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'Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart' (July 30, 1751–October 29, 1829), nicknamed "'Nannerl'", was a famous musician in eighteenth century Europe. She was the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.
In childhood she went by the diminutive form "Nannerl",^[1] and later on was called "Marianne."

Contents

Career

Relationship with Wolfgang

Leopold's raising of her son

Nannerl in literature

Notes

References

External links

Career

When she was seven years old, her father started teaching her to play the clavier, and initially she seemed a potential child prodigy. Leopold took her and her brother on tours of many cities, such as Vienna and Paris, to exploit their talents. In the early days she sometimes received top billing and she was noted as an excellent harpsichord player and pianist. Ultimately, however, Nannerl's talents were overshadowed by those of her younger brother. Although she was a talented musician in her own right, often accompanying Wolfgang during his tours, she was not allowed to pursue composition because of her gender. Hence Wolfgang wrote many piano pieces, in particular duets so that his sister could play alongside him. Her brother respected her talents and believed she could succeed as a music teacher or player in Vienna, but her early promise was never fully realized.
Although her brother quarreled with her father, and eventually disobeyed his wishes in crucial respects (i.e., choice of career path and spouse), Marianne remained entirely subservient to her father's wishes. Because of this, and due to contemporary views of women, her father decided that her brother should be the focus and Maria's main goal should be a suitable marriage. The Archbishop at that time rejected her first choice of spouse, which forced her to marry a wealthy magistrate, Johann Baptist Franz von Berchtold zu Sonnenburg (23 August, 1783)^[2].
Marianne's life revolved around a husband she did not love, one surviving child of her own, five children from her husband's previous marriage, and a teaching career in a small town she disliked several miles from Salzburg, Austria.
Marianne died in 1829 at the age of seventy-eight, having survived her more famous younger brother by nearly forty years.

Relationship with Wolfgang

When Mozart was a toddler, Nannerl was his idol. Maynard Solomon writes, "at three, Mozart was inspired to study music by observing his father's instruction of Marianne; he wanted to be like her."^[3]. The two children were very close, and they invented a secret language and an imaginary "Kingdom of Back" of which they were king and queen. Mozart's early correspondence with Marianne is affectionate, and includes some of the scatological and sexual word play in which Mozart indulged with intimates. Occasionally Wolfgang wrote entries in Marianne's diary, referring to himself in the third person.^[4].
In later life the two drifted apart completely. This is most likely because in the quarrels that took place between father Leopold and Wolfgang, Marianne invariably took the father's side. Together with Leopold, she resented Mozart's departure to Vienna in 1781 to seek his fortune alone, was opposed to his marriage (1782) to Constanze Weber, and snubbed Constanze after the marriage. (Marianne rebuffed Constanze's early letters, and refused to make friends with her when Mozart brought her to Salzburg in 1783, hoping to reconcile the family.) When Leopold died in 1787, Marianne and Wolfgang quarreled over the will (which left most of the fortune to the daughter), and they then essentially ceased contact, excepting a few practical matters.^[5]

Leopold's raising of her son

An unusual episode in Marianne's life occurred when she gave birth (July 27, 1785) to her son, who was named Leopold after his grandfather. Marianne had traveled from her home in St. Gilgen to Salzburg for the birth. When she returned to St. Gilgen, she left her infant in the care of father Leopold and his servants. The father stated (by a letter that preceded Marianne back to St. Gilgen) that he would prefer to raise the child for the first few months himself. In 1786 he wrote, extending the arrangement to an indefinite term. Leopold continued to care for his grandson, taking delight in his progress (toilet training, speech, and so on), and commencing with the very beginnings of musical training. Marianne saw her son on occasional visits, but in general was not involved in his care. The arrangement continued until Leopold's death (28 May, 1787).
Biographers differ on what was the basis for this arrangement. Little Leopold was ill in his infancy, and perhaps needed to be kept in Salzburg for this reason, but this does not explain why he was still kept there after his recovery. Another possibility attributes the arrangement to Marianne's delicate health or her need to take care of her stepchildren. Biographer Maynard Solomon attributes the arrangement to Leopold's wish to revive his skills in training a musical genius, as he has done with Wolfgang, now largely estranged from him. He also suggests that the giving up her son was indicative of Marianne's total subordination to her father's wishes.^[6]

Nannerl in literature

She was the subject of a "biography in poems", ''The Other Mozart'' by Sharon Chmielarz (ISBN 0-86538-101-1).
''Mozart’s Sister,'' a novel by Alison Bauld was published in the UK by Alcina Press in 2005 and in Australia by Port Campbell Press in 2006. It follows Nannerl Mozart’s life through marriage, children, widowhood and death in conversations with her nephew Franz Xaver, Mozart’s younger son. Subplots, including a fictional account of what may have happened to Mozart’s body, are constructed from the known facts. A short biography appears as an appendix, to distinguish fact from fiction. Bauld has also published a fictional diary as Nannerl Mozart in the form of Nannerls' blog.

Notes

1. "-erl" is a diminutive suffix in German. The derivation of "Nannerl" is most like via "Nanna", a toddler's mispronunciation of "Anna", with the -erl suffix then attached.
2. Solomon 1995, 389
3. Solomon 1995, 399
4. Source for this paragraph: Solomon 1995, 399
5. For a general narrative of the decline of Wolfgang and Marianne's relationship, see Solomon 1995, ch. 25.
6. Source for this section: Solomon 1995, 389-392

References

Solomon, Maynard (1995) ''Mozart: A Life''. Harper Collins.

External links

★ Mozart Project

★ Portraits of Anomaly: Nannerl Mozart, Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann