A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects

By BBC Radio 3

What's A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects about?

Mozart’s world rediscovered in objects of his time. Professor Cliff Eisen looks at Mozart’s world through objects that were close to him. From BBC Radio 3.

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A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects episodes:

01.12.2011
Objects 12: Blood letting device
In this final episode Cliff Eisen focuses on medicine in the second half of the 18th century, and contemporary views on science and death. We explore today's object: a scarifier,used to bleed Mozart's mother before her death in Paris, and...
01.11.2011
Object 10 & 11: Leopold's books and Mozart's tea chest
Cliff Eisen talks about travel in the 18th Century, and discovers the books Leopold Mozart picked up in London as well as the tea chest that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart carried with him on his travels.
01.10.2011
Object 9: A Masonic periodical published in Vienna in the 1780s
In this episode Cliff Eisen explores Mozart's Masonic links in Vienna, and the relationship between the Masons and Emperor Joseph II. The object, a Masonic Journal from the 1780s, gives clues about some of the pieces with Masonic symbols that...
01.10.2011
Object 8: A window from Mozart’s flat in Vienna
A window from Mozart's flat in Vienna inspires Cliff Eisen to visit the actual place – the Figarohaus, today a museum dedicated to the composer, who tried to earn his life as a free-lance musician in the Imperial Capital –...
01.10.2011
Object 7: Salzburg’s executioner’s sword
Cliff Eisen starts with an executioner’s sword dating back from the days when Salzburg embraced capital punishment. This episode explores crime and punishment in Mozart’s time and how this was reflected in some of his operas from the 1780s.
01.10.2011
Object 6: A telescope and a musical clock
In this episode Cliff Eisen concentrates on a 18th-Century state-of-the-art telescope and on a musical clock as a sign of the Mozarts’ interest in science and technology – a typical concern of the time, which Wolfgang reflected in his music.
01.06.2011
Object 5: The Mozarts’ Games
Cliff Eisen focuses on the role of game-playing in Mozart's life, and takes a look at a range of games including card games painted by Leopold Mozart himself, and a board game which featured the characters of Mozart's Magic Flute.
01.05.2011
Object 4: Mozart’s own piano
Cliff Eisen explores some of the many types of piano Mozart played during his life, along with specially-recorded excerpts to illustrate the features he wanted to exploit as he wrote music for the instrument
01.04.2011
Object 3: A model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Professor Cliff Eisen focuses on a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Renaissance piece at the British Museum in London, which Nannerl Mozart mentions in her diary among the most remarkable things she saw during the Mozarts'...
01.03.2011
Object 2: Portraits of Mozart
Cliff Eisen introduces the second in a series of programmes exploring Mozart's world through objects associated with him. Today, two of the most important portraits of Mozart: the Stock and the Lange portraits in Salzburg.
01.02.2011
Object 1: Mozart’s Watch
Cliff Eisen introduces the first in a series of programmes exploring Mozart's world through objects associated with him. Today: Mozart's watch.

What's A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects episodes:

Objects 12: Blood letting device

Object 10 & 11: Leopold's books and Mozart's tea chest

Object 9: A Masonic periodical published in Vienna in the 1780s

Object 8: A window from Mozart’s flat in Vienna

Object 7: Salzburg’s executioner’s sword

Object 6: A telescope and a musical clock

Object 5: The Mozarts’ Games

Object 4: Mozart’s own piano

Object 3: A model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Object 2: Portraits of Mozart

Object 1: Mozart’s Watch

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