Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 莫扎特 Chapter 5 Family Man

For the most part, Mozart and Constanze had a happy marriage. Often they struggled to make ends meet. There are stories about how the couple danced in their unheated house to keep warm and how they used their wooden furniture as firewood.

When Mozart ran out of money and could not pay his bills, he would teach, give concerts, and compose music at a frantic¹ pace. He needed to make more and more money to keep up with his extravagant² life. Often, he asked friends for a loan.

Even during the hard times, Constanze and Mozart loved each other and were glad to be together. Mozart described her as a woman with common sense and the kindest heart in the world. When they were apart, he wrote to her constantly, saying over and over how much he missed her.

Other times they had lots of money, but Mozart spent it as quickly as he made it. He bought fancy clothes and gave big parties with music, dancing, and lots of food. He even had his own coach, which cost a great deal of money.

Constanze and Wolfgang had six children, though only two sons, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver, lived more than a year. Mozart taught his older son Karl Thomas to play the clavier and to sing. The whole family sang and played music together often. Sometimes, their pet bird, a starling, would join in the songs.

One day, Mozart received a visit from Franz Joseph Haydn. Haydn was twenty-four years older than Mozart. People thought he was the greatest living composer. After hearing Mozart play, he later told Leopold, “Your son is the greatest composer I know.”

Mozart and Haydn became very close friends. Eventually, Mozart went on to compose many pieces of music that he dedicated³ to his “dear friend” Haydn. Some were piano concertos⁴. These are pieces of music written for an orchestra with highlights for the piano. Others, eight in all, were for string quartets—two violins, a viola, and a bass⁵.

Despite all the praise heaped on him, Mozart never became too proud. He valued his own music but also appreciated the music of others. He knew that other composers had something to teach him. After hearing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, he exclaimed, “Now here’s something one can learn from!”

In 1787, Mozart became the chamber⁶ composer for Emperor Joseph II. This was a very important job—the most important one Mozart had ever held. He composed music and gave performances. The emperor paid his salary. At last he had a steady income. Some of his greatest work dates from this time.

In 1786, Mozart wrote The Marriage of Figaro, an opera that had beautiful music and yet was very funny. It tells the story of Figaro and Susanna, both servants to the Count and Countess. Figaro and Susanna are planning to marry. Meanwhile, the Countess is unhappy because her husband has been ignoring her. Susanna and Figaro think up a complicated plot to get the Count to pay attention to his wife. The plot involves disguises and false identities, but all ends happily.

The Marriage of Figaro opened at the Grand Opera House in Vienna and was a big success. The company went on to Prague, which was then part of Bohemia and is now in the Czech Republic. The opera was an even bigger hit there. Everywhere in Prague, people were humming the music from Mozart’s opera or dancing to one of its lively tunes⁷.

Mozart was thrilled by the reaction to his opera and wanted to thank the people of Prague. So he wrote a special symphony for them—the Prague Symphony—to express his gratitude⁸. But even more important, he was asked to write another opera. Written in 1787, the new opera, Don Giovanni, was not a comedy. It tells a much darker story, recounting the life and death of a wicked nobleman named Giovanni.

This opera, too, was a great success and brought Mozart more praise and fame.

In 1790, he wrote yet another popular opera. It was called Così fan Tutte, which, in English, means “everybody does it.” The Italian poet Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the opera’s libretto⁹—or the words—while Mozart composed the score. Così fan Tutte is another comic opera. It features a pair of officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, and their sweethearts, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. The two young men want to test the love of the two women, and they invent many complicated tricks to do so. But all ends well for the two couples.

“Don Giovanni”

The last of Mozart’s great operas, The Magic Flute¹⁰, was written in 1791. Emanuel Schikaneder wrote the libretto. As its title suggests, The Magic Flute is like a fairytale: there is the evil Queen of the Night, her beautiful daughter, a handsome prince who loves her, wild animals, a set of chimes, and a golden flute. The prince faces many dangers, but in the opera’s happy ending, he wins the hand of the princess. Once again, Mozart’s hauntingly beautiful music enchanted¹¹ all those who heard it.

Many people think that these operas are Mozart’s finest works and that the years in Vienna were the most productive in his whole life. They were also probably the happiest years of his short life.
 

1 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

2 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 concertos   

n. [音]协奏曲

参考例句：

• I once heard Brendel play all the Beethoven concertos. 有一次，我听了布伦德尔演奏贝多芬全部的协奏曲。
• The six finalists then played two piano concertos each. 然后，六名决赛选手每人演奏了两首钢琴协奏曲。

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

9 libretto   

n.歌剧剧本，歌曲歌词

参考例句：

• The printed libretto was handsomely got up.这本印刷的歌剧剧本装帧得很美观。
• On the other hand,perhaps there is something to be said for the convenience of downloading a libretto in one's own home rather than looking for it in a library or book store.但是反过来看，或许尤为重要的是如果网

10 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

11 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。