Her father didn’t, as far as we know, say anything about it.ĭid she stop? None of her music has survived. She wrote music and sent at least one composition to Wolfgang and Papa – Wolfgang praised it as “beautiful” and encouraged her to write more. Nannerl never toured again.īut the woman I found did not give up. And so she was left behind in Salzburg, and her father only took Wolfgang on their next journeys around the courts of Europe. A little girl could perform and tour, but a woman doing so risked her reputation. There are contemporaneous reviews praising Nannerl, and she was even billed first. The children toured most of Europe ( including an 18-month stay in London in 1764-5) performing together as “wunderkinder”. Maria Anna (called Marianne and nicknamed Nannerl) was – like her younger brother – a child prodigy. Sylvia Milo as Nannerl Mozart in The Other Mozart I saw Nannerl’s potential, her dreams, her strength, grace and her fight. I was able to understand the Mozarts as people, as a family, and through the lens of the times and the social situation in which they lived. Through these letters, sometimes only from the replies to her lost letters, Nannerl slowly emerged. Most are written by Leopold and Wolfgang but some of Nannerl’s letters survived as well. There are hundreds, and we have them because Nannerl preserved them.
Anna child music prodigy artist manuals#
I read Wolfgang Mozart biographies, studied the situation of women and female artists during Mozarts’ time and in different countries, read writings of Enlightenment philosophers, conduct manuals … But the richest source of information came from the Mozart family letters. I was intrigued and determined to find out more. I never heard of Nannerl Mozart until I saw that family portrait. With my braided hair I was called “little Mozart” by my violin teacher, but he meant Wolfi. Neither my music history nor my repertoire included any female composers.
Anna child music prodigy artist full#
“It’s so clear when you study history from the woman’s point of view that we don’t have the full picture,” said Milo.I grew up studying to become a violinist. If they made money off their music, they were thought of as prostitutes. “The society was as such that, of course, there were women composers, but the ones that could show their work were nobility. When Nannerl reached the age when she could get married, her father stopped taking her on the road – but she carried on composing until her marriage in 1784. It’s unclear how big their collaboration was, but she was an extremely talented musician.” We also know when he was in London working on his first symphony, she wrote it all down and orchestrated it for him. So, it’s possible some of Wolfgang’s compositions are hers. Milo told The Huffington Post: “ copied down some of Wolfgang’s compositions when he was too young to write them down. Nannerl also composed – she sent one of her compositions to her brother in 1770 and he responded in a letter with the words: “My dear sister! I am in awe that you can compose so well, in a word, the song you wrote is beautiful.” Sadly, the composition hasn't survived. His sister’s playing is masterly, and he applauded her.” He is a child of spirit, lively, charming. The poor little fellow plays marvellously. One of those present, Count Karl von Zinzendorf recorded his thoughts in his diary: “The little child from Salzburg and his sister played the harpsichord.
In 1762, the two little Mozarts played for a collection of aristocrats in Munich.
Read more: Introducing classical music’s greatest female composers >Īnd we don’t just have to take their dad’s word for it. What it all amounts to is this, that my little girl, although she is only 12 years old, is one of the most skilful players in Europe.” In a letter, Leopold Mozart (their father, pictured above) wrote: “My little girl plays the most difficult works which we have… with incredible precision and so excellently. Nannerl toured Europe with her father and young brother, Wolfgang Amadeus.įar from being in her brother’s shadow, Nannerl actually shone as the more talented youngster. Was Nannerl the real talent in the Mozart family? Read more: Netflix places a statue of Mozart’s sister to celebrate history’s overshadowed women > If no one else was going to do that, I decided I would do it myself.” It just seemed to me like a story that needed to be told.
“My attention was drawn to the fact that there was a woman sitting next to Mozart looking like his equal… Yet the things she composed did not survive.
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