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

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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)

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From:

cahn

I'll second the rec for The King's Touch, which I loved, which (per

selenak) does a good job with the history, and which I thought did a great job of showing how everyone was complicated ~~except for Philippe, duc d'Orleans, who is just awful~~. (I keep meaning to write it up at least a little, and I keep getting distracted!)

selenak has a review here. (The other Jude Morgan book she reviews in that post, Passion, also sounds amazing and I mean to pick it up as soon as I dig myself out of the current RL-plus-commited-to-various-media hole.)

Unfortunately, it's out of print so idk how easy it would be for you to get a copy -- it's fairly easily available used in the US but idk about where you are. I could maybe send you mine?

From:

luzula

Thanks for seconding the rec, and for the offer! But no need, I can definitely order second-hand books from Sweden. : )

From:

cahn

Hee, of course -- I had been thinking that we've had some snafus with overseas (even if that sea is only the English Channel) book ordering, but of course those problems have been mail-oriented and aren't going to be much different whether it's a business or a person doing the mailing :) *facepalm*

From:

luzula

I did order a rare book of Jacobite memoirs for *mumblety* dollars from the US awhile ago, and it took an unconscionably long time to arrive, even though I paid for expedited shipping. Presumably due to those logistical snafus. But shipping from the UK to Sweden has been fine, though more expensive because of customs (due to Brexit...).