1756-2056

What will the world be like in 2056?

That will be when Mr Mozart will be celebrating his 300th birthday.

But what sort of birthday will it be? 

And which birthday will you be celebrating in 2056, whether physically or ethereally?

I am Madame Adélaïde de France, as you may be aware.  I am presenting myself here as I was artistically viewed in 1756 by Monsieur Nattier.

As you may have noticed, I have been tying knots and making needle lace.  I have not been doing so needlessly, of course.  There are many beautiful skills required in every society.

While Mr Mozart was obviously only an infant in 1756, Mr Handel was much older.  His portrait here, of that year, is by Mr Hudson.

The latter composer was 71 years of age.  Alas Mr Mozart was unable to reached even halfway to Mr Handel's longevity.

I must admit that I believe Mr Hudson added at least a little contrivance in flattering the elderly gentleman's 1756 appearance.

How the world will appear in 2056, and to whom, is of considerable concern within the global Mozarty Party.  The birthday preparations for that year are already highly advanced, as I am sure you will appreciate.

How much handmade needle lace will be required for the fashions of that time?

Sufficient sewed muslin is likely to be necessary in the decades ahead, and sufficient tambour lace, of course.

Considerable needlepoint will also be required for upholstery in the decades ahead, so I believe.

What is your acquaintance with the Revolutionary Climatological Needlepoint Committee?

The Ladies Waldegrave and I have had a long association with the committee, as you may know.  The ladies were born in the 1760s and portrayed by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1780 to demonstrate their most notable, youthful accomplishments.

I have never been a mother.  The events of my mortal existence would have made such a status intolerable.

Like Sir Joshua and the ladies, I am obviously opposed to violent revolutions of any sort.

Keeping one's lappets in order is obviously a priority for persons of my status. 

What do you imagine you will wear in the years ahead?

Monsieur Nattier was born in 1685, the same year as Mr Handel, Mr JS Bach and Mr GD Scarlatti.  

Monseur Rameau was born two years earlier.

Are you familiar with that gentleman's treatise on harmony?

Perhaps you are associated with the harmonious interplay of beauty, understanding and magnificence.

Perhaps you are even associated with the grand style promoted by Sir Joshua.

Perhaps you are even associated with the grand style of rhetoric.

Perhaps you even regard the global Mozarty Party as rather grand.

What is your acquaintance with the fashions of 1756?

What is your acquaintance with the global politics of that time?

Perhaps you are seeking to consult Captain Orme on such matters, or even Sir Joshua.

Do you attempt to convey a noble sensibility?

I prefer not to express my emotions openly.  The conveyance of annoyance, in particular, tends to be exploited by one's opponents if one is demonstrably irate or even somewhat shocked.

I am certainly shocked by climatological news, as any thoughtful personage would be.

How is one to prepare for a 300th birthday party properly, given the current political situation?

Perhaps you have already compared one news report with another today.  They indicate that the battles ahead will be most distressing, given the power of the opponents.

How are children, of any social background, meant to face the future?

It is as though young people are expected to jump through embroidery hoops to make politicians properly accountable in the 21st century.

I am sure Maria Walpole and her daughters agree with me on the subject, in much the same way as the Mozart family.

Although a musical and political life in world lockdown is has never been easy for most people, especially those not in receipt of extraordinarily large financial resources and their own, resident orchestras, sufficient ingenuity is likely to help anyone overcome various difficulties.

Mr Mozart's mother is as keen as I am regarding the production of quality lace, as you may have noticed.

Perhaps you prefer machine-made lace, and possibly even machine-made music and machine-made portraiture.

How do you usually assess the performance qualities associated with the textile arts, the musical arts, the visual arts and the political arts?

Deceptive governments, whether on one side of the world or the other, are certainly not preparing properly for the year 2056.  They are fond of saying Après nous, le déluge repeatedly to themselves and each other, much to the dissatisfaction of deeply concerned persons.

In the Revolutionary Climatological Needlepoint Committee, my colleagues and I are preparing carefully for all upcoming events, particularly through our assessments of the arts and sciences.

