Mozart family grand tour
Encyclopedia
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, undertaken by Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
, his wife Anna Maria
Anna Maria Mozart
Anna Maria Walburga Mozart was the mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Maria Anna Mozart.-Biography:...
, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna
Maria Anna Mozart
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:...
(Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively. Their extraordinary skills had been demonstrated during a visit to Vienna in 1762, when they had played before the Empress Maria Theresa at the Imperial Court
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. Sensing the social and pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip embracing the capitals and main cultural centres of Europe, Leopold obtained an extended leave of absence from his post as deputy Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg
Archbishopric of Salzburg
The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, its territory roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg....
. Throughout the subsequent tour, the children's Wunderkind
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
status was confirmed as their precocious performances consistently amazed and gratified their audiences.
The first stage of the tour's itinerary took the family, via Munich and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, to Brussels and then on to Paris where they stayed for five months. They then departed for London, where during a stay of more than a year Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his first symphonies
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
. The family then moved on to the Netherlands, where the schedule of performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, although Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward phase incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, before the family's return to Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
in November 1766.
The material rewards of the tour, though reportedly substantial, did not transform the family's lifestyle, and Leopold continued in the Prince-Archbishop's service. However, the journey enabled the children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world, and gave them an outstanding education. In Wolfgang's case this would continue through further journeys in the following six years, prior to his appointment by the Prince-Archbishop as a court musician.
Child prodigies
The Mozart children were not alone as 18th-century music prodigies. Education writer Gary Spruce refers to hundreds of similar cases, and cites that of William CrotchWilliam Crotch
William Crotch was an English composer, organist and artist.Born in Norwich to a master carpenter he showed early musical talent . The three and a half year old Master William Crotch was taken to London by his ambitious mother, where he not only played on the organ of the Chapel Royal in St....
of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
who in 1778, at the age of three, was giving organ recitals. British scholar Jane O'Connor explains the 18th century fascination with prodigies as "the realisation of the potential entertainment and fiscal value of an individual child who was in some way extraordinary". Other childhood contemporaries of Mozart included the violinist and composer Thomas Linley
Thomas Linley the younger
Thomas Linley the younger was the eldest son of the composer Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson. He was one of the most precocious composers and performers that have been known in England, and became known as the "English Mozart".-Early life:Linley's abilities were apparent from a...
, born the same year as Wolfgang, and the organist prodigy Siegmund Bachmann. Mozart eventually became recognised among prodigies as the future standard for early success and promise.
Of seven children born to Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart, only the fourth, Maria Anna (Nannerl), born 31 July 1751, and the youngest, Wolfgang Amadeus, born 27 January 1756, survived infancy. The children were educated at home, under Leopold's guidance, learning basic skills in reading, writing, drawing and arithmetic, together with some history and geography. Their musical education was aided by exposure to the constant rehearsing and playing of Leopold and his fellow musicians. When Nannerl was seven her father began to teach her to play the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, with Wolfgang looking on; according to Nannerl's own account "the boy immediately showed his extraordinary, God-given talent. He often spent long periods at the clavier, picking out thirds, and his pleasure showed that they sounded good to him [...] When he was five years old he was composing little pieces which he would play to his father who would write them down". A family friend, the poet Johann Andreas Schachtner, recounted that at the age of four Wolfgang began to compose a recognisable piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
, and was able to demonstrate a phenomenal sense of pitch.
Nannerl herself was an extremely apt pupil, no less quick to learn than her brother, and was playing the keyboard with striking virtuosity by the time she was eleven. In that year, 1762, Leopold brought the children to Munich to play before Maximilian III Joseph, the Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Leopold then took the entire family to Vienna, on a trip that lasted for three months. He had secured invitations from several noble patrons, and within three days of arriving the children were playing at the palace of Count Collalto. Among those present was the Viennese Treasury councillor and future prime minister Johann Karl Count Zinzendorf, who noted in his diary that "a little boy, said to be only five-and-a-half years old (Wolfgang was actually nearly seven) played the harpsichord". After an appearance before the Imperial Vice-Chancellor, the Mozarts were invited to the royal court, where the Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
tested Wolfgang's abilities by requiring him to play with the keyboard covered. During this court visit Wolfgang met the Archduchess Maria Antonia, the future Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
of France, who was two months his senior. Mozart biographer Eric Blom
Eric Blom
Eric Walter Blom CBE was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, musicologist, music critic, music biographer and translator. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians .-Biography:Blom was born in Berne, Switzerland...
