The Mozarts, Who They Were (Volume 1). Diego Minoia
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formation which highlights, as sources tell us, a certain spontaneous and simple zest for life combined with an enjoyment for crude banter, even to the point of exceedingly vulgar. These traits were passed on to her son, Wolfgang, as well as her "poetic" gift of rhyming all words related to the digestive and intestinal tract.
Following are a few fragments of a rhyming composition (in German) sent by the twenty-two year old Amadeus to his mother on 31 January 1778: "(...) They are also from people who carry crap in their belly/ but who let it out before, as well as after the revelry. They pass gas all night long/ in such a way as to resonate valiantly. (...) As of now we have left more than eight days ago/ and we have already shit in huge quantities.". In all fairness, it should be stated that their father was not immune to the same literary pinnacles, at least as far as the same vulgarity among members of the family.
Let us now look further into Anna Maria's "colorful eloquence". Following is one of the most famous examples. A segment of a letter that the fifty-three year old Mrs. Mozart sent from Munich to her husband, Leopold (who had remained in Salzburg): "Goodbye, my darling (the original in Italian -- A/N), be well, into your mouth your arse you'll shove. I hope you sleep well, but first shit in the bed until it explodes, it's already past one o'clock, now you can make a rhyme", Munich 26 September 1777. The translation from German, besides the explicit significance, doesn't allow us to understand the playful tone given that the text is in rhyming couplet and ends with a riddle of a fecal nature. This very same "poem" was later partially used by Wolfgang in the lyrics to one of the Canons composed around 1788 (in Vienna) for the amusement of his friends, "Bona nox! Bist a rechta Ox" ("Good night! You are a true ox"), in 4 voices a cappella.
Endowed with a limited culture (which was not uncommon among most of the population in that epoch, especially amidst the women), Anna Maria always possessed a subordinate role toward her husband, as well as her son, as was demonstrated during the journey to Paris (which, as we will see, proved fatal for her), during which she remained passive to the indications from her husband in Salzburg and the differing aspirations of Wolfgang. She didn't speak any language except her own "Salzburg" German. In fact, during the European journeys carried out by the family, she associated only with German expatriates at public or business functions.
We can discern a pleasant disposition. However, as far as culture and knowing her station in society (even with later attendance at the European courts which had most certainly helped refine her), she was lacking. Here is an example of her ungrammatical way of expressing herself in writing (and I do believe that her speech was similar): "(...) I hope that you and nanerl is well, what is my bimperl up to (the family dog, A/N), it's been awhile since I've not heard nothing about him..." Letter from Mannheim to her husband, 31 October 1777 as quoted by W. Hildesheimer. Though she did have the opportunity to refine her ways through her initial association with her circle of Salzburg friends of the family (the smaller local nobility, as well as the well-to-do high society) and later, with some of the principal European courts thanks to the exhibitions of the two child prodigy children.
Wolfgang's sister
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart (1751 -- 1829) Wolfgang's sister, five years his elder, also had a musical formation that led her to become a very accomplished harpsichordist / pianist. Thanks to the Mozartian correspondence, we know that in the family she was usually called by the affectionate nickname of Nannerl (Nannina, Annetta). Her father began her musical formation at age seven, teaching her to play the harp and fortepiano, as well as voice lessons. While she was very close to her younger brother, with whom she undertook the first long European journeys in the role of one of the prodigious children, she was, however, taken less seriously by her father than her brother.
The reasons for this attitude, seen through modern eyes as certainly discriminatory, were at least two: as five years older than Wolfgang, Maria Anna inspired less of an impression as a "child prodigy" and consequently, her career was destined to be shorter term. Evidence of the favored treatment that their father used toward his son (and as can be observed today and which does not do Leopold Mozart honor), concerns two cases of illness and recovery. In November 1765, while returning from London on the first great journey that the entire family had embarked upon, Nannerl fell ill in Holland of a pulmonary disease that was so serious as to have her last rites given in danger of death. Fortunately, she recovered and Leopold then wrote to his trusted friend, Hagenauer, to have 6 masses celebrated in thanks at the various churches of Salzburg. The following month, again in Holland, Wolfgang fell ill with a sort of typhoid fever and after his recovery, Leopold ordered 9 masses of thanks to be celebrated, (3 more than those dedicated for the recovery of his daughter).
We can say that Leopold concentrated his "investment" of time, energy and expectations upon his son, younger and possibly more gifted; who knows if Nannerl would have contributed the same results as her brother if she had been as sustained and supported as him. In a letter from Wolfgang to his sister, we understand that she, too, was an active composer, but the correspondence of Leopold makes no mention of any compositions or creative activity of his daughter, which in any case were never attained. The artistic-creative level of Nannerl remains, at present, an unresolved mystery.
The second reason for the preferential treatment, typical of that epoch, had much to do with being a female. In that era, it was a common and undisputed school of thought that females were inferior and Leopold Mozart was no different in this way. In a letter dated 12 February 1756 to the publisher Lotter of Augsburg, Leopold complains of the delay in the printing of his book "Scuola di Violino", and writes: "Ah, if only Mrs. Lotter were able to arrange the typeface as well as she was able to deliver a male infant to the midwife instead of a half note. Oh, I know that my book would have been ready a long time ago" (the half note is the equivalent to a female infant rather than a male infant). Noteworthy is the consideration, equally common, that women were not able to reach excellence in art and that it was unsuitable for a woman of public morality to make her mark, living between continuous travels and encounters of all types. The objective was to be modest and find a good match to create a family which was seen as a priority compared to artistic talent.
As a matter of fact, Nannerl sacrificed her own career looking after her father after her mother's death, remaining subordinate to his wishes to the point that she even renounced her true love to the Captain of the Court Major Franz Armand d'Ippold, who had asked for her hand in marriage without first getting permission from her father, Leopold. She did, many years later, marry a widow with children much older than her who was well-received by her father.
It is interesting to note that the "musical relations" involved not only the male aspects of the families, but the female, as well. As Leopold Mozart, and later Wolfgang, were on friendly terms with Eberlin (organist and later Kapellmeister) and Adlgasser (Court Organist), their respective daughters were friends with Nannerl. In her diary, for example, she writes that on 26 September 1777, Waberl Eberlin paid her a visit and Viktoria Adlgasser styled her hair.
Having become too "old" to be a "child prodigy", she was relegated to Salzburg with her mother while her brother and father embarked on the three formative journeys to Italy. Then, later on, when Wolfgang went on his umpteenth journey to Munich and Paris accompanied by his mother (Leopold did not receive permission to take leave from work), she stayed behind in Salzburg with their father. No doubt, Maria Anna would remember for the rest of her life, with regret, the successes of her youth and the concerts at the European Courts where she performed solo and coupled with her brother. She continued to give piano lessons in order to contribute to the family budget and was copyist for her brother and father's music as was necessary for their travels.
The notations in her diary entries, before she married, though embellished with French middle class expressions with international pretensions such as "comedie, en visite, etc.", still convey a sense of sadness in the way she describes how her days passed between the death of a person, the arrival of an elephant in Salzburg or of a "dog doctor", combined with encounters with her friends who styled her hair, had a coffee together, accompanied her to the market, played cards or went range shooting...and of course, she looked after her father and the family dog, a fox terrier called Miss Pimperl, also known as Bimbes, as Wolfgang writes from Vienna in August 1773. On 3 September 1777, she writes in diary, that her day is limited to brushing her hair alone, mass at 10:30, the purchase of a string for her