Mozart : The story of a little boy and his sister who gave concerts — Text and Context

Nannerl was five years older than her brother. She had lessons from her father on a kind of piano called a harpsichord.

Here is a picture of one.

When Wolferl was three years old he used to listen to Nannerl's playing. He always watched and listened when Papa Mozart gave her a harpsichord lesson.

Little as he was, he would often go to the harpsichord and try to pick out tunes with his chubby fingers. His father noticed that Wolferl could remember quite a little of the music that Nannerl was practising.

And here is a picture of Wolferl trying to reach the keys so as to play the melody of his sister's lesson.

When Wolferl was four years old he began to take lessons.

While he practised no one ever spoke to him because he was so serious about it. If other children came to play with Nannerl he would make music for their games and marching; playing in strict time all the while.

Here is Nannerl's picture when she grew up to be a young lady.

Father Mozart loved both of his children deeply and often played with them. The violin was the instrument he liked best and little Mozart had daily lessons in his home. Here we see him playing while his sister sings.

In this picture we see Papa Mozart, who was a very fine player on the violin. Wolferl and Nannerl are playing the piano.

When Wolferl was nearly six his father took him and Nannerl on a concert tour. Everybody wanted to hear them play and they gave many concerts.

Wolferl spent all his boyhood with his music. He went to many places to play, even as far from Salzburg, in Austria (where he was born), as to Paris and London.

Everywhere he went people were happy to see him and his sister and to hear them play. And they, too, were happy to play because they loved the music so much.

When they reached Vienna they played for the Emperor and Empress.

When Wolferl was presented to the Empress he jumped up into her lap and kissed her.

Wolferl was always busy composing music. But he played games and had a good time just like any other boy. When he was busy with his music, however, he never let his thoughts go to anything else.

But we must not go too fast, for we want to see how Wolferl is growing up.

Here is his picture when he was five years old and beside it another when he was eight years old. Do you see his wig and sword?

Everybody in Paris wanted to hear Wolferl play when they knew that he had come, so they asked him to read at sight; to play the bass part to a melody and to accompany a song without seeing the music.

People also took great delight in asking him to play on the harpsichord with a cloth stretched over the keyboard so that he could not see the keys.

They all went to London to play for the King. The King wanted to see for himself how skilful little Mozart was, so he gave him pieces by Bach and Handel to play at sight. Mozart read them off at once. Here is a fine picture of the Mozart children when they played for the King and the Queen.

It must have been very fine for a little boy of seven to play for kings and queens. But Wolferl was not spoiled by it all. He was just a happy hearted boy all the time.

He always made it a rule to put his mind on what he was doing and do it the very best he knew how.

It is just as good a rule now as it was when he was alive.

It is time now that we learned the birthday of Mozart. If we think of it every year on the 27th of January, it will be easy to remember it.

In what year was he born?

Here is another picture of Mozart in 1766. How old was he then? (Beethoven was born four years afterward.)

When anyone is always busy at one thing he soon gets a lot done. As Wolferl grew and kept on writing music all the time he made a great many pieces. Some were short like a song, others were long like an opera. He wrote for the piano, the violin and the voice. And he composed operas, symphonies and ever so many other kinds of music.

Mozart liked to be alone when he was working upon his compositions. He used to go to a little house on the edge of Vienna and lock himself in. The people of the city of Salzburg, in Austria, took this house long after Mozart's death and moved it to a park where all may go to see it, just as we in America go to see the houses of William Penn, Lincoln and Washington.

Can you remember, without turning back, the year in which Mozart was born?

Some other great musicians were alive at that time. And during his lifetime some were born who became great men.

In the year when Mozart was born both Handel and Haydn were living. And Haydn lived eighteen years after Mozart's death.

You can remember it by these lines:

|1732 The years of Haydn's life 1809| ------------------------------------------------------ |1756 The years of Mozart's life 1791| --------------------------------------

When Mozart was fourteen years old Beethoven was born. Mozart knew him and he knew Papa Haydn also, and they were very good friends.

In our own country there lived in Mozart's lifetime Benjamin Franklin and three Presidents of the United States--George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

I wonder if Washington ever heard of Mozart?

Perhaps we can best keep all these names together by looking at this page now and again.

1706 Benjamin Franklin was born. 1732 Washington and Haydn were born. 1736 Patrick Henry was born. 1743 Thomas Jefferson was born. 1750 Bach died. 1756 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART was born. 1759 Handel died 1770 Beethoven was born. 1771 Walter Scott was born. 1790 Franklin died. 1791 Mozart died. 1809 Joseph Haydn died.

Isn't it fine to think of Mozart writing so much music, so many operas, symphonies and sonatas; traveling so much, meeting so many people and never being spoiled by it all.

While he wrote many very great pieces of music, here is something he composed when he was five years old. He made up the pieces at the piano and his father wrote them down note for note in a little copy book.

Read these facts about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and try to write his story out of them, using your own words. When your story is finished, ask your mother or your teacher to read it. When you have made it, copy it on pages 14, 15 and 16.

1. Full name: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

2. Born Jan. 27, 1756; died Dec. 5, 1791.

3. The sister's name was Maria Anna.

4. Maria Anna was five years older than Wolfgang.

5. The pet names of the children were Wolferl and Nannerl.

6. Little Mozart loved to hear his sister play.

7. He started to study when he was four.

8. Mozart went on a concert tour with his sister when he was six years old.

9. When he was a child he visited many great cities, among them Paris, London and Vienna.

10. Handel and Haydn were living when Mozart was born.

11. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and Walter Scott were all alive during the time of Mozart.

12. Mozart was five years old when he wrote his first piece.

1. In what country was Mozart born?

2. In what city was Mozart born?

3. Where did Mozart play before the Emperor and the Empress?

4. Did Mozart play games and have a good time like other boys?

5. Why did people ask Mozart to play upon the harpsichord with a cloth stretched over the keys?

6. Whose compositions did the King of England ask Mozart to play?

7. What great American patriot was born in the same year as Haydn?

8. Which lived the longer life, Haydn or Mozart?

9. Have you ever heard a piece by Mozart?

10. Was Mozart spoiled by meeting many people?

Written by.....................................

On (date)......................................

Write a short story about Mozart and his sister and copy it on these pages.

Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_)

On page 3, Mozart's sister's name was changed to "MARIA".