August 19, 2025 • 12 mins
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 seventeen 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 seventeen Morals.
(00:25):
As regards his manner of life and morals, Mozart long
stood in a bad light before the world. The slanderous
stories all came from his enemies in Vienna, and a
long time passed before their true character was recognized. A
great contribution to this end was made by the publication
of his letters, which disclose an extraordinarily strong moral sense.
(00:46):
The tale of an alleged liaison with a certain Frau Hofdemil,
as a result of which the deceived husband was said
to have committed suicide, has been proved to be wholly
untrue and without warrant. It may be said, indeed, that
Mozart was an exception even among the men of his period.
The immorality of the Viennese was proverbial. Caroline Pitchler, a contemporary,
(01:08):
writes as follows in her book of Recollections of the
eighth decade of the eighteenth century. In Vienna. At the
time there reigned a spirit of appreciation for merriment and
a susceptibility for every form of beauty and sensuous pleasure.
There was the greatest freedom of thought and opinion. Anything
could be written and printed which was not in the
strictest sense of the words, contrary to religion and the state.
(01:31):
Little thought was bestowed on good morals. There was considerable
license in the current plays and novels. Cotesbeu created a
tremendous sensation his plays and a multitude of romances and tales.
Meisener's sketches, among other things, were all based on matritious
relations all the world, and every young girl read them
(01:52):
without suspicion or offense. More than once I had read
and seen these things. Oberon was well known to me,
so was my ol Sybeites. No mother hesitated to acquaint
her daughter with such works, and before our eyes there
were so many living exemplars whose irregular conduct was notorious,
that no mother could have kept her daughter in ignorance
(02:13):
had she tried Mozart was a passionate jester, and his
jokes were coarse enough of that, there is no doubt,
But these things were innocent at the time. The letters
of the lad to his little cousin in Augsburg contained
many passages that would be called of questionable propriety now,
But the little cousin does not seem to have even blushed.
(02:33):
The best witness to the morality of Mozart's life is
his wife, who after his death wrote to the publishing
firm of brightkoffin hertele His letters are, beyond doubt the
best criterion for his mode of thought, his peculiarities, and
his education. Admirably characteristic is his extraordinary love for me,
which breathes through all his letters. Those of his last
(02:54):
year on earth are just as tender as those which
he must have written in the first year of our
married life. Is it not so? I beg as a
particular favor that special attention be called to this fact?
For the sake of his honor. He was a free
mason with all his heart, and gave expression to his
humanitarian feeling in his opera The Magic Flute. Without suspicion himself.
(03:15):
He thought everybody else could, which led to painful experiences
with some of his friends. Parents strive to place their
children in a position which shall enable them to earn
their own living, and this they owe to their children
and the state. The greater the talents with which the
children have been endowed by God, the more they are
bound to make use of those talents to improve the
(03:35):
conditions of themselves and their parents, to aid their parents
and care for their own present and future welfare. We
are taught thus to trade with our talents in the Gospels.
I owe it therefore to God and my conscience to
pay the highest gratitude to my father, who tirelessly devoted
all his hours to my education, and to lighten his
burdens from his request for dismissal from service in August
(03:59):
seventeen seventy, he wished to undertake an artistic tour with
his father. He received his dismissal from the Archbishop of Salzburg,
who granted it right unwillingly. However, only one thing vexed
me a trifle, the question whether I had forgotten confession.
I have no complaint to make, but I do ask
one favor, and that is that you do not think
(04:19):
so ill of me. I am fond of merriment, but
believe me I can also be serious. Since I left Salzburg,
and while still in Salzburg, I have met persons whose
conduct was such that I would have been ashamed to
talk and act as they did, though they were ten,
twenty or thirty years older than I. Again, I humbly
beg of you to have a better opinion of me.
(04:42):
Mannheim December thirtieth, seventeen seventy seven, to his father, in
answer to a letter of reproaches. With all my heart,
I do wish Herr von Scheidenhoff enjoy It is another
marriage for money and nothing else. I should not like
to marry. Thus, I want to make my wife happy,
not have her make my fortune. For that reason, I
(05:03):
shall not marry, but enjoy my golden freedom until I
am so situated that I can support wife and children.
It was necessary that Harris should marry a rich woman.
