Brilliant Austrian musician, composer, classic of opera and symphonic music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to all people, even those who did not attend music school. Not everyone knows that he had a sister, Maria Anna Mozart, who was very talented and gifted with musical abilities. Her fate is very different from the brilliant and full of musical triumphs of her brother's life.
Mozart Maria Anna: biography (family)
Maria Anna (her family was called Nannerl) was born on July 30 in 1751 in a famous musical family. Her father Leopold Mozart was a violinist-teacher in an orchestra at the court of the archbishop elector in Salzburg (Austria).
Her mother, Anna Maria Mozart, gave birth to seven children, but 5 of them died (infant mortality was very high then). Only Wolfgang and Maria Anna, who were very attached to each other, survived.
Leopold Mozart began teaching his daughter to play the harpsichord from the age of 7. Even the Nannerlle music notebook has survived, in which the father and friends visiting the family wrote down various minuets and plays for the little pianist. Her brother Wolfgang, who was 5 years younger, began to study in the same notebook.
Maria Anna Mozart had an excellent ear for music, could repeat any melody heard. She played the harpsichord freely, performing very complex musical parts and concerts.
Concert life
When the children perfectly mastered playing the harpsichord and Wolfgang also played the violin, his father decided to show them to the public and arrange a concert tour for them. So at the age of 11, Maria Anna Mozart and her brother began their creative career.
The first such performance took place for the Bavarian elector in January 1762, then Wolfgang was 6 years old.
At first, his father even considered the talents of his brother and sister equal, and then Wolfgang's composing talent completely overshadowed the abilities of Nannerl. But her brilliant abilities as a performer on a harpsichord were noted by all musicians of those years.
At concerts, his father always tried to push Wolfgang to the fore, and Maria was always in the shadow of her brilliant brother. By her nature, she was a quiet and domestic girl, while traveling she always took care of her father and brother.
The European tour lasted 3 years. The children traveled with their father to many cities in Austria, Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, and others. In Vienna they played for the Empress of Austria Maria Theresa herself in the Schönbrunn Palace.
In the fall of 1765, on tour in London, children barely survived, having suffered severe pneumonia. But, despite all the problems, the father with two children will continue his tour. Then, in 1767, the children managed to get smallpox in the Czech Republic, but again they continued to perform concerts in European cities.
Retirement
Mozart Maria Anna ended her musical career when she was 18 years old. In the 18th century, at that age, the girl was no longer able to continue performing, because she had grown to marriageable age. Unjust laws in society regarding the inability for a woman to engage not only in households and children, but also in professional activities, prevented her further creative career.
The girl had to move to her mother in Salzburg, having no further opportunity to give a concert. She began giving piano lessons and was completely subordinate to her father.
Already an adult, she composed several pieces of music and introduced her brother to them, causing him surprise and admiration for her talent as a composer.
Personal life
The women's fate of Nannerlle was not very successful. In her youth, Maria Anna Mozart was in love with the chamberlain of Franz Armand d'Ippold, but her father did not allow their marriage to take place.
At the age of 33 in 1784, she married the magistrate Johann Franz von Sonnenburg, who was 15 years older than her. Her husband was twice a widower, and even with five children.
After the wedding, they began to live in St. Gilgen, in her mother’s house. Over time, Maria Anna had three children. The eldest son was taken by his grandfather Leopold Mozart to study music.
At this time, she completely distanced herself from her famous brother, and after his marriage almost did not communicate with him. But shortly after the tragic death of the 35-year-old Wolfgang, he handed over to his wife all the letters and papers she had in order to write his future biography.
After the death of her husband in 1801, Maria Anna and her children returned to Salzburg. She earned a living by giving piano lessons to children and adults.
Last years
Living in Salzburg, she gained respect among residents and enjoyed a well-deserved honor. She didn’t live in poverty (according to some authors of biographies). Towards the end of her life, she was very ill and even lost her sight at 74.
Mozart Maria Anna died at the age of 78 in 1829 and was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Salzburg.
The house in St. Gilgen, where she lived with her husband for a long time, now houses a museum dedicated to the life of the Mozart family, because her mother, Anna Maria, was also born there. There are also stored some sheet music with her works.
