THE GREAT COMPOSERS
An Occasional series by
Dr David C. F. Wright
based on his article What
makes a great composer?
MOZART
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Is Mozart a great composer?
The fact that I ask that
question may cause you to think that I may
doubt that he is. Some of you may be incensed
that I pose such a question. But don't be.
However, there are some opinions,
not necessarily mine, which have some currency
although you may not agree with them. But
consider them.
Unlike Haydn or Beethoven,
Mozart had no sense of nature or the outdoors.
There is no Creation or Seasons or a Pastoral.
He was a real townie. Although he wrote a
piece called A Musical Joke (K.522) he had
no noticeable humour. The comedy in some of
his operas is due to the libretto. He had
the elegance and the charm but where can you
find any real sense of fun? Neither is there
any great subtlety in his music. His music
does, however, have the feel of lace handkerchiefs,
powdered wigs and urban society.
If these ideas are true it
does not alter the qualities that Mozart had.
But these views must not
be sniffed at for there are many musicians
and music lovers who only talk of the late
symphonies or the late piano concertos in
terms which imply that these alone are his
great works. For a considerable time in comparatively
recent decades his early works were seldom
played but we are glad to have them available
today. Do these so-called great works make
a lot of his early works seem poor and weak?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was
born in Salzburg, Austria on 27 January 1756,
the seventh and last child of Leopold and
Anna Maria Mozart, nee Pertl. Five of the
children died in infancy. He was baptised
Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilius.
His father, Leopold was both a musician and
a composer, kapellmeister to the Prince-Archbishop
of Salzburg. Leopold was keen on travel, regarded
himself as somewhat of a social historian
and wrote long letters frequently. One of
the most familiar subjects was his state of
health. He would give laborious details of
all his aches and pains and the medication,
dosage and times of day he took such medicines.
He was a school master and somewhat stern.
They were not a wealthy family.
The father used to refer to the domestic situation
as 'the Order of Mended Trousers’. He referred
to his son as Wolferl.
The young Mozart was precocious
and talented, a child prodigy. But this has
to be looked at in the light of the times.
In those days and with a musician father there
was little else to do whereas a child prodigy
of our times would be truly a sensation in
view of all the distractions around us.
Mozart was composing by the
time he was five but these early piano pieces
are facile and I have often wondered what
corrections Leopold made to them. What evidence
is there that all the notes and combination
of them are entirely the child's work? Nonetheless
his keyboard skills were clearly obvious since
he played before the Elector of Bavaria and
the Empress of Austria when he was six years
old. Was he regarded as talented or a freak
of nature? Leopold thought it was in order
for his son to have such exposure whereas
some of us would question that. Wolfgang's
sister, known as Nannerl, but her names were
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, was said to be
even more gifted as a keyboard player. She
lived from 1751 to 1829. She was drawn to
the harpsichord and had an amazing natural
gift for playing it. It is probably sibling
rivalry that caused Mozart to try to better
her.
Leopold, being a Catholic,
felt that his children's talents were God-given
skills and must be displayed. It is more likely
that Leopold wanted to show his offspring
off and, as they were too young to appreciate
the adulation, it would be heaped on him.
This was also a brother-sister duo but most
of the solo pieces were given to Wolfgang
as he was 'so sweet.' As far as Leopold was
concerned man was the head of creation and
the male must have the dominant and most prestigious
roles at all times. Had he not thought like
that Nannerl may have become a star as well.
The young Mozart played in Munich and Vienna
in 1762. Wolfgang also taught himself to play
the violin. In the summer of 1763 the Mozart
family set out on a European tour and lost
no opportunity in playing before regal courts.
They visited Frankfurt, Cologne, Brussels,
Paris and London. They spent two weeks in
Louis XV's court at Versailles. In London
they were received in April by George III.
Their fame spread across Europe. Young Mozart
studied there briefly with Karl Friedrich
Abel, a German composer born in Cothen in
1723 who had studied under Hasse in Dresden.
Johann Adolph Hasse was born
on the outskirts of Hamburg in 1699. He was
an amazingly prolific composer composing over
a hundred operas. He is often unfairly dismissed
as the poor man's Handel but his music is
not really Handelian. Rather it is less contrived
and more original. In fact some of it is remarkably
striking for the time. His writing for the
voice is the most remarkable of all its many
qualities and his works need both revival
and exposure. His wife was the famous prima
donna, Faustina Bordoni. He spent most of
his working life in Dresden, Vienna and Venice
where he died in 1783.
