Speaker 1 00:00:47 You are listening to right on radio on K FAI, 90.3 FM and streaming live on the
[email protected]. I'm Josh Webber. And tonight on right on radio, we are featuring an hour long interview from a special guest host Roderick FIPs Kettlewell trained at the Julliard school Kettlewell has enjoyed a successful career based in a wide variety of professional musical activities. He has performed and recorded as a piano soloist as an accompanist and chamber musician has conducted extensively in the choral opera and orchestra genres. These credentials make him more than qualified for interviewing Daniel E. Freeman. The author of Mozart in Prague. And I'm Dave, Fedak here to tell you a little bit about that book dismissed in Vienna as a composer of excessively complicated music with little popular appeal, Mozart found complete recognition for his talents and Prague. Daniel Freeman is an American musicologist pianist and music editor who lives in Minneapolis. He has taught music history at the university of Illinois, the university of Southern California and the university of Minnesota. And since 20 2002, he has appeared regularly as a speaker at the Smithsonian institution, all of this and more so stay tuned to write on radio. And now this
Speaker 2 00:02:15 I want to quote from your book. Um, I think it's from your preface. Uh, it's very hard to balance the expectations of music lovers and musicologists simultaneously. Indeed some readers may decide to skip over and the discussion of musical works or other parts if they are not of particular interest in order to concentrate on the portions that satisfied the greatest personal curiosity. So I wanted to say that, um, as coming from your background of academia, there's a certain way of discussing music and writing about music. Um, and, um, it's, it's, it's clear to me that, uh, you have taken the path of trying to instill your writing with the love of the music, but love of also the interrelationships between people. Absolutely. And that's what, one of the things that I've found most interesting is the way you've laid out the relationships, um, and, and how that caused Mozart to end up visiting Prague. Did you,
Speaker 3 00:03:32 Which are fascinating. It's amazing. The people that he knew, um, how he came into contact with him, how many people loved him so much so amazed at his talents, he was a great network who wasn't the Hindus. He was cause he was naturally, um, social. Yes. He loved company.
Speaker 2 00:03:50 Yes he did. But I think he also loved, uh, the exchange of views with people who were thinking about art, about the challenges of making art, but also people who cared about quality. I think he was, he was, uh, he was always finding the connections on that level.
Speaker 3 00:04:13 Yes. And he was accustomed to being around such people from the time he was a child. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:04:19 His father set a very high standard for him. Yes. And, um, but I think also the other things that I noticed is the role that, so your book is called Mozart in Prague and, uh, it's basically about the experience Mozart had visiting and being inspired by Prague to create some significant works in his repertoire, but also the experience he had of being totally loved. Yes. And, and, um, he always struggled with being appreciated in his lifetime. Yes, that's true. And, uh, and Salzburg was a challenge for him and Jade and, um, and Vienna particularly was filled with Vipers and people who were jealous of his talent. Yes. Um, yes. Just rivals yes. Fishes does her rivals. Yes, indeed. So, um, so it's clear to me that in, in Prague it's a, an environment and a cultural environment, which was unique. Uh, could you say a little bit about, uh, what you write about, uh, the, the musical qualities, the cultural qualities, and I think what's, what's interesting in the first part of the book, you give it a historical context, how it became the way it was by the time Mozart visited. Could you say a little bit about
Speaker 3 00:05:51 That? Yes. Um, the basic thing that was going on in Prague at the time of sites visits is that it was a recovering city. Um, he had been greatly de populated in the 17th century and the 16 hundreds to, to warfare. And it took over a century for it to recover its population and also his cultural institutions, which was mainly an phenomenon sponsored by the nobility of the kingdom of Bohemia, which progress capital, who are greatly enriched by the institution of serfdom. So they were vastly wealthy and they did use a lot of their wealth to help build up the cultural institutions of product.
Speaker 2 00:06:38 Cause that's a, that's a touchy subject these days. And I'm one which we, you, you actually rather, um, uh, very boldly, you just go straight to the, you say, this is, this is a problem that a lot of this culture, this, this money came from something that people didn't really want to talk about. Yes. The fact that they, they, they had these privileges and then they were challenged. Weren't they? They were challenged by, um, uh, mostly Joseph. Yes. And, uh, the, the income from all this, uh, free labor, basically.
