Lev Gunin
THE LIFE OF MOZART AND ITS MYSTERIES
PART ONE
(CONTINUATION)
BIOGRAPHY
Birth: January 27, 1756. Place of birth: Salzburg (Austria). At baptism, he received the names Johann Chrysostomos Wolfgang Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart ( Joannes Chrisostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart). Mother - Maria Anna Pertl. Father - Leopold Mozart (1719-1787), an outstanding composer, teacher and theorist. Even before the birth of Wolfgang, in 1743, Leopold received a place as a violinist in the court orchestra of the Salzburg archbishop. Maria Anna and Leopold had seven children. Possibly they all had distinct musical ability. The monstrous infant mortality of that time claimed five. Only two survived: Maria Anna (Nannerl) and her younger brother Wolfgang. Both are endowed with extraordinary musical talent. Like Johann Sebastian Bach his distinguished sons, Leopold Mozart began to teach music to his son and daughter from a very young age. Like Bach, he himself composed in 1759 a Notebook of harpsichord pieces with a children's repertoire. The pedagogical talent of Leopold and the brilliant data of his children worked wonders. Five-year-old Wolfgang is already composing simple minuets.
Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father, mother,
and the Mozart family (right)
However, Mozart the father was not only a strong teacher, but also an enterprising person. The son and daughter became his craft tools. The father decided to make a fortune on them. January, 1762. The first "run-in" of two prodigies (miracle children): a trip to Munich, a large, brilliant cultural center, where the three of us played in the presence of the Bavarian elector. At that time, Germany was fragmented into many small states - kingdoms or principalities - each of which was ruled by a separate monarch. The decision to start the first foreign tour with her reflects the entrepreneurial flair of Leopold Mozart. The public in Germany was not as spoiled and capricious as the Austrian, and did not turn away from their own, German, performers. In Austria, it should be noted, the Italian school dominated. Italy has been part of the Austrian (Holy Roman) Empire for centuries, just like Hungary, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Slovakia, and other countries. Therefore, the predilection for Italian music in no way ran counter to Austrian patriotism. Moreover, the preference of the Italian masters for the German ones did not reflect the suppression of the German national musical art, but the desire of the nobility to move away from the people, to put between themselves - and the mob playing music on the streets of Vienna - an impenetrable partition. Only after Germany, having collected reviews and recommendations, Leopold Mozart with children makes a tour of his native Austria: in September 1762 he visits Linz and Passau, from where he arrives on the Danube to Vienna.
Salzburg Palace
Salzburg Church
Mozart's sister, Nannerl
A favorable reception in Germany and recommendations did their job: the Mozarts were treated kindly at court, they were admitted to the Schonbrunn Palace, and twice they were received by Empress Maria Theresa herself. In Pressburg (as the Austrian conquerors renamed the Slovak Bratislava) they get again along the Danube, where they stay until Christmas, and by Christmas Eve they are again in Vienna.
In a palace
From June 1763 to November 1766, the Mozarts toured for three long years, having traveled almost all of Europe: Munich, Schwetzingen (the summer residence of the Elector of the Palatinate), Ludwigsburg, Augsburg, Frankfurt, Brussels, Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Lyon, Paris, London. This is far from being the full itinerary of their travels. In Frankfurt, Wolfgang performed his own violin concerto, and among the audience was the 14-year-old Goethe. Reception at the court of Louis XV. Performances in luxurious Versailles during the Christmas holidays, and - after them - tenderness and enthusiastic squealing of the French aristocracy. The works of seven-year-old Mozart (four violin sonatas) were first published in Paris. Then London (April 1764): for more than a year. Just a few days after they arrived, they were already received by King George III.
Concert
Only princes of royal blood were honored to communicate with the monarchs of the leading countries of Europe, and even then not only what kind of princes, but belonging (like almost all European autocrats, including Russian ones) to the Habsburg family (another element of the world order established by the Austrian imperial house). At large cluster to the public, the children demonstrated their phenomenal musical abilities, in much the same way that circus children walking on a tightrope showed theirs. Johann Christian Bach, who lived in London, one of the sons of the great J.S. Bach, saw in Wolfgang a great genius, and not live toy. Valued London society no less than Handel, Johann Christian was a truly outstanding composer.
Mozart in London (age 11), portrait by
J. Vander Smissen
In its wide famous work, the Soviet musicologist B. Levik describes how, having put Wolfgang on his knees, the famous composer played with him in four hands, or in turn, performing harpsichord sonatas. The child and the wise husband caught each other's style so subtly that even when they played - each in turn, 4-8 bars each, it seemed that the same musician was playing. It is no accident that the young composer wrote his first symphonies in London. They appeared under the influence of personality and music, and the lessons of Johann Christian Bach.
After London, in The Hague (September 1765), Wolfgang and Nannerl barely survived, suffering severe pneumonia. The boy went on the mend only in February 1766. Despite this, the tour continues. The names of cities flashed like roadside posts. And, as if specifically according to the laws of classical dramaturgy, Munich again puts an end to it, where the Bavarian Elector again listens to the child prodigy, marveling at the successes he has made in such a short time. They didn't stay in Salzburg. In September 1767, the whole family had already arrived in Vienna. The terrible smallpox epidemic that raged there, with its bony hand, managed to touch the children in the Czech Republic, where it released them only by December. And, already in January 1768, without wasting time, they reappear in Vienna, having received a reception at court. It was then that the fateful intrigues of the Viennese musicians sounded like a leitmotif of fate, due to which the production of the first opera written by a child prodigy, " La finta semplice"("Imaginary simpleton"), was thwarted.
Mozart in 1789. Drawing by Doris Stock
It is significant that it was during that period, at the end of the 1760s, that the young Mozart outlined the main directions of his composer interests: he tried himself in the genres of opera, mass (his great mass for choir and orchestra was performed at the opening of the church), concerto (for trumpet) , symphonies (K. 45a; performed in Lambach, in the Benedictine monastery), sonatas, quartets. This period of Mozart's creativity has already entered the classification of Ludwig von Koechel (the letter K before the serial number of the composition), who periodized and divided into opuses all the work of the great composer; this classification, supplemented and rethought (the largest revision - 1964), has survived to this day.
The musical heart of the Austrian Empire was undoubtedly Italy: where fine taste, school, canons and exactingness surpassed everything that could then be found in Europe. It is no coincidence that Mozart the father left the tour of Italy "for a snack", having previously strengthened his position in other countries. And yet he was not yet sure that he could conquer Italy; therefore, intensive studies and preparation for the trip lasted 11 (!) months (Salzburg). In total, Wolfgang moved with his father through the Alps 3 times, having spent a total of more than a year in Italy (1769 - 1771). Despite all the fears and skepticism, the tour of Italy turned out to be a brilliant triumph. It was possible to conquer everyone: the highest elite circles, the supreme authorities, the aristocracy in a general sense, the general public, and even pretentious musicians. The Mozarts were received and treated kindly by Pope Clement XIV (July 8, 1770, he granted Wolfgang the Order of the Golden Spur) and Cardinal, (Erc-) Duke of Milan and Neopolitan Ferdinand IV of Naples, and other rulers. No less warm welcome was rendered to them by local musicians. In Milan N. Picchini and Giuseppe Sammartini meet with Wolfgang, in Naples the head of the local opera school N. Iommelli, composers Giuseppe Paisiello and Maio. In Rome, Mozart listened to the famous " Miserere"Allegri, whose notes were forbidden to be rewritten and taken out under pain of punishment. Wolfgang, leaving the church, recorded the entire work from memory. No one had such a phenomenal musical ("spatial"!) Memory.
House in Salzburg where Mozart was born
Commissions for essays became the crowning success. In Milan, Mozart-son was ordered an opera seria for the carnival season. In Bologna, he is engaged in counterpoint under the guidance of the legendary teacher - Padre Martini, and proceeds to fulfill the order: the opera "Mitridate, re di Ponto" ("Mithridates, king of Pontus"). Martini insisted that Mozart go through the test of the famous Bologna Philharmonic Academy. After the exam, the academy accepted him as a member. At Christmas, the new opera was a success in Milan. Followed by a new order - " Ascanio in Alba". In August 1771, father and son appear in Milan to prepare him. The opera, which premiered on October 17, was a great success.
