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cahnMore diaries of our favorite 18th-century Prussian diary-keeper have been unearthed and have been synopsized!
January 18th: Blessed be thou to me! Under your light, my Prince Heinrich was born!
January 18th: Blessed be thou to me! Under your light, my Prince Heinrich was born!
Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-03 08:31 am (UTC)I didn't intend to stay in Aachen for longer than it took to change my credit letters; but in the night I had an attack of my usual pains, and the other day the real Schiatica. Which meant settling down and staying. Since Aachen is the most expensive place which I've yet encountered on my travels, I've had the honor of paying more than 75 Franc here. True, Princess Amalie, sister of the King in (!!!!!) Prussia was in Aachen; but she herself has no money, and her entire equipage and court looks as much like an assembly of doctors as one drop of water resembles another. If the kisses she gave to my children, especially Master Wolfgang, had been all new Louis d'ors, we'd have been happy enough; but neither the innkeeper nor the post office can be paid by kisses. The most ridiciluous thing was that she really wanted to talk me into heading not for Paris but for Berlin, and tried this with propositions which I didn't want to believe, so I shan't mention them here; for I couldn't believe them, especially not the proposition she made for my person, Vestigia terrent; says the fox. From Aachen we went to Lüttich...
Presumably Amalie suggested Leopold could find himself hired by Fritz if he went to Berlin with his kids. Now, in the very early days of salon when we wrote our crack round robin fic, you may recall I concluded it with the Mozarts showing up for a concert (courtesy of Joseph), and now I'm proud that it almost works out, date wise. I mean, by a measly two years or so. Also, while I can't see Leopold Mozart, who still uses "the King in Prussia" designation after the 7 Years War (no Frederick the Great here, no sir!), settling down in Berlin even if he hasn't heard that Fritz is less than generous and terrible to work for in musical circles, buuuuuut maybe a concert or several. And come on. Could even Fritz with his hardcore old fashioned taste have resisted child!Wolfgang?
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-03 01:43 pm (UTC)but the Amalie passage goes further than I've seen quoted in biographies
It's always like that, isn't it?! Preferably after I can get my French up, I still have plans to go through a Fritz bio (probably MacDonogh) and just look up a bunch of the passages in the original sources and see what biographers leave out. I can't forget the Lafayette passage, or quoted "The Dutch invited Fritz to be stadtholder" vs. original "They invited one of his brothers to be stadtholder."
he most ridiciluous thing was that she really wanted to talk me into heading not for Paris but for Berlin, and tried this with propositions which I didn't want to believe, so I shan't mention them here;
LOLOLOL! And your AU being validated! A measly two years is nothing, I say!
buuuuuut maybe a concert or several. And come on. Could even Fritz with his hardcore old fashioned taste have resisted child!Wolfgang?
Oh, man. Talk about a missed historical opportunity!
...I can just hear Leopold muttering something about an "evil man in Potsdam." :PPP And especially given the timing! October 1763? Lol.
And come on. Could even Fritz with his hardcore old fashioned taste have resisted child!Wolfgang?
Now is your opportunity to finish the crack round robin and answer this very question! If you wish to do so with emojis, I would not say no. ;) (Which reminds me...
