William Copper replies to my contention that Mozart learned his manners
from the aristocracy:

>Wolfie's letters are pretty consistent with Shaffer's dialogue, so I have
>to disagree with some distinguished writers here.

You wouldn't be disagreeing with me.  I also believe it is consistent.

>Where ever he learned it, he was Quite Crude for then or for now.

The question is, Among whom? Shaffer has Mozart apologizing to the
nobility.  The nobility were generally just as crude as he was.  The
unbelievable point is not that Mozart was crude, but that the nobility
would have taken offense.  If Mozart had offended anybody by his speech,
it would more likely have been the middle class, that group most affected
by the Great Awakening of Evangelicalism in the 18th century.  This speaks
to the issue of exactly how much Shaffer knows about Mozart's times.  I
don't doubt he's read the letters.  I doubt that he knows the cultural
context of the letters.

Steve "Pottymouth" Schwartz