You're Dead to Me - Mozart

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

In this special live episode, with music by the BBC Concert Orchestra and pianist Ben Dawson, Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Hannah Templeton and comedian David O’Doherty in eighteenth-century Europe to learn all about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart is perhaps the most famous composer of all time, known for his operas, concertos, sonatas and symphonies; his talent is undeniable. But who was the man behind the music? This episode explores Mozart’s life story, following him and his family around Europe as he performed, composed and innovated. It takes in his time as a child prodigy with a controlling father, his doomed love affair, and his life as a working musician struggling to find work at court, as well as his incredible musical talent and the success he found in his own lifetime. Research by: Madeleine Bracey Written by: Madeleine Bracey, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Caitlin Hobbs Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse

This is the first radio ad you can smell. The new Cinnabon pull-apart only at Wendy's. It's ooey, gooey, and just five bucks for the small coffee all day long. Taxes extra at participating Wendy's until May 5th. Terms and conditions apply. I'm Helena Bonham Carter, and for BBC Radio 4, this is History's Secret Heroes. A new series of rarely heard tales from World War II. They had no idea that she was Britain's top female codebreaker.

We'll hear of daring risk takers. What she was offering to do was to ski in over the high Carpathian mountains. Of course it was dangerous, but danger was his friend. Subscribe to History's Secret Heroes wherever you get your podcasts. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the BBC Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we are coming to you from LSO St Luke's in London, which means I get to say, hello audience!

Hey! Yes, today we're all popping on our powdered wigs and journeying back to the 18th century, to Europe, to meet arguably the greatest composer of all time. Sorry Beethoven, not this time. Yes, it's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and to help us fine-tune our knowledge, I am joined by three very special guests. In Orchestra Corner, we have over 50 incredible musicians conducted by Gavin Sutherland. It is the renowned BBC Concert Orchestra with their leader, Nathaniel Anderson-Frank.

Hello, Orchestra. Hello. Lovely. In History Corner, she's a musicologist, a cultural historian and Mozart expert. She was a visiting research fellow at King's College London, plays both piano and clarinet, and is now a primary school teacher. Talk about a virtuoso, with many strings to her bow.

It's Dr Hannah Templeton. Welcome, Hannah. Thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be here. And in Comedy Corner, he is an award-winning comedian and writer. Much love for his stand-up shows, where he often sits down with a keyboard on his lap. You may have seen him on TV's QI, Would I Lie to You? or even celebrity Great British Bake Off. It's David O'Doherty. Welcome, David.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Welcome, David. Greg, what's this band doing here? You tell me to bring the keyboard. This keyboard can effectively play all of their instruments. The trumpet. That's it. The violin.

They're actually quite similar, you'd have to say. Uncanny, really, wasn't it? We're thrilled to have you here, David. It's your debut on You're Dead to Me. How do you feel about history? Are you in your comfort zone today? Yes, I would have several Venn diagrams of interest in history. OK. Antarctic, Tour de France, and Irish history, and directly in the middle of those in history. OK. Antarctic, Tour de France, and Irish history,

and directly in the middle of those is Mozart. Yes. He's a renowned polar explorer on his bicycle. OK. And what do you know about Mozart? Well, I grew up in a musical household. My father is a jazz musician in Dublin, and my mother is the full-time carer for a jazz musician, which the hours are a lot longer. That's not to understate Anne's

accomplishments. My mother played tennis and hockey for Ireland, so I like to think of myself as the exact midpoint between jazz and tennis. I mean, the spooky parallels between my life and the life of Mozart, you would have to say, both showed a lot of early promise. I mean, I think the difference is, I believe Mozart's father got him a piano, but my father, because he was a professional musician, wanted an instrument that he could turn down when he didn't want to hear it. So he bought me the Yamaha Porta Sound PSS-2 260, which is this thing here, which, you know, it's got a certain charm to it. I grew up certainly playing a little bit of Mozart.

And do you know the reason I can play that? It's because if you hit the demo button on the Yamaha Portisound, that's it right there. We didn't need these people. The radio listeners, they'll be none the wiser. They're like, I know, he's got the whole orchestra

there. So I can play that one. I can obviously play the Tuck Biscuits one. That's what I find interesting about Mozart in that he worked out the music for the ads before the product had been invented. Like a sort of early influencer. I can play that and I can play the one that sounds like that Neil Diamond song. So I can do most of them.

Great. You're hired. Thank you. It's very nice to be here. Oh, we're delighted to have you here. And I think that brings us to the first segment of the podcast. Yes, this is the So What Do You Know? where I try to guess what you, our lovely listener and lovely live audience, will know about today's subject. And let's cut the waffle.

Give me a cheer if you've heard of Mozart. Excellent. Yes, he is one of the most famous composers of all time, and even if you can't name specific pieces, you might know this tune. Or this tune. Or this tune. Or even this one. Ah, honestly.

Absolute bangers, all of them. And as David says, they're all popping up in adverts and episodes of Bluey, my favourite. Yeah, Mozart and his music is all over our pop culture. In adverts, films, books, plays, most famously Mozart himself was the focus of the 1984 movie Amadeus, which won eight Oscars and was based on a play. But what do we really need to know about this ultimate musical maestro who composed over 600 pieces in his short life? Let's find out, shall we? Right, today we're doing a biography of the man through his musical geographical journeys, the cities he went to, the stuff he played. But we must start with childhood

because our format demands it. Presumably he wasn't born with a tiny harpsichord strapped to his tiny wrists. So Hannah, where do we begin with Mozart? So Johann Christoph Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756. His father, Leopold, was from a well-respected family, and his mother, Anna Maria, she was middle class. Leopold had a fruitful career in music too, so he authored a successful manual on violin playing, and by 1763 he was working as the deputy kapelmeister at the Salzburg court.

