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)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter sixteen of Mozart The Man and the Artist, as
revealed in his own words. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Mozart
The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own
words by Friedrich Kerst, translated by Henry Krebl, Chapter sixteen.
(00:24):
In Suffering, it is difficult to call up in the
fancy a picture of a suffering Mozart as a Mary Beethoven.
The effect of melancholy hours is scarcely to be found
in Mozart's music. When he composed i e. According to
his own expression, speculated while walking up and down, revolving
musical ideas in his mind and forming them into orderly compositions,
(00:48):
so that the subsequent transcription was a mechanical occupation which
required but little effort. He was transported to the realm
of tones, far from the miseries of this world. Nor
would his happy dies position permit him long to remain
under the influence of grief and care. None of the
letters which sound notes of despair lacks a jest in
which the writer forcibly tears himself away from his gloomy thoughts.
(01:11):
His sufferings came to him from without. The fate of
a Beethoven was spared him. Others brought him pain, his
rivals through envy, the Archbishop through malevolence, the Emperor through ignorance.
Sufferings of this character challenged opposition and called out his powers,
presenting to us a Mozart full of temperament and capable
of measuring himself with any opponent. He never lost hope,
(01:36):
even when hope seemed most deceptive. It is therefore impossible
to speak of a suffering Mozart in the sense that
we speak of a suffering Beethoven. Fate was kind even
at his death, which was preceded by but a brief illness.
I am still full of Gaul three times this I
do not know what to call him, has assailed me
to my face with impertinence and abuse of a kind
(01:56):
that I did not want to write down my best
of fathers, and I did not immediately avenge the insult,
because I thought of you. He called me a wretch Bubin,
a lizentious fellow told me to get out, and I
suffered it all, feeling that not only my honor, but
yours as well was attacked. But it was your wish.
I held my tongue Vienna, May ninth, seventeen eighty one,
(02:19):
to his father, who had heard with deep concern of
the treatment which his son was enduring at the hands
of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and who feared for his
own position. At the close of the letter, Mozart writes,
I want to hear nothing more about Salzburg. I hate
the Archbishop, the verge of madness. The edifying things which
the Archbishop said to me in three audiences, particularly in
(02:41):
the last, and what I have again been told by
this glorious man of God had so admirable a physical
effect on me that I had to leave the opera
in the evening, in the middle of the first act,
go home and to bed. I was in a fever.
My whole body trembled, and I reeled like a drunken
man in the street. The next day yesterday, I remained
(03:01):
at home and all forenoon in bed, because I had
taken the tarm and water Vienna, May twelfth, seventeen eighty one,
to his father. The catastrophe between Mozart and the archbishop
is approaching twice, the Archbishop gave me the grossest impertinences,
and I answered not a word more. I played for
him with the same zeal as if nothing had happened.
(03:22):
Instead of recognizing the honesty of my service and my
desire to please him at the moment when I was
expecting something very different, he begins a third tirade in
the most despicable manner in the world Vienna, June thirteenth,
seventeen eighty one to his father see the chapter self
Respect and Honor All the world asserts that by my
(03:42):
briggadoccio and criticisms, I have made enemies of the professional musicians,
which world presumably that of Salzburg. For anybody living in
Vienna sees and hears differently, there is my answer, Vienna,
July thirty first, to his father, who had sent Mozart
with the latter called so indiffer and cold a letter.
When informed by his son of the great success of
(04:03):
his opera thy enterferung astemseerrile as on previous occasions Salzburg
tail bearers had been busying themselves, I rejoiced like a
child at the prospect of being with you again. I
should have been ashamed of myself. If people could look
into my heart, so far as I am concerned, it
is cold, cold as ice. Yes, if you were with me,
(04:24):
I might find greater pleasure in the courteous treatment which
I received from the people. But as it is, it
is all empty. Adieu, Love, Frankfort, September thirty, seventeen ninety
to his wife. Mozart had made the journey to Frankfort
to give concerts amid the festivities accompanying the coronation of
Leopold a second, hoping that he could better his financial condition,
(04:45):
not having been sent at the cost of the Emperor
like other court musicians. He pawned his silver, bought a carriage,
and took with him his brother in law, a violinist
named Hofer. It took us only six days to make
the journey. He was disappointed in his ex expectations. I
have now decided to do as well as I can
here and look joyfully towards a meeting with you. What
(05:06):
a glorious life we lead. I shall work, work, dreams.
Give me no concern, for there is no mortal man
on earth who does not sometimes dream, but merry dreams, quiet,
refreshing sweet dreams. Those are the thing dreams which, if
they were realities, would make tolerable my life, which has
more of sadness in it than merriment. Munich, December thirty first,
(05:29):
seventeen eighty eight, to his father during Mozart's sojourn in Paris.
The love of Eloisa Weber had grown cold, and Mozart
was in the Dolores happy man. Now see, I have
got to give still another lesson in order to earn
some money seventeen eighty six to Jirovet's on the latter's
departure for Italy. You cannot doubt my honesty, for you
(05:51):
know me too well for that. Nor can you be
suspicious of my words, my conduct, or my mode of life,
because you know my conduct and mode of life. Therefore,
forgive my confidence in you. I am still very unhappy,
always between fear and hope. Vienna, July seventeenth, seventeen eighty eight,
to his faithful friend Perchburg, whom he has asked for
(06:12):
money on account of the severe illness of his wife.
You know my circumstances to be brief. Since I cannot
find a true friend, I am obliged to borrow money
from usurers. But as it takes time to hunt among
those Unchristian persons for those who are the most Christian,
and to find them, I am so stripped that I
must beg you, dear friend, for God's sake, to help
me out with what you can spare. One of many
(06:34):
requests for help sent to Perchburg. It was sent in
seventeen ninety and the original bears and endorsement May seventeenth,
sent one hundred and fifty florins. If you, worthy brother,
do not help me out of my present predicament, I
shall lose my credit and honor, the only things which
I care now to preserve. Vienna, June twenty seventh, seventeen
(06:55):
eighty eight, to Putchburg, who had sent him two hundred
florins ten days before. Wuchberg was a brother Mason. How
I felt then, How I felt then? Such things will
never return now we are sunk in the emptiness of
every day life, remarked on remembering that at the age
of fourteen he had composed a requiem at the command
of Empress Maria Theresa, and had conducted it as chapel
(07:18):
master of the Imperial Orchestra. Did I not tell you
that I was composing this requiem for myself, said on
the day of his death, while still working on the
requiem for which he had received so mysterious a commission.
The work had been ordered by a Count Valsag, who
made pretensions to musical composition, and who wished to palm
it off as a work of his own, written in
(07:39):
memory of his wife. Mozart never knew him. I shall
not last much longer. I am sure that I have
been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this thought. Mozart
believed that he had been poisoned by one of his
Italian rivals, his suspicions falling most strongly on Salary. As
regards Mozart, Salieri cannot escape censure, for though the accusation
(08:02):
of having been the cause of his death has been
long ago disproved, it is more than possible that he
was not displeased at the removal of so formidable a rival.
At any rate, though he had it in his power
to influence the Emperor in Mozart's favor, he not only
neglected to do so, but even intrigued against him. As
Mozart himself relates in a letter to his friend Perchberg,
After his death, however, Salieri befriended his son and gave
(08:25):
him a testimonial which secured him his first appointment C. F.
Poul Engrove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Stay with me
to night. You must see me die. I have long
had the taste of death on my tongue. I smell death.
And who will stand by my constance if you do
not stay? Reported by his sister in law, Sophie, sister
of Constance. And now I must go, just as it
(08:49):
had become possible for me to live quietly, Now I
must leave my art, just as I had freed myself
from the slavery of fashion, had broken the bonds of speculators,
and won the privilege of following my own feelings and
compose freely and independently whatever my heart prompted. I must
away from my family, from my poor children, in the
moment when I should have been able better to care
(09:10):
for their welfare, uttered on his deathbed. Eden of Chapter
sixteen
Chapter sixteen of Mozart The Man and the Artist, as
revealed in his own words. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Mozart
The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own
words by Friedrich Kerst, translated by Henry Krebl, Chapter sixteen.
