K.
23, Conservati Fedele
Out
of England, off to The Hague. It is
fitting that K. 23 is clearly a goodbye aria, solemn in its sound and
lyrics. Goodbye to what? London? Or Nannerl?
His sister became deathly sick while in The Hague. She received the rite of extreme unction. Her unction and this song’s composition
happened in October of 1765. Leopold
wrote in his letters that as he and his wife prayed with Nannerl struggling
with life’s hard questions, little Mozart played his violin in the next
room. Leopold seems to suggest that
Mozart was unaware of serious nature concerning Nannerl’s sickness. But, sometimes that’s the power of art. Mozart may have been either escaping or
expressing the feeling he could quite convey via physical actions. Most likely both.
There
is just something about historical artists of a certain greatest that made them
unable to connect with average folks. In
addition, they also couldn’t simply bottle up their feelings in a
John-Wayne-suck-it-up manner. Examples
of such artists Poe and Van Gogh come to mind.
And, thus mediums with staying power were born. How many of these artists grew increasingly dejected because they felt as if no one heard them? How many people with this mentality, think
thusly?
Conservati fedele may have possibly grown
into an expression of goodbye for Mozart. It was once revised for Princess
Carolina. I haven’t found out yet, but
she must have played an important role in Mozart’s life. (I will explore the Mozarts’ relationship
with Princess Carolina as I delve into the next set of violin sonatas.) I could imagine seeing woman cry as she
listened to young Mozart’s revision.
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