18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 34

[cahn]

And including Emperor Joseph II!

from Derek Beales: Joseph II, Volume 2: Against the World, 1780 - 1790:

Joseph's alleged comment to Mozart about the Entführung, "Too many notes", has been taken as evidence of his ignorance. But he probably said something like, "Too beautiful for our ears, and monstrous many notes." It is always necessary to bear in mind, when appraising the emperor's remarks, his peculiar brand of humor or sarcasm. He was usually getting at someone. And he did not use the royal "we". The ears in question were those of the Viennese audience, whom he was mocking for their limited appreciation of Mozart's elaborate music.

(though not gonna lie, I think it is a LOT of notes)

Comments

Re: Collected replies re: Joseph and Leopold , mainly

[mildred_of_midgard]

De Ligne & Austrian Trenck: otoh, sounds like him, otoh, could he, date wise? I thought the Austrian Trenck memoirs appeared within a year or so of Austrian Trenck's death, which is too early for Ligne who is of Joseph's generation?

Checked, and you are correct! I'd forgotten how early they appeared. (1748.) So either Ligne got an early start on his RPF and was publishing at the precocious age of 13, or someone else was doing RPF in the 1740s. Alas!