He was also a prolific composer. The couple had seven children, only two of whom survived, Wolfgang and then his elder sister, Maria Anna, known as Nana. So music was in the blood for Mozart, and David, you've already mentioned your father, jazz musician, so growing up, are you just like Mozart? Is it music in the house all the time? What was it like for you? Certainly, I am bad at financial management. I haven't done much since the age of 35. So we are

similar in that way. So Hannah, how does how did little Wolfgang and Leopold compare to David and Jim? Presumably the financial management hadn't kicked in just yet. What is the childhood education like in terms of music? OK, so Wolfgang, he began playing the harpsichord when he was just three and showed really precocious musical talent from that age. Leopold was deeply religious. He was Catholic, and he viewed Wolfgang's extraordinary musical abilities as a literal gift from God. He referred to Wolfgang as the miracle which God let be born in Salzburg,

and he saw it as his religious duty to share this miracle and to nurture Wolfgang's talents. He educated both of his children himself, because Nannerl was also a really gifted pianist. And Wolfgang composed his first piece aged only five. What was your greatest achievement at five, David? What were you knocking out? Learn to poo in the loo. Is that a song? Must write that down, that could be big. I mean, it beggars belief, five, that he's already writing music. But let's see how learning to poo in the loo measures up to what Wolfgang was able to do,

because we have Ben on piano, and this is Mozart's first ever composition. It's called Andante for Keyboard. PIANO PLAYS It's all right. Yeah, it didn't have any beats in it, though, you know? That's how you'd improve on it, right? I'd just pop in... You know what I mean? Where are we now? We I'd just pop in... You know what I mean?

Where are we now? We're in South America now. You know what I mean? And then it pops on the harpsichord. You can almost see the waves of the Copacabana in front of you. And so Wolfgang and Nenel are little prodigies. In 1763, Leopold tells his boss, Count Leopold, the ruling prince archbishop of Salzburg, we should have more ruling prince archbishops of places.

What a great idea. He tells his boss, I need time off work, my kids are geniuses, we're off on tour. So where does the Mozart family bandwagon go? So they went to the musical capitals of Western Europe. Legoland. They travelled through what's now modern-day Germany, France, England, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland,

with the children performing in courts, at public and private concerts, and obviously Wolfgang composing lots of pieces of music. So he's already composing. He's on the road and he's composing... He is. ..in the tour bus? Literally.

OK, all right. Are you feeling a synergy here? Because this, presumably, you're composing on the road, right? Yeah, like my life is Led Zeppelin. It's... Did he write Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Hannah? Is that...? I mean, I'm sorry to be so down-market here. So I think he did some variations on it. He didn't actually write. It was already a piece of music I think he did some variations on it. He didn't actually write.

It was already a piece of music, but he did some variations on it. He sampled it. So Nannell was 11. Wolfgang, we get to him when he's about seven years old. It's a big workload for little kids. What's Leo's, you know, Leopold, what's his plan here to sort of drag these two children around Europe? So he wanted to expose them to as much music as possible

and for them to learn from Europe's best musicians. In part, he wanted to exhibit their skills and share the miracle, Wolfgang, with the public. But he also wanted to try and secure the family's longer-term income, ensuring that the children could earn a living from music when they reached adulthood. And he also wanted to educate them more broadly. So on the tour, they did a whole lot of non-musical sightseeing as well, a kind of grand tour, if you like.

Legoland. So a grand tour, and they're playing tunes. And I mean, it's really kind of extraordinary. And the next stop is, well, after, is Paris? They came to Paris before London, and then they came from Paris to London. London, right. And why London? What's going on in London? What's exciting about London? So in Europe, the court life largely centred around the royal courts and the aristocracy. But London, it was different. It had all kinds of wealthy individuals providing patronage to musicians. Events like public subscription concerts were much more common. So the musical scene, it was very competitive, but there were many more opportunities than elsewhere. Saying that, the opinion of the royalty and nobility still mattered. So the Mozart's first engagement in spring 1764 was playing for King George III

and his family. They performed twice there before appearing in public, and then again for the King and Queen on the anniversary of the King's coronation. Leopold was a really skilled networker, and by 1764 in the September, his travel notes tell us that he had begun organising private concerts with all sorts of nobility. And in London, Mozart, little seven-year-old, I keep calling him Mozart, like he's this sort of towering genius. He's a small child. He composed his first symphony. Do you know what inspired him in London? Did he go to Madame Tussauds?

He saw a future waxwork of himself. He was like, I'm going to become that. That would be amazing. Back to the future, wax to the future. Sorry. Was it Madame Tussauds? So it's clear that his first symphony was probably quite heavily overseen by Leopold, and he tried to compose his first symphony in a popular style that would appeal to the London public. So in London, the Mozarts became friendly with composers Johann Christian Bach, J.S. Bach's youngest son, and Karl

Friedrich Abel. And it's likely that Wolfgang, he was eight when he composed his first symphony, but it's likely that he used Bach's symphonies as a model. The first symphony was written in the summer of 1764 in Chelsea, when Leopold was actually there recovering from a really severe throat infection. So the family were kind of cooped up in Chelsea. Right, yeah. And Chelsea back then was like a village outside of London. So they went to the countryside for dad to get better. And meanwhile, little eight-year-old Mozart just banged out a symphony. Well, I guess we should probably hear it.

Let's hear this first symphony. Orchestra, take it away. © B Emily Beynon © B Emily Beynon How funny would it have been if they had played the theme from EastEnders there? And how quickly would the rumour spread? It would go straight on Wikipedia. I heard Mozart actually wrote that. Do-do-do-do-year-old wrote that. You're saying Leopold is perhaps doing some of the homework, maybe?

