint with Albrechtsberger and composition with Salieri, and he became friends with Beethoven. Moscheles began composing at least as early as 1808 and actually had a symphony performed in Vienna on 12 March 1809. This work does not survive, however, and his earliest published works date from around 1810. These consist of several sets of piano variations (Opp. 1, 2, and 5–7), some dances (Op. 3), and a Sonatina (Op. 4), all of which were printed in quick succession. 

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806-1826) showed such striking ability as a child that he is sometimes referred to as the “Spanish Mozart.” His first known composition, a trio for violin that later had a text and a bass part added, was entitled Nada y much, and dates from 1817. In 1818 he published an overture of nine instruments as his Op. 1. His opera Los esclavos felices was probably composed in 1819, but only the overture survives. “It begins with a very lyrical introduction, with a graceful, flowing melody decorated by occasional expressive chromatic appoggiaturas and some delicate countermelody.” The musical style invites comparisons with Italian opera, and specifically Rossini. Arriaga composed roughly twenty works before moving to Paris to take up his studies at the Paris Conservatoire. Among these works is a Stabat Mater for three male voices and orchestra, composed while he was still in Bilbao. Arriaga continued composing prolifically after moving to Paris, writing symphonies and string quartets, but his career was tragically cut short by his early death before he reached the age of twenty. 

Clara Wieck

Clara Wieck at 16 years old

At the age of 12, Clara Wieck (1819-1896) was well on her way of becoming a renowned piano virtuoso. Concurrently, she began to compose and wrote a waltz for piano in 1828. A number of early works are mentioned in various documents but appear to be lost. Her Op. 1 is a set of four polonaises that appeared in print in 1831, and additional piano works, ranging from the virtuosic to the more poetic and introspective, were issued shortly thereafter. In addition, Clara also embarked upon orchestral studies, and she drafted a “Scherzo” and an “Overture” for orchestra, but they have not survived. However, the idea of writing a concerto had decidedly taken shape and Wieck started drafting a piano concerto in A minor in January 1833. The final movement was completed later that year and was performed at least twice in May and September 1834. “You see, you must know that I am in love,” Clara Wieck confessed to her stepmother in January 1835. “It is not a passing fancy, but lasting love.” The object of this passionate outburst was not Robert Schumann but the cellist August Theodor Müller. As such, the first two movements were composed under the spell of infatuation, and the “enchanted cello of Theodor” left its mark in the enchanting notes of the expansive “Romance,” the concerto’s middle movement.”

Frederic Hymen Cowen

Frederic Hymen Cowen

On 29 January 1852, the city of Kingston, Jamaica registered the birth of Hyman Frederick Cohen. The Cohen family originally consisted of plantation owners and possibly slave traders, but with that business in decline, Frederick Augustus Cohen entered into diplomatic service, and the family transferred to England in 1856. They changed their surname to Cowen, and Frederic Hymen Cowen showed great musical promise at an early age. In 1858 the six-year-old boy published his first piano piece, “Minna Waltz,” and his first published song “A Mother’s Love,” followed in 1859. Since he was not yet able to write down the music, he simply improvised and his teacher wrote it down for him. At the age of 8, Cowen composed a “drawing room operetta” entitled Garibaldi. Scored in two acts of five scenes each, the libretto was written by his seventeen-year-old cousin Rosalind, “and consists of spoken dialogue that alternates with numerous airs, and duets, with piano accompaniment.” It was performed on 4 February 1860, with Cowen at the piano, and a cast of children all younger than seventeen. It was published later that year and consists of an impressive forty-three pages of score. After a brief period of study in Leipzig, the highpoint of Cowen’s early career came on 9 December 1869, when, at the age of seventeen, his First Symphony in C minor and his Piano Concerto in A minor were performed “at a highly successful and enthusiastically reviewed concert.”