Abel had settled in London
around 1759 becoming a musician for Queen
Charlotte. He was for a long time associated
with Johan Christian Bach with whom Mozart
also had lessons at the same time as he did
with Abel. J.C. Bach was the youngest son
of the great J.S. Bach and was keen on writing
symphonies which probably inspired young Mozart
to do likewise. In the year of Mozart's visit,
Abel, who had also been a pupil of J.S. Bach,
and J.C. Bach inaugurated a series of concerts
that continued until 1781. J.C. Bach also
wrote about 40 keyboard concertos which may
well have inspired Mozart to write 27 piano
concertos. A tremendous cult grew up around
Mozart. He also studied singing with the castrato
Giovanni Manzuoli. He had music published
and was writing symphonies. Symphony no. 1
in E flat (K.16) appeared in 1764 and Symphony
no. 5 in B flat (K.22) appeared in 1765
.
The Mozarts returned home
via Holland and Switzerland shortly before
Christmas 1766 but nine months later they
went to Vienna where an opera, La Finta Semplice
(K.51) by the eleven year old was due for
performance. The main cause of contention
was the ethics of staging an opera by a prodigy.
While some claimed that such a work by a child
must be a miracle the fact remains that it
is a very poor piece. On the other hand, Hasse
wrote, "I have looked at the compositions;
they are certainly well done and I have seen
nothing in them that smacks of a twelve-year-old
boy." There is no evidence that he saw the
music of ‘La Finta Semplice’. Hasse also warned
that Leopold must not overindulge his son
or spoil his nature with unwarranted praise.
From that time onwards so-called
musical experts put Mozart to the test investigating
his work and character as if he were a suspect
in a murder enquiry. Leopold would say that
his son at the age of eight knew more about
music than seasoned professionals in their
forties.
The year 1769 saw Mozart
at home. Then they engaged in three visits
to Italy where Mozart was absolutely adored.
The famous incident of his hearing Allegri's
‘Misere’ and going home and writing it out
complete from memory takes some believing.
Did he not get a note or time value wrong
after hearing it just once? I am sorry to
be sceptical but I know how impossible it
is for experienced musicians to write out
a five minute piece from memory after one
hearing and get it completely right.
In Italy Mozart had lessons
from Martini and met Nardini, Jommelli and
Sir Charles Burney. Giovanni Martini was a
very gifted scholar known as Padre Martini
having taken holy orders in 1729. He had a
fascination with science and a vast library.
J.C. Bach was among his pupils.
Pietro Nardini was born in
Leghorn in 1722 and was a renowned violinist.
Most of his works were written for that instrument
and are still occasionally played today. He
died in Florence in 1793.
Niccolo Jommelli was born
in Naples in 1714 and had his first opera
produced in 1727. He was kapellmeister to
the Duke of Stuttgart from 1753 to 1769. He
composed about 60 operas but they did not
catch on and he is completely forgotten today.
Obviously Sir Charles Burney
was an Englishman, born in Shrewsbury in 1726
and well known both for his writings on music
and his travels. He was a man with an insatiable
appetite for knowledge covering a vast spectrum
of subjects. He was also one of those individuals
who had to meet famous people for his own
aggrandisement. He and Leopold were of the
same ilk.
A lesser reason for the travel
was for the children to learn new languages
which in those days were considered a major
accomplishment.
In Italy Mozart produced
two operas ‘Mitridate, Re de Ponto’ (K.87)
produced in Milan in December 1770 and ‘Lucia
Silla’ (K.135) which J.C. Bach also set in
1777 as did Anfossi three years earlier in
1774. Mozart was now entrenched in the Italian
style.
While in Italy Mozart’s symphonies
rose to number 25, the first of his two G
minor symphonies considered by many to be
superior to the later one because of its spontaneity.
He also wrote thirteen string quartets during
1770-73 and his first String Quintet (K.174).
One of the hindrances that
Mozart faced was that he was short and he
was self-conscious about his appearance which
made his character and personality a little
bellicose at times.
There is also something disturbing
about Mozart. Even into his twenties he was
still very adolescent. Some of the letters
he wrote, including those to his sister, are
vulgar and immature. Lavatory humour for eight-year-olds
may be understood but not for someone who
is twenty one plus. He wrote about intimate
bodily functions and both his parents talked
openly about defecation.