Speaker 3 00:07:14 Yes. And Joseph threatened that because he wanted to eliminate the privileges. His goal was to do it entirely to entirely eliminate serfdom. He did succeed while he was still emperor to free a very large proportion of the serfs in Bohemia, but his brother lay upholds sent them back into servitude. That's fine then, um, a year or two.
Speaker 2 00:07:43 So, uh, this, this, this problem, uh, was not talked about publicly as much because they were embarrassed about it and they wanted to keep their privileges. So why would they talk about it? It was, they would complain about this, that and the other. And, um, describe the, the culture and the, um, the relationships between the classes. But that was a sort of no go area. It wasn't, yeah,
Speaker 3 00:08:10 Indeed. It was. And I do have extensive rotations from, um, a noble who was reminiscing about those times. And he was there, regions I noticed, brought up, served him. It was all implied. You had to know what he was really talking about because he didn't want to admit what his social class was up to and the true negative implications of it. Yeah. So this is, this
Speaker 2 00:08:34 Is the dark side of the culture that, uh, that motel was coming into. But most of that was, that was, that was the class that he mostly dealt with in terms of his commissions, in terms of the people who were interested in his work, um, they were, they were sponsors of his, they were, yes. And they, and you know, it was, you could say these ill gotten gains made the, made the money that, uh, w w paid for these
Speaker 3 00:09:00 Commissions. That is true. And as I say, that's one of the dirty secrets of 18th century musical patronage that musicologists hardly ever talk about. No, it's never,
Speaker 2 00:09:10 I think that it's one of the, the, the, the most notable things I noticed quite early on with what you were discussing. And, and, um, so the, there's this sort of balance between musicology and you're writing for the music lover. I think what you, you you've, you decided to do was give, uh, an academic context for this experience. And one of the things you do is quote, extensively from, from people who've wrote about their experiences. So these are personal observations of a lived experience, whether it's, you know, meeting Mozart, going to a concert of Mozart or what it was like to live in Prague at this time and, uh, the experiences. So, so that, that part is the sort of, they're not to academia in the sense I'm quoting my sources. And, and I found that very interesting if you do use that quite extensively. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:10:07 Yes. And there was an amazing coincidence because it was just about the time of Mozart's visits that were all sorts of guidebooks to the city appeared in the German language. And they're very interesting when it's said about life was like in the city. And, um, during the period of the emperor Joseph's rule, there was a great relaxation in censorship. That's right. It is amazing the topics that come up, including homosexual culture,
Speaker 2 00:10:36 Ah, how interesting, um, the, that revolution in Austrian society because of Joseph's relaxation is something that fascinated me, um, greatly in the eighties, the 1780s, it was an incredible change and he kind of let the cat out of the bag, or he sort of opened the doors and they never quite shot. Even though when his, when his brother came into power, they approached Leopold. And then, um, after that, they became a repressive society. You can do it. And they, they band the band secret societies, they band, um, um, they band the sort of publication of, of things which were deemed, uh, uh,
Speaker 3 00:11:29 Versus yes,
Speaker 2 00:11:31 That's right. Yes. Cause I think, I think, I think everything about Joseph he's a complicated character because he was, uh, he was, uh, he, he was an idealist, he was an idealist and he really wanted to change the world, but he wanted to do it all at once,
Speaker 3 00:11:48 All at once. And his way, his way was not a Democrat. No, he was in an alternate crab, but it was well-intentioned yes, it was well-intentioned but he didn't know how to do it. Right.
Speaker 2 00:11:59 And once he got into trouble, he decided to completely back off. Yes. And I think, uh, people, people, um, need to know that. I think one of the things that spooked him particularly was the, the big heading of his sister, Mary Antoinette, you know, when you let people, when you let the spirit out and the revolution comes, it can be very, very dangerous Pandora's box is exactly right. And so, um, so that's an, but you know, it was so interesting for me, uh, studying Mozart's interest in these matters cause he, he was a thinker. I mean, people think of it, you know, when, I mean it's inevitable to refer to the movie Amadeus and the, the sort of, um, popular idea that Mozart was a silly boy, brilliant genius, but a silly boy. And I I've always felt that he's, he's much more serious than that.
