The Mozart family's grand tour was a 1763–1766 journey around the
capitals and other major cities of western Europe, undertaken by
Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted
children Maria Anna, and Wolfgang Amadeus. Leopold was a court musician
to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and by 1763 held the post of
deputy Kapellmeister. He obtained a protracted leave of absence so that
the precocious talents of his children, then aged eleven and seven
respectively, could be demonstrated to the wider world. The social and
pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip, taking
in the major European courts, complemented what Leopold saw as his
duty, as a Catholic and a German, to display the talents of his
miraculous children. The grand tour itinerary took the family, via
Munich and Frankfurt, to Brussels. From there they travelled to Paris
and then London. In London Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of
the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his
first symphonies. The family moved on to Holland, where the schedule of
performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, but
Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward journey
incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland,
before the family's return to Salzburg in November 1766. The children's
performances inspired comments of rapture and amazement wherever they
played. The journey enabled the children to experience fully the
cosmopolitan musical world, and to receive an outstanding education,
which in Wolfgang's case continued through further journeys during the
next six years.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_family_grand_tour>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1649:
The Peace of Rueil was signed, signaling an end to the opening episodes
of the Fronde, France's civil war, after little blood had been shed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Rueil>
1851:
Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto was first
performed at La Fenice in Venice.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigoletto>
1879:
Japan annexed the Ryūkyū Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa
Prefecture.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABky%C5%AB_Kingdom>
1917:
World War I: British forces led by Sir Stanley Maude captured Baghdad,
the southern capital of the Ottoman Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Baghdad_%281917%29>
1966:
In power since World War II, President Sukarno of Indonesia was
essentially ousted by Suharto and the military after being forced to
sign the Presidential Order Supersemar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukarno>
2004:
A series of simultaneous bombings on Cercanías commuter trains killed
191 people and wounded more than 1,800 in the Spanish capital of
Madrid.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
seiche (n):
(hydrology) A short-period standing wave oscillation of the water level
in a lake, characteristic of the lake's geometry
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/seiche>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great
reliability; and something is bound to come of it.
--Vannevar Bush
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush>