The Mozart family grand tour was undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively. The journey enabled the children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world, and gave them an outstanding education.
About Mozart family grand tour in brief
The Mozart family grand tour was undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively. Their extraordinary skills had been demonstrated during a visit to Vienna in 1762, when they had played before the Empress Maria Theresa at the Imperial Court. Throughout the subsequent tour, the children’s Wunderkind status was confirmed as their precocious performances consistently amazed and gratified their audiences. The journey enabled the children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world, and gave them an outstanding education. The Mozart children were not alone as 18th-century music prodigies. 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. Mozart eventually became recognised among prodigy as the future standard for early success and promise. British scholar Jane O’Connor explains the 18th century fascination with prodigie as “the realisation of the potential entertainment and fiscal value of an individual child who was in some way extraordinary”. The family’s homeward phase incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, before the family’s return to Salzburg in November 1766 and the Mozart’s return home in 1769. The material rewards of the trip, though reportedly substantial, did not transform the family’s lifestyle, and Leopolds continued in the Prince-Archbishop’s service.
The children were educated at home, under Leo’s guidance, learning basic skills in reading, writing, drawing and arithmetic, together with some history and geography. Their musical education was aided by exposure to the constant rehearsing and playing of Leo and his fellow musicians. When Nannerl was seven her father began to teach her to play the harpsichord, with Wolfgang looking on. When he was five years old he was composing little pieces which he would play to his father who would write them down. In Wolfgang’s case this would continue through further journeys in the following six years, prior to his appointment as a court musician. He often spent long periods at the clavier, picking out thirds, and his pleasure showed that they sounded good to him. The family then moved on to the Netherlands, where the schedule of performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, although Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. After an appearance before the Imperial Vice-Chancellor, the Mozarts were invited to the royal court. Among those present was future prime minister Karl von Zinzendorf, who noted in his diary that Wolfgang’s abilities were only five-and-a-half years old. In that year Leo brought the entire family to Munich to play before Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria. He had secured invitations from several noble patrons, and within three days of arriving the children played at the palace of Count Collalto.
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This page is based on the article Mozart family grand tour published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