Speaker 3 00:12:58 That, um, as I say, in the book Mozart as Peter pan was part of him, that was an aspect of his personality, the boy who never grew up, it's an aspect, but not central or defining. No, no,
Speaker 2 00:13:12 No, absolutely. And, uh, so what happened did you see became very interested in serious things? It was a very devout religious person, but he also got involved with Freemasonry, which, which had, um, um, two aspects in Vienna, particularly that they're interested in. One was the scientific knowledge base, the whole, the new idea of looking the rationalism come out of, uh, um, the enlightenment and then the completely opposite side of the esoteric mystical side, which, which drew from sources from the east and, and so far. Yes. And, uh, and, uh, he, he had both of those, uh, influences in his life. And, um, uh, Joseph encouraged that a lot of his ministers, his, his government were from that organization. But as soon as he turned against it, they all went running except Mozart Mozart, actually just before he died, even though it was, uh, almost, um, forbidden, I attended a meeting and he was still a member, right. To the very end of his life. In fact, the last work he ever wrote was a Masonic. Yes, that's right. So, um, he was interested in, in, in deep matters. And, um, so I think the, the piece that I find, so, so inspiring. And, and what you write about is the, the, the effect that somebody's being enthusiastic about his work had on him. Yes. I think that inspired
Speaker 3 00:14:55 Him. Yes. And he wasn't accustomed to that. Nope. No, he wasn't accustomed to the adulation everywhere that he, um, was able to experience in Prague when it is quite heartening to read about it because of all of its illustrations in Vienna.
Speaker 2 00:15:11 Yeah. I, um, there's a, there's a, another quote in the book, which I, I want to, um, want to quote from <inaudible> in many of these, um, quotes they're basically, you're, you're either quoting from a newspaper or a correspondence or something like that. Some type of journal. Yeah. So it's a, it's something that is tangible, but this is about a concept, uh, when he first was there. Um, I think this was the one when he, uh, let
Speaker 3 00:15:46 Me see, that's the concert when the practice symphony was first performance on January 15th, 1787.
Speaker 2 00:15:54 Okay. That's right. And, um, he says, uh, in response to a general demand, he gave a grand musical concert on the piano at the opera house. And apparently you, and you point this out that, um, piano concerts were not that common because the piano was a, a, not a very, um, loud instrument. That's right. Um, and
Speaker 3 00:16:23 It was mainly for playing for yourself or if your friends were for you intimate thing,
Speaker 2 00:16:29 Um, never had the theater being so full of people that's on this occasion that must've been inspiring, never had there been such strong, unanimous enthusiasm as that awakened by his divine plane. We did not in fact know what to admire most, whether the extraordinary composition or the extraordinary playing both together, they made such an overwhelming impression on our souls, that it was as if we had been Bewitched, but this mood didn't dissolve when Mozart at the end of the concert, improvised alone at the piano for more than half an hour. And our delight reached the highest level in loud overflowing applause. And indeed his improvisations exceeded anything that could be imagined in the way of piano playing as the highest degree of the composes. Art was joined with the highest skill in playing. Certainly just as this concert was something quite unique for the people of Prague.
Speaker 2 00:17:26 So Mozart counted this day as one of the happiest of his life. The symphonies he composed for this occasion are two masterpieces of instrumental composition, full of surprising turns and exhibiting a brisk fiery momentum so that the soul is carried to a state of X saltation. This applies particularly to the great symphony in D major product's unfunny, which is still a favorite of the Prague public, even though it might well have been heard a hundred times the opera director Bandini commissioned Mozart to compose a new opera for the product stage for the following winter, which you gladly answered, undertook to do because he had experienced how much the Bohemians valued his music and how well they executed it. He often mentioned this to his acquaintances in Prague. He was always glad to visit Prague where he found a sympathetic public and true friends who carried him so to speak on their hands.
Speaker 2 00:18:24 He thanked the opera orchestra, obligingly in a letter to have to roll back the director at the time and attributed the great part of the positive reception his music had received in product to their excellent execution. This trade in his character insignificant though it may seem is very lovely. It shows that pride conceit or in gratitude were not fault of his as is so often the case with much lesser virtuosos. So I think that's, that's, that's really worth quoting. Um, I know, I mean, that's a, that's a part of your book where you're not afraid to use other well-written, uh, source material to, to make your point. And,
Speaker 3 00:19:06 Um, never anything well-written stood out from the times should be, um, should be transcribed and translated.
Speaker 2 00:19:14 I think that's, that comes from your academic, uh, training.
Speaker 3 00:19:18 Yeah. Yes, no question. Yeah. Quoting your sources. Yes. It's all about yes. Getting to the bottom of things. And fact checking is just so important for what, um, music scholars do.
