Mozart family grand tour

Sensing the social and pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip embracing the capitals and main cultural centres of Europe, Leopold obtained an extended leave of absence from his post as deputy Kapellmeister to the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg.

Education writer Gary Spruce refers to hundreds of similar cases, and cites that of William Crotch of Norwich who in 1778, at the age of three, was giving organ recitals.

[1] British scholar Jane O'Connor explains the 18th century fascination with prodigies as "the realisation of the potential entertainment and fiscal value of an individual child who was in some way extraordinary".

[2] Other childhood contemporaries of Mozart included the violinist and composer Thomas Linley, born the same year as Wolfgang, and the organist prodigy Joseph Siegmund Bachmann.

[8] A family friend, the poet Johann Andreas Schachtner, recounted that at the age of four Wolfgang began to compose a recognisable piano concerto, and was able to demonstrate a phenomenal sense of pitch.

Among those present was the Viennese Treasury councillor and future prime minister Karl von Zinzendorf, who noted in his diary that "a little boy, said to be only five-and-a-half years old [Wolfgang was actually nearly seven], played the harpsichord".

[11] After an appearance before the Imperial Vice-Chancellor, the Mozarts were invited to the royal court, where the Empress Maria Theresa tested Wolfgang's abilities by requiring him to play with the keyboard covered.

Mozart's biographer Eric Blom recounts an anecdote of how the Archduchess helped Wolfgang when he slipped on the polished floor; she is supposed to have received a proposal of marriage in return.

[14] In a letter to his friend and landlord Johann Lorenz Hagenauer (1712–1792), a prominent Salzburg merchant, written after the tour, Leopold quotes the German diplomat Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, who after hearing the children play had said: "Now for once in my life I have seen a miracle: this is the first".

This continual change of scene would have worn out even a robust child..."[17] However, there is little evidence to suggest that Wolfgang was physically harmed or musically hindered by these childhood exertions; it seems that he felt equal to the challenge from the start.

Leopold had only been appointed deputy Kapellmeister in January 1763; nevertheless the archbishop's consent to an extended leave of absence was granted, on the grounds that the Mozarts' successes would bring glory to Salzburg, its ruler, and to God.

[24] In Munich, on successive evenings, the children played before Elector Maximilian III, earning from these engagements the equivalent of half of Leopold's annual salary of 354 florins.

[26] On 18 November 1763 the Mozart family arrived in Paris, one of the most important musical centres of Europe, and also a city of great power, wealth, and intellectual activity.

[32] One person who took particular note of the children was the German diplomat Friedrich Melchior von Grimm, whose journal records Wolfgang's feats in glowing terms: "the most consummate Kapellmeister could not be more profound in the science of harmony and modulation".

[33][34] On 24 December the family moved to Versailles for two weeks during which, through a court connection, they were able to attend a royal dinner, where Wolfgang was reportedly allowed to kiss the hand of the Queen.

Mozart biographer Stanley Sadie comments that some aspects of these pieces are rather childish and naïve, but that nevertheless their technique is "astonishingly sure, their line of thinking is clear and smooth, and their formal balance is beyond reproach".

[38] A decision was taken in Paris to go to London, perhaps on the advice of Leopold's musical and court acquaintances, who would probably have advised him that England was, in the words of the Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw, "known for the enthusiasm with which it received continental musicians and the extravagance with which it rewarded them".

Letters of introduction from Paris proved effective; on 27 April 1764, four days after their arrival, the children were playing before King George III and his 19-year-old German queen, Charlotte.

[44] This was deemed a success, and Leopold hastened to arrange for Wolfgang to appear at a benefit concert for a maternity hospital on 29 June, at Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens.

[46] He was ill for several weeks, and for the sake of his health the family moved from their Cecil Court lodgings to a house in the countryside, at 180 Ebury Street, then considered part of the village of Chelsea.

Only one more London concert was given, on 13 May at Hickford's Long Room, but between April and June members of the public could go to the Mozarts' lodgings where, for a five shilling fee, Wolfgang would perform his musical party pieces.

Wolfgang had composed a quodlibet (song medley) for small orchestra and harpsichord, entitled Gallimathias musicum, K. 32, which was played at a special concert to honour the Prince on 11 March.

The children played in a concert there on 19 July, accompanied by a local orchestra, about whose players Leopold made disparaging comments: Très médiocre – Un misérable italien détestable – Asini tutti – Un racleur (a scratcher) – Rotten.