recounts an anecdote of how the Archduchess helped Wolfgang when he slipped on the polished floor; the then Archduchess is supposed to have received a proposal of marriage in return.
As the Mozarts began to be noticed by the Viennese aristocracy, they were often required to give several performances during a single day. They were well rewarded for this activity—at the end of their first hectic week in Vienna, Leopold was able to send home the equivalent of more than two years' salary. Their schedule was interrupted when Wolfgang fell ill with scarlet fever
Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
, and their former momentum was not regained. Nevertheless, the visit left Leopold eager to pursue further opportunities for social and financial success. On their return to Salzburg, Wolfgang played the harpsichord and violin at a birthday concert for the Archbishop, to the evident astonishment of those present.
Preparations
Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm
Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm was a German-born French author.-Early years:Grimm was born at Regensburg, the son of a pastor...
, who after hearing the children play had said: "Now for once in my life I have seen a miracle: this is the first". Leopold believed that it was his duty to proclaim this miracle to the world, otherwise he would be "the most ungrateful creature". Mozart biographer Wolfgang Hildesheimer
Wolfgang Hildesheimer
Wolfgang Hildesheimer was a German author who incorporated the Theatre of the Absurd. He originally trained as an artist, before turning to writing.-Biography:...
has suggested that, at least in the case of Wolfgang, this venture was premature: "Too soon, [the] father dragged [the] son all over Western Europe for years. This continual change of scene would have worn out even a robust child..." However, there is little evidence to suggest that Wolfgang was physically harmed or musically hindered by these childhood exertions; it seems that he felt equal to the challenge from the start.
Leopold wanted to begin the tour as soon as possible—the younger the children were, the more spectacular would be the demonstration of their gifts. The route he intended to take included southern Germany, the Austrian Netherlands, Paris, Switzerland and possibly northern Italy. The London leg was only added after urgings during the Paris visit, and the eventual Dutch trip was an unplanned detour. The plan was to take in as many princely European courts as possible, as well as the great cultural capitals—Leopold was relying on his professional musical network and on his more recent social contacts to obtain invitations from the royal courts. Practical assistance came from Hagenauer, whose trading connections in the major cities would supply the Mozarts with what were effectively banking facilities. These would enable them to obtain money en route, while waiting for the proceeds from their performances to accumulate.
Wolfgang prepared for the tour by perfecting himself on the violin, which he had learned to play apparently without any tuition whatsoever. As for more general preparation, the children delighted in making music together, something they never lost. On tour, even during the busiest travelling days they would fit in their daily practice, appearing to thrive on the hectic schedule. Before the journey could begin, Leopold needed the consent of his employer, the prince-archbishop. Leopold had only been appointed deputy Kapellmeister in January 1763; nevertheless the archbishop's consent to an extended leave of absence was granted, on the grounds that the Mozarts' successes would bring glory to Salzburg, its ruler, and to God.
Early stages (July–November 1763)
The journey's beginning, on 9 July 1763, was inauspicious; on the first day a carriage wheel broke, requiring a 24-hour pause while repairs were carried out. Leopold turned this delay to advantage by taking Wolfgang to the nearby church at WasserburgWasserburg am Inn
Wasserburg am Inn is a town in the district Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria, Germany. The historic centre is a peninsula, formed by the meandering Inn River...
