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Hey. You're not alone in your love of Mozart. In 1991 I spent a fortune on the 180 CD "Complete Mozart Edition" set released by Phillps. It is currently being re-issued for this anniversary. I actually have listened to ALL of the works contained therein. ?
One little nitpick item from your card. It is a myth that Mozart was buried in a pauper's grave. According to the book "Mozart in Vienna 1781 - 1791" by Volkmar Braunbehrens, Mozart was buried according to the standard burial practice for everyone. Emperor Joseph II was apparently quite an enlightened ruler. He [secretly] abolished the death penalty (except for the strange case of Franz Zaglauer Zahlheim, more about him in a moment). The abolition of the death penalty was not known to the public only to the courts. I guess he wanted the threat of death to remain. He probably also wanted to reserve it for special circumstances. He revised the penal system to be more humane and with an emphasis rehabilitation too and using prison labor for public works projects such as cleaning up the streets. ?Joseph II recognized certain sanitary benefits to moving cemeteries outside the city walls. In 1787 he signed the "Funeral Ordinance" which moved the cemeteries outside. It also decreed that all of the "common folk" [emphasis mine] were to be buried in common graves and covered with quick lime to speed up decomposition. The nobles and the independenly wealthy were of course excluded from the ordinance and allowed traditional burial on their estates. I actually visited Mozart's reputed burial place in the St. Marx cemetery and it would be quite a hike from where the old city walls once stood.
"Mozart in Vienna" is a really excellent book IMHO. It does a lot to debunk a lot of the Mozart mythology which has cropped up over the last 250 years. I recommend it highly along with "1791: Mozart's Last Year" ???
Now then, in 1786, Franz Zaglauer von Zahlheim, a nobleman and government official had a 'relationship' with a wealthy older woman whom he had promised to marry. Zahlheim led a sordid life and had fallen into debt. He robbed and murdered his fiancée for her money. The Emperor was so horrified by the crime that he personally intervened and petitioned the court to sentence Zahlheim to death by slow torture. Zahlheim was executed on March 10, 1786, after hot coals were placed all over his body. He was then "broken on the wheel". It is estimated that a crowd of 30,000 people attended the execution, which took place only a few hundred yards from Mozart's home. The execution took approximately 4 hours to complete. On this date we know for certain that Mozart wrote two additional arias for 'Idomeneo' and that he worked on the c minor piano concerto [No.24] KV.491, which he performed only 14 days later.
One other small item of Mozart trivia: Those screwy little KV numbers have one additional purpose in addition to cataloguing Mozart's works. Mozart apparently composed with such regularity that you can actually use these numbers to calculate Mozart's age at the time of composition. It only works for KV numbers over 100. It will be accurate within a year.
Mozart's Age = [KV number / 25] + 10
Year of Composition = Mozart's Age + 1756
Given how Glenn Gould loved number games I am sure he would have been fascinated by this little factoid, assuming he didn't know it already.
Is that enough Mozart for ya Bob. ???? J
Mozart rocks ! Eric Cline -----Original Message-----
Doesn't ANYBODY have ANYTHING to say about Mozart's 250th Birthday? Mozart was the first Glenn Gould I ever listened to -- my Conversion on the Road to Damascus dates to 1971 -- and it made me both a fanatical GG AND a fanatical Mozart fan to this day. It's very lonely being a Mozart-lover among this bunch. Even Glenn claims to be against me. (But if you listen to him humming as he plays the sonatas ... listen to a Man in Ecstacy.) But I sincerely believe this is going to be a Wonderful Year for the Soul and Spirit of Planet Earth, coming as it does in the midst of such Bad Times. Before we begin the critical arguing, I wish every one of you many wonderful live Mozart concert experiences in the year ahead. My screwy little Mozart Birthday Card, I hope it brings you some pleasure: http://vleeptron.blogspot.com/2006/02/congratulations-you-all-made-it-to.html#comments Bob
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