"[73] The family took a shorter route through Switzerland, arriving in Geneva on 20 August, where the children gave two concerts, and were received by the distinguished composer André Grétry.

However, in November of that year, after his illness and with uncertain earning prospects, he was worrying about the high costs of living in London—he informed Hagenauer that he had spent 1,870 florins in the four-month period since July.

[79] The following summer, after little concert activity, Leopold resorted to increasingly desperate measures[80] to raise funds, including the children's daily circus performances at the Swan and Harp Inn at prices described by Jane Glover as humiliating.

[74] However, Hildesheimer, while also expressing concerns, concludes that if Mozart's death at the age of 35 was caused by the exertions of his childhood, the intervening decades would not have been so productive, and obvious symptoms of decline would have manifested themselves.

[34] The earliest symphonies, Zaslaw points out, while not in the same class as the later Mozart masterpieces, are comparable in length, complexity and originality to those written at the same time by the acknowledged symphonic masters of the day.

[87] Mozart's creative progress is likewise reflected in the sonatas composed for the Princess of Orange, which, according to Sadie, mark a considerable advance in technique and ideas over the earlier Paris and London sets.

[91] Whatever the true extent of their financial rewards from the tour, the Mozart family continued to live in their cramped apartment on the Getreidegasse, while Leopold resumed his duties as a court musician.

Simplified chart of a sector of western Europe and southern England. A green arrowed line shows the party's outward journey from Salzburg to London via Mannheim, Cologne, Liege, Brussels and Paris. A red line indicates the return via the Netherlands, Paris, Lyons, Geneva and Zürich.
Map showing the Grand Tour, 1763–1766. Black line shows outward journey to London, 1763–1764. Red line shows homeward journey to Salzburg , 1765–1766. Occluded line shows travel in each direction.
Portrait of a boy (left) and his older sister
Maria Anna and Wolfgang, on ivory, 1765
A man in a long red coat, knee-britches and white stockings is playing a violin. A small child dressed in blue sits at the piano or harpsichord. A young woman faces them, holding a sheet of music. In the background there are trees and a pale sky.
Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. Watercolour by Carmontelle , c. 1763–64.
Serios-faced middle-aged man, seated facing half- left, wearing a wig and a heavy brown formal coat
Leopold Mozart , c. 1765
Painting of a teenage girl in an embroidered red dress
Maria Anna as a child (1763)
a child (Mozart) in formal embroidered 18th century costume, left hand thrust into his waistcoat. He looks directly outr of the picture, although his body is turned towards the right.
Wolfgang at the start of the tour in livery by Empress Maria Theresa
Oval portrait of an elegant woman in a low-bosomed dess, wearing a cloak tied at the neck with a ribbon. She is holding a small flower in her left hand.
Madame de Pompadour , the courtesan whom the Mozarts met at Versailles , 1763–64
The 7-year-old Mozart during his stay at the Versailles Palace
Narrow street with shops on each side. A few people are walking or window-shopping.
Cecil Court , the street in which the Mozart family found lodgings on arriving in London , April 1764 (2005 photograph)
Two Georgian terraced houses in brown brick with the bottom storey in stucco, that on the right with a brown circular plaque marking Mozart's residence
180 Ebury Street , Pimlico, where the Mozarts stayed in the summer of 1764
Frith Street , Soho, where the Mozarts stayed from September 1764 until July 1765. View looking south over Old Compton Street . The brick-built No. 20 is third on the left, beyond the flagpoles on the UK Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The clock on the wall is at No. 22, Bar Italia .
Head and shoulders of a young man, half smiling, wearing a heavily braided coat
William V, Prince of Orange , painted by Johann Georg Ziesenis . The young prince met the Mozart family in 1765–66.
Facade of a tall brick building with rows of windows extending to five floors. Above the second row a sign indicates that this is Mozart's birthplace. In the foreground are sunshades and tables belonging to the modern café.
The Mozart family's house, No. 9 Getreidegasse , Salzburg , photographed in 1998. The family's quarters were on the floor immediately above the sign "Mozarts Geburtshaus".
Front of a large stone building, with symmetrical towers on each side of a decorated facade with a triple-arched entrance and many small windows.
Salzburg Cathedral , where Mozart made his home town debut as a symphonist in December 1766