Mozart never secured a court or church music job with a comfortable income. Instead, he got by on limited earnings as a freelance composer and performer, and with help from his friends. As Mozartâs letters show, one of these friends was Viennese merchant and fellow musician and Freemason Michael Puchberg. Here is Emily Andersonâs translation of a letter Mozart wrote to Puchberg in June 1788. âI still owe you eight ducats,â? Mozart wrote. âApart from the fact that at the moment I am not in a position to pay you back this sum, I dare to implore you to help me out with a hundred gulden until next week.â? Puchberg sent one hundred gulden. July 12th, 1789: âInstead of paying my debts, I am asking for more money.â? Mozart requested 500 gulden. Only after Mozartâs next letter repeating his request for funds did Puchberg respond with a loan of 150 gulden. The letters go on through only months before Mozartâs death in December of 1791. Fortunately, so did the loans, and so did the music.
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.