Louis Spohr

Louis Spohr

Contemporaries mentioned the name Louis Spohr (l784-1859) in the same breath as Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin held him in the highest admiration. Spohr started learning the violin at the age of five, and his earliest attempts at composition were made about 1796, or perhaps even earlier. According to his own account, and there is no reason to dispute his memory, he composed the overture, choruses, and airs for an unfinished singspiel, six string trios, and a number of violin concertos, all now lost. As Barry Cooper writes, “Spohr’s early works have suffered more than their fair share of neglect and it is difficult to assess how capable a composer he was as a child.” An undated autograph score of a violin concerto in G Major is what remains of Spohr’s early attempts at composition. Scholars have suggested that it was composed “around 1799 at the age of fifteen.” It is described as having “still limited creative power and modest structuring, and was modeled after the violin concertos of Giornovichi and Viotti.” And while the work has been termed naïve, “it is naïve in the positive sense of freshness and unspoiled.” It certainly serves as a convincing demonstration of Spohr’s musical talents. 

Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss as a child

Franz Strauss, the celebrated horn virtuoso who set new standards on the instrument for more than four decades, immediately recognized the musical talents of his son Richard Strauss (1864-1949). The four-year-old boy took piano lessons from August Tombo, and his older sister remembered, “Richard made swift progress. Sight-reading presented him with no problems. His teacher played to him a great deal, and there was one trick that delighted Richard. His teacher played the bass part with the left hand, the top line with his right hand, and the middle part with the tip of his long pointed nose.” Richard first tried his hands at composition at the age of six, when he composed the Schneider-Polka (Tailor Polka) for piano. However, as he was not yet capable of writing music, his father wrote it down for him. Richard was described by his teacher as “a student with excellent disposition, good deportment and well behaved; lively, enthusiastic, attentive, sometimes over-eager and hasty.” By the time he was 16, Richard had composed roughly 140 compositions, including almost 60 songs and more than 40 piano works. Much of these juvenilia pay homage to the musical creed of his father, who favored the “trinity of Mozart (most of all), Haydn and Beethoven.” Echoes of Mozart and the Classical style clearly emerge in his Serenade in E-flat for Thirteen Wind Instruments, Opus 7, dedicated to his composition teacher Franz Meyer. And while some critics find “schoolbook themes of almost universally four-square structure with depressing regularity, Strauss was very positive about his early compositions, allowing some of them to be published many decades later.”

The concluding episode in this series of Child Prodigies features music by Mendelssohn, Liszt, Darcis, Korngold, and others; please join us for the exciting conclusion.

Famous Quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

by Hermione Lai, Interlude 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) penned a vast number of letters, starting from about the age of 14 and ranging to the last month of his life. Literally, thousands of these documents have been preserved, thanks to the foresight of his widow Constanze and her second husband Nissen. These unique documents are still the principal source of information about the events of his life and provide clues to Mozart’s character. In his letters, we find Mozart at his most intimate and unguarded, freely expressing his feelings about life, love, music, and the world around him.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

If we can trust current scholarly opinion, Mozart was a distinguished letter writer. In fact, he is described as “the most eloquent among musicians of his time.” During his travels he was a faithful correspondent, he wrote loving letters to his wife, and long money-seeking letters to friends and patrons. And as we all know, he also wrote some rather naughty letters to his cousin. As an artist profoundly inspired by the theatre, Mozart was an exceptional judge of character. And his letters are not “exotic discoveries suitable for being marveled at in a distant cabinet, but are bearers of communications.” 

The Mozart letters are full of both trivial and important observations about the people he met, comments on the reactions to his music, satirical remarks on incompetent professions, thoughts on other composers, the process of performing, and his own methods of composition. But writing a blog on famous quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is not so easy. His use of language, his “use of dialect, semantics, and phonology can be difficult for the 21st-century readers to fully understand.” Nevertheless, here are some famous quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that present an informal and intimately detailed portrait of a genius.

“Nothing is more enjoyable than a quiet life and to obtain that, one must be industrious”

Mozart’s letters

As he wrote to his wife on 8 October 1791, Mozart was probably longing for a life exclusively dedicated to music, without all that financial stuff. He did have a habit of exaggerating his financial difficulties, but he certainly liked fine clothing, expensive apartments, and enjoyed living beyond his means. Some commentators have suggested that he might well have had a gambling problem as well. But one thing is for sure, he was incredibly industrious as a composer. The amount and quality of music composed during his short life is simply staggering. He left us roughly 800 works in virtually every genre of his time of the highest possible quality imaginable. 