That's the consequence of being a nobleman. The nobility must
never marry from inclination or love, but only from considerations
of interest and all manner of side considerations. Nor would
(05:24):
it be becoming in such persons if they were still
to love their wives after the latter had done their
duty and brought forth a plump air. Manheim February seventh,
seventeen seventy eight to his father. In my opinion, there
is nothing more shameful than to deceive an honest girl. Paris,
July eighteenth, seventeen seventy eight, to his father. I am
(05:46):
unconscious of any guilt for which I might fear your reproaches.
I have committed no error, meaning by error, any act
unbecoming to a Christian and an honest man. I am
anticipating the pleasantest and happiest days, but only in company
with you and my dearest sister. I swear to you
on my honor that I cannot endure Salzburg and its citizens.
(06:07):
I speak of the natives. Their speech and mode of
life are utterly intolerable. Munich, January eighth, seventeen seventy seven,
to his father, who was urging his return from Paris
to take the post of chapel master in Salzburg. The
musicians of Salzburg were notorious because of their loose lives.
From the way in which my last letter was received,
(06:28):
I observed to my sorrow that, just as if I
were an arch scoundrel or an ass or both at once.
You trust the tittle, title and scribblings of other people
more than you do me. But I assure you that
this does not give me the least concern. The people
may write the eyes out of their heads, and you
may applaud them as much as you please. It will
not cause me to change a hair's breadth. I shall
(06:51):
remain the same honest fellow that I have always been Vienna,
September fifth, seventeen eighty one, to his father, who was
still listening to the slandermongers. Mozart could not lightly forget
the fact that it was due to these gentlemen that
he had been forced to leave the house of the
widow Weber, with whose daughter Constance he was in love.
(07:12):
You have been deceived in your son. If you could
believe him capable of doing a mean thing, you know
that I could not have acted otherwise without outraging my
conscience and my honor. I beg pardon for my too
hasty trust in your paternal love. Through this frank confession,
you have a new proof of my love of truth
and detestation of a lie. Vienna, August seventh, seventeen eighty
(07:33):
two to his father, whose consent to his son's marriage
did not arrive till the day after. Dearest and best
of fathers, I beg of you, for the sake of
all that is good in the world, give your consent
to my marriage with my dear Constance. Do not think
that it is alone because of my desire to get married.
I could well wait, but I see that it is
(07:53):
absolutely essential to my honor, the honor of my sweetheart,
to my health and frame of mind. My heart is
ill at ease, my mind disturbed. Then how shall I
do any sensible thinking or work? Why is this? Most
people think we are already married. This enrages the mother
and the poor girl, and I are tormented almost to death.
(08:13):
All this can be easily relieved, Believe me. It is
possible to live as cheaply in expensive Vienna as anywhere else.
It all depends on the housekeeping and the orderliness, which
is never to be found in a young man, especially
if he be in love. Whoever gets a wife such
as I am going to have, can count himself fortunate.
We shall live simply and quietly, and yet be happy.
(08:35):
Do not worry, for should I, which God forfend, get
ill to day, especially if I were married. I wager
that the first of the nobility would come to my help.
I await your consent with longing, best of fathers, I
await it with confidence. My honor and fame depend upon it. Vienna,
July twenty seventh, seventeen eighty two. Meanwhile, my striving is
(08:56):
to secure a small certainty. Then, with the help of
the continued, it will be easy to live here and
then to marry. I beg of you, dearest and best
of fathers. Listen to me. I have preferred my request.
Now listen to my reasons. The calls of nature are
as strong in me, perhaps stronger than in many a
hulking fellow. I cannot possibly live like the majority of
(09:18):
our young men. In the first place, I have too
much religion, in the second, too much love for my
fellow man, and too great a sense of honor ever
to betray a girl. Bienna, December eighteenth, seventeen eighty one.
The whole of this letter deserves to be read by
those who, misled by the reports still deemed trustworthy. When
John published the first edition of his great biography, believed
(09:42):
that Mozart was a man of bad morals. Unfortunately, Mozart's
candor in presenting his case to his father can scarcely
be adjusted to the requirements of a book designed for
general circulation. Let it suffice that in his confession to
his father, Mozart puts himself on the ground of the
loftiest sexual purity and stakes life and death on the
truthfulness of his statements. H e K. You surely cannot
(10:07):
be angry because I want to get married. I think
and believe that you will recognize best my piety and
my honorable intentions in the circumstance. Oh, I could easily
write a long answer to your last letter and offer
many objections, but my maxim is that it is not
worth while to discuss matters that do not affect me.