I think he was just checking it and maybe offering advice. He was obviously really experienced himself, wasn't he? But little Wolfie, as I'm going to call him now, presumably he's being touted around town as a genius I mean he can do that. He's definitely being promoted as a genius so from earlier in 1764 we have an advert for one of the concerts that Wolfgang and Nannel played in describing them both as prodigies of nature and then well the article goes on to give Wolfgang quite a lot of airtime and not very much to Nannel, but it highlights both his playing and composing talents, saying,

It is hard to say whether his execution upon the harpsichord or his playing at sight or his own compositions are most astonishing. All right. But it's not a great recipe for sibling harmony if Wolfgang's getting most of the kind of press release and then it's at the bottom and then it's also there. It's not ideal. No, there was a lot of tension between my brother and I

over who could get this keyboard at the time. So again, the parallels are absolutely spooky here. So they are being touted around town. There's kind of puff pieces saying, come see these genius kids. But I do want to put my historian's hat on, which I haven't really been wearing so far. Historians often say that Mozart's time in London started well, meet the king, excellent. Dad gets poorly, not so good. And that there's a sort of over-hyping problem, and the momentum fizzles out,

there's a castrati comes into town, steals all the thunder, and they end up playing pubs. What do you say to that, Dr. Hannah? It's a tricky one. So they did end up playing in, well, only was one very specific pub, and it was called the Swan and Hoop Tavern. And it was very popular with other touring musicians too. So they went there upon recommendation. It was right in the City of London next to the Royal Exchange, so a really bustling commercial hub. A different clientele from the nobility and gentry of Westminster, but nevertheless an audience of really respectable and wealthy merchants. So I think it's more that they wanted to maximise their potential, because Leopold's travel notes, they do suggest that the family continued to mix with the Westminster elite right up until the end of their stay.

OK, so it's not a Wetherspoons den, they are. They're playing a venue that musicians play in. Pub gigs are the toughest. You ask them, can we not... No ice in the glasses, please, while I'm on. It'll put me off the whole thing. I mean, yeah, are you getting a sense here of a London lifestyle? Does it feel familiar to the comedy circuit? Does this feel different? I mean, yeah, are you getting a sense here of a London lifestyle?

Does it feel familiar to the comedy circuit? Does this feel different? It feels a little... The fact that they're eight, I was a bit older than that when I got onto this god-awful circuit, but apart from that, it's very similar. There we go. All right, so I think maybe we can say myth... Not necessarily myth-busted, myth-dented? More complex than it's often made out to be, let's say.

Oh, God, thank you. A nuance window early in the show. OK, so by the time Wolfgang was 13... So we've jumped ahead a bit. By the time he's 13, he's a teen wolf. There we go. The family was back in Salzburg and Wolfgang now had a new job at 13 Hannah he was promoted to the

honorary concertmeister to the Salzburg court which was a normal first step for someone who would then go on to receive full paid employment at a later date is it work experience or is it a job because it's 13 shadowing to be good yeah shadowing okay 13 what was your where were you I'm now getting trying to get a sense of whether david is the most out of his age i worked in a spa yes sorry david um i think the question we do have to ask is obviously there's an age gap and nanel is older and she turns 18 does she achieve fame on her own she's now an adult she can strike out and book her own gigs. What happens to Nanelle Mozart?

So she was undoubtedly a really talented pianist, but in 1769, Leopold stopped bringing her along on the family tours. She wasn't being trained to be a court composer like her brother, so I suppose it wasn't very cost-effective or efficient to bring her along on tour, but Leopold was still really keen that she'd be able to learn a living from music herself as an adult, so she did learn how to teach and she continued to play a lot. She married in 1784, aged 33, to a widower, 14 years her senior,

with five surviving children, but she regularly requested new pieces and Leopold would send her Wolfgang's latest keyboard works. OK, so she kept with the music. She did. But she wasn't sort of a celebrity like Wolfgang was. OK, fair enough. So, ditched by her dad at 18, what a bum note for Nanelle's musical career to end on.

See, if you give you an orchestra, then you've just got to use it. You've just got to use it, right? So, Nanelle gets left behind with Mum, Anna Maria, and in Italy, Wolfgang Italiener-sized his name. He became Wolfgango Amadeo. But where in Italy did they go? Is it a big tour? Wolfgang and Leopold, they did three and a half years

travelling through Italy, arriving in December 1769. Again, the purpose was to expand Wolfgang's musical and professional education. Italy was the first port of call, really, for aspiring composers. In Verona and Milan, his musical abilities were tested. He was commissioned to write an opera for the Milanese carnival season. They also spent time in Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples. So it was a time of really prodigious musical output for Wolfgang. In Milan, in October 1770, he wrote a new opera, Mitra Date, Re di Ponto. In 1771, he was commissioned

to compose a theatrical serenata for a royal wedding. He wrote an oratorio for Impadua and another opera, Ascanio and Alba. And then in 1772, he composed seven symphonies, all of which trod actually quite new ground in their form, orchestration, scope. So he was busy. Yeah. There are becoming less parallels now.

When I was 18, I wanted to be a pianist like my father, and like many jazz musicians' children, he had to have the awkward conversation with me that contains the phrase, you can't polish a turd. But, yeah, as we say, over time I've learned how to roll it in glitter, though. In those three and a half years,

he churned out seven symphonies and operas and all sorts of things. I mean, it's really extraordinary. And in October 1772, Mozart's new opera, Lucio Silla, premiered in Milan. David, how long was the debut performance? Lucio Silla is about the life of Cillablack. It had a Lara Lara laugh in it. But it...

Was it too complicated or something? Was it maybe just... We'll say opening night, there was a riot. Oh, OK. Someone set the harpsichord on fire. Well, it began three hours late. Uh-oh. And then it ran for six hours.

