Mozart Tivia

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook

 

Trivia on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart and Pets 

From 1773 - 1777, the Mozart family kept a female fox terrier and called these four names according to different members of the family. Wolfgang and his sister Anna Maria "Nannerl" usually called her Bimperl, Bimpes or Bimbes, while Nannerl and Leopold called her Pimperl. These are all various forms of the same name.  (mozartsmusic.blogspot.com - accessed June 2011)

 

For about three years Wolfgang Mozart kept a pet starling. The starling is remembered for the anecdote of how Mozart came to purchase it, for the funeral commemorations he provided for it, and as an example of the composer's affection in general for birds.

 

Something special about Wolfgang A. Mozart

 

Mozart composed masterfully in every musical format. He was one of the few composers in history to compose masterworks in every conceivable musical genre. Though his output is highly varied, each piece exudes a bold, self-assured confidence and that is instantly recognizable. I don't need to illucidate this as my dear readers will find loads of posts about this prodigious maestro here at Inspired Pen Web.

 

Did Mozart really have a silly laugh?

 

Though there are dubious historical reports that the real Mozart had such an obnoxious laugh, Tom Hulce, the actor who played the role of Mozart from the film "Amadeus" created the giggle after director Milos Forman asked him to come up with "something extreme." "I've never been able to make that sound except in front of a camera," Hulce later said. (www.mentalfloss.com / 13-prodigious-facts-about-amadeus) 

 

Mozart's Compositions or Not

(My resource is generously provided by Vincent de Louise, a Mozartian friend from our various Mozart Interest Groups. / Tel)  

 

Of the 626 compositions in the Köchel Catalogue, and the 222 in the Kochel Anhang, about 70 are not by Mozart.  Here is a partial of works in the Köchel catalogue that are not by Mozart.  Among the more famous of these works that were supposed not composed by Mozart:

 

KV 17 (Mozart’s “second” symphony - his father Leopold Mozart actually wrote it) x KV 18 (Mozart’s “third” symphony- written by Carl Friedrich Abel), KV 444 (Mozart’s “37th” symphony, which is 90 percent Michael Haydn's), and KV 297b the sublime sinfonia concertante for winds, which is at most partly by Mozart (cf. the completion by Robert Levin.)

Köchel Catalogue (K1)

First edition:

KV 17 (Leopold)

18 (Abel)

44 (Stadlmayr)

46 (unknown)

52 (Leopold)

55–60 (unknown)

61 (Raupach)

64 (Leopold)

91 (Reutter)

92 (Leopold?)

93 (Reutter)

98 (unknown)

104–105 (M. Haydn)

106 (unknown),

115–116 (Leopold)

122 (Starzer or Deller)

142 (Zach)

149–151 (Leopold)

152 (Myslivecek)

177 (Leopold)

187 (Gluck and Starzer)

197–198 (unknown)

221 (Eberlin)

226 (unknown)

227 (Byrd?)

233–234 (Trnka)

235 (C.P.E.Bach)

268 (Eck?)

289 (possibly Wolfgang Mozart, but doubtful stylistically), 291 (Michael Haydn)

324–325 (unknown)

326 (Eberlin)

327 (Gasparini), 340 (unknown)

342 (Leopold)

350 (Flies)

444 (mostly M. Haydn

510 (unknown)

514 (Süssmayr). 

Later Köchel Catalog editions. (K3 and K6)

KV 16a (Mozart or unknown, probably the latter)

16b (Leopold?), (2nd ed.)

25a (Kaspar Beethoven)

43c (Leopold?) ,

74g (Mozart or unknown)

93a (Reutter) 

93c (Eberlin), (6th ed.)

142A (Leopold?)

142c (Leopold)

196d (Danzi)

196e (Puschmann?)

196f (Fiala), 206a (Wolfgang? lost) 6th ed.)

269b (M.Haydn?), (2nd ed.)

271a (Wolfgang or unknown)

293e (Leopold or Wolfgang?)

297b (unknown: perhaps Mozart, or arrangement of Mozart?)

311a (unknown)

387d (F.J. Haydn)

404a (Albrechtsberger)

441a (unknown)

441c (M. Haydn)

485a (Attwood/Mozart) 2nd ed.)

511a (Beethoven? Kozeluch?)

528a (unknown)

535a (unknown)

562b (M. Haydn)

562d (unknown)

584a (Paisiello), (6th ed.)

623a (Wranitsky?)

 

Mozart's Death

An early rumor addressing the cause of Mozart's death was that he was poisoned by his colleague Antonio Salieri. This rumor, however, was not proven to be true, as the signs of illness Mozart displayed did not indicate poisoning. (Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

 

 

Mozart's Contribution to the Musical World 

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the development of the classical style as a whole. In addition, he was a versatile composer and wrote in almost every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music and the piano sonata.

 

 

(c) January 2011. Updated January 27, 2023. Tel. All rights reserved.