Essays
Essays on subjects related to Mozart’s Sister: why and how to write a historical-musical novel; the presumed genius of Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart and her relationship with her more famous brother.
When Music is the Muse
— Susanne Dunlap in Historical Novels Review
As biographical subjects, musicians are no different from any other historical characters except perhaps—with a few exceptions—in being less generally familiar to a wide audience. Yet in recreating the world of even the most famous and familiar of musicians or composers, writers face a unique difficulty. Namely, how does music look on the page?
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Was Nannerl as great a genius as Mozart himself?
— Rita Charbonnier in Perti, Martini e Mozart
There will never be a definitive answer to this question. Those of Mozart’s biographers who mention his sister Nannerl, generally take it for granted that she was a good player, but would absolutely not have been able to compose. I wonder how one can claim to judge a talent that never had the possibility of expressing itself. How can a seed that does not fall on ground where it can take root, ever grow to be a plant?
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A special rapport between brother and sister
— Rita Charbonnier in Perti, Martini e Mozart
When they were children, Wolfgang and Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart were a successful duo, a pair of enfants prodiges who shared exhilarating experiences, such as performing for the kings of Europe, and dramatic ones such as an illness that took both of them to the brink of death. In 1765, in The Hague, Nannerl became ill first with bronchial catarrh and then typhus fever, and her condition soon became so grave that Last Rites were administered.
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