*some time later*
The latest emoji gem is now up at
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-04 09:18 am (UTC)On the feast of Saint Francis we set out from Linz at 4:30 in the afternoon with the so called Wasser-ordinaire,and reached Matthausen the same day by dark night at half past 7. The following Tuesday, we came to Ips in the afternoon, where 2 Minorites and a Benedictine, who were with us on the ship, read Holy Mass, during which our Woferl so cavorted around on the organ and played so well that the Franciscan fathers, who were at that moment sitting with some guests at their midday meal, left their food, took the guests with them, ran to the choir and almost died of astonishment. In the night we were at Stein,
and on Wednesday we reached Vienna at 3 o’clock, where we took what was at once our midday and evening meal at 5 o’clock. On the journey we had constant rain and much wind. Wolfgangl had already had catarrh in Linz and, despite all the disorder, early rising, disorderly eating and drinking, he remained, praise God, in good health. People make more of the whirlpool and vortex than the matter itself amounts to. At the landing, Herr Gilowsky’s servant was already in attendance, came onto the ship and then conducted me to the rooms. But we soon hurried to an inn in order to still our hunger, having previously placed
our baggage in safety and in order in our accommodation. That was also where Herr Gilowsky came to welcome us. Now we have been here for 8 days already and do not yet know where the sun rises in Vienna, for up to this very hour it has done nothing but rain and, with a constant wind blowing, it has occasionally snowed a little, so that we even saw a little snow on the roofs. [30] At the same time, it was not, and still is not, genuinely cold, but genuinely frosty. I must remark on one thing specifically: at the Schanzl customs office we were cleared very quickly and entirely exempted from the Main Customs Office. Once again, the blame goes to our Herr Wolferl, for he was immediately on familiar terms with the
customs officer, showed him the clavier, invited him to listen, played him a menuet on his little violin, and with that we were sent on our way. The customs officer requested with the greatest politeness, and obtained from us, permission to visit us, and to this purpose noted our lodgings. (...)
Count Daun has also given me a letter to take with me for Baron Schell. He is giving me good cause to hope that I will leave Vienna satisfied. This seems to be the case, too, inasmuch as the court is demanding to hear us before we have presented ourselves. For young Count Palfi was going through Linz precisely when our concert was due to start. He went to pay his respects to Countess von Schlick, who
told him about the youngster and persuaded him to have the post-coach stop before the Town Hall and to come to the concert with the Countess. He heard it with astonishment, and told Archduke Joseph of it with much commotion. The latter told the Empress. As soon, then, as it became known that we were in Vienna, the order came that we should come to the court. You see, that was the source of it.
The preceding lines were written on the 11th with the firm intention of reporting on the 12th, when we came back from Schönbrunn, on how it went, but we had to drive in a bee line from Schönbrunn to the Prince of Hildeburghausen’s. The 6 ducats were worth more than sending of the letter. I am putting my trust in Frau Hagenauer and promise myself so much kindness from her friendship that she will accept the good wishes for her name-day now, even though they are so brief that I only say that we will ask God that he may preserve her in good health, along with all who belong to her, even in the most advanced years,
and that he may invite and receive us all, at his chosen time, into heaven for a game of Brandl. Now time no longer permits anything, other than to say in haste that we were so extraordinarily graciously received by Their Majesties that if I were to recount it, one would take it to be a fable. [80] Enough! Wolferl jumped onto the Empress’lap, got hold of her round the neck and kissed her roundly. In brief, we were with her from 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock and the Emperor himself came out into the other room to fetch me in order to hear the Infanta playing the violin. On the 15th, the Empress sent 2 sets of clothing with the Privy Paymaster, who drove up in front of our house in gala dress: 1 set for the boy and 1 for
the girl. As soon as the command comes, they must appear at court and the Privy Paymaster will collect them. Today, at 2:30, they must go to the 2 youngest Archdukes, at 4 o’clock to Count Palfi, the Hungarian Chancellor. Yesterday we were at Count Kaunitz’, and the day before at Countess Kinsky’s,43 and then later at Count von Ulfeld’s. We are invited to concerts in 2 days’ time again. Say everywhere in the name of grace that we are well and happy, praise God. I commend myself and am as always your
Mozart
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-04 08:08 pm (UTC)Also, I meant to add earlier that of course Amalie didn't have money to spare, the Seven Years' War has just ended, *and* she's traveling.
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-08 02:48 pm (UTC)Leopold had to pay in Aachen, where the Mozarts were staying at the inn "Zum goldenen Drachen" (now there's a good name!) "The Golden Dragon": 75 Gulden, for a relatively short stay. This was two and a half times his monthly salary as First Concert Master in Salzburg.