So the babysitters of Milan had a brutal shift that night, I think. Some nights you just feel the solos, Greg. So nine hours is quite the commitment. But this is 16-year-old Mozart finding success. But I remember being 16. I was useless and shy and awkward and also

getting drawn to darker themes, wanting to experiment with identity. I'm getting into heavy metal when I was 16. So we're going to talk about Symphony No. 25 in G minor, which he writes at this point when he's 16. But I want to turn to our brilliant conductor, Gavin, and ask whether to look out for any moody teenage energy in this piece. Well, teenage energy is not a phrase I've heard that often,

at least not in this context. Although it is interesting, you mentioned that the first symphony was akin to EastEnders, where they're both in E flat. And Emmerdale and this symphony are both in G minor. Here's the link. Sturm und Drang, storm and stress. Well, there's plenty of storm and stress in this being in a minor key. But also, listen for the strings, who have quite a lot of angst and agitation going on

amongst the tempestuous first few pages of the symphony. Beautiful. All right, well, let's hear it, maestro. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 ORCHESTRA PLAYS Just to point out, that was the orchestra, not another demo on my keyboard. Does it not have symphony mode? It's just not mic'd up right tonight, Greg. It's an extraordinary piece of music. Can you hear the teenage angst, David? Can you hear the My Chemical Mozart?

extraordinary piece of music. Can you hear the teenage angst, David? Can you hear the My Chemical Mozart? It is an era of my life that I do remember. Things are going out of control. You're strapped to a train with Horny Town written on it.

And it ain't stopping. Toot toot! Oh dear. So, I mean, Wolfgang, obviously a musical genius. At 16, he is producing works of great musical, you know, the elegance, the thrill, the energy, crowd pleasers, I'm assuming. But even geniuses have to pay the bills.

So Leopold is the dad, you know, he's the kind of tour manager, and Wolfgang's, you know, composing the kind of tour manager and Wolfgang's, you know, composing the stuff. But do they find a steady income? Is that something they're worried about? So during the Italian tour, Leopold turned his attention to getting Wolfgang a respectable position, ideally at an aristocratic court. He applied to the Archduke Ferdinand for a position in Milan. And when Ferdinand mentioned this to his mother, the Empress Maria Theresa, she wrote back, and we're not really clear why she was so nasty here, but she says,

you ask me to take the Salzburger into your service. I do not know why, not believing that you have the need of a composer or of useless people. If, however, it would give you pleasure, I have no wish to hinder you. What I say is intended only to prevent you from burdening yourself with useless people and giving titles to people of that sort. Wow, what a harsh review. So that's the Empress, is it Maria Theresa, saying that Mozart is useless twice. What's the harshest review you've had?

Well, I write for children as well, Greg, and the toughest heckles. One came from, he was four, at a public reading in Athlone Library. Ten minutes in, I think it's going well. Hand shoots up. Excuse me, does this get good soon? But it's not even the governor,

which is, she was about eight and it was World Literacy Day. She had her hand up for ages and I go, yep. And she says, what is the point of you? Oh, that's, you know, children are brutal. But Maria Theresa, she hadn't even heard of Mozart, so I don't know why she's bad. Well, she met him when they were younger in Vienna

when, before that early their earliest European tours. They had gone to Vienna. So when he was like five or six? Yeah. So in her head, she's thinking, he's a six-year-old boy. She's probably very generous then. So that's why it's quite a strange one, really. All right, OK.

All right, well, you know, whatever. OK, so it didn't really work out as planned in Milan because he doesn't get hired. So Wolfgang did secure a new job though, Hannah. So in 1772, Wolfgang was offered the position of concertmeister at the court of the new Archbishop of Salzburg. But the family grew increasingly dissatisfied with life in Salzburg. And in 1777, Wolfgang, he set out again to try and find work to secure a position that would enable the family to leave Salzburg. But this time he travelled with his mother.

Leopold and Nannerl stayed at home. So after stops along the way in Munich and Augsburg, in October 1777 they arrived in Mannheim, hoping to impress the Elector Palatine, who was famously keen on music. So Mozart befriended the existing kapelmeister and konzertmeister, and he even composed a keyboard sonata for the concertmeister's daughter. But ultimately, no position came. We should remember as well, though, that the courts he visited,

they would already have had their own popular and established musicians. I know, but he's Mozart. Has no-one noticed he's Mozart? OK, so he's striking out with concertmeisters and kapelmeisters, but surely chicks dig musicians, David, right? This is a well-known fact. The ladies love a muso, right? So I've heard.

And does the same apply for comedians? I'm a musician. How do you think Mozart was doing with the ladies? He's a young guy, he's on tour He's in Salzburg, he's not in Salzburg He's on the road From the sound of his first symphony

He's doing well How do you think? Well, I don't know You hit the points and the goals will come, as they say He seemed to be well in his way There's an emotion running through I sense some emotion stirring. You think he's a romantic?

Yeah. In a way that I was romantic when I was 16, asking people to make out with me in discos. Is he a lover? Is he a bit of a horned dog? Well, from... He's a Catholic, right? His dad's a religious family.

He is. Very religious family. Absolutely. Horn dog. So, well, from Mannheim, he was supposed to move on to Paris. But he did actually fall in love in Mannheim with a soprano singer, Aloysia Weber. And rather than moving on to Paris, as had been the plan, he wrote to Leopold saying, actually, he intended to travel to Italy with the Weber family. So Leopold was furious at this, viewed it as highly irresponsible, accused Wolfgang of reneging on his duty to support the family,

and deciding perhaps that Wolfgang couldn't be relied upon to make the right choices himself, he insisted that he go to Paris with his mother instead of her going back to Salzburg. He's grounded. That's... Oh, OK. So he fell in love with Aloysia Weber. No Italy. No Italy. Fell in love with Aloysia Weber, and Dan's like,

no, your job is to make money for the family, off you go with your mum back to Paris. That's a bit harsh. A bit harsh, but, you know, whatever. We ran out of money in my family, and my father wrote the song that every Irish kid in primary school had to learn about how to cross the road. Genuinely, he did, which I always think...

Can you sing it? That's a pressure... I mean, we know how to cross the road, Greg. There's no surprises in this song. Even though he's a jazz musician, he just went through the... You know, it's about the roads you don't cross as much as the roads you cross with jazz.