I can't help it. It's my nature. I am really
(10:28):
ashamed to defend myself when I find myself falsely accused.
I always think the truth will out some day. Vienna,
January ninth, seventeen eighty two to his father. In the
same letter, he continues, I cannot be happy and contented
without my dear constance, and without your satisfied acquiescence, I
could only be half happy. Therefore, make me wholly happy.
(10:52):
As I have thought and said a thousand times, I
would gladly leave everything in your hands with the greatest pleasure.
But since so to speak, it is useless to you,
but to my advantage, I deem it my duty to
remember my wife and children. June sixteenth, seventeen eighty seven,
to his sister concerning his inheritance from his father, who
had died on May twenty eighth. Isn't it true that
(11:15):
you are daily becoming more convinced of the truth of
my corrective sermons? Is not the amusement of a fickle
and capricious love far as the heavens from the blessedness
which true sensible love brings with it? Do you not
often thank me in your heart for my instruction? You
will soon make me vain, But joking aside, you do
owe me a modicum of gratitude if you have made
(11:36):
yourself worthy of fraeulein n For I certainly did not
play the smallest role at your conversion. Prague, November fourth,
seventeen eighty seven, to a wealthy young friend name unknown.
Pray believe anything you please about me, but nothing ill
there are persons who believe it is impossible to love
a poor girl without harboring wicked intentions, And the beautiful
(11:58):
word mistress is so lovely. I am a Mozart, but
a young and well meaning Mozart. Among many faults, I
have this that I think the friends who know me
know me. Hence many words are not necessary. If they
do not know me, where shall I find words enough?
It is bad enough that words and letters are necessary. Mannheim,
(12:18):
February twenty second, seventeen seventy eight, to his father, who
had rebuked him for falling in love with Elois of Aber,
who afterwards became his sister in law. End of chapter
seventeen
Chapter seventeen 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 seventeen Morals.
(00:25):
As regards his manner of life and morals, Mozart long
stood in a bad light before the world. The slanderous
stories all came from his enemies in Vienna, and a
long time passed before their true character was recognized. A
great contribution to this end was made by the publication
of his letters, which disclose an extraordinarily strong moral sense.
(00:46):
The tale of an alleged liaison with a certain Frau Hofdemil,
as a result of which the deceived husband was said
to have committed suicide, has been proved to be wholly
untrue and without warrant. It may be said, indeed, that
Mozart was an exception even among the men of his period.
The immorality of the Viennese was proverbial. Caroline Pitchler, a contemporary,
(01:08):
writes as follows in her book of Recollections of the
eighth decade of the eighteenth century. In Vienna. At the
time there reigned a spirit of appreciation for merriment and
a susceptibility for every form of beauty and sensuous pleasure.
There was the greatest freedom of thought and opinion. Anything
could be written and printed which was not in the
strictest sense of the words, contrary to religion and the state.
(01:31):
Little thought was bestowed on good morals. There was considerable
license in the current plays and novels. Cotesbeu created a
tremendous sensation his plays and a multitude of romances and tales.
Meisener's sketches, among other things, were all based on matritious
relations all the world, and every young girl read them
(01:52):
without suspicion or offense. More than once I had read
and seen these things. Oberon was well known to me,
so was my ol Sybeites. No mother hesitated to acquaint
her daughter with such works, and before our eyes there
were so many living exemplars whose irregular conduct was notorious,
that no mother could have kept her daughter in ignorance
(02:13):
had she tried Mozart was a passionate jester, and his
jokes were coarse enough of that, there is no doubt,
But these things were innocent at the time. The letters
of the lad to his little cousin in Augsburg contained
many passages that would be called of questionable propriety now,
But the little cousin does not seem to have even blushed.
