One of the reasons he took on Attwood (London born) as a student in Vienna was that he wanted to learn English.
Mozart was fluent in German and Italian and was proficient in French, English less so but he knew the basics. He did live in England for a while as well.
Yes, Mozart wrote that.
By ass, he means fool. As in “you made an ass of yourself.” This is consistent with European language at the time, and a lot of Europeans still use the word with that connotation.
He did write a letter to his father, saying he told his student “I seem to have made an ass of myself, please finish the composition for me” - unfortunately, the student wasn’t good at composing.
Aſs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s
During this period the short/round s was generally used at the end of a word or in special circumstances (before apostrophes, after another s). Otherwise the long s was standard.
Thank you u/IdomeneoReDiCreta for sharing
Glad I could share something that peaked someone’s interest!
If you have others to share or crosspost, please do!
Would Mozart have written in English?
One of the reasons he took on Attwood (London born) as a student in Vienna was that he wanted to learn English. Mozart was fluent in German and Italian and was proficient in French, English less so but he knew the basics. He did live in England for a while as well.
Let me know if I am right or not but I think it says "You are an Ass"
Yes, Mozart wrote that. By ass, he means fool. As in “you made an ass of yourself.” This is consistent with European language at the time, and a lot of Europeans still use the word with that connotation. He did write a letter to his father, saying he told his student “I seem to have made an ass of myself, please finish the composition for me” - unfortunately, the student wasn’t good at composing.
I want a high-res print of this to hang on my wall. You can apparently find scans of this funny commentary from Mozart on imslp.
Aſs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s During this period the short/round s was generally used at the end of a word or in special circumstances (before apostrophes, after another s). Otherwise the long s was standard.
Source? This is the first time I see someone post what is supposed to be a photo of the actual document, but is it authentic?
Yes it is authentic - this has come up before on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/s/utwSH0eT4l