Mozart could be crude in
the extreme. In Vienna in 1782 he wrote a
series of vocal canons and not only did he
write the music he wrote the words. For obvious
reasons they are seldom performed or even
mentioned and thus an aspect of Mozart's character
is concealed.
The canon K213 is called
Lich mir and Mozart's words are absolute filth.
Translated the words are Lick my asshole,
Lick my asshole as I will lick yours.
Let me quote K213.
Leck mich im Arsch!
Goethe, Goethe
Gutz von Berlichingen! Zweiter Akt;
Die Szene kennt ihr ja!
Rufen wir nur ganz summarisch
Hier wird Mozart literarisch!
This is sung by females only
K233 is sung by a mixed choir
and, again, the words are by Mozart
Leck mir den Arsch fein rein,
Soll das denn Urtext sein?
Soll das denn Mozarts Urtext sein!
Leck mir! O nein, o nein!
Die Bildnis ist so rein
ist so weiss wis ein Schwan!
Lick mir? Das kann nicht
sein, nein!
O nein!
Soll das denn wirklich Urtext sein?
Nein, der Mozart war ein feiner Mann!
The text does not speak of
servility in the workplace or in society!
These works are available
on CD, Brilliant Classics Mozart Edition with
the Chamber Choir of Europe under Nicol Matt
It has been suggested that
Mozart suffered from Tourette's syndrome which
is a neurological disorder .
Physically it shows itself
in involuntary muscular spasms or twitches
known as tics. The condition also includes
moodiness, bad temper, symptoms similar to
manic depression and a fascination with the
obscene. Mozart kept diaries of things he
saw and heard relating to bodily functions
and sexual titillation.
It is also clear that Leopold
did not want his son to become involved in
a relationship. In October 1777, when Mozart
was twenty one, he encountered his cousin
and was immediately attracted to her. Apparently,
and in response to Mozart's obscenities they
became lovers within a couple of days. Mozart
had now sampled the forbidden fruit. Even
in love-making and in comments verbal or written
he would talk to his cousin Anna in very vulgar
terms.
The idea of Mozart being
sweet and the family being gentle is simply
not true. I wonder what Nannerl thought of
it all.
‘La Finta Semplice’ was premiered
in Munich early in 1775. From 1774 to the
middle of 1777 Mozart worked as an assistant
Konzertmeister at the Court of the Prince-Archbishop,
Hieronymus, Count of Colloredo who had succeeded
Sigismund in 1771. During this time Mozart
wrote masses, his five violin concertos, of
which the Violin Concerto no. 3 in G (K.216,
1775) is his first veritable masterpiece.
His first mature piano concerto, the Piano
Concerto no. 9 in E flat (K.271) was written
four years earlier but it does not have the
breadth of style or inspiration of K.216
Mozart's fame in Salzburg
diminished. In March 1777 Leopold petitioned
Colloredo for a leave of absence from the
Court for he and Wolfgang. In other words,
they wanted to vary their employment contract.
Colloredo knew that the Mozarts were critical
of him and the Court and was not immediately
disposed to grant any favours. Leopold pushing
his son had now become an embarrassment. Over-exposure
can be irritating. The Mozarts wanted to 'move
on' saying that there was such limited scope
for Wolfgang in Salzburg whereas the truth
is probably that the 'Mozart thing' had been
done to death. And, of course, there is that
insidious attribute of envy which proceeds
to gossip and unkind speech. Leopold was a
control freak and anyone who disagreed with
him even slightly he regarded as an enemy.
Both he and Wolfgang believed the Prince-Archbishop
did not trust them.
Leopold was not very well.
Stress and the disappointment of his son's
fall from favour worried him. He was beset
with doubts as to whether what he had done
for Mozart had proved to be unwise. Therefore,
in 1777 Wolfgang went with his mother to both
Mannheim and to Munich to see if employment
was available. No position was offered to
him although during the four months he was
in Mannheim he fell in love with Aloysia Weber
who possessed an excellent singing voice.
His father then sent word that he should go
on to Paris where Mozart composed his Symphony
no. 31 in D (K.297) referred to as the Paris
symphony in order to ingratiate himself with
the Parisians. But here too Mozart was not
offered a post
His mother died in July and
Wolfgang deliberately delayed informing anyone
of her death and still wrote home to say that
she was very ill whereas in fact she was dead.
