War of the Polish Succession - King Augustus III of Poland

When Polish King Augustus II the Strong died in 1733, French King Louis XV (1710 –1774) decided to reappoint his father in law, Stanisław I Leszczyński 1677 –1766) on the Polish throne.

However, Russia wanted Augustus’ lawful son Frederick Augustus II (Augustus III) (1696 –1763) to rule Poland.

Stanisław I Leszczyński managed to get hold of the throne but the upcoming Russian army of 30,000 men made him re-think his move, so he fled the country.

That is how War of the Polish Succession began.

France, Spain and Sardinia were on Stanislaw’s side, while Austria, Prussia and Russia supported Augustus III.

Although a preliminary peace was reached in 1735, the war was formally ended with the Treaty of Vienna (1738) in which Augustus III was confirmed as king of Poland.

This was the second time in Poland’s history that other European powers pursued their own national interests through the Poland throne.

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Entertainer - Fritz Kreisler

Famous Austrian-born violinist and composer Friedrich 'Fritz' Kreisler (1875 –1962) was once asked by some rich American woman if he would be interested to perform at her party. For a certain fee, of course. Virtuoso answered with “yes”.

- “So, your performance at my party, how much will it cost me?” – asked the rich woman.

- “$5000.” – Kreisler answered.

- “Excellent!” – said the hostess. “But, I want you to know that I do not expect from you to chat with my guest and entertain them after your performance.”

- “Even better.” – said Kreisler. “In that case I will charge you with $2000”.

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Shame – Arnold Schoenberg

Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), known as one of the creators of atonal music, was furious when Thomas Mann published his novel “Doctor Faustus”. Specifically, the main protagonist of the novel is Adrian Leverkühn, a composer who "sells his soul to the devil” to invent a new music technique like the one Arnold Schoenberg did...

After the publication of the novel, Schoenberg, in anger, wrote an open letter for the public in which he accused Thomas Mann of plagiarism. But Mann managed to defend himself and the novel by saying that Schoenberg had a great influence on him.

Nevertheless, the composer was convinced that Leverkühn, the hero of the novel, ruined his reputation in cultural circles, and complained about it for the rest of his life.

- If Thomas Mann only hinted to me that he intends to write a novel about a composer, in just a few hours I could have invented a completely different music technique, just for him! - Arnold Schoenberg used to say.

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Fear - Arnold Schoenberg!

Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (13 September 1874 – 13 July 1951) suffered from triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number thirteen.

This artist (father of atonal music, as he was called) was convinced that he would die on the thirteenth day of the month, so on each such day he stayed at home, taking care of what he drank and what he eats, and sometimes he did not even get up out of bed...

 

This was the case and on 13 July 1951.

Convinced that his end was near, Schoenberg was just loafing on that day. Late that night, his wife finally said that the clock struck midnight and that it was 14 July, and went to bring him some tea.  When she returned to the room, she found her husband dead.

He died, however, on 13 July. The clock in the bedroom was not accurate. When she found him, it was 5 minutes until midnight.

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