Even the poisonous Ms Poisson is attempting to make a contribution.  There is usually something fishy going on wherever she happens to be.

You may be familiar with the tambour frame picture of that woman by Monsieur Drouais.

Now, it is important to keep to the point.  There is much work to do, whether at Versailles or in London or Canberra or Glasgow or anywhere else for that matter.

I, of course, prefer to work from the Adelaidezone Digital Arts Quarter nowadays.  Part of my job in posterity involves the discernment of genuine sentiments, fake ones, genuine climate action, false promises, genuine news items, fake ones, genuine works by particular artists, fake ones, genuine musical works by particular composers, and deceptively attributed ones.

Whilst appropriate bluntness is necessary, particularly in the presence of sycophants and royal mistresses, we must first study the facts of global politics and global climate change very carefully indeed, with or without assistance from Monsieur Liotard.

I am currently attempting to perfect my understanding of Glaswegian, ready for COP26, though I have been told that the Scots language will suffice if necessary, or even a little West Highland Gaelic.

Several persons from Ayrshire have been assisting my preparations, including Mr Robert Burns, King Robert I, and an entrepreneurial philanthropist by the name of Mrs Jamieson.

I am interested in the quality of air even more than the quality of my contacts in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.  That is why I am doing my best to ensure I distinguish between accurate records and inaccurate ones.

The Mozarty Party has asked me to assist with its assessment of swing seats.  Yet there seems to me to be no point in swinging from one extreme weather event to another, on either side of the political pendulum.

Ms Poisson recalls 1756 as the year in which her portrait was painted by Monsieur Boucher.  She usually forgets to mention her role in starting the diplomatic revolution in that year, as well as the Seven Years' War, and her contribution to the continuation of other unseemly events.  

You may have your own point of view regarding politics, privacy and public life or you may usually borrow the point of view of someone else.

I am sure any agreement reached in Glasgow this November will be much the same as the first Treaty of Versailles, and possibly even the second one.

There continues to be far too much aggressive competitiveness in the world.  That is why COP27 will probably be similar to the third Treaty of Versailles.

What is your acquaintance with the origin and history of lace?

What do you know about the history of plain sewing?

How accomplished are you in the arts of plain sewing and mending?

Perhaps you usually regard such practices as crafts.

What experience have you had in darning climate treaties?

Perhaps you regard the holes in such treaties in much the same way as the Black Hole of Calcutta.

Stifling heat of the physical, political, matrimonial and emotional varieties are the cause of much unhappiness.

Are you acquainted with Isabella, my niece?

There have been many tragedies in the world, of course, and very little political enlightenment of substance.  Any attempt to enlightened the public tends to turn a crowd into a rowdy mob, unless careful instructions and proper training are provided.

I hope you are accomplished in the most suitable techniques for historically informed performances, whether musically, politically, or whilst composing with embroidery stitches.

You are most welcome to learn more about the global Mozarty Party, even if you have never paid much attention to A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing and the Querelle des Bouffons.

Another of my nieces, Clotilde, is a guitarist, as you may know.  She also had a considerable amount of political experience in the 1790s.

What have been your experiences of appropriate expectations, whether musically or politically?

How has the weather affected your political experiences, your musical experiences, your dress sense, your access to food and/or your attitude towards circles, cycles, spirals and feedback loops? 

Perhaps you are acquainted with impeccable policies in relation to all sorts of twists and turns of science, history and ongoing muddles.

You may even be acquainted with a 1756 essay by Voltaire on universal history and the manners and spirit of nations.

Yet you may regard the preparations for Mozart's 300th birthday to be similar to chasing butterflies. 

Are you acquainted with the 1756 painting by Mr Gainsborough of his daughters?

Is chasing a future without floods, wildfires and famines a viable option for most of today's children?

Will they require an understanding of molecules or an abundance of fossil fuels?

You may be aware that people are dyeing.

How is your creative campaigning urging people to behave appropriately?

Are you dressing appropriately?

Are you paying attention properly?