(00:24):
In Suffering, it is difficult to call up in the
fancy a picture of a suffering Mozart as a Mary Beethoven.
The effect of melancholy hours is scarcely to be found
in Mozart's music. When he composed i e. According to
his own expression, speculated while walking up and down, revolving
musical ideas in his mind and forming them into orderly compositions,
(00:48):
so that the subsequent transcription was a mechanical occupation which
required but little effort. He was transported to the realm
of tones, far from the miseries of this world. Nor
would his happy dies position permit him long to remain
under the influence of grief and care. None of the
letters which sound notes of despair lacks a jest in
which the writer forcibly tears himself away from his gloomy thoughts.
(01:11):
His sufferings came to him from without. The fate of
a Beethoven was spared him. Others brought him pain, his
rivals through envy, the Archbishop through malevolence, the Emperor through ignorance.
Sufferings of this character challenged opposition and called out his powers,
presenting to us a Mozart full of temperament and capable
of measuring himself with any opponent. He never lost hope,
(01:36):
even when hope seemed most deceptive. It is therefore impossible
to speak of a suffering Mozart in the sense that
we speak of a suffering Beethoven. Fate was kind even
at his death, which was preceded by but a brief illness.
I am still full of Gaul three times this I
do not know what to call him, has assailed me
to my face with impertinence and abuse of a kind
(01:56):
that I did not want to write down my best
of fathers, and I did not immediately avenge the insult,
because I thought of you. He called me a wretch Bubin,
a lizentious fellow told me to get out, and I
suffered it all, feeling that not only my honor, but
yours as well was attacked. But it was your wish.
I held my tongue Vienna, May ninth, seventeen eighty one,
(02:19):
to his father, who had heard with deep concern of
the treatment which his son was enduring at the hands
of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and who feared for his
own position. At the close of the letter, Mozart writes,
I want to hear nothing more about Salzburg. I hate
the Archbishop, the verge of madness. The edifying things which
the Archbishop said to me in three audiences, particularly in
(02:41):
the last, and what I have again been told by
this glorious man of God had so admirable a physical
effect on me that I had to leave the opera
in the evening, in the middle of the first act,
go home and to bed. I was in a fever.
My whole body trembled, and I reeled like a drunken
man in the street. The next day yesterday, I remained
(03:01):
at home and all forenoon in bed, because I had
taken the tarm and water Vienna, May twelfth, seventeen eighty one,
to his father. The catastrophe between Mozart and the archbishop
is approaching twice, the Archbishop gave me the grossest impertinences,
and I answered not a word more. I played for
him with the same zeal as if nothing had happened.
(03:22):
Instead of recognizing the honesty of my service and my
desire to please him at the moment when I was
expecting something very different, he begins a third tirade in
the most despicable manner in the world Vienna, June thirteenth,
seventeen eighty one to his father see the chapter self
Respect and Honor All the world asserts that by my
(03:42):
briggadoccio and criticisms, I have made enemies of the professional musicians,
which world presumably that of Salzburg. For anybody living in
Vienna sees and hears differently, there is my answer, Vienna,
July thirty first, to his father, who had sent Mozart
with the latter called so indiffer and cold a letter.
When informed by his son of the great success of
(04:03):
his opera thy enterferung astemseerrile as on previous occasions Salzburg
tail bearers had been busying themselves, I rejoiced like a
child at the prospect of being with you again. I
should have been ashamed of myself. If people could look
into my heart, so far as I am concerned, it
is cold, cold as ice. Yes, if you were with me,
(04:24):
I might find greater pleasure in the courteous treatment which
I received from the people. But as it is, it
is all empty. Adieu, Love, Frankfort, September thirty, seventeen ninety
to his wife. Mozart had made the journey to Frankfort
to give concerts amid the festivities accompanying the coronation of
Leopold a second, hoping that he could better his financial condition,
(04:45):
not having been sent at the cost of the Emperor
like other court musicians. He pawned his silver, bought a carriage,
and took with him his brother in law, a violinist
named Hofer. It took us only six days to make
the journey. He was disappointed in his ex expectations. I
have now decided to do as well as I can
here and look joyfully towards a meeting with you. What
(05:06):
a glorious life we lead. I shall work, work, dreams.