“Friends who have no religion cannot be long our friends”

Mozart was baptized a Catholic, and the church played an important role in his life. He was raised in a strict religious household with his father enforcing family prayer, fasting, the veneration of saints, regular attendance at mass, and frequent confession. In the words of Leopold Mozart, “God must come first! From his hands, we receive our temporal happiness and our eternal salvation.”

It is hardly surprising that the above famous quote from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart originates in a letter written to his father in 1782. However, Mozart’s relationship to religion was ambivalent, and his famous quote does not provide reliable information about his convictions but is probably a disguise in order to please his father. But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t compose some of the most spiritual and devotional religious music in existence. 

“Constanze is not ugly, but anything but beautiful; all her beauty consists of two little black eyes and a handsome figure”

Constanze Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart married Constanze Weber on 4 August 1782. Their courtship had not been smooth, and the relationship faced stiff opposition from Leopold Mozart. Leopold did not consider Constanze a good match for his son and didn’t want the marriage to go ahead. A good many letters went back and forth, with Mozart praising the talents of his love and Leopold refusing to let his mind be changed.

It probably didn’t help that the couple moved in together before they were married, making it a real disgrace for the time. Her mother threatened to call the police if she didn’t return home. In the end, Leopold could not prevent the marriage and in order to save face, his consent arrived in the mail one day after the happy event. 

“To win applause one must write stuff so simple that a coachman might sing it”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart always placed great emphasis on elegant, natural, and singing melodies. He always wanted to communicate through melody. Mozart was essentially an operatic composer, and that particular style carried over into his instrumental works as well. In order to effectively perform Mozart’s music, we need to think like an opera singer but with simplicity of melody that can be easily sung by a coachman as well. In a related famous quote, Mozart wrote, “Melody is the essence of music.”

Antonio Salieri

To be sure, Mozart melodies are some of the most memorable pieces of music ever written. Mozart melodies are frequently described as flowing and beautiful, with an unmatched lightness and elegance. Some writers compare them to the sounds of a flowing river or the gentle flutter of a butterfly’s wing. But while they are light and airy, they have deep emotional qualities. Mozart’s melodies have a way of touching the soul and stirring emotions. Remember the Salieri movie, when the jealous composer commented upon hearing a Mozart melody that he had heard the voice of God? 

“It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me. I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a true child prodigy, and he is very often considered an exceptional and singular musical genius. As a performer, he quickly acquired superstar status and began to compose at the tender age of five. He completed his first symphony before celebrating his eighth birthday and finished his first opera by the age of twelve. And while his natural ability is undisputed, he remained a student throughout his life.

The Mozart family playing chamber music

Mozart unrelentingly integrated, synthesized, and transformed stylistic and musical conventions to produce compositions of universal appeal and stunning individuality. There simply seems to have been no genre or compositional technique in which Mozart was not comfortable. Mozart certainly worked on his compositional craft after he moved to Vienna, and for the first time saw musical manuscripts by J.S. Bach and Handel. He immediately started a concentrated study of counterpoint and began to improvise fugues in the style of Bach. And it was the synthesis of the Classical and learned styles of music that made the true genius of Mozart’s music. 

“How popular I would be if I were to lift the national German stage to recognition in music!”

Music had always played an essential role in the daily lives of Habsburg royalty. However, music at court and the opera had been dominated by the highly popular Italian style. However, Emperor Joseph II was eager to challenge that convention by advocating the “Singspiel,” a German-language music drama. His push for an autonomous German opera brought Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in direct competition with Antonio Salieri. Salieri was a well-respected star, and Mozart was the new kid in town when the Emperor challenged both composers to write an opera on the same subject, one in the Italian style and the other taking up the challenge for German opera.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel: Stage set for the Queen of the Night (in Mozart’s Magic Flute)

It wasn’t much of a competition as Salieri’s Prima la Musica, poi le Parole (First the Music and then the Words) in the fashionable Italian style, soundly defeated Mozart’s Schauspieldirector (The Impresario). The plan of the Emperor, who was hoping for Mozart and German opera to win the day, failed badly that evening. However, Mozart soon demonstrated his mastery of both genres with Le nozze di Figaro and the Magic Flute. And in the end, of course, he did accomplish what he set out to do in his famous quote. 

