Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer of the 1700s, whose many operas, concertos, symphonies and sonatas made classical music what it is. As such a profound musician, he was a very proud individual and had great reason to be. In his set of letters written to several individuals in Letters of Mozart, it is clear to see that Mozart was excellent with words and was able to sweet-talk his way into getting what he needed. His diction indicates his excessive pride as he criticizes individuals through his words “…even if there are to be found among them people as good as, or even better than, those I have named (which I very much doubt), I cannot but feel that the directors of our theatre will prove to be too parsimonious, and too little patriotic…when they could get better singers on the spot…” (p. 228). As an individual held in high esteem, Mozart expectedly looks down on other performers and, in his letters, belittles them.
As the letters progress, it is revealed that Mozart had many financial problems, seeing as how he repeatedly asked to be commissioned and to borrow a great sum of money. On the other hand, he was able to skillfully use his words to convince friends to lend him the money he needed to continue composing and working as a musician. He also appeals to Sebastian Winter in order to try to obtain a position composing music for his Highness’s orchestra and request a yearly salary. Glaringly apparent is his ability to praise others when he is asking for favors. He phrases his requests in such a way that portrays excellence with words, as shown when he writes “I think I see in you a man, who, like myself, if it is in any way possible will certainly help his friend, if he be a true friend, his brother, if he be indeed a brother.” (p. 238). At this point, he is not only praising his friends but also using guilt, testing their loyalty and attempting to evoke sympathy. In a sense, Mozart was very clever to be able to successfully use just words when in need of something.
Mozart’s softer side is revealed through his letters to his wife, which are filled with sweet words and longing. In one letter, he writes “To-day is the sixth since I left you, and, by God, it seems a year…love me for ever as I love thee.” (241). His letters to his wife are the only ones that seem truly sincere and reveal a more caring side of him, as he ends each letter to his wife with the words “a million tenderest kisses to thee”. He clearly expresses his excitement in receiving letters from his wife and eagerly tells her about his work and his day, which is very different from the artificial manner in which he writes to others like Michael Puchberg and Franz Hofdemel. Mozart can also be seen as very kind and caring towards his family as he writes to his ill father “I hope, I wish, that while I write this you are getting better. But should you, against all expectation, be no better, I beg you will not…will not conceal it from me, but tell me, or have told me, the whole truth, so that I can come with all human speed to your arms!” (234). Clearly, he feels an obligation to take care of his father and sister, as well as his wife who he loves so dearly.
Overall, Mozart was a brilliant, clever musician and composer during the classical era but unfortunately suffered through many financial difficulties due to the fact that his music was not so greatly valued as it is today.