(02:33):
The best witness to the morality of Mozart's life is
his wife, who after his death wrote to the publishing
firm of brightkoffin hertele His letters are, beyond doubt the
best criterion for his mode of thought, his peculiarities, and
his education. Admirably characteristic is his extraordinary love for me,
which breathes through all his letters. Those of his last
(02:54):
year on earth are just as tender as those which
he must have written in the first year of our
married life. Is it not so? I beg as a
particular favor that special attention be called to this fact?
For the sake of his honor. He was a free
mason with all his heart, and gave expression to his
humanitarian feeling in his opera The Magic Flute. Without suspicion himself.
(03:15):
He thought everybody else could, which led to painful experiences
with some of his friends. Parents strive to place their
children in a position which shall enable them to earn
their own living, and this they owe to their children
and the state. The greater the talents with which the
children have been endowed by God, the more they are
bound to make use of those talents to improve the
(03:35):
conditions of themselves and their parents, to aid their parents
and care for their own present and future welfare. We
are taught thus to trade with our talents in the Gospels.
I owe it therefore to God and my conscience to
pay the highest gratitude to my father, who tirelessly devoted
all his hours to my education, and to lighten his
burdens from his request for dismissal from service in August
(03:59):
seventeen seventy, he wished to undertake an artistic tour with
his father. He received his dismissal from the Archbishop of Salzburg,
who granted it right unwillingly. However, only one thing vexed
me a trifle, the question whether I had forgotten confession.
I have no complaint to make, but I do ask
one favor, and that is that you do not think
(04:19):
so ill of me. I am fond of merriment, but
believe me I can also be serious. Since I left Salzburg,
and while still in Salzburg, I have met persons whose
conduct was such that I would have been ashamed to
talk and act as they did, though they were ten,
twenty or thirty years older than I. Again, I humbly
beg of you to have a better opinion of me.
(04:42):
Mannheim December thirtieth, seventeen seventy seven, to his father, in
answer to a letter of reproaches. With all my heart,
I do wish Herr von Scheidenhoff enjoy It is another
marriage for money and nothing else. I should not like
to marry. Thus, I want to make my wife happy,
not have her make my fortune. For that reason, I
(05:03):
shall not marry, but enjoy my golden freedom until I
am so situated that I can support wife and children.
It was necessary that Harris should marry a rich woman.
That's the consequence of being a nobleman. The nobility must
never marry from inclination or love, but only from considerations
of interest and all manner of side considerations. Nor would
(05:24):
it be becoming in such persons if they were still
to love their wives after the latter had done their
duty and brought forth a plump air. Manheim February seventh,
seventeen seventy eight to his father. In my opinion, there
is nothing more shameful than to deceive an honest girl. Paris,
July eighteenth, seventeen seventy eight, to his father. I am
(05:46):
unconscious of any guilt for which I might fear your reproaches.
I have committed no error, meaning by error, any act
unbecoming to a Christian and an honest man. I am
anticipating the pleasantest and happiest days, but only in company
with you and my dearest sister. I swear to you
on my honor that I cannot endure Salzburg and its citizens.
(06:07):
I speak of the natives. Their speech and mode of
life are utterly intolerable. Munich, January eighth, seventeen seventy seven,
to his father, who was urging his return from Paris
to take the post of chapel master in Salzburg. The
musicians of Salzburg were notorious because of their loose lives.
From the way in which my last letter was received,
(06:28):
I observed to my sorrow that, just as if I
were an arch scoundrel or an ass or both at once.
You trust the tittle, title and scribblings of other people
more than you do me. But I assure you that
this does not give me the least concern. The people
may write the eyes out of their heads, and you
may applaud them as much as you please. It will
not cause me to change a hair's breadth. I shall
(06:51):
remain the same honest fellow that I have always been Vienna,
September fifth, seventeen eighty one, to his father, who was
still listening to the slandermongers. Mozart could not lightly forget
the fact that it was due to these gentlemen that
he had been forced to leave the house of the
widow Weber, with whose daughter Constance he was in love.
(07:12):
You have been deceived in your son. If you could
believe him capable of doing a mean thing, you know
that I could not have acted otherwise without outraging my
conscience and my honor. I beg pardon for my too
hasty trust in your paternal love. Through this frank confession,
you have a new proof of my love of truth
and detestation of a lie. Vienna, August seventh, seventeen eighty
(07:33):
two to his father, whose consent to his son's marriage
did not arrive till the day after. Dearest and best
of fathers, I beg of you, for the sake of
all that is good in the world, give your consent
to my marriage with my dear Constance. Do not think
that it is alone because of my desire to get married.