1770. Mozart in Verona, Italy (Salieri was born near Verona)
In Italy, young Mozart had a bright future. This country, its mentality, its atmosphere - best of all corresponded to the character of Mozart's genius, his sunny cheerfulness, hedonism, open and benevolent character. Not surprisingly, his father understood this best. Leopold Mozart is trying by all means to obtain a place for his son in Italy, trying to secure him there. Before the upcoming wedding of Archduke Ferdinand - and the festivities on this occasion in Milan - Leopold insistently asks the Archduke to take Wolfgang into his service. According to the existing legend, Ferdinand satisfies this request.
And here something absolutely fantastic begins; at the very least, inexplicable.
When it became clear that - after the royal letter - Wolfgang could not get a job, a place, a livelihood, father and son reluctantly returned to Salzburg, to their sweet, but disgusting cage. Another strange, macabre coincidence immediately followed, "greeting" them in their native city with a gloomy cannonade. December 16, 1771, exactly on the day of their return, their ardent admirer and good patron, Prince-Archbishop Sigismund, dies. His successor, Count Hieronymus Colloredo, was hardly the monster depicted in thousands of biographical sketches. Firstly, Colloredo accepts the young composer into his service, ensuring his existence with an annual salary of 150 guilders, which is quite enough for Salzburg at that time. Secondly, he orders him a "dramatic serenade" Il sogno di Scipione"(" The Dream of Scipio "), about his inaugural celebrations (April 1772); thirdly, he gives permission for Wolfgang to travel to Milan to prepare a new opera" Lucio Silla"(from late autumn 1772 to spring 1773).
The empress's letter, which was devastating for his career, and the death of Archbishop Sigismund could not but cause psychological trauma, and the opera turned out to be not as successful as the previous ones, without evoking the usual public response; however, even this cannot explain the complete lack of new orders and the strangely hostile attitude. No, this is a clear conspiracy organized against the Mozarts at a very high level. Wolfgang's father probed the situation by appealing for patronage to the Grand Duke of Florence, Leopold, patron of the arts and guardian of art. The duke's reaction was cool, which meant only one thing: someone was interfering with the career of a young genius in Italy. After several more attempts to get the support of higher circles, Leopold was forced to leave this country forever. B. Levik calls Mozart's third stay in Italy the last relatively bright streak of his life.
In the capital of the empire, Vienna, everything that took place in Italy was repeated. Silent wariness of those in power and other influential people, sometimes turning into open hostility, intrigues in musical circles, hard pressure. In Salzburg, Mozart finds himself in a position that can be called house arrest without great exaggeration. Deprived of all hope, cut off from a further career, he seeks salvation and solace in creativity, writing furiously. Quartets, symphonies (K. 183, 200, 201), spiritual compositions, divertissements: genre "omnivory" - these are the earliest symptoms of graphomania. As you can see, those who hounded him are to blame for the development of this creative "illness" in Mozart. The relaxation of the Salzburg "house arrest" came in connection with the composition and production of a new Munich opera (for the carnival of 1775), " La finta giardiniera"(" Imaginary gardener "), one of the most important milestones in his work.
The provincial life of Salzburg and the intolerance of a dependent position overwhelmed Mozart's patience. He breaks with the new archbishop (the final break occurred during the Munich production of the opera Idomnea, in 1781), becoming the first musician in history to reject a dependent position. He speaks of the archbishop in the harshest terms, calling the latter a scumbag, and other swear words, which is completely unusual for a time when class barriers and social hierarchy seemed indestructible. It is noteworthy that the break with the archbishop marked the beginning of attempts to "break with Austria" in general, i.e. leave for good. This intention of fleeing abroad, into emigration, was also supported by Leopold. However, the arms of the Austrian monarchy were very long, long enough to prevent Wolfgang from gaining a foothold in any other capital. The degree of determination of the Austrian imperial dynasty to expand their "guardianship" over Mozart to foreign countries was underestimated even by such a very perspicacious and sober person as his father.
In September 1777, Wolfgang went with his mother to Paris, firm intention stay there. The way there lay through the German states, where it turned out that Mozart was in disgrace, almost persona nongrata. The Elector of Munich almost defiantly refused him. On the way, mother and son stopped at Mannheim, an important opera center in Germany. And here, at the court of Karl Theodor, Mozart received a demonstrative refusal. Contrary to the attitude of higher circles, local instrumentalists and vocalists warmly and friendly welcomed Mozart. But that's not what made him stay. He fell madly in love with the singer Aloisia Weber. Her magnificent voice (a gorgeous coloratura soprano) and bright stage appearance played an important role. However, hopes for a big concert tour with her were not destined to come true. At first, she sympathizes with Wolfgang, and in January 1778 they both go (incognito) to the court of the Princess of Nassau-Weilburg. Obviously, the cheerful nature of the young genius refuses to accept the scenario of conspiracy and accountability (in the "Mozart affair") of all these petty princes, princes and princesses of the Austrian crown. One must think that the refusal of the Princess of Nassau-Weilburg had a sobering effect on the pragmatic Aloisia, and she lost interest in Mozart. Hoping to revive him, Wolfgang lets his mother go to Salzburg, while he himself remains. However, the father who found out that his child did not go to Paris accompanied by Mannheim musicians (as reported), but wanders aimlessly around Mannheim in paroxysms unrequited love, with all his paternal authority, forced his son to immediately go to Paris with his mother.
In 1778, he was offered the position of court organist at Versailles, under the direct patronage of the sister of the Austrian Emperor Joseph, Marie Antoinette. However, in France, more and more influence is gaining british king George III, by an inexplicable circumstance, as did Empress Maria Theresa, Mozart's antagonist. french court had just officially withdrawn his support for the American colonies' rebellion against the British king.
Mozart, while in France, mainly visits the circles that supported the American Revolution. For ten days he collaborated with Johann Christian Bach, who arrived from London, at the residence of the aristocratic de Noaille family, related to the Marquis de Lafayette, who went to America to fight against British troops. However, all these circumstances alone cannot explain the presence of a completely impenetrable wall in the way of the professional establishment of such an outstanding musician as Mozart in a city such as Paris.
It is interesting that Mozart anticipates the future Parisian tragedy, as can be seen from his letters. The blank wall that surrounded him in Italy and Germany, impenetrable and ruthless, was also found in Paris. Everywhere, wherever Mozart went, they were already warned about his appearance, and instructed accordingly. Immediately upon arrival, back in March 1778, it turned out that court circles were hostile. Neither the resounding success of two new symphonies by Mozart, nor the arrival of Christian Bach from London, who did everything in his power for Mozart and used all his connections, nor the participation of other famous and influential personalities, broke the enmity. And this says only one thing: the architecture of this insurmountable wall was born on the highest political Olympus. However, the stay in Paris, in addition to the "earthly", physical harassment, was colored by some sinister, satanic bacchanalia of esoteric forces that flocked here to resist the bright genius. A chain of outwardly unrelated gloomy events sets its black milestones. On July 3, the composer's mother dies, which coincides with the general apotheosis of the rampant dark forces. Evil, death, mystery, everything unknowable and incomprehensible hypnotize us, and, as if in a trance, Mozart is in no hurry to leave Paris, from where he is pulled out by his father's severe order.
Depressed, killed, Mozart calls in Mannheim, still hoping for the reciprocal love of Aloisia Weber, as the last joy of life. The full realization that she would never become his mistress dealt him the last cruel blow, plunging him into a state of unrestrained depression. Terrible entreaties, curses and even threats from his father may have saved him from certain death, tearing him out of Mannheim and bringing him home to Salzburg. Such dramatic experiences for another would be enough to mentally de-energize and interrupt musical inspiration. However, for Mozart, it is creativity that becomes one of the last connections with life. His talent deepens so much, growing into an unsurpassed genius, that not a single composer of his era can be compared with him. Any genre touched by the magical Mozart pen blossoms with all colors, starting to live a higher spiritual, esoteric life. Pushkin said wonderfully about him in his little tragedy "Mozart and Salieri": "What depth! What courage and what harmony!" It is the boldness of thought that most distinguishes Mozart's writing. In comparison of emotional states, psychologism, philosophy of music, in vivid figurative means, he surpassed anyone else. Not to mention that he was the greatest melodist. These years bring a number of profound church works, such as " missa solemnis" in C major and "Coronation Mass" (K. 337), operas (" Idomeneo, re di Creta"(" Idomeneo, King of Crete "), and other works. In April 1781, the conflict between Mozart and Archbishop Colloredo develops into a scandalous personal squabble, after which a resignation was submitted, and on June 8 Mozart was humiliatingly put out the door.
