Free Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Authors: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
But it is this that makes travelling soexpensive. No one who has not travelled can imagine what demands it makes. You have to keep your hands constantly in your purse and always have your wits about you and invariably keep in your mind’s eye a plan for the next few months, but a plan that can be changed at once if circumstances change. Now for something else. Don’t be surprised if I write things down in no particular order, but in cases like these you have to write down your ideas while they strike you, otherwise you forget them. In Germany people believe mistakenly that the French are unable to withstand the cold; but this is a mistake that is revealed as such the moment you see all the shops open all winter. Not just the businessmen etc. but the tailor, shoemaker, saddler, cutler, goldsmith etc., in a word, all kinds of trades work in open shops and before the eyes of the world, so that all the shops are so many rooms where you can see people working, year in, year out, whether it’s hot or cold. As soon as evening falls, the shops are all lit, so that in some there may be 6, 7, 8 or as many as 10 lights burning, in others there may be several sconces, and a beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle. Most of the shops are open until 10. The shops that sell victuals are open until 11. Here the women have nothing but
chauffrettes
5 under their feet: these are small wooden boxes lined with lead and full of holes, with a red-hot brick or hot ashes inside, or little earthenware boxes filled with coal. As soon as it is daylight, you see an incalculable throng of people of both sexes, young and old, walking in the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the boulevard and other promenades throughout the winter, even in the coldest wind. Tell me now whether the French are afraid of the cold. All the windows are thrown open at the least sign of sunshine. And no matter how cold the wind, the doors are open, and they sit by the fireside.
Before the family left Paris, Wolfgang and Nannerl gave concerts on 10 March and 9 April at the theatre of M. Félix, in the rue St Honoré; both performances were arranged by the German journalist and critic Friedrich Melchior von Grimm (1723–1807), long resident in Paris and acquainted with many important figures in French society. The family set out for London on 10 April 1764, travelling by way of Calais and Dover. They arrived on 23 April.
10. Leopold Mozart to Lorenz Hagenauer, 28 June 1764, London
Monsieur!
I have just received the enclosed bill of exchange from Paris and therefore hasten to forward it to you without delay in order that you can make use of it straightaway. I do not really understand how these matters are transacted at a distance and so I spoke with two local bankers, Loubier et Teissier, who are very good friends of mine and who, after seeing the letter I received from Messrs Tourton et Baur and noting the figure of £179½ quoted therein, have agreed that the value of 200 louis d’or is correct, given the difference in the exchange rate. You will not fail, therefore, to send this as soon as possible to Hamburg and, once it has been accepted, credit me with the sum of 2250 f. At the same time I have pleasure in reporting that I have again deposited a small sum of
100 guineas
with the afore-named bankers Loubier and Teissier, which I could pay to someone in the service of Salzburg who is currently in these parts. If you yourself can use this sum in Paris, The Hague, Amsterdam, Hamburg etc. or elsewhere, it would be most agreeable to me, and as I see that I shall probably still have to transfer a certain balance to Salzburg, I would ask you to be mindful of this and lend me a hand. In the event that a larger sum is to be paid, I can transfer an extra 30, 40 or even 50 guineas without depriving myself of money. I must also let you know that from now on you should send your letters to the following address:
Monsieur Mozart chez Mrs Charles Loubier et Teissier Banquiers.
chauffrettes
5 under their feet: these are small wooden boxes lined with lead and full of holes, with a red-hot brick or hot ashes inside, or little earthenware boxes filled with coal. As soon as it is daylight, you see an incalculable throng of people of both sexes, young and old, walking in the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the boulevard and other promenades throughout the winter, even in the coldest wind. Tell me now whether the French are afraid of the cold. All the windows are thrown open at the least sign of sunshine. And no matter how cold the wind, the doors are open, and they sit by the fireside.
Before the family left Paris, Wolfgang and Nannerl gave concerts on 10 March and 9 April at the theatre of M. Félix, in the rue St Honoré; both performances were arranged by the German journalist and critic Friedrich Melchior von Grimm (1723–1807), long resident in Paris and acquainted with many important figures in French society. The family set out for London on 10 April 1764, travelling by way of Calais and Dover. They arrived on 23 April.
10. Leopold Mozart to Lorenz Hagenauer, 28 June 1764, London
Monsieur!
I have just received the enclosed bill of exchange from Paris and therefore hasten to forward it to you without delay in order that you can make use of it straightaway. I do not really understand how these matters are transacted at a distance and so I spoke with two local bankers, Loubier et Teissier, who are very good friends of mine and who, after seeing the letter I received from Messrs Tourton et Baur and noting the figure of £179½ quoted therein, have agreed that the value of 200 louis d’or is correct, given the difference in the exchange rate. You will not fail, therefore, to send this as soon as possible to Hamburg and, once it has been accepted, credit me with the sum of 2250 f. At the same time I have pleasure in reporting that I have again deposited a small sum of
100 guineas
with the afore-named bankers Loubier and Teissier, which I could pay to someone in the service of Salzburg who is currently in these parts. If you yourself can use this sum in Paris, The Hague, Amsterdam, Hamburg etc. or elsewhere, it would be most agreeable to me, and as I see that I shall probably still have to transfer a certain balance to Salzburg, I would ask you to be mindful of this and lend me a hand. In the event that a larger sum is to be paid, I can transfer an extra 30, 40 or even 50 guineas without depriving myself of money. I must also let you know that from now on you should send your letters to the following address:
Monsieur Mozart chez Mrs Charles Loubier et Teissier Banquiers.