Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a name that resonates through the ages, a towering figure in the world of music whose genius continues to captivate audiences. From a tender age of 5, this child prodigy dazzled the world with his extraordinary talents, crafting masterpieces that remain unmatched. This collection of excerpts from his personal letters offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a musical legend. Was he simply mad, or was he a miraculous creator? Join us on a journey of discovery as we explore the thoughts and feelings of the boy wonder. (Summary by Aaron Elliott)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter ten of Mozart The Man and the Artist. This
is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
LibriVox dot org. Recorded by Laurie Ann Walden. Mozart The
Man and the Artist, as revealed in his own words
by Friedrich Kerst, translated by Henry Krebiel. Chapter ten, Wulfgong
(00:24):
the German. Mozart's Germanism is a matter of pride to
the German people. To him, German was no empty concept,
as it was to the majority of his contemporaries. He
is therefore honored as a champion of German character and
German art, worthy as such. To stand beside Richard Wagner
properly to appreciate his patriotism, it is necessary to bear
(00:47):
in mind that in Mozart's day, Germany was a figment
of the imagination, the French language, French manners, and Italian
music being everywhere dominant. Wagner, on the contrary, was privileged
to see the promise of the fulfillment of his strivings
in the light of the German victories of eighteen seventy
to eighteen seventy one, when the genius of Germany soared aloft,
(01:09):
she carried Wagner with her. Wagner's days of glory in
August eighteen seventy six were conditioned by the Great War
with France. How insignificant must the patronage of Joseph two
scantily enough bestowed on Mozart in comparison with that showered
on Saliery appear when we recall the mycenus Ludwig TII
(01:31):
one O nine. Frequently I fall into a mood of
complete listlessness and indifference. Nothing gives me great pleasure. The
most stimulating and encouraging thought is that you, dearest father,
and my dear sister are well, that I am an
honest German, and that if I am not always permitted
to talk, I can think what I please. But that
(01:52):
is all. Paris, May twenty nine, seventeen seventy eight, to
his father one ten. The Duc de Guen was utterly
without a sense of honor, and thought that here was
a young fellow and as stupid German to boot, as
all Frenchmen think of the Germans, he'll be glad to
take it. But the stupid German was not glad and
(02:12):
refused to take the money for two lessons. He wanted
to pay me the fee of one Paris July thirty one,
seventeen seventy eight to his father. Mozart had given lessons
in composition to the Duke's daughter see number fifty one
one eleven. An Italian ape, such as he is, who
has lived in German countries and eaten German bread for years,
(02:36):
ought to speak German or mangle it as well, or
ill as his French mouth will permit, said of the
Villancellist Duport, the favorite of King William I of Prussia,
in seventeen eighty nine, when Mozart was in Berlin and
Duport asked him to speak French. One twelve. I pray
God every day to give me grace to remain steadfast here,
(02:58):
that I may do honor to myself and the entire
German nation, to His greater honor and glory, and that
he permit me to make my fortune, so that I
may help you out of your sorry condition and bring
it to pass that we soon meet again and live
together in happiness and joy. But His will be done
on earth as in heaven. Paris May one seventeen seventy
(03:20):
eight to his father, who had plunged himself in debt
and was giving lessons in order to promote the career
of his son. His sister also helped nobly one thirteen.
If this were a place where the people had ears,
hearts to feel, and a modicum of musical understanding and taste,
I should laugh heartily at all these things. As it is,
(03:42):
I am among nothing but cattle and brutes. So far
as music is concerned. How should it be otherwise? Since
they are the same in all their acts and passions.
There is no place like Paris. You must not think
that I exaggerate when I talk thus of music. Turn
to whom you please, Except to a born Frenchman, you
shall hear the same thing, provided you can find some
(04:04):
one to turn to. Now that I am here, I
must endure out of regard for you, I shall thank
God Almighty if I get out of here with a
sound taste. Paris May one, seventeen seventy eight. One fourteen.
How popular I would be if I were to lift
the national German stage to recognition in music, And this
(04:26):
would surely happen, for I was already full of desire
to write when I heard the German Singhschpiel Munich October two,
seventeen seventy seven. A Singspiel is a German opera with
spoken dialogue h. E k. One fifteen. If there were
but a single Patriot on the boards with me, a
(04:46):
different face would be put on the matter. Then mayhap
the budding national theater would blossom, and that would be
an eternal disgrace to Germany, if we Germans should once
begin to think German, act, German, speak German, and even
singh German Vienna, March twenty one, seventeen eighty five. To
the playwright Anton Klein of Mannheim, it was purpose to
(05:09):
open the Singschpiel Theater in October one sixteen. The German
opera is to be opened in October. For my part,
I am not promising it much luck. From the doing
so far, it looks as if an effort were making
thoroughly to destroy the German opera, which had suspended, perhaps
only for a while, rather than to help it up
(05:30):
again and preserve it. Only my sister in law Langa
has been engaged for the German Singspiel. Cavalieri Adamberger Tiber
All Germans of whom Germany can be proud, must remain
with the Italian opera, must make war against their countrymen. Vienna,
March twenty one, seventeen eighty five to Anton Klein, Madame
(05:51):
Longa was Aloisha Weber, with whom he was in love
before he married her sister Constanza one seventeen. The gentlemen
of Vienna, including most particularly the Emperor, must not be
permitted to believe that I live only for the sake
of Vienna. There is no monarch on the face of
the earth whom I would rather serve than the Emperor.
