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MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

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IV. <strong>MUSIC</strong> AT <strong>THE</strong> BADEN PFARRKIRCHE<br />

Some time in 1789, Constanze began taking the waters at the spa town of Baden, near<br />

Vienna, in the hope of curing an ailment. 145 The nature of her illness is not entirely clear, but<br />

seems to have been related to her foot and perhaps also her last two pregnancies. There are<br />

many general references in Mozart’s letters to her poor state of health, but only a few provide<br />

specific details. In July 1789, the composer wrote to Puchberg in reference to Constanze,<br />

“man befürchtet nur, daß der Knochen möchte angegriffen werden.” 146 The following<br />

month, Mozart wrote to Constanze herself, “...was Deinen Fuß anbelangt, brauchst Du nur<br />

Gedult zu haben, es wird ganz gewis gut gehen...”. 147 Constanze’s foot was again causing<br />

trouble in July 17<strong>91</strong>, when Mozart wrote to her, “...Deinen Fuß ist es doch besser und bist<br />

noch im Baade, weil Du da besser ausgehen kannst.” 148 Niemetschek refers to Mozart’s ailing<br />

wife, “die nach der Verordnung der Aerzte wegen einer Lähmung am Fuße Bäder vom<br />

gekochten Magengekröße brauchen mußte.” 149 More than half a century later, Mozart’s son<br />

Carl Thomas donated his father’s piano to the Mozarteum, and related a touching story that<br />

seems to refer to this condition:<br />

...so oft ich die Augen demselben [the piano] zuwende, es mir auf das lebhafteste das Bildnis<br />

meines Vaters, vor demselben sitzend, ins Gedächtnis zurückruft, um so mehr, da in dessen<br />

145 The earliest reference to Constanze’s travels is Mozart’s “begging” letter to Michael Puchberg of 17 July<br />

1789, in which the composer explains why he needed to borrow such a considerable sum: the “nicht<br />

entsetzliche Kosten wegen der Kur meine Frau...besonders wenn sie nach Baden muß...” MBA, iv.94. The cures<br />

were undertaken on the advice of Thomas Franz Closset (1754-1813), the family’s doctor after the death of<br />

Sigmund Barisani in 1787.<br />

146 Ibid., iv.95.<br />

147 MBA, iv.96.<br />

148 Ibid, iv.147.<br />

149 Franz Xaver Niemetschek, Lebensbeschreibung des K. K. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, aus<br />

Originalquellen, Second ed. (Prague: Herrlischen Buchhandlung, 1808; reprint, Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag<br />

für Musik, 1978), 97.<br />

302

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