“I care very little for Salzburg and not at all for the archbishop; I shit on both of them”

The city of Salzburg has always been a small but pretentious provincial town. A few selected families got very rich from the salt trade, and they controlled and dominated virtually all aspects of civic and ecclesiastical life. That ruling civic elite had very little interest in having a gifted composer interfere with their conservative practices. Mozart was the musical servant of Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo, and he was well aware of Mozart’s distaste for the city and for his own person.

Hieronymus von Colloredo (1732-1812), Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg

The Archbishop became exceptionally annoyed with Mozart’s frequent absences resulting in a number of heated arguments. Breaking with the Archbishop was not going to be easy, and Mozart lobbied and even begged his father for support. He wanted to be a freelance musician, and was rightfully tired of being “spoken to as if I had been some miserable beggar.” Their working contract was resolved in May 1781, when the chief chamberlain delivered a swift kick to Mozart’s backside. Isn’t it ironic that present-day Salzburg continues to reap the financial rewards of a relationship that never existed? 

“Death, when we come to consider it closely, is the true goal of our existence”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived during a period of history when high mortality was simply a fact of life. Several of his siblings died in childhood, and the union of Wolfgang and Constanze produced six children, but only two survived infancy. Wolfgang was deeply affected by the death of his father, and his mother died of a long and painful illness. His own health had started to deteriorate at the age of five. He suffered from rheumatism, which frequently caused kidney infections that confined him to bed.

Austria, Vienna, St. Marx Cemetery, The gravestone of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart had plenty of time to consider his own mortality, and he writes, “I have formed during the last few years such close relationships with this best and truest friend of mankind that death’s image is not only no longer terrifying to me, but is indeed very soothing and consoling, and I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity… of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness. I never lie down at night without reflecting that, young as I am, I may not live to see another day.” 

“Shit in your bed and make it burst”

The nine surviving letters by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart are known as the “Bäsle Letters.” She was the daughter of one of the brothers of Mozart’s father Leopold, and in his letters Mozart famously uses direct and frank language, which is sometimes drastically vulgar and spiced with anal-erotic fantasies. This kind of scatological humor has puzzled scholars, and more recently, it is claimed to originate in psychiatric conditions from which Mozart supposedly suffered.

A drawing by Mozart in his Basel Letters to her cousin Maria Anna Thekla

For some commentators, “Mozart was able for a moment to forget the continuous pressures of an uncertain future, and allowed his light-hearted and humorous side of his character to come through.” One thing for sure, “these letters embarrass us, and we have tried to suppress them, trivialize them, or explain them away with pathological excuses.” It might well be that 18th-century scatological humor was far more public and mainstream, and it might well have suggested a political dimension. In a letter to his father, he describes the aristocrats present at a concert in Augsburg as “Duchess Smackarse, Countess Pleasurepisser, the Princess Stinkmess, and the two Princes Potbelly von Pigdick.” 

“What’s even worse than a flute? – Two flutes!”

We still don’t know for certain if this famous quote can be wholly attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, we do know that he did not like the sound of the solo flute and found it difficult to compose for the instrument. As he was struggling to fulfill a commission for the wealthy amateur flautist he truly loathed, he writes to his father. “I never have a quiet hour here… besides, one is not always in the mood for working. I could certainly scribble things the whole day long, but when a composition of this kind goes out into the world, naturally I do not want to be ashamed of my name on the title page. Moreover, you know I am quite powerless to write for an instrument (the flute) which I cannot bear.”

As we might well imagine, countless famous quotes by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart have been misattributed. I guess, if you are famous and dead, people are ever so happy to put words in your mouth. What is your favorite Mozart quote?