Mozart’s sister also composed music? The new hypothesis of Martin Jarvis

SYDNEY. Australian conductor and scientist Martin Jarvis discovered notes that were attributed to Mozart’s sister.

This is not the first sensation voiced over the past few years by a tireless researcher. The previous one concerned Bach’s wife, Anna Magdalena. She, according to Jarvis, was not only an assistant to her brilliant husband, rewriting his scores, but also a talented composer. She may be the author of several works attributed to the master.

Nanerl, as Anna Maria was lovingly called in the Mozart family, remained all her life in the shadow of her younger brother. The development of his exceptional abilities was given full and unconditional priority. And this despite the fact that she was gifted no less than Wolfgang Amadeus. In the game on the harpsichord, which she began to master at an early age, she had no equal. At the numerous concerts organized by Leopold Mozart for his child prodigies, it was Anna’s performances that caused the greatest interest among the public.

There are several explanations for why Anna’s exceptional abilities did not receive a decent frame. My father did not consider it necessary to promote Anna because of his affiliation with the weaker sex, whose representatives were supposed to take care of their family and home, but not their career. Wolfgang seemed to him a more promising candidate for the role of genius. The desire of the father to earn on the talents of his children almost cost them their lives. During endless trips, they were ill with everything they could, including serious infections. At one point, Anna was dying and scrambled out only by a miracle.

A big minus for Leopold was her daughter’s lack of inclination to compose music. The discovery of Jarvis, if it is true, suggests otherwise. The conclusions of Australian and American experts presented by him, who carried out a handwriting examination of various documents from the archive of the Mozart family, allow us to come to certain conclusions. The author of the works in Anna Maria’s music notebook, used by her father to teach Wolfgang to play the piano and entitled as anonymous, can be Nannerl.

Unable to reveal her potential, she was forced in her personal life to be guided by the opinion of her father. Not allowing Anna to marry a loved one, he chose her a husband as a middle-aged widower with five children. With the enchanting musical past, she was associated only with piano lessons, which she gave to those who wanted after returning to Salzburg.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru