Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart

Nannerl Mozart

Her family called her “Nannerl.”  Whether her birthday is the 30th or 31st  of  July, 1751,  I’m talking about Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nannerl and Wolfgang were the only two of their parents’ seven children to survive.  Their father, Leopold Mozart, encouraged his children’s musical talent.

From letters of Wolfgang Mozart to his sister, it’s apparent that like her younger sibling, she also wrote music. Wolfgang praised her compositions as shown in his letters to her. Unfortunately, none of her work survives. Nannerl was an underdeveloped composer, whose talents might have shone if not for the social climate of the time. Continue reading →