, where according to Leopold the boy played on the organ pedalboard as if he had been studying it for months. In Munich, on successive evenings, the children played before Elector Maximilian III, earning from these engagements the equivalent of half of Leopold's annual salary of 354 gulden
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
or florins
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
. The next stop was Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, where Leopold's estranged mother refused to attend any of the three concerts given there. The family then moved on to Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen is a German town situated in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim.Schwetzingen is one of the 5 biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and it is a medium-sized centre including the cities and municipalities of...
and the Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
court, where the children's performance apparently amazed Elector Palatine Karl Theodor
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death...
and his Electress.
The next extended stop was at Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. The Elector was ill, but the Mozarts gave three concerts in the town, which brought in 200 gulden. From Mainz the family took the market boat up the River Main to Frankfurt, where several public concerts were given. Among those present at the first of these was the fourteen-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, who would many years later recall "the little fellow with his wig and his sword". An advertisement for these concerts announced that "the girl" would play "the most difficult pieces by the greatest masters", while "the boy" would play a concerto on the violin and also repeat his Vienna trick of playing with the keyboard completely covered by a cloth. Finally "he will improvise out of his head, not only on the fortepiano but also on the organ...in all the keys, even the most difficult, that he may be asked".
The family proceeded by riverboat to Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Turning west they reached Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, where a performance was given before Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia
Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia
Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia was Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg. She was one of ten surviving children of King Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.-Background:...
, the sister of Frederick the Great. The princess tried to persuade Leopold to abandon his itinerary and go to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, but Leopold resisted. "She has no money," he wrote to Hagenauer, recounting that she had repaid the performance with kisses. "Howbeit, neither mine host nor the postmaster are to be contented with kisses." They proceeded into the Austrian Netherlands, an area corresponding roughly to present-day Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, where they arrived in the regional capital, Brussels, on 5 October. After several weeks' waiting for the governor-general, Prince Charles of Lorraine, to summon them ("His highness the prince does nothing but hunt, gobble and swill", wrote Leopold to Hagenauer), the Mozarts gave a grand concert in the prince's presence on 7 November. On the 15th the family departed for Paris.
During the hiatus in Brussels, Wolfgang turned his attention briefly from performing to composing. On 14 October he finished an Allegro for harpsichord, which would later be incorporated into the C major sonata, K. 6, which he completed in Paris.
Paris (November 1763 – April 1764)
On 18 November 1763 the Mozart family arrived in Paris, one of the most important musical centres of Europe, and also a city of great power, wealth, and intellectual activity. Leopold hoped to be received by the court of Louis XV at nearby VersaillesVersailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. However, a recent death in the royal family prevented any immediate invitation, so Leopold arranged other engagements. One person who took particular note of the children was the German diplomat Friedrich Melchior von Grimm, whose journal records Wolfgang's feats in glowing terms: "the most consummate Kapellmeister could not be more profound in the science of harmony and modulation". Leopold's own assessment, written a few months later, was similarly effusive: "My little girl, although only 12 years old, is one of the most skilful players in Europe and, in a word, my boy knows more in his eighth year than one would expect for a man of forty".
On 24 December the family moved to Versailles for two weeks during which, through a court connection, they were able to attend a royal dinner, where Wolfgang was reportedly allowed to kiss the hand of the Queen. At Versailles they also visited the famous courtesan Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, then in the last months of her life—"an extremely haughty woman who still ruled over everything", according to Leopold. In Nannerl's later recollections, Wolfgang was made to stand on a chair to be examined by the Madame, who would not allow him to kiss her.
There is no record of the children giving a formal concert at Versailles. In February 1764 they were given 50 louis d'or
Louis d'or
The Louis d'or is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse...
(about 550 florins) and a gold snuff-box by the royal entertainments office, presumably for entertaining the royal family privately, but no more details are available. Further concerts were given in Paris on 10 March and on 9 April, at a private theatre in the rue et Porte St Honoré. At the same time Wolfgang's first published works were printed: two pairs of sonatas for harpsichord and violin, K. 6 and 7, and K. 8 and 9. These pairs became Opus 1 and Opus 2 in Leopold's private catalogue of his son's work. The first pair was dedicated to the king's daughter, Madame Victoire de France, the second to the Countess of Tessé. Mozart biographer Stanley Sadie
Stanley Sadie
Stanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
comments that some aspects of these pieces are rather childish and naïve, but that nevertheless their technique is "astonishingly sure, their line of thinking is clear and smooth, and their formal balance is beyond reproach".