All right, so I guess Wolfgang had to do what Dad tells him and off he heads to Paris, grumpily with his mother, and presumably to churn out more emo heartbreak anthems because he's met a girl and he can't even be with her. He wasn't happy in Paris. He felt underappreciated um he didn't like the French musical fashions um in a letter to Leopold he claims to have been offered the position of organist at Versailles but declined it nevertheless Leopold encouraged him to adapt to the French style study the French tastes and Wolfgang ended up composing a symphony which both maintained his musical integrity while satisfying the French tastes. Satisfying the French tastes sounds dirty,

I don't know why. Musical tastes. Yeah, okay. Well, okay, so Mozart gave the people what they wanted, the Parisians, so let's listen to his Paris Symphony. ORCHESTRA PLAYS © BF-WATCH TV 2021 © transcript Emily Beynon He gave the Parisians what they wanted, and what they wanted was a nap, I think. It's very chill, it's very relaxed. But it didn't get into Les Mis, so he was really gutted afterwards. It's a sort of music to picnic by, I think. That's very romantic, it's very lyrical, it's quite sweet.

Yeah, I'm thinking punting past the Eiffel Tower, which isn't built yet, on your way to Euro Disney, which is also not built yet. You said that he was turned down for the kind of organist job. He apparently turned down. Oh, okay. What instruments does he play? This is the first radio ad you can smell.

The new Cinnabon pull-apart only at Wendy's. It's ooey, gooey, and just five bucks for the small coffee all day long. Taxes extra at participating Wendy's until May 5th. Terms and conditions apply. As women, our life stages come with unique risk factors, like when our estrogen levels drop during menopause, causing the risk of heart disease to go up. Know your risks. Visit heartandstroke.ca. Play, is he just a piano guy?

Oh no, he played the violin, organ, singer. As a child, he was a good train singer. Beatboxing. So he's a multi-instrumentalist and composing for multiple instruments as well. So obviously a master of all trades. But obviously Wolfgang's time in Paris isn't all rosy. It's not all punting past Euro Disney. It is also tragic. There is sadness. It is. His mother became really seriously ill

and she actually died on 3 July 1778. Obviously, her death affected Wolfgang quite badly. For the rest of the summer, he moved in with a German friend of his father's, Baron von Grimm. He had been actually the family's main patron, a first in 1764. And Leopold, obviously, struggled to process the loss of his wife from afar. And among a number of accusatory letters suggested that Wolfgang's improper attention towards his mother had actually contributed to her death.

So a bit of a tricky time for them all as a family. Eventually Wolfgang returned to Salzburg where Leopold had arranged for him to be a court organist. That's quite sad really, isn't it? where Leopold had arranged for him to be a court organist. That's quite sad, really, isn't it? Yeah, Jim and Anne are still around, mine, but they talk about... My dad bought a thing of Saxa salt recently and said, this will probably see me through now.

Which is unnecessarily grim, and now whenever I go over and cook for them, I make a point of adding a lot of salt to the meals, ironically hastening their departure, Greg. Unnecessarily Baron Von Grimm. What a name! That's not going to cheer you up if you're living with a man

called Von Grimm. You need Von Happy. Von Giggles. Okay, so that sounds like we've had stress in the family, but that sounds like the first time there's been an actual real heartbreak and arguments with the dad, perhaps, Leopold. So that's a big bit of stress there.

So Wolfgang was pretty down when he returned to Salzburg. But musically, he's still developing, he's composing. He gets a gig at the Viennese court. That doesn't work out either. I don't know why. People keep hiring him and firing him. It's very strange. So he needs a new place to live. Who do you think he moves in with, David?

Beethoven. What a sitcom. We are crossing some times here. And Hendrix moves in then. Whoa, this sitcom's getting even better. Who does he move in with, Greg? He moves in with his ex. Who?

Aloysia Weber, who's now married. Oh, my goodness. So he's the third wheel. Thruple vibes. Well, yeah, with a sort of presumably slightly frustrated husband going, who's this guy? And if you think that's awkward, Mozart then starts hooking up with Aloysia's sister, Constanza.

I mean, that's the sitcom, right? Yeah, and the poor husband just playing chopsticks on the piano, trying to impress her. So is this a good match with Constanza? You know, he's been turned down for Aloysia. Is the sister the next best thing? No, do you know, it was a really good match. She was a soprano singer too.

She had her own experience of being a musician on tour, having followed Aloysia's career around Europe for many years. So after a slightly bumpy courtship, they were happily married and they had a really fulfilling married life, I think. They had six children, with two of them surviving into adulthood. Oh, that's nice. OK, so love at last for our little wolf gang. So, family man, he's in his mid-20s by now,

he's positively ancient. Was he feeling loved up? Do we see this in his music? Is he creatively inspired by, you know, fatherhood and romance? In Vienna, he initially worked as a very successful freelance composer, performer, teacher, and actually the year after he married, Constanza was one of the busiest and most productive of his life.

He composed symphonies, concertos, string quartets, wind serenades, gave lucrative subscription concerts, composed several operas, including The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni. He wrote 14 piano concertos between 1783 and 1786. Hannah, is it true that sometimes he would book in a concert of a new symphony for, like, the week after next and then write the thing? Well, often he might have had to compose pieces at short notice. All compositions were done for specific commissions or concerts.

He'd never just write a symphony for the sake of it, so it would always be working towards something. Tuck biscuits. LAUGHTER His agent on the phone, Hey, Wolfie, Tuck biscuits. I hear you. His agent on the phone, hey, Wolfie, I've got a gig for you. Have you heard of cryptocurrency?

He's like, no. All right, well, we're going to hear a piano concerto. This is piano concerto number 24 in C minor. It's played by the wonderful Ben Dawson. So, Ben, please take it away. Thank you. PIANO PLAYS L'artiste de la chanson Thank you. Well, from that delightful ditty, let's talk filth. Right, give the people what they want. It's often said Mozart wrote a piece for voice, so, you know, a singing song. Not a musical historian, as you can tell.

