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: Helga Peham: Leopold II. Herrscher mit weiser Hand. (Vienna 1987) - I

[selenak]

LOL. Well, like I said, maybe Leopold was bursting with good will for a lot of people he didn't feel the need to rant about, and we're just missing it because of the source problem.

Again: he's rarely completely off base in his complaints (for example, accusing Joseph of laziness was demonstrably wrong, but Joseph sure as hell was autocratic and more ready to piss everyone off instead of devoting time and patience to build alliances and convince people), and of course he's doing the emotionally healthy thing when not liking your siblings and parents - stay as much away from them as possible. One can't even blame him for pretending closeness with Joseph (via letters), because Joseph was the Emperor in an absolute monarchy, and while Leopold ruled Tuscany as independently as he could under the circumstances, there is still no way he could have afforded having the Emperor as an enemy. Pelham couldn't tell me whether Leopold really did feel warmer towards Maria Christina in their later years or whether he simply needed her as an ally because the Mimi-critical outburst hails from years before they teamed up, and apparantly there are no usuable quotes from him about her to third parties or in a secret diary which would tell us. Either way, she was an useful ally to have, and again, his original complaints about her weren't completely wrong, either - she sure as hell had a "the one who tells on us to Mom" reputation with her siblings, and she did feel entitled. But "does everything right from his pov" helps rather than hinders the "emotional fridge except for the part where he's seething with jealousy and resentment and pettiness" impression.