A decision was taken in Paris to go to London, perhaps on the advice of Leopold's musical and court acquaintances, who would probably have advised him that England was, in Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw
Neal Zaslaw
Neal Zaslaw is an American musicologist.Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from Juilliard in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski from 1962 to 1965. In 1970 he received his Ph.D from Columbia...
's words, "known for the enthusiasm with which it received continental musicians and the extravagance with which it rewarded them". On 10 April the family left for Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and after an unpleasant crossing to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
on a hired boat, and some delays, arrived in London on 23 April.
London (April 1764 – July 1765)
Cecil Court
Cecil Court is a pedestrian street with Victorian shop-frontages in London, England linking Charing Cross Road and St. Martin's Lane. Since the 1930s it has been known as the new Booksellers' Row and it is sometimes used as a location by film companies...
, near St Martin's in the Fields. Letters of introduction from Paris proved effective; on 27 April, four days after their arrival, the children were playing before King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and his 19-year-old German queen, Charlotte Sophia. A second royal engagement was fixed for 19 May, at which Wolfgang was asked by the king to play pieces by Handel, Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
and Carl Friedrich Abel. He was allowed to accompany the queen as she sang an aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
, and he later improvised on the bass part
Figured bass
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...
of a Handel aria from which, according to Leopold, he produced "the most beautiful melody in such a manner that everyone was astonished".
Many of the nobility and gentry were leaving town for the summer, but Leopold reckoned that most would return for the king's birthday celebrations on 4 June, and accordingly organised a concert for the 5th. This was deemed a success, and Leopold hastened to arrange for Wolfgang to appear at a benefit concert for a maternity hospital on 29 June, at Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens. Leopold apparently saw this effort to support charitable works as "a way to earn the love of this very special nation". Wolfgang was advertised as "...the celebrated and astonishing Master Mozart, a Child of Seven Years of Age..." (he was in fact eight), "justly esteemed the most extraordinary Prodigy, and most amazing Genius, that has appeared in any Age". On 8 July there was a private performance at the Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...
home of the Earl of Thanet
Earl of Thanet
Earl of the Isle of Thanet, in practice shortened to Earl of Thanet, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Nicholas Tufton, 1st Baron Tufton. He had already succeeded as second Baronet of Hothfield in 1631 and been created Baron Tufton, of Tufton in the County of Sussex,...
, from which Leopold returned with an inflammation of the throat and other worrying symptoms. "Prepare your heart to hear one of the saddest events", he wrote to Hagenauer in anticipation of his own imminent demise. He was ill for several weeks, and for the sake of his health the family moved from their Cecil Court lodgings to a house in the countryside, in Ebury Street
Ebury Street
Ebury Street is a street in Belgravia, City of Westminster, London. It runs from the Grosvenor Gardens junction south-westwards to Pimlico Road. The odd numbers run from 1 to 231 on the east side and even numbers 2 to 230 on the west side...
, then considered part of the village of Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
.
Jane Glover
Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...
, Wolfgang was inspired to write symphonies after meeting Johann Christian Bach. It is not clear when this meeting occurred, or when Wolfgang first heard J.C. Bach's symphonies, although he had played the older composer's harpsichord works in his May 1764 royal recital. Wolfgang soon completed his Symphony No. 1 in E flat, K. 16
Symphony No. 1 (Mozart)
The Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, K. 16, was written in 1764 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of just eight years. By this time, he was already notable in Europe as a wunderkind performer, but had composed little music....
, and started his No. 4 in D major, K. 19
Symphony No. 4 (Mozart)
The Symphony No. 4 in D major, K. 19, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in London during the Mozart family's Grand Tour of Europe in 1765, when Mozart was 9 years old.- Background :...