Following these turbulent events, Mozart's marriage took place, and to none other than his sister Aloysia Weber. He marries her against the will of his father, who, in dozens of angry letters, begs him to break with Constanze. The wedding ceremony took place on August 4, 1782 in the Vienna cathedral St. Stephen. Spouses with the same disgust relate to the conduct of financial affairs, which cannot but affect the tragic end of life; however, in his personal life, Mozart appears to be happy with Constanze, and this stimulates his creativity.
Constanza Weber, Mozart's wife
When Mozart was at the side of his pursuers, in their own home (Vienna), the rules of the game changed. Certain attitudes did not allow them to spoil in private quarters, and until a certain moment, if Mozart is not left alone, then outwardly they tolerate him, without interfering (for the time being) in the course of his professional career. In addition, Maria Theresa was replaced on the throne by her son Joseph II, an extraordinary personality, and Vienna came to life, hoping for a brighter future. In July 1782 a new opera in German "Die Enfhrung aus dem Serail" ("Abduction from the Seraglio"), staged at the Burgtheater, made a splash. Mozart becomes a people's favorite and idol. His melodies are heard everywhere: in houses, in coffee houses and on the streets. Even court aristocratic circles are treated with feigned favor. Performing, teaching and composing music bring a good income.
It is curious to note that tickets for his concerts (called academies), distributed by subscription, were not only completely sold out, but often supplemented by extra seats. In 1784, Mozart gave 22 concertos in just six months. All this can be considered in the conditions of Vienna, where there was no shortage of performances, premieres, concerts, composers and musicians, as a phenomenon of a phenomenal order. The extraordinary success of his instrumental music stimulated the composition of a whole series of piano concertos. Mozart's wife, Constanza, although, apparently, was not such a great singer as Aloisia, nevertheless, she could well perform on the professional stage. For example, in October 1783, she performed one of the solo parts in her husband's (perhaps) best mass - g-moll (K. 427), written on the occasion of his visit (to Salzburg) to his father Leopold and sister Nannerl. On the way to Vienna, the couple stops in Linz, where Mozart writes the brilliant Linz Symphony (K. 425).
Unknown portrait of Mozart found in Russia
Since 1784, sincere and close friendship between two of Austria's greatest composers: Mozart and Joseph Haydn. Later, the young Beethoven meets both. At a performance of the young genius's quartets, Haydn addressed Mozart's father, Leopold, with these words: "Your son is the greatest composer I know personally or have heard of." A cycle of six quartets, in which the influence of Haydn is felt, Mozart dedicated to him. However, the influence was not one-sided. We need to talk about interaction. Haydn in his later writings repeated the findings and features of the writing of his younger contemporary. Just like Christian Bach, Haydn was one of Mozart's guardian angels, a bright and kind patron. However, it was probably he who drew the young Wolfgang into Freemasonry, immediately in the year of their rapprochement. The Freemasons consisted of many Viennese celebrities - poets, artists, writers, scientists, public figures, doctors, musicians. Freemasonry has paved a wide road for itself in aristocratic court circles. However, for Mozart, joining the Freemasons was another fatalistic, fatally tragic circumstance, possibly bringing his untimely death closer.
Mozart took Masonic symbols and mottos at face value, not because he was so naive, but because, having a whole personality, wanted accept. (Masonry by that time was actively crushed by the Illuminati and the forces behind them). In the Masonic environment, they try to stop such well-wishers by any means in order to prevent the separation of the external entourage form of existence from the secret goals and plans of leaders. It is all the more dangerous for the most influential Masonic lodges to propagate this external paraphernalia ("freedom, equality, fraternity") through outstanding works of art. To order a doomed man a requiem for his own demise: this is very in the style of Masonic massacres.
Coincidence or not, but it was after the entry of Mozart into the Freemasons that the previous persecution resumed. His brilliant opera Le nozze di Figaro("The Marriage of Figaro") - along with "Don Giovanni" and "Magic Flute" - the pinnacle of his operatic work - despite obvious success, was removed shortly after the premiere (May 1, 1786), replaced at the "Burgtheater" by a new opera by V. Martina y Solera" Una cosa rara"(" A rare thing "). But in Prague, the success of this opera turned out to be simply stunning, which coincided with the political aspirations and premonitions of the citizens of Prague. Seeking independence from the Austrian Empire, the Czechs felt in Mozart's opera, written on the plot of Beaumarchais's censored comedy, a breath of fresh air. She became almost a national Czech opera. They danced to her melodies in halls and coffee houses, they sounded on the street, in the market - everywhere. The composer himself conducted several performances. In January 1787, he spent more than a month in Prague with Constanta, confessing later that, after Italy, it was the happiest time in his life.But one can easily imagine what displeasure the revival of separatist sentiments in the Czech Republic caused at the Austrian court, and what royal wrath in connection with this must have incurred the culprit: the Mozart opera .
It was Bondini, director of the Prague theater opera company, who commissioned a new opera, Don Giovanni. There are suggestions that Mozart himself chose the plot. Under the name " Don Giovanni"She began her triumphant march through the opera houses of the world (premiered in Prague on October 29, 1787). However, no success in Prague could fix the "Viennese bummer", the tone of which was set by the filming of "The Marriage of Figaro" and a deliberate (artificial) failure "Don Giovanni" in the same Vienna (at the reception after the performance, one Haydn stood up to defend the opera.) One after another, Mozart's other compositions are blocked or failed, and his most profitable students go to other teachers (according to our data - Barbara PLOYER, Josepha AUERNHAMMER, and others). The years 1786 and 1787 were fatal, turning points in the fate of the composer. He is completely crushed and doomed, torn to pieces by intrigues, persecution and simply gloomy circumstances. As in Paris, not only Mozart's cruel enemies, insidious and ruthless, gathered to deal with him, but also "otherworldly" dark forces that flocked to the bloody feast of the execution of the bright genius, for the sake of asserting evil and injustice on earth. In May 1787, the composer's father dies, after whose death depression and despondency became constant companions Mozart. Sarcasm, irony and gloomy pessimism are established in his thoughts until the very end of his short life.
Getting the position of court composer and bandmaster of Emperor Joseph II did not solve anything, especially since the size of the salary emphasized the subtle poison of humiliation (only 800 guilders annually). Backed into a corner, Mozart borrows money from Michael Puchberg, a member of the same Masonic lodge he belongs to. Unable to return a large amount of money to Prince Likhnovsky, he faces a lawsuit, which he later loses. A trip to Berlin, in order to improve financial affairs, brought only new debts. Like other kings, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm II did not give Mozart a place at court. Since 1789, the health of Constanta, and then of Wolfgang himself, worsened, the house and other property, ready to go under the hammer, were mortgaged. A year later, after the death of Joseph II, Mozart is not even sure that the position of court composer, with its small, but still constant income, will remain with him. He goes to Frankfurt - where the coronation of Emperor Leopold took place - at his own expense, hoping to be in sight, not to miss the moment. However, the performance of his "Coronation" clavier concerto (K. 537) did not bring money even to cover the cost of the trip. Did not correct the situation and the new opera " Cosi fan tutte"(That's what everyone does").
In Vienna, saying goodbye, Mozart told Haydn, who was leaving for London, and his London impresario Zalmon, that they would never see each other again. Seeing off both, Mozart cried like a child, and kept repeating: "We will not see each other again, no." Until his death, he had to write his best works: "Die Zauberflote"("Magic Flute"), Requiem, and several symphonic scores.
The opera was commissioned for him by his longtime friend E. Schikaneder, a musician, writer, impresario and actor, for his Fry House Theatre. (At the same time, the Prague Opera ordered him " La clemenza di Tito"(" The Mercy of Titus "), on the creation and production of which he worked together with his wife Constance and student Franz Xaver Süssmayr (Franz Xaver Süßmayer); for its preparation, the three of them go to Prague. The premiere of The Magic Flute took place in Vienna on September 30, 1791 His last instrumental composition was a concerto for clarinet and orchestra a-moll (K. 622).