(06:12):
But I shall not beg service. I believe that I
am capable of doing honor to any court. If Germany,
my beloved fatherland, of whom you know I am proud,
will not accept me, then must I, in the name
of God again, make France or England richer by one
capable German. And to the shame of the German nation.
You know full well that in nearly all the arts,
(06:34):
those who excelled have nearly always been Germans. But where
did they find fortune, where fame, certainly not in Germany.
Even Gluke did Germany make him a great man alas
no Vienna August seventeen, seventeen eighty two to his father,
Mozart's answer in seventeen eighty nine, when King Frederick William
(06:56):
IO of Prussia said to him stay with me. I
offer you a salary of three thousand dollars, was touching
in the extreme. Shall I leave my good emperor? Thereupon
the king said, think it over. I'll keep my word,
even if you should come after a year and a day.
In spite of his financial difficulties, Mozart never gave serious
(07:16):
consideration to the offer. When his father advised him against
some of his foreign plans, he answered, so far as
France and England are concerned, you are wholly right. This
opening will never be closed to me. It will be
better if I wait a while longer. Meanwhile, it is
possible that conditions may change in those countries. In a
(07:36):
preceding letter, he had written, for some time, I have
been practicing myself daily in the French language, and I
have also taken three lessons in English in three months.
I hope to be able to read and understand English
books fairly well. One eighteen, the two of us played
a sonata that I had composed for the occasion, and
which had a success. This sonata I shall send you
(08:00):
by Herr von Dalbrovic, who said that he would feel
proud to have it in his trunk. His son, who
is a Salzburger, told me this. When the father went,
he said quite loud, I am proud to be your countryman.
You are doing great honor to Salzburg. I hope that
times will so change that we can have you amongst us.
And then do not forget me, I answered, My fatherland
(08:22):
has always the first claim on me. Vienna, November twenty fourth,
seventeen eighty one to his father. Mozart is speaking of
a concert which he had given. The sonata is the
small one in d Major Kirshel number three eighty one.
Mozart often made merry over the Salzburgians. He called them
stupid and envious one nineteen. Thoroughly convinced that I was
(08:46):
talking to a German, I gave free reign to my tongue,
a thing which one is so seldom permitted to do,
that after such an outpouring of the heart it would
be allowable to get a bit fuddled without risk of
hurting one's health. Vienna, March twenty one from seventeen eighty
five to Anton Kleine end of Chapter ten
Chapter ten of Mozart The Man and the Artist. This
is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
LibriVox dot org. Recorded by Laurie Ann Walden. Mozart The
Man and the Artist, as revealed in his own words
by Friedrich Kerst, translated by Henry Krebiel. Chapter ten, Wulfgong
(00:24):
the German. Mozart's Germanism is a matter of pride to
the German people. To him, German was no empty concept,
as it was to the majority of his contemporaries. He
is therefore honored as a champion of German character and
German art, worthy as such. To stand beside Richard Wagner
properly to appreciate his patriotism, it is necessary to bear
(00:47):
in mind that in Mozart's day, Germany was a figment
of the imagination, the French language, French manners, and Italian
music being everywhere dominant. Wagner, on the contrary, was privileged
to see the promise of the fulfillment of his strivings
in the light of the German victories of eighteen seventy
to eighteen seventy one, when the genius of Germany soared aloft,
(01:09):
she carried Wagner with her. Wagner's days of glory in
August eighteen seventy six were conditioned by the Great War
with France. How insignificant must the patronage of Joseph two
scantily enough bestowed on Mozart in comparison with that showered
on Saliery appear when we recall the mycenus Ludwig TII
(01:31):
one O nine. Frequently I fall into a mood of
complete listlessness and indifference. Nothing gives me great pleasure. The
most stimulating and encouraging thought is that you, dearest father,
and my dear sister are well, that I am an
honest German, and that if I am not always permitted
to talk, I can think what I please. But that
(01:52):
is all. Paris, May twenty nine, seventeen seventy eight, to
his father one ten. The Duc de Guen was utterly
without a sense of honor, and thought that here was
a young fellow and as stupid German to boot, as
all Frenchmen think of the Germans, he'll be glad to
take it. But the stupid German was not glad and
(02:12):
refused to take the money for two lessons. He wanted
to pay me the fee of one Paris July thirty one,
seventeen seventy eight to his father. Mozart had given lessons
in composition to the Duke's daughter see number fifty one
one eleven. An Italian ape, such as he is, who
has lived in German countries and eaten German bread for years,
(02:36):
ought to speak German or mangle it as well, or
ill as his French mouth will permit, said of the
Villancellist Duport, the favorite of King William I of Prussia,
in seventeen eighty nine, when Mozart was in Berlin and
Duport asked him to speak French. One twelve. I pray
God every day to give me grace to remain steadfast here,
(02:58):
that I may do honor to myself and the entire
German nation, to His greater honor and glory, and that
he permit me to make my fortune, so that I
may help you out of your sorry condition and bring
it to pass that we soon meet again and live
together in happiness and joy. But His will be done
on earth as in heaven. Paris May one seventeen seventy
(03:20):
eight to his father, who had plunged himself in debt
and was giving lessons in order to promote the career
of his son. His sister also helped nobly one thirteen.
