Maria Anna Mozart is an unknown sister of a genius composer

An ingenious Austrian musician, composer, classic of opera and symphonic music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to all people, even those who did not go to music school. About that he had a sister Maria Anna Mozart, very talented and gifted with musical abilities, not everyone knows. Her fate is very different from the brilliant and full of musical triumphs of her brother's life.

Mozart Maria Anna: biography (family)

Maria Anna (her home was called Nannerl) was born July 30 in 1751 in a well-known musical family. Her father Leopold Mozart was a violin teacher in the orchestra at the court of the Archbishop Elector in Salzburg (Austria).

Her mother - Anna Maria Mozart - gave birth to seven children, but 5 of them died (infant mortality was then very high). Only Wolfgang and Maria Anna remained alive, who were very attached to each other.

Leopold Mozart began to teach his daughter a game on harpsichord from the age of 7. There was even a note book by Nannerl, in which the father and family visiting friends recorded various minuets and plays for a small pianist. By the same notebook began to study and her brother Wolfgang, who was 5 years younger.

Maria Anna Mozart had a beautiful musical ear, she could repeat any melody she heard. She freely played the harpsichord, performing very complicated musical parts and concerts.

Concert Life

When the children perfectly mastered the harpsichord playing, and Wolfgang also on the violin, the father decided to show them to the public and arrange a concert tour for them. So at the age of 11, Maria Anna Mozart and her brother began their creative career.

The first such performance took place for the Bavarian Elector in January 1762, Wolfgang was then 6 years old.

At first, his father even considered his brother's and sister's talents equal, and then Wolfgang's compositional talent completely eclipsed Nannerl's abilities. But her brilliant abilities as a performer on the harpsichord were celebrated by all the musicians of those years.

At concerts, his father always tried to push Wolfgang to the fore, and Maria was always in the shadow of her brilliant brother. By nature, she was a quiet and domestic girl, always took care of her father and brother on trips.

The European tour lasted 3 years. The children traveled together with their father to many cities in Austria, Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, etc. In Vienna they played for the Empress Maria Theresa herself in the Schönnbrunn Palace.

In the autumn of 1765 on tours in London children hardly survived, having had a severe pneumonia. But, despite all the problems, the father with the two children will continue their tour. Then, in 1767, the children managed to have smallpox in the Czech Republic, but again they continued to perform concerts in the cities of Europe.

Completion of career

Mozart Maria Anna completed her musical career when she was 18 years old. In the 18th century at this age the girl no longer had the opportunity to continue speaking, because she grew up to the age of marriage. Unfair laws in society, concerning the impossibility for a woman to engage not only in households and children, but also in professional activities, prevented her further creative career.

The girl had to move to her mother in Salzburg, having no further opportunity to give concerts. She began giving piano lessons and was completely subordinate to her father.

Already an adult, she composed several pieces of music and introduced her brother to them, provoking his surprise and admiration for her talent as a composer.

Personal life

Women's fate Nannerle was not very successful. In her youth Maria Anna Mozart was in love with the chamberlain Franz Armand d'Ispold, but his father did not allow their marriage to take place.

At the age of 33, in 1784, she married the magistrate Johann Franz von Sonnenburg, who was 15 years older than her. Her husband was twice a widower, and even with five children.

After the wedding, they began to live in St. Gilgen, in her mother's house. Over time, Mary Anna was born three children. The elder son took for himself to study music his grandfather Leopold Mozart.

At this time, she completely distanced herself from her famous brother, and after his marriage, almost did not communicate with him. But soon after the tragic death of the 35-year-old Wolfgang, he handed to his wife all the letters and papers she had kept for her future biography.

After the death of her husband in 1801, Maria Anna and her children returned to Salzburg. She earned a living by giving piano lessons to children and adults.

Last years

Living in Salzburg, she acquired respect among the inhabitants and enjoyed a well-deserved honor. She lived not in poverty (as some biographers say). By the end of her life she was very sick and even lost her eyesight at 74.

Mozart Maria Anne died at the age of 78 in 1829 and was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Salzburg.

In the house in St. Gilgen, where she lived with her husband for a long time, now there is a museum dedicated to the life of the Mozart family, because there was also born her mother, Anna Maria. There are also some sheet music sheets with her works.

The film about Nannerl

In 2010, in France, the film "Nannerelle, Mozart's Sister" was filmed, telling about who Mozart Maria Anna is. Biography, creative career and her whole life, since 7 years, was associated with music.

Talking about her tour with her brother in Europe, about personal problems, the film is a tangle of some real facts of her life and fictional artistic details and plot intrigues. The film is very beautiful and was shot by the talented French director René Fere. In the role of Nannerl - his daughter Marie.

The intrigue of the film is based on Nannerl's desire to compose music and on her relationship with her daughters and the son of Louis XV, the King of France. When watching the film, the film completely immerses the viewer in the 18th century, as part of the filming took place in the palaces of Versailles.

Musical accompaniment - Mozart's stylized works, processed by modern composer Marie-Jeanne Cerero.

After watching the film, the audience will know who Mozart Maria Anna is, the unknown sister of the famous Mozart.