Give me no concern, for there is no mortal man
on earth who does not sometimes dream, but merry dreams, quiet,
refreshing sweet dreams. Those are the thing dreams which, if
they were realities, would make tolerable my life, which has
more of sadness in it than merriment. Munich, December thirty first,
(05:29):
seventeen eighty eight, to his father during Mozart's sojourn in Paris.
The love of Eloisa Weber had grown cold, and Mozart
was in the Dolores happy man. Now see, I have
got to give still another lesson in order to earn
some money seventeen eighty six to Jirovet's on the latter's
departure for Italy. You cannot doubt my honesty, for you
(05:51):
know me too well for that. Nor can you be
suspicious of my words, my conduct, or my mode of life,
because you know my conduct and mode of life. Therefore,
forgive my confidence in you. I am still very unhappy,
always between fear and hope. Vienna, July seventeenth, seventeen eighty eight,
to his faithful friend Perchburg, whom he has asked for
(06:12):
money on account of the severe illness of his wife.
You know my circumstances to be brief. Since I cannot
find a true friend, I am obliged to borrow money
from usurers. But as it takes time to hunt among
those Unchristian persons for those who are the most Christian,
and to find them, I am so stripped that I
must beg you, dear friend, for God's sake, to help
me out with what you can spare. One of many
(06:34):
requests for help sent to Perchburg. It was sent in
seventeen ninety and the original bears and endorsement May seventeenth,
sent one hundred and fifty florins. If you, worthy brother,
do not help me out of my present predicament, I
shall lose my credit and honor, the only things which
I care now to preserve. Vienna, June twenty seventh, seventeen
(06:55):
eighty eight, to Putchburg, who had sent him two hundred
florins ten days before. Wuchberg was a brother Mason. How
I felt then, How I felt then? Such things will
never return now we are sunk in the emptiness of
every day life, remarked on remembering that at the age
of fourteen he had composed a requiem at the command
of Empress Maria Theresa, and had conducted it as chapel
(07:18):
master of the Imperial Orchestra. Did I not tell you
that I was composing this requiem for myself, said on
the day of his death, while still working on the
requiem for which he had received so mysterious a commission.
The work had been ordered by a Count Valsag, who
made pretensions to musical composition, and who wished to palm
it off as a work of his own, written in
(07:39):
memory of his wife. Mozart never knew him. I shall
not last much longer. I am sure that I have
been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this thought. Mozart
believed that he had been poisoned by one of his
Italian rivals, his suspicions falling most strongly on Salary. As
regards Mozart, Salieri cannot escape censure, for though the accusation
(08:02):
of having been the cause of his death has been
long ago disproved, it is more than possible that he
was not displeased at the removal of so formidable a rival.
At any rate, though he had it in his power
to influence the Emperor in Mozart's favor, he not only
neglected to do so, but even intrigued against him. As
Mozart himself relates in a letter to his friend Perchberg,
After his death, however, Salieri befriended his son and gave
(08:25):
him a testimonial which secured him his first appointment C. F.
Poul Engrove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Stay with me
to night. You must see me die. I have long
had the taste of death on my tongue. I smell death.
And who will stand by my constance if you do
not stay? Reported by his sister in law, Sophie, sister
of Constance. And now I must go, just as it
(08:49):
had become possible for me to live quietly, Now I
must leave my art, just as I had freed myself
from the slavery of fashion, had broken the bonds of speculators,
and won the privilege of following my own feelings and
compose freely and independently whatever my heart prompted. I must
away from my family, from my poor children, in the
moment when I should have been able better to care
(09:10):
for their welfare, uttered on his deathbed. Eden of Chapter
sixteen
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.