Wrote a piece for voice with a name that was so vulgar it had to be posthumously retitled when it was published. Do you want to care to guess the name? Was it I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie? I mean, it's a banger, but it wasn't his. No, this piece was called Lick Me in the Arse

or Lick Me in the Arse. Which was subtly tweaked, very subtly, by the publishers to Let Us Be Glad. Which I think is very similar, David. Lad are a speed lad.

Now, Hannah, you're going to ruin this, aren't you? You're going to say, this is not Mozart saying this. Is that true? Certainly the music was misattributed to him. There was a possibility that maybe the lyrics Certainly the music was misattributed to him. Ah, Hannah! There was a possibility that maybe the lyrics were... But that kind of humour was really, really common at the time, actually.

It's in the family letters, and not just of the Mozart family, but it was very... It sounds quite... To us, it's a bit more out there, but it was very common at the time. Next, he'll tell us he didn't write, Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus. It's funny we call him Amadeus because he didn't go by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that much, did he? That's the name we call him,

but he was always sort of swapping names a bit. He was Gottlieb for a bit. Often his letters, he sounds Amadei. Yeah, Amadei or Amadeus or Gottlieb or Wolfgang Amadeo in Italy. So he's not often the person we think of. But, yeah, there we go. So Lick Me in the Arse exists, but whether Mozart wrote it, you decide.

You're right also about the sort of the scatology. It's in his letters to his family and from the family back. It's really surprising. We imagine these sort of great geniuses being quite prim and proper, but there's a letter where he writes to a cousin and says, I hope you shit your bed. I mean, you don't want to read the letters of James Joyce to Nora because they're of a similar theme.

Yeah. We think of these people as high-minded, but, you know... He loved poopy chat. But from the delightfully dirty to the downright depressing, in 1787, Leopold, the father, also fell ill and also died. And so this is obviously a huge tragedy because now he's lost both his parents. And Wolfgang and his wife, Constanza, they never returned to Salzburg. So where did they go now? Yes, after Leopold died, they didn't go back to Salzburg.

Well, Wolfgang finally got quite a high-status, well-paid position at the Viennese court, but he entered quite a challenging couple of years. There were some changes to Viennese concert culture. Vienna entered the Turkish war. Several factors caused his freelance income to drop. Constanza suffered from regular illnesses that generated frequent medical bills. Tricky few years. Stressful. Vienna in the Turkish war. That demo on your keyboard that we heard Ben play earlier. He can't slow it down. That's called the Rondo alla Turca, the Turkish Rondo. At the time, it was very fashionable to be pro-Turkey. And then Vienna went to war with the Turks and everyone was like, oh no!

But how was he not raking in cash from the various operas that were presumably doing quite well? Or was there not a structure whereby the composer got paid? Certainly, when the laws changed, it used to be that during, say, Lent, you were not allowed to...

Operas and theatre performances weren't allowed to happen, so that would be a really lucrative time to give subscription concerts and things, but that changed, so actually theatre performances could happen, meaning there were fewer opportunities for these really lucrative subscription concerts. So even though he had successful operas during that time, I think the combination of everything,

it just wasn't quite as aligned as it had been. Challenges in the marketplace. He should have done merch. He should have done mouse math, stuff like that. I mean, David, you know, obviously, the creative industry, it's hard when life sometimes is a little bit tricky. You know, you're a comedian, you're telling jokes. How how do you process stress you know when when you're trying to be funny but also it's not always you know rosy and no and the inherent up and downiness of pretty much every gig you ever do makes it you can really get quite down to be honest with the whole thing. That's why you need to get a small novelty keyboard available

for £10 still on eBay and put a smile on people's dials that way. No, I'm very lucky in that what I do, in that there's something fundamentally joyous about people laughing at your material, but I realise for proper musicians and there's

50 of them and a triangle player behind me, it's much more complicated. Shots fired. Yeah, of course it is. But this is how Mozart processed his emotions during this stressful time. We're now going to hear the Jupiter Symphony, which is number 41 in C major. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 I mean, that one's just euphoria, right?

Yeah, that's big. This guy's feeling stuff. But it's quite, it's a thrilling piece. It's joyous, it's uplifting. It's, this feels like happy, happy, happy. I mean, when you compare it to the more sort of soppy flowery stuff that was to come from your show pans, uh-oh, O'Doherty's starting beef with classical composers here.

But I love this. But life was not ideal for him because he's still having to earn cash. His wife's poorly. So how is he going to rake in some money and pay the bills? So they did go through this tricky period. Perhaps to try and earn more, he undertook a concert tour of Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin.

Not many details survive, but the tour, it wasn't a success financially. But by the summer of 1789, things were improving. He was busy writing Cosi Fan Tutti. He received several offers from patrons across Europe. He was appointed as an assistant to the elderly Kapelmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. The idea being that he would inherit this important position upon the Kapelmeister's death. He was also invited to compose music for a new opera with a libretto by Emanuel Schickeneder. Emanuel who? Schickeneder. Okay, yeah, Emanuel Schickeneder. Do you know the name of the opera that he composed? The libretto was by Emanuel Schickeneder? Was it something very German?

Was it called Lidl versus Aldi? It's the Magic Flute. No way. Yeah. That was him as well. Yeah, he had a fair... Fairness to this guy. Yeah, he had some pretty... They keep coming this guy. Yeah, he had some pretty...

They keep coming. They do. You hit the Spotify essentials and you're like, I know this one as well. Yeah. It's actually got one of the catchiest melodies in all of music history, the Queen of the Night's famous aria

with this incredibly difficult high F6 note. But how hard can it be? Ben, do you want to play it for us? I'm sure we can do this. We can master this, right? Come on. It's quite high. Oh, this one.

Yeah. Okay. I'm ready. David? Oh. Such is my commitment to this podcast. I just castratied myself, so... LAUGHTER

Yeah, we sit down really hard on the chair. OK, once more, Ben. MUSIC PLAYS That's enough of that. I mean, it is a song about murder, so the fact we killed it is fine. I think we both sounded quite like Shakira there. Yes, wherever, whenever I am ready to kill Mozart tunes Your breasts are small and humble

Well, having killed all my credibility should we restore some quality control to the podcast by getting some actual musicians to play something from the Magic Flute This is The Overture. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Now, I've never seen the magic flute, but is it about as legendary Todger? LAUGHTER

Is there a point where it just pops out and starts playing these beautiful tunes? Oh. HE COUGHS Is it about as Todger? No? Is opera the people's music at this time? Because we think of it now as being quite high status.