The countdown of the days of Mozart's life was now based on the work on the Requiem, which - as it happened - Mozart actually wrote on his death. A guest, an unknown person, dressed in all gray, came to the sick composer and anonymously ordered a Requiem. This episode made a strong impression on the patient's imagination. Mozart was sure that he was composing the Requiem for himself. He, exhausted, worked on the score, feverishly trying to finish it with his own hand. Constance, who was being treated in Baden, hurried back home as soon as she realized how seriously ill her husband was. From November 20, 1791, Mozart no longer got out of bed, and wrote music while lying down. On the night of December 4-5 he became delirious; he imagined that he was playing the timpani in Dies irae his unfinished Requiem. At about five minutes past midnight, he tried to get up, onomatopoeia of the timpani part with his lips, but fell back, head to the wall, and froze, lifeless.
Mozart was buried like a beggar among the beggars in the chapel of St. Stephen. On the last journey to the cemetery of St. Mark Mozart's body went alone, and was buried without honors, without witnesses, in a common grave for the poor. Later, the very location of this grave was completely forgotten. Neither a cross, nor a monument, nor even a modest tombstone has ever been erected. A tombstone, not material, but spiritual, was erected for his great teacher by Süssmayr, who finished the Requiem, setting to music and orchestrating those by no means small fragments of the text that Mozart himself missed (some of the arrangements were made by protege Mozart, Joseph Eybler. In the same way, other composers completed the greatest compositions of Schubert, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, and other geniuses endowed with a similar fate. None of Mozart's brilliant piano concertos, none of his mature symphonies, were published during his lifetime.
Monstrous injustice, persecution, intrigue and envy: the lot of the most winged, the most bright people on sinful earth, and in the fate of the great Mozart, as in a mirror, reflected the fate of thousands and millions of other talented and pure creators of the spirit.
It seems that the legend of the poisoning of Mozart was born among the Austrian political and aristocratic elite as a desire to divert the blame for the non-recognition and death of the great composer from being in a permanent crisis and falling under the hammer of even more reactionary forces of the political regime, shifting it onto the shoulders of a private individual (Salieri ). And the true motive-cause of Mozart's death (political despotism (from ferocious censorship to the imposition of "permitted" aesthetics) is artificially replaced by settling personal scores. Even if Salieri really poisoned Mozart, he would do it on the orders of Emperor Leopold or someone However, without physically killing his rival and friend, Salieri - with his bureaucracy and subtle intrigues - greatly poisoned his life. Salieri was a court toy and an instrument of the court against Mozart. We will talk about the degree of his guilt before the world musical genius in the future.
Autograph "Marriage of Figaro"
=============================================
Lev Gunin
THE LIFE OF MOZART AND ITS MYSTERIES
PART ONE
(ENDING)
3. INFLUENCES
The music of Leopold Mozart, the father of the great composer, is often heard on the waves of Montreal music radio stations. It is in libraries and record libraries. It is not difficult for the ear of an inexperienced listener to confuse it with the music of his illustrious son. A professional musician immediately understands that this is not Wolfgang Amadeus, although it is difficult to say right off the bat what is “missing” in the music of Mozart the Father. Probably, bright melody, aspiration, brilliance and courage of thought, equal to "Mozart's". The works of Leopold Mozart are "too" academic and "correct", although they also have a fresh, versatile feeling. The strong influence of Haydn is striking. One thing is clear: the mature Mozart-son is the same Leopold Mozart-father, only deepened, expanded, ennobled and purposeful.
The influence of Petzold and Telemann, Buxtehude, Schutz and Bürgmüller can be traced through strong-willed and life-affirming motives, often following the sounds of a tonic triad. Mozart's favorite variants of cadences are sometimes "supplemented" with typically Telemannian intonations.
The drama of minor symphonies (for example, two g-moll "nyh) evokes the features of the symphony of J. Wahnhal. In Salzburg, Mozart was influenced by Michael Haydn, Joseph's brother, who largely shared the style of the latter. However, Mozart never shows "usus tyrannus "("shackles of custom"; Serov's expression); he violates any canon if something gets in the way of his self-expression. As the well-known musician in Montreal Yuli Turovsky likes to say, geniuses do everything "wrong". Note that pomposity, triumphant intonations and heaviness not only of Handel, but also of the early representative of the Vienna School - Gluck - repels Mozart.During his stay in Paris, he reports almost nothing about Gluck's operas, although all of Paris was buzzing about the enmity between Piccinists and Glucinists, and the creations of the Viennese classics invariably caused a terrible stir.There is no doubt that Mozart was influenced not by Austrian, but rather by Italian and german school operatic art, and that he knew the masterpieces of Monteverdi, Bellini, Donizetti, Scarlatti, Picchini, etc. However, the main models for study and imitation were for him the Italian operas of Paisiello (Neapolitan composer, among others who met with the young Wolfgang during his stay in Naples (1770); later - the court bandmaster in St. Petersburg under Catherine the Great: 1776 - 1784 ), Domenico Cimarosa (court composer in St. Petersburg - from 1787 to 1791), and Antonio Salieri (older friend and rival, consultant and mentor of Mozart). Interestingly, Martin y Soler, musician Spanish descent, who composed Italian operas, another dangerous rival of Mozart, was also a court composer in St. Petersburg. Giovanni Battista Casti, Salieri's main librettist and rival of Mozart's main librettist, Da Ponte, also lived and worked for some time in Russia, in St. Petersburg. In Mannheim, Mozart was greatly impressed by I. Goldenbauer's opera "Günther von Schwarzburg". Gluck's influence still took place, especially the operatic-choral style of the latter.
The saturation of Mozart's works with German folklore was due in no small part to Emanuel Schikaneder, whom Wolfgang met in the late 1770s. "buffoons", itinerant troupes folk theaters visited Salzburg, and one of these theaters was directed by Schikaneder - an impresario, actor, director, musician, writer and playwright. Shikaneder proclaimed freedom from despotism, nationality, love for national culture, freethinking and overcoming the fetters of orthodox thinking with all the strength of his lungs. It was he who was Mozart's partner in creating the pinnacle of Mozart's operatic creativity: The Magic Flute. Schikaneder not only ordered this opera, but also created a brilliant libretto, highly valued by Goethe. The aesthetics of Mozart and Schikaneder anticipated Weber and Wagner, and were the most advanced for that time. Shikaneder became another bright guardian angel of Mozart in the host of his "squires".
Elegant, light style Christian Bach is named among the strongest influences. His "smart", intricate music, sincerity and sincerity, Italian clarity and plasticity not only of melodies cantabile, but also harmonies, slender beauty and crystal purity of form: all this was continued and developed in Mozart's compositions. The work of Johann Christian's father - the great J.S. Bach - Mozart began to seriously study relatively late (as well as Handel). The pinnacle of the spiritual music of Wolfgang Amadeus, his Requiem - reflects the undoubted influence of J. S. Bach. We must not forget that Mozart had excellent teachers, the best in that era: his own father, Padre Martini, Christian Bach, Joseph Haydn, and others. It was thanks to them that Wolfgang masterfully mastered counterpoint, harmony, arrangement, and other elements of composing technique. We will talk about the impact of Salieri in the corresponding chapter.
In chamber and symphonic music one feels greater influence Viennese composers of the older generation, such as Wagenseil and Monn. No less important was the influence of Italian masters - Frescobaldi, Allegri, Albioni, Bellini, A. Corelli, L. Boccherini, A. Vivaldi, J. Batista Vitali, Marcello Benedetto, Domenico and Alesandro Scarlatti, Giovanni Agrell, Domenico Zipoli, Attilio Ariosti, Giuseppe Tartini, G. Pergolesi, Domenico Gabrielli, and others. Italian music, this boundless ocean of hundreds (or thousands?) of peculiar, often very bright talents, had an undoubted influence on Mozart. The closeness to its typical features, Italian predecessors, contemporaries and even followers (a paradox, but true) is especially felt in the clavier music of the genius. Muzio Clementi, Dominico Scarlatti, Cimarosa, and other outstanding clavier composers had much in common with Mozart's clavier style. Penetration into the intonational sphere of Mozart intonations of the Slavic type is also caught by a sensitive ear.
