“Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The universe of classical music is jam-packed with musical anecdotes. Frequently these short narratives delineate subtle stories that highlight specific traits of a classical composer or a performer. Often humorous, anecdotes of classical composers don’t simply provoke laughter but can reveal a more general and subtle truth. We find Sophia Corri escaping her inattentive husband in an empty harp case, Beethoven being thrown in jail for vagrancy, and Rossini and Pavarotti both cooking their favorite meals. Napoleon gave free reign to his infatuation with an opera singer, Bach was challenged to a duel, and Frederick the Great had not only a great passion for music but also for a handsome Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. A musical anecdote is part of the process of telling a story, but it means sharing an experience with someone and not simply supplying him or her with information. And don’t worry, embellishment, exaggeration or fictitious invention are all part of the process. Anecdotes of classical composers impart the sense of a lived experience, as they usually involve real people in recognizable places and locations. In fact, musical anecdotes exhibit a special kind of realism and an identifiable historical dimension. Check back with us for more insightful and delightful musical anecdotes.
Mozart writes to his sister in April 1782: “My darling Constanze has at last summoned up courage to follow the impulse of her kind heart, and to write to you. If you are so good, dear sister, as to answer
During his honeymoon journey to India, Albert Roussel visited the ruined city of Chittor in Rajputana, currently located in Rajasthan. That city had a very colorful and long history, and once he returned home to Paris he approached his friend
Leopold Mozart writes to his wife from Rome, “We arrive here safely on the 11th at noon. I could have been more easily persuaded to return to Salzburg than to proceed to Rome, for we had to travel for five
Wolfgang writes to his father from Paris on 5 April 1778. “I MUST now explain more, clearly what mamma alludes to, as she has written rather obscurely. Capellmeister Holzbauer has sent a “Miserere” here, but as the choruses at Mannheim
As always, Mozart provides his father Leopold with a detailed report of his concert activities at the Vienna Augarten. He writes on 29 March 1783: “I need not tell you much about the success of my concert, for no doubt
We all have heard stories of how much Salieri and Mozart hated each other. Well, they really didn’t! Clearly they were competitors in the high-pressure, high-reward musical environment of Vienna with Salieri holding all the important government positions, but there
On 20 March 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sent his father the famous list of subscribers who paid an entrance fee of six gulden for three concerts at the Trattnerhof. “Here you have the list of all my subscribers,” he writes,
In March of 1785 Leopold Mozart was visiting his son in Vienna, and he reports to his daughter Nannerl, “Your brother recently made 559 gulden at his concert, which was unexpected, because he is simultaneously giving his six subscription concerts