Franz Mozart: How the youngest son of the great composer got stuck in Lviv for 30 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It was rumored that Franz, the son of the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was unhappy. In the musical field, he did not live up to the expectations of the public, which believed that he should, if not surpass his father, then at least reach his level. For Franz, the trail of his parent's fame constantly stretched, and this annoyed him terribly. And in his personal life, everything did not go so smoothly. Because of unrequited love, he spent 30 years in Lviv, but never achieved reciprocity …

The wife of the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave him six children, but only two survived. The eldest son Karl Thomas was a bank clerk, and the younger Franz Xaver Wolfrang, who was born 4 months before his father passed away in 1791, became a musician. Little Franz in the family was affectionately called Vovi. Then there was gossip that Franz was born not from a famous composer, but from one of his students. But there is no smoke without fire, his mother - Constance - really liked to go to the side. Everyone knew that she and her husband had a non-standard relationship, and he himself was not an exemplary family man.

Despite this, Mozart doted on his wife and always deified her, referring to her in letters "beautiful woman", "my dear little lady", etc. He was always worried about her health and sent out "millions of kisses." Franz's mother quickly revealed the talents of a musician in her youngest child, therefore, despite the difficult financial situation, she was actively involved in his education, hiring the best and most famous teachers for this. Among the latter was Salieri, who is credited with killing Mozart. Salieri taught Franz not only singing, but also Italian, free of charge.

By the age of 14, the young musician gave a concert at the Vienna Opera for the first time. Then he performed a composition that was written specifically for this event, and the success was amazing. Even the most desperate critics spoke positively about the young talent, reinforcing their opinion with the words that the elder Mozart would not be ashamed of his son. Since then, he began to give not only concerts, but also music lessons, took the first steps in composition. On this, Franz began to earn money, which seriously improved the plight of the family. Around the same time, he began to have serious quarrels with his mother.

Constance became the wife of the Danish ambassador to Vienna, Georg Nissen. And from that time on, Franz woke up with the jealousy inherent in children and adolescents. He complained to his friends that he felt like "Cinderella", that he was constantly nagged, that his mother had never come to his father's grave for 16 years, and when she deigned to come, she could not find his burial place. It is likely that it was because of this conflict that Franz did not hesitate to accept the invitation of Count Viktor Bavorovsky, who at that time was visiting Vienna, to teach his daughters to play the piano, and in 1808 he moved to Galicia.

Over the next three years, he lived in the village. Strilischi, and then in Sarniki. But the province did not attract him at all, and he quickly got tired of it. Here he greatly lacked an educated audience, besides, dirt reigned everywhere, no one spoke German, and there was no talk of any entertainment at all - here he was surrounded by bored life. Therefore, very soon he decides to move to Lenberg (this was the name of the city of Lvov during the times of Austria-Hungary). Lenberg was a real European city, where cultural and social life was in full swing.

Franz moved to the home of Count Baroni Cavalcabo and began teaching his daughter Julia to play the piano. By the way, the latter in the future became a very popular pianist and composer, of whom even Schumann always had a high opinion. The wife of the counselor, in whose house Franz lived, was actively involved in charity work, sang beautifully, organized concerts and social events, in which the entire elite participated - confessors, politicians, popular actors, writers and musicians. In the new place, everyone respected Franz and did not annoy him with constant comparison with his father.

Franz performed regularly in Zhitomir and Kiev - this was the peak of his development in creativity and the arrival of dizzying popularity. During this period, he was active and created sonatas, cantatas, polonaises, created his own interpretations of the performance of folk songs, and made friends with talented musicians. According to him, then he completely stepped out of the shadow of his famous father, which could not but rejoice him, because the constant comparison was very burdensome for him. Since then, his relationship with his mother has begun to improve, he sometimes visits Vienna, they have a stormy correspondence.

He now calls his mother "dear mommy" and even showed heartfelt condolences when her new husband died. Franz was so inspired by his achievements that in 1819 he organized a whole tour with his concerts in a number of European countries. But success was not waiting for him everywhere, since some listeners expected that they would have the same talent that his father had. By 1822, the gifted musician returned to Lviv and continued his work. Some personalities ascribed to Franz the creation of a conservatory in the "heart" of Galicia.

However, it is worth noting that the establishment of the establishment took place at a time when he had already left. However, the creation of the choir is actually his achievement. But the personal sphere of life of Mozart Jr. was not crowned with success. He had very warm feelings for the wife of Count Covalcabo, whom he often mentioned in his travel diary, giving her tender names. By the way, in her honor, he even wrote several works, and then copied all his creations to her. Unfortunately, history does not know whether the countess reciprocated the composer's feelings.

In 1838, Franz came to a complete disillusionment with his own life. He realized that despite all his efforts, he had never managed to rise above the level of a music teacher. This was superimposed on unpleasant feelings from unsuccessful love. In this state, he returned back to Vienna. Giving up, he decides to popularize his father's work. His last concert as a pianist took place at the Mozart celebrations in 1842, and just two years later Franz died of stomach cancer. Like his brother, he had no children, so after the death of both the family of the Mozart family ceased to exist.

After his death, an article about “Lviv Mozart” appeared in one of the German media, and then his name went into oblivion, and only thanks to the efforts of Professor Dmitry Kolbin, Franz again came out of the shadows. Dmitry Kolbin showed the public Franz Mozart as an independent person, whose work is worthy of attention in itself, and not because he is the son of a great composer. However, despite the fact that Mozart Jr. made a significant contribution to the development of the musical sphere of Lviv, city officials refused to name him the street.

and in continuation of the topic - unknown but entertaining facts from the life of great composers.