Classical composers who adored their moms
- Laura Salvas
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
Whether musical talent is innate or learned, it still needs nurturing to flourish and grow. In the case of these six composers, their mothers' love, support, and musical training helped their talents bloom all the brighter and bolder.
One thing that never fails to warm our hearts at Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert is multi-generational families coming together to celebrate their love of music. These composers and their moms would surely fit right in.
Johannes Brahms
Perhaps the gentle melody of Brahms' lullaby was inspired by his own mother Johanna's loving nature. She once wrote to her son: “I never forget you when I pray in the evening, and when I get up in the morning, my first thought is of you.”
In turn, Brahms once wrote to his composer pal Clara Schumann: “I wish I could take my mother everywhere with me.” And although Brahms denies his Requiem was written for his mother, it includes the text “I will comfort you, as a mother comforts her child.” A possible hint to their special mother-son bond.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven had a rough childhood on account of his father, but his mother, Maria, surely did the best she could through the circumstances.
When Ludwig was just 16, his mother passed away. The would-be composer wrote to his friend Joseph von Schaden: “She was such a good, kind mother to me and indeed my best friend. Oh! who was happier than I, when I could still utter the sweet name of mother and it was heard and answered; and to whom can I say it now?”
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss Sr. wouldn’t let his son, Johann Jr., follow his musical dreams. But Johann II's mother, Anna, saw her son's talent. She secretly arranged for Johann II to study music—with the concertmaster of Johann I's own orchestra.
One fateful day in 1844, Johann Strauss II submitted an application seeking to work as a musician and his mother submitted a petition for divorce. The mother-son duo was working together to break free from Johann Sr.
Strauss II later wrote a waltz in his mother’s honour titled The Heart of a Mother (renamed Suitors of Favour at his mother's suggestion).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart and his mother, Anna Maria, shared both a loving relationship and the same sense of “earthy” humour. Not only was she one of her children's first music teachers, but she rather enjoyed touring Europe with the family as her prodigal children performed.
Mozart was devastated when she passed away in Paris during a mother-son tour. He wrote to his father and sister, "I see now how much she loved me. I pray daily, and I weep daily for her soul. I know that she is now better off than we are, and that she has gone to a better life; but I cannot console myself."
Felix Mendelssohn & Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
This brother-sister duo of composers were born to musical mom, Lea. She herself was a talented pianist and singer, and acted as her prodigal children’s first piano teacher.
The Mendelssohn matriarch even ran a Sunday concert series (Sonntagskonzerte) out of the family home, where Felix and Fanny could perform. After Lea's passing, daughter Fanny took the reins on continuing with this family concert tradition.
For many of us, attempting to compose a waltz or symphony to dedicate to mum would surely result in a cacophony only a mother could love. A simpler way of celebrating the mother you adore (or the children who adore you!) is by sharing in beautiful music composed by one of the talents above.
As the proud "parents" of Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert, we think the best way of doing this is by taking the family out to the concert hall, keeping the tradition of mama's favourite music alive for generations to come.
