Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is widely known as one of the best classical musicians of all time. Not much is known about his life top given his early passing at age 35. Symbolic of the saying stars that shine bright burn out too soon. While we can draw modern parallels of musicians in the modern era who passed as it seemed they were reaching the peak of their careers. Artists such as Michael Jackson has extensive biography from the moment he was born up to when he died. The fact that his passing was relatively recent, made it easier to collect information on him. Unfortunately for us, Mozart died on December 5, 1791, making it difficult to extensively research his life. Researching his life, we can see how a little help from his friends provided him with the foundation to become the composer we all know and love today.
There were three well-documented friends of Mozart who happened to be Jewish who went by the names of Fanny von Arenstein, Baron Raimund Wrtzlar von Plankenstern, and Abbey Da Ponte. Each of his friends made a cameo in his life when his situation was dire and helped him however, they could. The help Mozart received allowed him to continue his work and, in some ways, better his work and make himself a more established composer.
The first of his Jewish friends, Fanny von Arenstain, was the daughter of a well-known financier. She herself was described as a brilliant teenager who was engaged to Nathan von Arenstein. Together they would become some of the most privileged Jews in Vienna. It is assumed they became acquainted after a concert, where Fanny played the piano accompanying Frau Weberin, who would become Mozart’s wife. Mozart would come to move in the large dwelling occupied by Fanny’s family, where he lived on the third floor for three months conducting operas. He was invited to dine with the family, and they were subscribed to his season concerts. His second friend Baron was referenced in a letter addressed to his father. Baron was a wealthy Jew and at the time Mozart was in a financial situation where he found himself buried with debt and loans seemed to be the answer. Baron put Mozart up on the third floor for 3 months with its large room to his disposal. The room found use in Mozart’s concerts and other events with aristocratic Jews in the audience. It was in this house Mozart would discover his third and arguably most influential friend, Abbey da Ponte. Similar to Mozart, da Ponte was also a composer and the two would come to collaborate bearing fruit to three brilliant pieces: ‘Le marriage de Figaro’ in 1786, ‘Don Giovanni’ in 1787 and ‘Cosi fan Tutte’ in 1790. Their work would go on to live forever despite their short-live collaboration. Unfortunately for da Ponte, his enemies would push him to live nomadically moving first to England and then New York.
No one ever got to where they were without a little help, and while Mozart’s rise can be attributed to several variables it’s hard to deny that the relationships with his Jewish friends did not help him further progress as a composer and person. Even after the death of musicians their music lives on making their memories ‘fresh’ in the minds of those inspired by their work.
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Essay on Jewish Friends of Mozart.
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