Mozart's Italian music is related by love of life, spontaneity, sincere warmth, sparkling or very lyrical presentation of the main themes, their brightness, simplicity and vocal melodiousness, complex relation to harmonies. Perhaps Mozart was also influenced by French harpsichordists: Rameau, Lully and Couperin. Undoubtedly the influence of the English composer Purcell in some of the interludes. Separate places in Mozart's chamber works "reminiscent" of Leclerc.
Mozart is a pan-European phenomenon, alive, comprehensive, direct and infinite. Therefore, any European culture can consider it their own.
(end of the first part )
===============================================
Mozart(Mozarl) Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791) Austrian composer. He had a phenomenal musical ear and memory. He performed as a virtuoso harpsichordist, violinist, organist, conductor, brilliantly improvised. Music lessons began under the guidance of his father - L. Mozart. The first compositions appeared in 1761. From the age of 5 he toured with triumph in Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Italy. In 1765, his first symphony was performed in London. In 1770, Mozart took lessons from G. B. Martini for a while and was elected a member of the Philharmonic, an academy in Bologna. In 1769-1781 (with interruptions) he was in the court service of the archbishop in Salzburg as an accompanist, from 1779 as an organist. In 1781 he moved to Vienna, where he created the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio. "The Wedding of Figaro"; performed in concerts ("academies"). In 1787 in Prague, Mozart completed the opera Don Giovanni, at the same time he was appointed to the position of "imperial and royal chamber musician" at the court of Joseph II. In 1788 he created 3 most famous symphonies: Es-dur, g-moll, C-dur. In 1789 and 1790 he gave concerts in Germany. In 1791 Mozart wrote the opera The Magic Flute; worked on a requiem (finished by F. K. Süssmayr). Mozart was one of the first composers to embrace the precarious life of a freelance artist.
Mozart, along with I. Haydn and L. Beethoven, is a representative of the Viennese classical school, one of the founders of the classical style in music, associated with the development of symphony as superior type musical thinking, a complete system of classical instrumental genres (symphony, sonata, quartet), classical norms musical language, its functional organization. In the works of Mozart universal meaning received the idea of dynamic harmony as a principle of seeing the world, a way of artistic transformation of reality. At the same time, it found the development of qualities new for that time of psychological truthfulness and naturalness. Reflection of the harmonic integrity of being, clarity, luminosity and beauty are combined in Mozart's music with deep drama. The sublime and the ordinary, the tragic and the comic, the majestic and graceful, the eternal and the transient, the universal and the individually unique, the nationally characteristic appear in Mozart's works in a dynamic balance and unity. In the center artistic world Mozart is a human personality, which he reveals as a lyricist and at the same time as a playwright, striving for an artistic recreation of the objective essence of the human character. Mozart's dramaturgy is based on the disclosure of the versatility of contrasting musical images during their interaction.
In the music of Mozart organically implemented artistic experience different eras, national schools, traditions of folk art. Mozart was greatly influenced by the Italian composers of the 18th century, representatives of the Mannheim school, and also by older contemporaries J. Haydn, M. Haydn, K. V. Gluck, J. K. and K. F. E. Bach. Mozart was guided by the system of typified musical images, genres created by the era, means of expression subjecting them at the same time to individual selection and rethinking.
Mozart's style is different intonation expressiveness, plastic flexibility, cantilena, richness, inventiveness of the melody, interpenetration of vocal and instrumental beginnings. Mozart made a huge contribution to the development of the sonata form and the sonata-symphonic cycle. Mozart is characterized by a heightened sense of tonal-harmonic semantics, expressive possibilities harmony (use of minor, chromatisms, interrupted turns, etc.). The texture of Mozart's works is distinguished by a variety of combinations of homophonic-harmonic and polyphonic warehouse, forms of their synthesis. In the field of instrumentation, the classical balance of compositions is complemented by the search for various timbre combinations, personalized interpretation of timbres.
Mozart created St. 600 works of various genres. The most important area of his work is musical theater. Mozart's work constituted an epoch in the development of opera. Mozart mastered almost all contemporary operatic genres. His mature operas are characterized by the organic unity of dramaturgy and musical and symphonic patterns, the individuality of dramaturgy. Taking into account the experience of Gluck, Mozart created his own type of heroic drama in Idomeneo, in Le nozze di Figaro. Based on the opera buffa, he came to a realistic musical comedy of characters. Mozart turned the Singspiel into a philosophical fairy tale-parable imbued with enlightening ideas (“The Magic Flute”). The versatility of contrasts, an unusual synthesis of opera-genre forms distinguishes the dramaturgy of the opera Don Giovanni.
The leading genres of Mozart's instrumental music are symphonies and chamber ensembles. concerts. Mozart's symphonies of the pre-Viennese period are close to everyday, entertaining music of that time. IN mature years the symphony acquires the meaning of a conceptual genre from Mozart, develops as a work with an individualized dramaturgy (symphony D-dur, Es-dur, g-moll. C-dur). Mozart's symphonies - milestone in the history of world symphony. Among the chamber-instrumental ensembles, string quartets and quintets, violin and piano sonatas stand out in importance. Focusing on the achievements of I. Haydn, Mozart developed a type of chamber-instrumental ensemble, distinguished by the refinement of lyric-philosophical emotion, a developed homophonic-polyphonic warehouse, and the complexity of the harmony of the language.
Mozart's clavier music reflects the features of a new performing style associated with the transition from the harpsichord to the pianoforte. Compositions for the clavier, mainly concertos for piano and orchestra, give an idea of the performing art of Mozart himself with his inherent brilliant virtuosity and, at the same time, spirituality, poetry, and grace.
Mozart belongs big number works of other genres, incl. songs, arias, everyday music for orchestras and ensembles. Of the late samples, the most famous is "Little Night Serenade" (1787). Mozart's choral music includes masses, litanies, vespers, offertorias, motets, and cantatas. oratorios, etc.: among the outstanding works: the motet "Ave verum corpus", a requiem.
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus
Full name - Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart (born in 1756 - died in 1791)
An outstanding Austrian composer, harpsichordist, organist, conductor, one of the greatest representatives of world musical classics. His creative heritage consists of more than 600 works, covering almost all genres of musical art.
Mozart had a powerful universal gift as a musician who showed himself with early childhood. Contemporaries called him "the god of music", but this sonorous title did not give the composer anything: neither due fame and understanding of his work (they came only centuries later), nor wealth, nor long life. He died before reaching the age of thirty-six. But how fantastically much this genius managed to create - 20 operas, fifty symphonies, dozens of concerts, sonatas, masses ...
On January 27, 1756, a boy was born in the small Alpine city of Salzburg, who was named Wolfgang. The father of the newborn, Leopold Mozart, who came from a family of a simple bookbinder, was a fairly well-known violinist, organist, teacher and worked as a court musician and valet for the Salzburg nobleman Count Thurn. At that time, Salzburg was the capital of a small principality, headed by an archbishop.
Wolfgang (or Amadeo - as this name sounded in Italian) was the seventh child in the family, but almost all of his brothers and sisters died in infancy and only Maria Anna survived, or, as her family affectionately called, Nannerl, who She was 4.5 years older than Mozart. Over time, the father began to teach his daughter how to play the harpsichord, but more and more often little Wolfgang approached the instrument. To the great amazement of the parents, the baby, who was barely 3.5 years old, by ear unmistakably repeated all the little pieces that his sister learned.
Once, 4-year-old Mozart was sitting at the table and diligently deduced something on music paper. At the same time, he dipped not only the pen, but also his fingers into the inkwell. When asked by his father about what he was doing, the boy replied that he was writing a harpsichord concerto. Leopold took the sheet and saw the notes, smeared with inkblots, in an unsteady handwriting. At first it seemed to him that this was a childish prank, but when he carefully examined what was written, tears of joy flowed from his eyes. “Look,” he turned to those around him, “how everything here is correct and with meaning!”
Soon the children mastered the technique of playing the harpsichord so well that in January 1762 the father decided to make a concert tour with them. To begin with, they went to Munich, where they performed at the court of the Elector of Bavaria, so successfully that Leopold Mozart began to fuss about a vacation for a trip to the capital ...