So this was actually his only opera for the suburban theatre, so open to people from all ranks of society. It was immediately successful when it premiered on 30th September 1791. It really took off. So, I mean, that's a sort of triumphal high point of his musical sort of output, but I have to kill everyone's sort of triumphal high point of his musical sort of output. But I have to kill everyone's buzz.

It's the end of his life, pretty much. He died very soon after. Two months later, actually. Yep, two months later, aged 35. Oh. I was quite enjoying hearing the music and talking about todgers, and now we're sort of getting towards the end

of the old kind of podcast, really. It's a tragedy. Wolfgang was Wolfgone, aged 35. Hey, no groans. Yeah, I did write that one, so yeah, fair enough. And probably without due glory. I think now probably the most famous composer, but I don't feel that I'm...

Well, let's turn to our expert, David O'Doherty. I mean, I'm getting more and more well-known as a composer all the time. Sorry. I think we think of Mozart as the quintessential genius, but in his life, at the end of his life, bills to pay... I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute, but he was actually very successful at the time of his death.

What did him in, Hannah? Rheumatic fever. He had a really bad fever. And he just, yeah, didn't get better. He was, by late November 1791, he was bed-bound. He had been doing some work on the Requiem. He had a commission for it. The commission probably came soon after he finished work on the Magic Flute. He was working on that, but he got ill. So he continued to work on it from his deathbed and he died before he could finish it.

Was he working on the Requiem for his own funeral? Would he have thought that, do you think? No, absolutely not. I mean, if you've watched the film Amadeus, there's all sorts of stories and myths and things surrounding the Requiem, but it was a very specific commission for a known person. And it's religious. It was coincidence that, yes, it is. It's a Requiem mass. A Requiem, and he's in Vienna Cathedral, is it?

No, where is he? He's in Vienna. He's in Vienna. So he's in his bed when he's writing it. Oh, sorry, he's in his in Vienna. He's in Vienna. So he's in his bed when he's writing it. Oh, sorry, he's in his bed. His bed's in Vienna Cathedral. They've just put him there up in the centre of the church. He's eating a Viennata.

He's eating a... So he died at 35, having composed over 600 pieces, which is astonishing. He started at, what, five? But incredible, three decades. But we do have this last uncompleted swan song before his devastating death, which is the Requiem, and we're going to hear it now. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Absolutely beautiful.

That's a big track. I want Never Had a Dream Come True by S Club 7 to play at my funeral. It's not as good, but it's... And obviously, normally we're used to hearing that piece with singing, and same with S Club 7, so, again, very similar. The only singers available were us, and they'd heard us murder the last thing.

We know it. I mean, that piece is called K626. When I say over 600 pieces, he's into the 620s, isn't he? He's up there. It's extraordinary. Which brings us to the end of our story, which he? He's up there. It's extraordinary. Which brings us to the end of our story, which means it's time now for a little quiet reflection with the Nuance Window. The Nuance Window is where David and I enjoy a short reprieve for two minutes while Dr.

Hannah takes centre stage and the limelight. But without much further ado, take it away, Hannah. So when we think of Mozart, a lot of us probably think of the Mozart depicted in Peter Schaffer's film adaptation of Amadeus. So childish genius, maybe quite disengaged from everyday life, unable to manage his affairs. Elements of this portrayal can be traced right back to the earliest Mozart biographies, but their content was entirely dependent on which sources were available to their authors and to their broader agendas. So Mozart's sister, Nanel, was the chief informant for the first biography, but obviously she only really had access to information from his childhood and

teenage years, so the biography is really strongly orientated towards Mozart the child. His second biographer, who was from Prague, was keen to stress how much the bohemian public loved Mozart's music and welcomed him in comparison to the Viennese public. The third biography, produced by Viennese music publishers Breitkopf and Hertel, most likely to boost music sales, comprised personal recollections and anecdotes that have long since been proven false. But the themes in these biographies, they persisted in

Mozart's scholarship for nearly two centuries, and they're still entrenched in popular perceptions of the composer. Rigorous modern scholarship has challenged pretty much every aspect of these early narratives and myths. Mozart's letters and documents highlight his engagement in everyday life, his artistic and financial success, and a really fulfilling personal life. Through some really challenging patches, he demonstrates both resilience and versatility. When he died, he was one of the most successful composers in Europe. He had lots of friends, he had several important commissions, and his music was being published far beyond Vienna. On his death, which was reported Europe-wide, an article described his universally loved and admired works. So I think how we understand Mozart's life is important because it affects our relationship with his music. We can appreciate the brilliance of his music all the more

when we know that it's not the product of some romantic genius, but of a human being like you or like me. So I think that really matters, how we see his life. Thank you very much. Not like me. I don't have that ability. More like me. David, what's your take on Hannah's lovely sort of nuance window there. I mean, I did see that movie, and definitely some of my perceptions of Mozart did come from that. But then, strangely over time, mostly through ads and movies, all these tunes do just work their way into your brain.

And this is, you know, 300 years after he passed away. And, you know, I just wonder, in 300 years' time, will people still be listening to my beefs 2024 or my great song from the Edinburgh Fringe? Thank you. It's been an extraordinary... Even sitting here with the orchestra, it's unbelievable, especially sitting this close to that sound

and these beautiful tunes. Gorgeous tunes, and thank you, orchestra. It's been a huge delight. Sorry to the triangle player for being so rude. But I think the time for chat is now over because it's time for some hardcore quizzing. That's what we've all come for. So let's have the So What Do You Know Now?