Speaker 2 00:19:31 Sure. Um, I, I think, I think though the point I'm I'm trying to uncover here is, is what caused you to, to be inspired by Prague, as opposed to all of his other experiences travels to Italy, for instance, or, or his experience in Vienna. And, um, you know, for instance, in Italy, he was inspired by singing of the Italians and, and, uh, the counterpoint of Padre martini. And, you know, I mean, all these famous people who would inspire him and, um, then, then he would go to that seems to meet more of the technical side of things, but there's that, that elusive quality of inspiration. And I think, uh, Prague because of its enthusiasm and the love, and, um, uh, the other point that you make is that they were intensely musical people, and that was not by accident. It seemed to me, they made a conscious choice to educate the populace, not just the wealthy,
Speaker 3 00:20:50 But yes. All populists were trained in music, including the females. Yes. So everybody was a connoisseur in a sense, yes. Everyone had musical training, um, since they were children, the original reason for it was to, um, have them participate in congregational singing that's right. So
Speaker 2 00:21:11 There was a religious kind of,
Speaker 3 00:21:14 That was the motivation for starting the system. But as we know, if you get people started on music, um, many people are going to take it far too far, greater length than within dissipated at first. Sure. And that's what happened in the country. Um,
Speaker 2 00:21:27 But it made for a musical culture. Yes. That was, could appreciate the subtleties and the nuances. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:21:36 Yes. Because, um, they were taught what we would now consider to be basic music theory. They, they were musically literate in that they all could all read notes of the famously musical Neapolitans. For example, the ordinary citizens of Naples could not read notes. No, they would, they would learn everything by routes. And it was amazing yes. By here, but now they, um, they were, they were taught how to read music. Uh, so they,
Speaker 2 00:22:05 It was unique to Prague and, and the, and the check
Speaker 3 00:22:07 Check. It was unique to the kingdom of Bohemia. Yes. And, um, music educators are still fascinated by it. There was nothing else like this being written about much, um, in music, the field of music education. Yes. Yes. It has because they're fascinating
Speaker 2 00:22:25 In terms of a general book about Mozart or, or in terms of musical culture. And this is this, it seemed to me something that I, I found fascinating to, to come across in your writing.
Speaker 3 00:22:38 Thank you. I am certainly not the only person who's, um, talked about it in print. That's true. But I'm delighted to be able to publicize it.
Speaker 2 00:22:47 Yeah. I mean, to me, that, that means that it creates a context or a, um, uh, an environment for receiving something with more enthusiasm than somebody who just says, oh, that's, that's nice. That sounds good. But you know, there's, there's a, there's a sense in which you, you can really take in all the, all the meaning of something. Exactly. It's like someone who is, is literate and has as well read when they read something. Um, they have the sense of the deeper meaning of it. And I think, um, if, you know, so Mozart, if he knew that his audience is his listeners would understand what he's doing, he, he could write a certain way and it wouldn't be wasted.
Speaker 3 00:23:37 Exactly. And that's the phenomenon that we see with the proxy symphony and the opera, Don Giovanni, the proxy symphony was the most difficult symphony to play that had ever been written up to that time. And Don Giovanni was probably also the most difficult opera to perform that had been written up to that time. And I theorized nobody comments about it, but I theorize just what you say. He knew that he was writing for people who could understand what he was up to and appreciate all the subtleties and complications. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:24:11 In, in my reading about Mozart, um, it has been very avid evident that, um, he, he was proud of the fact that he could write music for connoisseurs and the general public and that he could, he could, in a sense, what you wrote about your book, you know, simultaneously, you know, for music lovers and musicologists, in other words, people who know and people who love music, um, I think he was also, um, he was, he was a thoughtful composer, but he also was a passionate composer if there ever was one, if there ever was one. Exactly. And, and he found his ideal, uh, reception in Prague. Yes.
Speaker 3 00:24:59 Because of the, um, of the combination of, uh, the love of music and the extra appreciation that was available due to enhance training. And there's a very interesting illustration of this, the importance of this, um, that is concerned with the opera, a marriage of Figaro, um, it was a fantastic success in Prague and that's what was the immediate reason for the invitation there, but it was only a moderate at best success, a few in Vienna and in the Vienna newspaper. Um, there was a remark that the people who were connoisseurs, who had the extra knowledge really adored the marriage of Figaro and Vienna, but the people who did not have this skill did not like it very much. Yeah. So that's in Prague, everyone was the kind of stuff. So they loved it.
