The playlist of Christmas classics – rts.ch
Toys are at the heart of a symphony written by a certain Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang’s father. But it was long thought that the work was from the pen of Joseph Haydn.
Legend has it that Haydn composed it when he returned from a trip to Salzburg, after passing through a small village called Berchtoldsgaden. It is about 30 km from Salzburg. This village was famous at the time because they made toys there.
Haydn had found this village so charming that he would have bought lots of toys, especially those that make music: calls that imitate the cuckoo or the quail, a nightingale water whistle, a toy one-note trumpet , a rattle rattle, or a tambourine for children.
Nightingale water whistles. [Depositphotos]
Then, the idea came to him to compose a piece to highlight the color of these unusual instruments. This is how he would have written this symphony of toys and would have interpreted it during a Christmas evening in the castle of Esterhaza, just to please all the children of the house.
The story is pretty, but it is a legend. The real composer of this symphony of toys is Léopold Mozart, who would have preferred to put Haydn’s name on his score to sell it.