Yes, this is our quickfire quiz for David to see how much he's learned. David, how are you feeling? Are you feeling confident? I haven't really been listening to any of it. I've been moved by the music. I was listening to what Hannah was saying. So, you know, I've taken in some of that.

Right. So we'll see now. All right, we've got ten questions for you. Good luck. Here we go. Ten! Sorry, that was castrati. Yeah.

Question one. In which city was Mozart born in 1756? Salzburg. It was. Was that the triangle? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. You picked the wrong enemy.

Wheel turns. Question two. How old was Mozart when he wrote his first piece? Four. Yeah, I think it was five or four, but I'll let that have it. Yeah, I like that. We're not sure on that, but it is definitely stupidly young. Question three.

Which composer did Mozart... He met two, actually, so you can have it either. Which composer did Mozart meet in London who may have influenced him to write his first symphonies? Bach's son. Yes, son of Bach. Yeah. Yeah, well done.

Question four. Why did Leopold Mozart believe it was his duty to publicise Wolfgang's work? Because no one was turning up to his gigs and he was having to do Banana Cabaret in London. And also? Because it was sent from God above to the people. God-leave, God-loving. Well done. Question five. What was the name

of Wolfgang's talented sister, who was dumped from the family tours, aged 18? Oh, was her name Anna, but they called her Nasa, or something. The North American Space Association. Yes, the Space Agency. Hold her... NASA or something. Nano. Nano. North American Space Association.

Yes, the Space Agency. Yeah, you can have that one. Question six. The Queen of the Night aria that we murdered horribly is from which Mozart opera? Is it The Marriage of Figaro? Oh, it's The Magic Flute. Oh! You forgot about the todger.

To the listeners, that was a cat being thrown off the balcony. Question seven. Years after Mozart's death, Let Us Be Glad was published and perhaps wrongly attributed to him. What was its cheeky original title? You don't want to have to make me try and guess this. We did say it. Think bums.

I know, I know. Eat your bum bum. I'll give you half a mark, because it was lick me in the arse, which, you know, is a translation. I was trying to put a more Radio 4 spin on it. Question eight. What was the name of Mozart's wife? Oh, no.

Sister of Aloysia. Oh, yeah. What a clue that is. Was it Posh Spice? I'm afraid it was Constanza Weber. Oh. So, question nine. Mozart died aged 35 whilst composing from his deathbed which piece?

Requiem. It was Requiem. Question ten. This for I've lost count. Should we say eight and a half out of ten? Does that feel fair? I think I've only got two wrong so far. So, are we on seven?

Seven. Seven and a half. I've rounded it up to eight and a half. What did Dara O'Brien get when he was on this? Oh, like ten probably. Oh, yeah, probably did actually. No one even probably got 14 out of ten. Dara got nine.

Can this one be worth one and a half points? This is worth one and a half points. This for nine out of ten. Mozart composed roughly how many pieces to the nearest century? 600 pieces. Nine out of ten! Woo! Woo!

There's a little bit of VAR there. The referees got into, you know, we had to sort of get in there. But I think the people wanted victory. They wanted it for you. O'Brien's lawyers are on the phone. Yeah, no, it's been lovely have you enjoyed it David? I've had such a nice time

sitting here listening to this incredible music well thank you very much thank you David thank you Hannah and listen if after today's episode

you want more music check out our episode on Mozart's contemporary the black violinist composer and revolutionary the Chevalier de Saint-Georges or if you like jazz like David's dad,

then if that's more your thing, try our episode on Josephine Baker. This is why you book the big guns. This is why you get our docker team. And remember, if you've enjoyed the podcast, please leave us a review, share the show with friends, subscribe to You're Dead to Me on BBC Sound so you never miss an episode. But I'd like to say

a huge thank you to our guests. In History Corner, we had the incredible Dr Hannah Templeton. Thank you, Hannah. Thank you very much, David. In Comedy Corner, we had the delightful David O'Doherty. Thank you, David. APPLAUSE And in the enormous Orchestra Corner, we had the phenomenal BBC Concert Orchestra,

led by Nathaniel Anderson-Frank and conducted by Gavin Sutherland. Thank you, orchestra. And Ben on the piano for ruining his career by playing whatever that was when we were singing. So, thank you, Ben. And to you, lovely listener, join me next time as we compose another comic opera with two new players.

But for now, I'm off to go and buy my four-year-old daughter a miniature harpsichord and a ticket to Italy. Success! Bye! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE This episode of You're Dead to Me was researched by Madeleine Bracey. It was written by Madeleine Bracey, Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow, Emma Neguse and me. The audio producer was Steve Hankey and our production coordinator was Caitlin Hobbs.

It was produced by Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow, me and senior producer Emma Neguse. Our executive editor was Chris Ledgerd. The commissioning editor was Rhian Roberts. With huge thanks to LSO St Luke's in London for hosting us, the BBC Concert Orchestra for all the music, Charles Mutter for the arrangement of our theme music, and to our conductor, Gavin Sutherland.

Orchestra, take it away. And if you want to delve even deeper into the life and work of renowned composers such as Herm Mozart, then why not try Composer of the Week from BBC Radio 3, where we celebrate those who've touched our lives through music. Discover Mozart's childhood tour of Europe, how Hélène de Mangeroux's keyboard skills saved her from the guillotine, and the story behind Vivaldi's Four Seasons. To listen, just search Composer of the Week on BBC Sounds. This is the first radio ad you can smell.

The new Cinnabon pull-apart only at Wendy's. It's ooey, gooey and just five bucks for the small coffee all day long. Taxes extra at participating Wendy's until May 5th. Terms and conditions apply. I'm Helena Bonham Carter, and for BBC Radio 4, this is History's Secret Heroes. A new series of rarely heard tales from World War II. They had no idea that she was Britain's top female codebreaker. We'll hear of daring risk takers.

What she was offering to do was to ski in over the high Carpathian mountains. Of course it was dangerous, but danger was his friend. Subscribe to History's Secret Heroes wherever you get your podcasts. you