(which Zaslaw concludes was more likely composed, or at least completed, in The Hague). The D major symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
has, in Hildesheimer's words, "an originality of melody and modulation which goes beyond the routine methods of his [grown-up] contemporaries". These are Wolfgang's first orchestral writings, although Zaslaw hypothesises a theoretical "Symphony No. 0" from sketches in Wolfgang's musical notebook. Three lost symphonies, identified in the Köchel catalogue of Mozart's works only by their incipits (first few bars of music), may also have originated from the London period. Other works composed by Wolfgang in London include several instrumental sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
s, the jewel of which, according to Hildesheimer, is the C major sonata for piano, four hands, K. 19d. A set of violin sonatas, with extra flute and cello parts
Violin Sonatas, KV 10-15 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's set of six sonatas for keyboard with accompaniment of violin or flute, K. 10-15 were composed in late 1764 in London during the Mozart family's grand tour of Europe. Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom commissioned them on October 25 and the works were dedicated on...
, was dedicated to Queen Charlotte at her request, and presented to her with an appropriate inscription in January 1765. Wolfgang also wrote his first vocal works, the motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
"God is our Refuge", K. 20, and the tenor aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
Va, dal furor portata
Va, dal furor portata
"Va, dal furor portata", K. 21 / K6 19c, is an early concert aria in C major for tenor and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was written 1765 in London during the Mozart family grand tour around Europe when Mozart was nine years old...
, K. 21.
At the end of September, with Leopold's recovery, the family moved back to central London, to lodgings in Thrift Street (later Frith Street), Soho. These lodgings were located conveniently close to several concert rooms, and to the residences of both J.C Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. Bach, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, soon became a family friend; Nannerl later recalled Bach and the eight-year-old Wolfgang playing a sonata together, taking turns to play a few bars individually, and that "anyone not watching would have thought it was played by one person alone". There is no record that the Mozarts met Abel, but Wolfgang knew his symphonies, perhaps through the medium of the annual Bach-Abel concert series, and was much influenced by them.
On 25 October, at King George's invitation, the children played at the celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the king's accession. Their next public appearance was a concert on 21 February 1765, before a moderate audience—the date clashed with a Bach-Abel concert. Only one more London concert was given, on 13 May, but between April and June members of the public could go to the Mozarts' lodgings where, for a five shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
fee, Wolfgang would perform his musical party pieces. During June both the "young Prodigies" performed daily at the Swan and Harp Tavern in Cornhill, the charge this time being a mere two shillings and sixpence. These were, as Sadie puts it, "Leopold's last, desperate effort to extract guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
s from the English public". Hildesheimer likens this part of the tour to a travelling circus, comparing the Mozarts to a family of acrobats.
The Mozarts left London for the continent on 24 July 1765. Before this, Leopold allowed Wolfgang to be subjected to a scientific examination, conducted by The Hon. Daines Barrington
Daines Barrington
Daines Barrington, FRS was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist.Barrington was the fourth son of the first Viscount Barrington. He was educated for the profession of the law, and after filling various posts, was appointed a Welsh judge in 1757 and afterwards second justice of Chester...
. A report, issued in Philosophical Transactions for the year 1770, confirms the truth of Wolfgang's exceptional capabilities. Practically the last act of the family in London was the gift to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
of the manuscript copy of "God is our Refuge".
The Netherlands (September 1765 – March 1766)
Leopold had been specific in letters to Hagenauer that the family would not visit the Dutch RepublicDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, but would go to Paris and then return home to Salzburg. However, he was persuaded by an envoy of the Princess Caroline of Nassau-Weilburg, sister of the Prince of Orange, to go instead to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and to present the children to her, as official guests of the court. After the party's landing at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
there was a month's delay at Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, as first Wolfgang fell sick with tonsillitis
Tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...
, then Leopold suffered prolonged dizziness attacks. Early in September the family moved on to Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, where Wolfgang played on the new organ at the Bernardines chapel; a few days later he played on the cathedral organ at Antwerp. On 11 September the family finally reached The Hague.