Eventually, his father ordered him home. In
Mozart's defence it may have been that he
did not know how to break the news to his
father and Nannerl and delayed wondering what
to do
Paris was involved in the
scandal between Gluck and Piccini which, in
simple terms, was a matter of jealousy. The
people of Paris were not interested in Mozart
who spent the next two years in Salzburg.
It is my view that his best
works were written about this time
The Sinfonia Concertante
in E flat for violin, viola and orchestra
(K364) is simply sublime. Here is Mozart at
his very best. Even though he uses two string
instruments as soloists and they often have
the same material the mellowness of the viola
is a wonderful foil for the brighter sound
of the violin. The orchestral build-ups to
climax are beautifully judged with soaring
cellos having their moments of uplifting music.
The horn theme is richly noble. The work carefully
avoids pomposity or baroque styles. The music
is elegant, cheerful and yields that rare
supreme joy that music can give.
Of all Mozart's masses perhaps
the Coronation Mass (K.317) of 1779 may be
his finest. Similarly, the opera Idomeneo,
King of Crete (K.366) must be one of his finest
operas. It was commissioned by the Elector
of Bavaria. Here Mozart takes on an heroic
sound with a wide range of emotions and some
of the best orchestration he ever produced.
Without a doubt it is his best dramatic piece.
Later serious operas have serious flaws. Idomeneo
was first given in Munich in 1781, in Karlsruhe
in 1917, Dresden 1925, Glasgow in 1934, Tanglewood
in 1947 and so on. Such was its appeal to
fellow composers that Richard Strauss made
his own version of it adding some music of
his own, reflecting his desire to be identified
with this masterpiece. Wolf-Ferrari also made
an edition.
And today there are conductors
who perform music not in the way or style
intended by the composer but in their own
way to 'improve' it or make themselves noted
or important. What makes a great conductor
is one who realises the composer's intentions.
As I have said elsewhere we hear about Karajan's
Beethoven. What about Beethoven's Beethoven?
It is curious that the most
popular works of a composer are not necessarily
my favourites. I adore Shostakovich's Symphony
no. 12. Apart from being somewhat repetitive
it is a flawless work although some conductors,
such as George Prêtre, made a real mess
of it. Yet it is not his most popular symphony.
Mozart's Symphony no. 34 in C (K.338) is a
magnificent piece, full or life and vigour
and unashamed foot-tapping.
Yet this raises a problem.
Mozart has suffered from some ghastly performances
over many years. Otto Klemperer conducted
Mozart at such a drab and slow pace that it
was positively painful and criminal; a great
disservice to Mozart. When I first conducted
it I took it at a fast pace and was criticised.
Sir Roger Norrington gave a performance a
few years ago at that lively tempo and it
was a revelation. He even took the andante
as a two in the bar andante and not as an
adagio as most people do. This was exhilarating
Mozart; really very special.
During 1779-80 Mozart performed
at court and in the cathedral. Prince-Archbishop
Colloredo was not popular with Leopold Mozart
and there were hostilities and intrigues.
Wolfgang rowed with him since he was not given
a place of honour but was regarded socially
as somewhere between the court valets and
the cooks. The Prince-Archbishop refused to
let Mozart perform at functions that he was
attending and in May 1781 Mozart lost his
job or was kicked out of it. Most people state
that he resigned.
He went to Vienna where he
settled and lived for the rest of his life
and married Constanze Weber, the younger sister
of Aloysia. Leopold was furious referring
to her as no better than a slut. He referred
to the widow Weber as a drunk. Aloysia had
married Johann Joseph Lange, a Shakespearian
actor and professional painter. The marriage
was born in tension but Mozart assured her
that he longed for her beautiful ass and when
they were apart he would write quite crude
and erotic letters to her. It was with these
disgusting thoughts in his mind that Mozart
wrote words and set them to music including
K213 which is about heterosexual anal intercourse.
The marriage was 1782, the
year of one of Mozart's best symphonies, the
Symphony no. 35 in D (K.385) known as the
Haffner symphony. Haffner was the name of
a Salzburg family for which Mozart had written
his Serenade in D (K.250) in 1776. This symphony
uses the same material but, given a sprightly
and attacking performance, it comes across
as a splendid work. Die Entfuhrung aus dem
Serail (K.384) was the next opera, which came
in for much criticism, and may have begun
a period of lesser music for Mozart. It was
a German Singspiel but Mozart, in trying to
be original, an essential for all composers,
went too far with elaborate arias and prompted
the Emperor's famous remark, "Too many notes,
my dear Mozart." Nonetheless the work became
popular largely because it was different.