The speeches by Wolfgang and Nannerl in Vienna were sensational. They played in the living rooms of the nobles and even in front of the royal family, invariably causing the delight of the public. However, such a life was extremely difficult for children, who played music practically without rest for 4–5 hours in a row. It was especially debilitating for the fragile body of little Mozart. In the end, the severe scarlet fever of both children put an end to the Viennese triumphs.
Upon returning home, the father made sure that the classes of the brother and sister (and not only music, but also the usual school subjects) proceeded strictly and systematically. In the summer of 1763, again asking for leave from the archbishop, Leopold undertook a longer concert tour with his children, the ultimate goal of which was Paris. Small in stature, dressed in a purple satin doublet with a miniature sword on his side and a cocked hat under his arm, in a wig, Wolfgang boldly approached the harpsichord and bowed right and left with sweet ease. He masterfully performed his own and other people's compositions, read unfamiliar works from a sheet with such ease, as if they had been known to him for a long time, improvised on given topics, played difficult pieces cleanly and unmistakably on a keyboard covered with a handkerchief. In addition, in Paris, he composed a lot. At the beginning of 1764, his first four sonatas for violin and harpsichord were published. On the title page it was indicated that they were written by a 7-year-old boy.
Bach's voice on the harpsichord made a great impression on the boy. Despite the difference in age, they soon became friends, often improvising on the same musical theme on two instruments at the same time, surprising everyone who had to hear them. In the same place, in London, Mozart wrote 6 more sonatas for harpsichord and took up composing a symphony. During the year spent in England, the child's musical development made marked progress. On the way home, Leopold decided to stop by Holland and Flanders. They visited The Hague, Ghent, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and everywhere the success was huge - the children were given enthusiastic ovations, showered with flattering praises.
All this, it seemed, could easily turn the heads of young artists, but nothing of the sort happened. My father contributed to this in no small measure. An experienced teacher, he was well aware that, no matter how great the musical talent of his students, they could not achieve serious results without hard, persistent work. “My children are gifted with such talent,” Leopold wrote in one of his letters, “that, in addition to parental duty, I would sacrifice everything for the sake of their upbringing. Every lost minute is lost forever... But you know that my children are used to work. If anything could distract them from work, I would die of grief.
At the end of 1766, the Mozart family returned in triumph to their native Salzburg, having spent almost 3.5 years abroad. Immediately upon returning home, the father resumed lessons on the harpsichord and violin with the children. In addition, they seriously studied musical composition, arithmetic, history and geography. Wolfgang also mastered Latin and Italian, the knowledge of which was mandatory for a musician in those days.
In 1767, Vienna was preparing for court celebrations on the occasion of the marriage of the young Archduchess Maria Josepha with the Neapolitan king. Wanting to take advantage of the favorable moment, Leopold left with his family for the capital of Austria. But the trip turned out to be unsuccessful - in Vienna raged terrible epidemic smallpox. I had to hastily take the children out of the city and flee to Moravia. But it was too late: both brother and sister fell ill with smallpox in a severe form. Wolfgang's eyes were affected, he was threatened with blindness. Only after 10 days, vision began to recover.
Only in January of the following year the family returned to Vienna, but the interest in the Mozarts from the metropolitan public has now noticeably cooled down. Few people invited them to their salons, and only thanks to the efforts of Leopold's friends did the children manage to perform at court. Emperor Joseph II liked the compositions of Wolfgang, and he expressed a desire to hear one of his new works on the stage of the Vienna opera house. However, the local musicians considered the miracle child a serious competitor and in every possible way prevented his advancement. Therefore, the Viennese audience was never destined to see the opera based on the play “The Feigned Simple Girl” - rumors spread around the city that supposedly all of Mozart’s compositions were written by his father, who, wanting to make his son a career, passes off his works as his creations. The theater refused to stage the young composer. It was a defeat, but Wolfgang did not think to despair. Upon his return to Salzburg, the archbishop, who took successes and disappointments to heart, ordered the musicians of his chapel to learn and stage the opera rejected by Vienna.
In 1770, Leopold Mozart took his son on a tour of Italy. The programs with which the 14-year-old teenager spoke were striking in their vastness and complexity. They demonstrated not only the technique of playing the clavier, but also the boy's remarkable composing skills, his inherent gift for improvisation. In Bologna, Wolfgang passed a difficult exam in composition, and the local Philharmonic Academy elected him as a member. In turn, the directorate of the Milan theater commissioned him the opera "Mithridates, King of Pontus", which was then played 20 times in a row in a crowded hall. Mozart's second opera, Lucio Silla, was no less successful two years later. However, the young musician could not get a permanent place in Italy.
At this time, the archbishop died in Salzburg, who was condescending to the frequent absences of Leopold Mozart. His place was taken by Count Hieronymus Coloredo, who could not stand operatic music. He believed that the musicians subordinate to him should not waste time on such an impious occupation as composing operas, and even for foreign theaters. The Mozarts were ordered to hastily return home, and in March 1773 Wolfgang left Italy forever. The happy time of childhood, full of various impressions, brilliant successes and bright hopes for the future, is left behind. started new stage life.
Mozart was doomed to vegetate in a small provincial town. Everything weighed heavily on the 17-year-old boy here: both slavish dependence on a rude and despotic archbishop, and the swagger of the local aristocracy, and the inertia of the townsfolk. There was no opera house in Salzburg, no open concerts, no meetings with interesting educated people. It was strictly forbidden for young Mozart to leave the city without permission, and even more so to write operas for anyone. His day began in the archbishop's waiting room, where he waited for orders with other servants, and in the evening he performed as a harpsichordist or violinist in a private concert.
But serious studies in composition continued. Now Wolfgang wrote mainly instrumental music: symphonies and sonatas, merry divertissements, welcoming serenades to be performed on outdoors. It was during these years that the unique Mozart style was gradually formed. Rich artistic impressions were combined in his works with an increasingly noticeable manifestation of creative individuality.
By order of the archbishop, the young man had to compose a lot of church choral music. There was also a positive side to this: similar works they immediately learned and performed it, which was a good preparation for creating majestic choral opera scenes in the future ... But after the Italian triumphs, it was boring for the young genius to compose only masses. Only five years later, with great difficulty, he managed to obtain permission to leave Salzburg. Leaving the court service, Mozart settled in Mannheim, where he met the family of Weber's music copyist and made several loyal and reliable friends among art lovers.
But heavy financial situation, humiliation, waiting in the waiting rooms, the search for patronage - all this forced the young composer to return to his native city. The archbishop took back his former musician, but strictly forbade him from public performances. Nevertheless, in 1781 Wolfgang managed to get a leave of absence to stage a new opera, Idomeneo, in Munich. After a successful premiere, having decided not to return to Salzburg, he submitted a letter of resignation and received a stream of curses and insults in response. The cup of patience was overflowing - the composer finally broke with the dependent position of the court musician and settled in Vienna, where he lived until his death.
New tests awaited Mozart in the capital. Aristocratic circles turned away from the former child prodigy, and those who until recently paid him gold and applause now considered the musician's creations too difficult to perceive. In 1782, Mozart's new opera The Abduction from the Seraglio premiered, and in the summer of that year he married Constance Weber.
The composer's life in Vienna was not easy. Frequent performances in the salons of the rich and in open concerts, tedious private lessons, urgent composition of works "in case", constant uncertainty about tomorrow- all this imperceptibly undermined the already fragile health of the 30-year-old Mozart. “I am swamped with work and very tired,” he complained in a letter to his father. - All morning, until two o'clock, I give lessons, then we have lunch ... Only in the evening I can study composition, but, unfortunately, invitations to play in concerts are constantly being torn away from her. I give three subscription concerts in the Tratwern Hall ... In addition, I gave two more concerts in the theater; You can judge how much work I have to do in terms of composition and acting. I go to bed at 12 o'clock at night, I get up at 5 o'clock in the morning ... "
“I won’t get rusty from this kind of work, will I? Mozart joked bitterly. – My first concert on March 17 was great; the hall was full; I liked the new concerto (for piano and orchestra) very much; now it's being played everywhere." At this time, Wolfgang became friends with Joseph Haydn, under whose influence his music acquired new colors and his first wonderful quartets were born. But besides the brilliance, which has already become his hallmark, in the works of Mozart, a more tragic, serious beginning is increasingly manifested, human who knows life in all its fullness.
