Two of Six
If you listen to a classical music radio station at all you must know that January 27th will be the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Mozart and his wife had six children, of whom only two survived into adulthood. This was the typical survival rate for children at that time.
Can you imagine it? Knowing that your child had only a 1 in 3 chance of living? It might make a person less likely to become very attached to their infant — knowing it most likely wouldn’t survive. In fact, I’ve read that this was true. People just didn’t have the same kind of deep feeling for their children back then. (Which is not to say they didn’t love them.) It kind of puts that whole “child labor” thing into a new perspective. If you’re lucky enough to have a kid who lives to an age where he could actually be useful, you might as well take advantage of that.
Whatever. So, of Mozart’s six kids, only two lived to adulthood. Neither of them married. One was some kind of financial bureaucrat. The other, who was only about 5 months old when Mozart died, became a mediocre musician.
I guess having kids must be pretty much a crap shoot no matter how you look at it.
Posted by RebeccaHartong on January 26, 2006 under Uncategorized
Some of Mozart’s letters to his father allude to the fact that they were attempt to raise the children on water, just as he and his sister had been, as it was considered impropriety for a woman of society to nurse. Formula was not an option, and they found the idea of a nursemaid disagreeable. This could account for the high mortality rate of Mozart’s children as well as those of his father. Apparently it was a common practice in a dark time, when people were bled by leeches for cure, etc… I just stumbled on your website looking for info on Martinu’s First Sonata.. wondered about the background. Thanks for the tip on the Galway chat room. I just joined.
You’re welcome about the Galway group. Enjoy!
That thing about raising the children on water is so sad! My God, no wonder most of them died. Poor things…