I could well wait, but I see that it is
(07:53):
absolutely essential to my honor, the honor of my sweetheart,
to my health and frame of mind. My heart is
ill at ease, my mind disturbed. Then how shall I
do any sensible thinking or work? Why is this? Most
people think we are already married. This enrages the mother
and the poor girl, and I are tormented almost to death.
(08:13):
All this can be easily relieved, Believe me. It is
possible to live as cheaply in expensive Vienna as anywhere else.
It all depends on the housekeeping and the orderliness, which
is never to be found in a young man, especially
if he be in love. Whoever gets a wife such
as I am going to have, can count himself fortunate.
We shall live simply and quietly, and yet be happy.
(08:35):
Do not worry, for should I, which God forfend, get
ill to day, especially if I were married. I wager
that the first of the nobility would come to my help.
I await your consent with longing, best of fathers, I
await it with confidence. My honor and fame depend upon it. Vienna,
July twenty seventh, seventeen eighty two. Meanwhile, my striving is
(08:56):
to secure a small certainty. Then, with the help of
the continued, it will be easy to live here and
then to marry. I beg of you, dearest and best
of fathers. Listen to me. I have preferred my request.
Now listen to my reasons. The calls of nature are
as strong in me, perhaps stronger than in many a
hulking fellow. I cannot possibly live like the majority of
(09:18):
our young men. In the first place, I have too
much religion, in the second, too much love for my
fellow man, and too great a sense of honor ever
to betray a girl. Bienna, December eighteenth, seventeen eighty one.
The whole of this letter deserves to be read by
those who, misled by the reports still deemed trustworthy. When
John published the first edition of his great biography, believed
(09:42):
that Mozart was a man of bad morals. Unfortunately, Mozart's
candor in presenting his case to his father can scarcely
be adjusted to the requirements of a book designed for
general circulation. Let it suffice that in his confession to
his father, Mozart puts himself on the ground of the
loftiest sexual purity and stakes life and death on the
truthfulness of his statements. H e K. You surely cannot
(10:07):
be angry because I want to get married. I think
and believe that you will recognize best my piety and
my honorable intentions in the circumstance. Oh, I could easily
write a long answer to your last letter and offer
many objections, but my maxim is that it is not
worth while to discuss matters that do not affect me.
I can't help it. It's my nature. I am really
(10:28):
ashamed to defend myself when I find myself falsely accused.
I always think the truth will out some day. Vienna,
January ninth, seventeen eighty two to his father. In the
same letter, he continues, I cannot be happy and contented
without my dear constance, and without your satisfied acquiescence, I
could only be half happy. Therefore, make me wholly happy.
(10:52):
As I have thought and said a thousand times, I
would gladly leave everything in your hands with the greatest pleasure.
But since so to speak, it is useless to you,
but to my advantage, I deem it my duty to
remember my wife and children. June sixteenth, seventeen eighty seven,
to his sister concerning his inheritance from his father, who
had died on May twenty eighth. Isn't it true that
(11:15):
you are daily becoming more convinced of the truth of
my corrective sermons? Is not the amusement of a fickle
and capricious love far as the heavens from the blessedness
which true sensible love brings with it? Do you not
often thank me in your heart for my instruction? You
will soon make me vain, But joking aside, you do
owe me a modicum of gratitude if you have made
(11:36):
yourself worthy of fraeulein n For I certainly did not
play the smallest role at your conversion. Prague, November fourth,
seventeen eighty seven, to a wealthy young friend name unknown.
Pray believe anything you please about me, but nothing ill
there are persons who believe it is impossible to love
a poor girl without harboring wicked intentions, And the beautiful
(11:58):
word mistress is so lovely. I am a Mozart, but
a young and well meaning Mozart. Among many faults, I
have this that I think the friends who know me
know me. Hence many words are not necessary. If they
do not know me, where shall I find words enough?
It is bad enough that words and letters are necessary. Mannheim,
(12:18):
February twenty second, seventeen seventy eight, to his father, who
had rebuked him for falling in love with Elois of Aber,
who afterwards became his sister in law. End of chapter
seventeen
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