The composer moved farther and farther away from the requirements that salon grandees and wealthy patrons put before obedient composers of music. During this period, his opera The Marriage of Figaro appeared, which did not receive public approval. Compared with the easy creations of Salieri and Paisiello, Mozart's works seemed intricate and complex to his contemporaries.
In this regard, the opinion about Mozart is interesting. German musician Dittersdorf, one of his successful rivals and friends, which he expressed in a conversation with Emperor Joseph: “Without a doubt, he is one of the greatest geniuses, and until now I have not met another composer with such a stunning wealth of ideas. I wish he wasn't so rich in ideas. He does not allow the listener to take a breath. For as soon as the listener has time to notice one beautiful idea, the next one, even more beautiful, comes and displaces the previous one. And so on, so that in the end the listener cannot remember any of these beauties.” Indeed, the public's ear was not so developed as to perceive the unusually rich Mozart accompaniment, its virtuoso instrumentation, sharp and new harmonies ... In addition, the first performance of a work often remained the only one, and this made it even more difficult to perceive unusual music.
Disasters and hardships increasingly looked into the composer's house: the young spouses did not know how to economically manage the household. Under these difficult conditions, the opera Don Giovanni (1787) was born, which brought the author worldwide success. They say that on the eve of the first performance of Don Giovanni, the overture had not yet been written, and Mozart spent the evening carefree among friends. Finally, almost by force, they put him to work; he wrote all night "with the help of wine and his wife's stories," since at any moment he was ready to fall asleep. In the morning the overture was handed over to the scribe, and in the evening it was played from the sheet with great brilliance.
It often happened that, while recording one thing, a brilliant composer was at the same time inventing another. He never composed at the piano, and in the words of his wife, he wrote notes "like letters." The speed with which he worked is illustrated by the following fact. One day, the famous violinist Strinazakki came to Vienna, who, following the example of almost all visiting artists, turned to Mozart with a request to write an aria for her concert. Wolfgang promised, but, to the horror of the artist, the day before the performance, the work had not even begun. The composer, reassuring her, sat down at the table, and soon the aria was ready. In the morning, Strinazacchi learned it, and in the evening she played it in the theater with great success. Mozart himself performed the piano part - from notes. But the emperor, looking through binoculars, it seemed that on the music stand in front of the author was a sheet of clean music paper. He called him to the box and ordered him to show a new aria. Mozart held out a sheet of virgin purity: he improvised his entire part.
After the premiere of Don Juan, held in Prague, Austrian emperor was forced to make some concessions. Wolfgang was offered to take the place of the court musician instead of the recently deceased Gluck. However, this honorary appointment did not bring much joy to the composer. The Vienna court treated him as an ordinary composer of dance music and ordered minuets, landlers, country dances for court balls ... But in the last years of his life, the great composer composed three symphonies (E-flat major, G minor and C major), as well as operas " Everyone does it”, “Mercy of Titus” and “Magic Flute”.
Sudden death overtook Mozart on December 5, 1791 in Vienna while working on a funeral mass - a grandiose work for choir, soloists and symphony orchestra. The day before, he was approached with a request to write a requiem by a stranger dressed in black, who offered a generous advance. Surrounded by gloomy mystery, the order gave rise to the suspicious composer's idea that he was creating this work for his funeral. Later, the mystery was solved: a certain Count Stuppach amused himself by buying various compositions from the authors, rewriting them and passing them off as his own. Having lost his wife that year, the count decided to honor her memory with the performance of a requiem, and at the same time to appropriate another someone else's composition. To this end, he sent his manager to Mozart, who negotiated with the composer. However, these strange circumstances had a depressing effect on the excited imagination of a tired genius, exhausted by constant adversity and anxieties.
The untimely death of the "king of music" from "acute typhus fever" deeply shocked his contemporaries. Word quickly spread that he had been poisoned with mercury. However, there were no serious grounds for these rumors. Already in our time, scientists have come to the conclusion that streptococcal intoxication combined with kidney failure was the direct cause of the composer's death. Bronchopneumonia and cerebral hemorrhage only hastened the tragic end. According to doctors, such a condition could cause delirium and lead the dying person to dark thoughts about poisoning. However, there are other versions. The composer's students attributed much to the fantasies of Mozart's wife Constance, who was in dire need of money. Tragic, in the taste of the century, romance with a funeral mass in itself could serve as a good help in the sale of her husband's creative heritage.
The composer's burial was undertaken by Mozart's friend and philanthropist, his fellow Masonic lodge Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who served, in today's language, as the Minister of Culture of the empire. However, under the new emperor, the baron quickly lost his influence, and just on the day of Mozart's death he was removed from all his posts. Van Swieten and ordered the funeral of a friend in the third category. Shocked by the death of her husband, the widow fell ill and was not present at the cemetery. Thus, Mozart was buried in a common grave, the place of which was subsequently lost. In the future, the rich baron was repeatedly accused of incredible stinginess, which led to the fact that the grave of a genius remained unknown to this day.
However, in fairness, it should be said that there was nothing unusual in Mozart's funeral for that time. It certainly wasn't a "beggar's funeral" since this procedure was applied to 85% of the deceased citizens of the empire. The impressive (albeit second-class) funeral of Beethoven in 1827 took place in a different era and, moreover, reflected a sharply increased social status musicians, for which Mozart himself fought all his life. It must also be said that over the course of a number of generations, heavy reproaches were brought against Constance in connection with her absence from the cemetery of St. Mark during the funeral of her husband. However, this was then in the order of things - men were allowed to be present at the funeral, and the rite did not allow funeral services. The monument was not installed for the reason that the plots in the cemetery were used many times. And it turns out that there is nothing strange, and even more sinister, in the fact that the burial place of the great composer is unknown ...
Mozart's widow long years endured hardship, but in 1809 she remarried an old and devoted friend of the house, von Nissen, who adopted two of her children and educated them. The eldest son of the composer, Karl, lived almost all his life in Italy and even spoke German poorly. He was a minor official of state control and was distinguished by unusual simplicity and modesty. The youngest son, born six months before his father's death, nevertheless devoted himself to music, but although he was called Wolfgang-Amadeus, his genius did not pass to him with his father's name. The eldest son was not married, the youngest also died childless, and with them the Mozart family ceased to exist ...
In the middle of the vast Kansas steppe lived a girl, Ellie. Her father, farmer John, worked in the fields all day, and her mother, Anna, took care of the housework.
They lived in a small van, removed from the wheels and put on the ground.
The furnishings of the house were poor: an iron stove, a wardrobe, a table, three chairs and two beds. Next to the house, at the very door, a "hurricane cellar" was dug out. In the cellar, the family sat out during storms.
Steppe hurricanes more than once overturned farmer John's light dwelling. But John did not lose heart: when the wind subsided, he raised the house, the stove and the beds fell into place. Ellie was picking up pewter plates and mugs from the floor, and everything was fine until the next hurricane.
The steppe stretched out to the very horizon, as flat as a tablecloth. Here and there one could see the same poor houses as John's house. Around them were arable lands where farmers sowed wheat and corn.
Ellie knew all the neighbors well for three miles around. Uncle Robert lived in the west with his sons Bob and Dick. Old Rolf lived in a house in the north. He made wonderful windmills for children.
The wide steppe did not seem dull to Ellie: after all, it was her homeland. Ellie didn't know any other places. She saw mountains and forests only in pictures, and they did not attract her, perhaps because they were poorly drawn in cheap Hellenic books.
When Ellie got bored, she called the cheerful dog Totoshka and went to visit Dick and Bob or went to Grandpa Rolf, from whom she never returned without a homemade toy.
Barking, Totoshka hopped across the steppe, chased crows, and was infinitely pleased with himself and his little mistress. Totoshka had black hair, pointed ears, and small, funny eyes that shone. Toto was never bored and could play with the girl all day long.
Ellie had a lot to worry about. She helped her mother with the housework, and her father taught her to read, write and count, because the school was far away, and the girl was still too young to go there every day.
One day summer evening Ellie sat on the porch and read a story aloud. Anna was washing clothes.
“And then strong, mighty hero Arnaulf saw a wizard as tall as a tower,” Ellie chanted, running her finger along the lines. “Fire flew out of the wizard’s mouth and nostrils ...” Mommy, Ellie asked, looking up from her book, “are there wizards now?”
“No, my dear. wizards lived in old times and then transferred. And what are they for? And without them, it's quite a hassle ...
Ellie wrinkled her nose funny.
“Still, it’s boring without wizards. If I suddenly became a queen, I would definitely order that there should be a magician in every city and in every village. And that he performed all sorts of miracles for children.
- What, for example? Mother asked smiling.
- Well, what ... So that every girl and every boy, waking up in the morning, would find a big sweet gingerbread under their pillow ... Or ... - Ellie looked sadly at her rough, worn shoes. “Or that all the children should have nice light shoes.
“You can get shoes even without a wizard,” Anna objected. - You will go with dad to the fair, he will buy ...
While the girl was talking to her mother, the weather began to deteriorate.
Just at this very time in a distant land, beyond high mountains the evil sorceress Gingema conjured in a gloomy deep cave.
It was terrible in the cave of Gingema. There, under the ceiling, hung a stuffed animal of a huge crocodile. Large owls sat on high poles, and bundles of dried mice hung from the ceiling, tied to strings by their tails like onions. A long thick snake coiled itself around the post and shook its flat head evenly. And there were many other strange and terrible things in the vast cave of Gingema.
In a large, sooty cauldron, Gingema brewed a magic potion. She threw mice into the cauldron, tearing them one by one from the bundle.
Where did the snake heads go? Gingema grumbled angrily. - I didn’t eat everything at breakfast! .. Ah, here they are, in a green pot! Well, now the potion will turn out well!.. These damned people will get it! I hate them! Spread around the world! Swamps dried up! They cut down the thickets!.. They brought out all the frogs!.. They destroy the snakes! There is nothing tasty left on earth! Unless you just eat a worm! ..
Gingema shook her bony, withered fist into space and began to throw snake heads into the cauldron.
“Oh, hateful people! So my potion is ready to kill you! I will sprinkle the forests and fields, and a storm will rise, such as has never happened before in the world!
Gingema grabbed the cauldron by the "lugs" and with an effort pulled it out of the cave. She dipped a large broom into the cauldron and began to splash her brew around.
- Break out, hurricane! Fly around the world like a rabid animal! Rip, break, crush! Overturn houses, lift into the air! Susaka, masaka, lama, rema, gema!.. Burido, furido, sama, pema, fema!..
She shouted out magic words and sprinkled around with disheveled broomstick, and the sky darkened, clouds gathered, the wind began to whistle. Lightning flashed in the distance...
- Crush, tear, break! the witch yelled wildly. - Susaka, masaka, burido, furido! Destroy, hurricane, people, animals, birds! Only frogs, mice, snakes, spiders do not touch, hurricane! May they multiply all over the world to the joy of me, the mighty sorceress Gingem! Burido, furido, susaka, masaka!
And the whirlwind howled stronger and stronger, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled deafeningly.
Gingema whirled around in wild delight, and the wind fluttered the skirts of her long mantle ...
The hurricane, caused by the magic of Gingema, reached Kansas and was approaching John's house every minute. In the distance, clouds were thickening on the horizon, lightning flashed.
Toto ran uneasily, his head thrown back, and fervently barked at the clouds, which quickly raced across the sky.
“Oh, Totoshka, how funny you are,” Ellie said. - You scare the clouds, but you yourself are a coward!
The dog really was very afraid of thunderstorms. He had seen many of them in his short life. Anna was worried.
- I chatted with you, daughter, but, look, a real hurricane is coming ...
The thunderous rumble of the wind was already clearly audible. The wheat in the field lay flat on the ground, and waves rolled over it like a river. An excited farmer John came running from the field.
“Storm, a terrible storm is coming! he shouted. - Hide quickly in the cellar, and I will run to drive the cattle into the barn!
Anna rushed to the cellar, threw back the lid.
Ellie, Ellie! Hurry over here! she shouted.
But Totoshka, frightened by the roar of the storm and the incessant peals of thunder, ran away to the house and hid there under the bed, in the farthest corner. Ellie did not want to leave her pet alone and rushed to the van after him.
And at that time an amazing thing happened.
The house turned two or three times like a carousel. He was in the middle of a hurricane. The whirlwind swirled him, lifted him up and carried him through the air.
Frightened Ellie appeared at the door of the van with Toto in her arms. What to do? Jump to the ground? But it was already too late: the house was flying high above the ground ...
The wind ruffled Anna's hair. She stood near the cellar, holding out her hands and screaming desperately. Farmer John came running from the barn and rushed to where the wagon was parked. The orphaned father and mother looked for a long time into the dark sky, constantly illuminated by the brilliance of lightning ...
Alexander Volkov
In the mid-thirties, I happened to read in English the well-known fairy tale in America by Frank Baum, The Wise Man of Oz.
Baum's fairy tale attracted me with the originality of its characters, their amazing fate. The girl Ellie, brought to Fairyland by a hurricane, finds her future friends in the most distressed situation: a straw scarecrow of the Scarecrow sits on a stake in a wheat field, and impudent crows laugh at him; Tin Woodman, bewitched by an evil sorceress, rusts in a dense forest; The lion, who, according to all fairy-tale laws, should rule the animal kingdom, is afraid of everyone and everything.
And how unusual are their desires! The scarecrow needs brains: with brains in his head, he will become like all people. The woodcutter wants a heart that can love. A lion without courage cannot become the king of beasts; if he achieves this, he will rule wisely and justly.
Everything was conceived by Baum very well, and, however, to present the fairy tale to Soviet children, a lot of revision was required. And I came up with the prediction of Villina's magical book: "Let Ellie help the three creatures achieve their cherished desires, and then she will return home." 
The heroes walked briskly along the road, the friends go to the Emerald City: only there can their wishes come true. But their path is long and difficult, there are many dangers and obstacles on it. And, overcoming these obstacles, the heroes of the fairy tale acquire the qualities they aspire to. The Scarecrow becomes smart, the Woodcutter becomes kind, the Lion becomes bold.
The fairy tale wisely says: do not try to get happiness from the wrong hands, achieve it in the struggle, in mutual assistance, help each other, and victory will be yours!
The tale is over, the last page of the book is turned. But the guys do not want to part with Ellie and her friends. Letters fly to me: what happened next?
I could not remain indifferent to the requests of readers and decided to continue the story of the amazing creatures that inhabit the Magic Land, which I studied so well, as if I traveled through it and traveled it from end to end. I wrote the stories "Ourfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers" and "Seven Underground Kings", which was supposed to be the last in the cycle of fairy tales about Magic country. The path to retreat was cut off by Ramina, the queen of field mice. She predicted Ellie that she would never return to her friends the Scarecrow, the Woodcutter, and the Lion.
But the will of the readers turned out to be stronger than will author. Many letters of protest poured in. And many readers ask to make the fairy Ramina make a mistake, so that her prediction turns out to be wrong and Ellie returns to the Magic Land more than once... 
My heart could not stand it - I began to write the fourth fairy tale. But to undermine the authority of fairies, even if they are like little Ramina, is a dangerous business for a storyteller.
The cycle of fairy tales about the Fairyland continues, but Ellie no longer crosses the Great Desert, she was replaced by her younger sister Annie, the following tales tell about her and her friend Tim O'Kelly: "The Fiery God of the Marrans" and "Yellow Mist".
Notice that in the first tale it was only about fulfilling cherished desires Scarecrows, the Woodcutter and the Lion, and Ellie returned to her homeland.
In the second, the peoples of the Magic Land have to fight for their independence with wooden soldiers Oorfene Deuce, in the third, the Underground Miners rebel against the order that has weighed on people for millennia. And in the fourth tale, for many months, the Marrans go through the path of human history, on which the peoples big world it took many years. In the fairy tale "Yellow fog" we are talking not only about the freedom of the inhabitants of the Magic Land - the spell of the evil Arachne threatens its very existence...
Maybe you ask me: what will happen next? Where will all this end?
Read - find out.
Will there be more Fairyland tales?
Maybe...