Speaker 2 00:26:02 It's it's, uh, it's, it's, it speaks to the, the place of culture in the ability to receive, um, great works of art. Yes. Um, and I think one of the challenges that classical music so-called has is the, um, the label of being, uh, um, you know, um, snobbish and, and exclusive. And, but
Speaker 3 00:26:30 Even though it doesn't have to be absolutely not. And there've been many periods of music history when it certainly was not, there's no
Speaker 2 00:26:37 19th century and romantic here. Um, I think one of the great tragedies is when romantic music gets played in a very intellectual
Speaker 3 00:26:47 Way, I couldn't agree more
Speaker 2 00:26:51 Where, where you have music, which is, which has fire in the belly. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's full of burning passion. And yet it sounds very strange restrained. It very, very accurate because people are trying to get into tech technically just go. And, and of course, there's, there's, there's great challenges in, in romantic music, technically speaking that push the limits of what's possible. And so obviously people are focusing not falling on their face and they're trying to get, get it right. But if you miss the spirit of the music, but I think that's something which I think, um, develop more as, as Mozart went on. And I think as he, he plumbed the depths of the human spirit through his music,
Speaker 2 00:28:25 I, I, it seems to me what you're saying, and what I read from your book is that that Prague played a role in that development.
Speaker 3 00:28:33 I believe it did. Um, because he was able to push things to the limit for a product, but then you just kept right on doing that. Once he had been given the outlets,
Speaker 2 00:28:42 He, once he realized that he didn't have to put the lid on it, you could, he could just go, go, go on with that. I find that. So very interesting. Um, uh, the other, the other aspect, um, of progress that, uh, that was the importance of the building of that theater, the new theater in 1783. Yes. Which, which, um, which kind of, uh, brings up the whole subject of, if you don't have the infrastructure, you, you, you, you, you don't have the possibility to create
Speaker 3 00:29:19 Exactly. If that theater had not been built, he probably never would've gone there.
Speaker 2 00:29:24 It gave him an outlet, a place where he could do what he wanted to do really well, the stage, the, the building and the, and what, what it attracted in terms of talent to that space,
Speaker 3 00:29:38 Precisely, including the excellent orchestra that they had in park. Yeah. Many people don't realize that a lot of symphonic music was first performed in opera theaters, including most of the symphony of Beethoven or yes, that's fine. Um, so yes, it was much more than an opera stage. It was also a place where all kinds of different music was performed.
Speaker 2 00:30:00 Well, you know, as a musicologist that, um, most concerts prior to the 20th century, big, which became kind of almost, um, staid and very prudish, um, they would have any number of things. They wouldn't say, oh, this is a symphony concert. This is a song recital. This is a, a piano concert. They would have Arias and symphony movements. They would just do one movement and then, and then they'll come back and do the last movement. And then if people liked it, they repeat it.
Speaker 3 00:30:32 Yes. Um, almost like a vaudeville show. Yeah. A variety show. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:30:35 And then they would have a, then they would have a freak show with list playing, um, you know, all these sort of flamboyant, uh, chills and, and ABET Joes and so forth. But I wrote, so I had that, that quality too, didn't he, I think he, you know, his improvisations and his, uh, his performance, I think he had a, um, a dashing kind of quality about him. And I think he understood that, that,
Speaker 3 00:31:01 And of course in those days, um, playing the piano was not just about refining a standard repertory masterpiece was, she were really judged about was how well you could improvise. That's how he was able to do that better than anyone, obviously in the, in Europe, from the time he was a teenager.
Speaker 2 00:31:19 Yeah. He was. Um, and, and I think for him, he, it actually skipped the, um, that part of the mind, which becomes very literal when you, when you read music, um, you're trying to translate something. So there's a one step. So you take the music and you translate it and you play it. Whereas improvising is, is much more visceral, much more emotionally connected. And for him, he was going for an effect and emotional effect. I mean, we know from writings of Mozart, um, uh, like, you know, when they talk about, um, in the abduction of Seraglio about the, you know, the beating heart and the, and, and, and I mean, he was trying to, he was trying to express the really deep physical responses to emotional situations as we connect with people. And of course for him, everything was channeled through the, um, the operatic filter, which was the great drama of human guy.
Speaker 3 00:32:29 Yes, yes, yes. There was a man of the theater and although the other power, the emotional power is that the theater could, um, could, um, muster two more people. Um, the objection from the Raleigh by the way, was one of the first options for first one in the theater performed in that new theater in Prague. That's right. And that is what originally established his reputation in the city. And they started just eating up more and more, that was coming from Vienna until they just decided they had to have him. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:32:59 I said, we've got this. Uh, yeah. So, uh, the other, the other aspect of that theater, which I find fascinating is the, um, cosmopolitan cross-cultural aspect that this theater expressed, because did, it was, it was Prague. And, and in, in, including into the, the last century was a extremely influenced by Germany and it had a German cultural center. So the, the Czech language and the Czech culture was kind of side by side, but sort of a little, um, uh, pushed off to the side
Speaker 3 00:33:46 As it was considered inferior. Yes. But it still existed. Um, there still were outlets for it. So,
Speaker 2 00:33:53 So this theater was, was considered, uh, a German theater indeed. And that's why they liked the German opera that came from, um, the, the book tatter in, in, in Vienna. Yes. Um, which was, Mozart's attempt to bring some German opera back to the, um, center of, uh, of the empire Joseph's well, but most art responded to that. Yes, exactly. Yes. And he, I mean, I think he was enthusiastic too about, um, that, that, uh, that kind of, um, expression of German culture through to
Speaker 3 00:34:31 Oh, naturally, that was the nature of language. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:34:34 And, uh, so, uh, then they had some, then they had some Italian opera, so there was the, the snob value of Italian and, and then they had some check plays, but that only lasted about three years, as I understand from your book. Yes.
Speaker 3 00:34:50 Yes. Because yeah, the government didn't like that so much. They, they didn't want, they, they wanted to keep the, um, the nationalist check element under control. So that was a political issue partially. Yeah. But they were never completely able to, um, eliminate it. There were always outlets for sure. Tech theater of some type, because
Speaker 2 00:35:13 It was bought by the estates, which is one of the political bodies in the, in the country. And it became the state's theater, didn't it? Yes. Um, and then Italian opera was, was, was part of the reason why Figaro and then Don Giovanni of Mozart was, was, uh, yeah. The, the Bandini, uh, opera troupe and, um, was, uh, impresario for those, those,
Speaker 3 00:35:40 The irony is in the German cities, if they really wanted to advertise themselves as being great cultural centers, I had to do it Hallion opera. Yes. Yes. It's, that's, that's just the way it is. That's hard for us to understand today these, these prejudices that they had. Yeah. But Italy was the great country of music. If you wanted to, um, advertise yourself as being a connoisseur of the greatest music, you would want to advertise yourself of being a connoisseur of Italian music.
Speaker 2 00:36:09 And, um, that's why, of course we use Italian is the lingua franca of, of musical in, in, in schools, we use Italian Allegro and DeVotchKa and Lago and so forth because cause this was the language that everybody needed to know if they were going to
Speaker 3 00:36:25 Be indeed similar to the way they use French and dance.
Speaker 2 00:36:29 That's right. Yeah. I mean, um, but even, you know, like the czar in Russia wanted, um, uh, an Italian composer to come to his theater.
Speaker 3 00:36:40 Yes. And they did not want the very talented people who were from Germany who learned how to write in Italian style and say in Russia, they only wanted the real thing, the real Italians. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2 00:36:56 Um, so then that, that went for awhile and then they stopped doing Italian operas in 1806 at that theater. And then they shifted back to Germany. So that must've been the winds of change and in the politics and the, and the various cultural things that would go back and forth, and then they reintroduced check plays and stuff like that. So it was that I, and I liked the fact that, um, you know, this is sort of the balance you were talking about, you know, you're writing about a history, so there's a, there's a sort of academic narrative of what happens. But for me, that was actually a very useful thing to find. Um, I've always found in my reading, it's great to have a context to understand when a work of art is being produced, what were the prevailing, um, uh, thoughts and culture at the time. Um, and then, and then the other, the other really fascinating thing is that the friendships, connections and, and, uh, networking that they, they, they found, um, that Mozart had from his time in Salzburg, from his time in Vienna and from his travels all around, whether it's Manheim Paris or whatever London. Yeah. And of course we don't know so much, but, uh, in, in, in the 18th century, all of the noble families, they didn't have just one.
