Q & A
What was the name of Mozart’s sister?
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart. But she was always called “Nannerl” at home and is better-known by this name.
Was she his only sister?
Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart had seven children altogether, but Nannerl and Wolfgang were the only ones to survive, as infant mortality rates were very high at that time. Nannerl was the fourth child and was born on the night of 30th July 1751 in Salzburg. Her mother had another two children after that who died soon after birth and then, finally, on 27th January 1756, at 8.00pm, Wolfgang Amadeus was born.
Is it true that Nannerl was a child prodigy and composed music?
Yes: during their childhood, Wolfgang and Nannerl performed as a duo and her name was top of the bill. What’s more there are letters written by Mozart when he was young in which he compliments her on the beauty of her music and affectionately eggs her on to compose more. Unfortunately however, no compositions signed by Nannerl have come down to us.
In the novel Wolfgang and Nannerl, when they are children, play at being king and queen of an imaginary country – The Kingdom of Back. Is this an invention or a historical reference?
Their fairyland really did exist or at least it existed in little Wolfgang’s fantasy. The original name in German is Rücken, which literally means ‘the human back’. No one knows why he called it this. Nannerl later actually refers to it in writing and says that she could no longer remember the origin of the name.
There are letters in the book. Are they authentic?
No, they are all made up. Nannerl and the court officer Franz Armand d’Ippold, to whom theoretically she is telling her story, really did have a love affair; but if they wrote to one another, the letters have been lost.
Did the principal characters really exist?
It is true that one of the book’s main characters is fictional but I’d prefer not to tell you which, unless you have already read it! I will only say that the character does not belong to the Mozart family.
Was Mozart really a jovial, rather dissolute, womaniser, as he appears in the novel?
The Maestro had affairs with married women and was certainly fun-loving to judge from some famous letters in which he goes on about excrement. But he also had a first-rate intellect, was conscious of his own worth and was gifted with a personal dignity, clearness of thought and coherence that one can only aspire to.
Is it true that Antonio Salieri taught Beethoven?
Yes and not only him: he also taught Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt and other famous musicians (not necessarily called Franz).
In the famous film Amadeus, his sister is not even mentioned. Isn’t that a bit strange?
I wouldn’t say so. The magnificent film written by Peter Shaffer and directed by Milos Forman tells the story of Mozart’s final years in Vienna, and at that time Wolfgang and Nannerl were no longer in contact. What’s more, the narrative thread of the screenplay has nothing to do with brothers and sisters. Why would Schaffer include Nannerl? Just because she existed? I don’t think that’s a good enough reason for an author.
