P.S. Mozart's Obscene Notes

"frightful ass!”

Mozart was a genius. He also had a silly, juvenile sense of humor. And it was on full display in entries he wrote in his sister, Nannerl’s, diary. We also find it in flirtatious letters to his cousin, and some of the lyrics he composed for friends. It begins, though, in Nannerl’s diary, where Wolfgang plays the annoying younger brother. Here, he playfully makes his favorite kinds of jokes—what scholars call “lavatorial humor.”

The post begins rather tame and becomes increasingly raunchy. So, be warned. This is a different side of Mozart than we might expect, but I’d argue that his riotous creativity, which made for enduring musical compositions, accounts for his humor as well.

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