18 December 1791

Elector of Cologne gives Constanze 24 ducats

[F. X. Huber, ed.] Politisches Sieb [supplement to Auszug]. 1791–92, no. 32, Sat, 24 Dec 1791. Vienna: Franz G. v. Steinsberg

Den 18ten dieses beurlaubten sich alle hier befindliche Bothschafter und fremde Minister bey Sr. Kurf.
Durchl. von Köln, und Höchsterselbe trat seine Rückreise nach Bonn um 5 Uhr desselben Nachmittags an,
begleitet von den Segenswünschen Seiner Landsleute. Noch an dem Tage seiner Abreise machte Er unter
andern vielen Geschenken, wobey auch Madame Mozart mit 24 Dukaten bedacht worden, […]

Commentary

Archduke Maximilian Franz (1756–1801) was Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Beethoven’s employer, and an admirer of Mozart (Briefe, iii:194). The Elector, the last child of Francis Stephen of Lorraine (Emperor Franz I) and Maria Theresia, had arrived in Vienna on 6 Nov 1791. On 28 Dec 1791, a few days after the Elector’s departure, Constanze wrote to Luigi Simonetti, a tenor in the Elector’s service, offering Die Zauberflöte and La Clemenza di Tito for 100 ducats each (Briefe, iv:177; on this offer, see also Edge 2001, 647–653, regarding a Viennese copy of Die Zauberflöte now in Modena that may derive from Max Franz’s collection).

Das Politische Sieb was initially a local supplement to the Auszug from 16 Nov to 31 Dec 1791 (on which see the document for 12 Jan 1788), and then had a short-lived existence as an independent publication in the first three months of 1792. This report correlates with a later one (30 Dec) in the Hungarian Ephemerides Politico-Litterariae (Dokumente, 379), and may have been the source for it.

Bibliography

Edge, Dexter. 2001. “Mozart’s Viennese Copyists.”  Ph.D diss., University of Southern California.

Credit: DB

Author: David Black

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Source Library:

Wienbibliothek, A-43634

Categories: Biography

First Published: Thu, 12 Jun 2014

Print Citation:

Black, David. 2014. “Elector of Cologne gives Constanze 24 ducats (18 December 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 12 June 2014. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/18-december-1791/

Web Citation:

Black, David. 2014. “Elector of Cologne gives Constanze 24 ducats (18 December 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 12 June 2014. [direct link]