In Vienna, he received for the three hours concert his kids gave to MT & her kids & husband: 100 Golden Ducats, which were 450 Silver Gulden, which was what Leopold earned in a year. Plus some silver snuff boxes plus a gala gown/ costume each for Nannerl and Wolfers from an arch duchess and an arch duke. The last, btw, wasn't a shabby gesture but a very complimentary and practical one. These gala gowns weren't worn often, the kids grew out of them, and because of the perdigree and the expensive material, undoubtedly the Mozarts could sell them once Wolferl and Nannerl had grown out of them, too.
Entrance fee for public concerts per person, not special performances like the one for MT: Four Gulden in a city like Frankfurt (Goethe Senior, JWG's Dad, wrote this in his account book).
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-09 05:14 am (UTC)This I did not know, thank you! (I think I may have heard that they got fancy dress, but I think I did think it was a shabby gesture.)
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-18 08:50 pm (UTC)Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-09 04:44 am (UTC)Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-08 03:07 am (UTC)Heh, and I am again amused.
(Leopold, loyal MT subject, just writes "the Empress", no "Empress-Queen" qualification, and certainly no "Queen of Hungary".)
sister of the King in (!!!!!) Prussia
Heeee! :D
The most ridiciluous thing was that she really wanted to talk me into heading not for Paris but for Berlin, and tried this with propositions which I didn't want to believe, so I shan't mention them here; for I couldn't believe them, especially not the proposition she made for my person, Vestigia terrent; says the fox.
Lol!
Presumably Amalie suggested Leopold could find himself hired by Fritz if he went to Berlin with his kids.
idk, seems like Leopold made the right decision here, even if we in salon regret the absence of such a concert :) It does sound like child!Wolfgang was adorable :D (And could have played old-fashioned music, right?)
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-08 06:31 am (UTC)Learn from this, church choirs and church organ players everywhere. You, too, could have a musical prodigy or two listening among the mass visitors, so you better play/sing well!
Heeee! :D
Leopold seriously is the first person I've seen use the "King IN Prussia" instead of "of Prussia" designation as late as 1763.
...at least he didn't refer to him as the Margrave of Brandenburg? But that's for fellow monarchs to do, I guess. *looks at MT and Louis XV*
And yes, of course there was no money in 1763. I remember a passage from Lehndorff's diaries where he reports Amalie being put out because Fritz wouldn't permit her to mint her own coins to help with that problem. Otoh, Lehndorff also reports Amalie's spontanous deeds of generosity in the war like giving the jewelry she was wearing to Madame de Maupertuis so the later could travel to her dying husband, and at any rate Prussia's lack of available cash is not the fault of Leopold Mozart, travelling musician, or his kids, and he's facing far more serious consequences if he isn't able to pay the innkeepers than the sister of the King IN Prussia who will hardly get arrested.
idk, seems like Leopold made the right decision here, even if we in salon regret the absence of such a concert :) It does sound like child!Wolfgang was adorable :D (And could have played old-fashioned music, right?)
Musical programm: I'll see whether I can hunt down Melchior Grimm's famous description of the Mozart family Paris concert, because I suspect he'd list individual pieces. And yes, presumably the selection would have gone to standard favorites rather than the latest experimental music; HOWEVER, what are favorites in 1762/1763 Austria could already have been too modern for Fritz. One word: Gluck.
idk, seems like Leopold made the right decision here, even if we in salon regret the absence of such a concert :)
Well, yes. Leaving aside the relative shortage of cash in 1763, first of all, Leopold wasn't actually born in Salzburg. He was from Augsburg, which was a freie Reichstadt, which made him an HRE citizen and also the citizen of a town which at that point already had a Protestant majority (though the Catholic minority was still powerful, too), and going south instead of north as a young man in search of a working place as a musician was presumably a choice based on where he liked to live, which wasn't in Protestant Prussia (even if there was toleration of Catholics). Secondly, if rebellious growing up Wolfgang clashed with Prince Bishop Colloredo, can you imagine how he'd have clashed with Old Fritz? And thirdly, Vienna during Joseph's reign really WAS, as Salieri says in Amadeus, the city of music, the one where all the hottest musicians amd composers were or went to, and Berlin due to Fritz' insistence on the musical taste of his youth could no longer compete, while Paris was for a while still in the running (not least because Marie Antoinette had brought Gluck and his opera innovations to Paris, which meant current French music was more modern than Fritzian French music) and of course had a lot of other aspects going for it, but then the French Revolution made it too dangerous to live there for quite a number of artists. Also, to return to 1763, by going to Paris and then London instead, Leopold exposed his kids to a far greater variety of cultural influences and people than he would have if he'd gone to only starting to recover from the war Berlin.
