# Constanze Mozart



## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

Constanze Mozart lived until 1840 at the age of 80. Did she have contact with any of the major composers who came after Wolfgang? Is her opinion of how music changed after the 1790s preserved? She presumably heard Beethoven's Ninth, and possibly Symphonie Fantastique.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Aurelian said:


> She presumably heard Beethoven's Ninth,


More than can be said of Beethoven himself. 

Seriously though, this is indeed a very good question, that had never occurred to me. One might ask the same of, for example, Karl van Beethoven. Did he at all understand or like his uncle's music? What did he think of later music?

I hope some of our walking music history encyclopedias here will have some insights to share.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2014)

Aurelian said:


> Constanze Mozart lived until 1840 at the age of 80. Did she have contact with any of the major composers who came after Wolfgang? Is her opinion of how music changed after the 1790s preserved? She presumably heard Beethoven's Ninth, and possibly Symphonie Fantastique.


There are several biographies of Constanze Mozart. Agnes Selby was the author of one. I didn't buy that book but I read about it, and Agnes Selby herself was a member of a couple of Boards I used to frequent, in which the topic of Constanze occasionally cropped up.

What I recall is that interest in the music of W A Mozart fell somewhat to the wayside after his death, and that Constanze fought tirelessly (with the aid of her new husband) by a variety of means to counter this tendency by trying to keep his name in the forefront. The declining interest was not uniquely against Mozart but more of a generic phenomenon, mainly attributable to the greater enthusiasm for newer styles of music being introduced by the likes of Rossini.

To some extent Beethoven suffered from the same kind of thing later in his career, and bemoaned the fact that his music was not as popular as it might have been. It was the kind of development that motivated Schubert to write some comparable material such as his Overtures in the "Italian Style". It was all part of the new "romanticism" that was blowing in to that part of the early 19th C under various guises.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

A good book with quite a bit about Constanze in it is 'Mozart's Women' by Jane Glover.

One interesting fact: after Mozart's death, a benefit concert was held in which the soloist in the D minor piano concerto K466 was one Ludwig van Beethoven. What a shame recording devices had not yet been invented!


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Partita said:


> What I recall is that interest in the music of W A Mozart fell somewhat to the wayside after his death


But not immediately surely, at least the first two decades I doubt Mozart was forgotten.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

You think she really heard Beethoven's 9th? She seemed to be indifferent to music, from what I read, but was a shrewd business woman.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2014)

starry said:


> But not immediately surely, at least the first two decades I doubt Mozart was forgotten.


I didn't mean to imply immediately. As you say, it was at least after a couple of decades before anything noticeable began to emerge. I thought this was clear from my reference to similar problems faced by Beethoven and Schubert resulting from the public's enthusiasm for newer styles of music being introduced by the likes of Rossini as part of the new "romanticism" that was emerging in the early 19th C.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Partita said:


> I didn't mean to imply immediately. As you say, it was at least after a couple of decades before anything noticeable began to emerge. I thought this was clear from my reference to similar problems faced by Beethoven and Schubert resulting from the public's enthusiasm for newer styles of music being introduced by the likes of Rossini as part of the new "romanticism" that was emerging in the early 19th C.


I didn't think you meant immediately, but I just wanted it made a bit clearer.

On Constanze as being a good businesswoman, maybe she could have helped Mozart out more with his money then? As it's been implied in the past that he tended to spend it quickly, though maybe that is exaggerated. Or maybe she became better at it later when she was endorsed with looking after Mozart's legacy.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2014)

hpowders said:


> You think she really heard Beethoven's 9th? She seemed to be indifferent to music, from what I read, but was a shrewd business woman.


Constanze's father was a musician. She was a trained as a musician and was a skilled soprano. Her two sisters were distinguished opera sisters. Her brother in law was the composer Carl Maria von Weber. She was married to W A Mozart for 9 years, whose life revolved around music and who achieved considerable fame in this lifetime. And you reckon that she was indifferent to music?

After her husband's unexpected early death, she was left with debts. To gain some income, she sorted out a pension from the Emperor, and organized publication of her husband's works. It was not until some six years after W A Mozart died that she re-married. Some time later she and her new husband organised a biography of the late W A Mozart, which is hardly surprising given the fact that he was obviously among the best composers ever.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2014)

starry said:


> I didn't think you meant immediately, but I just wanted it made a bit clearer.
> 
> On Constanze as being a good businesswoman, maybe she could have helped Mozart out more with his money then? As it's been implied in the past that he tended to spend it quickly, though maybe that is exaggerated. Or maybe she became better at it later when she was endorsed with looking after Mozart's legacy.


From what I recall of my earlier reading, she was a smart woman who was well organised in her own personal financial affairs and did her best to keep tabs on the ups and downs in her husband's no doubt cyclical financial fortunes due to the nature of his occupation.

But I profess no expertise in any of these matters, as it is quite some time ago that I was more fully immersed in the intrigues of the Mozart family, and all that happened after his unexpected early death e.g. by way of maintaining his reputation and the long-running campaign to gain credit for the Requiem etc.

I first read up on all this in order to investigate some of the negative claims, not just regarding W A Mozart but Constanze as well, that were flying about various music Boards several years ago.


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