Mozart became paranoid about
his wife wanting her not to go out alone in
case she would meet one of her clients and
succumb. These feelings should have prevented
his marrying her.
The year 1782 also saw the
beginning of a set of six string quartets
dedicated to Haydn two of which have nicknames.
The String Quartet in B flat (K.458) is known
as The Hunt and the String Quartet in C (K.465),
the last of the six dating from 1785, is known
as The Dissonance. It may have sounded dissonant
then but it does not now. Mozart was trying
to write modern music but he was not an innovator.
Of the six quartets the String Quartet in
E flat (K.428) is the pick of the bunch. It
has some of the qualities of the Sinfonia
Concertante also in the same key. This is
the smooth mercurial
Mozart with the effortless
flow of melodic music full of elegance and
the 'feel good' factor.
Haydn was full of praise
for Mozart saying that he was the greatest
composer he knew.
Much is made of key signatures
in the music of classical composers. The triumphant
D major in Haydn, the alleged profoundly C
minor in both Mozart and Beethoven but there
is a case of glorious E flat for Mozart.
Wolfgang was now working
on what was to become one of best loved operas,
Le Nozze di Figaro (K.482). This opera brought
entertainment to its highest level and I have
happy memories of seeing a performance in
which the great Edith Mathis played the page
boy Cherubino. It is an opera buffa as opposed
to an opera seria. It is a comedy and while
not all the music in the three acts is on
the same high level it is a truly great piece
of entertainment. It is one of those works
which defies the label of classical music
being highbrow.
From 1782 to 1786 Mozart
was also largely concerned with piano concertos.
The Piano Concerto no. 13 in C (K.415) was
completed in the winter of 1782-3 and the
Piano Concerto no. 25 in C (K.503) dates from
1786
It has often been said that
these concertos are gems and that everyone
has their favourite. Of particular note is
the Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor (K.466)
the first piano concerto in a minor key, in
fact, his first concerto in a minor key. The
Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor (K.491) is
very profound and among his finest concert
works whereas its predecessor, the Piano Concerto
no. 23 in A (K.488), is a very sunny work.
It was during the period
of these concertos that Mozart became involved
with the Freemasons. His lodge was called
Beneficence. He was subjected to the absurd
initiation rites which made him an apprentice
mason and was quickly promoted to Master mason.
He wrote short masonic compositions and the
opera Die Zauberflote is steeped in Masonic
ritual. It has been said that you cannot understand
the opera without some knowledge of this secret
society.
But I must return to the
piano concertos. In the last year of his life
he wrote two final piano concertos. The Piano
Concerto no. 26 in D (K537), known as the
Coronation is the least admired and the first
one I played as a teenager. Perhaps because
Mozart in this case does not give the soloist
scope to shine may be a reason for this concerto's
comparative unpopularity.
Le Nozze di Figaro was premiered
in Vienna in 1786 and received with great
success. But after nine performances it was
taken off. The following year it was given
in Prague and was an even greater success.
Mozart wrote his Symphony no. 38 in D (K.504)
entitled The Prague for his first visit there.
The Bohemian capital were so impressed that
they commissioned his next opera Don Giovanni
(K527) which was written at speed during 1787.
This opera is highly regarded in some quarters
but it has many weaknesses due to the velocity
at which it was composed.
Problems that beset Mozart
seem to emerge in this work more so than any
before it. He was obviously a proud man and
aware of his gifts which did not endear him
to everyone. That he paraded himself around
Europe was a personal advertisement proclaiming
his feelings of importance whereas the people
of Salzburg may have thought that he was their
property and that Mozart owed his allegiance
to them in a sort of exclusive way. He was
always in need of money and would ingratiate
himself with rich patrons which also annoyed
some of the common people who were his friends.
And royal courts and nobility are fickle.
But most of them were fellow masons. They
fuss all over a new star and then when they
get fed up they court another talent.
Domestic, social and sexual
tensions are seen in Don Giovanni and in some
respects it is a grim piece particularly in
the light of his other works.
Beethoven disapproved of
the work not out of a sense of prejudice but
simply on the grounds of the quality of the
music.
