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: Books about the Great Elector: until the death of Luise Henriette

[selenak]

Aww, this is really sweet.

I thought so, too, and was also reminded of the letter from Karl Emil to F1 which the F1 biography quoted, from when Karl Emil was allowed to go on a hunting trip: "Herzallerliebstes Brüderchen,
weil Ihr bei Eurer grossen Glückseligkeit da Ihr alllzeit bei Papa und Mama seit, meiner ganz vergesset, so will ich hiermit beweisen, dass ich fleissig an Euch gedenke. Ich hoffe, mein Herzensbrüderchen bald wieder zu sehen."

(Most beloved of little brothers, as you forget me due to your great happiness of being with Mama and Papa always, I shall prove that I'm thinking of you all the time. I hope to see my dearest little brother again soon.)

For a royal family, they were really closely attached to to each other... for as long as Luise Henriette was still alive. Now even under current day conditions, it can happen that a family falls apart when a parent dies. Here the complete falling apart was delayed for a few years until Karl Emil died, but to me it does look like the Elector had zero coping methods for the original loss of Luise Henriette other than remarriage, and because this helped him expected it would work just as well for his sons, was confused when it didn't work out this way, and then angry when things got seriously sour once Karl Emil died, seeing F1 and Ludwig as symbols of his failures.

On a less depressing note, Luise Henriette being a princess of Orange and, if her brother had died without heirs, the Orange heir, is why the Hohenzollern ever after kept "Prince of Orange" (Oranien in German) among their titles - for example if you look at the list of titles in the Zernikow donation document shortly after Fritz' coronation, he calls himself "Prinz von Oranien" there as well. The Dutch kept a baleful eye on this Hohenzollern practice, lest it be a pretext for invasion a la Louis XIV and Spain.

Re: Books about the Great Elector: until the death of Luise Henriette

[cahn]

Aww, such an adorable letter too. That's so sad about it all falling apart when Luise Henriette and Karl Emil died, but it also makes sense :(