A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects

BBC Radio 3

Mozart’s world rediscovered in objects of his time. Professor Cliff Eisen looks at Mozart’s world through objects that were close to him. From BBC Radio 3.

Episodes

  1. 01/12/2011

    Objects 12: Blood letting device

    In this final episode Cliff Eisen focuses on medicine in the second half of the 18th century, and contemporary views on science and death. We explore today's object: a scarifier,used to bleed Mozart's mother before her death in Paris, and hear a moving account of Mozart's death in 1791 as recalled by his sister-in-law.

    12 min

  2. 01/11/2011

    Object 10 & 11: Leopold's books and Mozart's tea chest

    Cliff Eisen talks about travel in the 18th Century, and discovers the books Leopold Mozart picked up in London as well as the tea chest that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart carried with him on his travels.

    11 min

  3. 01/10/2011

    Object 9: A Masonic periodical published in Vienna in the 1780s

    In this episode Cliff Eisen explores Mozart's Masonic links in Vienna, and the relationship between the Masons and Emperor Joseph II. The object, a Masonic Journal from the 1780s, gives clues about some of the pieces with Masonic symbols that Mozart wrote, like the Magic Flute, and works he composed for Masonic Lodges.

    10 min

  4. 01/10/2011

    Object 8: A window from Mozart’s flat in Vienna

    A window from Mozart's flat in Vienna inspires Cliff Eisen to visit the actual place – the Figarohaus, today a museum dedicated to the composer, who tried to earn his life as a free-lance musician in the Imperial Capital – but what challenges did he face?

    11 min

  5. 01/10/2011

    Object 7: Salzburg’s executioner’s sword

    Cliff Eisen starts with an executioner’s sword dating back from the days when Salzburg embraced capital punishment. This episode explores crime and punishment in Mozart’s time and how this was reflected in some of his operas from the 1780s.

    14 min

  6. 01/10/2011

    Object 6: A telescope and a musical clock

    In this episode Cliff Eisen concentrates on a 18th-Century state-of-the-art telescope and on a musical clock as a sign of the Mozarts’ interest in science and technology – a typical concern of the time, which Wolfgang reflected in his music.

    10 min

  7. 01/06/2011

    Object 5: The Mozarts’ Games

    Cliff Eisen focuses on the role of game-playing in Mozart's life, and takes a look at a range of games including card games painted by Leopold Mozart himself, and a board game which featured the characters of Mozart's Magic Flute.

    11 min

  8. 01/05/2011

    Object 4: Mozart’s own piano

    Cliff Eisen explores some of the many types of piano Mozart played during his life, along with specially-recorded excerpts to illustrate the features he wanted to exploit as he wrote music for the instrument

    10 min

  9. 01/04/2011

    Object 3: A model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

    Professor Cliff Eisen focuses on a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Renaissance piece at the British Museum in London, which Nannerl Mozart mentions in her diary among the most remarkable things she saw during the Mozarts' stay in England.

    9 min

  10. 01/03/2011

    Object 2: Portraits of Mozart

    Cliff Eisen introduces the second in a series of programmes exploring Mozart's world through objects associated with him. Today, two of the most important portraits of Mozart: the Stock and the Lange portraits in Salzburg.

    11 min

  11. 01/02/2011

    Object 1: Mozart’s Watch

    Cliff Eisen introduces the first in a series of programmes exploring Mozart's world through objects associated with him. Today: Mozart's watch.

    10 min
  • 11 Episodes

4.1
out of 5
27 Ratings

About

Mozart’s world rediscovered in objects of his time. Professor Cliff Eisen looks at Mozart’s world through objects that were close to him. From BBC Radio 3.

Information

More From BBC

You Might Also Like