After arriving in The Hague, Nannerl developed a severe cold and was unable to participate in the initial concerts before the Princess during their first week, nor in a performance before the Prince a few days later. Leopold was sufficiently confident of Nannerl's recovery to announce the appearances of both prodigies at a concert to be given at the hall of the Oude Doelen on 30 September. The notice for this concert gives Wolfgang's age as eight (he was nine), but correctly gives Nannerl's as fourteen. The advertisement concentrates on Wolfgang: "All the overtures will be from the hands of this young composer [...] Music-lovers may confront him with any music at will, and he will play it at sight". It is not certain whether this concert in fact took place—Sadie believes it may have been postponed. If it did happen, Wolfgang appeared alone, for by this time Nannerl's cold had turned into typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
. Her condition grew steadily worse, and on 21 October she was given the last sacrament. A visit from the royal physician turned the tide; he changed the treatment, and by the end of the month she was recovering. Then Wolfgang fell ill, and it was mid-December before he was on his feet again.
Both children were able to appear at the Oude Doelen on 22 January 1766, in a concert which may have included the first public performance of one of Wolfgang's London symphonies, K. 19, and possibly of a new symphony in B flat major K. 22
Symphony No. 5 (Mozart)
The Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in The Hague in December, 1765, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western Europe...
, composed in the Netherlands. Following this concert they spent time in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
before returning to The Hague early in March. The main reason for their return was the forthcoming public celebrations of the Prince of Orange's coming of age. Wolfgang had composed a quodlibet
Quodlibet
A quodlibet is a piece of music combining several different melodies, usually popular tunes, in counterpoint and often a light-hearted, humorous manner...
(song medley) for small orchestra and harpsichord, entitled Galimathias musicum, K. 32, which was played at a special concert to honour the Prince on 11 March. This was one of several pieces composed for the occasion; Wolfgang also wrote arias for the Princess using words from Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
's libretto Artaserse
Artaserse
Artaserse is the name of a number of Italian operas, all based on a text by Metastasio. Artaserse is the Italian form of the name of a Persian king, Artaxerxes....
(including Conservati fedele
Conservati fedele
"Conservati fedele" is a concert aria for soprano and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-History:Mozart composed the aria in October 1765 while staying at The Hague during the family's British-European tour, when he was nine years old. Both of the Mozart children, Wolfgang and his sister...
, K. 23), and keyboard variations on a Dutch song Laat ons juichen, Batavieren! K. 24. He wrote a set of keyboard and violin sonatas
Violin Sonatas, KV 26-31 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's set of six sonatas for keyboard and violin, K. 26-31 were composed in early 1766 in The Hague during the Mozart family's grand tour of Europe. They were dedicated to Princess Caroline of Nassau-Weilburg on the occasion of the eighteenth birthday of her brother, the Prince...
for the Princess, as he had earlier for the French princess and for the Queen of Great Britain. Another symphony, K. 45a, commonly known as "Old Lambach" and once thought to have been written several years later, was also written in The Hague, possibly for the Prince's coming-of-age concert.
The family left The Hague at the end of March, moving first to Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, where the organist of St Bavo's Church
Sint-Bavokerk
The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
invited Wolfgang to play on the church's organ, one of the largest in the country. From there they traveled east and south, giving concerts along the way at Amsterdam and Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, before leaving the Netherlands and traveling through Brussels and Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
, to arrive in Paris on 10 May.
Homeward journey (March–November 1766)
The only surviving music composed by Wolfgang during this Paris visit is his Kyrie in F major, K. 33, his first attempt to write formal church music. On 9 July, the family left Paris for Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, following an invitation from the Prince of Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...
. The children played in a concert there on 19 July, accompanied by a local orchestra, about whose players Leopold made disparaging comments: Très mediocre – Un miserable italien detestable – Asini tutti – Un racleur (a scratcher) – Rotten. They moved on to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
where Wolfgang "preluded for an hour and a quarter with the most capable master here, yielding nothing to him".
