Hello Everyone! Yes, it's been awhile. But! I'm working on several new posts, because thankfully SUMMER IS HERE! And I now have more time to read. (Not just for school!) In the meantime, I thought I would share with you all my Biographical Narrative speech from the NCFCA 2011-2012 season. I placed 11th at Nationals with this speech my first year, and had so much fun with it. I was really disappointed to hear that they are replacing BN with Informative Speaking, but times change. So anyway, I hope you enjoy!
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"Remind me to leave something good for the horns."
These are the words of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he was 8 years old, according to the book “For the Love of Music” by Elizabeth Rusch. (Rusch 11) They were spoken to his sister while composing his first symphony. Before Mozart was even able to pen his compositions she was there to help him. Mozart spoke music into words, his sister wrote the music on paper and while Mozart’s brilliance would increase - his sister would fade into history, dimmed by the proximity of one of the brightest musical lights of all time. And yet, she was the one who held him, fed him, and played with him. In her day, she was an even greater musician than he was.
Before Wolfgang, all eyes looked upon her in wonderment. Before Wolfgang, she was the adoration of her father, before Wolfgang, she was Maria Anna Mozart.
Born in 1751, Maria was the 4th child of Leopold and Anna Mozart. But even before her birth, Maria's life was a series of losses. Her previous three siblings had all died within months of their birth. So when Maria made it past her first year, she became the prize of the family.
Maria lived through the loss of two more siblings and then in 1756 - when she was five - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. As a toddler, Wolfgang, unable to pronounce her name, simply called her Nannerl or nanny. To this day, those who are aware of her, know her as Nannerl.
Her father, Leopold was a court musician in Salzburg. He began Maria's musical instruction when she was seven. Immediately, her talent and natural gifts shone brightly. Her father gave her all his attention and formed her into a brilliant pianist. He would show her off at parties and amaze people around Europe with her perfect technique and quality of work. Watching, listening, and mimicking all of this was Wolfgang. The two of them would play for hours in a secret Kingdom they had created. Wolfgang sat with Maria at her lessons. Often Maria would include Wolfgang in her studies - as if they were composing together.
An article on the Smithsonian website states: “In 1760 words such as "Virtuosic", "Prodigy", and "Genius" were used to describe Mozart - Maria Anna Mozart.” (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Maria-Anna-Mozart-The-Familys-First-Prodigy.html?c=y&page=1)
“My little girl plays the most difficult works which we have … with incredible precision and so excellently,” writes her father in 1764.
“What it all amounts to is this, that my little girl...is one of the most skillful players in Europe.” (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Maria-Anna-Mozart-The-Familys-First-Prodigy.html?c=y&page=1)
Then one day, when Wolfgang was 4 he pulled himself up to his sister's harpsichord, sat on the bench where she had sat for so many years and hesitantly, but correctly, fingered the notes to a minuet that Maria had been playing earlier. This little spirited boy whom she loved with all her heart had just changed the rest of her life, and indeed the future of music for centuries to come, simply by tapping out a simple melody.
From this point on, as Maria would open her Notebook, known today as Nannerl’s Notebook, to perfect her training, she would find notes from her father; not about her playing, but about Wolfgang's efforts.
"Wolfgang learned the preceding 8 minuets in his 4th year."
"Wolfgang learned this minuet and trio in half-an-hour .. one day before his 5th birthday."
You might think you know this story. Perhaps you have heard it a thousand times before. One child overlooked by his parents while his sibling goes on to become the apple of their parents' eye. The child becomes resentful and bitter and does everything they can to destroy their sibling's success. But is this a story worth hearing?
But that is not this story. This is a story of a girl who lost the things most precious to her throughout her life and still remained a humble servant to her family. This is a story of a woman who worked for the success of the very person who had cost her her place in her father's eyes and in history. This is a story of a quiet strength and beauty, manifested from a brilliant musician who stifled her dreams and applied herself to the career her brother. This is a story worth telling.
For three years Leopold, Maria, and Wolfgang performed for royalty in to the most spectacular cities of Europe. The three of them were star attractions, but as the trip continued, it became clear that most of the applause was for the young boy, Wolfgang. The words of praise that used to be spoken about Maria were now being spoken about Wolfgang.
At one point, she stood by her father as Joseph Haydn approached and according to wordpress.com said, "I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute." (http://jamesesz.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)
Perhaps inside she was crying out to her father, "Remember me? Remember when I was the light of your eye?" Instead, she committed herself to the music tour and did her part to make sure that all who heard the young Wolfgang, came away remembering a genius at work.
After one of Wolfgang's performances he announced that he had just played a piece composed by his sister - an event the enraged their father. She would be instructed by her father that she was not to play the violin any more. That would be reserved for Wolfgang. Also, her compositions became suppressed. Wolfgang urged Maria to defy their father and play the violin or attempt to publicly play her own music. But, Maria remained faithful in honoring her father.
Can you imagine? Just try, try to imagine yourself as Maria, how would you feel? What would you choose? Would you choose to defy your father as your brother encouraged, or would you choose to honor your father as Maria did?
When she turned 18, she was no longer allowed to accompany her father and brother on their musical tours. Her attention should be spent preparing for marriage and teaching piano to students. The money she earned in this endeavor was then used to support Wolfgang's travels.
Finally, at 31 years old, it looked like once again, she would become the apple of someone's eye. She had fallen in love with Franz d'Ippold, who was a captain and private tutor. But when Franz proposed to Maria, her father stepped in and asked Maria not to marry him. Once again, Wolfgang attempted, in vain, to get Maria to stand up for her own preference. Once again, Maria honored her father and instead married Johann Baptist Franz von Berchtold at her father's request.
Maria survived the death of her infant siblings, she endured her Mother's death, and in 1787, she watched as her father slipped away. In the end, it was Maria, not Wolfgang, standing at his father’s grave. Eventually, she would also live through the death of her husband and one of her children.
Then, one day, Maria received news of the death of her precious Wolfie. This seems like a proper ending. The daughter remaining faithful to her father to his very death. The work for her brother finally finished. But, Maria’s story is not yet over.
She moved back to Salzburg with her children and as her sight began to fade, made her greatest contribution yet to the longevity of her brother's career: she began to compile a complete listing of his works, his letters, his words, and his thoughts. His dreams had become her dreams, and now she would insure that there was no chance of these dreams dying with her brother.
Perhaps some would say Maria Anna Mozart has gone down in history as someone who was too subdued to claim what was hers - to stand up for her dreams. History even remembers her as a little girl - Nannerl. But, I see a girl who blossomed into a woman, who knew who she was, and who spent her life putting her family first. She served them with her whole heart and rejoiced in their brilliance. She magnified and reflected their light for the world to see and throughout her years remained humble and faithful to her family. She worked in silence and in the background between the notes of Leopold and Wolfgang, but as her brother once said,
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”
