Mozart's first (and fashions)

Synopsis

In the summer of 1764, eight-year-old child prodigy Wolfgang Mozart was in England, accompanied by his 13-year-old sister, Nanerl, and their father, Leopold. The Mozarts had arrived in London wearing what back home in Salzburg would have passed as fashionable French-style clothing back home in Salzburg. But since England had just ended the Seven Years War with France, this faux pas resulted in the Mozarts receiving some rude comments and even ruder gestures from London street urchins, so Papa Leopold quickly acquired more “politically correct” attire for himself and the children.

On August 5, 1764, the family settled in at a quiet house in Chelsea, as Papa Leopold had taken ill. While his father recovered, Wolfgang was temporarily forbidden to practice piano or make any noise, so he decided to try his hand at writing his first symphony. Perhaps as compensation for having to keep so quiet, Mozart suddenly was keen on writing for as many instruments as possible. As Nanerl later recalled, “While he composed and I copied, he said to me, ‘Remind me to give the horn something worthwhile to do!’”

And so, Mozart’s first symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns and strings.

Music Played in Today's Program

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Symphony No. 1; Prague Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor; Telarc 80256

On This Day

Births

• 1623 - Italian opera composer Marc Antonio Cesti, in Arezzo

• 1694 - Italian composer and organist Leonardo Leo, in San Vito degli Schiavi (near Brindisi). He was one of the founders of the Neapolitan School of composition.

• 1811 - French composer Ambroise Thomas, in Metz

• 1926 - French composer of American parentage Betsy Jolas, in Paris

Deaths

• 1891 - English-born French composer, pianist and music publisher Charles Henry Litolff, 73, in Bois-Colombes (near Paris)

• 1916 - English composer George Butterworth, 31, in France, as a British soldier during the battle of Pozières

Premieres

• 1956 - Ned Rorem: Symphony No. 2, at La Jolla, California

• 1972 - David Del Tredici: Vintage Alice for soprano and chamber ensemble (to a text by Lewis Carroll), in Saratoga, California

• 2000 - Richard Danielpour: Violin Concerto (A Fool’s Paradise), at the Saratoga Center for the Performing Arts, in Saratoga, New York, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit, with soloist Chantal Juillet

Others

• 1717 - J.S. Bach appointed Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold at Coethen, but is at first prevented by his current employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, from taking up the post (Bach was even imprisoned for a time by Duke Wilhelm Ernst)

• 1978 - The citizens of Patowan, Utah, decided to name a local mountain Mr. Messiaen, in honor of the French composer, Olivier Messiaen, who spent a month in Utah in 1973 an composed a symphonic work, Des Canyons aux Etoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars), which glorified the natural beauty of the region