Historical Figures

Nannerl Mozart, the sacrificed prodigy

Maria Anna Mozart, elder sister of Wolfgang Amadeus and known by the affectionate nickname of Nannerl, was a young musical prodigy whose talent was thwarted.

Two child prodigies

Eldest daughter of Anna Maria Mozart and Leopold Mozart, Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart was born on July 30, 1751 in Salzburg . His brother Wolfgang Amadeus was born 5 years later, in 1756. Very close, the two children went so far as to develop a secret language between them.

At the age of seven, Leopold began teaching the harpsichord to his daughter. Wolfgang quickly shows a great interest in these lessons and the two children very quickly prove their talent and their potential as child prodigies. Leopold takes Nannerl and then Wolfgang to several major European cities to perform in concert. Very early on, Nannerl was recognized as a musician of great talent.

A thwarted career

Interpretation is not his only talent. Nannerl Mozart composes pieces, which his brother will praise in their correspondence. During a concert, Wolfgang reveals that the piece he has just performed was composed by his sister. Irritated, Leopold orders his daughter not to write any more music, because a woman cannot become a composer.

When Nannerl reached 18 and the age to get married, his father stopped taking him on tour to devote himself solely to his son. The young girl wants to compose, study the violin, perform on tour, but Leopold smashes her dreams. He refuses to let her study the violin and forces her to give piano lessons to finance his brother's tour in Italy. Nannerl obeys his father, but sinks into depression.

At first, Nannerl and Wolfgang remained close and exchanged very affectionate letters; but their relations gradually become weaker, especially after the young man's marriage. The success of his brother's career and the independence he can achieve is certainly hard to bear for Nannerl, who has seen his hopes shattered.

A life controlled by his father

His romantic choices are as thwarted as his musical dreams. Nannerl Mozart falls in love with Captain Franz d'Ippold, but her father disapproves of this choice and does not allow her to marry him. Wolfgang offers his sister to join him in Vienna to live his love there, but Nannerl resigns. In 1783, she married a man chosen by her father. Magistrate Johann Baptist Franz von Berchtold zu Sonnenburg is already twice a widower and has five children.

The couple moved to Sankt Gilgen. In 1785 Nannerl returned to Salzburg to give birth to her first child, named Leopold after her grandfather. The latter lets his daughter know that he wants to raise the child himself for the first few months, and Nannerl returns to Sankt Gilgen without his son. The arrangement will last until the death of Leopold the eldest, in 1787. Thereafter, she will have other children:Jeannette, in 1789, and Maria Babette who will live only one year.

Nannerl takes care of the children of the family and teaches them music, although none of them become musicians. When her father dies, she briefly and coldly resumes contact with her brother, but their relationship will never return to what it had been. On the death of her husband in 1801, Nannerl returned to live in Salzburg where she supported herself by giving piano lessons.

Her health declined and, after she became blind, Maria Anna Mozart died on October 29, 1829.