If this were a place where the people had ears,
hearts to feel, and a modicum of musical understanding and taste,
I should laugh heartily at all these things. As it is,
(03:42):
I am among nothing but cattle and brutes. So far
as music is concerned. How should it be otherwise? Since
they are the same in all their acts and passions.
There is no place like Paris. You must not think
that I exaggerate when I talk thus of music. Turn
to whom you please, Except to a born Frenchman, you
shall hear the same thing, provided you can find some
(04:04):
one to turn to. Now that I am here, I
must endure out of regard for you, I shall thank
God Almighty if I get out of here with a
sound taste. Paris May one, seventeen seventy eight. One fourteen.
How popular I would be if I were to lift
the national German stage to recognition in music, And this
(04:26):
would surely happen, for I was already full of desire
to write when I heard the German Singhschpiel Munich October two,
seventeen seventy seven. A Singspiel is a German opera with
spoken dialogue h. E k. One fifteen. If there were
but a single Patriot on the boards with me, a
(04:46):
different face would be put on the matter. Then mayhap
the budding national theater would blossom, and that would be
an eternal disgrace to Germany, if we Germans should once
begin to think German, act, German, speak German, and even
singh German Vienna, March twenty one, seventeen eighty five. To
the playwright Anton Klein of Mannheim, it was purpose to
(05:09):
open the Singschpiel Theater in October one sixteen. The German
opera is to be opened in October. For my part,
I am not promising it much luck. From the doing
so far, it looks as if an effort were making
thoroughly to destroy the German opera, which had suspended, perhaps
only for a while, rather than to help it up
(05:30):
again and preserve it. Only my sister in law Langa
has been engaged for the German Singspiel. Cavalieri Adamberger Tiber
All Germans of whom Germany can be proud, must remain
with the Italian opera, must make war against their countrymen. Vienna,
March twenty one, seventeen eighty five to Anton Klein, Madame
(05:51):
Longa was Aloisha Weber, with whom he was in love
before he married her sister Constanza one seventeen. The gentlemen
of Vienna, including most particularly the Emperor, must not be
permitted to believe that I live only for the sake
of Vienna. There is no monarch on the face of
the earth whom I would rather serve than the Emperor.
(06:12):
But I shall not beg service. I believe that I
am capable of doing honor to any court. If Germany,
my beloved fatherland, of whom you know I am proud,
will not accept me, then must I, in the name
of God again, make France or England richer by one
capable German. And to the shame of the German nation.
You know full well that in nearly all the arts,
(06:34):
those who excelled have nearly always been Germans. But where
did they find fortune, where fame, certainly not in Germany.
Even Gluke did Germany make him a great man alas
no Vienna August seventeen, seventeen eighty two to his father,
Mozart's answer in seventeen eighty nine, when King Frederick William
(06:56):
IO of Prussia said to him stay with me. I
offer you a salary of three thousand dollars, was touching
in the extreme. Shall I leave my good emperor? Thereupon
the king said, think it over. I'll keep my word,
even if you should come after a year and a day.
In spite of his financial difficulties, Mozart never gave serious
(07:16):
consideration to the offer. When his father advised him against
some of his foreign plans, he answered, so far as
France and England are concerned, you are wholly right. This
opening will never be closed to me. It will be
better if I wait a while longer. Meanwhile, it is
possible that conditions may change in those countries. In a
(07:36):
preceding letter, he had written, for some time, I have
been practicing myself daily in the French language, and I
have also taken three lessons in English in three months.
I hope to be able to read and understand English
books fairly well. One eighteen, the two of us played
a sonata that I had composed for the occasion, and
which had a success. This sonata I shall send you
(08:00):
by Herr von Dalbrovic, who said that he would feel
proud to have it in his trunk. His son, who
is a Salzburger, told me this. When the father went,
he said quite loud, I am proud to be your countryman.
You are doing great honor to Salzburg. I hope that
times will so change that we can have you amongst us.
And then do not forget me, I answered, My fatherland
(08:22):
has always the first claim on me. Vienna, November twenty fourth,
seventeen eighty one to his father. Mozart is speaking of
a concert which he had given. The sonata is the
small one in d Major Kirshel number three eighty one.
Mozart often made merry over the Salzburgians. He called them
stupid and envious one nineteen. Thoroughly convinced that I was
(08:46):
talking to a German, I gave free reign to my tongue,
a thing which one is so seldom permitted to do,
that after such an outpouring of the heart it would
be allowable to get a bit fuddled without risk of
hurting one's health. Vienna, March twenty one from seventeen eighty
five to Anton Kleine end of Chapter ten
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