Song of Seduction (29 page)

Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806) died in his residence, having served as Salzburg’s
Kapellmeister
for almost forty-four years. He produced over 360 compositions during his lifetime. Along with the body of Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, Haydn’s torso is interred in communal crypt LIV in the Cemetery of St. Peter, while the brothers of the Benedictine monastery retain his head in an urn within their cathedral. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), sickly and bedridden for the last seven years of his life, outlived his younger brother.

Regina Schlick née Strinasacchi (1761-1829) was a renowned violin and guitar virtuoso and one of the first noted female soloists. In 1785, she married Johann Conrad Schlick, a cellist and
Konzertmeister
in the duchy of Gotha. She continued to tour Europe throughout her life, even after the birth of her children. She may have performed in Salzburg, but the concert detailed here is fictional.

Joseph Wölfl (1773-1812) was a moderately successful Salzburg pianist, composer and student of Michael Haydn. For this story, however, elements of his fictional personality were combined with those of another musician, Daniel Steibelt (1765-1823). Beethoven soundly defeated both men in piano duels during their careers, once by sight-reading his sheet music upside-down.

By an order deemed the
senatus consultum,
Napoleon declared himself emperor on May 18, 1804. Shortly thereafter, hostilities erupted between the French Empire and the Third Coalition nations.

Salzburg’s long history of independence ended on October 5, 1805, when French troops reoccupied the city. The following December, the Peace of Pressburg awarded the principality to Austria. Grand Duke Ferdinand III (1769-1824) and his surviving three children fled to Vienna, then to Florence. The 1809 Peace of Schönbrunn restored Ferdinand as the Grand Duke of Tuscany, where he ruled until his death. Those same accords ceded Salzburg to Bavaria. The territory finally became part of Austria in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna.

Aside from maintaining an active presence with the Chicago North and Wisconsin chapters of the Romance Writers of America, Carrie enjoys science fiction movies and TV programs, jogging along Lake Michigan, Shakespeare, time spent with friends, and any opportunity to belly dance.

RT Book Reviews
declared of Carrie’s 2008 debut novel: “Lofty writes adventure romance like a born bard of old.” She also wrangles the talented authors of Unusual Historicals, a blog she founded in 2006 to celebrate historical romances set in unusual times and places. With Ann Aguirre, she co-writes hot’n’dirty apocalyptic paranormal romances as Ellen Connor.

http://www.twitter.com/carrielofty

http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2010 by Carrie Lofty

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