In conclusion, both from a 1763 and from a wiser with hindsight perspective, Leopold made the right call. But it's still a shame no Fritz-meets-Mozart event ever happened!
Meanwhile, have old Goethe in 1830 (two years before his death) stunning young Eckermann, who was his Boswell, by casually mentioning having seen young Mozart during that concert tour across Europe. In 1830, Mozart truly already a classic and of another age, and so to a younger person like Eckermann the realisation Goethe had seen Mozart as a child (when he, JWG, was fourteen) was like you'd feel if a contemporary casually mentions having met Churchill.
Mittwoch, den 3. Februar 1830
Bei Goethe zu Tisch. Wir sprachen über Mozart. »Ich habe ihn als siebenjährigen Knaben gesehen,« sagte Goethe, »wo er auf einer Durchreise ein Konzert gab. Ich selber war etwa vierzehn Jahre alt, und ich erinnere mich des kleinen Mannes in seiner Frisur und Degen noch ganz deutlich.« Ich machte große Augen, und es war mir ein halbes Wunder, zu hören, daß Goethe alt genug sei, um Mozart als Kind gesehen zu haben.
(BTW, this passage is also impressive because unlike us, neither Goethe nor Eckermann had access to the internet or even the Frankfurt newspaper archive so they could look up when exactly child!Wolfgang was in Frankfurt, how old he was and how old young Goethe was. And yet this statement is correct - Goethe was fourteen, and Mozart seven when the Mozart family gave that concert in Frankfurt am Main. That he mentions the hair and the sword tells you something about what was still standard in Austria - dressing children in adult get up, complete with wig and wardrobe, and young Wolferl after the visit in Vienna had some discarded wardrobe of the young archdukes to dress up in - was already looking somewhat quaint for the citizens in Frankfurt, otherwise young Goethe wouldn't have remembered it as unusual.)
(Goethe, btw, adored Mozart's music, especially "The Magic Flute", and his standard reply when asked whether he could see "Faust" becoming an opera was to say only Mozart could have done it, but alas...)
Re: Leopold Mozart about meeting Amalie in Aachen
Date: 2022-09-09 05:12 am (UTC)Amalie! <3 Gosh, I need to get back to German practice and read Lehndorff...
and he's facing far more serious consequences if he isn't able to pay the innkeepers than the sister of the King IN Prussia who will hardly get arrested.
Hee. I must say I laughed at this.
One word: Gluck.
RIGHT. Fritz, why must you be this way?
and so to a younger person like Eckermann the realisation Goethe had seen Mozart as a child (when he, JWG, was fourteen) was like you'd feel if a contemporary casually mentions having met Churchill.
Me: Goethe met EVERYBODY!
neither Goethe nor Eckermann had access to the internet or even the Frankfurt newspaper archive so they could look up when exactly child!Wolfgang was in Frankfurt, how old he was and how old young Goethe was. And yet this statement is correct - Goethe was fourteen, and Mozart seven when the Mozart family gave that concert in Frankfurt am Main.
That IS impressive, and I wonder if that means that it made a really deep impression on Goethe.
(Goethe, btw, adored Mozart's music, especially "The Magic Flute", and his standard reply when asked whether he could see "Faust" becoming an opera was to say only Mozart could have done it, but alas...)
Ohhhhh now I really want this :P