I wrote recently about Anton Mesmer and the pioneering work he did in early Hypnosis and Psychiatry in the 18th Century. This time I thought I would write a little about the composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91). He was a friend and contemporary of Mesmer.
Mesmer’s concept of the therapeutic potential of trance states sparked a greater interest in Hypnosis. The evolution of his methods in the treatment of nervous disorders moved the field toward hypnotism and its therapeutic application (Hypnotherapy).
Mozart the Composer
Mozart was a prolific composer of the Classical music period. He was a prodigy who began writing symphonies at just five years old. Despite his short life, he produced more than eight hundred works across every classical genre of the time.
Despite his prolific work rate, Mozart had money problems especially towards the end of his life. Perhaps because of this, Mesmer would work with Mozart using hypnosis to sustain his creativity. Andrew Steptoe (British Psychologist) authored an article for the journal Music and Letters in 1986 called ‘Mozart, Mesmer and Cosi Fan Tutte’. In it he claims the opera was written while hypnotised.
Credit to Mesmer
The librettist (writer of the words of an opera) for ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ was Lorenzo Da Ponte. He also collaborated with Mozart on the operas ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘The Marriage of Figaro’. As a homage to Mesmer he is referenced in the opera. The Doctor character at one point produces a metal object from a bag and proclaims, “This is the famous piece of magnet, the Mesmeric stone, which had its origin in Germany and then became celebrated so famous”.
Because of his desperate financial situation, Mozart wrote to his friend and Masonic brother, Michael Pucberg, asking for an advance on anticipated earnings from the production of Così fan tutte. Sadly, in the end, Mozart received only around half the earnings he had anticipated for the opera.
Mozart’s Death
He died in December 1791. Sadly, few people attended his third-class funeral at St. Stephan’s Cathedral. No mourners followed his coffin. And Mozart is buried in an unmarked grave in the suburb of St. Marx someway from the centre of Vienna.
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