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Mozart and his journeys |
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Mozart and his journeys
W. A. Mozart loved to travel extensively: he traveled across Europe from early childhood for a total of 3,720 days, i.e. over 10 years. Traveling was not a pleasure in Mozart's time: poor roads, highwaymen and little comfort made it a risky enterprise. But its impact on Mozart's development and musical oeuvre is uncontested.
Traveling during the time of Enlightenment was tedious, trying, expensive and sometimes extremely dangerous. People did not travel for pleasure but for purposes of research, further education or meeting other scholars. Mozart became acquainted with musicians, musicologists, friends and teachers on his journeys.
It took two days to travel from Salzburg to Munich in Mozart's day; today trains take 90 minutes for the same stretch.
Mozart traveled to ten countries in modernday Europe: Belgium, Germany, England, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. His most important journeys include the "European tour of the wunderkinder" (1763 – 1766), his three trips to Italy and his trip to Paris, stopping in Munich, Augsburg and Mannheim, where he met the Weber family of musicians. The Mozart family traveled to Vienna three times. Mozart did not return to Salzburg after the fourth trip.
The trip across Europe
When the Mozart family left Salzburg on June 6, 1763 for a journey across Europe that was to take three and onehalf years, Europe was experiencing a time of upheaval. Father Leopold took advantage of a period without war to risk introducing his children to the European courts. The journey took the family to Munich, Augsburg and on to Ulm, Mannheim and Frankfurt, where the fourteen-year-old Goethe heard the child prodigies. They continued through Cologne, Aachen, Brussels and on to Paris, where the family settled down for five months. Mozart published his first works in Paris, six weeks later he was invited to appear at the court of King Ludwig XV. The child prodigies also performed for the King's mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour. Their success in Versailles was their breakthrough in France.
In April 1764 their journey continued to England. Mozart composed his first symphonies and made the acquaintance of Johann Christian Bach. The family returned to Holland, Belgium and France and back to Paris for another two months. They traveled through Switzerland, on to Munich and back to Salzburg, where they arrived on November 29, 1766.
The three trips to Italy
Mozart and his father stepped on Italian soil three times. Their first trip to Italy (December 1769 – March 1771) was both pleasant and honorable. It inspired Mozart with new impressions and ideas, adding more experience and diversity to his art.
Mozart was introduced in the Italian art scene, met the Italian upper class, the noblesse, the higher nobility and church dignitaries and even the Pope. He met an old friend from London, the castrate Manzuoli, and met another wunderkind his own age in Florence: Thomas Linley. The two boys developed a close friendship.
Pope Clement XIV conferred on W. A. Mozart the Order of the Golden Spur, making the composer "Sir Wolfgang, Signore Cavaliere Mozart".
In Bologna Mozart studied counterpoint with the Franciscan padre Martini. He conducted his opera Mitridate, Re di Ponto at the opera in Milan.
Father and son set off again for Milan in August 1771. Mozart wrote the festive opera Ascanio di Alba as a wedding gift for the Archduke Ferdinand to the Princess Beatrice of Modena¸ which was received with thunderous approval.
The Mozarts returned to Italy from October 1772 to March 1773. Mozart had been commissioned by Milan to write another opera. The premiere of Lucio Silla was catastrophic, probably due to the three-hour wait for the Emperor's arrival. As a consequence, Mozart failed to receive any further commissions from Italy.
Trip to Paris (1777 – 1779)
W. A. Mozart traveled to Paris alone with his mother since the court had not given his father permission to leave Salzburg. The trip's primary goal was to secure employment at one of the European courts. This wish was not fulfilled. Neither in Munich nor in Mannheim, although Mozart had a great deal of fun in Augsburg, where he met his cousin, Maria Anna Thekla, and became very good friends with her. Apart from his lack of money, Mozart had a wonderful time in Mannheim: he enjoyed the inspiring music played by the Mannheim Orchestra which was currently at its peak. The Archduke's refusal came six weeks later. They were delayed in continuing on to Paris since Mozart preferred to travel with the Webers, leaving his mother behind. He fell in love with Aloysia Weber at this time. The family was planning a journey to Italy and Mozart would have loved to join them. But his strict father in Salzburg was raging. He finally left for Paris with his mother at the end of March as a sacrifice to his father. His sojourn in Paris was unsuccessful. His mother became seriously ill during their stay and died. Mozart left Paris in September, returning to Salzburg via Mannheim and Munich.
Salzburg 1783
Mozart traveled to Salzburg with his wife, Constanze, to show her his native town.
Prague 1787
Mozart traveled to Prague twice this year, first to a performance of his opera The Wedding of Figaro, second to work on Don Giovanni, premiering in Prague.
Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin 1789
Mozart traveled to Berlin in April without Constanze, having been invited by Prince Karl Lichnowsky. This journey did not result in a job or commission to write an opera.
Frankfurt 1790
Mozart's last journey was to attend the coronation festivities of the new Em-peror, Leopold II as King of Bohemia. Mozart had had waited for an invitation in vain and drove off on his own initiative.
Prague 1791
Trip to the coronation of Leopold II as the King of Bohemia and to La Clemenza di Tito.
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