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Karl Thomas
Karl Thomas
Nissens resigning from his diplomatic post in 1807 had enabled him and my mother to marry. Thereupon, my
mother and Nissen moved to Copenhagen where they resided for eleven years.
My stepfather worked in Copenhagen as censor of political journals.
In 1810, he was elected councilor of state.
Nissen retired in 1820 and in 1821, Mama and he moved to Salzburg, where my stepfather passed away in 1826.
Aunt Sophies husband had passed away on the very same day, and my aunt moved to Salzburg and lived with
Mama for the remainder of their long lives.
Mama was called to the Lord in 1842 and Aunt Sophie in 1846.
I had two other elderly, close relatives who lived out their later years in Salzburgmy aunts Aloysia, Mamas older
sister, and my Aunt Marianna, Papas big sister who had toured all over Europe and England with him when they
both were children and celebrated as Wunderkinder.
I had thought during my childhood that the life of a composer and piano virtuoso, following in the steps of my
esteemed father, Mozart, was for me.
However, I hated to practice the piano!
I could not stand spending the long hoursthe many hours a day--practically tethered to my instrument--in order to
perfect my craft.
I also regrettably discovered that I did not possess the creative giftthe geniusof my father.
At age fourteen, I was apprenticed to a commercial firm in Livorno, and at age one and twenty, I moved to Milan in
order to study music with the court Kapellmeister, Bonifazio Asoli.
My mother then wrote to me:
I leave everything to your judgment and shall certainly not advise you against doing so. But always bear in mind
this warning which I give you with the greatest affection: any son of Mozarts who is no more than mediocre will
bring more shame than honor upon himself.
Five years after arriving in Milan, I finally decided against becoming a professional musician and composer.
At six-and-twenty years of age, I became an official in the service of the Viceroy of Naples in Milan, and have from
then on throughout my long life been a civil servant, in the employ of the government.
My position became more comfortable as the years passed.
I am now retired, dear friends.
Today--September 21, 1858--I celebrate reaching the venerable age of four-and-seventy years.
I had one child, dear friends, my cherished and beloved daughter, Constanza, whom the Almighty chose to take from
me while she was still but a child.
I cannot explain to you the profound grief I felt upon losing my precious treasure, Constanza.
My dear mother was devastated as well upon the death of her only grandchild.
She loved that child deeply as I did! Mother took solace in her deep religious faith.
My daughters mother was the love of my life, but she herself was the wife of an army officer.
Her marriage was a marriage of convenience, dear friends, but I could ill afford to take a wife myself.
I did not have the means to support a high-born lady, as my beloved, longtime mistress was, and I did not desire to
marry below my station in life, as my lifelong companion and I would have little in common.
My brother Franz Xaver found himself alas in the same predicament as I.
He also had not the means to support a wife of high standing and did not wish to marry below his own social
standing.
He enjoyed a marriagethough not in namewith his great love, Countess Cavalcabo, herself married to a Count
in Ukraine, near the Polish border.
My friends, all my life, I have greatly enjoyed playing the piano as an avocation, a hobby.
I love to sit at the piano and play!
I play solely for enjoyment.
How playing the piano refreshes and renews me!
But to do this as my livelihood?
If I had been endowed with the great talents, ambition, and propensity for that kind of life, I would have gladly
embraced being a professional musician and composer.
Every week, I have concerts by the best artists performed here in my home, where my guests and I can enjoy my
great fathers and other great masters works.
My brother Wowi, encouraged by my mother, did pursue a successful career as a composer and piano virtuoso, but
Wowi was always haunted by the specter of his father, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the great expectations placed
upon his own shoulders.
Instead of taking his great legacy in stride, his heritage often discomforted Wowi and caused him at times to be
depressed.
I am now the last Mozart still alive.
My brother Franz Xaver passed away fourteen years ago, aged three-and-fifty years.
My friends, if my late, beloved Papa, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, were still livinghe would have celebrated his
one-hundredth birthday two years ago, as the date of his birth was January 27, 1756!
Imagine! One hundred years! How different the world was then, so long ago!
I accepted the invitation from Salzburg in that centenary year to attend the festivities and music festival in my dear
fathers honor.
It took place on the 6th and 7th of September, and many of my fathers compositions were performed.
On the way back to Italy, I stopped in Vienna, where centenary celebrations in honor of my father were also held.
Mozarts famous Requiem was performed in Saint Stefans Cathedral, and there were many dignitaries present,
seated at the front of the Cathedral.
I sat in the pew way in the back, and thought to myself that I am the last Mozart still alive.
No one noticed me there, but I am a retiring, unassuming person, and it was just as well.
These festive occasions so reminded me of the time I attended the musical celebrations at the unveiling of my fathers
statue in Salzburg and the naming of the Mozartplatz in 1842.
Well, unfortunately, in my branch of the family, there will be no more Mozarts after me to carry on the family name.
My Aunt Nannerls children, of course, were Sonnenburgs, and are no longer living.
But in the long run, my friends, my fathers nameWolfgang Amadeus Mozarts namewill forever stand alone.
"MOZARTS SON, KARL THOMAS MOZART: MY PAGE" is the exclusive property of Marti Burger, and is not
to be reprinted without her written permission.
"MOZARTS SON, KARL THOMAS MOZART: MY PAGE"
Marti Burger 2003-2008