?12 December 1791

A report of Mozart’s death

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, xi, ?12 Dec 1791

[87]

⁣                                  8. Todesfälle.

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 87a


⁣     Am 5ten dieses Monats starb zu Wien der
berühmte Kapellmeister Mozart an einer Brust-

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 87b


wassersucht im 35 Jahre seines Alters, zum
innigsten Leidwesen aller Kunstfreunde.

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 87c

[translation:]

⁣⁣                                  8. Deaths.

     On the 5th of this month, the famous
composer, Kapellmeister Mozart, died in Vienna
from Brustwassersucht at 35 years of age, to the most
profound sorrow of all friends of art.

Commentary

Deutsch (Dokumente, 380) includes a report of Mozart’s death published in Musikalisches Wochenblatt in the issue following this one (XII:94); that report, dated 12 Dec, comes from a correspondent in Prague. However, Deutsch omits this earlier report of Mozart’s death from issue XI of the Wochenblatt. The cause of death listed here is “Brustwassersucht” (sometimes equated with the modern term “hydrothorax”). The cause of death listed in the Viennese records, on the other hand, is “hitziges Frieselfieber” (usually translated as “severe miliary fever”; see Dokumente, 367–68).

Notes

Schwob (2015, 191) includes the notice transcribed above, without reference to its publication on our site in 2014.

Bibliography

Schwob, Rainer J. ed. 2015. W. A. Mozart im Spiegel des Musikjournalismus, deutschsprachiger Raum 1782–1800. Beiträge zur Mozart-Dokumentation, vol. 1. Stuttgart: Carus Verlag.

Credit: DE

Author: Dexter Edge

Link(s):

Google Books; BSB

Search Term: mozart

Source Library:

BSB, 4 Mus.th. 1492-1/2

Categories: Biography

First Published: Tue, 9 Sep 2014

Updated: Sun, 15 Jan 2023

Print Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “A report of Mozart’s death (12 December 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 9 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/12-december-1791/

Web Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “A report of Mozart’s death (12 December 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 9 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. [direct link]