It is this despair that permeates
the opera Cosi Fan Tutte (K.588) . The elegance
and shine has gone from Mozart who is now
into psychological drama. The death of his
father in 1787 also plays a part. Cosi Fan
Tutte is a probe into the artificiality of
life and sexual infidelity. The next opera
Die Zauberflote (K.620) is weird. The use
of allegory and ritualistic elements such
as freemasonry is worrying. It is as if this
is a political statement rather than an opera
just as is the case with the operas of Alan
Bush. While we all accept that there is good
music in Die Zauberflote it is a very uncomfortable
work out of character with Mozart. To quote
the other side of the coin Alban Berg wrote
two magnificent operas, Wozzeck and Lulu which
are dark but they are in character with this
latter day genius and his work
In simple terms Mozart was
outstanding in the elegant sunny work he composed
but, perhaps, out of his depth with the profound
music he tried to write.
In June 1788 he began to
compose his last three symphonies which most
people highly regard. But I have to ask why.
Of the three the Symphony no. 39 in E flat
(K.543) is unquestionably the best whereas
parts of the Symphony no. 40 in G minor (K.550)
are trite with rather inane themes that border
on the cheap or frivolous. The psychology
comes into play again here. Mozart is clearly
going through an identity crisis. He is trying
to capture the youthful charm of his works
of the 1779-80 and then sinks into the despair
of his late operas and to crown it all becomes
flippant and somewhat insincere in some of
the themes of this symphony, particularly
the opening one, which are trite, superficial,
lacking substance and, as one famous musician
said anorexic.
By 1788 Mozart was in serious
financial problems. In Berlin King Friedrich
Wilhelm II commissioned six string quartets
but only three were written. Emperor Joseph
II had commissioned Cosi Fan Tutte. On his
death Mozart had hoped to be appointed kapellmeister
for Leopold II but the post was given to Antonio
Salieri. Mozart was incensed.
I object to books stating
that Salieri was hostile to Mozart. The fact
is that it was the other way round. Why Leopold
II appointed Salieri over Mozart is a major
issue but there is no evidence of sabotage
or unfair advantage. The absurd story that
has sprung up that Salieri murdered Mozart
by poison is just another extension of the
efforts to discredit Salieri. It is a great
pity that Rimsky-Korsakov put this falsehood
into an opera which is based on a play by
Pushkin. The hostility was started by Leopold
Mozart who took every opportunity to disgrace
Salieri. Father Mozart wrote to his daughter
in 1785 after hearing Salieri's opera ’La
fiera di Venezia" saying that the opera
had ’hurt" him and that it was old-fashioned,
artificial and lacking all harmony. He called
the work stupid.
This aggression of Father
Mozart caused many a conflict for Wolfgang.
It was like living in a battlefield and life
was always something of a contest.
Antonio Salieri is, in my
view, a great composer in his own right. He
was born in Legnano in 1750 and studied music
in Venice with an emphasis on singing. At
the age of sixteen he was taken to Vienna
and made his debut as a Court conductor in
1770. He taught Beethoven, Liszt and Schubert.
He wrote about forty operas and many other
works. Some of his symphonies rank higher
than those of Mozart, particularly in the
realm of originality. As an example I recommend
the Sinfonia Il Giorrio Onomastico.
Mozart was commissioned to
write a requiem from an anonymous patron who
apparently was going to pass it off as his
own. But this was put on the back burner to
enable the completion of his final opera La
Clemenza di Tito (K.621) written for the coronation
of Leopold II as King of Bohemia which was
to take place in Prague in September 1791.
This was conducted by Mozart who then wrote
his sublime Clarinet Concerto (K.622) before
working on his Requiem Mass (K.626). Four
months later on 5 December he died and a gifted
pupil Xaver Süssmayer completed the work
maintaining Mozart's style.
In his last year Mozart still
worked at full speed. He travelled. He went
to the opera several times a week. He still
made jokes about defecating and farting. He
smoked his pipe, enjoyed his food and played
billiards. At the premiere of his last opera
Constanze and Süssmayer noted how ill
and sad he was. He had to take medication.
It seems that Mozart had
a recurrence of rheumatic fever but he was
clearly in a psychological state. On 20 November
he went to bed with painful swellings in his
arms and legs, found it hard to move and suffered
fits of vomiting. His doctors said that they
did the best they could. They bled him several
times. Some critics said that they literally
bled him to death. In fact the medications
given to Mozart made him worse. He died of
uraemia.
He was buried in a pauper's
grave following a cheap funeral with others
who had died around the same time. It was
a very stormy and wet day. His grave is not
known.
Copyright David C F Wright
2002. This article, or any part of it, however
small, must not be quoted, used, copied, stored
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