Richard Labunski: Madison and Mozart ... June 1788
[Richard Labunski is a journalism professor at the University of Kentucky and author of "James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights." (www.richardlabunski.com)]
June is not just a time to celebrate the beginning of summer. It is an occasion to remember two extraordinary individuals -- one practicing the art of politics, the other the art of music -- who during this month in 1788 changed the world for the better.
James Madison, the shy intellectual from Virginia who was small in stature and had a thin voice, battled the charismatic Patrick Henry for three weeks beginning June 2 at the Virginia Ratifying Convention in a sweltering converted theater in downtown Richmond. The 170 delegates, who had been elected by the people, were closely divided over whether the most populous state should approve the Constitution and join the union.
Henry and other Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution would create a dangerously powerful government, and they demanded that Virginia reject the plan until radical amendments were approved to better protect the states and the people. They cited the lack of a bill of rights as evidence that the Constitution would lead to an oppressive government.
Much was at stake. If Virginia said no, George Washington could not be the first president. Support for the Constitution would have collapsed because many were willing to give the system a chance only because they trusted the Revolutionary War hero. New York would have followed with its rejection. The nation would not have survived.
Despite poor health and a fear of speaking to large groups, Madison brilliantly argued that the new government would be strong enough to establish a unified country and still be responsive to the people and the states. He won by ten votes.
While Madison was trying to save the Constitution in Richmond, across the ocean 4,500 miles away in a suburb of Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was depressed and had good reason. He and his wife had serious health problems, his six-month-old daughter had died recently, and they were broke. He had been unable to secure a position with the royal court, and his operas had attracted small audiences. On June 27, he wrote to Michael Puchberg, a wealthy Viennese merchant from whom he had already borrowed money, to beg for more even though he could not pay his current debts.
Mozart told Puchberg that he was "beset so frequently by black thoughts (which I have to chase away forceably)" but said that by moving from Vienna to the quieter suburb, he had been able to do more work.
And what work it was. Beginning in June, the 32-year-old Mozart wrote his final three symphonies (39, 40 and 41) and other music....
Read entire article at http://www.courier-journal.com
June is not just a time to celebrate the beginning of summer. It is an occasion to remember two extraordinary individuals -- one practicing the art of politics, the other the art of music -- who during this month in 1788 changed the world for the better.
James Madison, the shy intellectual from Virginia who was small in stature and had a thin voice, battled the charismatic Patrick Henry for three weeks beginning June 2 at the Virginia Ratifying Convention in a sweltering converted theater in downtown Richmond. The 170 delegates, who had been elected by the people, were closely divided over whether the most populous state should approve the Constitution and join the union.
Henry and other Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution would create a dangerously powerful government, and they demanded that Virginia reject the plan until radical amendments were approved to better protect the states and the people. They cited the lack of a bill of rights as evidence that the Constitution would lead to an oppressive government.
Much was at stake. If Virginia said no, George Washington could not be the first president. Support for the Constitution would have collapsed because many were willing to give the system a chance only because they trusted the Revolutionary War hero. New York would have followed with its rejection. The nation would not have survived.
Despite poor health and a fear of speaking to large groups, Madison brilliantly argued that the new government would be strong enough to establish a unified country and still be responsive to the people and the states. He won by ten votes.
While Madison was trying to save the Constitution in Richmond, across the ocean 4,500 miles away in a suburb of Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was depressed and had good reason. He and his wife had serious health problems, his six-month-old daughter had died recently, and they were broke. He had been unable to secure a position with the royal court, and his operas had attracted small audiences. On June 27, he wrote to Michael Puchberg, a wealthy Viennese merchant from whom he had already borrowed money, to beg for more even though he could not pay his current debts.
Mozart told Puchberg that he was "beset so frequently by black thoughts (which I have to chase away forceably)" but said that by moving from Vienna to the quieter suburb, he had been able to do more work.
And what work it was. Beginning in June, the 32-year-old Mozart wrote his final three symphonies (39, 40 and 41) and other music....