Marie Antoinette’s early life was centred around music, and the arrival of a musical prodigy would have been cause for much excitement.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was just six years old when he, his father and his sister, visited the imperial family at Schönbrunn. Marie Antoinette was just three months older than the prodigy. On 13 October 1762, Mozart arrived at the palace to play the harpsichord in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Francis and several of their children, including Marie Antoinette. Court composer Georg Christoph Wagenseil was also present.
Mozart apparently played “marvellously” and was rewarded with an honorarium of 100 ducats and several presents. He was also given clothes that had belonged to Archduke Max, a lilac coat and a moiré waistcoat.1 He returned to play at Schönbrunn a week later. Mozart’s father later wrote, “We were received with some many marks of favour by Their Majesties that if I told you about it in detail, my account would be taken for a fairy tale.”2
A story goes that Mozart flung himself at Marie Antoinette and declared that he would marry her when he grew up, but this seems rather unlikely. However, he managed to jump into the Empress’s lap and received a kiss in return. Although Mozart would attempt to gain Marie Antoinette’s patronage several years later when she was already Queen of France, her first pregnancy meant that they were unable to meet.
Be the first to comment