Klarinet Archive - Posting 000101.txt from 1997/07
From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu> Subj: RE: Mendelssohn Symphony #5 "Reformation" & Elijah Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 23:49:15 -0400
On Thu, 3 Jul 1997, Josias Associates wrote:
> out of this thread regarded Mendelssohn's literacy in English. About a
> year ago I was surprised to learn that Mozart was also literate in
> English, which he practiced on his friend, the famous Irish tenor of
> the day (whose name eludes me at the momnent), during his visits to
> Mozart when they invariably played billiards and drank beer.
I think his name was Michael Kelly - perhaps a very unlikely name for a
friend and associate of Mozart. There is an extant letter from Mozart to
Kelly, in English. The English is excellent. I recall only one
grammatical error, a double negative. His closing is, "Don't never forget
your dear friend, Mozart." This letter is reproduced in the book, "The
Letters of Mozart."
It seems that Mozart was also very fluent in Italian, French, and perhaps
Czech, although there is no evidence that he ever formally studied any
language. When Haydn was considering his first trip to England in 1790,
his friend Mozart advised him against it, on the grounds that Haydn was
not worldly enough or widely travelled enough, and that he did not know
enough languages.
Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu
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