A letter to Hagenauer dated 16 August indicated that Leopold wished to proceed to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, then across northern Italy to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, and home via the Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
. "Our own interest and love of travel should have induced us to follow our noses", he wrote, but added: "...I have said I shall go [directly] home and I shall keep my word". The family took a shorter route through Switzerland, arriving in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
on 20 August, where the children gave two concerts, and were received by the distinguished composer André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry. Many years later Grétry wrote of this encounter: "I wrote for him [Wolfgang] an Allegro in E flat, difficult but without pretension; he played it, and everyone, except myself, thought it was a miracle. The child had never broken off, but following the modulations, he had substituted a number of passages for those I had written". This claim, that Wolfgang improvised when faced with passages he could not play, appears to be the only adverse comment from all those called upon to test him.
The journey through Switzerland continued, with concerts at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. Since leaving the Netherlands, Wolfgang had composed little; a minor harpsichord piece, K. 33B
Piece in F for Keyboard K.33b (Mozart)
The Klavierstück in F , K. 33b, is a keyboard work written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; its tempo marking is Allegro. It is 26 bars long, divided into two sections of 12 and 14 bars, each repeated....
, written for the Zürich concerts, and later some cello pieces (since lost) written for the Prince of Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg (princely family)
Fürstenberg is the name of a noble house in Germany, based primarily in southern Baden-Württemberg. The family derives its name from the fortified town of the line's founder, Count Heinrich von Fürstenberg, today part of Hüfingen...
. The prince received the party on 20 October, on its arrival in Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....
on the German border, for a stay of some 12 days. Resuming their journey, they reached Munich on 8 November. They were delayed here for nearly two weeks after Wolfgang fell ill, but he was well enough to perform before the Elector, with Nannerl, on 22 November. A few days later they set out for Salzburg, arriving at their home on the Getreidegasse
Getreidegasse
Getreidegasse is a busy shopping street in the Old-Town section of Salzburg. The house at no. 9 Getreidegasse is the place where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and where he lived until the age of 17...
on 29 November 1766.
Financial
The party had survived major setbacks, including several prolonged illnesses which had curtailed their earning powers. Although Leopold did not reveal the full extent of the tour's earnings, or its expenses, the material benefits from the tour had evidently been considerable—but so had the costs. The librarian of St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg, thought that the gifts ("gewgaws") alone which they brought back were worth about 12,000 florins, but estimated the total costs of the enterprise at 20,000 florins. The expenses were certainly high; in a letter to Hagenauer sent in September 1763, after ten weeks on the road, Leopold reported expenses to date as 1,068 florins, an amount covered by their concert earnings without, however, any significant surplus. Leopold stated that "there was nothing to be saved, because we have to travel in noble or courtly style for the preservation of our health and the reputation of my court". He later recorded that on arrival in Paris in November 1763 that they had "very little money".At times, the coffers were full; in April 1764, near the end of the Paris sojourn and after two successful concerts, Leopold announced he would shortly be depositing 2,200 florins with his bankers. Two months later, after the initial London successes, Leopold banked a further 1,100 florins. However, in November of that year, after his illness and with uncertain earning prospects, he was worrying about the high costs of living in London—he informed Hagenauer that he had spent 1,870 florins in the four-month period since July. The following summer, after little concert activity, Leopold resorted to increasingly desperate measures to raise funds, including the children's daily circus performances at the Swan and Harp Inn at prices described by Jane Glover as humiliating. The insecurity of travelling life led Leopold to believe, later, that Wolfgang was not worldly-wise enough to attempt such journeys alone, and needed to be anchored to an assured salary.
Musical
In terms of musical development, while both children had advanced, Wolfgang's progress had been extraordinary, beyond all expectation. The Mozarts were now known throughout the musical establishments and royal courts of Northern Europe. As well as the encounters in palaces with kings, queens and nobility, the children could converse in several languages; the tour represented, for them, an outstanding education. However, these advantages had been gained at a price; Grimm, in Paris, noting the stress and strain on Wolfgang in particular, had feared that "so premature a fruit might fall before maturing". However, Hildesheimer, while also expressing concerns, concludes that if Mozart's death at the age of 35 was caused by the exertions of his childhood, the intervening decades would not have been so productive, and obvious symptoms of decline would have manifested themselves.Of Wolfgang's music composed during the tour, around thirty pieces survive. A number of further works are lost, including the Zürich cello pieces and several symphonies. The surviving works include the keyboard sonatas written in Paris, London and The Hague, four symphonies, various arias, the assorted music written for the Prince of Orange, a Kyrie, and other minor pieces. Mozart's career as a symphonist began in London where, in addition to the direct influences of Abel and J.C. Bach, he would have heard symphonies from leading London composers including Thomas Arne, William Boyce and Giuseppe Sammartini
Giuseppe Sammartini
Giuseppe Baldassare Sammartini was an Italian composer and an oboist.A native of Milan, he moved to London together with his brother Giovanni Battista Sammartini. He had started playing the oboe in Milan and in London took up the post of oboist in the Opera orchestra in 1727...
—"a nearly ideal introduction to the genre", according to Zaslaw. The earliest symphonies, Zaslaw points out, while not in the same class as the later Mozart masterpieces, are comparable in length, complexity and originality to those written at the same time by the acknowledged symphonic masters of the day. Indeed, Abel's Symphony No. 6 in E Flat was similar enough in style and technique to be mistaken as Mozart's, and is listed as such (Symphony No. 3, K. 18) in the original Köchel catalogue. Sadie observes that the K. 22 symphony composed in The Hague is a good deal more sophisticated than the earlier ones which were written in London.
Mozart's creative progress is likewise reflected in the sonatas composed for the Princess of Orange, which, according to Sadie, mark a considerable advance in technique and ideas over the earlier Paris and London sets. The arias composed in the Netherlands include Mozart's first attempts at "aria d'affetto", Per pièta, bell'idol mio, K. 73b, once thought to have been composed much later, as its higher K number indicates. The tour thus saw Wolfgang's transformation from a composer of simple keyboard pieces to one with increasing mastery over a range of genres. This was evidenced in his home city, on 8 December, when one of his symphonies (it is uncertain which) was performed at High Mass
High Mass
High Mass may mean:*Solemn Mass, a Tridentine Mass celebrated with deacon and subdeacon *Missa Cantata, a sung Tridentine Mass without deacon and subdeacon...
at Salzburg Cathedral. Leopold's employer, the Prince-Archbishop, was frankly skeptical about Wolfgang's compositions, believing them to be Leopold's because they were "not nearly bad enough to be the work of a child".
Aftermath
Whatever the true extent of their financial rewards from the tour, the Mozart family continued to live in their cramped apartment on the Getreidegasse, while Leopold resumed his duties as a court musician. However, travel and public display dominated the next six years of Wolfgang's life. In September 1767 the family was on the move again, this time to Vienna, remaining there (apart from an enforced evacuation during a smallpoxMozart and smallpox
In 1767, the 11-year old composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was struck by smallpox. Like all smallpox victims, he was at serious risk of dying, but he survived the disease...
epidemic) until January 1769. In December of the same year Leopold and Wolfgang left for Italy—without Nannerl who, now 18, was no longer exhibitable as a child wonder. They were away for sixteen months, and returned to Milan in August 1771 for five months, to attend rehearsals and the performance of Wolfgang's opera Ascanio in Alba
Ascanio in Alba
Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, is a pastoral opera in two parts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini...
. A third and final visit to Italy, from October 1772 until March 1773, was the last of the extended trips; the new Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Hieronymous Colloredo
Count Hieronymus von Colloredo
Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1771 until 1803, when the Archbishopric was secularized.-Life:He was the second son of Count Rudolf Wenzel Joseph Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz , a...
, had distinct views about the roles of his court musicians, which precluded the freedoms that Leopold—and now Wolfgang, himself employed by the court—had formerly enjoyed.
Sources
- Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "London Mozartiana: Wolfgang's disputed age & early performances of Allegri's Miserere", The Musical Times, vol. 151, no. 1911 (Summer 2010), 83–89.